Month: June 2025

Wake Your Friday Brain Cells – June 13 Edition

| Tasha

CHILDREN’S LIT

9 Titles to Learn About Juneteenth – SLJ

The best books for children about refugees – The Guardian

Gen Z Parents Not Reading to Children Alarms Experts – Newsweek

Maurice Sendak’s Wild Things Drawing Sells for Record $625,000 at Heritage Auctions – Intelligent Collector

Peter Brown rebooted ‘The Wild Robot’ for the preschool set. His underlying message remains – LA Times

LIBRARIES

Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden speaks out on her firing by Trump – CBS News

Judge Denies Preliminary Injunction in IMLS Lawsuit – American Libraries

YA LIT

10+ LGBTQ+ YA books to celebrate Pride Month 2025 – United by Pop

All the New Young Adult SFF Books Arriving in June 2025 – Reactor

War and wonder: The best new YA and intermediate fiction – New Zealand Listener

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson – Book Review

| Tasha

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson (9781547605897)

Sage’s entire life changed on her thirteenth birthday. It was the day her best friend was killed by a drunk driver as she walked to Sage’s house. Now Sage is lost in her grief and ashamed of the way she treated her friend on the day she died. Sage has joined a counseling group at school with other girls who have experienced recent deaths of loved ones. As Sage and the other girls process their grief together, there are moments of sadness, anger and somehow friendship manages to grow too.

This is one of the best and most piercing depictions of grief for teens that I have ever read. I appreciate that that book moves beyond blame, shame and anger to also show healing and good things happening. Newbery Honor winning author, Watson, has written this book in a dynamic mixture of prose and verse, allowing real feelings to be shown bare and honest on the page. All of the processing of grief and healing feels organic and true as readers see the various shades of blue that grief entails.

One of the best teen novels about grief, get this one in your collection. Appropriate for ages 12+.

Reviewed from library copy.

2025 DANZ Children’s Book Awards

| Tasha

The winners of the 2025 Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (DANZ) Children’s Book Awards have been announced by The Australian School Library Association. Started only a year ago, the awards “celebrate diverse children’s fiction published in Australia and New Zealand, honouring books that challenge stereotypes, push boundaries, and highlight diverse and marginalised communities, including those representing disability, culture, LGBTQI+, race and religion.”

Here are the winners as well as the books that were shortlisted. Thanks to Books+Publishing for the news.

GRAPHIC NOVEL WINNER

Ghost Book by Remy Lai (available in U.S.)

GRAPHIC NOVEL SHORTLIST

Neverlanders by Tom Taylor and Jon Sommariva (available in U.S.)

The Sweetness Between Us by Sarah Winifred Searle (available in U.S.)

NONFICTION WINNER

The Trees by Victor Steffensen, illustrated by Sandra Steffensen

NONFICTION SHORTLIST

Looking After Country with Fire by Victor Steffensen, illustrated by Sandra Steffensen

Our Mob by Taylor Hampton and Jacinta Daniher, illustrated by Seantelle Walsh

POETRY WINNER

Pasifika Navigators by 52 Pasifika student authors

POETRY SHORTLIST

It’s the Sound of the Thing by Maxine Beneba Clarke

YA WINNER

Catch a Falling Star by Eileen Merriman

YA SHORTLIST

Inkflower by Suzy Zail (available in US)

Into the Mouth of the Wolf by Erin Gough

Kente for Jojo by Bernard Mensah – Book Review

| Tasha

Kente for Jojo by Bernard Mensah, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

A boy wakes up on a special day and races to put on his Kente shirt. As the family heads out, his father tells him the story of Kente. Today is the day they pick out the Kente pattern for his little brother, Jojo. At the Kente store, Kente line the walls and the workers sit at looms weaving. He wants something special for Jojo, so he approaches one of the weavers and they work together to pick a pattern and weave it just for Jojo. When the boy makes a mistake, it becomes part of Jojo’s Kente too. 

This picture book celebrates Kente and its importance in Ghanaian culture. The book ends with more details about Kente, including a longer version of the legend, a brief history, and what the colors mean. The warm and loving family allows the boy to take the lead in deciding on his baby brother’s Kente, instilling a sense of tradition and responsibility to the entire book. The illustrations are filled with cloth patterns and the glowing characters. Done in collage, paint, pen, marker and thread, the illustrations capture Kente on the page.

A beautiful look at Kente and its importance to one little boy. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Alfred A. Knopf.

Firefly Song by Colleen Paeff – Book Review

| Tasha

Firefly Song: Lynn Frierson Faust and the Great Smoky Mountain Discovery by Colleen Paeff, illustrated by Ji-Hyuk Kim (9781665931847)

Lynn grew up going to Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains every summer. She swam in the water, climbed trees, and walked in the forests. For a few weeks every summer, the fireflies put on a light-filled display in the evening. The entire family would gather to watch the fireflies flash in sync then go dark, then light up in sync once more. When Lynn tried to research fireflies as she grew up, she couldn’t find much information. Then when she read an article, she found that scientists thought that the only fireflies that flashed in sync were in Southeast Asia. Lynn knew that they were wrong. Now she just had to convince one scientist to take her seriously. 

This story of a self-taught naturalist and scientist shows that paying close attention to nature can create new discoveries. The book focuses on Lynn’s childhood and her growing interest in getting others to see what she has found. Throughout the text and the illustrations, there is a sense of joy in nature, of play and discovery along the way. The illustrations are done in watercolor and digital media. The watercolors are allowed to bleed together to create the backgrounds against which nature dazzles. 

A beautiful look at discovery in nature. Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Margaret K. McElderry Books.

2024 Nebula Award Winners

| Tasha

The winners of the 2024 Nebula Awards have been announced by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. Here are the winners and shortlisted titles for Novel, Novella and the Norton Award for best YA. You can find the entire list at Locus.

NOVEL WINNER

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

NOVEL FINALISTS

Asunder by Kerstin Hall

The Book of Love by Kelly Link

Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

NOVELLA WINNER

The Dragonfly Gambit by A.D. Sui

NOVELLA FINALISTS

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed

Countess by Suzan Palumbo

Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

The Practice, the Horizon and the Chain by Sofia Samatar

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

ANDRE NORTON AWARD WINNER

The Young Necromancer’s Guide to Ghosts by Vanessa Ricci-Thode

ANDRE NORTON AWARD FINALISTS

Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed by José Pablo Iriarte 

Braided by Leah Cypess

Daydreamer by Rob Cameron

Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee

Puzzleheart by Jenn Reese

Big Boy Joy by Connie Schofield-Morrison – Book Review

| Tasha

Big Boy Joy by Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrated by Shamar Knight-Justice (9781547611515)

A little boy visits a park and has a great time playing. Told with plenty of action words, he climbs and slides on the equipment. Then crashes into another child. Soon the two are sharing toys and playing with dinosaurs together. There’s another crash when the boy heads to the sandbox and a tire falls off a toy truck. But no worries, he can fix it himself. A snack is next, then some playing on the swings, some water play. It’s time to go home. A look at what a small child can expect when heading to a park told in a merry noisy and action-filled way that is sure to please. The Black characters and creators lean into the joy of a day of play. 

Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Bloomsbury Children’s Books.

Wake Your Friday Brain Cells – June 6 Edition

| Tasha

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Celebrating 20 Years of AND TANGO MAKES THREE – Book Riot

Children’s books are getting shorter — here is the proof – The Times

Ten New Children’s Books That Promise Page-Turning Adventures – Lit Hub

What’s New in Early Readers & Chapter Books, June 2025 – Imagination Soup

LIBRARIES

Libraries are becoming ‘community living rooms’ keeping regional Australians connected – ABC (Australia) News

Rural library funding threats – NPR

Schools, libraries urge House not to repeal E-Rate’s Wi-Fi hotspot rule – StateScoop

Three Libraries With Unique Non-Book Collections – Book Riot

The U.S.-Canada Border Runs Through This Library. That’s Now a Problem. – New York Times

YA LIT

Paramount Pictures to Adapt Rebecca Ross’ Divine Rivals – Reactor

When You Go to Dragon School by Chelsea Campbell – Book Review

| Tasha

When You Go to Dragon School by Chelsea Campbell, illustrated by Charlene Chua (9781250293015)

Human school is packed too full, so some kids are going to have to attend Dragon School. But dragon school is pretty different. You learn to breathe fire, take naps on piles of gold, learn how to polish your scales and sharpen your claws. Best of all you will learn how to fly! Except humans can’t fly. Perhaps the kids shouldn’t go to dragon school then. It may be way too dangerous. With a little clever thinking though, the humans and dragons just might make the best of classmates.

With a sense of humor throughout, this book takes a wry look at starting a new school, being different from your classmates, and how compromises make everything better for everyone. The illustrations are bold and colorful, bringing to life a world filled with dragons and children.

A great start-of-school read aloud. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Feiwel & Friends.