
With the ALA Youth Media Awards just around the corner, Junior Library Guild takes a look at some star-studded titles.
September 18, 2013
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With the ALA Youth Media Awards just around the corner, Junior Library Guild takes a look at some star-studded titles.

During the last ten years, researchers have learned that elementary students are more likely to read and hear fiction in their classrooms more than informational text. However, if you ever visited an elementary school library, you’d see that far more nonfiction is circulated on average than fiction. Kids love to see the photographs and learn more about their world. Consequently, those books have the commonly known disease of the banana-peel spine. They’ve been read so much their spines are literally peeling off the book. With an increase in emphasis on informational text due to adoption of Common Core State Standards, nonfiction circulation is bound to increase. These new nonfiction releases will satisfy the standards while feeding your starved-for-information students and patrons.

As summer comes to a close, we think of things we love: walks on the beach, watermelons, and time to read whatever we want. So as you gear up for the fall, take that last walk on the beach, go to your farmer’s market and select fresh fruits and vegetables for dinner, and settle down in your cozy backyard chair with a pile of books from your favorite authors. Take a look at these new titles from some of our literature stars.

For our middle school readers, finding a favorite author can be a difficult task. They are at the age in which one day they’re still children, and the next they think they are adults. Kids are busy with activities, so this is also the time in their lives where we could lose them as readers if their choices are few. Thankfully in the last ten years, popular authors and series have increased for this group of tweens and early teens. For students in grades five to eight and those that teach them, fall releases will be a welcome sight.

For our elementary readers, finding a favorite author is like finding an old friend. They welcome a familiar writing or illustration style. Not having to learn new characters or settings lets struggling students focus on the plot. This fall’s release of new books promises to be a happy reunion for kids in grades two to six.
BISHOP, Nic. Nic Bishop Snakes. Scholastic. Oct. 2012. ISBN 9780545206389. JLG Level: SCE: Science Nonfiction Elementary (Grades 2-6)
Naturalist and Sibert-award winning photographer Nic Bishop is [...]
There’s no reason to wait ’til Halloween to break out the spooky titles! Just scary enough for a shiver, but not enough to keep anyone awake all night, these tales make for perfect read-alouds around the campfire.
The elephants, snakes, chickens, dogs, and other animal friends in these titles will have your young set clucking, slithering, and jumping, so be sure to make room before you start reading! Stellar illustrations make these a joy to share with small and large groups of kids.
A good mystery can make a boring afternoon disappear in an instant. The right one might even turn a reluctant reader into one who can’t wait until the next book in a series comes out! There’s a bit of everything—from historical to hysterical—in this list of titles.
The study of World War II is part of every standard middle school and high school curriculum in the United States. The question is, how do you keep it interesting for these readers? These titles keep it mixed up, from a graphic novel recounting the incredible journey of two girls who survived German death camps to the story of an American pilot who made a real difference by dropping candy to the children of Berlin.







By Elizabeth Bird on September 18, 2013
By Travis Jonker on September 16, 2013
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