Reviews

From two new chapter books about undead pets to an undersea adventure to the tale of an accidental food critic, this month’s reviews of middle grade titles offer a little something for every kind of reader.

These powerful and poignant works offer a vivid and evocative look at desegregation, a fun and simplified examination of math concepts, and a collection of informative, hilarious—and tasteful—poems on food trucks.

These gorgeously designed titles tackle animals, a well-known family of painters, and more.

YALSA recently announced the 25 Teens’ Top Ten Nominees for 2014. Teens are encouraged to read the titles before the national Teens’ Top Ten vote, which starts August 15 and goes through Teen Read Week, from October 12-18.

Last week, I posted our review of The Griots of Oakland, edited by Angela Zusman, lamenting that the book hasn’t gotten more attention, and hey, what do you know, it’s gotten some more attention!  It has now been nominated for YALSA’s Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults list.* I also wanted to point out that the [...]

It’s geeks versus jocks in an epic battle of the beverages. Read on to find out how you can win one of 10 signed copies of FAT BOY VS. THE CHEERLEADERS, the latest from the very funny and teen-tuned-in Geoff Herbach.

SLJ invites you to participate in the 2014 ebook survey for school and public libraries throughout the United States. This is our fifth year trending library ebook usage information, which benefits libraries, advocacy groups, and publishers in navigating and serving this essential market. Respondents will have the opportunity to receive a summary of the overall results AND be entered into a drawing to win a new Apple iPad mini.

The Official Google Blog announced today a preview of its new Classroom, a free and also ad-free tool in the Google Apps for Education suite.  I am hopeful that this will prove the answer to my hopelessly messy Drive issues and a serious organizational and communication solution for my our classes. The post shares that Classroom [...]

Tracy Holczer’s tender exploration of grief, Matthias Picard’s eye-popping 3-D underwater adventure, and Stephanie Kuehn’s unputdownable thriller top our list of stellar titles reviewed in the May issue.