Written by Kim Beeman The list below is loosely, but mostly, young adult books, all translated from Italian into English. As I have discovered in my time in Italy, relatively few middle grade and young adult books have been translated from Italian into English. Last October was #ItalianLit month on GLLI, and this wrap-up post … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: Italian YA in Translation
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Ellie in First Position
It’s not easy moving to a new place away from family and friends and trying to settle into a new home and school. The middle grade graphic novel Ellie in First Position tackles all this, and more. The story opens with 10-year-old Electra, or Ellie for short, relocating to a new city with her mother … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Ellie in First Position
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Little Sisters
What would it be like to have a little sister, or even tons of little sisters? As the eldest of four girls, I feel I may already have some of the answers, here! All the same, I no doubt could have benefitted from a copy of Little Sisters when I was a youngster. This gorgeous … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Little Sisters
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan Civil War
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
#WorldKidLitWednesday: Luisa, Now and Then
When it comes to dishing out advice to their teenage selves, people don’t hesitate; interestingly, though, there are far fewer posts on how their teenage selves would advise them. Imagine, then, the conversation an older and younger self would have were they to ever meet. This is exactly what Carole Maurel has done in her … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Luisa, Now and Then
#WorldKidLitWednesday: Yours Sincerely, Giraffe
Did you have a pen pal when you were little? Maybe someone from halfway around the world, whom you’d never seen, from a land you knew nothing about? That’s the premise of Yours Sincerely, Giraffe, a sweet, zany chapter book for ages 6-10, with charming illustrations by award-winning artist Jun Takabatake (Bologna Children’s Book Fair Graphics … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Yours Sincerely, Giraffe
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Ruby Red
Like YA fantasy filled with fencing, derring-do and a dash of romance? Historical fiction replete with counts and conspiracies? Urban paranormal novels about time traveling? Then have I got a fabulous novel-in-translation for you… While this may sound like a mashed-up, genre-bending smorgasbord of a book lost in an endless search for identity, Ruby Red is … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Ruby Red
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: MAX by Sarah Cohen-Scali
Max (by Sarah Cohen-Scali, translated by Penny Hueston) is creepy. Beautifully written. Translated in flawlessly idiomatic English. And seriously creepy. A well-researched work of historical fiction for upper YA readers*, the book tells the story of the eponymous Max, aka Konrad von Kebernsol, a product of the once-secret, actual Nazi Lebensborn program (literally, fountain of … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: MAX by Sarah Cohen-Scali
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Meet Translator Nanette McGuinness
An opera singer, Nanette McGuinness translates graphic and conventional novels from French and Italian to English. Cool, huh?! Getting to know a translator can be as fascinating as meeting the author or illustrator of a #worldkidlit title. Though I live near Bangkok and Nanette lives in the San Francisco Bay area, we e-met through the … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Meet Translator Nanette McGuinness
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 