Research Guides: Children's, Adolescent, & Young Adult Literature Research Guide: Selection Tools (Youth Book Reviews)

Finding Reviews in Novelist Plus

NoveList Plus
Readers' advisory for fiction and nonfiction, with reviews, descriptions and reviews from Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus back to 1996.

Other Tools for Evaluating Children's & YA Literature

Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
A great place to start your search for both popular and scholarly articles on almost any topic. It contains a large number of journals, the majority of which are peer-reviewed, from numerous subject areas and goes as far back as 1865.
Library Literature & Information Science
Find journal articles in the library and information sciences. Includes indexing to periodicals, selected state journals, conference proceedings, pamphlets, books, and library school theses.
Project MUSE
Scholarly articles from major journals in the Social Sciences and Humanities including literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics and more.

School Library Journal
Booklinks (from Booklist) A quarterly supplement to Booklist, Book Links magazine is designed for teachers, youth librarians, school library media specialists, reading specialists, curriculum coordinators, and others interested in connecting children with high-quality literature-based resources.
Horn Book Magazine
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

ALA Youth Media Awards
A listing of the American Library Association's annual awards for youth literature, including the Newbery and Caldecott Awards, along with many others.
ALSC Book and Media Awards Shelf
NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children NCTE, through the Committee on the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, has established an annual award for promoting and recognizing excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children. You can review these lists to identify outstanding nonfiction books for children.
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award

GoodReads Goodreads is the largest social site for readers and book recommendations in the world. More than 7,100,000 members have added more than 250,000,000 books to their shelves. Goodreads users recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they've read and would like to read, find their next favorite book, form book clubs and much more. While the user reviews found here are not as credible or reliable as the official reviews found in the major review sources, they may help you make a decision about whether or not a book is worth using in your lesson or classroom.
Database of Award Winning Children's Literature Search this database to locate award-winning juvenile books that fit your criteria. Many features can be specified including age, genre, award, ethnicity of protagonist, gender of protagonist, historical period, and more. Produced by librarian Lisa R. Bartle.
Children's Book Review The Children’s Book Review, named one of the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Great Web Sites for Kids, is a resource devoted to children’s literacy. The site publishes reviews and book lists of the best books for kids of all ages. It also produces author and illustrator interviews and share literacy based articles that help parents, grandparents, teachers and librarians to grow readers.
ALA's Best Graphic Novels for Children List
Read Kiddo Read This website, launched by James Patterson, helps parents, teachers, and librarians find books that appeal to kids of all reading and interest levels.

NoveList Plus
Readers' advisory for fiction and nonfiction, with reviews, descriptions and reviews from Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus back to 1996.

Picture Book Database
Combines data from dozens of online and print sources, thousands of picture books, and countless publisher, author, and illustrator websites, bringing readers and picture books together