Customer Reviews

Book Crush: For Kids and Teens - Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Interest

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Professionals who work with children and teens will find Nancy Pearl's latest book a treasure. Parents, grandparents, doting aunt's will discover a bounty of books to purchase or suggest to the children in your life. Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl tells about her favorite books from childhood and today with contagious enthusiasm. Every school and public library should have a copy at hand.

I love the idea of this book but I thought it would be more like the Books to Grow With, which lists the book title and information, and a description of each book under various topics. While I did like some of the topics in the mid-grade section like `Good Books for Discussion', `Laugh Out Loud', `Not a Dry Eye in the House'. I wasn't thrilled with the YA topics, such as `Up All Night' (violent books), `May I Have This Dance' (old fashioned books), `Slowly Unraveling' (books that take some figuring out) and `Tam Lin' (not even quite sure what this category is even after I read the author's explanation)--and I don't think teens would be thrilled either. The titles for teach section are confusing and it's hard to know what kind of books they'll contain. The other thing I don't like is that the book is written in prose style and the titles are mixed into the prose. I don't want to have to read the whole book to find recommendations. I was looking for more of a reference with what each book is about.

I've only read the chapter for the youngest readers. It is full of worthwhile books, and I think the categorization is very helpful. I'm sure everyone who reads this book will have his/her own favorite books that didn't get included in Pearl's long list, but still, the omission of Nancy Tafuri is inexplicable.

My daughter is at that tough age for books... too old for kids books and too young for adult books. And the world of Young Adult books is a bit bewildering. This book helped her find some great summer reads - it was worth every bit we paid for it. One recommendation: 13 Little Blue Envelopes

Nancy Pearl speaks in first person as a reader as well as a reviewer. In few carefully selected words she discusses many many books for kids. This is a source for parents, grandparents, teachers and anyone else who is interested in helping young people find books that they will love.

I bought this looking for another reference to pick books for kids. I also use this to help teachers. It is a good partner with Jim Treleases read-aloud book & updates.

I bought Book Crush for my 14 year old daughter after reading Book Lust in the library, and she carried it around with her and read it cover to cover like a novel. Of course, she is an avid reader, and you may not get this response from all kids, but eager readers will find it fascinating.

I'm always looking for good information on books for my granddaughters...Book Crush: for kids and teens is the best I've seen.

If Steven Gilbar had written a version of Good Books for under-18's, it would probably have looked much like this. Nancy Pearl, "America's favorite librarian," here follows up her two adult book lists, Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason and More Book Lust: 1,000 New Reading Recommendations for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, with a version for the younger readers in the family--everyone from the just-into-picture-books set to the angstiest of angsty teenagers. Her long years in children's librarianship and a lifetime of loving books stand her in good stead, and if, like most baby boomers, she often waxes nostalgic about the titles of her youth (as when she recommends the works of DuJardin, Emery, Cavanna, and their ilk for the "jaded-at-twelve set," or recommends such favorites of mine as the Melendy Family or Swallows & Amazons series), she also manages to bring to light a great many titles of more recent years. Her lists (like Gilbar's) are organized by focus or subject, ranging from "Those Adorable Anthropomorphic Animals" to "Queens of Fantasy" to "The Kids Next Door," and she seems to have personally read every title she suggests. If you have even one kid in your life whom you want to help discover the realm of reading, this book (along with The Children's Literature Lover's Book of Lists and How to Get Your Child to Love Reading: For Ravenous and Reluctant Readers Alike) is a recent guide you must have on your shelves. Ms. Pearl encourages readers to suggest further titles; let's hope she's planning a follow-up!

I picked up this book because I am doing research on what young people read and what people think they should read. I heard rave reviews about Nancy Pearl's book Book Lust, so I picked this one up. It is terrible. There are far too many categories with lame titles and themes like "Dragooned by Dragons" and "Cry me a River". The bold book titles in the middle of the paragraph make it hard to find what book she is talking about and is terrible formatting. Her writing leaves something to be desired. This book is more about breadth than depth and if you actually want to know what a book is about then back away. Its just a kitschy version of the Dewey Decimal System.