Among the Stars: Historical fantasy fiction; World War II heroes; a memoir by a son about his CIA father
Weekly Reviews: Non-narrative Nonfiction
By on May 29, 2013
OK, I’ve talked about this before (and I’ll probably talk about it again!). Not all nonfiction is narrative, and narrative non-fiction isn’t the only kind of non-fiction that teens will read. When last we spoke, I offered some statistics to (possibly) back that claim up. Today, I’m here to offer something much more substantial: three [...]
Review: Good Kings Bad Kings
By on May 28, 2013
Susan Nussbaum has already won the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction for this, her first novel, Good Kings Bad Kings. The Bellwether Prize was created by Barbara Kingsolver to honor writing that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. It is now administered by PEN America. Previous [...]
BookExpo Preview 2013
By on May 24, 2013
BookExpo is next week! Here are some of the adult books with possible teen appeal that I’m excited to see on the show floor. In no particular order (and with the understanding that cover art and signing/appearance times & places are subject to change): Guests on Earth by Lee Smith (Algonquin, Oct.) begins in New [...]
Weekly Reviews: Under the Radar
By on May 22, 2013
Last week, Angela talked about buzz books–those books that everyone seems to be talking about; this week, I want to talk about the other end of the spectrum–books that no one is talking about. None of the three books reviewed below has been reviewed (yet) by a library journal, nor have I been able to [...]
Weekly Reviews: The Ones that Got Away
By on May 20, 2013
Graphic Novel Review: On the Ropes
By on May 17, 2013
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 [...]
Weekly Reviews: Catching Up
By on May 15, 2013
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
AB4T First Encounters: Kate Chopin
By on May 3, 2013
In our continuing series on the first adult books we read as teens, one of our newest reviewers, Meghan Cirrito, talks Chopin’s The Awakening, a book that I had trouble reading as a college sophomore. Go Meghan! It is difficult to remember when I stopped reading books for kids my age and when I started reading [...]
Adult Books 4 Teens | May 2013
By on May 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
Fiction
BAGGOTT, Julianna. Fuse. 416p. Grand Central. Feb. 2013. Tr $25.99. ISBN 9781455503087.
Adult/High School–After the final revelations in Pure (Grand Central, 2012), the mission to end the tyranny of the Dome becomes newly urgent for Pressia and Partridge. Along with Bradwell, Pressia unlocks the black box found in the charred remains of the farmhouse, which reveals more about the original Seven. This sets Pressia off on a quest to discover if there are other pockets of rebels in [...]
Book/Multimedia Review Stars List | May 2013
By on May 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
May, a month of “ducky” stars.
Two Books, Two Stars
By on May 1, 2013
Two magical books topped off our April reading, both earning starred reviews. The Golem and the Jinni is a mash-up of Jewish and Arab folklore, historical fiction and fantasy, new and old world sensibilities. Helene Wecker’s debut seems destined to be among the best of the year. The publisher has certainly gone all-out. The physical package is richly [...]
Life After Life: A Dialogue
By on April 30, 2013
Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life is one of the most buzzed adult books of the year so far. It has starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly. Outside of the library world, it’s gotten glowing reviews from Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and many others. And it [...]
Weekly Reviews: Magic
By on April 29, 2013
Today’s three reviewed novels share elements of the supernatural and magical realism. What teenager doesn’t wish for a superpower, if only to imagine themselves less under the control of the adults in their lives? In a series of connected vignettes, What the Family Needed introduces seven members of one family who grapple with special abilities. [...]
AB4T First Encounters: Harlequin Romances
By on April 26, 2013
In our ongoing series about our first encounters reading adult books, reviewer Amy Cheney discusses many of her favorites as a young teen, but offers a special shout out to the power of Harlequin Romances. For more thoughts on Romance novels, check out this fascinating article from The Atlantic, discussing the genre’s ongoing interaction with [...]
Weekly Reviews: Weird Science
By on April 24, 2013
Following Stiff, Spook, Bonk and Packing for Mars, Mary Roach is back with Gulp, in which she maintains her punning, entertaining writing style, as well as her willingness to go to the gross-out extreme. There were actually moments in this book that made me nauseous, and there is one chapter in particular that I believe [...]
