This week, the Sunday before finalists are announced (check back on January first), let’s celebrate everything SPACE! Astronauts, astronomers, stars, night sky, our own plant hurtling through space, current and future space travel… there’s SO much out there! Beyond: Discoveries from the Outer Reaches of Space by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Sija HongMillbrook Press Hello, Earth!: Poems to Our Planet …

There are so many good books nominated this year, it’s been fun coming up with lists! We’ve been noticing, as we have gone through the lists, that there are a number of books about spies and secret agents, some non-fiction, but many of them “just” for fun. I mean, no we can’t all be Bond or Alex Rider, but who …

Shall we have some more food-y books? Of course! Last week was non-fiction, picture books, and poetry. This week let’s look at all the middle grade, graphic novels, speculative fiction, and YA books that have something — possibly tangential in some cases — to do with food! Time Villainsby Victor PiñeiroSourcebooks Young Readers Time Villians includes a diverse cast of …

Food! Most of us love it. Love to eat it, love to cook it, and (if you’re anything like me) love to read about it.  It seems we have a ton of food-, cooking-, and eating-inspired books this year on our nomination lists, so why not celebrate as many as we can!  In fact, we’re going to split this up …