Grandmothers, mothers, teachers at all girls’ schools, listen up.
(Well, librarians and other teachers listen up too.)
Here’s that sweet little book that comes along once or twice a year and works its way into the hearts of its readers. That book that spreads itself out like the coziest of handknit blankets and wraps itself around you [...]

I loved this book, and I think it’s mostly been missed. I am fairly sure it hasn’t been reviewed on any other blog, and I haven’t seen it talked about anywhere.  It’s one of those quiet little books that often slips through the cracks – just the kind of book that an independent bookseller will [...]

Oh, Owly, how I love you.
I was sent some review copies of OWLY graphic novels, and I am only too happy to sing their praises here. I can’t believe I never have before. See, Owly (and his best friend, Wormy) and I are old friends now. I have an Owly shirt. I have a stuffed [...]

I am going to be able to sell SKATING SHOES! La la la la la la! In my head, I am dancing around the room and singing! Marry me, Random House – you’ve just made my whole week. I can’t wait for this fall!
(Psst: MOVIE SHOES next, okay? Please?)

Because I work in a library, I don’t tend to be as up-to-date as Melissa and others who work in bookstores rather than libraries; I do try to browse through the new books truck whenever I get a chance, but with the volume of new material, it’s sometimes hard to keep up.  So while Melissa [...]

If I could write song lyrics or poetry, I would probably put a little ditty here about what a great time this is right now for tween books, and how it seems like publishers finally heard my silent prayer (or out loud complaining to sales reps) and started publishing great tween-y books, but since I [...]

It’s a good time, book-wise, to be a tween.
I read the galley of THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB within the first few days after it arrived in our shop. I remember that the Simon galleys arrived late that season and we had less than a week to evaluate them for initial purchase.
As soon as I started [...]

Oh, aimed-at-tweens books featuring tween characters doing tweeny-age-appropriate things, how I do love you.
Sixth-grader Molly is really not happy about things. Her dad is going to get married again (her mother passed away years ago) to a woman Molly and her best friend Tanna call The Claw. The Claw has changed her basketball-loving, Chinese food-ordering, [...]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, right now: I LOVE “nice” books. Books you can read aloud to a class or to your daughter or your niece. Books you can handsell with a huge smile to a grandmother looking for the perfect holiday book for her granddaughter or a mom looking for [...]

This is a sweetie pie of a book. A nice book, as I like to say. A book you can hand to a grandmother or a mother or an aunt or the kid themselves and simply say I think you will really like this. There’s always enough room in the world for another nice [...]