The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones. Viking. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. Vacation reads (aka, when I talk about books for grownups and post them before holidays.) It’s About: The designated heir of England dies in a shipwreck; England is plunged into civil war as descendants of [...]
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 [...]
California Core
By on May 15, 2013
I had a great time at the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California Spring Workshop last Saturday in South Pasadena. Kristin Fontichiaro and I each spoke about the Common Core State Standards, she offering a great perspective on the ways school and public librarians can support CCSS curriculums while I pondered what effects and implications [...]
The post California Core appeared first on The Horn Book.
Review of the Day: Cowboy Up! Ride the Navajo Rodeo by Nancy Bo Flood
By on May 7, 2013
Cowboy Up!: Ride the Navajo Rodeo By Nancy Bo Flood Photography by Jan Sonnenmair Wordsong (an imprint of Highlights) $17.95 ISBN: 978-1-59078-893-6 Ages 8-12 On shelves now Sometimes I think half my job simply consists of making lists. Not that I’m complaining. I love lists. I love making them, and checking them, and adding to [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Interview with Kimberly McCreight and the Pulitzers
By on April 17, 2013
Two items to enjoy this morning. Six times each year I have the opportunity to interview a debut author whose first title exemplifies an adult book with teen appeal. My interview with Kimberly McCreight, author of Reconstructing Amelia, is out today. If you subscribe to the SLJ Teen Newsletter you will find it in your [...]
AB4T First Encounters: Reader’s Digest
By on April 5, 2013
In our continuing series on first encounters with adult literature, here’s a guest post from reviewer Diane Colson: My mother’s collection of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books was my first library. By third or fourth grade (circa 1965,) I had pretty much read all of the chapter books in our tiny juvenile section at the public [...]
The Holocaust: Rescue and Resistance | Focus On
By on April 4, 2013 6 Comments
Stories of resistance, rescue, courage, ingenuity, and survival are beacons of light amid the dark horrors of the Holocaust. These titles document the events, help to promote understanding, and inspire a new generation of readers.
From Karen: Nonfiction eBook Collections: The Pros and Cons
By on April 2, 2013
My friend Hornberger and I are having a conversation about nonfiction ebooks. In a recent post I chatted about my students’ eager acceptance of the EBSCO e-Book Academic Collection. Karen, the librarian at Palisades High School, as well as our PSLA Tech Committee co-chair and blogger, decided to test drive the database herself. She also [...]
Weekly Reviews: Graffiti
By on April 1, 2013
I fully admit that this may seem strange to many readers of this blog, but one of my favorite things to do after reading a historical novel is to read up about the facts of the history the novelist used. Similarly, if a novel I’m reading revolves around some particular subject–anthropology, math, whatever–I tend to [...]
Weekly Reviews: Portraying the Famous (and Infamous)
By on March 25, 2013
Today we review three novels with famous people as their subjects. The first is Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. Teens continue to be fascinated by the Jazz Age and they read the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald, not only in literature classes but also for fun. (So I learned in a recent discussion with [...]
Weekly Reviews: Nonfiction
By on March 18, 2013
This is Sonia Sotomayor’s 8th week on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Best Seller list, up to #4 from #5 last week. (Sandra Day O’Connor’s book, Out of Order, debuts at #11.) I am particularly excited to write about My Beloved World this week because I recently had a chance to booktalk it to a [...]
Author Visit: Reyna Grande
By on March 13, 2013
AB4T reviewer Connie Williams has been an enthusiastic supporter of Reyna Grande’s The Distance Between Us ever since she reviewed it here on AB4T last year. Recently, Connie hosted the author at her high school for what was a transformative experience for many of the teens in her community. I thought it would be inspiring to [...]
Weekly Reviews: Sequels
By on March 12, 2013
Making Contact With the Outside World
By on March 11, 2013
From Civil War Nurses to Young Filmmakers | Nonfiction Notes, March 2013
By on March 5, 2013 Leave a Comment
What’s publishing this month? Biographies, poetry, and more!
Phone Phreaks and Intellectual Property
By on February 27, 2013
On January 11, a young computer programmer and internet activist named Aaron Swartz was found dead of an apparent suicide. For those not familiar with him, Swartz, just 26 at his death, was involved in a huge array of groundbreaking information tools, such as RSS (which he helped design), Reddit, the Open Library, and the [...]
