Every weekday we feature a different review on Booklist Online. These reviews are notable for different reasons—they may be starred, or high-demand, or especially relevant to the current issue’s spotlight. We’ve collected the reviews from August 13-17 below. Monday, August 13 The Storm Runner, by J. C. Cervantes Zane Obispo is content exploring the volcano in his backyard with his […]
Much like each successive season of The Bachelor, this summer has shaped up to be one of the dramatic ones on record. We’re blaming this on the five planets currently in retrograde—astrologically, planets in retrograde appear to be moving backwards across the sky, which means disruption and slowdowns in our daily lives. In the future, […]
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation has announced the 2018 finalists for its annual awards in fiction and nonfiction. Dedicated to “recognizing the power of literature to promote peace and reconciliation,” the prize will be awarded on September 18. To follow is a complete list of finalists, linked to their Booklist reviews when available. For more […]
Last month, Paramount announced a feature-length adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” a famously chilling short story that featured a sacrificial lottery, children-on-children violence, and a cruel, opaque government 60 years before the The Hunger Games. This marks the fourth time the tale has been made into a movie; the penultimate time, NBC cast Keri Russell […]
J. R. Ward (of Black Dagger Brotherhood series fame) is at it again with a fiery protagonist, a fiery romance, and actual fires in her new novel. coming this October. When the consequences from a rash decision leaves adrenaline-junkie Anne unable to continue her work as a firefighter, she turns to arson investigation, starting with […]
The ominous disappearance of a 13-year-old girl from an English village is the catalyst for Jon McGregor’s remarkable novel in linked stories, The Reservoir Tapes, originally broadcast on the BBC and out this week in the U. S. from Catapult. I talked with him about writing for radio, village life, and fascination. MICHAEL CART: Would you describe […]
Zoje Stage’s debut novel, the eerie thriller Baby Teeth (2018), marks the latest in a slew of books with lollipops on the cover. Shattered or sadly crumbled, these crushed candies are an omen that the salad days will soon be gone for the characters inside. Several of Liane Moriarty’s book covers feature exploding stuff, but the […]
Every weekday we feature a different review on Booklist Online. These reviews are notable for different reasons—they may be starred, or high-demand, or especially relevant to the current issue’s spotlight. We’ve collected the reviews from July 30–August 3 below. Monday, July 30 Broken Things, by Lauren Oliver Summer is the troubled sun around which Mia and Brynn revolve, and the three […]
Feminist dystopias are having a moment. I can’t think of any reasons why. Many of them have to do with fertility and reproduction. Again, not sure why that would be a thing people would have nervous feelings about that they want to express through speculative fiction. These books often intersect issues of fertility with apocalyptic […]
Every weekday we feature a different review on Booklist Online. These reviews are notable for different reasons—they may be starred, or high-demand, or especially relevant to the current issue’s spotlight. We’ve collected the reviews from July 9–13 below. Monday, July 9 Illegal, by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano Ten-year-old Ebo and his older brother, Kwame, endure a harrowing […]
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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