Review by Jonathan Hill Burmese Moons by Sophie Ansel and Sam Garcia America and the media we consume is incredibly sterilized, especially to the plight of the people who aren’t white. We’re led to believe that despite harrowing circumstances, through determination and strength of spirit, we’ll be delivered the happy ending. Everything will work out … Continue reading #INTLYALITMONTH: Burmese Moons by Sophie Ansel & Sam Garcia
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Hunt is On (Seekers of the Aweto Book 1)
As an early literacy advocate, I am a huge proponent of graphic novels and comic books. Graphic novels can help hook reluctant readers, build visual literacy, and challenge students to read analytically. Do not let the presence of pictures fool you; as in picture books, there is often more to them that meets the eye. … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Hunt is On (Seekers of the Aweto Book 1)
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Here the Whole Time
Last month I reviewed the first of our co-winners for the GLLI Translated YA Book Prize. This month we turn to the second winner of the prize, Here the Whole Time. Written by Vitor Martins, this book gives us another look into the lives of LGBTQ young people in Brazil. Also translated by Larissa Helena, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Here the Whole Time
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Where We Go From Here
As someone who grew up during the 80s and 90s, I have several memories of the earlier years of the AIDS epidemic. I still remember the news reports of gay men dying in large numbers, and learning about how HIV is spread—and how it is not. I also remember the death of Freddie Mercury (right … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Where We Go From Here
World Languages Review: La sonrisa de los peces de piedra (Spain)
La sonrisa de los peces de piedra (The Smile of the Stone Fish) by Rosa Huertas (Anaya). This book is written in Spanish and set in Spain. In 2017, it won the XIV Premio Anaya de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil (Anaya Children’s and Young Adult Literary Prize). In 2017, it was included on the Lista … Continue reading World Languages Review: La sonrisa de los peces de piedra (Spain)
#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
GLLI YA Prize Shortlist Excerpt: Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais
Chapter 1 Here we go: the Pig Pageant results have just come out on Facebook. I’m in third place: bronze medal. How perplexing. After winning gold for two years in a row, I thought I’d never lose the top spot. I was wrong. I check who’s won the grand title. She’s a new girl, in … Continue reading GLLI YA Prize Shortlist Excerpt: Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais
GLLI Translated YA Book Prize Shortlist: Wonderful Feels Like This by Sara Lovestam (Sweden)
Sara Lovestam's Wonderful Feels Like This is “a coming-of-age tale of a young artist and is as soulful as it is triumphant” (SLJ) that celebrates being a little bit odd, finding your people, and the power of music to connect us For Steffi, going to school everyday is an exercise in survival. She's never fit … Continue reading GLLI Translated YA Book Prize Shortlist: Wonderful Feels Like This by Sara Lovestam (Sweden)
GLLI Translated YA Book Prize Shortlist: The Secret of the Blue Glass by Tomiko Inui (Japan)
A classic story about a magical miniature family’s adventures in wartime Japan In a dusty library, in the quietest corner of a house in a Tokyo suburb, live the Little People: Fern and Balbo, Robin and Iris. Just a few inches high, sleeping in cigarette boxes and crafting shoes from old book jackets, they need … Continue reading GLLI Translated YA Book Prize Shortlist: The Secret of the Blue Glass by Tomiko Inui (Japan)
GLLI Translated YA Book Prize Shortlist: Rasha by Muhammed Zafar Iqbal (Bangladesh)
The breathtaking story of a feisty young girl. Fifteen-year-old Rasha is abandoned by her mother in a village with her aged and probably mad grandmother. Uprooted from her school and her friends back in cosmopolitan Dhaka, a disgruntled Rasha has to start life afresh in a faraway place with no electricity, incessant rains, nosy neighbors, … Continue reading GLLI Translated YA Book Prize Shortlist: Rasha by Muhammed Zafar Iqbal (Bangladesh)
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 