Eleanor & Park–The Movie

April 8, 2014April 8, 2014 | Tasha

Whoa, somehow I missed that Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell is going to be made into a movie. DreamWorks studio has picked up the rights to the book and Rowell will be writing the screenplay. That alone makes me entirely ecstatic because it will mean that it stays true to the book.

But most importantly, these are two real-life teen characters being brought to the screen. Eleanor is not from the worlds of Hunger Games or Divergent. She’s real and honest and flawed and gorgeous. Let’s hope that casting keeps her that way. Park too of course, but it will be Eleanor who truly breaks the stereotype of what a beautiful teen girl is.

Here’s to creating a teen movie that will change lives!

Summer/Fall Indies New Voices Titles

April 8, 2014 | Tasha

The American Booksellers Association has announced their top ten picks for the Summer/Fall Indies New Voices Titles for children and young adults. These books represent the best debuts of the coming publishing season.

MIDDLE GRADE

The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy

The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer

YOUNG ADULT

Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne

Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

Six Feet over It by Jennifer Longo

The Truth about Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Review: Run, Dog! by Cecile Boyer

April 7, 2014April 7, 2014 | Tasha

Run, Dog! by Cecile Boyer

One red ball and one yellow dog create lots of merry chaos in this picture book. The dog chases the red ball from one scenario to the next, interacting with the people in the scene until finally one of them grabs the ball and throws it off the page. The pages are filled with action thanks to a tiered page system where you turn on section of the page at a time and the scene changes along with it. As the sections are turned, the ball bounces in different ways and the dog reacts making the people in the scene react too!

Near wordless, this book just has single words as the ball is thrown to the next page. The illustrations are bright and pop off the page. They are as simple as the words but are also very cleverly done. The structure of the book creates a very dynamic feel and invites small hands to turn the pages to see what happens next. There is a sense as one reads the book that the reader is the one setting the pace and creating the changes that unfold.

Very engaging, dynamic and great fun, this book is ideal for toddlers who are willing to be careful with the pages. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

Review: The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson

April 7, 2014April 7, 2014 | Tasha

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson

Piper survives alone in the house she once shared with her father in Scrap Town #16. The scrap town is built around an area where meteors crash carrying items from other worlds. Piper makes the little money she has by salvaging things from the meteors and using her knack with machines to repair them to working order. Then one day, Piper finds an unconscious girl in a destroyed caravan. She takes her back to her home, where she discovers that the girl, Anna, has lost her memory but also bears the mark of the king of the Dragonfly Territories, putting her under his protection. Anna is not alone though, there is a man following her that she calls “The Wolf” and who desperately wants Anna back. Piper and Anna flee and sneak onto a slow-moving freight train with the help of Piper fooling the alarm systems. They aren’t able to stay hidden on the train for very long, but Anna’s mark gets them a free ride in luxury. Still, the train ride is not without risk and the first hurdle is convincing the young head of security that they can be trusted.

Johnson has created a rich world filled with elements of fantasy, steam-punk and science fiction. Blended together into one, they work to a certain point but much is left unexplained and unexplored. Readers will have immediate questions about the meteors but those are quickly left behind as questions about fantastical beasts arise, and still more questions about the steam punk elements. That said, the book does work and there is hope that more of the world will be understood in upcoming books in the series.

Piper is a wonderful protagonist. I enjoyed reading a book where a girl is the one who can handle machinery better than anyone else. She is also incredibly brave and has a huge heart that is quick to embrace new people. Her personality shines in the book. The pacing of the novel will keep young readers engaged in the story. It is near breakneck speed, rushing headlong into the next part of the adventure.

Rich and delightful, get this book into the hands of young steampunk fans who are looking for a new adventure. Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Edelweiss and Delacorte Books for Young Readers.

Waterstones Children’s Book Prizes 2014

April 7, 2014 | Tasha

The winners of the 2014 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize have been announced.

BEST PICTURE BOOK

Open Very Carefully by Nick Bromley, illustrated by Nicola O’Byrne

BEST CHILDREN’S BOOK

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

BEST BOOK FOR TEENS

Geek Girl by Holly Smale

This Week’s Tweets, Pins and Tumbls

April 4, 2014 | Tasha

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

CHILDREN’S LIT

The 9 Most Mischievous Literary Pranksters, Ranked| BookBub | http://buff.ly/1pWFYlU #kidlit #reading

10 diary books | Children’s books http://buff.ly/1pWJYmy #kidlit

Are We Rushing Kids Out of Picture Books? | ShelfTalker http://buff.ly/1oqC9YZ #kidlit

Classic Childhood Books That Grow With You| Zola Books | http://buff.ly/1pG5o5r #kidlit

Does Winnie-the-Pooh hinder a child’s ability to learn science? | Toronto Star http://buff.ly/1dBpUnS #kidlit #stem

Hear what ‘wordless author’ David Wiesner has to say about books http://buff.ly/1oqLJer #kidlit

How Jean Craighead George’s ‘Ice Whale’ Got Finished Thanks to Her Surviving Children | SLJ http://buff.ly/1pWIHvF #kidlit

Marilyn Nelson: ‘Many performance poets seem to believe that yelling a poem makes it comprehensible’ – GalleyCat http://buff.ly/1orhlAH

Top 10 Mothers – and mother figures – in children’s books | Children’s books http://buff.ly/PagKUi #kidlit

EBOOKS

How I learned to stop worrying and love the Kindle | The Daily Dot http://buff.ly/1k33vT0 #ebooks

LIBRARIES

Amazing Reading Nooks: Create Cozy, Inventive Reading Havens in Your Library | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/1pWHzbm #libraries

Libraries are branching out into digital – Fortune Tech http://buff.ly/1pWKyPh #libraries

TEEN READS

11 Things You Learn When Your Book Is Turned Into A TV Show| Kass Morgan | http://buff.ly/PafjFl #yalit

Beyond the Bestsellers: So You’ve Read SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson | BOOK RIOT http://buff.ly/1pM2r5f #yalit

‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ Should Be Banned: Kamloops Dad http://buff.ly/1pG5qKA #yalit

See the cover of Scott Westerfeld’s new novel ‘Afterworlds’ | Shelf Life http://buff.ly/1hFkCDj #yalit

The well-read teenager: brilliant classics for young adult readers | Children’s books http://buff.ly/PagSmt #yalit

2014 Street Literature Book Award Medal Winners

April 4, 2014April 3, 2014 | Tasha

The 2014 Street Lit Book Award Medal winners have been announced. The books are nominated based on their popularity in school, academic and public libraries. They have a category for Young Adult literature.

The winner is a series:

Hip Hop Biographies published by Saddleback Educational Publishing.

There are also three honor books:

Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith by Gabrielle Douglas and Michelle Burdord

Way Too Much Drama by Earl Sewell

Butterfly by Sylvester Stephens

Review: One Busy Day by Lola M. Schaefer

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014 | Tasha

One Busy Day by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Jessica Meserve

The siblings from One Special Day return a little bit older in this follow-up picture book. Mia wants to play with her older brother Spencer, but he’s too busy playing on his own. So Mia starts being busy herself. She paints pictures, dances, explores caves, makes mudpies, and builds castles. Slowly as Mia plays, Spencer starts joining in with her, until they are playing together side-by-side. That’s when Mia’s castle needs defending from a dragon! And the two played together until bedtime.

Such a positive approach to getting an older sibling to play. The two children don’t have any negative interactions, it’s just that Spencer is simply not interested in playing with Mia right then. This gives Mia the space to react without anger, instead enticing Spencer to join her. I always appreciate a book that shows no fighting between siblings but also isn’t the picture of perfection either. This picture book has a much more complex approach to sibling interactions and it’s a welcome change.

Meserve’s illustrations add a warm richness to the story. As Mia plays, she does something in real life then the page is turned and you can see what she is doing in her imagination. So on one page she is making mudpies and on the next they are grand cakes and pies. Empty boxes become pirate treasure chests. The freezer is an icy mountain. The images of the backyard are filled with details just like Mia’s imagination. So there is no lack of lushness in reality, especially when Spencer plays too.

A positive and affirming look at the joy of playing together as siblings and the power of imagination. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

2014 Little Rebels Radical Children’s Book Award Shortlist

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014 | Tasha

The shortlist for the second Little Rebels Radical Children’s Book Award has been announced. The UK award focuses on books that celebrate social justice and equality. Here are the titles on the shortlist: