First Line Friday No. 14

Last week my husband and I celebrated our 4th anniversary (!!) -- by eating at our favorite "special dining" place, Outback Steakhouse (hey -- there's only so many restaurants in Columbia that we both love that's within our price range!) and then browsing through Barnes and Noble for an hour or two (books + good food + favorite boy = perfect).  I went right to the childrens' book section, of course, and found some interesting new titles.  Including a sequel to Princess Academy by Shannon Hale!  Ahhh!  Anyway.  That's not what I'm talking about today.  But it's newsworthy, just the same.

One of the books I found was simply titled "Wildwood" (the beginning of The Wildwood Chronicles) and featured a fabulously illustrated front cover -- somewhat in the style of The Mysterious Benedict Society (the first book of which is merely ok...I could never drag myself through the second one).  Which makes sense as it is the same illustrator, Carson Ellis (she creates wonderfully old-fashioned, intriguing illustrations, I just love her!).

I wrote it down so I could add it to Goodreads later and promptly put it out of my mind until today when I was trying to think of something you all probably hadn't read yet.

Here's a little peek into what is surely a very mysterious and exciting story:

"How five crows managed to lift a twenty-pound baby boy into the air was beyond Prue, but that was certainly the least of her worries.  In fact, if she were to list her worries right then and there as she sat spellbound on the park bench and watched her little brother, Mac, carried aloft in the talons of these five black crows, puzzling out just how this feat was being done would likely come in dead last.  First on the list: her baby brother, her responsibility, was being abducted by birds.  A close second: What did they plan on doing with him?"

--From Wildwood by Colin Meloy (who is the singer/songwriter for The Decembrists!)


Is that not fabulous?

1. Right away we are intrigued.  Five crows?  Carrying a BABY?
2. Where are they that this could happen?
3. Why is she still sitting there?
4.  Is she going to try to rescue her brother?
5. What ARE the crows going to do with Mac??

I'm on the hunt to see if it's at our local library.

Also: On Monday I'll be posting a review of Lemony Snicket's Who Could That Be At This Hour?

AND since I didn't post anything on Wednesday, I'll be doing a post WITH PICTURES sometime next week.

...Keep reading!