The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens
Amy Cheney is constantly on the look-out for books that will engage her incarcerated teens, but estimates that only about one in five that she encounters will pass muster. That’s why she is so excited about a new self-published title, From Crack to College & Vice Versa.
Sukey Molloy delivers 15 mini shows that encourage young children to play, sing, and move in Sukey’s Circle! Vol. 3, a DVD not to be missed.
I’m not sure what was more of a surprise to me—that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been around for 30 years, or that the John Madden videogame football franchise goes back twenty five years! John Mayer has some ground to make up; his first album debuted in 2001, an Internet only album titled Room for Squares. Hopefully he’ll have the longevity of the turtles and one particular earthbound former football coach.
I am writing this on the Sunday evening of a weekend during which the movie “Insidious: Chapter 2″ made $41 million dollars at the box office. Tomorrow evening “Sleepy Hollow” premieres on Fox and CBS airs the finale of the first season of “Under the Dome”. “The Walking Dead” is on the cover of this [...]
Nearly wordless like its predecessor, this evocative story depicts another misadventure in the park by a lovable pup..
Looking for a break from the paranormal genre? The only monsters you’ll find in these books are of the human variety—a maniacal kidnapper, an abusive boyfriend, elitist survivors, and one’s own memory.
Three friends who want to leave high school and move on describe their anguish in Emma Cameron’s novel, Out of This Place, written in verse. Three narrators tell the story from alternating points of view. Read this starred review
Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives focuses on Edison’s legacy. Learn about his many inventions in Spoken Arts Media’s DVD version of the book by Gene Barretta.
Well, it’s taken me four and a half months, but I’ve finally managed to get together another post on poetry. I’m very excited about all four of the books we have for you today. Mei-mei Berssengbrugge and Gregory Orr are the same age (born 1947) and are both seasoned hands, with many poetry collections and [...]
When her parents are killed in an accident, 12-year-old Willow is taken in temporarily by her friend Quang-ha’s mother, who must stay ahead of Social Services, and becomes a catalyst for change..
Amanda Ripley set off on a year-long “field trip to the smart-kid countries” to see if she could account for the success of the high achieving students around the world. What made these kids smarter than their American peers? The writer reports in ‘The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got that Way’ (S&S, 2013).
Oblivion, the final book in Anthony Horowitz’s “The Gatekeepers” series, is read by Simon Prebbles who masterfully conveys the terror of a dangerous dystopian world. Read the starred review of this suspense-filled audiobook.
Baba Yaga is a witch of Russian folklore, and Toby Barlow bewitches with his new novel — our starred reviewof the day. His first, Sharp Teeth, was a 2009 Alex Award winner, a story of werewolves in L.A. told entirely in verse. Babayaga is (mostly) straight prose, and offers quite a combination of genres–spy thriller, [...]
In this companion to Jumping Off Swings (Candlewick, 2009), Knowles provides an intimate look at Josh a year after the events of the first book and an honest look at teen pregnancy from the male’s perspective.
Kadir Nelson’s evocative biography of Nelson Mandela receives stellar treatment in this exceptional DVD presentation from Weston Woods. Forest Whitaker’s rich voice reads the story with background music and crowd sound effects that draw viewers in. Be sure to read the starred review.
Along with the Common Core, many state standards ask that educators incorporate multimodal resources into their lesson plans. As time goes on, more and more quality apps are available to meet that requirement. Here are a few digital resources to consider for your nonfiction science collection.
Hero on a Bicycle is set in Italy in 1944 presents the story of a 13-year-old boy and his encounters with the Partisans in Nazi occupied Florence during World War II. Narrator Simon Vance’s incomparable vocal style is a perfect fit for this intense and suspenseful work of historical fiction. Check out the starred review of this audiobook.
Last week I asked how explicit is too sexually explicit for teens. This week I want to ask a similar question about form rather than content: how experimental is too experimental? This question, like last week’s, was keyed to a book I was reading, Book III, edited by Joshua S. Raab, and published by theNewerYork [...]
Combining an industry and educational standard in the field of aerospace with a recognized leader in the world of science and arts, the Air & Space and Smithsonian Magazine Archive Database is seamless in action and an excellent source for both papers and projects.
Four favorite YA authors―Holly Black, Chris Crutcher, Nancy Farmer, and Neal Shusterman―have new titles out, and fans will be clamoring for them. From a study room that’s run like Las Vegas to the cruise of a lifetime gone bad, you’ll find suspense, humor, horror, and thrills in this selection from the editors at Junior Library Guild.
