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Author Archives: Alicia Abdul

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About Alicia Abdul

You'll find me drinking tea in a dress and reading... or making lists.

Fly me to the moon: Stellar books about space

14 Apr

Who hasn’t loved all of the coverage of NASA’s Artemis II’s flight around the dark side of the moon and back? From the naming of a crater on the moon for the deceased wife of one of the astronauts to the flying Nutella jar that was the coolest advertisement, my favorite post as a public school librarian was a reminder that the next astronaut could be sitting in our classrooms because all four of the astronauts went to public schools.

How does anyone grow and learn? Reading of course, so here are some stellar books about space that are sure to continue the excitement about Artemis II’s journey with Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen into the future.

Picture Books

  • Our Solar System! A Stellar Neighborhood by McAnulty and illustrated by Lewis (plus all of our Our Universe series)
  • Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe by Hansen, Merced, and Mendoza
  • Starstruck: The Cosmic Journey of Neil deGrasse Tyson by Krull, Brewer, and Morrison
  • I Am Neil Armstrong (Ordinary People Change the World series) by Meltzer and Eliopoulos
  • A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon by Slade and Jamison
  • Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing by Robbins and Knisley

Middle Grade

  • History Smashers: The Space Race by Messner
  • The Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez by Paulino
  • Rocket to the Moon! (Big Ideas That Changed the World series) by Brown
  • Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon by Slade and Gonzalez
  • A Rover’s Story by Warga

Young Adult

  • Spacewalking With You by Doronoda (a fabulous manga featuring neurodiverse characters)
  • Crownchasers by Coffindaffer
  • To the Moon!: The True Story of the American Heroes on the Apollo 8 Spaceship by Kluger and Shamir

Adult

  • Atmosphere by Reid
 
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Posted by on April 14, 2026 in Adult, Childrens, Events, Fiction, Illustrators, Manga, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Poetry, Young Adult

 

Kamishibai

26 Mar

Let me start by saying, librarians are the ultimate sharers. This wouldn’t have gotten off the ground if it wasn’t for another local librarian sharing her experience and then lending her items to me. But isn’t that what librarians are all about anyway? It goes without saying.

I had a page ripped out from a library magazine from about five years ago in a folder for activities to do (eventually) with my Japanese Culture Club, an after school club I’ve been running for eighteen years. It languished. Then our local library consortium held a showcase where librarians could share activities, lessons, or events they were proud of to other librarians for ideas and inspiration. While I couldn’t attend that day, I saw a presentation that was on kamishibai. And just like that, the stars aligned. I emailed her that we needed to get together and I wanted to hear all about it. We met. She shared. And then she offered to lend the materials she had purchased for her library to me to launch it with my club including a cornerstone text, Allen Say’s Kamishibai Man.

As an old form of Japanese storytelling, men often made their money selling candies their wives made for these kamishibai events happening in parks and community gathering spaces. The entertainment came in the form of an animated story featuring a stage that he could carry on his bicycle.

Two weeks ago at club, I read Say’s book aloud before unraveling the stage, putting out the candy, and sharing one of the stories: Momotaro: Peach Boy. They were engaged and hopped up on sugar. A winning combination. But I did get a round of applause at the end, so I couldn’t have been that bad. Then I said that I had three more stories and two of our club members, the president and vice president of the club said they’d practice and share two more stories the following week. True to form, they showed up during study halls a few times the following week to practice and entertained us with Issun-Boshi: The One-Inch Boy and The Bamboo Princess this past week. Heartwarming to say the least, the fact that both of them put in the practice and leaned into it in front of their club members.

Of course there’s so much more that can be done to expand upon what we did, but for a club activity it worked exactly the way I wanted it to. For the librarian who I borrowed the materials from, it is a carefully constructed project collaboration with a teacher. In any culture, storytelling and stories are the backbone, so taking the time to learn about the paper theater of Japan was informative and entertaining. To say nothing of the kindness of librarians sharing their resources to benefit students.

 
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Posted by on March 26, 2026 in Events, Miscellaneous

 

Lucky they exist

17 Mar

Taking this St. Patrick’s Day opportunity to highlight a few recent reads that we can celebrate exist in this world. In a word, lucky, that they exist.

There isn’t a more popular author than Taylor Jenkins Reid who has turned out several hits. Atmosphere is no different. I just finished the audiobook and I have never been so enmeshed in a character’s journey than Joan’s journey to the stars. It reminds me of Frankie from The Women by Hannah. Completely pulled into their orbit in a pivotal time in history and one that women don’t get nearly the recognition that they should. Seriously, what a way to celebrate Women’s History Month too. Readers are lucky to have books like this one to highlight the strength of women.

Cassandra Calin created a follow up to The New Girl. First Crush will be out shortly and higlights what it means to grow up, have a crush, but also screw up, but still survive by learning lessons and having people around us to be a comfort and a sounding board. There’s so much to adore about the graphic novel series from the layout and design to the choices in honoring multiple languages of the characters and not shying away from topics like periods. Readers are lucky to have graphic novels like this one.

More books are being published for teens that focus on stories that are difficult to reckon with. In Takvorian’s graphic novel memoir exploring her Armenian-American heritage and asking the hard questions of her family who would rather leave the past in the past, Armaveni is a sentimental journey into history and the human toll of genocide on generations. Readers are lucky to have authors to explore the corners of their own experiences to benefit us all.

 
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Posted by on March 17, 2026 in Adult, Authors, Fiction, Graphic novels, Illustrators, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

Eighth day, please

21 Feb

Winter break is nearing it’s end and I’ve coveted the time needed to do random household chores, update the last pieces of the spring semester for the college course I teach, complete odds and ends work on other projects, and READ.

I read daily. It’s a core element of my daily routine for personal and professional reasons, so it’s work even when it’s not work and it’s not work even when it is work. And Lena Dunham’s quote popped up in my head after thinking about the week that included quite a bit of reading

I couldn’t agree more. I will never get out from under my TBR pile and I spent a few days drinking from my “Death by TBR” mug gifted by my friend, Stacey. So if I could lobby the powers that be for an eighth day dedicated entirely to reading, I would. I am. Please, add an eighth day to the week so that I may read… while drinking tea.

What was I reading during break? What wasn’t I reading is the more apt question.

Picture books like Every Peach Is a Story by Masumoto, Masumoto, and Tamaki, The Octopus by Guojing that is a wordless picture book not yet released, and I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy by Threets and Nam to name a few.

Middle grade graphic novels like Deepwater Creek by Regina and the adapted One Crazy Summer by Williams-Garcia and illustrated by Miller.

Young adult like Leave It On The Track by Fisher, Red Flags and Butterflies by Azzam, I Love Amy by Unni, and the forthcoming Corpse de Ballet graphic novel by Kearney.

Adult books like much-talked about The Correspondent by Evans and the dark manga called Confession by Kawaguchi.

 
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Posted by on February 21, 2026 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Childrens, Fiction, Graphic novels, Illustrators, Manga, Middle grade, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

Love is in the air

14 Feb

I’ve written several posts about romantic books so I’m making this one short and sweet– two books to look forward to publishing in 2026 that I’ve had the pleasure of reading already and want to share with you to put on your radar:

One is by Aida Salazar and features two kids exploring a life outside of screens and out of the country with realism and delight. The other is the third in Kristy Boyce’s delightful “Gaming and Romance” series which is nerdy and the perfect friends to enemies to lovers. Be on the lookout for these two this year!

 
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Posted by on February 14, 2026 in Authors, Fiction, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

The day after the Youth Media Awards

27 Jan

With a snowstorm hitting much of the eastern seaboard, it was to be expected that Monday would be a snow day. For colleagues like my friend Stacey Rattner who builds a fever pitch of excitement about the Youth Media Awards at her elementary school, it was disappointing to not have the day together in the gym, but she pivoted. For me, I was happy to have uninterrupted time to watch it (with a glass of champagne in celebration) at home. I could make my notes, I could tag favorite books and authors who won, and text colleagues on committees to cheer on their work.

And there was plenty of notes, tags, and texts!

While it runs a bit long when publishers and imprints are listed along with titles and creators and committees select a handful of honor titles that deepen the bench for celebration, my happiness was elevated throughout. Highlights included three celebrations of Candace Fleming- two for career achievement recognition and one for winning the Excellence in Nonfiction award for Death in the Jungle. A second was a sustained recognition of Cynthia Leitich Smith’s editing of Legendary Fry Bread Drive-In is worth noting. With its recognition in the Odyssey category, I might have to go back and listen to it because it was magical the first time in print, so I might want a second experience as an audiobook now.

An early favorite to see was Arriel Vinson’s new talent award for her debut Under the Neon Lights. I had the pleasure of moderating a panel for School Library Journal last year for which she was a shining part. And I have catching up to do in categories like Stonewall and Schneider Family because there were some titles that hadn’t come across my desk that I will be on the search for. Similarly, I pay special attention to the Batchelder awards because I’ve found them to be particularly moving or fun (in the case of John the Skeleton by Laan last year)

And last, all the love to the Coretta Scott King illustrator award to R. Gregory Christie for The Library in the Woods and written by Ramsey whose message and moving art is a must-read and happiness that Insectopolis: A Natural History by Kuper that I had on my year-end top ten list for adult nonfiction was recognized by the Alex Award as a book with special teen appeal. To validate that, we had it in our high school collection already and I enthusiastically shared it with a girl who was looking for a book about insects and bugs- I told her I had the perfect book for her.

I’ll ride the high of the celebration of all of the committees’ work to get to this point and recognize the talent of all of the creators of these amazing books by adding more to my endless TBR and looking out for new content by them as well.

And the first book on my list to read that I hadn’t heard about before that was a Stonewall honor will be He’s So Possessed With Me by Liu.

Was there a moment that you were jumping up and down about? Or a book that is now at the top of your list to read?

 
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Posted by on January 27, 2026 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Childrens, Events, Fiction, Illustrators, Nonfiction, Reflections, Young Adult

 

A weekend threepeat

24 Jan

Last weekend was a long weekend due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and I had cleared my calendar for Monday specifically to spend the day with one of the best writers and uncoverers of hidden history, Ruta Sepetys, by way of her new book, A Fortune of Sand which is due out in June. This will be her first official book for adults. That was the cherry on top of the sundae. Preceding that was Katie Bernet’s Beth is Dead, a young adult thriller twisted from Alcott’s classic Little Women; consider that the whipped cream and nuts of the sundae. And immediately before that, I finished the audiobook From Scratch by Tembi Locke. Heavily focused on food, I’d call that the ice cream and marshmallow topping (I’m not a hot fudge fan) from the perfect sundae that was my weekend threepeat. Allow me to elaborate on each book that led to my divine reading weekend.

Tembi Locke narrates her memoir. When it’s personal, it should always be narrated by the writer and because so much of the book focuses on Italian and Sicilian culture in addition to her being raised in the United States, it makes the most sense to have someone capable of navigating the languages and do is seamlessly. It’s uplifting only in that Locke looks at her time with her husband as magic even as he lay dying and she realizes she would have to parent alone but that she would have supports to bolster her when she didn’t think she could do it herself. She discusses his Sicilian roots and how he spoke to her through food and affection. For readers of food memoir, this should not be missed. It’s also a mix of romance, family, and grief. Silently moved in parts, I didn’t realize I was crying until the tears fell down my face.

I’ll start with the cover: to die for. It matches the thriller slasher vibes of most YA that has overtaken the shelves these last few years. With that, it’s hard to make them unique at this point but Bernet did it, ironically, by retelling the classic Little Women. What sets this apart is the intensity- it’s a full speed car crash that doesn’t let up for 400 pages and it’s hard to keep anyone’s attention for that long but I was glued to my couch, tea in hand, reading until the end. No doubt others will feel the same way and I’m going to make a comparison here; Tiffany D. Jackson’s The Weight of Blood is heavily recommended and has made readers again out of a teens that I give it to. And they’re choosing Stephen King’s Carrie immediately after. This could be similar as I would assume many won’t come to Beth Is Dead having already read Little Women. As someone who had both the book AND the 1994 Gillian Anderson movie to draw from to read as an adult, there’s a deeper layer of respect for what Bernet pulls off.

Women is a theme I’m realizing as well to my threepeat. Female authors, female stories and Sepetys’ first adult book is among those. She pulls from the Detroit of the 1920s, but also the framework that women should often be seen and not heard because if they are vocal, there’s real danger they’d be sent away by their husbands. With that, readers meet Marjorie, the twenty-something daughter of an industrious family making their money in the auto industry and follow her through a period of creativity, self-discovery, and retribution. This arc is intense. And Sepetys’ writing is rich and sharp. I felt like I had lived Marjorie’s life because of the immersive storytelling which is more apt because of Sepetys skill in mining hidden history and her own background in Detroit. The setting, characters, and conflict came alive and could it be a Gatsby-esque cinematic sensation? It read like one for sure.

It really couldn’t get any better than that. They were hard to top and three in a row feels like winning the reading lottery. What’s been your longest streak of starred reads?

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2026 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Cover Love, Fiction, Nonfiction, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

Focused on finalists

18 Jan

In a little more than a week, the Youth Media Awards will be announced in Chicago. It’s sad that there won’t be a Midwinter conference through the American Library Association to go along with it, but as the organization continues to shift, it was a necessary change that does damper (just a little) the swagger of the awards announcements that range from the Caldecott to Sibert, Odyssey to Excellence in Nonfiction.

This past Thursday, I was honored to moderate for the third year in a row, the School Library Journal webcast highlighting the five finalists for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award which includes Ann Bausum, Nicholas Day, Candace Fleming, Gail Jarrow, and Barb Rosenstock.

Anyone can view the recorded webcast by signing up here. I took notes while I was moderating because there were plenty of morsels from each of them regarding their curiosity, their research, and their process that could help any would-be writer or educators wanting to share the love of nonfiction. And after watching the webcast, make sure you’ve read all five of these gems talking about topics like presidential medical coverups, the Fox sisters (known as the creators of the modern seance), Southern reconstruction, Mount Tambora’s explosion, and Jim Jones’s The People’s Temple.

We’ll all be watching on Monday, January 26th!

 
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Posted by on January 18, 2026 in Authors, Events, Nonfiction, Research, Young Adult

 

Crafting for the new year

08 Jan

I’ve advised for our school’s Japanese Culture Club, formerly Anime Club for eighteen of the nineteen years I’ve been a high school librarian. I could wax poetic about the students I’ve met over the years who I have watched grow up and the activities that we have participated in along the way that give me warm and fuzzy feelings including a recent summer trip to Japan with six high school boys. So here’s one more.

Our club meets weekly for an hour and a half, sometimes two hours if we have fewer weeks in a month to have club. For our first meeting back in the new year, I wanted us to focus on Japanese new year traditions. I read articles. I watched videos. And shimekazari caught my eye– a decoration that is either purchased or homemade, which is placed at torii gates of shrines in the new year to keep evil spirits away. They function the same way in homes. Brilliant! I moseyed over to the craft store and filled a cart of items to create our own while watching anime (which is the mainstay of the club).

Fast forward two hours and as I walked out to my car with my own shimekazari in hand, I couldn’t help but be excited about their excitement at creating their own.

One student made hers “matcha themed” with lots of green, others leaned into the floral aspects, while others leaned into the paper aspects all to create unique hangings to ward off evil. Their creativity knew no bounds. When it comes together to be an authentic experience that is low-pressure to combat the high-pressure everyday school experience, I consider it a win. Often at the end of the year, these kinds of activities are the ones they remember the most, surprisingly. I know I will every time I look it hanging up.

 
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Posted by on January 8, 2026 in Miscellaneous, Reflections

 

Last & first

02 Jan

I don’t think I’m the only bookworm who plans their last read of a year and the first read of a new year. It’s always nice when they work out to be stellar reads.

Last

I finished the year with my champagne and white cranberry and Kamome Shirahama’s artwork from the world of Witch Hat Atelier. This was a gift from my son who knows my love of the Witch Hat Atelier series and its spinoff Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen. I’ve cosplayed Coco and have the entire series on my shelf. This book is a lovely addition to that shelf.

First

I started the year with a cup of tea and Emiko Jean’s newest young adult time travel romance Love Me Tomorrow due to hit shelves in February. Her previous romances includes Tokyo Ever After and Tokyo Dreaming. Not only should those be read but this new one should be on the list as well. The character development and dialogue is delightful.

What was your last of 2025 or first of 2026?

 
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Posted by on January 2, 2026 in Authors, Childrens, Cover Love, Events, Manga, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 
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