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MonsterLibrarian.com’s Top Picks for 2011- Young Adult and Children’s Books

So here we are- part two of the Top Picks list for 2011.

Each book on the list below was reviewed in the past year, although not all the books were published in 2011. If the book made a Top Picks list in the past, it won’t be on this year’s list (Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, was first reviewed in 2009 and made the list that year, so it’s not on this year’s list).

Books that made this list were chosen by our reviewers as exceptional examples of compelling writing, creativity, and original illustration or presentation. Many of them provided considerable food for thought as well as entertainment value. The choices were made only from books reviewed for the site, so there are many fine titles that do not appear here. The Monster Librarian’s Top Picks for 2011, listed below, have not been ranked in any order(although I tried to list them alphabetically). We created lists for adult books, young adult books, and kids’ books. I previously posted the Top Picks for Adult Fiction in 2011. You’ll find the Top Picks booklists for young adults and children below. Enjoy!

Note for librarians and readers: As with all recommended reading lists, not all of The Monster Librarian’s Top Picks for 2011 will be appropriate for or appreciated by every reader. Please take the time to check out reviews of these titles at MonsterLibrarian.com before making a decision about reading them or recommending them to others.

 

The Monster Librarian’s Top Picks for Young Adults, 2011

A special mention goes to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs, chosen as a top pick by four different reviewers independently of each other.

 

Abarat series by Clive Barker (Abarat, Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War, and  Abarat: Absolute Midnight)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann

Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Ghost Town (Morganville Vampires, Book 9) by Rachel Caine

Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely) by Melissa Marr

Lockdown: Escape from Furnace 1 by Alexander Gordon Smith

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Nickel Plated by Aric Davis

Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore

Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls) by Maggie Stiefvater

Skulls by Tim Marquitz

Subject Seven by James A. Moore

Teeth: Vampire Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.

The Dead (An Enemy Novel) by Charlie Higson

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

 

 

The Monster Librarian’s Top Picks for Kids, 2011

A special mention goes to Crooked Hills: Book One by Cullen Bunn, reviewed independently by two different reviewers and highly recommended by both.

 

Crooked Hills by Cullen Bunn

Dragonbreath series, books 1-3, by Ursula Vernon (Dragonbreath,

Attack of the Ninja Frogs,

Curse of the Were-wiener

)

Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror edited by R.L. Stine

Monster and Me (Monster and Me) by Robert Marsh

Scary School by Derek the Ghost

Little Goblins Ten by Pamela Jane, illustrated by Jane Manning

The Island of the Skog by Steven Kellogg

The Shadows: The Books of Elsewhere: Volume 1 by Jacqueline West

Getting Graphic: What Kids See

I’ve been musing over a couple of experiences I’ve had in the past week, and I’d like to share them with you. First, I am sure at least some of you have followed the controversy over the, er, “sexy” portrayals of Catwoman and Starfire in the DC Comics “reboot” that has just premiered (and, according to a press release we received today, completely sold out). I won’t go into it here since other people have already done it better and more passionately, but I would like to say that even though these comic books aren’t targeted at little kids, little kids are familiar with them. My son had Iron Man sneakers in size 3T. Last year a friend gave him a Spiderman action figure for his birthday. You can’t say that superheroes are adult territory only once marketers have targeted the kids.

So it doesn’t surprise me that in the wake of all this, Michele Lee, reviewer and zombie editor for MonsterLibrarian.com, interviewed her seven year old daughter about her reaction to Starfire’s new look. And it saddens me so much that a character like Starfire, who is obviously a role model to at least one superhero loving girl, is cheapened not just for adults but also for children. What we see matters.

I want to go past this particular controversy, though, to write about something that nearly broke my heart this week. To backtrack, I am in the midst of taking a class in youth materials in libraries (yes, I have already worked as a children’s librarian and a school library media specialist, but I’ve gotta keep my certification current, and you can always learn something new). This week we’re discussing graphic novels, and I had to pick one from a list of “children’s” graphic novels to discuss. I chose and ordered the book a while back, it came, and immediately my five year old son absconded with it. The book is Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel.

I will freely admit that my knowledge of graphic novels is limited. Someone tells me a graphic novel is for children, I think along the lines of Ook and Gluk: Kung Fu Cavemen from the Future or Dragonbreath (which are smart-alecky, occasionally gross, and imaginative).  We made it through Dragonbreath: Curse of the Were-Wiener here with no problem. My Godzilla-loving, monster-loving child couldn’t put Ghostopolis down. He couldn’t really understand it, but the images grabbed him and he asked so many questions that eventually we sat down and read it.

This is a far cry from Ook and Gluk. It’s about a terminally ill child who is accidentally transported to the afterlife before he dies and has to find a way home.  The themes in this book are not themes most elementary aged children are going to be able to understand or fully process. The artwork is phenomenal, but TenNapel’s vision of the afterlife? Not pretty. Nothing my son hasn’t seen before… after all, he’s the son of the Monster Librarian… but maybe not quite pulled together in this way.

I can tell stories about Hades to my son. He is obsessed with demons(an obsession that could end anytime, and I would be okay with it) and wants to be a mummy for Halloween. But his birthday is around the corner, and suddenly, he didn’t want to turn six, because he was afraid he would die, and he didn’t want to go to the afterlife like the boy in the story, Garth Hale (it took a long time to pry this out of him).

The impact of these images on children is tremendous. It is a huge responsibility, even more so, I think, than in books that have no images or illustrations at all. DC failed so many people by choosing to exploit Catwoman and Starfire… As parents and librarians, it’s clear we cannot just trust someone else’s interpretation as to what’s appropriate. Kirkus suggested that Dragonbreath was appropriate for ages 8-11  and that Ghostopolis was appropriate for ages 9-12. The two books aren’t even on the same planet.

I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to say here except that little pitchers don’t just have big ears. They have big eyes. They don’t necessarily respect boundaries. And what they take away from what they see is different than what we do. So the images we present them with really matter.