Month: August 2020

19 New August YA Books to Wake Your Brain Cells

| Tasha

Here are 19 titles for teens that are being released in August and received starred reviews. Enjoy!

All Eyes on Her by L. E. Flynn

Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy edited by Kelly Jensen

Chasing Starlight by Teri Bailey Black

A Cloud of Outrageous Blue by Vesper Stamper

The Daughters of Ys by M.T. Anderson, illustrated by Jo Rioux

Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska

Displacement by Kiku Hughes

Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Facing the Sun by Janice Lynn Mather

Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis

I Am Here Now by Barbara Bottner

Invisible Differences by Julie Dachez

It Came from the Sky by Chelsea Sedoti

Lobizona by Romina Garber

Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar

They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman

Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles

Waking Brain Cells Anniversary

| Tasha

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I’m celebrating 17 years of children’s lit blogging today! Every year this gives me time to take a breath and think about librarianship, children’s books, and how I use my time. In past years, I’ve gone through rolling periods of doubt, of thinking about stopping, of doing something else, reading differently and not critically.

This year hasn’t been like that. Instead I have felt driven to share, to keep creating content about books that I love. It’s a way for me to keep from drowning in the bad news of COVID, to keep hope alive that change may actually happen around black lives and policing, to say that black children and children of color deserve to see themselves in books and white children must start learning that all are equal. One powerful way to do that is to have books that represent children of all races, all faiths, all cultures, all sexual orientations, all genders. Books that celebrate children and teens and their experiences in our world.

I will continue to highlight these books on my blog. Books that share experiences, books that ask us to think, to learn, to build bridges or to burn them down. Now is the time to ask yourself what you spend your time on, what you put your voice behind, what you need to learn, how you need to listen. I have work to do, and I pledge to do it.

25 New August Children’s Books to Wake Your Brain Cells

| Tasha

Here are 25 books for children releasing in August that have garnered starred reviews. Enjoy!

All He Knew by Helen Frost

All Together Now by Hope Larson

All’s Happy That Ends Happy by Rose Lagercrantz, illustrated by Eva Eriksson

Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

Chance: Escape from the Holocaust by Uri Shulevitz

A Dog-Friendly Town by Josephine Cameron

Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe

Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri

Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Finish the Fight: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote by Veronica Chambers

Guardians of Liberty: Freedom of the Press and the Nature of News by Linda Barrett Osborne

How to Be a Girl in the World by Caela Carter

Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor

Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero by Kelly J. Baptist

Kodi by Jared Cullum

Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar

Mister Invincible: Local Hero by Pascal Jousselin

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison

Pleased to Meet Me by S. G. Wilson

Summer We Found the Baby by Amy Hest

The Forest of Stars by Heather Kassner, illustrated by Iz Ptica

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf

The Longest Night of Charlie Noon by Christopher Edge

The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth edited by Wade Hudson

Thirteens by Kate Alice Marshall

The Diverse Book Awards 2020 Longlist

| Tasha

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This new UK award was created by The Author School. It is awarded to UK based authors only  and focuses on books published in 2019 that feature “Black, Asian, Latin American and and/or inclusive main characters.” Below are the longlists for the juvenile categories. The shortlists will be announced in September with the winners announced in October.

CHILDREN’S 

Son of the Circus - A Victorian Story

Son of the Circus by E. L. Norry

My Hair by Hannah Lee, illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan

The Mysterious Melody by SP K-Mushambi, illustrated by Kudzai Gumbo

Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian, illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik

The Star Outside My Window by Onjali Q. Rauf (coming to the U.S. in January 2021)

Tin Boy

Tin Boy by Steve Cole, illustrated by Oriol Vidal

Toad Attack!

Toad Attack by Patrice Lawrence, illustrated by Becka Moor

 

YOUNG ADULT

All The Things We Never Said

All The Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman

Becoming Dinah

Becoming Dinah by Kit De Waal

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

The Boxer by Nikesh Shukla

Chinglish

Chinglish: An Almost Entirely True Story by Sue Cheung

The Deathless Girls

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Oh My Gods

Oh My Gods by Alexandra Sheppard

The Tunnels Below by Nadine Wild-Palmer (coming to the U.S. in February 2021)

 

20 New August Picture Books to Wake Your Brain Cells

| Tasha

Here are 20 picture books coming out in August that have gotten stars from review journals. Enjoy!

Birrarung Wilam: A Story from Aboriginal Australia by Aunty Joy Murphy & Andrew Kelly, illustrated by Lisa Kennedy

The Blue House by Phoebe Wahl

A Bowl Full of Peace by Caren Stelson, illustrated by Akira Kusaka

Claude: The True Story of a White Alligator by Emma Bland Smith, illustrated by Jennifer Potter

Dance Like a Leaf by Aj Irving, illustrated by Claudia Navarro

Dark Was the Night: Blind Willie Johnson’s Journey to the Stars by Gary Golio, illustrated by E. B. Lewis (9781524738884)

The Egg by Valerio Geraldo

Every Color of Light by Hiroshi Osada, illustrated by Ryoji Arai

The First Fire: A Cherokee Story by Brad Wagnon, illustrated by Alex Stephenson

Girl versus Squirrel by Hayley Barrett, illustrated by Renee Andriani

Holiday! by Natalie Nelson

The Invisible Bear by Cecile Metzger

Jumbo: The Making of the Boeing 747 by Chris Gall

Little Fox by Edward van de Vendel, illustrated by Marije Tolman

Me & Mama by Cozbi A. Cabrera

Not an Alphabet Book: The Case of the Missing Cake by Eoin McLaughlin, illustrated by Marc Boutavant

The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story by Tina Cho, illustrated by Jess X. Snow

The Run by Barroux

A Thousand Glass Flowers: Marietta Barovier and the Invention of the Rosetta Bead by Evan Turk

Where Are You, Agnes? by Tessa McWatt, illustrated by Zuzanna Celej

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

| Tasha

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (9781419739828)

Published August 18, 2020, after being delayed in April. 

Tarisai was raised in luxury but kept at a distance from everyone lest she steal their stories through her touch. Only her mother, The Lady, touches her, but she is always away and visits rarely. Tarisai is sent to the capitol of the Empire to compete to become a member of the heir’s Council. Only eleven children are selected, one from each part of the realm. But Tarisai is part ehru and has been ordered to kill the heir when she gets close to him and has his trust. The magic of the wish binds Tarisai to comply, but her destiny is not that simple.

The depth of this teen novel is remarkable, particularly for a debut novel. It is a book that submerges the reader into a world they have never seen or experienced before. The world building is incredibly detailed, each element supporting the entirety, woven together into a complex but whole pattern. Based on the author’s Nigerian roots, the book is filled with African notes, settings and tributes.

The characters are so well drawn, particularly Tarisai, who is just as complex as the world she inhabits. As she learns more about herself, she transforms in front of the reader yet never leaves her lonely little girl beginnings behind. The result is an organic growth that makes sense and will leave the reader entirely satisfied.

One of the best fantasy novels this year, give this one to fans of Tomi Adeyemi. Appropriate for ages 13-18.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Amulet Books.