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Recommended Book: Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine
Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark illustrated by April Chu This beautifully written and illustrated nonfiction picture book tells the story of Ada Byron Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, but more importantly, a girl who loved math and who would eventually create the world's first computer…
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Recommended Book App: Professor Astro Cat's Solar System
Professor Astro Cat's Solar System is a fun app for elementary age kids to learn about the solar system. Kids swipe to go from planet to planet and explore the solar system. For each planet, there are interesting facts, and you can unzip the planet to see inside. Well-done animations…
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Recommended Book: Lois Lane Fallout
Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond Young Lois Lane arrives in Metropolis as an army brat changing schools again. Lois has a bit of a history, and has promised to stay out of trouble in this school. But a job on the Daily Planet's student paper, the Daily Scoop, and…
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Recommended Book: I Am Princess X
I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest illustrated by Kali Ciesemier As fifth-graders, May and Libby together created Princess X. Libby drew the pictures and May wrote the stories. Years later, 16-year-old May is still mourning the loss of her best friend, who died 3 years earlier when her car…
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Recommended Book: The Edge of Forever
The Edge of Forever by Melissa E. Hurst A time cadet from 2146 breaks the rules and travels to 2013 to try and stop the murder of a 16-year-old girl. The Edge of Forever is an engaging young adult time travel with relatable teen characters. Told in alternating viewpoints. Diversity:…
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Welcome to Wands and Worlds Redux!
After ten years of blogging, it was time for a change. I've moved my blog to the Ghost platform, which I'm rapidly coming to love. It's so easy to use! I'm also going to be making some changes. I'll still be focusing on children's and YA speculative fiction, but it'll…
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Book Review: The Temple of Doubt
The Temple of Doubt by Anne Boles Levy Fifteen-year-old Hadara and her mother Lia are technically committing a sin when they collect plants and make medicines. The priests of the Temple of Doubt use magic to cure people under the power of their god Nihil; natural remedies are heresy. But…
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Cybils Awards: Five Reasons to Apply as a Judge!
Everyone else is doing it, so I thought I’d post my five reasons why you should apply to be a Cybils Awards judge. As you would expect, there’s a lot of overlap with other people’s reasons, but I’ll add my own spin on them, and with…
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Soar with Reading: An Open Letter to Jet Blue
Literacy/kidlit folks: please take a minute to read, sign, and share this open letter to Jet Blue about their new Soar with Reading program. This is a promising pilot program that aims to encourage literacy by placing book vending machines in low-income areas of Washington, DC. Sadly, the selection…
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Ten year blogiversary!
Ten years ago today, I made my first blog post. It was a report on BookExpo America 2005, and it doesn’t sound all that different from my most recent posts, although written in a slightly more formal voice. It’s funny to think that Harry Potter and the Half…