This is Sonia Sotomayor’s 8th week on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Best Seller list, up to #4 from #5 last week. (Sandra Day O’Connor’s book, Out of Order, debuts at #11.) I am particularly excited to write about My Beloved World this week because I recently had a chance to booktalk it to a [...]
In this week’s reviews, we delve into three takes on the everlasting American obsession with crime and criminals. We start with Rob Deborde’s Portlandtown, which injects its paranormal underpinnings (and just “what is it with all this paranormal activity occurring in the Pacific Northwest?” asks reviewer Carla Riemer) with classic tropes from Western and Crime fiction [...]
This coming of age novel begins with a forbidden romance. Henry is a junior in high school, working at a stable when he meets Mercy. Her family considers him to be from the wrong side of the tracks, but the two fall deeply in love. What begins in a romantic vein becomes a dark story [...]
Kris D’Agonstino’s debut is an example of that rare animal, the funny, smart, well-written novel about family that will even appeal to boys. There is a short piece on the ReadingGroupGuides website in which the author discusses how much of his book is autobiographical. Here is a relevant excerpt, “The wackiest and thereby most vexing period [...]
In this rather extraordinary memoir, Jamal Joseph recounts his journey from Black Panther to prison to professor at Columbia University. Joseph gave the Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture at ALA Midwinter in Dallas last month, which was followed by this interview with American Libraries Associate Editor Pamela A. Goodes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzKLO2fdXiU Goodes begins by asking, “So many lessons [...]
Naomi Benaron has already won the Bellwether Prize for Running the Rift, a novel about a boy who grows up during the ethnic conflict in Rwanda and the 1994 genocide. The last two winners of the Bellwether were also first novelists whose work showed teen appeal: Hillary Jordan, 2006, for Mudbound (Algonquin Books) and Heidi [...]
“When she woke, she was red.” From the very first sentence, Hillary Jordan’s sophomore effort starts off strong and never lets up. Jordan debuted with Mudbound (Algonquin, 2008), winner of a 2009 Alex Award. When She Woke has even more teen appeal. In this case the protagonist, Hannah Payne, is barely past her teen years, [...]
Tayari Jones’ new coming-of-age novel is a natural for teen readers. Although Silver Sparrow releases tomorrow, it has already garnered lots of attention, including an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered and the top spot on the June Indie Next List. Greenlight Books in Brooklyn is holding a launch party on Wednesday evening, in the middle [...]
The Adult Books 4 Teens blog was created to replace the School Library Journal print column, Adult Books for High School Students, last seen over 9 months ago. I’m sure many of you shared my dismay when we realized the column had come to an end. The adult book publishing world releases thousands of general [...]
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