The Invisible, a young adult novel by Mats Wahl and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, was first published  in Sweden and made into a movie there. A U.S. film version will open in April 2007.

It’s about Hilmer, a 15-year-old boy in a small Swedish town, who slowly realizes that he has become invisible and is believed missing. A police detective named Harald Fors arrives at school that very morning to investigate Hilmer’s disappearance. Hilmer grows frightened and realizes that he’s starting to forgett things including what happened to him two nights earlier.

Detective Fors suspects foul play by a group of skinheads. As Fors scours the village and interviews area residents for clues, he begins to piece together the puzzle of Hilmer’s disappearance. Meanwhile Hilmer waits to discover what has happened to him.

Teens and adults will appreciate how Wahl slowly gives us – and main character Hilmer – clues about what happened. While you and Dective Fors have your suspicions, it isn’t until the end that the author lets us know what really happened. The Invisible reminds me a little of the narration in Alice Seabold’s The Lovely Bones – slightly creepy but very unique. Teenagers will enjoy this murder mystery and find The Invisible a hard book to put down.

Click here for more YA book reviews.

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I will be hosting the Carnival of the Recipes on October 21. So please send me your tried-and-true kid-tested and kid-approved recipes. You can do this three ways:

1. By commenting below. Don’t forget to provide a link to your recipe post (not just to your blog) and your name and the name of your blog.
2. You can email me the link at recipe.carnival@gmail.com along with your name and the name of your blog.
3. You can go through Blog Carnival to add your recipe post in a quick minute. Just click on the box below.

Today is Blog Action Day where bloggers are uniting to post about the environment. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future. So what better way to get kids interested in the environment than with a book about turtles?

Turtle Feet, Surfer’s Beat by Marina Kuperman is a the story of an American teenager, Penelope, whose family moves to Costa Rica due to her father’s job. He’s been assigned to take pictures of endangered leatherback turtles.

Upon their arrival Penelope’s mother informs her that she’s been registered to do a two-week volunteer session at the Leatherback Turtle Biological Center. She’s not thrilled at the prospect, and can’t stand the bugs or the accomodations.

However, that’s soon forgotten when she has her first encounter with the turtles. Soon, Penelope promises to do all she can to help save the species from being wiped out. But the turtles aren’t her only interest – there’s Kendall, a gorgeous surf champ. He too is passionate about the environment and shares his goal to preserve South American marine life with Penelope.

Fall in love, learn to surf, save leatherback turtles, and defeat black market poachers – sounds like an adventure that will appeal to Young Adult readers worldwide.

Click here to order. (You can order the e-book now or wait until November 15 to get the paperback). 10% of all the proceeds go directly to saving the Leatherback Turtle and other marine animals.

More About the Turtle Feet, Surfer Beat Website

I’ve been in touch with Marina, the author, who told me why the book’s website is directed more at building community rather than focusing directly on the book. (Check out her blog, Backstage Pass to Turtle Feet, Surfer’s Beat, too.)

I figure, a good read helps to get us all hyped-up to take action and make a difference, especially if it’s for a good cause. And that’s exactly what my book intends to do. Since, we are all in the know about the conditions of our oceans, and really wanna do something to start making a difference.

Plus, we also know that everything is so much more fun to do when you’re having a blast at it with friends. So, that’s exactly what www.turtlefeetsurfersbeat.com is all about. It’s not your typical site of more information thrown at you, but rather a way to get involved and join forces with your favorite surfers, musicians, artists, conservationists, and other cool people already taking action.

Marina was also kind enough to share recipes for two Costa Rican dishes, Arroz Con Leche and Gallo Pinto.

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One of the best stories about magical beasts is Beauty and the Beast of course! Your kids have probably seen the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, which I adore. However, Lucie is scared of the beast and the ending, so we don’t watch it much even though the music and animation is wonderful.

This is a shame because Belle is my idea of a good feminist storybook heroine. She’s smart and loves to read. She also loves her father and friends and is very loyal to them. Also, for once in a Disney flick, Belle doesn’t fall in love with the good looking guy, Gaston. Instead, Belle goes for the ugly Beast because of his character and heart. Belle’s a decent roll model for girls, which is why I love the story so much.

Usborne Books has a beautifully illustrated version of Beauty and the Beast. For children seven years and up, their version is based on the original version by Gabrielle de Villeneuve written in 1740 and a retelling by another French writer, Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, which was written in 1756. The story revolves about Beauty’s father stealing a red rose from the Beast’s garden.

And you’ll be a beast for these pumpkin muffins (with Weight Watchers POINTS info for all us moms trying to stay trim and healthy).

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Halloween is a time when children (and some adults – you know who you are!) let their imaginations run wild. A book that reminds me of this is What Eddie Can Do by Wilfried Gebhard. Eddie is so busy exploring rain forests, traveling through space, and flying with birds that he doesn’t have time to tie his shoes.

Actually, he’s avoiding learning how to tie his sneakers, but finally conquers the “double-tailed monster” with the help of his mom.

In What Eddie Can Do, kids ages four to eight will appreciate Eddie’s vivid imagination. Parents will relate to all the ways Eddie will avoid something hard and slightly scary. All will like the step-by-step “how to tie your shoes” illustrations. (This title is available in Spanish as Lo Que Eduardo Sabe Hacer from Kane/Miller Book Publishers.)

Now how about a Jack-O-Lantern Smoothie courtesy of Horizon Organic?

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