Month: June 2011

2011 Nautilus Book Award Gold Winners

| Tasha

The winners of the Nautilus Book Awards have been announced.  The Nautilus Awards describe themselves as: “Gold and Silver awards are given to print and audio books of exceptional merit that make a literary and heartfelt contribution to spiritual growth, conscious living, high-level wellness, green values, responsible leadership and positive social change, as well as to the worlds of art, creativity and inspiration.”

They give awards in a wide range of categories, several of which are for books for children and teens.  The following are the winners of the children’s Gold Nautilus Awards:

Children’s Picture Books (Preschool – Grade 2)

Benjamin & Bumper to the Rescue by Molly Coxe, photographs by Olivier Toppin

 

Children’s Illustrated (Grades 3-6)

The Birds Who Flew Beyond Time by Anne Baring, illustrated by Thetis Blacker

 

Children’s Nonfiction (Grades 1-6)

Molly the Owl by Eric Blehm, illustrated by Christopher Adams

 

Middle Grade & Teen Fiction

 

The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrations by Peter Sis

Merlin’s Dragon: Ultimate Magic by T. A. Barron

 

Middle Grade & Teen Nonfiction

Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers and Wetlands by Cathryn Berger Kaye & Philippe Cousteau

Hunger Games Will Be FOUR Films

| Tasha

 

If Hunger Games is the success that Lionsgate predicts, fans will see four films from the trilogy of books.  Wowza! 

It leaves me with lots of questions:

I wonder how it will be broken up. 

I know the money will be bigger, but is it the right thing for the films themselves?

What questions and concerns do you have?  Or are you happy to see four films?

Nautilus Book Awards 2011–Silver Awards

| Tasha

The winners of the Nautilus Book Awards have been announced.  The Nautilus Awards describe themselves as: “Gold and Silver awards are given to print and audio books of exceptional merit that make a literary and heartfelt contribution to spiritual growth, conscious living, high-level wellness, green values, responsible leadership and positive social change, as well as to the worlds of art, creativity and inspiration.”

They give awards in a wide range of categories, several of which are for books for children and teens.  These are books that libraries often miss, since they are primarily small press and therefore not reviewed in the larger library review journals.

2011 Silver Nautilus Award Winners

Children’s Picture Books (preschool – Grade 2)

  

The Gift of Grace by Grace Mary McClelland, illustrated by Nancy Moskovitz

The Secret of Pig Island by Jennifer R. Nolan, photographs by Jim Abernethy

What Does It Mean to Be Present? by Rana Di Orio, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler

 

Children’s Illustrated (Grades 3-6)

  

Splinters by Kevin Sylvester

The Gift by Carol Ann Duffy, illustrated by Rob Ryan

Tree Song by H. E. Stewart

 

Children’s Nonfiction (Grades 1-6)

  

Molly the Owl: The True Story of a Common Barn Owl That Ends Up Being Not So Common After All by Eric Blehm, illustrated by Christopher Adams

Philanthropy: A Big Word for Big-Hearted People by Jan Helson & Rachel Annette Helson

Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could by Sandy Nathan

 

The Tiny Plant That Saved Our Planet by Mark Edwards, illustrated by Lynne Avril

Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak, illustrated by Sarah Ackerley

 

Middle Grade & Teen Fiction

  

Grease Town by Ann Towell

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork

Riding Out the Hurricane by Maeve McMahon

 

Travels with Gannon & Wyatt by Patti Wheeler & Keith Hemstreet

Winter Shadows by Margaret Buffie

 

Middle Grade & Teen Nonfiction

  

Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

Earth Heroes: Champions of Wild Animals by Bruce and Carol Malnor, illustrated by Anisa Claire Hovemann

Teen Esteem: A Self-Direction Manual for Young Adults by Pat Palmer & Melissa Alberti Froehner

 

Weird Is Normal: When Teenagers Grieve by Jenny Lee Wheeler

Yes You Can! Your Guide to Becoming an Activist by Jane Drake & Ann Love

 

Children’s Books with Audio

Little Chief and Mighty Gopher: The Pemmican Frenzy by Victor Lethbridge

Jyoti for Kids: A Meditative Technique for Purification by the Light by Simhananda

Starabella: Welcome to a Bright New World by Sharon, Tara & Dana Fialco, illustrated by Anton Petrov

Book Review: Those Darn Squirrels and the Cat Next Door by Adam Rubin

| Tasha

Those_Darn_Squirrels_and_the_Cat_Next_Door

Those Darn Squirrels and the Cat Next Door by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

This sequel to Those Darn Squirrels continues the story of the squirrels and Old Man Fookwire.  Old Man Fookwire has been waiting for spring when his beloved birds would return.  The winter has been long with only the squirrels for company (and trouble).  After a pleasant spring morning spent painting birds, Fookwire is shocked to hear kabooms coming from the house next door.  Little Old Lady Hu was moving in along with her evil cat, Muffins.  She had moved to the country so that Muffins could make some new friends, but Muffins was not a friendly cat at all, as the squirrels were about to find out.  This time the squirrels craftiness just might help out Old Man Fookwire too!

Rubin plays with words to great effect here.  Not only with the names of Fookwire and Little Old Lady Hu, but with the birds’ names: baba birds, yaba birds and the floogle bird too.  Throughout the book, the language is silly and rich, making for a great read aloud.  Rubin also has a great feel for pacing, allowing the humor really stand strong and the story to roll along merrily.  There is plenty of humor here, including the attacks of Muffins being wedgies, noogies and wet willies.

Salmieri joins in the humor with his illustrations as well.  The fine-lined illustrations have a natural silliness to them.  Old Man Fookwire has a great red nose, huge glasses, and a body that manages to be skinny and paunchy at once.  The squirrels look crafty, bright and foolish all at once. 

If you haven’t read the first book, you should, but you will be able to enjoy the second all on its own.  Get this into the hands of any kids who enjoy a brains vs. brawns match where the brains win, but you get to giggle at wedgies along the way.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Book Review: Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi

| Tasha

crossinglines

Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi

Released June 9, 2011.

Adonis plays on his high school football team and all of his best friends are football jocks.  He has just started dating Melody, one of the hottest girls at school.  Alan is the new person at school.  He is the only boy in the Fashion Club and a kid who refuses to conform.  Alan is openly mocked and ridiculed by Adonis’ friends.  Things take a turn for the worse when Alan begins openly wearing lipstick and dresses at school.  He even embraces the name the jocks have been calling him, Alana.  Adonis finds himself pressured by Melody and his younger sister to befriend Alan while all of his friends at school assume that Adonis detests Alan just as much as they do.  Adonis is trapped in the middle, never telling anyone exactly how he feels and where he stands.  But then a plan to bully Alan goes wrong and Adonis is forced to choose sides.

I have mixed feelings about this novel.  Part of me wishes that the subject matter had been handled more subtly.  At the same time, I understand the value in a very accessible book that teens who may feel mixed feelings about GLBTQ issues can relate to.  Volponi writes in a very concrete way here.  His prose is tight and very reality based.

Adonis is a character who will also be easily understood.  His own homophobic-at-worst and mixed-at-best attitudes are clear.  Readers will see themselves in him because we all hesitate at times to speak up, go against our peers, and side with the loner or different.  And here is where I wish that the book had been written with more internal dialogue and less concrete depictions.  Adonis does not ever reflect on why he is homophobic, why he reacts to Alan in the way he does, why he doesn’t leap to defend.  Instead the book stays above those questions, which does not add to its depth.

This lack of self-exploration also hurts the character development of the secondary characters in particular.  Alan is a very interesting character who offers glimpses of his strength but never really comes alive for the reader.  Unfortunately, he never becomes more than a stereotype. 

Volponi has again written a book that teens will relate to easily.  It is a book that asks for discussion, one that will have teens questioning what their reaction would have been in the same situation.   Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from author.

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