Category: Fiction

Posted in Fiction, Graphic Novels, Intermediate

The Smurfs Celebrate the Olympics

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Smurfs Olympic Special, by Yvan Delaporte & Peyo, (June 2024, Mad Cave Studios), $3.99, ISBN: 601947046061 – 00111

Ages 7-10

This is another single comic book release – I know, I don’t normally do these – coming out tomorrow (New Comic Book Day, y’all!). Papercutz/Mad Cave releases this 1979 Smurfs story to celebrate the Olympics, so you may have seen or read this before. Hefty Smurf loves sports, and creates his own Smurf Olympics to get the others to play along with him. The top prize is a kiss from Smurfette, so all the other Smurfs are in: the only problem is that no one wants Hefty on their team! Hefty makes his own team, which causes a lot of uproar and leads to a lot of laughs. If you have budget money that you can use to pick up a few issues of this one, and you have readers who enjoy the Smurfs, it would be a fun way to start talking about the Summer Olympics, which start next month. It’s a 32-page story, and with some adhesive covers to keep the comics safe, you can put these into circulation (check with your catalogers first, though).

Mad Cave included some coloring pages this time around, so make sure to print up and put some out.

Posted in Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Intermediate

This Book Will Self-Destruct! Can you help save the day?

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

This Book Will Self-Destruct (Agent Harrier), by Ben Sanders, (May 2024, Kane Miller), $14.99, ISBN: 9781684648979

Ages 6-10

A new graphic novel series starring a dog – or is he a wolf? – secret agent, This Book Will Self-Destruct is loaded with puns and breaks the fourth wall, making sure that readers can share in the fun. Agent Woof – ahem, Wolf – Harrier gets a call from his spy boss, Top Dog, with a critical message: the book is going to self-destruct unless Harrier can stop it! With the Narrator by his side, Harrier sets out to unravel the threads and find the bomb before the book goes boom. There’s something really odd about the Narrator, though, so Harrier will need help from readers to unscramble some clues. Readers will laugh out loud at the back-and-forth between characters, and the stark red and black illustration work makes everything pop against the stark white pages. Harrier is a fun character and his mission is easy enough to follow for newly confident readers moving on from picture books and easy readers. Endpapers show an inside view of Harrier’s briefcase, filled with all sorts of punny spy goodness like a “gadget watch: for everything except telling the time”, “Truthing Gum: one stick for sticky situations”, and a glass eye: “just because”. This is the first in a new graphic novel series, so get in on this from the beginning. The book includes a fun poster; if you’re buying this for your circulation, hang it up and promote the series!

Posted in Fiction, Intermediate

A new Nate the Great adventure!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Nate the Great and the Star Spangled Parrot, by Andrew Sharmat/Illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov, (June 2024, Delacorte Press), $14.99, ISBN: 9780593805558

Ages 6-9

Nate the Great’s back on the case, and this time it’s a double whammy: first, his friend Pip asks for Nate’s help locating his drone parrot, Penelope. The next day, his friend Claude asks for help finding his “brand new” friend, a drone named Baxter. It’s up to Nate to put the pieces together and figure out where the drone went, and get it back to the original owner. Andrew Sharmat, son of the original Nate the Great author Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, turns in another fun whodunit with Nate’s trademark wry sense of humor and keen ability to figure out a mystery. The hardcover-bound edition will hold up to multiple reads and circulations, and the color illustrations will keep readers engaged and delighted. The story centers on a July 4th picnic, so add this to your July 4th displays, too.

Want an activity to extend reading? SuperTeacher Worksheets has character matches and word searches for free! Want to incorporate Nate the Great into Summer Reading? Create your own detective mystery (it can be a scavenger hunt; I love those) and invite your sleuths to help!

 

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

Another kids’ classic goes graphic: Amber Brown is Not a Crayon

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Amber Brown is Not a Crayon: The Graphic Novel, by Paula Danziger/Illustrated by Victoria Ying, (May 2024, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers), $9.99, ISBN: 9780593615706

Ages 7-10

Full disclosure: I don’t think I’ve ever read any of the Amber Brown novels, which is insane, considering I’m a kids’ librarian. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the graphic novel adaptation of Amber Brown is Not a Crayon, illustrated by Victoria Ying, who also wrote and illustrated last year’s YA graphic novel Hungry Ghost. Ying captures Amber Brown’s playful, quirky spirit and the close friendship she has with Justin, who is moving to Alabama, where his father has relocated for a better job. Ying uses bright, happy colors for Amber’s storytelling, with moody, purplish and green washes to denote painful memories: Amber’s parents arguing; her father leaving; Justin’s family packing up their home. Frustrated at trying to communicate her feelings, she and Justin have a falling out over a shared ball of gum, but reconcile right before the move; Justin confesses to having a hard time talking about his feelings, too. The art is appealing and the story stays relatable: themes of friendship, separating, and talking about our feelings will resonate with kids. Kids who love The Baby-Sitter Club and The Baby-Sitter’s Little Sisters will gobble these up.

Amber Brown is Not a Crayon: The Graphic Novel has a starred review from Kirkus.

 

Posted in Fiction, Intermediate, Non-Fiction, picture books, Preschool Reads

It’s AANHPI Month!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

What’s AANHPI? It’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and May’s dedicated to recognizing the contributions and influence of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have and continue to have on American culture and history. Here are some books to think about when putting together collections and displays.

If Lin Can, by Richard Ho/Illustrated by Huynh Kim Liên & Phùng Nguyên Quang, (Apr 2024, Charlesbridge Publishing), $18.99, ISBN: 9781623543723

Ages 7-10

Posed as both a narrative and a series of thought-provoking questions, this picture book biography of basketball star Jeremy Lin touches on the obstacles Lin encountered on his way to becoming the first Taiwanese American to play in the NBA and inspiring “Linsanity” among fans. The story emphasizes Lin’s perseverance over racism and those who underestimated him, paralleled with Asian-presenting children encountering similar obstacles and connecting with Lin, who they see on TV or in the newspaper: “Have you ever tuned in to a radio, / turned on a television, / or opened a newspaper, / and discovered someone who looks like you?” Liên and Quang’s expressive illustrations show Asian-presenting children being ignored or bullied by light-skinned children, adjacent with Lin’s similar experiences. An inspiring addition to sports biographies and picture book biographies.

Read more about Jeremy Lin at the Jeremy Lin Foundation webpage, his Basketball Reference page, and his Instagram.

 

 

Archie Celebrates an Indian Wedding, by Mitali Banerjee Ruths/Illustrated by Parwinder Singh, (Apr 2024, Charlesbridge Publishing), $17.99, ISBN: 9781623544188

Ages 4-8

The second Archana (her nickname is Archie) story focuses on Archie and her family preparing to celebrate her Uncle Poppy’s wedding to Julie. Archana, an Indian girl, helps acclimate Julie’s niece Emma, to the excitement of an Indian wedding and helps calm Julie. Emma is a stand-in for the reader, who Archie guides through the wedding celebration, explaining food, clothing, henna painting, and customs like the ceremony and stealing the groom’s shoes. Vibrant art captures the lively atmosphere, and Emma and Archie become friends as they become cousins after the wedding. A fun additional purchase for picture book collections, Archie Celebrates an Indian Wedding is the companion to Archie Celebrates Diwali (2021). An author’s note about Indian weddings and a glossary complete the book.

Raising World Children has more fun facts about Indian weddings.

 

 

Other books to display/read/purchase:

 

Continental Drifter, by Kathy MacLeod,
(Apr. 2024, First Second), $14.99,
ISBN: 9781250813749

 

 

Fried Rice & Marinara, by Mike Yam/Illustrated by Laura Dong,
(Apr. 2023, VOOK Books), $17.99,
ISBN: 9781737726951


Pie in the Sky, by Remy Lai,
(May 2019, Henry Holt & Co), $21.99,
ISBN: 978-1-250-31410-9


Jhupli’s Honey Bee Box, by Achintyarup Ray/Illustrated by Shivan Choudhary
(Oct. 2023, Amazon Crossing Kids), $17.99,
ISBN: 9781662514678

 


Anni Dreams of Biryani, by Namita Moolani Mehra/Illustrated by Ghaaya Prabhat,
(Sept. 2022, Two Lions), $17.99,
ISBN: 9781542030410

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Intermediate, Middle Grade

Winnie the Pooh gets the graphic novel treatment!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne & Travis Dandro, (Apr. 2024, Drawn & Quarterly), $29.95, ISBN: 9781770466968

Ages 7+

PEN Graphic Novel Award winner Travis Dandro introduces a new generation of readers to the Hundred Acre Wood and its most famous inhabitants in his graphic novel adaptation of A.A. Milne’s classic, Winnie the Pooh. Winnie the Pooh entered the public domain in 2015, allowing for a graphic novel retelling. And what a perfect time for it! Graphic novels are more popular than ever, and Pooh’s stories are ready to speak to a new audience while revisiting old friends and readers. Faithful to Milne’s storytelling, Dandro lays out each story in black and white art, giving a soft comic book feel to the characters.  Features are softer, rounder, and Fans of the original stories will love Dandro’s interpretation. Removing the omniscient narrator, he gives characters dialogue and uses spreads and playful panels to tell the stories, adding amusing moments like Rabbit’s 11-step plan to “capture Baby Roo”, showing Rabbit reading from a sheet of paper while the list is laid out in enumerated detail. Endpapers show a map of the Hundred Acrew Wood and key locations from the stories. Dandro also created a brand-new story exclusively for the new volume. There are some lump-in-the-throat moments, beautifully interpreted and reimagined, and the famous moments – Pooh getting stuck in the “tight place” and Owl’s discovering Eeyore’s tail, for a couple – all here to enchant new readers. A lovely addition to graphic novel and classics collections.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads, Uncategorized

Batter Up: Books for Baseball Season!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The baseball season just started earlier this week, and the kids in my library are loving it (we’re stops from CitiField, so we’ve got a lot of Mets fans here – and we even have a Mets library card). What else happens during baseball season? Baseball books! Let’s take a look at a few recently out.

Closet of Dreams, by Mark Ukra and Tara Mesalik MacMahon/Illustrated by Donna Dyer, (March 2024, Booklogix), $22.99, ISBN: 978-1665301664

Ages 8-12

Child is a nine-year-old boy who loves baseball. He’s got a wicked fastball and wants desperately to be on the Little League team, but the bullies targeting him aren’t making things easy on him. After confiding in his grandmother, he visits the Closet of Dreams: a place Gamma created for Child to seek refuge from his fears. Between the Closet of Dreams and the retired circus animals at the Kids Park where Gamma works, Child begins discovering an inner strength he never realized he had. Talking animals and a reassuring and loving intergenerational relationship makes this a good additional purchase to consider.

Closet of Dreams is the first in “The Adventures of Child and Gamma”, a new chapter book series.

 

 

Extra Innings, by Fred Bowen, (Feb. 2024, Peachtree Publishers), $16.99, ISBN: 9781682634110

Ages 7-11

The latest in Fred Bowen’s Sports Story Series is all about baseball – Mike is a 14-year-old kid who loves being a pitcher on his baseball team and he’s good at it. While his team depends on him to help bring the wins, Mike’s dad is a little worried that he’s concentrating too much on baseball and not enough on school or other responsibilities. Extra Innings is all about Mike and his father finding a balance. The main character is a teenager, making the book accessible to hi-lo readers as well as intermediate readers; themes of responsibility, parental relationships, and finding a work-school-life balance will appeal to tweens and teens alike. A good addition to chapter book collections where sports interest is high.

Visit Fred Bowen’s author page for more about his books and sports columns; he also has free resources available, including guided novel studies, discussion questions, and writing prompts.

 

Warrior on the Mound, by Sandra W. Headen, (March 2024, Holiday House), $18.99, ISBN: 9780823453788

Ages 8-12

It’s 1935 in North Carolina, and 12-year-old Cato wants to play baseball and meet his hero, Satchel Paige: the best player in the Negro Leagues. Cato and his friends are accused of damaging the new, whites-only ballfield in their town; an event that sparks racial unrest that threatens to burn out of control. Cato begins learning more about the relationship between field owner Luke Blackburn, a white man who was friends with Cato’s deceased father, but no one wants to speak about what happened the night Cato’s dad died. Themes of historical racism and violence power this book through a gripping narrative and conclusion, with a strong backbone of family, community, and sports. Back matter includes an author’s note, historical notes, timeline, resources, and further reading. An outstanding work of historical fiction and social commentary that belongs on shelves.

Warrior on the Mound has starred reviews from School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews. The Heritage Mom blog has an excellent review of the book and resources on Negro Leagues Baseball.

Posted in Fiction, Intermediate, picture books

Blog Tour: Jhupli’s Honey Bee Box by Achintyarup Ray and Shivan Choudhary

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Amazon Crossing Kids has a list that gets stronger with every book release! This time around, we have a story originally released in India in 2022:

Jhupli’s Honey Bee Box, by Achintyarup Ray/Illustrated by Shivan Choudhary,
(Oct. 2023, Amazon Crossing Kids), $17.99, ISBN: 9781662514678
Ages 6-9

Jhupli is a child living in India, where she waits and worries about her father when he goes into the jungle to gather honey. There are dangers in the forest, and not everyone who walks in comes out. Why does Baba have to go to the jungle, she asks? He needs to gather honey, he tells her: “We get money by selling all that, and with that money, we buy rice, we buy dal. That’s how we have something to cook”. Jhupli, desperate to keep her father safe, starts looking into a way to keep her father safe, and has an idea: can’t the forest department give people honey bee boxes? She brings her idea to a teacher, who brings it to the honey gathering families and the forest department. Jhupli and the Honey Bee Box is about the love of a child for their father, about resourcefulness, and about the sometimes harsh realities of life in the jungle. Digital illustrations present gorgeous, honey- and grass-colored landscapes. Poignant moments run throughout the book, as when Jhupli stands at the riverbank, waiting for her father’s return, her shadow stretching long behind her. Tender moments show the love between parent and child: Jhupli’s father’s hand holds a piece of honeycomb to her upturned, eager face. A good purchase for picture book collections and for collections where there is an international focus.

“The tender tone and softly smudged illustrations lend the tale a gentle, dreamlike quality sure to delight young readers. A sweet story about harsh realities, laced with hope.” ―Kirkus Reviews

Achintyarup Ray lives in Calcutta, a large city in India, but his mind lies in the village where he spent many early years of his life. He works as a journalist. His passions are reading, writing, and translating the books he loves. He has a special interest in people and the environment. Jhupli’s Honey Bee Box is his first book for children. Follow him on Instagram @achintyarup.

Shivam Choudhary is a visual artist who lives in Chhattisgarh, in Central India. He can mostly be found sitting under a tree, painting pictures; pondering ideas; and chasing sunsets. He tries to observe and absorb the mundaneness of his surroundings and take pleasure in the little joys of life. Follow him on Instagram @bhukkkad.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Graphic Novels Catch-Up

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Dog & Hat and the Lunar Eclipse Picnic : Book No. 2, by Darin Shuler, (May 2023, Chronicle Books), $15.99, ISBN: 9781797206899

Ages 7-10

This surrealistic comic series stars a dog, a sentient hat, and their best friend, an ant. In this second series installment, Ant dreams about her mother, who wants her to visit her cousins on the moon. Dog, who was already planning a lunar eclipse picnic, decides to move their festivities to the moon, in order to accompany Ant. Hat, the practical one in the group, says it’s impossible, but Dog quickly disabuses them of that notion, saying they just need to “harness a little moon magic”. Over the course of the story, organized into eight chapters, the trio travel to the moon and visit Ant’s cousins, taking part in dinosaur races and moon crumb-eating contests. Hat, more comfortable with rules and routine, is initially uneasy with the frenetic pace and chaotic fun, but even he manages to relax and enjoy the freedom and play. Wildly colorful illustrations are surreal and eye-catching, including winding staircases to the moon and a whale swimming on a dream lake. Messages of friendship and positive thinking run throughout, powering the group as they take on seemingly impossible things. A fun read.

 

Garvey’s Choice : The Graphic Novel, by Nikki Grimes/Illustrated by Theodore Taylor III, (June 2023, Wordsong), $22.99, ISBN: 9781662660023

Ages 9-12

The graphic adaptation of Nikki Grimes’s 2021 novel gives visual life to her beloved character, Garvey, while keeping the quiet, powerful verse of the original story. Garvey, a brown-skinned boy, would rather play chess or get lost in his books than play football with his father, who says hurtful things about his weight and his inability to play sports. He meets Manny, a boy with albinism, in class and the two become fast friends. Garvey confides his feelings about his father in Manny, and Manny tells Garvey that he wants to be a chef, but his father thinks it’s “girly”. Together, Garvey – bullied for his weight – and Manny are able to rise above their bullies; Garvey also finds the ability to connect with his father not through sports but through music. Taylor’s artwork taps into the humanity found in Grimes’s verse, beautifully translating it to the pages of the book; readers can see into Garvey’s imagination and explore his inner dialogue through Taylor’s artwork. Much of Grimes’s tanka poetry remains in place through the book, with an explanation of tanka in the back matter. If you haven’t put this book in your graphic novel collections yet, buy a few copies.

Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic Novel has starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, The Horn Book, Kirkus, Booklist, and We Need Diverse Books.

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads, Young Adult/New Adult

More Graphic Novels – if you haven’t read them, they’re new to you!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Another graphic novel TBR rundown!

Tales of a Seventh-Grade Lizard Boy, by Jonathan Hill, (Sept. 2022, Walker Books), $24.99, ISBN: 9781536216462

Ages 8-12

Tommy Tompkins is the new kid in town, and he’s from somewhere REALLY different: he’s a lizard person from beneath the earth! Beginning seventh grade in a new town is tough enough, but Tommy has an entirely new face and has to pretend to eat human food, which he thinks is gross. It’s hard enough to hide his true self from people, but seeing how different beings are treated in the media makes him feel even worse: there’s a show that’s all about lizard people trying to take over the world, for crying out loud. He and his family aren’t trying to take over anything; they’re looking for a safe place to live. Making friends with other outsiders – Dung Tran, a Vietnamese kid whose scientist parents are working to figure out a series of mysterious sinkholes popping up in the area, and Scarlett Roberts, the janitor’s punk rock daughter – helps for a little while until Tommy lets jealousy get the best of him. A fun graphic novel with a relatable story about accepting and welcoming others, Tales of a Seventh Grade Lizard Boy builds on humor and delivers a stirring subplot focusing on Tommy’s isolation and longing for home. An author note details Hill’s inspiration for the story and details on delicious-sounding Vietnamese food. Endpapers add to the fun with a yearbook layout complete with scribbles over different class photos. A fun addition to graphic novel collections.

 

The Mighty Bite, by Nathan Hale, (Apr. 2023, Abrams), $14.99, ISBN: 9781419765537

Ages 7-10

The creator of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales has a surreal new graphic novel that makes internet stars out of a Trilobite and a whale named Amber. The two don’t realize that the rest of the world thinks trilobites and ambulocetuses are extinct, so when paleo-newscaster Tiffany Timber discovers them, she thinks she’s going to be famous. Which makes Trilobite think he and Amber are going to be famous. It’s a manic and hilarious look at the hunt for those 15 minutes of fame, social media, and a video-making slobberknocker that hits the sweet spot for middle grade readers. Two-color blue and black illustration is calming against the frenetic pace of the novel, with wild fonts sharing space with giant gorillas, zombie pigs and maggot-infested harmonicas, and more. Hale sets up a possible sequel at the end. Middle graders will devour this one and relish the sheer mania.

The Mighty Bite has a starred review from Booklist.

 

Global: One Fragile World. An Epic Fight for Survival, by Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkin/Illustrated by Giovanni Rigano, (Apr. 2023, Sourcebooks Young Readers), $14.99, ISBN: 9781728262192

Ages 10-14

The creative powerhouse behind 2018’s Illegal is back with a story of climate change. Two narratives; two stories; two areas of the world ravaged by climate change. At the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean, 12-year-old Sami lives with his grandfather. Orphaned by storms that also claimed their home, Sami and his grandfather try to eke out a living on their fishing boat, but there are fewer and fewer fish to be caught; there are also pirates who will steal their catch. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Yuki lives in Northern Canada inside the Arctic Circle. The ice is melting, and bears have begun wandering into residential areas, looking for food. Polar bears and brown bears, their territories mixed up thanks to climate change have started mating, creating a new breed, Grolars. Yuki wants to bring the grolars’ plight to public attention: the bears don’t have the skills to hunt on ice, like a polar bear, or to catch salmon in the rivers, like brown bears. Climate change and human encroachment could spell the end for these bears unless Yuki can do something about it. Each story is a climate change tale that has drastically changed the land and made life difficult for those who live there. Through Sami’s and Yuki’s eyes, readers see how all life is affected – from plants and animals to humans – and how each of the main characters pushes back against despair and surrender to keep going. It’s a page-turning adventure with masterful color illustration making use of ominous shadows, murky earth tones, and cool blues and whites. Back matter includes an author’s note and a graphic novel explanation of global warming. An excellent choice for graphic novel collections and realistic fiction readers who may have moved on from I Survived, but still love tales of survival. Download a free educator guide on the Sourcebooks website.

Global has a starred review from Foreword Reviews.

 

Northranger, by Rey Terciero/Illustrated by Bre Indigo, (June 2023, HarperAlley), $26.99, ISBN: 9780063007390

Ages 12+

A queer spin on Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, Northranger introduces readers to 16-year-old Cade Muñoz, who has to spend his summer working alongside his stepfather, Dale, in at the General’s – Dale’s old Army buddy – ranch. Not thrilled with the prospect of shoveling poop for the summer, not to mention sharing a room with Dale, he is pleasantly surprised to discover the General’s friendly twin children, Henri and Henry. Cade and Henry are attracted to one another and start up a romantic relationship, but Cade is frustrated by Tyler’s secretive nature; a ranch hand convinced that the General killed his wife doesn’t help matters. As the teens struggle with homophobia, racism, coming out, and family relationships, their own relationship hits rocky waters. Cade is Mexican-American; his mother and grandmother sprinkle Spanish in their conversations. Cade’s stepfather and stepsister are Black; Henry, his sister, and father are white. The sepia color palette adds a timelessness to the story, with creative use of shadows to add to the mystery of Northranger. An author’s note rounds out the story. An excellent work of realistic fiction and YA romance.

Northranger has a starred review from the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books and Shelf Awareness.