Author: 4956wpczar

Annotated Test Post

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date September 13, 2019

I’m thrilled to introduce our new Newsletter, Annotated, as a supplement to our Annotated podcast. It’s an audio-documentary series telling stories about books, reading, and language.

Each episode will be around 20-25 minutes long, and this first season will have six episodes, with a new episodes coming out every other week.

Today, episode 1, “Is It 1984 Yet?,” is available. In this episode, we look at the resurgence in popularity of George Orwell’s 1984 and then investigate how and why 1984 came to be in the first place.

It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or in your podcast player of choice. Give it a try, spread the word, and we’ve love to hear what you think, so email us at annotated@bookriot.com.

Happy listening!

Read This Book

One Book Dev Post — Thrillers are Having a Moment

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date September 3, 2019

Sponsored by The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.

Thrillers are having a moment. Twisty, suspenseful stories about mistaken identities, missing girls, unreliable narrators, and domestic bliss that isn’t what it seems are all over the bestseller charts. You know the books I mean: everything from The Girl on the Train to Ruth Ware’s latest, The Turn of the Key. This style of crime fiction is often called a domestic thriller, which can best be described as a “psychological thriller that focuses on interpersonal relationships,” often those between husbands and wives or parents and children.

The domestic thriller has a particular focus on and association with women (perhaps that’s why the publishing industry seems to have saddled an entire sub-genre with such an eyeroll-inducing name). Many bestselling thriller authors are women. Many of the narrators of these novels are women, too. And many of the problems in these novels are those which concern women in particular: domestic violence and other forms of violence against women, including abduction and rape; husbands who aren’t who they claim to be; troublesome neighbours; gaslighting and emotional abuse; the demands of motherhood.

Freefall by Jessica Barry book cover At CrimeReads, thriller writer Jessica Barry (author of Freefall) explores the ties women have to this genre, arguing that for women, thrillers can be heroic narratives. “The narrative is not—or at least not only, and not always—that bad things happen to women,” she writes. “It’s that women have the ability to survive when bad things happen.” And at Bustle, Mary Widdicks calls thrillers “a safe space” where women can encounter their fears in a controlled environment. Both are compelling arguments. If one half of the population regularly experiences violence and abuse, it only makes sense that that group of people would be drawn to stories where characters overcome similar behaviour or are offered some form of justice.

The thing is, women’s love for domestic thrillers isn’t anything new. Erin Kelly points outthat marriage-gone-bad narratives, a staple of the genre, are as old as the Ancient Greeks and Shakespeare. And the domestic thriller as we know it today was born in the 19th century, with the rise of sensation fiction.

Sensation fiction was a popular genre of fiction that peaked in the 1860s. It was a fusion of genres including Gothic fiction, romance, and realist fiction; that fusion was a significant reason for its widespread popularity. Sensation fiction blended the juiciest, most sensational romantic and Gothic plot lines—think secret babies, kidnapping, poisoned spouses, and adultery, like Victorian-era soap operas. These topics all sound fantastic, but when they appear in familiar domestic settings, like a cozy family parlour, they take on a newly thrilling, threatening quality.

Sensation novels were meant to provoke intense emotion in readers, and boy did Victorian readers love that blend of crime and everyday life. Realism was already a popular form of fiction at the time, as seen in Dickens’s novels inspired by his experiences growing up in a workhouse (Little Dorrit) and by a real-life court case that dragged on for years (Bleak House). Sensation novels took the most salacious newspaper headlines, those about divorces, crimes, and murder cases, and made them as familiar to middle-class readers—the people who had money to spend on books and libraries—as a family sitting down to tea. Both domestic thrillers and sensation fiction have that ripped-from-the-headlines quality that we pretend we don’t love.

cover of Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon Wilkie Collins, author of The Moonstone, The Woman in White, and other books now considered to be classics, is probably the most well-known sensation fiction author. But, and this may not surprise you, it was a genre primarily associated with women. Authors such as Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Ellen Wood were hugely popular. Even the Brontës borrowed from sensation fiction. Braddon was known for Lady Audley’s Secret, a novel about, in the words of Matthew Sweet, “a murderously ambitious Pre-Raphaelite beauty who secures a fortune by shoving her husband down the garden well.” Published in 1862, it was one of the first sensation novels. Braddon’s books, and those by other sensation fiction authors, were very popular with female readers.

Serious Literary Critics, of course, were no fans of the sensation novel, and many worried that young women in particular would be corrupted by reading these tales of murder and mayhem. As you probably already know, Victorian society was strictly divided along gender lines, with men responsible for the public sphere and women confined to a private, domestic world. It’s no surprise that stories about women murdering their husbands, committing bigamy, having secret babies, and stealing jewels were looked upon with suspicion by critics and excitement by female readers. These novels threatened the very fabric of orderly middle-class Victorian life by allowing women to feel emotions and imagine situations far beyond their daily experiences.

Fast forward to 2019, and we have our own version of sensation fiction: the domestic thriller. Domestic thrillers aren’t quite as threatening to the fabric of our society. To me, they seem to reflect the worst bits of it back at us with a few distortions, like a funhouse mirror. Domestic thrillers can be an escape, but I think they’re also something of a punishment: look how bad we’ve let things get.

What domestic thrillers and sensation fiction both do so well is portray the crimes and betrayals experienced by women, from major violence to the everyday indignity of having a man belittle your opinion. Like female characters in Victorian sensation fiction, female protagonists in domestic thrillers may be unreliable; they may drink too much or withdraw from public life; they may have suspicions no one believes. They have a tragic incident in their pasts or a secret they can’t reveal. They definitely have a man in their life gaslighting them.

All of these are things that happen in real life. We think they’re just newspaper headlines, but they’re happening all around us behind closed doors. Domestic thrillers and sensation fiction—both shine light on a world that we think can’t touch us. It’s been there all along.

The Fright Stuff

6 Nonfiction Horror Books for Those Who Need True Scary Stories

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date August 21, 2019

Sponsored by The Line Between by New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee—now out in paperback!

In this frighteningly believable thriller, which New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak calls “an infectiously good read,” an extinct disease has re-emerged from the melting Alaskan permafrost to cause madness in its victims.

For recent apocalyptic cult escapee Wynter Roth, it’s the end she’d always been told was coming. Filled with action, conspiracy, and romance, The Line Between is a high-octane story of survival and love in a world on the brink of madness. The sequel, A Single Light, releases September 17!

Horror fans! To get the most out of life… you’ve really got to die! Welcome to my grave.

The part of any horror movie that makes it so scary is the reality of it, whether it’s the plausibility of the events or their repercussions happening, the authenticity of the characters, or, as S.A. Bradley puts it, “the stinger.” He says that the stinger “elicits the visceral emotions the [reader] would feel if they were watching the real event…when horror is at its best, it can challenge both sides of an issue without insulting or boring the audience.” Although Bradley was talking specifically about film, I think the concept of “the stinger” extends to literature as well—if not more so. In particular, nonfiction horror books pack a particular punch because, well, it did actually happen, so you have the terror of WILL it happen, on the front end, and then the lingering horror of OH. SHIT. IT DID. FOR REAL.

This list, though, is even more specific than that, because it’s specifically memoir, meaning that all of the terrible things that happen actually happened to the people telling the stories. For me, the experience of reading nonfiction horror books, especially written by the person whom the events affected, is cathartic. I’m the person who watches murder documentaries, listens to true crime podcasts, and reads books like these. Not everyone gets it. Sometime I have to explain. I generally oversimplify it to this: I NEED TO KNOW ALL THE MOST HORRIFIC SHIT SO THAT I CAN AVOID IT.

And then, of course, I need to talk about it. I am a part of the family who, at any social gathering, can be expected to take the conversation somewhere disturbing. For example, when the conversation lulled at Father’s Day dinner, I asked my dad and first cousin, “In a survival situation, who at this table would you eat first?” We all answered the same, laughing: the baby, of course. Like veal, probably. And then finished our meals. (None of this is true. We would never consume human flesh. It was just a game. But still.)

If you’re like me, that’s what you need, though: talking about horror makes you feel ready for it, though there are honestly a million billion other reasons to love true horror stories. If you do, you’re in the right place: here they are, the memoirs for people so looking to be scared that they need the horrors to be true.

Screaming for Pleasure by S.A. Bradley

S.A. Bradley is the author I mentioned above, and his book Screaming for Pleasure: How Horror Makes You Happy and Healthy is a genre-bending look at horror film, criticism of it, and personal narratives about how various films impact the narrator.

This book is perfect for those either very well-versed in horror film or interested in becoming more familiar with it. He examines motifs of horror movies, their evolution and new applications, and uses his personal experiences with them to analyze them. In particular, he talks about living in a fundamentalist household, preparing for the apocalypse, and the apocalypse not happening. He then dives deep into the crevasse of scary movies and how they affected his childhood. Or adulthood.

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado is a memoir that focuses on the horrors of queer domestic abuse. What interested me most about this book (besides its importance to our society, which apparently believes that domestic abuse is not a thing among non-heterosexual couples) is its format. She discusses the self-doubt involved in emotional abuse, the gaslighting, the self-blame, and the doubt about the abuse’s existence, but does it through metaphor. Each chapter examines a different storytelling motif, to make (in my opinion) the narrative itself more accessible. It’s a genius move, super effective, and super scary, since it renders the experience ethereal, surreal. While we never doubt her honesty, we are made to feel the doubt of the narrator in regards to her own experiences. (If you like this book, you should also get Carmen Maria Machado’s collection of stories, Her Body and Other Parties.)

The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison

The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison is a very short memoir, and it’s told from the perspective of a woman who has a love affair with her biological father. Consensually. She knows who he is. She knows. And yet.

That’s really all there is to say. Just read it. You’ll blow through it in a single sitting. That’s how horrific this memoir is.

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

You likely know this memoir already as the book on Ted Bundy, but Ann Rule’s classic true crime book The Stranger Beside Me is about so much more than just him. Ann Rule actually knew Bundy, as a friend and a coworker at a suicide hotline. She became a crime writer long after beginning her friendship with him, and even after she was assigned his case, she did not immediately put the pieces together. In fact, while she was first writing about the serial murders, she noted all the similarities of the killer to her friend, Ted, and rejected her own intuition.

This book shows how the deviant mind can trick even those closest to him into believing he would never be capable of the many atrocities which he was consistently committing. Rule illustrates exactly Bradley’s principle of “the stinger” through showing her ambivalence toward her long-time friend. His ability to manipulate the most wary of writers is truly horrifying. Bundy is the worst; Ann Rule is the best.

The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio

If you’re familiar with William Blatty’s book The Exorcist, you’ll like Matt Baglio’s memoir, The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. This memoir details the training of an American priest in Rome, learning how to exorcise demons. It’s a true story, and not meant to scare, but hearing the recounting of actual demon possession, and how many sessions cannot often exorcise them, is truly haunting.

This book also details the convention of exorcism and demon possession as documented by the Catholic faith. It also talks responsibly about the process of exorcism, and how it has often been performed incorrectly, which results in torture and sometimes death. It’s a true terror.

Whoever Fights Monsters : My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI by Robert Ressler and Tom Schachtman

You may have heard of Robert Ressler before, but if you haven’t, you’re definitely familiar with works for which he’s been consulted. Thomas Harris utilized the FBI criminal profiler’s expertise for authenticity when writing the Silence of the Lambs trilogy, so if you liked/loved Hannibal Lecter, you have to read this memoir.

The title, Whoever Fights Monsters, is this quote from Friedrich Nietzsche: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.” Which is perfect, because Ressler was on the forefront of developing the process of criminal profiling (so that it wasn’t just straight-up racism, as it had once been), meaning he interviewed all of the worst men in existence. This memoir is his recounting of those experiences. You won’t be able to put it down. (I actually got it on audiobook, and believe, me, my house has never been cleaner…although I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I found myself leaning against the counter with a dripping mop listening to Tom Perkins narrate these experiences.)

Because there are not a lot of horror memoirs written by authors of color, the last text is the documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. The film interviews filmmakers, actors, and theorists about the roles of Black people in horror film. Though it’s not written down, each person interviewed states their personal experiences with horror, which I think definitely qualifies as horror memoir.

If you like memoir, but you don’t need it to be horror, you should check out this post next! And if you like horror, but you don’t need it to be memoir, check out this one! And if you noticed that I’m missing a really important book from this list, by allllll means, please. Let me know!

DEV

DEV Today In Books Reimagined

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date August 7, 2019

Sponsored by Frost and Flame by Gena Showalter

http://ads.harpercollins.com/hqnbradvt?isbn=9781335505040&retailer=amazon

>>>TEST TEST TEST

This link is a test of Sailthru’s solution…

In-Flight Lending Libraries Added To 300 Flightssss

Granted bibliophiles come prepared after hours, days, and even weeks of selecting which–and how many–reads to take on a flight, but our booknerd hearts still love the idea of in-flight libraries for kids. EasyJet will have over 60,000 books available across 300 flights tucked into the seat pockets.

Memoir Gets Fashion Collaboration

Elaine Welteroth, who made Teen Vogue what we know today and current Project Runway judge, has teamed up with two fashion brands for her memoir: More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are. There’s a Lingua Franca cashmere sweater with “More Than Enough” embroidered on it and a ByChari necklace that says “More Than Enough.” Brilliant and I want both!

Nonfic To Get Multi-Part Docuseries Adaptation

The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism by Howard Bryant will be adapted into a multi-part docuseries by Maverick TV, with Sacha Jenkins producing and directing one episode. For more on the book and the production read on here.

The Stack

DEV TS Sponsor Demo

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date July 26, 2019

Sponsored by TBR Tailored Book Recommendations

TBR is Book Riot’s new subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes. Been dreaming of a “stitchfix for books?” Now it’s here! Tell TBR about your reading preferences and what you’re looking for, and sit back while your Bibliologist handpicks recommendations just for you. TBR offers plans to receive hardcover books in the mail or recommendations by email, so there’s an option for every budget. Sign up here.

Today’s The Stack is sponsored by TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.

DEV

DEV post YA test

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date July 16, 2019

On Netflix

Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging (based on Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging)

The story centers on a 14-year-old girl who keeps a diary about the ups and downs of being a teenager, including the things she learns about kissing.

Beautiful Creatures

Ethan longs to escape his small Southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.

The Breadwinner

In 2001, Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. When her father is captured, a determined young girl disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.

Carrie Pilby

A person of high intelligence struggles to make sense of the world as it relates to morality, relationships, sex and leaving her apartment.

Coin Heist

United by dire circumstances, four unlikely allies from a Philadelphia prep school – the hacker, the slacker, the athlete, and the perfect student – band together to attempt the impossible: steal from the U.S. Mint.

Dumplin‘

Willowdean (‘Dumplin’), the plus-size teenage daughter of a former beauty queen, signs up for her mom’s Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant as a protest that escalates when other contestants follow her footsteps, revolutionizing the pageant and their small Texas town.

Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List

Naomi and Ely have loved each other their whole lives, even though Ely isn’t exactly into girls. The institution of a “No Kiss List” has prevented the two from rifts in the past, but bonds are tested when they both fall for the same guy.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

High school student Nick O’Leary, member of the Queercore band The Jerk Offs, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg when she asks him to be her boyfriend for five minutes.

Radio Rebel (based on the book Shrinking Violet and also on Prime)

Tara, a painfully shy high-schooler, has a secret: she is also a confident DJ known as Radio Rebel, who lends her voice to others.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Four best girlfriends hatch a plan to stay connected with one another as their lives start off in different directions: they pass around a pair of secondhand jeans that fits each of their bodies perfectly.

The Spectacular Now

A hard-partying high school senior’s philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical “nice girl.”

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

A teenage girl’s secret love letters are exposed and wreak havoc on her love life.

On Hulu

Every Day (Also on Prime!)

A shy teenager falls for a spirit who wakes up in the body of a different person every morning.

Geography Club

At Goodkind High School, a group of students with varying sexual orientations form an after-school club as a discreet way to share their feelings and experiences.

Paranoid Park

A teenage skateboarder’s life begins to fray after he is involved in the accidental death of a security guard.

Precious (Based on Push and also on Prime)

In New York City’s Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.

On Prime

The Baby-Sitters Club (Technically middle grade, I guess, but also I’m including it)

Seven junior-high-school girls organize a daycare camp for children while at the same time experiencing classic adolescent growing pains.

Before I Fall

February 12 is just another day in Sam’s charmed life, until it turns out to be her last. Stuck reliving her last day over and over, Sam untangles the mystery around her death and discovers everything she’s losing.

Beastly

A modern-day take on the “Beauty and the Beast” tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.

Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you again next week!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

DEV

DEV sponsor blurb revision test

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date June 21, 2019

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Bloomsbury, publisher of Extraordinary Birds by Sandy Stark-McGinnis.

For fans of The Thing About Jellyfish, Counting by 7s, and Fish in a Tree, a heartbreaking and hopeful debut novel about a unique young girl on a journey to find home. December believes she is a bird. The scar on her back is where her wings will sprout, and soon, she will soar away. It won’t matter that she has no permanent home. Her destiny is in the sky. But then she’s placed with foster mom Eleanor, a kind woman who volunteers at an animal rescue and has secrets of her own. December begins to see that her story could end a different way – but could she ever be happy down on the ground?

DEV

DEV Riot Rundown Sponsor Test

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date April 23, 2019

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Hide and Seek by Mary Burton, from Amazon Publishing.

The seeker becomes the hunted in the first suspenseful read in the Criminal Profiler series by New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.

Special agent Macy Crow’s first case is a big one. She’s looking for the killer of a high school girl who disappeared 15 years ago. Investigating the case with local sheriff—and former lover—Mike Nevada, Macy races against the clock to put the killer behind bars before he can come out of hiding and strike again. She’s no stranger to pain and terror, but will her first case be her last? Read Hide and Seek today.

TBR

TBR Dev Test

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date July 10, 2018

Testing to make sure we’re getting through!

Dropping in some content here:
(original post here: https://bookriot.com/2018/06/30/the-books-we-refuse-to-lend/)

One of the most beautiful things amongst book lovers is their joy of sharing; those who love reading find satisfaction in passing along the stories which changed our lives and touched us deeply, there is solace in meeting someone who is willing to read the tales that have moved us. We love libraries, we think they are one of the greatest ideas humans have come up with. It is not a surprise that we enjoy, and even encourage, lending books.

Yet, there are exceptions to this rule. Books we hold so dear that we refuse to even let them out of our sight. Here are a few examples of books our contributors refuse to lend, and their – more than reasonable – excuses.

I have read this book a few times and I own two copies: one in English, that I bought at a flea market in London for £4, and another in my native language, Portuguese, which I bought second-hand for about €4. Now, I don’t mind lending the English version; it’s the Portuguese version that you won’t pry from my dead hands. The reason why I won’t lend this book is simple: it is to me what a bible is to some people, even if it’s not my favourite book: it has a wonderful hardcover, an edition I never saw anywhere else (not the usual movie cover, either, just Ralph Fiennes in the desert holding Herodotus), and it’s a book I find comforting to take with me on plane trips, or when I feel anxious for some reason. I would be pretty upset if I lost this specific book, so I prefer not to lend it to anyone.

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Alex dev test DONUT PUBLISH

Post author By 4956wpczar
Post date March 29, 2018

Hi Kid Lit Friends!

With so much buzz about the book adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time in the box offices, I thought I’d build a book list for those who love the book and/or the movie. Some of the books below are high fantasy, some incorporate science fiction elements, and one is a biography about Madeleine L’Engle’s. All are sure to be enjoyable if you’re looking for more of that Wrinkle magic.

Wishlist upcoming releases you’re dying to read. Get exclusive podcasts and newsletters. Enter to win swag. Do it all when you join Insiders. Subscribe to Book Riot Insiders!

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is heavily influenced by A Wrinkle in Time. The main character, Miranda, is always carrying the book around and is constantly comparing situations in her own life to the situations in the book. In an interview with Amazon.com, Stead says, “What I love about L’Engle’s book now is how it deals with so much fragile inner-human stuff at the same time that it takes on life’s big questions. There’s something fearless about this book.”

Some books that I think have that similar high fantasy and science fiction element in the stories include Dragonwings by Laurence Yep, The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic by Armand Baltazar, and Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. All of these books do a marvelous job at creating alternate worlds that are rich and characters that are nuanced and interesting.

Books that have similar sense of wonder and mysticism to A Wrinkle in Time include The Dam Keeper by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi and Tumble and Blue by Cassie Beasley. The Dam Keeper is set in Sunrise Valley, a quiet and sheltered place that is protected from a dangerous black fog that looms outside the village by an ingenious machine known as the dam. Pig’s father built the dam and taught him how to maintain it. And then this brilliant inventor did the unthinkable: he walked into the fog and was never seen again. Now Pig is the dam keeper, and a new threat is on the horizon―a tidal wave of black fog is descending on Sunrise Valley.

Tumble and Blue is about a legend: When the red moon rises over the heart of the Okefenokee swamp, legend says that the mysterious golden gator Munch will grant good luck to the poor soul foolish enough to face him. But in 1817, when TWO fools reach him at the same time, the night’s fate is split. With disastrous consequences for both . . . and their descendants. Half of the descendants have great fates, and the other half have terrible ones.

If you or a reader you know loves graphic novels, A Wrinkle in Time was adapted into a graphic novel, illustrated by Hope Larson. In the graphic novel, Hope Larson takes the classic story to a new level with her vividly imagined interpretations of tessering and favorite characters, like the Happy Medium and Aunt Beast. Perfect for delighting old fans and winning over new ones, this graphic novel adaptation is a must-read.

And finally, for those who want to know more about Madeleine L’Engle’s life, her granddaughters recently wrote a book about her using many of her journals as sources. In Becoming Madeleine: A Biography of the Author of A Wrinkle in Time by Her Granddaughters, Charlotte Jones Voiklis and Léna Roy Use never-before-seen archival materials that include photographs, poems, letters, and journal entries from when Madeleine was a child until just after the publication of her classic, A Wrinkle in Time. It is a story of overcoming obstacles―a lonely childhood, financial insecurity, and countless rejections of her writing―and eventual triumph.

New Releases!
All of these books release this Tuesday. The book descriptions are from Goodreads, but I’ll add a if I particularly loved a title.

Picture Book New Releases

Cycle City by Alison Farrell (Chronicle)

When little Etta the Elephant goes to her Aunt Ellen’s house, she takes a journey through bicycle-filled Cycle City, a town filled with bikes of all kinds! At the end of the day, a special surprise awaits Etta—the most amazing bicycle parade imaginable. Detail-rich illustrations in this fun seek-and-find book paint the colors of this unusual town where everyone rides some kind of bike—whether a penny-farthing, a two-wheeled unicycle, or a conference bike, everyone is on wheels! Packed with prompts and lots to see on every page, this is a sweet story for the sharpest of eyes.

Hello Hello by Brendan Wenzel (Chronicle)

Hello, Hello! Beginning with two cats, one black and one white, a chain of animals appears before the reader, linked together by at least one common trait. From simple colors and shapes to more complex and abstract associations, each unexpected encounter celebrates the magnificent diversity of our world—and ultimately paints a story of connection.

Captain Starfish by Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys (Chronicle)

Alfie wants to participate in the best parts of being a kid, from his friend Antoinette’s birthday party to the relay races at school. But his shyness keeps him from engaging. When Alfie wakes up with That Feeling on the morning of yet another big event—the underwater costume parade—his mom takes him to the aquarium. There, Alfie meets a starfish who shines so boldly Alfie feels small. But suddenly, a tiny clownfish swims up to Alfie for a quick hello and retreats again. Alfie begins to understand that there’s a happy medium between hiding away and being the star, and that he needs to come out of hiding every once and awhile to make meaningful connections.

Ladybug Girl and the Rescue Dogs by Jacky Davis and David Soman

Lulu is excited to meet all the rescue dogs when the pet-adoption fair comes to her local farmers’ market. She wants to take all of them home–but she already has Bingo, and Mama says one dog is enough for their family. That doesn’t mean Lulu can’t help, though. It’s time for Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad–her friends Grasshopper Girl and Bumblebee Boy–to step in! The Bug Squad can do all kinds of little but important things, like brush the dogs, play with them, and bring them water and food. And then Lulu comes up with the perfect plan to help the dogs find their forever homes. Her idea is such a success that the Bug Squad knows they’ll be back again next week. Together, they can help every dog get adopted.

Twilight Chant by Holly Thompson, illustrated by Jen Betton (HMH Books for Young Readers)

As day slips softly into night, sharp eyes catch glimpses of the special creatures who are active at dusk. Lyrical text and lush art capture the richness and life of this magical time in a sumptuous picture book that will inspire budding naturalists and anyone who has ever chased a lightning bug at twilight.

Middle Grade New Releases

Love, Penelope by Joanne Rocklin, illustrated by Lucy Knisely (Amulet Books)

Penny is excited to welcome her new sibling, so throughout her mom’s pregnancy she writes letters to it (not it, YOU!). She introduces herself (Penelope, but she prefers “Penny”) and their moms (Sammy and Becky). She brags about their home city, Oakland, California (the weather, the Bay, and the Golden State Warriors) and shares the trials and tribulations of being a fifth-grader (which, luckily, YOU won’t have to worry about for a long time). Penny asks little questions about her sibling’s development and starts to ask big questions about the world around her (like if and when her moms are ever going to get married “for real”).

Voices from the Second World War: Stories of War As Told to Children of Today (Candlewick)

The Second World War was the most devastating war in history. Up to eighty million people died, and the map of the world was redrawn. More than seventy years after peace was declared, children interviewed family and community members to learn about the war from people who were there, to record their memories before they were lost forever. Now, in a unique collection, RAF pilots, evacuees, resistance fighters, Land Girls, U.S. Navy sailors, and survivors of the Holocaust and the Hiroshima bombing all tell their stories, passing on the lessons learned to a new generation. Featuring many vintage photographs, this moving volume also offers an index of contributors and a glossary.

Emily Windsnap and the Falls of Forgotten Island by Liz Kessler (Candlewick)

Emily is headed to a tropical island for a relaxing vacation with friends and family. And this time, Emily promises her best friend, Shona, there will be absolutely no adventure — just plenty of fun. But somehow excitement always seems to find Emily, and before she knows it, she ends up on the other side of a powerful waterfall on a forgotten island no one else can get to. Well, no one that isn’t a half-mer like Emily and her boyfriend, Aaron. The people who live on the island believe in a prophecy that foretells how they can be saved from an imminent, devastating earthquake — and this prophecy seems to revolve around Emily and Aaron, as well as a mysterious, mythic giant. Will they be able to find the giant — and fulfill the prophecy — before it’s too late?

Princess Before Dawn by E.D. Baker (Bloomsbury)

In the seventh tale of the Wide-Awake Princess series, Princess Annie’s beloved home Treecrest has become a favorite destination for all sorts of magical beings. One new set of guests are particularly strange, and they are ready to take over a new hunting ground. Annie and Liam turn to their only friends who can help, Francis and Zoe. But when Francis and Zoe arrive in Treecrest, the new hunting group is having too much fun to pack up and go home and nothing Francis or Zoe say seems to help. Can Annie, Liam and their new friends figure out a way to reclaim Treecrest before it’s overrun with hunters? Or will Annie lose her one true home?

Strange Star by Emma Carroll (Random House Children’s Books)

One stormy June evening, five friends meet at Villa Diodati, the summer home of Lord Byron. After dinner is served, they challenge each other to tell ghost stories that will freeze the blood. But one of the guests–Mary Shelley–is stuck for a story to share. Then there’s an unexpected knock at the front door. Collapsed on the doorstep is a girl with strange scars on her face. She has traveled a long way with her own tale to tell, and now they all must listen. Hers is no ordinary ghost story, though. What starts as a simple tale of village life soon turns to tragedy and the darkest, most dangerous of secrets. Sometimes the truth is far more terrifying than fiction . . . and the consequences are even more devastating.

So many great books are crossing my path this past week. I finished The Right Hook of Devin Velma by Jake Burt (Feiwel and Friends, 10/2/18), a story about friendship, miscommunication, and a viral sensation gone wrong.

The Creativity Project, edited by Colby Sharp, just came out last Tuesday and includes wonderful prompts and stories by kid’s lit authors and educators.

And my Mildred D. Taylor kick continues as I finished The Land, a prequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The Land is the story of Paul-Edward Logan and his single minded determination to purchase 200 acres of land that eventually becomes the land that Cassie Logan from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry grows up on. Next up in the Logan Family series: Let The Circle Be Unbroken.

I’d love to know what you are reading this week! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at karina@bookriot.com.

Until next week!
Karina

I caught Izzy nibbling on my new release pile for this week. Grr.

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