Newbery and Caldecott Picks for 2015

The Newbery and Caldecott awards are going to be announced soon - all of the American Library Association youth media awards, actually, including the Alex, Printz, Morris, Coretta Scott King and Pura Belpre, Batchelder and Seuss Geisel awards. (along with a few more that I'm sure I'm forgetting!) But, the Caldecott and Newbery awards are the ones that get people really excited. I've put together a list of predictions - things that have been getting a lot of buzz. We'll see in a few days, if any of these end up as winners, or if the awards will go to some dark horse from a small press that none of us have heard of.

Caldecott Predictions

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole - Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen

     I loved this book. Will it strike gold?

Brother Hugo and the Bear - Katy Beebe & S.D. Schindler

Flashlight - Lizi Boyd

The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus - Jennifer Fisher Bryant & Michelle Sweet

     Super educational. Teachers and librarians will be so happy if this one wins. I like Michelle Sweet's illustrations a lot, even if they don't feel "strange" enough to win.

Draw! - Raul Colon

Firebird - Misty Copeland & Christopher Myers

Gaston - Kelly DiPuccio & Christian Robinson

Some Bugs -Angela DiTerlizzi & Brendan Wenzel

The Farmer and the Clown - Marla Frazee.

     Lots of good buzz on this nearly wordless picture book. I can see this one winning. I'm a longtime Frazee fan.

Grandfather Gandhi - Arun Ghandi & Bethany Hegedus & Evan Turk

     How great would it be if this was a winner? I love to think of generations of school children enjoying this title.

Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? - Rita Gray & Kenard Pak

Extraordinary Jane - Hannah E. Harrison

Firefly July - Paul B. Janeckzo & Melissa Sweet

Winter is Coming - Tony Johnston & Jim La Marche

Have You Seen My Dragon? - Steve Light 

The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse - Patricia MacLachlan & Hadley Hooper

     Another wonderful biographical picture book. I'm rooting for it.

Viva Frida - Yuyi Morales & Tim O'Meara

     Really distinctive.

Hi, Koo! - Jon J. Muth

     This book is such a charmer!

Baby Bear - Kadir Nelson

The Book with No Pictures - B.J. Novak

     I'm including this book, just to be ornery! I think it would cause such a stir to nominate this book for an award that goes to the best pictures.

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art - Barb Rosenstock & Mary GrandPre

     I think people will go wild, if the American illustrator for Harry Potter wins for this book.

Aviary Wonders, Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual - Kate Samworth

     Such a strange and wonderful book. This could really be a winner.

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Best Friend - Dan Santat

Henny - Elizabeth Rose Stanton

Bad Bye, Good Bye - Deborah Underwood & Jonathan Bean

Stella's Starliner - Rosemary Wells

Newbery Predictions

Crossover - Alexander Kwame

     I love narrative poetry.

The Madman of Piney Woods - Christopher Paul Curtis

     Lots of buzz for this one. Will multiple award winner Curtis snag the gold again?

Glass Sentence - S.E. Grove

     Fantasy doesn't usually stand a chance, but maybe this one will come up with an award.

The Secret Hum of a Daisy - Tracy Holczer

A Snicker of Magic - Natalie Lloyd

     This is the kind of thing that I'd love to see win. Magical and fun.

West of the Moon - Margi Preus

The Riverman - Aaron Starmer

Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson

     Okay, you heard it here first. I think this book is going to sweep multiple categories. I'm hearing so many wonderful things about it.

Top 10 Book Club Books - Take 2

This week's topic from The Broke and Bookish is Top 10 Book Club Books. I'm lucky to belong to the best book club ever: The Not So YA Book Club, for readers who are adults, but still enjoy reading YA. It's hosted at one of my favorite book stores, Little Shop of Stories.

It's been a while since I've done a post about book club, but here are another 10 books that I really enjoyed reading with my book club. (with links to reviews, where appropriate)

Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson

All the Truth That's In Me - Julie Berry

The Darkest Minds - Alexandra Bracken

Salt & Storm - Kendall Kulper

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks - E. Lockhart

The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

More Than This - Patrick Ness

Akata Witch - Nnedi Akafor

Jackaby - William Ritter

Noggin - John Corey Whaley

Are you in a book club? What are you reading?

Harry Potter news

Harry Potter news: new art has been revealed! I like how the characters don't look movie star perfect in these illustrations.


What?? This lady apparently has a beef with Harry Potter fans in her rant against this wonderful Golden Snitch engagement ring. I'm astonished! First, even if you don't know what it is, it's a lovely looking ring. Second, for folks who grew up with Harry Potter, there's so much positive symbolism there. As a huge nerd myself, I am all for book-inspired jewelry.

J.K. Rowling gives some writing advice on twitter.

Weeding the TBR 2015

This could be my biggest cull yet. Who knows? Maybe some of these books will find their way back onto my To Be Read list. But for now, it seems wisest to admit defeat and let these books go - trust me, I've no shortage of other items clamoring to be read. Interestingly, I'm eliminating a lot of these because of a lack of access... I don't have a copy of the book right to hand, and while it's certainly true that with a bit of effort on my part I could eventually procure a copy, it just doesn't make sense to chase after some of these when I have so many other books stacked right next to my bedside table, so...

	Illuminate (Gilded Wings, #1)	Agresti, Aimee *
	Loop (Loop #1)	Akins, Karen *
	Chains (Seeds of America, #1)	Anderson, Laurie Halse *
	Trial by Fire (Worldwalker, #1)	Angelini, Josephine *
	The Poison Apples	Archer, Lily
	Being Henry David	Armistead, Cal *
	The Nightmare Affair (The Arkwell Academy, #1)	Arnett, Mindee *
	The No. 1 Car Spotter	Atinuke
	The Peculiar (The Peculiar, #1)	Bachmann, Stefan *
	Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker, #1)	Bacigalupi, Paolo
	Legacy of the Clockwork Key (The Secret Order, #1)	Bailey, Kristin *
	The Wide-Awake Princess (Wide-Awake Princess, #1)	Baker, E.D. *
	White Lines	Banash, Jennifer *
	You Killed Wesley Payne	Beaudoin, Sean *
	The Looking Glass Wars (The Looking Glass Wars, #1)	Beddor, Frank *
	Survival Colony Nine	Bellin, Joshua David *
	The Coldest Girl in Coldtown	Black, Holly *
	Glimmerglass (Faeriewalker, #1)	Black, Jenna *
	Prisoner of Night and Fog (Prisoner of Night and Fog, #1)	Blankman, Anne *
	Some Boys	Blount, Patty *
	The Name of This Book Is Secret (Secret, #1)	Bosch, Pseudonymous *
	Plain Kate	Bow, Erin *
	Taken (Taken, #1)	Bowman, Erin *
	Wrapped (Wrapped, #1)	Bradbury, Jennifer
	Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy, #1)	Brennan, Sarah Rees *
	Born of Illusion (Born of Illusion, #1)	Brown, Teri *
	Dragon Castle	Bruchac, Joseph
	The Dark Unwinding (The Dark Unwinding, #1)	Cameron, Sharon *
	Pulse (Pulse, #1)	Carman, Patrick *
	Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion, #1)	Carter, Aimee *
	The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test, #3)	Carter, Aimee *
	Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me	Chandler, Kristen *
	Forgive My Fins (Fins, #1)	Childs, Tera Lynn *
	Spirit and Dust (Goodnight Family #2)	Clement-Moore, Rosemary *
	The Dead Gentleman	Cody, Matthew *
	The Kingdom of Little Wounds	Cokal, Susann *
	Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles, #1)	Cole, Kresley *
	Notes from the Blender	Cook, Trish
	Incarnation	Cornwall, Emma *
	Doon (Doon, #1)	Corp, Carey *
	Nameless (Tales of Beauty & Madness, #1)	Crow, Lili St.
	Tell Me a Secret	Cupala, Holly *
	Top Ten Clues You're Clueless	Czukas, Liz *
	The Explosionist	Davidson, Jenny
	Tempest Rising (Tempest, #1)	Deebs, Tracy *
	Exquisite Captive (Dark Caravan Cycle #1)	Demetrios, Heather *
	Homeland (Little Brother, #2)	Doctorow, Cory
	How My Summer Went Up in Flames	Doktorski, Jennifer Salvato *
	Between the Sea and Sky	Dolamore, Jaclyn *
	The Other Countess (The Lacey Chronicles, #1)	Edwards, Eve
	Winter Town	Emond, Stephen *
	Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy, #1)	Estep, Jennifer *
	Inhuman (Fetch, #1)	Falls, Kat *
	City of a Thousand Dolls (Bhinian Empire, #1)	Forster, Miriam *
	If I Ever Get Out of Here	Gansworth, Eric
	Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles, #2)	Garcia, Kami *
	Babe in Boyland	Gehrman, Jody *
	Stalker Girl	Graham, Rosemary
	All That Glows (All That Glows, #1)	Graudin, Ryan *
	Keep Sweet	Greene, Michele Dominguez
	Chantress (Chantress, #1)	Greenfield, Amy Butler *
	My Life in Pink & Green: Pink & Green Book One	Greenwald, Lisa
	The Homework Machine (The Homework Machine #1)	Gutman, Dan
	The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1)	Hale, Shannon *
	A Kiss of Shadows (Merry Gentry, #1)	Hamilton, Laurell K. *
	The Shifter (Healing Wars, #1)	Hardy, Janice
	Forget Me	Harrington, K.A.
	Clarity (Clarity, #1)	Harrington, Kim *
	The Fine Art of Pretending (The Fine Art of Pretending, #1)	Harris, Rachel *
	The Shattering	Healey, Karen *
	Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #1)	Hearne, Kevin *
	The Native Star (Veneficas Americana, #1)	Hobson, M.K. *
	Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always	Hoole, Elissa Janine *
	Solstice	Hoover, P.J. *
	A Wounded Name	Hutchison, Dot *
	A Countess Below Stairs	Ibbotson, Eva
	The Locket	Jay, Stacey *
	The Gathering Dark	Johnson, Christine
	Claire de Lune (Claire de Lune, #1)	Johnson, Christine
	The Mark of the Dragonfly	Johnson, Jaleigh
	13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelope, #1)	Johnson, Maureen *
	Torment (Fallen, #2)	Kate, Lauren *
	Hero (Woodcutter Sisters #2)	Kontis, Alethea *
	Flyaway	Landalf, Helen *
	Liar	Larbalestier, Justine
	Sublime	Lauren, Christina *
	Scumble (Savvy, #2)	Law, Ingrid
	Toxic Heart (Mystic City, #2)	Lawrence, Theo
	Innocent Darkness (The Aether Chronicles, #1)	Lazear, Suzanne *
	Going Vintage	Leavitt, Lindsey *
	Princess for Hire (Princess for Hire, #1)	Leavitt, Lindsey *
	Winterspell	Legrand, Claire *
	The King's Rose	Libby, Alisa M. *
	Ashes on the Waves	Lindsey, Mary *
	Tabula Rasa	Lippert-Martin, Kristen *
	Adaptation (Adaptation, #1)	Lo, Malinda *
	Huntress	Lo, Malinda *
	The Treachery of Beautiful Things	Long, Ruth Frances *
	Winter Falls (Twin Willows, #1)	Maggi, Nicole *
	Roses	Mannering, G.R. *
	The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons	Mariconda, Barbara
	Carnival of Souls	Marr, Melissa *
	Sweet Unrest	Maxwell, Lisa *
	Violins of Autumn	McAuley, Amy *
	Don't Expect Magic (Magic, #1)	McCullough, Kathy *
	Not a Drop to Drink (Not a Drop to Drink, #1)	McGinnis, Mindy *
	Perfectly Good White Boy	Mesrobian, Carrie *
	Eye of the Storm	Messner, Kate *
	Kissing Shakespeare	Mingle, Pamela *
	Suspicion	Monir, Alexandra *
	Timeless (Timeless, #1)	Monir, Alexandra *
	Wonderland	Nadin, Joanna
	Strands of Bronze and Gold	Nickerson, Jane *
	Fated (Soul Seekers, #1)	Noel, Alyson *
	Transcendence (Transcendence, #1)	Omololu, C.J. *
	Beware the Wild	Parker, Natalie C. *
	Fathomless (Fairytale Retellings, #3)	Pearce, Jackson *
	Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1)	Pfeffer, Susan Beth
	The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg	Philbrick, Rodman
	Die for Me (Revenants, #1)	Plum, Amy *
	Heart of a Samurai	Preus, Margi
	What Can(t) Wait	Pérez, Ashley Hope *
	Spellbinder (Spellbinder, #1)	Rawn, Melanie
	Above World (Above World, #1)	Reese, Jenn *
	Castle of Shadows	Renner, Ellen
	The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)	Riordan, Rick *
	The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles, #1)	Riordan, Rick *
	Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer	Robbins, Trina
	Other Words for Love	Rosenthal, Lorraine Zago *
	Altered (Altered, #1)	Rush, Jennifer *
	Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life(Dork Diaries, #1)	Russell, Rachel Renée *
	Zodiac (Zodiac, #1)	Russell, Romina *
	The Cabinet of Wonders (The Kronos Chronicles, #1)	Rutkoski, Marie *
	Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem	Schanzer, Rosalyn
	Okay for Now	Schmidt, Gary D.
	The Near Witch (The Near Witch, #1)	Schwab, Victoria *
	The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #1)	Scott, Michael *
	Live Through This	Scott, Mindi *
	The Sweetest Spell	Selfors, Suzanne *
	When You Were Mine	Serle, Rebecca *
	Famous in Love (Famous in Love, #1)	Serle, Rebecca *
	Pretty Little Liars (Pretty Little Liars, #1)	Shepard, Sara *
	The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter, #1)	Shepherd, Megan *
	Everlost (Skinjacker, #1)	Shusterman, Neal *
	Bruised	Skilton, Sarah *
	I'll Be There	Sloan, Holly Goldberg *
	Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch	Smith, Sally Bedell *
	Anatomy of a Boyfriend (Anatomy, #1)	Snadowsky, Daria *
	Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles, #1)	Souders, J.A. *
	Sway	Spears, Kat *
	Skylark (Skylark, #1)	Spooner, Meagan *
	Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #1)	Spotswood, Jessica *
	Underneath	Stevenson, Sarah Jamila *
	The Most Dangerous Animal of All	Stewart, Gary L.
	Ink (Paper Gods, #1)	Sun, Amanda *
	Stray (Four Sisters, #1)	Sussman, Elissa *
	Ashes of Twilight (Ashes Trilogy, #1)	Tayler, Kassy *
	Bad Island	TenNapel, Doug
	Wolven (Wolven, #1)	Toft, Di
	The Hit List	Urang, Nikki *
	Breadcrumbs	Ursu, Anne *
	Voices of Dragons	Vaughn, Carrie *
	Going Underground	Vaught, Susan *
	The Young World (The Young World, #1)	Weitz, Chris
	Variant (Variant, #1)	Wells, Robison *
	The Fire Artist	Whitney, Daisy *
	When You Were Here	Whitney, Daisy *
	A Deadly Business (Mia Quinn, #2)	Wiehl, Lis *
	Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous	Williams, Kathryn *
	Don't Touch	Wilson, Rachel M. *
	The Cure for Dreaming	Winters, Cat *
	Belzhar	Wolitzer, Meg
	Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, #2)	Wrede, Patricia C.
	Paper Valentine	Yovanoff, Brenna *
	A True Princess	Zahler, Diane *
	The Lucy Variations	Zarr, Sara
	Prophecy of the Sisters (Prophecy of the Sisters, #1)	Zink, Michelle *
	Poison	Zinn, Bridget
	The Book Thief	Zusak, Markus *