The Deep, Deep Puddle by Mary Jessie Parker, illustrated by Deborah Zemke
17 Apr, by in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
"On a busy street in the late afternoon, the rain begins ...
BookDragon Nonethnic-specific
All Kinds of Friends by Norma Simon, illustrated by Cherie Zamazing
10 Apr, by in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
"All of us have all kinds of friends," author Norma Simon writes. We have friends at school, in our family, friends we see all the time, and friends we can only see once in a while. You can have old friends and new friends who...
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
06 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction
At 24, Susannah Cahalan, life was just about perfect. She was a budding journalist working for the New York Post, she went home to a tiny but cozy Manhattan studio, and she had just started a promising new relationship. And then the madness set in, starting...
Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis
03 Apr, by in Fiction, Iraqi, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
Ben Bright – popular senior, lead in the school musical opposite both his girlfriend Ariela and best friend Niko, the older son in a warmly bonded family of four – has a secret. Without telling his family and friends, he's bypassed college and chosen the U.S. Army....
Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves, & Other Female Villains by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple, illustrated by Rebecca Guay
29 Mar, by in Biography, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers
If beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, then perhaps bad behavior might be, too. "In this book we are taking a look back through history at all manner of famous female felons," write mother/daughter author-team Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple (who,...
The Language Inside by Holly Thompson
25 Mar, by in Cambodian American, Fiction, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Poetry, Southeast Asian American, Verse Novel/Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers
This might be a spoiler of sorts: The advance galley is printed with a March 12, 2013 pub date, but when I went searching for an image of the book's cover to load here, online bookstores list a May date. Hmmm ...
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
23 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
I think I was somehow predestined to read Mudbound when I did: just after I finished Barbara Kingsolver's mightily disappointing Flight Behavior, I turned next to Hillary Jordan's 2008 debut novel. While searching for an image of the book cover to load here, I noticed...
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
21 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
Once upon a time, I loved every book Barbara Kingsolver wrote: The Bean Trees grew into me, then Homeland and Other Stories, Animal Dreams (still my favorite), Pigs in Heaven. Heresy, I know, but Poisonwood Bible was not a favorite, but after surviving Animal, Vegetable,...
Ollie and Claire by Tiffany Strelitz Haber, illustrated by Matthew Cordell
20 Mar, by in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
Meet Ollie and Claire: "...
The Hunger Games Trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
09 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
The day I stuck Hunger Games into my ears, Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress Oscar, albeit for her role in a different film, Silver Livings Playbook. I took that as a sign that I should finish the almost 35 hours (every bit admirably read by...
Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories by Lauren Groff
02 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Short Stories
If the name Lauren Groff sounds familiar, that might be because her latest title, Arcadia, appears on oh-so-many Best-of-2012 lists. I admit I haven't yet read Arcadia (it's high in my 'must-read' pile), but if I have the option among an author's titles, short stories are usually my first choice. Just...
Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald
27 Feb, by in European, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Poetry, Verse Novel/Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers
I'm compelled to start backwards with a number: 84. As children's writer (more than 25 times over) Maryann Macdonald explains in her ending "Author's Note," 84% of French children survived the horrors of World War II; in fact, "more children survived in France than in any other...
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
23 Feb, by in Audio, British, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
How I chose this: It actually had nothing to with that shiny 2005 Michael L. Printz Award sticker on the cover. The narrator, Kim Mai Guest, made me do it! Guest, who is apparently 43 (so says her Wiki bio), has one of those eternal voices, always...
Heathy Kids by Maya Ajmera, Victoria Dunning, Cynthia Pon, foreword by Melinda French Gates
19 Feb, by in Children/Picture Books, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction
"All children, regardless of where they live, should have the opportunity to grow up healthy and lead a productive life," writes Melinda Gates in her foreword to this, the latest "A Global Fund for Children Book." As she shares the wrenching statistic that over seven million...
Carry the One by Carol Anshaw
16 Feb, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
A couple of months ago, one of my trusty literary friends with whom I often share must-read titles told me about seeing 'everyone' carrying this novel around last fall. So she decided to see for herself what the hubbub was about. Once she started, she...
Global Baby Girls by The Global Fund for Children
14 Feb, by in Children/Picture Books, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction
"Cherish baby girls around the world," the back cover rightfully demands. And who could possibly resist the red-cheeked cuddlebug from Russia, the laughing wonder from Peru, the bejeweled bundle from India, the kitty-hugger (never mind the beast himself) from New Zealand, the intrepid explorer (with...
Hikikomori and the Rental Sister by Jeff Backhaus
11 Feb, by in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific
I'm facing a bit of a conundrum with this book: just how little can I tell you and still entice you to check out this astonishing debut novel by emerging-fully-formed-like-Athena, new author Jeff Backhaus? Hmm ...
Janie Face to Face by Caroline B. Cooney
09 Feb, by in Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
What began with the scare-every-parent-to-death middle grade/young adult novel, The Face on the Milk Carton, concludes (for now) after 23 years, four sequels books, and one e-story (What Janie Saw, which I confess is the only part of the series I haven't read, mainly because I can't bear to...
Oxygen by Carol Cassella
03 Feb, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
A busy Seattle hospital. Hip, young doctors. Desperate patients. Administrative hierarchies. Sound familiar? I heard the latest Carol Cassella title (Healing) even has a character named Addison! I started (because of an alma mater connection), then stopped watching Grey's Anatomy after the first season (although I've had to revisit...
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
27 Jan, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
So, here's the last of the Lisa Genova oeuvre. If I had to rank her three titles thus far, the #1 slot – shelves ahead of her others – remains her stupendous debut, Still Alice, then continues with this, Left Neglected, trailed by her most recent, Love Anthony. Armed with their Harvard MBAs...