Tuck Everlasting

Title: Tuck Everlasting Author:   Natalie Babbitt Publisher:  Scholastic, Inc ISBN:  9-780590-988865 Audience: Written for ages 9 -12, but this review suggests the book’s applicability to both young and mature audiences. Summary:   The story starts with a young girl, Winnie, fed up with her family and wanting to run away.  She meets another family, the [...]

The Memory Box

Title: The Memory Box Author: Mary Bahr Illustrator: David Cunningham Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co. ISBN: 0-8075-5053-1 Audience:  Written for ages 6-9.  However, this review suggests the book’s applicability to both young and mature audiences. Summary: This is a bitter-sweet episode in a young boy’s summer vacation with a beloved grandparent who is succumbing to [...]

The Bully and Me: Stories that Break the Cycle of Torment

Name of Book:  The Bully and Me:  Stories That Break the Cycle of Torment Author:  Helen Carmichael Porter Publisher:  Northstone (an imprint of Woodlake Books, Inc.) Audience:  Adults, teens Summary:  The Bully and Me explores the many faces of bullying from the point of view of both the bully and the victim.  The bullying takes [...]

A Wreath for Emmitt Till

Name of Book:   A Wreath for Emmett Till Author:   Marilyn Nelson Illustrator: Philippe Lardy Publisher:   Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Audience:  Youth 14-18 and adults Summary:  This book is a collection of sonnets that the author put together to speak about the tragic lynching of Emmett Till, a young African American who was visiting relatives in Mississippi [...]

How to (un)Cage a Girl

Name of Book:   How to (Un)Cage a Girl Author:  Francesca Lia Block Publisher:  Joanna Cotler Books/HarperTeen (2008) Audience:  16 – adult females.  Personally, I would have placed this book in the adult poetry section rather than YA, since it pushes beyond the personal experiences of YA readers.  That being said, it would be useful with [...]

14 Cows for America

Name of Book:  14 Cows For America Authors:  Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah and Carmen Agra Deedy Illustrator:  Thomas Gonzalez Publisher:  Peachtree Publishers Audience:  Ages 14-18 and Adults (While I do believe that this book is also appropriate for younger children because of its theme of compassion, I chose youth and adults because they would have some [...]

Ysabel

Name of Book: Ysabel Author:  Guy Gavriel Kay Illustrator :  Larry Rostant (cover art) Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Audience:   Adolescents – Adults Summary:     Fifteen year old Canadian, Ned Marriner, “blunders into a corner of a very old story” of Celtic and Roman histories and mythologies.  In an ancient place, where the borders between the [...]

The River and the Rain – The Lord’s Prayer

Name of Book:   The River and the Rain – The Lord’s Prayer Author:  Bijou Le Tord Illustrator:  Bijou Le Tord Publisher:  Doubleday Audience:  Although this book is published for “all ages” and is one of Doubleday’s Books for Young Readers, I actually would not use this book with young children.  I would give it a [...]

The Lightning Thief

Name of Book :   The Lightning Thief: Book One in Percy Jackson & the Olympians Author:   Rick Riordan Illustrator :  John Rocco (cover art) Publisher:   Hyperion Books for Children Audience:  High school – Adult Summary: Percy Jackson (a 12-year-old boy with dyslexia and attention deficit disorder) finds his way to a special summer camp for [...]

Left to Tell

Name of Book: Left to Tell Author: Immaculee Ilibagiza Publisher: Hay House Inc. Publisher’s Intended Audience: High school/Adult Summary: This book tells the true story of an African young girl who tells her account of her genocide survival in Rwanda.  In 1994, Immaculee Ilibagiza was 24 years old and home for college during Easter vacation [...]