Books with author Norma Howe

"Unless and until someone can convince me otherwise, it's goodbye, Mr. Shakespeare--hello, Oxford!"Rue is blue as Blue can be. A reporter can't get his name right; the city council is putting bullets back in guns; an unscrupulous software manufacturer has stolen a good friend's plans for a computer game; and worst of all, Omaha Nebraska Brown, the love of his life, has suddenly gone cold. Only setting out on a new quest can right these wrongs. A wonderful English teacher gives Blue the challenge that sends him to meet a devious merchant in Venice, decode a mysterious cipher, and devote himself to the cause of Edward deVere, the Earl of Oxford (and, Blue is sure, the true and long-hidden author of the greatest plays in English). After desperate measures to avoid being alone in a gondola under the moon with a beautiful girl, true Blue returns to Omaha's waiting arms, and he finds a clever way for his friend to get credit for his inventions. But whether he can prove Oxford really wrote Shakespeare's plays is up to the reader. Blue Avenger Cracks the Code is a great stand-alone book that will please Blue lovers grateful to see him back in action, and will give teachers and parents a whole new way to interest young readers in Shakespeare.

On his sixteenth birthday, David Schumacher changes his name to Blue Avenger. . . And things start to happen. Within twenty-four hours, David becomes a national hero, starts dating an extraordinary girl named Omaha Nebraska Brown, and bakes an imperfect pie. And that's not all. A tiny sow bug is injured by a lawn mower, some killer bees make their home at San Pablo High School, and there is some activity in the earth's crust.The connection?No one knows for certain.At first, it seems that David's own free will is guiding his momentous decision. But maybe it's something else. Maybe it's the inevitable result of everything that has ever happened to him since his miraculous birth.To find out more about life and death, romance, gun control, lemon meringue pie, and world peace, you'll have to read this book. The decision is yours.Or is it? 2001 ALA Popular Paperback for YAs

These are big questions to discuss in a young-adult novel, but they are only a small part of what Norma Howe tackles in The Adventures of Blue Avenger. How did a normal sixteen-year-old boy become the hero of his own comic strip, fall in love with a girl named Omaha Nebraska Brown, and invent a recipe for perfect dripless lemon meringue pie? What does this have to do with the sixteenth-century heretic Giordano Bruno? How can we end the plague of handgun violence in America?A thought-provoking combination of humor, philosophy, and romance, The Adventures of Blue Avenger has something for every teenage reader (and even for a few smart adults).

What do an amorous Shih Tzu, a computer game, and the complete works of Shakespeare have in common?Maybe nothing. Or maybe everything. It's a mystery...some would say a code. A code that only an adept code-cracker like Blue Avenger (aka David Schumacher), secret champion of the underdog, modest seeker of truth, and fearless innovator of the unknown, would even think about trying to decipher. And it couldn't come at a better time. Having accomplished several seemingly impossible missions, Blue is now a superhero without a cause, directionless and nearly girlfriendless. When he is offered a chance to visit Venice, it seems the forces of nature have aligned, and like all good and noble superheroes, Blue must choose to accept his mission.

Good heavens! A teen angel drops into Sin City in this wickedly funny YA novel from the author of the Blue Avenger trilogy.Who is Noah Sark, really? And what is he doing in the men’s room at Angelo’s All-Day All-Nite Donut Emporium in Las Vegas? No use asking him; he doesn’t know, either.Only Norma Howe, author of the beloved Blue Avenger books and a gleeful practitioner of comedic satire, could blend in a devilishly funny mix one (or maybe two) budding teenage romances, a psychic fair, a dead frog, a headful of cascading blond ringlets, glorious Las Vegas in all its glitz and sparkle — including Elvis and his hound dog, erupting volcanoes, and a Seeing-Eye-dog video poker player — with the dramatic back story of Princess Di in Paris, to portray an unlikely teen angel on a desperate mission to save a certain unknown girl from a certain unknown disaster. But, reader, never fear. All will be revealed in good time, so long as you resist, as Noah himself says, "the siren call of logic."

These are big questions to discuss in a young-adult novel, but they are only a small part of what Norma Howe tackles in The Adventures of Blue Avenger. How did a normal sixteen-year-old boy become the hero of his own comic strip, fall in love with a girl named Omaha Nebraska Brown, and invent a recipe for perfect dripless lemon meringue pie? What does this have to do with the sixteenth-century heretic Giordano Bruno? How can we end the plague of handgun violence in America?A thought-provoking combination of humor, philosophy, and romance, The Adventures of Blue Avenger has something for every teenage reader (and even for a few smart adults).

Good heavens! A teen angel drops into Sin City in this wickedly funny YA novel from the author of the Blue Avenger trilogy.Who is Noah Sark, really? And what is he doing in the men’s room at Angelo’s Donut Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada? No use asking him; he doesn’t know. But he’s gambling that an assignment from above will shed some light — after all, a life depends on it! Only master satirist Norma Howe could craft a provocative meditation on free will from blending one (or maybe two) budding teen romances, a psychic fair, a dead frog, a headful of blond curls, and Las Vegas in all its glitz and kitsch (hello, Elvis!) with the dramatic backstory of Princess Diana in Paris. The jackpot? A wild and witty portrait of an unlikely guardian angel on a desperate mission to save a certain unknown girl from a certain unknown disaster.