One of the coolest things about Roberta Gibson’s blog Wrapped in Foil is that she’s got a list of children’s books by state, from Alabama to Wyoming, along with brief descriptions of each book. Our featured review today–Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction finalist Guts & Glory: The Vikings by Ben Thompson—may not exactly fit on that list, but it did make the …
REVIEW: Hilda Bewildered
Cool fact about Round 1 Book Apps judge Jill Goodman: as a faculty member at University of Central Florida Department of Education, she serves on the dissertation committees of students doing their theses on apps in early childhood education. She also reviews book apps at Participate Learning, which is where she reviewed Book Apps finalist Hilda Bewildered: “There are few …
REVIEW: Finding the Worm
Today’s review was written by Round 2 Middle Grade Fiction judge Greg Pattridge, a teacher, consultant and writer who blogs at Always in the Middle. Earlier this year, he reviewed MG Fiction nominee Finding the Worm, the sequel to Twerp by Mark Goldblatt. About this coming-of-age story, Greg said: “This sequel, set in 1969-70, has Julian at age 13 returning to …
REVIEW: Sunny Side Up
Today’s featured review has a little bit of sunshine for you: Sunny Side Up, a graphic novel for elementary and middle grade readers by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, the team behind Babymouse. Our reviewer is Alex Baugh, a Round 2 judge in Middle Grade Fiction this year. Alex is a former 4th grade teacher and historical fiction enthusiast …
REVIEW: Bayou Magic
Our featured review for today was written by Katy Kramp, who is a public librarian and Round 1 judge for Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction this year. She blogs at alibrarymama, and features books that span the age range from board books all the way to adult. A few months ago she reviewed Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes, a magical …
REVIEW: Blackbird Fly
Our featured review for today comes from the blog Tween You & Me, and Middle Grade Fiction Round 1 judge Pamela Groseclose. She’s a Youth Services Associate for a library in Missouri, and she’s got the library in her veins: her parents met in a library and went on their first date shortly after they were kicked out for being …
Indie Next Revisit & Rediscover and the Cybils
I was going through my feed reader the other day, and I noticed a press release from the American Bookseller’s Association announcing their new Revisit & Rediscover initiative, highlighting older (called backlist in the industry) titles. They describe it as this: Each quarter, the Kids’ Indie Next List will highlight three backlist titles each, plus bookseller blurbs, for picture book, middle …
Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
Wonderfully inventive and full of unforgettable people and places–this year’s speculative fiction books for kids are better than ever! Along with the expected spells and space rockets and aliens, this is the category for books with talking animals, time-travel, ghosts, and paranormal abilities, and all the other books that might not have obvious magic on every page, and which are set here …
Middle Grade Fiction Category Description
Middle grade fiction encompasses a wide range of stories that do not have magical elements and are geared toward the 8 to 12 year old age group. These stories could be mysteries, histories, humor, sports, adventure and other tales set in the real world. Middle Grade readers’ tastes and reading abilities can vary widely, and getting them a book that …
2015 Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Judges
Round 1 Charlotte Taylor @charlotteslib Charlotte’s Library Brenda Tjaden @LogCabinLibrary Log Cabin Library Melissa Fox @book_nut Book Nut Kristen Harvey @bookgoil The Book Monsters Stephanie Whelan @TesseractViews Views from the Tesseract Annamaria Anderson @bookstogether Books Together Katy Kramp @alibrarymama alibrarymama Round 2 Kim Aippersbach Dead Houseplants Hayley Beale @bibliobritish bibliobrit Heidi Grange @GeoLibrarian GeoLibrarian Guinevere Thomas @aravere Twinja Book Reviews …