June 18, 2014 Without violating the spirit of the folktale, Tracy Barrett reinvents the Cinderella story with a sensibility that is distinctly modern. In The Stepsister’s Tale, female independence and solidarity matter far more than male gallantry, but the romance and hopeful essence of the original remain. Barrett will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 24, 2014, at 6:30 p.m.
Helene Dunbar
Flux
312 pages
$9.99
“Dunbar’s debut novel is a contemporary piece of fiction that realistically depicts PTSD from the perspective of a teenage boy. The young man’s emotional episodes are seamlessly woven into the narrative, and the language is appropriate for the story’s overall heft and emulates the vocabulary of typical young adults. The dark tone reflects the past that Gordie is struggling to overcome.”
–School Library Journal
Augusta Scattergood
Scholastic Press
208 pages
$16.99
“Scattergood paints a balanced portrait of childlike self-interest and awakening integrity. This moving, intimate look at America’s struggle for civil rights, as seen through the narrow lens of one growing girl, will spark interesting discussion.”
–Booklist
May 30, 2014 Knuckleball Ned, the new picture book for young children by Nashville native R.A. Dickey, celebrates diversity and the power of friendship. Chapter 16 invited the kindergartners of Glencliff Elementary, where Dickey attended kindergarten himself, to review the story of how Ned, teased for being different, ultimately saves the day—with a little help from his friends.
May 29, 2014 When eleven-year-old Circa Monroe begins to notice that the images she inserts into photographs seem to be becoming real, she’s convinced that she is capable of altering the world with her computer and a bank of images—and possibly bring her beloved father back to life. Memphis native Amber McRee Turner will discuss her new middle-grade novel, Circa Now, at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on June 7, 2014, at 1 p.m.
March 14, 2014 Changers, the first in a fantasy series of YA novels by East Tennessee husband-and-wife team T Cooper and Allison Glock-Cooper, is singled out by the literary paper of record for its unusual appeal to teens struggling with identity issues—as what teen is not?
