Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112412 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From School Library Journal
The well-known adult readers' advisory expert attempts to extend her range into the world of youth. Immediately, quibbles arise. Why list only a few "Dragon Tales" for the middle readers, leaving out the dynamite series by Susan Fletcher, Jane Yolen, and Laurence Yep? Why isn't Ji-li Jiang's Red Scarf Girl listed in the section on memoirs for teens? Since Pearl mostly lists sequels when she mentions a title, did she really think that the sequel to Daniel Pinkwater's The Hoboken Chicken Emergency didn't deserve to be included? Why not point out the offensive qualities of Lynne Reid Banks's "The Indian in the Cupboard" series when you issue a caveat in your introduction about books published before 1960 having some offensive aspects for Native Americans? Why not include Jessica Haas and K. M. Peyton novels in the section on horses for middle readers along with old classics? Why are the teen "Queens of Fantasy" Mercedes Lackey and Tamora Pierce here, but not Anne McCaffrey? Why include M. T. Anderson's Feed in the section for middle readers? Many of the titles are old and out of print, which will ensure interlibrary loan in many locations. Among youth services professionals this volume will start lots of arguments and should be soon filled with sticky notes. Knowledgeable readers won't need it, but for those new to the field or who have a hard time thinking in readers' advisory categories, it could prove useful to get the juices flowing.—Carol A. Edwards, Douglas County Libraries, Castle Rock, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
As Nancy Pearl makes clear in her introduction, children's and teen books aren't her specialty, and it shows. She lumps books into only three categories (!) for ages 1-18: babies to age eight; 8-12; and 13-18. Those are huge ranges; most books for an 18-year-old are not suitable for a 13-year-old. So good luck figuring out which one is actually for your child's age and reading level. She gives little information beyond author, title, sometimes the illustrator, and a line or two about the book. She doesn't give number of pages, publisher, date of publication, etc. I assume it didn't take her long to throw this together. I know she has a lot of fans, and I find her books for adults well-informed if cluttered. But this "guide" is truly disappointing.

A Must for Teachers & Librarians
Professionals who work with children and teens will find Nancy Pearl's latest book a treasure. Parents, grandparents, doting aunt's will discover a bounty of books to purchase or suggest to the children in your life. Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl tells about her favorite books from childhood and today with contagious enthusiasm. Every school and public library should have a copy at hand.

hard to use
I love the idea of this book but I thought it would be more like the Books to Grow With, which lists the book title and information, and a description of each book under various topics. While I did like some of the topics in the mid-grade section like `Good Books for Discussion', `Laugh Out Loud', `Not a Dry Eye in the House'. I wasn't thrilled with the YA topics, such as `Up All Night' (violent books), `May I Have This Dance' (old fashioned books), `Slowly Unraveling' (books that take some figuring out) and `Tam Lin' (not even quite sure what this category is even after I read the author's explanation)--and I don't think teens would be thrilled either. The titles for teach section are confusing and it's hard to know what kind of books they'll contain. The other thing I don't like is that the book is written in prose style and the titles are mixed into the prose. I don't want to have to read the whole book to find recommendations. I was looking for more of a reference with what each book is about.