There's A Mouse Hiding In This Book!
Tom & Jerry
By Benjamin Bird
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Pub. Date: September 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1623701253
Pages: 32

Review:

Tom & Jerry has been entertaining millions of cartoon fans since 1940 with its simple premise of a cat chasing a mouse. From theatrical shorts, animated series and made-to-video animated movies, the cat and mouse have stayed popular over the years with each  generation of children.

Arriving on in bookstores from Capstone Young Readers is the picture book, There's A Mouse Hiding In This Book staring Tom & Jerry.

Tom the cat is upset that Jerry the mouse has entered his picture book. Jerry has stepped into some paint and his footprints are on each page. Tom follows the footprints in the hopes of finally catching the mouse. From mousetraps to a dog, it seems Tom keeps running into anything and everything except for Jerry, as the mouse is too clever for him.

A Light in the Wilderness
by Jane Kirkpatrick
Publisher: Revell
Pub. Date: September 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-0800722319
Pages: 320
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving in bookstores tomorrow is the historical western A Light in the Wilderness by Jane Kirkpatrick. I'm a big fan of historical westerns, but I have never read read a title by the author, though I'm more than aware of the author's works, as my grandmother has read the Tender Ties series. That being said, I was looking forward to reading A Light in the Wilderness, which I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

A Light in the Wilderness tells the true story of Letitia Carson, who was one of the first free African Americans, as she journeys from Kentucky to Oregon. After being freed by her owner, Letitia joins a wagon train that is headed west, where she meets an Irish immigrant cattleman, Davey Carson. Eventually the two get married and start a family, even though back then their marriage wouldn't have been legal. After her husband's death, Letitia had to fight to keep the land that she owned.

This book not only tells the story of Letitia Carson, but it also tells the story of two other strong women, Nancy Hawkins - a white woman, who travels in the same wagon train that Letitia is in and becomes friends with her; and Betsy, a Kalapuya Indian living in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, who also befriends Letitia.

Draft Day
Director: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Frank Langella, Sam Elliot, Ellen Burstyn, Chadwick Boseman
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Retail: $39.99
ASIN: B00KVFHBP6
Running Time: 110 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on DVD and Blu-ray on September 2nd from Summit Entertainment is the NFL drama Draft Day. The film is directed by Ivan Reitman and stars Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Frank Langella, Sam Elliot, Ellen Burstyn and Chadwick Boseman. Special Features include: "On the Clock: The Making of Draft Day" Documentary (Blu-ray Exclusive); "Welcome to Primetime" Featurette (Blu-ray Exclusive); Audio Commentary with the Writers; Deleted Scenes; and Theatrical Trailer.

Draft Day takes place during the fictionalized 2014 NFL Draft and centers on Cleveland Browns General Manager Sonny Weaver Jr. (played by Kevin Costner). He is still mourning the death of his father, who happens to the be the Brown's former coach that he fired, but he must concentrate on picking the perfect player for the team, which isn't easy with the 7th draft pick.

Opportunity knocks when the manager of the Seattle Seahawks offers him an intriguing deal - the 1st draft pick in exchange for the Bowns' first three picks for the next three years. He refuses the offer at first, but eventually accepts it after being pressured to "make a splash" by the Browns owner Anthony Molina (played by Frank Langella). Anthony wants him to pick University of Wisconsin quarterback, Bo Callahan, which upsets the head coach (played by Denis Leary) as he wanted the running back Ray Jennings as this year's first pick.

Transformers Beast Machines: The Complete Series
Voice Cast: Gary Chalk, Ian James Corlett, Scott McNeil, Venus Terzo
Studio: Shout! Factory
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Retail: $29.93
ASIN: B00KTFJ79Q
Running Time: 690 minutes
Rating: TV-Y7
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

With Transformers: Age of Extinction taking in over a billion dollars worldwide at the box-office over the summer, it is no surprise that Shout! Factory would release more Transformers cartoon series to DVD for a new generation of fans. Arriving on DVD on September 2nd is Transformers Beast Machines: The Complete Series, featuring all 26 episodes. Bonus features include audio commentaries and interviews with voice director Susan Blu, voice actor David Kaye, story editor Robert N. Skir and series developer Marv Wolfman.

Picking up where Transformers Beast Wars (1996-1999) ended, Beast Machines debuted in 1999 and aired for two seasons. Using computer animation, the series centered on the Maximals (Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap and Blackarachnia), whom suddenly arrived on Cybertron with no memory of how they got there. They are stuck in their beast modes and are unable to transform when they are attacked by mindless Vehicon drones. To make matters even worse, the Maximals learn that they all have a deadly virus. Their only hope lies in a supercomputer, Oracle, who reformats them into technorganic Transformers.

The Maximals quickly learn that Megatron is alive and is now in complete control of Cybertron. In order to defeat Megatron and find out what happened to the other Maximals, they must learn how to balance their technological sides with their organic sides.

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R.L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend?
Director: Peter Hewitt
Starring: Bella Thorne, Ryan Ochoa, Madison Pettis, Roshon Fegan
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Retail: $26.98
ASIN: B00LFHYWRO
Running Time: 91 minutes
Rating: PG
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on DVD on Tuesday September 2nd is the horror-comedy sequel - R.L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend? from Universal Home Entertainment. The film is directed by Peter Hewitt (Garfield: The Movie) and stars Bella Thorne (Shake It Up!), Ryan Ochoa (Pair of Kings), Madison Pettis (Mostly Ghostly: Who Let The Ghosts Out?, The Game Plan) and Roshon Fegan (Shake It Up!). There are no special features or bonus extras.

Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend? is the sequel to 2008's Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out? and is based on the popular children book series by R.L. Stine. Due to the six year gap between movies, all of the actors have been replaced except for Madison Pettis, who returns as Tara Roland.

The plot centers once again on twelve-year-old Max Doyle (played by Ryan Ochoa) and his best-friends, Nicky (played by Roshon Fegan) and Tara Roland, who are both ghosts. His parents (played by Eric Allan Kramer and Gigi Rice) and his older brother (played by Calum Worthy) have no idea that ghosts are living in their house. While Max isn't trying to be a magician, he is trying to impress a popular girl, Cammy (played by Bella Thorne) by joining the school's soccer, which leads to him being invited to the Halloween party.

Besides from AMC's Hell On Wheels, the western genre is almost extinct on television. There use to be dozens of western novels being published monthly, but now there are only a few. Luckily for western readers, Galaxy Press is releasing all of L. Ron Hubbard's short stories from the 1930s and 1940s as audiobooks and paperbacks; giving a new generation a chance to read his works, which includes several western adventures.

Under the Diehard Brand was originally published in the March 1938 issue of Western Aces and centers on a  young trail-hand, Lee Thompson, who journeys from Texas to Montana to search for his father, Diehard Thompson.

Diehard is the sheriff of Wolf River, but time has caught up with him and he is not capable of handling the town's troublemakers anymore. He hadn't seen his son, Lee, in over fifteen years, so when Lee arrives in town, he doesn't recognize the boy.

The Berenstain Bears: Blessed are the Peacemakers
by Mike Berenstain
Based on the Charcters by Stan & Jan Berenstain
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Release Date: July 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0310734819
Pages: 24 pages
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Since 1962, generations of  kids have enjoyed reading about Papa, Mama, Brother and Sister Bear. The characters were created by the late Stan & Jan Berenstain. The series has over 300 published titles with approximately 260 million copies in 23 languages around the world. The authors' son, Mike, is continuing the franchise by writing and illustrating new books for a new generation.

The newest installment, titled The Berenstain Bears: Blessed are the Peacemakers, was released last month from Zonderkidz (a trademark of Zondervan) under the Living Lights series. Similar to other recent Berenstain books, this one has a Christian theme.

In the Blessed are the Peacemakers, Brother and Sister Bear are excited about participating in the Bear Country School play, Romeo and Grizzliet, but they are also worried that there will be a conflict with the play's leads, Ferdy Factual and Queenie McBear, as there is a rival with Ferdy's gang and Too Talls' gang, which Queenie is a member of. Brother and Sister Bear must become peacemakers to help to stop the feud.