Review by Alex Henderson It takes twenty-three years to travel from Earth to the exoplanet Terra-Two. By the time the Beta crew of the Off-World Colonization Programme arrive, they will be in their forties. But when they leave, they are just teenagers—six of the best and brightest young people in the UK, put through rigorous … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
#Veganuary: Memoirs of a Porcupine
By Alain Mabanckou translated by Helen Stevenson African literature frequently draws on the experiences of animals to demonstrate inequality and injustice in society by considering the perspectives of the marginalised and overlooked. Those that are ‘animalised’ in society are used in order to demonstrate the violence that is inflicted on the oppressed, and provide a … Continue reading #Veganuary: Memoirs of a Porcupine
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: The 2023 Eisner Nominees
Looking to dip your toe into the ocean of new graphic novels (in translation) for children and young adults? Reading the Eisners is the perfect approach. The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are the comic kingdom’s equivalent of the Oscars, with the winners announced annually at San Diego Comic Con. Children’s graphic novels in translation appear in the obvious … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The 2023 Eisner Nominees
#ZimbabweLitMonth: The Quality of Mercy (2022)
Of all the countries in Africa, the liberation struggle for independence in Zimbabwe was the longest and bloodiest. Historical fiction has become a popular genre in interrogating our convoluted history. Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, with her lyrical prowess, has done a marvelous job of narrating pre- and post-colonial Zimbabwean history in her City of Kings trilogy. … Continue reading #ZimbabweLitMonth: The Quality of Mercy (2022)
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Night Raven
A book is a promise. Its pages can offer adventure, an escape into a world from another time or place. The first book in The Moonwind Mysteries, The Night Raven, and its sequel, The Queen of Thieves, are gripping upper MG novels that fulfill this promise—and then some. Set in a gritty, Dickensian version of … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Night Raven
Belarus 🇧🇾: Last Witnesses: Unchildlike Stories by Svetlana Alexievich, tr. Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky
In a Nutshell: This book was published in 1986 and it was translated into English and published a couple of years ago. It tells the story of the children, now adults, who survived the Nazi invasion on the eastern front of WW2. This book documents the memories of children who survived. Over 100 testimonies, which … Continue reading Belarus 🇧🇾: Last Witnesses: Unchildlike Stories by Svetlana Alexievich, tr. Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky
#TasmanianLitMonth – Featured Writer Lian Tanner
Photo courtesy of the author. About Lian Lian Tanner has worked as a teacher, a tourist bus driver, a juggler, an editor and a professional actor. She has been dynamited while scuba diving and arrested while busking. She once spent a week in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, hunting for a Japanese soldier left … Continue reading #TasmanianLitMonth – Featured Writer Lian Tanner
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: ¡Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge
Wolf Little Lobo and his rooster sidekick Kooky Dooky are back! Raúl the Third (Raúl Gonzalez) continues his award-winning bilingual ¡Vamos! series with ¡Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge. As in the first two volumes for readers age 4-7, the third bustles with cross-cultural Tex-Mex action and zany illustrations. All three books have brought Raúl the … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: ¡Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Telling Stories Wrong*
“Once upon a time, there was a girl who was called Little Yellow Riding Hood.” “No, red!” “Oh, right!” Little Red Riding Hood. Her mother called her one day and said, “Listen, Little Green Riding Hood…” “No, Red!” “Oh, right! Red. Her mother said: Now go to Aunt Hildegard’s house and take her this potato … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Telling Stories Wrong*
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Almond
Selected as a 2021 GLLI Translated YA Book Prize honor book, Almond is the story of Soon Yunjae, who as child is diagnosed with alexithymia, or the inability to identify and express one’s feelings. His amygdalae—the almond shaped structures in the brain responsible for interpreting external stimuli as emotional responses— are, as he explains, "unusually … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Almond
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 