Month: April 2013

2013 Eisner Award Nominees

| Tasha

The nominees for the 2013 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards have been announced.  This award celebrates the comic and graphic novel formats.  I consider these awards a great way to make sure that your library is getting top graphic novel titles for all ages.  Here are the nominees for children and teen books:

BEST PUBLICATION FOR EARLY READERS (up to age 7)

Babymouse for President (Babymouse #16) Benny and Penny in Lights Out Kitty & Dino

Babymouse for President by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

Benny and Penny in Lights Out by Geoffrey Hayes

Kitty & Dino by Sara Richard

Maya Makes a Mess Zig and Wikki in The Cow

Maya Makes a Mess by Rutu Modan

Zig and Wikki in The Cow by Nadja Spiegelman and Trade Loeffler

 

BEST PUBLICATION FOR KIDS (ages 8-12)

Adventure Time Vol. 1 Amulet, Vol. 5: Prince of the Elves Cow Boy

Adventure Time by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb

Amulet Book 5: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi

Cow Boy: A Boy and His Horse by Nate Cosby and Chris Eliopoulos

Crogan's Loyalty Hilda and the Midnight Giant Oz: Road to Oz

Crogan’s Loyalty by Chris Schweizer

Hilda and the Midnight Giant by Luke Pearson

Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young

 

BEST PUBLICATION FOR TEENS (ages 13-17)

Adventure Time: Marceline & The Scream Queens Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller Ichiro

Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens by Meredith Gran

Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller by Joseph Lambert

Ichiro by Ryan Inzana

Spera, Volume 1 A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel

Spera, Volume 1 by Josh Tierney

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, adapted by Hope Larson

PW’s Best Summer Books 2013

| Tasha

Publisher Weekly has released their list of the best books coming this summer.  Here are their top picks for Children’s books:

PICTURE BOOKS

If You Want to See a Whale Odd Duck Yes, Let's

If You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin Stead

Odd Duck by Cecil Castelucci

Yes, Let’s by Galen Goodwin Longstreth and Maris Wicks

 

CHILDREN’S FICTION

The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave, #1) Gorgeous The Lucy Variations

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick

The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

The Moon and More P.S. Be Eleven 

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia

Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked This Is What Happy Looks Like

Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Review: Peanut by Ayun Halliday

| Tasha

peanut

Peanut by Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe

When Sadie heads to a new school once again, she comes up with a grand plan.  She orders a medical bracelet online and pretends to have a severe peanut allergy.  Using this strategy, she does make some friends, including finding a boyfriend.  However, the fake peanut allergy continues to be a problem, especially if she slips up and just eats a chip cooked in peanut oil.  As it becomes more and more a focus of her life, she thinks about telling the truth to her friends.  But it’s too late to come clean, because they would hate her for lying to them.  This graphic novel steadily counts down to the disaster that readers will know is coming, creating tension laced with humor.

Halliday has created a character that we can all relate to.  Sadie lies to make friends, her strange solution to being the new girl actually works.  Sadie is insecure and as she grows in self-esteem the trap she finds herself in starts to tighten.  She is a wonderful imperfect character, scolding her new boyfriend, lying to her mother, and of course lying to everyone at school.  But through it all, she is likeable and universal.

Hoppe’s illustrations are done in black and white lines with Sadie’s sweater being a pop of red against the more subtle coloring.  His drawings are fresh feeling and dynamic, often going for the laugh especially when the drama gets thick. 

Perfect for those teens who enjoy Raina Telgemeier’s books, this graphic novel is filled with humor and tension.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Schwartz & Wade.

E. L. Konigsburg Dies

| Tasha

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler The View from Saturday Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth

E.L. Konigsburg, the author of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, died on Friday at the age of 83.  Konigsburg is one of only five authors to have won the Newbery Medal twice, once for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and once for The View from Saturday. 

Additionally, she received a Newbery Honor for Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth, in the same year she won her first Newbery Medal.  That made her the only person to have received a Newbery Medal and Honor in the same year.  She also holds the record for the longest span between two Newbery Awards with her first medal in 1968 and her second in 1997, 29 years later.

Review: War Brothers by Sharon E. McKay

| Tasha

war brothers

War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay, illustrated by Daniel LaFrance

This is the graphic novel version of McKay’s teen novel of the same title.  Based on interviews with child soldiers, this novel pulls no punches when telling the story of Jacob, a Ugandan boy taken by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) as a soldier.  Jacob is a teenager who is headed to a boy’s school.  Knowing the danger from Joseph Kony and his LRA, Jacob’s father provides additional armed guards at the school.  But it is not enough, Jacob and his friends are taken as child soldiers.  That begins a story of brutality, murder, starvation, and survival.  But this story is not without hope and resilience and heroism that flies in the face of the desperate and violent situation the boys find themselves in.

McKay warns readers right from the beginning about the violence of the storyline.  Through a letter from Jacob, the book warns of the brutality of what happens, ending with “There is no shame in closing this book now.”  McKay does not try to lessen that brutality, showing how child soldiers are indoctrinated into the LRA and broken.  Jacob struggles with having to commit atrocities himself, despite the food that is promised for him and his friends.  One of his friends does become a soldier, well fed and cared for, but with his spirit entirely decimated by what he has done.  It is an impossible choice, kill others or die yourself. 

LaFrance does an admirable job of showing violence but without adding drama to an already volatile and horrific situation.  He does not shy away from showing the brutality, often using close ups and unique lighting to show what happened without becoming too bloody.  It is a fine line to walk, demonstrating that this is real and actual, while leaving it powerful enough to speak on its own.

Highly recommended, this is a story that is riveting to read as long as you are brave enough to continue turning the pages.  The fact that this is based on true stories of child soldiers adds to the compelling nature of the tale.  Appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from copy received from Annick Press.

This Week’s Tweets and Pins

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter and Pinterest accounts this week that you might find interesting:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Five Questions for Anna Dewdney – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/11aEQz6 #kidlit

Laura Powell’s top 10 heroes in disguise | Children’s books http://buff.ly/16XUrVe #kidlit

Top Ten Novels in Verse by Lauren Strohecker | Nerdy Book Club http://buff.ly/ZnXbG6

Writing a Wordless Book by Lizi Boyd | Nerdy Book Club http://buff.ly/11cF8pl #kidlit

EBOOKS

Simon & Schuster launches ebook lending pilot with New York City public libraries — paidContent http://buff.ly/12dDGEp #ebooks #libraries

LIBRARIES

Five Great Things Libraries Are Doing With Old Books | LJ Insider http://buff.ly/17vkCnF

Jo Knowles – What’s so important about your local library? http://buff.ly/ZuJbul #libraries

Why libraries are relevant in the Google age – Las Vegas Sun News http://buff.ly/ZkPaVx #libraries

PUBLISHING

Neil Gaiman urges publishers to ‘make mistakes’ in uncertain new era | Books http://buff.ly/119Gpeb

Self-Publishing Grabs Huge Market Share From Traditional Publishers | David Gaughran http://buff.ly/16S3Ldh

TECHNOLOGY

12 Types Of Social Media Users – infographic http://shrd.by/D5Rnf3 via @BerriePelser

Fujitsu Develops Technology That Turns Paper Into a Touchscreen – Wow! http://on.mash.to/11clpVD

Judge rules Union County blogger is protected by the state’s shield law | http://buff.ly/17AplEy #blogging #blogs

Kids read and write better on iPads: Swedish study – The Local http://buff.ly/15ptbB3

Teens and Social Media: http://pinterest.com/pin/193021534002126208/

TEEN LIT

The Spring Book Preview, Y.A. Edition – Jen Doll-The Atlantic Wire http://buff.ly/114ReRe

Watch New ‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ Teaser Trailer [VIDEO] http://on.mash.to/17A9pSD #yalit

Review: Destiny, Rewritten by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

| Tasha

destiny rewritten

Destiny, Rewritten by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

From even before she was born, it had been decided that Emily’s destiny was to be a poet.  Named after Emily Dickinson when her mother was inspired at a bookstore, Emily’s entire 11-year life has been documented in the margins of a first edition copy of Dickinson’s poems.  When Emily discovers that her mother wrote her father’s name in the margin of one of the poems, she rushes to read the book but a mishap sends it off to be donated to Goodwill.  This begins a search of several used book stores for the book and it quickly becomes apparent that destinies will not be rushed and that there is no way to force them.  But along the way, new friends are made, great books to read are found, and destiny is eventually changed.

Fitzmaurice writes with a wonderful mix of light tone and richness.  She carefully builds her story, creating additional storylines that serve as different strings in the story that are tied together by the end.  Another source of the richness is the way she describes things in the story.  Chapter 4 begins with “So I headed down the hall that Saturday morning with a hopeful feeling that came only on days I was opening a new box of Cheerios…”  This is such a universal image and universal feeling.  The Cheerios play into more of the story along with the prizes in their box.

Emily is an engaging character who struggles with learning patience and the frustration of being so close to the truth and then unable to grasp it.  She comes off as a multidimensional person, again thanks to the richness of the world that Fitzmaurice paints for the reader.  The secondary characters are also well drawn and solidly written.  It is a pleasure to also see poems by Dickinson and her life tied so closely to the lives of modern-day children and families.

Fresh and joyful, this is a novel where storylines click into place like a puzzle.  It will delight children who enjoy reading.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from HarperCollins.

Review: Rain! by Linda Ashman

| Tasha

rain

Rain! by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Christian Robinson

The perfect book to lift your spirits on a soggy spring day!  When an older man wakes up and sees the rain, he is not happy.  But when a little boy looks out at the same rain, he’s delighted.  The older man grumbles through his preparations to go outside, while the little boy puts on his green boots, green coat and frog hat still happy with the gloomy weather.  The old man grumbles about puddles, while you can see the joy of the child.  They end up in the same café, the old man still grumpy with his day and the young boy happy with cocoa and cookies.  When the two bump into each other, it seems like the grumpiness rubs off on the little boy.  But then he notices that the older man left his hat behind, and with a little joke and a shared cookie, a day is brightened.

Ashman has written this book very simply, just in snatches of dialogue.  Despite the simplicity, the mood of each character is clear in their words.  It is made even more clear by the cut-paper illustrations that display each person’s mood with just a few lines.  Readers will notice that the pages with the older man have others with grumpy faces while the pages with the the child have others with smiles. 

A book that is sure to have readers jumping merrily in puddles and dancing in the rain, this is an inspiration to look on the bright side of things and share your happiness.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Beatles Were Fab by Kathleen Krull

| Tasha

beatles were fab

The Beatles Were Fab (And They Were Funny) by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, illustrated by Stacy Innerst

This is a picture book biography of The Beatles that captures their humor and the way that they used it in their music and lifestyle.  The book begins with the formation of the band and the fun they had naming themselves.  The book talks about their use of silliness and jokes to keep their spirits up as they struggled to make it, looking for a record deal.  When success came, it came quickly and with success came fame and fans.  Then there was the Beatlesmania craze that swept the United States, nothing like it had been seen before or since.  Krull includes some small details like American fans throwing jellybeans on stage because the band said they liked jellybabies, but jellybabies are soft where jellybeans are certainly not.  She then has a section on each Beatle and some of the interesting responses they gave during interviews.  This is a merry and fast-moving look at one of the greatest bands of all time.

Krull injects her nonfiction work with humor and zest.  She tells specific stories that offer insight into the Beatles nature.  It is a treat to hear their own words but it is also wonderful to read about moments in history that are revealing about their character.  Krull and Brewer skillfully end the book before drug use became an issue for the band.  Instead they focus on the early Beatles and their humor rather than the complexity of the later Beatles music and attitudes.

Innerst’s illustrations are just as humorous and playful as the stories that Krull and Brewer tell.  The characters have a feel of bobble-heads and a strong modern vibe.  He she uses bright colors that match the energy of the text.  I have to say, I am particularly partial to Ringo’s nose in the illustrations.

This strong picture book biography is not made for research, but instead fans of the Beatles can share part of their story with children and everyone is sure to end up humming some of the songs.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.