Month: October 2018

This Week’s Tweets & Pins

| Tasha

Here are my favorite tweets and pins from this week:

I may have nothing to wear, but I always have something to read

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Be Loud: 28 Best Kindergarten Read Aloud Books

Don’t underestimate children’s lit say 2 GG Literary Award shortlisted authors | CBC News

Jarrett J. Krosoczka talks ‘Hey, Kiddo’ |The Yarn

Just Us Books Turns 30: A Special Interview – The Brown Bookshelf

Mark Pett’s Epic Twitter Thread about How He Illustrated The Very Last Castle — 100 Scope Notes

Quiet + an interview with Tomie dePaola

“The Bookworm” by Fiona Marchbank on INPRNT

LIBRARIES

“As long as you have a library card and a device that can be used as an e-reader, you can access the digital content free of charge.” https://t.co/WfKFj1jlH4

How a free public library is becoming a beacon of hope in Baltimore

Libraries are about democracy, not just books

 

National Book Award Finalists Announced

| Tasha

The finalists for the 2018 National Book Award have been announced. The five finalists for the award for Young People’s Literature are below. Winners will be announced on November 14th.

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge Hey, Kiddo

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

The Journey of Little Charlie The Poet X

The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

Review: Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini

| Tasha

Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini

Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini, illustrated by Dan Williams (9780525539094)

The author of The Kite Runner has created a poetic work of short fiction that speaks to the plight of refugees around the world. Written as a letter from father to son, the book reflects on the beauty of the land they are leaving. The loveliness of life in Homs, Syria shows the vibrant world that was destroyed by bombs and war. As their lives crumble along with the buildings, they are forced to flee. The letter is written just as father and son enter the boat that will hopefully carry them to a new life in a safe country.

Hosseini was inspired to write this heart-wrenching piece by the death of the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body was found on a Turkish beach. Throughout the short fiction, there is a sense of loss and grief, of a land lost and a future abandoned. Yet there is also a slim thread of hope, a hope that compels them aboard a small boat and out onto the sea.

The illustrations help make this a more approachable book for younger readers who will find themselves drawn to the emotions of the text and the desperation on its pages. Williams uses sweeping colors to convey both the beauty of Syria but also the dark haunting nature of war and being torn from your country.

A devastating piece of fiction appropriate for ages 8 and up.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Bitter and Sweet by Sandra V. Feder

| Tasha

Groundwood Logos Spine

Bitter and Sweet by Sandra V. Feder, illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker (9781554989959)

Hannah’s family was moving to a new city, but Hannah didn’t want to move away from her friends, her house or her neighborhood. Her grandmother told her about when she moved from the old country to America and how the experience was a mix of bitter and sweet. But when Hannah’s family moved, all she could see around her were bitter reminders of what she had lost. The new house had a smaller porch, the road was too hilly for good biking, and she didn’t know anyone. Even when a neighbor girl came over to meet Hannah, the gift of cocoa she left was bitter when Hannah tried it. The next day at school, the girl talked to Hannah about needing to add sugar. Soon Hannah realized that she had to put forth a little effort to discover the sweet that was always there.

Picture books about moving are plentiful every year, but this one has a lovely feeling about it that makes it stand out. The advice from her elders turns out to be true but I also appreciated that Hannah put her own spin on it in the end. The book depicts Hannah’s Jewish family with warmth and scenes that show their traditions. The advice also rings with Jewish wisdom and brings a traditional feel to a modern story.

The illustrations are done in mixed media that combines paint and collage very successfully. The result are images that have a lovely texture to them, fabrics and paper that layer with one another. There is a beautiful light and color to the images that conveys hope even as Hannah struggles to see the sweet.

A rich picture book that looks at difficult times in life through a lens of hope and acceptance. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Groundwood Books.

Review: Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome

| Tasha

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome (9780823439607)

After Langston’s mother died, he and his father moved from rural Alabama to Chicago. Langston misses his mother and grandmother as well as their way of life in Alabama. In Chicago, it’s hard for him to make friends and lonely in the apartment when his father is gone. Even the food that his father provides is nothing like the skilled cooking of the women who raised him. But there is one part of Chicago that makes up for all of the changes. The public library branch in his neighborhood is not whites-only like the one in Alabama. Hiding from bullies after school, Langston soon discovers the beauty of poetry, particularly that written by a man with the same name, Langston Hughes.

Cline-Ransome is best known for her picture books and this is her first novel. The skilled writing here would never lead anyone to believe that this is a debut novel though. The prose has the flow and rhythm of poetry as it plays out on the page. The connection to Alabama is also strong in the prose, the way that Langston speaks and the way he sees the world. Somehow Cline-Ransome makes all of that clear in her writing alone.

Langston is a fascinating character living in a very interesting time in American history, the Great Migration when African Americans left the south and headed north to cities like Chicago. Langston’s love of reading and books is not only a way for him to find a home in the local library branch but also eventually a way for him to connect with peers over a love of the written word.

Skilled story telling and a strong protagonist make this book a very special piece of historical fiction. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

2018 Harvey Awards

| Tasha

The Harvey Awards were given out at New York Comic Con. There are specific categories for youth and then some crossover books won awards as well that I will list below:

BOOK OF THE YEAR 

Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening (Monstress, #1)

Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

 

BEST CHILDREN OR YOUNG ADULT BOOK (Tie)

The Prince and the Dressmaker The Tea Dragon Society

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill

 

BEST EUROPEAN BOOK

California Dreamin'

Calfornia Dreamin’: Cass Elliot before the Mamas & the Papas by Pénélope Bagieu

Review: Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

| Tasha

Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (9781626720664)

In her follow-up to Green, Seeger once again explore all aspects of a single color. With blue, there are baby blue blankets, blue berries, ocean waves, blue skies, and deep night blues. Blues can also feel different from one another. Some can be silly, others stormy and still others icy cold. Told through the lens of a boy and his dog, the book explores different seasons and the blues that accompany their days together.

I must say that this book cannot be summarized easily at all. The text is entirely simple, just naming each color of blue and each mood being depicted. It is the illustrations that are awe-inspiring. They use a cut-out mechanism to lead from one blue to the next, one image to the next, connecting each image to the next.

This is done by a master though, the cutout sections to surprising and unique. I found myself running my fingers over the page to find the holes in the page because they are not obvious at all. Then I would flip back and forth, back and forth to see how the images somehow incorporated those cut areas flawlessly. Even when I knew where to look they disappeared into the images. And the images are grand, beautiful and full of depth. They invite readers into this world of blue.

A picture book to marvel at. Appropriate for ages 1-4.

Reviewed from copy provided by Roaring Brook Press.

Mortal Engines – Trailer

| Tasha

Here is trailer for Mortal Engines, a film based on the book by Philip Reeve and from the team that did Lord of the Rings:

 

Review: No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen

| Tasha

No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen

No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen (9780735262751)

Felix loves trivia and his gerbil who is named after a famous Canadian game show host. He lives with his mother Astrid, who struggles to keep jobs and tends to tell lies whenever she wants. Living in Vancouver is expensive, so when Astrid loses her job and then offends the person who takes them in, Felix finds himself living in a camper van. It’s only temporary, so Felix starts school and doesn’t explain to anyone where he is living. Astrid uses her ability to stretch the truth convincingly to get him a place in the school he wants and to get them a mailing address. Still, living in a van is not any fun after awhile and as Felix makes new friends, he finds it hard to keep lying to them. But there is a way out, if Felix can win the junior version of a national game show, he might just have enough money to get them back on their feet and into a home.

Nielsen tells a story about the power of hope, the importance of friendship and the creation of a community of people who care. It is also the story of a mother who is struggling with depression and an inability to keep a job. Astrid is a great character, a mother who manages to continue to be sympathetic but also disastrous. She is complicated just like their story of homelessness is. This is not a flat look at homelessness but instead an in-depth exploration of how it happens, the trap of being in it, and the long climb back out.

Felix too is a wonderful character. He is bright, funny and written as a twelve-year-old boy. That means that his sense of humor is a little naughty and his sense of integrity and honor is strong. His voice resonates as that of a child his age, not reaching up to be a teen yet. The friends he makes are also depicted well, from his old childhood friend with the warm and messy home to the girl he likes, maybe, and her straight-talking hard-hitting journalism approach.

A nuanced and skilled look at homelessness with great characters to discover along the journey. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy provided by Tundra Books.