Take note, fans of the Alex Rider books by Anthony Horowitz: the last book in the series has just been published. Titled Scorpia Rising, this ninth book brings to a close the best-selling series about the reluctant teenage spy. Of course, we've got copies of the book -- just released on Tuesday -- at the library! Recently, in my capacity as the children's/teen book reviewer for Scripps Howard News Service, I interviewed Horowitz about ending the series. Here's a look at my story:
Corner: 'Scorpia Rising' a rousing coda to Alex Rider teen-spy series | ScrippsNews
You may not recognize the name of children's author/illustrator Paul Galdone. But it's likely you've read one of the 300 children's books he illustrated and/or wrote during his lifetime. Now publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has re-released four Galdone classics and given them a sparkling new look. Read more in this column I wrote last week for Scripps Howard News Service and which was published in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Children's Corner: Paul Galdone's illustrations refresh four fairy tales
Hybrid books -- those books that are half-text and half-illustration -- are hot right now, driven by the popularity of author/artist Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The narrator of Kinney's stories is a boy named Greg Hefley, and the books offer a boy-focused look at middle school. But we've also got several series targeted to girls: the Dork Diaries byRachel Renee Russell (two books so far, a third one due out on June 6); the Ellie McDoodle books by Ruth McNally Barshaw (3 books so far); and, of course, the many volumes in the Amelia books by Marissa Moss, who was one of the first hybrid book creators. Now there's another new series, The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow. The second book in this series about two fifth graders dealing with friendship and family issues has just been published, and it's sure to be as popular as the first book. To learn more about The Popularity Papers and Amy Ignatow, check out this story that I wrote in my capacity as the children's book reviewer for Scripps Howard News Service: Children's Corner: Amy Ignatow's inner fifth-graders romp on
March is Women's History Month, and we've put out a display of some wonderful books about some wonderful women. Come in and check them out! You'll find our display on top of the fiction shelves at the far end of the Children's Room.