Publications about books for children and young adults
Each week we publish a review of a new book people are--or should be--talking about.
Better to Wish [Family Tree] by Ann M. Martin Intermediate, Middle School Scholastic 231 pp. 5/13 978-0-545-35942-9 $16.99 e-book ed. 978-0-545-53926-5 $16.99 The typical historical fiction set during the Great Depression is a story of financial hardship — but it’s not lack of money that’s the issue here, in this first of what will be [...]
Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani; illus. by Maris Wicks Middle School, High School First Second/Roaring Brook 140 pp. 6/13 978-1-59643-865-1 $19.99 A graphic format admirably propels this lightly fictionalized group biography of “Leakey’s Angels”: Jane Goodall (chimps in Rwanda), and Biruté Galdikas (orangutans [...]
Review of Bear and Bee by Sergio Ruzzier. From the May/June 2013 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.
Kelsey Green, Reading Queen [Franklin School Friends] by Claudia Mills; illus. by Rob Shepperson Primary Ferguson/Farrar 122 pp. 5/13 978-0-374-37485-3 $15.99 g e-book ed. 978-0-374-37488-4 $9.99 Kelsey might be the reading queen of her third-grade class, but her throne is threatened when principal Mr. Boone announces a school-wide reading challenge: two thousand books read before [...]
The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny) by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer; illus. by Stacy Innerst Primary Harcourt 40 pp. 3/13 978-0-547-50991-4 $16.99 Since the early sixties, the Beatles have defined the musical landscape of the world, influencing generations of listeners and musicians. Beatlemania, from its beginning in Liverpool to the band’s final [...]
Water in the Park: A Book About Water & the Times of the Day by Emily Jenkins; illus. by Stephanie Graegin Primary Schwartz & Wade/Random 40 pp. 5/13 978-0-375-87002-6 $16.99 Library ed. 978-0-375-97002-3 $19.99 On a warm day, just before six a.m., a city park starts to stir: turtles laze on rocks by the pond, [...]
Ask the Passengers by A. S. King High School Little, Brown 295 pp. 10/12 978-0-316-19468-6 $17.99 Astrid would be the quintessential Q-for-Questioning girl in her high school’s LGBTQ support group if her small-town, small-minded school had such a thing — and the gay question is only one of many weighing her down. When her humanities [...]
Review of The Dark by Lemony Snicket. From the March/April 2013 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell High School St. Martin’s Griffin 328 pp. 2/13 978-1-250-01257-9 $18.99 e-book ed. 978-1-250-03121-1 $9.99 It’s the start of a new school year in 1986 Omaha when sophomores Eleanor and Park meet for the first time on the bus. They are an unusual pair: she’s the new girl in town, [...]
Deadly!: The Truth About the Most Dangerous Creatures on Earth by Nicola Davies; illus. by Neal Layton Primary, Intermediate Candlewick 64 pp. 3/13 978-0-7636-6231-8 $14.99 Readers with a taste for the grisly realism of nature will revel in the latest Davies and Layton collaboration, featuring the ways in which animals cause lasting harm or death [...]
Newbery, Printz & Caldecott