Mailbox Monday--Back on the Straight and Narrow

Last week I sent six books to new Paperback Swap foster homes and only received two. Today was also rather productive: I went through a couple of shelves out in my library and wound up with 23 books to donate and 15 to post to PBS. Five of those fifteen have already been requested, so it's a good thing I'm fast with a big roll of mailing tape!

I want to thank Marcia of The Printed Page for hosting this fun meme. If you'd like to join in, or if you're just curious about the books others received last week, click on that redhead with the flirty skirt. She'll take you right to Marcia's blog!



Here's the scoop on the two books that I discovered in my mailbox:

One Second After by William R. Forstchen (PBS). "A high-altitude nuclear bomb of uncertain origin explodes, unleashing a deadly electromagnetic pulse that instantly disables almost every electrical device in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. Airplanes, most cars, cellphones, refrigerators—all are fried as the country plunges into literal and metaphoric darkness. History professor John Matherson, who lives with his two daughters in a small North Carolina town, soon figures out what has happened. Aided by local officials, Matherson begins to deal with such long-term effects of the disaster as starvation, disease and roving gangs of barbarians." If I remember correctly, the first "end of the world as we know it" book that captivated me was Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon.


Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (PBS). With a title like that, and knowing that it is a Newbery Honor book, how could I resist? "Twelve-year-old Moose moves to Alcatraz in 1935 so his father can work as a prison guard and his younger, autistic sister, Natalie, can attend a special school in San Francisco. It is a time when the federal prison is home to notorious criminals like gangster Al Capone. Depressed about having to leave his friends and winning baseball team behind, Moose finds little to be happy about on Alcatraz. He never sees his dad, who is always working; and Natalie's condition-- her tantrums and constant needs--demand all his mother's attention. Things look up for Moose when he befriends the irresistible Piper, the warden's daughter, who has a knack for getting Moose into embarrassing but harmless trouble."

See you next Monday with more gems from my mailbox!