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.
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!
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