Collections

Thinking about this idea of “New Adult” books (which Angela discussed here on Thursday), over on my personal blog I took a look at the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best books of the 20th Century, and found that half of the books on the list fit into one or another definition of New Adult. [...]

Canadian novelist Susin Nielsen talks about her novel The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, which explores the aftermath of a high school shooting.

New Year, new category. Today I am weighing in on New Adult books. This post could be considered a response or addition to Liz Burns’s excellent work over on the Tea Cozy blog. She published three posts on this topic over the weekend, and I recommend that you read at least the first before continuing [...]

As a librarian, I love it when I find books that relate to one another in terms of themes or content, which gets me thinking about potential program ideas. The titles selected for this first column of the new year are full of such connections. Starting with the idea of focusing on longer fiction, I found two semiautobiographical novels in verse, and both are historical fiction that deal with the protagonist coming of age.

Fifty years ago this May, people around our country turned on their televisions to the sight of children being viciously assaulted with fire hoses and snarling dogs by uniformed grown men, their faces twisted with hatred. The violence in Birmingham, Alabama, stirred a swelling of national conscience and raised questions demanding an answer: Do we really believe that “all men are created equal”? What would our country look like if we really did? What has to change to make that dream a reality?

Pushing between snack time and reading group, Zack, a third-grade boy, ducks into our school library while another class is beginning to check out books.