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Briefly vice president in charge of programming at NBC, Levy brought Dr. Kildare, Bonanza and the Movie of the Week to the network, but he is best known as the creator of the classic show The Addams Family, based on the ghoulish single-panel cartoons of New Yorker artist Charles Addams. The show ran on ABC from 1964 to 1966. Levy died in Los Angeles on January 25 at age 87. From This is True for 30 January 2000 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Deborah Ellis List Price: $16.95 Amazon Price: $16.95 Editorial Review: There is a lion in our village, and it is carrying away our children. At her father's funeral, Binti's grandmother utters the words that no one in Malawi wants to hear. Binti's father and her mother before him, dies of AIDS. Binti, her sister, and brother are separated and sent to the home of relatives who can barely tolerate their presence. Ostracized by their extended family, the orphans are treated like the lowest servants. With her brother far away and her sister wallowing in her own sorrow, Binti can hardly contain her rage. She, Binti Phirim, was once a child star of a popular radio program. Now she is scraping to survive. Binti always believed she was special, now she is nothing but a common AIDS orphan. Binti Phiri is not about to give up. Even as she clings to hope that her former life will be restored, she must face a greater challenge. If she and her brother and sister are to reunited, Binti Phiri will have to look outside herself and find a new way to be special. Compelling and uplifting, The Heaven Shop, is a contemporary novel that puts a very real face on the African AIDS pandemic, which to-date has orphaned more than 11 million African children. Inspired by a young radio performer the author met during her research visit to Malawi, Binti Phiri is a compelling character that readers will never forget. Awards and Nominations: Ontario Library Association's Golden Oak Award winner 2006 Winner of the 2005 Jane Addams Children's Book Award in the category of Honor Books for Older Children Shortlisted for the 2006 Alberta Children's Choice Book Award A Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards Honour Book for 2006 Foreword Magazine 2004 Book of the Year Award finalist A Children's Africana Book Awards (CABA) 2005 Honor Book for Older Readers A Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice 2005 Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award for Young Adult/Middle Reader Books finalist Red Maple Book Award nominee 2005  By: Linda Sue Park List Price: $16.00 Amazon Price: $16.00 Editorial Review: Inspired by her own family's stories of living in South Korea during the Japanese occupation in the years preceding World War II, Newbery Medal-winning author Linda Sue Park chronicles the compelling story of two siblings, 10-year-old Sun-hee and 13-year-old Tae-yul, and their battle to maintain their identity and dignity during one of Korea's most difficult and turbulent times. In alternating first-person chapters, they relate their family's troubles under the strict fascist regime. The Kim family is stripped of their cultural symbols, only permitted to learn Japanese history and language, and forced to convert their names to Japanese. Sun-hee, now Keoko, struggles to reconcile her Korean home life with her Japanese school and friends, while Tae-yul, now Nobuo, attempts to convert his growing anger into a more positive passion for flight and airplanes. Both are worried for their uncle, whom they discover is printing an underground Korean resistance paper. When Sun-hee inadvertently puts her uncle's life in danger, she sets in motion a chain of events that results in her brother volunteering as a pilot for the Japanese near the end of WWII. While Sun-hee and her parents wait in breathless uncertainty to hear from Tae-yul, the war rushes to a close, leaving Korea's destiny hanging in the balance. This well-researched historical novel is accompanied by a thoughtful author's note that explains what happened to Korea and families like the Kims after WWII and a bibliography to entice interested young readers into learning more about a topic largely unknown to American audiences. (Ages 10 to 14) --Jennifer HubertSun-hee and her older brother, Tae-yul, live in Korea with their parents. Because Korea is under Japanese occupation, the children study Japanese and speak it at school. Their own language, their flag, the folktales Uncle tells themeven their namesare all part of the Korean culture that is now forbidden. When World War II comes to Korea, Sun-hee is surprised that the Japanese expect their Korean subjects to fight on their side. But the greatest shock of all comes when Tae-yul enlists in the Japanese army in an attempt to protect Uncle, who is suspected of aiding the Korean resistance. Sun-hee stays behind, entrusted with the life-and-death secrets of a family at war.  By: Katherine Paterson List Price: $15.00 Amazon Price: $10.20 Editorial Review: Angel Morgan needs help. Daddy is in jail, and Mama has abandoned her and her little brother, leaving them with their great-grandmother. Grandma is aged and poor, and doesn't make any attempt to care for the children—that's left up to Angel, even though she is not yet twelve. The only bright spot in Angel's existence is the Star Man, a mysterious stranger who appears on clear nights and teaches her all about the stars and planets and constellations. "We're made out of the same stuff as the stars," he tells her. Eventually, Grandma warms to the children and the three begin to cobble together a makeshift family. Then events in Angel's life take yet another downturn, and she must once again find a way to persevere. Katherine Paterson's keen sensitivity and penetrating sense of drama bring us a moving story of throwaway children, reminding us of the incredible resilience of childhood and the unquenchable spirit that, in spite of loss, struggles to new beginnings.  List Price: $13.99 Amazon Price: $13.99 Addams Family: The Official Movie Magazine List Price: $4.95 Amazon Price: $4.95 |
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