July 2008

The Indianhead Federated Library System presents

Starred Reviews

New and Notable Books for Young People

July 2008 * Eau Claire, WI

The books in this newsletter were given starred reviews by the following periodicals: School Library Journal (SLJ), Publisher’s Weekly (PW), Booklist (BL), Horn Book (HB), and Criticas (CR). Library binding prices and ISBNs are noted. Quotations have been taken directly from the reviews. This selection tool has been created to assist IFLS library staff wade through the 5,000-5,500 children’s and young adult titles published each year. Librarians should consider which of the following books best fit their collection and clientele.

Contents:

Picture Books
Juvenile Fiction
Non-fiction
YA Fiction
Books in Spanish/Bilingual Books
Books of Interest to Adults

Picture Books

Ahlberg, Allan. The Pencil. Illus. by Bruce Ingman. Candlewick, $16.99 (978-0-7636-3894-8)

(PreS-gr. 3) “Both clever and suspenseful…pencil who must deal with the consequences of his inventions…a boy…a dog and a cat…world soon expands dramatically…Complaints start to surface…but the pencil’s solution—an eraser—runs rampant…exuberantly conveys the joy of both construction and destruction…comical and unexpected plot and wry narrator keep the story fresh throughout…pencil draws his way out of one predicament after another.” (PW)

Baker, Keith. Potato Joe. Harcourt, $16 (978-0-15-206230-9)

(PreS-gr. 2) “This book gets sillier and sillier without ever forsaking its low-key cool…Potato Joe and his fellow spuds…if it can rhyme with potato, they’re all over it… velvety brown ovals with the simplest of faces…But only someone with cold sour cream running through his veins could resist turning the page to see what rhyme and activity are served up next.” (PW)

Cronin, Doreen. Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure. Illus. by Betsy Lewin. S&S/Atheneum, $16.99 (978-1-4169-1630-7)

(PreS-gr.2) “…Farmer Brown is trying to put together a fabulous Statue of Liberty corn maze. But the ever-subversive Duck has different ideas…more goofy than satiric…bold, loosely rendered watercolors continue to find new comic depths…” (PW)

Field, Eugene W. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. Illus. by Giselle Potter. Random/Schwartz & Wade Bks., $19.99 (978-0-375-94596-0)

(PreS-gr.2) “…fanciful, artistic interpretation is ideal for this 19^th-century poem about the wistful place between sleep and dreams…Sea and sky flow into one another…each spread is a dreamy still life…drenched in the calming blues of the sea and sky…otherworldly…” (SLJ)

Harris, Robie H. The Day Leo Said I Hate You! Illus. by Molly Bang. Little, Brown, $16.99 (978-0-316-06580-1)

(PreS-gr.1) “…hero is sulking after some serial misbehaving…vibrant collages of photos and cut paper…Mommy’s disciplining finally pushes him to an act of provocative communication…Instantly mortified…Could the words he spoke in anger negate Mommy’s love for him?...breach is not, of course, irreparable, and the way Mommy brings it off is so humane, sensible, and, yes, replicable…” (PW)

Lies, Brian. Bats at the Library. Houghton Mifflin, $16 (978-0-618-99923-1)

(PreS-gr.3) “…much-lauded bats are back…library…young ones initially misbehave…Story time settles everyone (upside-) down…comic license to bat-tify the signature visuals from classics like…Pippi Longstocking; Goodnight, Moon and Peter Rabbit…richly detailed chiaroscuro paintings find considerable humor at the intersection where bat and human behavior intersect…” (PW)

McClintock, Barbara. Adèle & Simon in America. FSG/Foster, $16.95 (978-0-374-39924-5)

(PreS-gr.3) “…young Parisian siblings…embark on a second highly successful adventure…train journey through the United States…early-20^th-century setting…ink-and-watercolor work depicts each of 12 destinations in impeccable period detail. Once again Simon loses one of his belongings at each stop…well-researched end-notes… historical and geographical background for each place the trio visits and indicate the presence of historical figures, too…” (PW)

McDonnell, Patrick. South. Little, Brown, $14.99 (978-0-3165-00509-8)

(PreS-gr.1) “…winning run of books about friendship starring the clown-nosed cat Mooch…ink-wash sketches…bird whose flock has flown south without him. Scene after scene delivers and emotional wallop as the bird realizes with a shock that his friends have departed (petite drops of sweat leap off his head)…gazes in amazement at Mooch’s extended paw…neatly paced…tugging at the heartstrings and silent humor.” (PW)

Orlean, Susan. Lazy Little Loafers. Illus. by G. Brian Karas. Abrams, $16.95 (978-0-8109-7027-4)

(K-gr.3) “…peeved, thoroughly cosmopolitan young heroine…walks through Manhattan on the way to school…baby who exemplifies all that’s wrong with babyhood is in fact her little brother…sublime visual joke…matches wry text with deadpan cartoons of jaded babies…with a little photo-collage thrown in for punctuation…One of the wittiest new-baby-in-the-family books of recent years.” (PW)

Rappaport, Doreen. Lady Liberty: A Biography. Illus. by Matt Tavares. Candlewick, $17.99 (978-0-7636-2530-6)

(gr. K-6) “…fictional first-person accounts representing the voices of people who assisted in the design, building, financing, and transport of the Statue of Liberty from France to New York…convey a vivid sense of the ingenuity, politics, and hardships involved in making the statue a reality…clear passion…yet the writing never becomes …overly sentimental…a chronology of important events, author’s and illustrator’s notes…” (HB)

Rosoff, Meg. Wild Boars Cook. Illus. by Sophie Blackall. Holt, $16.95 (978-0-8050-7523-6)

(PreS-gr.2) “…foursome of Meet Wild Boars concoct dessert in this droll sequel …lamentable manners…devour everything in the linoleum-lined kitchen they inhabit… ‘messiest, stickiest, gooiest…pudding in the whole wide world’…depicts the piggish sprees in cheerfully klutzy ink-and-watercolor…” (PW)

Scotton, Rob. Splat the Cat. HarperCollins, $16.99 (978-0-0608-3154-7)

(PreS-gr.2) “…edgy style…humor…first-day-of-school anxiety. Right away the art signals off-kilter…evokes the black cat Splat in almost 3D renderings…For courage, Splat secretly brings along his pet mouse, Seymour, and is astounded when the day’s lesson includes the news that cats chase mice…Naturally everything works out…but not before a chase sequence guaranteed to bring down the house…superbly executed details…completely transcends its agenda.” (PW)

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. One Boy. Roaring Brook/Porter, $14.95 (978-1-59643-274-1)

(PreS-gr.1) “nifty peek-a-boo book, counting to 10 and identifying new words by exposing or covering letters with die-cuts…title character…number one and ‘one boy’…with the boy framed in a rectangle on the right. A turn of the page shifts the opening to the left side and the words ‘all alone’ appear, with ‘alone’ incorporating ‘one’…pattern repeats…images do not form a continuous narrative. Instaead, the ‘one boy’ reappears...paintbrushes dripping…slick look…innovative…” (PW)

Tutu, Archbishop Desmond and Douglas Carton Abrams. God’s Dream. Illus. by LeUyen Pham. Candlewick, $16.99 (978-0-7636-3388-2)

(PreS-g.3) “…’god dreams that every one of us will see that we are all brothers and sisters…even if we have different mommies and daddies or live in faraway lands.’…direct prose can often be the most reassuring…illustrations…nimbly sidestep triteness…velvety, saturated palette and the unassuming sweetness …wide range of believers…should respond to its heartfelt appeals.” (SLJ)

Watt, Mèlanie. Chester’s Back! Kids Can, $18.95 (978-1-55453-287-2)

(PreS-gr.3) “…mischievous follow-up to comical metafiction, Chester…star of his very own fairy tale. But…Chester…scrawling in red marker over almost every page…a tiny mouse…provides running commentary, sometimes through gestures only. Readers will be dazzled by the cat’s rampant self-regard…tickled by his ongoing battle of wits with his owner/creator.” (PW)

Wells, Rosemary. Yoko Writes Her Name. Hyperion, $15.99 (978-0-786-803-712)
(PreS-gr. 2) “When Yoko writes her name in Japanese instead of English, two classmates mock her…Yoko hides under a table and is discovered by Angelo, who wants to learn how to write Japanese. In return, he shows her how to write her name in ‘ABCs’…sunny illustrations, Japanese and English labels on familiar objects invite children to write in both languages…Meaningful and delightful in equal measure.” (BL)

Willems, Mo. I Love My New Toy! Hyperion, $8.99 (978-1-423-109-617)

I Will Surprise My Friend! Hyperion, $8.99 (978-1-423-109-624)

(K-gr.2) “…Piggie has a great new toy…not exactly sure what it does. Elephant thinks…throwing toy…smashes in two pieces…break in the friendship…friends soon realize that playing together is more fun than any old toy…captures the emotions of young children…in I Will Surprise My Friend…surprising each other when both know a surprise is coming isn’t that easy…combination of simple text and mischievous art will satisfy beginning readers and leave them eager to polish their skills…” (BL)

Juvenile Fiction

Basye, Dale E. Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go. Random, $16.99 (978-0-375-84075-3)

(Gr. 4-7) “…uproarious send-up of all things purgatorial…Milton, a blameless 11-year-old bookworm…sister Marlo…meet their demise in a ludicrous accident… Unfortunately, Marlo has been shoplifting and stashed her goods in Milton’s gear, so both get sent to Heck—a hell for the under-18 demographic. Never mind that Milton is technically innocent: ‘The devil’s in the details,’ snaps Heck’s principal, Be ‘Elsa’ Bubb…author’s umpteen clever allusions…make this book sparkle.” (PW)

*GN* Cammuso, Frank. Knights of the Lunch Table, Bk. 1 (The Dodgeball Chronicles). Scholastic/Graphix, $9.99 (978-0-439-90322-6)

(gr. 4-8) “Arthurian legend gets an update…in this outstanding graphic novel… first day at Camelot Middle School, Artie King opens a locker that no one has ever been able to open…offends both Principal Dagger and bully Joe Roman…local dodgeball… champions…Arthur calls on new friends…and gets a little assistance from that mysterious locker…References to other versions of Aurthurian legend are sprinkled throughout…stands well on its own…appealing illustrations…” (SLJ)

Lisle, Janet Taylor. Highway Cats. Illus. by David Frankland. Philomel, $14.99 (978-0-399-250-705)

(gr. 4-7) “Three kittens abandoned on the median strip of an interstate highway miraculously survive…loose group of feral cats…save their small patch of homeland woods from being destroyed…satisfying fantasy in the present day…action moves steadily and surely to the climactic showdown…attractively illustrated…would be a delight to read aloud.” (BL)

Look, Lenore. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things. Illus. by LeUyen Pham. Random/Scwartz & Wade, $15.99 (978-0-375-38914-6)

(gr. 1-5) “Alvin Ho, a Chinese-American second-grader…afraid of just about everything…never spoken a word in school…by the end of the story, his fears are pretty much intact, but he’s found a friend…intuitive grasp of children’s emotions…comic exaggeration…” (PW)

McGhee, Alison. Julia Gillian: (and the Art of Knowing). Illus. by Drazen Kozjan. Scholastic, $15.99 (978-0-545-03348-0)

(gr. 2-5) “Nine-year-old Minneapolis resident Julia Gillian…comfortable urban life…caring parents…helpful neighbors…devoted dog, Bigfoot…parents insist she finish reading a book about a boy and an old dog, she is sure it will have an unhappy ending… neighbor tells her about her own demons…discovers that she is not alone in being afraid … illustrations…add a whimsical note… acutely conscious of achieving a new maturity that allows her to question authority and to assert herself…” (SLJ)

Pennypacker, Sara. Clementine’s Letter. Illus. by Martha Frazee. Hyperion, $14.99 (978-0-7868-3884-4)

(gr. 2-4) “Irrepressible and delightful Clementine…is in sync with her teacher, Mr. D’Matz…the Mr. D’Matz is selected as one of three finalists for an Adventures for Teachers archaeological dig in Egypt…Clementine is distraught to learn that if chosen…he will be gone for the rest of the year…everyday life as an impulsive eight-year-old…vibrant spirit…pen and ink drawings perfectly capture Clementine’s personality and her world.” (SLJ)

Riddell, Chris. Ottoline and the Yellow Cat. Illus. by the author. HarperCollins, $15.89 (978-0-06-144880-5)

(gr. 3-5) “While her parents are off traveling the world collecting ‘interesting things,’ Ottoline Brown lives in an elaborate apartment in Big City with her best friend, guardian and accomplice…Mr. Monroe…silent creature…resembles Cousin Itt from the AddamsFamily…solves a mystery involving a cat burglar, who is actually a cat… detailed line drawings…black and white with red highlighting…illustrations add humor, depth and momentum…quickly moving plot…real emotion…good choice for reluctant readers, although there is some challenging vocabulary…enough detail…to satisfy any graphic novel fan.” (SLJ)

Non-fiction

Bradley, Timothy J. Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest. Chronicle, $15.99 (978-0-8118-6022-2)

(gr. 3-7) “Large, digitally colored pencil sketches...appealing title about prehistoric arthropods and their relatives…Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras…visual and textual vignette…several species…given a full-page or spread…vivid picture and up-to-date information based on the fossil record…clever visual sidebar compares the size of the bug with a human child…compares the ancient species to its modern-day descendant…pronunciation guides…bibliography…A few small grammatical glitches…good science, excellent organization, and eye-catching illustrations…fine choice for browsers and researchers.” (SLJ)

D’Aluisio, Faith and Peter Menzel. What the World Eats. Tricycle, $22.99 (978-1-582-462-462)

(gr. 4-8) “…Hungry Planet: What the World Eats…reworked the text, added new materials, and honed the bnook’s focus to more specifically reflect the experiences of young people…basic concept remains the same…illustrated survey of what people across the globe eat in a single week…intimate photo essay of a different family and their week’s worth of groceries, listed…and pictured in a photograph…Stunning color photographs…warm, informative, anecdotal narratives…statistics…eye-catching graphics…food-related issues…fascinating, sobering, and instructive look at daily life around the world…” (BL) (SLJ)

Franco, Betsy. Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails: Patterns and Shapes…Naturally. Illus. by Steve Jenkins. S&S/McElderry, $16.99 (978-1-4169-0836-4)

(PreS-gr.2 ) “…geometry in the animal world…hexagonal beehive cells…brisk rhymes draw attention to nature’s math…layout of text frequently echoes the subject under discussion…cut-paper collages…stunning…striking color combinations make the illustrations pop…inviting…bound to spark more careful observations of the shapes and colors in the readers’ natural world.” (PW)

Getzinger, Donna. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. (American Workers Series). Morgan Reynolds, $27.95 (978-1-59935-099-8)

(gr.7 and up) “…labor regulations in American industry during the 20^th century…Beginning with a brief account of the disaster…women who lost their lives… lack of communication among the workers…New York City’s growth…varied immigrant population…overcrowded factory conditions…challenges…Unions…Much closer and detailed look at all aspects of the fire…Archival photos and diagrams with captions…” (SLJ)

Haas, Robert B. African Critters. National Geographic, $26.90 (978-1-4263-031-80)

(gr. 3-5) “…beautiful photo-essay about African wildlife…southern African game reserves…brief, chatty text and the unframed pictures catch the harsh reality of the animals’ life-and-death struggle…writing is needlessly exclamatory; the zoology and the photos are astonishing enough…fascinating details about animal behavior…Even with all the glossy animal books already crowding the shelves, this book is a must-purchase… exceptionally strong combination of action, information, and conservation…” (BL)

Kuklin, Susan. No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row. Holt, $16.95 (978-0-8050-7950-0)

(gr. 9-12) “…book opens with candid interviews that introduce three inmates, all of them teenagers when they committed their crimes. Next we meet family members of victims and inmates to see hwo these crimes and sentences affect them…attorney… advocacy efforts…paint an unrelentingly cruel picture of the prison system and capital punishment…neither comprehensive nor balanced…remarkably successful at putting human faces on [the issues]…solid back matter.” (HB)

Laidlaw, Rob. Wild Animals in Captivity. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, $19.95 (978-1-55455-025-8)

(gr. 5-8) “…passionate, well-written and well-researched argument against the practices of most zoos around the world…describes the damage done when animals are unnaturally confined and moved to inhospitable climates…compares the wild and captive lives of polar bears, orcas, elephants, and great apes—the four species most harmed by captivity…gives readers several sets of questions and checklists for evaluating the fair treatment of animals in zoos that they visit…advocates replacing zoos with wildlife sanctuaries and conservation centers…not a balanced report…book is heartbreaking. Sensitive children will be deeply disturbed…likely to be controversial…” (SLJ)

McGill, Alice. Way Up and Over Everything. Illus. by Jude Daly. Houghton, $16 (978-0-618-38796-0).

(K-gr.6) “… ‘The People Could Fly,’ …McGill’s variant comes from her great-grandmother (b. 1857), who told it as if observed by her own ‘mama,’ Jane…conveys the powerful consolation of imagined freedom. Jane, an enslaved sixteen-year-old…five newly purchased Africans…first day, they escape from the cotton fields…found, hand in hand, on a distant hilltop, from which they spring aloft, vanishing into the sky…figures are slim and spare…setting…enhances the glorious sense of freedom seized against all odds…pungent narrative voice give the story immediacy…” (HB)

Rex, Adam. Frankenstein Takes the Cake. Harcourt, $16 (978-0-15-206235-4)

(K-gr. 5) “…spot-on rhymes about B-movie monsters, loosely organized around the nuptuals of Frankenstein and his bride……Frankenstein’s mother-in-law frets over her daughter’s resurrection and engagement…ideal audience may be pop-culture buffs… running gag about ‘The Raven,” where a sarcastic bird mocks Edgar Allan Poe…eclectic imagery and freewheeling verse will have readers going back for seconds.” (PW)

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YA Fiction

Baldini, Michelle and Lynn Biederman. Unraveling. Delacorte, $15.99 (978-0-385-73540-7)

(gr. 9 and up) “…painfully realistic… Amanda Himmelfarb, 15, has good reason to feel rejected by her sniping, bitter mom…dad…and younger…sister are of little help…coauthors expertly calibrate the family dynamics…boy she likes at school fools around with her in secret while openly preserving his relationship with his girlfriend… trades Amanda a date to the homecoming dance in return for sex…it’s like watching a train wreck about to happen…Amanda speaks with wit and not self-pity. The only false note is an overly dramatic, quasi-tidy resolution—a forgivable flaw…’ (PW)

Brooks, Kevin. Black Rabbit Summer. Scholastic/Chicken House, $17.99 (978-0-545-05752-3)

(gr. 7 and up) “Sinister yet seductive…brooding thriller…marked taste for ambiguity. Five teens precede a trip to a carnival with a visit to their long-abandoned hideout…next morning, one of them is missing—Raymond, a borderline type who believes his black rabbit can talk to him—as is a local girl turned wild-child celebrity, seen taunting Raymond the previous evening…Pete alone worries about Raymond and begins trying to track him…”(PW)

Cashore, Kristin. Graceling. Harcourt, $17 (978-0-15-206396-2)

(gr. 9 and up) “In a land of seven kingdoms, people with special talents, called Gracelings, are identified by their eyes…Katsa’s eight before her specific Grace is identified as a talent for killing…By 18 she’s King Randa’s henchwoman…hates the job…leads a secret council whose members work against corrupt power…meets… Po… destined to be lovers…exquisitely drawn romance…broad appeal…take-charge heroine … political intrigue…writing is perfectly pitched at teens struggling to put their own talents to good use…riveting…” (PW)

Freitas, Donna. The Possibilities of Sainthood. FSG/Foster, $16.95 (978-0-374-36087-0)

(gr. 7 and up) “Fresh and funny…15-year-old Catholic schoolgirl…Antonia regularly petitions the saints…for her first kiss…decides to fill the gap in hagiography and proposes herself as the patron saint of the first kiss…e-mails to the Vatican…vivid… warm portrayal of urban Italian-American family life…beautifully sustained light touch.” (PW)

Gehrman, Jody. Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty. Dial, $16.99 (978-0-8037-3247-6)

(gr. 9 and up) “Geena, 16…working at the local coffee shop…cousin Hero and friend Amber…clear that [Hero] and Amber are not going to be friends…Geena’s diary entries…each girl’s strengths, flaws and personality…inspired by Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing…contemporary subplot…fake nude pictures…on MySpace…blends realistic teen characters who use slang, curse, and talk about sex with skillfully descriptive writing…” (SLJ)

Halam, Ann. Snakehead. Random/Wendy Lamb Bks., $19.99 (978-0-375-94108-5)

(gr. 8 and up) “…ancient Aegean…Perseus, the only Greek hero to have a happy ending, gets a compelling treatment…mother is Danae…father is Zeus… Perseus is sent on a mission to slay the monster Medusa…some anachronisms in the story…attitudes and understanding of the world experienced by the main character are true to their setting… Readers of Rick Riordan’s ‘Percy Jackson’ series will be delighted to read a tale of that Percy’s namesake, and lovers of Greek myth will find plenty of details and hints to keep them involved…” (SLJ)

Hopkins, Ellen. Identical. S&S/McElderry, $17.99 (978-1-4169-5005-9)

(gr. 9 and up) “…free verse…harrowing ride into the psyches of 16-year-old identical twins Kaileigh and Raeanne…racing toward self-destruction…family appears picture-perfect…ever since an accident, ‘Mom doesn’t love anyone…’Raeanne seeks escape in sex and drugs; Kaileigh binges and cuts herself…gutsy confessions reveal a history of sexual abuse and emotional neglect…not clear that both girls will survive… concrete verse…Often, the twin’s entries mirror each other, on facing pages…shocking climax.” (PW)

Hurley, Tonya. ghostgirl. Little, Brown, $17.99 (978-0-316-11357-1)

(gr. 7 and up) “…glittering comedy…growing subgenre of satire about teens who will not or cannot die. Charlotte Usher…chokes to death on a gummy bear. Sent to Deadiquette school along with other teen spirits, she skips out, still determined to woo her long-time heartthrob…jokes stay sharp…Plotlines raise the stakes…classic themes about claiming identity…author has a build-in fan base from her ghostgilr Web sites… high-impact design will ensure attention from casual browsers…” (PW)

Marillier, Juliet. Cybele’s Secret. Knopf, $20.99 (978-0375-933-653)

(gr. 7-10) “…Wildwood Dancing…companion novel, bookish, 17-year-old Paula travels to Istanbul to assist her father in delicate negotiations for Cybele’s Gift, a pagan totem raising a hue and cry among the city’s Muslim clerics…bodyguard Stoyan…efforts to decipher portents from the Other Kingdom…readily accessible to newcomers…” (BL)

McKinley, Robin. Chalice. Putnam, $18.99 (978-0-399-24676-0)

(gr. 7 and up) “…high fantasy...perfectly shaped and eloquently told… Chalice…communicating with the (sentient) land…misrule of its former Master… smoldering attraction…gorgeously evoked magic…escalating threat the Willowlands will be usurped…lavish and lasting treat.” (PW)

Jocelyn, Marthe. Would You. Lamb/Random, $18.99 (978-0-375-93703-3)

(gr. 9-12) “…deeply affecting novel…no-win situation Natalie and her parents are thrust into when Natalie’s older sister Claire is hit by a car and lies in a coma…eloquently conveys how quickly “normal” life can change into something surreal…” (HB) (BL)

McCarthy, Maureen. Rose by Any Other Name. Roaring Brook, $16.95 (978-1-596-433-724)

(gr. 9-12) “…complicated soap opera of a book…fresh, authentic characters… bring to mind a wild, contemporary update of the Marches in Little Women…even the peripheral characters are lovingly and intricately drawn…universal self-destructive tendencies and resilience, will resonate with teen readers…” (BL)

Rees, Cecilia. Sovay. Bloomsbury, $16.99 (978-1-59990-203-6)

(gr. 7 and up) “…evocative writing…sweep readers back in time…iron-willed protagonist… fashioned after the heroine of a traditional British ballad…English countryside…French Revolution…17-year-old Sovay…find missing father and brother, who’ve been condemned for supporting the Revolution…plays the role of highway robber, spy and socialite…gather clues…detailed descriptions of period dress, inventions and architecture…France’s shift of power after the storming of the Bastille…suspenseful tale of political intrigue and class struggle.”(PW)

Sàenz, Benjamin Alire. He Forgot to Say Goodbye. Simon & Schuster, $16.99 (978-1-4169-4963-3)

(gr. 7 and up) “…wise and trenchant coming-of-age story…alternates between two teenage narrators from very different backgrounds…share…pain—their fathers walked out on them years ago…Ramiro…responsible son of a hardworking single mother…bitter younger brother overdoses on heroin…Jake…disgusted with his mother and stepfather’s shallow, materialistic values…traumatic events…highly individuated voices…seem so real…” (PW)

Swanwick, Michael. The Dragons of Babel. Tor, $25.95 (978-0-7653-1950-0)

(gr. 9 and up) “An unusual combination of Faerie, postindustrial Earth, and biblical places…war…dragons…are part machine and part magic. One crash-lands near a Faerie village and declares itself king. Teenaged Will, part mortal, is forced to become its lieutenant…driven out after it is killed…rescued by female centaurs…underground Babel…helps the downtrodden…Readers will empathize with the teenager…Earthy, bawdy, and often brutal, it’s a story that will keep science fiction/fantasy fans involved…”(SLJ)

Tamaki, Mariko. Skim. Illus. by Jillian Tamaki. Groundwood, $18.95 (978-0-88899-753-1)

(gr. 9-12) “…stunningly emotional graphic novel…Kim (nicknamed Skim…)… life, death, friendship, and identity…surreal smoking breaks with Ms. Archer…evolve into unsettling romance…suicide…exploration of Wiccan spirituality…biracial teen… many threads connect and diverge…artful jumble that is true-to-life…unfussy and immediate…Dark space and perspective are used to great effect…body language… project fully developed personalities…” (HB)

Voorhees, Coert. The Brothers Torres. Hyperion, $16.99 (978-1-4231-0304-2)

(gr. 9 and up) “Frankie Torres Towers…older brother Steve is…staying out all night…picking fights…Frankie…covers for him…picking up the slack at…the family’s … restaurant…primary obsession is getting a date with Rebecca Sanchez…exhibits some bravado against rich kid and soccer jock John Dalton…unintentionally incites a series of incidents…Frankie is as memorable a character as Sherman Alexie’s Junior Spirit in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian…Flecked with Spanish phrases and authentic street slang…story is as poignant as it is hip and funny…” (SLJ)

Werlin, Nancy. Impossible. Dial, $17.99 (978-080-373-002-1)

(gr. 7-11) “…From a hidden letter, 17-year-old Lucy Scarborough learns ‘all sorts of melodramatic, ridiculous, but true things’ about the circumstances surrounding her rape on prom night, her subsequent pregnancy, and why therapy and her signature pragmatism won’t be much help against an ancient fairy’s curse…melding genres…graceful interplay between wild magic and contemporary reality…evil fairy lord disguised as a charismatic social worker…no destiny is unalterable…” (BL)

Books in Spanish

Graham, Ian. Tr. by Diana Esperanza Gòmez. Illus. by David Antram. Colombia/US: Panamericana (Zona de Explosiòn), $12.95 each.
          Bell y la ciencia del telèfono (Bell and the Science of the Telephone). (978-958-30-1848-0. $12.95.
          Los hermanos Wright y la ciencia de la aviación. (The Wright Brothers and the Science of Flight) (978-958-30-1845-9)
          Curie y la ciencia de la radioactividad. (Curie and the Science of Radioactivity)
(978-958-30-1846-6)
          Faraday y la cienca de la electricidad.(Faraday and the Science of Electricity) (978-958-30-1847-3)
          (gr. 4 and up) “This exciting new series follows four scientists from childhood to adulthood…Vibrant, cartoonlike illustrations…detailed, easy-to-understand explanations of how the inventions work…short, dynamic …glossary… remarkable series will make a great addition to school and public libraries.” (CR)

Luján, Jorge. Colores/Colors. tr. from the Spanish by John Oliver Simon and Rebecca Parfitt. illus. by Piet Grobler. Canada: Groundwood/Tigrillo: House of Anansi Press, $17.95 (978-0-88899-863-7)
(K-Gr 3) “From the delicate sunrise to the peace of deep night, this beautifully conceived and executed look at colors fuses minimalist, expressive poetry with exquisitely balanced watercolor paintings… A few children and an antelope provide the link between pictures to create a cohesive whole…poetry is just a tad better in the original Spanish, due mostly to its inherent assonance…translators have done a solid job of keeping to the spirit of the original and approximating the rhythm and rhyme of the Spanish text. … great child appeal… little book with classic potential…” (CR)

Of Interest to Adults

Marcus, Leonard. Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children’s Literature. Houghton, $28 (973-0-395-67407-9)

(adults) “…chronicles the fortunes and misfortunes of publishers, editors, authors, librarians, and just about everyone else concerned with the making and distribution of children’s books since speakers of English landed on these shores… compelling…skillfully chosen quotes add veracity and color…clear-eyed and evenhanded marshaling of facts…a few errors…but they are minor in relation to the comprehensive sweep of information…cogent analysis and sage insights…enthralling and richly rewarding…” (HB)