Reviews+

You've heard of the Follett Challenge, right? The grand-prize winner will receive $60,000 in Follett products and services. More than 100 educators have applied and sent in their three- to five-minute videos, and voting is now officially open. And here's a shameless plug: the home of our teen reviewers, Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy, is one of the applicants, and it sure would love to have you vote for its video submission. The video with the most votes is up for a $5,000 prize; voting closes on March 18, and you can vote every day.

Have you heard about "The Hub Reading Challenge," sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)? As reported in SLJ’s Good Comics for Kids blog, YALSA is hosting an expanded, new and improved The Hub Reading Challenge for 2013. This is how it works: you have until June 22 to read as many titles as you can from YALSA’s official challenge list. Once you hit the 25 book mark, you're eligible to submit a reader’s response for any of the titles you’ve read. Sure, there’s a prize, and you can earn a badge too!

The Legend of Zelda is one of the few video games my son plays that tempts me to park on the couch and watch. Valiant effort, haunting melodies, faerie-like creatures, and lots of swordplay are part of this hero’s journey tale. We even have some Zelda memorabilia around the house, including a not-often-played ocarina. Zelda fans are legion and loyal, and they proved it by pushing The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, the 274-page chronological account on The Legend of Zelda universe, to the top of the New York Times Advice and Miscellaneous Hardcover bestseller list on February 10, where it still sits as of this writing.

A powerful and uplifting biography of a 19th-century slave who was also a talented artist.

Whether memoir or realistic fiction, many teens respond to stories of struggle that are told from the heart. Here are three to recommend. Let’s begin with a love story. We haven’t featured many love stories here. At least, not weepy, traditional ones that earn a starred review! Many are couched in historical fiction or the [...]

It’s Nevada, 1869, and 15-year-old Jim and his injured horse, Promise, are struggling to make it across the 40-Mile Desert. They're rescued by Mutt, Golgotha’s Native American deputy, who encourages Jim to settle in his town. And it’s a good thing he agrees, because along with the sheriff and a few other key residents, they are about to fight a great battle to save the Earth, heaven, and hell—one whose seeds were planted when the world was first created.

As promised, this week we’ll be featuring the top ten read-alikes for the recently discussed award-winner Drama by Raina Telgemeier.  You can read us investigating just what makes this title great in last week’s post, but this week is about finding more titles for your Drama fans to love. Read on for our contributors picks! [...]

There's still time to make good on those New Year resolutions, and if yours was to get in shape, you'll want to check out Nike + Kinect Training. Fine motor skills can get a workout from all the axe swinging and scything in Devil May Cry. Been looking for some romantic listening? Love Charlie from Charlie Wilson may just be the ticket for your next date night.

Hank Finds an Egg By Rebecca Dudley Peter Pauper Press, Inc. $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-4413-1158-0 Ages 3-7 On shelves May 1st Photography in children’s literature holds a real fascination for me. No work of pure photography has ever won a Caldecott Award or Honor and, when it comes right down to it, there are only two [...]