Weekly Wrap-Up: December 29, 2019-January 4, 2020

Here's my weekly collection of news, announcements, and booklists I have found around the interwebs, along with a recap of my own posts from this week. Hope you enjoy! :)


Here @ PPBN

• My 2019 Reading Recap - my stats and favorites from 2019
• Welcome to 2020! - some goals and plans for my reading and blogging this year

Awards

• 2019 Cybils Awards finalists announced - the awards recognize "children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary merit and popular appeal" (source) and are judged by bloggers who focus on children's or young adult lit.

Booklists

• Brightly's The Best Children’s and YA Books of January 2020.
  
• Epic Read's 14 Books That Take Place in the 1920s to Read in 2020.
  
• Goodreads's The Best Young Adult Books of January.
  
• A Mighty Girl's Big Dreams for a New Year: 30 Books to Inspire Your Mighty Girl in 2020.
  
• School Library Journal's 31 Days, 31 Lists of Great Books for Kids.
  
• YALSA's 2020 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list announced.
  

Articles

• Epic Read's Look to the Stars for Your Bookish January Horoscope.
  

New & Upcoming Books

• Book Riot's 5 UK YA Books to Read in 2020.
  
• Epic Read's preview of Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda & Valynne E. Maetan, plus How Many of These 2020 YA Books Are Already on Your TBR?.
  
• Goodreads's The 38 Most Anticipated YA Novels of 2020.
  
• Publishers Weekly's New Kids' and YA Books: Weeks of December 30, 2019 and January 6, 2020.
  
• Teen Librarian Toolbox's New Books Alert: Mind-readers, hackers, influencers, a middle school drag queen, and more!.
  

Weekly Wrap-Up: December 22-28, 2019

Here's my weekly collection of news, announcements, and booklists I have found around the interwebs, along with a recap of my own posts from this week. Hope you enjoy! :)


Here @ PPBN

• Nothing this week - on a holiday hiatus!

Awards

• None that I could find... leave me a note in the comments if you know of one!

Booklists

• Book Riot's Books for Young People Inspired by the Words of the Year.
  
• Epic Read's 20 Books Featuring A Non-European Influenced Fantasy Worl.
  
• Fatherly's The Best Children’s Books of 2019 That Are Really, Truly for Kids.
  
• POPSUGAR's 20 Must-Have Classic Children's Books — and When to Introduce Them.
  

New & Upcoming Books

• Epic Read's preview of Just Breathe by Cammie McGovern, plus The 23 Most Anticipated YA Books to Read in January.
  
• Paste's The Most Anticipated Young Adult Novels of 2020.
  
• POPSUGAR's 34 Promising New YA Books to Look Out For in 2020.
  
• Teen Librarian Toolbox's Read Wild in 2020: Books to Have on Your Radar that Feature Nature.
  

Weekly Wrap-Up: December 15-21, 2019

Here's my weekly collection of news, announcements, and booklists I have found around the interwebs, along with a recap of my own posts from this week. Hope you enjoy! :)


Here @ PPBN

• nothing this week - on a holiday hiatus!

Awards

• Voting for the final round of the 2019 Epic Reads Book Shimmy Awards is open until December 30! The awards recognize the "best and most feels-inducing YA books the year" (source) and it's down to the final 4 books in each category.

Booklists

• The Booklist Reader's 2019 Top of the List Picks - featuring Youth Nonfiction, Youth Fiction, Youth Picture Book, and Youth Audiobook selections. Also available are the 2019 Booklist Editors' Choice lists for Adult Books for Young Adults and Books for Youth.
  
• Brain Pickings's Favorite Children’s Books of 2019.
  
• Brightly's Editors’ Favorite Books of 2019 and Our Favorite Books of the Decade.
  
• BuzzFeed's 31 Young Adult Books That We Deemed The Best Of 2019.
  
• Entertainment Weekly's The 10 best YA books of the year (and the decade).
  
• Epic Read's Our Favorite Books of the Decade & What to Look Forward to in 2020.
  
• Publishers Weekly's A Roundup of 2019’s Best Book Lists for Kids and Teens.
  
• School Library Journal's Best YA Books of the Decade, According to the Best YA Authors of the Year.
  

Articles

• Goodreads's Celebrate Your 2019 Year in Books!
  
• The Hub's What Would a Jedi Read? Reader’s Advisory for Star Wars Characters.
  

New & Upcoming Books

• Brightly's Most-Anticipated Young Adult, Middle Grade & Chapter Books, and Picture Books of 2020.
  
• Book Riot's 20 Queer YA Books For Your 2020 TBR
  
• Epic Read's You’ll Want to Save Your Gift Cards for These 27 YA Books coming in 2020.
  

Weekly Wrap-Up: December 8-14, 2019

Here's my weekly collection of news, announcements, and booklists I have found around the interwebs, along with a recap of my own posts from this week. Hope you enjoy! :)


Here @ PPBN

• nothing this week boooo :(   The pre-holiday craziness is in full swing at my house!

Awards

• 2019 CODE Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Young Adult Literature shortlist announced - the Canadian award recognizes "excellence in Indigenous-authored literature for young adults" (source). This year the award will have 2 winners: one book written in English and one book written in an Indigenous language, making this the "first ever Canadian Indigenous-language Young Adult Literature award" (source).

Booklists

• 100 Scope Notes's Top 20 Books of 2019.
  
• Book Riot's 20 Must-Read Picture Books from 2019.
  
• Curbed's 101 Kids’ Books About Where and How We Live - a list for "the budding urbanists among us" (source) featuring picture books, middle grade, and young adult books..
  
• Epic Reads's New Year, New Activist You! Books to Help You Find Your Voice in 2020 - featuring "11 books to help you rise up" (source).
  
• School Library Journal's 2019 Translated Picture Books.
  
• Tablet's Best Jewish Children’s Books of 2019 - featuring picture books, middle grade, and young adult books.
  
• The Wall Street Journal's Best Children’s Books of 2019.
  

Articles

• Bookish's How to Plan for Your 2020 Reading Challenge is super helpful right about now.
  
• Brightly's How to Create Your Own Book Advent Calendar is also very helpful no matter which holiday(s) you celebrate.
  

New & Upcoming Books

• Publishers Weekly's New Kids' and YA Books: Weeks of December 16 and December 23, 2019.
  

Weekly Wrap-Up: December 1-7, 2019

Here's my weekly collection of news, announcements, and booklists I have found around the interwebs, along with a recap of my own posts from this week. Hope you enjoy! :)


Here @ PPBN

• Review: I'll Love You Till the Cows Come Home by Kathryn Cristaldi - I don't think I can put this one into my own words any better than they did in the synopsis: it's Guess How Much I Love You but with funnies.
• Review: Tomorrow Is Waiting by Kiley Frank - Colorful illustrations and empowering, encouraging words of overcoming obstacles.
• Review: Crab Cake: Turning the Tide Together by Andrea Tsurumi - This was a total winner for me and I'll definitely be watching for more picture books from this author!

Awards

• Voting for the 2019 Epic Reads Book Shimmy Awards is open through December 13! The awards recognize the "best and most feels-inducing YA books the year" (source) and include 20 categories such as Cover Lust, We Need Diverse Books, and Squad Goals.
• 2020 Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award finalists announced - the award (part of the ALA Youth Media Awards) recognizes the "best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year" (source).
  
• 2020 William C. Morris YA Debut Award finalists announced - the award (also part of the ALA Youth Media Awards) recognizes books "published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature" (source).
  

Booklists

• 100 Scope Notes's 2019 Children’s Lit: The Year in Miscellanea - this has some of the best accolades I've ever seen. Gems include "Best Use of Children’s Literature in a Meme," "Cover Trope of the Year," and "Best Feeling Book of 2019, and by 'Best Feeling' I Don’t Mean the Book That Makes You Feel the Best, But the Book That Literally Just Feels Really Cool in a Tactile Way" (source).
  
• Air & Space Magazine's Best Children’s Books of 2019 announced - featuring "aviation- and space-themed books for young readers" (source).
  
• Book Riot's Best Books of 2019 announced - including Young Adult selections.
  
• Imagination Soup's Best Children’s Nonfiction Books of 2019 announced.
  
• NPR (National Public Radio)'s Book Concierge of 2019 announced - featuring an incredible interactive menu of mix-and-match options, including Kids' Books and Young Adult.
  
• The New York Times's 25 Best Children's Books of 2019 announced - featuring Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult selections.
  
• Smithsonian's 10 Best Children's Books of 2019 announced - featuring "strange animals, mouth-watering foods and biographies of unsung heroes" (source).
  

Janie Series Ebook Sampler

From Publishers Weekly:

The Face on the E-Book: A Janie Electronic Sampler
By Shannon Maughan

Caroline B. Cooney’s bestselling thriller series, which began back in 1990 with The Face on the Milk Carton, is set to come to an end with the arrival of the fifth and final book, Janie Face to Face, in January 2013. In preparation for this milestone, fans can revisit – and new readers can acquaint themselves with – the first four volumes about Janie Johnson, the teenage girl whose life is turned upside down when she sees her own picture on the back of the milk carton, via the Janie Series Ebook Sampler. Delacorte’s just-released, 120-page e-book sampler contains excerpts from The Face on the Milk Carton, Whatever Happened to Janie?, The Voice on the Radio, and What Janie Found, as well as a sneak peek of Janie Face to Face, and is available for free from any outlets selling Random House e-books.

Read the full article here!

Download the Janie Series Ebook Sampler for free from Amazon or Barnes & Noble!

And check out Janie Face to Face, coming January 2013! 

{ Goodreads }  { Amazon }  { Barnes & Noble }

Meet Caroline, the Newest American Girl

The American Girl books and dolls were a big part of my childhood. When I was growing up, there were still just the original 4 American Girls: Molly, Samantha, Felicity, and Kirsten. I had Molly, who had long brown hair and glasses just like I did. I read all her books over and over and over again, and then I started reading the other girls' books too. The American Girl series introduced me to girls across history who may have had very different lives than I did, but who still dealt with a lot of the same issues that I was facing growing up in the 1990s.

Even though age-wise I outgrew the American Girls a while ago, I still like to keep up with the new girls that join the series. And the newest American Girl is...

Caroline Abbott

- 1812 - 

Meet Caroline
by Kathleen Ernst

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 104
Publisher: American Girl Publishing
Publication Date: September 4, 2012
Suggested tags: middle grade, historical fiction

First in the American Girl: Caroline series. From Goodreads:

"Caroline Abbott is doing what she loves most—sailing on Lake Ontario with Papa—when her world turns upside down. A British officer boards their sloop, announces that Britain and America are at war, and takes her father prisoner. As Papa is led away, Caroline promises him that she will stay strong and steady until he returns. She tries hard to keep her promise by helping Mama run the family’s shipyard. Then the British attack her village and it looks as if the American side is in trouble. Can Caroline stay steady enough to help win the day?

Includes an illustrated "Looking Back" essay about America in 1812."

Other books in Caroline's series include:

Learn more about Caroline on the American Girl website!

Plans for Graphic Novel Adaptation of "Miss Peregrine's"

It's probably pretty clear from how much I talk about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children that I love this book to death. And I also love graphic novels. So this announcement (even though it was made about a month ago... where was I??) has me SO EXCITED!!!

From Publishers Weekly:

Comic-Con: Yen Press to Publish Comics Adaptation of 'Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children'
By Calvin Reid

At a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con International, Hachette Book Group graphic novel imprint Yen Press announced plans to publish an adaptation of Ransom Riggs’s bestselling novel, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which has been on the New York Times children's chapter books list for more than a year. An artist for the one-volume graphic novel adaptation has not been announced; the book is scheduled to be published in 2013.

Originally published by Quirk Books in 2011, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is the story of Jacob, a 16-year-old who travels to a remote island after a family tragedy. He discovers the ruins of the home in the book’s title as well as indications that the “peculiar” children may be a lot more dangerous than merely strange.

A long-time fan of western comics and Japanese manga, Riggs said in a statement that “I'm thrilled about the adaptation of Miss Peregrine into graphic novel form, and doubly thrilled that Yen will be the creative powerhouse spearheading it.”

Read the full article here!

An as-of-yet untitled sequel to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is also scheduled for release in 2013.

BEA 2012: YA & Middle Grade Highlights

Publishers Weekly recently posted two intriguing articles about this year's BookExpo America (BEA) convention. Each highlights exciting upcoming reads chosen by Young Adult and Children's book editors.

Read the full articles:
BEA 2012: Diversity Rules at YA Editors’ Buzz Panel by Carolyn Juris
BEA 2012: Marvelous Middle-Grade Panel by Matia Burnett

Check out the books:

{ YA }

{ Middle Grade }

New Middle Grade Series: Club CSI

Being a long-time CSI fan myself, this announcement has me so excited! A middle grade mystery series with forensics mixed in?! I'm so there. Pre-order, please. :)

From Publishers Weekly:

S&S Launches Series Based on 'CSI' TV Show
By Sally Lodge

Simon & Schuster has announced the debut of Club CSI, a middle-grade chapter book series inspired by the CBS TV series, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Licensed through an agreement with CBS Consumer Products, Club CSI features a crew of students who band together to solve crimes and capers at their Las Vegas junior high school. The inaugural titles in the series, which is published under the Simon Spotlight imprint, are The Case of the Mystery Meat Loaf and The Case of the Missing Moola by Dave Lewman, due April 24 in simultaneous hardcover and paperback editions.

Viewed worldwide and scoring an average weekly audience of 12.83 million viewers in the U.S. alone, CSI has been the number one scripted TV show for a total of six seasons since its 2000 debut. Though the TV series is aimed at an adult audience, its forensic science theme is of growing interest to middle graders, observes Kara Sargent, editorial director of Simon Spotlight. “Forensic science is cropping up in seventh- and eight-grade school curricula, and kids that age are increasingly interested in the subject,” she says. “It’s such an exciting career path and one that is hot for young adults. So we decided that this would be a fun opportunity to create a book series under the umbrella of the CSI franchise.”

Read the full article here!

Additional books in the Club CSI series:
   The Case of the Disappearing Dogs is scheduled for release on July 24, 2012.
   The Case of the Ruined Ram is scheduled for release on August 28, 2012.