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It's a truth universally acknowledged that most of us would much rather raise lovers than fighters. What better way to ensure this than to honor your favorite characters from some of history's most romantic literature?

Get inspired by our list of beloved authors, characters and muses who will surely win your affection throughout the ages. "What's in a name?" Juliet Capulet asked, to which we answer, "More than the usual suspects." Here are ten literary-inspired picks for baby bookworms.

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Dear Parents and Guardians,

Greetings from a middle school English teacher! It is finally June, which means your children (and their teachers) are about to break free from the classroom for two sun-filled months of summer. While your kids may have a long list of “Must-Dos”(sleepovers at friends’ houses, water ice runs, trips to the zoo, fireworks down the shore) to accomplish in these brief eight weeks, one “must-do” that they may be dreading  is their summer reading assignment.

Local school districts are now requiring high school, middle school, even elementary school students to read novels over the summer so that they can practice and retain the reading comprehension skills that they learned during the school year. Sure, most kids moan when they hear “summer” and “reading assignment” in the same sentence, but summer reading doesn’t mean that their summer is doomed.

Here are some helpful tips on how your child can successfully complete his or her summer assignment with enough time to spare for barbeques and pool parties:

There are a few tear-jerkers set to come out in the near future (chief among them, the cinematic debut of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars). Never fear, these simple steps will help you prepare mentally and strategically for tears and help keep your emotional outbursts as private as possible!

It should come as no surprise that Book Expo America was, as always, a truly awesome time. We love that convention. Spending time with our friends in the publishing world, meeting bloggers, and hanging out with new fans… it's really hard not to have a blast. 

Love them or hate them, brothers and sisters are here to stay—at least in books. They can be the source of conflict, competition, or comfort but, more often than not, when siblings team up they’re pretty much unstoppable. They’re peppered pretty liberally across genres and you doubtlessly have your favorites, but here are my personal top ten families: