Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Favorite Books of the Year: A Recap of the December 2015 Westside Writers Mingle

by Westside Mingler Rebecca Light

In the last session of the year, Westside Minglers convened to share their top picks in kid lit released in 2015.

Or 2014.

Or 1911.

Close enough, right?

I’ve included a blurb about each book because, well, that makes it more interesting! It also makes this blog post longer, so feel free to skip those if you like. And each book title is linked to its publishers page should you wish to purchase for yourself or a gift. 

Without further ado—the list!

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (Middle Grade, Graphic Novel)
Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough (YA)
Flora and Henry were born a few blocks from each other. Years later they meet again and their mutual love of music sparks an even more powerful connection. But what Flora and Henry don't know is that they are pawns in a game played by the eternal adversaries Love and Death, here brilliantly reimagined as two sympathetic and fascinating characters. Can their hearts and their wills overcome not only their earthly circumstances, but forces that have battled throughout history? What is more powerful: love? Or death?

Another Day by David Levithan (YA)
In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.
In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan (co-author  of Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green) tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.

Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up.

Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all.
SEE LESS
 In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan (co-author  of Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green) tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.

Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up.

Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all.
SEE LESS
The eagerly anticipated companion to David Levithan’s New York Timesbestseller Every Day

In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan (co-author  of Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green) tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.

Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up.

Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all.
I’ll Give you the Sun by Jandy Nelson (YA)
Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (YA)
A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth. We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. Read it. And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Evermore Dragon by Barbara Joosse, Illustrated by Randy Cecil (Picture Book)
In a game of hide-and-seek, Girl wanders too far. Dragon looks everywhere—every here, every there—but Girl is lost. With the special connection between truly devoted, very special friends, Dragon hears the beating of her trembly heart. "Evermore, evermore, I am here," he assures her. Any child frightened by the night or feeling a tad lonely will relish the feeling of being wrapped in the protective wings of friendship.

Waiting written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes (Picture Book)
What are you waiting for? An owl, a puppy, a bear, a rabbit, and a pig—all toys arranged on a child's windowsill—wait for marvelous things to happen in this picture book by the New York Times–bestselling and Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes.

Sparky! by Jenny Offil, illustrated by Chris Appelhans (Picture Book)

 When our narrator orders a sloth through the mail, the creature that arrives isn't good at tricks or hide-and-seek… or much of anything. Still, there's something about Sparky that is irresistible.

 

Hairy Harold & His Extraordinary Trip to New York written and illustrated by Andres Quintero (Picture Book)
Clara the Rabbit realizes she is tired of her small town and looks for an opportunity to escape to the thrilling New York City. Her hairy friend Harold (a gorilla) goes along on the adventurous trip that pushes him to face his biggest fear.

The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander (Adult, Non-Fiction) 

[Note from Lori S: While this isn’t kid lit, it is one of the most uplifting and inspiring books I have read in the past five years (even though I’m not the one that brought it to the Mingle). Check it out!]

The Art of Possibility combines Benjamin Zander's experience as conductor of the Boston Philharmonic and his talent as a teacher and communicator with psychotherapist Rosamund Stone Zander's genius for designing innovative paradigms for personal and professional fulfillment. Through uplifting stories, parables, and personal anecdotes, the Zanders invite us to become passionate communicators, leaders, and performers whose lives radiate possibility into the world.

What do You do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada, Illustrated by Mae Besom (Picture Book)
This is the story of one brilliant idea and the child who helps to bring it into the world. It’s a story for anyone, at any age, who’s ever had an idea that seemed too big, too odd, too difficult. It’s a story to inspire you to welcome that idea, to give it space to grow, and to see what happens next.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (Middle Grade, Memoir)
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green (YA)
Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers are about to cross paths. From that moment on, their world will collide and lives intertwine.

From the Mundane into the Magical (author unknown, Adult, Non-Fiction)
This book is a bibliography of photographically illustrated children's books in the field of American and international juvenile literature from 1854 to 1945.

The Jaunts of Junior by Arthur B. Phelan (picture book, published 1911)
The story of Junior, a tiny boy living in Weenyland, who visits Big, Big Land and is dwarfed by everything there. 
(This book was published in 1911 so it might be hard to track down. Check your local library!)

My Southern Journey by Rick Bragg (Adult, Non-Fiction)
From the celebrated bestselling author of All Over but the Shoutin' and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Rick Bragg, comes a poignant and wryly funny collection of essays on life in the south. 

All Over but the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg (Adult, Non-Fiction)
This recollection of a life on the American margin is the story of Rick Bragg, who grew up dirt-poor in northeastern Alabama, seemingly destined for either the cotton mills or the penitentiary, and instead became a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. Rick Bragg brings home the love and suffering that lie at the heart of every family.

The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz (Middle Grade)
Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs yearns for real life and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself. Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz takes readers on an exploration of feminism and housework; religion and literature; love and loyalty; cats, hats, and bunions.

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke (Middle Grade)
The masterful conclusion to the epic New York Times-bestselling Inkheart trilogy. The Adderhead has ordered his henchmen to plunder the villages. The peasants' only defense is a band of outlaws led by the Bluejay. But the Book of Immortality is unraveling, and the Adderhead again fears the White Women of Death. To bring the renegade Bluejay back to repair the book, the Adderhead kidnaps all the children in the kingdom, dooming them to slavery in his silver mines unless Mo surrenders. First Dustfinger, now Mo: Can anyone save this cursed story?
Thank you to everyone in the Mingle who shared their favorite books. What a wonderfully eclectic list. Have a favorite you don’t see here? Share it in the comments! Happy holidays, and we’ll see you in the New Year!