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This month’s publications include a range of titles about people, places, and things, in tantalizing formats and glorious color. In both text and images, they’re eye-openers, each one likely to whet readers’ appetites and send them to the bookshelves looking for more information on the topics they explore.
Want to keep kids occupied and reading all summer? Share these craft and activity books with them. In addition to offering an outlet for creativity, they’ll have children working with numbers and decoding and interpreting diagrams and symbols. The books also make excellent resources for adults leading summer programs and year-round groups.
Teens appreciate variety in their choice of fiction. They may want to root for the underdog or climb through a magic mirror. Maybe heroes who fight evil creatures are their cup of tea. Perhaps they want to read about someone else who struggles with peer pressure or bad choices. Offering new realistic and fantasy fiction for teens provides an opportunity for your students to have choices about seeing their own issues in another world―whether it’s magical or not. The following new novels may be just what they are seeking.
No stranger to the screen, Warner Bros. Pictures reboots the Superman film franchise with Man of Steel (PG-13), slated to premiere June 14 in conventional, 3D, and IMAX theaters. It will have teens flocking to libraries faster than a speeding bullet for comic book classics about this tried-and-true hero. Stock up on and display some of these Superman standards, guaranteed to grab the eye of YA moviegoers and graphic novel fans.
From tragic turning points to budding first love, some of the most talented and up-and-coming authors for the middle grade audience shared their insights on the writing process, connection to their intended audience, and how humor plays a part in all of their works at SLJ’s annual Day of Dialog, held at Columbia University’s Faculty House on May 29.
Writing about humor is a good way to suck all the fun out of it, so please—feel free to skip straight to the booklist.
“Summer is the time when you can read what you want to read, not what you have to read.” With that in mind, here is some middle-grade fiction and poetry that is perfect to suggest to young bilingual readers who are looking for something to read for pleasure.
There’s something for everybody in this roundup of reviews from the teen book group, Bookmarked. Shawn Goodman’s Kindness for Weakness is a contemporary coming-of-age story, much of which takes place in a juvenile detention center. Global warming meets mythological monsters and gods in Solstice, by P. J. Hoover. Kara Taylor’s whodunit, Prep School Confidential, explores the obstacles a teen encounters as she tries to track down her roommate’s murderer. Put these on your summer reading list!
May is National Bike Month. Inspire youngsters to get outside and ride with a selection of tantalizing titles about two-wheelers. Whether celebrating a child’s triumphant mastery of this important skill, reveling in the delights of going for a spin, or providing a look at bicycling and its history, these books will get readers geared up for freewheeling fun.
As reviews for Baz Lurhmann’s whirlwind adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby come roaring in, take a look at the latest installment of SLJ’s Page to Screen, where you’ll find updates on already much-touted future movies, and news of recent options on film rights. This roundup of releases will have your students and patrons heading to the theater—and, hopefully, to bookshelves as well.
Combining excellent texts and outstanding visuals, this month’s group of new titles are must-have purchases for libraries and classrooms looking to expand their nonfiction collections.
Junior Library Guild editors select picture books that are perfect for storytime; these titles are destined to become favorite read-alouds and will delight the imaginations of kids in kindergarten and first grade.
Meg Medina knows firsthand about bullying—the topic of her young adult novel. In ‘Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass,’ the author explores its consequences when 15-year-old Piddy Sanchez becomes victimized at her new school.
This trio of poignant young adult titles will resonate with teen boys not only because they feature male protagonists, but also due to their strong themes of identity and self-discovery.
Perfect for use in the classroom, these lively looks at school and community gardens deliver a bouquet of titles about growing things. They’ll also be useful for public libraries and other organizations that support green-thumb projects for kids.
Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as the arrogant, irreverent, and ever likable Tony Stark, ingenious industrialist and high-tech super hero in Iron Man 3 (PG-13), which arrives in theaters on May 3, 2013, in traditional, 3-D, and IMAX 3D formats .Beef up your selection of tales about the Golden Avenger with offerings sure to appeal to teen movie—and comics—fans.
By the time students reach grade 12, the Common Core State Standards require that 70% of their reading should be nonfiction. In order to fulfill this requirement in content area subjects, students will need to read more than their textbooks. Luckily, nonfiction writers for teens continue to create amazing narrative nonfiction that supports science and social studies, and that our kids will want to read.
In the fifth and final installment of our series celebrating National Poetry Month, Jack Prelutsky, America’s first children’s poet laureate, offers us five of his top poetry collections for kids.
Junior Library Guild editors offer a variety of stories for independent readers: a classic orphan story, a fantasy about nightmares, a Hollywood drama, a laugh-out-loud detective tale, and a mystery surrounding a missing camera. Also perfect for reading aloud, the following fiction titles will keep readers engaged with the characters, old and new.
In our next installment celebrating National Poetry Month, acclaimed and versatile author Marilyn Singer highlights five of her top poetry anthologies for kids.
