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Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos won the Newbery Medal in 2012. Set in Norvelt, PA, in 1962, Gantos has written a fantastic, funny, thought provoking novel. If you don't already know, Norvelt, PA (scroll to the bottom of the review for pictures and links to a great article) is a real town and Jack, the twelve-year-old narrator is none other than Jack Gantos. I almost feel like 

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - INSIDE OUT BACK AGAIN -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Thanhha Lai's semi-autobiographical verse novel, Inside Out & Back Again won the National Book Award and the Newbery Honor in 2011. I feel like I say

** I wrote this review in 2009 and was thinking about this book again recently.  Drift House is imaginative and thoughtful and poignant in ways that so many works of fantasy aren't these days so I wanted to introduce or remind you of it. Also, there is a FANTASTIC list of similar books (and links to me reviews) at the end of the review. The criteria being, each series (or stand-alone) features

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - TIMMY FAILURE MISTAKES WERE MADE -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Let's just get this 1,500 lb polar bear in the room out of the way right now: Yes. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis does

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE RAILWAY CHILDREN -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> E Nesbit's contribution to and influence on the world of children's literature is so great that, as with my review of Magic City, I feel compelled to

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE POPULARITY PAPER 5 -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> The Popularity Papers: The Awesomely Awful Melodies of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow marks the fifth book in the series since it

After reading/listening to How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell I can't tell you HOW MUCH I wish I had gotten around to reading this book, published in 2003, BEFORE the movie came out. Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie. I paid to see it in the theater with my kids and it was breathtaking and heart stopping and even funny. But is it SO DIFFERENT from the book!! I was shocked at how

I have to start by saying just how much I LOVE, love, love Amy Ignatow's Popularity Papers Series. I was drawn to her illustrations at first, but came away with a deep appreciation for her story telling abilities. Reading one of the books in her series is like having a great meal, an excellent talk with a very good friend, and a really nice walk on the beach all in one. Her wonderful

Kate Feiffer's Signed by: Zelda (with wonderful cover art by Kelly Murphy) is her second novel for young readers and comes on the heels of nine pictures books, four of which are illustrated by her father, the great Jules Feiffer. Besides her own great track record as a children's book author and her wonderful lineage, I was intrigued by Signed by: Zelda because one of the main characters is

33 Minutes (subtitle: . . . Until Morgan Sturtz kicks my butt) by Todd Hasak-Lowy caught my eye with the title alone. The cover is quite striking as well. And the interior artwork by bethany bARTon that includes some very funny charts, lists and graphs, is great too. But what I really love about 33 Minutes is that Hasak-Lowy covers a province normally dominated by girls in middle

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - PRINCESS ACADEMY -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Princess Academy by Shannon Hale was published in 2005 and won the Newbery Honor the following year. Had Disney already co-opted the concept of "princess"

THE POPULARITY PAPERS BOOK 3 is now in paperback!! <!-- START INTERCHANGE - QUESTIONABLE WORDS OF WISDOM -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> One of the few downsides to this blog is that I have such a full shelf of books I want to read

WINTERLING is now in PAPERBACK! <!-- START INTERCHANGE - WINTERLING -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> I think that it must be very hard for an author to create a fantasy story that has something different and new to recommend it. Of

Part One: In Which I Reminisce About What The Wind in the Willows Means to Me (Scroll down for my review of Inga Moore's adaptation of this classic) (Scroll to the very bottom for a peek at Return to the Willows by Jacqueline Kelly, author of   The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate!) The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, published in 1908. I have wanted to review this book since I

I first reviewed Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat in 2008 and it has stuck with me ever since. Jonell created a winning character in Emmy and a very unique cast of characters in her magical rodents.  Now Jonell (this time with artistic help from the amazing Brandon Dorman) is sharing her curious rodents with a younger group of readers. Don't miss her fantastic new chapter book series,

On June 12, 2008, a few months before I started this blog, I read an article by Penelope Green titled Mystery on Fifth Avenue in the Home & Garden section of the New York Times. I was so entranced by the story of Maureen Sherry who, before moving into an "enormous '20s-era co-op with Central Park views (once part of a triplex built for the philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Post), gutted

I first reviewed A Dog's Life in 2008. While stories about animals are hard for me to read because they always involve some kind of injury or cruelty, I read A Dog's Life because I noticed so many kids looking for a good dog story to read. Squirrel's story still lingers in my memory four years after reading and A Dog's Life continues to be a bestselling book at the store where I work, and all

On the off chance that there are still a few readers out there who have not heard of this fantastic book, the first in a wonderful series, I am reposting my review from a few years ago with an updated list of similar titles kids will love. When I started this blog in 2008 the first books I reviewed were favorites of mine and books that I recommend over and over while at work at the

BROXO by Zack Giallongo is a fantastic debut graphic novel and a little bit different from what I normally find myself reading.  It's a little bit violent, a little bit gross and a littl ebit creepy. However, it's also frequently funny, occasionally poignant and packed with great characters. It may be a jump, but it actually reminds me a bit of one of my favorite television shows, Avatar:

Liesl & Po is now in paperback!  Not sure which cover I like better... Lauren Oliver has made quite a name for herself with her two young adult novels, Before I Fall and Delirium, a book I love almost as much Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, which is high praise. I was intrigued to learn that Oliver had written middle grade novel, especially after

Cleopatra : Queen of Egypt is the latest in the Historical Notebooks series put out by Templar Press, an imprint of Candlewick Press, the great publishing house that brought us the wonderful Ologies series, which most often feature fantasy themes, but also cover topics like Pirates, Spies, Egypt, and the ocean, making them great companions to the Historical Notebooks. Other books in this

William Shakespeare : His Life and Times by Kristen Mc Dermott and Ari Berk is yet another in the the gorgeous, fantastic Historical Notebooks series from Candlewick Press which, sadly, is out of print. However, I know many of you buy used books, so I am reviewing it anyway. It's not impossible to find and I have seen it going for 1/10 the price. Also, this is the one book in the series

Charles Dickens : England's Most Captivating Storyteller is another wonderful entry in the Historical Notebooks series. As with all the books in this series, Charles Dickens : England's Most Captivating Storyteller is interactive and filled with flaps, maps, booklets and envelopes containing letters. As always when I read a book from the  Historical Notebooks series, I learn

I have mentioned the book Gnomes by Will Huygen and Rien Poortvliet once or twice before. Along with Where the Sidewalk Ends, this book was a huge part of my childhood. I remember saving my allowance and walking down to this little bookstore on Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica and buying it when I was eleven or so. While flipping through my tattered, falling apart copy, I discovered a 5x7 note

Written in 1958 and winner of the Newbery Honor, The Family Under the Bridge is the story of how an old hobo named Armand, who wants nothing of homes, responsibility and regular work, ends up with all of these as well as a family of children. Set in Paris, France in a time when hobos were more like wandering gypsies than the people living on the streets these days, the story follows Armand