The first of a trilogy (#3 debuts next month; I'm arriving on Jar Island a little late), Burn is inarguably shocking, but it definitely sets the stage for more chills to come. Mary, who left Jar Island in 7th grade, is back in 11th completely transformed. Lillia, once...
OH. MY. What a tiny world. Although I don't personally know first-time kiddie book author Anna Kang, I could definitely recite and/or impersonate (badly) parts of her graduate thesis film, not black or white, on command as I've used it some 148 times in classrooms over the...
As a young man, Anders Hill was rather a rebel, abandoning his stifling southern roots, estranging himself from his acerbic father by forsaking Duke University for an exclusive New England college. There he fell in love with his roommate's girlfriend who would become his wife. Becoming a husband, then...
If the cover looks somewhat familiar, that's because Sisters continues Raina Telgemeier’s highly entertaining (for the reader, certainly) coming-of-age escapades she shared in Smile, published four years ago to bestselling success. In Sisters, she's hasn't quite shed her braces, but she's heading to high school come fall. That pivotal summer...
Probably my brain is showing its advancing age, but I can't remember the last time I stayed up half the night to finish a book unless I had an impending deadline (procrastinate? me?!). While I started Sleepwalk-ing in daylight stuck in the ears (debut novelist Mira Jacob...
"Every Wednesday, Little Round and Big Square get together to play their favorite game," the story begins. "As soon as one of them says a word, they transform themselves into it." Since one is Round, the other Square, their shapes are uniquely different as they...
Oh, oh, oh. You know something special is coming when I start with those three simple syllables. Because big words like 'remarkable,' 'marvelous,' 'resonating' just don't carry the same admiring adoration as plain old 'oh, oh, oh.' I'm also hoping that sort of speechless reaction...
London-based Xiaolu Guo’s third novel in English (she published six prior in China) opens with a desperate love letter-in-transit "from a place I cannot tell you about yet…when I am safe I will be able to let you know where I am." Over almost 400...
Oh, oh, oh ...
If you've never read a Julia Glass novel (2002 National Book Award winner that she is, chances are slim, I suppose), just don't until after you've finished this one. If you have, forget you ever did. Only after the final Dark Sacred page (or last track; if you choose to...
The wait is just about over: Book Six hits shelves in just 11 days. Yes, almost two years have passed since Book Five pubbed, but creator Kazu Kibuishi has hardly been resting on his mega-bestseller laurels: that he was the artist chosen to give the legendary...
The son woke up blasting Pharrell Williams' "Happy" this morning which prompted me to exuberantly sing praises for this splendiferous book of the same title. Having only recently discovered Mies van Hout's newest Surprise, I'm quickly catching up with her earlier titles and goofily, gleefully adoring them all....
Leslie T. Chang’s bio notes her gratitude to her immigrant parents for "forc[ing] her to attend Saturday-morning Chinese school" while growing up outside New York City. That multilingual skill clearly gave her privileged access during the decade she spent as a China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, while that lofty journalist...
Welcome to Peach Blossom, a faraway ancient farming village known for its peaches and almonds. The inhabitants rely on Dragon Bridge to get in and out, especially during the harvest season when they sell or trade their bounty in the neighboring town. One autumn, disaster occurs: Dragon...
Here's a book you just have to hold and feel and breathe in. Although the snapshot of the cover offers a hint of its unique size, not until you're gently flipping through the pages can you appreciate that you're clasping Toronto-based music/performance/literature/film artist Vivek Shraya’s precious little gem. Poignantly...
Holy moly, what a difference a book makes ...
So maybe I'm getting older faster, but oh my goodness, I'm surprised this trilogy is rated for kids – ages 12+ and grade 7+! Fair warning from this parent: the violence is graphic, the body count immeasurable, and by the end, most of the main characters...
Canadian author/artist Irene Luxbacher found the inspiration for her latest title from her own "childhood memories of watching her father at work in his tailor shop." That reality clearly infuses her story with heart-warming poignancy, highlighting multi-generational family bonds. "Mr. Frank was a tailor," the book begins. Throughout the...
If you're looking for a feel-good love story, this won't be it. If three separate tragic romances connected by heart-thumping, horrifying adventures sounds about right, then here it is – supercharged adrenaline rush most definitely guaranteed. First comes young love. While exploring an older section of 1970s Barcelona,...
