From the same potty-mouthed, hysterically entertaining dynamic duo who brought you that other, not-for-children picture book, Go the F**ck to Sleep, comes the logical follow-up that confronts the next big parenting challenge: after not doing so well with the slumbering, now you've got the impossible task...
"Long ago in China there lived an honest, respectful and hard-working man named Tuan." He hasn't had the easiest life, having lost his parents as a child. But he was blessed with kind neighbors who raised him. He's left his adopted nest, and lives by...
Gail Gutradt is not a journalist. She is not a nurse or doctor, and actually has no training in the medical profession. She is not a mother. She is not a Buddhist. She speaks very little Khmer. For everything she is not, Gutradt is a...
Ready for a bit of inspiring whimsy? Meet the small boy who, "[o]ne quiet morning ...
George and Elizabeth Chast were born 10 days apart in 1912. They grew up two blocks from each other in East Harlem, and were in the same fifth grade class. "They never dated, much less anything else'd, anyone besides each other." They married in 1938. Their...
A girl is born: "She is perfect, down to her tiny, grasping fingers." But here's what her life will probably look like: "...
By about page 50 or within the first of 12 parts stuck in the ears (the multi-reader cast is absolutely superb, by the way), the whodunnit is pretty clear. That said, serial murder mystery this is, finding out whydunnit-and-howdunnit is the thrill ride you won't be...
Just before Kumihiko Hidaka is to move from Tokyo to Vancouver, he's found in his home office ...
Girls on the Edge Adolescence without instant uploads, 140-character confessions, and constant connectivity was just so last century – survival in the 21st means a whole new set of unfamiliar, unpredictable challenges. In four recent, better-not-miss novels for young adults, four diverse women writers amplify the modern...
John Corey Whaley, who was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, shares the same first name with the ever-popular, mega-bestselling author John Green. Perhaps I might be delusional here, but Noggin feels like it could be some alternate-universe sequel to Green's The Fault...
Goodbye to 2014. Whew! 2015 can only be better, thank you! What makes me so sure? Because among the many things to look forward to throughout the new year is a brand new Naoki Urasawa series-in-translation! How bereft was I when the 24-volume 20th-into-21st Century Boys ended almost two years ago. And...
The text here is all about serious preparation ("a thick ninja stick"), effective tactics ("must master the element of ...
The Great War is over, but tragedy and hunger still haunt 1922 London. On Champion Hill, the Wray family's once-upon-a-posh life has vanished; most notably, all the men are gone. The brothers became casualties of war, the father died leaving substantial debts, and the servants have been...
Leaning toward something light, frothy, and just a little steamy for your next holiday season read? While the printed page is always grand, going audible here is also highly recommended: I'm thinking Priya Ayyar is quickly becoming one of my favorite crisp voices to stick in...
Okay, so don't be too confused: the two slightly different phoneticized spellings of creator Tohru/Toru Fujisawa’s name both appear on the various volume covers seen here. That 'o'-sound is a long vowel – as in Tōru (it's とおる in Japanese) – but diacriticals can often get lost in translation,...
If I were to choose the one book that affected me most this year – the one that ran the entire spectrum from giddiest to maddest, from eye-opening in wonder to eye-scrunching in horror – this is it. Bad Feminist has forever changed the way I read,...
His name might be Ove, but those who know him are more likely to call him "antisocial" and "grumpy old sod." For most of his life, "[h]e was a man of black and white." But for over three decades, he found warmth and joy with a...
Originally titled "A Visit from St. Nicholas," Clement Clarke Moore first shared his iconic poem with his children on Christmas Eve of 1822. Better known by the first line, "’Twas the night before Christmas ...
Gus – beloved brother, favorite teacher, a vibrant, sunny young man in love – is a victim of 9-11. His presence looms on every page, although his actual words can only be filtered through someone else's memory throughout the novel. Still, he proves to be the pivotal character who brings together...
Rainy mornings give first-year high school student Takao permission to skip class and head to a park pavilion to work on his shoe sketches. Someday, he wants to be a shoe designer. Two months into the new school year, he sees a young woman is already...
