I wasn’t going to read the New York Times reviews of Bitter End by Jennifer Brown and Stay by Deb Caletti, Novels About Abusive Relationships, because — confession time — if I plan to read a book, I don’t like to read reviews of it. Instead, I’ll bookmark, read the book, write my review, and then [...]
Review: Wither
May 17, 2011 By 4 Comments
Wither by Lauren DeStefano. First book in The Chemical Garden Trilogy. Simon & Schuster. 2011. Review from ARC from ALA. The Plot: Scientific advancements and genetic engineering created a perfect generation of children. As they grew and aged, they continued to be perfect. The problem? Every generation after appears healthy, at first. Until the virus makes itself [...]
YALSA Nonfiction: Calendar
May 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Probably the most important thing for a person to realize when considering the various YALSA Awards and Lists is that each has its own calendar for what happens when. Because of how much takes place during the course of being on a Committee, I’ve broken this down into two halves. First, the Committee calendar, from January [...]
SLJ Day of Dialog
May 14, 2011 By 5 Comments
Review: Chime
May 12, 2011 By 7 Comments
Chime by Franny Billingsley. Dial, an imprint of Penguin. 2011. Reviewed from ARC from ALA Midwinter. The Plot: Briony Larkin, seventeen, is a wicked girl. Stepmother knew, and tried to protect her, helped Briony keep her secrets from her family and neighbors, tried to teach her to control the witch within. Stepmother is dead, leaving Briony alone to [...]
Guys Lit Wire Book Fair
May 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Review: Written In Bone
May 10, 2011 By 7 Comments
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker. Carolrhoda Books. 2009. Personal copy. It’s About: Skeletons from the colonial era reveal details of the past; not just how people died, but how they lived. Walker follows the excavation of several graves, along with the study and research that accompanies [...]
YALSA Nonfiction: Committee Members
May 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This week, the Committee Members for the YALSA Nonfiction Award. Pretty timely, because YALSA election results just came out telling us some of the people who will be on next year’s Committee: Ruth Allen, Angie Manfredi, Judy Nelson and Laura Pearle. The current Committee: Jennifer Hubert, Chair; Mary Burkey; Betty Carter; Elizabeth A. Burns; Diane Colson; Megan Fink; Pam Spencer Holley; David Mowery; and Mary [...]
Review: Divergent
May 5, 2011 By 8 Comments
Divergent by Veronica Roth. Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of Harper Collins. 2011. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: In a future Chicago, a person is born into one of five factions. Each faction lives according to an overall guiding belief system. Abnegation: being selfless. Amity: peace and love. Candor: honesty. Dauntless: courage. Erudite: [...]
Los Angeles Review of Books
May 4, 2011 By 3 Comments
The Los Angeles Review of Books is “the first major, full-service book review to launch in the 21st century, and is designed to exploit the latest online technologies in ways that respond to a significantly transformed publishing world.” More at its website; and Publishers Weekly has an article on the recent launch. What is really [...]
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