Parents, teachers, and librarians are often puzzled by the seemingly endless choices for reading material for young people. What’s good, what’s trash, what’s going to hold their interest? Nancy Pearl, America’s favorite librarian, has read widely in all the genres and happily points the way in Book Crush. Divided into three sections — Easy Books, Middle-Grade Readers, and Young Adult — Book Crush makes wonderful reading connections by theme, setting, voice, and ideas. For horse lovers, Pearl recalls the classics (Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague), but in a creative twist connects Mr. Revere and I to the list. For middle-grade readers, she explores updated retellings of Greek myths and the best coming-of-age stories. Young adult readers get to know chick lit and much more. For those adults who feel stuck in a rut with Caldecott and Newberry winners and the ubiquitous Harry Potters, this fun, informed book offers new ways to stimulate young readers.
From Nancy: My lust for books and reading began when I was a very young child, and has continued unabated for lo, these many many years. Every time I open a new book to read, it's like embarking on a voyage to an unexplored place that just might be filled with wonder and excitement.
The books I love most tend to have three-dimensional characters and be very well-written (although that definition is fluid). I read everything - mysteries, non-fiction (especially history, memoirs, and current events), literary fiction, science fiction and fantasy, andchildren's books (lots and lots, for my upcoming book, Book Crush), and anything else that looks interesting. I love first novels.
More About Nancy: Nancy Pearl is a librarian and lifelong reader. She regularly comments on books on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. Among her many awards and honors are the 2011 Librarian of the Year Award from Library Journal; the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association; the 2010 Margaret E. Monroe Award from the Reference and Users Services Association of the American Library Association; and the 2004 Women's National Book Association Award, given to "a living American woman who ...has done meritorious work in the world of books beyond the duties or responsibilities of her profession or occupation."
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
