The ALA Youth Media Awards are almost upon us which means that very soon, our Caldecott and Newbery winners will be announced for this year! The Newbery Medal was the first award of its kind in the world. It is awarded annually to an American author for the most distinguished children’s book. We’ll follow up next
Have you got Oscar fever yet? The nominees were just announced, and we currently have 12 of the nominees available to borrow. The envelope please! These films have been nominated for an Academy Award, and you can watch them all thanks to the Johnson City Public Library: Baby Driver Beauty and the Beast
Thanks to School Age Program Coordinator Jennifer Johnson for this wonderful review! It is 1969 and the space race is on! Ten-year-old Mamie’s teacher, Mrs. Collins (no relation to astronaut Michael Collins; she checked), asks her students to write a letter to one of the three astronauts being sent to the moon on the Apollo
Centennial commemorations of the First World War continues to drive interest in the first wholly modern global conflict whose impact continues to be felt in international affairs. Robert Gerwarth’s The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End is a detailed, compelling examination of how the armistice of November 11, 1918, failed to create peace
Words have power. We all know that, but in this digital age, sometimes we lose sight of just how powerful our words can be when we don’t have to face the person on the receiving end. This is a lesson learned the hard way by the kids of Branton Middle School in John David Anderson’s
There’s a good chance you may be unfamiliar with Kat Howard, but I don’t think you will be for long. The author of last year’s Roses & Rot–her debut novel– Howard’s short fiction has garnered good press and reviews, and in her latest novel, An Unkindness of Magicians, she has come into her own. An
We know you love the new technology you opened up on Christmas, and we do too! Did you know there’s a lot you can do for free from the library on your new tablet, smartphone, or eReader? Check out some of our top suggestions below, or bring your new device by the library and ask
Bumpety, Dunkety, Thumpety-Thump! is a new picture book written by K. L. Going and illustrated by Simone Shin. It tells a lovely, simple story of two siblings having a berry-picking and pie-making day. Going uses short, rhythmic sentences that feature fun, made-up onomatopoetic words like “bumpety, plunkey, and clunkety”. The text begs to be read–perhaps
Shea Serrano’s Basketball (and Other Things) is a hard book to write about. Much like The Rap Year Book, Serrano’s previous book, Basketball has a definite focus, and if you don’t have at least a slight interest in professional basketball, it probably won’t pull you in like it did for me. At the same time
NPR released its book concierge on Tuesday, Dec. 5. The concierge aggregates hundreds of recommendations from NPR staffers and critics, literary prize winners, and more. The recommendations are all tagged with specific labels—like book club ideas, young adult, staff picks, and more—that work as a matrix allowing you to pick and choose the perfect combination
