Month: February 2019

020519-NewKid-The-Stack

Post author By Devin Service
Post date February 5, 2019

Today’s The Stack is sponsored by New Kid by Jerry Craft, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Seventh-grader Jordan Banks loves drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him into a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan just happens to be one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.
As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan is torn between two worlds–and not fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?

Riot Rundown

020519-Enchantee-Riot-Rundown

Post author By Devin Service
Post date February 5, 2019

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Flatiron Books.

Enchantee by Gita Trelease transports readers to the glittering and magical world of 1870s Paris.

After her parents die, Camille must find a way to provide for her sister by transforming scraps of metal into money. But soon she begins to pursue a more dangerous mark: the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Camille transforms herself into a baroness and is swept up into life at Versailles. She meets a handsome young inventor, and begins to believe that love and liberty may both be possible.

But magic has costs, and when revolution erupts, Camille must choose—before Paris burns.

Audiobooks

Audiobooks for Black History Month, Analysis Paralysis, and More

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date February 5, 2019

Hola, Audiophiles!

I already quoted the opening lines to Madonna’s Like A Virgin in this week’s In the Club but I’m about to do it again! I really did make it through the wilderness! Somehow I made it through!

I am so relieved to be rid of the swine flu, I could cry. I want to hug every person I see in the street and slip them goodie bags of Emergen-C, zinc, and oregano oil. Thank you all for sticking by me while I went on about that mess for nine whole weeks! I think I’ve finally–like for real this time–turned the corner and am ready to get back to my regular, healthy, not-dependent-on-steroids-and-an-inhaler self.

So! Let’s audio!

Sponsored by Princeton University Press Audio

Though mankind has traded tangible goods for millennia, recent technology has changed the fundamentals of trade, in both legitimate and illegal economies. In the past three decades, the most advanced forms of illicit trade have broken with all historical precedents and, as Dark Commerce shows, now operate as if on steroids, tied to computers and social media. In this new world of illicit commerce, which benefits states and diverse participants, trade is impersonal and anonymized, and vast profits are made in short periods with limited accountability to sellers, intermediaries, and purchasers. Start Listening Now!

Latest Listen

The honest truth? Swine flu made me too sick even for audiobooks. I spent most of that dark period falling in and out of sleep, coughing up a lung, and wondering what series of life choices I’d made to bring such prolonged exposure to the plague upon myself. Pretty sure I caught myself singing, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen…” at least once and mos def looked up local curanderas to chase away the evil spirits. Dios mio, it was… dramatic.

Before the 102 degree fevers though, I’d been listening to Jewell Parker Rhodes’ Ghost Boys on audio as research for the Read Harder podcast. This story of a young boy who dies when he’s shot by a police officer and comes back as a ghost got me square in the feel box, especially when that boy ends up meeting other ghost boys like him and one of them is Emmett Till. This Walter Award winner (hellooo Read Harder task #22!) is a beautiful and heartbreaking history lesson and a must-listen for young readers and adults trying to make sense of so much tragedy. The audio messed me up, fam, but in the best and most necessary way.

Listens on Deck

I have been trying to pick my nest listen for a solid two days and am facing major analysis paralysis over here! I’m thinking it’s either going to be Angie Thomas’ much anticipated On the Come Up or Lyndsay Faye’s The Paragon Hotel. Who to spend time with first? Do I follow along while young Bri tries to make it as an MC in spite of so many impossible obstacles, or do I embark on a journey with Alice “Nobody” from Prohibition-era Harlem to Portland’s Paragon Hotel? DECISIONS!! Oh, what’s that? I can listen to one, and then… the other? Oh yeah. Good point.

From the Internets

Get the Audie Started – If you haven’t heard of the The Audies, it’s time you get hip to these awesome awards celebrating the best in spoken word entertainment. Since audiobooks are quickly becoming the fastest growing segment in publishing, this year is shaping up to become the biggest year ever for audiobookin’!

This year, the award show is getting a makeover of sorts and Queer Eye’s adorable Tan France (who will soon narrate his own Naturally Tan: A Memoir) is set to host! A panel of industry personalities will serve as judges for the Audiobook of the Year category, whose nominees include Sally Field, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Leslie Odom, Jr., Emma Thompson, Rosario Dawson, Joanne Froggatt, Amber Tamblyn, Joe Biden and tons more.

Black History Listens – Bustle recently shared this list of audiobooks to listen to this Black History Month. I cosign all of these fantastic titles, which do everything from educate to illuminate and hilariate. Yeah… that last one isn’t a word but seriously? Born A Crime will manage to make you cry-laugh while teaching you a lot you probs didn’t know about South African apartheid.

The Dreamwork of Audio Team Work – I’ve often wondered whether authors and narrators see themselves as part of a team, especially when a particular narrator is tapped to narrate multiple of an author’s works. This piece from the Washington Post speaks to the bond that apparently does often exist between authors and audiobook narrators.

Over at the Riot

For Those Listening Slumps – Whether you’re bored, overwhelmed with choices, or crying in a corner from body aches and fevers like I was, sometimes a reading – and listening- slump is unavoidable. It’s ok, take a breather; this list of podcasts make excellent company while you find your way back to ze books.

That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

New Books

First Tuesday of February Megalist!

Post author By Liberty Hardy
Post date February 4, 2019

Put on your seatbelt and helmet, because today’s megalist is going to make you explode with happiness! There are soooooooooooo many great books out today. Like eleventy hundred, at least. (I counted, using my fingers and my toes.)

It’s been a tough couple of months and I did not get to nearly as many as I hoped, but I’m finally getting back into my groove, so I hope to knock a bunch more off the list! And because I love you, I made you a big shiny list below, and you can hear about more amazing books on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Kelly and I talked about Bowlaway, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, On the Come Up, and more.

(And like with each megalist, I’m putting a next to the books that I have read and loved. But there are soooo many more on this list that I can’t wait to read!)

Science Fiction Genre Cut Women Writers Out Of History: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date February 4, 2019

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Doubleday, publishers of The Plotters.

The Real History Of Women In Science Fiction

Lisa Yaszek, a professor at Georgia Tech, is challenging the long held thought that women weren’t writing science fiction until the ’70s. Her look through old magazines not only shows that women were common sci-fi writers in the pulp era, but that “reading polls suggest that 40 to 50 percent of the readers were women.” Yaszek explains that women were cut out of history–raise your hand if you’ve heard this story before!– because the “first science fiction anthologies were published during a backlash against first-wave feminism.”

Gringotts Wizarding Bank Will Soon Be Open To The Public

If you’ve always wanted to bank at Gringotts Wizarding Bank your dreams are about to come true if you can make it to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London starting this April. Check out pics and info here.

Here’s What Publishing Is Reading This Morning

The New Yorker came out with a piece about Dan Mallory, the author who writes under the pseudonym A.J. Finn and, well, I can’t help but think that, more than it being a reveal of deception, the article shows a huge problem in publishing–and our society–of white men behaving appallingly and still getting promoted, praised, and all the advertising dollars.

In The Club

In the Club – 2/6

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date February 4, 2019

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read.

I made it THROUUUUGH THE WILDERNEEEEEESS!! Somehow I MAAADE it THROUUUGH! I won’t lie to you: I still felt like I was knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door last week when putting together this newsletter. I was typing while shivering with a giant blanket wrapped around my body, teetering on the brink of drafting my final will and testament (you know, to make sure my books find a good home).

But at long last, after nine weeks of congestion, fever, body aches, and spastic coughs, I feel like a healthy human again. Thank you all for bearing with me and for all the happy thoughts & good vibes. Let’s get back to club business and aim for a healthy rest of 2019!

This newsletter is sponsored by Flatiron Books.

At the Wolf’s Table is the internationally bestselling novel based on the untold true story of the women conscripted to be Hitler’s food tasters, from Rosella Postorino. Germany, 1943: Twenty-six-year-old Rosa’s parents are gone, and her husband’s fighting in WWII. Impoverished and alone, she decides to leave war-torn Berlin for the countryside. But one morning, the SS come and say she’s been conscripted to be one of Hitler’s tasters: each day, she and nine other women go to his headquarters to eat his meals before he does. And as secrets and resentments grow, this unlikely sisterhood reaches a dramatic climax.

Everything’s Pigs – Ya know, it really feels like the universe is trolling me with Chinese New Year. Seriously? Year of the Pig? And I *just* got over swine flu? How rude! All jokes aside, Lunar New Year is a beautiful tradition. It’s also a great time to get acquainted with these upcoming book releases by Asian authors.

Book Club Bonus: Perhaps a little too predictably, we’re starting to see folks from hater nation suggest that the success of diverse books and films is rooted in their diversity and not in the quality of the works themselves. A) Eff those guys, they will NOT steal our joy! and B) It’s time to get even more loud and proud in our love of diverse and inclusive works of art. In book club this year, commit to supporting work by POC not just with your readership, but by reviewing their work too. You don’t have to be a book blogger or influencer to get this part done: leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads or just pump up their work on the sosh meeds.

Throw It In the Bag – I recently learned that the City of Santa Maria’s library system offers an awesome program called Book Club in a Bag; any member with a library card in good standing is eligible to request a kit, which includes 10 copies of a given title and book club discussion questions to go along with them. What a fantastic idea! More libraries should offer this kind of service and I’m super interested to know which ones are already doing so.

Book Club Bonus: If your club members generally purchase all of your club titles, consider donating your books when you’re done. Reach out to your local library to see if there’s already a book club program in place or maybe suggest that they start one if there isn’t; with your donations, you may just be able to put great reads in the hands of other book clubbers. Maybe even offer to come up with the discussion questions!

I’m a Bustler Baby, I Just Want You To Know – Did you know that Bustle has a monthly book club? What I love about their selection process is that they reach out to the authors for reading recommendations. In January, Jenny Han of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before fame recommended Rebecca Serle’s The Dinner List. Serle was tapped in turn to give her recs for great book club picks. So much author & book club love!

Book Club Bonus: I’ve encouraged readers in the past to reach out to authors for club discussion questions, but don’t be afraid to pick their brains for reading recs too! If you love what an author has written, what better way to pick your next read than to see what those very authors are reading and loving too? Engage on social media, send an email – lots of ways to get in touch and find your next club selection.

#BlackHistoryMonth – February is Black History Month and an excellent opportunity for Black joy. Rioter Patricia Elzie-Tuttle has compiled a collection of Black bookish hashtags to celebrate all month long.

Book Club Bonus: My favorite part of the piece is the section that speaks to being a bookish ally. Take the tips in this piece to heart, especially if you aren’t Black yourself: use the examples given for supporting black cosplayers and apply them to supporting Black writers (and creatives in general), too.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships Feb 5

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date February 4, 2019

Hello and happy Tuesday, shapeshifters and spice mongers! Today we’ve got a bunch of book news including an Atwood cover reveal, a lost Merlin story, Dune casting continued, plus buzzy new releases, some ebook deals, and a review of The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni.

This newsletter is sponsored by Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik.

Ada von Hasenberg fled her family after her father tried to arrange a politically valuable, but personally undesirable, marriage. Now, after two years on the run, the spirited princess’s luck has run out. Thrown into a prison cell with the notorious former soldier Marcus Loch, she’s about to be returned to her father when her ship is attacked by a rival noble house – the man she was supposed to marry. If her jilted fiancé captures her, Ada will become a political prisoner. Her only hope is to strike a deal with the dangerous fugitive Loch – but if she’s not careful, she’ll lose much more than she bargained for…

Let’s start on book and adaptation news:

You might recall that Margaret Atwood is writing a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, called The Testaments, and her publisher recently revealed the cover. Reactions are STRONG, y’all.

Also in cover reveals, Karen Lord’s Unraveling is one of my most anticipated reads of 2019 and just look at this gorgeous cover!

And in sequel news, Kat Howard has announced that there will be a sequel to An Unkindness of Magicians called A Sleight of Shadows, releasing in 2020.

Academics discovered new story material about Merlin of Arthurian legend in a book printed in the late 1400s, and I cannot wait for the full transcription omg.

In further Dune casting news, which is just getting bonkers at this point, Javier Bardem is in talks to play Stilgar and Oscar Isaac might play Duke Leto and Zendaya might play Chani, and I don’t even begin to know how to feel about all of this?!

CBS All Access is bringing viewers a new limited-series adaptation of The Stand by Stephen King. Watching the 1994 mini-series was a formative moment in my life, and this religiously-apocalyptic pandemic novel is my favorite of his bar none, and therefore I feel personally attacked by this news. Will they finally get my $5 a month!? Stay tuned, friends.

A few of this week’s new releases to keep an eye on:

A People’s Future of the United States, edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams

Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James (which I’m reading right now, stay tuned for a future review and in the meantime, trigger warning for every kind of violence under the sun to all possible persons)

The Ruin of Kings by Jenny Lyons (the buzz has been strong on this one)

And here are your ebook deals:

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison, $0.99.

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark, $3.99.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (reviewed here), $2.99.

Today’s review is for a backlist title that recently jumped out of the library and into my heart.

The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Content warnings: domestic violence; rape; racially motivated violence; narrow representation of Native Americans.

I found this book through the magic of late night library e-book browsing, and it feels like a book I should have read years ago. It’s got real-world-plus-magic, nuanced characters, takes a hard look at racism, immigration in America, the gaps between generations, identity, and love, and it reads like a dream.

Tilo, our narrator, was born a long time ago in a land far away, and through a tangled personal journey (including sea snakes and pirates!) discovered that she has a talent: she can see into people’s hearts and souls, and name their troubles. That talent also means that she had the ability to learn the magic of spices, which have the power to help heal or harm (please note, I will never look at ginger or cinnamon the same way). But to become a Mistress of Spices, you have to let go of your time, physical being, and identity, and accept the mission you are given. Hers takes her to Oakland in modern times (well, modern-ish — this book was published in 1998) and gives her the body of an old woman, where she runs a small spice shop and dispenses her magic unbeknownst to her customers. There are many rules, and she follows them willingly, until the night a lonely stranger walks into the store. He’s struggling to make peace with his own identity, and his pull on Tilo is almost irresistible.

Tilo must decide what her powers mean to her; she has to figure out who exactly she is; she has a chance at love, but it’s not a fairytale in the slightest; and most importantly, she has to help the people around her — and make sure her help doesn’t make things worse. There are heartbreaking moments in here, alongside the magical ones, as well as a deep-dive into the Indian-American experience, and I was gripped from the first to the last page. It’s not a perfect book, but it is a beautiful one, and it gave me many feelings.

Side note, I just discovered there is a movie version!? Will watch and get back to you all.

And that’s a wrap! You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda, or on Twitter as jennIRL.

The spice must flow,
Jenn

Kissing Books

Alyssa Cole’s Upcoming Novella Is All The Things

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date February 4, 2019

Happy Black History Month! I mean, it’s February, so I’m going to at least mention it, but since Black History is American History, we obviously talk about it all year. If you’re working on a month of exposure of black authors or black history, I’m not going to stop you, and I’m totally open to sending you some specific recs. Hit me up anytime!

But for now, let’s have a look at what’s been going on.

New Children’s Book Releases for February 5, 2019

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date February 4, 2019

Hi Kid Lit friends!

It’s the first Tuesday of the month, which means I have a big list of new releases for you today! There are some really great books out, my personal favorite being the picture book Crab Cake: Turning the Tide Together by Andrea Tsurumi. It’s a story of community and conservation, and I love all the little adorable animal illustrations and ocean facts throughout the book.

As always, if I’ve read a book and loved it, I marked it with a ! All descriptions from Goodreads.

Sponsored by Disney Publishing Worldwide

Three hundred years ago, fate bound Prosper Redding and Prince Alastor of the Third Realm together. Now the human boy and fiend heir to the demon kingdom must put aside a centuries-old blood feud to save everything they love. With the fates of humans and demons at odds, the battle lines are drawn. Long ago, Prosper’s ancestor Honor Redding proved that humans and demons could never be friends. But is Prosper like his ancestor? And is Alastor the same demon who was betrayed by the one human he cared for?

Picture Book New Releases

Crab Cake: Turning the Tide Together by Andrea Tsurumi

Under the sea, fish do what fish do: Seahorse hides, Pufferfish puffs up, Parrotfish crunches coral, and Crab . . . bakes cakes?
Scallop swims, Dolphin blows bubbles, and . . . Crab bakes cakes. And so life goes on, until one night when everything changes with a splash! In the face of total disaster, can Crab’s small, brave act help the community come together and carry on?

Gittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Amy June Bates

Gittel and her mother were supposed to immigrate to America together, but when her mother is stopped by the health inspector, Gittel must make the journey alone. Her mother writes her cousin’s address in New York on a piece of paper. However, when Gittel arrives at Ellis Island, she discovers the ink has run and the address is illegible! How will she find her family? Both a heart-wrenching and heartwarming story, Gittel’s Journey offers a fresh perspective on the immigration journey to Ellis Island.

The Amazing Idea of You by Charlotte Sullivan Wild

Hidden inside every living thing is an idea. That idea can sprout, sing, wriggle, take wing . . . into something amazing! Exploring beginnings both small and great, The Amazing Idea of You bonds the human and natural worlds in a lyrical burst of celebration. So dig deep, fly high, look around, and find the extraordinary inside everything . . . including YOU!

Remarkably You by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Patrice Barton

Heartfelt and timeless, Remarkably You is an inspirational manifesto about all of the things—little or small, loud or quiet—that make us who we are. With encouraging text by Pat Zietlow Miller and exuberant illustrations by Patrice Barton, readers will delight in all the ways they can be their remarkable selves.

Harold Snipperpot’s Best Disaster Ever by Beatrice Alemagna

Harold is turning seven years old. He’s never had a real birthday party. That’s because his parents are too grumpy. But this year they feel bad for Harold. “We’ll call up Mr. Ponzio,” says Harold’s mother. So they do, and Mr. Ponzio agrees to help, “The party will be absolutely extraordinary, Mrs. Snipperpot.” When everyone arrives at the Snipperpots’, everyone—especially Harold—is absolutely flabbergasted. It truly is a party like no other.

Animal Babies Like to Play by Jennifer Adams, illustrated by Mary Lundquist

Animal babies from Alligator to Zebra play, explore, and wonder in this celebration of children in all their glorious diversity.

Alligator baby wants to play.
Bunny baby says, “Okay.”
Cat baby reads a book.
Dog baby sleeps in a nook.

Pancakes to Parathas: Breakfast Around the World by Alice B. McGinty, illustrated by Tomoko Suzuki

From Australia to India to the USA, come travel around the world at dawn. Children everywhere are waking up to breakfast. In Japan, students eat soured soybeans called natto. In Brazil, even kids drink coffee–with lots of milk! With rhythm and rhymes and bold, graphic art, Pancakes to Parathas invites young readers to explore the world through the most important meal of the day.

Narwhal’s Otter Friend by Ben Clanton

Dive into three new stories about the joy of adventure and the power of friendship! In the first story, Otty the otter makes her debut splash; while Narwhal greets her with immediate enthusiasm, Jelly’s not so sure about her…mostly because he worries she’ll take his place as Narwhal’s best friend. Readers will easily see why Narwhal’s so excited to meet Otty, a boisterous explorer who even has an aunt who’s a real live sea captain! But readers will also relate to Jelly’s uneasiness seeing his best friend making a new pal.

A is for Awesome! by Eva Chen, illustrated by Derek Desierto

Why stick with plain old A, B, C when you can have Amelia (Earhart), Malala, Tina (Turner), Ruth(Bader Ginsburg), all the way to eXtraordinary You―and the Zillion of adventures you will go on?

Maria the Matador by Anne Lambelet

She’ll do anything to get her hands on more of them, even enter a bullfight. To win, she must outsmart the other matadors who don’t think she’s big enough, fast enough, or strong enough. With determination and creativity, spunky Maria will dance her way to victory―and into readers’ hearts.

The Cat Who Lived with Anne Frank by David Lee Miller and Steven Jay Rubin, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley

When Mouschi the cat goes with his boy, Peter, to a secret annex, he meets a girl named Anne. Bright, kind and loving, Anne dreams of freedom and of becoming a writer whose words change the world. But Mouschi, along with Anne and her family and friends, must stay hidden, hoping for the war to end and for a better future.

Chapter Book New Release

Miranda and Maude: Banana Pants by Emma Wunsch, illustrated by Jessika Von Innerebner

Princess Miranda and Not-a-Princess Maude are total opposites and totally best friends! Fed up with nonstop testing, Miranda and Maude’s teacher makes a surprise announcement: They are going to put on a school play! And, the class decides, it will be called Banana Pants! School is finally a joy, and the project inspires the girls to fight for more positive change. Maude decides to wage a campaign against Styrofoam lunch trays, and she thinks she has the perfect powerful ally in Miranda. But, much to Maude’s frustration, Miranda would rather focus on her own good cause: love!

Middle Grade New Releases

Best Babysitters Ever by Carolina Cala

Once upon a time, a girl named Kristy Thomas had a great idea: to form The Baby-Sitters Club with her best friends. And now twelve-year-old Malia Twiggs has had a great idea too. Technically, she had Kristy’s idea. (And technically, little kids seem gross and annoying, but a paycheck is a paycheck). After a little convincing, Malia and her friends Dot and Bree start a babysitting club to earn funds for an epic birthday bash. But babysitting definitely isn’t what they thought it would be.

The Lost Rainforest 2: Gogi’s Gambit by Eliot Schrefer

Caldera always existed in harmony between the creatures who walk by day and those who walk by night—until an ancient evil awakened. In the year since the shadowwalkers’ narrow escape from the Ant Queen, the ants’ destruction has only spread. Gogi, a shadowwalker monkey still learning to wield his fire powers, embarks on a quest with his friends—including a healing bat, an invisible panther, and a tree frog who controls the winds—for a powerful object that can harness the magic of the eclipse to defeat the Ant Queen.

Love Sugar Magic: A Sprinkle of Spirits by Anna Meriano

Leonora Logroño has finally been introduced to her family’s bakery bruja magic—but that doesn’t mean everything is all sugar and spice. Her special power hasn’t shown up yet, her family still won’t let her perform her own spells, and they now act rude every time Caroline comes by to help Leo with her magic training. She knows that the family magic should be kept secret, but Caroline is her best friend, and she’s been feeling lonely ever since her mom passed away. Why should Leo have to choose between being a good bruja and a good friend?

Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt

Carter Jones is astonished early one morning when he finds a real English butler, bowler hat and all, on the doorstep—one who stays to help the Jones family, which is a little bit broken. In addition to figuring out middle school, Carter has to adjust to the unwelcome presence of this new know-it-all adult in his life and navigate the butler’s notions of decorum. And ultimately, when his burden of grief and anger from the past can no longer be ignored, Carter learns that a burden becomes lighter when it is shared.

Swap’d by Tamara Ireland Stone

After her Click’d catastrophe, Allie Navarro is determined to redeem herself. So when the class gets an assignment to create a mobile game from recycled code, Allie pairs up with Courtney, her best friend from CodeGirls camp, to create the perfect app: Swap’d. Kids buy, sell, and trade stuff at school all the time. Candy. Clothes. Video games. Slime. Why not make a fiercely competitive, totally anonymous, beat-the-clock game out of it?

Nonfiction New Releases

Who Is Michael Jordan? by Kirsten Anderson

Meet the man who changed the game forever. Michael Jordan has always been competitive–even as a young boy, he fought for attention. His need to be the best made him a star player on his college basketball team and helped him become an NBA legend, both for his skills and his endorsements. His Nike contract for Air Jordan basketball shoes set an unmatched precedent for professional athletes.

Graphic Novel New Releases

The Giver Graphic Novel by Lois Lowry, illustrated by P. Craig Russell

Placed on countless reading lists, translated into more than forty languages, and made into a feature film, The Giver is the first book in The Giver Quartet that also includes Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. In this new graphic novel edition, readers experience the haunting story of twelve-year-old Jonas and his seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment, through the brilliant art of P. Craig Russell that truly brings The Giver to life.

New Kid by Jerry Craft

Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?

I would love to know what you are reading this week! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at karina@bookriot.com.

Until next time!
Karina

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Riot Rundown

020419-99PercentMine-Riot-Rundown

Post author By Devin Service
Post date February 4, 2019

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne, published by William Morrow.

From the author of The Hating Game comes a new romantic comedy about two twins struggling over an inheritance, and the sexy best friend who gets in the middle.

Darcy Barrett met her dream man when she was eight years old, and the rest of the male population has been a letdown ever since. No one measures up to Tom Valeska whose only flaw is that her twin brother, Jamie, saw him first, and claimed him forever as his best friend.

Tom’s off limits and loyal to Jamie 99%, and for Darcy, one percent of him used to be enough.

But this time around, she’s switching things up…