A couple pieces of news about teen novels that are being made into films:
The second Beautiful Creatures trailer has been released. The movie is coming in February 2013.
The movie rights for Blackwood by Gwenda Bond have been purchased. MTV is developing the film to be produced by Kelsey Grammer.
The winner of the 2012 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature went to William Alexander for Goblin Secrets.
The other finalists for the award were:
Carrie Arcos for Out of Reach
Patricia McCormick for Never Fall Down
Eliot Schrefer for Endangered
Steve Sheinkin for Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon
You can see the full list of winners on the National Book Foundation website.
Have you read the winner? I haven’t yet, so I’d love to hear what you think!
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand
Victoria has always tried to be the best that she can be with her perfect hair, great grades and neat room. So when she gets a B in music, she is distraught and refuses to show her parents her report card. Lawrence, her one and only friend, doesn’t have the same appreciation for perfection. He’s a musician who is often untidy and has a habit of humming constantly. As Victoria obsesses about her grades, she starts to notice that strange things are happening around town. Some of the students at her school have disappeared and no one seems to care. When Lawrence disappears and his parents are unconcerned, Victoria realizes that there is something horribly wrong. She knows it must have to do with the Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, an orphanage which never seems to have any children around. In Mrs. Cavendish, Victoria finds another person with a will for order and perfection. In Victoria though, Mrs. Cavendish may have met her match. As this book turns from mystery to horror, readers will taken on a frightening ride.
From the endpaper that is designed with bugs to the bugs scattered along randomly inside the book, readers will realize that this is a little darker than most mysteries. It begins as a classic story of a girl who is top of her class and fairly self-centered. She is likeable despite these faults thanks to her natural inquisitiveness and bravery. As the book becomes more dark and creepy, Victoria rises to the challenge, turning into a heroine before your eyes. It’s a credible and impressive transformation.
Legrand slowly builds the tension in the book, creating a story that you can never quite relax into. A great example of this is on page 83:
Outside, the streets glistened. Storm clouds sat fat, black, and heavy all along the sickly yellow sky. Victoria wondered if they would ever break or if they would just keep spitting bits of rain forever when no one was looking. She tightened her grip on the umbrella beneath her raincoat and tried not to think about how it felt like the trees were watching her.
It’s a book that twists and turns, becoming the unexpected. At several moments, I thought I had figured it out and the doubted that that would be the outcome in a children’s book. Children will delight though in realizing that Legrand does not shy away from the horrid, the frightening and the disgusting.
This is a wild ride of a book clothed in a classic mystery disguise. Get it into the hands of children who enjoy a good shivery read. It’s perfect for reading at night under the covers, if you are brave enough. Appropriate for ages 11-13.
Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.
Here are the links I shared on my Twitter and Pinterest accounts this week that you might find interesting:
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
8 Thanksgiving Story Books http://buff.ly/TCYeAt #kidlit
‘Baby-Sitters Club’ series to be released as ebooks | Shelf Life |http://buff.ly/y4ZbiJ http://buff.ly/W7K92b #ebooks #kidlit
"The Cybils are turning me into Sybil, and my personality is fracturing." #nerdybookclub essay today. by @polkinghttp://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/the-trouble-with-cybils-by-william-polking/ … Retweeted from @Loveofxena
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/nov/15/who-could-that-be-lemony-snicket?CMP=twt_fd … Daniel Handler’s new Lemony Snicket novel! – Retweeted from @communitydisco.
From the Horn Book Guide: Artists and Masterpieces http://buff.ly/TCZBz8 #kidlit
Interview: Katherine Marsh, Author Of ‘Jepp, Who Defied The Stars’ : NPR http://buff.ly/TmMIsK #kidlit
Interview: Phillip Pullman, Author of ‘Fairy Tales From the Brothers Grimm" : NPR http://buff.ly/VTk8n6
Making Picture Books: The Pictures by Barbara Cooney — The Horn Book http://buff.ly/VYTMQR
Making Picture Books: The Words by Charlotte Zolotow – The Horn Book – http://buff.ly/TwWdFT #kidlit
Monica Edinger: Stop Calling Books for Kids ‘Young Adult’ http://buff.ly/XIWfPS #yalit #kidlit
Raising Kids Who Love Books « mama smilesmama smileshttp://buff.ly/W35vhf
Utah district sued for segregating children’s book about lesbian mums – http://buff.ly/UIwAAG #kidlit
What’s Your Desert Island Picture Book? http://buff.ly/TD9JI0 #kidlit
E-BOOKS
An 81-year-old Startup Entrepreneur, Seymour Simon, Sees a Bright Future in Digital Publishing – The Digital Shift http://buff.ly/TmMLVE
Bookboard: startup offers Netflix-type model for children’s ebooks http://ow.ly/fe8os Retweeted from @victoriastrauss
Oyster App for subscription ebooks. Essentially, a spotify for books, novels and great reads. http://mashable.com/2012/11/13/oyster/ … Retweeted from @JaredFink
Penguin Ebook Pilot Test Expands Beyond NYC – The Digital Shift http://buff.ly/W7JC0r
Reading on a Kindle is not the same as reading a book – Slate Magazine http://buff.ly/XI6e88 – I don’t agree at all, but it’s interesting.
Tablets Continue to Gain Ground Versus E-Readers Among Ebook Buyers | Digital Book World http://buff.ly/W7K3rk
LIBRARIES
Art Brodsky: The Mystery of the Missing E-Books – specifically about libraries on HuffPost! http://buff.ly/XIrCdf
Cleveland Public Library working to become a "People’s University" – The Digital Shift http://buff.ly/XIOn0F #libraries
Disaster plans and #libraries http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/what-katrina-can-teach-libraries-about-sandy-and-other-disasters/40986 … – Retweeted from @T_Swanson
Making the Case for a Public Library Makerspace » Public Libraries Online http://buff.ly/TCYsrk
My Terry Kendrick (library marketing guru par excellence!) interview from the book has been published in American Libs http://www.librarymarketingtoolkit.com/2012/11/an-interview-with-terry-kendrick-now.html?spref=tw … Retweeted from @theREALwikiman
A new chapter for libraries has The London Library becoming more social and more of a hub – http://buff.ly/TmN7eN #libraries
Newcastle library closures attacked in open letter from authors |http://buff.ly/ooI9mF #libraries
RT @infoDOCKET OCLC and GoodReads Are Expanding Their Partnership http://ow.ly/fhoKq
Two publishers make large donations to help libraries & schools recover from Hurricane Sandy: http://mbist.ro/RB2GPW Retweeted from @GalleyCat
SOCIAL MEDIA
How Social Media is Changing the Publishing Industry | Social Media Today http://buff.ly/UFkQid
interesting post on newspapers fighting Google: are they stupid, or is the value of Google News decreasing?http://pandodaily.com/2012/11/10/newspapers-take-aim-at-google-news-again-maybe-because-theyre-no-longer-scared/ … Retweeted from @mathewi
Killing Rumors With Facts: No, Facebook Didn’t Decrease Page Feed Reach To Sell More Promoted Posts | TechCrunch http://buff.ly/VEmbeL
TECHNOLOGY
Analyst: iPad will dip below 50% tablet market share in mid-2013 | VentureBeat http://buff.ly/W0z6rA
The prevalence of #mobile in #Africa: more mobiles than toilets and 10 times as many mobiles as landlines. #Tanzania http://bit.ly/RMgZCT Retweeted from @neildrewitt
TEEN BOOKS
Amazon has announced their Top 10 Books of the Year, and The Fault in Our Stars is alongside Eggers, Erdrich, etc. Wow! http://shelf-life.ew.com/2012/11/12/amazon-best-of-2012/ … Retweeted from @realjohngreen
The Dudes of YA, a "Lit-Erotic" Photo Spread | The Weeklings http://buff.ly/XGkNJp – hysterically funny greatness. #yalit
Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn has landed a deal for a YA book & a new novel for adults: http://mbist.ro/T52bjH
Gregg Olsen’s top 10 deadly reads – murderous fiction for teens! http://buff.ly/XIFiVO #yalit
How Paul Zindel Saved My Life by A.S. King « Nerdy Book Club http://buff.ly/W36QVf #yalit
‘Mortal Instruments’: Cassandra Clare talks about film — FIRST LOOK | Shelf Life | http://buff.ly/y4ZbiJ #yalit
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can’t Afford to Miss in November – great mix of adult & YA – http://buff.ly/TCWSWr #yalit
The State of the YA Market http://buff.ly/W36vC0 #yalit
YA Fiction and the Many Possibilities of Manhood | Malinda Lo http://buff.ly/TzzEAr #yalit
The Santa Trap by Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Poly Bernatene
Bradley Bartleby was born bad and as he got older, he got even more bad. Bradley’s parents were immensely rich and gave Bradley everything he wanted because they were scared of him. Every year, Bradley would make an enormous list for Santa Claus but Santa knew about how bad Bradley was and never looked at the list, instead giving him a small token gift of socks. Even though Bradley’s parents gave him everything he had put on his Christmas list, Bradley hated that Santa himself didn’t give him what he wanted. So Bradley decided to build a trap for Santa. He worked on it for a year, until by Christmas Eve his parents had moved out of the house because it was so dangerous. Now all it would take was Bradley to stay awake and watch the trap work. But staying up and waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve is notoriously difficult to do.
Emmett has created a holiday picture book with a lot of edge, plenty of weaponry and some pretty spectacular explosions. This is a holiday book that will appeal to children who feel a bit too old for elves and reindeer. Happily though, at the heart of the story there really is a Christmas spirit about what the real meaning of Christmas should be. Emmett though does not let that ruin the fun, delighting in turning Christmas on its ear in this picture book.
The art by Bernatene works so well here. It has plenty of zing and pop with its bold colors and modern feel. One just has to look at the cover to know this is not your normal holiday book. The illustrations were done digitally, adding to the modern feel, but they are also made warmer by brushstrokes showing on the images.
A dynamic and very funny holiday book that will work particularly well for elementary-aged children who will delight in the weaponry, the trap, and the twist at the end. Appropriate for ages 4-7.
Reviewed from ARC received from Peachtree Publishers.
The Washington Post has a list of their reviewer’s picks for best kids books of the year. I was struck by the number of nonfiction books on the list. Here are the top picks:
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano
Barnum’s Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World by Tracy Fern
Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport
Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Clair A. Nivola
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose
Mr. and Mrs. Bunny – Detectives Extraordinaire by Polly Horvath
Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue
Son by Lois Lowry
Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey by Mini Grey
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
I have yet to read Angelfall, a debut teen novel published by Amazon. Susan Ee, author of the book, was courted by several publishers and chose to go with Amazon Children’s Publishing. Her novel is on the bestseller list just after The Hunger Games.
According to Movieline, movie rights for the series have been acquired by Good Universe. The second book in the series is expected next fall.
Lemonade in Winter by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Pauline is the one who looks out on a blustery winter day and thinks of running a lemonade stand. Her little brother John-John immediately thinks it’s a great idea, but her parents are sure it won’t work. So the kids set out to collect enough money to open their stand. They dig in the couch, search pockets, and look in their piggy banks. At the store they spend 24 quarters or six dollars on supplies. They rush back home to make the lemonade, the limeade and the lemon-limeade and then out onto the street to set up their stand. But no one comes. Then they decide to start marketing their stand more, and surprisingly, there is a market for lemonade in the snow.
Jenkins has taken a picture book and inserted math in places that make sense of the story. This is one book where the math really works, the counting of coins, the discounting of items, and the profits made. It’s a book that can be read just for the cheery enjoyment of lemonade and snow too. The writing is clever with the adults constantly warning the children that it won’t work and an ending that is realistic, warm and refreshing.
Karas’ illustrations are done in his signature style. I enjoyed seeing children with brown skin in a story that is not about their brown skin at all, it’s just the way they look. Karas’ art is lively and rich with small details. The careful counting of the quarters at the grocery store is just one example of how he too skillfully melded in the math with the story.
A winning picture book with math at its heart, this is a story that will have you asking for some more lemonade on a winter’s day. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from copy received from Random House Children’s Books.
Binky Takes Charge by Ashley Spires
Binky has now been promoted to lieutenant in first against the aliens. It means that he is now in charge of training new recruits. But his first recruit is definitely not what he had been expecting. To start with, he isn’t a cat! He’s a dog! Binky sets out to train the new cadet anyway, trying to ignore the fact that he pees on the floor, won’t use the litter box, doesn’t respect the idea of a cat nap, and is unable to pounce a fake alien on a string. Soon Binky is questioning more than his cadet’s skills, perhaps he’s really a spy for the aliens! Now Binky sets out to prove what he suspects, but he’s in for a few surprises along the way.
The Binky series is one of my favorite graphic novel series for children. It is a treat to see our alien-fighting (actually insect fighting) hero reach new ranks here. The addition of a dog into the series is brilliant, especially one who may be a spy for the flies. Add in the farting and the physical humor, and you have a series that is bound to appeal to reluctant readers as well as eager readers.
Spires’ art is done in a limited color palette. Her black and white cat lives in a sepia-toned world that has bursts of color. This palette could read as vintage, but here the modern lines and modern story keep it up-to-date and great fun.
This is another strong book in a great series. It’s a must-have for all children’s graphic novel collections. Appropriate for ages 5-8.
Reviewed from copy received from Kids Can Press.
Waking Brain Cells 