Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

THE FIRST PART LAST by Angela Johnson (0-689-84922-2)

With all of the awards this book has won, including the Coretta Scott King and the Printz, it is not surprising to hear that I loved it!

This is the story of Bobby, who decides to keep his baby daughter Feather rather than giving her up for adoption. It is written with poetry and strength. Images here will stay with you long after you finish. Bravery is captured here, as is shame and heartbreak and hope. It is simply a lovely book.

The cover is one of the best I have seen and will help the book circulate well. Teens of both sexes will enjoy it immensely. And even better than enjoying it, they will come away with insight that they did not have.

Wonderful! My only regret is that I cannot read it for the first time all over again.

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PACKETONLINE News Classifieds Entertainment Business - Princeton and Central New Jersey

I love it when libraries write about their successful partnerships with teens in their communities. One of the best programs I was ever involved in was creating a positive place for teens at a library. Even the ones that are handfuls have a heart of gold. Now years later when I don't miss my coworkers or the library any more, I still miss those kids.

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Isle of Man Online

The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, about a teen who gets involved with MI6, is going to be made into a movie. The studio has optioned all three books in the series.

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Writers target older children

"Balance of Trade" is the new book in the Liaden Universe series by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee. This brief article talks about its appeal to teen readers.

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Schneider Family Book Award recipients named

The winners of the new Schneider Family Book Award have been announced. The award, donated by Dr. Katherine Schneider, honors a book that "embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences." The award is given to three books a year, one for grade school age, one for middle school and one for teens.

The picture book winner is Looking Out for Sarah by Glenna Lang.

A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass won the middle school category.

The teen winner is Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements.

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Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja (0-374-30998-1)

Buddha Boy, whose real name is Jinsen, is a misfit in his new school. He doesn't wear a coat even in winter and keeps his head shaved. He has no friends until Justin discovers Jinsen's artistic talent and a friendship slowly emerges. Justin must decide whether to start standing up for Jinsen as he is tormented by the other kids.

This short YA novel is written in a rather jarring style that doesn't use traditional punctuation or paragraph form. Luckily, it enhances rather than detracts from one of the main themes of the book: being different is not only OK but has power. And so does this unique writing style.

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Whoopi Goldberg Signs Multi Book Deal

Whoopi Goldberg has signed a multi-book deal with Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Hyperion Books for Children that specializes in African-American books. The first of the books will be available in the fall of 2005.

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Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

YALSA asks for your nominations for each year for popular paperbacks in specific categories. This year's categories are Fairy Tales, Heartbreak, Horror , and Oddballs. You can also see the past selections and categories.

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Boston.com -- For this children's author, pet hedgehog says it all

A charming piece on author Jan Brett that gives us a glimpse into her life filled with animals, travel and no TV.

Via ACHOCKABLOG.

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Hernando: Hernando schools won't ban book

The book Deenie by Judy Blume is not banned from the school, but students at Spring Hill Elementary School will need a note from home to read it. Both the school superintendent and the review committee recommended that the book be removed from the library, but the school board disagreed.

One wonders what these people on the review committee were reading in their youth. After all, Deenie is remarkable 31 years old!

Via LISNews.

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Target by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson (0-7613-1932-8)

Grady was attacked by two men and raped a year ago. Now he is starting a new school, many pounds thinner, unable to eat, unable to speak, unable to stop thinking about what happened to him. He builds a shell around himself, not interacting with anyone, but then Jess enters his life. Jess is a chatty kid who deals with Grady's silence by talking even more. This novel is a testament to friends who will accept you as you are.

I really enjoyed this book. Grady's pain is shown so clearly that the reader's own bones begin to ache with it. Jess is the perfect character to have next to Grady's pain with his wisecracks, bad language, and kindness. The unlikely pair are what make the entire book work. It would have been far too painful a book without Jess.

This book is one that I would want kids to find on their own. It has a graphic depiction of the rape through a series of flashbacks. It also has a large amount of profanity. It is a powerful book that will stay with the reader long after they finish.

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:: c e l i a : r e e s ::

What a gorgeous moody website for author Celia Rees! Also remember that some of her older books for teens are being released now in the U.S.

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The Wolving Time by Patrick Jennings (0-439-39555-0)

Laszlo is a shepherd who lives in a loving home with his mother and father. He spends his days looking after the sheep with his dog Gizi. He also protects his parents' secret. They are werewolves. The danger in this story doesn't come from the werewolves, but from the Inquisition where people were accused of being witches and werewolves and were tortured and burned at the stake.

It is the setting of 16th-century France and the Inquisition that makes this story work so well. It provides the horror and the werewolves provide the humanity. A great juxtaposition that gets the reader thinking about who are the monsters and what it means to judge before understanding.

Recommended for both boys and girls. The werewolves will sell the book, but kids will come out thinking. It would also be a great book talk choice, especially because the cover may not sell it to kids, but the story will.

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Salon.com Bestsellers

"Dan Brown is dethroned! Gary Paulsen finally topples Brown from the No. 1 slot with the latest installment of his hit children's series."

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Escape from Memory by Margaret Peterson Haddix (0-689-85421-8)

This one is a real page turner. Kira lets her friends hypnotize her at a sleep over and while hypnotized she begins to speak in a foreign language and tell of escaping from a war. When she goes home and tells her mother, her mother is very evasive and won't answer any questions about their past.

I won't say more. What makes this book work is the tension and surprises around every corner. It is impossible to anticipate all the twists and turns in the plot, yet the ending is still sound and satisfying.

I would booktalk this to kids and I think with the right booktalk, you could even have some boys interested in the book. But be very careful not to give anything away!

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NCTE - NCTE Orbis Pictus Nonfiction Award

An American Plague by Jim Murphy has won the 2004 Orbis Pictus Award for best nonfiction. The award is given by the National Council of Teachers of English. There are also 5 honor books and 8 recommended titles.

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Nie: An Interview with E.R. Frank

A good look in Frank's writing style and the themes in her books, America and Friction.

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Locus Online: 2003 Recommended Reading

The Locus list of the best of 2003 features science fiction novels, fantasy novels, and young adult books. Teens will be interested in books in all three categories.

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Books, Classes Can Help Introduce Children to Artwork

A nice piece on new art books for children that feature masterpieces rather than cartoons. It is a great way to expose small children to artists like Matisse, Renoir, Degas and Picasso.

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Keesha's House by Helen Frost (0-374-34064-1)

Remarkable! What reads at first as free verse is actually traditional poetry forms that make these poems true works of art. The poems follow seven teenagers through difficult times in their lives as they all find shelter at Keesha's House, a home that is open to teen in time of crisis.

Recommended for teens who would be interested in teen crisis novels, because the poems are so easy to read. But also point this out to teens interested in writing. The skill here is so great that it is almost invisible.

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Lois Lowry has a new book coming out in April. Messenger is a companion novel to The Giver and Gathering Blue. Hurrah! The Giver remains one of my top ten books of all time for children.

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Opinion: Doug Moe: American Girl's story an original

The American Girl doll and character Samantha will be getting her own made-for-TV movie on the WB sometime this year. To coincide with the movie, the Samantha series of books will be rereleased. There is also mention of a new series of books about a new girl.

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Brainboy and the Deathmaster by Tor Seidler (0-06-029181-8)

This is the first new book I have ever read that my son, now 6, said, "Hey Mom, I already read that!" He had been the first to check it out at the school. Though he was dying to chat all about the plot while I was reading it, now he doesn't want to talk about it anymore. Kids. :)

The basic plot, while giving nothing away, is that Darryl is an orphan living in a home after his family died in a fire. He is also a whiz at computer games. At the home, they are provided with a laptop in every room and when Darryl starts playing the new version on one of his favorite games, strange things start happening.

I enjoy Seidler's writing. It is fast reading, fun and always exciting and quirky. This book has the added draw of being all about computers and computer games. The cover will be inviting to kids, and I see why my son picked it up immediately, with the boy playing on a laptop and a frightening head looking over his shoulder.

I would recommend the book to kids into computer games, adventure books, and just to anyone interested in a good read. Reluctant readers will appreciate the fast moving plot and the subject matter.

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Guardian Unlimited: Granny Spice becomes queen of the libraries

Jacqueline Wilson has been announced as the number one author being borrowed from libraries in Britain. Wilson is the author of many books for preteen girls that are popular in the US as well. She knocked Catherine Cookson out of the number one position that Cookson had held for 17 years.

"Yesterday's victory surprised and delighted her. "Every author is thrilled to know their books are selling, but I share with many authors an almost greater thrill when your books are borrowed from libraries". "

Other authors high on the borrowing list are mentioned towards the end of the article. The winning combination seems to be being both prolific and popular.

Via ACHOCKABLOG.

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CourierPress: Valentine books celebrate love in its many forms

A list of several of the new Valentine's Day books all about love, love, love.

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Authors Among Us: Librarians as Children's Writers

A list of authors of children's and young adult books who are librarians. The list includes those who have been published, those with forthcoming first books, authors of other children's material, and authors who are not yet published. Fascinating.

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2003 SFWA(R) Preliminary Nebula Awards Ballot

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have announced the nominees for the Nebula Awards. The awards will be presented April 15-18.

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Let's (Not) Get It On: Girls and Sex in Young Adult Literature

This article from VOYA is getting a lot of attention on children's literature lists (it appears online as a pdf file, so you will need Adobe Acrobat to read it.) The article demonstrates the lack of positive sexual situations for girls in modern teen novels. Sadly, no one on the lists has been able to come up with many examples of positive sexual encounters either. It seems that there is an agenda to keep girls from thinking of sex as anything but a burden or worse a desperate situation. Boys are seen as constantly wanting sex and girls as the defenders of their virtue. What does this say about the novels that we all consider cutting edge? Where are the novels that would definitively destroy the standard that teenage female sexual desire is forbidden? Hopefully they will be written and published soon.

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Vandergrift's Coming-of-Age Stories

This site is from the School of Communication Information and Library Studies at Rutgers. It provides a list of powerful titles about girls coming of age. Many of the books on the list are adult books, making it perfect for older teens.

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2004 List of Recommended Feminist Books for Youth

From picture books to books for teens, this is a refreshing perspective on children's books. The list has plenty of titles not on other recommended book lists.

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The Animal Hedge and Other Children's Books

The New York Times Sunday Book Review offers this group of reviews of new children's books, including The Amulet of Samarkand.

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Take a look at the freaky wanted poster for Sirius Black and watch the trailer! The movie will be released on June 4th.

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The Battle of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper (0-689-84232-5)

Jericho is a teen who just wants to have a girlfriend and belong. When he is invited to pledge to the Warriors of Distinction, he is thrilled. But as the pledging week continues, Jericho is drawn deeper and deeper into a dark web of hazing.

This is an important book for teens to read. The voices of the characters are authentic and the pace of the book brings the reader along with the characters, building the tension and horror at what is being done. Where is the line between teasing and hazing? What should a person do? The answers are not easily found here, but the path to the answers is.

Recommended for teen boys. The tension and fast pace will let more reluctant readers enjoy the novel too.

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BBC NEWS | Technology | Children ignore net chat dangers

Well, it seems that kids are not getting the message of chatrooms being dangerous places to frequent. According to the study, 60% of children do not realize that the person they are chatting with might not be who they claim to be. One expert in the article says that children may be enjoying the danger, so telling them about it being dangerous may be feeding their usage. That seems to be in direct conflict with the 60% figure.

But in any event, the children are still chatting and ignoring the danger. This is something that even in our tiny library we have had problems with. We had a teen girl give out her personal information, including her phone number in a chat room. She started getting calls from men across the country. She knew of the dangers, but yearned for the attention. Luckily, it stopped with just the phone calls.

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School Library Journal - Essential Software

SLJ has a list of ten pieces of software recommended for public libraries. Our library has about half of them, and they are good ones! I will have to look at purchasing the other five.

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See YA Around

A great name for a really wonderful site for librarians who work with teens. The site is filled with creative programming ideas, book lists, forms, handouts, and information on creating a teen space at your library.

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Lambda Literary Foundation

The Lambda Literary Foundation is "devoted to the recognition and promotion of gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual writing." They have released their list of finalists for their literary awards.

Children/Young Adult Finalists
Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Geography Club, by Brent Hartinger (HarperTempest)
Gravel Queen, by Tea Benduhn (Simon & Schuster)
Keeping You a Secret, by Julie Anne Peters (Little, Brown & Company)
Rainbow High, by Alex Sanchez (Simon & Schuster)

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Sharon Draper

Website for this author of the 2004 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, The Battle of Jericho, which happens to be at the top of my reading pile. Her site has sections for teachers and young readers, plus a warm note for kids who write to her via email.

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New children's books celebrate Black History Month

A nice list of some of the newer books featuring African-American characters and history. I was interested that the controversial new version of Little Black Sambo was included.

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Edgar Award Nominees

The site lists all of the nominees, but here are the ones for Best YA and Best Juvenile.

BEST YOUNG ADULT

The Last Treasure by Janet Anderson (Dutton Children's Group)
Feast of Fools by Bridget Crowley (McElderry - Simon & Schuster)
Acceleration by Graham McNamee (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House Childrens)
Death and the Arrow by Chris Priestly (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Uncovering Sadie's Secrets by Libby Sternberg (Bancroft Press)

BEST JUVENILE

The Malted Falcon by Bruce Hale (Harcourt Children's Books)
Bernie Magruder & the Bats in the Belfry by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum)
Lily's Ghosts by Laura Ruby (HarperCollins Children's Books)
Dust by Arthur Slade (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House Childrens)
Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception by Wendelin Van Draanen (Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House Childrens)

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ALA | Titles Nominated for 2004

The first of the nominations for the 2005 BBYA List. This is always a great way to keep up with top titles of the year. Some of the titles on the list are the ones generating some of the biggest buzz so far this year.

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Zolotow Award 2004

The CCBC has award the Charlotte Zolotow Award for best picture book text to What James Likes Best by Amy Schwartz. Honor books are Two Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy, The Baby Goes Beep by Rebecca O'Connell, Mrs. Chicken and the Alligator by Won-Ldy Paye, Calabash Cat and His Amazing Journey by James Rumford and Tippy-Toe Chick Go! by George Shannon.

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Boy writes author who captured imagination

"Twelve-year-old Wesley Speer, a sixth-grader at Waldorf School of Louisville, was so moved by "The Pit Dragon Trilogy" books that he wrote author Jane Yolen, asking her to write another book in the series.

He got what he wanted.

Wesley received a letter from Yolen telling him that she was getting started on it."

The article goes on to say how much Yolen likes getting letters from children. She first wrote the trilogy twenty years ago.

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HarperCollins Children's Books Signs Soccer Star Mia Hamm to Picture Book Deal

Another celebrity children's book, we will have to see how Mia Hamm's book turns out.

"Mia Hamm is the most celebrated player in women's soccer, but she is also known for her unfailing positive attitude, fierce competitive spirit and dedication to young people and her sport. However, in her first-ever picture book, Hamm explores a subject rarely associated with her--quitting.

Hamm draws on her own experience growing up as one of six very competitive soccer playing siblings. She would often quit a game rather than lose--that is, until her brother and sister refused to play with her at all. Eventually, she learned to stick with her team. Hamm now wants to spread the word to other young people and continue to get both girls and boys involved in team sports."

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