the Midwest Booksellers Association March 2010 Picks

Tiny Pilot

Lamb Bright Saviors
by Robert Vivian
$22.95

 Lamb Bright Saviors begins as an apocalyptically inclined itinerant preacher staggers across the Nebraska prairie. With his young assistant, Mady, in tow hauling a wagon
stacked with bibles, it’s not long before the
preacher finds he’s come to the final fulfillment of his self-proclaimed life’s work: to die in front of a group of strangers. Odd as his own end-of-days might be, the lives and struggles of the strangers attending this deathbed scene are even odder. As the dying preacher unleashes a barrage of hallucinatory ramblings and rantings in the hope of imparting wisdom, each ragtag member of this unlikely congregation must reckon with his or her own dark past. And, through it all, the irrepressible Mady lends the preacher’s strange performance a surprising and unforgettable dignity and humor.

Here are the latest Midwest Connection Picks for Kids!

In a Heartbeat

When a small mistake costs sixteen-year-old Eagan her life during a figure-skating competition, she leaves many things un-reconciled, including her troubled relationship with her mother. From her vantage point in the afterlife, Eagan reflects back on her memories, and what she could have done differently, through her still-beating heart. When fourteen-year-old Amelia learns she will be getting a heart transplant, her fear and guilt battle with her joy at this new chance at life. And afterwards when she starts to feel different—dreaming about figure skating, craving grape candy—her need to learn about her donor leads her to discover and explore Eagan’s life, meeting her grieving loved ones and trying to bring the closure they all need to move on.

Bag in the Wind
by Ted Kooser
$17.99

One cold morning in early spring, a bulldozer pushes a pile of garbage around a landfill and uncovers an empty plastic bag —a perfectly good bag, the color of the skin of a yellow onion, with two holes for handles—that someone has thrown away. Just then, a puff of wind lifts the rolling, flapping bag over a chain-link fence and into the lives of several townsfolk—a can-collecting girl, a homeless man, a store owner—not that all of them notice. Renowned poet Ted Kooser fashions an understated yet compassionate world full of happenstance and connection, neglect and care, all perfectly expressed in Barry Root’s tender illustrations. True to the book’s earth-friendly spirit, it is printed on paper containing 100 percent recycled post-consumer waste and includes an author’s note on recycling plastic bags.

The Buddy Files
books by Dori Hillestad Butler
$14.99 each
**Published by the same publisher as Boxcar Children Mysteries!

	The Case of the Lost Boy While searching for his mysteriously lost human family, Buddy the dog is adopted by another family and helps solve the mystery of their missing boy.
	The Case of the Mixed Up Mutts While attending obedience class with his new humans, Buddy the dog helps solves a mystery involving two pugs that were switched at the dog park.
	The Case of the Missing Family Buddy has settled in with his adopted family, but he still misses his original people. When he sees a van taking things out of his old home, he decides to make a daring journey to find his original owners.

These past Midwest Connections Picks titles are
coming out in paperback this month!

	Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta $7.99         **Recommended by Sally and Jennifer
	Savvy by Ingrid Law $7.99