A rather strange book. It's got spaceship, but there's magic. Magic from BONES! And there are magic SKELETONS! It's all a bit much, I shall have to see what the next book brings.
Quote:
Gideon reflexively checked her pulse in case she was still dead. -- pg. 232
A space shuttle astronaut tells of his life with NASA. I laughed, I cried. One of the most enjoyable books I've ever read.
Although it IS listed in the table of contents, I didn't discover the glossary until I finished the book. I had complained bitterly during the reading...
Raphael and his family, and many others, live at a giant dump near a big city in a unnamed country, where they sort the garbage. He finds something valuable, something the corrupt police are willing to bribe, beat, and maybe even kill to retrieve for a corrupt politician. Good story.
A landing plane crashes into a plane getting waiting to take off at Kansas City Airport. The story is mostly the dramatic investigation by the NTSB, and the politics involved. Good story! Published in 1990 the tech (especially cell phone!) is a bit dated, still good!
A retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamlen. Salz is a young boy with a chronic coughing disease. The town's animal are losing limbs, and so are the people. And then they die. The plague of rats is blamed, and the piper is called. A very dark story. The author's postscript reveals the true cause of the disease, and also what Salz is afflicted with.
David lives in New York City with his asthmatic mother and sometimes overbearing lawyer father. He gets Cat from the cat-lady neighbor, meets a girl, a burglar (of sorts, not really), and has fights with his friend. Interesting look at the neighborhoods of New York. A gentle book. Newbery Medal winner in 1963.