This fall brings a rich harvest of titles for all kinds of girls.
Smart Girls
Lynne Cheney and picture book illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser educate
us all with A IS FOR ABIGAIL ADAMS: A BOOK OF AMAZING AMERICAN
WOMEN (Simon & Schuster). Author Bonnie Cristensen brings
us the picture book biography THE DARING NELLIE BLY: AMERICA’S
STAR REPORTER (Random/Crown).
From Scholastic/Levine comes MILLICENT KWAN, GIRL GENIUS
by Lisa Yee for middle grade readers. And from Nancy Carlson, MY
FAMILY IS FOREVER (Viking) is the compelling story of an Asian-American
girl’s adoption.
THREE FUNNY FRIENDS
Funny Girls
Girls wouldn’t be girls without the giggles. For the picture book set,
THREE FUNNY FRIENDS, by Charlotte Zolotow (Running Press)
with art by Linda Bronser, is a hardback reissue about a girl who moves
to a new town. Laughs abound in the bayou in ALIGATOR SUE,
by Sharon Arms Doucet and illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf (Random/Crown).
ALIGATOR SUE
DOODLER DOODLING, by Rita Golden Gelman and illustrated
by Paul O. Zelinsky, outlines the comic adventures of a girl who likes
to draw in class (Harper/Greenwillow). Girls will find much to smile about
in SUPER CILANTRO GIRL (LA SUPERNINA DEL CILANTRO) from
Juan Felipe Herrera and illustrated by Honorio Roblepo (Children’s Book
Press).
Serious Girls
Amelia Earhart: Free
in the Skies
For young adults, WALK SOFTLY, RACHEL by Kate Banks
tells the story of what a girl learns when she reads her dead brother’s
journal (FSG/Foster). In AMELIA EARHART: FREE IN THE SKIES
(Harcourt/Silver Whistle), author Robert Burleigh and illustrator Bill
Wylie create an original graphic novel about this well-known heroine.
Middle graders will find MY BABY by Joyce Sweeney (Marshall
Cavendish) a gripping novel about teenage pregnancy.
Interviews with childhood friends contribute to the poignancy of SEARCH
FOR ANNE FRANK (Abrams) written by Susan Rubin in association
with the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance. From Triangle Press comes
LUBA! THE ANGEL OF BERGEN-BELSEN by Michele McCann with
art by Ann Marshall, a fascinating account of the woman who saved 54 children.
Writer's Bio: Karen Mendez Smith has been involved
in children's media for over twenty years as a literary agent, writer,
and creator of animated television and film. Co-founder of Satori Organics
and M/Path Press, she is a parent to eight children and five incredible
grandchildren (and counting).
