Happy Valentine's Day - Celebrate with A Few Good Books

Happy Valentine's Day!  Instead of a Valentine's Day Card, I am sharing some of my favorite (new and older) books to celebrate the holiday. 

Here are just a few titles to celebrate the holiday, and since Valentine's Day is more than cards, and flowers and candied hearts, I have included some of my favorite friendship books, too.  Because isn't Valentine's Day really about telling a friend how much they mean to you?

Mouse and Mole, Secret Valentine by Wong Herbert Yee 

(HMH Books for Young Readers, December 2013)

Penguin in Love by Salina Yoon (Walker Children, December 2013)

Zombie in Love by Kelly DiPuchio; Illustrated by Scott Campbell 

(Simon & Schuster, 2011)

Love Monster by Rachel Bright (Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, December 2013)

Herman and Rosie by Gus Gordon (Roaring Brook Press, October 2013) 

Love Is In The Air by Jonathan Fenske (Penguin, 2012)

Forsythia and Me by Vincent X. Kirsch (Farrar, Straus, & Grioux, 2011)

Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers (Penguin, 2005)

Elephant and Piggie: Let's Go For a Drive by Mo Willems 

(Disney-Hyperion, 2012)

Oliver by Birgitta Sif (Candlewick Press, 2012)

 What are your favorite Valentine's Day books or books about friends?

The Yuckiest, Stinkiest, Best Valentine Ever

Author: Brenda A. Ferber
Illustrator: Tedd Arnold
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Children (December 6, 2012)
Audience: Ages 4 to 8
Source: Copy for Review
Valentine's Day * Friendship * Fiction

Description from GoodReads:
Even boys will fall in love with this valentine!

Leon has a crush. A let-her-cut-in-line-at-the-water-fountain kind of crush. And he's got the perfect valentine. But this valentine has no intention of getting caught up in any romantic conspiracy. "Love is yucky, kid! Valentine's Day is all about CANDY!" the card yells at Leon, before leaping out the window and running away, leaving Leon to chase it across town, collecting interested kids along the way.

Here is a hilarious take on the holiday that boys love to hate, the most complex holiday of them all. Saying "I love you" has never been so yucky or so sweet

Thoughts on this book:
If you are looking for some humor on Valentine's Day, Ferber's book The Yuckiest, Stinkiest, Best Valentine Ever will provide you with a chuckle and leave you with a sweet feeling.  Leon has a crush on Zoey Maloney and proceeds to create a Valentine for her.  With a nod to the Gingerbread Man, what happens next mixes humor and excitement as the neighborhood boys, and girls and teens run after Leon in an attempt to capture the Valentine who seems to be opposed to being a valentine.  I love when Leon and the Valentine finally meet up with Zoey Maloney.  Maybe there is more than one match about to happen in the end.

Tedd Arnold's illustrations are the perfect partner for the text and adds just the right amount of fun and sass to the story.  I don't often add too many new books to my Valentine's collection because most do not add anything new to the vast number of books out there.  However, this one definitely has a place in a classroom or school library.

For additional resources, check out Brenda Ferber's website for an activity kit for the book.

Book Review - Snowy Valentine

Author/Illustrator:  David Petersen
Publisher:  Harper Collins Children's (November 11, 2011)
Audience: Ages 4 to 8
Source: Copy for Review
Picture Book * Fiction * Holiday * Valentine

Description from Publisher:

Step out into a snowy Valentine’s Day with Jasper the bunny as he searches the forest valley for a special gift for his loved one.

In his picture-book debut, David Petersen, the Eisner Award–winning creator of Mouse Guard, tells a delightful tale that becomes the perfect way to say “I love you.”

Bring this sweet story home to your Valentine today.

My thoughts:

I discovered the work of David Petersen last summer when I came across his Mouse Guard series while I was preparing for a presentation on Graphic Novels.  I was immediately taken by his illustrations which were vivid and beautiful.  A few months later I came across an advanced copy of Snowy Valentine; Petersen's first picture book.   

In a Snowy Valentine, Petersen brings his trademark style and uses it to tell the story of Jasper and Lilly Bunny.  Jasper loves his wife Lilly and sets out through the snow to find a gift for her.  He quickly discovers that gifts that might appeal to porcupines, toads, racoons, and cardinals just aren't the right match for Lilly.  The story even includes a bit of a close call when Jasper runs into a fox and almost ends up as a Valentine for Mrs. Fox.  However, Jasper's wanderings lead him to the perfect gift for Lilly. 

Holiday picture books can be scary territory to explore.  So many of them are overly sweet or silly, or somewhat annoying.  When I read this book months ago, my reaction was positive.  It was refreshing to come across a story that was charmingly illustrated and sweet without being cloying. The twist at the end seemed like a fitting way to conclude the book.  As I read the finished copy in preparation for this review, not only did I feel the same way about the story, but I felt like I picked up some new details in the illustration.  I was also excited to discover from reading Petersen's blog that the story originated as a gift to his wife.  What a lovely gift both for Petersen's wife and for readers.   

David Petersen talks about the making of Snowy Valentine on his blog.  You can follow him on twitter @mouseguard
Part I 
Part II
Part III

You can follow him on twitter @mouseguard

Valentine's Week Guest Post: The Men of Maud Hart Lovelace

For those of you not familiar with Maud Hart Lovelace, what’s the matter with you? I mean…she is the wonderful author of the Deep Valley books – which include the ten-book Betsy-Tacy series, Carney’s House Party, Winona’s Pony Cart, and the stand-alone book Emily of Deep Valley.

The early Betsy books tell of a picnic filled childhood, friendships, and frolics on the Big Hill. Once the books reach the high school years, we get to pretty dresses, the dances and above all else, the beaus. Right there you know this is not your typical YA because boys are called beaus. So romantic! These books take place circa 1905-1917 and the men of Deep Valley, the fictional town where the books are mostly set, are well-dressed (think: suits), well-coifed (think: shining pompadours), and well-mannered (think: they’re as likely to bring flowers to the mothers as to the daughters).

Here’s a rundown of some of the men of Deep Valley (and beyond). Don’t tell my husband, but I’m in love with one or two of them myself.

The Betsy-Tacy books:
Tony Markham – The Tall Dark and Handsome one
Tony might possibly have been my first book crush. He’s good looking, funny, can sing, and is just a little bit bad (he smokes cigarettes and hops trains to the Twin Cities to watch baseball games). He’s the one your mother warned you about, but can’t help liking herself.

Joe Willard – The Elusive
Joe is gorgeous, independent and too stubborn for his own good. It’s too easy to hurt Joe’s feelings, which is why Betsy can never land him. Never say never though. The fourth high school book is called Betsy and Joe, and the blond man on the cover of Betsy’s Wedding looks awfully familiar.

Phil Brandish – The Snob
He's rich, drives a car in 1908 when many people have never even seen one, and thinks a lot of himself. But he’s polite, refined and if he could just find where he left his sense of humour, he might be all right.

Uncle Rudy & Mr. Ray – The Debonairs
When Betsy spends Christmas with her best friend Tib in Milwaukee, Tib’s Uncle Rudy steals her heart with his waxed mustaches, dancing, and tickets to the theater on a Sunday!

Mr. Ray is Betsy’s father and if you’re looking for upstanding, loyal, and someone who loves his family, look no further. Even as his circumference grows in middle age, he still cleans up nicely and is the most debonair man at the Melborn Hotel dances.

Marco Regali – The Romantic
Marco is the Italian young man who falls in love with Betsy in Venice. He calls her Bette, throws roses through her bedroom window, and takes her on ferry rides to islands where they picnic until sunset. Yeah, Marco is as good as he sounds.

Sam Hutchinson – The Loveable one
Sam is the romantic lead in Carney’s House Party, a book told from the point of view of Betsy’s friend, Caroline Sibley (Carney). He’s the jolly, loveable, nice to kids, kind of guy and while I didn’t fall in love with him myself, I can see why others might. To me, he makes the perfect friend though.

Emily of Deep Valley is a stand-alone book and while Betsy and some of her friends make brief appearances, they’re not really part of the story.

Don Walker – The Cad
Oh, don’t get me started. Emily likes him…a lot. But why? Oh, sure, she can really talk to him. But only when it suits him. And only when her beautiful cousin isn’t around. Run, Em, run! And I’m not giving anything away, as the reader can tell this from the very beginning, even if Emily can’t!

Jed Wakefield – The Forward Thinker
Jed is all for a social cause and he’s thinking about America’s future. He’s got his own thoughts and opinions, but he also takes into account Emily’s beliefs, circumstances, and desires. He’s one you can count on. In a way, he’s a young Mr. Ray.

There are many more beaus and male friends in all of these books, but these are the main ones. The nice thing I’m always reminded of when I revisit Lovelace’s books is that while Betsy and her friends are often similar to boy-crazy girls a hundred years later, there is always an underlying theme of girl-power too. The books ring with these messages: be true to yourself, study hard, go to college, be loyal to your friends, don’t compromise your beliefs, make something of yourself, be socially, spiritually, and politically aware, don’t settle, and follow your dreams. And all those messages are mixed in with pretty dresses, dances, and beaus.

Joëlle Anthony is the author of the young adult novel, Restoring Harmony, and her second book, The Right & the Real will be released in April 2012. Visit her website at 

http://joelleanthony.com/

You can also find her on twitter: @joellewrites

Valentine's Week: Fictional Crushes

On Monday, we heard about some fictional YA heroes - thanks Sophie.  Miss Tammy stopped by on Tuesday to share with us her favorite hot boys with accents.  Wednesday brought us "bad boys with heart" thanks to Janelle.  So today, I am sharing my top five YA fictional crushes (boy was this hard...I had to leave off Sam from Shiver, Pietr from 13 to Life, Zach from Shadow Hills, Spill from Restoring Harmony, and Max from 13 to Life).

About a year ago, I remember having a conversation with one of my students after she finished reading Beautiful Creatures by Garcia & Stohl.  I admitted to her that I had a crush on Ethan.  Her shocked and confused look made me nearly choke on my laughter.  She just couldn't imagine how or why her principal would be having a crush on some character in a book, but really if you spend any time on Twitter the topic of fictional crushes will come up.  I'm in good company. (Please note -all my real life crushes have been age appropriate.) 

There is something fun when an author can write a character that makes your heart skip a beat when he enters a scene or when you want to be the female main character so that it will be you that he is looking at with those smoldering eyes.

So what is it that attracts a girl to her fictional crush...well, I can't speak for anyone else but here is what makes me swoon for a guy (and to have all these qualities - well let me just say - I need a minute to catch my breath)....

He's not necessarily the most popular guy in high school.

# 5 Cabel from Wake/Fade/Gone by Lisa McMann - Cabel was certainly not the most popular guy in Janie's High School.  You might actually say he is an outcast.  However, there was something about Cablel that made me fall for him completely.  It might be the way that he was always looking out for Janie and would even have a snack for her for after one of her dream experiences.  Yep, my guy knows what a girl needs even if she doesn't.

He isn't who you think he is. 

# 4 Carter from Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender - I expected Carter to be a bit of a jerk.  I really wasn't planning on falling for him at all.  However, he turns out to be nothing like I expected and he really cares about Alexis and wants to help her.  So much so that he can't be detoured.  There was so not enough of Carter in book 1.  Dear Katie Alender: Please make sure there is more of Carter in book 2.  Thanks, Me.

He's smart and likes books.  

# 3 Ethan from Beautiful Creatures/Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margie Stohl - Right from the start one of the things that caught my eye about Ethan Waite (yah, aside from good looks and an accent and ability to meld thoughts with Lena) was the fact that he loved reading and books - even if he didn't want to let the others know.  Plus his mother had been a librarian. 

He's strong yet sensitive and equally matched. 

# 2 Po from Graceling by Kristen Cashore - Katsa is one tough heroine but I want to say to her "Step aside if you don't want to marry him, I will." ;-)  Katsa would never have been able to be in a relationship with a man that she could completely boss around.  Po was a great match for her.  He was strong, a great fighter, and very much her equal.  Yet, despite his practice/training fights with Katsa, he also knew how to be gentle with her and bring out different sides to her.

He is devoted and protective (in a good way). 

# 1 Chen Yong from Silver Phoenix/Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon - I am crazy about Chen Yong.  If I had a check list for things I am looking for in a guy, he would probably get a 100% rating.  How can he not...he is smart, good looking, strong, sensitive, and always coming to Ai Ling's rescue. Heck, even the most independent girl still likes it when a guy is looking out for her and comes to her rescue.  Ai Ling isn't easy to protect.  She is very spirited and determined.  However, Chen Yong was really always there for her. 

Now that I shared with you my top 5 crushes...why don't you tell me yours?

Valentine's Week Guest Post: Bad Boys With A Good Heart

When it comes to book crushes, I’m definitely more of a hero girl. I mean, come on! How can any self-respecting girl not love Peeta? Or Po? Or Jem? Or Sam? Yeah… *wistful sighs* I love them…
But every once in a while, a bad boy will come around and sweep me right off my feet.

Not just any bad boy, though. He has to have a good heart. One that is not buried too deep… *cough* Will *cough* (Although, I totally trust that his good heart will eventually show. Eventually.)

I started thinking about bad boys that I love, though, and came up with a very short list, so I turned to my friends on Twitter for help…

The most common bad boy (with three votes) was Patch from Hush, Hush. I’ve yet to read this one, so I’m going off what I’ve heard. Bad boy? Yes. Good heart? Not so sure…

Some of the other ones were Gerard Tarrant from the Coldfire Trilogy (Had to google him, but I am so reading this!), Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights (old school, but yes!), and the “bad faerie dude from Paranormalcy” (I suppose I could look up his name for you, but I like what Wendy said).

My friend Kristina  replied that her favorite bad boys are her two sons. She’s joking. Really. She is. Well, I think she is… At least they’re cute bad boys with good hearts!

This leads me to my two favorite bad boys:

Cole from Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

When I first opened Linger and saw Cole’s name in the chapter heading, I closed the book. Seriously. I wanted Grace and Sam. I mean, really, Sam is just amazing! Why doesn’t he just have his own book! So when I saw Cole’s name, I refused the read the book. I couldn’t bear to open it again. Cole already had one strike against him simply by being in the book. I didn’t want the intrusion. I was right. When I finally decided to give it a try, I hated Cole. With a passion. He was a bad boy, and try as I might, I could not see a good heart.

This is one of the things I adore about Maggie’s writing, however: her characters are so rich and complex. By the end of the book, Cole had me eating out of his hands. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he did, in fact, finally show his good heart. There is a certain scene in the end of Linger that made me cry and solidified the fact that Cole does indeed have good heart (making me love him just as much as Sam). Now, I can’t wait to read Forever to find out where the bad boy thing came from. I mean, we have some clues, but… ;o)


And my all-time favorite Bad Boy with a Good Heart…

Jace from Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments

*sighs* Jace.

From the first time I saw the snarky golden boy take out a demon in Pandemonium, I was hooked. I mean sure, he wasn’t always the nicest person to Clary, but what do you expect from a boy who was taught at an extremely young age that “To love is to destroy” *heart breaks a little*? And he loved Clary. And he didn’t want to destroy her. And… And… Oh, there is so much more!

His childhood, his relationship with his father, was so complex. How could his character not be? But through it all, his love for Clary is right there.

And the boy really does have a good heart. You can see it seep out whenever his family and friends need him. You can see it in his fierce protectiveness over them.

You can see it in City of Ashes in a certain scene on a certain boat with a certain character who also loves Clary. If there was ever any doubt as to his good heart, what he did in that room, what he said to that character, is more than enough proof.

Yes. Jace is a bad boy… But at least he has a good heart! :o)

(I want to give a shout out to by #FoobaConJace girls… Fellow Jace (and bacon) lovers Di [www.twitter.com/dianapaz_], Tina [www.twitter.com/tinalynn_], and Erica [www.twitter.com/ericamchapman]. Yes. We share Jace. And bacon.)


So who are your favorite bad boys? Do they have good hearts?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Janelle Alexander loves to read and write, especially YA. And she loves to crush on fictional characters. And she is as jealous of all of you in your fabulously cold snow as you are of her in her stupid, hot sun. You can find her on Twitter (@janellealexandr), her personal blog (janellealexander.blogspot.com), or her group blog (DNAwriters.blogspot.com).

Valentine's Week Guest Post: Hot Boys With Accents

‘Ello, Sexy.

The first time I fell in love I was in Orlando, Florida. He had dropped something while walking out of a restaurant, and being the good Southern girl that I am, I picked it up and handed it back to him. He gave me a brilliant smile and replied, “Cheers, Love.”

That was it. I was smitten. Sure, he was an over-weight, bald man old enough to be my father, but that accent. Being from the backwoods of Kentucky, it was my first real life exposure to a British accent, and it was the most beautiful sound in the whole world to my ears.

To this day, I’m still entranced by a good accent. A guy can go from fairly average to steaming hot in two seconds flat with the addition of an Irish brogue. Even in books, I’m drawn to characters with accents I can only hear in my head. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve put together a list of my five favorite boys with accents in YA literature.

Carlos Fuentes from Simone Elkeles’ Rules of Attraction. I liked Alex, really I did, but it was his brother Carlos who stole my heart. There was no way Kira could have resisted when the Mexican bad boy said, “I dare you.”

Étienne St. Claire from Stephanie Perkins’ Anna and the French Kiss. What could be more perfect than a boy with a French name and British accent? After reading Anna and the French Kiss, I’m pretty sure the answer to that question is “not a single thing.”

George Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Yes, there are tons of guys with accents to choose from in the Harry Potter series (like Professor Snape who can read the phone book to me any day of the week), but the Weasley twins win my affection. How can you not love the fun-loving gingers? Well, I suppose I mean the fun-loving ginger… We miss you, Fred.

Jem Carstairs from Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I like Jem. He’s smart and sensitive and plays the violin. How cool is that? Okay, so the whole Bleached Boy thing creeps me out a little. (I know a woman who is silver because of her “medicine”. Trust me on this, it’s not pretty.) But looks aren’t everything, right? Especially when you’re a half-British, half-Chinese Shadowhunter who grew up in Shanghai and now lives in England. What I wouldn’t give to hear him speak.

Image from Just One More Freak Deviant Art

Will Herondale from Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. You thought I was going full-on Team Jem there didn’t you? Don’t be so naïve. I couldn’t choose just one Shadowhunter even if I was being held at claw-point by a demon. Will isn’t just beautiful and British, but also tortured. And if there is anything I love more than a boy with an accent, it’s a boy with angst.

How about you? What are your favorite fictional boys with accents? And what accents are certain to make a guy’s hotness level raise a few points in your book?

Miss Tammy is the Young Adult Services Coordinator for a public library system in Kentucky. When she's not reading, writing, or cataloging books, she's sleeping. Being from Kentucky she has no accent whatsoever. 

Valentine's Week Guest Post: All About Heroes

When Aly asked me to write this post, I agreed immediately. Who doesn’t love a hero? And then I started to think about it and I realized it was harder than I thought. I mean, there are so many different types of heroes. So, I ran to the dictionary and found it equally unhelpful. I already knew the description: myth, legend, strong, brave, idol. I just couldn’t put my finger on it until I realized that that’s not what I wanted to talk about here. I wanted to talk about a specific type of hero. You know, the one we read about; that guy we’ve all met between the pages of our favorite stories – the one who always does the right thing.

Let’s face it, he may not even start out as a hero. Oscar in Pam Bachorz’ CANDOR is really more of an anti-hero in the beginning of the story. But then some thing or better yet, someone, changes his way of thinking and he ends up sacrificing everything for her. How can you not love that guy?

He may be someone we already know like Simon in Cassie Clare’s The Mortal Instruments. Who didn’t love him when he waited for Clary in her bedroom while she was observing the flowering patterns of obscure flora with a certain Shadowhunter? Okay, Simon interrupts what is going to be one hot scene but he was there for Clary, making sure she was safe in this strange, new world they just discovered.

Or maybe he’s the boy next door as in A.M. Robinson’s Vampire Crush. After all, who doesn’t love a boy who remembers where he hid that princess sandal he stole from you when you were kids?

I have to mention a Hot Boy with Sword who fits this bill nicely – Ash from Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey books. And if you haven’t read The Iron Queen, yet, I won’t spoil it for you but just read those last few pages and you’ll see what I mean. Ash always does the right thing. Always.

My favorite in this genre has got to be Cabel from Lisa McMann’s WAKE/FADE/GONE series. He and Janie have been through so much and still, in GONE, he waits for her. He even keeps his inner worries hidden (or so he thinks). But through it all, he remains by her side, always but always doing the right thing.

So next time you pick up a book, look for that boy, you know the one…yeah, see him off in the distance watching you, waiting to help you out when you need him the most.

Sophie Riggsby is a busy mom of three you can find her daydreaming about fictional characters while waiting for her children in the School Pick Up Lane, at Boy Scout meetings or in their ballet classes. She loves to post book reviews on Mundie Moms, Mundie Kids and Page Turners Blog.