In the summer of 1941, 15 year old Lina’s life changes forever: she, her mother, and her 10 year old brother are rousted from their home in the middle of the night by NKVD soldiers, loaded into a truck, and taken to a rail yard. There, thousands of other Lithuanian teachers, intellectuals, soliders’ families, lawyers, bankers and everyday citizens are crammed into stock cars to begin the long deportation to the Siberian gulags.  The conditions on the crowded train are terrible and people succumb daily to disease, exhaustion, and starvation.  When they arrive at the gulag the treatment from the guards is merciless, the workingRead More →

There’s certainly something special about debut author Trent Reedy’s Words in the Dust.  Zulaikha has never dared to hope: born with a cleft palate, she is teased and shunned by the people in her small Afghan town.  Her prospects for a good husband are dim even though she is a very hard worker, taking care of her family’s compound and watching after her two younger half-brothers.   Her life is very hard, but despite the challenges, now that the Taliban is gone, Zulaikha feels the stirrings of hope that things may get better for her and her family –“Inshallah,” God willing.  Then she meets Meena, an old friend of herRead More →

Publisher’s Weekly  (1/31/2011) reports on a new study that looks at how kids and teens decide what they read and where they get those recommendations and books from. “Children’s books are not going anywhere. They’re going to be a very secure category in the marketplace,” said former Association of Booksellers for Children executive director Kristen McLean during a presentation at the ABA’s Winter Institute with Kelly Gallagher, v-p of publishers services at Bowker/PubTrack.  Sponsored by Random House, Macmillan, Penguin, Scholastic, and Little, Brown, the survey, which is available from Bowker, examines consumer attitudes toward purchasing children’s books in three categories: adults buying for children agesRead More →

Self-described explorer, adventurer, librarian and author C. Alexander London‘s An Accidental Adventure: We Are Not Eaten By Yaks has everything lovers ofthe Lemony Snicket adventures want in a book: slightly strange, bored, disinterested tween protagonists; dead or missing parents; outlandish villains; impossible-to-survive adventures and impending doom at every turn; a sinister plot by a secret organization; and a slightly off-key narrator who will faithfully record the unlikely heroes’ adventures for any reader brave enough to turn the pages. Eleven year old twins Celia and Oliver Navel would prefer to watch television 24 hours a day. Their list of favorite programs and actors is long, butRead More →

Pete Hautman’s latest, The Big Crunch, is not the kind of love story you’d expect when someone says it’s a love story.  June and Wes are an unlikely couple, both to themselves and to the reader.  June’s parents drag her from city to city every year when her dad changes jobs, so she never has much time or inclination to make any real connections that will have to be dropped and forgotten.  She’s developed a jaded stance that allows her to observe her life and remain aloof and safe from emotional attachments.  Wes thinks of himself as a “semi-cool semi-geek” who at the start ofRead More →

Jeffrey Kluger’s Freedom Stone is a rare gem of a book.  He takes the reader on a magical journey to a beautifully realized time and place and leaves the reader feeling connected with the characters long after the last word is read. Lillie has lived her whole life on the Greenfog plantation in South Carolina with her parents and younger brother, Plato.  With the War not going well for the Confederate Army, slave volunteers are being accepted to fight with the promise of freedom for themselves and their families.  Lillie’s father joined up, but months ago he was killed in action and with Union gold found inRead More →

When Millie was little, a magical “small person with wings” (don’t ever call them fairies!) lived with her and her family.  He was her special, secret friend: he made beautiful illusions in her room, turned squash (yuck) into candy corn, and most off all, he never made her feel bad about her weight. One day Millie brags about him to her kindergarten class, promising to bring Fidius to show and tell, and instantly the kids want to be her friend. When Millie tells Fidius about what she did, she realizes she broke his trust and the next day he leaves her forever.  The loss ofRead More →

Fans across several generations have paid heartfelt tribute to Judy Blume in their entries in the Judy Blume Journal Contest, which Listening Library debuted January 3 on a dedicated Web site . Readers are asked to share a “Judy Blume story or memory” and to vote for their favorite journal entry posted on the site. From the five contestants receiving the most votes, Blume will select a winner, who will receive an iPod Touch, an audiobook collection, and a personal message from Blume. Visit the Judy Blume Journal Contest site to see the rules and enter to win.Read More →

Celebrating the Spirit & Practice of Volunteerism  RIF proudly presents the 2011 Anne Richardson RIF Volunteer of the Year Awards (VOYA) program, presented by Macy’s, in celebration of the dedication and service of truly outstanding volunteers. It recognizes the inspiring work of RIF coordinators, parent volunteers, and community volunteers who donate their time, talents, and energy to motivate children to read. These individuals share a common goal of fostering children’s literacy through their efforts at over 17,000 RIF sites across the country. The award includes: An all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the winner and nominator to be honored at RIF’s Gift of Reading Gala on MayRead More →