The Amelia Bloomer Project is part of the Feminist Task Force of the American Library Association’s Social Responsibility Roundtable.  The list honors “strong, powerful girls and the books that inspire them.”  Hurrah!

There are many great books on this list, a list that should be used by children’s and teen librarians to keep a focus on strong and confident girls.  I am so happy to see favorites of mine in each of the age groups. 

Debut author award for young adult literature.

Finalists

Hush by Eishes Chayil  (one of my faves of the year)

Guardian of the Dead by Healey

Hold Me Closer Necromancer by McBride

Crossing the Tracks by Stuber (loved this one too)

Freak Observer by Woolston

Winner

The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston

Happy Holidays everyone!  Here’s hoping you have a beautiful celebration with family and friends and lots of great books to read. 

This blog will return on January 3rd, after a brief break for cookies, snowflakes, and reading. 

Entertainment Weekly has the news that Sara Shepard will be adding four additional books to the Pretty Little Liars series.  This will make a total of 12 books in the series.  Everyone can thank the success of the ABC Family show based on the series for the additional titles.  The ninth book, Twisted, will go on sale July 5th. 

The Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced.  They recognize literature’s importance to the Australian “national identity, community and economy.”  (I love that!)

Here are the winners in the children’s and young adult categories:

 

Children’s Fiction

Star Jumps by Lorraine Marwood

Young Adult Fiction

Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God by Bill Condon

 

Their website has information on the books, the authors and comments from the judges on the winners.

If you love videos that are trailers for children’s and teen books, then The Trailee Awards is the competition for you!  The nominees have been narrowed by a panel of judges to 24 finalists.

The finalists are broken into six categories with four videos competing in each section.  The sections are:

Publisher/Author created for elementary readers

Publisher/Author created for secondary readers

Adult (18+) created for elementary readers

Adult (18+) created for secondary readers

Student created for elementary readers

Student created for secondary readers

 

Take some time, watch the videos and cast your vote!

Spending the waning days of summer vacation with my boys.  We will make a trek to Chicago to visit some of our favorite museums and have some lazy days too. 

Posting will be sporadic at best.  See you in September!

Today is the seventh anniversary of when this blog started!  Unbelievable that I’ve been doing this since my 9 year old was a toddler and since my 13 year old was in first grade.  The years fly by not only when looking at my children but when blogging.  I think it’s because I love both so very much.

Thank you for continuing to read, for commenting about the recommendations I make, for taking this journey of reading and books with me. 

You all are the reason I do this.  Once I thought that blogging was a lonely pursuit, but no, it is a community pursuit and I am so happy to be part of the vibrant blogging community that is the kidlitosphere. The only problem is I can’t have you all over for cake.

Librarians have depended on anecdotal evidence when speaking about the positive impact of summer reading programs.  Now Dominican University with a grant from IMLS has proven that summer reading has a very positive impact for children who participate.  Here are some of the facts from the study about students who participated in the public library summer reading program:

• Scored higher on reading achievement tests at the beginning of the next school year.
• Had better reading skills at the end of third grade.
• Scored higher on the standards test given during third grade.
• Included more females, Caucasians, and lived at a higher socioeconomic level.
• Had more books in their homes.

So after applauding and crowing about what we have always known, here’s what we can do to improve:

• Engage families in public library programs.
• Invest more money in summer reading programs – especially in communities where families are economically depressed.
• Market and promote much better.
• Provide more books and materials.
• Work with schools to reach out specifically to students who are in need and under performing.
• Reach out to more boys.
• Help children in lower-income families build home libraries.

Check out the full report here.  I salute each and every children’s librarian out there who has such an important role in their community.  Well done!