As an Englishman once said, “And now for something completely different.” The Fortieth Annual Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year has been announced with great revelry and Joy of Waterboiling, by Christina Scheffenacker, has taken the prize! The title itself has even offered up the new meme-like acronym JOW. The winner simmered in shortlist controversy as the […]
Former Booklisters just can’t stop making news! On Monday, we received an announcement that former Books for Youth Editor Daniel Kraus (coauthor of The Shape of Water and solo author of many more) will have a new book out next Halloween with Hard Case Crime—and it sounds like a doozy! We can’t wait to read […]
In book-world news, Booklist alumnus and all-around good guy John Green has started a book club (in conjunction with his friend and colleague Rosianna Halse Rojas), called Life’s Library. The difference between it and other celebrity book clubs? All the proceeds from this one go to a charity called Partners in Health, a Boston-based nonprofit […]
The Louis Shores Award Committee is currently inviting nominations for its 2019 recipient. Established in 1990, the Louis Shores Award recognizes an individual reviewer, group, editor, review medium, or organization for excellence in reviewing. The award recipient is selected for significant achievement related to a reviewing process that helps librarians make selection and collection development decisions. […]
The 76th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) wrapped up in San Jose, and on Sunday night the conference held its annual Hugo Awards ceremony. There was a lot of wonderful work to be celebrated by a diverse array of creators, but we’d be remiss not to point out that, in particular, this was another great […]
Marking the triumphs of Midwestern authors published in 2017, the Society of Midland Authors announced the winners of its annual award today. The ceremony will be held in downtown Chicago on Tuesday, May 8th, to commemorate the winners and their works from the last year. The winning and honored titles, linked to their Booklist reviews when possible, are […]
The news of novelist Philip Kerr’s death on March 23 from cancer at the young age of 62 came as a blow to the author’s devoted fans across the world. As one of those fans and a reviewer of Kerr’s books for many years, I was shaken by the news, especially as I had only […]
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the great Australian crime fiction writer Peter Temple, even planning to revisit his books for a piece in the 2018 edition of Booklist‘s Mystery Month this May—so it came as a shock to learn last night that he’d died of cancer at age 71. As a fan, that’s hard […]
Early this morning at the Midwinter Meeting in Denver, the American Library Association announced the 2018 Youth Media Awards to a cheering crowd. Here’s a list of this year’s winning and honor titles, linked to their Booklist reviews when available. JOHN NEWBERY MEDAL Hello, Universe, by Erin Entrada Kelly Newbery Honor Books Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, […]
Encouraging Middle-Schoolers to Choose Books
There’s been a lot of discussion among the librarians I know about what to do with middle-schoolers: they just don’t seem to read as much as they used to. I know that here in Chicago, we have a unique perspective on this situation, since our schools run K–8. In my former school system in Maryland […]
Getting Started with the Global Read Aloud
The 2017 Global Read Aloud kicked off yesterday, and I’m here to help. Author and educator Pernille Ripp founded the program as a way to connect students and teachers from different locales around the topics of books. (Think One Book One School or One Book One City, but on a global scale.) Each year, Ripp […]
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: Practice Recognizing Fake News
Cindy: There have been a number of YA fiction books with the title “Two Truths and a Lie,” but we’ve found a creative, informational book for middle-grade students that reinforces evaluating information for truth. Fake news, anyone? Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive (2017) by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson is the first […]
Encouraging Middle-Schoolers to Choose Books
There’s been a lot of discussion among the librarians I know about what to do with middle-schoolers: they just don’t seem to read as much as they used to. I know that here in Chicago, we have a unique perspective on this situation, since our schools run K–8. In my former school system in Maryland […]
Getting Started with the Global Read Aloud
The 2017 Global Read Aloud kicked off yesterday, and I’m here to help. Author and educator Pernille Ripp founded the program as a way to connect students and teachers from different locales around the topics of books. (Think One Book One School or One Book One City, but on a global scale.) Each year, Ripp […]
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: Practice Recognizing Fake News
Cindy: There have been a number of YA fiction books with the title “Two Truths and a Lie,” but we’ve found a creative, informational book for middle-grade students that reinforces evaluating information for truth. Fake news, anyone? Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive (2017) by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson is the first […]
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