Growing Bookworms Newsletter: January 30

Today I will be sending out the new issue of the Growing Bookworms email newsletter. (If you would like to subscribe, you can find a sign-up form here.) The Growing Bookworms newsletter contains content from my blog focused on children's and young adult books and raising readers. There are 1640 subscribers. Currently I am sending the newsletter out once every three weeks.

Newsletter Update: In this issue I am including eight book reviews (three picture books, one middle grade graphic novel, and four young adult novels). I also have one post with the mid-January Children's Literacy Roundup and one post with links that I shared on Twitter. Not included in the newsletter, I also shared a press release about the results of the Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report. 

Also not included in the newsletter as a separate post, but worth mentioning here, the American Library Assocation Youth Media Awards (including the Newbery and Caldecott Awards) were announced on Monday. You can read the official press release here. I haven't read the Newbery winner, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, or the Printz winner, In Darkness by Nick Lake. But I was thrilled to see one of my favorite 2012 titles win the Caldecott: This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. Also nice to see the Cybils finalists well-represented across the awards. Because the ALA Awards have been covered so extensively everywhere, I'm not going to say more here. But Travis has a great roundup of the winners and reaction posts at 100 Scope Notes. 

Reading Update: In the past 3 weeks, I finished 5 novels for middle grade readers, 6 novels for young adults, and 3 novels for adults. I read:  

• Jarrett J. Krosoczka: Lunch Lady and the Picture Book Peril (Lunch Lady #8). Early Middle Grade. Knopf Books for Young Readers. Completed January 23, 2013.
• Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm: Squish #4: Captain Disaster. Early Middle Grade. Random House Books for Young Readers. Completed January 23, 2013.
• Maryrose Wood (ill. Jon Klassen): The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 3: The Unseen Guest. Middle Grade. Balzer + Bray. Completed January 24, 2013, on MP3 from Audible.
• Adina Rishe Gewirtz: Zebra Forest. Middle Grade. Candlewick. Completed January 24, 2013.
• Jeff Kinney: The Third Wheel (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 7). Early Middle Grade. Amulet Books. Completed January 25, 2013.
• Elizabeth Wein: Code Name Verity. Young Adult. Hyperion Books for Children. Completed January 12, 2013.
• Rachel Cohn: Beta. Young Adult. Hyperion Books for Children. Completed January 13, 2013. My review.
• Mark Frost: The Paladin Prophecy (Book 1). Young Adult. Random House Books for Young Readers. Completed January 18, 2013.
• Justina Chen: Return to Me. Young Adult. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Completed January 20, 2013. My review.
• Jennifer Rush: Altered. Young Adult. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Completed January 23, 2013.
• Marie Lu: Legend. Young Adult. Putnam. Completed January 29, 2013.
• P. D. James: Death Comes to Pemberly. Adult. Random House. Completed January 15, 2013.
• Robert Parker: Paper Doll (Spenser). Adult Mystery. Berkley. Completed January 21, 2013.
• Robert Parker: Walking Shadow (Spenser). Adult Mystery. Berkley. Completed January 21, 2013.

Reviews of most of the above MG/YA titles are to come. I'm currently reading Prodigy by Marie Lu (having cleverly finished Legend on Prodigy's publication date). I'm listening to Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris. 

And of course I'm still reading books to Baby Bookworm. She is currently obsessed with Mercer Mayer's Little Critter books, and Mia: The Sweetest Valentine, by Robin Farley. She also loves Marla Frazee's illustrations of babies. We read Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers and All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon all the time. In fact, she just popped by my computer, and pointed excitedly at the picture of All the World, saying "That my book!"

How about you? What have you and your kids been reading and enjoying? Thanks for reading the newsletter, and for growing bookworms. 

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.