Current Newsletter: The books for young readers we’re looking forward to this spring.

Bookstores with reviews in this week's newsletter:

• Kelley Dykes, Main Street Reads in Summerville, South Carolina
• Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina
• Alissa Redmond, South Main Book Company in Salisbury, North Carolina
• Susan Williams, M. Judson, Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
• Lisa Yee Swope, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Adah Fitzgerald, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
• Brent Bunnell, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
• Shelby Barnett, Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana
• Kait Boyd, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama
• Kenzie Karoly, E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
• Michelle Weiler, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
• Tori Finklea, Union Ave Books in Knoxville, Tennessee
• Joshua Lambie, Underground Books in Carrollton, Georgia
• Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Jonathan Hawpe, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky

Book Buzz Feature: The Witch’s Table by Melinda Beatty
In her official bio, Melinda Beatty says she is, by day, “a mild-mannered bookseller at an independent bookstore.” She spoke to Books Forward about what it means to wear that particular hat as a children’s author, including taking pains to clarify “sitting around reading all day” myth:

“There is WAY too much to do to have time to stand still long enough to read. There’s always a customer to help, a shipment to receive, displays to make, shelf-talkers to write or dusting to do! For pure aesthetics, my favorite area of the bookstore is our children’s section. It is just marvelous! The back of the store is enclosed in a little tiki hut, which holds our board books, picture books and emergent readers section. Just outside is our middle grade and YA. But sci-fi/fantasy is my soul section — it’s where I do most of my reading! In our store, this section is housed on a huge baker’s cart, front and back and it’s the area I do most of my recommendations from!” ― Melinda Beatty, Interview, Books Forward

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature:
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
I’m a hoofer. Tap has always been my dance love, and one of Vicki’s Tap Pups’ neatest dances was a compilation of dances of the 50s and 60s. Needless to say, ballroom dancing is not my strength, although a simple jitterbug has given hubs and me a surprising amount of wedding attention. Thing is, it’s not the jitterbug, it’s the connection. I’m proud to say we’ve been married for 20 years. In Instructions for Dancing, Evie receives a dubious superpower that she sees the love lives of couples — how they met, how they grew together, and, prophetically, the tragic breakups that haven’t happened yet but will. That, coupled with her parents’ ugly divorce (and not being allowed to tell her younger sister that her dad had an affair), makes her hesitant to engage in a relationship. But she accepts a challenge that “not everybody can dance good, but everybody can dance”, and ends up paired with X, who lives by a “just say yes” philosophy, and things change in ways she never expected.
― Lisa Yee Swope, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina