CCBC Choices 2015 CCBC Choices 2015 Kathleen T. Horning Merri V. Lindgren Megan Schliesman Emily McKnight Townsend Cooperative Children’s Book Center School of Education University of Wisconsin–Madison Copyright ©2015, Friends of the CCBC, Inc. ISBN–10: 0–931641–24–X ISBN–13: 978–0–931641–25–1 CCBC Choices 2015 was produced by the office of University Communications, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Cover design: Lois Ehlert This publication was created by librarians at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Funding for the production and printing was provided by the Friends of the CCBC, Inc. For information, see the Appendices, or go to www.ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ CCBC Choices 2015 3 Contents Acknowledgments . 4 Introduction . 5 Organization of CCBC Choices 2015 . 6 The Charlotte Zolotow Award . 8 A Few Observations on Publishing in 2014 . 10 The Choices Science, Technology, and the Natural World .....................14 Seasons and Celebrations ....................................17 Folklore, Mythology, and Traditional Literature. 19 Historical People, Places, and Events ...........................21 Biography and Autobiography ................................30 Contemporary People, Places, and Events .......................36 Issues in Today’s World .....................................38 Understanding Oneself and Others ............................39 The Arts .................................................40 Poetry ..................................................46 Concept Books ...........................................47 Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers ...............49 Picture Books for School-Age Children .........................62 Books for Beginning Readers .................................77 Books for Newly Independent Readers .........................77 Fiction for Children ........................................79 Fiction for Young Adults ....................................94 Appendices Appendix I: Checklist of Books in CCBC Choices 2015 ...........114 Appendix II: About the CCBC ..............................121 Appendix III: About the Compilers ...........................122 Appendix IV: The Friends of the CCBC, Inc ....................124 Friends Membership Form .................................125 Author/Illustrator/Title Index . 128 Subject Index . 135 4 CCBC Choices 2015 Acknowledgments The Friends of the CCBC underwrites the publication ofCCBC Choices each year, making Choices available free of charge to Wisconsin librarians, teachers, and others in the state. Thank you to the current Friends board of directors and Friends members in Wisconsin and beyond. (For more information about the Friends of the CCBC, and a Friends membership form, see Appendix IV.) Two CCBC student employees — Erin Augspurger and Carolyn Vidmar — lent their experience as writers and editors to this edition of CCBC Choices with their copyediting. Thanks to them both for their careful reading and thoughtful queries. We value the comments and insights from participants in CCBC monthly book discussions, and on CCBC-Net, our online book discussion community (which came to a close at the end of 2014). We also thank Anne Walaiula for her insight on several titles we read throughout the year. Thank you to the staff in Creative Services at University Marketing who work on Choices: Nancy Brower, Barry Roal Carlsen, and Kent Hamele. We couldn’t create Choices without the support of our student staff, who handle many day-to-day responsibilities. The following individuals worked at the CCBC during 2014 and early 2015: Erin Anthony (2014), Erin Augspurger, Jen Fiddler (2014), Beth Hennes, Sammy Jackson, Erin Look, Katelyn Martens (2014), Mary Ostrander, Paula Steigerwald, and Carolyn Vidmar. Finally, thanks to our families, for understanding all the time we must spend reading at home, and who share our enthusiasm for great books. Kathleen T. Horning, Merri V. Lindgren, Megan Schliesman, and Emily McKnight Townsend CCBC Choices 2015 5 Introduction CCBC Choices is created by librarians at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), a library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin– Madison (see Appendix II for more about the CCBC). The CCBC received review copies of about 3,500 new books for children and young adults in 2014, which includes most of the trade books published in English by corporate publishers in the United States. While we couldn’t possibly read everything, we have read extensively, looking for books that get us excited about the ways they can engage and inform children and teens. We are confident that among the 259 books we’ve chosen, you will find numerous titles to meet the needs and interests of the children and teens in your professional or personal lives. We are often asked how we choose books for CCBC Choices. We don’t have a formal rubric or checklist of criteria, but there are a number of factors we consider. Literary and artistic quality top our list, but we also pay close attention to accuracy, authenticity, and credibility. If we have questions we’re unable to answer, we try to get informed opinions from expert content reviewers, especially with regard to the depiction of race, culture, and other dimensions of experience we may not be personally qualified to evaluate. Sometimes we’re challenged by books that we greatly appreciate for one or more reasons but that also raise questions in our minds. We depend upon further discussion, thinking, research, and sometimes other opinions to determine how those strengths and shortcomings balance, and to determine whether the book ends up a Choice. We may also consider a book because it offers unique or unusual content, especially when we know there is a need and interest in books on that topic based on our discussions with teachers, librarians, and others who work directly with children and teens. We also factor in what we know about children and teens as readers. Ultimately, our goal is to create a broad, deep list of books we can stand behind with enthusiasm, can speak about with passion, and are truly excited about sharing. We are able to do this year after year because we never cease to be inspired by the creativity of so many of the authors and artists writing and illustrating books for children and teens. 6 CCBC Choices 2015 Organization of CCBC Choices 2015 The organization of the books inCCBC Choices into thematic and format categories has been developed over the years to help teachers, school and public librarians, and others who work with children and teens quickly find books that meet their needs. We often make refinements from year to year in the organization, in part due to our ever-growing understanding of what our colleagues who work directly with youth want and need, and in part to reflect the books we have chosen in a particular year. Books in this edition of CCBC Choices have been placed into one of the following thematic categories when appropriate: • Science, Technology, and the Natural World • Seasons and Celebrations • Historical People, Places, and Events • Contemporary People, Places, and Events • Issues in Today’s World • Understanding Oneself and Others • The Arts The remaining books have been placed into one of the following genre or format categories: • Folklore, Mythology, and Traditional Literature • Biography and Autobiography • Poetry • Concept Books • Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers • Picture Books for School-Age Children • Books for Beginning Readers • Books for Newly Independent Readers • Fiction for Children • Fiction for Young Adults Picture books about people who actually lived have usually been placed in the Historical People, Places, and Events section or the Biography and Autobiography section, unless the narrative is purely fictionalized. Novels set in the past have been placed in one of the Fiction categories. Graphic novels are assessed individually based on content and placed in the category that best suits each individual title. The subject index can be used to find books about specific topics and in specific genres and formats (“Graphic Novels,” “Historical Fiction,” “Fantasy,” etc.). CCBC Choices 2015 Organization of CCBC Choices 2015 7 Age Recommendations We provide suggested age ranges for each title. These are meant to be general guidelines based on appeal and age-appropriateness of the content. We know that some children and teens are ready for and will enjoy books recommended for older readers. Our suggested age recommendations cannot substitute for professional judgment and personal knowledge of individual readers, classrooms, and communities. There is considerable overlap of ages in the two picture book categories as well as in the fiction categories. Given the wide range of individual variation among readers, we encourage you to look through both age categories for each genre. For consistency of organization, we have divided the books as follows: • Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers: younger age recommendation is three or younger (e.g., Ages 1–4, Ages 3–6) • Picture Books for School-Age Children: younger age recommendation is four or older (e.g., Ages 4–7, Ages 6–10) • Fiction for Children: younger age recommendation is 10 or younger (e.g., Ages 9–12, Ages 10–14) • Fiction for Young Adults: younger age recommendation is 11 or older (e.g., Ages 11–15, Age 13 and older) Publication Information All of the books in CCBC Choices 2015 have a 2014 publication date (the copyright date