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September 15th:Join Jon Scieszka, bestselling children’s author and founder of Guys Read, as he leads our free webcast on Books for Boys. Find out about the upcoming titles from Simon & Schuster, Random House BOT and Candlewick Press that just might coax those reluctant readers to pick up a book and dive in! SPONSORED BY:Simon & Schuster, Random House BOT, Candlewick Press with School Library Journal EVENT DATE: Thursday, September 15, 2011– 3:00 PM EDT – 60 minutes Non-readers, despite their gender, get left behind in life. Low literacy contributes to drop out rates, crime rates, and increased chances for incarceration. This is especially trueRead More →

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From Language Magazine (August 2011): ROR (or more properly, RORA, for Reach Out and Read Aloud) has been shown to increase the frequency of reading aloud in low-income families and results in substantial gains in vocabulary, especially in receptive vocabulary. It requires only a modest investment in time and material (books), but results so far indicate that it can substantially help close the equity gap in literacy, the difference in literacy competence between children from high and low-income families. This is a contrast to the much more expensive and elaborate solutions currently under consideration, thus far lacking in clear empirical support (e.g. The LEARN Act,Read More →

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In a world where everyone looks like everyone else, no one questions the status quo, technology and all consumer goods are being recycled since there’s nothing new anymore, and the government controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives, there’s virtually no room left for personal expression, uniqueness, or individual freedoms.  Basically, this is the formula for just about every dystopia in recent memory: The Handmaid’s Tale,  The Giver,  1984,  The City of Ember, Maze Runner, Birthmarked,  The Forest of Hands and Teeth,  Matched,  The Hunger Games,  Grace, and the list goes on and on…  The newest entry into this genre is Sara Grant’s Dark Parties, Read More →

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In 1978, China is just beginning to recover from the harsh turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.  Living in the furthest northern provinces on a government farm, 11 year old Zhongmei Li dreams of becoming a dancer, but her family is poor and her village is far from anywhere important.  When her older sister reads that the acclaimed Beijing Dance Academy is holding open auditions for the first time in its history, Zhongmei knows that she must do everything she can to win a place for herself and a chance at the future of her dreams.  She convinces her parents to borrow the money for theRead More →

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The New York Times Book Review (8/19/11) published an essay by Robert Lipsyte entitled: Boys and Reading: Is There Any Hope? To me and I think to many prospective readers, today’s books for boys — supernatural space-and-sword epics that read like video game manuals and sports novels with preachy moral messages — often seem like cynical appeals to the lowest common denominator. Boys prefer video games and ESPN to book versions of them. These knockoffs also lack the tough, edgy story lines that allow boys a private place to reflect on the inner fears of failure and humiliation they try so hard to brush over.Read More →

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Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes, the follow up to the successful Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes is here-Come along with Pete to school, moving and grooving through all kinds of new places like the library, lunchroom, and more! In a rare but always welcome turn of events, the second Pete the Cat book is just as fun as the first. Author Eric Litman and Illustrator James Dean have again created a book and song that is sure to have youngsters singing along. The bright colors, cute characters, and fun story draw young readers (and almost-readers) back for more, whileRead More →

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Debut children’s author Kelly Barnhill’s The Mostly True Story of Jack  is a delightful, imaginative tale.   It’s a story of friendship, family, and sacrifice, all wrapped up in a mostly true (depending on how you look at it) magical mystery about a boy, a town, and the choice to do the right thing. Jack’s parents are getting a divorce, so he has to go stay in a small farm town in Iowa with his only relatives, an old aunt and uncle who live in the strangest house he’s ever seen.  It’s not like Jack will miss much from his home in San Francisco since he hasRead More →

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Publisher’s Weekly (8/17/11) reports: For more than a decade, J.K. Rowling added magic to the lives of countless children and adults with her tales of witches and wizards battling the forces of evil in a world so similar, yet so different, from our own. The spells she’s cast over our imaginations for so many years show no signs of abating. Now, Rowling is drawing Muggles even deeper into Harry Potter’s world via a new interactive Web site, http://www.pottermore.com/. Read the rest of Claire Kirch’s article, including sneak peeks into the site!Read More →

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We’re giving away two copies of The Future of Us ARC! Learn More About the Book: A new book from Jay Asher, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Th1rteen R3asons Why, and Carolyn Mackler, Printz Honor winning author of The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. It’s 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the internet. Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM. Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on–and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what their destiny will be.Read More →