Everything I need to know in life, I learned from children's literature
Happy Pride! Here are some Canadian books featuring characters and stories from across the LGBTQIA2S+ spectrum to add to your collections. Watch the segment here! Ages 3-7 For the youngest reader, Pride Puppy (Orca Book) is an alphabet book that takes readers through the day of a Pride parade. The vibrancy of the illustrations captures… Continue reading As Seen on CTV: 10 Canadian Kids’ Books for Pride Month
Whether you're lakeside, poolside, or inside, summer is the best time to read. Silly, spooky, thought-provoking and engrossing; here are some new(ish) books guaranteed to keep you or the middle grade reader in your life occupied this summer. Wolf Hollow We all have those keystone books in our lives, the ones so deeply affecting that… Continue reading Middle Grade Monday: Summer Reading Picks 2016
With that bright blue cover, bouncy font and beach-y theme, Sunny Side Up looks like a typical summer read. But looks can be deceiving. Sunny Side Up is a moving story about coming to terms with difficult secrets disguised as a typical summer read. So-called 'typical' elements include a summer spent away from home, steamy days spent… Continue reading Middle Grade Monday: Sunny Side Up
A Rebecca Stead book is always unexpected and always a delight. I very much enjoyed her Northern fantasy First Light and remember hand-selling the heck out of it to die-hard City of Ember fans in my bookseller days. Then I read When You Reach Me and was struck by how timeless it felt, despite being… Continue reading Middle Grade Monday: Goodbye Stranger
This is one of those deceiving middle grade novels that seems straight forward and charming but is so deeply layered that the minute you try to examine it you are left with the conclusion that Jenni Holm is a genius and mere mortals should not try to dissect her work. Ellie does not know what… Continue reading Middle Grade Monday: The Fourteenth Goldfish
This blog is in danger of becoming a Nina LaCour fansite, but I can't help gushing about her books. Her latest might just be her best one yet. When Emi's senior year ends, her brother gives her the keys to his sweet apartment for the summer, telling her to use the space and the time… Continue reading Nina LaCour, Patron Saint of California: Everything Leads to You Review
Here are some great recent/upcoming middle grade titles for the tween in your life, or, if you're like me, your own inner tween: The Glass Sentence Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series gets comped a lot in fantasy, but this is the only book I've read in recent memory that lives up to it in… Continue reading What to Read This Summer: Middle Grade
I have a soft spot for (and two entire bookshelves dedicated to) picture books. This summer reading list was probably the most fun to prepare. Whether you like mermaids, food, Jill Barber, cats, dinosaurs or meta-fiction, there is definitely a picture book out there for you and the wee ones in your life. Here are… Continue reading What to Read This Summer- Picture Books
The May long weekend has come and gone, my patio furniture is out, it seems that summer is finally, FINALLY just around the corner! Here are some great YA reads for those summer days, starry nights (*cough* shameless plug)*: We Were Liars I have been a big fan of E. Lockhart for many, many years.… Continue reading What To Read This Summer- YA Edition
WHAT I PUBLISHED Not one, but TWO new novels! Bringing my series about Benji and Clarissa to a close in DAYS THAT END IN Y was bittersweet. I love this review in CM Magazine because above all else I aim to be authentic, and if the mother of a teenage daughter who happens to be… Continue reading Read, Write, Blog: 2013 in Review
Vikki VanSickle 