Politics in Practice
June 6, 2025 by Betsy Bird
You know what the hero of this book is doing when we first meet him? Kicking over the headstones of complete strangers in the cemetery. I review a STRONG title from Messner.
February 18, 2022 by Betsy Bird
Read the plot of Kick Push on paper and it sounds like something you’ve seen a hundred times before. Read the actual book and there’s nothing to compare.
April 2, 2020 by Betsy Bird
Sharp and smart. Kind and caustic. Occasionally acidic, but in a nice way, today's review is of the kind of book that wakes up dreamy readers and forces the darned kids to think a little. Precisely what we would have all been waiting for, had we but known to want it.
July 2, 2013 by Betsy Bird
A Song for Bijou By Josh Farrar Walker Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Bloomsbury) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8027-3394-8 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Now let us discuss the middle school book. It is, arguably, the most forgotten book of its kind on a library and/or bookstore shelf. The book written for your average everyday […]
March 19, 2013 by Betsy Bird
The Water Castle By Megan Frazer Blakemore Illustrated by Jim Kay Walker Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Bloomsbury) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8027-2839-5 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Where does fantasy stop and science fiction begin? Is it possible to ever draw a distinct line in the sand between the two? A book with a […]
April 14, 2012 by Betsy Bird
Eye of the Storm By Kate Messner Walker (a division of Bloomsbury) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8027-2313-0 Ages 9-14 On shelves now Pity the science geeks, the math geeks, and other kids that love a ripping yarn with a grounding in something other than fantasy. When I troll the shelves of the children’s room in my local […]
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December 13, 2011 by Betsy Bird
The Princess and the Pig By Jonathan Emmett Illustrated by Poly Bernatene Walker & Co. (a division of Bloomsbury) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8027-2334-5 Ages 4-8 On shelves now The princess craze is a relatively new phenomenon. I’m sure that little girls have pretended to be princesses for as long as the occupation has existed, but the […]
May 21, 2011 by Betsy Bird
The Boy at the End of the World By Greg van Eekhout Bloomsbury Children’s Books $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-59990-524-2 Ages 9-12 On shelves June 21, 2011 For all that dystopias are now the #1 hot genre amongst children and teens (having supplanted vampires for the moment) I’ve yet to have a kid actually ask me for […]
Politics in Practice
by John Chrastka
Teen Librarian Toolbox
by Amanda MacGregor
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