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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
Jacqueline Woodson's latest novel-in-verse for middle grades just won the Coretta Scott King Author Award for outstanding writing by an African American author. Twelve-year-old ZJ's life turns upside down when his dad, a professional football player, starts suffering headaches, memory loss and personality changes. According to lore, Zachariah 44 (for his jersey number), suffered more NFL concussions than any other player, even with a helmet on.
The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, audio books, and media for children and young adults, including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards at its virtual Midwinter Conference today.
A list of 2021 award winners follows:
I'm re-upping this review as the new adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small on PBS is bringing James Herriot's books to mind. If you're watching the lovely new version and have already done your Herriot re-read but are still wanting to feel those feelings, The Call is a great companion work.
It’s that time of year again, when the American Library Association’s Caldecott Committee bestows a Medal and Honor prizes on the years’ most distinguished picture books.
Here are some strong contenders that are worth checking out before the announcements on January 25th.
Alice Randall isn’t an author that typically is at the top of many readers’ lists, having written several solid quietly received novels in the past and a few nonfiction works. But her latest, Black Bottom Saints, proves that Randall deserves more attention and a place on to-read lists.
Too dramatic? I've never skied off piste in my life, so if you're like me, you can cross that off your worry list. If you don't even know what it means, don't do it! Just kidding! But not really. Skiing off piste means straying from designated slopes and routes. It can be extremely dangerous. Especially in this novel.
Literary Hub is a great site with much, much great book content. But my favorite thing about it, I'll admit, is its offshoot site CrimeReads.
Madison Public Library has added more than 50 new cookbook titles to the collection thanks to a recent $1,000 grant from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for East Asian Studies’ (CEAS) East Asia in Wisconsin Library Program.
Strong heroines are practically a necessity in historical romance, but Diana Quincy introduces an especially memorable lady at the center of her new romance Her Night With the Duke, launching her Clandestine Affairs series. Lady Delilah Chambers knows the habits of England’s ton through and through: as the daughter of a marquis and the widow of an earl, Leela circulates among the highest of the high.
The American Indian Library Association has created a reading challenge called Read Native 2021. You can find a printable reading tracker for adults and for kids along with suggested reading lists, which will be updated throughout the year by returning to the AILA site.
To get started here are two Own Voices titles published in 2020.
