#WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women’s Suffrage, and Jujitsu

Posted on by Nanette McGuinness

The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women’s Suffrage, and Jujitsu is the engagingly told story of a lesser-known figure from an important part of 20th century history, Edith Garrud. A 2024 GLLI Translated YA Book Prize Honor Book, this superb nonfiction graphic novel connects the dots between women’s suffrage, their personal freedom, and their ability to … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women’s Suffrage, and Jujitsu

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: An Interview with Author and Translator Lyn Miller-Lachmann

Posted on by Nanette McGuinness

Lyn Miller-Lachmann is a multiply published author whose books include Torch, Moonwalking, Gringolandia, and Rogue, among many. She also is the translator (primarily from Portuguese and also Spanish into English) of a number of books for young readers, including Three Balls of Wool, Lines, Squiggles, Letters, Words, and Pardalita, a 2024 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: An Interview with Author and Translator Lyn Miller-Lachmann

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Movements and Moments

Posted on by Klem-Marí Cajigas

For all the hand wringing about young people not liking to read or even reading proficiently, there sure is a lot of gatekeeping by adults around what is and what is not appropriate for young people to read. Bracketing and suspending for a moment current book banning efforts in the United States, there are adults … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Movements and Moments

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: You Can’t Kill Snow White

Posted on by Klem-Marí Cajigas

At the risk of repeating myself yet again, picture books are for everyone. They are most certainly appropriate for young adults, especially when they are bold, daring, and splashed with a bit of danger. Published by Enchanted Lion Books' new picture book imprint Unruly, You Can't Kill Snow White is both a new interpretation and … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: You Can’t Kill Snow White

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Ironhead, or, Once a Young Lady

Posted on by Nanette McGuinness

1808. The Napoleonic wars. In Ghent, a draft for the Emperor’s army is looming and the respectable Hoste family is in financial trouble.  From the very first sentence, Ironhead, or, Once a Young Lady is the engaging story of the two oldest Hoste siblings, 18-year-old Constance ("Stance") and her entitled 14-year-old brother Pieter (Piers), whom … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Ironhead, or, Once a Young Lady

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan Civil War

Posted on by Planet Picture Book

In 1994, an estimated two million people fled the genocide by the Hutus of the minority Tutsi population in Rwanda. They sought refuge in neighboring Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), but the bloodshed continued. Around 800,000 civilians died, both Hutus and Tutsis. Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan Civil War

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Cat Who Saved Books

Posted on by Nanette McGuinness

A quiet hero’s journey for YA readers, The Cat Who Saved Books tells the story of high-schooler Rintaro Natsuki, a shy hikikomori (shut-in). When the story begins, Rintaro’s beloved grandfather and guardian has just died, leaving him the owner of his grandfather’s secondhand bookstore.  The description of Rintaro’s feelings about his grandfather’s death are poignant, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Cat Who Saved Books

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: This Is Our Place

Posted on by Klem-Marí Cajigas

Vitor Martins' tender, funny, and honest YA novels are no stranger to Global Literatures in Libraries Initiative, nor to its Translated YA Book Prize. He returns to us with his newest novel and the 2023 Translated YA Book Prize winner, This Is Our Place. Translated by Larissa Helena (who translated Martins' previous prize winning book), … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: This Is Our Place

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Almond

Posted on by Klem-Marí Cajigas

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

#INTLYALITMONTH: Oksi by Mari Ahokoivu, translated by Silja-Maaria Aronpuro

Posted on by Linda Hoiseth

Review by: Jennifer Baltes Oksi by Mari Ahokoivu Poorling doesn’t fit in. She’s not a bear cub, like her brothers, and with her tiny, upright body and flame-shaped head, she doesn’t look like anything in the forest. She desperately wants to be a bear: fierce, strong, and loved by her bear mother, Umi. As Poorling’s … Continue reading #INTLYALITMONTH: Oksi by Mari Ahokoivu, translated by Silja-Maaria Aronpuro