Fresh Ink and SLJTeen Live!

FRESH INK is a collection of short stories edited by Lamar Giles, a founding member of We Need Diverse Books.  The text is dedicated in memory of Walter Dean Myers and includes a one act play by him as well as stories by Jason Reynolds, Gene Luen Yang (in graphic form), Melissa de la Cruz and several other YA authors.  The stories feature plenty of name calling and bullying as well as some genuine heroes who find their voices.  Overall, a truly diverse set of characters are represented and provide much needed perspective as they deal with more universal events (a best friend moving away, finding oneself at college, and fitting in). A favorite submission was “Super Human” by Nicola Yoon.  FRESH INK received starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal. ADDED: Educator's Guide from the publisher.

This anthology was one of several new publications featured by Random House Children’s Books at SLJTeen Live! earlier today. Other exhibitors included these vendors: Annick, Candlewick, Diamond, We Believe in Comics, Junior Library Guild, KCP Loft, Little Brown, Penguin, Scholastic, Skyhorse and Tutor.com; plus, sponsorship was provided by other major publishers. This was the seventh annual conference and I think I have attended most of them – there are always great presentations and keynotes, too. The theme this year was Speaking Truth to Power and the sessions dealt with topics such as Mental Health; Creativity and the Arts, Detoxifying Masculinity, and more. I am excited about following up on book titles (future reviews coming) and many blogger suggestions to help with Readers’ Advisory. The Teen Activism and the Passive Programming panels had great ideas, too: “Social Justice Begins with Me Book Club,” Read Woke Challenge, Peace Crane Project, breakout boxes and chalkboard response walls are just a few.

Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce

DEAR MRS. BIRD by AJ Pearce is a new favorite for me, for LibraryReads reviewers and for Amazon which named it an Amazon Best book for July 2018.  This work of historical fiction – set in 1940’s London – is thoroughly charming and certainly heartwarming.  Emmeline Lake is a young woman with hopes of becoming a War Correspondent, leading her to take an entry level job in publishing which surprisingly involves sorting through letters asking for help. The set-in-her-ways advice columnist, Mrs. Henrietta Bird, has strict rules about ignoring any Unpleasantness so numerous letters involving Affairs, the Change, and possible Pregnancies go unanswered in the Woman’s Friend publication. Young Emmy is moved by the letter writers and secretly begins to respond. Simultaneously, Emmy volunteers some evenings at the local fire station and Pearce thereby recounts the horrific impact of the Nazi bombing raids on London. There’s an element of chaste romance, too, for both Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, and their heroic beaus. Introspective and observant, Emmy is a spirited character, somehow both wise and naïve, who often needs to “be British and be brave.” The Guardian’s review calls DEAR MRS. BIRD “as hilarious as it is moving” and, like AJ Pearce, acknowledges the contributions made by women and girls during wartime. Definitely look for the debut novel if you enjoyed titles like Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  

A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders

A Murder of Magpies is a fun mystery, mostly due to the clever wit of its main character, Samantha Clair who works in the London publishing field. She is juggling the needs of various writers – one who seems to be experimenting with a totally new style and another who may be charged with libel due to a tell all book about the fashion industry.

It really gets interesting, though, when a courier is killed, one of the writers goes missing, and a break-in occurs. Inspector Field enters the picture and Sam’s near-perfect, high energy, solicitor mother joins in, too.  Throughout, I found Sam’s sarcasm and wry perspective to be especially entertaining:

• "... we were going to be brave because we were all too cowardly to be anything else."
• “I briefly wondered what you called a group of editors – a chatter of editors?  I thought … and revised: a pompous of publishers, definitely.”
• “I’d felt as if life was like a play and I’d come in at the interval.  The rest of the audience knew what was going on, while I was the only one who was mystified by the dialogue.  As I got older, I worked out that that’s what everyone thought.”

Pick up Judith Flanders’ A Murder of Magpies if you if you are looking for a light, entertaining mystery. The contemporary London setting and book publishing references are a plus!  Hopefully, we will see more stories involving this amateur sleuth – they would be perfect for PBS’ Masterpiece program.