By: Kara Schaff Dean, the Yankeerat,
on 3/30/2009
Well this sounds fun--and in time for National Library Week, too. School Library Journal is hosting its first annual (so huzzah! there will be more) Battle of the Books. They have lined up an impressive list of last year's choice titles, as well as an all-star panel of judges. You can follow the progrss of the battle at their BotB Blog. I've read enough of the books on the list to be able to
By: Becky Laney,
on 3/3/2009
The Golden Kite Awards have been announced. While I haven't read the winner, Down Sand Mountain by Steve Watkins (though I read the obligatory fifty pages before abandoning), I did greatly enjoy one of the honor books...The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
If you're reading this post on another site, or another feed, the content has been stolen.
By: Becky Laney,
on 1/7/2009
THE 2009 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS
ANNOUNCED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES
The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers: As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Amazing March Toward Freedom by Richard Michelson with illustrations by Raul Colon
The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers: Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse
The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers: A Bottle in the Gaza Sea by Valerie Zenatti
Honor books and notable books can be found listed here.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
By: Darth Corder,
on 1/2/2009
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rock On Alll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Darth Bill Salutes You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Above is a picture of a couple of my Sith Buds I took on New Years Day. There a wild lot I'll tell ya that. These guys really know how to party!!!!!!
I was not going to do this originally, but after I saw the Calman's Post I felt compelled to do so. Okay here are my top 4 books of 2008 (the reviews are the same that I did earlier in the year):
1) Runemarks by Joanne Harris - This story is set 500 years after Ragnarok that ended the old world ruled by the Norse Gods. The main character in this story is a young girl named Maddy Smith who is born with a strange and magical birthmark. In Maddy's world "The Word" rules all with an iron-fist. In her world magic is taboo and imagination is highly discouraged. Because of what people perceive as Maddy's strangeness she is ignored by her father and has no friends. That is until one day when she meets and old wanderer called One-Eye who befriends here and teaches her to use the magic that has been lying asleep inside her. This book is filled with Norse Gods, Heroes, Villains and Monsters. This book will suck you in and you will not be able to put it down once you start reading it. This is a great book that I would put right up there with Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" book series. The one obvious difference is that this book rekindles excitement in Norse Mythology as opposed to Greek Mythology.
2) Ironhand: Book Two of The Stoneheart Trilogy by Charlie Fletcher - This book takes of where Stoneheart (click HERE to see my review of that book), the first book in the trilogy, left off. It takes off like a rocket and doesn't stop the whole way through the story. The story starts with George and Edie determined to rescue the Gunner who has been captured by the evil and mysterious
3) Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams – This book rocked and I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel. The main character of the book is 14-year-old Will Burrows who along with his archaeologist father, Dr. Burrows, shares a passion for digging tunnels into the earth in search of buried historical items. Will’s family is extremely “different” and to say the least dysfunctional. His father is always involved with his work and little else, his mother watches TV non-stop, and his younger sister runs the families finances. Will is an extremely pale boy and picked on non-stop at school. That is until he befriends another outcast by the name of 
4) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors and this book is a perfect example of why. The book starts out with the murder of a family by a "Jack The Ripper" type murderer. The whole family is murdered except for the baby boy who wanders out of the house and ends up in the local graveyard. There he is protected by the ghost and those who lookout over the grave yard from the murderer. The boy is adopted by two ghost and given the name Nobody Owens. Along with his ghost parents, he is raised in the graveyard by all of its inhabitants as one of its own. The book consists of the many adventures the boy Bod, short for Nobody, has as he grows up in the graveyard. There are ghouls, werewolves (which may surprise you), monsters and just plain evil people Bod meets or comes up against throughout the story and ultimately he must face up to the man who tried to kill him as a baby. This book is wonderfully written and full of thrills, action and poinyant moments that will make you remember it long after you have finished reading it. Gaiman leaves the door open for a sequel and I for one sure hope it happens. Great book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1) The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli Vols. 1 & 2 by Jay Piscopo - Vol. 1: The first story "The Mystery of Me" introduces us to the main character of the graphic novel Capt'n Eli. This is Capt'n Eli's origin story and introduces many characters and asks many questions that you will be intrigued to learn about in future stories. In this story he joins the Seaserchers and also meets for the first time Commander X.
The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli: The Mystery of the Sargasso Sea (Volume 2) by Joe Piscopo - Man with this volume the Capt'n Eli Graphic Novel Series hits another gear and really takes off!!!!! As it was left off in the previous volume Capt'n Eli is still with Commander X aboard his super high tech submarine "Sub Zero." They reach the underwater city of Aquaria only to find it under attack by a race of underwater denizens known as the Outcast. It seems Aquira and it's people are now ruled by Commander X's former World War II partner, known then as The Sea Raider. We also find out that Commander X is Aqurian's sworn Lord Protector and it is his duty to protect them from all threats and enemies. Let's see what else happens in this story, we learn the history of Aquaria and its relationship to Atlantis, we learn the secret origin of the ruler of the Aquarians known by many names such as - Rex Noble, The Sea Raider and The Sea Ghost among others, Lord Hydro is back with all his evilness and Hydrons and much. much more!!!!!!!!!! I promise you if you pick up this Graphic Novel you will be unable to put it down until you have finished reading it and then you will still be wanting more.
2) The Bone Series by Jeff Smith:
Bone Volume 7: Ghost Circles by Jeff Smith – Well, the seventh volume in the Bone Graphic Novel Series has finally come out and it was well worth the wait. As the title to this volume intones, things get real scary and serious in this one. The villagers and Veni Yan Monks are really put to the test by the “Lord of the Locust’ and his armies. Everything goes crazy with a volcano eruption and the appearance of “
3) Amulet: Book One, The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishint- Wow, this is a really cool graphic novel that I encourage everyone to give it a read. The story starts out with a terrible accident that forces major changes in the lives of sister and brother Emily and Navin. Because of the accident Em, Navin, and their mother are forced to move into an abandoned house once lived in by Grandpa Silass who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The kids find out that their grandfather was an inventor of sorts but even more importantly Em finds a magical amulet that is a total mystery to her. On the families first night in the house, they are awoken by sounds coming from the basement. While investigating the sound, a strange tentacled creature pulls their mother through a mysterious doorway to another world. Em and Navin determined to save their mom follow and thus begins their true adventure in a place like nothing they could have imagined.
4) Salt Water Taffy: The Adventures of Jack and Benny - The Legend of Old Salty by Matthew Loux - This Graphic Novel is about two brothers Jack and Benny whose parents have decided to take the whole family away from the city and to spend the summer in the state of Maine at the weird and mysterious Chowder Bay. Jack and Benny make fast friends with one of the locals known around those parts as Fisherman Angus O'Neil. One evening the boys see something huge and monstrous on the beach, but can't quite make it out. After talking to Angus they discover that Chowder Bay has a mysterious resident in the waters known as Old Salty. This leads to strange robberies by lobsters, very strange behavior by seagulls and an epic battle between Old Salty and Angus. Does any of this make sense? If not read this excellent Graphic Novel and it all will. I really loved this book and look forward to the next in the series.
By: Marc Tyler,
on 12/21/2008
The San Francisco Chronicle included Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman on its list of book suggestions for the holidays.
By: Marc Tyler,
on 12/9/2008
Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman made the best of 2008 list of the Chapel Hill Public Library.
By: Becky Laney,
on 12/4/2008
Full list and full descriptions can be found here at the Horn book site.
The fiction titles:
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to The Nation, Volume 2, The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Forever Rose by Hilary McKay
Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
Nation by Terry Pratchett
The Last of the High Kings by Kate Thompson
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
By: Becky Laney,
on 11/28/2008
Have you seen this list yet? The New York Times list of Notable Children's Books for 2008.
Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 2, The Kingdom On the Waves by M.T. Anderson
Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
ABC3D by Marion Bataille
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
By: Becky Laney,
on 11/6/2008
Read the full list here.
Children's Fiction
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation: Volume 2: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
Masterpiece by Elise Broach
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Savvy by Ingrid Law
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Other categories that may be of interest: children's picture books, children's nonfiction.
What do you think of the list? I would have made a few switches. The Underneath should be there. As should Adoration of Jenna Fox. And I could do without Bog Child altogether. I am only about sixty pages into the book, but I'm so not getting why this book is making all the lists and getting all the stars. B-O-R-I-N-G!
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
By: Becky Laney,
on 11/4/2008
2008 Top 10 Lists
Middle Readers
1. The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
2. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
3. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath
5. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
7. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
8. A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg
9. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
10. Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out.
Teens (*Editors seem to have trouble counting to ten as there is no number two listed.)
1. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation: Volume 2: The Kingdom On the Waves by M.T. Anderson
3. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
5. Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
6. The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante
7. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
8. Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
9. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
10. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
By: Venetia Butterfield,
on 1/17/2008
This is going to sound like a terribly nice thing to say, but here it goes: I like working here. If you’ve got to get up, do battle with the London Underground, and sit somewhere all day, every day, I reckon Penguin’s a pretty good place to do it.
Still, when I first read Joshua Ferris’s outstanding satire on office life, Then We Came to the End, I couldn’t help laughing the laugh of recognition. There are two reasons for this: on one hand, you don’t have to hate your job to understand what it means to hate your job; and on the other, Ferris’ novel is not really about that. It’s a sophisticated, nuanced, and incredibly knowing look at what it’s like to have to spend most of your waking life surrounded by that most nebulous category of fellow human being: the colleague. It dramatizes with shocking accuracy the ways in which the office is at root a society in miniature, with all its attendant amicability, enmity and freakishness.
If you find such distinctions helpful (you may not), Then We Came to the End is probably what you’d call a “literary” novel (somewhere north, say, of middlebrow), and it’s remarkably heartening to see that it’s been given the support of the Richard and Judy Book Club. What’s been interesting to watch is the way that since its inclusion on the R & J list, Then We Came to the End has really caught fire around Penguin. You might reasonably call it a “buzz” if that wasn’t the kind of word Ferris makes fun of in his book. However, before you start thinking that I’m stating the very bloody obvious, let me try to explain what I mean.
Since its acquisition in 2006 and its hardback publication in 2007, Then We Came to the End has been the
object of much in-house love. Some of this, no doubt, can be chalked up to the book being written in the first person plural (“we”) and telling a kind of everyman story about people who, like us, work in offices. It also helped that the author is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. When the book was finally published to universal acclaim, we all had the little glow you get from being told that you’re right about something. It sold well for a hardback, but the numbers were still kind of modest. We had high hopes for the paperback, but again, because it’s a literary book we were curbing – if not our enthusiasm – then at least our expectations. Then something like R & J come along and makes everyone happy.
For starters, you’re chuffed because you know how many people are going to read and love this book. You imagine them on trains, and buses, and in armchairs and shop queues, laughing or nodding at all the right bits. Then you think what a difference this is going to make, financially, to a young author who lives in a small flat in Brooklyn. And finally, you remember something that’s worth being reminded of every so often: that there is still, despite all the things competing for people’s attention, a great, shark-like appetite for outstanding books. Having a book picked for the R & J list is wonderful news for a publisher, and it although to some it might feel a bit like a lottery, we can’t help feeling that anything to spread the message that, as Nick Hornby once put it, “books…are better than anything else", is a Very Good Thing indeed.
Jon Elek, Viking Assistant Editor
(Picture from Cubelife series by Philip Toledano)
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Excellent choices. I can't wait until Silvertongue, the next Charlie Fletcher book, comes out.