Dear Burning Questions,
My sixth-grade friend, Derek, loves Carl Hiaasen's book, Hoot. Does he have any other books for young readers?

Kathy Smith
Librarian

Good news—Carl Hiaasen is coming out with Flush, a new book for young readers, in September. In an act of eco-friendly vigilantism, Noah's father sabotaged the Coral Queen, a casino boat suspected of dumping raw sewage into the harbor. Now, Noah's father is in jail and the Coral Queen is back to its old—and smelly—tricks. Noah and his group of ragtag friends must flush out the truth, get Noah's dad out of jail, and get the Coral Queen to clean up its act.

A MOUTHFUL

Dear Burning Questions,
Good things come in small packages (books). Just finished The Coroners Lunch. Will we be hearing from Colin Catterill and the good doctor in the future?

I. Ritger
Wausau, Wisconsin

Colin Catterill's next book, Thirty-Three Teeth, will be released by Soho Press in August. In this book, Dr. Siri "the Super Spirit Doc" Paiboun, the national coroner of Laos, must use his connection to the spirits to stop the evil creature that has been let loose to kill innocent Laotians. The mystery of the title can only be solved by reading the book: why 33 teeth, when an adult human has only 32?

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

Dear Burning Questions,
Any idea when Sue Grafton's next book—with the letter "S"—will be out?

Connie Wien
Biloxi, Mississippi

The next entry in Sue Grafton's alphabet series will be published by Putnam in December. In S is for Silence, Daisy Sullivan searches for a solution to the mystery of her mother's disappearance during a July 4th celebration 34 years ago. Did Daisy's mother really abandon her seven-year-old daughter to run off with a lover, as the hometown gossips claimed? Or was there a more sinister plot at work?

TURN, TURN, TURN

Dear Burning Questions,
Does Australian author Tim Winton of Dirt Music and The Riders have any new works on the way? Hope to see a reply in Burning Questions soon!

Marilyn Orchoff
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Tim Winton's new novel, The Turning, due in September from Scribner, is a collection of interlocked stories, all focused on the unforeseen twists that people's lives can take.

THE WALRUS SAID

Dear Burning Questions,
Neil Gaiman is one of my all-time favorite authors. I especially enjoyed Coraline and Neverwhere, and while I realize he stays busy with his many graphic novel projects and short story contri-butions, isn't it about time for another book?

Leslie Gilbert
Lochgelly, West Virginia

The time has indeed come for another book from the master of dark fantasy. On September 20 you can look forward to the arrival of Anansi Boys, the follow-up to American Gods.

Charlie "Fat Charlie" Nancy has received many gifts from his father, most of which he would rather have done without—Charlie's nickname, for starters. However, it turns out that old Mr. Nancy has quite a few nicknames of his own, such as Anansi the Spider, the Trickster God and the God of Mischief—and it is only once he has dropped dead in the middle of some phenomenal karaoke stylings that his final, most amazing gift to quiet, serious and self-effacing Fat Charlie is revealed.

Born and raised in England, Gaiman now makes his home near Minneapolis. Famous for the cult comic series Stardust, the first comic to win a literary award, he has written award-winning books for children, teens and adults.

W.F.
He aint here no more,
all wool coat and words and
ink-stained fingers.
Mississippi dirt caked heavy
on his shoes, pieces of
Yoknapatawpha County
traveling with him. He aint
here no more, light in August
done carried him away, flags in the
dust lettin us know where he been.
St. Peter, he knowed he was layin,
dyin, seekin sanctuary. His soul,
oh Moses, found the Promised Land,
his own mansion, Jerusalem the
town of salvation or brimstone. Burnin,
burnin, hell unvanquished.
He aint here no more, Absalom,
why you askin? He aint no more;
and there aint gon be another.

Submitted by:
Morgan McKinley
Dixon, Kentucky

Magic Act
Flannery O'Connor, William Faulkner, and Larry Brown dealt in fiction yet their characters feel more authentic than many of the flesh-and-blood people who parade through our daily lives. These writers belonged to a special class of magician who begins his show by replacing his magic hat and wand with the even less tangible: words. While real people eventually turn into memories and ghosts, the supreme illusion performed by O'Connor, Faulkner, and Brown was to take memories and ghosts and turn them into real people. It doesn't get any more magical than that.

Submitted by:
Christopher Foster
McKinney, Texas

Honorable mentions go to Lola Ann Burrows of Maryville, Tennessee, and Elizabeth Ray of Corona, California.