Secret: grown-ups love kids books, too! No matter what Cassie tries to tell you, all the best books are in BookKids. Best of all? Kids books – even hardcovers – run cheaper than adult titles! So if you’re Christmas shopping on a budget (and who isn’t this year?), here are some great selections for the grown-ups on your list.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
In Graceling we follow Katsa, a teen girl, who has been virtually enslaved to her uncle, the king, since childhood. Because of her grace – she is able to kill anyone – she winds up executing many innocent men. But together with her cousin and other nobles, she forms an underground alliance to right the wrongs done in the Seven Kingdoms. It is through this council that she meets Po, a graced fighter, and together they begin their quest to rescue his grandfather and save the young Princess Bitterblue from her tyrannical father.This high fantasy featuring a strong female warrior makes a great gift for lovers of Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley and Ursula K. Leguin.
The Astonishing Adventures of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson
This historical fiction chronicles the life of young Octavian, an African boy being raised in a house of white philosophers in colonial Boston. It’s not long before he realizes that he is not the prince he’s been told he is, but a slave, being experimented on by the people who have raised him from birth. This book will break your heart and blow your mind, be you fifteen or fifty.
Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The Twilight Saga has captivated a wide audience – ranging from tweens and teens to college students and soccer moms. But Meyers’ books aren’t the only gothic fantasies worth reading in the teen section. Behold Tantalize, a vampire-werewolf romance set at a restaurant in Austin. Part murder mystery, part campy horror, part romance, Tantalize is just what the doctor ordered for a Twilight fan in withdrawl.
Knucklehead by Jon Sciezska
In his new memoir, Jon Scieszka tells it all. All the shenangians of his childhood are revealed, from playing “swordfight” with his brothers in the bathroom to ordering army men from the back of a comic book to Catholic school hijinx. This book will have fifty-somethings – or any adult with brothers (Scieszka was one of six) in stitches. My heart truly goes out to this man’s poor mother.
Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi
We all do it, but no one wants to talk about it – which is maybe why this illustrated book of various types of poop (dog poop, fish poop, people poop, etc) is usually saved for the younger set. But plenty of adults are secretly enamoured with Taro Gomi’s brilliant picture book as well. This makes a fun joke gift for a friend or coworker with a fun sense of humor. Everyone Poops may not be a coffee table book in your house, but your cousin Bill might enjoy it as a bathroom reader!
Everyone Poops is the coffee table book in my brother’s house. Well done, Bookkids.
Your brother is clearly very cool, and we should all learn from his bold example.