Jones, Patrick. The Main Event.

Jones, Patrick.    The Main Event.                   Millbrook Press/21st Century/Copper Beech  64p           $31.93  978-0-7613-8635-3          2013                        ms/jr                       VG-BN                             Nonfiction           

Professional wrestling, unlike Greco-Roman wrestling, is not a sport, but “sports entertainment”.  Jones provides a thorough history of the carefully choreographed, over-the-top, and completely staged programs that provide entertainment and excitement for thousands of fans.  The fans understand, although the reader may be surprised to learn, that there is an art to making the blows and throws appear real, even if the outcome is predetermined. 

Despite the fixed outcomes and staged fighting, sometimes damage can occur(for example, when Yukon Eric’s ear was torn off in a bout with Killer Kowalski), or when both sides are unaware of or haven’t been properly informed of the predetermined outcome.  Still, in nearly a century of the sport, this type of thuggish behavior is not the norm.  Participants are firmly categorized as “babyfaces” (i.e., good guys) or “heels” (villains).

Jones, clearly a fan, shares the stories of famous ring personalities and their most well-known bouts and signature moves.  These include Gorgeous George, Andre the Giant, the Rock, and Hulk Hogan.  Combined with colorful and dynamic photographs, this book encourages readers to sit back and enjoy the show!

Professional wrestling-History                                                                                                                    --Hilary Welliver

 

Jones, Traci L. Silhouetted By the Blue

Jones, Traci L.   Silhouetted By the Blue  

Farrar Strauss see macmillan child.   2011  200p  16.99 978-0-374-36914-9     ms/jr VG-BN Realistic Fiction  

After her mother’s death, Serena’s father has fallen more an more into “the blue.”  That leaves Serena to deal with the entire house, her younger brother, Henry.  How can she juggle all this and still play the lead in the school musical?     

  Jones had drawn a vivid portrait of a family dealing with clinical depression.  Serena lashes out at her younger brother sometimes, but it is clear she loves him, but is overwhelmed.  She feels she cannot talk to anyone for fear they will taker her father away.  As things get worse and worse, she finally turns to her uncle for help.  The ending is realistic, but  hopeful, and Serena and Henry are beautifully drawn characters.  Teens can indentify with this poignant and difficult story of resilience.                 Depression  Pat Naismith

 

Jones, Jen. Oprah Winfrey

Jones, Jen. Oprah Winfrey
Enslow 2010 128p 31.93
978-0-7660-3406-8 ms/hs Winfrey, Oprah VG-BNS Celebrities with Heart(Enslow)


A biography of American media personality Oprah Winfrey that discusses her childhood, early television career, popular show, charitable work, and other related topics.
In a recent poll nominating the greatest Americans, Oprah Winfrey was named to a top ten spot. After reading Jones’ biography of the vivacious talk show host and philanthropist, it is easy to see why. Winfrey triumphed over poverty and child abuse to rise to the pinnacle of success in her career. With that success came the largess and philanthropy for which she is widely known and admired. Jones traces Winfrey’s life from her birth and her misspelled first name to Winfrey’s decision to end her show in 2011, and everything Oprah in between. The astounding success of her talk show enabled her to establish Oprah’s Angel Network and to fund schools in Africa. She has used her show to promote literature and has launched the careers of well known personalities who first guested on her show. While the primary focus is on Winfrey’s successes and influence, Jones also covers the low points in Winfrey’s career such as the scandal surrounding her school in Africa and lawsuit brought against her by the beef industry. The conversational style makes for an entertaining read and photographs add to the text. A chronology is included as are detailed chapter notes, information for further research and an index. Zajko, Rosanne

Captivate

Jones, Carrie. Captivate
Bloomsbury see St. Martins 2010 276p 16.99
978-1-59990-342-2 ms/hs Fantasy VG
A young soon-to-be pixie king persuades Zara to become his bride in order to save Nick, Zara’s true love, from certain death at the hands of a Valkyrie. Suspense builds then ebbs as the plot shifts from Nick’s peril to Zara’s turning pixie. Grades 7 and up. Fans of Need, the first in this series, will definitely want to read the second in the series to see what happens to Zara, Nick and friends. A young soon-to-be pixie king, Astley, arrives and claims to be a good pixie. He shows acts of kindness to Zara and friends just before the evil pixie king, Zara’s father, manages to escape the prison Zara and friends created. The bad pixie king goes on a feeding rampage. To make matters worse, a Valkyrie wants Nick for her own to become a warrior for Odin, the Norse god. As Nick is captured by the Valkyrie, Zara realizes an alliance with Astley is the only hope to save Nick. The action shifts from the peril the community faces with an evil pixie on the loose and the peril Nick faces at the hands of the Valkyrie to Zara’s conversion into a pixie. As much as Zara fought against pixies, she willingly becomes one. She is able to convince her friends, many of them “were” people, that she is still Zara and will not hurt them and that they all need to band together to find Nick. Possibly too many types of fantastical creatures for one story? Zara’s shift to a pixie causes the plot tension over Nick’s plight to take second place in this middle book of the series. Readers will eagerly await the third book in the series to see if Nick and Zara can be reunited. For diehard Need fans. Grades 7-12.
Recommended where Need, the first in the series, was popular. The first half of Captivate is filled with tension which disintegrates and focuses on the turning of Zara into a Pixie. Still, fans will read this book and eagerly await the sequel. Grades 7-12. McNicol(3),Lois
Pixies - Fiction

Jones, Carrie Need

Jones, Carrie Need
Bloomsbury see St. Martins 2009 306p 16.99 978-1-59990-338-5 ms/hs

Move over vampires, pixies are the greatest fear. Zara goes to live with her grandma, a weretiger. They confront the King Pixie who is lusting after Zara’s mother. Who to trust becomes a puzzle for Zara to figure out. Fast paced, suspenseful fantasy. Grades 7-12. Move over vampires, pixies are the greatest fear. Zara has been in a state of depression ever since she witnessed her step-father’s death in the kitchen. Her mother decides the best thing for Zara is to send her to her grandmother’s house in Maine. Zara starts to come out of her funk and makes friends at school. Zara’s sense of peace is quickly disturbed when a man whom she saw on the day of her step-father’s death shows up in Maine. Is he stalking her? Who is he? Turns out he is the king pixie who tried to turn Zara’s mother into a pixie. As Zara learns about pixies she comes to realize that students around her may be pixies and others may be “were”. Who should she trust? Is she part pixie? Filled with fast-paced action and suspense dripping from every page, this book will make readers look over their shoulder searching to see if any pixie dust appears around them as they read this book. Zara eventually outsmarts the pixie king thus saving a fellow student, her mother and the community from the pixie’s blood lust. Without extreme sensuality or gore, this book will keep the fantasy reader reading late into the night with an iron flashlight handy. Two typographical errors appear: one on page 79 where the “fi” in benefit and unspecified do not appear. The other is on page 149, second line where worrying is spelled worring. Gripping fantasy for grades 8-12. LMN