School Library Journal has given a glowing review to Freshman Year (Christy Ottaviano Books) by Sarah Mai. See the full review below!
This slice-of-life story follows Sarah, a recent high school graduate who is spending the summer before college in Minnesota, hanging out with her friends. Her boyfriend Ben tells her he loves her and wants to stay together even after she leaves for college. Unsure about a long-term relationship and about majoring in English, Sarah, who presents as white, spends the summer preoccupied, but tries to enjoy each moment. While her mom, who uses a wheelchair, helps her with moving into the dorms, she alerts Sarah to all the things that can go wrong as a college freshman, leaving Sarah feeling woefully uninformed. Luckily, her roommate, who is grounded and makes friends easily, brings Sarah along for college clubs and activities. Readers follow Sarah as she embarks on her freshman year in college: her classes are an intense blur, she tries veganism, bleaches and cuts her hair, and considers art school to cope with the stress. Eventually, Ben breaks up with her and Sarah spirals into self-doubt and depression, even with a new group of friends, including some boy interests. She eventually confides her existential worries to her mom and happily connects with her family and friends on her 19th birthday—her last teen year. A variety of story blocks make each page flow differently, and the grayscale art is realistic. College-bound high school readers will appreciate Sarah’s cluelessness, feelings of being overwhelmed, and existential self-searching with this stage of life. VERDICT A solid addition where realistic graphic fiction is in demand.Get the book here
Apr
10
School Library Journal reviews Freshman Year by Sarah Mai
Apr
01
All Aboard the Schooltrain has made the BCALA Annual Best of the Best list, and the NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books List!
All Aboard the Schooltrain: A Little Story from the Great Migration (Scholastic), by Glenda Armand and illustrated by Keisha Morris continues to earn accolades! It has been named to both the 2023 BCALA Best of the Best – Book List and the 2024 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books List.
Learn more about the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) annual “Best of the Best” book list here and view the full 2023 list here.
Learn more about the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) and view the full list here.
Congratulations Keisha!
Mar
19
Not a Monster, illustrated by Laura Gonzalez wins Blueberry Honor!
Not A Monster (Charlesbridge) by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez, illustrated by Laura Gonzalez has received a Blueberry Honor for nonfiction picture books.
The Blueberry Award list has been curated by librarians, collection development managers, our city’s Sustainability Manager, our school’s sustainability manager, dedicated staff from the Evanston, Illinois Ecology Center, and early childhood development experts to assure parents, teacher and kids that these books are excellent and truthful, but in age-appropriate ways, designed to support delight first and group climate action second.
See the full list here
Get the book here
Mar
08
All Aboard the School Train, illustrated by Keisha Morris receives the CBC-NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books Award!
All Aboard the School Train (Scholastic) by Glenda Armand, illustrated by Keisha Morris has received the CBC-NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books Award!The Notable Social Studies Trade Books annual award list, chosen under NCSS guidance, was created to provide teachers and librarians with a list of the Notable Social Studies books published in 2023. The CBC shares this list widely so that all teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents on their email list across the country can benefit from this valuable annual resource.
Learn more about the NCSS (National Council for the Social Studies) here
Get the book here
Mar
08
Ashley Spires is Nominated for a Canadian Screen Award!
Ashley Spires has been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Writing for a Preschool Program, for Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe, a series based on her Binky the Space Cat books published by Kids Can Press.
Read more about the nomination here
Get the books behind the series here
Feb
20
Beautiful Noise, illustrated by Il Sung Na wins a JLG Gold Standard Selection Award!
The Junior Library Guild has awarded Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage (Anne Schwartz Books) by Lisa Rogers, illustrated by Il Sung Na a Gold Standard Selection Award.
Learn more about the Junior Libary Guild here
Learn more about the book here
Feb
16
A Star from Publishers Weekly for Summer is Here!, illustrated by Bea Jackson
Publishers Weekly has given a starred review to Summer is Here (Bloomsbury) by Renee Watson, illustrated by Bea Jackson, saying “Jackson (The Twelve Hours of Christmas) employs bright light and sunlit hues to capture the ease and lengthy rhythms of an enjoyable summer’s day…”
The book will be published May 7, 2024. Pre order it here
See the full review here
Feb
14
TeMika Grooms featured on The Brown Bookshelf Blog!
TeMika Grooms has been featured on the Brown Bookshelf, in their campaign 28 Days Later. During the twenty-eight days of Black History Month, they profile a different children’s or young adult author and children’s illustrator, looking for the best new and unnoticed works by African-Americans. From picture books to novels, books fresh off the presses to those that have lurked in the background unsung for months or years.
In the post, TeMika talks about her journey to publication.
See the blog post here
Congratulations, TeMika!
Feb
14
Frederick’s Journey, illustrated by London Ladd wins award from the Academia Norteameriana de Lengua Espanol!
Frederick’s Journey: The Life of Frederick Douglass (Little, Brown) by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by London Ladd, has received an award from the Academia Norteameriana de Lengua Espanol!
Learn more about the award here
Congratulations London!
Feb
13
Happy Book Birthday to Freshman Year by Sarah Mai
Happy Book Birthday to Freshman Year (Christy Ottaviano Books) by Sarah Mai. This stylish graphic novel about the unique angst, humor, and self-doubt that comes with going away to college is getting a lot of media attention. Here are some highlights:
2/13/2024: Book Riot, mention, “The Best New Book Releases Out February 13, 2024”
2/13/2024: Book Riot’s All the Books!, podcast mention
2/13/2024: Book Riot, Comics enewsletter mention
2/13/2024: Young Entertainment, roundup, “New Book Tuesday: February 13th”
2/12/2024: Book Riot, YA enewsletter mention
2/10/224: Arts Fuse, review
2/8/2024: Publishers Weekly, roundup, “New Kids’ and YA Books: Week of February 12, 2024”
1/30/2023: Racket, roundup, “7 Exciting New Books for Young Readers by MN Authors”
1/9/2024: Book Riot, roundup, “19 New YA Comics and Graphic Novels Hitting Shelves January-March 2024”
Congratulations Sarah!