Presenting publisher #2 in the Fall 2010 Picturebook Highlights series: HarperCollins!There are a lot of amazing books on Harper's list for the fall, so get ready for a longer-than-usual post. I'm going to follow up with a post of winter holidays-specific books later in the year, probably November or December, as there are several worthy … Continue reading Fall 2010 Picturebook Highlights: HarperCollins
Category: Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Jellicoe Roadby Melina MarchettaHardcover: 9780061431838, HarperTeen, $17.99Paperback: 9780061431852, HarperTeen, $8.99This post was originally published here in August 2008. A few alterations have been made to the version posted on Afterthoughts...Every time I read this book, I cry. I am not generally a crier. Yes, tears welled at the news of Walter in Rilla of Ingleside … Continue reading Book Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Gift of Reading Club Selections: April 2010
Ever have one of those "duh" moments when you wonder why it took you so long to think of that simple, yet brilliant, idea?Each month at the Odyssey Bookshop, I hand-select books for children signed up for our Gift of Reading Program. Usually a family member or close family friend signs up the child (age … Continue reading Gift of Reading Club Selections: April 2010
Ode to Stephen Gammell
Author and illustrator Stephen Gammell's work is known in two very different veins: sassy, whimsical picturebook illustrator and nightmare-inducing, horror illustrator.My first introduction to his work was through his Caldecott Award winning book Song and Dance Man (9780679819950, Random House, $6.99). I loved having my parents read the story to me, but it was for … Continue reading Ode to Stephen Gammell
Book Review: Serena by Ron Rash
This was a post I intended to publish over a year ago. Now in paperback, I'm finally going to post my review of Ron Rash's Serena.Hardcover: 9780061470851, HarperCollins, $24.95Paperback: 9780061470844, HarperCollins, $14.99Serena blew my mind a bit. You wouldn't think upon first picking up a book about a timber empire in North Carolina during the … Continue reading Book Review: Serena by Ron Rash
Pioneer Valley Children’s Book Exhibit
For those folks living in, around, near, or feel like traveling to the Pioneer Valley in Western Mass (an area consisting of towns such as Amherst, Northampton, & South Hadley), a traveling area picturebook exhibit is making its final stop.The Making of a Picture Book: The Marriage of Text and Art is an exhibit curated … Continue reading Pioneer Valley Children’s Book Exhibit
National Poetry Month: Nikki Giovanni
Last year's poetry month post also included Nikki Giovanni, and in fact, this same book, though a different poem. Now in paperback, I highly recommend running out and picking up a copy of Bicycles: Love Poems (9780061726491, $11.99, Harper). Here's a taste of a new favorite:Another Day (Revisited)Librarians do it but they do it by … Continue reading National Poetry Month: Nikki Giovanni
Recognize that voice? Part 2
For the second time in as many years, you are now able to access my voice over the airwaves!I had the pleasure of returning to the WAMC radio studio in Albany, NY last week, along with Joan Grenier, one of the Odyssey Bookshop's co-owners.To listen to us talk about books (Joan about adult fiction and … Continue reading Recognize that voice? Part 2
Book Review: You by Charles Benoit
Youby Charles Benoit9780061947049, $16.99, Harper, Pub. Date: August 2010You is a powerful, searing work of realistic teen fiction. The title comes from its second-person point-of-view narrator; a voice that makes the work immediately accessible by encouraging the reader to become the main character.The main character is sophomore Kyle Chase. He's smart, but took a wrong … Continue reading Book Review: You by Charles Benoit
Book Recommendations for 3rd & 4th Grade Boys
Emily, one of this blog's team members, and a grade school teacher, prompted this blog post. Actually, she asked me for this list over a year ago, and she knows how very, truly sorry I am that it's taken me this long to get it for her. Once I had done so, though, I thought … Continue reading Book Recommendations for 3rd & 4th Grade Boys
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