Book Tok: The Genius of Judy Blume

Judy Blume is amazing. I knew that before reading this book:

I never get tired of reading about her. Here's a post I wrote last year after watching the documentary Judy Blume Forever.

Here's what I thought about the book:

@yabooknerdlibrarian What's your favorite Judy Blume book???? #judyblume #feministiktok #booktok #bannedbooks ♬ original sound - Jennifer @YA Book Nerd 📚📚📚

Book Tok Review: Heir Apparently

 

This duology was amazing.

I talked about both books on TikTok:

@yabooknerdlibrarian That ending will stick with me! #royal #england #toadtrip #endoftheworld #booktok #yabook #dog @Wednesday Books ♬ original sound - Jennifer @YA Book Nerd 📚📚📚

@yabooknerdlibrarian The second book is out and its also amazing!!!! #booktok #bookcover #royal #prince #yabooks @Wednesday Books ♬ original sound - Jennifer @YA Book Nerd 📚📚📚

Creepy Reads: Book List

 

Over the next few weeks, I'm hoping to read several thrillers.

Have you read any of these? Which one should I start reading first?

Picture Book Wednesday: May's Brave Day

May's set to start school, but there are butterflies in her tummy. How can see get them to stop fluttering? She needs to find her courage for the first day of school.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book talking about mental health and feeling anxious. May had lots of ways of dealing with anxiety. I love how it all worked out. This is a wonderful book to talk about emotions, mental health, and anxiety. 

* Book sent for review

Book Recommendation: This is a fantastic book for your school and public library collections!  

Top Ten Tuesday: About Me

 This week's topic is posts about me. I haven't done one of these in a while...

Here's a post from 8 years ago (if you want to compare answers)

Blogging:

1. I've been blogging here for almost 8 years.

2. Before that, I blogged on Myspace (remember that?)

3. I always think that I'll get ahead of blogging

4. But I almost always write the blog post for the day

5. For one year of my blog, I haven't been a librarian, but the rest of them I'm a librarian blogger, which leaves me on the fringes of the YA blogging community.

Personal:

1. I started a new job as a Children's and Teen Librarian this year and I"m excited to start planning Children's programs for the first time in my career.

2. At least half the books I've read this year, I haven't reviewed on my blog (no space/time)

3. I Love meeting authors (who doesn't?)

4. I'm still writing and one day soon hope to find an agent

5. Last year I opened an Etsy shop filled with mostly jewelry (a few bookish items)

And here are today's answers.

Blogging:

1. I've been blogging for 16 years

2. I did have a lot of posts scheduled for blogging over the summer, but I've caught up on that. I really do love that feeling.

3. I joined TikTok and create book review videos over there.

4. I try to create bookstagram posts, but not many people see them.

5. Still a librarian blogger

Personal:

1. Still a Children's and Teen Librarian - at the same library.  And it's still a great job that I love. I have a lot of favorite families that come into the library.

2. I read less books these days

3. I don't meet any authors these days because I travel less

4. Still Writing - still no agent

5. Working on reorganizing my craft room so I can function better and craft more. I no longer have an Etsy Shop. 

Middle Grade Review: Framed

* first book in a trilogy *

Florian has just moved to Washington D.C. and finds a new friend in the neighborhood. He teaches his new friend Margaret TOAST (The theory of all small things). They use this theory to impress the FBI when paintings go missing at a museum. Can they solve the case?

My Thoughts: I've been meaning to read this for years and my co-workers been pushing me to read it for just as long. James Ponti is a favorite author of mine. Our copy is frequently checked out of the library, but I grabbed it one day. And I'm so happy I did. I really enjoyed this book; I couldn't put it down. I love the friendship between Florian and Margaret. I love TOAST. I can't wait to read what happens next! 

Cover Thoughts: Fantastic

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: A must have trilogy for your school and public library.

Fresh Fiction Review (19)

Just a few recent reviews for Fresh Fiction:

"Daphne's got the Write stuff"

"Perfect for Disney Adults!"

"Coziest Book Imaginable"

"Revenge Dating never felt so good"

"Chasing Dreams in Paris"

"Non-stop action"

So many great reads! 

Review: Who Was Ernest Shackleton

 

Even as a boy, Ernest longed to be at sea. That never changed.

My Thoughts: I didn't know too much about Ernest Shackleton's life expect that he traveled to Antarctica. Now I know a little bit more. From the time he was young, he wished to be at sea. He didn't like school. He was a big competitor and wanted to make his mark on the world. He was brave, keeping his wits about him in the cold. 

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Another good addition to this must have series. 

Review: Bibsy Cross and the Bad Apple

 

Bibsy is in third grade and she's having a tough time. She always wants to share. Her teacher moves apples in the tree lower and lower if a child misbehaves. Bibsy's apple get quite low most days. So far, she's never gotten a hole punched in her apple. Everyone knows that means your rotten.  But one day, that hole punch comes out. And she feels horrible.

My Thoughts: I felt so bad for Bibsy. Yes, she likes to share information and her knowledge with everyone. And I can see how that would be annoying. I'm glad she finds her voice at the end of the story. I did enjoy the way apples were woven into the science fair experiment. It was clever. A fun back to school chapter books.

Cover Thoughts: Cute - fits in perfectly with the story. 

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Recommended for your school and public library collection.

It's nice to see a back-to-school chapter book, we often see pictures books about going back to school, but older students have a hard time adjusting to new classrooms and new teachers too. 

Picture Book Wednesday: Dazzling Zelda

Zelda Wynn Valdes was a pioneer in fashion - this book shares her story.

I was not aware of this fashion designer before reading this book and I'm impressed. I love how she dressed women of all shapes and sizes. The list of women she dressed is amazing. I admire how she inspired and supported young talent. I love how she created fancy dresses and dance costumes (especially love how she dyed the tights for dancers of color). 

I did a little more research:

The fashion designer Zelda Wynn Valdes, who could fit a dress to a body of any size. Dance Theater of Harlem

*book sent for review

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Characters

 This week's topic is all about book characters. Here are books I would like to be a part of because of their characters - I want to be part of the team.

Solve Mysteries with Sophie and Nina

Be one of the City Spies

Be part of the library team

Work at Torte

Be friends and colleagues with Enola

be friends with Mia

Hike with Jo (but a day hike)

be part of the town

Be Lady Georgiana's friend

be a rider at Saddlehill Academy

Bonus:

Be part of the Pinecone Coven

Have you read any of these books?

Author Interview: Gayle Foreman

 

Not Nothing comes out next week and believe me, you're going to want to clear some space in your schedule to read this one!

ABOUT THE BOOK 

To say Alex has had it rough is an understatement. His father’s gone, his mother is struggling with mental health issues, and he’s now living with an aunt and uncle who are less than excited to have him. Almost everyone treats him as though he doesn’t matter at all, like he’s nothing.

So when a kid at school actually tells him he’s nothing, Alex snaps, and gets violent. Fortunately, his social worker pulls some strings and gets him a job at a nursing home for the summer rather than being sent to juvie. There, he meets Josey, the 107-year-old Holocaust survivor who stopped bothering to talk years ago, and Maya-Jade, the granddaughter of one of the residents with an overblown sense of importance.

Unlike Alex, Maya-Jade believes that people care about what she thinks, and that she can make a difference. And when Alex and Josey form an unlikely bond, with Josey confiding in him, Alex starts to believe he can make a difference—a good difference—in the world. If he can truly feel he matters, Alex may be able to finally rise to the occasion of his own life.

My Thoughts: I started this book and couldn't stop reading. I tore through this novel. It made me cry. It made my heart ache. I felt terrible for Alex and all that we went through. I liked how the narrative worked: we learned things slowly. I wasn't expecting the twist at the end, but the set-up of the book tugged at my feelings. I enjoyed the moments between Alex and Maya-Jade. The moments of Shady Glen were rough at first, but lovely as time went on. I enjoyed hearing all the stories of the residents. They all had something to share, especially Josey. This is a must read novel for everyone! 

* Book sent for review

I'm so excited to chat with Gayle Foreman:

Would you rather be flattered or told something in brutal honesty?

 

One of my favorite sayings is, “The truth will set you free but first it will make you miserable.” Maybe that’s why I don’t trust flattery as much as I do criticism? Though I do enjoy flattery, too.

It is so much easier to trust criticism. 

 

What point in history would you like to live through?

 

That’s such a hard question because our understanding of historical times is so very limited because it’s all conjecture. I think I’d like to hopscotch through a bunch of eras, less to experience say the Jazz Age or Enlightenment than to test the hypothesis I’ve developed while writing books with historical elements that people are people are people, with similar desires and traits and flaws, no matter where and when they live.  

I like the idea of going to different eras. I would love to travel to Regency England or Renaissance Italy. 

 

What is a fond memory of your grandparent?

 

My grandparents all died by the time I was a teenager, and I deeply regret that I didn’t get to know them as fully-rounded people, which is maybe why I set my latest novel Not Nothing, in an assisted-living facility and chose a 107-year-old man to narrate it. The memories I do have tend to be small moments: having Shake-and-Bake chicken and Pepperidge Farm cake for Shabbat Dinner at my grandparents’ Hollywood apartment or the news clippings my grandmother would send to me.

Ha! My grandmother would cut out articles of my accomplishments. She created a photo album for me. Some of those are in there. It was very sweet. I had very fond memories of my grandparents. 

 

What is your best thing you've accomplished?

 

My family first. Next is something I don’t talk about publicly, which is maybe what makes it the most profound. Sorry to be so vague but to quote Taylor Swift, “I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian because I care.”

Ha! You will tell everyone if the time is right. It's a very important question and makes me want to be a better person. 

 

If you could interview anyone - who would it be and why?

 

My grandparents. I have befriended and interviewed several elderly people throughout the years—I think I’m drawn to old folks to fill my grandparent gap—and the stories they tell, the history they’ve lived through, blows my mind. But so does the realization that even though things were very different in, say, the 1930s or 1950s, the human experience was very much the same. I take comfort in that.

Yes! You capture this beautifully in the book! 

TikTok: Jane Austen's Emma

Just reading two books based on Emma... 

@yabooknerdlibrarian I was reading two Jane Austen inspired books 📚 #Emma #booktok #clueless #janeausten ♬ original sound - Jennifer @YA Book Nerd 📚📚📚

TikTok: Library Books

How many books is too many books to check out from the library?

Asking for a friend: 

@yabooknerdlibrarian Do you ever just check out ALL of the books? I did. Take a look at them with me. Have you read any??? #newbooks #booktok #yabooks #teenbooks #romance ♬ original sound - Jennifer @YA Book Nerd 📚📚📚

Creepy Read: Death at Morning House

 

From the bestselling author of the Truly Devious books, Maureen Johnson, comes a new stand-alone YA about a teen who uncovers a mystery while working as a tour guide on an island and must solve it before history repeats itself.

The fire wasn’t Marlowe Wexler’s fault. Dates should be hot, but not hot enough to warrant literal firefighters. Akilah, the girl Marlowe has been in love with for years, will never go out with her again. No one dates an accidental arsonist.

With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlowe a new summer job, and that’s how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter. It’s easy enough, giving tours. Low risk of fire. High chance of getting bored talking about stained glass and nut cutlets and Prohibition.

Oh, and the deaths. Did anyone mention the deaths?

Maybe this job isn’t such a gift after all. Morning House has a horrific secret that’s been buried for decades, and now the person who brought her here is missing.

All it takes is one clue to set off a catastrophic chain of events. One small detail, just like a spark, could burn it all down—if someone doesn’t bury Marlowe first. - Summary from the publisher

My Thoughts: I really liked this book - it's a stand-alone thriller. I like how it alternated timelines - from the 1930s to present day. I loved learning about the mansion. The house sounds amazing - the family sounds difficult. I felt for Marlowe; she had a hard summer. There were a lot of twists and turns in this one, which kept me reading because I had to know what happened! 

Cover Thoughts: Amazing! There are so many details. I actually did a quick TikTok video of it. 

Source: Book sent to review

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your library's collection.