Kirjahaku

Schematics and Assemblies of the Cosmic Heart is poetry of collisions and connections. A cosmic landscape with its own laws of physics, bending with the impact and force of human passion and imagination. The poems are at once personal and archetypal, rich in the joy and sadness of human connection, but all the while connecting to something abstract and eternal. The focus may settle on a brittle image, domestic or mythical, or on a transitory feeling that unexpectedly opens into a transcendental vista and then, perhaps, closes again. Each poem is tightly sculpted and easily read, but in a way that keeps readers reaching, connecting the dots in their own cosmic lives.

Phineas Frecklehopper was not always picked first at sports. He couldn't always remember to take a bath or brush his teeth or do his homework in every single subject. Still, he considered himself a normal boy in most respects. But he did have one peculiar hobby, or at least others thought it peculiar. Phineas loved to cook. From pepperoni pizza to pecan pie, if it could be cooked, Phineas would cook it. And this is how he got into trouble. Walking home with his Aunt Rosalee's fudge pie recipe, he gives a smart reply to the neighborhood bullies, and he runs. With all his might he runs until he tumbles into the hedges and out to a zany world of giants and tiny people. A magical journey to the castle ensues, where he must use his cooking skills and some quick mathematical thinking to save the day ... and himself Written by an SCBWI member and award winner in juvenile fiction, Phineas Frecklehopper relies on humor, a clear plot sequence, a playful attention to language, and strong characters. The mathematical concept in the story (proportion) is further explored in an epilogue with try-it-yourself recipes that must be converted from measurements taken in the magical land beyond the hedges. The main character, a boy toward the upper end of the 8-12 target age group, is someone that independent readers of that age can relate to and care about.

Kids poking for hidden silver in an abandoned house awaken long-forgotten ghosts with their own agenda and the house's dark memories of racism and betrayal. The quest for the silver is especially nerve-racking for Annie, the one who actually sees the ghosts, both of her deceased mother and of the bygone denizens of the house. Her friends want to believe her but can't, and she herself is torn between running away from it all and following the ghosts into the house's dark history. Joined by some mysterious old characters on the block, the kids finally save the community from its own past. Written by an award-winning writer with a Ph.D. in English literature, this short novel is good for all ages, 14-99.