New Crayons

Every Sunday, I'll share what books I acquired for the week. Okay, the following are not crayons, but I am as excited about new books as I was about new crayons when I was five. Feel free to comment. If you'd like to share your what received for the week, create a post on your blog on Sunday or close to it, and leave us a link in the comment section. Check here to see what others have added to their box of crayolas.

The Skin I'm In By Sharon Flake. Can't keep enough of these in the library. This undoubtly will become a classic in YA literature.

Shanghai Messenger by Andrea Chenge. This will be shelved at our library.
In this picture book for older children, 11-year-old Xiao Mei, the child of an American father and a Chinese mother, is persuaded by Grandma Nai Nai in America to take up the invitation from Uncle Hai Tao to spend the summer in Shanghai. Cheng's free-verse story, illustrated with Young's small, expressive line-and-watercolor pictures, shows the child's initial doubts, the plane journey and the arrival, and the welcoming young cousins and adults...

A Cool Moonlight by Angela Johnson. This children's title was reviewed here recently by Alessandra. After reading her review I publicly pined for a copy. I gleefully did a happy dance when I opened this package.

Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff, a book well-received by our readers. Saving this copy when the current one needs to be replaced. LaVaughn has plans to go to college. What she doesn't have is the money. To earn money, she takes a job babysitting for a teen mom. Together, both girls struggle to make their lives better.

Bird by Zetta Elliot, an award winning book. Can't wait to share it with our younger visitors. Mehkai's nickname is Bird. Both Bird and his brother, Marcus are gifted artists. The story beautifully unfolds in both words and watercolor, gouache, charcoal and ink drawings. Through image and words the reader witnesses how Bird copes with the loss of his brother and grandfather. Bird uses art to heal.

Autobiography of My Dead Brother, a collaboration between fathter and son, author Walter Dean Myers and illustrator, Christopher Myers. Very excited to read this illustrated novel.