BOOK CRUSH: For Kids and Teens - Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Interest
by Nancy Pearl
Sasquatch Books
ISBN-10: 1570615004
ISBN-13: 9781570615009
304 pages

A good read is sometimes very hard to find. That’s why when someone like Nancy Pearl, author of BOOK LUST and MORE BOOK LUST --- and now BOOK CRUSH --- provides us with solutions to our reading dilemmas, readers want to take notice. While her first two books were targeted towards adults, in BOOK CRUSH, Pearl presents more than 1,000 books organized into 118 lists aimed at preteen and adolescent readers. With endless pages of insight into young adult reads --- from the classics to the recently published --- one would find it extremely difficult not to discover something that will spark his or her interest.

While teens will be most interested in Part III, the first two parts focus on books that will appeal primarily to children ages 0-12. Each part is divided into a number of cleverly-named sections that reflect different genres, subjects and intended audiences, and Pearl explains why each of the books she mentions is so recommendable.

Part I (for readers up to seven years old) is chockful of fun reads that any little one will adore. Looking for a good bedtime story? In addition to the classic GOODNIGHT, MOON by Margaret Wise Brown, try RUSSELL THE SHEEP by Rob Scotton and Eric Rohmann’s CLARA AND ASHA. “Girls Rule” in Jane O’Connor’s FANCY NANCY, THE PRINCESS KNIGHT by Cornelia Funke and Kay Thompson’s Eloise series. “School Daze” can be fun with titles such as JUNIE B., FIRST GRADER (AT LAST!) by Barbara Park and MISS NELSON IS MISSING! by Harry Allard, but holidays are even better. Celebrate by reading THE PERFECT PUMPKIN PIE by Denys Cazet, Anne Warren Smith’s TURKEY MONSTER THANKSGIVING, and THE POLAR EXPRESS by Chris Van Allsburg.

Middle-grade readers (ages 8-12) will spend most of their time exploring Part II, which kicks off with adventure stories that include Robert Louis Stevenson’s KIDNAPPED and TREASURE ISLAND, the Lion Boy series by Zizou Corder, and Kenneth Oppel’s AIRBORN and SKYBREAKER. Looking for fantasy novels whose main character isn’t named Harry Potter? Pearl suggests (among countless others) Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series, The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, and Angie Sages’s MAGYK. “Boys Will Be Boys” may feature books with male protagonists, but you don’t have to be a 10-year-old boy to enjoy WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN by Kimberly Willis Holt, Gennifer Choldenko’s AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS and MILLIONS by Frank Cottrell Boyce. And it’s “Kids to the Rescue” in Terry Pratchett’s The Johnny Maxwell Trilogy and THE TIME HACKERS by Gary Paulsen.

This is just a small sampling of what you’ll find in this resourceful guide. Owning a copy of BOOK CRUSH ensures that you as readers won’t get bored any time soon --- and neither will your friends or family members who will be thrilled about the book you just placed into their hands!

    --- Reviewed by Krista Vitola

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