COVER CHARACTERISTIC (#1): LADDERS

"She's the kind of girl who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong." 

Mae West

*Cover Characteristic is a book meme hosted by Sugar & Snark. Check it out and participate!

1. The Name at the End of the Ladder by Elena de Roo

Summary:

Twelve-year-old September is determined to choose an adventurous name for herself from the Name Bank – not like all her friends, who are named after flowers or trees.

Soon she discovers she has no choice, unless she can win an ancient and mysterious board game. And every roll of the dice leads her further into danger.

2. Larry's Party by Carol Shields

Summary:

Larry Weller, born in 1950, is an ordinary guy made extraordinary by his creator's perception, irony and tenderness. Carol Shields gives us, as it were, a CAT scan of his life, in episodes between 1977 and 1997 that flash back and forward seamlessly. As Larry journeys toward the millennium, adapting to society's changing expectations of men, Shields' elegant prose makes the trivial into the momentous. 

Among all the paradoxes and accidents of his existence, Larry moves through the spontaneity of the seventies, the blind enchantment of the eighties and the lean, mean nineties, completing at last his quiet, stubborn search of self. Larry's odyssey mirrors the male condition at the end of our century with targeted wit, unerring poignancy and faultless wisdom.

3. Froelich's Ladder by Jamie Duclos-Yourdon

Summary:

Uncle Froelich nurses a decades-old family grudge from his perch atop a giant ladder. When he’s discovered missing, his nephew embarks on a rain-soaked trek across a nineteenth century Pacific Northwest landscape to find him, accompanied by an ornery girl with a most unfortunate name.

In their encounters with Confederate assassins, European expatriates, and a general store magnate, this fairytale twist on the American dream explores the conflicts between loyalty and ambition and our need for human connection, even at the highest rungs.

4. The Ladder by Halfdan Rasmussen, Marilyn Nelson (Translator), Pierre Pratt (Illustrator)

Summary:

A curious ladder inadvertently becomes a pathway to the clouds in this droll, interactive translation of an enchanting Danish poem.

So first it did a little dance,
then it did a little prance,
then, as nicely as you please,
it waddled off with stiff red knees.

Once there was a jaunty ladder, abandoned by a mysterious carpenter, that sprung to life and decided to take a trip through the countryside. As time passed, the gentle ladder found itself intrigued by a series of encounters with people and animals that climbed it to the top and disappeared into the sky, only to return, one by one, in a triumphant parade at the end.

5. Greegs & Ladders by Zack Mitchell, Danny Mendlow

Summary:

Greegs & Ladders is a wildly exciting tale of three oddball characters romping around space and time. Equal parts social satire and fun loving adventure, Greegs promises laughs, a few mildly intelligent and/or interesting observations, & several run-on sentences. 

You'll also get to find out what the hell Greegs are, and how life on Earth came to be, and the meaning of it all (at no extra charge.)