Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Arts | Mark Haddon up for Carnegie medal

This article also lists the other nominees on the shortlist for the Carnegie. They are:

Fire Eaters by David Almond
Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
Sisterland by Linda Newbury

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I'm heading off to the WAPL (Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries) Conference for the next couple of days, so don't expect any posts until this weekend.

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Inside Grandad by Peter Dickinson (0-385-74641-5)

Peter Dickinson has been one of the authors I always read since he wrote Eva. With this book, he writes in a completely different way, but infuses it all with the magic always present in his writing.

Inside Grandad follows Gavin who has always been taken care of by his grandfather while his mother and gran work. Grandad builds model boats, takes Gavin fishing, and both of them enjoy their near-silent time together. Then Grandad has a stroke and everything changes. Gavin feels an enormous pressure to help Grandad, feeling that he is the only one who can reach him.

This one is certainly appropriate for classroom use, especially with its depth that will generate discussion and its short length. The cover matches the story beautifully, but it may take some pushing to get it into the hands of kids.

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Coming Soon! - Latest News

I suppose technically Oliver Twist isn't a children's book, but plenty of teens still read it in high school. Looks like they are doing a new movie of Oliver Twist with one of my favorite actors, Ben Kingsley as Fagin.

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L.A. Daily News - News

The Beatles' Yellow Submarine will become a children's book, to be released in September.

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Children's books celebrate spring, baseball - PittsburghLIVE.com

A nice list of some of the newest spring and baseball books for children.

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No Laughter Here by Rita Williams-Garcia (0-688-16247-9)

This is a very powerful book about female circumcision. Akilah and Victoria have been friends for years. They both feel free to be unique girls. But then Victoria goes with her family to Nigeria for the summer and returns changed. She will no longer speak in class, refuses to play during recess, and will not laugh.

The author takes a very difficult subject and makes it accessible to kids, demonstrating her skill as a writer. Akilah is an amazing female character, filled with both a powerlessness and a powerfulness at the same time. And finally, the cover of the book is wonderful, one of the best this year.

I recommend this one. It may not be one that you hand out to every kid who comes in the door, but the cover and the writing can stand on their own.

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The Looking Glass

The Looking Glass, an online children's literature journal, has a very timely and important focus this month. The entire volume (free online) focuses on children's books about Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East.

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L.A. Times Honors 10 Authors at Book Fest

Free registration is required to access the article above. The winner for YA fiction was Jennifer Donnelly for A Northern Light, one of my favorites from last year.

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Shadow of a Doubt by S. L. Rottman (1-56145-291-2)

Shadow's brother, Daniel, ran away from home seven years ago and has never contacted the family again. But his leaving has impacted Shadow and his parents deeply. What will happen when Daniel re-enters their lives?

A great character-driven book for boys featuring a kid who turns to forensics rather than sports, making it pretty unique. Shadow is a vividly rendered protagonist that everyone will relate to.

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Double Helix by Nancy Werlin (0-8037-2606-6)

Eli has landed a job with the famous scientist, Dr. Wyatt. The pay is really high and Dr. Wyatt seems personally interested in Eli. But things are not all rosy in Eli's life. His mother is in the last stages of Hutchison's disease and his father has withdrawn from Eli. Even odder, there seems to be some sort of connection between his parents and Dr. Wyatt.

This one is quite a ride, impossible to put down, but at the same time raises some very deep issues about identity and ethics. Kids into science fiction and those into reality fiction should love it. Also, boys will appreciate the well-written male protagonist. A wonderful mix of easy, pleasurable read and award-worthy writing and content.

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Jules Feiffer Opening

Official site for author/artist Jules Feiffer who wrote one of my favorite read alouds, Bark George. Feiffer has a new book out, The Daddy Mountain, that I hope will also be added to my list of regular read-alouds.

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The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E. L. Konigsburg (0689866364)

I listened to this one on tape read by Molly Ringwald, who did a great job. I had heard that this will be a likely nominee for the Newbery and I completely agree.

This book has such depth, the characters are three-dimensional filled with fascinating quirks, and the story is filled with twists and turns that while unexpected make perfect sense once they occur. It is a great book.

Recommend this one to most people. But especially to those kids who are "outcasts." They will see themselves here as teens and as adults.

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Downhomebooks.Com -- Lois Lowry interview

A wonderful lengthy interview with Lois Lowry on all of her books, not just the recent Messenger.

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A collection of publishers of graphic novels.

CrossGen

Dark Horse Comics

DC Comics

Marvel

TOKYOPOP

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Recommended Anime, Manga and Books

Another site from the graphic novel workshop. This site offers two collections. One list of recommended anime and one list of recommended manga, Japanese graphic novels.

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Graphic Novels for Public Libraries

I just got back from a workshop on graphic novels and have to post some of the great sites that were recommended, mostly so that I don't lose the piece of paper they are written on. :)

This site offers an extensive list of graphic novels that are perfect for public library collections. It is a great place to start in building a collection.

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Messenger by Lois Lowry (0-618-40441-4)

I took a few days to digest this one and to read some of the postings on email lists about children's lit. Unlike many others, I really enjoyed this book. And I was simply amazed that people read The Giver and thought that Jonas died! Of course he lived! Ah well, that ambiguity at the end was what made the book work.

I would heartily recommend this one to kids who have read the other two books. It contains the same sort of magic as the other two. Once again, I was caught up in this world that Lowry has created and left breathless and amazed at the ending.

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ThisisLondon

An Australian lecturer says that the Harry Potter books are "Prozac for children" because they show children how to overcome their demons.

Interesting, I think that many books do that. And even more importantly, they get depressed kids out of their own heads and thinking as another person, both echoing their own feelings and demonstrating that their are other ways of approaching and dealing with challenges.

Via Maud Newton: Blog.

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Young genius exposes folly of test scores

A nice article on Andrew Clement's new book The Report Card.

"And it's refreshing to find a book for young readers that features kids who operate not out of selfishness or rage or despair. Nora is concerned about her friend, she does her best to avoid breaking rules, and she's respectful of authority."

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DenverPost.com - BOOKS

This article is on new books for teens that push the envelope, but the writer misses the ones that are really getting the buzz going on being controversial. Nonetheless, I think that librarians need to be aware that even the ones that are not being described as controversial can make parents nervous.

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SouthBendTribune.com: To be an author... be a reader

A great article about an author visit at a school, mostly great because of the following quote:

"Emily Loucks loves to read and is always on the lookout for new books at the Niles District Library.

Not only did the 8-year-old discover a new book, "Barnyard Song," but she met the author Wednesday afternoon.

"I've never met an author before," Emily said. "She looks like an ordinary person.""

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The New York Times > 'The Princess Knight' and Other Children's Books

Another collection of reviews of children's books from The New York Times, this one contains reviews of books for kids ages 3 through preteens.

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The ABCs of better reading

Beloved Jim Trelease is covered once again in the news. He takes on mandatory testing, speaks to the strength of exposing kids to words, and tries to make reading fun.

Personally, I can get behind his idea of keeping reading material at the table. Or better yet, just not clearing the table at all. :)

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Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Official site for the upcoming movie.

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Comic hero's got legs

The interesting part of this article is not the announcement of two new graphic novels aimed at girls, but the statistics from the graphic novel industry.

"Sales of manga trade paperbacks have tripled within the last year.

Time magazine recently estimated manga sales will top $100 million this year, with comic books geared toward girls and women -- called "shojo," literally "young girl" in Japanese -- expected to account for at least half."

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Noreascon Four Hugo and Retro Hugo Nominations

Oy! It was much tougher than I thought to find the new list of Hugo nominees, but here they are. Don't bother going to the official Hugo site, it hasn't been updated since 2001. The nominees for top novel are Paladin of Souls by Bujold, Humans by Robert Sawyer, Ilium by Dan Simmons, Singularity Sky by Charles Stross, and Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson.

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Pagan's Crusade by Catherine Jinks (0-7636-2019-X)

I was a little doubtful about this one at first. A comedic look at the crusades? Well, let me tell you, it's the comedy and the protagonist that makes it all work. Pagan is a boy who enters the Templar Knights to serve as a squire to hide from men that he owes money. There he meets his knight, Lord Roland, the prime example of a Christian knight. How will the irreverent and often rude Pagan deal with this icon of piety? Well, it is all in the one liners and the asides.

Recommend this one to kids who enjoy other funny novels. They will get some adventure, swordfights and history in the bargain too. And then they can join the rest of us in waiting for the next in the series.

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Double Dutch by Sharon M. Draper

I listened to this book on tape. Delia and Randy are friends in 8th grade and they are both carrying a big secret. Delia is a champion double dutch jumper, but she can't read. Randy helps out on the team and is one of Delia's best friends, but his father has disappeared. The question throughout the book is when the kids are going to admit to someone else that they have these problems or if they are going to be exposed by something else that happens.

I really enjoyed this book. In the Recorded Books version, the narrator, Patricia R. Floyd, was wonderful. But most of all, I appreciated the complex characterization of the kids, including the terrible Tolliver twins and lying Yoyo.

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HoustonChronicle.com - 'Last in Lowry's trilogy brings back characters, conflicts

A glowing review of Messenger by Lois Lowry, the concluding book in her trilogy that started with The Giver, which still ranks as one of my favorite children's books of all time. I can't wait to get my hands on this final book! Beware the review, since it seems to reveal quite a bit of the plot.

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INDUSTRY BUZZ

A nice commentary on the recent success of movies for girls that are based on popular books like The Princess Diaries and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

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EclipseMagazine.com - News

In interview with Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted, which covers both the book and the movie. I always like to read about how people become authors, the process of their writing, and the glimpses into her input on the movie are also fascinating.

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Daily News Transcript - Local News Coverage

Has anyone else noticed the large number of book challenges being reported in the news lately? First it was the new batch of books for children that celebrate families with homosexual parents. Next it was books on the occult. And here comes banning books with the words "ass" and "idiot" in them! Yes, those are the two words that a parent believes are worthy of banning a book from fourth graders!

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Picture Window Books

Official site for this publisher of informational picture books and easy readers. Two of their new books just got good reviews in the latest Booklist.

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Colibri by Ann Cameron (0-374-31519-1)

Whew! What a glorious book! Ann Cameron is the author of The Stories Julian Tells and other books about Julian and Huey. In this book she completely breaks away from the cuteness of those stories and brings readers into Guatemala, seeing its beauty and ugliness through the eyes of Rosa. Rosa was stolen from her parents as a small girl and raised by a man who she calls "Uncle." The darkness of this story is transcended by the beauty of the setting combined with the courage of Rosa.

This is a perfect book for a booktalk, especially because the cover art may not draw kids in, despite its beauty. The kidnapping story and questions of morality should get kids to try the book. Once they try it, it is very hard to put down.

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ABC.com - A Wrinkle in Time

The film version of A Wrinkle in Time is finally being shown in the U.S. It will be on ABC on Saturday, May 15th.

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Happy-Easter.com

Site will a very cute interface at the top, or you can scroll down to more traditional menus. They offer crafts, activities, games, jokes, and cards.

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Poynter Online - Chick Lit for Beginners

A comparison of chick lit aimed at tweens and teens and that aimed at a slightly older audience. The novels for tweens and teens speak to the strength and options that women have now, while chick lit for adults offer a lot fewer messages of empowerment.

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Authorlink-Insights-Linda-Johns-on-Children's-Book-Authors and Editors-April 2004

Linda Johns interviews Brent Hartinger, author of two young adult novels, Geography Club and The Last Chance Texaco. Hartinger talks about writing for young adults as well as some specific parts of his craft.

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My blogs are having a little server trouble lately, so I haven't been able to post on some days. Please bear with me as we try to fix the problem! Looks like it is working again today.

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Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | Beyond Potter

A look at the sales charts in England. One chart covers the current bestsellers and the other covers the perennial favorites that sell well year after year. I especially enjoyed looking at the classic bestsellers, or the "Evergreens." Scroll to the bottom of the article to find the links to the charts.

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Mountain Solo by Jeanette Ingold (0-15-202670-3)

This book about violin prodigy, Tess, brings readers into the high-pressure world of musically-gifted teens. At the same time, readers get a glimpse into a violinist living at the turn of the century. As the two stories come to a satisfying end, we are all reminded about the role of the listener in music. Lovely.

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Golden Books

Homepage for the publisher of the popular Golden Books which now include Barbie, Bob the Builder, Dora the Explorer, and Disney.

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