Author: Tasha

2019 CBCA Book Awards

| Tasha

The Children’s Book Council of Australia has announced their 2019 winners and honor books for the CBCA Book of Year Awards. Here they are:

THE BOOK OF THE YEAR: OLDER READERS

Between Us

Between Us by Clare Atkins

HONOURS

Lenny's Book of Everything Small Spaces

Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee

Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein

 

THE BOOK OF THE YEAR: YOUNGER READERS

His Name Was Walter

His Name Was Walter by Emily Rodda

HONOURS

Black Cockatoo The Peacock Detectives

Black Cockatoo by Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler

The Peacock Detectives by Carly Nugent

 

THE BOOK OF THE YEAR: EARLY CHILDHOOD

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Tricky’s Bad Day by Alison Lester

HONOURS

42389699. sx318 Here Comes Stinkbug!

Heads and Tails: Insects by John Canty

Here Comes Stinkbug! by Tohby Riddle

 

THE PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR

Cicada

Cicada by Shaun Tan

HONOURS

39997158. sx318 The Mediterranean

The All New Must Have Orange 430 by Michael Speechley

The Mediterranean by Armin Greder

 

THE EVE POWNALL AWARD

Sorry Day

Sorry Day by Coral Vass, illustrated by Dub Leffler

HONOURS

The Happiness Box Make Believe: M.C. Escher for Kids

The Happiness Box: A Wartime Book of Hope by Mark Greenwood, illustrated by Andrew McLean

Make Believe: M. C. Escher for Kids by Kate Ryan, illustrated by Cally Bennett

 

CBCA AWARD FOR NEW ILLUSTRATORS

Grandma Z

Grandma Z by Daniel Gray-Barnett

Review: One Shoe, Two Shoes by Caryl Hart

| Tasha

One Shoe, Two Shoes by Caryl Hart

One Shoe, Two Shoes by Caryl Hart, illustrated by Edward Underwood (9781547600946)

With a clear nod to Dr. Seuss and his iconic Red Fish, Blue Fish, this picture book celebrates rhymes, colors and footwear. The book begins with the dog having one shoe and the human having one shoe, then the two shoes are worn for a walk. There are different colored shoes, knotted laces, cowboy boots, and much more. Then a little mouse makes an appearance near the shoes. Could it be that the shoe is a house for a mouse? How many mice? The counting begins and eventually ends at ten. The dog investigates the mice for awhile but then heads out on another walk after fetching some shoes.

Hart’s text is simple with a bouncy rhyme that keeps the book merry. The pace is fast and jaunty, with plenty of action words along the way to make the book wonderfully playful. The concepts of colors and counting are nicely woven into the story. The circular feel of the book beginning and ending with shoes and walks makes for a book that feels complete.

The illustrations are done in a modern flat style in pencil, ink and collage done with computer assistance. The images are large enough to use with a group and guessing games could be played along the way, matching the shoes with their names, counting the mice (who tend to hide) and finding colors.

A happy book about counting and colors. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy provided by Bloomsbury Children’s Books.

Review: A Slip of a Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff

| Tasha

Slip of a Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff

A Slip of a Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff (9780823439553)

This verse novel tells the story of a girl surviving the Irish Land Wars between the English landowners and the Irish tenant farmers. Anna has grown up on their family farm, but their family struggles to make the required payments to stay. Around her, she sees other families being forced from their homes, the houses themselves knocked down to prevent them from staying. After her mother dies, Anna and her father sometimes have to poach fish to keep the family fed. Their potatoes are not thriving either due to too much rain. When an encounter with the English Lord’s rent collector turns violent, Anna and her father are arrested. Anna manages to escape, taking her baby sister with her to find her aunt in a distant town. Anna must draw on her own resilience and courage to save her entire family.

Giff’s verse is well-written and evocative. She brings the world of Ireland after the Great Famine to life. Giff stresses the dire problems facing the Irish farmers as they struggle to make enough from their farms to feed their families much less pay the landlord. By showing Anna as a member of a larger community, Giff is also able to show the various results of not paying rent. The use of historical photos is key, because one can hardly believe that they would use a battering ram to decimate a home rather than let it stand. The brutality of that act among others shows the merciless nature of the situation in rural Ireland in the 1890’s.

Anna herself is a dynamic heroine. Desperate to learn to read, she meets with the local school teacher in the evenings, reading the book she found outside as well as his books. She never sits idly by, always helping her family and trying to improve their lot. She even joins in with the Irish protests to secure their own land, another act of bravery and defiance.

A strong historical verse novel with a great Irish heroine. Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from copy provided by Holiday House.

2019 Harvey Awards Nominees

| Tasha

The Harvey Awards have announced their nominees for the 2019 awards. Voted on by comic book professionals, the awards celebrate individual works. There is one category specifically for books for youth:

BEST CHILDREN’S OR YOUNG ADULT BOOK NOMINEES

Hey, Kiddo Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

Hey Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Also nominated for Book of the Year)

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell  (Also nominated for Book of the Year)

Mystery Club (Mr. Wolf's Class, #2) New Kid

Mr. Wolf’s Class #2: Mystery Club by Aron Nels Steinke

New Kid by Jerry Craft

On a Sunbeam

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

 

 

Review: The Spacesuit by Alison Donald

| Tasha

The Spacesuit How a Seamstress Helped Put Man on the Moon by Alison Donald

The Spacesuit: How a Seamstress Helped Put Man on the Moon by Alison Donald, illustrated by Ariel Landy (9781848864245)

A fascinating glimpse at a woman behind the success of the first moon landing. Eleanor Foraker loved to sew even as a young girl. As an adult, she worked for Playtex, sewing clothing for children and women. When a contest opened to design a spacesuit to go to the moon, Ellie entered it at the last minute. Ellie worked tirelessly with a team of seamstresses and engineers, trying to make a spacesuit that was softer and more comfortable than previous designs. The design was made of 21 layers of fabrics, and they used huge sewing machines to get that much fabric under the needle. The precision sewing meant that they had to be within 1/64 of an inch to be successful. The suit was sent off to Texas with a major problem with a broken zipper that they got a chance to fix. In the end, Ellie’s design won the day and made it to the moon.

This nonfiction picture book tells the very interesting story of how the spacesuits for the moon landing were invented and designed. The interplay of engineers and seamstresses where everyone’s ideas were valid is an important piece. The focus on comfort as well as functionality made their suit the winner as well as a willingness to work very hard to get it finished in time.

The art in the book pays homage to sewing by incorporating pins, images that look sewn on, and even a timeline made of thread. The illustrations are bright with throwbacks to the 1960’s too. The combination is bright and hopeful.

Based on the true story, this picture book is “sew” good. Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

YALSA’S Teens’ Top Ten

| Tasha

The voting for YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten is now open and will stay open through October 12th. Winners will be announced the following week. Here are the nominees along with the official video announcement:

 

#Murdertrending (MurderTrending, #1) An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, #1)

#MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Ace of Shades (The Shadow Game, #1) American Panda

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

American Panda by Gloria Chao

The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza Ash Princess (Ash Princess Trilogy, #1)

The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons, #2) The Belles (The Belles #1)

Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Blood Water Paint Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) Dance of Thieves (Dance of Thieves, #1)

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

Darius the Great Is Not Okay Frat Girl

Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Frat Girl by Kiley Roache

Girl Made of Stars Isle of Blood and Stone (Tower of Winds, #1)

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake

Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier

Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer, #2) Picture Us in the Light

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert

The Poet X The Prince and the Dressmaker

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Speak: The Graphic Novel Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2)

Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, Emily Carroll

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

To Kill a Kingdom The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown

Wildcard (Warcross, #2)

Wildcard by Marie Lu

Review: Dig by A. S. King

| Tasha

Dig by A. S. King

Dig by A. S. King (9781101994917)

Meet five teenagers who either barely know one another or don’t know each other at all, but all are from the same broken family. It’s a family where the roots run deep into potato farming and racism. It’s a family broken by high expectations, greed, and an inability to connect. Each of the teens carries their own moniker other than their first name. There is the Freak, a girl who can flicker from one place in the world to another. The Shoveler is a boy with big secrets to tell. CanIHelpYou? works at a drive through, selling more than burgers and fries to her customers. Loretta the Flea-Circus Ring Mistress lives in a family of violence and hunger, but has her own flea circus at least. First-Class Malcolm lives with his father who is dying of cancer and jets back and forth to Jamaica. Each teen carries so much weight, so much dirt with them, and yet there is hope if they can just dig deep.

I won’t lie, this is one tough book. King wrestles with the issues, choices and lives faced by teens in the modern world. They are lives embittered by racism, poverty, drugs, violence, and lies. Still, as the reader gets to know each teen, there is grace beneath all of these layers of family crap and expectations. There is responsibility too, responsibility to be different than the previous generation and make better choices for themselves and their families.

I also won’t lie about the fact that this is a very important book. It looks at racism with an eye towards white people taking responsibility for their history, for their current state, for making assumptions, relying on friends of color for cover, and for not being allies in a real way. It lays all of that bare, insisting that the characters and readers take action in their lives to remedy things, to speak of the unspoken, to insist on change happening. So this tough read is filled just enough light through the muck of life.

A great teen novel full of depth with a strong voice and a definitely point of view. Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

Vacation!

| Tasha

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I will be on vacation this week, so there won’t be any book reviews or other posts. Enjoy the last days of August! I’ll be back next week hopefully with some more books finished.

Little Women Trailer

| Tasha

A star-studded new version of Little Women opens this Christmas: