How to use this Page

This Week's Pick
White Cat by Holly Black
Revenge of the Geek by Piper Banks
Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor, illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo

Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
Acting for Young Actors by Mary Lou Belli and Dinah Lenney
Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties: A Practical Guide by Miss Edythe McFate by Lesley M.M. Blume, illustrated by David Foote
Yes You Can: Your Guide to Becoming an Activist by Jane Drake and Ann Love
Jacob's Ladder by F. Scott Fitzgerald
You Are Not Here by Samantha Schutz

This Month's Spotlighted Titles
Suite Scarlett and Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt
A Paddling of Ducks: Animals in Groups From A to Z by Marjorie Blain Parker and Joseph Kelly (for your younger siblings)
Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl (for actors and mythology buffs)

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Suite Scarlett and Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
The Waking: Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall
Someday, This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters

For Your Younger Siblings
Splinters by Kevin Sylvester
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Suite Scarlett and Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
The Julian Game by Adele Griffin
My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman
Mindblind by Jennifer Roy
When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer

For Your Younger Siblings
The Naming of Tishkin Silk by Glenda Millard, illustrated by Patrice Barton

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala

Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Bang Bang You're Dead by William Mastrosimone (play)
You by Charles Benoit

For Your Younger Siblings
Layla, Queen of Hearts by Glenda Millard, illustrated by Patrice Barton
I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip. by John Donovan

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala

Add a Comment

Long before the Bone cousins were ever lost in the uncharted forest of the Valley, Big Johnson Bone, the discoverer of the Rolling Bone River, founded Boneville. But little is known of the might explorer's adventures before he started his famous trading post.

So when Smiley sits down with a group of young scouts to retell the legendary stories of Boneville's origins, what they hear are tall tales in typical Bone fashion -- wild antics, complete with rat creatures, dragons, and a snarky little monkey!

Bone: Tall Tales by Jeff Smith with Tom Sniegoski, a companion to the epic Bone saga, was previously published in black-and-white as Stupid-Stupid Rat-tails. This brand-new edition, published by Scholastic Graphix in both hardcover and paperback, features new stories and full-colour art.

Bone: Tall Tales serves as a perfect introduction to the series for new readers, and it's a must-have for long-time Bone fans as well. This fun collection of stories of Casper-looking underdogs is perfectly titled, because each and every funny tale Smiley shares 'round the campfire is a tall one. The glossy full-colour illustrations will reel kids in, and the high-falutin' stories will keep them intrigued. The tale of Bone's birth is especially off-the-wall. My favorite tale is the final story, in which Bone gathers a hodgepodge group of woodland creatures, including an adorable fox, a shy turtle, a very put-upon monkey, and a guardian dragon named Stillman who quickly stole a little piece of my heart, to help him in a fight against the evil rat creatures.

Two thumbs up for Tall Tales, Smith, and Sniegoski!

Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
Freak Magnet by Andrew Auseon
Sea by Heidi R. Kling

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala

Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
The Chamber of Ten by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon
Of Saints and Shadows by Christopher Golden
The Ocean Dark by Jack Rogan

For Your Younger Siblings
Bobby the Brave (Sometimes) by Lisa Yee, illustrated by Dan Santat

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

Add a Comment

On October 6th, 2009, Andrea Ross of JustOneMoreBook.com was diagnosed with breast cancer.

On October 3rd, 2010, she will run for the cure.

If you'd like to support her efforts to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, please click here to sponsor Andrea, and help spread the word about this event!

Add a Comment

This Week's Pick
Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

For Your Younger Sister
Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci
Grace by Elizabeth Scott

For Younger readers
Monkey See, Monkey Zoo by Erin Soderbergh

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banerjee
The Dancing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

Add a Comment

Our readergirlz NYC Host, Micol Ostow, recently attended an exclusive event for the forthcoming Francine Pascal book Sweet Valley Confidential. In this novel, the famous Wakefield twins are all grown up. What has happened to Jessica and Elizabeth in the ten years since they graduated from Sweet Valley High? You'll have to read the book - which comes out in March 2011 - to find out.

In the meantime, Micol picked up something to tide you over: a Team Elizabeth T-shirt! She has this picture of the Team Jessica shirt. Both shirts have the same colors and fonts.



Want to win a Team Elizabeth T-shirt? Leave a comment at the readergirlz blog and tell us why you're on Team Elizabeth!

Read more about Sweet Valley Confidential at my blog, Bildungsroman.

Display Comments Add a Comment

This Week's Picks
Fishbowl by Sarah Mlynowski
Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

This Month's Spotlighted Title
Paper Towns by John Green

Add a Comment

I just learned about the unREQUIRED READING Book Tour from one of my wonderful website clients, Kristen Tracy, who is one of six authors participating in this nationwide tour. I hope some of you are able to attend the events.

unREQUIRED READING Book Tour
featuring six authors: Kristen Tracy, Brent Crawford, Stacey Kade, Daniel Waters, Elizabeth Rudnick, Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin. Please note which authors are scheduled to appear at each of the following events:
- June 18th: Davis Kidd, Memphis, TN (Waters, Rudnick, Franklin, and Halpin)
- June 18th: Keplers, Menlo Park, CA (Tracy, Kade, and Crawford)
- June 19th: Books & Books, Coral Gabels, FL (Waters, Rudnick, Franklin, and Halpin)
- June 21st: Pudd'nHead Books, Webster Groves, MO (Tracy, Kade, and Crawford)
- June 21st: Little Shop of Stories, Atlanta, GA (Waters, Rudnick, Franklin, and Halpin)
- June 22nd: Anderson's, Chicago, IL (all authors)
- June 23rd: Watermark Books, Wichita, KS (all authors)
- June 24th: Books of Wonder, New York, NY (all authors)
- June 25th: Reception at American Libraries Association Convention, Washington, DC (all authors)
- June 26th: Politics & Prose, Washington, DC (all authors)

Learn more about Kristen Tracy's brand-new YA novel, A Field Guide for Heartbreakers.

Add a Comment

From author Eric Luper:

St. Anne Institute Book Drive

St. Anne's is a residential and therapeutic facility for at-risk girls ages 12 to 18 from all over New York State. It has been in operation since 1887. [ . . . ] If you are an editor, an agent, a publishing bigwig, a published author, an aspiring writer, or simply a concerned citizen, please consider donating whatever you can.

There are a few ways you can help:

1) If you have books on-hand and would like to ship them, please contact me via my webpage. [Eric] will forward you the mailing address and you can ship boxes by media mail.

2) If you'd rather donate books by phone, [Eric has] made arrangements with The Little Book House, an independent bookseller in Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany. You can drop by the store or call in and order a book at (518) 437-0101. They have a wishlist from the teachers, librarians and students and you can select something from the list. They've even agreed to offer a 20% discount for books slated for St. Anne's!

Display Comments Add a Comment

What have you been up to?
(a question posed by Readergirlz)

Display Comments Add a Comment

One of my favorite contemporary book series for children is becoming a film! Here's the press release:

Media contact: Laura Rivas
Assistant Director of Marketing, Publicity, and Events
617-588-4445; [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUDY MOODY MOVIE
BASED ON CHILDREN’S BOOK SERIES
COMING TO THEATERS SOON

Somerville, MA (May 6, 2010) – Candlewick Press is thrilled to announce that a Judy Moody movie is coming from Smokewood Entertainment, the Oscar-nominated production company behind the acclaimed film “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.” John Schultz (“Aliens in the Attic”) will direct the film. Kathy Waugh and Megan McDonald wrote the screenplay, based upon the characters in the wildly popular and award-winning Judy Moody children’s book series by McDonald, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, and published by Candlewick Press. Candlewick will also publish a Judy Moody movie tie-in program in Spring 2011.

The project commences production in August and is being packaged by Creative Artists Agency. Smokewood principals Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness will produce, with Bobbi Sue Luther and Andrew Sugerman executive producing.

Says Candlewick President and Publisher Karen Lotz , "We are mega-Moody thrilled that Judy's hop to the big screen will be with Smokewood Entertainment and their incredible roster of talent. Double R-A-R-E!"

“As a family that reads and loves the Judy Moody book series, it became very apparent to us that they would make wonderful family films,” said Siegel-Magness. “Our company, Smokewood Entertainment, intends to make films with a positive message for a variety of audiences, and the adventures of independent Judy and her family and friends are a perfect vehicle for that.”

Candlewick’s movie tie-in publishing program will feature a select number of titles, including paperback original Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer written by McDonald, based on the screenplay by Waugh and McDonald. Also coming as part of the movie tie-in program will be the full-color hardback Judy Moody Goes Hollywood .

The Judy Moody book series has more than 12 million books in print worldwide and has been translated into 23 languages. Currently there are eight titles in this fun and funny middle-grade fiction series starring the feisty and independent-minded third-grader; plus a series starring Judy Moody’s younger brother, Stink; and two full-color adventures co-starring Judy and Stink. A new hardcover Judy Moody book - Judy Moody, Girl Detective – will go on-sale August 10, 2010.

McDonald is the author of the Judy Moody series, the Stink series, the Sisters Club books, and numerous other titles including picture books and easy readers. She lives in Sebastopol, California. Reynolds is the illustrator of the Judy Moody and Stink books and the author-illustrator of The Dot, Ish, So Few of Me, The North Star, and Rose’s Garden. He lives in Dedham, Massachusetts .

Candlewick Press is an independent, employee-owned publisher based in Somerville, MA. Candlewick publishes outstanding children’s books for readers of all ages; including books by award-winning authors Kate DiCamillo, Laura Amy Schlitz, and M. T. Anderson; the widely acclaimed 'Ologies and Judy Moody series; and favorites such as the Where's Waldo and Maisy books. Candlewick's parent company is Walker Books Ltd., of London, England, with additional offices in Sydney, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand.

Add a Comment

For more information contact:
Martha Brockenbrough, publicist for readergirlz
Martha Bee Productions
[email protected]
206-328-7374

10,000 BOOKS DELIVERED TO TEENS ON
NATIVE RESERVATIONS & TRIBAL LANDS
Nationwide, scores of young adult authors and librarians drop books on April 15
to surprise young readers on Support Teen Literature Day

April 15, 2010 – Operation Teen Book Drop will deliver 10,000 new books to teens on Native Reservations and Tribal Lands, an event that coincides with Support Teen Literature Day.

In addition, more than 100 top young adult authors will leave their books in public places for young readers to discover, and members of the public can buy books online and have them shipped to tribal libraries.

Publishers donated the books, valued at more than $175,000.

"These publishers have shown astounding vision and generosity by supporting Operation Teen Book Drop," said readergirlz cofounder Dia Calhoun, an award-winning novelist herself. "Now underserved teens can benefit from the current explosion of high quality YA books. These teens can see their own experience, their tragedies and their triumphs in these books, books that become shining doorways to the young human spirit."

The donations are especially significant to Native teens. "In their lives, they really don’t have new books," said Mary Nickless, the librarian at Ojo Encino Day School, one of 44 institutions that will benefit from Operation TBD.

A nationwide effort of authors, publishers, librarians and readers
In its third year, Operation TBD is part of a massive effort by librarians, young adult authors, and avid readers to spur reading on a nationwide scale. The day aims to encourage teens to read for the fun of it.

The effort is coordinated by readergirlz, the Young Adult Library Services Association, GuysLitWire, and a new partner, If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything, a national reading club for Native children.

• More than 100 young adult authors - including David Levithan, Sara Zarr, and Cynthia Leitich Smith - are participating by leaving copies of their books in public places for teens to find.

• Teens and other fans of YA literature are also invited to "rock the drop."

• GuysLitWire has created a wish list of 750 books that supporters can buy from Powells.com. Beginning April 7th, these purchases can be made and sent directly to one of two tribal school libraries, Ojo Encino Day School or Alchesay High School.

In 2008 and 2009, the groups coordinated the delivery of 20,000 new books to teens in hospitals.

"Operation TBD was originally conceived with the hope of reaching a number of teen groups," rgz co-founder Lorie Ann Grover said. "While we donated books to hospitalized teens for two years, I was personally compelled to donate books to the local Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. We were thrilled to discover we could broaden this effort with If I Can Read and gift TBD to our second targeted group, Native teens."

"By making Operation TBD part of Support Teen Literature Day, YALSA and its partners help raise awareness of the importance of teen literature to all teens," said Linda W. Braun, YALSA President. "Our thanks to the publishers, If I Can Read I Can Do Anything, readergirlz and Guys Lit Wire for joining us in supporting such a worthy cause."

Participating publishers this year include Abrams Books; Bloomsbury/Walker Books/Candlewick Press; Chronicle Books; Hachette Book Group; Boyds Mills Press; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Milkweed; Mirrorstone Books; Orca Book Publishers; Scholastic; Simon & Shuster Children's Publishing; Tor/Forge/Starscape/Tor Teen/ Roaring Brook Press, an Imprint of the Macmillans Child

Add a Comment

Got the Middle Child Blues? Share your story and enter the giveaway at Imaginary Dreamer before March 10th, and you could win a copy of The Middle-Child Blues by Kristyn Crow, illustrated by David Catrow!

Add a Comment

Jumpstart's Read for the Record needs help selecting its official campaign book for 2010. This is Jumpstart's fifth annual Read for the Record, which they describe as "a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the crisis in early literacy through celebrating the joy of reading with children."

Four classic Penguin picture books have been named the finalists:
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Voting only takes a minute, and it's so easy to do. For every vote received, the Pearson Foundation will donate $1 to Jumpstart to support, and I quote, "[Jumpstart's] yearlong efforts to help preschool children in low-income communities develop the crucial language and literacy skills they need to succeed in school and life."

Click here to vote now!

You may also vote via a text message sent from your cell phone. You may vote up to 5 times via text message. Here are the text shortcuts:

BLUE to 90999 – to vote for Blueberries for Sal
DUCK to 90999 – to vote for Make Way for Ducklings
PETER to 90999 – to vote for Peter's Chair
SNOW to 90999 – to vote for The Snowy Day

Book voting will close February 28th, 2010. The winner will be announced March 2nd.

Thanks to Jennifer Stone for the link!

Add a Comment

What has been your most own embarrassing experience at the dentist's office? Share your story in words, in pictures, or in video, and you could win a copy of SMILE by Raina Telgemeier! Click here to enter.

True stories as well as fiction will be accepted, with one winner in each category, so please mark your entry non-fiction or fiction.

WORDS: 500 words or less, in any style or tense you choose.
PICTURES: A one- to two-page spread. It can be one image, multiple images, or multiple panels, like a comic book, but please limit it to a maximum of two pages. Use your pens, pencils, pastels, paints, PhotoShop - get creative!
VIDEO: Keep it under two minutes in length. Upload it to a site where the judges can see it, like YouTube or Vimeo.

CONTENT: All submissions should be appropriate for all ages. Keep it G-rated.

SUBMISSIONS: Leave a comment under the official giveaway announcement at Bildungsroman with your name, your email address, and your submission (full text, all images, or embedded video) OR a link to your file. If you have difficulty leaving a comment, email it to littlewillow(at)slayground(dot)net

ELIGIBILITY: All ages may enter. Winners must provide a U.S. mailing address where the book will be shipped.

DEADLINE: All submissions must be received by 11:59 PM PST on February 28th, 2010.
Entries will be judged by Raina Telgemeier and Little Willow, book blogger at Bildungsroman: http://slayground.livejournal.com One winner will be selected per category. Winners will be announced March 2010.

About the Book
Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth, and what follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly. This coming-of-age true story is sure to resonate with anyone who has ever been in middle school, and especially those who have ever had a bit of their own dental drama.

About the Author
Raina Telgemeier grew up in San Francisco, but made her way to New York City when she was 22 to attend the School of Visual Arts as an Illustration and Cartooning student. She received her BFA in 2002, and has worked as a freelance artist ever since. Her comics have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Eisner, Ignatz, Cybil, and Web Cartoonists' Choice awards. Raina lives in Queens, NY, with her husband, Dave Roman.

Add a Comment

Discovered via Elizabeth Scott:

Simon & Schuster has announced the Call Me Book Club Sweepstakes:

"If you're a member of a book club (classrooms count too!), enter to win up to 25 books for your group and a follow-up call from one of the participating authors: Lisa Schroeder, Lisa McMann, Kate Brian, Deb Caletti, Angela Johnson, and Elizabeth Scott."

Visit the S&S website to enter.

Add a Comment

For the past two years, Colleen from Chasing Ray has organized series upon series of author interviews. These blog tours, hosted and posted at various blogs, have been dubbed the Summer Blog Blast Tour (SBBT for short) and Winter Blog Blast Tour (aka WBBT). Each event is one week long and involves a multitude of authors, bloggers, and readers.

I conducted five interviews for WBBT, one of which will posted at my book blog, Bildungsroman, each weekday morning this week. I kicked things off this morning with author Courtney Sheinmel, the author of My So-Called Family and Positively.

Visit Chasing Ray for the master list for this year's WBBT. I also posted the full schedule at Bildungsroman.

Add a Comment