Get ready for surreal delight. When a mysterious creature with an imbedded bullet turns up, Fi and her scientist father head to the town of Calico – linked "to the rest of the country! and the world!" by a single bridge. They'll be staying with Fi's Uncle...
If you feel a vague sense of déjà vu reading this novel, that may be because, like me, you're strongly reminded of another dual-timed story featuring a bold Englishwoman trekking through faraway lands whose expectations-be-damned!-uncommon-life-back-then is pieced together through left-behind words and pictures by a descendant living...
Admiring Ana A. de Eulate's The Sky of Afghanistan earlier this fall led me to Sonja Wimmer's spectacular art. Allow me a moment of WOW. I admit that finding only Wimmer's name on the cover of this title was the initial reason I opened these pages, and...
Neal Bascomb is a consummate storyteller: he can unravel a tale with an ending you already know, set it at a heart-thumping pace, and never let you rest until you hit that final page. Unless you've been in total seclusion your entire life, you probably know...
Déjà vu: If the title seems at all familiar to you even though the book's U.S. pub date happened this fall, don't be surprised because you've probably, already seen various iterations of the story on other multiple platforms. While this is the original 1967 bestselling...
How strange to admit that Dave Eggers taught me Eugène Ionesco – Mr. Theatre of the Absurd himself – wrote kiddie stories in addition to his dozens of plays (Rhinoceros, The Chairs, The Bald Soprano, being some of his signature pieces). Eggers founded McSweeney's which recently debuted McMullens,...
Girl-powered Goosebottom Books expands both their Thinking Girl's Treasuries of Real Princesses and Dastardly Dames this month. After nearly paralyzing herself writing the first six royal titles, Head Goose Shirin Yim Bridges swore she would get some help as the series grew. True to her...
Since Brian Selznick’s remarkable Wonderstruck has been out for almost a year, this may be rather old news for you. However, if, like me, you're crawling out from that comfy rock and need an unforgettable fix to take back under, here's your perfect next choice. Oh,...
Of course, a child named Zephyr is predestined to love planes, always ready to ride the gentle winds in the limitless sky. [I should also mention that "Zephyr" is the name of the (unmanned, solar-powered) plane that holds the world record for being continuously airborne...
When's the last time you competed with one of your kids to read a book? Especially when said child is usually not so interested in anything without a screen? Good thing my bedtime is a little later than his, or else I'd never have gotten...
I think I must have been a Boricua in a former life. I can't seem to stay away too long from La Isla del Encanto (especially my favorite Isla Culebrita), and I get the fiercest cravings for Bebo's and mofongo (it's all about a full...
Confession first: even though I'm posting after the fact, reading this was a little birthday present to myself. The older I get, oh how I loooovvvvve the manga that much more! Must be an age-escapist thing! The Friend has shockingly confessed that he's the mastermind behind...
Having somehow stumbled randomly on Elizabeth Wein's very recent "meta-review" on reviewing (complete with crossed-out phrases about "tasteless morons"), I'll try to not break her seven "observations" here. Just allow me a moment to digress (and comment): 1. I wasn't aware of any Verity hype, although surely such...
Charles Yu's stories are indescribable. Really. Every time I picked up this recent collection, my face broke out in a goofy, uncertain grin, because I was totally unsure of what I might encounter next. Here's what I can tell you ...
I don't know how I never noticed before, but Kurosagi comes with a "Parental Advisory | Explicit Content" warning sticker (volume 11 had it on the outside plastic shrink-wrap; volume 12 got more serious and placed it on the actual book!). True enough that some...
As the e-publishing world is shrinking our stories into little mobile devices, storyteller, teacher, and author Steve Light brings back some delightful heft with his new Storybox collection that features classic tales from around the world that your youngest readers can bring immediately to life ...
As this is the penultimate volume in the 22-part series, I suppose I should have savored it ...
Kodoku is one of those rare titles that immediately makes you want to learn more about what you just read. The slim kiddie book chronicles the extraordinary voyage of a young man – "Kenichi the brace, Kenichi the adventurer" for whom "the wind blows forever / across...
By no means is Jinchalo your conventional manga/manwha/graphic work. Not to be going around in circles, but its title – which, in Korean, means something akin to 'really?' 'is that for real?' – works rather appropriately as a response to experiencing this adventure ...
Reacting to the final page with 'oh, crud' is actually a good thing, especially if it's something like 'OH, CRUD ...
