Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘middle grade fiction’ Category

ala youth media awards winners!

Posted in middle grade fiction, picture books, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2013 | 6 Comments »

It’s a big day for children’s literature!

The American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards were just announced several hours ago at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Each year, these awards recognize the top books, videos, and audiobooks for children and young adults published in the United States.

We send our heartfelt congratulations to all the winners and honorees in all categories, and thank all the various committee members for their hard work in making these selections.

Winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature is THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate (HarperCollins, 2012)!

ivan cover

Newbery Honor Books: Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick Press, 2012); Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin (Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press, 2012); and Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2012).

newbery collage

bomb cover

* * *

Winner of the 2013 Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children is THIS IS NOT MY HAT by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press, 2012)!

hat cover

Caldecott Honor Books: Creepy Carrots! illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012); Extra Yarn, illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, 2012); Green, illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Neal Porter Books/ Roaring Brook Press, 2012); One Cool Friend, illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2012); Sleep Like a Tiger, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012).

creepycarrots1 (2) 375

extra yarn cover

green cover

one cool friend cover

tiger cover

* * *

Special Congratulations to Virginia author Cece Bell for winning a Geisel Honor for her beginning reader, RABBIT & ROBOT: The Sleepover (Candlewick Press, 2012)!!! We love you, Cece!! ♥ ♥ ♥

rabbit & robot

Click here to see the full list of winners!!

Wow, that’s a lot of exclamation points for one day. Now I need more tea, cookies and a nap.

Have a good week, everyone! :)

———————————————————

Copyright © 2012 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

Read Full Post »

♥ a yummy chat with author natasha lowe on the power of poppy pendle (+ a giveaway!) ♥

Posted in author recipes, author/illustrator interviews, book reviews (all genres), middle grade fiction, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 23, 2012 | 53 Comments »

Coffee cupcakes, anyone?

What could be sweeter than having a lovely lady bring you a tray of freshly baked cupcakes?

Please help me welcome debut author Natasha Lowe, who’s just published an indescribably delicious middle grade novel that I absolutely adore!

The Power of Poppy Pendle (Paula Wiseman/S&S, 2012) is about a girl with a passion for baking who inherits an extraordinary gift of magic. Poppy’s parents enroll her in Ruthersfield Academy, an exclusive school for witchcraft, with high hopes she’ll follow in the footsteps of her famous Great-Granny Mabel.

But Poppy is miserable. She’s teased mercilessly in school because she’d rather create new recipes than cast spells. She repeatedly tells her parents she doesn’t like magic but they just won’t listen. Frustrated and angry at being misunderstood, and unwilling to give up her dreams of becoming a master baker someday, Poppy takes matters into her own hands, misusing her magic powers to disastrous results.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

blog tour stop #3: chatting with grace lin about starry river of the sky

Posted in author/illustrator interviews, book reviews (all genres), middle grade fiction, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2012 | 32 Comments »

I’m so pleased and excited to welcome back Newbery Honor award-winning author/illustrator Grace Lin to Alphabet Soup and to congratulate her on the publication this week of Starry River of the Sky (Little, Brown, 2012)!

When I featured Where the Mountain Meets the Moon back in 2009, I gave it my highest five spoon rating and hoped it would get a Newbery nod. Her hybrid folklore fantasy (with gorgeous full-color illustrations) felt like a modern classic. How could she possibly top herself?

Three legged-toad

In Starry River of the Sky, Grace once again creates a wondrous tapestry of  Chinese folklore seamlessly interwoven within the main narrative. Lyrical prose, mystery, adventure, suspense, magic, an odd cast of characters, humor and delightful surprises characterize this enchanting companion novel about a young runaway who is “taught by kindness” and finds peace through empathy and forgiveness.

Angry, stranded Rendi begrudgingly works as an innkeeper’s chore boy in the remote Village of Clear Sky. He’s baffled and annoyed by its peculiar, unhappy residents and is troubled by the missing moon and the sky’s nightly moans.

When the mysterious Madame Chang arrives with the gift of storytelling, fortunes begin to change. She challenges Rendi to reciprocate with stories of his own, which gradually reveal who he really is and why he ran away. As he learns to trust the other villagers, Rendi realizes the stories hold answers to his many questions about how to save the dying village and resolve his own familial conflict.

“Master Chao seemed not to notice and brought Peiyi in front of him. He gently pushed her tangled hair from her cherry-blossom-pink face. She stood as still as a carved statue, with only her eyes moving, as her father dipped his finger into the wine mixture and carefully wrote ‘wang’, a symbol of power, with it on her forehead. Rendi watched from the doorway, and a strange, jealous anger filled him.” (Chapter 2)

It’s an emotional journey of self discovery for Rendi, but all are transformed by the stories they hear and tell, as new friendships are forged, and moon, mountain, balance and harmony are restored.

The simply told stories are laced with profound universal truths. They circle back and build upon each other, suggesting the interrelationship of all things, adding rich layers of cultural and historical context. Starry River of the Sky is exquisitely crafted, by its own example a paean to the power of story — its ability to enlighten, heal, inspire, unite, and reconcile.

Wood block-inspired drawings head each chapter.

* * *

(more…)

Read Full Post »

starry river of the sky blog tour!

Posted in middle grade fiction, tagged , , , , , on October 1, 2012 | 10 Comments »


Starry River of the Sky, the long anticipated companion novel to Grace Lin’s Newbery Honor book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown, 2009), is officially out this week!

Alphabet Soup is pleased and honored to be participating in the six-stop Blog Tour, which begins today and runs through next Tuesday, October 9. Grace will be visiting each blog, so be sure to bookmark all the stops so you don’t miss anything.

**STARRY RIVER OF THE SKY BLOG TOUR**

Monday, October 1: Bookie Woogie

Tuesday, October 2: The Enchanted Inkpot

Wednesday, October 3: Jama’s Alphabet Soup

Thursday, October 4: Pragmatic Mom

Friday, October 5: Charlotte’s Library

Tuesday, October 9: Abby the Librarian

Grace is also planning a very special virtual Book Launch Party tomorrow at her blog, with games, prizes, and other goodies! I can’t wait to see what she’s cooked up.

Meanwhile, check out the official book trailer:

* * *

Have a great week and make sure to get your hands on a copy of Starry River of the Sky, which has already earned a whopping 5 *starred* reviews! This is truly storytelling at its very best!

—————————————————-

Copyright © 2012 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

Read Full Post »

soup of the day: flying the dragon by natalie dias lorenzi

Posted in asian pacific american heritage month, book reviews (all genres), middle grade fiction, soup of the day, tagged , , , , , , on July 1, 2012 | 19 Comments »

“The dragon is a creature of the sea,” Grandfather said. “When it takes to the sky, it is looking for something precious it has lost. When it finds what it was looking for, it returns to the sea in the form of rain.”

Konnichiwa! Hello!

*bows*

We’re especially excited today to be celebrating the official release of Flying the Dragon by Natalie Dias Lorenzi (Charlesbridge, 2012). Not only is Natalie a Virginia author, but this is her debut middle grade novel. As I always say, no matter how many books you go on to write, or how rich and famous you might become, there will always be only one first book, with its own special brand of pride, joy and feelings of accomplishment. We LOVE to celebrate first books!

Friends, I’m so glad you’re here to join us. Let’s get the party started by suiting up.

First, please select a t-shirt. Depending on your mood, you may feel like building a kite,

or noshing on sushi:

With all the mouthwatering Japanese food in the book, you should probably put this on, too:

Lookin’ good!

Can’t eat a plate of yakisoba without a good pair of chopsticks. Choose your favorite color:

All set?

Now, a little about Flying the Dragon:

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 275 other followers

%d bloggers like this: