Outstanding Books of the Month – February 2024 Each month we post an annotated bibliography of books that were rated ‘Outstanding’ at our previous meeting and nominated for our year-end Distinguished List. You can see [continue reading]
Librarian Bonnie Janssen Dies
Librarian Bonnie Janssen Dies: Bonnie Janssen died at age 80 in January, 2024. She worked at the Fremont Main Library, part of the Alameda County library system. She eventually became head of Children’s Services, retiring [continue reading]
Wishing Season Review
Rissi, Anica Mrose. Wishing Season. Quill Tree, 06/2023. 228 [+12]pp. Fiction. Trade $18.99. 978-0-0632-5890-7. GRADES 3–7. OUTSTANDING. In the world of a fifth grade girl named Lily, the profound loss of her twin brother to [continue reading]
Lost Year Review
Marsh, Katherine. Lost Year, The. Roaring Brook, 01/2023. 354pp. Fiction. Trade $17.99. 978-1-250-31360-7. Paper $8.99. 978-1-250-90930-5. GRADES 5–8. OUTSTANDING. During the COVID-19 lockdown, thirteen-year-old Matthew is helping his one-hundred-year-old Ukrainian great-grandmother, Nadiya (GG) unpack when [continue reading]
Scott O’Dell Award Named
Scott O’Dell Award Named: The 2024 Scott O’Dell Award for children’s historical fiction has been announced. The winner is Bea and the New Deal Horse by L.M. Elliott. The Scott O’Dell Award (scottodell.com).
Jane Addams Peace Award Announced
Jane Addams Peace Award Announced: The 2024 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards were announced Feb. 15, 2024. They honor books that promote peace and social justice. Book Award – Jane Addams Peace Association (janeaddamschildrensbookaward.org). The [continue reading]
Author Robie Harris Dies
Author Robie Harris Dies: Robie Harris, author of several children’s sex education books, has died at age 83. It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, and Sexual Health (1994), and several other books by Harris [continue reading]
Ben Rothery’s Deadly and Dangerous Animals Review
Rothery, Ben. Ben Rothery’s Deadly and Dangerous Animals. Ben Rothery, Illus. Tilbury House, 10/2023. 48pp. Nonfiction. Trade $19.95. 978-1-958394-25-0. GRADES 2–7. HIGH ADDITIONAL. Dramatic drawings, likely done using colored pencil, display animals that are especially [continue reading]