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:  It was one of those shining moments in history when “the first Negro enlisted man accepted for the airborne forces…and the first officer” met.  They were the start of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, the first black paratroopers in our nation’s history created in the midst of the dark days of WWII.  Tanya Stone [...]

Lynn:  It isn’t basketball season as I write this but basketball fans won’t care AND it has taken me all this time to finally get my hands on The Final Four (Penguin/Viking 2012).  It was worth the wait though and this is a book that will never stay long on your shelves once the sports [...]

Cindy: Kids these days! They have it so easy. I recently saw this photo on awesome librarian friend Kevin King’s Facebook page announcing what his oldest daughter bought with her bookstore gift card: A Personal Library Kit. Now, before you villify me….I adore this young avid reader (and her younger sister) and I am THRILLED that she wants [...]

Lynn: Wonderfully timed for the celebration of Charles Dickens’ birth 200 year ago, is this gorgeous new picture book, A Boy Called Dickens (Random/Schwartz & Wade 2012) by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by John Hendrix.  This is the team that created one of my favorite books, Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek (Random Schwartz & Wade [...]

Cindy: Months behind the rest of the book-reading world, I finally read The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton 2012). I did not preorder the book–like the thousands of other true nerdfighter fans–because I could not trust myself to have the new John Green book in my house and stay focused on my 2011 L.A. Times [...]

Lynn: Excuse me while I hop in my dirigible and zip down to the coffee shop.  This was Alberto Santos-Dumont’s preferred method of getting around Paris and the doormen were used to tying his airship to posts while Alberto shopped or visited with friends.  In the Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont (Abrams 2011) readers [...]

Cindy: Paper or plastic? We are all familiar with that question, but I wasn’t familiar with the female inventor who gave us the machine to make a paper grocery bag. In The Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps It Up (Tundra 2011) is a delightful picture book biography of a little known inspiring woman. The book opens [...]

Lynn: Polka-dot houses, broken dolls hanging from telephone poles, old shoes in trees  – for 25 years Tyree Guyton has created controversial art in a special place.  Magic Trash:  A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art (Charlesbridge 2011) is an exuberant celebration of Guyton’s Heidelberg Project in East Side Detroit. Tyree’s mother worked hard [...]

Lynn: I’ve always cheered for the underdog (as can be seen by my life-long support of the Chicago Cubs) and I think a lot of kids share my tendency to root for the little guy.  The tortoise and the hare is a favorite tale for both me and the focus group and The Great Race [...]

Cindy: Lynn found this delightful autobiography of a man who befriended Picasso as a child. The Boy Who Bit Picasso (Abrams 2011) obviously illuminated the great painter’s life, but in a unique way for a youth biography: looking at a famous figure from the perspective of someone who sat on his lap, visited his studio [...]