AudioSynced Roundup!

Welcome to your March AudioSynced Roundup!  Here you'll find reviews and posts about audiobooks from around the blogosphere.  Did I miss your link?  Please leave me a comment and I'll make sure to add it!  Didn't review an audiobook this month?  Never fear, AudioSynced will be back next month, hosted by Kelly at STACKED.

Did you know that Audible hosts an annual Tournament of Audiobooks? I had no idea, but apparently this is the fourth year! Audiobooks represented in the tournament are editors' picks, bestsellers, customer favorites, and critically acclaimed. Customers are invited to vote for their favorites in each match-up.

Here at Abby the Librarian, I reviewed If I Stay by Gayle Forman, read by Kirsten Potter and the first three Princess Diaries books by Meg Cabot, read by Anne Hathaway.

Kim at STACKED reviewed Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, read by John Ritter.

Melissa of The Book Nut reviewed Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Lawson, read by Kirsten Potter and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, read by various British authors.

Beth of A Foodie Bibliophile reviewed The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood, read by Katherine Kellgren.

Seth of Free Listens reviewed The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, read by Adrian Praetzellis, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis, read by Dr. Chrissi Hart.

Sarah of GreenBean TeenQueen reviewed Love Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur.

Over at The Hub, Emily reviewed Jumped by Rita Garcia-Williams, read by Shari Peele, Cherise Booth, and Bianca Vasque.

Kat of Kat and Books reviewed White Cat by Holly Black, read by Angie's boyfriend Jesse Eisenberg.

Melissa of Mel's Books and Info reviewed Eona: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman, read by Nancy Wu.

Brenda of proseandkahn reviewed Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman, read by Rosalyn Landor ; Fire by Kristin Cashore, read by Xanthe Elbrick ; Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, read by Rebecca MacCauley ; and  Torment by Lauren Kate, read by Justine Eyre.

Shalini of Reading (and Chickens) reviewed The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

Lee of Reading with my Ears reviewed Black Duck by Janet Taylor Lisle, read by David Ackroyd ; Boom! by Mark Haddon, read by Julian Rhind-Tutt ; Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright, read by Colleen Delaney ; The King's Gambit by John Maddox Roberts, read by Simon Vance ; Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene, read by Jeremy Northam ; and The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, read by Bahni Turpin.

Lisa of Shelf-Employed reviewed The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable by Dan Gutman, read by Michael Goldstrum.

Tahleen of Tahleen's Mixed-Up Files reviewed Looking for Alaska by John Green, read by Jeff Woodman and The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, read by Natalie Moore.

Danielle at There's a Book reviewed Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness, read by Nick Podehl.  (And last month she interviewed Nick Podehl!!  Be still my heart!!)

Don't forget to check out Audiobook Jukebox for links to lots more audiobook reviews around the blogsophere!

And hey, did I miss any links? Leave 'em in comments and I'll add 'em to the roundup!

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb at Storytime

This week our storytime was all about lions and lambs!  Here's what we did:

Opening Song:  "Shake Your Sillies Out" by Raffi.

Memory Box: This week's Memory Box item was a blue lizard from Roar: A Noisy Counting Book.

I explained our theme, telling the kids that they say March "comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb" because the weather is usually cold and fierce like a lion at the beginning of March, but by the end of March it's warm and gentle as a lamb.

Book:  Roar!: A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards. Not only does this book have great vocabulary (lots of African animals), but it gives kids an opportunity to be noisy and show off their roars!  Since I have a pretty rowdy crowd, I only asked them to roar for me at the very end of the book.

Activity: Felt lions.  We put photos of lions on different colored felt backings and passed them out to the kids.  As I read this rhyme, kids with the appropriate colors were encouraged to bring up their pieces and put them in "our jungle" (on the felt board):

Walking through the jungle and what do I see? 
I see a red lion smiling at me!  [and repeat with different colors]

After everyone put their lions on, we counted them all.

Book:  The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkey.  This Caldecott-winner is a gorgeous book and though I had never "read" a wordless book at storytime before, I knew I had to try it out.  It went over pretty well and probably would have gone over better if I had practiced the story a bit more before I shared it.  Then again, my group is pretty rowdy so it might have gone a bit smoother with a smaller or quieter crowd.

Rhyme:  Baa Baa Black Sheep with flannelboard sheep.  I used Mel's idea about repeating the rhyme with different colored sheep and we did black, blue, red, and green.  Ending with the green sheep segued perfectly into my next story...

Book:  Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox.  This is one of my favorites for its sweet illustrations and gentle rhyming text.  I had one kid in my group who said his favorite color was green and he was suitably delighted when we finally found the green sheep at the end of the book.

And with that, I was out of time, so we moved on to:

Goodbye Song:  Do You Know What Time It Is?

Take-Home Craft: Handprint lions.

We have a hand die for our die-cut machine, so we provided hand cutouts in yellow and orange but we let them know that if they wanted to trace their child's hand and use that for the mane instead, they could certainly do it!  I overheard one grownup telling her child that if she wanted a different color they could trace her hand at home.

Alternate Books:  If you don't have or don't like any of the above books, here are some alternate suggestions:

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb by Marion Dane Bauer.
Mary Had a Little Lamb by Mary Ann Hoberman.
Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw.
That's Not My Lion by Fiona Watt.

You could also throw in a book about springtime, but all the best ones are checked out at my library right now. :)

The Dreamer

The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Peter Sis.  Grades 4-8.  Scholastic Press, 2010.  372 pages.  Review copy provided by publisher.

Neftali is a boy who sees beauty and intrigue in ordinary things.
Raindrops become music, plinking on the zinc roof.
A beetle on a tree is a jewel of the forest.
An abandoned boot carries with it infinite stories of where it might have walked.

But although Neftali has a gift of putting words down on paper, his father will not tolerate this "foolishness".  Can he, who is sometimes too weak and sickly to get out of bed, stand up to his father?  Stand up for his dreams?

The Dreamer is a story about a boy who couldn't give up his way of seeing the world.  A boy who became one of the most well-known and influential writers of his generation.  A boy who became the poet Pablo Neruda.

Everything in this book comes together to create something that's much bigger than the sum of its parts.  Pam Munoz Ryan's prose is fittingly poetic.  She describes Neftali's Chilean home so that not only did I feel like I was there, but I felt like I was seeing everything through Neftali's eyes.  I could see the beauty that he saw all around him.  Ms. Ryan has obviously done her research and this book was crafted with care, right down to the green ink in which it was printed (Pablo Neruda wrote in green ink, which he felt was the color of esperanza - hope).

Pair that expressive writing with Peter Sis's evocative illustrations and you've really got something special.  Whether illustrating Neftali's flights of imagination or the overwhelming emotions he's feeling throughout the book, Mr. Sis's illustrations add greatly to the overall feel of the book.

This is a fictionalized account of Neruda's childhood and Ms. Ryan includes an author's note with biographical information about the poet.  She also includes several pages of Neruda's poetry to give readers a taste of the man's writing.

This is an excellent choice for units on poetry.  Not only does it lend itself to a study of Pablo Neruda, the vibrant imagery will inspire young writers to pen their own verses.  I also think this would make an excellent classroom readaloud (but be sure not to miss the illustrations!).  Some kids will need scaffolding with this one, but bright young writers prone to flights of fancy will devour this and be inspired.

Oh, Newbery Committee, I'm so disappointed that this one didn't make the cut (although it The Dreamer did win the Pura Belpre Medal and was named an ALA Notable Children's Book).

Read more reviews at Biblio File, Literate Lives, and Reading in Color.

The Dreamer is on shelves now!

Of Numbers and Stars: The Story of Hypatia

Of Numbers and Stars: The Story of Hypatia by D. Anne Love, illustrated by Pam Paparone.  Grades 2-5.  Holiday House, 2006.  Unpaged.  Reviewed from library copy.

In the fourth century, not many women were educated, even in the progressive city of Alexandria in Egypt.  But Hypatia was not like other girls.  Her father, a professor, valued education and he decided to teach Hypatia just as if she'd been a boy.  While other girls watched from their windows, Hypatia learned to swim, fish, ride a horse, read, and write.  When Hypatia discovered arithmetic, her interest was piqued and her father taught her geometry and astronomy as well.  Hypatia became known as a respected scholar and a symbol of educated women for centuries to come!

Funny story.  I was pulling books for our Women's History Month display and this title was listed on one of the Amelia Bloomer Project lists.  I had never heard of it, but as soon as I pulled it off the shelf and took a gander at the cover, I knew I wanted to sit down and read it.  As soon as I read it, I knew I wanted to review it here so that other people would know about it.  As I was sitting at the reference desk, jotting down my thoughts, a patron saw the book laying in front of me on the desk and said, "Oooh, what's that one?"  I did a quick booktalk and urged her to take it home with her (which she did).  Put this one face-out and I guarantee you it'll check out!

Beautiful art perfectly compliments the carefully chosen words in this informational picture book, making it a surefire bet for Women's History Month. The gorgeous art spreads evoke a sense of the time and place, pulling the reader right into 4th century Egypt.  The soft blues, greens, and earthy browns made me feel like I was sitting by the water with a cool breeze washing over me.  Ms. Paparone also incorporates depictions of the subjects Hypatia's learning about into her spreads.

Biographies (especially of little-known, but very cool people) are my favorite kind of informational picture book and this one was right up my alley.  It obviously takes a great deal of research to write a book on someone from the 4th century and D. Anne Love includes a lovely author's note and bibliography, as well as some additional notes about mathematics.

This book will make a great choice for Women's History Month and I'd try it on kids who are fascinated by scientific biographies like Starry Messenger by Peter Sis or The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky.

Of Numbers and Stars is on shelves now!

Happy Nonfiction Monday!  This week's roundup is over at Practically Paradise, so check it out!

In My Mailbox

It's time for In My Mailbox, a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren!  Here's what's shown up in my mailbox over the past couple of weeks:

Abandon by Meg Cabot (Scholastic, April 2011).  Um, hello, new Meg Cabot!  PLUS, it's a mythology retelling. 

Ask Elizabeth by Elizabeth Berkley (Putnam Juvenile, March 2011).  I had no idea that Elizabeth Berkley had an advice website: Ask Elizabeth.com.  Well, now she's got an advice book, too!  Perhaps you know her better as Saved By the Bell's Jessi Spano?

Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Schecter (Arthur A. Levine, August 2011).  This debut is being described as "The Luxe meets the ancient world."  Um, yes please!

Dear America: Cannons at Dawn, the Second Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart by Kristiana Gregory.  (Scholastic, May 2011).

Rip Tide by Kat Falls (Scholastic, May 2011).  The sequel to Dark Life!!!!  And one of my librarians read it already and says it's awesome!!

The Rites and Wrongs of Janice Wills by Joanna Pearson (Arthur A. Levine, July 2011).

Sidekicks by Dan Santat (Arthur A. Levine, July 2011).  I love Dan Santat's illustrations, so I'm super excited for this graphic novel!

And that's the past couple of weeks in books... Did you get anything exciting in your mailbox this week?

Reminder: AudioSynced!!

Reminder: your March AudioSynced Roundup will be posted here on April 1!  If you've reviewed or posted about audiobooks in March, be sure to get your link(s) to me so I can include your post(s)!  Didn't get a chance to listen to something this month?  Well, you still have a week or so, but also AudioSynced will be over at STACKED next month, so never fear. :)

Around the Interwebs

Here's what I've been reading around the interwebs lately: 

I was pulling books for our Women's History Month book display last week and trying to find books about women of color.  It was not the easiest catalog search, actually, so I'm really grateful to Doret of The HappyNappy Bookseller for creating this guest post on the KidLit Celebrates Women's History Month Blog: Women of Color Make Their Presence Known.  

Sarah Bean Thompson of The GreenBean TeenQueen posts about her library's teen Skype Book Club.  I mentioned this to one of my teens and she got so very excited - I think we'll try this out next year!  By the way, Sarah's running for the 2013 Printz Committee, so if you're a YALSA member (or if you're not), check out this post about Sarah's Top 5 Printz Books and vote for her in the ALA elections!!

Fellow Emerging Leader Alicia of The LibrariYAn is conducting a survey of school librarians for her group's EL project!  School media folk, please give her a moment of your time to help her out!!

Did ya catch Betsy's Penguin Young Readers' Group Spring Preview?  Those of you who know of my great love for bats will understand why I am jumping up and down about this title: 

If you're like me and you love a good storytime blog, don't miss Jennie Rothschild's new blog Library Noise.  Jennie also blogs book reviews at Biblio File and is running for the 2013 Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award committee.  Jennie will do an awesome job, so vote for her!!  (That award name is way too long.  Anyone mind if I start calling it the ENYA?)

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention another good friend of mine running for the 2013 ENYA Award Committee (see what I did there?  It's gonna be a thing!): Angie Manifredi!  Angie blogs at Fat Girl Reading and she developed the Body Positivity & Fat Acceptance pre-conference at the 2010 YA Lit Symposium. 

IF YOU'RE GOING TO ALA THIS SUMMER, COME DANCE WITH US!!!  (Seriously, #ALA11 is going to be awesomesauce.  Are you going to be there?  Let me know in comments!  I want to see you!)

And that's what I've got for you this week.  Have a great weekend!!

I Heart Kelly

Y'all, today I want to tell you a little bit about a good librarian friend of mine:  Kelly from STACKED.  She's a super awesome youth services librarian in Wisconsin and the budget cuts and new state legislature have not been kind to her, so to cheer her up, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about how awesome she is. 

Kelly absolutely inspires me with her creative ideas for teen programming and her passion for teen advocacy and teen literature.  Since BEA 2010, Kelly and I have been conference roomies and we always have a blast geeking out about books, blogging, and teen programs.  She's the mustard to my ketchup!  And our glasses make us look like sisters (apparently). :) 

Kelly, you are awesome and you inspire me to be a better advocate for my teens!  You promote a love of books not just in your library patrons but in your blog readers all over the world!  If I had billions of dollars, I would put you up in a swanky library with all the technology and staff you could ever want.  But since I can't, just know that I know what a great job you're doing (especially with so few resources)!  

PLUS, without you I never would have hung out with the ILOAs and my life would be a lot less awesome. 

I heart you, Kelly!

Ninth Ward

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes.  Grades 4-7.  Little, Brown, 2010.  217 pages.  Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Twelve-year-old Lanesha has lived her whole life in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans with her grandmother, Mama Ya-Ya.  Though they don't have much money and the kids at school shun Lanesha for her strange eyes, calling her a witch, Lanesha knows everything will be just fine with Mama Ya-Ya to take care of her.  When Mama Ya-Ya, who "sees without seeing" predicts that a storm is coming, Lanesha's not worried.  New Orleans has weathered storms before.  But this storm, Hurricane Katrina, will be unlike any other, and it will put Lanesha to the test.

Ninth Ward is a book that you experience with all your senses.  Over and over again, the writing evokes not just the sights of New Orleans but the sounds, smells, and tastes.  Jewell Parker Rhodes paints pictures with her words.

Example:

Lanesha describes her grandmother's perfume.  "Evening in Paris is in a midnight blue bottle and smells like warm trees mixed with magnolias."  (page 10)

Later... "Mama Ya-Ya is outside using her senses: sniffing for sea salt, feeling hot wind, listening for the roar of water.  I don't know if she can taste a hurricane.  What would it taste like?  Like cold, fishy, salty cotton candy?"

So Ms. Rhodes sets the tone with beautiful imagery using all of the senses and then the tension starts to build. Going into this book, you know it's about Hurricane Katrina.  You know what's going to happen with the storm, the flood.  But the tension is built just perfectly from the first whisperings of a storm coming to the pops and bangs of the gale itself to the dreadful realization that trouble's not done even after the hurricane is gone.

Birth and death are intertwining themes in the book.  The novel starts with a birth and a death.  Lanesha tells us that she was born with a caul and that her mother died shortly after she was born.  Mama Ya-Ya was a midwife, the city of New Orleans (as Lanesha and her friends know it) will die and then it will be reborn.  Mama Ya-Ya predicts that Lanesha will be reborn, which Lanesha doesn't understand and it happens when she's least expecting it.  These themes are woven into the book with a light hand.

Ninth Ward would make an excellent addition to a unit on Hurricane Katrina.  I'd hand it to kids interested in learning more about Hurricane Katrina or kids who enjoyed Keeper by Kathi Appelt for its lyrical prose and imagery.

And Ninth Ward is a Coretta Scott King honor book and 2010 Cybils Finalist. Check out Jewell Parker Rhodes's interview at The Brown Bookshelf as part of 28 Days Later, a celebration of authors of color, and an interview at The HappyNappy Bookseller.

Read more reviews at Reading in Color, Literate Lives, A Patchwork of Books, and Welcome to My Tweendom.

Ninth Ward is on shelves now!

Guest Post: Sarah Bean Thompson

It is my immense pleasure today to welcome Sarah Bean Thompson, the Green Bean Teen Queen herself!!  Sarah is an extraordinary teen librarian with a great love and knowledge of teen literature.  She is an advocate not only for her teens but for teen services throughout her library, creating seasonal lists of hot and new teen books that her reference staff should know about.  And on top of all of this, she's blogged at GreenBean TeenQueen since 2008.

Sarah is running for the 2013 Printz committee and I would love it if you'd vote for her! 

Here's Sarah!

Hi I’m Sarah, aka GreenBeanTeenQueen, and I’m running for the 2013 Printz Committee.  I asked my fabulous friend Abby to help post about my candidacy and, since she’s awesome like that, she agreed.  Then she turned around and stumped me because she wanted me to post my top five favorite Printz Award books! That’s so hard since there have been so many good ones!  So I made lists, then made more lists, and once again even more lists until I came up with a list of five that I loved.  So here’s my Top Five Favorite Printz Award Books:

5. Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison [2001 Honor book]

Why?:  Well one because it’s hilarious! And sadly, funny books rarely get awards. But Georgia’s random adventures aren’t just about the humor, there's also heart. Georgia grows up throughout the book, but it’s never overdone. Louise Rennison slyly sneaks in Georgia’s growth so we don’t know that she’s doing it all while making us laugh so hard we snort. Love it!

4. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King [2011 Honor book]

Why?: This book was an addicting read. I was amazed at the way A.S. King was able to weave between the past and present and creating a tension between our characters, even though one is no longer living. There’s mystery, but it doesn’t feel like your typical mystery. Throw in the perspectives of Charlie, Vera’s dad, and the town pagoda - this book kept me intrigued. Again, there’s character growth that is fantastically subtle and not in your face and the relationship between Vera and her dad is one of the best parent/child relationships I’ve read in YA. 

3. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang [2007 Medal book]

Why?: OK, I might be a bit biased, but this one was awarded the Printz award when I first started working in libraries, so I have a special connection to it.  But I love it for many reasons. First, it’s a very smart graphic novel and a book I would give to naysayers of graphic novels who say they’re all easy kids books.  I also loved that while there are three storylines that at first appear to be individual stories, they tie together seamlessly.  Brilliant storytelling and artwork!

2. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff [2005 Medal book]

Why?: WOW - this book blew me away! It was so much more than what I expected.  I knew it was going to be good, but I didn’t expect to be as sucked in as I was.  Yes, this is a story of growing up, romance, and family, but it’s so much more. It’s a story of survival, and being forced to grow up even when you don’t want to or aren’t really ready. And it’s a story of moving on after tragedy.  I could read this one again and again and it would continually amaze me. 

1. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly [2004 Honor book]

Why?: Abby once told me she had a Mattie Gokey scale for historical characters and I have to agree. Mattie Gokey is a fantastic character and her journey is one you can’t soon forget.  She’s faced with various options in life and is at a crossroads. Even though it’s a historical novel, the decisions Mattie has to face about growing up are something that teens of any time period can relate to.  There’s also a bit of mystery that goes along with Mattie’s story. The author takes a real life story and creates a fictional story around it and brings the entire thing to life.  I’ve recommended this book to so many people and it’s one of my favorite YA reads as well as Printz reads!  

Thanks for stopping by, Sarah!  (I promise, I didn't pay Sarah to make A Northern Light her number one favorite Printz book!)

YALSA members, remember that voting's now open for the 2013 Printz Committee.  Sarah Bean Thompson has my vote and I hope she'll have yours, too!!