American Wife Curtis Sittenfeld Random House September 2, 2008 American Wife began as a 2004 non-fiction article in Salon where writer Curtis Sittenfeld, a self-identified “staunch liberal,” confessed her love for first lady Laura Bush. This fascination eventually evolved into American Wife, Sittenfeld’s third novel. American Wife follows the life of Alice Lindgren, a bookish…
YA Bloggers Read Gotham Academy, A Roundtable
At the start of the year, I thought about the ways in which comics could market itself more successfully to a wider audience. More specifically, how can Marvel and DC Comics sell certain titles to an audience that isn’t already tapped into comics (or at least into their vast universes) but who would love some of their current…
A Look At Random House Canada’s Upcoming 2015 Titles
This month, Random House Canada invited bloggers to their headquarters to get a preview of some of their upcoming 2015 titles. It was a great time where pizza was eaten and awesome transitional slides featured Danny Castellano and Justin Timberlake were viewed. Alas, this isn’t about the lovely Danny Castellano, but about the books, and I’m here…
This One Summer: Groundbreaking Caldecott Honoree
The 2015 Newbery, Printz, Correta Scott King, and Caldecott winners were announced on Monday, and hooray for all of the winners. Let’s fast forward to the really interesting part: this year’s Caldecott honor recipients.
Survey Alert: Young Reader Comics
Are you an editor or publisher of comics and graphic novels aimed at Young Readers ages 4-18? With the popularity of titles like Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, Marvel’s Ms. Marvel, IDW’s My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Jeff Smith’s Bone, young reader comics are gaining in variety and popularity. Engaging the upcoming generation of comic…
Picture This: Suzy Lee
Remember how last month the first Picture This post was going to be about Patricia Polacco? I thought I’d be able to write a succinct overview of Polacco’s work along with numerous insights into the underlying themes consistent throughout her body of work, with picture scans and a timeline of her life up to this…
September All Age Comics/Books
Cast Away on the Letter A: A Philemon Adventure Fred (A) & (W) TOON-Books Release Date 9/9 Philemon Adventures were originally a french fantasy comic strip that appeared regularly in the magazine Pilote. Never before translated into English, this is the first introduction of the comic to English speaking audiences. The original strips were serialized…
Nostalgia Nexus
A Light in the Attic/Where the Sidewalk Ends Shel Silverstein (A & W) HarperCollins My elementary school really pounded Shel Silverstein’s poems into us. I have vivid memories of teachers reading bits from A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends to us (along with The Giving Tree, one of the saddest stories…
All Ages Summer Book Club — August Pick
In the Twitter talk about our June pick, we discussed the prevalence of depressing plotlines in children’s fiction, such as death, disease, and abuse. Many books utilize these themes to give their stories empathetic pull; it’s near impossible to read about a kid dealing with mortality or exploitation without feeling invested. It’s a powerful tool…
Kids Read Comics: A Dang Cool Convention
Kids Read Comics. Holy cow. Where to begin. This is the cutest little comic con in the world. Last month KRC held its fifth annual celebration at the Ann Arbor District Library, and it was the best year yet. What makes this kid’s con so cool? See below.
August All Ages Comics/Books
Benny and Penny in Lost and Found Geoffrey Hayes (W & A) TOON-Books Release date 8/5 Those two adorable mouse ragamuffins are back at it. This time they get lost! How will they find their way home? This is from TOON-Books, and everything those people touch is guaranteed awesomeness.
Review: The Fourteenth Goldfish
The Fourteenth Goldfish Jennifer L. Holm Random House Books for Young Readers I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. The Fourteenth Goldfish is about valuing the natural order of life. Youth, puberty, young adulthood, regular adulthood, and old age are each equally as valuable (and awkward) as the rest….