It's Baaaack!: The SLJ Battle of the Kids' Books

Ah March, the days are getting longer, the weather is slowly (very slowly) warming, and spring is in the air. March also brings the NCAA Basketball Tournament (aka March Madness) and the SLJ Battles of the Kids' Books (aka March Mayhem)!

From the BOKB blog: "School Library Journal's Battle of the (Kids') Books is a competition between 16 of the very best books for young people published in 2009, judged by some of the biggest names in children's books."

Last week, whilst I was overwhelmed with my personal life and didn't get around to blogging, they announced the contenders and judges. In alphabetical order, the books are:

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Philip Hoose

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

Fire by Kristin Cashore

The Frog Scientist (Scientists in the Field Series) by Pamela S. Turner

The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 5) by Rick Riordan

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor

The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge

Marcelo in the Real World (Schneider Family Book Award. Teen) by Francisco X. Stork

Marching For Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge

Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan

Sweethearts of Rhythm by Marilyn Nelson

Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

What an amazingly diverse field with strong representation from the tween market! This is going to be an intense competition, and I don't even know who I'm rooting for just yet. I'm proud to note that I have purchased all of these books for my middle school library collection and I've read all but just a few, a failing which I shall quickly remedy this week.

Oh yeah, and the judges aren't too shabby either! Talk about a diverse crew of authors, running the gambit from science fiction to realistic fiction to novels in verse to graphic novels, and also culturally diverse!

M. T. Anderson
Christopher Paul Curtis
Nancy Farmer
Candace Fleming
Helen Frost
Shannon Hale
Angela Johnson
Cynthia Kadohata
Julius Lester
Jim Murphy
Walter Dean Myers
Katherine Paterson
Gary Schmidt
Anita Silvey
Megan Whalen Turner

I am PUMPED for this competition to get underway! Brackets will be posted tomorrow, March 1st, on the fancy-dancy NEW website (which doesn't yet exist for public view), the same day the real excitement begins!

Oh, and I've got a preliminary favorite: Fire by Kristin Cashore. But really, with a competition featuring so many awesome books, I can hardly be upset no matter who wins!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Tween Tuesday: Powerless

Powerless

by Matthew Cody

Knopf Books for Young Readers, $15.99

Recommended for: kids who love comics, or mystery, or fantasy

Review copy provided by: the author

Heroes come in all colors, shapes and sizes. With a multicultural cast of kid superheroes, Cody's debut novel, Powerless, reminds us of that fact.

Noble's Green is a town where all of the kids have super powers. All the kids except Daniel Corrigan. He can't fly or become invisible, but when he learns that the "Supers" mysteriously lose their powers on their thirteenth birthday, his Sherlock Holmes inspired detective skills just might save the day.

Part mystery, part comic-book-fantasy, and part just plain fun. Give Powerless to any tween, but especially one who might need to be reminded how "super" they are every now and again.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

2009 Cybils Winners Announced!

Hooray! (I'll let you click the link and look over the winners on your own.)

A bunch of surprises, for sure! It's nice to see awards love spread around to so many of the amazing titles of this past year - especially to personal favorites like Kristin Cashore's Fire, which I'd hoped would get some Printz love.

I was one of the first round judges for the Middle Grade/Young Adult Nonfiction category, and I had no idea what would get the win. I'm pleasantly surprised to see the honor go to The Frog Scientist by Pamela S. Turner.

Anyhoot, congratulations to all the winners (and finalists!) and many thanks to all the judges and readers who nominated titles.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Third Hunger Games Title and Cover Revealed!

Mockingjay!

No word yet on storyline, but something tells me that with Catching Fire leaving us with the start of the revolution and the mockingjay being the sign of the revolution, the third book in the The Hunger Games trilogy is book is gonna be about revolution.

Viva la revolucion!

August 24th cannot come soon enough.

Now if I could just find a neat countdown clock to add to my page.

Kid Lit Bits

I'm snowed in for yet another day (haven't worked since last Thursday). Sp, I thought I might pass on some links for those of you who are also snowed in and looking for ways to pass the time!

• Betsy Bird of A Fuse #8 has begun to unveil the Top 100 Chapter Books, a few titles at a time.
• Strollerderby gives you the skinny on the Secret Lives of 4 Famous Children's Authors. Oh, for shame!
• Time is running out to submit your choices for the Search for the Top 100 Teen Titles. Make sure to do so by February 14th.
• SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books is gearing up! Brackets are set and judges have been chosen.

Now, I'm off to snuggle up with The Monstrumologist. I'm about five chapters in already, and can't decide what I think about it. I'm not much for horror, but I get sucked in by the writing. It definitely has the feel of a more classic, older novel, like Frankenstein or Dracula than something written in the 21st century. Perhaps a good recommendation to my 8th graders who think YA lit isn't challenging enough for their tastes and prefer Cormac McCarthy.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Tween Tuesday: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Newbery Honor Book)

by Rodman Philbrick

The Blue Sky Press, $16.99

Recommended for: tweens who prefer humor to historical fiction

Review Copy Provided by: my local library

Homer P. Figg was never much good about telling the truth, but after his wretched Uncle Squinton sells his brother into the Union army and imprisons Homer, he escapes and sets out to find the only real family he has left. Along the way, Homer's tendency to stretch the truth gets him into (and out of) trouble as he follows the soldiers and finds himself living in the lap of luxury, aiding the Underground Railroad, working in a traveling sideshow and in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg. Historical fiction isn't known for filled with as many laughs as gasps, but with Homer is always an adventure.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg is a 2010 Newbery Honor Book.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Twilight Zone: The Real Qulieute

Turns out that Jacob's Quileute tribe in La Push, WA is real.

I guess I just figured it was something Stephenie Meyer had made up. Sadly, while everyone else in America is making boatloads of cash off of Team Jacob and the whole Twilight phenomenon, the Quileute people have been left out in the rain. While MSN camera crews trespass on their cemetery and Nordstrom makes money off of their Quileute hoody, the real Quileute people go about their everyday in poverty.

I feel like something is owed to this people, whose history, land and culture has been pilfered. They deserve to profit from Twilight's success too.

Thanks to my friend James for pointing me towards this Op-Ed.

Nonfiction Monday: Prowling the Seas: Exploring the Hidden World of Ocean Predators

It's been over a month since I posted for Nonfiction Monday, and I apologize for my absence. You always think that the new year will provide a chance to really get on top of things, and then life interferes! Alas, without any further adieu, I bring to you...

Prowling the Seas: Exploring the Hidden World of Ocean Predators

by Pamela S. Turner

Walker Books for Young Readers, $18.89

Recommended for: upper elementary students who love sharks and other sea creatures

Review copy provided by: the author

During a vacation to Wildwood Crest, NJ when I was in middle school, my family decided to go out on one of those whale watching tours. My siblings and I were pumped. We'd been going 'down the shore' our whole lives, but had only been in the shallow areas near the beach, never out in a boat on the ocean. My mom had been stung once by a jellyfish, but otherwise the contents of the Atlantic were a mystery to us. We had our cameras ready to snap shots of whales surfacing and dolphins playing in the wake of the boat. Maybe we'd even see a shark. It was going to be awesome. Except, it appears that no one told the animals of the sea that they should put on a show for us that day, and they remained hidden in the depths. All we saw were seagulls.

Most of us never get to see what goes on under the surface of the ocean. The happenings of the sea are but a mystery. But we know that there's a whole world down there, just waiting to be explored, and Turner's book provides a glimpse into the lives of a few species in the Pacific Ocean. In Prowling the Seas: Exploring the Hidden World of Ocean Predators, the reader follows several creatures, including a leatherback sea turtle, a bluefin tuna, a (great) white shark, and a sooty shearwater, as they travel around the ocean. To keep track of their whereabouts, the scientists of the TOPP (Tagging of Pacific Predators) project attach and/or imbed high-tech tags which communicate with satellites. These tags are able to tell stories about where and how fast the predators travel, shedding light on the goings-on of the deep. In the process of learning more about their travels, scientists can also learn about ways to help species like the bluefin tuna, that are at-risk from over-fishing and the leatherback sea turtles who love to eat jellyfish, but sometimes wind up choking on plastic bags that look like dinner.

Overall an informative look at the secret lives of some of the ocean's predators. A resources page at the back is an added bonus for those interested in learning more. The one thing I was hoping to see in this book but didn't was a greater focus on how being predators played into where they traveled, and how they captured their prey. A little 'action' on top of the information. Of course, the book is designed for children, so I suppose some of that information might just be downright frightening. The 'Great Turtle Race' will have to be action enough.

The full round-up of Nonfiction Monday posts can be found at Great Kid Books.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.