Lucky for the Smithsonian to own a piece of legendary Olympic ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi ...
I have to admit that the unnecessary chopsticky font and the strangely-eerie illustrations set me off temporarily, but the old adage 'never trust a book by its cover' proved true in this case: this real-life story is well worth your attention. Mei Ling lives in Los...
According to her official website bio, Lorraine Adams left her Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper career in 2000 "to recount the lost stories of Algerians she knew without the strictures of journalism, and the conventional sentiment of the moment." Even before 9/11, Adams well understood about "ambiguity" and...
Surely the world is filled with many, many wise old souls ...
Sleepy little Banesville, New York is famous for its delicious apples ...
Tragically, death and destruction are very much a part of human reality ...
Two warnings: 1. Don’t read Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal in public unless you enjoy making a spectacle of yourself, wiping your eyes and blowing your nose every few pages; 2. Skip the middle photo insert until...
With her past seven published novels – written for audiences that range from middle-grade readers on up – Anjali Banerjee didn’t particularly mention male body parts in any great detail. Maybe a twinkling eye here, capable hands there, but she certainly didn’t dwell. But as...
Once I opened this second volume in Luis Alberto Urrea's Border Trilogy, I simply couldn't stop. So here's the best thing I can say about Lake after reading his first border title, Across the Wire: Lake is more of the same ...
Thanks to a sudden snowstorm and ensuing power outage, I had every excuse to strap on my headband flashlight and read the first of Luis Alberto Urrea's Border Trilogy without pause. Given the sheer gawk-factor of these pages, any excuses were negligible: This is definitely...
Wherever the ALA – the American Library Association, the mother of all library associations in the world! – leaves its stamp of approval, you're guaranteed some great reads. In 2007, the ALA even hopped on the manga bandwagon when their young adult division, YALSA (Young Adult...
The Three (teenage) Musketeers from Bakuman 1 are back: writer Takagi, artist Mashiro, and voice actress Azuki. They're even more determined that they become a successful manga team (Takagi and Mashiro), with characters that Azuki can someday (soon!) bring to life with her voiceovers. As young...
Let the weekend games continue: if yesterday's basketball story was a (mostly) feel-good, rah-rah fest, today's post is definitely more somber. The kids in this game are older, harder, more cynical ...
If it's Saturday, it must be time to head to a court, field, gym, pool, or some sort of athletic facility ...
Her name is Clara Lee .. "first and last. It just sounds better that way. Like peanut butter and jelly, like trick-or-treat, or fairy and princess, those words just go together. Just like me, Clara Lee." She's the newest – and first Korean American! – heroine from...
What better way to get over a broken heart than moving into a unique, welcoming bookstore, filled not only with fabulous books but a few wise (less than living) writers, too? As long as they can spin a convincing yarn, why quibble with such minor...
I admit it: Reading this put me in freak-out mode. Do NOT leave it lying around for your young kiddies to find ...
Sometimes even the saddest tragedies can eventually lead to happy new beginnings ...
Sometimes my inability to process dialects actually has an upside ...
Every new year seems to begin with a fervent prayer/wish/hope for true PEACE. So far in my own lifetime, worldwide peace hasn't been achieved. Still, I have a few more years left in me and surely enough stubbornness to believe peace can truly happen before...
