Welcome to the next dimension of the Twilight juggernaut. Graphic novels.
Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive (including an inside spread so you can see Edward himself) of the new offering by Yen Press. The graphic novel will be released on March 16th with a large first printing of 350,000 copies.
Libraries need to stock up. The merger of the manga craze and the Twilight craze – this could be huge!
Faith by Maya Ajmera, Magda Nakassis, and Cynthia Pon
Through photographs, this book tells the story of many faiths, allowing glimpses into each of them. The book celebrates the many faiths, tying them together through similarities but also revealing their differences too. Cultures and religions are highlighted here in a book that children will see themselves in and also learn about others too.
The photographs here are clear, vivid and capture moments of prayer and devotion with grace. Each photograph is accompanied by at least the name of the religion and the country the photo was taken in. Other photographs have a brief sentence that explain the image a bit further. This brevity makes the book read simply and easily. Larger text on each page carries the flow of the book, giving each set of pages a theme where we can see our commonalities and differences and celebrate both side by side.
Highly recommended, this is a book about religion that children will innately understand. It is ideal to start discussions or quietly examine on your own. Appropriate for ages 4-7.
Reviewed from library copy.
Google Books offers a preview of the entire book, so you can see the photographs yourself!
Get a small taste of the next book in Melissa Marr’s series that started with Wicked Lovely. Marr has the prologue and first chapter up on her blog. You can also enter a contest to create a teaser or trailer for the new novel!
Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the link.
Premiering Saturday at the National Book Festival is a great collaboration by a whole group of children’s authors. Exquisite Corpse is an online serial story that is available on the Library of Congress website Read.gov.
Jon Scieszka has written the first cliffhanger episode of the book. Every two weeks another episode and illustration will be released. The story will conclude one year from now. Follow the story by RSS feed or visit the site itself.
Episode two will be written by Katherine Paterson.
I get less excited about the big name books that garner a lot of attention and much more excited about beloved gems.
Crow-Girl by Bodil Bredsdorff was my favorite book of 2004. A Danish import, the book was lyrical, quiet and simply lovely.
And what has me dancing around today is my discovery that it will have a sequel! Coming out very soon!
Eidi is the first book of three sequels that follows one of the other Children of Crow Cove. I am so looking forward to this title! Let’s hope the writing is as excellent and that it keeps the unique beauty of the first. It will be released on October 13th.
I love paging through glossy sheets of paper filled with tantalizing glimpses of upcoming titles! Kirkus has a nice fall preview filled with debut authors and lots of adult fiction and nonfiction. Head towards the end and you will find debut authors in children’s and YA along with some featured reads.
I’m looking forward to Siobhan Dowd’s Solace of the Road, Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, and The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson.
James Frey has sold a series of YA books to HarperCollins. The first book, I Am Number Four, is in a planned series of six. Frey submitted the first novel anonymously. The series will be primarily written by Jobie Hughes, though the idea originated with Frey.
The film rights for the series have already been purchased by DreamWorks.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
This second book in the Hunger Games Trilogy returns us to the world of Katniss who is now enjoying her winnings. Things are good. Her family now lives comfortably in the Victor’s Village, and she hunts outside the gates for fun rather than survival. Her only trouble is the continuing confusing relationship with her and Peeta. Then you throw Gale into the mix too and Katniss really doesn’t know where her heart lies or if it lies anywhere! Katniss has had time to enjoy her winnings and now must head out with Peeta to tour the Districts as a loving couple. And with that tour, everything changes.
Collins has once again created a book that is gripping, tense and a riveting read. Her world is even more completely evolved in this second novel, drawing readers deeply into the story and its setting. Katniss and the other beloved characters continue to be strongly written and are obviously deeply understood by the author who puts them into impossible situations which they react to with their own unique personality but still grow and change realistically.
Collins excels at writing books with twists and turns. Some of which are so shocking that I had to re-read the page to make sure I had read it correctly the first time. Though one never knows what is going to happen next, readers can be sure they are in great hands. This is like a roller coaster ride in book form!
An amazing second novel, this book will be worth the wait! I promise!
I read that line and my stomach dropped. A sequel to A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett! Say it ain’t so.
Then my eye caught the name of the author who is writing it: Hilary McKay. I love McKay’s writing style, her artistic nature, the poise of her books. And I can see her doing this very well.
So now it is with mixed feelings that I will approach this book: Wishing for Tomorrow. The book follows the girls who are left behind at the school, which should make for a wonderful story. It’s just too bad that Tasha Tudor won’t be able to do the illustrations.
Let’s hope that McKay does Sara Crewe and the Casson family proud.
Waking Brain Cells 