Reviews+

The class of 2014 includes debuts by novelists who are surely more than one-hit wonders. From current issues in society to murder and reality TV to Cold War Russia, the following selections from the editors at Junior Library Guild are sure to leave their mark on YA literature.

Unreliable narrators fascinate—but do they have to be likable to engage readers? Young Adult authors Jodi Lynn Anderson, Alaya Dawn Johnson, E. Lockhart, Barry Lyga, and Meg Wolitzer shared their thoughts in an all-star panel.

In this month's Libro por libro column, Tim Wadham suggests how librarians can incorporate the 2014 Pura Belpré winners in their Día de los niños/Children's Day programs on April 30.

SLJTeen caught up with Lesley Walton to discuss her magical realism-infused debut novel, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. The author had to do a lot of research sitting in cafes, eating croissants and pain du chocolat.

This has been a stellar year for Latino-themed titles for children. SLJ's Libro por Libro columnist, Tim Wadham, selected 10 of the best works published this year that represent the vibrant Hispanic cultures united by a single language and heritage.

In the editor’s note in the ARC of All the Truth That’s in Me, Kendra Levin describes Julie Berry’s debut YA book as a “pinhole” narrative—“you start looking through a tiny hole… and as the story goes on, the pinhole widens and widens until you can see a bigger picture.” SLJTeen caught up with Berry to learn more about the setting, characters, and the origins of this beautifully written story.

Angela Carstensen, Adult Books for Teens blogger, had a hard time putting The Sea of Tranquility down, even after reading it all the way through. Debut author Katja Millay put the book together by gathering scribbles, random lines, and characters in her head, calling her attempt to create an outline "laughable."

Game by Barry Lyga. Sequel to I Hunt Killers. Little, Brown & Co. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: In I Hunt Killers, Jazz helped capture a serial killer. It was his father, the infamous serial killer Billy Dent, who taught Jazz the ways of killing, not thinking for a moment that Jazz [...]