Sheila's Five Escapist Books to Nurture Resistance in Hard Times

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, illustrations by Ana Juan (Square Fish, $7.99)

The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Harper Teen, $10.99)

Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (Razorbill, $11.99)

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit, $15.99)

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Orbit, $16.00)

Sheila Avelin, November 2016

Big Blue Marble's Picks for Children's Book Week (May 4-10, 2015)

It's Children's Book Week! And so we offer you new and treasured book recommendations, from picture books to young adult, from graphic novels to verse novels. Read over our lists below, and come in and check out our offerings!

Among our own events this week are Shabbat Storytime on Friday morning, and an author reading Thursday night for Bayard Rustin: The Invisible Activist (ages 10 and up).

Check out the CBW website for national events and activities for kids of all ages.

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From Elliott:

One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies (Candlewick, $6.99)

This Book Just Ate My Dog by Richard Byrne (Henry Holt, $16.95)

Library Lion by Michelle Knudson (Candlewick, $6.99)

17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore by Jenny Offill (Dragonfly Books, $6.99)

Me, All Alone, at the End of the World by M.T. Anderson (Candlewick, $16.99)

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From Janet:

Before After by Anne-Margot Ramstein and Matthias Arégui (Candlewick, $19.99)

Journey and Quest by Aaron Becker (Candlewick, $15.99)

Three Questions by John Muth (Scholastic, $17.99)

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson (HarperCollins, $8.99/$19.99)

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From Jen:

Julia's House for Lost Creatures by Ben Hatke (First Second, $17.99)

If I Had a Raptor and If I Had a Triceratops by George O'Connor (Candlewick, $15.99)

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (HarperCollins, $17.99)

Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen (Penguin, $17.99) -- coming in June!

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex (Little, Brown, $7.99)

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From Mariga:

Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak (HarperCollins, $8.99)

El Deafo, Cece Bell (Abrams, $10.95)

The Brides of Rollrock Island, Margo Lanagan (Ember, $9.99)

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From Micah (age 4):

Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall (HarperCollins, $17.99)

The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak (Penguin Random House, $17.99)

Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker (Chronicle, $16.99)

Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by Brianna Caplan Sayres (Random House, $7.99)

Digger, Dozer, Dumper by Hope Vestergaard and David Slonim (Random House, $15.99)

Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton (Harpercollins, $16.99)

Splash by Ann Jonas (Harpercollins, $6.99)

I Have a Garden and I Planted Cheddarbunnies ...oh, okay, that hasn't been published yet.

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From Nif:

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martins Griffin, $18.99)

Penderwicks in Spring Jeanne Birdsall (Random House, $16.99)

Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente (Square Fish, $7.99)

Sleepover with Beatrice & Bear by Mônica Carnesi (Penguin, $15.99)

The Martian by Andy Weir (Random House, $15.00)

Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee (Simon & Schuster, $17.99)

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From Sarah:

Lumberjanes Volume 1 by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis (Boom!, $14.99)

The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santant (Little, Brown, $17.00)

Julia's House for Lost Creatures by Ben Hatke (First Second, $17.99)

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty (Abrams, $16.95)

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (Scholastic, $8.99)

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From Sheila:

Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox (Square Fish, $8.99)

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (Random House, $10.99)

Sabriel by Garth Nix (HarperCollins, $9.99)

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede (Scholastic, $9.99)

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (HarperCollins, $6.99)

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From Tiara:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic, $12.99/$10.99)

Other HP favorites: The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Order of the Phoenix

Paper Towns by John Green (Speak, $9.99)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett (Atheneum, $6.99)

A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara (Seven Stories Press, $9.99)

Sheila’s Five Series for When I Want My Books to Be Candy

All of these are beautifully imagined worlds with compelling characters that will leave you reaching for the next book...and the next...and the next. Smart escapism, perfect for beach and hammock reading.

Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye urban fantasy: series starts with Rosemary and Rue (Penguin, $7.99)
October Day is a changeling PI recovering from spending 14 years transformed into a carp, while simultaneously navigating the political machinations of feudal fae society.

Laurie King’s Russell and Holmes series: series starts with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (St. Martin’s, $16.00)
Sherlock Holmes meets his match in a fifteen-year-old half-American Jewish theologian named Mary Russell; their adventures in the service of the crown take them across the UK and around the globe.

Colin Cotterill’s Dr. Siri books: Series starts with The Coroner’s Lunch (Soho, $15.95)
It’s 1978 and Dr. Siri Paiboum has seen Laos through its Communist revolution and
would like nothing more than to retire, but his country still needs his services in the
autopsy room.

Joan Aiken’s Wolves Chronicles: series starts with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Random House, $5.99 US edition or approx. $11 UK edition)
Interlocking stories following an group of children related by friendship and family ties as their journeys take them far afield from their homes and affect the grand arch of a richly imagined alternate 18th century.

Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief series: series begins with The Thief (HarperCollins, $6.99)
Eugenides is one of the most compelling characters out there, a thief who converses with the gods of the Mediterranean world of city-states and high court drama.

Sheila Avelin, July 2014

Beyond Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown: Sheila’s Five Mystery Series for Kids

Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (Random House, $4.99 each)

Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth by Jane O'Connor (HarperCollins, $9.99 each)

Enola Holmes by Nancy Springer (Penguin, $6.99 each)

The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley (Harry Abrams, $7.95 each)

The Clubhouse Mysteries by Sharon Draper (Simon and Schuster, $4.99 each)

Sheila Avelin, December 2013

Sheila's Five Books of Dead Women Talking

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Penguin, $10.99)
I was excited for this book to come out in paperback and read it right away. The premise is that teenaged Hannah has killed herself and left a box of audio cassettes to be passed along to the people she blames for her death. I came away feeling like Jay Asher is a better writer than a character judge. I didn't like Hannah at all by the end of the book, and while there was room in the text to be angry with her, I think that the author wanted me to like her at least a little bit. But this was a compelling young adult read (for high-school students), the plot was the kind of teenaged trainwreck you can't look away from, and the writing was nicely paced and Clay's anguished night of listening to the tapes was nicely drawn. It got me thinking about other books I've read where, in one way or another, a dead girl or woman is shaping the story.

The principle I used to choose the list gives enough away, so to avoid further spoilers, I'm just listing titles and authors without blurbs, but all of these are suited to adult audiences, and they are all wonderful reads if you like your books smart, engrossing, and at least a little dark.

The Likeness by Tana French (Penguin, $15.00)

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury, $15.95)

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Back Bay, $14.99)

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (Scribner, $15.00)

Sheila Avelin, March 2012

Sheila’s Five Books of Adventure for Warrior Girls...and Boys

There’s an idea in the publishing industry that girls will read books about boys, but boys won’t read books about girls. These are some books (and series) that disprove that notion! All of these are the first book in a series, so once your kid gets hooked, there are plenty more to keep them going.

The Amulet graphic novel series (Book 1 is Stonekeeper) by Kazuo Kibuishi (Scholastic, $10.99)
Emily finds she has inherited an amulet that will allow her to save her mother, but it also commits her to saving an entire alternate world. First, she must master the power of her stone. Beautifully drawn and full of gorgeous steampunk detail, this will please adventurers, artists, and reluctant readers. First grade and up.

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens (Random House, $17.99; paperback coming in April for $7.99)
Kate, Michael, and Emma aren’t really orphans, even though only Kate remembers their parents. After they arrive at an orphanage where they are the only wards, they travel through time, escape a villainous countess, and quest through underground realms to find the secret of a powerful book whose destiny is entwined with theirs. Fourth grade and up.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch (Amulet, $15.95)
Another graphic novel offering, Mirka is an 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl who would rather fight dragons than learn to knit--though it may just be that those two activities have more in common than you might think. I love it that Mirka’s stepmother is pretty much the opposite of evil (though she can be a little brusque). For Third grade and up.

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer (Penguin, $6.99)
When her mother disappears, Enola Holmes, Sherlock and Mycroft’s younger sister, runs away rather than allow herself to be sent to boarding school, and embarks on her own investigations. Every bit as much a master of disguise as her famous brother, these are full of adventure. Fifth grade and up.

Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt (Simon and Schuster, $6.99)
Gwyn is the innkeeper’s daughter and has heard stories of Jackaroo her entire life, how he rides out of the hills to champion the common folk against the greed and exploitation of careless lords. They’re only tales, though...or aren’t they? Seventh grade and up.

February 2012, Sheila Avelin

Sheila's 5 Books for Turning 5!

These are all books I've discovered in the five years since the store opened and which capture why I love selling books: finding things I love and passing them along.

The Dreamhunter Duet by Elizabeth Knox (Dreamhunter and Dreamquake, Square Fish, $8.99 and $9.99)
Girls coming to grips with adolescence, dreams that can be caught and passed on like a virus, and an epic confrontation with villainy...what could be better? Why, a golem, of course!

Exit Music by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown, $7.99)
Rankin's flawed, legendary Detective Inspector John Rebus bows out after a 17-novel run in a gritty, gorgeous Edinburgh.

That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton (Hyperion is letting this one go out of print, but we'll try to keep the British edition around! Orchard Books, about $10.25)
Absolutely pitch-perfect depiction of an adventurer's relationship with her rabbit and her confrontation with the silly, naughty queen who wants to take him away, with playful, energetic illustrations. By the author of How to Train Your Dragon.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Plume, $16.00)
Openly riffing off of Harry Potter and Narnia, Grossman also borrows liberally from the hothouse world of Ivy League scholars and privileged, post-college Manhattanites figuring out how to grow up. Great entertainment.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Mariner, $13.95)
A memoir in graphic form that belongs on the shelf next to Maus and Persepolis; Bechdel draws and writes a densely literary meditation on her father's closeted life and death and her own coming out.

November 2010, Sheila Avelin

Sheila’s Picks: On Beyond Heather Has Two Mommies! -- Picture books featuring LGBT themes or family members

1. Mini Mia and her Darling Uncle by Pija Lindenbaum

2. The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein

3 & 4. Mommy, Mama, and Me, and Daddy, Papa, and Me, two board books by Lesléa Newman

5. In Our Mother's House, by Patricia Polacco

6 & 7. King and King and King and King and Family by Linda de Haan

August 2010, Sheila Avelin

Sheila's list of Five Mystery Series you might like if you like the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series (The Beekeeper's Apprentice, etc.)

Laurie R. King's other series, featuring detective Kate Martinelli and set in contemporary San Francisco.
sample books: A Grave Talent, With Child, To Play the Fool

Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, set in London after WWI, with Maisie practicing at the intersection of early psychotherapy and forensics.
sample books: Maisie Dobbs, An Incomplete Revenge, Among the Mad

Rennie Airth's John Madden series, set in the English countryside and wonderfully written, featuring a Scotland Yard detective-turned-farmer and his physician wife in the run-up to WWII.
books in the series so far: River of Darkness, The Blood-Dimmed Tide, and The Dead of Winter

Dorothy Sayers' classic Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane books. This series is a masterpiece of Britain's Golden Age of detective fiction.
sample books: Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night, Busman's Honeymoon. (And featuring Lord Peter but not Harriet: The Nine Tailors.)

Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins books combine a lively mix of the occult and supernatural, the folklore of the English/Welsh border, and the trials of single motherhood in the Anglican clergy.
sample books: Midwinter of the Spirit, Lamp of the Wicked, To Dream of the Dead

July 2010, Sheila Avelin

Five Six of Zivia's favorite books of mythology, folk tales, and gods and goddesses

The Serpent Slayer by Katrin Tchana, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
Stories of brave, clever, stalwart, and fierce women from all around the world, stirringly retold with rich illustrations by a mother-daughter team.

D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths and
D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire
Wonderful compendiums of stories, with simple, accessible illustrations. A perfect start to a classic education.

Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales,
chosen by Nelson Mandela
Stories from all around the continent, both classic and contemporary, each one retold and illustrated by a different team. The audiobook (available at emusic or iTunes) is also wonderful. An all-star collection in every format.

The Little Book of Hindu Deities by Sanjay Patel
Super-appealing, color-saturated pictures of each deity created by a Pixar-studio animator, each with an explanation of the god or goddess's place in the pantheon.

Trickster, edited by Matt Dembicki
Graphic-novel format retellings of trickster stories from different Native American storytellers, including traditions from across North America. (We're still waiting for this one to come in, but we're including it because it looks awesome!)

July 2010, Sheila and Zivia Avelin

Five Jewish-y Books that Sheila Likes a Lot, for Many Ages

Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen
(Random House, $14.95)
The story of a Chinese-American girl growing up in a thinly-disguised Scarsdale, NY in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Mona works the peer counseling hotline and the synagogue and converts to Judaism (without telling her parents): a comic and wonderful exploration of race, identity, and the conflicts facing second-generation immigrants in America.

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
(HarperCollins, $15.95)
Imagine a classic hard-boiled detective story set in an alternate world where Jews fleeing Hitler settled in Sitka, Alaska, creating a Yiddish-speaking city-state on a 60-year lease that’s about to expire as the book opens. Plus, fabulous use of the word “Jewess.”

The Castle on Hester Street by Linda Heller
(Simon & Schuster, $15.99)
With vibrant new illustrations by Boris Kulikov, this kids’ book conveys the Jewish immigrant experience to a new generation via a wonderful set of tall tales.

Nachshon Who Was Afraid to Swim by Deborah Bodin Cohen
(Lerner, $8.95)
A lovely story for younger kids about bravery and faith based on a midrash (i.e., a story about a Biblical story). Before the Reed Sea parted, Nachshon walked in. Explores a part of the Passover story that’s not in the haggadah.

Jewish Holidays All Year Round by Ilene Cooper
(Harry N. Abrams, $21.95)
This is a book aimed at families with elementary-school-aged children, with stories and projects for each holiday. It has rich content and lovely multi-ethnic illustrations of Jewish families.