This Week’s Tweets, Pins and Tumbls

December 20, 2013 | Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts this week that I hope you find interesting:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

15 Children’s Books Re-Envisioned For College Students http://buff.ly/1fnF5xi #kidlit

100 Magnificent Children’s Books 2013 — @fuseeight A Fuse #8 Production http://buff.ly/1fnwjPN #kidlit

Best science picture books of 2013, including one that explains that babies don’t grow in mommy’s tummy. http://buff.ly/1cTSNID #kidlit

Bilbo Baggins is a girl: Until children’s books catch up to our daughters, rewrite them. http://buff.ly/1c1CE3A #kidlit

For gifters: kid picture books with snowy themes | Post-Crescent Media http://buff.ly/1fnwlXO #kidlit

HARRY POTTER Apparates Into the West End; J.K. Rowling to Co-Produce Stage Play Based on Magical Book Series! http://buff.ly/18DcZPI #kidlit

Hooked on books: Author James Patterson wants kids to share his love of reading : Student News http://buff.ly/1fjMWMa #kidlit

How Beatrix Potter self-published Peter Rabbit | Books http://buff.ly/1cOvP5E #kidlit

Jim Smith’s top 10 funny books for kids | Children’s books http://buff.ly/1fjKeX5 #kidlit

Joyce Sidman casts spells with poetry | Star Tribune http://buff.ly/1fnw4nV #poetry #kidlit

Live Webcast Scheduled for ALA 2014 Youth Media Awards | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/19Ak8ib #kidlit #yalit #awards #libraries

This Is What Children’s Books Looked Like In The 1800s, And It’s Super Fascinating http://buff.ly/1fnF4td #kidlit

EBOOKS

E-Readers Mark A New Chapter In The Developing World : Parallels : NPR http://buff.ly/1hnU6AB #ebooks

It Seems Weird How Cheap Amazon Kindles Are — Until You See This Crazy Stat – Business Insider http://buff.ly/1fmuJh6 #ebooks

LIBRARIES

Germany’s Unperfekthaus: Is this the Library of the Future? – The Digital Shift http://buff.ly/1fjKMwj #libraries

Libraries and how a study into their use influences facilities management | Human factors in FM http://buff.ly/18KbVak #libraries

Libraries reinvent themselves for the 21st century http://buff.ly/18KbgWC #libraries

Library, parks and rec merger commences in Clive | The Des Moines Register http://buff.ly/1c55Wyl #libraries

PRIVACY

54 Civil Liberties and Public Interest Organizations Oppose the FISA Improvements Act | EFF http://buff.ly/18zrrYZ #privacy

CBS Airs NSA Propaganda Informercial Masquerading As ‘Hard Hitting’ 60 Minutes Journalism | Techdirt http://buff.ly/1fjRNgs #privacy

Facebook self-censorship: What happens to the posts you don’t publish? http://buff.ly/1fjQRsu #privacy

READING

Here’s Your First Look at the Much-Anticipated Museum of Science Fiction | Underwire http://buff.ly/1hnUjU9

TEEN READS

10 Great Books for the Teen in Your Life http://buff.ly/1h8tjIq #yalit

11 Best YA Books of 2013 – Mashable – http://buff.ly/19AlYQi #yalit

14 Amazing YA Books With Inspirational Heroines http://buff.ly/1ho0GXE #yalit

Black Girls Hunger for Heroes, Too: A Black Feminist Conversation on Fantasy Fiction for Teens | Bitch Media http://buff.ly/1fmwxGV #yalit

Eleanor Catton’s Advice For Hunger Games Author… http://buff.ly/18ZljqO #yalit

An Interview with 2014 Morris Award Finalist Carrie Mesrobian | The Hub http://buff.ly/19Ar2UE #yalit

My 25 Favorite Young Adult Book Film Adaptations [Part 1] | Film Equals http://buff.ly/1fnwn23 #yalit

Poster For THE FAULT IN OUR STARS Movie » EarlyWord – http://buff.ly/18zsUhQ #yalit #movies

Seeking Wonderful Young Adult Novels That Deal With Race : Code Switch : NPR http://buff.ly/1901zmX #yalit

Why read graphic novels? | Children’s books http://buff.ly/18ZoFdz #yalit

YA Romance in 2013 | Blog | Smart Bitches, Trashy Books – http://buff.ly/1cTSwVY #yalit

NYPL’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing

December 20, 2013December 19, 2013 | Tasha

New York Public Library has released their 2013 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing on a great dynamic page that offers ways to limit the list by age, subject or format. They also offer a pdf download of the list. Click any cover image and you can see the full recommendation for that title. Plenty to love here!

Thanks to Fuse #8 for sharing the link.

Divergent – First Trailer

Video | December 19, 2013December 19, 2013 | Tasha

Review: Herman and Rosie by Gus Gordon

December 19, 2013 | Tasha

Herman and Rosie by Gus Gordon

Herman is a crocodile who lives in New York and finds it very lonely. He loves playing his oboe in his apartment. His job selling things on the telephone, makes his life less lonely because he can talk to people, but doesn’t make him very good at his job. Rosie lives in the building next door to Herman and she loves to sing. She has a job washing dishes but loves most of all her singing lessons and performing in a little jazz club on Thursday nights. The two are lonely but fairly happy because both of them hear great music floating into their windows from time to time. Then one day Herman loses his job and Rosie discovers that the jazz club is closing. The two of them head home and don’t make any music for a long time. Until they wake up one morning and things have changed. They are craving their favorite food and want to make music.

Gordon has written a picture book ode to big city living, particularly New York. He incorporates the potential loneliness of urban life but also praises the bustling, the music, the lifestyle. The characters are quirky and believable. They are the sort of characters who make perfect sense, whose actions are credible, reactions ring true, and they make the entire book work.

Gordon writes and illustrates with a playful tone. His illustrations are done in mixed media, including photographs, paint, and pencil. The different media are worked together so thoroughly that at times you never notice the photos mixed in. They are so cleverly done that it all forms one unified piece until something catches your eye.

Two musical souls in one big lonely city where they live next door to one another. It’s a combination just as exquisite as New York itself. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Review: The Camel in the Sun by Griffin Ondaatje

December 19, 2013December 19, 2013 | Tasha

The Camel in the Sun by Griffin Ondaatje, illustrated by Linda Wolfsgruber

Based on a story from Sri Lanka and a traditional Muslim hadith, this book is the story of an aging camel. The camel has traveled the deserts carrying his owner and bundles of trade goods for years. One day the camel starts to cry with his misery, but his owner shows no compassion and simply climbs back on. The camel never showed his misery in the daylight again, but at night he started to escape and float like a boat on the water. Then they arrived in the city of Medina, where the Prophet was staying. The camel’s owner immediately goes to sleep in the shade, leaving his camel on a short lead, tied in place, and in the full heat of the sun. The Prophet sees the grief of the camel and shows the owner what the camel is feeling.

Beautifully told, this book pays deep homage to the traditions that it is based on. The origins of the story are clearly detailed in his author’s note. Ondaatje demonstrates the misery of the life of the camel and his sadness in detail, making sure that readers understand that this is deep sadness and a life of misery. He clearly explains compassion in a tangible way, showing readers what it means to learn how to be compassionate.

The illustrations are exceptional. They capture the grittiness of the desert with earth tones using different painting techniques combined with line drawings in various colors. Readers will notice that the Prophet is not depicted in the images, showing respect for the culture and beliefs.

A strong story about compassion, this book offers a glimpse at Muslim traditions as well as a beautiful story that everyone can enjoy and learn from. Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

NPR’s Best Books of 2013

December 19, 2013December 19, 2013 | Tasha

NPR has a very dynamic page for their best books list and it’s amazingly lovely. They have sections so you can just view the Kids’ Books or the Young Adult Books. Or feel free to browse them all!

Review: The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

December 18, 2013 | Tasha

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Released January 7, 2014.

The amazing Laurie Halse Anderson returns with a book that is powerful, thought-provoking and personal. Hayley and her father just have each other. For the past five years after her mother’s death, they have been hauling freight in his truck. But now they have returned to her father’s home town so that Hayley can finish high school and live in a normal home. However, their home is anything but normal. Her father can’t hold down a job because of the images and flashbacks that come over him from his time in Iraq. He drinks to keep the visions at bay, but then blacks out and forgets what he has done. He has never hurt Hayley, but he is getting worse rather than better and Hayley is all alone in dealing with him. At the same time, Hayley is slowly making friends at school, particularly Finn, a boy who has his own family issues to contend with. As things at home get darker and more dangerous, Hayley has to figure out who she can trust to help, if anyone.

Anderson has written a book about PTSD and the traumas of being a soldier that speak to vets from any war. She herself was the child of a vet from World War II and has a father who struggled himself with these issues. Thanks to this personal connection, her book goes deep below the skin into the world of Hayley, her love for her father, and truly connects with the horrors of heroes who return home just to be haunted by what they have done and seen.

Hayley is a strong character but also deeply flawed. She is hidden behind so many protective layers that readers discover her as she gets to know Finn. She slowly reveals a bright intelligence and witty humor. Her relationship with her father is one based on adoration but also on pure coping with his disabilities. She herself has faulty memories and blank places that she refuses to focus on and think about. She too is hiding from her memories, but in her case they are the happy ones.

This book is deep, dark and haunting. Anderson writes with consummate skill here and looks beyond the headlines into what PTSD in a family member truly means. Appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from ARC received from Viking.

Review: Paul Meets Bernadette by Rosy Lamb

December 18, 2013 | Tasha

Paul Meets Bernadette by Rosy Lamb

Paul is a fish who just circles his bowl, over and over again in different patterns. But his life changes when Bernadette joins him in his bowl. She shows him the world beyond his bowl. They can see boats, forests filled with colorful trees, a cactus, and even an elephant with babies. Of course, what they are thinking they see isn’t really what is there. The objects are far more mundane: bananas, flowers, a clock and a teapot and cups. Paul’s entire world expanded and made room for the outside world but most especially for Bernadette.

Lamb’s book combines a gentle humor with a warm charm. It is a story about the power of one person to open the other’s vision and imagination. It is about transformation but also being able to transform while staying right where you are. Lamb’s illustrations are done in paint, daubed thick enough at times to add plenty of texture to the images. The colors are subtle, the globe the fish live in almost bubble-like as it floats on the page.

This delightful picture book will have young readers wondering what Paul and Bernadette would see in their room too. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

2013 Booklist Top of the List Winners

December 17, 2013December 17, 2013 | Tasha

Booklist magazine has announced the winners of their Top of the List for 2013. The titles are selected from the Editor’s Choice picks in several categories. Here are the winners for the youth categories:

YOUTH FICTION