The Humming Room

The Humming Room
A Novel Inspired by The Secret Garden
By Ellen Potter

Since The Secret Garden was one of my favorite books when I was growing up, I was curious about this book by Ellen Potter.
In The Humming Room, 12-year-old Roo Fanshaw is sent to a foster home after her father dies in a drug-related shooting...but an estranged, very rich uncle agrees to take her in to his desolate children's-hospital-turned-mansion on a tiny island (Cough Rock) in the St. Lawrence River.
There is indeed an almost-dead, haunted secret garden in the house, which Roo revives along with some mysterious new friends.
This is a shorter, modern version of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic novel.

Queen of the Falls

Queen of the Falls
By Chris Van Allsburg

I'm a big fan of all of Chris Van Allsburg's books. I love his detailed illustrations--sometimes creepy, sometimes haunting--and the unusual stories that accompany these pictures. Queen of the Falls is the biography of an unusual and little-known woman who, at age 62, climbed into a wooden barrel and plummeted over Niagara Falls in an attempt at fame and fortune! She survived, but didn't make a lot of money for her efforts, even though it was a very daring feat. That was in 1901! Annie Taylor remains the only woman to have ever gone over the falls alone (and only one of nine who have survived the trip at all).