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Cindy: I have to admit that when Lynn suggested Bird in a Box (Little, Brown 2011) for our blog schedule, I was less than enthusiastic. I’m not a boxing or fight fan of any sort and was not eager to read about the fascination with the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis. But to pass on this [...]

Lynn: One of the frequently heard laments from our book club teens is, “Why doesn’t anyone ever write about NORMAL teens?”  Pete Hautman must have been listening because his new book, The Big Crunch (Scholastic 2011) is exactly that.  No one is a vampire or werewolf, no one is dead, struggling with a deadly disease [...]

Lynn: It was a sunny Saturday, March 25, 1911.  New Yorkers were enjoying the weather in the park when they heard the fire engines racing to a ten-story building housing the Triangle Waist Company.  The top three floors were ablaze in what was to be the deadliest workplace fire for 90 years.  Albert Marrin recounts [...]

Cindy: Fans of Newbery Honor title The Wednesday Wars will be delighted with Schmidt’s new companion novel, Okay For Now (Clarion 2011).  “I’m not lyin’.” Doug Swieteck is dismayed to learn that his father lost his job and is relocating the family to the small upstate New York town, “Stupid Marysville.” I hate this town. I hate [...]

Cindy: I’m currently serving a two-year appointment as a judge for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Young Adult Literature Jury) and will be attending the Awards Ceremony on April 29th in Los Angeles where the winners are announced. I was thrilled to learn that all six of our finalists will be in town for the [...]

Lynn: I’ve always loved biographies but I have a special admiration for the brave souls who take on much admired  – and written about – subjects.  There have been so many books about the fascinating Amelia Earhart and I started Amelia Lost:  The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart (Random/Schwartz & Wade 2011) with my [...]

Lynn: I’ve struggled with this post so much that I’m in danger of wearing out my delete key.  I can’t seem to do justice to Tan’s artistry in his latest book to hit our shores, Lost & Found (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, April 2011). Three short stories published earlier in Australia are combined in this stunning [...]

Lynn: So – I’m reading another sequel in another fantasy series and here it is AGAIN – a plot device that makes me absolutely crazy!  Here is the dauntless hero/heroine, savior of the world in multiple previous adventures, and once again suspicion is being heaped – nay – deluged upon him/her.  Do his friends and [...]

Cindy: By the time you read this, I’ll be sitting in one of these chairs in Key West (hopefully one outside on the deck) reading through my pile of books…if I’m not out walking the beach or town. I’ll be celebrating the locale of Jennifer Holm’s Newbery Honor winning Turtle in Paradise and I have Meg Cabot’s new book, [...]

Cindy and Lynn: 100 Scope Notes has thrown down the gauntlet and asked for five line book spine poems for National Poetry Month. We had so much fun with this last year that we couldn’t resist trying it again. With Spring Break starting today as well for our district, we were in the mood for [...]