School Library Journal’s “Battle of the Kids Books” and
28
th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced
School Library Journal’s “Battle of the Kids Books” began on March 7
th. Find out more
here or go
here to learn the results of Round 1, Match 1. I just have to say that the term “kids’ books” that School Library Journal is using is a bit misleading. The first match was between
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose and
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman… decidedly
not kids’ books (depending on how you define “kids”). Otherwise, enjoy the contests!
The 28th annual Lambda Literary
Awards, often call the “Lammys,” “celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) writing for books published in 2015.” A total of 321 publishers provided a record-breaking 933 submissions for the various categories this year. Scroll down the list on the web page and within the 25 categories of finalists you will find the LGBT Children’s/Young Adult category which lists eight finalists. Winners will be announced on June 6, 2016.
A Big Surprise for Little Card by Charise Mericle Harper is a picture book I predict many public libraries will add to their collections. Little Card was trained to be a birthday card, but learns there was a mix-up and now he is to be delivered to a library – where he runs in the door and shouts “Happy Birthday!” Little Card soon learns his new duties and becomes the library card for a girl. Imagine his glee when he learns that while birthdays only happen once a year a library card can be used almost every day! It is fun to see things from a different perspective, that of the new library card. Another good choice for preschool through grade 1.
(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)
