The American Library Association Youth Media Awards are always a big deal at our house, and yesterday, my daughter was off from school, so we settled at the kitchen table with our breakfast to watch the live webcast. We cheered for a lot of books – but one in particular brought us to our feet (and may have woken up the later sleepers…)
Brian Floca’s LOCOMOTIVE won the 2014 Caldecott Medal!
We’ve been fan’s of Brian’s nonfiction picture books for years, and he’s also the illustrator of my Marty McGuire chapter book series with Scholastic. Speaking of that…the third book in the series, MARTY MCGUIRE HAS TOO MANY PETS, is out today!
Marty McGuire really has her hands full this time — with a lazy boa, a hyper hamster, and a potty-mouthed parrot! Is her pet sitting business about to go OUT of business?
After visiting a sanctuary for retired lab chimpanzees, Marty wants to follow in the footsteps of her idol Jane Goodall and help with their care. But “adopting a chimp” is expensive, so Marty and her third-grade pals hatch a plan to raise money by holding a talent show at school and opening a pet-sitting business in Marty’s basement. It turns out that each pet has a personality of its own, and wrangling them is much harder than Marty expected. How will Marty keep her latest great idea from going to the dogs?
Ask for MARTY MCGUIRE HAS TOO MANY PETS at your favorite local bookstore, or use IndieBound to find a great, independent bookstore near you.
Marty is sharing a book-birthday today with some friends’ new books…
Laurel Snyder’s SEVEN STORIES UP is a magical blend of family, time travel, humor, and history – the story of a girl who goes back in time in an old Baltimore hotel and discovers her own grandmother living there as a young girl. I had the chance to read this book as an ARC and loved it to pieces. It’s full of humor and heart and really makes you think about how people come to be the way they are and the impact that our interactions with one another – even small ones – have on a person’s life.
And Jarrett Krosoczka’s new book LUNCH LADY AND THE SCHOOLWIDE SCUFFLE is also out today. It’s the latest in Jarrett’s hilarious Lunch Lady graphic novel series – perfect for graphic novel fans, reluctant readers, and really…anyone who has ever experienced life in a school cafeteria.
Happy Reading!