2016 Newbery Winner: Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena

"Sometimes when you're surrounded by dirt, CJ, you're a better witness for what's beautiful."

After church CJ and his grandma travel by bus. At first he's jealous of his friends who get to hop in their cars and go home. But as they journey, his grandma helps him see all that he would miss out on if they didn't take the bus.

This year's Newbery Award winner is Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena. It was also a Caldecott Honor Book and won lots of other awards and made it to the top of numerous lists. (View them all here.) It's not unheard of, but also not incredibly common for the Newbery winner to be a picture book. It's a good book to read with your kids because it exemplifies gratitude for the things you have and seeing beauty anywhere.
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Last Stop on Market Street
By Matt De La Pena
Pictures by Christian Robinson
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Year: 2015
Ages: Young Children, Early Readers, Picture Books
Awards: Newbery Winner, Caldecott Honor

Find this book on Amazon (affiliate link) or at your local independent bookstore.

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

They Eye of Minds is by James Dashner, the author of the well-known Maze Runner series (two of them have been made into a movie so far). This one has all the same kinds of thrills and adventures, but with a gaming twist. It imagines a world where virtual reality is so real, that gamers actually feel like they're in the game. 

This isn't my regular type of read, and lately I've become a little tired of series (because you never get to the end of the story!). But the ending to this one surprised me and made me want to read the next one.

This would be a great book for young adults who usually prefer video games to books. If you liked the Maze Runner series, you'd probably like this one too.

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The Eye of Minds

By James Dashner

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Year: 2013

Ages: Young Adult

Themes: Science Fiction, Gaming, Thriller, Books for Boys

Find this book on Amazon (affiliate link) or at your local independent bookstore.

Waiting is Not Easy by Mo Willems

Mo Willems is one of my favorite children's authors. His Elephant & Piggie books are some of my favorites of his. And Waiting is Not Easy is definitely one of my favorite Elephant & Piggie books. 

If you haven't read the Elephant & Piggie books, you should. We look for a new one every time we go to the library. My kids even know where to look. My preschooler loves the books because they're funny. And they're good to read with my 1st grader because we each choose a part and read back and forth. (She can read things more advanced, but sometimes gets frustrated when she does, so having a character to read makes it more fun for her.)

In Waiting is Not Easy, Gerald (the Elephant) and Piggie have their usually banter, but they also address something that is really hard for many kids: waiting. Waiting to find out what they're waiting for was worth the wait. If you like Elephant & Piggie, you should check this one out.

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Waiting is Not Easy

By Mo Willems

Publisher: Harperion Books for Children

Year: 2014

Ages: Picture Books, Young Children

Themes: waiting, friendship

Snapshot Saturday: An Afternoon of Reading

This is the book reading mess of one child. Oh, to be four years old and to spend a lazy hour or two just looking at books.

Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

Alcatraz has a talent for breaking things. It's part of the reason why he moves from foster home to foster home so often. Then one day he finds out that the world he knows is a lie. The world is run by a group of evil librarians--they control all the information after all. He teams up with others like him (with talents like always being late and speaking gibberish) to retrieve his stolen inheritance. Oh, and there are miniature, talking, British dinosaurs.

Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians is a fun and funny book that would be appropriate for ages 10 and up. The protagonist speaks directly to the reader, sometimes even about the writing itself. It reminded me of the style of the Series of Unfortunate Events books, so someone who likes those books would probably enjoy this one.

After reading this book I wished that my tendency to drop things could be construed to be a talent, but I just haven't found it to be yet.
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Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians
By Brandon Sanderson
Published by Scholastic
Year: 2007
Ages: Middle Grade, YA
Themes: fantasy, adventure

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The 2016 Newbery Award winner and honor books have been announced. More than ten years ago when I was working in a middle school library, I made a goal to read all the Newbery Award books. I finished that goal a few years back and eagerly look forward to reading the new winner each year. Since I only have to read one book a year to keep up the goal, I often read the honor books too. And sometimes I like them even better than the winner.

The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradely earned a Newbery Honor nod this year. I already had this book on my TBR list and I'm glad that gave me the extra push to read it. It's the first full book I read in 2016 and it was a good start.

It's the story of young Ada and her little brother Jamie who leave London to live in the country during the bombings of World War II. Narrated by Ada, it's a powerful story of overcoming hardships. Despite that rousing description, it's a book I would have loved when I was young. It talks about difficult times and difficult issues, but in an age appropriate way. Much better than a ten-year-old reading The Hiding Place. Which I did. Anyway, good book. You should read it or give it to your Middle Grade reader.

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The War that Saved my Life 
By Kimberly Brubaker Bradely
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Year: 2015
Ages: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Themes: WWII, England, disabilities
Awards: Newbery Honor Book

Alan Rickman

This poster can be purchased at the ALA store.

I am not emotionally attached to very many actors and actresses. But as I drove home from dropping my daughter off at school today, I heard the news that Alan Rickman died. I loved him in everything, but he gets a mention here because of his role as Snape in the movie version of the beloved children's series, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. (You may have heard of it.)

The first thing I saw him in was Pride & Prejudice as Colonel Brandon (1995). My favorite part is when he reads aloud to Marianne played by Kate Winslet. Here's a great clip of him as Snape where he uses silence as well as he uses his voice.

Thank you for indulging my sadness at the loss of a great actor and reading advocate. Are you an Alan Rickman fan? What is your favorite role that he played?

Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales by Lucy Cousins

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales." - Albert Einstein

There's lots of research showing that kids should be read fairy tales. And not the nicefied Disney version of Cinderella, but the original where the one of the stepsisters chops off her toes to try to fit into the glass slipper. Have you ever read any originals? They're far more gruesome than the versions we see in the movies.

One of my favorite books of fairy tales is Yummy by Lucy Cousins. The eight fairy tales she chose for this version revolve around food--whether Goldilocks is eating the three bears' porridge, or Red Riding Hood is getting eaten by a wolf. These versions hark back to the originals, without being too much for little kids even with the illustrations. (And don't worry, the woodsman chops the wolf open and Red Riding Hood and her grandmother emerge whole and unharmed.)

Do you have a favorite book of fairy tales?

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Yummy: Eight Favorite Fair Tales
By Lucy Cousins
Published by Candlewick Press
Year: 2009
Ages: Picture Books, Young Children

Freckleface Strawberry by Julianne Moore

I was a very short child. When lining up by height for class pictures in school, I knew to move to the back of the line. I was always on the front row next to the second or third shortest kid in the class. And my head just reached their shoulder. Adults tried to comfort me by saying, "Don't worry, you'll grow." I believed them. I thought that when I grew up I wouldn't be short. They failed to mention that all the other kids would grow too and an extremely short child usually just grows up to be an extremely short adult. I only ever wanted to be five feet tall--and I didn't even quite make that.

Freckleface Strawberry is by a beautiful woman you may have heard of before--Julianne Moore. It's the story of a little red headed girl who doesn't like her freckles. So she tries to get rid of them or hide them. Spoiler alert: when she grows up she learns to accept herself as she is.

I love this book both for me and my daughters. Everyone, especially girls and women it seems, have things they don't like about themselves that they can't change. There's humor in the story, but also an important lesson. And by the way, I'm okay with my height now. Until I just barely can't reach something on a shelf. . .

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Freckleface Strawberry
By Julianne Moore
Illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Year: 2007
Themes: self-esteem, individuality
Ages: Picture Books, Young Children

Mix It Up! by Herve Tullet

Mix It Up! is another fun book by Herve Tullet. It's interactive and invites kids to play with the book and play around with colors. While playing, it also teaches what happens when you mix different colors together.

It's a fun book and a great beginning art book for young readers. When they're done reading it, they're going to want to get out the paints and mix up their own colors.

Where to Find Good Book Recommendations

Instead of a list of best books of 2015, I'm going to share with you some of my sources for finding good book recommendations.

My best source is a couple of friends with similar tastes--if they like it, I'll probably like it. Besides a friend, you can check this blog since I obviously have great taste in books.

Another good source is Indie Bound. It's an association of independent booksellers who put out a monthly list of books they love. They only put out a children's list every quarter, but you can look through past lists as well.

The New York Times Bestsellers List is another obvious list to turn to. There you will find the most well known new books. This one is hit or miss for me. I don't always love what is most popular, but just because it's popular doesn't necessarily mean I won't like it.

Newbery Award Winning Books are the best of the best. Some of the earliest ones are a little strange, but in the last 30 years or so, every single one that's made the list is excellent. The Honor Books are great as well, sometimes better. It's a really good resource for finding good Middle Grade and Young Adult books.

Your school or local librarian reads a lot of books and is up to date on the industry. When I worked in a middle school library, I saw and read the back of hundreds of books every week. A librarian can help you best if you mention a few books you like and ask for something similar.

Do you have any sources you check when you're looking for something new to read?