The latest reviews of fiction and nonfiction titles--including novels, historical fiction, and curriculum related content--for middle school and high school audiences from School Library Journal.
Grades 5 & Up 07/01/2009
Fiction BARNES, John . Tales of the Madman Underground: (An Historical Romance 1973) 532p. Viking 2009. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-0-670-06081-8 . LC number unavailable. Gr 9 Up–Karl Shoemaker, in group therapy at school since fourth grade, turns a new leaf on the first day of senior year, 1973. His goal is to be normal and avoid therapy while still keeping his friends, who are all part of t...
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Grades 5 & Up 06/01/2009
Fiction ABBOTT, Hailey . Summer Girls . 272p. Scholastic/Point . 2009. pap. $8.99. ISBN 978-0-545-10268-1 . LC number unavailable. Gr 9 Up—Like Summer Boys (Scholastic, 2004), this is a fun seasonal read. Jessica, Greer, and Lara couldn't be farther apart in style and personality. Jessica is the good-girl athlete hoping to replicate the wonderful summer days she spent with her older cous...
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Grades 5 & Up 05/01/2009
Fiction ABRAHAMS, Peter . Reality Check . 336p. HarperTeen/Laura Geringer Bks. May 2009. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-122766-0 ; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-122767-7 . LC 2008022593. Gr 9 Up—Set in Little Bend, CO, and North Dover, VT, Abrahams's novel follows Cody, 16, who sustains a serious knee injury that leaves him on the bench during the most important recruiting year in his high school...
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Grades 5 & Up 04/01/2009
Fiction ANDERSON, Jodi Lynn . Love and Peaches . 243p. HarperTeen . 2008. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-073311-7 ; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-073312-4 . LC number unavailable. Gr 8 Up—In this conclusion to the series that began in Peaches (HarperCollins, 2005), the author delights once again with more friendship, love, and, of course, peaches.
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Grades 5 & Up 03/01/2009
Fiction AKSOMITIS, Linda . Longhorns and Outlaws . 185p. CIP. Coteau . 2008. pap. $8.95. ISBN 978-1-55050-378-4 . LC C2008-904969-1. Gr 4–6—This novel gets off to a bumpy start and barely regains its balance as the story progresses. Orphaned in the Galveston hurricane of 1900, 12-year-old Lucas and his older brother, Gil, go from their Dutch enclave in Texas to Billings, MT, to see...
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Grades 5 & Up 02/01/2009
Fiction ABDEL-FATTAH, Randa . Ten Things I Hate About Me . 297p. CIP. Scholastic/Orchard . 2009. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-545-05055-5 . LC 2008013667. Gr 7 Up—Lebanese-Australian Jamilah has two lives. At school she is blond-haired, blue-eyed (thanks to contact lenses) Jamie. At home she is Jamilah, a rebellious, but dutiful, daughter of a strict, widowed father.
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Reviews: Grades 5 & Up 01/01/2009
Fiction AGELL, Charlotte . Shift . 230p. CIP. Holt/Christy Ottaviano Bks. 2008. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-0-8050-7810-7 . LC 2007046942. Gr 7–9—Adrian Havoc, 15, lives in an urban hotbox in the partially post-nuclear United Christian States, where the end of the world is nigh. He meets Lenora, a beautiful zookeeper on a mission to deliver a favorite penguin to colder waters.
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BookExpo America 2009: SLJ's Day of Dialog School Library Journal held a Day of Dialog in conjunction with the annual BookExpo America on May 28, 2009 at the Brooklyn Public Library. Full story: bit.ly/1a0G7o
2008 National Book Awards Nominees in the young people's literature category graced the red carpet on Awards night Nov. 20, 2008.
The Buzz Nov. 2008 So the economy’s gone south, you still need your gadgets.
Folktales from Around the World: The Bear Prince. DVD. 11:56 min. with tchr’s. guide. Prod. by Colman Communications. Dist. by 100% Educational Media (schoolvideos.com). 2008. $39.95.
K-Gr 4–While this animated Mexican fairy tale will be new to most viewers, the story contains familiar elements from such popular tales as “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “Puss in Boots.”
Let them eat cake! Library aide Shanta Ramkhelawan (left), librarian Camina Raphael, and Colleen McCrea, head of the children's library, served delectable dessert to more than 130 people celebrating the 85th anniversary of the historic Robert Bacon Memorial Children's Library in Westbury, NY. Upon opening its doors in 1924 it was only the third children's library in the world.
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