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.
Pick of the Day: Hero on a Bicycle | Audio
By on September 5, 2013 Leave a Comment
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.
Manzano Wins Americas Award; Celebrate International Dot Day | News Bites
By on August 28, 2013 Leave a Comment
Sesame Street’s “Maria,” Sonia Manzano, received top honors in the 2013 Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature for her The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. Celebrate International Dot Day with its creator, author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, on September 15.
Review of the Day – Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad by Monica Edinger
By on August 23, 2013
Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad By Monica Edinger Illustrated by Robert Byrd Candlewick Press $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-5038-4 Ages 9-12 On shelves October 8th It’s no secret that nonfiction in children’s literature is the buzzword of the day. Thanks to the rise of interest in the Core Curriculum State Standards, kids are [...]
Pictures of the Week: YA Author Todd Strasser Catches a Wave
By on August 20, 2013 Leave a Comment
YA Author Todd Strasser poses with his surfboard in Montauk, New York. Strasser started surfing when he was in his mid-50s. His next book, Fallout(Candlewick), publishes in September 2013.
Review of the Day: Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
By on June 10, 2013
Flora and Ulysses By Kate DiCamillo Illustrated by K.G. Campbell Candlewick Press ISBN: 978-0-7636-6742-5 $17.99 Ages 9-12 On shelves September 24th I like a bit of subtlety with my “meaning”. What I mean by that is that when I pick up a book for kids, it’s tough on me, as a reader, to go through [...]
Candlewick Fall Kids | Preview Peek
By on June 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
What better time to host a publisher’s preview than BEA? Fans of all things literary are in town for the big show, and everyone’s got books on the brain. Candlewick Press held its librarian preview at Bank Street College of Education in New York City on May 30.
Pick of the Day: Zebra Forest
By on May 20, 2013 Leave a Comment
A novel about two siblings and their presumed-dead father that captures the nuances of family dynamics in spare prose
Pick of the Day: Courage Has No Color (Audio)
By on April 18, 2013 Leave a Comment
Learn about the Triple Nickles, a group of unsung African-American soldiers who became part of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion during World War II in the starred audiobook review of Courage Has No Color, written by Tanya Lee Stone and narrated by JD Jackson.
Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominees Announced | News Bites
By on April 17, 2013 Leave a Comment
The Hans Christian Andersen Award shortlist has been revealed; the Christopher Awards names six winners in the Books for Young People category; and Shmoop, a publisher of digital curriculum and test prep, is offering a new SAT math practice tool—Math Shack. All of this and more in this week’s News Bites column.
Review: Black Helicopters
By on April 4, 2013
Black Helicopters by Blythe Woolston. Candlewick Press. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: “I’m Valkyrie White. I’m fifteen. Your government killed my family.” Valley has been bathed, so that she doesn’t smell of wood smoke and instead smells like other teen girls. Valley has been dressed, in jeans and a T-shirt and a hoodie, [...]
Pick of the Day: Look Up!
By on March 27, 2013 Leave a Comment
A fun and informative guide to observing and sketching birds
Pick of the Day: Sky Color (DVD)
By on March 5, 2013 Leave a Comment
The starred DVD version of Peter H. Reynold’s picture book, Sky Color , celebrates art and the power of creative thinking and is a wonderful prelude to a class art project.
Pick of the Day: Personal Effects (Audiobook)
By on February 22, 2013 Leave a Comment
The expert narration coupled with a powerful and heartfelt story make E.M. Kokie’s Personal Effects audiobook a must-have for all high school and public library collections.
Pick of the Day: The Goldilocks Variations
By on February 6, 2013 Leave a Comment
AHLBERG, Allan. The Goldilocks Variations. illus. by Jessica Ahlberg. 40p. Candlewick. 2012. RTE $17.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-6268-4.
PreS-Gr 2–With whimsical illustrations and interactive features such as flaps, pop-ups, and pull tabs, the Ahlbergs showcase six silly variations on the classic tale. The standout of the bunch has the heroine wandering into the “trood (or spaceship) of The Three Bliim.” Full of silly alien words, the tale begs to be read aloud. In other adventures, Goldilocks takes on 33 bears, the furniture (chair, [...]
Review of the Day – Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis
By on January 31, 2013
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made By Stephan Pastis Candlewick Press $14.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-6050-5 Ages 9-12 On shelves February 26th Call it the attack of the syndicated cartoonists. For whatever reason, in the year 2013 we are seeing droves of escapees from the comic strip pages leaping from the burning remains of the newspaper industry into [...]
Teaser: Quintana of Charyn
By on January 15, 2013
Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta (Candlewick Press, 2013) will be published April 2013. My full review will appear then; in the meanwhile, my tease — and tease it is — is I loved Quintana and loved this conclusion to the Lumatere series. You’ll be seeing this as a Favorite Books Read in 2013. Reviewed from [...]
Pick of the Day: Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles: America’s First Black Paratroopers
By on January 14, 2013 Leave a Comment
STONE, Tanya Lee. Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles: America’s First Black Paratroopers. 160p. appendix. bibliog. chron. notes. photos. reprods. Candlewick. Jan. 2013. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5117-6; ebook $24.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-6405-3.
Gr 5 Up–A moving, thoughtful history of the United States military’s first black paratrooper unit. During World War II, African American soldiers were mostly relegated to service and security jobs, generally denied the same training and active-combat positions that were available to their white counterparts. [...]
Pick of the Day: Splendors & Glooms (Audiobook)
By on January 11, 2013 Leave a Comment
Splendors & Glooms. By Laura Amy Schlitz. 10 cassettes or 10 CDs. 12 hrs. Recorded Books. 2012. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4498-3568-2, CD: ISBN 978-1-4498-3572-9. $108.75
Gr 4-8–Set in a Dickensian London, Davina Porter is the perfect narrator to capture the nuances of the characters and the time period in Schlitz’s exceptional Victorian fantasy (Candlewick, 2012). Listeners will ache for the orphan children, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall, when they come up with money after pawning a watch. Should they have a proper meal [...]
Beyond Courage
By on December 18, 2012
Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport Candlewick, September 2012 Reviewed from an ARC With five starred reviews, this was an easy auto-contenda to spot. Rappaport looks at the active, heroic roles Jewish people played during the years of the Holocaust. She shares 21 stories — many involving [...]
