Posted by: blogando on: July 16, 2009
Amateau, Gigi. A Certain Strain of Peculiar. 2009. 261p. Candlewick, $16.99. (978-0-7636-3009-6). Gr. 6-8: A Fed up with her classmates’ bullying and her increasing panic attacks, 13-year-old Mary Harold Woods runs away to live with her grandmother where she finds her place while building her muscles, caring for a Black Angus cow, helping wrangle the […]
Posted by: blogando on: July 14, 2009
D’Arcangelo, Lyndsey. The Trouble with Emily Dickinson. Alpha World Press, Oct. 2008. 978-0-9821044-0-8. Grades 8 to 12. I almost didn’t include a photo of the cover for this book because it’s so, um, ugly. It’s a shame, because the book itself is charming. The publishers compare the story to Romeo and Juliet, but I think […]
Posted by: blogando on: June 14, 2009
Sheehan, Tamara. The Tenth Man. December 2008. 188 p. Prizm, $13.95. (978-1-60370-553-0). Gr. 9-12. Prizm Books is a subsidiary of Torquere Press, based in Round Rock, Texas, (just north of Austin). Prizm’s motto is “Stories for every young adult under the rainbow.” If you visit their website you’ll find out that their mission is to […]
Posted by: John on: May 28, 2009
Burd, Nick. The Vast Fields of Ordinary. Dial Books, May 2009. 9780803733404.309p . Grades 10-12. In his last summer before college, Dade is busy juggling his dysfunctional parents and his dysfunctional boyfriend when he meets Alex, and discovers in him a way to make it through the summer. Nick Burd’s first offering is a young […]
Posted by: blogando on: April 28, 2009
Rothschild, Matthew. Dumbfounded: Big Money. Big Hair. Big Problems. or Why Having It All Isn’t for Sissies. Random House, August 2008. 9780307405425. 320p. Grades 8-12. The author, Matthew Rothschild, was abandoned by his mother to be raised by his two Jewish grandparents in their exclusive, and very much restricted apartment building in New York City. […]
Posted by: blogando on: February 8, 2009
Newman, Lesléa. Daddy, Papa, and Me. Illustrated by Carol Thompson. December 2008. Tricycle Press. 20 p. (9781582462622) Pre-Kindergarten. Newman, Lesléa. Mommy, Mama, and Me. Illustrated by Carol Thompson. December 2008. Tricycle Press. 20 p. (9781582462639) Pre-Kindergarten. These two board books for young children were written by the author of Heather Has Two Mommies, Lesléa Newman. […]
Posted by: kthorning on: January 30, 2009
Bantle, Lee. David Inside Out. 2009. 192p. Henry Holt, $16.99. (978-0805081220) Gr. 8-12 David comes out in his senior year after he falls in love another member of his track team. This is one of the best and most realistic coming out stories I’ve ever read for teens. David first has to deal with his […]
Posted by: kthorning on: January 30, 2009
Ian, Janis. Society’s Child: My Autobiography. 2008 (July). Tarcher/Penguin, $26.95. 360p. (978-1-58542-675-1). Gr. 10-12. The downward spiral of Ian’s personal and professional life after her famous release of “Society’s Child” when she was 14 came from her fame and inability to trust and lasted until her return in 1993 at the age of 52. This […]
Posted by: kthorning on: January 30, 2009
Sax, Aline. We, Two Boys. 2008. Clavis, $24.95. (978-1605370248). Gr. 9-12 When teenager Albert emigrates from Belgium to New York City in the early 19th century, he finds himself alone when all his family members are returned to their native country but wants to stay after developing a relationship with Jack, an American boy. Published […]
Posted by: kthorning on: January 30, 2009
Jones, Carrie. Girl, Hero. 2008. 305p. Flux, $16.95. (978-0-7387-1051-8). Gr. 7-12 Finding your way in high school can be scary, but with a secret friend like dead silver screen hero John Wayne at her side, high school freshman Lily is able to choose between trying out for cheerleader or the school musical. Lily’s decision is […]