September GenreCAT 2021 Children/YA

Reading a book intended for children or young adults seems particularly appropriate for September, since most kids will be heading back to learning in some form, whether in person or online. One of the best things about being an adult is that we get to read whatever we choose, without parents, teachers, or others selecting or suggesting our reading choices!

For September GenreCAT, choose a book that was written for a child or young adult audience. Picture books, elementary, middle grade, high school levels are all within the realm of possibility for this challenge. You might want to consider a favorite book from your own childhood, a classic title, or something new and current. The main idea, as always, is to enjoy your reading.

Add your choices to this thread, and don't forget to update the wiki here:

https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/GenreCAT_2021

I have a couple of YA books that I will be reading in September.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Rotters by Daniel Kraus

I just snagged a children's book from Early Reviewers - 1, 2, 3 Salish Sea: A Pacific Northwest Counting Book by Nikki McClure that I'll be reading for this category. Another option is Hurricane Gold by Charlie Higson.

I read my pick slightly early: Attack of the Video Villains, by Franklin W. Dixon, a deeply silly Hardy Boys mystery from the early 1990s.

Maybe I'll continue my adventures with Enola Holmes as well. I've read the first four books in the series so far.

Not sure what I will read but this is an easy peasy one for me as I read aloud to my boys every night. We just finished D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths - thankfully they have inherited my love of myths and legends! And now we are reading Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. So something will fit here very easily!

My RL book club is reading Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan for our Oct meeting so I'll be reading it in Sept.

My most likely for this is Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin, although the GenreThing lists it as Teen rather than YA. I'm not sure what the difference is.

Another possibility from my virtual TBR shelf is Swallowdale by Arthur Ransom, part of a series I remember from my childhood and would like to re-visit.

>7 Robertgreaves: I don't think it matters! Teen and YA sound similar to me.

>7 Robertgreaves: I'd say they are the same thing - I think YA is a more recent term. But as YA is said to cover 12-18 years old, sounds like teen to me!

I will probably read Dragonwings, a YA historical fiction about immigration.

I might see if I can get to A wizard's guide to defensive baking. It's had lots of good review and who can resist a title like that.

I'm planning to read Find Layla and Firekeeper's Daughter.

I'm going to be reading Ghost Girl by Ally Malinenko. It just came out this month, and I've been anxious to read it ever since I heard about it and put in a pre-order!

Thanks for all for posting your ideas so far. It is always helpful to get new ideas from other LTers.

My ER book arrived and although a bit early for this CAT, I've posted my review for 1, 2, 3 Salish Sea: A Pacific Northwest Counting Book by Nikki McClure.

Came looking for this thread today, as I missed that it had been posted! Children's/YA should be easy enough for me. If I don't have options among the other CATs and KITs that also fit here, I'll have plenty of other options, anyway.

Am going to investigate some this evening.

RandomCAT is Award winners, so I figured that would be an easy one to combine with children's/ya.

I am likely going to go with:
Ruby Red / Kerstin Gier

But I could easily end up with more than that one.

>17 LibraryCin: And it is time travel - my favourite! And a trilogy - so if you like it, you get to read more!

I read Pantosaurus and the Power of Pants a book put together by the NSPCC and that I helped (in a small way) in crowdfunding. I am in no way the target audience, being nether a 4 to 8 year old, not a parent of such. But if it helps in its aim to facilitate a conversation for children about child abuse in a safe and accessible manner than all power to the pants.

Available from the NSPCC: https://shop.nspcc.org.uk/products/pants?_pos=1&_sid=2b9caa75f&_ss=r

>18 JayneCM: Oh, cool! I like time travel, too. (I added it to my tbr a while ago, and honestly don't even really recall what it is about! I do that all the time. By the time I read the book, I - half the time - don't even remember what it's about.)

>20 LibraryCin: I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this. I have a long list of ebooks I bought but haven't read yet and for many of them I have only the vaguest idea of what they're about beyond what genre they are. It makes it very difficult to choose them for challenges beyond the AlphaKIT.

>20 LibraryCin: I do that with library holds as well! I will put a book on hold for a specific challenge and unless I write it down, by the time the book arrives I have forgotten why I borrowed it.

>21 Robertgreaves: I use tagmashes to help me choose. All of my tbr books here have my initials, so I can insert that with a tag into a tagmash to see what fits for a theme. Some themes are harder to do that, but it helps for most.

>22 JayneCM: LOL! I do keep a list every month of what I plan to read for which challenge, so I can always refer to it if I forget what it was for!

(I really only do my planning in the middle of the previous month, anyway, so that probably helps, too.)

>24 LibraryCin: I have just started keeping lists. It also helps me to not put every new release on hold, as I can be way too tempted when the scrolling of new books to the library comes up on my library feed!

I read The Cruel Prince by Holly Black for this

I read several with my granddaughters: Goodnight Moon, Make Way for Ducklings and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. I still plan on reading a YA, but wanted to get these posted before I forget about them!

August's Middle Grade Monthly read is The Shark Caller, which I already wanted to read anyway. The live isn't until 13th September so I may use this book for this category.

I finished A Wizard's Guide to defensive Baking which was well night perfect.

I am reading The Islands of the Blessed by Nancy Farmer for this challenge.

I read The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition. I usually like annotated editions, and this was no exception. Some more familiarity on my part with the second half, Through the Looking-Glass, would have been helpful, as annotations do interfere with the flow of the story, but these are great annotations for understanding more about these stories.

I read Grandfather's Journey which is one of my fave kids' books and also a Caldecott winner.

Where She Went / Gayle Forman
3 stars

Three years ago, Adam and Mia split. Mia had lost her family and had barely survived herself. She was about to head to Julliard to study the cello. Adam, meanwhile, became a famous rock star. This is told from Adam’s point of view as he and Mia meet up again in New York after one of Mia’s concerts.

I listened to the audio and I had no issues with it. But overall, I thought the story was ok. It’s been a long time since I read the first book, but I did think the author did a nice job with the recap. It seemed to fill me in on everything I needed to know that I had forgotten. I guess music stories are not necessarily all that appealing for me, nor are rock star celebrity stories. Of course, this is a YA book, so I can see where both of those things are maybe more appealing for younger people.

I read Das Blockhaus am Minnewana by Käthe Recheis who was a prolific and popular author from the 1960s onwards, she is still in print today. This one is unusual, as it has a girl as the main protagonist whose imaginary friend is Fionn of the Fianna.

I have completed my read of A Separate Peace by John Knowles and rated this beautifully written book 4.5 stars.

Just finished Lionclaw, a tale of Rowan Hood by Nancy Springer.

Also finished In the Heart of the Sea Young Reader's Edition by Nathaniel Philbrick about the whaleship Essex.

I just finished Fly by Night, a YA novel by Frances Hardinge.

October's thread is up...
https://www.librarything.com/topic/335227

I forgot about this month's challenge, and I've read a couple books already that fit!


A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck (Newbery Honor 1999)


A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (Newbery Medal 2001)

Just got home from one of my favorite used bookstores.
Have not been in there since before Covid, early 2020 maybe.
I bought 2 YA titles that I can't wait to dive into -
Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson and
The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley.

>40 fuzzi: Those are two of my faves! For this challenge, I also read The Case of the Drowned Pearl which fit MysteryKit Mismatched Sleuths too.

>41 nrmay: I really liked Journey to the River Sea -- hope you enjoy it too!

The Witch of Blackbird Pond / Elizabeth George Speare
3.25 stars

It’s the 17th century. Katherine (Kit) is from the Caribbean and is now an orphan, so she manages to find passage on a ship to Connecticut, where she has an aunt. Her aunt and uncle (and cousins) take her in, but she has a hard time adjusting to the culture, and to the amount of work she is expected to help with (she is used to having slaves to do the work). She befriends the local elderly woman who lives alone, Hannah. Hannah is a Quaker, and is also considered a witch by the locals and Kit is asked not to visit Hannah, anymore.

I listened to the audio, and mostly I liked it, but it was hard to keep focus, unfortunately. I liked it enough that I often rewound to listen again to try to catch what I’d missed, but I still missed more than I would have liked.

>44 LibraryCin: I liked that one a lot, but I read it in book form, which might make a difference.

>42 LadyoftheLodge: they are the FIRST books I've read by that author. I finished A Season of Gifts this evening, and will be looking for more works by Richard Peck.

I completed The Young Voyageurs by Mayne Reid was a young adult novel (probably specifically appealing to young men) about a group of 3 brothers who are making their way from the swamps of Louisiana to their uncle's trading post on the shores of the Arctic Sea. They of course, encounter all types of adventures from Elk hunting to crazed wolverines to Native Americans. This wasn't a bad read, but I'm not a pre-adolescent boy! This book was really old and yellow (but with bigger font) so I'm assuming it was read by one of my sons who are now in their 40's. 242 pages

Fangirl / Rainbow Rowell
3.75 stars

Cath and Wren are twin sisters and going to college. Not only are they leaving their dad, but Wren has insisted they not be roommates so they can meet new people. Which is fine for outgoing, party-girl Wren, but Cath is a shy nerd. A fanfiction writing nerd, obsessed with Simon Snow, the wildly popular fantasy series, and the last book will be coming out soon. Cath’s new roomate Reagan is distant, but Reagan’s boyfriend is far too friendly – with everyone. Mostly Cath leaves him in the hall if Reagan isn’t home (which is most of the time). Cath is excited to start her Creative Fiction course, though – a higher level class she needed permission to get into.

I really enjoyed the main story of Cath and the events surrounding her. For me, there was far too much Simon Snow, though. I skimmed over almost all of the Simon Snow writings in the book. This is what brought my rating down by a quarter star. I did come to quite like Reagan. I loved Luke! There were some serious topics in the book, but it’s still a lighthearted book with humourous bits thrown in.

COMPLETED Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

I read Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson and loved it.

I read Winnie-the-Pooh and it was delightfully whimsical but I didn't fall in love the way I thought I might.

I'm currently reading The Penderwicks on Gardam Street and thoroughly enjoying it.


The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall

And I also finished this:


A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

Not sure I'll finish by tomorrow, but I'm almost done with Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan which is our book club selection for next month. I ended up listening to it on audio as well as reading it. While looking for information about the book, I read that on the audio version you hear the music in the background when they mention it in the book. Basically about a harmonica that is instrumental in three children's lives. Very much suggested.

Today I reread one of my favorite children's books, Thee, Hannah by Marguerite de Angeli for this challenge (which was actually not a challenge for me.)

I did finish Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan and highly recommend it. I think someone on my Christmas list will probably get it this year.

I squeezed in two juvenile history for books I bought for my 7 year old nephew. I liked both of them.

Quest for the West: in Search of Gold by Peter Kent, and
Turn of the Century by Elllen Jackson.

Thanks to all who participated in this challenge. We had a lot of good selections mentioned here. Happy October!

I have finished Die Muskeltiere und die große Käseverschwörung which is fresh off the press and a recent acquisition in my sister's library. Fun.