Weekly Book Report

May I report about my to read pile first? It's way bigger than the books I have read this week.

My "bedside" pile - the quotes are there because they are not all on my bedside - includes;

This Promise of Change by Jo Ann Allen Levy and Debbie Levy    This is a memoir of one of the students who integrated Clinton high School in Tennessee in 1956. I want to read it but I am afraid of the hurt she will reveal. 

A Monster Like Me by Wendy S. Swore    What kind of monster is Sophie? The hemangioma - or blood tumor - on one side of her face convinces Sophie that she is not quite human.

Normal: One Kid's Extraordinary Journey by Magdalena and Nathaniel Newman   Nathaniel New- man has a cranio facial syndrome that deforms his face. His story is true. 

Extraordinary Birds by Sandy Stark-McGinnis    She is in foster care and she is sure that she is really a bird. She has scars on her back where her wings will surely grow back. Can a new placement help her?

Also, the ARCs that I received today from Candlewick Press and Chronicle Books and the titles I received from Abrams.  I may keep one or two or a few of these titles but most of them will end up in the hands of teachers and librarians who attend this year's KUCLC (Kutztown Unversity Children's Literature Conference) which is coming up on April 18th.

From Chronicle

And the books I read this week??

Caterpillar Summer By Gillian McDunn   Cat and Chicken travel all the way to North Carolina when their summer plans fall through. Their mother must work, so she takes them to her parents who live on an island off the North Carolina shore. Cat worries that Chicken, whose real name is Henry, will not adjust to these grandparents that they have never met.  Chicken is a worry, with his sensitivities to touch and noise and his penchant for running away.  How can Mom leave them both with strangers?
Charming,

Leaving Lymon by Lesa Cline-Ransome    From the time Lymon was very small, people have left him. First, his mother left. Then, his father went to prison. When his grandfather died, Lymon and his grandmother felt truly abandoned. They moved from Mississippi to Milwaukee, then Lymon's mother took him to Chicago. But he belonged nowhere and to no one, except his father, a wandering musician after he was freed.  Set in the same time period that Finding Langston occurred, Cline-Ransome snatches Lymon's character from one small incident in the earlier book and gives Lymon a story, a talent and a quest.

Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw by Gina Loveless and Andrea Bell    Robin Loxley is the best basketball player at Nottingham Elementary School and right now she is the loneliest. Her "best" friend hasn't spoken to Robin since the Spring. When another fith grader starts "taxing" kids to play on the playground equipment, Robin has something to take her mind off her troubles. She will take the stolen goods from the "Taxer" and give them back to their rightful owners. It's a good plan. She has a new friend to help, Little Joan - the other best basketball player at Nottingham. But it all goes haywire when their principal goes to a conference.
It's a series, in large print and with clever drawings, about normal kids getting into normal trouble. Thumbs up!  AND Gina Loveless will be at the Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference or KUCLC.

I am reading - not finished yet but not waiting in the wings either - Running With Wolves: Our Story of Life with the Sawtooth Pack by Jim and Jamie Dutcher.  Though I haven't met many wolves yet, I enjoy Jim's and Jamie's storytelling styles. They add just the right amount of description to give the reader a feel for the mountain range and pastures without getting bogged down.

 

Addendum! #KULITCONFERENCE

I will soon post my book list from last weekend's Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference.  While you wait here is my Addendum.  It is short.  One title is repeated her, even though it is on my list, because I can't stop thinking about it.

KU 2019 addendum

Here are a few more titles to consider, in no particular order.

Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez. Disney Hyperion, 2019. 9781368022828 1368022820.  Sal learns to meditate to deal with the loss of his mother.  But he takes his practice a little too far, meditating things into existence. MG, grief, meditation, sci-fi, Rick Riordan presents, mythology, Cuban culture

The Waning Age by S. E. Grove. Viking, 2019. 9780451479853.  Emotions disappear by the time a person is a teenager. But Natalia still loves her little brother fiercely.  When he is kidnapped by a Big Brother-type organization, Natalia does everything to save him. YA, dystopian, future, sci-fi, kidnapping, emotions, love

Fear of Missing Out by Kate McGovern. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2019.9780374305475 0374305471. When her brain cancer returns, Astrid goes on a road trip to find out if cryopreservation could give her a chance to experience a full life. YA, fatal illness, cancer, cryopreservation, road trips

The Stone Girl’s Story by Sarah Beth Durst. Clarion, 2018. 1328729451 (ISBN13: 9781328729453)
The marks carved on Mayka’s stone body are fading. Mayka tries to find a human stone carver to sharpen those marks and the marks on her friends. But can human stone carvers be trusted? MG, fantasy, trust, future, self-realization, adventure

*****We’re Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey. Crown Book for Young Readers, 2019. 9781524773050.
After 20 years of suspended life support travel, human refugees arrive at the only planet that will support them. The sentient races that welcomed them 20 years before no longer want them. Only one family is allowed to live on the planet in an attempt to change the minds of the ruling party. MG, sci-fi, immigration, prejudice, assimilation, humor, emotions

The Line Tender by Kate Allen. Penguin Young Readers Group, 2019.  9780735231603 0735231605
 Lucy’s mother died while researching the sharks she loved so much. Five years later, a Great White shows up off the coast of Cape Cod. Lucy throws herself into solving the mystery of why the Great White is there, pulling together a trio of mismatched friends to help her. MG, grief, ecology, sharks, ocean

15 Things I Might Never Have to Do Again

If tomorrows' Grade 5 and up book review session at the Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference, #KULITCONFERENCE, should be my LAST book review session, here is a list of things I will no longer have to do:

1. Enter every single chance to win YA and Middle Grade advanced reader's copies, paper or digital.

2. Get and attempt to read 4 to 7 enewsletters or blog posts that each include four or more book reviews EVERY SINGLE DAY, five days a week - and a few on weekends.

3. Save all the bi-weekly newsletters because I don't have the time to read them all the way through.

4.  Make sure I save every single book review I see on FB, Twitter and Instagram.

5. Visit Goodreads daily to make sure that my reading goal is being met.
   5 a. Make sure I steal my Goodread friends' recommendations.

6. Read the YA dystopian books that are the "groundbreaking" novels that all sound like last year's "earth-shattering" books. (Alas, sometimes they are so very similar.) (Also, girls with sharp things books.)

7. Run out of tissues when another middle grade novel discusses the loss of a much loved (Insert your favorite here), pet, friend, parent, author, imaginary buddy, grandparent, sibling, neighbor, bus driver, teacher, fantastic animal, superhero actor that the main character always hoped to meet, bicycle, other.

8. Discover that at least TWO new MG novels are about people "Destroying the Universe" and wondering how that happened.

9. Read proof, through current non-fiction, that people treat each other horribly for the most trivial of reasons.

10.  Occasionally laugh til I cry, or vice versa, at MG stories about middle school kids dealing with middle school (insert you favorite here), bullies, retiring teachers, Safety Drills, science fair contests, band practices, talent shows, school council elections, hair raising hijinks, ridiculous rules, cafeteria food, other.

11. Struggle through the "NEXT Harry Potter" OR "For readers who LOVED Harry Potter" offerings three times a year.

12. Groan out loud when another teenager chooses to do the WRONG things for the right reasons or the WRONG thing for the wrong reasons just to make sure the book doesn't end too soon.

13. Skip the third quarter of the book because I am pretty sure I know what kind of thing will happen and then discovering I was right.

14. Stay up ALL NIGHT because THIS book is so awesome I can't stop reading.

15.  Find a book I would never have picked up, if I didn't have to read it for a book review session and reading it THREE times because it is so good.

If this IS my last book review session - (I'll let you know on Monday) - it was worth every minute over the last decade - or more. I lost count.

Go #KULITCONFERENCE

ABRAMS KIDS! You are awesome!

So, I ask publishers for a few books to hand out to the teachers and librarians who come to my book review session at the Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference.  And Abrams Kids ALWAYS sends me a carton or two of ARCs.  I've gotten books from Candlewick and Chronicle and Holiday House in the past and Toon books sent me a few titles - (not this year though).   Publishers are wonderful that way.

BUT this year, ABRAMS KIDS sent me THIRTEEN cartons of books.  So, sign up already.  Get your free books.  Load up your Summer Reading Club giveaway shelf.  Give new and upcoming titles to your teen book club.

The Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference is a TREASURE.  Also, Duncan Tonatiuh will be there! Andrea Warren, Brendan Wenzel and Marc Tyler Nobleman, too.

#books4kids, #KUchildren'slitcon, #freebooks

They Did NOT make the List - not even the addendum!

I cap my book list for KUCLC at 7 pages.  That gives me about half a page to brag on myself - my 30+ years in public libraries, this blog, my kids' CD - and to give contact info so people can help me find good books.

THEN, I usually add another page or two of books I forgot.  The following books are noteworthy and I MIGHT mention them tomorrow but, they didn't make either list.  Some books did not make the list because I want to feature them in a future list.  Some did not make the list because they are fluff. If I mention them, it will be to illustrate a trend in children's literature - because I am a Trend Identifier.

The Worthy Ones:
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani. Dial Books, (9780735228511), 2018.  When Pakistan and India are divided there is wide spread strife and violence among the various religious sects.  Nisha and her father, brother, and amah must flee - on the titular night train - to save their lives. The book is a series of journal entries that Nisha writes as letters to her Muslim mother, who died when she and her brother were born.
Observations: 1. Sometimes a book is worthy because it brings attention to a concept, a philosophy, a time period or an event that needs a spotlight.  MG, religious conflict, war, discrimination

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. Dutton Books, (9780525555360), 2017.  Aza suffers from anxiety and OCD but she keeps it together.  When the search for a missing billionaire offers a prize for finding him, Aza's best friend, Daisy hatches a plan to find him. Since Aza went to camp with the billionaire's son, Daisy is sure they can get info that will lead to the runaway dad.  That's as far as I got.
My observations: 1.  John Green's writing is smooth as glass, a joy to read. 2. Reading about anxiety disorders and OCD behavior makes me uncomfortable because I am that person - the one who starts having the symptoms that she reads about.  3.  When I finally finish reading this book, I expect to put it on a list because I heart the Green Brothers.  YA, mental illness, fugitives

Some Fluff!
First: Fluff is good.  There is nothing wrong with an amusing book that makes a kid giggle - unless it's a mean giggle and then, well, then we will have to have an intervention and years of therapy to deal with the trauma.  That said, the success of the Wimpy Kid and the Dork Diaries have caused a wave of imitators like:


Take the Mummy and Run: the Riot Brothers are on a Roll by Mary Amato. Holiday House, (9780823438686), 2017.  This is book #4 in this series about Wilbur and Orville Riot and their detective efforts or missions or whatever.  I did not actually read this book. I read a page or two.
My Observations: 1. It's funny - funny dialogue, goofy people with goofy mannerisms. 2.  There actually seems to be a story going on here.  Some of these fluff books are all jokes and very little story.  Stories are good.  MG, humor, mystery

Stick Dog Craves Candy by Tom Watson. Harper, (9780062410948), 2107.  I don't know about this book.  I read a few pages and it moves very slowly.  It appears to be about dogs who are looking for food.
My Observations: 1. Lots of people think that they can think like dogs.  I think that this author thinks he's one of those people. 2.  Dogs really like food. 3. I find it hard to imagine that dogs can understand concepts like "witches" but these dogs seem to be very frightened of "witches". 4. This MIGHT be a Halloween themed book; witches, candy, also orange heads.  5. One of these observations is not like the others.  Can you guess which one? MG, humor, dogs, candy, witches

Welp, that's it for now.  I hope to see some of my scads and hordes of readers at the Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference tomorrow.

KU Children's Lit Conference - the list

I posted my 2017 KUCLC list on Scribd for your enlightenment.  Here you go!

Enjoy.

Since the books on my list tend to be award winners that I especially liked, I also added half a dozen Best of 2016 Book Lists for you to pore over.  I hope it helps you find good books for your middle grade readers.  Thanks.

The authors are coming!! The authors are coming!!!

Emily is just one of FOUR awesome children's authors at the KU Children's lit Conference

 This is the latest that I have ever gone in finishing my KU Children's Literature Conference booklist.  I am embarrassed at the lateness.  But it IS done - except for the inevitable addendum or addenda.  Maybe I'll skip those this year.  And you can find it here.

You can find the KUCLC's website here, too.  Show up early (7:30 to 8:30 am) on Saturday if you haven't pre-registered.  The cost is ONLY $50 for a day of children's book fantasticality!  This year Kutztown hosts Daniel Kirk, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Emily Arnold McCully and Jonathan Bean.

Reviews? - Hah!

The Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference looms larger and larger in my sight.  So, I am reading, reading, reading, reading like a mad woman - who reads a lot.   Once again, I am reviewing books for kids in grades 5 and up.  And I have read very few of the "hot" new YA titles.  I am not all that into the "hot" topics of paranormality, sexual awakening, and personal torment.  That's ok.  When I finally pick those books up, I am sucked in almost as much as teen readers are.

Is this not the loveliest KUCLC poster ever?  I think so.

What this means, is that I will not review books on this site - much - for the next three or four weeks.  but I will LIST what I have read.

Beetle Boy by M. G. Leonard
Trash Mountain by Jane Yolen
Nick and Tesla's Solar-Powered Showdown by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith

And because I deserve to read adult books once in awhile, Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen.

Sign up for KU's Children's Literature Conference TODAY!!

KU Addendum

   The official logo of the Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference.

My KU Addenda ( or "um", I can't remember which) is up on the Lists page.  But here is the link if you need immediate gratification.

And here is the link to the list I handed out at the KU Children's Literature Conference on Saturday.

Thanks.  Stay tuned for more book stuff.