Spooky Season Reads

�The recipes are concisely written and should provide owners of convection ovens with a solid initial repertoire.�

�Publishers Weekly

Cooking in a convection oven yields cakes, pies, and homemade breads that are consistently lighter and more flavorful; meat and poultry that are brown and sizzling while remaining tender and juicy; and casseroles and vegetables that are cooked to perfection every time. Convection oven cooking promises all this, plus it is safe, simple, economical, and convenient.

Your local bakeries and neighborhood pizza parlors have been using these ovens for years. Now that you have one of your own, discover all the delicious foods it can help you prepare with this enlightening cookbook.

Convection Oven Cooking offers more than 125 excellent recipes to expand your basic repertoire. For everyday meals you'll want to try:

• Beef Pot Roast
• Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
• Cornbread
• Acorn Squash
• Tuna Casserole
• Deep-Dish Apple Pie

And for special meals, delight everyone with:

• Beef Burgundy
• Coconut Custard Pie
• Jackie's Egg Twist Bread
• Broccoli Casserole
• Salmon Souffl
• Peach Kuchen

The heartbreaking story of two Acadian lovers separated during the expulsion of the French settlers from Nova Scotia.

J is for jack-o'-lantern in this spooky ABC book.

Outlaws who preyed on traffic along the Natchez Trace from Natchez to New Orleans from about 1880 until 1885, among other violent and lawless acts, planned to build an empire using the labor of stolen slaves. This is the 90th anniversary edition, original and unabridged.

Celebrate your differences and be the best “you” possible!

Charlie is a maintenance streetcar. He is small and clunky and definitely not as shiny as the other cars. He spends his days laying sand on the rail lines or repairing the more popular streetcars. He doesn’t feel valued or liked by the other streetcars, and his hard work is often overlooked. It takes a series of emergencies for the other cars to learn that sometimes the person you never notice is exactly the person you need! Author and illustrator Vernon Smith takes his love of iconic New Orleans streetcars to another level in this picture book for everyone who has ever felt left out or ignored. Charlie might be different from the other streetcars, but being different is what makes him special.

Vernon Smith has been creating art since he was able to hold a pencil. He provides graphics for a wide variety of businesses through his studio, MacFearsome Comic Squares. A graduate of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Smith earned a BFA from the University of New Orleans. He has worked on several comic-book series, including his own The Adventures of Dexter Breakfast and the successfully crowd-funded Hide. When not creating, Smith focuses on his most important role—being a father.

The warlord�s presence is requested at the emperor�s banquet in two weeks, but he is sixteen days away by horseback. Using their math skills, ingenuity, and the wind, Chuan and Jing Jing reach the warlord�s camp and encourage him to use their sailing cart to travel to the feast. The Warlord�s Messengers is the sixth book in the acclaimed Warlord�s Series, and includes directions for making your own windsock as well as suggestions for velocity-related math activities.

Take a streetcar ride through the Crescent City!

Snowballs, second lines, balconies, and gardens—when you’re in New Orleans, you won’t want to miss any of the sights and sounds! In this colorful new picture book, hop on the streetcar at St. Charles Avenue and follow the rolling rhymes past Uptown mansions and Garden District greenery. Switch to the red line and glide by Mid-City homes and through the historic French Quarter. This book is your family’s ticket to the wildlife, buildings, and culture that make New Orleans a place unlike any other! Hold on tight to the handrail, because with Marion Rea Brian’s charming storytelling and Jennifer Lindsley’s light-hearted illustrations, you’re in for the ride of your life!

Nana loves to make Kole magical green dinosaur pancakes for breakfast. In Green Dinosaur Pancakes Kole discovered Nana’s pancakes come to life and the strongest survive their morning spats! In this sequel, the green T-Rex just won’t leave Kole alone. When Kole encounters a school bully, the prehistoric pancake helps him out of a sticky situation. In this anti-bullying tale, Kole and the green reptile stand up to the bully and learn that a little kindness can go a long way and that friends can come from the most unexpected places. Author Kat Pigott offers a timely lesson and talented teenage artist Mason Sibley provides appealing characters in this entertaining story.

Distinctive demises and bizarre burials of the Southern states.



Inspired by actual newspaper articles, these disturbing and bizarre accounts explore the macabre, and sometimes humorous, instances of death and dying.

The tragedy of death and burial is eclipsed by graveyard gossip and unbelievable stories of mishaps. Some demises were distinctive in their ridiculousness, some in their atrocity, and some in their stupidity. Egregious murders and suicides highlight the barbaric nature of humanity—husbands killing wives, children killing children, and people killing themselves—and yet the horror of these crimes equally matches the absurdity of the acts. 

From failed hangings to lynch mobs, ghostly inhabitants to vampire cults, this collection of stories revels in these incredible historical accounts. It is indeed a ghastly grab bag of tales, both ludicrous and laughable. 

Keven McQueen teaches composition and world literature at Eastern Kentucky University, where he earned an MA in English after receiving his BA from Berea College. McQueen has written more than twelve books, spanning such genres as true crime and mystery. He has appeared on Darkness Radio, 30 Odd Minutes, Crime City Central, and The Fringe Radio Show to discuss his true-crime stories and to quench listeners’ morbid curiosities. McQueen is also the author of The Axman Came from Hell and Other Southern True Crime Stories, published by Pelican. 

When Mama Witch concocts a special Halloween soup for her Little Witch, she adds eye of newt, spit of bug, and hair of slug. But Little Witch turns up her tiny nose at the culinary creation. She prefers such sticky sweets as butter toffee, caramel dandy, and cotton candy. Can these picky eaters come to a compromise? Complete with a recipe for Halloween soup, this fun read is a treat for children and parents alike.

Watch out crows, this scarecrow won’t give up without a fight!

Every year, pesky crows throw a party in a scarecrow’s patch, gobbling up all the pumpkins in sight and leaving a horrid mess. Not this year! Jeb is determined to protect his pumpkins no matter the cost. Those crows are in for an unpleasant surprise!

Author and illustrator Jana Dillon conceived this as her first book. Originally published in 1992, the rollicking dialogue, glowing scenes of evening mischief, and a scarecrow family of unusual charm have all stood the test of time in this inventive tale full of the radiance and excitement of the Halloween season.