I’ve now had the opportunity to read and review all five books on the National Book Awards Shortlist for Young People’s Literature! The Young People’s Literature list: Kathi Appelt, The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster). My review. “Appelt is telling us a story, and it’s written as [...]
The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata, illustrated by Julia Kuo. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2013. Reviewed from ARC. The Plot: Summer Miyamoto’s family has had bad luck the past year. Summer got malaria and was very sick; her grandmother is having painful back problems; her little brother’s only friend moved away. That doesn’t [...]
Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin. 2013. Library copy. National Book Award short list. The Plot: Twelve year old Mila and her father, Gil, are in New York, visiting her father’s friend and his family. Or, rather, were supposed to be. Matthew has disappeared, and Mila and [...]
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. 2013. Library copy. NBA Shortlist. The Plot: Raccoons Bingo and J’miah are the two newest True Blue Scouts of the Sugar Man Swamp, charged to watch over the swamp and in case of [...]
The shortlist for the National Book Awards have been announced! The Young People’s Literature list: Kathi Appelt, The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster) Cynthia Kadohata, The Thing About Luck (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster) Tom McNeal, Far Far Away (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House). My review. Meg Rosoff, Picture Me Gone (G.P. Putnam’s [...]
Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang. First Second. 2013. Review copy from publisher. Boxers & Saints, Volumes 1 & 2. Edited to add: National Book Awards shortlist The Plot: The story of the Boxer Rebellion is told through the eyes of a Boxer and a Christian. Each volume is a standalone; but it’s best [...]
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Random House. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. Edited to add: National Book Awards shortlist. The Plot: Jeremy Johnson Johnson is haunted by a ghost, and honestly, it’s not that bad. The ghost doesn’t want to hurt Jeremy; far from it. The [...]
When the National Book Award Finalists were announced, it turned out I hadn’t read any of the five finalists for young adult literature! In a way, this meant I was lucky because I could read each book looking for why it was given a nod by their fellow authors, the NBA judges. Of course, it [...]
Endangered by Eliot Schrefer. Scholastic. 2012. Review copy from publisher. The Plot: Sophie, 14, is in Congo (the Democratic Republic of Congo) visiting her mother, who runs a sanctuary for bonobos. During the school year, she lives with her father in America. Sophie saves a young bonobo who she names Otto; she cares for him, [...]
Bomb: The Race To Build – And Steal – The World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing. 2012. Edited to add that this is a Finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award. Edited to add: Newbery Medal Honor book; [...]
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