Reviews+

On Saturday, Someday joined forces with HVLA to host a proper Mock Printz. (And speaking of mock awards, if you haven’t already, hop on over to Heavy Medal for the deets on their Mock Newbery. Riveting reading!) Our first ever live Mock event was a little chaotic (we learn by doing) and completely fantastic. Joy [...]

Beautiful Creatures is a story of star-crossed lovers with a supernatural edge and atmospheric Southern setting. The film adaptation of the first novel in Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s fan-favorite series (2009, Little, Brown) is fittingly scheduled for release on Valentine’s Day, 2013. Tempt teens who just can’t get enough of these Beautiful Creatures to keep reading by booktalking or displaying a selection of page-turning tales forged with mystical wonder and touched by true love. Encompassing copious coming-of-age themes and a variety of writing styles, these titles also make excellent choices for book discussion groups.

The number of kids reading ebooks has nearly doubled since 2010, according to Scholastic’s Kids & Family Reading Report, which was released today. The national survey of kids age 6–17 and their parents also found that half of kids age 9–17 say they would read more books for fun if they had greater access to ebooks—although 80 percent of kids who read ebooks say they still read books for fun primarily in print.

Titanic: Voices From The Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson. Scholastic 2012. Review copy from publisher. Finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award. It’s About: The sinking of the “unsinkable” Titanic on April 15, 1912, resulting in the loss of over 1,400 men, women and children. The Good: I believe the first Titanic movie I [...]

We may have settled on our Best Books of 2012 back at the end of November, but here we are in early January and we’re still finding great books from last year.  This week, we have three very different takes on thrillers that all bring to mind (for me anyway) the movies. First up is [...]

The Nonfiction Monday round-up is right here (see below). If you’d like to be included, share a link in the comments. Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball By John Coy Illustrated by Joe Morse Carolrhoda Books (Lerner) ISBN: 9780761366171 $16.95 Grades 1-4 In Stores March 1, 2013 Find [...]

The wonderful teacher librarians of the Washington Library Media Association (WLMA) recently released the five-minute video, Teacher Librarians at the Heart of Student Learning. The video, partially funded by Mackin, is designed to present school libraries and teacher librarians as a vital resource for student learning and to highlight the essential role teacher librarians play [...]

Who would have thought that one of the most successful graphic novels of the past few years would be about Lego ninja warriors? Actually, anyone who gave it any thought at all—Lego is awesome, ninjas are awesome, and graphic novels are awesome. It’s three great tastes that taste great together. In this latest volume, the [...]