Fiction

In this stunning debut, we meet a pair of robins and their egg. We watch the parents incubate and hatch the egg and teach the baby bird to survive and fly.

Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross. Delacorte Press, Random House. 2013. Review copy from publisher. Morris shortlist. The Plot: Paris, France. 1888/1889. Maud Pichon, 16, had big dreams when she ran away from her small village in Brittany and an arranged marriage. Her dreams have changed to one thing: survival. The money she took from her father [...]

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein Disney Hyperion, September 2013 Reviewed from an ARC Last year, we had a lot of great conversation about Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity, which ended up with a silver medal. This year, we have its companion title, Rose Under Fire. With two starred reviews, will this title go the [...]

The first of two volumes, this book presents six of Kipling’s timeless tales, freshly interpreted through superb mixed-media paintings.

Fans of speculative fiction will enjoy DeStefano’s concoction of tension and love with a cliff-hanger ending.

Opening in theaters on January 24, I, Frankenstein (PG-13) provides a fresh take on a classic character set in an alternate modern-day world. Help teens make a connection between movie incarnations of this fearsome protagonist and the tale’s early 19th-century literary inspiration with a spine-tingling selection of graphic novels and reimaginings.

What would you do if your family was the only one with a fallout shelter and you heard the sirens? Or your mom needs money to save the family restaurant? Or you promised to follow orders no matter what, even if you know they are morally wrong? These are the situations facing the characters in this week’s selections from the editors at Junior Library Guild, our second round-up of book club novels ripe for discussion.

Confessions of Marie Antionette brings to a close Juliet Grey’s trilogy on that perenially popular, if still misunderstood, monarch. We reviewed the first two novels in the trilogy, Becoming Marie Antionette and Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow, and we recommend this volume just as strongly. For teen readers who love to get lost in a [...]

Have You Seen My Dragon? By Steve Light Candlewick Press $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-6648-4 Ages 2-6 On shelves April 8th When I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan I would get this little thrill every time my city appeared in a children’s book. Which is to say, every time it was mentioned in Horton Hatches the Egg. [...]