Today we review two notable debut novels featuring teen protagonists who are talented at the sports they love — riding and rowing. There are a surprising number of similarities between these books. Both take place in elite boarding schools, and feature teens who are new kids among long-time classmates, less wealthy outsiders struggling for the [...]
Some books receive more “buzz” than others in the lead-up to publication. Today we review three books that have received more than their fair share. First, our starred review of the day – The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. Wolitzer’s fiction is always excellent and often provocative. Everyone, from the New York Times to EW and People, [...]
Today’s three reviewed novels share elements of the supernatural and magical realism. What teenager doesn’t wish for a superpower, if only to imagine themselves less under the control of the adults in their lives? In a series of connected vignettes, What the Family Needed introduces seven members of one family who grapple with special abilities. [...]
Some of you might think I’m stretching the definition of historical fiction with the first book up today. But if we consider historical fiction as works in which historical backdrop plays a strong role in the story, I think this qualifies. In any case, I am excited to introduce My One Square Inch of Alaska, a traditional [...]
Ivan Doig’s new novel graces AB4T as the starred review of the week. Recently, I wrote about the number of western novels with teen appeal, and mentioned Doig’s The Whistling Season, a 2007 Alex Award winner. The Bartender’s Tale returns to the rural setting of that novel — Two Medicine Country, Montana — where once [...]
Nick Dybek‘s debut is about fathers and sons, villains and heroes. The Granta New Voices program highlights six debut authors each year. Dybek became a Granta New Voice in December, and there is an excellent, extensive interview on their site about his novel. He shares this, “In children’s books the villains are usually doomed while the [...]
Catherine Chung’s widely acclaimed debut novel is about Janie’s search for her sister after she disappears. Janie’s family has lost a daughter in every generation, the aspect of the story emphasized in its haunting book trailer. The author weaves Korean history, including the war, into her family narrative. Chung was named a Granta New Voice [...]
Anna Solomon has a fun story about coming across the idea for The Little Bride. She was googling herself, and found a woman named Anna Solomon Freudenthal who was a Jewish pioneer in the 19th century. The launch party for The Little Bride was held at the Tenement Museum. Although not found on most tourist agendas [...]
from graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith: Last week I met a school librarian who was quick to announce, as soon as we’d been introduced, that I would be pleased to hear she and her colleagues have begun to collect graphic novels in the high school library. “I can’t read them, of course, but I [...]
Lucinda grows up at the very end of the Cold War, the daughter of a military family who has never lived in the United States. They have moved from one base to another her whole life. This book is about how she copes during her teen years, particularly with a volatile mother, an oblivious father, [...]
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