4 Stars for Franzen

Jonathan Franzen’s CROSSROADS has received FOUR starred reviews! “Much like Updike, Franzen is keenly aware that human struggle is defined by understanding and acceptance and that it is generational, ideas he admirably captures here.”–Library Journal, starred review “This masterpiece of social realism vividly captures each character’s internal conflicts as a response to and a reflection […]

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Four Stars for AMERICAN DIRT!

Four Stars for AMERICAN DIRT!

Jeanine Cummins’ immigration saga AMERICAN DIRT–the splashiest book of 2020 so far–now has FOUR starred reviews! “As the quartet travel, they face terror on a constant basis, with danger possible from any encounter, but also compassion and occasionally even wonder. This extraordinary novel about unbreakable determination will move the reader to the core.”–Publishers Weekly, starred […]

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Four Stars for EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES!

Four Stars for EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES!

If you’ve been lucky enough to meet her, you know why we looooove Lisa Scottoline. She’s HILARIOUS, yet incredibly down-to-earth, and super talented writer. Just how talented? Her latest standalone novel, EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES has FOUR STARRED rave pre-publication reviews! “In a nail-biting stand-alone with two heart-pounding climaxes and several pulse-racing twists, Scottoline grabs her […]

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FOUR STARS for How the Light Gets In!

FOUR STARS for How the Light Gets In!

Elf happy dance
Incredibly important update: HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN is #1 on the New York Times bestseller list (dated Sept.15)! Cue happy dance freakout!

We have so much love and respect for mystery awards darling Louise Penny and we're not the only ones. Her ninth intimate, yet thrilling Chief Inspector Gamache novel, HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN, has received FOUR pre-pub starred reviews!

"Once again, Penny impressively balances personal courage and faith with heartbreaking choices and monstrous evil." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[I]t’s Three Pines, with its quirky tenants, resident duck and luminous insights into trust and friendship, that will hook readers and keep them hooked." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Another bravura performance from an author who has reinvented the village mystery as profoundly as Dashiell Hammett transformed the detective novel." ―Booklist (starred review)

"Highly recommended for mystery lovers, readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries, and those who like seeing good triumph and evil get its just desserts." ―Library Journal (starred review)

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Macmillan Library Selects: Contemporary Teen Titles Coming in 2013

Macmillan Library Selects: Contemporary Teen Titles Coming in 2013

Most of you know by now that Talia and I are very different readers—Talia loves her blood-soaked mysteries and I love my swashbuckling space adventures—so when we both fall in love with the same book we make a big deal out of it. 

Here's the big deal this time: not one, but three exceptional contemporary teen novels are coming out early next year that both Talia and I are incredibly excited about: USES FOR BOYS by Erica Lorraine Scheidt, ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell, and IF YOU FIND ME by Emily Murdoch.

Read more on each of these titles below. We truly hope you get the chance to read all three!

USES FOR BOYS
By Erica Lorraine Scheidt
January 2013

This beautifully written debut novel is about Anna, a father-less girl who drops out of high school and moves into the heart of Portland to become the independent woman she knows she can be.

"Readers will be moved as smart, honest Anna learns she can draw on her innate strength to write her own story—one with room for the wounded people she loves. Scheidt’s novel packs a punch; this fast-moving book can be devoured in one sitting, but reveals even more upon rereading." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"By novel’s end, readers will find themselves emotionally exhausted but hopeful. [...] Lots of teens will see themselves in the pages of this beautiful, honest novel." —Booklist (Starred Review)

"Anna is so compellingly flawed and quietly winning that readers won’t quibble. Haunting, frank and unputdownable." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

You can download an e-galley of USES FOR BOYS on Edelweiss (instructions on how to get whitelisted here). UPDATE: This title has been released and is no longer available via Edelweiss.

ELEANOR & PARK
By Rainbow Rowell
February 2013

This is the story of two high school misfits in an economically-depressed small town falling in love for the first time. 

"The pure, fear-laced, yet steadily maturing relationship Eleanor and Park develop is urgent and breathtaking and, of course, heartbreaking, too." —Booklist (starred review)

"Funny, hopeful, foulmouthed, sexy and tear-jerking, this winning romance will captivate teen and adult readers alike"  —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Rowell keeps things surprising, and the solution—imperfect but believable—maintains the novel’s delicate balance of light and dark."  —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The friendship between the teens is movingly believable. [...] Purchase for readers who are drawn to quirky love stories or 1980s pop culture." —School Library Journal (starred review)

We will have galleys of ELEANOR & PARK at ALA Midwinter (booth 2435) and you can download an e-galley on Edelweiss (instructions on how to get whitelisted here). UPDATE: This title has been released and is no longer available via Edelweiss.

IF YOU FIND ME 
By Emily Murdoch
March 2013

Fourteen-year-old Carey and six-year-old Jenessa are living in the backwoods with their drug-addicted mother until they are discovered by their estranged father. He draws them into the real world and helps them navigate family, school, clothes and everything else that comes with teenager territory. 

“First-time author Emily Murdoch has written a painful, hopeful, surprisingly quiet book that charts the best and worst of humanity. [...] exposing child abuse, sexual abuse, and drug abuse for the terror they are, she validates the courage and ingenuity of young people the world over for whom survival is instinctive; protection of siblings is nonnegotiable; and love both a right and a gift bestowed upon those fortunate enough to find it.” —Booklist (starred review)

"Murdoch’s debut is beautifully written. The deep bond between the sisters is almost physically palpable, as is their intense longing for love and acceptance; they will quickly endear themselves to readers." —School Library Journal (starred review)

"A compelling narrative that is both unflinching about life's pain and hopeful about its possibilities." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

We will have galleys of IF YOU FIND ME at ALA Midwinter (booth 2435).

UPDATE: School Library Journal featured the IF YOU FIND ME and ELEANOR & PARK jackets at the front of the "Grades 5 & Up" section of their February issue:

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FOUR STARS for A Killing in the Hills!

FOUR STARS for A Killing in the Hills!

We already mentioned that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Julia Keller's debut novel, A KILLING IN THE HILLS, is getting killer reviews. Now we get to say that it has officially received (read: rightfully earned) FOUR pre-pub starred reviews! 

Take a look:

"Keller does a superb job of showing both the natural beauty of Appalachia and the hopeless anger of the people trapped there in poverty. [...] The ensemble cast is unforgettable. So is this novel." -Publishers Weekly (starred review, Pick of the Week)

julia keller"A page-turner with substance and depth, this is as suspenseful and entertaining as it is accomplished." -Booklist (starred review)

"[A] superbly detailed and suspense-drenched mystery. Share with Linda Fairstein, Meg Gardiner, and Lisa Gardner fans." -Library Journal (starred review, Debut of the Month)

"[A] mystery that has plenty of twists and turns and a shocking conclusion." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A KILLING IN THE HILLS will be available in August from Minotaur Books. [...]

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Monday Fun Day! (4/23/2012 Edition)

Monday Fun Day! (4/23/2012 Edition)

Hello again, librarian friends!

- TxLA was fantastic this year! Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth and joined us for our author signings, panels, and other events. Please stay in touch! We'll post more about our adventures later this week. 

- Congratulations to Tracy K. Smith who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry with her collection LIFE ON MARS! See all of this year's winners here.

- Tomorrow join us for Booklist's "The Murderous Month of May: Hot Mysteries for Spring" webinar at 2PM Eastern. Sign up now!

- Will you be in Chicago at the end of April? Join Ali for a book buzz on Monday, April 30 in the Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State St.) in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium! A complimentary lunch will be served at 12:30PM and the adult buzz starts at 2PM. Sign up now!

- We already mentioned that DON'T EVER GET OLD, the debut mystery from author Daniel Friedman, is getting great reviews. Well, now it has four(!) starred reviews from Publishers WeeklyLibrary Journal, Booklist, AND Kirkus Reviews

- Also we heard a rumor that Cat Fancy featured NO COOPERATION FROM THE CAT by Marian Babson in a "Books for Cat Lovers" article. We wholeheartedly approve. 

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Starred Reviews for Don’t Ever Get Old

Starred Reviews for Don’t Ever Get Old

We love debuts. You love debuts. Authors definitely love their debuts. And when reviewers love a debut we get downright giddy.

When DON'T EVER GET OLD, Daniel Friedman's debut Mystery, earned itself two starred reviews right out of the gate we had to pull out the emergency party horns (our buddies in the Academic Marketing Department were not impressed).

Here's the story in a nutshell:

When Buck Schatz, senior citizen and retired Memphis cop, learns that an old adversary may have escaped Germany with a fortune in stolen gold, Buck decides to hunt down the fugitive and claim the loot. But a lot of people want a piece of the stolen treasure, and Buck’s investigation quickly attracts unfriendly attention from a very motley (and murderous) crew.

And here are the reviews:

"In prose as straightforward and tough as old Buck, the plot reveals its secrets with perfect timing. It’s a shock when the killer’s identity is revealed. But, then, we think eventually, who else could it be?" -Booklist (starred review)

"Friedman’s excellent debut introduces a highly unusual hero, 87-year-old, politically incorrect Buck Schatz, a former member of the Memphis PD, who’s become a living legend. Schatz’s memory is less and less reliable, and his physical decline is making his world 'a gradually shrinking circle.' [...] Friedman makes his limited lead plausible, and bolsters the story line with wickedly funny dialogue." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

UPDATE: DON'T EVER GET OLD now has four(!) starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, AND Kirkus Reviews!

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FOUR STARS for Caroline Bock’s LIE!

FOUR STARS for Caroline Bock’s LIE!

We are blown away by the reviews for Caroline Bock's LIE, a sensitive and complex YA novel about a small town hate crime. Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist have all given LIE a starred review!

 

Kirkus Reviews calls LIE, "unusual and important," and says, "This effective, character-driven, episodic story examines the consequences of a hate crime on the teens involved in it. [...] Realistic and devastatingly insightful, this novel can serve as a springboard to classroom and family discussions."

Publishers Weekly says, "Avoiding preachiness, Bock handles the novel's multiple viewpoints exceptionally well, rotating among the painfully believable voices of high school students and adults. Her characters may keep the truth inside, but their story reads like a confessional."

Library Journal says, "Bock’s debut will grip readers searching for complete realism in their fiction."

Booklist has yet to publish their full review, but we'll update when they do!

 

This is an excellent read for all Americans, teen and up.

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