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: Do you mind if I gush? I’ve fallen in love with the Wren family. I don’t get to read as many children’s books as I do middle school and teen books so I missed What Happened on Fox Street, the prequel to Mo Wren, Lost and Found (Harper/Balzer & Bray 2011). Readers can easily [...]

Cindy: I picked up Pie (Scholastic 2011) a few months ago to read as a palate cleanser between review books. It had a pie and a cat on the cover and looked like a lighthearted read. I live in Michigan and it was prime berry season when I started writing this post in early August. I didn’t know [...]

Cindy: There are books that make me sad. Some that make me cry. And then there are books that unhinge me like A Monster Calls (Candlewick 2011). I read this on a plane last spring and was crying from the forward explaining the back story. Siobahn Dowd, one of my favorite authors, lost her life [...]

Cindy: Holy cow, Lisa McMann! I’m glad I can’t experience your dreams if your fiction is any indication of what goes on at night in your head! McMann’s WAKE trilogy is very popular in our high schools, but I can’t wait to booktalk Cryer’s Cross (Simon Pulse 2011) with my eighth graders this fall. I [...]

Cindy: While Lynn is booking a real trip to Europe this summer, I have to pacify myself with a virtual trip through The Last Little Blue Envelope (HarperTeen 2011).  Those of you who followed Ginny’s European scavenger hunt in the first book, Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, will remember that her backpack was stolen in Greece [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Lynn: As a dedicated escapist reader I routinely run the other way from “disease” books. I made an exception for Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie (Scholastic 2005), Sonnenblick’s wonderful book about Steven Alper, his tumultuous 8th grade year and his little brother Jeffrey’s battle with leukemia. That exemption continues for After Ever After (Scholastic 2010), [...]

Cindy: We don’t let our teens in book club get away with this, but I just want to say “I really, really, reaaaallly like this book.” Ok. So you probably want details about The Sky is Everywhere (Dial, 2010). Lennie’s older sister, Bailey, died suddenly of an arrhythmia and Lennie feels like “someone vacuumed up [...]

Cindy: Brother is just shy of twelve-years-old when he must step up and help his grandfather run their Oregon farm after his father is shipped off to Iraq. The theme of conflict and loss runs throughout the story from the opening chess sequence to Brother’s fights with his older brothers when they come home and [...]