Top Five Children's Books in 2012

Lions of Little Rock by Kristen Levine

I loved this story, and over identified with Marlee, when I first read this book back in May and nothing's changed since then. I worry a little bit about kid appeal- I've been trying very hard to make this book a thing in the children's room and while every adult that I've booked-talked into it come back with rave reviews, no kids have taken it yet- but I'll just have to love it enough for all of us.


Remarkable by Lizzie K. Foley
Jane Doe is the most ordinary girl in the world and she has the misfortune of living in a town where everyone is remarkable in some way. But when the REMARKABLY bad Gimlet twins get kicked out of the gifted school (and join Jane as the only students in the regular, public school) and a mysterious pirate captain (who doesn't seem to like his job very much) shows up at the same time as the city is getting ready to celebrate a new milestone, it may be up to Jane to save the day in her ordinary way.



Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run by Sam Riddleburger and Michael Hemphill



Video games and time travel don't really mix. Neither do skeptical teenage boys and evil senators hell-bent on reversing the course of history and ensuring that the south wins the Civil War this time around. But sometimes you're just minding your business, looking for a new bugle to blow at your parents dumb civil war battle reenactment, and all of a sudden you're back in 1861 looking for a way home, a way to save your ancestor (not to mention the entire course of history), and maybe impress the girl. You know, if you have time.  

Wonder by RJ Palacio

This book has had a lot of press and some pretty beautiful book trailers. There's not much that I can add to the discussion about this beautiful book about a boy with a severe facial deformity joining society for the first time. EXCEPT I read Wonder on a plane to a job interview and, like Code Name Verity, I started crying on the plane, freaking out the guy sitting next to me. Then I book talked it during my interview without having finished it and every single person on my panel wrote down the title and author to go check out later.




The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
 You hear a lot about Cinderella and Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, you know, the princesses in the stories. But when was the last time you heard a proper story about Frederic, Liam and Duncan, the princes that saved? Come to think of it, when was the last time you heard anything about what went down after Happily Ever After? Not too often by my count, but here comes Christopher Healy and The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom to remedy both of those issues at once.