I am a planner. Ask anybody. I pick out my clothes the night before. I outline my storytimes a year in advance. Okay, I admit it, two years in advance. So it should come as no surprise that I had already lined up (and even written) all my blogs for this week. I wasn't looking for any newsworthy items. I had a plan. But you can't plan for everything because you can't know everything. And I did not know that this week included two major children's literature milestones that just have to be featured on the Hoover Public Library's blog.

I grew up loving (and I mean LOVING) movies and TV shows that featured martial arts. Especially the original Karate Kid and the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But, even though I was a voracious reader, I never read a single book about karate, kung fu, the art of ninja, or the honor of samurai warriors. Maybe I was lazy and didn't look for any. Maybe there weren't any available. But kids and teens today are still crazy about the martial arts. They have their own Karate Kid and TMNT. They also have Kung Fu Panda, Avatar, and Lego Ninjago. And they are lucky enough to have tons of books to feed their mania. Here's a list of great fiction featuring