Publications about books for children and young adults
What Came from the Stars by Gary D. Schmidt Middle School Clarion 293 pp. 9/12 978-0-547-61213-3 $16.99 g Schmidt brings high heroic fantasy and contemporary realism together in this novel of a bereaved family. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, Tommy grieves for his mother, who died eight [...]
Machines Go to Work in the City by William Low; illus. by the author Preschool Holt 32 pp. 6/12 978-0-8050-9050-5 $16.99 Books don’t get much better than this for machinery-loving preschoolers. Listeners are first introduced to a particular situation involving vehicles, from a garbage truck to a [...]
A Certain October by Angela Johnson High School Simon 158 pp. 8/12 978-0-689-86505-3 $15.99 g e-book ed. 978-1-4424-1726-7 $9.99 At the start of the book, Scotty is an average high school junior living in East Cleveland. She hangs out with friends, makes plans for the homecoming dance, and avoids writing a book report on Anna [...]
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen; illus. by the author Primary Candlewick 40 pp. 10/12 978-0-7636-5599-0 $15.99 g The eyes have it in Klassen’s latest hat book (I Want My Hat Back, rev. 11/11). Klassen manages to tell almost the whole story through subtle eye movements and the tilt of seaweed and [...]
Pirateria: The Wonderful Plunderful Pirate Emporium by Calef Brown; illus. by the author Primary Atheneum 40 pp. 7/12 978-1-4169-7878-7 $16.99 e-book ed. 978-1-4424-3897-2 $12.99 Brown presents a book-length advertisement for an imaginary emporium of all things pirate. Whether you need rags or pantaloons, spinnakers or planks, you can be sure to find them at Pirateria. [...]
Penny and Her Doll by Kevin Henkes; illus. by the author Primary Greenwillow 32 pp. 8/12 978-0-06-208199-5 $12.99 Naming things, whether children, pets, or toys, is serious business, and in this follow-up to Penny and Her Song (rev. 3/12) Henkes doesn’t take that task lightly. Gram sends mouse Penny a doll: “The doll had pink [...]
Jangles: A Big Fish Story by David Shannon; illus. by the author Primary Blue Sky/Scholastic 32 pp. 10/12 978-0-545-14312-7 $17.99 g Shannon takes the one-that-got-away story and spins it out into a big-fish tall tale as recounted by a father to his son. Jangles, the legendary trout of Big Lake, had “broken so many fishing [...]
Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten! by Hyewon Yum; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary Foster/Farrar 40 pp. 7/12 978-0-374-35004-8 $16.99 g “Mom, wake up!” In the art, a young boy looms large, while his mom appears small and kind of blue (as in “sad,” though she’s also pale blue from head to toe). [...]
A Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead; illus. by the author Primary Porter/Roaring Brook 32 pp. 6/12 978-1-59643-711-1 $16.99 g Stead (author of A Sick Day for Amos McGee, rev. 5/10) returns with another terrific tale of devoted friendship. Starting on the copyright page, we see a little bird thrown from the back of [...]
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose Intermediate, Middle School, High School Farrar 148 pp. 7/12 978-0-374-30468-3 $21.99 He’s called “Moonbird” because, over a lifespan of twenty years, he’s flown some 325,000 miles, the distance to the moon and almost halfway back. This robin-sized red knot (subspecies rufa), [...]
