By: Powell's Staff,
on 9/25/2015
It's one thing to read about censorship in a news article; it's another to become aware of the threat at a nearby library or school. For Banned Books Week this year, we reviewed hundreds of documented appeals to remove materials from a local public library, school library, or course curriculum. Below are 30 books that [...]
Latest published book … EL PERRO CON SOMBRERO You wrote it because … In doing my school visits to promote my book series Scary School, I visited many dual immersion and spanish-speaking schools and saw the need for bilingual picture books that could be used to teach either English or Spanish to early learners.
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By: Deborah Jensen,
on 1/23/2015
Publishers Lunch has two new editions in its free Buzz Books series, buzzed about as the first and best place for passionate readers and publishing insiders to discover and sample some of the most acclaimed books of the year, before they are published. Substantial excerpts from 65 of the most anticipated books coming this spring and summer are gathered in two new ebooks, BUZZ BOOKS 2015: Spring/Summer and BUZZ BOOKS 2015: Young Adult Spring, offered in consumer and trade editions (adult and YA). All are available free through NetGalley.
Book lovers get an early first look at books from actress and activist Maria Bello, \"Morning Joe\" co-host and bestselling author Mika Brzezinski, NPR/Weekend Edition’s Scott Simon, and bestselling fiction writers Dennis Lehane, Ann Packer, Ian Caldwell, and Neal Stephenson, among others. Highly touted debuts include Leslie Parry’s Church of Marvels, Erika Swyler’s The Book of Speculation, J. Ryan Stradal’s Kitchens of the Great Midwest, Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite’s War Of The Encyclopaedists, and Jessica Knoll’s Luckiest Girl Alive. From inside publishing, there’s Jonathan Galassi’s debut novel Muse, and George Hodgman’s memoir Bettyville.
The YA edition features the latest from Sarah Dessen, David Levithan, Barry Lyga, and Michael Buckley, plus renowned middle-grade authors including Newbery winner Rebecca Stead and Louis Sachar. There’s Alice Hoffman’s Nightbird, her first novel for this age range. We also get a first look at YA debut authors Margo Rabb, Maria Dahvana Headley, plus Paige McKenzie’s The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (adapted from the web series of the same name and already in development as a film from the Weinstein Company) and Sabaa Tahir’s debut An Ember In the Ashes (already sold to Paramount Pictures in a major deal).
Fourteen of the adult titles featured in last year’s Buzz Books 2014 were named to one or more major \"Best Books of 2014\" lists, and 18 became bestsellers. Of the 28 books published to date and previewed in the 2014 Fall/Winter edition, 19 have made \"best of the month/year\" lists and nine are New York Times bestsellers.
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By: Jason Boog,
on 9/10/2012
What books do you remember most fondly from childhood?
Over at the nostalgia section of Reddit, readers have been sharing the books that make them feel most nostalgic.
To help our readers rediscover these childhood classics, we’ve linked to free samples of the 15 Most Nostalgic Books below–ranked in order by the books’ popularity among Reddit readers.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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By David Teague, The Children’s Book Review
Published: August 20, 2012
Of course, every boy isn’t a reluctant reader. A lot of boys love books. All we’re trying to do is get as many as possible to strike their pup-tents in camp #1 and pitch them in Camp #2.
To quote the great Jon Scieszka (which is something I do quite frequently and with stellar results):
“Boys aren’t believing that ‘Reading is wonderful.’ Reading is often difficult and boring for them. Let’s start with “Here is one book . . . you might like”
Not to name names, but a certain boy I know, who needs to clean up his room right now, used to be a bona fide reluctant reader when he was in first grade. These days, I have to order his light off at 10:30 so he can get some sleep, and usually I find him lying in bed reading BEFORE it’s time to get up on Saturdays.
What happened? Like the great Mr. Scieszka said, one book:
Sideways Stories from Wayside SchoolWhat’s so special about Sideways Stories from Wayside School?
Ask any boy who has read it, and he’ll tell you:
Which means:
Ask me, and I’ll tell you those three things, plus one more:
Sure, the scenarios are wacky. As you probably know, Wayside School was supposed to be thirty classrooms wide and one story high, but by mistake got built thirty stories high and one classroom wide. Among its many students are Bebe Gunn, Eric Bacon, Eric Fry, and Eric Ovens. In the first chapter, Mrs. Gorf, a colossally mean teacher, turns all her pupils into apples when they make her mad, until Jenny holds up a mirror in front of Mrs. Gorf and turns her into an apple, whereupon Louis the Yard Teacher eats her.
Louis, by the way, is based on the author himself, who used to be a playground monitor. Louis is nice to all the children and has a multicolored mustache. When Mrs. Drazil makes him shave, he becomes very by-the-book and makes the kids call him Mr. Louis. When the mustache grows back, he reverts to his much cooler self.
There are at least fifty characters in this book, all drawn very clearly in terms young readers can grasp quickly, and Sachar does not dumb down his humor. The intricate web of relationships he creates among characters and the comic conflicts he engineers between them would make Charles Dickens proud.
Sideways Stories from Wayside School proved to be a gateway book for my reluctant reader. He loved the jokes and adored the characters and read it again and again until he started to see far deeper into the complexity of fiction than he’d ever seen—than he’d ever imagined. He inhabited that book, he owned that book, he memorized that book, and it gave him the enthusiasm and
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By: Thao,
on 3/23/2012
The Toronto Librarians are on strike. There is no need to panic… Ahhhhhhhh! Failing to reach a labour agreement over the weekend 2,400 librarians went on strike. All 98 library branches across Toronto are close as of Monday. The library is asking borrowers to hold on to all checked out books and materials. No overdue [...]
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By: Betsy Bird,
on 9/10/2011
Oh good.
Now we have a rallying cry. Bonus. Thanks to Maureen Johnson for the link.
Travis at 100 Scope Notes recently discovered the author video cache to beat all author video caches. As he puts it”I challenge you to a good ol’ fashioned game of ‘I Bet I Can Find a Video Interview of An Author You Like’.” Apparently Reading Rockets has done everything in its power to videotape many of the major power players out there. Your Selznicks. Your McKissacks. Your Yolens. There’s a Website and a YouTube channel so take your pick! Talk about a useful resource.
Of course, if you want to save yourself some time and trouble you can just watch this trailer for The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. But make sure you watch it until the end.
I could live a long and happy life in the belief that Chris Van Allsburg was some kind of a criminal mastermind. Yup.
Do all the classic children’s authors also know how to draw? I only ask because it keeps coming up. Tolkien drew. J.K. Rowling can draw. Now apparently Philip Pullman does too. Extraordinary.
A couple thoughts on this next one.
A: Check out those guns on Katie Davis! Wowza!
B: Yes, folks, we all know that Tuck Everlasting didn’t win a Newbery. It’s okay.
C: When I start a band I am totally calling it Weirdly Supple Crystal Ball.
Book trailer time! This one comes to us courtesy of Jonathan Auxier. He’s even gone so far as to write a post about the Five Things I Learned from Making My Own Book Trailer. The piece is fascinating in and of itself. The final product? I’d say it’s worth it.
Sort of reminds me of last year’s Adam Gidwitz 6 Comments on Video Sunday: Weirdly supple crystal balls, last added: 9/12/2011
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By: Read Now Sleep Later,
on 3/8/2011
By: Jennie,
on 10/15/2010
Alton's Uncle Lester is old, sick, and very rich. All Alton's parents can concentrate on is how much money they'll get with Uncle Lester dies and who else might get the money instead of them. The main contenders are Uncle Lester's housekeeper, his new age nurse, and the Castaneda family (and everyone knows that whole family is bonkers) whom Uncle Lester seems to really like for some reason.
Uncle Lester is also a big bridge player, but is blind and can no longer see the cards. When he gets in a fight with Toni Castaneda, Alton is asked to be his cardturner. All Alton has to do is tell Uncle Lester what cards are in his hand and play whatever card he's told to play. Nothing more, nothing less.
Along the way, Alton learns a lot about bridge and some deep family history and secrets, and how the stories get mangled as the family gossip travels from generation to generation.
There's been lots of good buzz about this and it's as awesome as everyone says. I totally want to learn how to play bridge now. There is a lot of bridge talk in the book, but Sachar labels it as such and gives us permission to skip the bridge-y parts and offers up a relevant summary at the end. I didn't skip the bridge-y parts, although I appreciated the warning when they were coming and the permission to skip ahead.
It also says some interesting things about mental illness. I can't go into it without some major spoilers and I really don't feel qualified to comment, but I hope someone out there does feel qualified to comment and does comment because I've been thinking about it ever since it was revealed that Toni is schizophrenic and what form her illness takes for her and there's that whole "is she or isn't she" feeling to it, especially when the truth about other "crazy" characters comes out and what happens at the end and... sorry for the vague paragraph. I'm just still wrestling with some of these ideas and don't want to spoil anything, but I think a lot of people have already read this, so then maybe you know what I'm talking about. Wink wink nod nod.
ANYWAY
My favorite part was finding out how the Castaneda family was linked to Uncle Lester and what exactly happened there, deep in the past.
It's hilarious and heartbreaking and oh so wonderful.
And seriously, as soon as I can con 3 other people to join me, I'm going to start playing bridge.
Book Provided by... my local library
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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!
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
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
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By: Betsy Bird,
on 7/4/2010
Lightning quiz Fusenews today, folks! 
It is one thing to play Nellie Oleson, the much loathed villain of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, in a television show. It is another thing entirely to write a book about the experience. And certainly I would not have know that such an event had taken place were it not for Peter’s post on Collecting Children’s Books. And that’s not even including the news about the children’s author that’s showing up in a soap opera! Alas, you’ll have to read Peter’s post to see who it is for yourself.
What do you get the Percy Jackson fan who
Here’s the scoop on May's most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases, the bestsellers, and kids’ book events.
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By: Chandler A.,
on 6/30/2009
Last Thursday, June 25th, I was lucky enough to join the President, the First Lady, and hundreds of Congressional family members to prepare 15,000 backpacks with books and other items for the children of servicemen and women. With the incredibly generous support of Random House Children’s Books and Disney Publishing Worldwide, First Book was able to donate 30,000 books (two for each backpack!) with a retail value of almost $250,000.
The service event highlighted ‘United We Serve,’ President Obama’s call to all 
Americans to engage in service projects and create meaningful impact in their towns and communities. The ‘United We Serve’ summer service initiative began June 22nd and runs through the National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11th. The initiative is being led by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency dedicated to fostering service in communities across the country.
Curious about the books the President and the First Lady helped us pack? Here’s the list — full of great choices for your own summer reading!
By: Michele Fry,
on 7/3/2007
Louis Sachar's The Boy Who Lost His Face
David Ballinger is desperate to be part of the popular crowd to which his best friend since second grade, Scott Simpson, now belongs. He goes along with Scott, Roger and Randy when they decide to play a cruel stunt on an old lady, Mrs Bayfield. The boys have decided to steal her snake-headed walking stick, but they don't stop there; one tips her backwards in her chair, another pours lemonade in her face; they also trample her flowers and break a window with the lemonade jug. David stands and watches, but doesn't participate. Then, as he's about to leave, he makes a rude gesture at Mrs Bayfield who appears to put a curse on him.
Soon afterwards David starts to feel very guilty about what the boys have done. He soon comes to believe that the old lady is a witch and that the curse she put on him is affecting his life when things start to go wrong, such as when he breaks a window and nearly injures his baby sister with his baseball. Things get progressively worse - his adoring younger brother Ricky, suddenly hates him and he walks into his Spanish class with his fly undone. The last straw, though, comes when David's trousers fall down just as he's talking to the girl of his dreams about going on a date. Convinced that this can't just be bad luck, he rushes off to see Mrs Bayfield who tells him to bring back her walking stick. He thinks that she will remove the curse if he does so. But things don't turn out quite the way that David expects.
I thoroughly enjoy reading The Boy Who Lost His Face - I've actually lost count of how many times I've read it, but it's probably at least six. And even though I know what happens and how it ends, I still enjoy the suspense of Sachar's repetition of "Little did he know that one day his own face would be hanging on her wall." Somehow that remains spooky and slightly unnerving, even on re-reading. I love all of Sachar's books that I've read; his sense of humour and playfulness are always very apparent, and his themes are never conveyed in a heavy-handed manner. I was surprised to discover this morning, a reference to it being a frequently challenged book.
What do you think of this book, and in particular, what are your thoughts on the Epilogue ?
By: Rebecca,
on 4/17/2007
James McCune Smith was one of the foremost black intellectuals in America, 
the first to receive a medical degree and the most educated African American before W. E. B. Du Bois. McCune Smith publicly advocated the use of “black” rather than “colored” as a self-description and he, like James Weldon Johnson and other successors, treated racial identities as social constructions and argued that American literature, music, and dance would be shaped and defined by blacks.
John Stauffer, the editor of The Works of James McCune Smith: Black Intellectual and Abolitionist, has organized McCune Smith’s writings around genre and chronology. Stauffer, along with three other distinguished historians will discuss Smith’s life, work, and legacy at The New York Historical Society on Wednesday, April 18th at 6:30 pm. Below is a video from The Historical Society’s current exhibition “New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War.” The video is of letters written by McCune Smith read by the actor Danny Glover. (more…)
0 Comments on The Cardturner - Guest Review as of 1/1/1900
The Cardturner
Fallen
You can see all of Philip Pullman’s illustrations for HIs Dark Materials on his blog: http://www.philip-pullman.com/pages/js_gallery/index.asp (I have a boxed set that was published a while back that has all the illustrations.)
Lordy! That Sxip Shirey one was like staring down the abyss of madness!
The edition of “His Dark Materials” that Philip Pullman had illustrated is beautiful. I was moved to buy the whole series over again. By the way, I don’t know if he’s still like this now, but back in 2000 or so, every time I wrote Philip Pullman an email he would write back scarily quick — like, within the hour. And I was nobody! A complete stranger! Eventually I stopped writing to him, only because his rapid response time exhausted me. Classy fellow, that Pullman.
Happy to find myself cheek-by-jowl with Auxier. His trailer is marvelous, and so is his book!
Sxip Shirey is amazing! I love the off-beat music. He’s a regular in the Brooklyn/NYC music scene. I especially love when hooks up with my Superfine friends here and in Europe.
Obviously James and I *think* TUCK EVERLASTING won, because we refer to it in that category. But we’ll let it go now, James, yes? Unless I’m still dead to you?
ALA was one of the most fun weeks of my life — in part because I got to hang out with James and Katie! Thanks for linking to my book trailer, though I must say that to compare it to Adam’s trailer is crazy … his is way slicker AND has werewolves!
@Katie Still dead to me. But I hear tell zombies are a big deal these days.
@Jonathan ALA was a blast, I agree! Roger Sutton facedown in that punch bowl — I’ll never forget it. I wonder if he even remembers?