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'Tis the season of Best Books Lists, fa lalalala la la la la!

We'll start with Shelf Awareness for Readers.  Shelf Awareness is one of my best web friends.  I get advance notices on the Pro newsletters, and the Readers newsletter let's me know when books I want are available.

AND they publish a yearly list of the Best Books in various genres - just in time for holiday giving.

Here it is:  Shelf Awareness 2016 Best Books for Children and Teens.    First, there is a handy dandy list to take along to the book store.  Then below, all the lovely reviews. 

Enjoy!

I bow to the superior reviewing of the writers at Brain Pickings.These articles are more complete than any review I have read this year.  Enjoy.

The Best Children's Books of 2016 - from Brain Pickings

I am telling tonight at StoryFUSION. (Northampton Community College's Lipkin Theater at 7 pm.) I will tell the first story of the night.  I admit to being nnnnnnnnn-nn-nervous, a lll-l-little.  So come out and give me friendly faces in the audience, please.

Also my Kutztown University Favorites of 2012 (and the very beginning of 2013) Book List is up on my Lists page.  Check it out.

Must practice.  Once upon a .... no, that's been done.  A Little Old....no, maybe I should just do a little aside about domestic tranquility.  But I only have 15 minutes to tell my story.   Whewww. 

Augusta County Library has pinned 25 Best Books Lists on their Pinterest board.  Boards like these prove that Pinterest can provide a true service.

It sort of makes my reviews and "best books" lists redundant.  No worries.  I still have a lot to say.

Stuff I've read recently.
One Year in Coal Harbor  by Polly Horvath.  I love Polly Horvath.  This book includes romantic schemes run awry, environmental concerns, money problems, and the ever-popular recipes from the fishing town of Coal Harbor.  (ages 10 through me)

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann.  Steam punk/fantasy (Wait,  Isn't most steam punk fantasy?  Or is it more science fiction?)  OK, this steam punk-ish novel includes fairies, goblins, and other magical creatures alongside automatons and utilities formed of mechanical and magical substances.  A boy born of a magical father and a human mother - these despised children are known as Changelings - and a young member of the House of Lords are caught up in a mystery surrounding the deaths of several Changelings.  Touches of horror echo through this suspenseful novel.  (Ages 11 through adult.  The writing is that good.)

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz.  Children trapped inside marionettes;  An aging witch and a magic jewel; cruelty; grief; class snobbery; escapes and captures.  And three very engaging children who form the nucleus of this action packed adventure.  ( 12 and up.  But a good 10-year-old reader who is not squeamish might really like this.)

Goblin Secrets  by William Alexander won a National Book Award this Fall.  Rownie, one of the witch, Graba's, "children", looks everywhere for his older brother, Rowan.  Rownie lives in a world where many people have clockwork limbs and organs and where humans are not allowed to wear masks or perform in theaters.  Goblins, discriminated against, travel through the city with their theater on wheels and perform wonderful shows.  Rownie steals from Graba so that he can see one of these shows in hopes of finding Rowan, who was a gifted actor.  This is the set-up of this spell-binding book.  If you like fantasies, and other-worldly settings, close-knit clans and secret societies, corrupt government and underground resistance, you will enjoy this book.  (ages 14 and up)

Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker. Foster kids and a dead foster parent.  Yep.  That's what this book is about - along with summers on Cape Cod, blueberry bushes, interdependence and learning about asking for help.  Two 12 year old girls decide to hide the sudden natural death of their care taker.  One girl just doesn't want to go through the exhausting changes of yet another foster home.  The other girl is related to the dead woman and hopes to make a home for herself and her irresponsible mother on Cape Cod.  How they survive the summer and learn to tolerate and then value each other makes a good story.  (ages 11 and up)

I am in the process of finishing Jepp Who Defied the Stars by Katherine Marsh.  This one is historical fiction.  It is amazing how many books with similar themes crop up every year.  This book also concentrates on performances.  These are the performances of dwarves who live to amuse wealthy nobility.  More on this one later.  This is for 14 and up.

The New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books for 2009 were announced today. I think they’re great choices – I usually do. But sometimes, while I feel the choices are marvels of illustration, I wonder about real child appeal. Not so with this year. Several of my favorites are listed, including the gem All the World. The only title I don’t know is White Noise, but David Carter is known for some incredible pop-ups.