Books & Media

When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders By J. Patrick Lewis Illustrated by Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, Tonya Engel, John Parra, and Meilo So Chronicle Books $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-4521-0119-4 Ages 10 and up On shelves now Poetry is of the people by its very definition. Though sometimes considered the property of the elite [...]

Roxana Robinson‘s Sparta joins last year’s excellent additions to literature about war (both of which ended up on our Best of the Year list — The Yellow Birds and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk). Like those novels, Sparta‘s power comes from an examination of what happens when a young soldier returns home. Her research into the [...]

London-based writer Katherine Rundell met with librarians and booksellers in New York City this week to chat about her middle grade novel, Rooftoopers. Illustrator Ian Schoenherr and Norwegian author Tone Almhjell celebrated the release of Almhjell's debut fantasy novel, The Twistrose Key.

Star Wars: Jedi Academy Written and drawn by Jeffrey Brown Scholastic, $12.99 Cartoonist Jeffrey Brown made a name for himself in the 2000s with a series of self-published black-and-white, highly confessional autobiographical graphic novels, like Clumsy, Unlikely and AEIOU. More recently, Brown has made many more fans with his Darth Vader & Son and Vader’s [...]

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black. Little, Brown. 2013. Review copy from publisher. The Plot: Tana wakes up after a party to a house filled with the dead. She is one of three survivors: the others are her ex-boyfriend, Aidan, and strange vampire, Gavriel. As the sun slowly sets, the vampires who killed [...]

The Port Washington (NY) Public Library will host an exhibition of kid lit illustrators. Arizona State University wins REFORMA’s 2013 Mora Award. YALSA’s 2013 Teens’ Top Ten list is announced. The Gale Virtual Reference Library adds nearly 200 children’s Encyclopedia Britannica titles. Apply for a ALSC/Candlewick Press Grant. A research fellowship is available at the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Home Sweet Horror (Scary Tales #1) By James Preller Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno Feiwel & Friends ISBN: 9781250018878 $14.99 Grades 3-5 In Stores Find it at: Schuler Books | Your Library Let’s face it – you don’t get more high interest than horror. There’s a subtle defiance in reading a book full of dark and [...]

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers always offers interesting programs at its book previews in New York City, courtesy of Victoria Stapleton, director of school and library marketing, who builds the excitement at each event with the tease of a special guest appearance. Who was it this time?

I don’t watch a lot of TV, especially not TV news or TV tabloids, so while I feel confident that I had heard something about Amanda Knox in the past six years, I really only became aware of the ins and outs of her infamous life this year.  But when I did become aware, it [...]