Innholdsfortegnelse for Booklist, Vol. 119, No. 5/6, 11/1/22 and 11/15/22 i Booklist

This outstanding double issue, featuring our Spotlight on First Novels, is one I’ll need to keep within arm’s reach. Writing a first novel takes courage and requires patience, creativity, and support, especially when the world seemingly teeters on a precipice, divided and polarized. Amid the risks, first novels often glisten with new perspectives, over time becoming seminal works. As Donna Seaman writes in “Top Twenty-First Century First Novels, So Far” (p.46), authors of first novels have “won major prizes, landed on best-seller lists, galvanized book groups, inspired film and stage adaptations, and launched exciting literary careers.” For readers, these books can nurture and sustain, and Donna’s impactful TBR list illustrates reasons why first novels are special. Booklist has been around for over a century now, so, clearly, the team and…

What a shattering, sometimes inspiring century this has been, from 9/11 and the horrific wars that followed to record-breaking natural disasters intensified by climate change, the pandemic, assaults against democracy, the social-media revolution, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo, to name but a few seismic events and movements. What sorts of first novels has the still-new twenty-first century inspired? These impressive and impactful debut works of general fiction published between 2000 and 2021 have won major prizes, landed on best-seller lists, galvanized books groups, inspired film and stage adaptations, and launched exciting literary careers. American War. By Omar El Akkad. 2017. Vintage, $18 (9781101973134). The American South has once again attempted to secede from the Union amid the ravages of global warming in El Akkad’s gripping cautionary tale of one family’s struggles…

Older Readers The 9:09 Project. By Mark H. Parsons. Nov. 2022. 384p. Delacorte, $18.99 (9780593309759). Gr. 9–12. Seventeen-year-old Jamison (“J”) has em-barked on what he calls the 9:09 Project, which finds him standing on a street corner each evening at precisely 9:09, taking photographs of passersby. The project is designed to memorialize his mother, who died two years earlier at 9:09 p.m. J finds himself missing her more, rather than less, as time goes by because he believes she was the only one who really understood him, in large part because they both had synesthesia. J’s project gains currency when his only friend, Seth, creates a website for him to display his photographs anonymously. Of course, not everyone agrees to be photographed, including J’s classmate Assi. Accordingly, the two begin…

Short on time but need to meet 9 debut novelists in a series of rapid-fire Q&As? You’ve come to the right place. Emi Watanabe Cohen The Lost Ryū Describe your book in one sentence, using as much alliteration as possible. A notoriously naive boy and his noble new neighbor neglect to notify their understandably unnerved parents upon taking a terribly tiring and time-sensitive train trip in search of the fabled, feared, fantastical dragons found only in their flights of fancy. Would you rather have as a companion a dragon or a golem? Definitely a dragon! Golem stories rarely have happy endings. Worst-case scenario, a dragon might eat my ears or steal my jewelry, and I can live with either of those outcomes. Pitch the first book you ever wrote. A…

Inside Voice: My Obsession with How We Sound. By Lake Bell. Read by the author and a full cast. 2022. 6hr. Pushkin, DD (9798985080230). In this audiobook exclusive, Bell explores how voice shapes our perceptions as well as the power of our own voices in presenting ourselves to the world. As an actor, director, writer, and producer, Bell is a student of how voice and vocal tone can lead to a variety of emotions and judgments, both positive and negative. Featuring interviews with actors, doctors, vocal coaches, and other notable voice experts, the book uses storytelling elements reminiscent of a podcast series. Listeners will recognize the voices of Pam Grier, Jeff Goldblum, Tracey Ullman, and Drew Barrymore, who all help explore the concepts of how our life experiences shape how…

Coraline. By Neil Gaiman. Read by a full cast. 2022. 4hr. HarperAudio, DD (9780063243255). Gr. 5–8. This full-cast performance celebrates the 20th anniversary of Neil Gaiman’s Newbery-winning, modern classic middle-grade story. After moving into their new home, Coraline’s parents are too busy working to pay much attention to her. Bored, she explores the house and finds a locked door that, at first, opens to a brick wall. But upon returning, the door unlocks a passage to a realm much like her own, with another set of parents who want her to stay with them forever. This version of home seems wonderful at first, but as its dark secrets are slowly revealed and her “other” mother refuses to let her leave, Coraline must find her way out and save the other…

Journalism & Publishing The Primetimer Guide to Streaming TV: The Best Shows, Movies and Specials on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, HBO Max, Disney+, Peacock, Paramount+, Apple TV+ and Other Popular Streamers. Ed. by Aaron Barnhart. 2022. 400p. Quindaro, paper, $19.99 (9781946248114); e-book, $9.99 (9781946248121). 006.7876. Streaming TV has all but replaced traditional cable, and this guide will help readers figure out what services are right for them and what to watch. The first part begins with a history of streaming TV, then breaks down the benefits of major services, smaller services like PBS Passport, and free channels like Tubi. The bulk of the book contains an alphabetical list of over 1000 shows, from 3rd Rock from the Sun to Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, with information on where to stream them, brief…

Adult Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin. By Andrew S. Weiss. Art by Brian “Box” Brown. Nov. 2022. 272p. First Second, $28.99 (9781250760753). 741.5. Arguably no modern political figure is more notorious than Vladimir Putin, and Accidental Czar offers a concise and clear portrait of this complicated man. Diving in with a violent anecdote from Putin’s past, Weiss proceeds to break down the myths by dissecting Putin’s perceived failures and grievances, while offering historic insight into why this adversarial figure has risen to power and held onto it. Weiss begins and ends the book by warning about the mythical status of Putin portrayed and then elevated by the media; though he thoroughly explains how Putin exploited this, there are few concrete examples of it in the text,…

Book Links For more than three decades, Book Links has served those in the educational sphere, linking valuable backlist and frontlist titles to the curriculum through lists and interviews. A print publication and sister magazine to Booklist, it has undergone multiple evolutions in its lifetime. Over the last few years, as with Booklist, we began publishing a digital edition of Book Links. The increasing demand for digital content and the flexibility of that content, as well as a growing awareness of how educators are accessing and using the content that supplements student development, has let us to the realization that it’s time to revitalize Book Links. We plan to keep the same content we’re known for—book-forward, curriculum-focused, designed by and for educators—but in a more accessible way, and in a…

We’re counting down the days until we can get our hands on these forthcoming titles; odds are your patrons feel the same way! Big Tree. By Brian Selznick. Illus. by the author. Scholastic, $32.99 (9781338180633). Gr. 2–5. Apr. With his signature grand scope and wild imagination, Selznick follows two sycamore seeds as they embark on an adventure far from home. Enter the Body. By Joy McCullough. Dutton, $18.99 (9780593406755). Gr. 9–12. Mar. Juliet, Ophelia, and Cordelia, young women who died tragically in Shakespeare’s most famous works, discuss their lives—and deaths—in this powerful novel from award-winning McCullough. A Long Stretch of Bad Days. By Mindy McGinnis. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegan, $17.99 (9780063230361). Gr. 9–12. Mar. Two teen girls from very different backgrounds start a podcast examining a tumultuous period in their tiny town’s…

Adult Audio Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match. By Sally Thorne. Read by Moira Quirk. 2022. 11.5hr. HarperAudio, DD (9780062912862). Even as a young girl, Angelika had wanted to be loved, yet there was “no one special to love her” in return. That changes the night she and her brother Victor are browsing in the morgue and she has the opportunity to tailor her own suitor. Angelika selects a corpse and, with an assortment of spare body parts, constructs a sadly mismatched, seven-foot-tall “cobbled-together” man. Angelika quickly learns that creating Will is only step one in the process of being loved. Next, she has to help him remember who he was before being murdered by robbers. Narrator Quirk brings life to all the characters, including screechy, humorously complaining maid Mary; the…

Knitters are excellent library patrons, perusing the craft section for new patterns and the fiction section for new novels about their favorite hobby. Here are a few good yarns: mysteries, romance, and fantasy featuring knitting, plus a few excellent fiber-arts instruction books. Crafty Fiction Death of a Knit Wit. By Peggy Ehrhart. 2022. Kensington. In a mystery that features a knitting pattern and a recipe, a knitting-magazine editor finds herself trying to solve the murder of a fiber-arts scholar, whose ex-wife accused him of stealing her research. The series starts with Murder, She Knit (2018). The Fourth Island. By Sarah Tolmie. 2020. Tor.com. In this pleasantly meandering fantasy novella, the cable pattern in every fisherman’s sweater is unique to the knitter; when a man washes up on the shore of…

The trend for big debuts continues as we get further into 2023,while well-known authors are also topping the list of books with big print runs. Good thing the Hot List is here to help you get your collection development on! City of Dreams. By Don Winslow. Morrow, $29.99 (9780062851239). Apr. In the follow-up to City on Fire (2021), a widowed mob underboss heads to Hollywood to control the shake-down of those making a movie based on the New England crime war, only to find the alluring leading lady has secrets she’s desperate to keep. The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa. By Stephen Buoro. Bloomsbury, $28 (9781635577778). Apr. The trials of a 15-year-old boy in northern Nigeria—hanging out with friends, contemplating questions of mathematics and Black power, and falling in…

General Fiction Animal Life. By Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. Tr. by Brian FitzGibbon. Dec. 2022. 192p. Black Cat, paper, $17 (9780802160164); e-book (9780802160171). Prize-winning Icelandic author Ólafsdóttir’s lyrical meditation on birth and death centers on Dýja, who was named for her grandaunt, nicknamed Fífa. Like many generations of women in her family, including her namesake, Dýja is a midwife, the Icelandic word for which—ljósmóður—translates to “mother of light.” After Fífa’s death, Dýja inherits her apartment and a box containing three of Fifa’s manuscripts: Animal Life, The Truth about Light, and Coincidence. The novel alternates between Dýja’s attempts to understand her grandaunt’s work and her day-to-day life during the darkest time of the year as she and the members of her community prepare for a major storm. As women who bring life…

Set in Lagos, Seoul, Harlem, and the inside of a woman’s body, these superb and transporting debuts were reviewed in Booklist from November 1, 2021, through October 15, 2022. Big Girl. By Mecca Jamilah Sullivan. 2022. Norton/Liveright, $27 (9781324091417). With grace and patience, Sullivan invites the reader into the interior world of young teenager Malaya, whose body is constantly scrutinized and commented on, and her rapidly changing exterior world in 1990s Harlem. Black Cake. By Charmaine Wilkerson. 2022. Ballantine, $28 (9780593358337). A mother’s final bequest, an audio recording and a homemade Caribbean black cake stowed in the freezer, unearths a story that spans decades, upending everything her grieving children thought they knew about their family and themselves. Calling for a Blanket Dance. By Oscar Hokeah. 2022. Workman, $26.99 (9781643751474). The…

Older Readers Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. By Robin Wall Kimmerer and Monique Gray Smith. Illus. by Nicole Neidhardt. Nov. 2022. 304p. paper, $17.99 (9781728458991); Lerner/Zest, lib. ed., $39.99 (9781728458984). Gr. 7–10. 305.8. This unique offering from an Indigenous botanist pulls together elements of science, lore, history, and ecology. It seeks to show how humans need to be mindful of their connections to the planet. Kimmerer, of Anishinaabe heritage, crafts her musings and teachings around the life cycle of sweetgrass. This common plant is considered sacred to many Native American cultures and is used not only for braiding baskets but also for medicine and as an important element in rituals. The book evolves around six sweetgrass categories: “Meeting,” “Planting,” “Tending,” “Picking,”…

Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism. 4th ed. By Michael Cart. 2022. 288p. Neal-Schuman, $59.99 (9780838947470). 813.0099. This fourth edition of Cart’s guide to young adult literature has been updated, lengthened, and strengthened, making it practically indispensable for any library practitioner who works with tweens, teens, new adults, “kiddults,” “adultescents, “twixters,” “boomerangers,” or any other humans around the age of fourteen. Or seventeen. Twenty-one? Thirty-five? These parameters don’t really matter, since Cart welcomes all readers and provides comprehensive and insightful guidance on this ever-popular and flourishing sector. In addition to thoughtful analysis of individual works, publishing trends, and emerging genres, this new edition features several interviews with subject experts (publishers, editors, authors, illustrators), a reader’s advisory-type review of Printz award winners, and a model for unpacking text through close…

This past year was marked by a chorus of new, authentic voices, especially in the speculative-YA arena, as seen in these out-standing titles reviewed in Booklist between November 1, 2021, and October 15, 2022. The Best Liars in Riverview. By Lin Thompson. 2022. Little, Brown, $16.99 (9780316276726). Gr. 4–7. In rural Kentucky, white Aubrey sets off on a journey to find themself as well as their missing best friend, Joel. A heartfelt coming-of-age journey that explores identity and friendship. The Civil War of Amos Abernathy. By Michael Leali. 2022. Harper, $16.99 (9780063119864). Gr. 5–8. While working on a project to highlight queer figures in history, two gay boys struggle against the homophobia in their community. Freewater. By Amina Luqman-Dawson. 2022. Little, Brown, $16.99 (9780316056618). Gr. 4–7. Fleeing enslavement, 12-year-old Homer…

I Have a Dream / Yo tengo un sueño. By Martin Luther King. Read by the author and a full cast. 2022. 1hr. Harper, DD English edition (9780063236844); DD Spanish edition (9780063246911). As the sixtieth anniversary of the March on Washington approaches, this duo of recordings extends the reach of King’s words from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial even further. Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman begins the presentation with a moving introduction in which she reflects on the current relevance of the speech. Diana Pou reads Gorman’s words in the Spanish edition. Next is a performance of the speech by Blair Underwood in English and Pablo González in Spanish. Underwood evokes the timbre and emphasis of King without performing as King. Similarly, González offers a clear and well-paced narration of…