Author: Tasha

This Week’s Tweets

| Tasha

Here are the posts I shared on Twitter this week:

CHILDREN’S LIT

15 Children’s Books about Gender Identity

Children’s book about Syrian refugee wins Blue Peter award

The Evolving Role of Race in Children’s Lit, From ‘Harry Potter’ to ‘The Hate U Give’ – EdSurge News

Kids Can Press’ ‘Most Magnificent Thing’ Animated Short Is Out From Nelvana

Spring 2019’s Best Children’s and Middle Grade Books | Bookish

LIBRARIES

A futuristic library in France is like the city’s living room (pictures)

READING

How Does Generation Z Read?

‘I can get any novel I want in 30 seconds’: can book piracy be stopped?

Parents urged to keep reading to children in their teens –

Set the children free – show them the joy of reading for reading’s sake | Lola Okolosie

YA LIT

8 YA science fiction and fantasy books you must pick up in March

From Close-Knit to Complicated: Kate A. Boorman’s Favorite YA Novels About Families | Bookish

Spring 2019’s Can’t-Miss Young Adult Books | Bookish

Spring 2019’s Most-Anticipated Young Adult Sci-Fi & Fantasy | Bookish

These 10 Quotes from SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson Deserve To Be Shouted

Review: Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel

| Tasha

hands up! by breanna j. mcdaniel

Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel, illustrated by Shane W. Evans (9780525552314)

A police phrase is turned into something much more positive in this picture book. Starting with being a small baby and lifting her hands to play peek-a-boo, an African-American girl grows up on these pages. Along the way, she raises her hands for all sorts of positive reasons like getting dressed, reaching high, and doing her hair. She takes action with her hands up: getting books from a shelf, dancing, playing basketball, and worshiping. The book ends with the girl joining her family in a protest march.

McDaniel has written a book about the joy of life, the small and big things, and the important aspects of a life well lived. It is a book about not living in fear and not being seen as a problem because of the color of your skin. It is a book that reads as a celebration and its own protest against racism and prejudice.

The illustrations by Evans are so bright they almost blind. Pages are filled with sunshine and lemon yellows. He uses textures for clothing that make the book more tactile and organic. Throughout, he depicts a loving multi-generational African-American family.

Powerful and standing in its truth, this book is exactly what is needed right now. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Dial Books.

Review: Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise

| Tasha

planting stories the life of librarian and storyteller pura belpre by anika aldamuy denise

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise, illustrated by Paola Escobar (9780062748683)

The deep impact and life of librarian Pura Belpre is shown in this picture book biography. The first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City, Pura entered the job with a deep understanding of her native folklore and the power of storytelling with children. But the shelves of the library did not have any of the Puerto Rican tales. So Pura sets off to fix that as well as demonstrating ways to tell stories using puppets. Soon her first book is published and she can use it when she travels to different library branches to share her stories. Pura gets married to a musician and the two of them travel to different cities to perform his music and her stories. When her husband dies, Pura returns to New York City to discover that the stories she planted years ago have germinated something bigger.

Denise writes with a tone of wonder as she tells of this librarian who created her own way to tell the stories she loved. The text is infused with Spanish in a way that allows for comprehension and also clearly ties this book to its Puerto Rican subject. The text reads like poetry, gamboling across the page filled with activity and Pura’s own decisiveness.

The illustrations are rich and vibrant. They depict the library, Pura’s storytelling with children, and the subject matter of her stories. Filled with textures and deep colors, the illustrations pay close attention to the time period of the book and yet have a playful lightness to them as well.

A strong picture book biography of a remarkable librarian. Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

2019 Inky Awards Longlists

| Tasha

The longlists for the Australian Inky Awards have been announced by State Library Victoria. The awards are given to both Australian and international books for young adults in two separate categories. Here are the longlists:

Gold Inky Award for an Australian Book

After the Lights Go Out Amelia Westlake

After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson

Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough

The Art of Taxidermy Hive (Hive #1)

The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot

Hive by AJ Betts

I Am Out With Lanterns Ice Wolves (Elementals, #1)

I Am Out with Lanterns by Emily Gale

Ice Wolves: Elementals Book One by Amie Kaufman

Lifel1k3 (Lifelike, #1) A Thousand Perfect Notes

Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff

A Thousand Perfect Notes by CG Drews

Whisper (Whisper, #1) White Night

Whisper by Lynette Noni

White Night by Ellie Marney

 

Silver Inky Award for an International Book

The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily XR Pan

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

  I Was Born for This

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

Navigating the Stars by Maria V Snyder

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

Review: Bloom by Kevin Panetta

| Tasha

Bloom by Kevin Panetta

Bloom by Kevin Panetta, illustrated by Savanna Ganucheau (9781626726413)

A sweet combination of romance and baking rises to perfection in this graphic novel for teens. All Ari wants to do is leave their small town and move to the big city with his band. Unfortunately, he has to stay and help with his family’s bakery which is struggling financially. Then Ari comes up with a plan, to hire someone else to help in the bakery so that he is free to leave. That’s when Hector enters his life, a big calm guy who loves to bake just as much as Ari hates it. The two of them slowly becomes friends with romance hanging in the air, and that’s when Ari ruins it all.

We need so many more books for teens that focus on life after high school, particularly ones where the characters don’t have any real plans of what to do and aren’t headed for college. The story line here is beautifully laid out, creating a real connection between the two main characters that builds and grows. Then comes the devastating choice that Ari makes to blame Hector for an accident that they were both involved in. Panetta again allows the story to have a lovely natural pace even in this disaster, giving the reader pause about whether this is going to be a love story or not.

The art by Ganucheau is exceptional. The two characters are drawn with an eye for reality but also romance. They could not be more different with Ari light and rather dreamy and Hector a more anchoring and settled figure even in their depictions on the page. The baking scenes as they two work together are the epitome of romantic scenes, showing their connection to one another long before it fully emerges in the story.

A great LGBT graphic novel filled with romance and treats. Appropriate for ages 15-20.

Reviewed from copy provided by First Second.

2019 Audie Award Winners

| Tasha

The Audie Award winners were announced last night (March 4th). The Audiobook of the Year was won by Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, narrated by Bahni Turpin. Here are other category winners for youth titles:

MIDDLE GRADE

Sunny by Jason Reynolds, narrated by Guy Lockard

 

MULTI-VOICED PERFORMANCE

Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham, narrated by Pyeng Threadgill and Luke Slattery

 

NARRATION BY THE AUTHOR

The Secret of Nightingale Wood written and narrated by Lucy Strange

 

YOUNG ADULT

Sadie by Courtney Summers, narrated by Dan Bittner, Rebecca Soler, Gabra Zackman, and Fred Berman

 

YOUNG LISTENERS

Before She Was Harriet Cover

Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome, narrated by SiSi Aisha Johnson, January LaVoy, Lisa Renee Pitts, and Bahni Turpin

Review: Sea Bear by Lindsay Moore

| Tasha

sea bear by lindsay moore

Sea Bear by Lindsay Moore (9780062791283)

Told in the voice of a polar bear, this picture book follows her journey along the ice. She has learned to be patient: in her hunting and with the weather. Spring comes breaking the ice into smaller pieces. The bear hunts seals and takes naps with a full belly. With summer, the ice melts even more. Now the sea bear must swim to the shore that she can smell in the distance. She swims for days, accompanied by other sea animals as she swims including whales, narwhals, and walruses. She is caught in a storm but eventually makes it to the beach. During the summer, she grows thin, waiting for the freeze to come. She knows she will teach her own cubs patience too.

Moore manages to tell the story of a wild animal without anthropomorphizing her too much. The use of the bear’s perspective makes the story all the more personal and impactful. The impact of climate change is clearly depicted here, but not mentioned directly as the cause until the author’s note at the end.  The writing is dramatic and immediately draws readers into the story where they will learn all about the incredible story of the polar bear’s year.

The illustrations are done in watercolor, graphite, inks, crayon and colored pencil. They are just as intense as the story, showing the amazing journey and depth of water the polar bears swim in. Adding sea creatures to her swim adds to the beauty of the Arctic and shows the scale of the bear in the vast ocean.

Moving and informative, this picture book tells a detailed story of one creature’s patience and resilience. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Bridge to Home by Padma Venkatraman

| Tasha

The Bridge to Home by Padma Venkatraman

The Bridge to Home by Padma Venkatraman (9781524738112)

When her abusive father starts to hit Viji and her sister, Rukku, as well as their mother, Viji takes Rukku and runs away to the streets of Chennai. Rukku follows willingly, though Viji worries that when others see Rukku they will take her away due to her developmental delays. The two sisters meet two boys who also live on the streets and the four of them form a small family. During the day, they pick garbage in the litter piles and mountains around the city. Rukku makes bead necklaces that they sell to tourists and students. The four children are hungry and scared often, but they also have wonderful adventures together whether they are living on an abandoned bridge or in a dark and hidden graveyard. When Rukku falls ill, Viji must figure out if she can care for her herself or if she needs to take a big risk and ask for help.

Venkatraman has created a tale that doesn’t soften the dangers and difficulties of children living on the streets of India. At the same time though, she doesn’t allow the story to be dismal, instead she shows how the smallest things can give joy. Just the inclusion of the puppy into the children’s lives adds an element of love and cuddling that the book needed. The setting of India and its streets is brilliantly shared in the book, that includes the dark dangers of those who steal from them and the predator adults they encounter.

The two sisters are very different from one another not just because of Rukku’s disability but also their outlook at life is in contrast to one another. Viji takes the role of protector for her sister, doing the hard and dirty work. Yet, Rukku manages to sometimes make more money for the group and also serves as the person who brings them together over and over again. The two boys are almost like siblings themselves, as the book progresses, they share their stories which are haunting as well.

A beautifully written novel for middle graders that shines light on children often overlooked. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Nancy Paulsen Books.

Review: The Goose Egg by Liz Wong

| Tasha

The Goose Egg by Liz Wong

The Goose Egg by Liz Wong (9780553511574)

Henrietta is an elephant who loved quiet. Most of all, she loved the lake and sinking below its surface into silence. She would get lost in her thoughts and just swim. But one day, she got too lost in her head and she banged it on a pole! She went home and discovered that she had a big lump, a goose egg, on her head. She bandaged the bump and stayed quiet until something on her head hatched open! She reached up and found a gosling. She tried taking the baby goose back to her nest, but the mother goose never returned. So now quiet Henrietta had a very noisy gosling to take care of. Goose got louder as she grew bigger. By then, Henrietta realized that she needed to teach Goose to be a goose. So she taught her how to look for food, how to swim behind, how to flap her wings and more. Eventually, it was time for Goose to fly south. Henrietta was able to return to her quiet life again, but it wasn’t the same. Henrietta dreamed of Goose’s honking and longed to hear it again, until one day she did!

Wong takes a one-liner joke about a goose egg on the head being a real goose’s egg and turns it into a completely charming picture book. Readers who enjoy a bit of quiet will find a kindred spirit in Henrietta while those who enjoy a more raucous life will relate to Goose. The pair of them are opposites and manage to teach one another things along the way. The book has a gentle tone, allowing the story to unwind before the reader at its own pace.

Wong’s illustrations are done on a white background that nicely frames the drama of the bumped head, the goose egg and then the hatching. The images have subtle coloring until Goose appears in his bright yellow feathers, showing visually how he change Henrietta’s life. The illustrations take on a vaudeville humor as Goose and Henrietta interact. Then Henrietta’s solution for teaching Goose is a lovely visual as well.

A sweet and gentle tale of adoption, letting go and returning home. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Knopf.