March New Releases

Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People by Monica Brown illus by Julie Paschkis - starred kirkus review


Mama and Me by Arthur Dorros illus by Rudy Gutierrez

Warp Speed by Lisa Yee - I can't wait to read this one. Lovin the excerpt

I Am J by Chris Beam

Hurricane Dancers by Margarita Engle

The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle (paperback)

Exposure by Mal Peet (paperback)

What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez - Ari's review - This was very good, looking forward to reviewing soon.

The Boy is Mine by Charmaine White Face

Illegal by Bettina Restrepo - Ari's interview with the author

Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin (paperback) I love this story and the new cover

Amigas: Playing for Keeps by Veronica Chambers

Subway Girl by P.J. Converse

The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango

Truancy Origins by Isamu Fukui

Karma by Cathy Ostlere

Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon - Really looking forward to this one. I loved Silver Phoneix, which is out in paperback

Play Ball Jackie by Stephen Krensky, illus. by Joe Morse

Play Ball Jackie by Stephen Krensky illus. by Joe Morse

I'll admit my first thought when I saw this book was " another book about Jackie Robinson" I wasn't even sure if I wanted to read it. Don't get me wrong I love #42, but I still couldn't help but think there are a lot children's books about Robinson out. I am glad I didn't let this one pass me by, I loved it.

Matty and his dad are at Dodgers opening dayfor free, after someone refused to go because Robinson was playing. Matty can't understand why anyone would pass up opening day. The two have a conversation about Robinson being the first Black player in the majors. I really liked the interaction between the father and son. Sometimes diagloue meant to teach can come across as stiff and forced. That was not the case here.

Krensky also does an excellent job showing the action on the field. He's found a nice balance, letting readers understand the importance of Robinson integrating baseball and enjoy the game.

Morse's detailed illustrations make this story pop. Robinson picking the ball in the deep web of his gloves inches off the ground was just beautiful. My favorite panel shows Robinson bunting then running down the first baseline. After reading Play Ball Jackie, I had to see more of Morse's work This is only his second picture book but it won't be the last.

Krensky and Morse have come together to bring something new to very well known story of Jackie Robinson's first day in Majors.

I've linked this post to non fiction monday. This weeks round up can be found at Picture Book of the Day

Sunday - A Little of Everything

On Monday, I nominated four titles for Nerds Heart YA including three I mentioned in a previous post. The other book I nominated was What Momma Left Me by Renee Watson. You until March 7th to nominate books for Nerds Heart YA

Congratulations to author Shaun Tan for winning an Oscar for best animated flim for The Lost Thing. If you've never read Tan your missing out, his work is ridiculosuly good.


Author Neesha Meminger stopped by The Book Smugglers this week.

My biggest inspirations and influences were feminist writers. But wait – let me go back a bit. When I was younger, I really loved the tikki-tikki-tembo story. It’s the first story I remember really loving. I heard it in the library when I was, maybe, in third grade. The librarian read it aloud to the class and I was absolutely immersed. Could be because the story was about a boy with a name no one could pronounce, a name that was long and weird and foreign (like mine), but I completely related to that boy in the story.

If you plan on buying Jazz in Love please don't buy a used copy. The author doesn't get any credit for that resale. Self publishing is hard enough without authors having to contend with people selling a book for a profit. Jazz in love is only $11.00 new. Yet some people are selling their copies for more then that.

Don't forget to stop by Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month , to read the daily post by authors and bloggers.

So far my favorite post was by Colleen,

Since then I have read about many women involved in aviation; one of the most obscure (and interesting) was early 20th century parachutist Elizabeth Shepherd. "Dolly" was a waitress at the Alexandra Palace in London when she met balloonist Auguste Gaudron who was looking for a girl parachutist for his act. In 1904 being a parachutist meant rising in the balloon basket to at least 2,000 feet then dropping down over the side and hanging from a trapeze bar to which she was attached with a safety strap. When she was ready to let go (and Dolly liked to go quite high) she would let go of the bar, releasing the strap. At that point all of her weight would be placed on the ropes attaching her to the parachute which hung limp from the balloon. If all was right, the parachute would open and Dolly would fall slowly back down to the ground.

There's a recent article at the School Library Journal called The Civil War: Beyond the Battlefield. Several titles are recommend. I was very disappointed that A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott wasn't one of them. Even more so when I noticed there was a section called Looking Backward: History, Crafts, and Time Travel . In A Wish After Midnight, 15 yr old Genna loves to make wishes, one wish transports are back to civil war era Brooklyn.

I know its an irrational thought but I couldn't help but wonder if only I did a little more for A Wish After Midnight, the right person would've heard about it and it would've been included.

I recently finished and loved Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry. I picked it up because of the cover by the second chapter, I wanted to hug the book. It was my kind of mystery. I even left a fan gush comment on the author's blog. Something I don't do often. read an excerpt

One YA novel I am really looking forward to reviewing when it gets closer to the release date is Huntress by Malinda Lo. It was so good. I loved it. For once a story lives up to its beautiful. cover.

Women's History Month

In honor of Women's History Month, two kidlit bloggers, Margo Tanenbaum and Lisa Taylor founded Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month

This blog was founded in order to commemorate Women's History Month across the kidlitosphere, the community of bloggers specializing in children's and young adult literature. This inaugural 2011 celebration is organized by bloggers The Fourth Musketeer, a library science student, and Shelf-Employed, a children's librarian. Why celebrate women's history and children's literature? Not so long ago, women's history was virtually ignored in the K-12 curriculum. To address this situation, “Women’s History Week” was started in California in 1978; the observance became national in 1981 with a joint Congressional Resolution proclaiming National Women’s Week, which was extended a few years later into Women’s History Month.

I first heard about this thanks to a Non Fiction Monday in early Feburary. Margo and Lisa were looking for bloggers who wanted to participate. I quickly jumped at the chance, I knew if I thought too long all the spots would be filled. Sure enough, there were only a few dates left open.
Here is the full line up.

March 1 Shelf-Employed
March 2 Kathleen Krull - author
March 3 Chasing Ray
March 4 Ann Bausum - author
March 5 Pragmatic Mom
March 6 Jan Godown Annino - author
March 7 Tanya Lee Stone - author
March 8 Carolyn Meyer - author
March 9 Tami Lewis Brown - author
March 10 Marissa Moss - author
March 11 Teach with Picture Books
March 12 Heidi Hemming
March 13 Audrey Vernick - author
March 14 Holly George Warren - author
March 15 Abby the Librarian
March 16 Say it Rah-shay
March 17 Diane Browning
March 18 Great Kid Books
March 19 Linda Brewster
March 20 GreenBeanTeenQueen
March 21 The HappyNappyBookseller
March 22 Books of Wonder and Wisdom
March 23 Erica Silverman - author
March 24 Tonya Bolden - author
March 25 Esther Friesner - author
March 26 Marthe Jocelyn - author
March 27 Waking Brain Cells
March 28 Sue Macy - author
March 29 Anita Silvey - author
March 30 Candace Fleming - author
March 31 Children's War
April 1 The Fourth Musketeer


I am very honored to be a part of this inaugural launch. It's nice to know that long after Women's History Month is over, all of these post will still be waiting to be found by even more readers.

I Revisit The Line Up (Loaded From Top - Bottom)

Since baseball season is quickly approaching, I decided to rerun a feature I did last year. Originally it ran in late March but I am hoping to do something new to open the season and I didn't want the two things to collide. I am still working out what I might do though I know this Line Up can not be topped so this is a one time thing.

This is still one of my favorite features. Again much thanks to the author's for their time and wonderful answers.


The Line Up

1 Change-up: Baseball Poems by Gene Fehler SS -
This was my 2009 Cybils choice for poetry. Check out this nice review at My World - Mi Mundo. Baseball fans will love this collection of poems.


2. Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park 1st
In this novel there is talk of the classic 1951 pennant race between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. For baseball fans that should be more than enough reason to pick up this wonderful book. Reviews via author's site


3 Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta 2nd
12 yr old Roy was one of my favorite male protagonist of 2009. I loved that he read Their Eyes Where Watching God to impress a girl. Named a top 10 sports books for youth in 2009 by Booklist. More honors and reviews via author's site


4 The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz CF
I had picked this novel to get a shiny Newbery sticker and I wasn't the only one. Named a top 10 sports books for youth in 2009 by Booklist Reviews via the author's site


5 The Prince of Fenway Park by Julianna Baggott RF
This was my Cybils choice MG Fantasy for 2009 and a Cybils finalist. Reviews via author's site. For all the baseball fans who love the history of the game the author mentions Curt Flood. Curt Flood named in a middle grade novel, I was like WOW


6 Six Innings by James Preller 3rd
Preller doesn't waste time with the regular season. He goes straight to the Little League championship game. Named a top 10 sports book in 2008 by Booklist . Also in 2008 made New York Public Library Top 100 Best Books for Reading and Sharing List. 2009 ALA Children's Notable Book


7 The Comeback Season by Jennifer E. Smith LF
I couldn't find contact info on Smith but I wasn't going to give up. If you've read this book you know why. Praise via publishers site. I have author James Kennedy to thank for getting me in touch with Smith.


8 Painting the Black by Carl Deuker C
I find it very fitting that Deuker the veteran for sports novels for young readers is behind the plate. He has won six state awards. If you are in need of a great sport novel check out Deuker's site


9 The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane P
Reviews via author's site. One of four spring books recommended for young readers by USA Today in 2009. I still remember the beautiful Haiku in this novel.


Here's how its going to work. I asked the authors 12 questions. The first nine questions are inspired by their books. The final three wrap up questions I thought of tie it all together. It will be broken up into 4 days, 3 questions a day.

I love the gender balance amongst the authors and within the stories themselves. This is more so for baseball fans but I do hope everyone gets something out of it. I hope that non baseball fans will have a better appreciation and respect for novels centered around sports after reading all the answers.

If you know any baseball fan please let them know about this. It's rated PG and appropriate for young baseball fans who may get a kick out of finding out the favorite teams of nine authors and other baseball related tidbits

Older fans will love the talk of the game and being able to a find few great books to share with young baseball fans.


Questions 1 -3
Questions 4-6
Questions 7-9
Questions 10-12