Booklist: Read-a-Likes for Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Are you ready to go big or go home with self-proclaimed fat girl, reluctant beauty queen, and all-around icon Willowdean Dixon of Dumplin’ fame?

Have you read Julie Murphy’s delightful novel about Willowdean and its companion Puddin’ already? Have you been watching the trailer for Netflix’s movie adaptation starring Danielle Macdonald  and Jennifer Aniston?

If the answer to any of those questions is “Yes!” then look no further for some read-a-likes to keep you busy while you wait for the movie to drop.

Continue reading Booklist: Read-a-Likes for Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Midseason TV Replacements – Readalikes, Part II

More new television and more book recommendations for you try! Read on to get the dish on all the recently premiered or upcoming midseason shows. If you missed the first part, click here to see last week’s post.

princess-bride-bookGalavant (ABC) – starring Joshua Sasse
Having recently started, this miniseries mashes up Once Upon a Time, The Princess Bride and Glee and offers a silly medieval-inspired show complete with music and a ton of guest stars. The protagonist, Galavant, is on a quest to regain his true love, stolen from him by a prince. You can catch up with the series online and then watch on Sunday nights.
Readalikes:

  • Avalon High by Meg Cabot
  • The Princess Bride by William Goldman
  • Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt
  • Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

 

 

Continue reading Midseason TV Replacements – Readalikes, Part II

Midseason TV Replacements – Readalikes, Part I

I’m back with more readalikes to match some of the midseason replacements TV networks will be putting out this month and next. Some of the shows I mentioned in my two posts this fall were actually pushed forward and are only premiering this month or next, while others I mentioned have already been canceled. :-( But to the best of my ability, these are some of the new shows you can expect to hit your television soon, from networks to cable to streaming. Check out part two next week.

Fresh-Off-the-BoatFresh Off the Boat (ABC) – starring Randall Park
Based on a chef’s memoir, this family comedy is about a Taiwanese family that moves to the United States and opens a restaurant. It takes place in the 1990s, which will be fun for adults and totally hilarious for teens who view that as nearly as historical as the 1890s. Click to watch the trailer.
Readalikes:

  • Mismatch by Lensey Namioka
  • The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
  • Tall Story by Candy Gourlay
  • Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang

 

 

Continue reading Midseason TV Replacements – Readalikes, Part I

The Woods Are Just Trees; The Trees Are Just Wood: Counting Down to “Into the Woods”

Books for Into the Woods fans

True confession time: for how many of you is December 25 not just Christmas, but Into the Woods release day?! I’m so excited to see how the new Disney version compares with the old one I watched so many times on video. Before I ever took a literature class or heard the term “fractured fairytale,” I was amazed at this story which used the common theme of venturing “into the woods” to connect so many familiar stories together using a single setting. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, take a look:

Superfans have probably already heard Anna Kendrick sing Steps of the Palace and seen Johnny Depp’s Wolf interview. With so many actors that teens know and love, and the Disney name to boot, it’s a sure bet that this Sondheim musical is going to pique the curiosity of teen readers. Remember, too, that today’s teens have grown up steeped in middle-grade fairytale mashup worlds. We’ll soon need a meta-Into The Woods just so the characters from The Land of Stories, Sisters Grimm, Ever After High, and Fablehaven can meet up and commiserate about what it’s like to live in all these blended tales. Even the Dork Diaries series got in on the fun with Tales from a Not-So-Happily-Ever-After. And of course, the TV shows Grimm and Once Upon A Time (not to mention the movie version of Shrek) have only fueled the renewed interest in fairy tales. Continue reading The Woods Are Just Trees; The Trees Are Just Wood: Counting Down to “Into the Woods”

Librarians Love: Non-Graphic Novel Readalikes for Manga/Anime

YALSA-bk is a listserv with lively discussions among librarians, educators, and beyond about all things YA lit. Sometimes one listserv member will ask for help finding books around a certain theme or readalikes for a particular title. This post is a compilation of responses for one such request.

by flickr user camknows
by flickr user camknows

The original request
This one has me at a loss — we have a teenage boy who loves manga and anime, but isn’t allowed to read graphic novels (don’t even get me started.) I’m looking for regular book readalikes that might appeal to him. Help?!

When someone else asked what kinds of anime and manga the patron liked, the original poster responded:

I got the information second-hand, so I’m not sure — he wanted to check out our D.Gray-man, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc. but wasn’t allowed.

Continue reading Librarians Love: Non-Graphic Novel Readalikes for Manga/Anime

Spotlight on YALSA’s Nonfiction Award Finalists: Fiction Readalikes for The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb

The Nazi HuntersIn 2014 Nonfiction Award Finalist The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi, author Neal Bascomb recounts the heart-pounding search for a man who was responsible for the deaths of thousands during the Holocaust, and explores the aftermath of that horrific time. If you’re riveted by this compelling true life narrative, try the following novels that also deal with the Holocaust and its aftermath.

(The following book summaries are from the publishers’ jacket copy.)

 

  • TamarTamar by Mal Peet

When her grandfather dies, Tamar inherits a box containing a series of clues and coded messages. Out of the past, another Tamar emerges, a man involved in the terrifying world of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland half a century before. His story is one of passionate love, jealousy, and tragedy set against the daily fear and casual horror of the Second World War — and unraveling it is about to transform Tamar’s life forever.

  • roseunderfire-weinRose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbruck, the notorious women’s concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her? (Companion novel to 2013 Printz Honor book Code Name Verity)

Set in contemporary Israel, this powerful novel is narrated in real time by many voices: Sixteen-year-old Thomas, from Berlin, seeking answers to questions about his grandfather, a Nazi officer in World War II. Vera from Odessa, reclaiming her Jewish heritage. Baruch Ben Tov, a Holocaust survivor. Sameh Laham, illegally employed at a diner. His boss. Sameh’s friend Omar. A Palestinian doctor in an Israeli hospital. A mother. A soldier.
A newscaster . . .
Minute by minute, hour by hour, these lives and many others unfold—and then intersect in one violent moment on a highway outside Jerusalem. Each is drastically and irrevocably changed. What do secrets, hopes, dreams, and future plans mean after such a catastrophe? Can what was destroyed be made whole again?
  • mother_nightMother Night by Kurt Vonnegut

Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.

  • gentlehandsGentlehands by M.E. Kerr (Best Books for Young Adults 1978)
Buddy and Skye are from opposite sides of the tracks, but that doesn’t stand in the way of their love. To impress Skye, Buddy takes her to visit his cultured grandfather. But when a reporter comes searching for a vicious SS officer known as “Gentlehands,” Buddy realizes that his grandfather’s sophisticated bearing may hide a sinister past.
-2014 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults committee in collaboration with Hub blogger Diane Colson