The Museum of Extraordinary Things
by Alice Hoffman (Scribner)
Welcome to New York City, circa the early 20th century. Hoffman (“Practical Magic”) views the major events of the era through the lens of Eddie Cohen, a Lower East Side runaway turned photographer, who iconically records the famous Triangle Shirtwaist fire. Meanwhile, in Coney Island, Coralie Sardie dresses as a mermaid in her dad’s boardwalk freak show: the Museum of Extraordinary Things. When Eddie meets Coralie, romance blossoms, and so does mystery and magic.
Mad As Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies
by Dave Itzkoff (Henry Holt)
If screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky had lived to see Howard Beale-like anchors on some of today’s cable networks, he might have been, as he had Beale say, “mad as hell.” Or maybe just offer an “I told you so.” Culture reporter Izkoff goes behind the scenes, telling how Paul Newman was offered any role he wanted, but declined; Faye Dunaway was nearly fired (she won an Oscar); and how a supportive Walter Cronkite — his daughter, Kathy, is in the film — whom Chayesfky consulted, later dismissed “Network” as mere “entertainment.”
The Fight of their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball’s Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption
by John Rosengren (Lyons Press)
For baseball fans of a certain age, it’s the ugliest thing they’ve ever seen in a game. Aug. 19, 1965 at Candlestick Park. Giants star pitcher Juan Marichal clubbed Dodgers catcher Johnny Roseboro over the head with his bat after what he thought was a throw too close to his head. Blood poured down Roseboro’s head. Rosengren details not only the fight, but the role of race in 1965 America, how the two eventually made up, became friends and even signed photos of the fight together.
EIEIO: How Old MacDonald Got His Farm
by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Matthew Myers (Candlewick Press)
Here is a new, fun and environmentally friendly tale that gives us the back story of the classic kids song. In this version, Mac is tired of mowing the lawn at his home in a small town — so he gets a goat to eat the grass, but it prefers the hedges. A chicken turns him onto composting, recycling paper and food scraps (the neighbors aren’t crazy about the smell). Along the way, we get the humor of an old Warner Bros. cartoon.
A Burnable Book
by Bruce Holsinger (William Morrow)
Forget “Canterbury Tales.” Historian Holsinger’s first novel spins a tale of the royal scandals in Chaucer’s day that make the writer’s famous work look tame. As young King Richard II evades his ruthless uncle, an ancient book predicts the end of the world, not to mention the end of Richard. Tasked with finding the seditious manuscript before it turns London upside down, Chaucer races to find the book and save the king.