Lewis Buzbee – författare

It''s been two months since Travis''s family moved to a development so new that it seems totally unreal. His parents are working harder now, to pay for it all, and Travis is left to fend for himself.

There''s one place, though, where Travis can still connect with his old life: the Salinas library. Travis and his family used to go there together every Saturday, but now he bikes to it alone, re-reading his favorite books.

It''s only natural that Travis likes the work of author John Steinbeck—after all, Salinas is Steinbeck''s hometown. But that can''t explain why Travis is suddenly seeing Steinbeck''s characters spring to life. There''s the homeless man in the alley behind the library, the line of figures at the top of a nearby ridge, the boy who writes by night in an attic bedroom. Travis has met them all before—as a reader. But why are they here now? And how?

As Travis struggles to solve this mystery, budget cuts threaten his library. And so, he embarks on a journey through Steinbeck''s beautiful California landscape, looking for a way to save his safe haven. It''s only then that he begins to sort out fact from fiction, discovering the many ways a story can come alive—and stumbling into a story Steinbeck might have started, and Travis needs to complete.

Here is a mystery that delves deeply into the ways that books take us, one at a time, out into the vast world.

Meg Pickel’s older brother, Orion, has disappeared. One night, Meg steals out to look for him and makes two surprising discoveries: She stumbles upon a séance that she suspects involves Orion, and she meets the author Charles Dickens, also unable to sleep, and roaming the London streets. He is a customer of Meg’s father, who owns a print shop, and a family friend. Mr. Dickens fears for Orion’s safety and for the children of London, and is trying to solve the mystery of their many disappearances. If he can, with Meg’s help, then perhaps Dickens will be able to write once again.

It''s been two months since Travis''s family moved to a development so new that it seems totally unreal. His parents are working harder now, to pay for it all, and Travis is left to fend for himself.There''s one place, though, where Travis can still connect with his old life: the Salinas library. Travis and his family used to go there together every Saturday, but now he bikes to it alone, re-reading his favorite books.It''s only natural that Travis likes the work of author John Steinbeck—after all, Salinas is Steinbeck''s hometown. But that can''t explain why Travis is suddenly seeing Steinbeck''s characters spring to life. There''s the homeless man in the alley behind the library, the line of figures at the top of a nearby ridge, the boy who writes by night in an attic bedroom. Travis has met them all before—as a reader. But why are they here now? And how?As Travis struggles to solve this mystery, budget cuts threaten his library. And so, he embarks on a journey through Steinbeck''s beautiful California landscape, looking for a way to save his safe haven. It''s only then that he begins to sort out fact from fiction, discovering the many ways a story can come alive—and stumbling into a story Steinbeck might have started, and Travis needs to complete.Here is a mystery that delves deeply into the ways that books take us, one at a time, out into the vast world.

Meg Pickel''s older brother, Orion, has disappeared. One night, she steals out to look for him, and makes two surprising discoveries: She stumbles upon a séance that she suspects involves Orion, and she meets the author Charles Dickens, also unable to sleep, and roaming the London streets. He is a customer of Meg''s father, who owns a print shop, and a family friend. Mr. Dickens fears that the children of London aren''t safe, and is trying to solve the mystery of so many disappearances. If he can, then perhaps he''ll be able to write once again. With stunning black-and-white illustrations by Greg Ruth, here is a literary mystery that celebrates the power of books, and brings to life one of the world''s best-loved authors.

"I cannot remember when I read a book with such delight." —Paul Yamazaki, City Lights BookstoreNovember, a dark, rainy Tuesday, late afternoon. This is my ideal time to be in a bookstore. The shortened light of the afternoon and the idleness and hush of the hour gather everything close, the shelves and the books and the few other customers who graze head-bent in the narrow aisles. I''ve come to find a book.In The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, Buzbee, a former bookseller and sales representative, celebrates the unique experience of the bookstore—the smell and touch of books, getting lost in the deep canyons of shelves, and the silent community of readers. He shares his passion for books, which began with ordering through The Weekly Reader in grade school. Interwoven throughout is afascinating historical account of the bookseller''s trade—from the great Alexandria library with an estimated one million papyrus scrolls to Sylvia Beach''s famous Paris bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, which led to the extraordinary effort to publish and sell James Joyce''s Ulysses during the 1920s.Rich with anecdotes, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is the perfect choice for those who relish the enduring pleasures of spending an afternoon finding just the right book.

A captivating meditation on education from the author of The Yellow-Lighted BookshopIn Blackboard, Lewis Buzbee looks back over a lifetime of experiences in schools and classrooms, from kindergarten to college and beyond. He offers fascinating histories of the key ideas informing educational practice over the centuries, which have shaped everything from class size to the layout of desks and chairs. Buzbee deftly weaves his own biography into this overview, approaching his subject as a student, a father, and a teacher. In so doing, he offers a moving personal testament to how he, "an average student" in danger of flunking out of high school, became the first in his family to graduate from college. He credits his success to the well-funded California public school system and bemoans the terrible price that state is paying as a result of funding being cut from today''s budgets. For Buzbee, the blackboard is a precious window into the wider world, which we ignore at our peril."Both anecdotal and eloquent, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is a tribute to those who crave the cozy confines of a bookshop, a place to be ‘alone among others'' and savor a bountiful literary buffet." —Booklist (starred review)