from graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith: The Empathy Muscle Vance and Berger practice storytelling and visual art in a manner that brings immediacy to history and universality to distinctly detailed fictional characters. The influences of politics, economics and individual chance all have as much bearing on what we can and do make of ourselves [...]
Pick of the Day: Yellow Star
By on May 17, 2013 Leave a Comment
Tavia Gilbert’s spot-on narration brings all of the characters to life in Jennifer Roy’s Yellow Star, a story-in-verse offering a glimpse of the experiences of her aunt in the Lodz Ghetto during World War II. Be sure to read the starred audiobook review of the personal account of a young girl.
Traditional Tunes Find Modern Formats | Touch and Go
By on May 16, 2013 Leave a Comment
This week’s column takes a look at productions that incorporate music: an iPad app featuring a new setting for a classic counting tune, and iBooks that take children around the world as they drift off to asleep.
Pick of the Day: What’s on MyPlate (DVD)
By on May 16, 2013 Leave a Comment
Teach your students how to use the MyPlate concept to develop healthy eating habits with Learning ZoneXpress’s What’s on MyPlate, an excellent DVD for middle and high school students.
Weekly Reviews: Catching Up
By on May 15, 2013
Pick of the Day: Shimmer & Splash
By on May 15, 2013 Leave a Comment
An overview of sea life from coral reefs to sailfish, sea jellies to fiddler crabs.
Teens Review ‘Kindness for Weakness’, ‘Solstice’, ‘Prep School Confidential’ | Book Reviews
By on May 15, 2013 4 Comments
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!
Pick of the Day: What Came from the Stars (AUDIO)
By on May 14, 2013 Leave a Comment
Graham Winton’s narration brings to life Gary Schmidt’s beautiful fantasy, What Came form the Stars, about healing and forgiveness. Check out the starred review of this must-have audiobook for middle school students.
Weekly Reviews: Buzz Books
By on May 13, 2013
Some books receive more “buzz” than others in the lead-up to publication. Today we review three books that have received more than their fair share. First, our starred review of the day – The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. Wolitzer’s fiction is always excellent and often provocative. Everyone, from the New York Times to EW and People, [...]
Pick of the Day: A Corner of White
By on May 13, 2013 Leave a Comment
The first book in “The Colors of Madeleine Series,” a fantasy about two teens living in different worlds, Madeleine in Cambridge, England, and Elliot in the Kingdom of Cello.
Teens Review ‘Walking Dead’, ‘Lego City Undercover’, ‘Wheelhouse’ | Games and Music
By on May 12, 2013 Leave a Comment
Now that The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is out for Xbox and PS3, zombies are officially everywhere, and as our reviewer says, “… who doesn’t like to destroy zombies?” Gamers who like clever characters and inside jokes will find lots of brick-busting fun in Lego City Undercover. Brad Paisley shakes up a pure C&W vibe on his latest album Wheelhouse, which may leave some fans scratching their heads.
Pick of the Day: Curious George Swings into Spring (DVD)
By on May 10, 2013 Leave a Comment
Celebrate spring with Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat in Curious George Swings into Spring, an upbeat celebration on DVD that’s sure to please kids.
Guest Post on Camilla Lackberg
By on May 10, 2013
Today we’re pleased to have a guest post from one of our regular reviewers Laura Pearle, who is here to discuss Camilla Läckberg’s fantastic series of mysteries. Take it away Laura: Readers of mysteries know that small towns are deceptive – they’re not the safe places they should be. Just look at St. Mary’s Mead and [...]
Pick of the Day: Shadow on the Mountain (AUDIO)
By on May 9, 2013 Leave a Comment
Margi Preus’s Shadow on the Mountain is set in Norway during the Nazi occupation and expertly narrated by Jeff Woodman who gives perfect voices to all the characters. Don’t miss the starred review of this audiobook about a lesser-known part of World War II history.
Mysteries and a Mission | iPad Apps for Older Students
By on May 9, 2013 Leave a Comment
Will Agostino Steffani the Baroque composer, Catholic priest, diplomat, and spy be able to “prevent an assassination and help a princess escape an undesirable marriage?” And what is the astute Sherlock Holmes up to? Teens can help gather the clues in two interactive iPad apps .
Pick of the Day: Brush of the Gods
By on May 8, 2013 Leave a Comment
Stunning ink, watercolor, and pencil artwork brings to life ancient China.
Weekly Reviews: Setting
By on May 8, 2013
We write a lot about genre and the types of books that teens enjoy reading. But what about setting? Do teen readers care about sinking into the setting of a book? This is an element that teens rarely mention when they share what they enjoy reading, or how much they liked a particular book. But [...]
Pick of the Day: Julian Bond (DVD)
By on May 7, 2013 Leave a Comment
African-American activist Julian Bond relates his family’s struggle for equality in the starred DVD review of Julian Bond: Reflections from the Frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement from Filmakers Library.
Pick of the Day: Papa’s Mechanical Fish
By on May 6, 2013 Leave a Comment
With luminous, playful artwork, an exuberant look at the development of one of the first submarines.
Weekly Reviews: Stranger Than Fiction
By on May 6, 2013
A possibly insane man who was acquitted of murdering his wife’s lover because the jury found it to be justifiable homicide, and then went on to play one of the most crucial roles in the early development of motion pictures. A teenage assassin who has been blamed (both then and now) for igniting the precipitating [...]
