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

Cindy: Wow. Lynn saw Return of the Dapper Men (Archaia 2010) on Booklist’s Top Ten Graphic Novels for Youth: 2011 list and tracked it down. We had missed seeing this when it published in November. This is an intriguing story, with philosophical themes to explore (or not) and exquisite artwork…all of which will prompt many rereadings. In [...]

Lynn: Energy is a topic on everyone’s minds these days and finding a way to talk about this complex issue with children is more important than ever.  So I am especially happy to write about Energy Island:  How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World (Farrar/Frances Foster 2011) which is the first of [...]

Lynn:  Years ago I made a rule about completely avoiding books in which the animals die.  As a life-long pet owner and animal lover, dealing with the real thing is more than enough for me.  I have NO interest in reading about it, thank you very much.  I get that many people think exploring such [...]

Cindy: Well, that explains it. Now I know exactly why kids love mud and you will too after you splash and slop through Mudkin (Carolrhoda 2011). In an effort to be as spare as the text in this playful romp and to get you moved on to the delightful book with no further ado, I [...]

Cindy: With March Madness upon us, I was excited to find All Access: Your Behind-the-Scenes Pass to Sports, Stars, Locker Rooms, and More! (Time 2010) on display at my local public library. I knew I had to take it home when I flipped it open to find Shaquille O’Neal’s ginormous hand reproduced on a cellophane [...]

Lynn: Our focus group are total graphic novel fans.  Thank you publishers for giving us more and more wonderful graphic novels for younger readers!  Zita the Spacegirl (First Second 2010) was a huge hit with the boys and it took me a while to get it away from them to read myself.  (Cindy was a [...]

Lynn: Move over Philip Marlowe, a new gumshoe is in town.  Meet J.J. Tully, former search and rescue dog  – now turned out to grass in his retirement.    And sister, there’s chickens in that grass.  J.J. has barely settled in when trouble comes knocking – trouble in the form of a pretty tough bird.  [...]

Cindy: If you didn’t get enough haiku with our recent post about Guyku, then have we got a treat for you in Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku (Henry Holt 2011). The story opens with cats in separate cages in an animal shelter: Gypsy on my left. Pumpkin, my right. Together, we are [...]

Lynn: 15-year-old Lina is a gifted artist from a loving family looking forward to an exciting future in Between Shades of Gray (Penguin 2011).  But it is 1941 in Lithuania and in the middle of the night, Soviet soldiers storm into her home, seize her and her family and force them onto trains packed with [...]

Cindy: My smiley face bulletin board with yellow books on display was so popular with our students, that I may just work my way through the rainbow…but in the meantime, I’m celebrating the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday and spring with GREEN book covers. The nice part about a color-themed display is that it allows for [...]