YA Friday: Banned Books Week 2015

It's that time of the year. The weather is cooling off, trees are turning red and orange, Starbucks is selling Pumpkin Spiced Lattes, and kids are heading back to school - and some people are fighting to keep books out of their schools. It's ALA's annual Banned Books Week, a time for raising awareness about censorship and gaining support for schools, teachers, and librarians who offer a wide range of books to students (and often face backlash for it). Here's what you should know about Banned Books week, a sample of resources and materials, and even an excerpt of my thoughts on the subject from a previous post.

What is Banned Books Week? Why do we need to talk about this?

"Banned Books Week is the national book community's annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. [...] Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982 according to the American Library Association. There were 311 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2014, and many more go unreported." 

- Banned Books Week website

You can read more in-depth information about Banned Books Week and challenged books on the ALA website.

ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom's 10 most-challenged books of 2014:

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian  by Sherman Alexie
2. Persepolis  by Marjane Satrapi
3. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
4. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
5. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
6. Saga by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
9. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
10. Drama by Raina Telgemeier

More detailed information about the reasoning behind the challenges can be found here, as well as on the Banned Books website.

A selection of my thoughts on the importance of offering a selection of books to kids:

"If [parents] think that reading one questionable book will completely subvert their efforts to raise an upright child, then there are bigger issues at hand. 

So read banned books. Go to local school board meetings and advocate against banning books in our schools. Parents, have discussions with your children instead of censoring their content. Go to a bookstore, pick up a challenged book, and enjoy the fact that in the pluralistic society we live in, access to books isn't - and shouldn't be - controlled by an indignant minority."

-Carolyn Gruss, Why I read Banned Books - and Why You Should, too.

Resources: 

Information:

• ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom
• National Coalition Against Censorship
• Banned Books Week website

How to combat censorship:

• Judy Blume's Resource Guide/Toolkit on Book Censorship in Schools
• NCAC's Book Censorship Toolkit
• Banned Books Week resources page - individualized resources for artists, booksellers, kids, librarians, teachers, publishers, students, and writers

A selection of videos made for Banned Books Week:

I hope you found this post informative and that you'll join me in advocating against censorship. Let me know on Twitter by tweeting me @YALitFrenzy what you're doing for Banned Books Week. 

#GNCelebration: Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks

Every Thursday, during the month of October, join Aly at Kid Lit Frenzy, Franki & Mary Lee of A Year of Reading, and Tammy & Clare from Assessment in Perspective as we celebrate graphic novels and comic books.  To read our Top 10 reasons to join in, check out the Nerdy Book Club post, here. To link up your reviews and connect with everyone participating in the #GNCelebration, visit our #GNCelebration Google Community. 

For my first #GNCelebration, I start with a nonfiction graphic novel from First Second:

Human Body Theater: The All-Singing, All-Dancing Anatony Extravaganza!
by Maris Wicks
First Second (October 6, 2015)
Audience: Ages 10-14
Nonfiction * Graphic Novel * Human Body
Indiebound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads: 
Welcome to the Human Body Theater, where your master of ceremonies is going to lead you through a theatrical revue of each and every biological system of the human body! Starting out as a skeleton, the MC puts on a new layer of her costume (her body) with each "act." By turns goofy and intensely informative, the Human Body Theater is always accessible and always entertaining.

Maris Wicks is a biology nerd, and by the time you've read this book, you will be too! Harnessing her passion for science (and her background as a science educator for elementary and middle-school students), she has created a comics-format introduction to the human body that will make an expert of any reader -- young or old!

Thoughts on this book by KK, age 9 with a little help from her aunt (that would be me): 
Finding books that engage, inform and yes, entertain kids can be a challenge at times. So when I was watching the 9 year old the other night I decided to give it a shot and see if she would read THE HUMAN BODY THEATER. Knowing how much she loves graphic novels I had high hopes for this one. Yet, she was in a bit of a funk. Her initial response, "Set the timer for 20 minutes please."  I did as I was asked but hoping she would read for longer. 

As I heard her giggling through the book, I figured we had a winner. When the timer went off, she decided to just keep reading until she finished. When she was finished, I asked her what she thought of the book.  

Here is her initial response that I posted on Facebook: 

Several nights later, I asked her again what she thought of the book. 

KK: I loved that book. (Always good that nearly a week later the memory of reading the book is positive.) 

Me: So, what did you like?

KK: I liked the bones, how they can bend and move.  I also liked the skeleton and how the skeleton had different costumes. I also liked the flesh, and oh, those...colorful balls.

Me: Colorful balls? Do you mean atoms and molecules.

KK: Yeah, that stuff. 

KK's mom (from the other part of the room): Now, I know why she was asking about flesh and bones. 

Some of the great interior shots from this book.

Me: Would you read this book again? 

KK: Yes, I would read it again. (And again, and again, and again knowing her.)

Me: Would you recommend this book to anyone?

KK: Yes, I would recommend it to anyone who would like to learn about the human body and its system. 

Pick up a copy of The Human Body Theater at your local indie bookstore or public library.

Don't forget to join us: 
On November 1, 2015 at 8:00 EST, we will culminate this celebration with a Twitter Chat featuring Terry Thompson the author of Adventures in Graphica: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Teach Comprehension, 2-6.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Smithsonian Discover Series

Smithsonian Discover: Earth
Author: Dorothea DePrisco
Silver Dolphin Books (March 3, 2015)
Audience: Ages 8 and up
Nonfiction * Science * Earth
ndiebound

About the book: 
With Smithsonian Discover: Earth, kids can take a tour of Earth’s fiery core, scale Mount Everest, scuba-dive in the Great Barrier Reef, and hunker down during a hurricane, all without ever leaving the safety of their living rooms. A must-have for any kid who calls Earth home, this engaging book contains three sections: Amazing Earth (all about the inside and outside of the planet), the Blue Planet (covering awesome oceans, raging rivers, and great lakes), and Wild Weather (which explains the science of weather and goes inside natural disasters). Each page contains science presented simply, and facts backed by the museum professionals of the Smithsonian.

The compelling content is only the tip of the iceberg (only a tenth of which floats above the ocean’s surface, as you’ll learn). This engaging title also delivers hands-on activities like you would find at the Smithsonian. Bound right into the book are 12 Earth fact cards, a large double-sided map of the world, and materials to construct a three-dimensional paper globe. Though we walk its surface every day, Smithsonian Discover: Earth will surely teach kids that Earth is one fascinating planet!

Smithsonian Sticker Creations: Under the Sea
Author: Emily Rose Oachs
Silver Dolphin Books (July 14, 2015)
Audience: Ages 5 and up
Nonfiction * Ocean * Sea Life
ndiebound

About the book: 
With Smithsonian Sticker Creations: Under the Sea, young explorers will embark on an underwater adventure to learn about life beneath the waves.Smithsonian Sticker Creations: Under the Sea’s hands-on format allows children ages 5 and up to explore the amazing diversity of the sea while interacting with more than 175 reusable stickers and 5 oversized deluxe dimensional stickers. After learning about their favorite sea creatures, children can create their own underwater scene by placing the stickers in the removable framed ocean scene. The beautifully illustrated sticker activity book gives young ocean explorers a creative opportunity to learn about all types of incredible sea creatures!

Smithsonian Everything You Need to Know Series: 

Grades K-1
Author: Ruth Strother
Audience: Ages 5 and up
Category: Science
Indiebound

Curious minds will find hundreds of fascinating facts inSmithsonian Everything You Need to Know: Grades K-1. The flip-top box is packed with 275 fact cards covering categories such as Earth and space, plants and animals, geography, history, and health. Whether it’s the number of teeth in a great white shark’s mouth or how a rainbow forms, kids ages 5–7 will learn a variety of information in a tactile and engaging manner. Each flip of a card not only showcases beautiful color photographs and illustrations paired with a fact, but also presents a new learning moment. With this packed-full box of facts, kids are given an extra opportunity to learn all they need to know for early science, social studies, and history exploration in a fun format that’s sure to engage eager young minds.

Grades 2-3
Author: Ruth Strother
Audience: Ages 7 and up
Category: Science * Education and Learning
ndiebound

How many rings are there around Saturn? What causes an earthquake? How many bones are in a giraffe’s neck? WithSmithsonian Everything You Need to Know: Grades 2-3, kids ages 7-9 will learn exciting and interesting facts about Earth and space, plants and animals, geography, history, and health. Each of the 275 fact cards includes colorful photos and illustrations coupled with a fascinating fact. From the solar system to George Washington to volcanoes, each fact card presents educational material in an innovative and engaging format. Inquisitive kids will have hours of fun discovering everything their young minds need to know in this interest-packed fact card set.

Grades 4-5
Author: Ruth Strother
Audience: Ages 9 and up
Category: Science - History - Nature - Education and Learning
Indiebound

How long is the Amazon River? Who was the first president to have a telephone in the White House? With Smithsonian Everything You Need to Know: Grades 4-5, kids will learn exciting and fascinating facts about the U.S. presidents, weather, outer space, and much more. Each of the 275 tabbed fact cards includes colorful photos and illustrations paired with interesting facts. Whether it’s Abraham Lincoln or tornadoes, each fact card presents a new learning moment. Curious kids will learn about the world around them, past and present, in this loaded fact card box.

My thoughts on the materials: 
Recently, I received an inquiry to review some materials and I am picky about what I accept. However, I loved the sound of these Smithsonian materials published through Silver Dolphin Books. 

Unlike the expository read alouds, I shared last week, these materials are very different. The quality of the books and cards were sturdy and well done. Similar to National Geographic, the illustrations, photographs, and layouts are outstanding. And where I often recommend something for both the classroom and school library, these materials I recommend for home or classroom. 

The Smithsonian Discover series are oversized spiral bound books that are chockfull of facts and information about various topics. They can be shared by two or three children and read together or simply enjoyed by an individual child. The series will require multiple readings and will draw children in again and again.

The Smithsonian Sticker Creation books are also oversized books but with the addition of reusable stickers. Still lots of facts in each book and bright colorful photographs and fascinating facts will keep readers engaged.  These by far outshine those old colorforms I played with as a child. A wonderful gift book that can be enjoyed by a child over and over again. There are also several books in this series. 

Finally the Everything You Know Series contain 275 large cards on sturdy paper. These can be read through or explored in whatever order a child is interested in reading them or by a couple of children playing a game together or by the teacher pulling one card at a time to discuss the content. I would have definitely geeked out over these as a child. 

As we get closer to the holiday season consider picking any of these as gifts for a child in your life or for your classroom use. 

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Blog Tour: Ghostlight by Sonia Gensler - Interview & Giveaway

Today, we welcome Sonia Gensler to Kid Lit Frenzy to answer a few questions about her new Middle Grade novel, GHOSTLIGHT.  Thank you Sonia for stopping by and for the great responses. I am so excited to share them and your book with readers.

First, check out the official book trailer:

Writing a scary ghost story Middle Grade novel can be hard. You need to find just the right balance between scary and not too scary. What are those boundaries for you and how did you work that out in Ghostlight?

This is an interesting question, because for me it might have had more to do with personal rather than age group boundaries. I am not a fan of gore in fiction, nor do I like an extended emphasis on physical terror. I really prefer to read stories of mystery, dread, and the slow burn of psychological horror. 

That said, there is a moment in Ghostlight that could almost be compared to a “jump scare” in a movie—and in that moment things look pretty disturbing—but there’s more to the story! My intention was for young readers to enjoy a hair-raising moment, but soon after they would realize that the real horror behind the terrifying moment was a betrayal of friendship.

Any weird or strange things happen while you were working on Ghostlight? 

I wish! Writing any story usually involves hard work that would seem quite boring to an outsider. However, before I started writing Ghostlight, I did stay in the bed & breakfast that inspired Hilliard House. I arrived at the house with mixed feelings. Part of me really wanted to have a ghostly encounter; the other part of me knew that I would be scared out of my mind if anything spooky happened—particularly because I was staying there by myself. As it turned out, I had a quiet night at Lylewood Inn. I have since learned that there may actually be a presence at the house. The owner has video-recorded spectral images during the night, but the presence seems quite benign. No moments of terror!

What was the scariest book you read as a 12 or 13 year old? What was the scariest movie/TV show that you saw as a child? Why? And do you think books or movies are scarier? Why or why not? 

I did not read many spooky books as a child because I was oversensitive. Creepy stories would either give me nightmares or keep me up all night staring at the shadows in terror. I remember my brother having an illustrated book of horror film monsters that disturbed me for most of my childhood. My mom had a paperback of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot that included photos from the movie adaptation. Oh, the horror! And yet, I was so intrigued by these stories and couldn’t help taking a peek. Personally, I think films are scarier than books, but in either case I need to care deeply about the characters for the horror to really get its grip on me.

Though we still have about a month to go before Halloween, people are already starting to think about their costumes. What is on your short-list for costumes? 

I’ve always had terrible luck with costumes. When I was trick-or-treating age, we never had enough money to actually buy costumes. Instead Mom would make them, and though they were very creative, they also were fragile and flimsy. One year she dressed me as the Headless Horseman, but I couldn’t see very well and ended up falling into a prickly bush and tearing the costume.  

My dream costume would probably be something Gothic—a Victorian mourning dress with an elaborate veil, perhaps. Maybe under the veil my face would be painted to look ghostly or skeletal? That sounds deliciously creepy, but I’m sure I’d be fainting from the heat in such a heavy costume!

Any new projects that you are working on that you can share with us?

 My new projects are still in early stages, and therefore it’s difficult to share anything specific at this time. But stay tuned and rest assured that there will be all sorts of Gothic elements in the next book—remote country houses, dark secrets, hauntings, betrayals—all my favorite stuff for fiction!

Ghostlight
by Sonia Gensler
Knopf Books for Young Readers (August 4, 2015)
Audience: Ages 9 to 12
Fiction * Ghost Stories * Motion Pictures
Indiebound | WorldCat 

About the book: 
Things that go bump in the night are just the beginning when a summer film project becomes a real-life ghost story!
 
Avery is looking forward to another summer at Grandma’s farm, at least until her brother says he’s too old for “Kingdom,” the imaginary world they’d spent years creating. Lucky for her, there’s a new kid staying in the cottage down the road: a city boy with a famous dad, Julian’s more than a little full of himself, but he’s also a storyteller like Avery. So when he announces his plan to film a ghost story, Avery is eager to join in.
 
Unfortunately, Julian wants to film at Hilliard House, a looming, empty mansion that Grandma has absolutely forbidden her to enter. As terrified as Avery is of Grandma’s wrath, the allure of filmmaking is impossible to resist.
 
As the kids explore the secrets of Hilliard house, eerie things begin to happen, and the “imaginary” dangers in their movie threaten to become very real. Have Avery and Julian awakened a menacing presence? Can they turn back before they go too far?

Photo Credit: Eden Wilson Photography

More about the author: 
Sonia Gensler is also the author of the young adult novels The Dark Between and The Revenant. She grew up in a small Tennessee town and spent her early adulthood collecting impractical degrees from various Midwestern universities. A former high school English teacher, she now writes full-time in Oklahoma. To learn more, and to download a free curriculum guide, visit soniagensler.com.  Twitter: @soniagensler

Check out the final stop on the blog tour, tomorrow, at the Mother Daughter Book Club.

Also, don't forget to enter the giveaway to enter for a chance to win a copy of GHOSTLIGHT. Please note that participants must be 13 years or older and have a US mailing address.

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YA Friday Book Review: Maid of Wonder

Maid of Wonder
by Jennifer McGowan
Simon and Schuster (August 25, 2015)
Audience: Young Adult
IndieBound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads:

"“Death comes to Windsor.”

Sophia Dee, the most unusual spy of Queen Elizabeth’s Maids of Honor, has run out of time for her psychic skills to fully manifest. A terrible new prophecy now haunts Windsor Castle, and the Queen demands answers before the next doomed soul dies.

Thrust into a dangerous and horrifying competition to solve the deadly prediction, Sophia finds herself pitted against the most celebrated mystics of Europe: John Dee, her devious uncle and the Queen’s personal astrologer. . . and Nostradamus, the renowned prophet-seer of France.

In a court where whispers of witchcraft, poisonous plots, and grim assassins threaten her at every turn, Sophia needs answers fast. But does she dare trust Marcus Quinn, her uncle’s striking and over-ambitious assistant? Or, instead, should she turn to the tortured dark angel of the spirit realm, who whispers to her only of sorrow and death?

As new dangers surface and dire prophecy sweeps toward its final victim, the five Maids of Honor prepare to do battle. Only then will the girl who so often sees the future finally discover if she can save the Crown—and herself."

Carolyn's thoughts on the book:

The Maids of Honor series is a fascinating and brilliant mixture of historical fact and fiction, but the latest installment, Maid of Wonder, elevates the series further by adding fantasy into the mix. Each novel focuses on a specific member of the Maids of Honor of Queen Elizabeth I, a fictitious group of young women hand-selected by the queen to keep tabs on the court - and act on that information for the safety of the queen. While talents of the two young women that the first two novels (Maid of Secrets and Maid of Deception) each focused on (Meg and Beatrice) are quite within the boundaries of natural talents (deception and emotional manipulation, respectively), Sophia's talents are decidedly supernatural. Blessed - or perhaps cursed - with 'the Sight,' or the ability to see into and communicate with beings in the supernatural realm, Sophia was stolen away from her parents by her 'uncle' John Dee, the queen's astrologer, for his own personal ends when she was young - but now that her powers have been realized, her position with the queen is (theoretically) more secure. But the queen's temperament proves to the greatest risk to Sophia's position in court, although Sophia's concerns are of a far deadlier nature. The spirits have told her that an attempt on the queen's life (as well as the death of another) will happen soon, but with precious few information - and to make matters worse, she's forced to compete against John Dee and the famed Seer Nostradamus to see who can discover the most information first. Throughout everything, the other maids are determined to support Sophia any way they can, though they understand even less than she does. Sophia's story vastly differs from the narratives of the first book - the tone in this book has shifted to match Sophia's quiet and introspective nature, and quite a bit of the plot is devoted to her time in the spirit world. The spirit world, a realm previously unexplored, is described with the perfect amount of detail and explanation - enough to get an adequate picture of things, but not overbearing or overly descriptive. The balance between the spirit world and the human one is a bit disjointed and chaotic at times, but meant to parallel Sophia's overwhelmed confusion - an achievement more than adequately met and brilliantly pulled off. So much of Sophia's story takes place either in her head or among the spirits, so she never played much of a role in the previous novels (other than to occasionally offer cryptic advice); now that we get a glimpse inside her story, she might very well be the most fascinating maid of all.

Maid of Wonder is a fantastic read, perfect for those who enjoy historical fiction and court intrigue with a serving of the supernatural on the side.

Carolyn is a teen blogger who shares her favorite YA reads and favorite book related finds with readers on Fridays.