The Bones of the Holy

May 15, 2011

In this fifth Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator installment, amateur sleuth Gilda travels to historic St. Augustine to encounter a ghostly woman in white and ends up literally buried in another baffling mystery.

Horrified when her mother returns from a getaway weekend in St. Augustine engaged to an antiques dealer named Eugene Pook, whom she met on the Internet and plans to marry immediately, Gilda experiences her "psychic signal," a tickling in her left ear, warning something unusual or dangerous is about to occur. Arriving in St. Augustine for the wedding, Gilda finds Eugene to be "older, plump, walruslike" and definitely weird. She loves the ghost tour of St. Augustine, "one of the most haunted cities in the entire United States," but is surprised when Eugene's 12-year-old neighbor confesses she's seen a spectral woman in white in his house. Gilda discovers Eugene had been jilted years before by his fiancée, Charlotte, who looked just like Gilda's mother and mysteriously vanished. Now Eugene seems to be re-creating his aborted wedding. Could the woman in white be Charlotte's ghost? Local ghost tales, Gilda's spy records, letters and travelogue flesh out the account of how this sassy wannabe investigator tries to save her mother from Charlotte's fate.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2011

Gr 2-6-The titles in this series introduce young viewers to a variety of artists and their work. In this program, Puffer the puffin goes to Florence, Italy, where his friend Polly teaches him about Renaissance artists. Elements of the Renaissance are briefly introduced and then information about Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael is presented. A brief biography of each artist is presented, and two examples of his art are examined in detail. The material in the DVD is based on the book (Crystal Prods., 2010) by Pamela Geiger Stephens. Jim McNeill's soft, computer-generated illustrations are simply animated. There are also photographs of these masterpieces: "5 Grotesque Heads" and "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci; Michelangelo's "Pieta" and "The Creation of Adam" (carefully framed for elementary audiences); and Raphael's "The School of Athens" and "St. George and the Dragon." This simple yet interesting introduction to an important part of our artistic heritage will be embraced by art teachers for use with young students.-Teresa Bateman. Brigadoon Elementary School, Federal Way, WA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
Grades 5-8 The mystery is close to home in this fifth title in the Gilda Joyce Psychic Investigator series, which begins with the teen sleuths realization that her single mom is lying about an upcoming vacation with a friend. Sure enough, when her mother returns, Gilda discovers that her mother was exploring a new romance, which has blossomed rapidly into an engagement, and the whole family is heading to Florida for the abruptly planned wedding. On arrival in small St. Augustine, Gilda finds the town crawling with ghosts, and although she usually relishes encounters with the supernatural, she becomes increasingly concerned about her mothers odd behavior and a deeply spooky past her mothers fianc' seems to be hiding. Once again, Allison uses a variety of inventive formats, including letters, spy reports, and dreams, to tell an original, otherworldly mystery that finds humor in the realistic, emotional complexity that comes with blending families: Gilda types up a new family member application for her potential stepfather, for example. As smart and spirited as ever, Gilda will attract newcomers while continuing to please her fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)