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Hello Everyone! So this is the most tardy Weekend Reviews post ever. Not only is it Wednesday, but this post actually covers the weekends of April 16-17 and April 9-10. April in academia is crazy, so it's catch up time. Here's what's been reviewed in the major media recently:
Rachel Pepper reviews Malinda Lo's Huntress for the Bay Area Reporter. ("
Lo's lush descriptions of the physical landscapes her characters reside in, and the perils they encounter on their journey, make the pages turn effortlessly. Her ability to populate these worlds with compelling young lesbian characters is an added bonus for LGBT readers.")
Joanna H. Kraus considers Brian Katcher's Almost Perfect in a series of reviews of recent award-winning titles for The Oakland Tribune. (Kraus calls Almost Perfect a "novel about a transgender teen is conversational, compelling and compassionate.")
Pam Norfolk reviews Maggie Stiefvater's Lament for Longridge News (U.K.): "Lament, a beautifully written and haunting story of good and evil, love and hate, the spiritual, the temporal and the power of emotions, is about as good as teen fiction gets."
Susan Carpenter reviews Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor, for the Los Angeles Times. ("The book is similar in theme to many other coming-of-age fantasies, but the details are distinctly African, the language unrushed and elegant. The dresses the girls wear are crafted from traditional raffia ribbon. The sounds of Fela Kuti and other Afrobeat musicians are often playing in the background of the action.")
And, Matthew Finch reviews Akata Witch for The Brooklyn Rail.Looking for books for teens about London? Mary-Liz Shaw has a recommendation or two in The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.
Mechele R. Dillard reviews Jennifer Laurens's Overprotected in the Atlanta Examiner.
0 Comments on Weekend Young Adult (and Crossover) Reviews as of 1/1/1900
Geraldine Brennan reviews a number of teen books for The Observer. Tim Bowler's
Buried Thunder sounds especially good: "The suspense and claustrophobia, and the war in Maya's head between reason and paranoia, reminded me of Alan Garner's classic
The Owl Service. It was hard to believe that Maya's family could move into their new home, acquire guests and scare them away all within a week, but the story is strong enough to survive a sketchy set-up."
Ibi Kaslik reviews Tim Wynne-Jones' Blink & Caution for The Globe & Mail. "Despite the gimmicks and occasional heavy-handedness,
Blink and Caution captures the alienation of adolescence and the painful process of becoming oneself, in a time fraught with complications and chaos both from within and without."
Pam Norfolk considers Julie Hearn's Wreckers for Fleetwood Weekly News. (U.K.)
Deb Abela reviews Ursula Dubosarsky's The Golden Day for ABC-Canberra. ("A haunting and beautifully written story...")
J.P. Wickwire reviews Lauren DeStefano's Wither for Jacksonville.com-The Florida Times-Union.("Written with both maturity and literary merit, it is a poignant and satisfying romance sure to spawn many sequels.")
Susan Carpenter also reviews Wither for the Los Angeles Times "Not Just for Kids" column. Carpenter writes, "A wonderfully toxic brew of meddling and polygamist gamesmanship,
Wither is an exciting and powerfully written addition to the increasingly packed shelves of dystopian YA."
Carpenter also reviews Ruta Sepetys
Between Shades of Gray for
The Kansas City Star.Leslie Wright considers Karen McQuestion's Favorite for BlogCritics.org, picked up by Seattle PI. ("...an unexpected story set with great characters.")
Lisa Brown discusses Elizabeth Eulberg's Prom and Prejudice and Rick Yancy's The Monstrumologist in
0 Comments on Weekend Young Adult (and Crossover) Reviews as of 4/4/2011 10:44:00 PM
Here are the (late) YA/Crossover reviews from major media sources, March 14-20:
Monica and Hannah McRae Young review books for young readers in the Winston-Salem Journal. They provide capsule reviews for a number of YA novels in verse (
Dizzy in your Eyes, by Pat Mora;
Orchards, by Holly Thompson;
Glimpse, by Carol Lynch Williams;
Karma: A Novel in Verse, by Cathy Ostlere), but the one that goes on my to-read list is
So Shelley, by Ty Roth, for this description: "This dark novel is not for the easily shocked or naive reader. The author has re-created characters around the Romantic Age British poets--Keats, Byron and Shelley--with a plot that is both gruesome and strangely evocative."
Melinda Bargreen reviews "three new novels by Kristin Hannah, Anjali Banerjee and Lise Saffran, all set on islands in the Pacific Northwest" for The Seattle Times.
Night Road, by Kristin Hannah, looks like it would appeal to teen readers.
Mary Quattlebaum reviews five new YA titles for The Washington Post, including Ruta Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray, a novel I want to read: "Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both."
Meghan Cox Gurden also reviews Between Shades of Gray for the Wall Street Journal.
Karen MacPherson reviews poetry for kids of all ages including a volume by and for teens, Falling Hard, edited by Betsy Franco, in The Washington Post.Linda Elisabeth Beattie considers Sarah Collins Honenberger's Catcher, Caught for The Courier-Journal.
Philip Marchand reviews Tim Wynne-Jones's Blink & Caution for the National Post The Afterword page. Marchand discusses what makes a novel YA in the review.
Susan Carpenter reviews Brandon Mull's Beyonders in The Kansas City Star.
And here's a kid-review of a YA title in the
Guardian:
Welcome to the final weekend reviews of February! (Crossing fingers for an early spring...)
First, the apologies:
- I've been a bad, bad blogger. But I'm turning a new leaf now that The Cybils review copies have been ordered.
- Poetry Friday roundup will be up tomorrow. Many great entries, including some first timers this week.
- Against all my better judgment, I'm joining Jennie of Biblio File (Smalltown alum!) for NaNoWriMo. Yes, I should be working on editing other things, but I have a new story to tell. Adult, or at least teen, this time.
Okay, apologies over, short and sweet. Let's just get to this weekend's reviews:
The
Publishers Weekly reviews are up. David Macaulay's latest The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body gets a big red star.
And speaking of Macaulay...Andrew Dansby interviews him for the Houston Chronicle.
And speaking of interviews, don't miss Nicolette Jones's with David Almond for the Telegraph. (Selected quote from Almond: "Sometimes I think the reason I write for children is to tell myself, with hindsight, that everything, however horrible it is, will work out OK in the end.")
And speaking of David Almond...
his new novel, Jackdaw Summer, gets a rave review from Geraldine Brennan in the Guardian. (Brennan also reviews a few other new books in this column.)
Also in this week's
Guardian:
Amanda Craig "recommends magical and macabre children's books for Hallowe'en" in the Times. 'Nuff said.
The Times Children's Book of the Week is The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams, ilustrated by Quentin Blake, reviewed by Nicolette Jones. (Quentin Blake!)
The AP brings you cooking books for kids. (Link via the Maryland Daily Record.)Three children's book articles in this weeks
San Francisco Chronicle:
Feature Alert: Libby Purves writes in the Times that "children need to be sprinkled with fairy dust" in reaction to the news that Richard Dawkins is writing a children's book. (Selected quote: "The reason I am delighted at Professor Dawkins' investigation, therefore, is that I am pretty sure his intelligence will bring him to the same conclusion as the psychologists: that a bit of magic and fantasy in childhood is useful and helps you to grapple with your fears about life, death, peril and chance.")
Dan Smith talks to Neil Gaiman about The Graveyard Book for the Toronto Star.Susan Perren reviews six new books for the Globe & Mail.Mary Harris Russell reviews Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Octavian Nothing: The Kingdom on the Waves, for the Chicago Tribune. ("Brilliant historical fiction.")
Janet Christie reviews children's books for the Scotsman. Also in the Scotsman, an interview with Anthony Horowitz.
Good week!
I do know it is Tuesday, and not the weekend, but I figured a late roundup was better than none at all. So here we go--the weekend reviews!
It's almost that time of year: Karen MacPherson reviews Halloween books for Scripps News Service, published here in The Rocky Mountain News.
And, Rebecca Young reviews Halloween titles in The Wichita Eagle.
And, Scotland is in on the game: Kathryn Ross takes a look a Halloween books in the Scotsman.
Oh, and did you know there's an election soon? Monica and Hannah Young review political books for the youngsters in the Winston-Salem Journal.
Here's a link to this week's Publishers Weekly reviews. (I really want to read My So-Called Family.)
Stephanie Dunnewind considers many new picture books for The Seattle Times.
Mary Quattlebaum is at the helm of this week's "For Young Readers" column in the Washington Post Book World. (She reviews four new books, including The 39 Clues.)
Judith Meyrick reviews Canadian children's books for The Chronicle Herald (Nova Scotia).
Sonja Bolle is back in the Los Angeles Times, this week reviewing Marion Bataille ABC3D. It's a rave review.
Um, super weird article on Harry Potter from the Telegraph.
Interview Alert: An interview with Judith Kerr in the Times. (When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit was one of my favorite books as a child.)
Also in the Times: Amanda Craig + dragon books = genius review column.
Kristin Kloberdanz provides "one-minute" reviews of three teen books, including John Green's Paper Town, in the Chicago Tribune.
Also in the Chicago Tribune, Mary Harris Russell reviews four new books in her "For Young Readers" column.
Have a great week, everyone!
I hope posting the weekend reviews on a Monday doesn't become a habit. Still, better late than never. Here we go...
Check out this week's set of reviews from Publishers Weekly. The new Sabuda Peter Pan looks great.
Craig Wilson talks to Marlo Thomas about the 35th Anniversary reissue of Free to Be...You and Me for USAToday. Free to Be...You and Me was the most influential book of my childhood. Did you read it, too?
Lisa Carricaburu reviews Halloween books for The Salt Lake Tribune.
In this week's Not-a-Review category: Kate Agnew asks "Why are there still so few attractive reading books featuring black and Asian children?" in the Guardian.
Also in the Guardian, Diane Samuels reviews Alexie Sherman's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Barbara Britsch reviews Middle Grade fiction and non fiction for The Toledo Blade.
The Detroit Free Press posts Children's Ambassador Jon Scieszka's "good books for boys" list.
And speaking of Scieszka, Jennifer Miller talks with him in the Rocky Mountain News.
Preston Williams talks to Chris Crutcher in a superb profile piece (including analysis about why high school students like Crutcher's books) in the Washington Post. Thanks, Sara, for the link!
And in the Washinton Post Book World, Kristi Jemtegaard reviews Halloween books for children, including Judy Sierra's newest book Beastly Rhymes to Read After Dark.
Helen Mitsios reviews what I think is an adult title teens will like--Real World, by Natsuo Kirino and translated by Phillip Gabriel--in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Interview Alert: Amanda Craig interviews Julia Donaldson in the Times.
Mary Harris Russell reviews four new books for The Chicago Tribune, including the new Polly Horvath novel, My One Hundred Adventures.
Interview Alert: Justin Berman talks to Neil Gaiman about The Graveyard Book for the San Fransico Chronicle.
Guess what? I lost internet on Friday evening. Can you imagine? And, when you live in Smalltown, your local phone company does not take tech calls over the weekend. I felt like I was on a desert island.* Let's get started:
First things first: Two egregious BACA alerts: David Beckham and Mario Lopez are both writing children's books. I'm not even sure I know who Mario Lopez is exactly (I know he has muscles...), but I do know who David Beckham is and I am questioning the publishing decision behind his forthcoming series.
Okay...let's move on to better things: Jeff Baenen profiles Neil Gaiman in the Baltimore Sun on occasion of the publication of Gaiman's new children's novel The Graveyard Book.
Marilou Sorensen reviews children's books focusing on women in politics (including Barbara Kerley's What to Do About Alice?) for the Deseret News.
Susie Wilde also reviews political books for kids (including, again, What to Do About Alice?) for the Charlotte News Observer.
Politics must be on the collective brain, because here's another review column: Gina Gilligan reviews Obama and McCain picture books for The Grand Rapids Press.
Not a Review: Stacey Garfinkle talks boys and reading in the Washington Post.
Deirdre Barker considers "picture books, babes and happy endings" in the Toronto Star.
And this week's how-is-it-that-time-of-year-column is in the San Francisco Chronicle: Regan McMahon reviews Halloween books for the youngsters. Damn, I still have to order a trident.
Robert Walsh reviews two new Paul Fleischman books for The Californian.
Most-admired Amanda Craig reviews "two children's books embellished by master illustrators" for the Times.
Mary Harris Russell is back with capsule reviews of four new children's books, including one of Christopher Paolini's Brisingr.
Susan Perren reviews five new books for the Globe and Mail, including the new Polly Horvath title, My One Hundred Adventures.
Janet Christie reviews several new children's books for the Scotsman, including, this week, Henry Winkler's latest book in the Hank Zipper series.
The Telegraph asks whether Brisingr is the new Harry Potter. Read if you wish.
Elizabeth Hand reviews The Other Side of the Island, by Allegra Goodman, for the Washington Post. Also in the Washington Post, Michael Dirda (!) reviews Terry Pratchett's Nation.
Whew! Enjoy and I'm sorry for the delay.
---------------------
* I used to say that
War and Peace would be my desert island book. Now, however, I'd choose the internet. Why? 'Cause
War and Peace is there, but so is almost everything else.
It's been a busy week in Smalltown--with lots of papers to grade, Cybils panels to patch together, and beautiful weather too gorgeous to miss. (If I owe you an e-mail, you'll hear from me tomorrow. ) Fortunately for me, it was a slow week in children's book reviews. Here's what I've found:
Joanna Weiss takes a look at "glossy, sanitized new versions" of fairy tales for the Boston Globe. (Selected quote: "The modern, commercial fairy tale contains no conflict, no resolution, no questions unresolved, no larger issues to explore. Once the princess climbs down from the tower, or the ball comes to an end, you're left with nothing to talk about at all.")
A ridiculous reading list for boys and girls from the U.K.'s Country Life. "Experts" weigh in on the best books for children and teens and come up with such gems as, "...girls should read 800 page suicidal epic Anna Karenina...boys should try spy novel The Thirty Nine Steps." Hardly seems fair now, Ladies, does it? Anyway, Sarah Knapton reports on this travesty in the Telegraph.
Also in the Boston Globe, Liz Rosenberg reviews three new children's books, including Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman.
Steve Bennett reviews a number of Middle Grade and Young Adult books for the Charlotte News Observer. (Scroll down.)
Nation, by Terry Pratchett, is the Times Children's Book of the Week (reviewed by Nicolette Jones). (Selected quote: "Thought-provoking as well as fun, this is Pratchett at his most philosophical, with characters and situations sprung from ideas and games with language.")
Also in the Times, Amanda Craig reviews Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles by Rupert Kingfisher and Kaspar Prince of Cats by Michael Morpurgo.
Sonja Cole reviews Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games in the Los Angeles Times.
Kathryn Hughes considers Tom Brown's Schooldays (1857) in the Guardian. (OT: Not only is the Guardian's book coverage first rate, but their newish slimmed-down, non fussy website is a joy to read and navigate.)
Mal Peet reviews B.R. Collin's The Traitor Game, also in the Guardian.
And also in the Guardian---Annalisa Barbieri recommends books for children on the human body.
Abby McGanney Nolan reviews biographies for children (of Twain, Frank L. Baum, and Alexander Calder) in this week's For Young Readers column in The Washington Post.
What a great weekend for children's reviews. After Saturday's amazing set of links, I was surprised to find still a few more. Here they are:
Susan Carpenter reviews Allegra Goodman's The Other Side of the Island in the Los Angeles Times. She recommends this title for both teens and adults.
Nicholas Basbanes reviews Non fiction picture book titles in the Orlando Sentinel.
Hazel Mollison talks to Mike Nicholson about his second novel for children, Grimm, in the Scotsman. ("It is a classic story of a haunted hotel with a modern twist – an 11-year-old 'marketing genius' is given the task of rebranding it." Sounds like fun1)
Before I get going on rounding up this weekend's reviews, let me just say that I hope all you Texans are safe and sound. Go away, Ike!
It's a busy week in children's book reviews, so I thought I'd get started relatively early. First and foremost, it's the children's book weekend in the New York Times Book Review. Here's what's on tap this month:
Everyone has one reviewer they trust implicitly. For me, that reviewer is Amanda Craig. She likes adventure, good writing and a touch of humor in her books. When she recommends a title, I know I'll like it.
This week she reviews three books for children which fictionalize the lives of young Bond and the Scarlet Pimpernel in the Times.Also in the Times, writer Michael Morpurgo discusses reworking Hansel and Gretel.
Susan Perren reviews Would You?, by Martha Jocelyn, for the Globe and Mail. Also in the Globe and Mail, Ms. Perren recommends several new children's books for Fall.
Profile Alert (and more):
Toby Clements talks to Cornelia Funke about her work and the "Golden Age of Children's Literature" for the Telegraph.(My favorite) Frank Cottrell Boyce reviews Nation, by Terry Pratchett, for the Guardian. He opens his review with, "It's 25 years since Terry Pratchett invented Discworld. If there's any justice, the Post Office will issue a set of silver jubilee stamps, the government will declare a national holiday, and giant turtles will parade through our municipal parks." Amen.
Adèle Geras reviews The Dragonfly Pool, by Eva Ibbotson, also in the Guardian.Yay!
Mary Harris Russell is back in the Chicago Tribune this week reviewing five new books, all of them picture books.
More tomorrow...
Read the rest of this post
I thought this would be a slow weekend, what with the holiday, but I was wrong. There are many interesting reviews and articles out and about the major media available this weekend. So, let's get going:
(Before we do...aren't these lovely late summer flowers? A friend of ours brought them by and I'm in heaven.)
Do you wonder what Roald Dahl was up to during World War II? Jonathan Wiley reviews a book that explains everything this weekend in the Washington Post.
Philip Pullman gets his own table at Waterstone's and explains how he chose the 40 titles he wanted to display in the Times.
Also in the Times, Amanda Craig reviews three new picture books for the very young.
The Famous Five Survival Guide is the Times Children's Book of the Week, reviewed by Nicolette Jones.
Phillip Ardagh reviews The Toymaker, by Jeremy de Quidt, illustrated by Gary Blythe, for the Guardian. (This one looks really cool! Click on over to read the review.)
Susan Perren reviews five new children's books for the Globe & Mail.
Nicole Villalpando recommends wildflower books for children in the Austin American-Statesman.
BACA alert: Another pseudo-celebrity (Jamie Oliver's wife) finds there are no good children's books for her own children. Guess what? She decides to write some of her own! (I know, you were surprised at her ingenuity.)
Ian Rankin says boys should read comics (Hey! What about the girls? They like comics too!). Steve Dinneen reports for the Scotsman.
Monica Young recommends some good history books for children in the Winston-Salem Journal.
Joanna H. Kraus has put together a list of great back-to-school books for kids of all ages in the San Jose Mercury News.
And, speaking of back-to-school books: Karen MacPherson recommends a number of excellent titles for Scripps News Service, linked here from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Kids keep on reviewing books in the Chicago Tribune.
Who Was Mr. Toad? Andrew Johnson has the scoop in the Independent.
Susan Fasut reviews Adèle & Simon in America and Babar's USA in the San Francisco Chronicle.
On-Children's-Books: The Telegraph has (fascinating) excerpts from More About Boy by Roald Dahl
Interesting stuff this weekend. I hope you're having a great 3-day weekend! (If you have one--I don't!)
It looks like it is going to be a busy children's book weekend in the papers, so I thought I'd get the roundup started early this week. Here's what I've found so far:
John Sutherland considers animal protagonists in adult literature for the Times. (Reference to children's lit in the article. I have to admit I have a bias against animal lit for both children and adults.)
On children's literature review: Jonathan Bate reviews Seth Lerer's Children's Literature: A Reader's History from Aesop to Harry Potter in the Telegraph. (I plan on reviewing this one soon too.)
Amanda Craig reviews vampire books for teens, including Breaking Dawn.
Bringing Jacob Two-Two back: James Bradshaw has the scoop at the Globe and Mail.
Interview alert: Sonja Bolle talks to Jon Scieszka for the Los Angeles Times.
Megan Cox Gurdon takes a look at election books for the kids in The Wall Street Journal. (Conclusion? "Electoral politics may be surpassingly interesting in the adult world, but in children's books, mostly, they're not really that much fun.")
More reviews tomorrow...
Read the rest of this post
It's the last weekend of summer in Smalltown. Kid1 and Kid2 go back on Thursday, and I'm back on Friday. I'm very much a summer person--I've been on an academic schedule for most of my life. But it's not just the time off--time spent reading what I want to read. I like the sun, the heat, the long days, the grubby snake-handling children, the cicadas, the fireflies, the water--all of it. Heck, after ten years in the Midwest, I don't even mind the humidity anymore.
One thing Autumn does promise, however, are good books. So let's get to the roundup!
It's children's book weekend in the New York Times. Here's what's on deck this month:
Karen MacPherson recommends five new books for Middle Grade readers in The Detroit News.Amanda Craig presents a science fiction for children and teens roundup in the Times. Not to be missed.
Angelo, by David Macaulay, is the Times Children's Book of the Week, reviewed by Nicolette Jones.
It's children's book weekend in the
Independent. I think this is a bianual event, so don't miss it! Here's what's in store:
Um, this is not really a review, but Leonard Sax weighs in on the whole Breaking Dawn question in The Washington Post. I have to say that I find his conclusions rather icky. What do you think?
Not-a-Review (and not even about children's books), but
I really like Chris Bohjalian's piece for The Washington Post about obsessing over his Amazon customer reviews.
Children are reviewing books this week in the Chicago Tribune. Well, not a very busy weekend...but a good one. Enjoy!
I'm back in Smalltown, so regular posting will now resume. Also, I have big changes planned for The Edge of the Forest this week, so watch for the July-August issue. Before catching up on e-mail and critiques for my writing groups, here are the remainder of this weekend's reviews:
Spells, by Emily Gravett, is this week's Times Children's Book of the Week, reviewed by Nicolette Jones. (Wow! Once Gravett got started, you can't stop her, can you? That's a great thing.)
Also in the Times, Amanda Craig talks to Mary Hoffman.
I missed last weekend's Times Children's Book of the Week and it was Girl Writer: Spies and Lies, by Ros Asquith.
Dinah Hall recommends a great bunch of children's books for the summer hols in the Telegraph.
Here is a link to this week's Publishers Weekly reviews.
Susan Carpenter reviews Dana Reinhardt's newest teen novel, How to Build a House, in the Los Angeles Times.
Sonja Bolle, who did write a monthly children's book column for the Los Angeles Times Book Review section (will it now be in Calendar?), reviews three new picture books for Newsday.
Mary Harris Russell reviews five new children's books--including Lane Smith's Madame President--for the Chicago Tribune.
Amy Baldwin reviews several new picture books for the Charlotte Observer.
New children's book recommendations in the Salt Lake Tribune. (No author identified.)
More from the San Francisco Chronicle this week: Regan McMahon reviews picture books and Susan Faust takes a look at children's books on Beijing on the eve of the Olympic Games.
Mary Quattlebaum reviews young adult novels "about life on the fringes" for the Washington Post.
Good stuff this week. Enjoy, and don't miss the first half of this post--Weekend Reviews (I)--for the complete picture.
I finally have a moment to round up this weekend's reviews. But, before we get going, here's a bonus flower picture. Aren't they pretty? Too bad I'm not sure what kind of flowers they are!
Okay, here we go...
It's children's book weekend in the Telegraph. Here's what's on offer this time:
It's children's book weekend in the
New York Times as well. Here's what's available online:
Karen MacPherson recommends many a new fantasy title in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.Check out this good list of capsule reviews of fun children's books in the Baltimore Sun. (The author's name is posted as McClatchy-Tribune. There must be a first name missing there, right?)
I know most of you have already read Jill Lepore's article in The New Yorker on Anne Carroll Moore and the
"Stuart Little battle," but, just in case,
here's the link.
Lini S. Kadaba takes on all those "issue" picture books (plastic surgery, prison, etc) in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Karen Springen discusses "apocalypse" books for teens in this week's Newsweek.
Leann Italie reviews "books for future voters" in The Seattle Times.Mary Harris Russell provides capsule reviews for five new books--including the new Artemis Fowl--in the Chicago Tribune.The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, by Sherman Alexei, is the Times Children's Book of the Week. (Reviewed by Nicolette Jones.)
There's a great picture book review column by Amanda Craig up this week in the Times as well.
Philip Ardagh reviews Children of Time, by Kate Thompson, in the Guardian. (
Children of Time and Helen Dunmore's
The Crossing of Ingo are on my U.K. shopping list.)
Also in the Guardian, Charlie Higson loves Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce. (Who hasn't loved
Cosmic?)
Mary Quattlebaum is writing the Washington Post "For Young Readers" column now. This week the theme is "Tales of Monuments and Heroines."
It's a very busy weekend, with lots of lists and roundups. Let's get going:
Profile Alert: Carnegie Medal Winner Philip Reeve is profiled in the Financial Times.
Profile Alert: Joanna Carey meets this year's winner of the Kate Greenaway medal, Emily Gravett, in the Guardian. (Note: Rat pee.)
Nicolette Jones has rounded up a great set of holiday books for kids ages five and up in this weekend's Times.
Deborah Abbott reviews the new Obama book for kids in the Chicago Sun.
Sonja Bolle reviews Nick of Time, by Patrick O'Brian, in the Los Angeles Times.
Bolle also reviews Tupelo Rides the Rails and Goodnight, Leo for Newsday.
Kathy Morrison considers The Willoughbys and Bird Lake Moon in the Sacramento Bee.
Karen MacPherson reviews a number of new books for ScrippsNews.
Bob Minzesheimer reviews animal books for USAToday.
Lots of "Scary, Sporty and Oddball Stories Your Child Will Love" recommended by Ann Pleshette Murphy and Stephanie Dahle for ABC News.
Laren Daley has lots of summer reading recommendations for South Coast Today.
Linda Newbery (one of my favorite writers for young people) reviews The Ghost's Child, by Sonya Hartnett in the Guardian.
Mary Harris Russell reviews five new books for the Chicago Tribune, including Sunrise Over Fallujah, by Walter Dean Myers.
Kathryn Ross reviews many new books for children of all ages in this weekend's Scotsman.
Susan Faust reviews Linda Sue Park's Keeping Score in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Regan McMahon considers Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution by Laurie Halse Anderson also in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Weekend Reviews will be on hiatus next weekend because I'll be traveling. It's a holiday weekend in the States, so reviews should be few and far between. I'll collect them and post them on the 12th with the next installment. Happy reading!
It's time for the weekend reviews! Here's what I've found out and about on the major media sites:
Amanda Craig reviews Creature of the Night, by Kate Thompson, and Spellbound, by Anna Dale, in the Times. (Wow, two of my favorite authors. On the TBR!)
The Detroit Free Press has published a nice list of summer books for the youngsters.
Profile Alert: Christopher Middleton meets Lauren Child for the Telegraph. Lauren Child is always worth your time.
Toby Clements reviews Paddington: Here and Now by Michael Bond also for the Telegraph.
Kendal Rautzhan recommends "books to borrow and books to buy" in the Reading Eagle.
Deborah Carter suggests summer reading choices for the Frederick News-Post.
Susan Perren reviews five new children's books for the Globe and Mail, including Eva Ibbotson's latest.
Jamie James takes another look at The Jungle Book for the Wall Street Journal.
Mary Harris Russell reviews five new books for the Chicago Tribune, including Cory Doctorow's Little Brother.
Oh, no! Elizabeth Ward is leaving the Washington Post. What will happen to her wonderful For Young Readers column? Here is her farewell column. For Young Readers, as written by Ward, was the best children's book review column in the States. What now?
Breaking news: The sun is out. It's been 40 days and 40 nights since I've seen it, so I'm going to post a few items of interest and then head out to boost my serotonin levels.
First things first: Frank Cottrell Boyce's Cosmic won't be out in the U.S. until July 30, but for some inexplicable reason it is available now on audible.com. If you listen to audio at all, I highly recommend this one. The narrator is amazing and Boyce does not disappoint. I'm not going to give away any secrets before my review, but let's just say there's a reason Amanda Craig calls it Boyce's "best yet."
Weekend Reviews? You'd think it was the weekend or something: Review columns and profiles are popping up early this week. Is Father's Day to blame? Here are a few links of interest:
Off-Topic: Mondrian has been on my mind this week ever since I read a post on his
newfound popularity (again) in fashion at
fashionista.
Mondrian's paintings have always appealed to me. I love symmetry and order, perhaps because I find instituting order in my life elusive. When I was a teen I bought a great Mondrian tote in London and carried it with me everywhere. I also had Mondrian posters and, I think, shoes. (Or was it a T-shirt?)
Well, Mondrian prints are back, Natalie Hormilla writes at Fashionista. She begins her post with the following statement: "For reasons unknown, the Mondrian-inspired clothes just keep rolling in." I'd argue that the reasons are quite knowable. Namely, Mondrian inspires when times are uncertain. When times are stormy, and violent, and potentially life-threatening, Mondrian's clean lines and primary colors suggest order can be achieved.
ETA: Anyone's sitemeter stop, um, metering in the past 24 hours?
Welcome to the first weekend in June! Here are this weekend's reviews:
A couple of things in the New York Times's Sunday Book Review:
Profile Alert: Nicolette Jones talks to prolific children's book author Allan Ahlberg for the Telegraph.Also in the Telegraph,
Melanie McDonagh talks about why she's "drawn to children's picture books." Quote: "For the best children's books, traditional and modern, share the same characteristics: an element of subversiveness, perhaps of danger overcome, refuge from the rest of life and ideally a sense of justice being done."
Leanne Italie recommends books to take on the road for the Associated Press (via the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
Who doesn't love Mal Peet?
Fortunately for us, he talked to the Guardian during the Hay Festival and tells us what he reads. Quote: "I don't read much teenage fiction anyway - and lots of my fellow authors say the same thing. Firstly because you get depressed that other people are better than you are, and secondly because authors are intuitive thieves, and we're afraid of unconsciously stealing stuff from the thing we just read and kidding ourselves we thought of it."
Speaking of authors and their reading,
Michael Cunningham responds to the question [What is] A major work you revisited with disappointment? with a children's book choice in Newsweek: "The Narnia books by C. S. Lewis. I loved them as a kid. But the writing doesn't stand up. The Catholicism feels really oppressive."
And don't miss the
May Carnival of Children's Literature up just yesterday, the last day of May. Tons of great reading for everyone!
The crazy first-person story behind the Paddington Bear doll in the Times.
Also in the Times, Amanda Craig reviews Macbeth: The Graphic Novel and
Sovay, by Celia Ress, is the Children's Book of the Week (reviewed by Nicolette Jones).
Bernie Goedhart recommends many a picture book for the Montreal Gazette.
Susan Perren reviews five new children's books--including Mo Willems's latest--for the Globe and Mail.
Gail Rosenblum talks to Judy Blume for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. (Judy's tap-dancing these days.)
Profile Alert: Lizzie Skurnick writes of S.E. Hinton and Hinton's classic YA novels for the Chicago Tribune. (Bonus!: Elizabeth Taylor talks to S.E. Hinton for the Chicago Tribune.)
Also in the Chicago Tribune, Mary Harris Russell reviews five new children's books.
I hope you all are having a lovely weekend. It's warm and beautiful in Smalltown--just perfect for reading and walking outside.
Here are this weekend's reviews in the major media:
Philip Pullman has written a comic book (The Adventures of John Blake) and a child shares his thoughts on it in the Independent.
Nicholas A. Basbanes reviews children's books with "tall tales and timeout" themes for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Liz Rosenberg reviews three completely incongruous books (The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, Tad Hills toddler book What's Up, Duck?: A Book of Opposites, Gary D. Schmidt's Trouble) in today's Boston Globe.
Weirdest article on Harry Potter ever alert: Titled "In their words: 'Harry Potter isn't that great.' Oh, really?: Columbia College students riff on the boy wizard" the article then consists of five Columbia College students explaining why Harry Potter is, in their opinions, well, great. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Rebecca Young reviews two new picture books starring POTATOES for the Olympian.
Interview Alert: Amanda Craig talks to Celia Rees for the Times.
Denise Hamilton reviews Rick Riordan's The Battle of the Labyrinth for the Los Angeles Times.
Mary Harris Russell reviews five new books for the Chicago Times, including David Almond's latest book.
Diane Samuels reviews Josh Lacey's Bearkeeper for the Guardian.
Rebecca Young considers YA books on the war for the Kansas City Star.
The Canadian Press recommends books for kids on the road.
Susan Perren reviews five new books for the Globe and Mail.
Kate Schatz writes about Ariel Schrag's Berkeley High comic books which are being republished by Simon and Schuster in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Neil Clark makes a case for bringing back Biggles in the Telegraph.
James Holland reviews Amazing Tales for Making Men Out of Boys, by Neil Oliver, for the Telegraph.
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Good luck with NaNoWriMo - I can't wait to see what you come up with!
I don't know how you keep up with half of what you do! Good luck doing NaNoWriMo. Have fun:>)
Laura Salas
Wow, I've heard about so many people doing Nano this fall! I was thinking about it but am going to instead try and finish a draft of something I'm already working on. Good luck and have fun!
Yay! I have 3 papers and a presentation next month. Plus work.
And yet, 50,000 words about princesses? Why not? Although Cinderella might take up intellectual freedom in American public schools as a cause. With a 20-25 page monologue about it.
I so admire people who do NaNoWriNo. Good luck!
You are certainly busy. Good luck with NaNoWriNo.
Blessings from Costa Rica
First of all, you're never a bad, bad blogger.
Secondly, thanks for all the goodness here. So many titles to hit up at the library. As always, I love your weekend reviews, no matter what day they fall on.
Hi. I teach 4th grade here in Madison, Indiana. I spent a good amount of time broswing your site. Thanks for your words. My site has many issues like yours. I hope to come back soon and read more. Have a good day.
Good luck with the writing, Kelly!
wow.. good luck doing NaNoWriMo !