Due to the unfortunate day of her birth, Morrigan Crow is destined to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. And while she lives, she’s a curse. Anything that goes wrong in Jackalfax—hail storms, heart attacks, ruined batches of marmalade—they’re all blamed on her. It’s a lonely life. Nobody wants to be in the same room with her, for fear of something Read More …
Ada has been lying to people her whole life. With her black wavy hair, brown skin, and green eyes, Ada looks completely normal. Completely human. But she’s not. She’s a dreaded chimera, or kime. Most people are terrified of the kimes — these part human, part animal monster children. No one knows why Chimera Syndrome is spreading across Long Island. Read More …
Aventurine is tired of being kept cooped up in her family’s mountainside cavern. She won’t be allowed outside until her scales harden…in another 30 years. Aventurine is a young dragon, and most young dragons spend their early, quiet years learning everything they can about some subject that interests them. Aventurine’s older sister mastered twenty languages and wrote epic poetry. Her Read More …
Ty was the first kid born in the undersea settlers’ community. His family has a soft jellyfish-shaped house, they farm fish, and they swallow Liquigen whenever they need to breathe underwater. People who live above the sea call them Dark Life. Ty can’t wait to stake his own underwater homestead claim when he turns 18, in just three years, but Read More …
THE SCHOOL FOR THE INSANELY GIFTED: Daphna, age 11, is a highly gifted composer who attends the Blatt School for the Insanely Gifted in New York. When Daphna’s mother disappears while flying an old biplane, Daphna can’t shake the feeling that there was more to her mother’s disappearance than a simple accident. A hidden map launches Daphna and her friends Harkin Read More …
Rebecca Johnson writes nonfiction (mainly science) books for kids and young adults. In my first year doing booktalks, I shared her book WHEN LUNCH FIGHTS BACK: WICKEDLY CLEVER ANIMAL DEFENSES at elementary schools. Fifth and sixth graders were simultaneously awed, disgusted, and intrigued when they heard that fulmar chicks ward off predators by vomiting on them. (The chicks can hit a moving target from 6 feet away — how cool Read More …
Elizabeth Rusch is the author of numerous acclaimed nonfiction titles for youth, with topics ranging from volcanoes and asteroids to the invention of the piano. I discovered her books several years ago with THE MIGHTY MARS ROVERS, which I loved for its clarity and strong storytelling. I am delighted that she has agreed to share her perspective on writing nonfiction for kids. How did you get started Read More …
I am just about to launch into my new spring booktalk season, but before I do, I want to share a list of superstar titles from booktalks in 2017. There are 18 titles here, drawn from the 72 books I used in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes during the year. These were the books the kids got most excited Read More …
Chase Ambrose falls off a roof in the summer before eighth grade. He’s in a coma for four days and when he wakes up at the hospital, he has no memory of his life before the accident. Here’s what he learns about himself in the weeks before school starts: First of all, he’s a great athlete — there are newspaper Read More …
When Winnie’s parents get divorced, they want to make sure she spends exactly the same amount of time with each of them every week. She’s going to live with her mom on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. She’ll be with her dad on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. And on Wednesdays — that pesky leftover day — she’ll stay in a treehouse Read More …