Jay-Z, New YA Biography

Jay-Z: A Biography of a Hip-Hop Icon written for YAs. Author Jeff Burlingame explores the remarkably interesting life of the undisputed champion of Hip-Hop! Published by Enslow Publishers, Inc.  ISBN 978-0-7660-4232-2.

Congratulations to our latest raffle winner!

We would like to congratulate the library of H.D. Berkey Elementary School in Pennsylvania for winning our monthly raffle of free books!

New series on insects for the elementary reader

Zoom In on Insects! is a six-title series written for the elementary reader. Want to know what a butterfly eats? Want to see what these insects look like close-up? Written by award-winning author Melissa Stewart, these books look at insects encountered in everyday life.

Other insects covered are bees, dragonflies, fireflies, grasshoppers, and ladybugs. These books will be correlated to the Common Core. That information will be posted on our website as soon as it is available.

These titles are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. They are available through your preferred vendor, enslow.com, your local bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

New Civil Rights series now available in time for Black History month

Enslow has just published a new series on the Civil Rights movement called The Story of the Civil Rights Movement in Photographs. This six book series is written for the middle school reader using primary source photographs, with text boxes and captions supplementing the images.

Author David Aretha examines this critical time in American history. Each title covers a different topic: freedom rides, the Montgomery bus boycott, voting rights, the civil rights movement in Birmingham, the Little Rock Nine and school desegregation, and the march on Washington, D.C. for jobs and freedom.

All of these titles are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. They are available from your preferred vendor, local independent bookstores, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Congratulations to Patricia and the late Fredrick McKissack!

Patricia McKissack, and her late husband Fredrick, were awarded the Coretta Scott King Virginia Hamilton

Award for Lifetime Achievement. Presented to an African American author, illustrator, or author/illustrator, this award represents the winner's body of published works for children and/or young adults. The recipients of this award have also made a significant and lasting literary contribution.This award is named in memory of beloved children's author Virginia Hamilton, and is presented to the winner during the Coretta Scott King Awards Breakfast at the ALA Annual Conference.

Patricia and Fredrick McKissack have written many books for Enslow Publishers, Inc., with their last series of titles, Famous African Americans, published in the spring of 2013. This series of twelve books feature short biographies on Booker T. Washington, Carter G. Woodson, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, Ida B. Wells Barnett, Jesse Owens, Louis Armstrong, Madam C.J. Walker, Marian Anderson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune, and Paul Robeson.

These titles are available from your preferred vendor, local independent bookstores, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

African--American Icons titles

Two subjects from our African-American Icons series performed the opening number on the Grammy awards last night.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are two of the titles in this series. Written for the middle school reader, these 100+ page titles are great for those who want to learn more about these current actors, singers/musicians, authors, and comedians. Other spring 2014 titles in this series include biographies about Chris Rock, Jennifer Hudson, Sean "Diddy" Combs, and Tyler Perry. There are also six titles published in spring 2013.

All of these titles are available from your preferred vendor, local bookstore, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. These titles have been correlated to the Common Core, and are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats.

New animal series for the middle school reader

Get to Know Cat, Dog, and Horse Breeds is a series of three titles, with each 128+ page title focusing on a different animal. Each title features detailed descriptions of different internationally recognized breeds. These titles are a great page length for the middle school student.

For those that are cat lovers, have you ever heard of the Neva Masquerade? The FIFe (Fédération International Féline) considers this as part of the same breed as the colorpoint Siberian, and not in its own category. How about the Sokoke? This cat is found in the Arabuko-Sokoke rain forest in Kenya.

Have you ever heard of the Polish Tatra Shepherd? This white shepherd breed is closely related to the Great Pyrenees. How about the Entlebuch Cattle Dog and Appenzell Cattle Dog? These breeds were named after their places of origin in Switzerland. Read about a lot more of these lesser known breeds in the Dogs book.

The Horse title goes into detail about a lot of lesser known breeds of horses usually found in the United States. Does the breed Akhal-Teke sound familiar? Thought to be one of the oldest horse breeds in the world, the origin of this breed is from Central Asia. The Berber originated in North Africa. There are only a few purebred Berbers left. Many Berbers have been crossbred with Arabians.

All of these titles are available from your preferred vendor, enslow.com, local bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. They are available in both library and paperback editions.

New Biography on Cristiano Ronaldo, winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or Award

Enslow has just released a new six-book series, Goal! Latin Stars of Soccer. These reluctant reader sports biographies feature popular soccer players who were born in either a Latin or Latin American country. The six soccer players featured in this series are Andres Iniesta, Cristiano Rinaldo, Kaka, Lionel Messi, Robinho, and Ronaldinho.

One of these biographies features Cristiano Ronaldo. Born in Portugal, he made his debut with Sporting CP in 2002. After six years with Manchester United and a FIFA Ballon d'Or award, he went to Real Madrid on a record-breaking transfer. Since joining Real Madrid, he has scored an unbelievable amount of goals.

The FIFA Ballon d'Or award is given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous year.

This 48-page hardcover book is available from your preferred vendor, enslow.com, your local bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Read About Peyton Manning before the Super Bowl!

Read about Peyton Manning before the Super Bowl! Written by Ken Rappoport, this biography tells the story of the Super Start quarterback your team can count on when the big game is on the line.  The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks meet in the Super Bowl 2/2/14.  Available in Library Edition, Paperback and eBook.

Congratulations to our December raffle winner

Sorry for not getting this up earlier. Our raffle winner emailed us her list of books. Congratulations to the library at the North Border School in Walhalla, North Dakota!

Don't Play Dirty, Gertie uses fictional characters who find themselves in tricky situations in which they have to make a choice--but which is the right one?  The You Choose series, written by Sarah Eason is perfect for character education.  Four books cover: Be Fair; Tell the Truth; Be Brave; Don't Steal. Provided by Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Solve True Crime with 'Zoom in on Crime Scenes'

Mentioned in Booklist series review (9/1/13), The Zoom in on series by Richard Spilsbury 'zooms' in on tiny things--such as hair, skin, and broken glass--which reveal the truth about crimes. Great for science and STEM reading. Published by Enslow Publishers.

Freak City, title from new Enslow imprint, reviewed in the January 2014 issue of School Library Journal

School Library Journal reviewed Freak City it its January 2014 issue. Freak City is the story of a teenage couple's relationship as they learn to communicate using sign language.

Here is an excerpt from the review:

"Readers are left knowing that the strains of understanding between two cultures are complicated but not insurmountable."

This title is part of a new imprint, Scarlet Voyage. You can order it from enslow.com, your preferred vendor, local bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. It is available in hardcover and e-Book formats.

Frankenstein on SLJ.com

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: A Dark Graphic Novel was reviewed on SLJ.com in Joy Fleishacker's recent roundup of Frankenstein graphic novels and reimagined novels.  With the new movie, I, Frankenstein coming out on January 24th, it's a good time to put together a Frankenstein collection!  Check out the article here!

More information on Sertio A. Sierra and Meritxell Ribas' Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: A Dark Graphic Novel is available here.

School LIbrary Journal review of title from new imprint

In the River Darkness, part of Enslow's new imprint Scarlet Voyage, was reviewed in the January 2014 issue of School Library Journal. Here is an excerpt of the review:

"Fans of both realistic fiction and paranormal romance are likely to find the story to be a fantastic blend of the two genres. The writing is beautiful, the cover is eye-catching, and the story within does not disappoint."

Keeping and Caring for Your Pet series

Kittens are cute and cuddly...and a big responsibility. In this three-book series (Kittens, Puppies, and Rabbits), author Hannelore Grimm writes a beautifully illustrated book aimed at children on how to choose, care for, understand, and play with your new pet. Visit: http://bit.ly/1eDGH7d to find out more and to find Common Core connections.  Published by Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Looking for Lexile levels for books correlated to the Common Core?

Enslow has had a majority of their new titles correlated not only to the Common Core, but also correlated to Lexile. These scores can be found on both www.enslow.com and www.bluewaveclassroom.com.

For Lexile levels, go to the book page, and the Lexile will be displayed. Common Core Correlations can also be found on the book page.

Drawing Lessons (Booklist Review 11/1/13)

"For fairy fans, here's a treat" starts Booklist review on 11/1/13. Simple step-by-step directions show you how to create your own fairy lands. Draw the Magic Fairy written by Rosa M. Curto. Visit Enslow.com for Common Core connections.
#arted  #art #originality

Horses that Help in January 2014 Horse News

Loren Spiotta-DiMare's new four book series, Horses That Help with the American Human Association, has received a great write up in this month's Horse News.  The article has an provides an in-depth view of Loren's experience writing the series and talks about many of the working horses and their trainers that appear in each of the 4 titles. The article appears on page 19 of the January 2014 Horse News.

Titles in the Horses That Help with the American Humane Association series are available in Library, Paperback, and eBook editions.  Please visit Enslow.com for more information.

The Case of Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Recommended LMC review of Body System Disease Investigations starring super sleuth Annie Biotica. "With its colorful, concise fomrat, this series is as delightful as gross body books come." says Library Media Connection (Aut/Sept 2013) reviewer Jenny Gapp. In this series written by Michell Faulk, PhD, our hero has to solve five medical mystery cases. Readers will love the 'You solve the case' which will involve students in the medical science of each case.  Perfect for Science Friday and Common Core Nonfiction Reading.  Visit Enslow.com for more information.  #science #STEM #CommonCore