Reviews
A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return
“Abirached’s b&w inks offer a stark contrast in hard, geometric patterns that make images at once abstract and fully representative of her childhood memories. The characters, despite their cartoonish nature, show a variety of emotions, and Abirached’s gift for… View →
The Girl Who Owned a City: The Graphic Novel
“This is a graphic-format retelling of Nelson’s 1975 novel, but it feels like a contemporary offering from the camp of postapocalyptic adventure… Jones’s gorgeous illustrations will suck readers in. It is an overall engaging story that could spark some lively… View →
The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories
“If you have a yen for dark, yearning, challenging yarns that often have a delightfully ambiguous, fairy-tale ambiance, there is plenty here to sate your curiosity… The inventive idea is fresh enough to draw plenty of interest on its own. But add in three high-wattage YA… View →
From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate
“Each book contains a table of contents with the steps listed in the food production. Each spread is clearly organized by the introduction of a specific step and then followed by short sentences to provide additional explanations. A color photograph on the opposite page offers… View →
The End: 50 Apocalyptic Visions From Pop Culture That You Should Know About...Before It's Too Late
“Readers of dystopian novels may find this collection particularly intriguing. . . . [V]aried and interesting.”—School Library Journal View →
Guitar Notes
“Amato wonderfully reveals, in alternating chapters, that these two are not as one-sided as they may seem. That they suffer from similar hurts makes their growing concern for, and attraction to, each other very believable.” —Library Media Connection View →
Tales from the Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest with Pete Athans
“Accompanying plenty of color photos of climbers and rugged slopes, frequent side boxes contain stories of feats and rescues, an ‘Ask Mr. Everest’ feature, and background material from maps and charts to lists of required gear and types of high-altitude illness. This… View →
Let's Make a Circle Graph
“Each title logically ends with questions that ask the reader to draw information from the very graph being discussed, making these great kickoff points to classroom discussion.” --Booklist View →
Dino-Football
“Gott’s illustrations of the tackles are more humorous than brutal, and he draws examples of good sportsmanship on and off the field. A detailed scoreboard and color-coded naming system in the text (the dinos’ names are in green or red depending on their team) make this View →
Out of the Cold
“This series presents readers with nice, tidy mysteries and work as an excellent introduction to the genre, besides being plenty of fun.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
Regine's Book: A Teen Girl's Last Words
“A heartfelt and visually appealing window into Regine’s last year.”—Kirkus Reviews View →
A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return
“As she puts an accessible face on a foreign culture through her characters, Abirached also distinguishes her piece with striking and unique design work. Her use of heavily contrasted black-and-white spaces, as well as elegant flourishes like crowding an anxious room with ticks and View →
Peace and Quiet: Book 4
“Speech balloons, endearing illustrations of the characters, well-paced panels and lots of action from scene to scene will keep young readers invested in this story… A welcome addition to shelves of graphic novels for new readers.”—Kirkus Reviews View →
“It is evident Hiti comes from the comic-book world. The text is pared down to essential declarations, exclamations and gleeful sound effects in this rapidly paced title. In settings of mostly teal, deep red, white, black and gray, Waga stands out as a brilliantly orange phenom… View →
The Mitzvah Magician
“Whenever Gabriel the great magician commands ‘Presto Magico,’ a small disaster occurs. His magic wand is his tool of choice to empty a glass and make his sister disappear. But to achieve these ends, he knocks over the glass and pokes his sister. Mom gives him a time… View →
“Episodic enough to dip in and out, this New Zealand import charms in small bites.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
“Melmon’s tender cartoons seamlessly integrate the counting lesson into the narrative.” —Publishers Weekly View →
Oh No, Jonah!
“The biblical story of Jonah the reluctant and cranky prophet is retold in gorgeous color and catchy rhyme…. Jago’s illustrations make the story child-friendly.”—Publishers Weekly View →
Sammy Spider's New Friend
“In this addition to the Sammy Spider series, bright colors and an easy-to-follow plot work together to teach children the importance of the Jewish custom of hospitality. When a new family moves to town, Josh Shapiro and his parents immediately set to work preparing… View →
“Quizzes, recipes, and tips for starting a babysitters club should entertain and ease readers into their first gig.”—Publishers Weekly View →
Death of a Dreamer: The Assassination of John Lennon
“This well-documented title should find a home in libraries with deep music and biography collections.” —School Library Journal View →
Guitar Notes
“Amato brings these characters to life with pitch-perfect detail and wrenching anxieties that will resonate strongly with readers.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books View →
Madam and Nun and 1001: What Is a Palindrome?
“A provocation to wordplay.” —Kirkus Reviews View →