Well, beaches here in Chicago are closed—but don’t tell these cover models that. Just in time for Memorial Day weekend—and Booklist‘s Spotlight on Historical Fiction—this cover trend roundup presents a quartet of summer releases set against iconic historical backdrops. For those of you unable to head to the beach, we recommend diving in to one […]
A lover of romantic comedies, England, and gin cocktails (and not necessarily in that order), Martha Waters grew up in Florida, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and now works as a children’s librarian in North Carolina. When Martha is not encouraging the next generation of readers to pick up a book, […]
Sorry not sorry, but people (including me) have been losing their heads over Six, a new pop concert musical about the six wives of Henry VIII. After debuting at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Six began an open run in London’s West End. It also recently made its American premiere, opening at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, […]
This regular feature gives Booklist critics the opportunity to shout about a recently published book they adored. They’ll tell us why we should read it, then provide five read-alikes for the title. Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan and read by Dion Graham George Washington Black—called “Wash” for short—is an enslaved ten- or eleven-year-old (he […]
Lynn: I’m not usually one to gush nostalgically, but Emily Jenkins and Paul O. Zelinsky have me doing just that. Their new picture book, All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah (2018), is a joyous celebration of both the holiday and one of my all time favorite series. As a child, I adored Sydney Taylor’s original All-of-a-Kind Family books […]
Our newest feature gives Booklist critics the opportunity to shout about a recently published book they adored. They’ll tell us why we should read it, then provide five read-alikes for the title. Transcription, by Kate Atkinson and read by Fenella Woolgar Actress Fenella Woolgar and author Kate Atkinson have shared many creatively fruitful unions. […]
Cindy: Every so often, and not often enough, a book sweeps me off my feet and makes me want to curl up and read it straight through. Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster (2018) is one of those books.Part historical fiction, part Jewish mythology, and part magical realism, this tale of a young […]
Over the past 20 years, Jason Lutes has been steadfastly churning out a stunning epic, and today, for the first time, it’s out in its entirety from Drawn & Quarterly. Berlin, which he started writing and drawing in 1998, recounts the intersecting paths of a diverse group of people living in Weimar-era Berlin, and how the rise […]
Lynn: Veera Hiranandani puts the well-loved structure of the fictional diary to exquisite use in her latest novel. InThe Night Diary (2018), 12-year-old Nisha receives a diary as a birthday gift from Kazi, the family servant who has raised and cared for Nisha and her twin brother after their mother died giving birth to them. Nisha […]
Cindy: I’ve been fascinated by the Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi ever since I read Susan Vreeland’s novel, The Passion of Artemisia (2002), while serving on the Best Books for Young Adults YALSA committee when it still included adult books in its charge. When I learned about the new debut YA novel Blood Water Paint (2018) […]