Reviews

SLJ previews the upcoming fall 2014 titles from Egmont USA, which include stories about bullies, a zombie hamster, and a guinea pig that behaves like a dog, as well as a book based on the immensely popular Temple Run app and which were presented on April 3 at Sarabeth's restaurant in New York City.

From adventurous ants to budding magicians and reluctant dog walkers to intrepid big brothers, the characters in the following independent readers tackle friendship woes, class projects, and new hobbies.

Three titles with little leaders who prove that brave doesn’t always mean big.

Energetic and moving titles to get footballers of all ages excited about the World Cup.

Let’s kick off the week with a preview of a great new all-ages comic, Lumberjanes, a good old-fashioned story about a quintet plucky girls at summer camp facing down weird supernatural creatures. The first issue plunges us right into the action, pitting the Lumberjanes against a three-eyed fox. Although this book is part of BOOM! [...]

Published in January 2014, the YALSA report “The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: A Call to Action” addresses the need for a national conversation around how young adults are served by libraries today—and how to better position library centers to foster and drive learning in the future. The report is also being seen as set of best practices, which YALSA will use to re-evaluate its own best practices guidelines, says Beth Yoke, YALSA’s director.

Today we have two very different novels that feature the lives of the uber-wealthy. I love Jamie Watson’s reference to Brideshead Revisited in her starred review of The Last Enchantments. I was completely obsessed with that novel when we read it in senior year English, and I think the fact that I never fully understood [...]

The Glorkian Warrior Delivers a Pizza By James Kochalka First Second (an imprint of Roaring Brook) $17.99 ISBN: 978-1626721036 Ages 7-11 On shelves now James Kochalka has always had a penchant for the outright silly. If nothing else his Johnny Boo series of books have said as much. He’s not afraid to go for the [...]

I realized I never posted about the Printz Award and Honor Books! The Printz Award: Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick. From my review:“Always, there is an Eric and a Merle; a hare and a loss; and the island of Blessed. These are the constants. What changes in the seven stories of Midwinterblood is the time, starting in the future, 2073, [...]