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2016 ALA Youth Media Awards

On Monday the American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners of the biggest children's book awards of the year (and I got to attend the ceremony!) Read below to see if your favorite books are represented, and to discover some new gems.

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The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian

January 2016

In Chris Bohjalian’s THE GUEST ROOM, a couple’s life is upended when the husband hosts a bachelor party for his brother at their home. Things get out of hand when the “adult entertainment” turns out to be two Russian women who are victims of human trafficking. The party turns ugly fast when the girls see a moment to free themselves from their captors --- and take it --- and those at the house find themselves wondering just what they were a party to.

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After the Crash by Michel Bussi

January 2016

AFTER THE CRASH by Michel Bussi is a novel about a night flight from Istanbul bound for Paris in 1980, where 169 (or is it 168?) passengers were killed as it crashed in the Alps. Yes, this sounds eerily like the horrific mountain crash that we heard about last year. In this book, a three-month-old girl survives. There were two babies on board: one from lesser means and one from a powerful family. Which did the child belong to?

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The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir - Audiobook by Ruth Wariner

January 2016

I listened to THE SOUND OF GRAVEL by Ruth Wariner on audio, and I already know it is a story that I will not forget any time soon. It’s a gripping memoir, read by the author, about her life growing up in a family of polygamists. She is the 39th of her father’s 42 children; her father was killed by his brother in a struggle for power in their church, leaving her young mother, Cathy, with four young children. Cathy is then chosen as the second wife of Lane, and she goes on to have six more children with him.

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Broken Promise and Far From True

Links to http://www.bookreporter.com/features/feature-and-contest/broken-promise-and-far-from-true.

Interview: Elizabeth Strout, author of My Name Is Lucy Barton

Jan 14, 2016

Not only is Elizabeth Strout a bestselling author, her work is also critically acclaimed and prize-winning --- including the Pulitzer Prize for OLIVE KITTERIDGE. Her latest book, MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON, features another strong female protagonist, Lucy Barton, a writer whose slow recovery from an operation reunites her with her estranged mother and the life she left behind. Turning a simple hospital visit into the story of a whole life is no easy feat, and in this interview with Bookreporter.com’s Katherine B. Weissman, Strout reveals how all the elements of MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON came together --- intentionally or unintentionally --- from Lucy’s distinctive first-person voice to the setting to the unique structure of the novel. She also discusses her journey as a writer, starting with a very supportive college professor, and why her own high standards are the only ones she strives to meet.

Broken Promise and Far From True

BROKEN PROMISE: Book One of the Promise Falls Trilogy
After his wife’s death and the collapse of his newspaper, David Harwood has no choice but to uproot his nine-year-old son and move back into his childhood home in Promise Falls, New York. David believes his life is in free fall, and he can’t find a way to stop his descent. Then he comes across a family secret of epic proportions that will affect not only his family, but the entire town.

FAR FROM TRUE: A Promise Falls Novel
After the screen of a run-down drive-in movie theater collapses and kills four people, the daughter of one of the victims asks private investigator Cal Weaver to look into a recent break-in at her father’s house. Cal discovers a hidden basement room where it’s clear that salacious activities have taken place --- as well as evidence of missing DVDs. Meanwhile, Detective Barry Duckworth is still trying to solve two murders --- one of which is three years old --- he believes are connected, since each featured a similar distinctive wound. As the lies begin to unravel, Cal is headed straight into the heart of a dark secret as his search uncovers more startling truths about Promise Falls.

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Benjamin Franklin

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.

Attribution

Benjamin Franklin

Biography

Tim Grove

As an author, a public historian, and an educator, Tim strives to find creative ways to engage diverse audiences with history and to demonstrate the relevance of the past. He has developed exhibitions and programming at some of America's most popular history museums, including three Smithsonian museums and Colonial Williamsburg. He also produced a national bicentennial exhibition which traveled the country. His book A GRIZZLY IN THE MAIL AND OTHER ADVENTURES IN AMERICAN HISTORY highlights some of the fascinating projects he has worked on in his museum career.