The moment when....

You all know the moment. The moment when, while in the midst of an unrelated conversation, you squeal with delight because you just saw the newest book in a favorite series. That was me this afternoon. While talking to my partner in crime, I look down at the cart of new books and I saw these two books! Squeee!

 The Year of the Fortune Cookie written by Andrea Cheng and illus. by Patrice Barton. ISBN: 9780544105195.

This is sequel to The Year of the Book and The Year of the Baby. I love these books. The description in the book flap reads:

"Last year, Anna Wang learned how to be a sister. This year, when her teacher gets approved to adopt a baby from china, Anna has the chance she has been waiting for - an exciting trip to China. But she wonders: will she feel at home in China - or terribly homesick? This third novel in the heartwarming Anna Wang series, which follows The Year of the Book and The Year of the Baby, five us a larger, more global view of the world through the eleven-year-old eyes of Anna"

 Why I LOVE These Books: They're short in length (under 200 pages), but they have a great well-rounded story and characters. As you may tell by the cover artwork that they are multicultural.The main character is from a Chinese-American family, and author Cheng includes Chinese words (and pronunciations) in the book. and The illustrations are simple, charming, and playful - a perfect marriage with the writing. Plus, at the end of each book there is an activity related to the story that the readers are do. I can't wait to read this book!

Nancy Clancy: The Secret of the Silver Key written by Jane O'Connor and illus. by Robin Preiss Glasser. ISBN: 9780062082992.

This is book #4 for the Jane O'Connor's Nancy Clancy (of the Fancy Nancy fame) chapter book series.

The description on the back cover reads:

"Nancy Clancy and her best friend, Bree, are off to solve another mystery - but this time it involves going back in time! As Nancy's class learns about time capsules in school, another relic from the past pops up in the present. When Nancy finds an old desk at a tag sale, she soon finds out that someone left behind a key. Nancy and Bree set out to unlock the secret of the silver key in the hopes of finding some treasure along the way. But unlocking the mystery soon proves to be harder than they had thought, and when the answer isn't what they expected, they learn there are some things that remain timeless forever."

Why I LOVE These Books: I really enjoy reading stories about the older Nancy. As usual there is a plethora (that's another word for a lot!) of fancy, big words to introduce to a young reader's vocabulary - which is down right awesome! I also love mysteries, and Nancy and Bree are detectives! There is always a lesson to be learned somewhere in the story. It's great that O'Connor has written juvenile fiction books because children who start out with the picture books and beginning reader books will have something to welcome them into the world of chapter books! Finally, these are just plain fun!

I can't wait to read these!

*Book images were taken from www.goodreads.com.