June 19, 2013

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Pick of the Day: The Thing About Luck

Yellow and green cover with "Luck" written large

A story of familial bonds in which a 12-year-old girl spends the summer with her grandparents who are harvesting wheat in the Midwest.

Pick of the Day: Kindness for Weakness

back view of boy

A gut-wrenching narrative set in a juvenile detention facility

Pick of the Day: Far Far Away

blue and green background, house, lower right

The ghost of Jacob Grimm narrates a story about complex characters who have conflicted motivations.

A Happily-Ever-After Ghost Story | Tom McNeal’s ‘Far Far Away’

Far far away

Jacob Grimm, the folklorist, is dead, and stuck as a ghost. He wants to be reunited with his younger brother Wilhelm, who predeceased him. In Tom McNeal’s suspenseful and haunting new novel, ‘Far Far Away,’ fairy tale and ghost story collide and merge.

Book/Multimedia Review Stars List | June 2013

Inside Outside (Boyd)

Novels by Holly Black, Cynthia Kadohata, Rita Williams-Garcia, and others.

Grades 5 & Up | June 2013

Book Covers

Tales of platypus police officers; a talking therapy dog; and life along the Mississippi in 1811.

Pick of the Day: The Mystery of Darwin’s Frog

Green frogs red bacground

Crump documents investigations of the Rhinoderma darwinii, an inch-long frog native to Chile and discovered by Darwin in 1834.

Pick of the Day: Soldier Dog

silhouetter of soldier and dog

This World War I story pays homage to the Allied forces.

Pick of the Day: Pieces

male torso, wine-colored shirt

This sequel to Lynch’s Iceman (1994) is a sophisticated look at a teen’s maturation through a series of dynamic life changes.

Pick of the Day: Zebra Forest

birch trees, arrow in foreground with Zebra Forest on it

A novel about two siblings and their presumed-dear father that captures the nuances of family dynamics in spare prose

Pick of the Day: A Corner of White

orange umbrella to the left, female figure to the right

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.

Mysteries and a Mission | iPad Apps for Older Students

mission

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 .

Book/Multimedia Review Stars List | May 2013

Odd Duck (Castellucci). ©2013 by Sara Varon

May, a month of “ducky” stars.

Pick of the Day: The Lucy Variations

piano keboard

A coming-of-age story about music, passion, and the search for identity

Fiction Series Update | May 2013

Book Covers

The latest installments in intriguing adventures, gripping sci-fi, and more.

Grades 5 & Up | May 2013

Book Covers

Look for reviews of first books in debut fiction series.

Pick of the Day: Hold Fast

building with windows that have in them the letters that make up the title

From the author of Chasing Vermeer, an engaging mystery in which books are the problem and the solution. Read SLJ’s starred review.

Pick of the Day: Dear Life, You Suck

Black background, yellow letters for book title

A first novel about an angry young man turned role model for younger boys

Book Review: Grades 5 & Up | April 2013

SLJ1304w_Grd5

Add depth to your poetry collections with these new titles: Gail Bush & Randy Meyer’s Indivisible Poems for Social Justice, J. Patrick Lewis’s When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders, and Marilyn Singer’s Follow Follow: A Book of Reverso Poems.

Book/Multimedia Review Stars List | April 2013

That Is Not a Good Idea! (Willems) ©2013 by Mo Willems.

This month’s star listings include That is Not a Good Idea by Mo Willems, among others.