Mock Newbery Reading List

For those of you unable to attend the actual event, here is the reading list for the OLA/WLA Mock Newbery.  Keep in mind that we aren’t trying to predict the winners so much as select strong contenders based on literary quality, reviews, discussion potential, and variety of ages and genres.

The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan.  Illustrated by Peter Sis.  Scholastic, 2010.

Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer.  Illustrated by Josee Masse.  Dutton, 2010

The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood.  Illustrated by Jon Klassen.  Balzer & Bray, 2010.

The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz.  Illustrated by Angela Barrett.  Candlewick, 2010.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia.  HarperCollins, 2010.

They Called Themselves the KKK:  The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.  Houghton Mifflin, 2010.

Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen.  Wendy Lamb, 2010.

Any thoughts on these?  Love ’em?  Hate ’em?  Let me know!

Newbery/Caldecott on the Internet

Read SLJ’s Fuse #8’s thoughts on potential Newbery and Caldecott books here.  Also, SLJ’s mock newbery blog, Heavy Medal has started up again for this year.  Check it out here.

Scary Picture Books

‘Tis the season to start thinking about scary books.  If you haven’t already seen it, check out the KinderScares blog for hot new frights as well as classic spooks.

Yea for Sue!!

Congratulations to Sue from BG on being the next FVRL Children’s Selector!!  I couldn’t be more happy with the choice!  I look forward to working closely with Sue to ensure a smooth transition as I switch my focus to children’s services at FVRL.

Series Books Coming Soon

I’m at the TSD annex today and they are OVERFLOWING with new books!!  Kids books, adult books, fiction, nonficiton, books on carts, books in boxes….lot’s of new stuff heading out soon!  Here are a few series books that I noticed:

Are You Scared Yet?  Haunted Houses by San Souci.  This is the first in the new Are You Scared Yet? series.  This one is short stories about haunted houses.

Number One Kid by Patricia Reilly Giff is the first in the Zigzag Kids series.  At less than 70 pages with illustrations, this looks like a great new series for readers transitioning between beginning readers and chapter books.

Fabled Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candace Fleming is the sequel to 2007’s Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School.

The Smugglers’ Mine is #5 in the Something Wickedly Weird series.  I really like the covers on this series.

The Vanishing Violin is the follow-up to last year’s mystery, The Red Blazer Girls: the Ring of Rocamadour.

And finally, Judy Moody Girl Detective is #9 in the Judy Moody series.

These books were all just on one cart.  There is a cart right next to it that includes several new additions to paperback series.  Yea for Fall and all the great new books!

Coming this Fall…

I’ve been meaning to write this post for months.  There are a ton of great books coming out this fall and I want to highlight a few of them.  MOST  of these books are already in the catalog, there are a few that are sitting in my order cart and should be in the catalog by the end of next week.

J Fiction

8/17:  Scumble by Ingrid Law

8/17: The Last Apprentice: Rise of the Huntress

8/24: The Magnificent 12: The Call by Michael Grant

9/14: Reckless by Cornelia Funke

9/14:  The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter

9/21: The Search for Wondla by DiTerlizzi

10/05: The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

10/19: Big Nate Strikes Again

10/19:  Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

11/9:  Diary of a Wimpy Kid #5: the Ugly Truth

Picture Books

8/31:  Rescue Bunnies by Doreen Cronin

8/31:  Little Black Crow by Raschka

8/31:  I’m Big by Kate and Jim Mcmullan

9/07: The Day Ray Got Away by Angela Johnson

9/07: A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea by Black and Hawkes

9/07:  Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown

9/28:  Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems

9/28:  Olivia Goes to Venice by Falconer

10/5:  Everything but the Horse by Holly Hobbie

10/5:  13 Words by Lemony Snicket

11/02:  The Rabbit Problem by Gravett

11/23:  All the Things I Love About You by LeUyen Pham

Summer Reading at CP

While I was checking out Amazama at CP today I snapped a couple of pics of their summer reading room.  It’s such a fun idea, if you have the space.

Books & Gay Teens

The New York Times published a great article last week on the importance of gay characters in YA fiction and the recent trend of gay characters in quality YA fiction.  Check out the NYT article here, (you have to register to view the article,) and the blog post that inspired it here. Such a great reminder of the important work we do!

Flipped

Wendelin Van Draanen’s novel Flipped will be released in movie-form on August 27.  Rob Reiner directed the film and changed the time period.  Check out the trailer.  What do you think?

Teen Christian Fiction

Slate published an interesting article yesterday on the increase of Christian fiction being published for teens.  I have a teen Christian fiction booklist all ready to go, but I’m not sure it will be printed before I start my new job, so I will share it with you here.  These are some of the newer series that Kim has been ordering, and I hope it will help with Christian fiction queries.  The article also links to The Christy Award, a Christian fiction award that since 2007 has included a YA category.

TEEN CHRISTIAN FICTION AUTHORS & SERIES

Ted Dekker

Melody Carlson

Robert Liparulo

Miracle Girls series by Anne Dayton

All About Us series by Shelley Adina

The Rayne Tour by Brandilyn Collins

The Charmed Life Series by Jenny B Jones

The Homelanders series by Andrew Klavan

Shadowside Trilogy by Robert Elmer

Time Thriller Trilogy by Paul McCusker

The Kingdom Series by Chuck Black