One morning, Southern California gardener Mitchell Rafferty gets a call on his cellphone from a stranger saying that Mitch's beloved wife, Holly, has been kidnapped and that he has less than three days to come up with $2 million in cash. Of course, he's warned not to involve the police. While Mitch is still on the phone, the kidnapper proves his seriousness by directing Mitch's attention to a man walking a dog across the street. A moment later the man is shot dead. Mitch must walk a fine line—cooperating with the police inquiry into this murder without revealing Holly's plight.
Cry Me a River • I Should Care • I'm in the Mood for Love • I'm Glad There Is You • Can't Help Lovin' That Man • I Love You • Say It Isn't So • It Never Entered My Mind • Easy Street • 'S Wonderful • No Moon at All • Laura • Gone With the Wind
Kids' Favorite Songs kicks off with a cackle-worthy parody of Bob Dylan doing "Old McDonald," and from there the groovy gags keep comin' 'round the mountain. Everywhere Elmo turns on Sesame Street monsters spontaneously burst into song, and all because they want him to feature their favorite tunes on his forthcoming radio countdown. For Telly, winnowing the hits to one is akin to Cookie Monster choosing between a macaroon and a figgie bar: at first he's sure that "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" lights his fire, but then he says bye-bye to a black sheep. The street heaves a collective sigh pavementward when word comes down that the countdown is strictly a numbers gig, no music involved. Only Sesame Street could weave well-loved musical numbers around a simple numbers lesson with such wacky pizzazz, making this a countdown that's no letdown for high-spirited parent-preschooler combos. --Tammy La Gorce
Orson Scott Card has the distinction of having swept both the Hugo and Nebulaawards in two consecutive years with his amazing novels Ender’s Game
and Speaker for the Dead. For a body of work that ranges from science
fiction to nonfiction to plays, Card has been recognized as an author
who provides vivid, colorful glimpses between the world we know and
worlds we can only imagine.
In a peaceful, prosperous African
American neighborhood in Los Angeles, Mack Street is a mystery child
who has somehow found a home. Discovered abandoned in an overgrown
park, raised by a blunt-speaking single woman, Mack comes and goes from
family to family–a boy who is at once surrounded by boisterous
characters and deeply alone. But while Mack senses that he is different
from most, and knows that he has strange powers, he cannot possibly
understand how unusual he is until the day he sees, in a thin slice of
space, a narrow house. Beyond it is a backyard–and an entryway into an
extraordinary world stretching off into an exotic distance of
geography, history, and magic.
