Welcome to Banned Books Week 2011, which begins today and ends October 1. Leading the "Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2010" – at the top for the fifth year in a row, with a respite at #2 in 2009! – is little Tango. Reasons cited: "homosexuality, religious viewpoint,...
Although this newest installment arrived months ago, it somehow went missing, thanks to my son's kleptomaniacal tendencies whenever he sees a Kazu Kibuishi title. Just finding it buried amidst his various piles of stuff (he keeps Books 1, 2, and 3 in the car for constant,...
Just after finishing Divisadero, I immediately found myself missing Hope Davis' voice – she who so lullingly narrated Michael Ondaatje's dream-like bifurcated drama. So what a comforting surprise to click on Ann Patchett's Wonder and find Davis' voice gently streaming out of my headset! Serendipity indeed! As the...
Regardless of what is actually happening on the page (even brutality, sometimes tragedy), Michael Ondaatje's writing is something akin to a velvety, soothing dream. In a perfect world, reading (or better yet, listening to ...
What serendipitous timing that I chose to post Kevin Wilson's debut novel right after an interview with Jessica Hagedorn: Wilson's next public appearance, according to this website schedule, is on September 18 at the Brooklyn Book Festival with none other than the inimitable Mz. Hagedorn!...
From the creator of some of my favorite kiddie books ever comes another 'free-to-be-me' invitation. Peter H. Reynolds has an uncanny ability to capture children both visually and literally ...
All around the wide world, once a month (or so), we all get a glimpse of the full moon as our earth makes its perpetual orbit. “So come along on a lunar journey,” poet Marilyn Singer (author of over 85 children’s books!) invites readers, “to...
Heidi is not your average soon-to-be-13-year-old: "One thing I knew for a fact, from the time I knew anything at all, was that I didn't have a father. What I had was Mama and Bernadette, and as far as I was concerned, that was plenty."...
When I handed this striking volume to my son (as I often do with most graphic titles, as they seem to be the best way to get him to read), he instantly replied with "oh, I read that already." I insisted that couldn't be possible as...
Manga addict that I’ve become in my old age, I tend to start books-with-pictures from the back cover. This, I’ve learned, often yields insightful rewards. [And no, I am not one of those skippers with novels, ahem!] Going backwards worked well here: author Joan Schoettler, who...
Clearly, Unbroken falls into the 'you can't make this stuff up'-category. Within the almost 500 pages of print (or 14 hours of listening – narrated with such dignity by award-winning actor Edward Herrman!), you'll experience just about every human emotion ...
"How do we know / what animals say / when they say what they say / with their sounds every day?" How, indeed ...
This was my last of the Julia Glass novels, having read them out of published order. Glass' first title, Three Junes, and her latest, The Widower's Tale, undoubtedly make up the better half of her oeuvre. I See You Everywhere and Whole World land on...
No matter what you ultimately think of the story here, reading this book will no doubt elicit strong lasting emotions. As I'm convinced the less you know about Judy Blundell’s 2008 National Book Award for Young People's Literature winner, the better your own reading will be, you might...
Just sigh with me a moment. Deep breath in, deep breath out ...
Read this, just as soon as possible. You may not immediately recognize Dr. Paul Edward Farmer's name, but you will recognize his miraculous story. Pulitzer-winning Tracy Kidder enters the good doctor's expansive orbit long enough to produce a resonating portrait of a phenomenal human being whose life purpose is to...
The quickly growing I See the Sun series continues with the third installment (following I See the Sun in China and I See the Sun in Nepal), this time heading to Bamiyan in central Afghanistan. Young Habiba begins her day in the dark as her mother gently wakes her to...
The First Tale: The Robe of Skulls The Second Tale: The Bag of Bones The Third Tale: Heart of Glass The Fourth Tale: The Flight of Dragons Since today is Independence Day, I figured the time is right to explore our colonial roots and see what one of...
Look past the cheesy cover and pop-culture title ...
Warning: NO NO NO! This is NOT to share with your kiddies, at least not until they're much older ...
