Bookseller Blogs

Glory is a piano prodigy.  She's only 16, and she's heading off on a year-long headlining tour of Europe.  But given the choice, she'd stay home with Frank, the boy next door.  And her tour might just be cut short as her mental state deteriorates...

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral was my Valentine's Day staff pick.  (I know, I'm late.)

This book redefines both the conventional high school romance and the storytelling experience.  Rather than reading the story of Glory and Frank, we experience it through the ephemera collected in both of their lives.  This creates the voyeuristic feeling of entering another's life through snapshots (both figurative and literal) of their most intimate moments.  As their story unfolds, we learn more about Glory and Frank than we might ever expect.  There is an accompanying app available in iPhone app store which offers multimedia interaction.  I was not able to review this.

Chopsticks is published by Razorbill and retails for $19.99 (paperback).  I received my advance readers copy from the publisher (although this review was not solicited or otherwise compensated).  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a blog meme hosted by Book Journey and adapted for the children's department by Teach Mentor Texts.

This past week, I read The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater, along with a huge list of upcoming picture books from Penguin and MPS:

Llama Llama Hoppity-Hop! by Anna Dewdney
The Roller Coaster Kid by Mary Ann Rodman and illustrated by Roger Roth
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Millie Fierce by Jane Manning
Chico the Brave by Dave Horowitz
The Insomniacs by Karina Wolf and The Brothers Hilts
Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway
The Perfect Present by Fiona Roberton
The Dead Family Diaz by P.J. Bracegirdle and illustrated by Poly Bernatene
Hands around the Library: Protecting Egypt's Treasured Books by Susan L. Roth and Karen Leggett Abouraya and illustrated by Susan L. Roth
What to Do If an Elephant Stands on Your Foot by Michelle Robinson and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
This Monster Needs a Haircut by Bethany Barton
The Best Bike Ride Ever by James Priomos and Johanna Wright
Dog in Charge by K.L. Going and illustrated by Dan Santat
Duck Sock Hop by Jane Kohuth and illustrated by Jane Porter
Ladybug Girl and Bingo by David Soman and Jacky Davis
Crinkleroot's Guide to Giving Back to Nature by Jim Arnosky
Pearl and Wagner: Five Days 'Til Summer by Kate McMullan and illustrated by R.W. Alley
Heroes of the Surf by Elisa Carbone and Nancy Carpenter
Hanging Off Jefferson's Nose: Growing Up on Mount Rushmore by Tina Nichols Coury and illustrated by Sally Wern Comport
Every Cowgirl Loves a Rodeo by Rebecca Janni and illustrated by Lynne Avril
I Know a Wee Piggy by Kim Norman and illustrated by Henry Cole
Look Look Outside! by Peter Linenthal
Monkey See, Look at Me! by Lorena Siminovich
Olympig!: The Triumphant Story of an Underdog by Victoria Jamieson
My Special One and Only by Joe Berger
Dog Gone! by Leeza Hernandez
My No, No, No Day! by Rebecca Patterson
ABCers by Carole Lexa Schaefer and illustrated by Pierr Morgan
Rat and Roach: Friends to the End by David Covell
The World's Greatest Lion by Ralph Helfer and illustrated by Ted Lewin
Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burn
Bea at Ballet by Rachel Isadora
Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Plant a Little Seed by Bonnie Christensen
Stop Thief! by Adam J.B. Lane
My Snake Blake by Randy Siegel and Serge Bloch
Mousterpiece by Jane Breskin Zalben
Lucy Can't Sleep by Amy Schwartz
It's a Dog's Life: How Man's Best Friend Sees, Hears and Smells the World by Susan E. Goodman and illustrated by David Slonim
Some Cat! by Mary Casanova and illustrated by Ard Hoyt
A Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead
Creature Count: A Prehistoric Rhyme by Brenda Huante and illustrated by Vincent Nguyen
Working Mummies by Joan Horton and illustrated by Drazen Kozjan
The Chandeliers by Vincent X. Kirsch
Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca by Deborah Kogan Ray

Over the next week, I will be reading grown-up book American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar in preparation for his author event along with more MPS picture books.

What are you reading?

We've all seen the guy on the penny who sits in the big monument in Washington, D.C.  But who is he, anyway?

Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman is my pick for President's Day.  It's also my February review for the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2012.

This beginning biography hits all the major events in Lincoln's life in a general overview perfect for those encountering his legacy for the first time.  However, each page is also littered with little extras about his life; the kinds of things few consider important about the man, but that will really bring him to life for curious kids.    Kalman's colorful illustrations really pop off the page.  This is the type of book that can suck you in from across the room with its cover alone.  This is a great introduction to the great presidents for little readers, but even the more experienced among us will learn something.

Looking at Lincoln is published by Nancy Paulsen Books and retails for $17.99 (hardcover).  I received my folded and gathered copy from the publisher (although this review was not solicited or otherwise compensated).  You can get yours from Left Bank Books today!

News from the publishing world:

--Jennifer Gonzalez is joining Macmillan as Vice President, Children's Sales while Mark Von Bargen is being promoted to Senior Director, Trade Sales of children's books.

--Target offered a sneak-peak at The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn--Part 2, based on Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer.

--The finalists for the Romantic Novelists' Association Awards were announced, including the Young Adult Romantic Novel category: Artichoke Hearts by Sita Brahmachari, Dark Ride by Caroline Green, My So-Called Phantom Lovelife by Tamsyn Murray and Angel Fire by L.A. Weatherley.

--Bookmasters added six U.K. publishers to its North American distribution program, including Arcturus Publishing, which counts children's books among its specialties.

Links via Shelf Awareness.

In the near future, after a war on American soil, a conservative religious party has taken over the country and enacted a code criminalizing immoral behavior.  As the only child of a mother who has never married, Ember finds herself on the wrong side of the law, landing in a reform school as he mother is hauled off for trial.  To make matters worse, one of the arresting officers is the only boy she's ever loved.  Ember thought she had lost him after he was drafted, until he shows up with her transfer orders in hand.

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons is the first book in a trilogy.  It is also my February review for the Debut Author Challenge.

This is a fast-paced story with plenty of action to keep you turning pages.  Simmons has a knack for ending chapters in such a way that you just have to look at the first few paragraphs of the next one.  The dystopia is chilling in a way that is far too easily imagined as a logical end point for some of today's politics.  The individual villains are effectively horrifying.  However, I had a lot of trouble relating to the protagonist and narrator.  Nine times out of ten, her decisions--which she claimed were always carefully considered--made no sense given her situation and could only hinder the achievement of her goals.  By the end of the book, I had grown very tired of yelling at her to do the opposite of whatever she was doing.    I haven't decided yet whether to give the second book a try.  The world-building here is solid and compelling.  I just wish for some more deserving characters to inhabit it.

Article 5 is published by Tor Teen and retails for $17.99 (hardcover).  I got my advance readers copy from the publisher (although this review was not solicited or otherwise compensated).  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

When I first read about YA Highway's Blog Lovefest for Valentine's Day, I thought I would probably skip it this year, since a subject didn't spring to mind.  Then about five minutes ago I finished Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

This is, in short, an amazing book.  On the surface, it is about a boy named Auggie who was born with a perfect storm of birth defects affecting everything from his facial features to his hearing.  After spending his childhood being home schooled due to his extensive surgeries leaving him hospitalized much of the time, he finally joins a regular school for the fifth grade.  He feels like a normal kid inside, but he looks anything but.  Naturally, this leads to many new challenges for him and his classmates, both friendly and not.

That's the plot.  But that's not what this book is really about.  It's about the connections people make (and fail to make) with each other.  It gently unfolds to encompass the web of Auggie's influence and the hearts and minds of those he touches.  The narration is so subtle and so sweet, seldom going where you expect it, that the powerful emotions contained inside will sneak up on you.  While it might officially be middle-grade fiction, I would put this up against the finest of adult literary work.  This book is special.

I'll leave you with a quote, but with one caveat.  If you are already going to read Wonder, stop here.  It will probably be better to encounter this organically, in context.  If you still need convincing, see if Justin's words from page 204 can help:

"no, no, it's not all random, if it was really all random, the universe would abandon us completely.  and the universe doesn't.  it takes care of its most fragile creations in ways we can't see.  like with parents who adore you blindly.  and a big sister who feels guilty for being human over you.  and a little gravelly-voiced kid whose friends have left him over you.  and even a pink-haired girl who carries your picture in her wallet.  maybe it is a lottery, but the universe makes it all even out in the end.  the universe takes care of all its birds."


Wonder is published by Knopf Books for Young Readers and retails for $15.99 (hardcover).  I got my complementary copy from the publisher (although this review was not solicited or otherwise compensated).  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today.

In 1224, Saint Francis of Assisi wrote a hymn praising the natural elements that come together to create a world that serves us all.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Saint Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures reimagined by Katherine Paterson and illustrated by Pamela Dalton is one of The New York Times Best Illustrated Childrens' Books of 2011.

This retelling of Saint Francis's original clearly outlines the aspects of nature that mankind has used to prosper and how their unique properties are to thank in each of our lives in a simple, lyrical language.  The message is communicated in a way that even the youngest listeners will appreciate and understand.  The illustrations are evocative of woodcuttings of the middle ages.  The laws of realism are bent to portray multiple settings in one spread, stacked atop one another like a medieval tapestry.  The small details in each panel are fun to search out, and the overall affect is a wholesome, pure classic.  A translation of the original hymn and sources are included at the end of the book for those wishing to delve deeper.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Saint Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures is published by Chronicle Books and retails for $17.99 (hardcover).  I read my copy by picking it up from the shelves for a few minutes.  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

News from the store:


--On Tuesday, February 7, Adam Rex visited with the sixth grade at Gateway Middle School, where the River City Readers in Mr. Cashman and Ms. Silver's classes each received copies of his new book, Cold Cereal (previously reviewed), complete with a personalized signature and doodle.  Mr. Rex also stopped by Tower Grove Christian School and New City School to share his slideshow presentation and reading.

--Children's favorite, our very own Spike, was named an Excellent Bookstore Cat by Mental Floss.

News from the publishing world:


--A new trailer for The Hunger Games movie (based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins) was released.  We also got to see behind the scenes of the cast's cover shoot for The Hollywood Reporter.

--A behind-the-scenes featurette with cast and crew from Hugo (based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (previously reviewed)) was released by Paramount.

--Producer Dan Angel of the Hatchery has announced that he is developing Dark Eden by Patrick Carman as a movie series with multimedia components.

--Lemony Snicket "accidentally" leaked details on a new four-book autobiographical series called All the Wrong Questions.  The first book, Who Could That Be at This Hour?, will launch October 23, 2012.

--Shawn Levy has signed on to produce a film based on the Fancy Nancy series by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Robin Preiss Glasser.  Tina Fey has been offered a co-producer role.

--Waterstones announced the shortlist for its Children's Book Prize:
Picture Books
I Don't Want to Be a Pea! by Ann Bonwill and illustrated by Simon Rickerty
No! by Marta Altes
A Bit Lost (known in the U.S. as Little Owl Lost) by Chris Haughton
The Pirates Next Door by Jonny Duddle
Good Little Wolf by Nadia Shireen
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (previously reviewed)
Fiction 5-12
The Windvale Sprites by MacKenzie Crook
Muncle Trogg by Janet Foxley
Claude in the City by Alex T. Smith
The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon
Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis
Milo and the Restart Button by Alan Silberberg
Teen Books
Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece by Annabel Pitcher
Being Billy by Phil Earle
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Divergent by Veronica Roth (previously reviewed)
You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Links via Shelf Awareness.

Goodco cereals are known for their magical mascots.  But could they be more than fantastical inventions of the marketing department?  It looks that way to Scott, who has been seeing things since he moved to Goodborough.  Things like leprechauns, rabbit-men and unicats.

Cold Cereal by Adam Rex is the first book in the Cold Cereal trilogy.

This is the type of book that is ridiculously easy to get kids to read.  It's packed with absurd situations and over-the-top characters, and on top of that, it's often laugh-out-loud funny.  This will come as no surprise to fans of Rex's The True Meaning of Smekday, but if this is your first time experiencing his imaginative style, you will be getting a worthy introduction.  The wide variety of human and magical characters gives everyone someone to root for especially and while this phase of their adventures wraps up at the end, plenty of problems are left to solve in the subsequent books (not to mention the promise of more mascots).

Cold Cereal is published by Balzer + Bray and retails for $16.99 (hardcover).  I got my advance readers copy from the publisher (although this review was not solicited or otherwise compensated).  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

Left Bank Books has a limited supply of signed copies of Cold Cereal, along with many other books written and/or illustrated by Adam Rex!  Plus each copy has an original illustration!  Call 314-367-6731 for availability of specific titles.

Most children feel most safe and secure at home.  But what about the children who have no home, spending their lives moving from one place to another, following the harvest?

Migrant by Maxine Trotter and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault is one of The New York Times Best Illustrated Childrens' Books for 2011.

Anna is part of the Mennonite community in Mexico.  They travel between there and Canada every year along with the crops, never staying in one place too long.  This story is told through Anna's eyes, and she depicts the migrant experience with a child's understanding.  She meditates on the nature of always moving while wondering what it would be like to have a steady home.  Throughout, the soft blush illustrations portray an often dismal subject with a sense of whimsy and finding the beauty in the world around you.

Migrant is published by Groundwood Books and retails for $18.95 (hardcover).  I read my copy by picking it up from the shelves for a few minutes.  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

Robert Johnson

In one of those deals that are reminiscent of Robert Johnson’s midnight deal at the crossroad, Houghton Mifflin announced that it would publish Amazon Publishing’s books via its new “New Harvest” imprint, thereby adding more dubious credibility to the Walmart of the internet.  It may not seem like a huge deal to the ordinary reader, but consider this:

When Kris tried to order a book published by a major publisher in bulk quantity for a customer a couple of weeks ago, she looked at Amazon to see what kind of competition we had.  This is not uncommon.  People look there to see what they “should” be charged and then ask us to match it without knowing that Amazon sells many books below the cost of what we actually pay for it.  (I say “we” meaning real bookstores who don’t get the deals Amazon gets.  My proof?  An actual Amazon invoice from a major publisher that was misdelivered to us recently listing an additional two percent discount for them that we don’t get, but I digress.)  Anyway, Kris looked on Amazon and then called customer service at said big publisher and asked if we could get the same deal as Amazon so we could sell the book at a competitive price.  Not only were we told that Amazon doesn’t get special deals from them, the “customer service” rep told her to order it from, you guessed it, Amazon.

Yes, the publisher actually directed one of its customers to order one of their products from its competitor.  This is sort of like Foot Locker calling up Nike and being directed to order their next shipment of running shoes from Payless.  I’m sure the folks at this publishing house don’t see us as actual competition for Amazon.  After all, we are David to the Amazon Goliath.  We won’t be stocking New Harvest titles, but will this paper cut make a difference to the Mighty One?  Yeah, right.

And yet…

Today, in a very proud moment, I opened an e-mail from IndieBound (the folks that host and manage the vast e-commerce database for most indie bookstores in the country) that announced its new policy:

While Amazon is seeking to distribute its print catalog through conventional means, it seems that they are simultaneously pursuing a strategy of locking in ebook exclusives which other retailers are not allowed to sell.  IndieCommerce believes that this is wrong, and that any book title for sale should be available to all retailers in the same formats and on the same basis.  So, IndieCommerce has made a decision not to list these titles for sale through IndieCommerce sites.

 This means that the American Booksellers Association is calling Amazon on its shady business practices.  Sure, Left Bank Books can “not sell” Amazon… er, I mean “New Harvest, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin” titles.  Who would care?  But this is a definite step in the right direction.

Left unchecked and unregulated the monopolization of the bookselling industry will not “introduce as many authors to as many readers as possible” as Larry Kirshbaum suggests.  It will, instead, stamp out, delete and destroy the efforts of other publishers, bookstores and authors who want to “introduce” their own favorites that might just have come from somewhere else.  It will also fool readers into thinking they have a choice, when really all roads lead back to Bezos.  It’s corporate greed clothed in fake populism.

Exclusivity is the enemy of democracy.  It is anathema to fair play.

One small voice drowns in the cacophony of bullies, but a chorus of independent voices – some small, some big, some new, some old rising together in a crescendo is a beautifully loud thing.  Today, I’m proud of our organization, who is listening and responding to the needs of its members.

Well done.

From the store:
--On Friday, January 27, Ms. Hendley and Ms. Smith's kindergarten, first and second graders at Washington Montessori Elementary School each received a copy of A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis by Matt de la Pena and illustrated by Kadir Nelson (previously reviewed) through our River City Readers program.  Meanwhile, at Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, Patricia C. McKissack spoke to the fourth, fifth and sixth graders, and Ms. Evans and Ms. Dixon's students received copies of Never Forgotten by McKissack and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (previously reviewed).

From the publishing world:
--Lee & Low bought Children's Book Press, which specializes in multicultural children's books.

Links via Shelf Awareness.

In the land of the seven kingdoms, when a child's eyes turn to two different colors, it marks them as a Graceling--someone with a superhuman skill that will soon manifest itself.  Katsa has known her grace is killing since she was a little girl.  When a member of one of the kingdoms' royal families is kidnapped, she teams up with the Prince Po, determined to use her grace for good.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore is the first book in the Seven Kingdoms series.

This is a compelling story for fans of fantasy, but it's not so steeped in the genre to turn off others.  The kingdoms have a medeval feel, but the only mystical aspect is the presence of graces.  These are especially interesting for the ways each grace affects its host differently, even if they are similar in nature.  Katsa's journey of self-discovery in the face of a power that drives her (or rather, causes other to drive her) to do terrible things is believable and relatable.  She begins to build relationships the reader is invested in and certainly serves as a worthy female role model.  This story also contains one of the most viscerally unpleasant villains I recall reading.  To say too much more would be unfair to those who haven't read yet, but Cashore's introduction to him or her is masterful in the way it aligns the feelings of the reader with those of the other characters.

Graceling is published by Graphia and retails for $9.99 (paperback).  I got my complimentary copy from the publisher (although this review was not solicited or otherwise compensated).  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

In the land of the seven kingdoms, when a child's eyes turn to two different colors, it marks them as a Graceling--someone with a superhuman skill that will soon manifest itself.  Katsa has known her grace is killing since she was a little girl.  When a member of one of the kingdoms' royal families is kidnapped, she teams up with the Prince Po, determined to use her grace for good.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore is the first book in the Seven Kingdoms series.

This is a compelling story for fans of fantasy, but it's not so steeped in the genre to turn off others.  The kingdoms have a medeval feel, but the only mystical aspect is the presence of graces.  These are especially interesting for the ways each grace affects its host differently, even if they are similar in nature.  Katsa's journey of self-discovery in the face of a power that drives her (or rather, causes other to drive her) to do terrible things is believable and relatable.  She begins to build relationships the reader is invested in and certainly serves as a worthy female role model.  This story also contains one of the most viscerally unpleasant villains I recall reading.  To say too much more would be unfair to those who haven't read yet, but Cashore's introduction to him or her is masterful in the way it aligns the feelings of the reader with those of the other characters.

Graceling is published by Graphia and retails for $9.99 (paperback).  I got my complimentary copy from the publisher (although this review was not solicited or otherwise compensated).  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

Daisy loves her ball!  She takes it everywhere with her and plays with it all the time.  So what is she to do when it deflates?

A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka is one of The New York Times' Best Illustrated Childrens' Books of 2011 and the winner of the 2012 Caldecott Medal.

The wordless tale of love and loss is a gentle introduction to grief.  Daisy's emotions leap off the page, from her joy playing with her ball to her despair at its demise.  This is a very simple storyline, fleshed out entirely by the evocative watercolor and ink illustrations.  There is a freeness to Raschka's forms accompanied by attention to the small details like Daisy's whiskers that combine to capture feeling extremely precisely.  The lack of words allows children of all ages to experience the story directly and at their own pace.  A connection is forged between the reader and Daisy, and we feel her highs and lows along with her.  And not to worry, there is a happy ending in sight.

 A Ball for Daisy is published by Schwartz & Wade and retails for $16.99 (hardcover).  I read my copy by picking it up from the shelves for a few minutes.  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

Daisy loves her ball!  She takes it everywhere with her and plays with it all the time.  So what is she to do when it deflates?

A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka is one of The New York Times' Best Illustrated Childrens' Books of 2011 and the winner of the 2012 Caldecott Medal.

The wordless tale of love and loss is a gentle introduction to grief.  Daisy's emotions leap off the page, from her joy playing with her ball to her despair at its demise.  This is a very simple storyline, fleshed out entirely by the evocative watercolor and ink illustrations.  There is a freeness to Raschka's forms accompanied by attention to the small details like Daisy's whiskers that combine to capture feeling extremely precisely.  The lack of words allows children of all ages to experience the story directly and at their own pace.  A connection is forged between the reader and Daisy, and we feel her highs and lows along with her.  And not to worry, there is a happy ending in sight.

 A Ball for Daisy is published by Schwartz & Wade and retails for $16.99 (hardcover).  I read my copy by picking it up from the shelves for a few minutes.  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

News from the publishing world:
--The nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards were announced.  Hugo based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (previously reviewed) led the field with 11 nominations (Best Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects and Writing (Adapted Screenplay)).  Also nominated were War Horse based on the novel of the same name by Michael Morpurgo (Best Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing and Sound Mixing), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 based on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (Art Direction, Makeup and Visual Effects), and The Adventures of Tintin based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Herge (Music (Original Score)).

--A new production photo from the film The Hunger Games (based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins) was revealed.

--The nominations for the for the NAACP Image Awards were announced.  The literature category includes nominees for:
Outstanding Literary Work--Children
Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Tim Bowers
Before There Was Mozart by Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrated by James Ransome
Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson
White Water by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein and illustrated by Shandra Strickland
You Can Be a Friend by Tony and Lauren Dungy and illustrated by Ron Mazellan
and
Outstanding Literary Work--Youth/Teens
Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon
Eliza's Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary by Jerdine Nolan and illustrated by Shadra Strickland
Jesse Owens: I Always Loved Running by Jeff Burlingame
Kick by Walter Dean Myers
Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes

--The American Library Association announced its 2012 Youth Media Award Winners:
John Newbery Medal for outstanding contribution to children's literature
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Newbery Honor Books
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin
Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children
A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
Caldecott Honor Books
Blackout by John Rocco
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith (previously reviewed)
Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell (previously reviewed)
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Prints Honor Books
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and illustrated by Maira Kalman
The Returning by Christine Hinwood
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
King Author Honor Books
The Great Migration: Journey to the North by Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
Never Forgotten by Patricia C. McKissack and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (previously reviewed)
Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award recognizing an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom by Shane W. Evans
King Illustrator Honor Book
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Ashley Bryan
Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
close to famous by Joan Bauer
Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults
Susan Cooper
May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site
Michael Morpurgo
Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States
Soldier Bear by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Philip Hopman and translated by Laura Watkinson
Batchelder Honor Book
The Lily Pond by Annika Thor and translated by Linda Schenck
Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's video
Children Make Terrible Pets based on the book by Peter Brown
Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States
Rotters by Daniel Kraus
Odyssey Honor Audiobooks
Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Young Fredle by Cynthia Voigt
Pura Belpre (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
Diego Rivera: His World and Ours by Duncan Tonatiuh
Belpre Illustrator Honor Books
The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred by Samantha R. Vamos and illustrated by Rafael Lopez
Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/Marisol McDonald no combina by Monica Brown and illustrated by Sara Palacios
Pura Belpre (Author) Award honoring a Latino author whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Belpre Author Honor Books
Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck by Margarita Engle
Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller by Xavier Garza
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children
Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet
Sibert Honor Books
Black and White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene "Bull" Connor by Larry Dane Brimnerand
Drawing from Memory by Allen Sayand
The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O'Connell and Donna M. Jackson with photographs by Caitlin O'Connell and Timothy Rodwell
Witches!: The Absolutely True Story of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Shanzer
Stonewall Book Award-Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award given annually to English-language children's and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright
Stonewall Honor Books
a + e 4ever by Ilike Merey
Money Boy by Paul Yee
Pink by Lili Wilkinson
with or without you by Brian Farrey
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book
Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider
Geisel Honor Books
I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (previously reviewed)
See Me Run by Paul Meisel
William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Morris Award Finalists
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults, ages 12-18, each year
The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism and Treachery by Steve Sheinkin
YALSA Award Finalists
Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires along the Way) by Sue Macy
Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein by Susan Goldman Rubin

Links via Shelf Awareness

News from the publishing world:
--The nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards were announced.  Hugo based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (previously reviewed) led the field with 11 nominations (Best Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects and Writing (Adapted Screenplay)).  Also nominated were War Horse based on the novel of the same name by Michael Morpurgo (Best Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing and Sound Mixing), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 based on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (Art Direction, Makeup and Visual Effects), and The Adventures of Tintin based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Herge (Music (Original Score)).

--A new production photo from the film The Hunger Games (based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins) was revealed.

--The nominations for the for the NAACP Image Awards were announced.  The literature category includes nominees for:
Outstanding Literary Work--Children
Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Tim Bowers
Before There Was Mozart by Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrated by James Ransome
Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson
White Water by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein and illustrated by Shandra Strickland
You Can Be a Friend by Tony and Lauren Dungy and illustrated by Ron Mazellan
and
Outstanding Literary Work--Youth/Teens
Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon
Eliza's Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary by Jerdine Nolan and illustrated by Shadra Strickland
Jesse Owens: I Always Loved Running by Jeff Burlingame
Kick by Walter Dean Myers
Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes

--The American Library Association announced its 2012 Youth Media Award Winners:
John Newbery Medal for outstanding contribution to children's literature
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Newbery Honor Books
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin
Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children
A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
Caldecott Honor Books
Blackout by John Rocco
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith (previously reviewed)
Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell (previously reviewed)
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Prints Honor Books
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and illustrated by Maira Kalman
The Returning by Christine Hinwood
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
King Author Honor Books
The Great Migration: Journey to the North by Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
Never Forgotten by Patricia C. McKissack and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (previously reviewed)
Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award recognizing an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom by Shane W. Evans
King Illustrator Honor Book
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Ashley Bryan
Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
close to famous by Joan Bauer
Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults
Susan Cooper
May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site
Michael Morpurgo
Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States
Soldier Bear by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Philip Hopman and translated by Laura Watkinson
Batchelder Honor Book
The Lily Pond by Annika Thor and translated by Linda Schenck
Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's video
Children Make Terrible Pets based on the book by Peter Brown
Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States
Rotters by Daniel Kraus
Odyssey Honor Audiobooks
Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Young Fredle by Cynthia Voigt
Pura Belpre (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
Diego Rivera: His World and Ours by Duncan Tonatiuh
Belpre Illustrator Honor Books
The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred by Samantha R. Vamos and illustrated by Rafael Lopez
Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/Marisol McDonald no combina by Monica Brown and illustrated by Sara Palacios
Pura Belpre (Author) Award honoring a Latino author whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Belpre Author Honor Books
Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck by Margarita Engle
Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller by Xavier Garza
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children
Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet
Sibert Honor Books
Black and White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene "Bull" Connor by Larry Dane Brimnerand
Drawing from Memory by Allen Sayand
The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O'Connell and Donna M. Jackson with photographs by Caitlin O'Connell and Timothy Rodwell
Witches!: The Absolutely True Story of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Shanzer
Stonewall Book Award-Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award given annually to English-language children's and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright
Stonewall Honor Books
a + e 4ever by Ilike Merey
Money Boy by Paul Yee
Pink by Lili Wilkinson
with or without you by Brian Farrey
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book
Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider
Geisel Honor Books
I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (previously reviewed)
See Me Run by Paul Meisel
William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Morris Award Finalists
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults, ages 12-18, each year
The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism and Treachery by Steve Sheinkin
YALSA Award Finalists
Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires along the Way) by Sue Macy
Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein by Susan Goldman Rubin

Links via Shelf Awareness

Eva Nine has never met any other humans.  She's been raised underground by the robot Muthr, training continually to survive on the surface.  But when she's chased unexpectedly out of her home, what she finds up there doesn't look anything like the simulations...

The Search for WondLa, written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi, is the first book in the WondLa trilogy.

This story is a twist on the traditional child-displaced-into-another-world tale in that this child doesn't come from our world any more than the world on the surface.  The goal here isn't to get Eva Nine back home, but to find out if she even has a home in the first place.  She goes through every child's desire to find where they belong, magnified by her thought that she might truly be alone in the world.  But what a world it is.  The settings and characters are richly drawn, both in words and in the fantastical illustrations.  You will definitely want to revisit them in future books.  As a side note, I could not get the interactive online elements to work, but I don't think this will diminish enjoyment.

The Search for WondLa is published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and retails for $17.99 (hardcover).  I bought my Advance Readers Copy used with my very own money.  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!

Eva Nine has never met any other humans.  She's been raised underground by the robot Muthr, training continually to survive on the surface.  But when she's chased unexpectedly out of her home, what she finds up there doesn't look anything like the simulations...

The Search for WondLa, written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi, is the first book in the WondLa trilogy.

This story is a twist on the traditional child-displaced-into-another-world tale in that this child doesn't come from our world any more than the world on the surface.  The goal here isn't to get Eva Nine back home, but to find out if she even has a home in the first place.  She goes through every child's desire to find where they belong, magnified by her thought that she might truly be alone in the world.  But what a world it is.  The settings and characters are richly drawn, both in words and in the fantastical illustrations.  You will definitely want to revisit them in future books.  As a side note, I could not get the interactive online elements to work, but I don't think this will diminish enjoyment.

The Search for WondLa is published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and retails for $17.99 (hardcover).  I bought my Advance Readers Copy used with my very own money.  You can get yours at Left Bank Books today!