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Cindy: For those of us heading back to school jobs, summer is quickly drawing to a close, or has already. I start a week of 8-4 professional development tomorrow morning and am reminded today of my favorite end-of-summer quote. It’s posted below and hails from Hilary McKay’s fiction book, The Exiles. We posted about this [...]

Lynn: Unless you are one of those irritating people who read it overnight, you are probably immersed in Mockingjay right now. I am reading it as fast as I can and trying to avoid the spoilers on the listservs. What IS it with those people? They can’t wait till Monday to start discussing? Some of [...]

Lynn: I have been clear that I really don’t like books that make me cry so the fact that this one did and I am recommending Layla, Queen of Hearts (Farrar 2010) anyway should send a loud message! Layla Elliot has a problem. Senior Citizen Day is approaching fast for her third grade class and [...]

Cindy: Want to hook young readers on the genre of biography? Give them All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine (Tundra, 2010). The opening scene shows a 6 year-old Elijah happily running to fix his father’s broken horse-drawn mower. His talent and love of working on machines started early. In 1866 Elijah returned to his ex-slave [...]

Lynn: Ahoy me hearties! Here’s a whale of a tale perfect for the young buccaneers heading to back to school. A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade (Feiwel 2010) chronicles a small boy’s first day at school accompanied by his invisible pirate crew. Every step from “shining his snappers” to meeting “the new cap’n Silver – [...]

Lynn: Cindy is always chiding me for hyperbolic praise for books so brace yourselves for her section because I’m probably going to be in for a scold. I love this book! The focus group loves this book! Picture us jumping up and down waving our arms and shouting at you to get Chalk (Marshall Cavendish [...]

Lynn: Cindy and I were lucky enough to hear Susan Campbell Bartoletti talk about her research for They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group (Houghton 2010) at ALA Midwinter. Every person in that room walked out yearning to get their hands on the book. This is definitely a case where [...]

Cindy: My first experience with Wuthering Heights comes from a Classics Illustrated version of the title from my childhood. Still, Heathcliff haunts me and who wouldn’t be intrigued by the story behind this brooding, evil character living on the English moors. The House of Dead Maids (Henry Holt, 2010) is Clare Dunkle’s creepy prequel-of-sorts to [...]

Cindy: Jack tales have to be among my favorite folktales and when you have one written by a special author and combine that with a tribute to storytelling and feature dessert, you know up front how I will feel about this book! Clever Jack Takes the Cake (Random House/Schwarz & Wade, 2010) is an original [...]

Lynn: Here is a book that is going to take very little work to promote. Just set Pika: Life in the Rocks (Boyds Mills 2010) on display and stand back. The eye-catching cover will guarantee that this book will be checked out immediately. I am always excited to find excellent nonfiction books for our youngest [...]