Month: October 2019

News to Wake Your Brain Cells – Oct 25

| Tasha

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

11 witch books for kids of all ages – Brightly

16 children’s books about space to inspire NASA’s tiniest fleet – Romper

Halloween reading for kids – WUWF

How Raina Telgemeier faces her fear – The New York Times

PBS adapts Meltzer’s biographies for young readers – Publisher’s Weekly

Q & A with Eoin Colfer – Publisher’s Weekly

Ursula K. Le Guin’s playful and profound letter-poem to children about the power of books and why we read – Brainpickings

LIBRARIES

From wizards to mentoring, Allegheny County’s public libraries are vital, sometimes noisy spaces – Public Source

Madison Library system considers end to overdue fines – Wisconsin State Journal

YA LIT

8 differences between Hulu’s Looking for Alaska and the original novel – PopSugar

14 high school students share the one book they think their entire generation should read – CBC

Jeff Smith’s award-winning comic book series BONE acquired for Netflix series – Broadway World

Knowing a young brown person might listen and feel less alone: the narrative life of Priya Ayyar – Booklist Reader

Looking for Alaska isn’t the book you read as a teen – and it’s not trying to be – Mashable

October 2019 Debut YA Novels – Stacked

There may be more than a year between His Dark Materials Seasons 1 and 2 – Tor

Young adult books roundup – reviews – The Guardian

Let It Snow – The Trailer

| Tasha

A Netflix film based on Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle:

The movie will be released on Netflix on November 8, 2019.

Review: Small in the City by Sydney Smith

| Tasha

Small in the City by Sydney Smith

Small in the City by Sydney Smith (9780823442614)

When you are small and along in the city, it can be very frightening. A child who knows how to navigate the streets offers some advice even though they can find the city a bit overwhelming too. Alleys make great shortcuts. Dryer vents can offer warmth. Avoid the big dogs that fight. The child hangs posters as they make their way through the city and the falling snow, identifying a place to sit together and options for hiding up high. It’s perfect advice for a lot cat who also could just come back home.

Set in an urban setting with street cars and a maze of lights, streets and sounds, this picture book skillfully captures the confusion of the city. As the child moves through the space with confidence, readers will learn more about both the kid and their city along the way. Readers at first may think that the child is homeless or running away. It takes a little while for their lost pet to be revealed to the reader.

Smith’s illustrations create a fascinating mix of the bustle of urban life but also the quiet of snowfall, the beauty of an empty park, and the small areas of a city just right for a little cat to survive. The images bring a contemplative tone to the book, giving space and opportunity to breathe and feel deeply.

A stellar picture book that reveals the heart of the city and the heart of a child. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

Review: Oscar Seeks a Friend by Pawel Pawlak

| Tasha

Oscar Seeks a Friend by Pawel Pawlak

Oscar Seeks a Friend by Pawel Pawlak (9781911373827)

Oscar is a little skeleton who has lost a tooth. He thinks he looks entirely dreadful without it and wonders if he will ever find someone to play with. So when he sees a little girl burying a tooth, he asks her for it. But she is burying the tooth in order to have a wish come true. Then she takes another look at Oscar and starts to laugh. She agrees to give him the tooth if he helps her find a friend. The two head off, and she shows Oscar all of the lovely things she would show a friend, including rainbows, meadows, and the seaside. Oscar then brings her into his world and shows her parks and libraries and sleeping butterflies. The two realize at the end of the day together that they both got what they wished for, tooth or no tooth.

This Polish import is a treat just right for Halloween with its skeleton main character. Oscar is an entirely human skeleton with worries about making friends. The book plays against Oscar being a skeleton nicely as the little human girl isn’t scared of him for even a moment. There’s something very endearing about him and the entire book focuses on connections rather than frights.

The illustrations are what make this book special. Done in paper collage with 3D elements, the images are tactile and full of texture. The worlds of each of the characters is distinct in color and content. Oscar’s is dark with pops of color and the human world is bright and filled with sun, rain and rainbows. The play of the two against one another is visually gorgeous on the page.

Charming rather than scary, this is a autumn treat. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

Review: The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner

| Tasha

The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner

The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner (9781534431454)

Moth has always loved everything to do with magic and witches. So when Halloween comes, she dresses up as a witch. That does nothing but encourage some school bullies who tease her in the hall in front of the new kid in town. But something strange happens and Moth’s hands start to glow. It turns out that Moth comes from a family of witches, something her mother had never shared with her. Now it all makes sense why Moth has felt so different from everyone else and struggled to make friends. As Moth learns more about her family and the secret separate magic land her grandmother helped create and still lives in, Moth’s powers grow. She meets a talking cat, makes her first real friend, and then discovers that while witches are real so are those who hunt them!

Steinkellner’s debut graphic novel for youth is a delightful mix of diversity and magic. While comparisons can be made with other teen witches, this book stands entirely on its own. Part of that distinction comes from the unique world that the town’s witch elders created for safety. It is a world of floating islands, crystalline colors and flowing robes. It contrasts dynamically with the world of middle school. Moth is the one who brings both worlds together as her magic begins to take form.

The characters in this graphic novel really make the book special. Moth moves far beyond middle-school misfit and is a friendly, funny protagonist with a talking cat who is brave and conflicted. Her mother too is complicated in all the best ways.

A great middle-grade graphic novel that is full of magic. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy provided by Aladdin.

Review: The Scarecrow by Beth Ferry

| Tasha

The Scarecrow by Beth Ferry

The Scarecrow by Beth Ferry, illustrated by The Fan Brothers (9780062475763)

Throughout the seasons, Scarecrow guards the fields, keeping the deer, crows and other animals away. He has no friends and none of the animals have any contact with him. He is alone. Then one spring, a baby crow falls from its nest. Scarecrow does something he has never done before. He beds down and saves that little crow, tucking it safely into his overalls. The two become immediate friends and steadily the crow grows larger and is able to fly. They spend their days and nights together, until one day the crow flies away. Scarecrow is left along again, on a broken pole in the winter snow. Still, seasons change and as spring returns there is hope.

Ferry has written a captivating story about a very lonely scarecrow who makes one compassionate choice that changes his entire existence. Ferry takes time to make sure that readers understand the profound loneliness of the scarecrows time on his pole and then the delight of him moving is a wonderful surprise. The story has a great structure and arc that children will love, watching the relationship build and the seasons change.

As always, the Fan Brothers are superb. In this book, the illustrations are done in pencil, ballpoint and digitally. The landscapes are lush are seasonal, the golden sun of autumn, the muted colors of winter. The painted face of the scarecrow manages to show real emotion somehow without really moving until he is truly distressed.

A great fall read that will work for springtime too. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds

| Tasha

Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds

Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds (9781481438285)

In ten separate but linked stories, award-winning author Reynolds creates an entire neighborhood of ten blocks. The book begins, and refers throughout, with a school bus falling from the sky. There is one story per block, different kids on each block living their lives, going to school, facing various things in their futures, pasts and presents. There are best-friend boogers, petty theft for a good cause, complicated but important handshakes, stand-up comedy, body odor and body spray, and fake dogs. It’s a book about what happens after school, whether it is friendship or bullying, loneliness or comfort.

This one deserves a medal. Period. It’s one of those books that reads so easily, since it’s written with such skill. The voices of the characters are varied but all intensely realistic and vibrantly human. Reynolds plays with the reader but invites them into the joy of the joke, showing the layers of what children are and what they feel and do. He demonstrates that ten times here, always deeply exploring each character before moving on to the next and celebrating them.

The stories arc together moving from humor to pain to loss to fear to freedom and everywhere in between. The characters form a community on the page, streets unfold before the reader and they get to journey them with friends they just met opening the book. The final chapters are masterful, the text moving from narrative to spoken word to rap. The rhythm of the book throughout is a dance, here it becomes a heartbeat of life.

Look for this incredible read to win some big awards this spring. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy provided by Simon & Schuster.

Review: Here and Now by Julia Denos

| Tasha

Here and Now by Julia Denos

Here and Now by Julia Denos, illustrated by E.B. Goodale (9781328465641)

The team who created the award-winning picture book Windows returns with a look at mindfulness. The book walks readers through a different way to view their own place in the world. It closely examines the ground under our feet and what is happening all around us at any given time, like rain collecting in a cloud. Animals around us are living their lives. We are on a planet spinning in space. New friends are waiting and new connections are being formed. And you, you are becoming something too!

Denos writes in a poetic manner that draws lovely connections between us and our entire environment. She places the reader right in this moment, acknowledging the changes happening all around us and the fact that we ourselves are changing too. This is a book that looks at us as individuals but even more as part of something much larger than ourselves. The illustrations by Goodale are dramatic and impactful. Her diverse cast of characters travel through spinning space along with the reader, enjoying the stars, nature and community along the way.

Inclusive and universal, this book invites you to think differently. Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy

| Tasha

Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy

Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy (9780062473097)

Sweet Pea’s parents have gotten a divorce and came up with the brilliant idea of living just one house away from one another on the same street to make it easier on Sweet Pea. The houses are decorated very similarly too, particularly Sweet Pea’s room in each of them. In between the two houses is one that belongs to the town’s resident advice columnist, a woman known to be eccentric and a loner. So when she asks Sweet Pea to be responsible for picking up her mail and sending it to her, it’s a big surprise. As Sweet Pea’s own life continues to get more complicated with friend issues and her mother starting to date, she keeps one secret all her own. She has started to reply to some of the letters asking for advice herself!

This is Murphy’s first foray into middle grade writing and it’s a great way to start! In Sweet Pea, she has created a female protagonist who isn’t obsessed with boys, isn’t thinking about hair and makeup, and is much more concerned with her family, her cat and her friends. Sweet Pea is funny, intelligent and brave. She also procrastinates, takes a few too many risks, and fails sometimes at friendship. She is also not a small girl, all of which makes her a breath of fresh air in middle grade books.

As always, Murphy’s writing is light and readable even when dealing with large emotions or issues. In one of the best scenes of the book, Sweet Pea pukes at a birthday party she crashed. The scene offers humor mixed with deep empathy and then addresses the bravery it takes to return to school afterwards. This book is all about giving people second (and even third) chances, including yourself.

The author of Dumplin’ has another winner here. Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Balzer + Bray.