Tag Archive | A2Z

C is THE CARTOONISTS CLUB at middle school – hooray! by Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud (MG Graphic Novel) #AtoZ

Apr3
book cover of The Cartoonists Club, by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud; shows 4 tweens of different genders and races - drawing, jumping, laughing, and clutching a notebook tightly

Welcome to the Cartoonists Club!

Makayla imagines so many characters, but she wonders how to make a story with them.

Howard draws such funny characters, but he can’t figure out what should they do next.

Art loves to make all kinds of things, and they want to try every creative medium – all of them!

Lynda’s sketches are realistic, but she worries about making mistakes and how personal her story is.

With help from Ms. Fatima, their middle school librarian who also loves comics and graphic novels, the tweens learn how sequential storytelling works, how to make a zine from a single sheet of paper, the role of the reader’s imagination, and so much more.

A local comics convention?!
Can the Cartoonists Club go?
Can they have a table and sell their zines to everyone?

Just published this week, by the authors of Smile (Raina) and How to Understand Comics (Scott).

Visit the book’s website https://kids.scholastic.com/content/kids64/en/books/books-by-raina.html to download a free activity booklet, bookmark, and certificate.

Grab your copy today for a great friendship story, cool sequential art, and lots of insider info on how comics are created.

What’s your favorite comic/graphic novel?
**kmm

Book info: The Cartoonists Club / art & story by Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud; inking by Ray Baehr; color by Beniam C. Hollman; lettering by Jesse Post. Scholastic/Graphix, 2025. [Raina’s site https://goraina.com/] [Scott’s site https://kids.scholastic.com/content/kids64/en/books/books-by-raina.html ] [publisher site https://kids.scholastic.com/content/kids64/en/books/books-by-raina.html] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

B is BUILD A GIRLFRIEND from exes’ critiques? by Elba Luz (YA fiction) #AtoZ

Apr2
book cover of Build A Girlfriend, by Elba Luz; shows a Puerto Rican teen with 3 different outfits & hair styles. The image is divided into 4 horizontal slices that have been shifted sideways so the faces, torsos, legs, and shoes don't match.

Her family is cursed!
No “happily ever after” ever.
Maybe she can create a way to keep love!

Yet again, Amelia is single, just like her mother and her three aunts – no romantic relationship ever lasts for the Hernandez women.

Much as she loves them and her sisters, the high school senior doesn’t love the idea of running their family Puerto Rican bakery someday. She itches to get out of the big house they all share, so she secretly applied for a gap year program abroad and has almost enough saved up to go!

After Amelia’s most recent breakup, her sister sets up a “Romance Boot Camp” to help Amelia harness her best qualities. Why not try out her improved outlook on some of her ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends?

One leaves her hanging on a climbing wall (that video goes viral), another embarrasses her at karaoke.

And Leon is back, two years after he broke up with her – by text! She can’t avoid him as they both work toward the bakery’s grand opening… and perhaps she doesn’t want to.

How will her family react to her post-graduation escape plan?
Why can’t she master any job at the big fair?
Is there any possibility at all to reunite with Leon?

Supported by aura readings, makeup hints, empanadas, and unconditional family love, Amelia has to stop selling herself short and go for the future she longs for.

What kind of second-chance date with an ex would you choose?
**kmm

Book info: Build a Girlfriend / Elba Luz. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

A is ATLAS OF CATS, by Helena Haraslova & Jana Sedlackova #AtoZ (MG non-fiction)

Apr1
book cover of Atlas of Cats, by Helena Haraslova and Jana Sedlackova; shows multi-level cat house with 12 different breeds of cats climbing, lounging, and playing with the boy and girl seated below.

Russian Blue, Snowshoe,
Bengal, Bombay, Birman,
long hair, short hair, no hair…
so many kinds of cats!

From the everyday European Shorthair Cat that we call a Tabby Cat to the curly-coated Cornish Rex, this charmingly illustrated oversize book from the Czech Republic introduces readers to two dozen fascinating cat breeds from around the world.

Would you like a very cuddly cat? A one-person cat? A playful cat? A relaxed cat? A quiet cat? A giant cat?

Each breed’s multi-page section includes a score card for intelligence, stubbornness, personality type, tendency to wander, and cuddliness, as well as notes on their appearance and variations, origins, and temperament.

Issues of “Meow News” throughout the book highlight the world’s grumpiest cat, author Hemingway and his six-toed cats, learning balance with ShiroNeko, an ocelot dining at a restaurant, and more cat tales.

I agree with the authors – whatever their breed or appearance, the best cats are those we adopt from animal shelters! Just ask my five cats!

Which kind of cat is your favorite?
**kmm

Book info: Atlas of Cats / Helena Haraštová & Jana Sedláčková; illustrated by Guilia Lombarda. Albatros, 2022. [publisher site] [book video] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher, via Publisher Spotlight.

It’s April #AtoZ time again!

Mar31

It’s been longer than I care to say since I posted book recommendations here… life happens.

So much has happened in recent months in the US, and I wonder often what I can do to fight against the darkness.

BOOKS! I will do what BooksYALove has always done – recommend middle grade and young adult books beyond the bestsellers, especially those reflecting diverse communities and marginalized people

April’s AtoZ blog challenge http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/ is a good way for me to get going again. I’ve successfully participated every April since 2011! See all my past posts through the A2Z tag in the sidebar.

So you’ll get 26 human-written recommendations of great MG and YA books, from A to Z, every April day except Sundays.

Time to read!
**kmm

Yep, I did it – April A to Z complete! (reflective) #A2Z

May1
swirl logo for Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2010-2024 a-to-challenge.com

For the 13th consecutive year, I posted a new, original book review based on letters A to Z over 26 days in April (with Sundays off, amen), except that darn Y (I promise I’ll post that book soon)!

Thirteen years of A to Z.

Fifteen years of BooksYALove.

Over 1,200 book recommendations, countless hours of reading and writing, paying for my own website… for what?

For you, the readers.

Getting the right book into the hands of the right reader at the right time – that’s why I’ve been a librarian for over four decades, whether “working for money” or not.

I’ll keep reading books “beyond the bestsellers” for tweens, teens, and everybody (including the many, many adults who read YA) , and I’ll keep writing about the best of them. But don’t look for 6 new recommendations a week – until next April!

What’s next on your “to be read” stack?
**kmm

Y is for yesterday & before – yikes! #A2Z

Apr29

Did you hear about the big storm systems that raced across the central USA this weekend?

Luckily, we didn’t get any tornadoes here in my corner of northeast Texas… but the winds knocked down large trees which took out our electrical power on Saturday.

Luckily, the incredible lineworkers in our rural region got our electricity restored in a few hours… but when it came on, the internet router breathed its last.

Luckily, our rural telephone co-op owns the router and provides great service… but it was Monday afternoon before they could get to us and restore internet access.

gray cat gazing to the right with half-opened eyes while laying on a stack of old books - from Dover illustrations collection
courtesy of Dover Publications

So I got to spend time reading instead of writing a Y book recommendation for today… but I’ll wrap up #AprilAtoZ tomorrow with my planned Z book.

p.s. have YOU backed up the photos on your phone lately? I had just finished when the power cut out – yikes!
**kmm

X for excitement – THE WOLVES OF GREYCOAT HALL have arrived! by Lucinda Gifford. (MG book review) #A2Z

Apr27
Tartan-clad wolf mom, wolf dad & wolf cub who holds large book on cover of The Wolves of Greycoat Hall, by Lucinda Gifford.

Where to go on vacation?

Aha! Once his father reads “Wolves to be reintroduced to Scotland” in the newspaper, Boris knows that’s where his wolf family will go!

The young cub reads about the Greycoats’ Scottish heritage on their interesting train and ferry journey to Portlessie, near the long-lost McLupus castle, Wolfemina Hall.

Folks stare at first, then welcome the Greycoats – except for dreadful Mr. Vorslad who wants to tear down Drommuir Castle to build a luxury resort (no one in town but the real estate agent wants that).

Such a lovely place and what wonderful food! If only they could outbid Mr. Vorslad and buy Drommuir as a vacation home in the Highlands, as a tribute to Wolfemina Hall…

Meeting historic battle re-enactors with swords – exciting!
Sketching birds at the beach and making sandcastles with new friends – very good.
Vorslad starting to destroy the beach and forest before the property sale is final – terrible!!

Can one young wolf save the castle and forest and beach, before it’s too late?

The author’s clever sketches add greatly to readers’ enjoyment – Mr. and Mrs. Greycoat in kilts, Boris sketching as they sightsee, paintings of their McLupus ancestors, and pages from A Guide to Morovia, their current wolfly homeland.

Followed by Boris in Switzerland at boarding school with snowboarding and a grand mystery. Find both books today, Independent Bookstore Day, and every day through the finder site for a store near you or online at bookshop.org.

What do you know of wolves that live in your region?
**kmm

Book info: The Wolves of Greycoat Hall (Wolves of Greycoat Hall, book 1) / Lucinda Gifford. Kane Miller/EDC, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

W is WELCOME TO OUR TABLE: A Celebration of What Children Eat All Around the World, by Laura Mucha, Ed Smith, Harriet Lynas (Picturebook review) @A2Z

Apr26
Many children from various countries sharing a multicultural meal around a large white tablecloth, book cover of Welcome to Our Table: A Celebration of What Children Eat All Around the World, by Laura Mucha & Ed Smith, illustrated by Harriet Lynas.

Noodles, potatoes, rice,
veggies fresh or pickled,
herbs and spices and yum!

Welcome, welcome! Our table is set with the tools we need (chopsticks, a flat-bottomed spoon, or our hands), and our senses are ready – let’s eat together!

Rice or corn or bread or noodles or potatoes could be the foundation of our meal – so many shapes and textures and flavors to enjoy.

Our food is more interesting because we add spices, herbs, peppers, tomatoes – each place in the world has its favorites.

Perhaps you’ve tried kimchi or other pickled vegetables. Molokhia and choy sum are green vegetables that might be new to you.

Beans, nuts, and soybeans are proteins that help our bodies stay strong, as are meats and seafood – look at all the wonderful ways they are cooked!

Oh, the lovely sweet ways to finish our meals – ice cream, fruit, pastries! Bananas are the most-eaten fruit in the world – can you guess the second most popular? *

Readers can learn to say “happy eating” and words about texture and “delicious” and “goodbye” in several languages, with phonetic pronunciations included for every non-English food word in the entire book.

Foods from 103 countries are featured in this attractive introduction to what we share around the table at mealtimes, fascinating for kids who want to know what their age-mates in other lands are eating and interesting for adults who want to expand their culinary horizons. Picture books are Everybody books!

Where did your favorite lunch food originate?
**kmm

Book info: Welcome to Our Table: A Celebration of What Children Eat All Around the World / Laura Mucha & Ed Smith; illustrated by Harriet Lynas. Nosy Crow, 2023. [Laura’s site] [Ed’s site] [Harriet’s site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

(* It’s watermelon!!)

V is for her very disastrous Valentine’s Day, on repeat! THE DO-OVER, by Lynn Painter (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr25
Girl in blue van crashes back of red truck driven by boy. Second crash, he comforts her. Third crash, they stand apart. Book cover of The Do-Over, by Lynn Painter. Simon & Schuster.

Determined, organized,
people-pleaser –
now what’s all this!?

Her perfect Valentine’s Day plan gets a jolt when Emilie rear-ends her aloof lab partner’s truck, is told that her summer fellowship fell through, and sees her boyfriend kissing his ex!

This is not on her agenda at all: her divorced parents will be furious about the wreck, she needs that fellowship to pay for college, and how could Josh even do that to her?

Escaping to Grandma Max’s after more bad news from Dad, the high school junior turns in early so this horrible day can finally be over… and wakes up in her own bed on Valentine’s morning!

Her van is fine…until she rear-ends Nick’s truck again. Then she loses the fellowship again, and Josh is kissing Macy again… what is going on?

Next morning is Valentine’s Day yet again, and then the next is, too! Does the universe want her to change something to get out of this time loop?

On every repeated February 14th, she gets to know Nick a little better, but he doesn’t remember the next morning (also Feb. 14).

Different outfit, drive another route to school, talk her way back into the summer program, stop Josh from being alone with Macy, talk her way back into the summer program, convince Dad not to move – what else should she try?

Time for ultra-organized Emilie to go way off-script!

What single day would you want a do-over for?
**kmm

Book info: The Do-Over / Lynn Painter. Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, hardcover 2022, paperback 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

T is TASTING LIGHT: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions, edited by A.R. Capetta & Wade Roush (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr23
vague human figure in spacesuit looking upward at title and author names on book cover of Tasting Light: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions,edited by A R Capetta and Wade Roush

What’s in our future?
Who gets to decide?
Can we change who gets to decide?

She hears a dead friend singing in the park – who selected that voice-mod to replace their own, and why?

Meeting him among the tethers holding together her small space city was electrifying – until she sensed one disintegrating.

Teens on different space habitats exchanging messages and dreams – via junk DNA in bio-sample data packets.

A robot far in the woods, observing the tiniest creatures in its soil – “I am very tired of humans desperately needing me to be something to them” (pg. 119).

Gender assumptions, body image, white entitlement, traditional knowledges, emotions and more…

Go to ten futures with William Alexander, K. Ancrum, Elizabeth Bear, A.R. Capetta, Charlotte Nicole Davis, Nasugraq Rainey Hopson, A.S. King, E.C. Myers, Junauda Petrus-Nasah, and graphic novelist Wendy Xu.

The authors were challenged to write YA fiction using classic hard Sci-Fi with “no magic, no faster-than-light travel, just real-world physics,” and they succeeded brilliantly with these stories “about young people discovering themselves and how their bravery can change the world in small or big ways” (pg x).

Check it out at your local library or independent bookstore – hardcover, eBook, and paperback.

What do you see in your future?
**kmm

Book info: Tasting Light: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions / edited by A.R. Capetta & Wade Roush. MITeen Press /Candlewick, hardcover 2022, paperback 2023. [A.R. site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.