Bulletin Blue Ribbons 2015
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Bulletin Blue Ribbons 2015
This was an exciting year! Our fiction list is one of our most diverse in many ways—characters, genres, audience age—which is a challenge when it comes to discussing relative merits but a delight in its implications. This year we had a plethora of titles formatted as graphic novels, so we pulled them out into a separate section to illuminate them better. We also had some passionate discussion about genre, which may be reflected in next year’s approach to the Blue Ribbons: watch this space. Any dissents championing books that didn’t make the list will be on our website at http://bccb.lis.illinois.edu, as will a downloadable PDF of the list in trifold form.
Deborah Stevenson, Editor
FICTION
Grieving the loss of his twin brother, Ned joins up with Aine, a thief’s daughter, to save two warring nations in this otherworldly novel that examines desperation and loneliness with a gently optimistic view. (January)
This sweeping, epic tale of personified Love and Death examines risk, loss, and the value of human connection through a romance on which high stakes have been placed. (July/Aug)
In graceful, affecting poetry, this free-verse novel follows the life of Clara Lemlich, a key figure in the unionization of garment workers in the early twentieth century. (March)
Richard’s schoolwork procrastination threatens to prevent him from attending his friend’s party in this warm, funny novel that captures the not always flawless logic of kids and the trouble they can get themselves into while trying to stay out of trouble. (February)
Hardinge is a masterful writer, and in her hands the shift from horror tale to an impactful family tale of regret, forgiveness, and loss is seamlessly handled. (June)
California girl Mia is annoyed when she’s forced to travel to Vietnam to be with her grandmother, but new experiences (some good, some not so good) give Mia a new perspective in this endearing look at the way family roots often shape our present. (March) [End Page 280]
This sharp-edged, sometimes gory, always enthralling look at the 1930s Australian underworld combines realism and supernatural elements in a sexy, frightening, and haunting concoction. (June)
The title says it all, really, but those secrets offer both comfort and conflict for Missy as she teeters towards the beginning of adolescence. (September)
Matt finds comfort after his mother’s death by working at the local funeral home in this powerful exploration of the varied and sometimes peculiar ways we choose to grieve. (February)
The narrative voice is a surprisingly effective combination of wit and pathos as it guides readers through this folkloric tale that follows one headstrong girl and her wolves as she tries to find her missing mother during Russia’s 1917 February Revolution. (September)
Watson effectively manages character and situation to reflect the experience of African-American twins Nikki and Maya as they negotiate personal identity and desires while their gentrifying neighborhood brings issues of racial injustice and privilege to the fore. (March)
This final volume in a historical fiction trilogy that perfectly captures the messy joy of family will be warmly welcomed by fans and will be a brilliant and irresistible introduction for newbies. (May)
PICTURE BOOKS
Mr. Panda just wants animals to show some manners before he’ll share; listeners...
