The Lucy Variations, Sara Zarr Little, Brown Books For Young Readers, May 2013 Reviewed from ARC If you stop doing the thing that defined you and made you special for most of your life, who are you and can you ever move on? The Lucy Variations is a meditation on the classic young adult themes of [...]
Pick of the Day: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock
By on August 28, 2013 Leave a Comment
Leonard Peacock has big plans for his 18th birthday….to kill Asher Beal and then commit suicide….This is a difficult, yet powerful, book. Quick’s use of flashbacks, internal dialogue, and interpersonal communication is brilliant.
Review: Leonard Peacock
By on August 15, 2013
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick. Little, Brown. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: It is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. No one remembers. He has wrapped up four gifts, to give to his four best friends. And he is bringing his grandfather’s handgun to school. Today is the day he will shoot Asher [...]
Alexie’s ‘True Diary’ Removed from NYC School’s Summer Reading List
By on August 6, 2013 3 Comments
The inclusion of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian—winner of the 2007 National Book Award—on a required summer reading list for sixth graders has raised the ire of a group of parents in Belle Harbor, NY, who have successfully called for its removal, the Daily News has reported.
Review: Wise Young Fool
By on August 6, 2013
Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin. Little, Brown. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: Ritchie Sudden is locked up for ninety days. He’s about to tell you why he got here. Well, eventually. Ritchie is about to tell you about his senior year. And how he and his best friend, Elliot Hella, started a [...]
Review: The Lucy Variations
By on August 1, 2013
The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr. Little, Brown. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: Eight months ago, Lucy Beck-Moreau stopped playing the piano. Teens do that all the time, right? Except Lucy Beck-Moreau, 16, isn’t your typical teen. She was a concert pianist, who was in Prague for a major event when she [...]
Review: Rapture Practice
By on June 20, 2013
Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler. Little, Brown & Co. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. It’s About: Aaron Hartzler’s memoir about growing up in an ultra-religious Christian family. It is funny; touching; rebellious; believing; and loving. The Good: I have a bit of a fascination with religion, especially those that say they have the answers. [...]
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: The Lucy Variations
By on May 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
A coming-of-age story about music, passion, and the search for identity
Review: When We Wake
By on March 20, 2013
When We Wake by Karen Healey. Little, Brown. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: “My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy.” And Tegan, sixteen, was happy. No, her life wasn’t perfect or flawless. Her father, a soldier, had died when she [...]
Pictures of the Week: Jon Klassen at Little, Brown’s Spring and Summer Picture Book Celebration
By on March 15, 2013 Leave a Comment
Picture book author Jon Klassen, Little, Brown editor Susan Rich, and Little, Brown Art Director Patti Ann Harris at the Little, Brown picture book celebration.
Review: Bossypants
By on March 15, 2013
Bossypants by Tina Fey. Reagan Arthur Books, an imprint of Little, Brown. 2011. Audiobook narrated by Tina Fey (Little, Brown 2011). Listened to audiobook, borrowed from the library. Vacation reads (aka, when I talk about books for grownups and post them before holidays. St. Patrick’s Day counts.) It’s About: Tina Fey writes about her life. The [...]
Pick of the Day: Chowder (DVD)
By on February 19, 2013 Leave a Comment
Peter Brown’s endearing bulldog, Chowder rendered lovingly in acrylic-and pencil in the original picture book, is even more appealing in this iconographic DVD production.
Review: Ask the Passengers
By on February 5, 2013
Ask the Passengers by A.S. King. Little, Brown. 2012. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: Astrid lives in a small town where everyone knows, or thinks they know, everyone’s business. Everyone judges. So Astrid keeps some things to herself: like that her father is smoking pot. Like how she and her younger sister Ellis are [...]
Boy21: Feeeeeeeelings, a Whole Lot More Than Feeeeeelings
By on January 20, 2013
Boy21, Matthew Quick Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, March 2012 Reviewed from Final Copy So, I should start this post by disclosing that I have a personal connection with this book and its author. I want to acknowledge my personal baggage (a topic that has been addressed particularly well in the comments to the [...]
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece
By on January 2, 2013
Another guest post from Joy Piedmont, who is saving our bacon at this crunch time, as we realize just how many books we haven’t read yet! My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, Annabel Pitcher Little, Brown, August 2012 Reviewed from an ARC Annabel Pitcher’s debut novel has earned four starred reviews landed on Kirkus’ Best [...]
The Diviners: Divine, and the Bee’s Knees Too!
By on December 29, 2012
One of the best things about having progressed from new librarian to rapidly aging librarian is the opportunity to work with bright young things. Former colleague Clair Segal is now the library technology coordinator at an independent school in NYC, and has graciously agreed to guest blog for us once again, this time about Libba [...]
Ask the Passengers
By on December 28, 2012
Pick of the Day: The Diviners (Audiobook)
By on December 14, 2012 Leave a Comment
The Diviners. By Libba Bray. 15 CDs. 15:15 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-80875-7. $60.
Gr 10 Up–Printz winner Libba Bray’s latest literary masterpiece (Little, Brown, 2012) is stunning, suspenseful, and sure to leave listeners utterly breathless. Thoroughly modern flapper Evie O’Neill’s psychic ability to divine secrets from inanimate objects gets her exiled from her stuffy Ohio town. Sent to stay with her Uncle Will in Prohibition-era New York City, the last thing [...]
