Publications about books for children and young adults
Trick or Treat by Leo Landry; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary Houghton 32 pp. 8/12 978-0-547-24969-8 $12.99 Landry’s cheery watercolor and pencil illustrations and calm palette signal that this Halloween story is more treat than trick; together, the straightforward text and simple compositions build suspense and inject humor [...]
The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories by Tessa Gratton, Maggie Stiefvater, and Brenna Yovanoff High School Carolrhoda Lab 296 pp. 10/12 978-0-7613-7527-2 $17.95 e-book ed. 978-1-4677-0007-8 $12.95 These experimental, unedited short stories showcase the many faces of horror — goth, faerie, ghostly, grotesque, lyrical, vengeful, and nasty-cool. Some clusters of tales are responses to a [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
I would call it a guilty pleasure if I felt guilty. But my subscription to People magazine actually liberates me. Instead of furtively flipping pages in the checkout line, hoping to find the photos of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s baby before it’s time to unload the hummus, I have Blue Ivy Carter (seven pounds) delivered, so [...]
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. [...]
What’s the magic word? These days many children would answer, “Expelliarmus!” or some other Harry Potter-ism, but for generations before this the magic word has always been “please.” And yet anyone who works with children regularly can attest to the fact that quite a lot of them don’t seem familiar with that magic word, or [...]
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 [...]
