Here in New England it’s just about fall (starts this Saturday), and last weekend we celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The start of Rosh Hashanah also coincided with the start of National Hispanic Heritage Latine/x Heritage Month (September 15–October 15), with this month’s issue of Notes dedicated to...
Hope in the Valley by Mitali PerkinsMiddle School Farrar 304 pp.7/23 9780374388515 $17.99e-book ed. 9780374388508 $10.99The former orchard across from Pandita Paul’s home, dilapidated though it may be, holds a special place in the thirteen-year-old’s heart. It’s where she and her late mother used to spend time: “Ashar Jaiga, as...
"Little Amal has become an international symbol of compassion and of human rights. She carries a message of hope for displaced people everywhere, especially children who have been separated from their families." (From WalkwithAmal.org) Last week, my family was able to "meet" Little Amal as she made her walk through...
A few things have changed for the Horn Book since our last issue when Martha V. Parravano, “Keeper of the Horn Book Flame” and the one-and-only recipient of our MVP Award, announced her (semi)retirement; read, re-read, and have a good cry over her July/August editorial, “What a Gift That Is.”...
Spilling water all over the place is a great reminder of the wonderful selection of titles I brought home from ALA Annual this year. Here they are drying in the September sun!...
When I wrote this editorial for July's issue of Notes from the Horn Book, my own kids were still weeks away from back-to-school. Now the time has come! In solidarity with all late-starters: re-read our recommendations for school stories for all age groups, along with Five Questions interview with Kerascoët about...
A little product placement (literally) in the Berkshires! (Viral marketing idea courtesy of Monica de los Reyes.) Please help spread the word about the Horn Book's upcoming *centennial year* in 2024. Details to come. There will be swag....
The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy MassIntermediate Feiwel 224 pp.8/23 9781250838810 $17.99e-book ed. 9781250838827 $10.99Stead and Mass (Bob, rev. 7/18) pen an entertaining lightly fantastical and supernatural love letter to books, librarians, and little free libraries. Perspective rotates among a cat named Mortimer, rising sixth grader Evan, and...
The Wilderness by Steve McCarthy; illus. by the authorPrimary Candlewick 40 pp.10/23 9781536231373 $17.99Thirteen members of the Vasylenko family (a biracial family with each child named for a month of the year plus Mama Mariana and Papa Everest) love the outdoors. The fourteenth member, Oktober, “went on his adventures inside...