Tag Archives: music

Life’s Soundtracks

Posted on August 1, 2019 by rosinskynatalie

Which song could be the soundtrack of your life today? This question is posed to the 8th grade characters in Operatic (2019), a wonderful new graphic novel combining music history and biography with smart insights into the complex tween and … Continue reading →

Posted in biographies, graphic novels | Tagged 8th grade, Blinded by the Light, British, Bruce Springsteen, bullying, Byron Eggenschwiler, Canada, friendship, genderfluid, Greetings from Bury Park, homophobia, Kyo Maclear, Maria Callas, Master Class, memoir, middle school, movie, music, music history, opera, Operatic, Pakistani, rock music, Sarfraz Manzoor, soundtrack, teenager, teens, U.S. | Leave a comment

Crushes Now and Then

Posted on February 1, 2019 by rosinskynatalie

Heartthrob or heartache? Sudden attraction or slow connection? With Valentine’s Day approaching, and its card exchanges popular even in some pre-schools, the recent publication of Svetlana Chmakova’s Crush (2018) was aptly timed. This continuation of the author/illustrator’s award-winning Berrybrook Middle … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels, story collection | Tagged 1960s, Awkward, Beach Boys, Beatles, Berrybrook Middle School series, Brave, bullying, Crush, crushes, friends, I Am Young, M. Dean, middle school, music, Pet Sounds, Svetlana Chmakova, teenagers, tweens, Valentine's Day, young love | Leave a comment

Great Graphic Gifts

Posted on December 1, 2018 by rosinskynatalie

Giving “experiences” rather than “things” is a trend this winter holiday season, making graphic literature a fashionable, two-for-one joy for the tween-and-up readers on your gift list. They can hold a volume in their hands, actively scanning between text and … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels, hybrid books | Tagged Auschwitz, Brian Selznick, concentration camps, demonizing enemies, displaced persons camps, elves, Eugene Yelchin, goblins, holiday gifts, Holocaust, humor, hybrid graphic novel, hybrid novel, Judaism, M.T. Anderson, music, opera, spying, survivors, The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, Vesper Stamper, war, What the Night Sings | Leave a comment

Emancipation and Inauguration–Days Old and New

Posted on February 1, 2017 by rosinskynatalie

Three award-winning picture books are my focus today. Read on. Life-altering changes brought by the stroke of a pen or the tick of a clock—the beginning of African-American History month brings many thoughts to mind. One is how the official … Continue reading →

Posted in biographies, graphic novels, picture books | Tagged African-American History Month, American Library Association award, Andrew Aydin, Ashley Bryan, business documents, business practices, Carole Boston Weatherford, civil rights, Congressman John R. Lewis, Emancipation Day, Fredi Williams Evans, Freedom in Congo Square, Freedom Over Me, Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, immigration, inauguration, Jonah Winter, Juneteenth, March Book Three, March Trilogy, music, My Name is James Madison Hemings, Nate Powell, National Book Award, New Orleans, President Trump, Presidents Day, protests, R. Gregory Christie, Sally Hemings, slavery, song, Terry Widener, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life, Thomas Jefferson, U.S. laws | Leave a comment