Pagan’s Crusade by Catherine Jinks (0-7636-2019-X)
I was a little doubtful about this one at first. A comedic look at the crusades? Well, let me tell you, it’s the comedy and the protagonist that makes it all work. Pagan is a boy who enters the Templar Knights to serve as a squire to hide from men that he owes money. There he meets his knight, Lord Roland, the prime example of a Christian knight. How will the irreverent and often rude Pagan deal with this icon of piety? Well, it is all in the one liners and the asides.
Recommend this one to kids who enjoy other funny novels. They will get some adventure, swordfights and history in the bargain too. And then they can join the rest of us in waiting for the next in the series.

Double Dutch by Sharon M. Draper
I listened to this book on tape. Delia and Randy are friends in 8th grade and they are both carrying a big secret. Delia is a champion double dutch jumper, but she can’t read. Randy helps out on the team and is one of Delia’s best friends, but his father has disappeared. The question throughout the book is when the kids are going to admit to someone else that they have these problems or if they are going to be exposed by something else that happens.
I really enjoyed this book. In the Recorded Books version, the narrator, Patricia R. Floyd, was wonderful. But most of all, I appreciated the complex characterization of the kids, including the terrible Tolliver twins and lying Yoyo.

HoustonChronicle.com – ‘Last in Lowry’s trilogy brings back characters, conflicts
A glowing review of Messenger by Lois Lowry, the concluding book in her trilogy that started with The Giver, which still ranks as one of my favorite children’s books of all time. I can’t wait to get my hands on this final book! Beware the review, since it seems to reveal quite a bit of the plot.

INDUSTRY BUZZ
A nice commentary on the recent success of movies for girls that are based on popular books like The Princess Diaries and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

EclipseMagazine.com – News
In interview with Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted, which covers both the book and the movie. I always like to read about how people become authors, the process of their writing, and the glimpses into her input on the movie are also fascinating.

Daily News Transcript – Local News Coverage
Has anyone else noticed the large number of book challenges being reported in the news lately? First it was the new batch of books for children that celebrate families with homosexual parents. Next it was books on the occult. And here comes banning books with the words “ass” and “idiot” in them! Yes, those are the two words that a parent believes are worthy of banning a book from fourth graders!

Picture Window Books
Official site for this publisher of informational picture books and easy readers. Two of their new books just got good reviews in the latest Booklist.

Colibri by Ann Cameron (0-374-31519-1)
Whew! What a glorious book! Ann Cameron is the author of The Stories Julian Tells and other books about Julian and Huey. In this book she completely breaks away from the cuteness of those stories and brings readers into Guatemala, seeing its beauty and ugliness through the eyes of Rosa. Rosa was stolen from her parents as a small girl and raised by a man who she calls “Uncle.” The darkness of this story is transcended by the beauty of the setting combined with the courage of Rosa.
This is a perfect book for a booktalk, especially because the cover art may not draw kids in, despite its beauty. The kidnapping story and questions of morality should get kids to try the book. Once they try it, it is very hard to put down.

ABC.com – A Wrinkle in Time
The film version of A Wrinkle in Time is finally being shown in the U.S. It will be on ABC on Saturday, May 15th.