YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

December 9, 2014December 9, 2014 | Tasha

The shortlist for the 2015 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults have been announced. The award honors the best nonfiction books for teens written between Nov 1, 2013 and October 31, 2014. Here are the finalists:

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming

Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business – and Won! by Emily Arnold McCully

Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw

Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin

Horn Book Fanfare

December 4, 2014December 4, 2014 | Tasha

The Horn Book has selected its choices for the best books of 2014. Here they are:

PICTURE BOOKS

The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall

Bow-Wow’s Nightmare Neighbors by Mark Newgarden and Megan Montague Cash

Draw! by Raúl Colón

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio; illustrated by Christian Robinson

My Bus by Byron Barton

Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Jon Klassen

Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales, with photos by Tim O’Meara

FICTION

Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire

The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza by Jack Gantos

The Madman of Piney Woods by Christopher Paul Curtis

My Heart Is Laughing by Rose Lagercrantz; illustrated by Eva Eriksson; translated from the Swedish by Julia Marshall

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki; illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye; illustrated by Betsy Peterschmidt

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

West of the Moon by Margi Preus

FOLKLORE

Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elya; illustrated by Susan Guevara

POETRY

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko; illustrated by Melissa Sweet

How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson; illustrated by Hadley Hooper

NONFICTION

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Buried Sunlight: How Fossil Fuels Have Changed the Earth by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm; illustrated by Molly Bang

El Deafo by Cece Bell

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell; illustrated by Christian Robinson

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant; illustrated by Melissa Sweet

The Story of Buildings: From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond by Patrick Dillon; illustrated by Stephen Biesty

GoodReads Choice Awards 2014 – The Winners

December 3, 2014December 3, 2014 | Tasha

The winners of the GoodReads Choice Awards have been announced. The awards are voted on by GoodReads users. Here are the winners in the youth categories:

MIDDLE GRADE & CHILDREN’S

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

PICTURE BOOKS

The Pigeon Needs a Bath by Mo Willems

YOUNG ADULT FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Kirkus Best Teen Books of 2014

December 2, 2014December 2, 2014 | Tasha

As promised, Kirkus released their list of the top teen books of the year yesterday. Many of my favorites made the list, and there are so many here that I haven’t managed to read yet. Wow! Anyone see any of their favorites that I simply must read before the end of the year? Silly to ask with the size of “To Be Read” pile that I already have!

Jacqueline Woodson Responds

December 1, 2014December 1, 2014 | Tasha

I’ve already posted this via social media, and I want as many people to see it as possible. This last week the children’s literature world has been taken over by one careless, thoughtless and thoroughly racist remark by David Handler at the National Book Awards. It was directed at Jacqueline Woodson, an author I have had the pleasure to hear speak at ALA. When you read her latest book, the one that won the National Book Award, you hear her voice on the page, in the poetry, in the powerful beauty of her words.

Now Jacqueline Woodson has responded in an Op Ed piece in the New York Times. And she has once again put her voice on the page in words of beauty and strength. Read it and know that as librarians and teachers we have to make sure that ALL of the people we serve can find themselves in the books we have.

Best Books of 2014

November 24, 2014 | Tasha

Morales Cover MainPage 300w Best Books 2014

Last week School Library Journal released their list of the Best Books of 2014. Their list has four categories: Picture Books, Middle School, Young Adults and Nonfiction. Plenty to love in their lists!

Best of 2014

This week, Kirkus has released their list of the Best Children’s Books of 2014. Their Teen list will be released next week.

The interesting thing is to note how many of the books are not on both lists, which gives us plenty of 2014 books to celebrate!

2014 Costa Book Awards Shortlist

November 20, 2014 | Tasha

The shortlist for the 2014 Costa Book Awards have been announced. The awards are given to the best books in several categories by British and Irish authors. One category is the Children’s Book Award. Here is the shortlist:

Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders

The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick

Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo

Running Girl by Simon Mason

2014 National Book Award Winners

November 20, 2014November 20, 2014 | Tasha

My favorite of the nominees for the Young People’s National Book Award was chosen as the winner!

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books

November 19, 2014November 18, 2014 | Tasha

The National Science Teachers Association has announced their choices for Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 from books published in 2014. Here are the winning books: