The Yarn
April 28, 2015 by Betsy Bird
The Jumbies By Tracey Baptiste Algonquin Young Readers $15.95 ISBN: 9781616204143 Ages 9-12 On shelves now “All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.” So sayeth Leo Tolstoy (at least in theory). Regardless of whether or not it’s actually true, it is fun […]
June 4, 2014 by Betsy Bird
Here’s something I’ve never done before. For years I’ve been waiting for the moment when a book I loved and reviewed dipped out of print only to come back again. Since I’ve only been doing this gig since 2006 I wasn’t sure what that first book would be. Then, this year, I got my answer. […]
June 2, 2014 by Betsy Bird
brown girl dreaming By Jacqueline Woodson Nancy Paulsen Books (an imprint of Penguin) $16.99 ISBN: 978- 0399252518 Ages 9-12 On shelves August 28th What does a memoir owe its readers? For that matter, what does a fictionalized memoir written with a child audience in mind owe its readers? Kids come into public libraries every day […]
May 1, 2014 by Betsy Bird
The Great Greene Heist By Varian Johnson Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-52552-7 Ages 10 and up On shelves May 27th What is the ultimate child fantasy? I’m not talking bubble gum sheets or wizards that tell you you’re “the chosen one”. Let’s think a little more realistically here. When […]
January 1, 2014 by Betsy Bird
The Other Side of Free By Krista Russell Peachtree Publishers $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-56145-710-6 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Have you ever read the adult book How I Became a Famous Novelist? Bear with me for a second here, I know what I’m doing. You see, in the title the author decides that he wants to become […]
December 23, 2013 by Betsy Bird
You know why I’m looking forward to 2014? It’s not the fresh start that comes with every turn of the globe. It’s not the incipient birth of my second child (I lie . . . it is that, but for the purposes of this piece we’re going to pretend that it’s not). It’s not the […]
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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 […]
May 2, 2013 by Betsy Bird
A Girl Called Problem By Katie Quirk Eerdmans Books for Young Readers $8.00 ISBN: 97800-8028-5404-9 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. Who says that mystery novels for kids all have to include the same tropes and settings? I tell you, half the time when a kid comes up to a reference desk asking for a mystery […]
October 4, 2008 by Betsy Bird
Chains By Laurie Halse Anderson Simon & Schuster $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-4169-6949-5 Ages 10 and up On shelves October 21, 2008 My discovery of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chains came at the best possible time. I had recently read and reviewed Steve Sheinkin’s, King George, What Was His Problem?, a book that looks at the stories behind […]
October 22, 2007 by Betsy Bird
Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow By James Sturm Illustrated by Rich Tommaso Jump at the Sun (Hyperion imprint) The Center for Cartoon Studies ISBN: 978-0786839018 $9.99 Ages 9 and up On shelves now. Graphic novel biographies are touch-and-go affairs. For example, Houdini: The Handcuff King by Jason Lutes and Nick Bertozzi did little for […]
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