From last week's Book Sense bestseller lists, available at BookSense.com, here are the recommended titles, which are also Book Sense Picks:
Hardcover
Super America: Stories by Anne Panning (University of Georgia Press, $24.95, 9780820329963/0820329967). "This edgy collection is a wonder. You'll fall in love with Panning's characters--and be maddened by their heartlessness. She employs a variety of settings, from a Mexican monastery to an Oregon laundromat. 'Hillbillies' exemplifies her skill and wit: It's up to the hillbillies who live next to a custom-homes development to tell their new neighbors their homes are sinking into the swamp they're built on."--Archie Kutz, Lift Bridge Book Shop, Brockport, N.Y.
Paperback
River by Lowen Clausen (Silo Press, $14.95, 9780972581127/097258112X). "After the death of his son, a father takes the river voyage he has always dreamed of. Starting out from his family farm on the headwaters in the Sandhills of Nebraska, his inner voyage takes him to new acceptance of the son he never said goodbye to in life, while he faces the solitude and challenges of the river itself. The land plays as large a part of the story as do the people on the river. Lowen Clausen has written an exquisitely heartbreaking novel, with a soul as big as the eponymous river."--Tammy Domike, Jackson Street Books, Seattle, Wash.
For Children to Age 8
Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman (Holt, $16.95, 9780805079531/080507953X). "This is the best multicultural book I've seen in a long time. The Cinderella story is told in more than one thousand countries, and this book opens windows to many of those traditions. Cinderella flits to a different country on every page, and the illustrations are gorgeous. We cannot keep this book on our shelves."--Laura DeLaney, The Rediscovered Bookshop, Boise, Idaho
For Ages 9 to 12
Little Klein by Anne Ylvisaker (Candlewick, $15.99, 9780763633592/0763633593). "Little Klein is a gem! He is the youngest of several strapping, mischievous Klein boys. Their salesman father is absent for weeks at a time, and their mother is a wise, gutsy woman. A stray dog named LeRoy joins the fray, with delightful results."--Sue Carita, The Toadstool Bookshop, Milford, N.H.
[Many thanks to Book Sense and the ABA!]