November 2006

The Indianhead Federated Library System presents

Starred Reviews

New and Notable Books for Young People

November 2006 * 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), Hornbook (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
Spanish Books

Picture Books

Busee, Sarah Martin and Jacqueline Briggs Martin. Banjo Granny. Illus. by Barry Root. Houghton, $16 (0-618-33603-6)

(PreS-K) “…opens with the lyrics and music for ‘Owen’s Song,’ a bluegrass ode…Owen’s granny…hears that the toddler is…tip over tumble for bluegrass music… packs her banjo…sets out on foot to visit…encounters daunting obstacles…using ‘Owen’s Song’ to negotiate her path…majestic landscapes…create a sense of anticipation for both characters…” (PW)

Husrt, Carol Otis. Terrible Storm. Illus. by S. D. Schindler. Greenwillow, $16.99 (0-06-009001-4)

(K-gr.2) “…personable Grandpa Walt and shy Grandpa Fred…recounting the story of the big snow of 1888…sharp, sly art…telling the tale in tandem, each man describes what happened that day…men finally find shelter in the worst place possible given each man’s personality…lonely barn…houseful of neighbors…Humor is everywhere…neatly captures both the oddities of nature and how differing natures view the same event.” (BL)

Lloyd-Jones, Sally. How to Be a Baby…by Me the Big Sister. Illus. by Sue Heap. Random, $15.99 (0-375-83843-0)

(PreS-K) “…marvelous melding of knowing observations and funny, sunny, on the money art…long list of things that babies can’t do…sweet, saucy, child-appealing watercolors…lots to look at, think about, and giggle at…will get many readings.” (BL)

McCully, Emily Arnold. The Escape of Oney Judge: Martha Washington’s Slave Finds Freedom. Farrar, $16 (0-374-32225-2)

(gr. 4-6) “…Martha Washington…takes an interest in one of her slaves, 10-year-old Oney…When Washington becomes president, Oney moves with the family to Philadelphia…meets free blacks and Quakers…learns she will be given to one of her mistress’s relatives after Martha’s death…decides to run away…sophisticated piece of history…in a way that will draw in children…bright, eye-catching watercolor-and-ink artwork makes the story even more accessible…”(BL)

Offill, Jenny. 17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Anymore. Illus. by Nancy Carpenter. Random/Schwartz & Wade Bks., $17.99 (0375-93596-7)

(K-gr.3) “Ingenious artwork…incorrigible little girl lists all the bright ideas she’s ever had and the various ways they’ve gotten her into trouble…adjusting photo-realistic elements to scale and embedding them into the art…both striking and subtle…” (SLJ)

Reiss, Mike. Merry Un-Christmas. Illus. by David Catrow. HarperCollins, $16.89 (0-06-059127-7)

(K-gr.3) “…Christmas City, Texmas…Noelle follows the same routine day in and day out all year long: wake up, open presents…have turkey and five kinds of pie for dinner, go to sleep, wake up, and do it all again…only bright spot in the year is Un-Christmas Day…on this one special day, Noelle and her friends get to go to school!…

exaggerated, Seussian-channeled illustrations match the story’s tongue-in-cheek humor…” (HB)

Juvenile Fiction

De Mari, Silvana. The Last Dragon. Tr. from Italian by Shaun Whiteside. Miramax/Hyperion, $16.95 (0-7868-3636-9)

(gr. 4-6) “…stirring, subtly post-apocalyptic fantasy. Yorsh, an elf child…man and woman who rescue him…why the two will be hanged for helping him…magic ability …Yorsh spends…thirteen years caring for a querulous, cave-bound dragon…prophecy…threats…hairsbreadth escape…epic flight…a moment that will stun readers with its heartbreaking act of sacrifice…will leave readers enthralled.” (HB)

DiCamillo, Kate. Mercy Watson Fights Crime. Illus. by Chris Van Dusen. Candlewick, $12.99 (0-7636-2590-6)

(PreS-gr.2) “…One night, Mercy awakes to the sound of the toaster scraping… finds a little man in a ten-gallon hat stealing the toaster…Hilarity ensues…Humor abounds…slapstick and more subtle…will keep newly independent readers turning the pages…repetition, simple sentence structure, and controlled vocabulary…” (SLJ)

Klages, Ellen. The Green Glass Sea. Viking, $16.99 (0-670-06134-4).

(gr. 4-8) “Dewey, ten…rejoin her…mathematician father. It’s 1943…working at Los Alamos…evokes both the big-sky landscape of the Southwest and a community where “everything is secret”…the right details…bouts of taunting…parents’ ceaseless attention to ‘the gadget’, personal tragedy….test detonation…watch from a mesa 200 miles away…intense but accessible page-turner…history and story are drawn together with confidence.” (HB)

Nesbit, E. Jack and the Beanstalk. Candlewick, $16.99 (0-7636-2124-2)

(K-gr.3) “…witty, elegant retelling…originally published in 1908…rich language…injects clever details that make the setting vivid and bring the characters to life…realistic pencil-and-watercolor paintings…vintage look…great variety in the page layout…” (SLJ)

Raczka, Bob. 3-D ABC: A Sculptural Alphabet. Millbrook, $23.93 (0-7613-9456-7)

(PreS-gr.5) “…images high in child appeal and combining them in fresh, provocative ways…alphabetically arranged primer on 20^th-century sculpture…selections are international in scope…media range from scrap metal and found objects to wood and fluorescent lights…brief sentences…builds a cumulative understanding of the subject…” (SLJ)

Schlitz, Laura Amy. A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama. Candlewick, $15.99 (0-7636-2930-8)

(gr. 4-7) “…Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans, Maud…achieves an orphan’s dream when pretty, sympathetic Hyacinth Hawthorne brings her home…expect Maud to live as a ‘secret child’…help them with sham séances…realizes both characters and setting…with unerring facility…” (HB)

Non-fiction

Buckley, Susan and Leacock, Elspeth. Journeys for Freedom: A New Look at America’s Story. Illus. by Rodic Prato. Houghton, $17 (0-618-22323-1)

(gr. 4-7) “…lively history focuses on 20 individuals’ quest for freedom across U.S. history. Some…will be familiar, but most will not…varied and fascinating…go beyond the personalfinal account…deals with the jorney of one of the lost boys of the Sudan…excellent use of primary sources…notes give more details. As powerful as it is useful.” (BL)

Haynes, Charles C., et. al. First Freedoms: A Documentary History of the First Amendment Rights in America. Oxford University, $40 (0-19-515750-8)

(gr. 7 and up) “…sequential history…stories of the men and women who fought to obtain and retain freedoms that came to be guaranteed under the First Amendment… John Lock…David Walker…Carrie Chapman Catt, John Scopes…passionate connection between past and present issues…religious freedom…Fourteenth Amendment, limiting free speech in wartime…evolution…Pledge of Allegiance, McCarthyism….balancing freedom and security…writing is lively and interesting…quotations are well documented…time line…” (SLJ)

Lupton, Hugh and Daniel Morden. The Adventures of Odysseus. Illus. by Christina Balit. Barefoot, $19.99 (0-84148-800-3)

(gr. 3-7) “…bring their long and prestigious careers as storytellers…retelling of the Odyssey…impressive results. The power and drama…have been retained…sentence structure has been simplified…maintain the flow of the story…accessible to younger readers…vocabulary is challenging…illustrations incorporate traditional Greek styles with contemporary elements…should be considered a first purchase for most collections.” (SLJ)

Reef, Catherine. E.E. Cummings: A Poet’s Life. Clarion, $21 (0-618-56849-2)

(gr. 8-11) “…thoroughly researched survey of Cummings’ life…sure to generate interest…revealing anecdotes…will speak directly to teens…Numerous direct quotes… many photos…well-chosen excerpts from Cummings’ poems and those of his contemporaries…places…within a larger cultural context…extensive bibliography… clear, engaging portrait… “(BL)

Schanzer, Rosalyn. John Smith Escapes Again! National Geographic, $16.95 (0-7922-5930-0)

(gr. 4-9) “…vivid, extensively documented biography…inventive chronological format alternately expands and condenses Smith’s feats…death-defying escapes…map of Smith’s travels…cheery illustrative style belies the often harsh nature of Smith’s experiences…indicates in endnotes…bases her account on Smith’s own writings… students of history…adventure fans…” (PW)

YA Fiction

Booth, Coe. Tyrell. Scholastic/Push, $16.99 (0-439-83879-7)

(gr. 9 and up) “Now that his father is in jail, nothing seems to be going right for 15-year-old Tyrell…mother’s refusal to work…forced them into homelessness…shelter …Tyrell…attraction to another resident…determined to stay clean… rhythm of raw street lingo…thrilling, fast-paced novel…strong plot…vivid, well-developed characters…” (SLJ, BL)

Conway, Celeste. The Melting Season. Delacorte, $17.99 (0-385-90357-X)

(gr. 9-12) “Sixteen-year-old Giselle…little has changed in the 10 years since the death of her father, a legendary dancer and choreographer. She attends a New York City school for students gifted in the arts…studies ballet…After meeting Will…everything begins to change…Smart, ironic, constrained, and vulnerable…life suddenly shifts…move forward in the direction of her choosing…catch-your-breath evocation of first love…vivid imagery, emotional subtlety, and fine dialogue…laugh-out-loud moments…” (BL)

Ehrenhaft, Daniel. The After Life. Penguin/Razorbill, $8.99 paper (1-59514-080-8)

(gr. 9 and up) “…offbeat book…simultaneously funny and tragic…father dies suddenly…Kyle and Liz and half-brother Will…father…tells Will he can have $2 million…if he can drive…from Miami to New York City in 48 hours…bizarre road trip…tricky feelings towards their father and each other…” (PW)

Fisher, Catherine. Corbenic. HarperCollins/Greenwillow, $16.99 (0-06-072470-6)

(gr. 7 and up) “…reimagines the enigmatic castle of Grail…mature modern fantasy. Young Cal is leaving home…gets off the train at the wrong station…Castle Hotel Corbenic…Alain Bron…befriends Cal…shows…the Holy Grail…transposes genres to great effect…well-executed sense of dread and mystery…Cal’s relationship with his mother is fused with the Grail story…completely surprising twist ending…” (PW)

Runyon, Brent. Maybe. Knopf, $16.95 (0-375-93543-1)

(gr. 9 and up) “…high-school student coming to terms with his older brother’s death…Brian’s life has been rocked by the tragedy…new house and new school, where no one knows that his family has suffered a loss…readers will sense his emptiness at school and at home…intimate, often humorous narrative…will quickly draw teens into the story…” (PW)

Westerfeld, Scott. The Last Days. Penguin/Razorbill, $16.99 (1-59514-062-X)

(gr. 8 and up) “…intriguing, fast-paced sequel to Peeps…music permeates… mysterious, dark happenings…Moz…and…Zahler search for promising musicians… meets Pearl, an attractive and slightly off-center musical genius…danger to New York City begins to escalate…dialogue is crisp…a real winner.” (SLJ)

Spanish Books

Baranda, Marìa. Marte y las princesas voladoras. (Marte and the Flying Princesses). Illus. by Elena Odriozola. Mexico/US: Fondo de Cultura Econòmica, $6.50 paper (968-16-8141-X)

(gr. 3-5) “…narrator Lorna…younger sister, Mosi, is special in all regards…live in her own orbit…sibling resentment…much compassion…draws attention to society’s tendency to marginalize handicapped people…genuinely captures the innocence of Lorna’s angst…black-and-white sketches illustrate a complex topic with simplicity…” (CR)

Funke, Cornelia. Corazòn de tinta (Inkheart). Tr. by Rosa Pilar Blanco. Spain: Siruela: Anaya, $36.95 (84-7844-235-9)

(gr. 7 and up) “Twelve-year old Meggie…father and daughter get involved in a series of dangerous and exciting adventures…menacing characters …came into their world from…book…” (CR)

Isol. Secreto de familia (Family Secret). Mexico/US: Fondo de Cultura Econòmica (Los Primerìsmos), paper, $7.50 (968-16-7046-9)

(K-gr.2) “Adults and children will laugh out loud… “I have a secret…My mother is actually a porcupine.”…discovered a scary-looking woman fixing breakfast…hair sticking up…eyes barely open…horrified and ashamed by her discovery…short sentences, simple vocabulary, and humorous illustrations make this title ideal for younger readers…expressive characters…” (CR)

Lujàn, Jorge. Tarde de invierno/Winter Afternoon. Tr. by Elisa Amado. Illus. by Mandana Sadat. Canada: Libros Tigrillo: Groundwood Books, $16.95 (0-88899-718-3)

(PreS-gr. 2) “A mother comes home to her young daughter on a winter night. Nothing more happens in this book of quiet beauty…ever-smaller frames of a child’s world…joyful, mixed-media illustrations…evoke a child’s perspective…[bilingual]” (CR)

Sutherland, Lin. Terremotos y volcanes (Earthquakes and Volcanoes). Tr. by Nieves Lòpez-Izquierdo. Illus. by Richard Bonson, et.al. (84-8298-340-7)

Forbes, Scout. El Clima (The Weather). Tr. by Francisco Martìn. Illus by Richard Bonson, et. al. (84-8298-345-8)

Ea. Vol.: Spain/U.S.: Molino/RBA (Los exploradores de national Geographic), dist. by Santillana, $18.99.

(gr. 3-8) “Oversized…profusely illustrated with photographs, diagrams, drawings and maps…reports and…browsers…extensive glossary and index…full of information…”(CR)