Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
Laila has her sunshine and unicorns-themed birthday party all planned out. Her and her mom have even created a party schedule so that Laila knows just what to expect. But–oh no! The party was supposed to be outside, and now it’s raining!
It’s not very often a science fiction book wins the Newbery Award and the Pura Belpré Award but The Last Cuentista did this year. The Last Cuentista is a dystopian story with tales of Mexican folklore woven within. ‘Cuentista’ in Spanish means storyteller and the main character, Petra Peña, is truly the only cuentista left in the world.
Seriously. In this young adult novel, high school is the worst. Todd Mayer has died and no one at his school will answer any questions or admit to knowing him when the police investigate. Things are not right, that's for sure. Georgia's brother goes to school with Todd and is in the same grade, even, and won't acknowledge that he knows Todd. So what's up?
This historical fiction novel takes place between 1943 and 1974 beginning in Alexandria, Egypt, and ending in a small English village. It is a well written story told in alternating voices by James, a former RAF pilot and prisoner of WWII, and his wife, Yvette.
This book is described as a smash-up of art and text that captures 2020 and what it was like to be black during the COVID-19 lockdown and racial unrest and protests. It is incredible: painful, powerful, and beautiful. Told in three sections called Breath One, Breath Two and Breath Three, I viewed the book as illustrated poetry with the parts representing the past, present and future.
I really liked this straightforward and respectful picture book, originally published "across the pond" in England! Lovingly constructed with inclusive language and engaging, visibly diverse illustrations, you are sure to see some part of your family's experience reflected here. All families are ready for these important conversations at different times--as author Rachel Greener writes, "You and your family are amazing, just as you are!" When you're ready to talk the ways one egg, one sperm, and one womb can come together to create a baby, Making a baby is a great resource!
Lately in my speculative fiction reading (primarily science fiction and fantasy novels) I've been drawn to quiet, sometimes cranky, honorable characters who aren't super flashy, but persist in their quests because it's the right thing to do. Nettle & Bone satisfied that reading niche perfectly. Not only does this describe the heroine protagonist, but it does her male counterpart as well. I loved it.
"This isn't a fairytale where the princess marries a prince. It's the one where she kills him."
John Woodrow Cox's powerful book examines the countless victims of gun violence that are not counted as victims - the classmates, siblings, children, parents, teachers, friends, grand parents , and so on and so on. The book focuses on a 2016 shooting in South Carolina that killed 6-year-old Jacob Hall and the effects on his best friend Ava who was so traumatized that she developed severe PTSD. We get an intimate portrait of how Ava and her family are affected every single day by the PTSD.
For someone with two young children, I can relate to the – sometimes! – grumpy mornings of little ones. In this book, Grumpy Pants by Claire Messer, Penguin is in “a very bad mood.” The rain is falling on Penguin’s yellow hat and jacket. Penguin stomps all the way home and takes off his grumpy coat, grumpy boots, and grumpy socks. He’s still grumpy! In the midst of all his grumpiness, he pauses to take a deep breath and counts – 1, 2, 3. Then he dives into a splashy bathtub.
Piñatas, cakes, rockets, presents, music…what else do you need for a party? Little Lobo and friends are back in this third ¡Vamos! book - winner of this year's Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Award - and are headed across the bridge for a big celebration in a city on the other side of the river in another country.
We kicked off a new year for the Lakeview Mystery Book Group with Ann Cleeves The Long Call and a great start it was. We enjoyed this first in a new police procedural series from the author and had a lively discussion as well.
Another of the the ALA Youth Media Awards honorees that won a number of deserved accolades was Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper.
2022 Awards and Honors:
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Honor
Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award Winner
Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award Winner
Caldecott Medal Honor
Adorable Bunbun looks for a friend and finds the perfect companion in sugary Bonbon. They have a lot in common including their ability to hop, their positive outlook on life and their love of all things fancy. Their adventures include picnics, wearing costumes, eating donuts and super sparkly fun times meeting new friends. There's no limit to the kindness and helpful ways of this vibrant duo and I hope they star in many more books. For now, there are three:
Donna Seaman's "Core Collection: New and Innovative Black History" in the current Booklist is just in time for Black History Month. It's always nice when someone else puts together an excellent reading list. There are biographies, family histories, memoirs, histories, women's stories and I hope that you can find one (or more) that stimulates your interest. I know I have.
Booklist puts out many top 10 lists. If you're looking for some new history books to read, then check out Booklist's Top 10 History Books. I know that a number of them are on my to-be-read list.
Temple Alley Summer is full of mystery, history, and ghosts. Kazu's summer project is to learn more about his neighborhood, Temple Alley, named for the former Kimyo Temple located where Kazu's house currently stands. An old legend claims that the temple has the power to bring the dead back to life. A girl named Akari suddenly appears in the alley and Kazu starts to wonder if the legend is more than a story.
The ALA Youth Media Awards were announced last week and Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley was honored in a number of categories (very deservedly so!).
2022 Awards and Honors:
AILA American Indian Youth Literature Award, Young Adult Honor
William C Morris YA Debut Award Winner
Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature Winner
Molly Gray doesn’t see the world like other people do. The eponymous maid in Nita Prose’s debut mystery, Molly also knows that most people don’t see her either. Not really, at least. At the luxury hotel she works at in Manhattan, her single-minded devotedness to her job mostly makes up for that deficiency, and as long as she can keep the Regency Grand in tip-top shape and maintain her A+ devotion to employee excellence, she can cope with the problems that crop up.
Watercress is this year’s winner of the Caldecott Medal for the illustrations by Jason Chin, a Newbery Honor for the writing by Andrea Wang, and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in the picture book category. And it deserves all the accolades. It is an outstanding book about the power of story to connect generations and to heal.
Expertly researched and timed perfectly to coincide with viewing of The Gilded Age on HBO, Vanderbilt dissects new versus old money and new versus old New York scenarios from that time period in American history. Along the way it leaves the reader baffled at how and why a family fortune was lost in just a few generations.
