Fiction

Looking for fun, creative ways to introduce history to older readers? These picture books for older readers tackle subjects from the American Revolution to immigration.

Windblown By Édouard Manceau Owlkids Books ISBN: 9781926973777 $16.95 Grades PreK-1 In Stores April 9, 2013 Find it at: Schuler Books | Your Library Simple shapes. Lots of white space. Created by a Frenchman. Sound familiar? If your first thought was Hurve Tullet’s Press Here, you’re not alone. But although Édouard Manceau’s Windblown shares some [...]

Though facts and figures often grab the interests of middle school boys, adventure, fantasy, and reality stories also weigh into their decision-making when it comes to choosing books. The following titles selected by Junior Library Guild editors will not only entertain middle grade readers, but help them see that they are not alone in trying to survive middle school.

Today we review three thrillingly original works of speculative fiction. Let’s start with a post-apocalyptic, dystopian debut novel. The Office of Mercy is being marketed as a Hunger Games readalike. (I’ve also seen comparisons to recent Alex Award winner, Pure). However, debut author Djanikian is more concerned with ethical questions than fast-paced action. The Alphas had good intentions [...]

One Came Home By Amy Timberlake $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-375-86925-9 Ages 10 and up On shelves now I like children’s books that sock you in the gut. Not the books that telegraph their hits or do the old one-two punch you can see coming from a mile away. No way, man, I’m talking about the books [...]

Some of you might think I’m stretching the definition of historical fiction with the first book up today. But if we consider historical fiction as works in which historical backdrop plays a strong role in the story, I think this qualifies. In any case, I am excited to introduce My One Square Inch of Alaska, a traditional [...]

It’s Monday, Mrs. Jolly Bones! By Warren Hanson Illustrated by Tricia Tusa Beach Lane Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-4424-1229-3 Ages 4-7 On shelves March 19th Older children are not big fans of reading about middle-aged adults. That’s just obvious. Unless that adult is a furry woodland creature, of course. Then [...]

This weekend I happened upon Paul Collins’ essay “Vanishing Act,” about the writing prodigy Barbara Newhall Follett, whose The House Without Windows was published by Knopf in 1927 when the author was twelve.  Our own Bertha Mahony loved the book, devoting three pages to it in the February 1927 Magazine. While Follett would go on to publish [...]

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Open This Little Book By Jesse Klausmeier Illustrated by Suzy Lee Chronicle Books ISBN: 9780811867832 $16.99 Grades PreK-2 In Stores Find it at: Schuler Books | Your Library Some books, you just have to see. When a title like the inventive Open This Little Book arrives, a description alone doesn’t do it much justice. But [...]