Growing Bookworms Newsletter: April 18

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 1663 subscribers. Currently I am sending the newsletter out once every two weeks.

Newsletter Update: In this issue I have seven book reviews (four picture books, one early reader, one middle grade novel, and one young adult novel). I also have a children's literacy roundup (more detailed post at The Family Bookshelf), a post introducing Screen Free Week, and a quick post with a literacy milestone for Baby Bookworm. 

Not included in the newsletter this time around I have:

• A post about Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.) Day, which was April 12th. 
• Links I shared on Twitter: April 12th
• Links I shared on Twitter: April 5th
• A list of our Favorite Birthday Books (with mini-reviews), posted in honor of Baby Bookworm's third birthday.

Reading Update: In the past 2 weeks, I finished 3 novels for middle grade readers, and 6 novels for young adults. I'm not quite sure how I managed that! I read:  

• Jarrett J. Krosoczka: Lunch Lady and the Video Game Villain. Knopf Books for Young Readers. Early Middle Grade. Completed April 17, 2013.
• Ellen Potter: Otis Dooda, Strange But True. Feiwel and Friends. Early Middle Grade. Completed April 13, 2013. Review to come. 
• Kristen Kittscher: The Wig in the Window. HarperCollins. Middle Grade. Completed April 6, 2013. Review to come.
• Dan Wells: Fragments (Partials #2). Balzer + Bray. Young Adult. Completed April 3, on Kindle. While I read this one quickly, and even dreamed about it, I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first Partials book. I found the "humans are bad and will eventually destroy the planet" messages both heavy-handed and repetitive. Which is too bad, because Wells has built a compelling dystopian world full of witty characters and interesting ethical challenges. I'll still read the next book, though.
• Maureen Johnson: The Madness Underneath (Shades of London, Book 2). Putnam Juvenile. Completed April 8, 2013, on MP3. Love it, but I don't typically review audiobooks, since I use them as an escape. This book left me very eager for Book 3. 
• Simon Mayo: Itch: The Explosive Adventures of an Element Hunter. Splinter (Sterling Publishing). Young Adult. Completed April 9, 2013. Review to come.
• Amber Kizer: A Matter of Days. Delacorte Press. Young Adult. Completed April 10, 2013. Review to come (this one is fabulous!).
• Sara Zarr: The Lucy Variations. Little Brown. Young Adult. Completed April 12, 2013. My review.
• Cat Patrick: The Originals. Little Brown. Young Adult. Completed April 16, 2013. Review to come.

I'm currently reading Lenny Cyrus, School Virus by Joe Schreiber (ill. Matt Smith) and listening to Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy. And, of course, I'm reading every day with Baby Bookworm. I'll have a post tomorrow highlighting some of her recent favorites.

Lately Baby Bookworm has been highly tuned in to any packages that I receive in the mail (many of which are from publishers). Her eyes light up as she sees me opening something that looks like a book. And if picture books (or early readers, or sometimes even graphic novels) come out, she says, delighted: "For me!". I then have to sneak off with the ones that I intend to read for review. She definitely views our letter carrier and UPS driver as people who bring books to us, lucky child that she is. 

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.  You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.