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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: March 23, 2011

This is an abbreviated version of a list of books put together by Lauren Donovan from Random House Children’s Books.

TILLIE THE TERRIBLE SWEDE: How One Woman, a Sewing Needle, and a Bicycle Changed History

By Sue Stauffacher; illustrated by Sarah McMenemy

When Tillie Anderson came to America, all she had was a needle. So she got herself a job in a tailor shop and waited for a dream to find her. One day, a man sped by on a bicycle. She was told “bicycles aren’t for ladies,” but from then on, Tillie dreamed of riding—not graceful figure eights, but speedy, scorching, racy riding! And she knew that couldn’t be done in a fancy lady’s dress. . . . With arduous training and her (shocking!) new clothes, Tillie became the women’s bicycle-riding champion of the world. Sue Stauffacher’s lively text and Sarah McMenemy’s charming illustrations capture the energy of America’s bicycle craze and tell the story of one woman who wouldn’t let society’s expectations stop her from achieving her dream.

Alfred A. Knopf | January 25, 2011 |  Ages 5-8 | 40 pgs

Add this book to your collection: TILLIE THE TERRIBLE SWEDE: How One Woman, a Sewing Needle, and a Bicycle Changed History

AMELIA LOST: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

By Candace Fleming

In this stunning new biography, Candace Fleming, the acclaimed author of The Great and Only Barnum and The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look and Abraham and Mary, peels back the layers of myth surrounding the world’s most famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart and presents an honest portrait of a multi-faceted, inspirational woman. With photos, maps, and hand-written notes from Amelia herself—plus informative sidebars tackling everything from the history of flight to what Amelia liked to eat while flying (tomato soup), this unique biography is tailor-made for middle graders.

Schwartz & Wade Books|February 8, 2011| Ages 8-12 up|128 pgs

Add this book to your collection: AMELIA LOST: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

THE WONDER OF CHARLIE ANNE

By Kimberly Newton Fusco

Filled with memorable moments and a winning cast of characters, Fusco’s story, set during the Great Depression, is sure to tug at the heartstrings of all who read it. Bringing topics such as the Depression and segr

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 13, 2010

To capture the interest of a teen/young adult while summer is in full swing, books need to have an engaging story line and strong characters. The following books represent just that, they are all very hard to put down!

The Cardturner

by Louis Sachar

Reading level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 352 pages

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (May 11, 2010)

Source: Publisher

What to expect: Summer, Family, Game of bridge, Self-discovery

Louis Sachar, a Newberry-winning (Holes, 1998) and bestselling author, sure knows how to take a subject that may be seen as boring—the game of bridge—and turn it into a riveting story of self-discovery, integrity and morals. The story moves around a teenage boy, Alton Richard, and his great-uncle Lester—a rich family member with a large inheritance that everyone is trying to get a piece of. When you combine a teenage boy and a cute girl, old men, greed, and the game of bridge, (you may not believe me but …) you get a real page-turner. Great book!

Add this book to your collection: The Cardturner

Fallen

by Lauren Kate

Reading level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 464 pages

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; First Edition/First Printing edition (December 8, 2009)

Source: Publisher

What to expect: Angels, Boarding school, Love

Thrilling, exciting, and engaging is what this love story is. Too much vampire talk going on at your house? Lauren Kate has certainly launched us into a new phase: angels. Fallen angels, at that! The characters are captivating and have strong voices. This is a suspenseful book that is very hard to put down.

Add this book to your collection: Fallen

Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood

by Jame Richards

Reading level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (April 13, 2010)

Source: Publisher

What to expect: Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood; Social classes; Summer

Providing a book of interest is key. This is a book for a true historical-fiction lover. It will also convert your regular-fiction reader into a historical-fiction lover before you know it. Jame Richards takes on social class, romance, and the Johnstown Flood of 1889, and truly touches th

Welcome to a day of young adult/mid-grade recommended reading! Here's the complete list of bloggers/books participating in Elana Johnson's Spread the Awesome.  You can also click on the link below to read the next post on the list. Before you go, make sure to enter my contest for your own signed copy of THREE RIVERS RISING.

I have always loved how historical fiction gives a glimpse of everyday lives at a different time. Add to this the mix of natural disaster, a love story, secrets between sisters, a class system thrown off course by tragedy, and a chance at redemption, and you have Jame Richards's beautiful debut, THREE RIVERS RISING: A NOVEL OF THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD.

  Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood, Jame Richards (Knopf 2010)

3RR is a YA historical novel-in-verse. I know a lot of you aren't familiar with NiVs, so here's a feel for Jame's story:


Thunder falls toward us
from high up the mountain pass.
Breath and screams
leave the lungs
all at once.
Fingernails dig into the tree
and my face buries itself
in the wet trunk.

It's coming.
The water is on its way
and I am already drowning.


From the cover: Sixteen-year-old Clelestia vacations with her family at the elite resort at Lake Conemaugh, a shimmering Allegheny Mountain reservoir held in place by an earthern dam. Tired of the superficial cheer and sly judgments of the society crowd, she much prefers to swim and fish with Peter, the hotel's hired boy. It's a friendship she must keep secret -- her parents would never approve -- and when companionship turns to romance, it's a love that could get Celestia disowned.

These affairs of the heart become all the more wrenching on a single, tragic day in May 1889. After days of heavy rain, the dam fails, unleashing twenty million tons of water onto Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in the valley below -- the town where Peter lives with his father.

Told by multiple narrators, Jame Richards's searing novel in poems explores a cross-class romance, the random hand of disaster, and a tragic and indelible event in American history.



Not only is Jame's work remarkable, she is approachable. When I first heard about her novel (thank you, Valerie!), my own historical NiV was on submission. It's stressful having any book out with editors, but I think there's a special anxiety for those of us whose work isn't commerical or cutting edge, or for that matter, written as prose. I emailed Jame, asking about her submission process. She shared with me her experiences and told me there would eventually be an editor who got what I was trying to do. I've kept a print out of that email in my calendar ever since. Thank you, Jame, for encouraging me along the way.

If you would like to win a signed copy of Jame's THREE