Children's Author and Illustrator Week: Exciting New 2015 Books

Note: I was so excited about the contents of this post that I posted it to the wrong blog. Sometimes my excitement gets the best of me. My apologies for the lateness.

There are a lot of really exciting books coming out this year. I did a post at the end of 2013 about books I was excited about coming out in 2014. I didn't do that for this year. I'm going to do it now and I'm going to do ones that are still coming out.

So, ten books I am so thrilled are still to come in 2015!

In no particular order:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo -- Fall

Companion to her wonderful Grisha trilogy. I am so, so, so excited. She described it as Game of Thrones meets Ocean's Eleven.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater -- Fall

The only problems with the release of this one is that once it's out the series is over and that's devastating.

Seen Not Heard by Katie May Green -- Summer

I love this book! It's so much fun!

The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare -- Fall

The sequel to The Iron Trial. You know it's going to be brilliant!

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray -- Summer

EEEEEE! We've been waiting forever!

The Great War ill. by Jim Kay -- March

So beautiful. So so beautiful!

Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater -- Spring

It's so good! So funny! 

The Marvels by Brian Selznick -- Fall

It's Brian Selznick. We know it's going to be AMAZING.

Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan -- Summer

!!!!

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman -- March

Finally! So excited!

The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan -- Fall

I say again !!!!

This is nowhere near all of them. Here's a couple. Just a couple. A couple of really exciting ones. THERE ARE SO MANY TO BE EXCITED ABOUT!

Alex Is Reading...THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM

Hi! I'm Alex. Nice to meet you. I've been working in the kids section for a couple months and now I am going to blog to you, with book lists, and approximate age recommendations that you can totally disregard.

Today I am reading THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM by Christopher Healy *Kylie Recommends*. This is a funny book. No, it is: it's about a bunch of hapless fairy tale Prince Charmings wandering around the countryside trying to accomplish things but mostly just getting in trouble. It is also about fairy tale princesses having strong opinions. I am a big fan of ALL these princesses, including the mean one. There are polite giants, punk kid Bandit Kings, genius little sisters, and dragons. This book is great. (It is also good for ages 9+ and as of this writing you can find it in our intermediate fiction section.)

In keeping with this awesome book I am reading and enjoying greatly, here are a few more books you might like if you like...

FAIRY TALE BOOKS

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch -- Was this the first book about a princess that does what she wants? It's definitely one of the best. Girl meets dragon, girl beats dragon, girl ignores a disappointed prince to run off into the sunset an independent hero. We usually have this as a board book and in our spinner rack. 2+

Beauty and the Beast and other fairy tale picture books by Ursula Jones and Sarah Gibb *Clarissa Recommends* -- Absolutely stunning illustrations over excellent, traditional fairy tale retellings. Check our folk lore/mythology section for these--they're often on display! 3+

The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and LeUyen Pham *Alex Recommends* -- GO NOW AND READ THIS BOOK. Princess Magnolia is a dainty pink-wearing hostess with perfect manners...but she becomes the heroic PRINCESS IN BLACK to fight monsters and rescue sheep herders! You can find it in young chapterbooks--recommended ages 5+. Good for young independent readers.

Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede *Alex Recommends* -- Princess Cimorene doesn't want to embroider or get married to a boring prince. Or any other prince. So she runs away from home to work for dragon Kazul, fights a lot of wizards, and learns to make a mean cherries jubilee. 10+

Twice Upon A Time series by Wendy Mass -- Retold fairy tales by the author of The Candymakers. 8+

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine *Alex Recommends* -- Absolutely my favorite fairytale retelling ever. This Cinderella is "blessed" by a fairy as a baby...to obey every single direct order that's given to her for her entire life. Ella is brilliant. You will read this book over and over. 9+

Summer and Bird by Katherine Catmull *Alex Recommends* -- This is a weird, beautiful book. Two girls find their parents missing--their mother is the swan princess and their father took her feathered skin. They travel into a world of only birds, where a vicious, terrifying false queen is asserting her power--a queen Bird falls for like Edmund and the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 10+

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones *Amy Recommends* -- Everyone buys into the fairy tale stereotypes in Sophie's town, and it's clear she's going to be a docile hatmaking third sister forever. WAIT, NO SHE'S NOT. She's going to be cursed by a witch to look like an old woman and run off on an adventure in the moving magical house of the dread wizard Howl, who as it turns out is the most obnoxious wizard ever. Stop here for sentient scarecrows, fire demons, and wizards obsessed with their hair. 10+

Ever After High series by Shannon Hale -- Shannon Hale writes the best fairy tale retellings. This series is good for 10+.

Ash by Malinda Lo *Anna Recommends* -- A YA Cinderella story with POC main characters, beguiling fairies, personal strength, and a Cinderella who falls in love, not with a prince, but his Huntress. 13+

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge *Clarissa Recommends* -- A sharp, fierce, beguiling Beauty and the Beast story about a demon prince and one angry beauty. 14+

Poisoned Apples by Christine Hepperman *Alex Recommends* -- This poetry collection uses the language of fairy tales to take on the pressures and pains of being a teenage girl. Watch out--there's some dark and personal stuff in this little book--but its intensity is full of truth and Hepperman has a excellent grip on her language. 14+

Cinder by Marissa Meyer *Kylie Recommends* -- Welcome to cyborg Cinderella. This is a very cool scifi take on the story, and the first of a series. 13+

 Happy reading!

Books, man.

I'm seeing my baby sister and brother tomorrow.  They'd probably be mad at me for calling them babies, simply because they're teenagers now, complete with cell phones, facebook profiles, and a sense of agency.  I don't care, we have over a decade age difference and I've changed their diapers. You can't go back from that.

While I was packing, I asked them both if they wanted anything.  My brother gave me a list of graphic novels he wanted, and my sister seemed to shrug across the phone.  "I haven't read anything good lately.  Can you pick something for me?" I tried to figure out exactly what she wanted, but she stayed non-committal.

So, here it is: the list of books I am bringing for my 14-year-old baby sister which may contain her new favorite book or may collect dust, depending on her preference.

LIST OF BOOKS FOR MY 14YO BABY SISTER
-A galley of Daniel Wallace's Kings and Queens of Roam.  Big Fish was excellent, maybe she's in the mood for some magical realism!
-Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, but with the express instructions to read it at the beginning of June.
-Ned Vizzini's The Other Normals, because I thought it was hilarious.
-Jaclyn Moriarty's The Corner of White. Epistolary style! Fantasy!
-A beat-up copy of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, because she should have one.
-Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, also because she should have one.

(Personal to my sister: if/when I run out of clothing, know it's because I used most of my space bringing books home for you, so now you have to buy me dresses. I just put it out to the Internet so it has to happen, Internet rule.)

Reading is for sharing! Sharing is caring!

Shocking revelation: Story Time is at least as rewarding for the reader as it is for the readee!

I've read with children in classrooms, in bookstores, and curled up on couches with hot chocolate before bedtime. I've read chapter books, picture books, and even books with no pictures. I've made up my own stories or retold stories that only exist in oral storytelling. Reading aloud (or telling your own stories) isn't just about repeating words on a page. It's a new way of experiencing a story. I was taught how to read aloud by examples set me during my childhood: my father (who also made up some fantastic stories of his own), my fifth grade teacher, every live theater production of Shakespeare I ever saw or performed, audiobooks ...

Looking for suggestions? I love making them! I also love a countdown. Below are my top five picks for read-alouds:


5. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

I read this with my third graders last year and we had a blast! It's one of those books that feels like it was easy to write because it's so clear and tight, in terms of craft and imagery. The characters are also very easy to visualize, which means that infusing characters with personality and energy (aka making up awesome voices) is not hard to do. This is important if you're new to reading aloud. Plus, Wrede's novel tells a funny and powerful story about friendship and being true to yourself - that's pretty appealing no matter how old you are.

4. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, ill. by Axel Scheffler

Not only is Gruffalo a popular picture book but it was also an Oscar-nominated animated short film a couple of years ago. What I love about it is that the rhyme scheme helps tell a very funny story without getting old. I think every reader appreciates a strong story but I know as an adult, who might wind up rereading the same story every day for a year, that a clever and thoughtful story makes for a refreshing read (even if it's the five-hundredth read).




3. The Watsons Go To Burmingham 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

I had a fifth grade teacher who was from Texas and his lazy southern drawl breathed incredibly vivid life into a story that was both historically and geographically distant from anything my Northwest, suburban self knew. Kenny's story is both funny (his family are a riot!) and powerful (he's African American and living in Alabama during the Civil Right's Movement) and really comes to life when someone who cares about it reads it aloud.

2. Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran, ill. by Barbara Cooney

This is another one from my childhood. My Aunty M (no, really) used to read to my sister and I quite a lot, and I'll never forget this one. McLerran's words lay the foundation of the imaginary town, Cooney's crystal-clear illustrations fill in the sand-blasted desert color, and Aunty M's slow, deep voice breathed life into each page. My sister and I built our own Roxaboxen after Aunty M read this to us and children I've read it with since have discussed, drawn, and created their own, too.


1. Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Yes, I know this book doesn't need another plug. I have to mention it here, though, because of it's truly magical in its ability to help almost anyone become an avid reader. Many of my friends grew up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and experience their first reading of the text as a classroom or parental read-aloud. I was a teen when I discovered Harry Potter through the Jim Dale-narrated audiobooks (if you want a crash course in read-aloud, look no further!), and haven't stopped listening since (although the Stephen Fry-narrated audiobooks are definitely worth a listen, too).

My absolute favorite Harry Potter read-aloud success story comes from a friend in Seattle. Her husband was never very interested in reading. My friend, however, had broken her literary teeth on Harry Potter and was dying to share them with someone new. One night before bed, she spontaneously began reading them aloud to her husband. From that evening on, they worked their way through the entire series together and he hasn't stopped reading since.

Want your child to become a lifelong reader? Want to turn a reluctant adult into an bookstore junky? Read aloud with them!

Also! Join us for Brookline Booksmith's Children's Story Time (click on the link for a sneak-peek!) every third Saturday of the month. Next Story Time will be April 20 at 10:30am. Kids ages zero to ninety-nine welcome!