Laura Amy Schlitz, a former Newbery Award winner for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village in 2008, came up with an Honor Award for her Splendors and Glooms. Here is a very short synopsis: Lizzie Rose, Parsefall and Clara are caught in the clutches of a wicked
puppeteer and a powerful witch in this deliciously dark and complex tale
set in Dickensian England, where adventure and suspense are interwoven
into nuanced explorations of good versus evil. I have not read this myself, so I must wait until the library copy is sitting on the shelf again. In the meantime, I'll be checking out...Steve Sheinkin's Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon. I am a HUGE fan of Steve Sheinkin's writing. He is the author of The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery, last year's winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. (Actually Bomb won this year's YALSA Award for Nonfiction, too!)
Bomb is a suspenseful combination of science and history, where Sheinkin
masterfully exposes the international race to develop an atomic weapon
and bring an end to World War II. This true-life spy thriller features
an international cast of characters and will keep readers on the edge of
their seats. Period photographs of key players and an abundance of
primary sources bring this well-researched story to life. Sheinkin
gives readers insight into what happened with all of the major players
after the end of the war. A thought-provoking epilogue on the long term
implications of atomic weaponry reminds readers that the results of
scientific inquiry have long term implications for everyone. “In readability, documentation and presentation, Bomb exemplifies the
highest quality in nonfiction for young adults, and it as suspenseful
as an international spy thriller,” said YALSA Nonfiction Award Chair
Angela Frederick. This is sitting on my nightstand waiting (begging) to be read next.
Lastly, in the Newbery Honor category we have Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage. In the rich tradition of Southern storytelling, rising sixth-grader Mo
LoBeau leads the eccentric residents of Tupelo Landing, North Carolina,
on a rollicking journey of mystery, adventure and small-town intrigue as
she investigates a murder and searches for her long-lost mother. This didn't seem to be on anyone's radar, and I look forward to reading it, too.Never underestimate the power of great reads. And where will you find those great reads? From award-winning titles, awards that are chosen by librarians.
No comments:
Post a Comment