Booklist Online: More than 130,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers - from the trusted experts at the American Library Association

Lynn: Do not be deceived by the saccharine sweet cover! This wonderful little gem is a wacky mix of Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes and Jack Gantos at his bizarre best. Wealthy orphaned Petronella Arbuthnot is celebrating her sixteenth birthday with an assembly of friends. Her guardian, Augustus T. Percival, laughing widely at a joke, inadvertently [...]

Cindy: Earlier this spring in a blog post about Charles Darwin I said I was leery of some biographies being unsuccessfully presented in picture books and used Henry David Thoreau as an example. Wouldn’t you know I would soon read a starred review about D. B. Johnson’s latest Henry book, Henry’s Night (Houghton, 2009) featuring [...]

Cindy: What child doesn’t plead, “higher, higher” when they are being pushed on a swing? Higher! Higher! (Candlewick, 2009) is a perfect blend of art, clever-but-simple story, and dead-on child psychology. Full disclosure: I am a swing addict going way back and this book is a tribute to those who love to soar. When a [...]

Cindy and Lynn: Author visits are amazing things. If you haven’t hosted one, do it. Find a place and make it happen and watch the fun. Our BBYA club loved meeting with another author this week, but we want to give a little shout out to one of our community’s fine teen resources: The Boys [...]

Cindy: March Madness is behind us and I’m at a loss. College basketball is my favorite fan sport, and even the excitement of the Masters golf tournament doesn’t completely satisfy the hole I feel in my sports world each April. Fortunately, there’s a tonic for us round ball fanatics in David Gill’s debut novel, Soul [...]

Lynn: The clock is ticking. Humanity’s days are numbered as the earth’s population sickens and dies following a close pass by the comet Bhaktul and the virus it spread through the atmosphere. Only those under 18 seem to be immune and as society breaks down, a scientist steps forward with a controversial plan. Two years [...]

Cindy: Whenever Lynn makes me read a science fiction book I respond by forcing her to read something that tugs at her emotions. She would rather cavort with aliens than have to pull out a tissue while she reads. Oh well, baseball season is upon us and I’ve been begging her to read The Girl [...]

Lynn: Our focus group has been hard at work lately, reading their way through a pile of new picture books. We’ve found some fabulous books (stay tuned for more reviews) but right now a pair of books from Templar Books, a new imprint of Candlewick Press, is at the top of Mason and Hayden’s list. [...]

Cindy: Here’s a fun new series for elementary and younger middle school readers. In volume one, The Gecko & Sticky: Villain’s Lair (Knopf, 2009), Dave has a talking pet gecko named Sticky, who gets him involved with a dastardly, demented villain due to a magical Aztec wristband Sticky has stolen that Damien Black (said villain) [...]

Cindy: Spring Break is drawing nigh for me and the most agonizing part (besides swim suit shopping) is selecting the books to pack! I spend far more time choosing my reading material than my accessories–and I am all about jewelry. Now, some books I have to take to keep up with Lynn for the blog [...]