The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The New Kids by Brooke Hauser
The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan
In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard
Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin
Here are the links I shared on my Twitter and Pinterest accounts that you might find interesting:
A 2012 Preview in Picture Books | Kirkus Book Reviews http://j.mp/wJJ9FX It looks like a great year ahead!
Ask Lorna: books to get 10- to 12-year-old boys reading – Telegraphhttp://j.mp/AhvroS
Best interactive iPad books of 2011 for kids of all ages – iPhone app recommendations – Lisa Caplan | Appolicious ™ iP… http://j.mp/wP1xHm
British PM: "I think that however busy you are in life, you should always try to read to your children."http://j.mp/xjEx8M
More proof that librarians rock! Beloved children’s books preserved thanks to retiring U librarian Karen Nelson Hoylehttp://j.mp/yswwui
Pinned this image of E.B. White writing in his boathouse:
Q&A: Shirley Hughes, children’s author and illustrator | The Guardian http://j.mp/ybpwyJ
YA novel readers clash with publishing establishment | Books |http://guardian.co.uk http://j.mp/xS41kn
Caveman, A.B.C. Story by Janee Trasler
Take a prehistoric trip through the alphabet in this funny picture book! This book tells the story of a caveman’s adventures solely through pictures and a few alphabetical words. It starts with an acorn that both the caveman and a squirrel are after. They are scared by a bear into a cave where a dinosaur was living. A bit later, the caveman makes friends with an odd little creature who had been trapped in some ice. Unfortunately, the big green dinosaur appears again and chases them around, forcing them to leap onto vines and swing away. But the book can’t end before one final uproarious slapstick moment which leads all the way too the Zzzz at the end.
This story is told only in 26 words, so that means that the illustrations are what really make this book work so well. Filled with a zany cartoon style, the pictures are action-filled and great fun. The huge green dinosaur may pursue the caveman in the book, but readers will notice the rounded teeth and the big smile long before the caveman does.
A fast-paced and funny alphabet book that will do well with young dinosaur fans. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
Reviewed from library copy.
Also reviewed on Jen Robinson’s Book Page.
The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin
Released February 1, 2012.
A tense, riveting tale told in flashbacks, this book hints from the beginning about terrible things that aren’t fully revealed to the reader until the very end. The result is a book that is tinglingly tantalizing and has you jumping at shadows.
Lida has been sent to the Alice Marshall school where troubled girls are sent to try to rehabilitate. It’s located at the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area in northern Idaho, where the students are surrounded by nature and removed from the temptations of modern life. They live in cabins with bunk beds. Lida lives with several other girls, including Boone who is something of a legend as she terrorizes the new students. There is also Jules, who is so sweet and friendly that Lida can’t guess what she could have done wrong to be there. And finally the luminous Gia, whose friendship is addictive and elusive. Lida refuses to talk at first, drawing more and more deeply inside herself, but slowly she starts to reveal herself to the other girls and to the reader. As the tension in the story mounts and secrets are revealed, readers are caught in the web of truths, lies, and betrayals.
Saldin’s debut is a book that mixes juvenile detention with nature, combining it all with a swirl of illicit drugs and alcohol. The characters are all complex, especially when the reader thinks they have that character pegged, they will reveal even more of themselves. The setting is gorgeously described from the lake to the mountains. It serves as an important plot device throughout the book with its isolation.
Saldin does the near impossible here, not revealing the horrible truth of what happened until the very end of the book. Twenty pages from the end, the tension was so thick that my eyes could not read the words quickly enough. Yet at the same time, I didn’t want this exquisite read to end. Even better, the ending really works, offering no easy solutions to the complexity of the storyline.
The writing is vibrant and creative, the plot inventive and revealing. This book is a stellar read that would make a great book talk. Appropriate for ages 14-17.
Reviewed from ARC received from Arthur A. Levine Books.
The Charlotte Zolotow Award is given each year to the author of the best picture book TEXT written in the United States in the preceding year.
This is the 15th year the award has been offered. And very happily, it went to one of my favorites of the year:
Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell
Started in 2000, these book awards are given “to recognize authors, illustrators, and publishers of high quality fictional and biographical children, intermediate, and young adult books that appropriately portray individuals with developmental disabilities.”
The awards are given every even year by The The Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities (DADD) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) in collaboration with Special Needs Project.
Here are the winners:
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
Waiting for No One by Beverley Brenna
My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson Peete and Ryan Elizabeth Peete, illustrated by Shane W. Evans
Just Because by Rebecca Elliott
The Association of Jewish Libraries has announced the winners of the their 2012 awards that honor “new books for children and teens that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience.” Here are the winners and honor books:
WINNERS
Younger Readers
Michael J. Rosen and Robert Sabuda for Chanukah Lights
Older Readers
Susan Goldman Rubin for Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein
Teen Readers
Robert Sharenow for The Berlin Boxing Club
HONOR BOOKS
Younger Readers
Naamah and the Ark at Night by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, illustrated by Holly Meade
Around the World in One Shabbat by Durga Yael Bernhard
Older Readers
Lily Renee, Escape Artist: from Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer by Trina Robbins, illustrated by Anne Timmons and Mo Oh
Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg: Baseball Pioneer by Shelley Sommer
Irena’s Jars of Secrets by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Ron Mazellan
Teen Readers
Then by Morris Gleitzman
The Blood Lie by Shirley Reva Vernick
NOTABLE BOOKS
Younger Readers
Picnic at Camp Shalom by Jacqueline Jules with illustrations by Debbie Melmon
The Golem’s Latkes by Eric A. Kimmel with illustrations by Aaron Jasinski
Joseph and the Sabbath Fish by Eric A. Kimmel with illustrations by Martina Peluso
Sadie’s Sukkah Breakfast by Jamie Korngold with illustrations by Julie Fortenberry
The Shabbat Princess by Amy Meltzer with illustrations by Martha Aviles
Lipman Pike: America’s First Home Run King by Richard Michelson with illustrations by Zachary Pullen
The Littlest Mountain by Barb Rosenstock with illustrations by Melanie Hall
I Will Come Back for You: A Family in Hiding during World War II by Marisabina Russo
Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime by Gloria Spielman with illustrations by Manon Gauthtier
One Little Chicken by Elka Weber with illustrations by Elisa Kleven
Notable Books for Older Readers:
The Mishkan: Its Structure and Its Sacred Vessels by Rabbi Avrohom Biderman
Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin
The Cats in the Doll Shop by Yona Zeldis McDonough with illustrations by Heather Maione
When Life Gives You OJ by Erica S. Perl
Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto by Susan Goldman Rubin with illustrations by Bill Fransworth
Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust by Ruth Thomson
Notable Books for Teens:
OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy
Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul Janeczko
The Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction has been awarded to Jack Gantos for Dead End in Norvelt, one of my favorites from last year! Hurrah!
Wee Granny’s Magic Bag by Elizabeth McKay, illustrated by Maria Bogade
Emily and Harry are looking forward to heading out to the park with Wee Granny, but most of all they hoped that she would bring along her amazing tartan bag. They had seen magical things come out of that bag! Last Christmas, she had pulled out a lamp-post (fully lit) to help Harry see his carols. Then in the summer, she pulled out chairs for them to sit on the beach. Emily and Harry tried to see inside Wee Granny’s bag, but she closed it too quickly. Then they tried asking her what she had in there, but she only said she had brought her phone. When her phone rang, the children were amazed to see her pull an entire phone booth out of the bag and answer it! It was their mother calling, asking them to make more cupcakes for the fair. And that is when Wee Granny really pulled amazing things out of her bag!
Originally from Scotland, this book celebrates grannies, tartan and magic. McKay writes with a cheerful tone and the entire book awaits the magic that everyone knows is coming! The pacing is nicely done, dancing along happily. The story has a gentleness to it as well that is warm and friendly.
Bogade’s illustrations are done in ink and watercolor. They have a merriness to them as well, filled with bright colors and playing up the effect of pulling huge items from a small bag. The humor of the entire work is well reflected in the images.
For children too young for Nanny McPhee, this picture book introduces an equally magical Wee Granny who is sure to fill their bedtime dreams with magic. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from copy received from Floris Books.
Waking Brain Cells 