There are so many excellent books to try!
Novels:
I've recently gotten to this year's Printz winner, the YA novel MIDWINTERBLOOD, by Marcus Sedgwick. (Sedgwick also wrote Revolver, which was a Book Talk book from some time ago.) This book has an intriguing structure, beginning with a segment set in the future, in the year 2073, and then going back in time with succeeding segments, making stops in 2011, 1944, 1902, 1848, the 10th century, and then in "Time Unknown." Finally, the novel comes full circle with an epilog set in 2073, and thus completes itself. Each of these sections manages to stand alone as an eerie story, but linked together they form a strange and satisfying love story.
CHARM & STRANGE 
, by Stephanie Kuehn, is another strong YA. This one reminded me of a book I read last month, Andrew Smith's Winger. Like Winger, Charm & Strange is an emotional powerhouse about a teenage boy living at boarding school. In this one, narrator Winston is a loner. Alternating chapters of "matter" (taking place in the present) and "anti-matter" (taking place in his past) allow us to understand this troubled character. A tough but terrific read.
OPERATION BUNNY, Book One of the new Wings & Co. series, is by Sally Gardner. A writer who gets it right every time, from I, Coriander to her recent Maggot Moon, this time Gardner delivers a funny young middle grade novel with equal parts fantasy and age-appropraite satire. Orphaned Emily Vole has to earn her keep at the home of the extremely well-to-do Dashwoods, especially after Daisy and Ronald have triplets of their own. But when next door neighbor Miss String leaves Emily a bunch of mysteriously animated keys, nothing is ever the same.
Picture books:
In NEST, Jorey Hurley, tells a complete and nuanced story in just fifteen words. Gorgeous art supports and enriches the text.
SPARKY, by Jenny Offill and Chris Appelhans, is the charming story of a girl who wants a pet, but her mother just says no, no, no. Finally, when mom agrees to a pet that doesn't need to be walked, bathed, or fed, the girl sends for a pet sloth. Who is a wonderful pet, even though he sleeps. A lot. The strong writing is supported by wonderfully expressive illustrations.
I'M THE BIGGEST THIN
G IN THE OCEAN, by Kevin Sherry, has to be the perfect science book for kindergarten. An unquenchable octopus leads readers on a tour of what lives in the ocean. And then we see what lives in the whale. Bold illustrations make it just right for reading aloud to a group of kids, too.
--Lynn
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