Little Bee

Little Bee by Chris Cleave
A haunting novel about the tenuous friendship that blooms between two disparate strangers--one an illegal Nigerian refugee, the other a recent widow from suburban London. "...You know it is not a good idea to collect stories, I said. Sarah shook her head. I don't agree. I think it's the only way we'll make you safe..."/page 253

A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems

A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems by Deborah Ruddell, Joan Rankin (Illustrator)
Take a lighthearted romp through four seasons in the forest with these whimsical poems.
Woodchuck's Wake-Up Morning
She snoozed away the winter
in the darkness, all alone.
There's grumbling in her stomach
and she's chilly to the bone.
Her fur is flat and crusty.
Her swollen eyelids sting.
She's starving for a salad
and a heaping plate of spring.

Lucky Breaks

Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron, Matt Phelan (Illustrator)
Having reached the mature age of eleven in the tiny California town of Hard Pan (population 43), Lucky discovers that there is still much to learn about friendship, parental trust, and the Milky Way galaxy. "...we humans look up and see what we call stars, but really they are just bits of the immense light from beyond, shining through the jagged holes...If someone lifted that domed lid, the light would be so intense and so beautiful that all the people looking up would lie down on their backs, tears pouring out of their eyes, and die..."

The Girl Who Threw Butterflies

The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane
Eighth-grader Molly's ability to throw a knuckleball earns her a spot on the baseball team, which not only helps her feel connected to her recently deceased father, who loved baseball, it helps in other aspects of her life, as well. Visit the author's website here.

Inside Nan: Volunteer Tuesday

We are reading Dominic by William Steig. I picked this book for us because it is stellar in every way and Travis deserves the best. Today we met Bartholomew Badger. From the drawings Travis is sure that the old pig is a "she" ; he is adamant about it. Even when the words say "Mr. Badger dozed off again..." Travis brought a hairbrush with him today, he brushes his hair as I read. "This is my friend's brush", he says. "he said I could hold it for him. I like it but mine is softer." As he brushed I read. We are on a journey together, one not unlike Dominic's journey. "I'm just moving along, on my way to wherever I get, to find whatever I find."

Faith

Faith by Maya Ajmera, Cynthia Pon, Magda Nakassis

Faith explores through full-color photographs the many ways in which the world celebrates and practices religious belief, highlighting the common threads—praying and meditating, chants and songs, holy books, cleansing, holy places, holidays and festivals, important events, dress, food and drink, and helping others. Spare text accompanies the pictures of children and identifies the specific religion and practices. Concluding notes for adults to share with youngsters provide more information on each one.

All the Wrong People Have Self-Esteem: An Inappropriate Book for Young Ladies (Or, Frankly, Anybody Else)

All the Wrong People Have Self-Esteem: An Inappropriate Book for Young Ladies (Or, Frankly, Anybody Else) written and illustrated by Laurie Rosenwald
Here’s a look at life from artist and professional nonconformist Laurie Rosenwald, who insists that she doesn’t want to tell anyone what to do. But when you are as irreverent as she is people sort of DO want to know what you think. All the Wrong People Have Self Esteem is for young women and, frankly anyone else, who asks good questions about life and then likes to laugh at the answers.

Every Human Has Rights : A Photographic Declaration for Kids

Every Human Has Rights : A Photographic Declaration for Kids by National Geographic Editors, Foreword by Mary Robinson
National Geographic has joined the Every Human Has Rights campaign by released a new childrens book to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The book uses images and accessible text to help children learn their human rights.

Every Human Has Rights - Campaign Highlights from Every Human Has Rights on Vimeo.

Hollywood and Maine

Hollywood and Maine by Allison Whittenberg
In 1976 Pennsylvania, middle-schooler Charmaine Upshaw contemplates a career as a model or actress while coping with boyfriend problems and the return of her uncle, a fugitive who cost her family $1,000 in bail money a year earlier.

If I Grow Up

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser
Growing up in the inner-city projects, DeShawn is reluctantly forced into the gang world by circumstances beyond his control. Strasser has a website here. Here's a comment about the book from Richie's Picks: "A hell of a story for all of us who have no clue as to what kind of daily lives these young people in the projects experience, and how their dreams are beaten down."

Not All Animals Are Blue: A Big Book of Little Differences

Not All Animals Are Blue: A Big Book of Little Differences by Béatrice Boutignon

Pictures help children spot differences in colors, movement, attitude and even discoveries.

Starclimber

Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
As members of the first crew of astralnauts, Matt Cruse and Kate De Vries journey into outer space on the Starclimber and face a series of catastrophes that threaten the survival of all on board. Visit Kenneth Oppel's website here.

Bloodline

Bloodline by Katy Moran
While traveling through early seventh-century Britain trying to stop an impending war, Essa, who bears the blood of native British tribes and of the invading Anglish, discovers that his mother is alive and he, himself, is a prince of the northern kingdom, but he has loyalties and loved ones in the south to whom he is compelled to return.

Her Mother's Face

Her Mother's Face by Roddy Doyle, Freya Blackwood (Illustrator)
Siobhan and her father continue to feel sad in the years following the death of Siobhan's mother, until Siobhan follows the advice of a mysterious woman. "At first , all she could see was her own face. But she stayed ther, looking. And, after a few minutes, she began to imagine another girl, very like herself, but not exactly the same. The hair a little different, the mouth a little smaller, the lips a little darker. And she could make her look a little older, and a little more, And Siobhan knew. She was able to imagine her mother's face...And Siobhan felt happy for the first time since her mother had died..."

The Composer Is Dead

The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Carson Ellis, musical score by Nathaniel Stookey
An inspector seeks to solve a murder mystery at the symphony by questioning each of the musical instruments.

What the Grizzly Knows

What the Grizzly Knows by David Elliott, Max Grafe (Illustrator)

When night falls magical things begin to happen to Teddy, taking the reader on an adventure around the countryside and seeing the world through the senses of a bear.

Darwin: With Glimpses into His Private Journal & Letters

Darwin: With Glimpses into His Private Journal & Letters by Alice B. McGinty, Mary Azarian (Illustrator)

Filled with the fascinating words of Charles Darwin—designed as handwritten entries—this picture book biography reveals the assembling of a profound idea: the survival of the fittest. Two hundred years after his birth, 150 years after the publication of his ORIGIN OF SPECIES, this thought-provoking, splendidly illustrated account invites us into the private thoughts, hopes and fears of a soul who forever changed the way we see the world.

"Whenever I have found out that I have blundered, or that my work has been imperfect, and when I have been contemptuously criticized, and even when I have been overpraised, so that I have felt mortified, it has been my greatest comfort to say hundreds of times to myself...I have worked as hard and as well as I could, and no man can do more than this...

Response

Response by Paul Volponi
When an African American high school student is beaten with a baseball bat in a white neighborhood, three boys are charged with a hate crime.

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone, Foreword by Margaret A. Weitekamp

Profiles thirteen women who challenged social norms and government policies to prove they could be exceptional astronauts.

The Mousehunter

The Mousehunter by Alex Milway

Captain Mousebeard is a feared mousehunting pirate. He seeks out the rarest and most precious breeds of mice to collect and trade. Emeline, a mousekeeper, wants the bounty her master puts on Mousebeard's head. So she heads off to capture the pirate.

So here's the rest; the blog, the podcast, the extras, the games....

The Devil's Paintbox

The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan
In 1866, fifteen-year-old Aidan and his thirteen-year-old sister Maddy, penniless orphans, leave drought-stricken Kansas on a wagon train hoping for a better life in Seattle, but find there are still many hardships to be faced.

Tell Me Who

Tell Me Who by Jessica Wollman
Two sixth-grade girls obsessed with fortune telling discover a machine that tells them who they, and anyone else, will marry. Find out more about Jessica Wollman and her books here.

Heart of a Shepherd

Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry

Ignatius "Brother" Alderman, nearly twelve, promises to help his grandparents keep the family's Oregon ranch the same while his brothers are away and his father is deployed to Iraq, but as he comes to accept the inevitability of change, he also sees the man he is meant to be.

Bella Sara #5: Fiery Fiona

Bella Sara #5: Fiery Fiona by Felicity Brown, Jennifer L. Meyer (Illustrator)

Meet the beautiful and heroic Fiona, the mare with the glowing red mane, as she helps a young girl discover that things aren't always what they seem. Visit the illustrator's website here.

The Princess and the Unicorn

The Princess and the Unicorn by Carol Hughes
Joyce the fairy has the adventure she has always dreamed of when she joins forces with a human princess to rescue the unicorn stolen from Swinley Forest, placing the forest and its fairy community in grave danger.

Dandelion Fire (100 Cupboards Series #2)

Dandelion Fire (100 Cupboards Series #2) by N. D. Wilson
The continuing adventures of Henry York, who has been living in Kansas with his cousins, where he discovers doorways leading to other worlds and becomes involved in a multi-world struggle between good and evil.

Take-off: American All-Girl Bands During WWII

Take-off: American All-Girl Bands During WWII by Tonya Bolden
The 1940's was a time when society thought it improper for women to make a sax wail or let loose hot licks on skins, but with the advent of World War II and many men away fighting the war, women finally got their chance to strut their stuff on the bandstand. These all-girl bands kept morale high on the homefront and on USO tours of miltary bases across the globe while also helping to establish America's legacy in jazz music.

Birds

Birds by Kevin Henkes, Laura Dronzek (Illustrator)
Fascinated by the colors, shapes, sounds, and movements of the many different birds she sees through her window, a little girl is happy to discover that she and they have something in common.

Inside Nan: Some Windows and Spring

May Sarton: Of Havens

Though we dream of never having a wall against

All that must flow and pass, and cannot be caught,

An ever-welcoming self that is not fenced,

Yet we are tethered still to another thought:

The unsheltered cannot shelter, the exposed

Exposes others; the wide open door

Means nothing if it cannot be closed.

Those who create real havens are not free.

Hold fast, maintain, are rooted, dig deep wells;

Whatever human love my be,

There is no freedom without sheltering walls.

And when we imagine wings that come and go

What we see is a house, and a wide-open window.

Robin Becker: Sadness in Spring

Today I thought about how everyone I know

is sad, how amazing that the forests and deserts

and plains can hold us as we get up and walk

from one season to the next.

In spring all sadness is wet and branching, sucking at shoes,

and the anniversaries of deaths

are like tiny tombstones on the trails.

Summer is still so far away, not like our dead who stand

in the woods all night, a few feet from the house.

Marge Piercy: Spring

Spring will come with mud,
and I will slog in boots
to dig and plant my food.
This restlessness will hum

in my blood like a hive
preparing to swarm, and issue
on the still air of summer
buzzing and victorious

to change my life.

Boy on the Lion Throne: The Childhood of the 14th Dalai Lama

Boy on the Lion Throne: The Childhood of the 14th Dalai Lama by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

"On a quiet winter morning in 1937, several men on horseback rode into the tiny Tibetan village of Taktser. Disguised as peasants, the high lamas were on a secret mission--soon they would identify two-and-a-half-year-old Lhamo Thondup as the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. From his simple life in a mountain village to the thousand-room Potala Palace and his perilous escape into exile, this dramatic narrative follows the remakable childhood of the Dalai Lama "--Jacket.