Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

Lynn: When PBS aired The National Parks: America’s Best Idea in September I was glued to the television. I had my popcorn and I sat for six glorious nights marveling at what I was seeing and hearing. In true librarian fashion, I had checked out a copy of the accompanying book ahead [...]

Lynn: This quiet little masterpiece is one of my favorite books this year. When the Whistle Blows (Penguin/Philomel 2009) may be a debut novel but Slayton writes with a polished skill that many a veteran author would envy. The novel has an interesting construction - seven complete short stories that build upon each [...]

Lynn: Sometimes books are just so special, so full of wonderful elements that I find it difficult to write about them. I don’t know where to start! The Storm in the Barn (Candlewick, 2009) is just that sort of book. This exquisitely crafted graphic novel is a wondrous blend of genres: [...]

Lynn: “I tried to make August last because September, and school, didn’t look good. We were not only newcomers, but we were P.K.’s - preacher’s kids. So everybody’d be gunning for us, and we’d be living in a fishbowl.” 11-year old Bob has a lot to worry about. Not only is his family new in [...]

Lynn: Here in Michigan we have two glorious weeks left before the school bell rings the day after Labor Day. Many families are wedging in one more trip and we’d like to remind everyone of a terrific way to while away the miles, avoid squabbles and enjoy something together. Listen to an audio book! I [...]

Lynn: Phineas Bump, Assistant Marshal of the United States, is assigned to count the people of the great state of Vermont in 1790. He is “saddle-sore, heartsick and down on his luck” when he rides into Tunbridge. In the first house he calls on he meets Mrs. Pepper who fears that the tally will be [...]

Lynn: Sometimes you just fall in love with a book and that is the case with The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Holt, May 2009) for me. I read it under trying circumstances too. I was suffering from a really horrendous case of poison ivy. (Yes, yes, I know about shiny leaves of three but [...]