Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement to an African American author or illustrator for their body of work

Recipients:

Patricia and Frederick McKissack (How have they not won before!)

Honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies the disability experience.

Best Young Children’s Book

A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Hurrah!!)

Best Middle Grades Book

Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell

Best Teen Book

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Teen Readers and Adult Books:

Brewster by Mark Slouka

The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell

Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

Help for the Haunted by John Searles

Lexicon by Max Barry

Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

Mother Mother by Koren Zailckas

Relish by Lucy Knisley

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

The Universe versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

This will be the last list of Top Reads, since the others are not only very recent but also available on my Pinterest boards.  So here are the top reads from my reviews posted in 2011:

  

Across the Universe by Beth Revis (reviewed January 25, 2011)

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor (reviewed May 6, 2011)

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy (reviewed October 17, 2011)

 

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (reviewed April 21, 2011)

Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman (reviewed October 6, 2011)

The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman (reviewed January 4, 2011)

  

Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon (reviewed February 7, 2011)

Chime by Franny Billingsley (reviewed February 28, 2011) 

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (reviewed July 28, 2011)

  

Divergent by Veronica Roth (reviewed May 9, 2011)

Drawing from Memory by Allen Say (reviewed August 22, 2011)

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (reviewed December 29, 2011)

   

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith (reviewed July 25, 2011)

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (reviewed August 31, 2011)

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (reviewed June 3, 2011)

   

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (reviewed May 31, 2011)

Island’s End by Padma Venkatraman (reviewed August 15, 2011)

Kat Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis (reviewed May 27, 2011)

   

Legend by Marie Lu (reviewed November 9, 2011)

Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Nancy Doniger (reviewed March 7, 2011)

Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes (reviewed February 9, 2011)

    

Lost & Found by Shaun Tan (reviewed April 4, 2011)

Me… Jane by Patrick McDonnell (reviewed May 2, 2011)

No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis (reviewed December 5, 2011)

 

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (reviewed March 22, 2011)

Peaceful Pieces by Anna Grossnickle Hines (reviewed May 26, 2011)

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall (reviewed May 25, 2011)

  

Press Here by Herve Tullet (reviewed April 5, 2011)

Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg (reviewed April 27, 2011)

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry (reviewed January 21, 2011)

  

Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan (reviewed April 25, 2011)

Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Il Sung Na (reviewed March 10, 2011)

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers (reviewed November 29, 2011)

  

Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes

Underground by Shane W. Evans (reviewed May 25, 2011)

The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce (reviewed October 19, 2011)

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, illustrated by Maira Kalman (reviewed December 20, 2011)

Wither by Lauren DeStefano (reviewed March 28, 2011)

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (reviewed July 22, 2011)

Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke (reviewed February 2, 2011)

Here are my top picks for books I reviewed in 2010.  And yes, there are FORTY of them, and yes it was necessary.  Seriously, look at the great reads!

  

Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke (reviewed September 9, 2010)

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins (reviewed July 30, 2010)

Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo an Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile (reviewed October 15, 2010)

  

Boom! by Mark Haddon (reviewed May 27, 2010)

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar (reviewed May 19, 2010)

Chalk by Bill Thomson (reviewed July 15, 2010)

  

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce (reviewed February 1, 2010)

Crazy by Han Nolan (reviewed October 25, 2010)

The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan and Peter Sis (reviewed March 5, 2010)

  

Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve (reviewed March 22, 2010)

Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel (reviewed September 20, 2010)

Henry in Love by Peter McCarty (reviewed January 29, 2010)

  

Hush by Eishes Chayil (reviewed September 3, 2010)

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein (reviewed August 17, 2010)

It’s a Book by Lane Smith (reviewed September 17, 2010)

  

The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter (reviewed August 16, 2010)

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork (reviewed February 19, 2010)

A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner (reviewed June 14, 2010)

  

The Maze Runner by James Dashner (reviewed January 4, 2010)

Meanwhile by Jason Shiga (reviewed March 25, 2010)

Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Josee Masse (reviewed March 12, 2010)

  

Nothing by Janne Teller (reviewed February 26, 2010)

Once by Morris Gleitzman (reviewed April 22, 2010)

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (reviewed March 26, 2010)

  

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper (reviewed March 16, 2010)

Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin (reviewed June 1, 2010)

The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Renata Liwska (reviewed March 19, 2010)

  

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (reviewed July 6, 2010)

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (reviewed May 7, 2010)

Smile by Raina Telgemeier (reviewed February 17, 2010)

  

Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce (reviewed October 1, 2010)

Stolen by Lucy Christopher (reviewed April 19, 2010)

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz (reviewed December 6, 2010)

  

Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards (reviewed June 7, 2010)

Trickster edited by Matt Dembicki (reviewed July 6, 2010)

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm (reviewed June 21, 2010)

 

The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt (reviewed June 22, 2010)

White Cat by Holly Black (reviewed September 21, 2010)

 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (reviewed February 22, 2010)

Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (reviewed November 17, 2010)

Some incredible reads in 2009 too!  I think this gets more difficult as the years pass, probably because my memory is better. 

  

Big Wolf & Little Wolf by Nadine Brun-Cosme, illustrated by Olivier Tallec (reviewed May 20, 2009)

A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na (reviewed October 29, 2009)

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld (reviewed March 16, 2009)

  

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman (reviewed January 27, 2009)

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (reviewed February 23, 2009)

Faith, Hope and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (reviewed June 8, 2009)

  

Fire by Kristin Cashore (reviewed June 15, 2009)

Going Bovine by Libba Bray (reviewed August 10, 2009)

Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry (reviewed May 21, 2009)

  

How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford (reviewed October 1, 2009)

If I Stay by Gayle Forman (reviewed March 12, 2009)

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (reviewed December 15, 2009)

  

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau (reviewed September 17, 2009)

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia (reviewed April 3, 2009)

King of the Screwups by KL Going (reviewed May 4, 2009)

  

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater (reviewed March 18, 2009)

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Saenz (reviewed December 21, 2009)

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (reviewed October 8, 2009)

  

Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life by Molly Bang & Penny Chisholm (reviewed January 19, 2009)

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (reviewed February 16, 2009)

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley (reviewed March 24, 2009)

  

Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart (reviewed July 6, 2009)

Red Sings from the Treetops by by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski (reviewed March 31, 2009)

Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian (reviewed January 21, 2009)

  

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd (reviewed November 16, 2009)

Tsunami by Kimiko Kajikawa, illustrated by Ed Young (reviewed January 29, 2009)

The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd (reviewed April 28, 2009)

  

When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton (reviewed August 31, 2009)

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (reviewed July 27, 2009)

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (reviewed January 19, 2009)

Here are my top picks for books I read and reviewed in 2008!  I reviewed two Margarita Engle books  and two Shaun Tan books in 2008 and had to pick just one from each.  That was just the start of the difficult choices to get to this list.  Look what a year it was for teen novels!

  

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (reviewed February 8, 2008)

Beware of the Frog by William Bee (reviewed July 18, 2008)

The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin, illustrated by Rosana Faria (reviewed September 23, 2008)

  

Blue Goose by Nancy Tafuri (reviewed January 24, 2008)

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce (reviewed March 17, 2008)

Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers (reviewed February 29, 2008)

  

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (reviewed March 19, 2008)

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (reviewed January 17, 2008)

Guardian by Julius Lester (reviewed August 8, 2008)

  

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (reviewed July 8, 2008)

Impossible by Nancy Werlin (reviewed July 8, 2008)

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (reviewed September 17, 2008)

  

Let It Shine by Ashley Bryan (reviewed January 18, 2008)

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (reviewed October 22, 2008)

Manfish by Jennifer Berne, illustrated by Eric Puybaret (reviewed June 4, 2008)

  

Monkey with a Tool Belt by Chris Monroe (reviewed June 6, 2008)

Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper (reviewed June 10, 2008)

Paper Towns by John Green (reviewed August 6, 2008)

  

Planting the Trees of Kenya by Clair A. Nivola (reviewed May 16, 2008)

The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner (reviewed June 3, 2008)

The Savage by David Almond, illustrated by Dave McKean (reviewed December 11, 2008)

  

Skim by Mariko Tamaki, drawings by Jillian Tamaki (reviewed December 23, 2008)

The Surrender Tree by Margarita Engle (reviewed February 19, 2008)

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (reviewed September 22, 2008)

  

Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt (reviewed February 19. 2008)

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (reviewed June 5, 2008)

Unwind by Neal Shuterman (reviewed June 18, 2008)

  

A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (reviewed March 18, 2008)

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor (reviewed February 18, 2008)

Wave by Suzy Lee (reviewed October 27, 2008)

On to 2007!  As you can see, I read the Newbery Medal winner late this year.  This also seems to be the year that my number of reviews increased to its current level, making selecting my favorites all the more difficult.  I honed it down to a mere 30:

  

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (reviewed September 24, 2007)

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (reviewed November 7, 2007)

The Chicken-chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, pictures by Shelley Jackson (reviewed May 1, 2007)

  

Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars by Douglas Florian (reviewed June 8, 2007)

Duck, Duck, Goose by Tad Hills (reviewed February 8, 2007)

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis (reviewed August 14, 2007)

  

Epic by Conor Kostick (reviewed August 13, 2007)

First Light by Rebecca Stead (reviewed November 1, 2007)

First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (reviewed November 8, 2007)

  

Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce (reviewed August 7, 2007)

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (reviewed January 29, 2007)

I’d Really Like to Eat a Child by Sylviane Donnio, illustrated by Dorothee de Monfreid (reviewed April 25, 2007)

  

I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry (reviewed June 12, 2007)

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst (reviewed November 1, 2007)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (reviewed February 12, 2007)

   

Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems (reviewed September 28, 2007)

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen (reviewed July 26, 2007)

Leaves by David Ezra Stein (reviewed September 7, 2007)

   

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Luke Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford, photographs by Valorie Fisher (reviewed July 9, 2007)

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, illustrated by Carson Ellis (reviewed May 21, 2007)

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett (reviewed June 27, 2007)

  

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg (reviewed June 13, 2007)

Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins (reviewed December 12, 2007)

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (reviewed June 26, 2007)

  

Surrender by Sonya Hartnett (reviewed February 9, 2007)

A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd (reviewed June 1, 2007)

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson (reviewed April 10, 2007)

  

The Wall by Peter Sis (reviewed September 28, 2007)

What Happens on Wednesdays by Emily Jenkins, pictures by Lauren Castillo (reviewed September 7, 2007)

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier (reviewed March 8, 2007)

On to another year’s worth of reading.  Here are my favorite reads from 2006, with a reminder that this is the year I changed jobs and moved to a new city.  Despite that, I had to severely pare down my list because there were far too many amazing titles.  I got it down to 30, but not without some heartache.

  

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (reviewed September 22, 2006)

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, illustrated by Henry Cole (reviewed December 21, 2006)

Bebe Goes Shopping by Susan Middleton Elya, illustrated by Steven Salerno (reviewed May 7, 2006)

   

Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce (reviewed December 11, 2006)

Born to Rock by Gordon Korman (reviewed November 15, 2006)

Clay by David Almond (reviewed May 3, 2006)

   

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, pictures by Marla Frazee (reviewed September 27, 2006)

Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom by Tim Tingle, illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridges (reviewed July 26, 2006)

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (reviewed October 23, 2006)

   

Dear Mr. Rosenwald by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (reviewed July 31, 2006)

An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long (reviewed May 1, 2006)

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson, pictures by Tiphanie Beeke (reviewed September 13, 2006)

  

Flotsam by David Wiesner (reviewed September 21, 2006)

Gossamer by Lois Lowry (reviewed April 25, 2006)

Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck (reviewed May 6, 2006)

  

Incantation by Alice Hoffman (reviewed October 30, 2006)

Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller (reviewed October 11, 2006)

Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman (reviewed December 12, 2006)

  

Monster Blood Tattoo: The Foundling (reviewed June 9, 2006)

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (reviewed June 25, 2006)

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick (reviewed September 20, 2006)

   

Rash by Pete Hautman (reviewed June 10, 2006)

Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin (reviewed October 25, 2006)

Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney (reviewed February 8, 2006)

  

Sold by Patricia McCormick (reviewed November 17, 2006)

The True Story of Stellina by Matteo Pericoli (reviewed April 10, 2006)

Wait for Me by An Na (reviewed July 11, 2006)

  

What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles (reviewed December 15, 2006)

What the Moon Saw by Laura Resau (reviewed December 11, 2006)

Wide Awake by David Levithan (reviewed October 16, 2006)