FINISHED:

Stewart, Trenton Lee. (2008). The mysterious Benedict Society and the perilous journey. New York: Megan Tingley/Little, Brown and Company.

[Someone told me that this one wasn't as good as the first, and it didn't make it onto the ACL Distinguished list for 2008, but, for the most part, I quite enjoyed it. Sure, it was light on character development, but that's because that was done in the first and now we can just focus on their adventures. This one takes the "clue leading to another clue leading to another clue" route, taking the kids over to Europe to rescue Mr. Benedict who has gone missing. Toward the end, on the island, things got a bit slow, but it was still great to read another story about Kate, Reynie, Sticky and Constance - a group of young, genius misfits, each with their own area of expertise, getting to know and love each other, while also forming their own family. Are we to assume that Constance is discovering her powers as a mind reader? I look forward to the next adventure.]


STARTED & FINISHED:

Barrows, Annie. (2008). Ivy + Bean take care of the babysitter. San Francisco: Chronicle.

[A fun, quick little read. This time Bean is stuck at home with her older sister who is taking on the role of babysitter for the first time. While she'd MUCH rather be outside with the other kids in the neighborhood playing VOLCANO!, Ivy comes over and the two decide to explore the attic/crawl space in Bean's home. These are some funny misadventures that will surely charm.]

STARTED:
Martin, A.M., and Godwin, L. (2008). The runaway dolls. New York: Hyperion.

[So, I've been REALLY wanting to read the first two books in this series but... I don't know... not that I'm sexist or anything, because it's not a secret that I am QUITE comfortable with my feminine side and tend to enjoy a number of "girly" things... I guess that I just thought it might cause me grief to be seen reading them. Well, when I saw that the person (a GUY, no less!) who was supposed to review this for ACL couldn't, I ran up and said, "I'll do it!"]

*

FINISHED:

Clements, Andrew. (2000). The janitor's boy. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks/Simon & Schuster.

[Jack's school district is in the middle of a big building switch while new facilities are being built forcing Jack to spend this next school year at the school where his dad is one of the janitors. After being teased about the fact after his father says "Hello" to him around school (once while mopping up vomit...), Jack decides to get back at dad by sticking the largest wad of gum to the underside of a desk in the music room. The deed is traced back to Jack and he, as punishment, has to stay after school for an hour scraping dried gum wads from desks all around school. Jack, though, finds a cabinet of keys in the janitor's room and finds his way into a steam pipe that smells like watermelon bubblegum... This is a fun one, though not my favorite, from Clements which actually mines some touching emotional territory when Jack begins to spend more time with his father and hears stories about his father being in the service and the good deeds he has done for others. A good one for boys with strained father-son relationships.]

STARTED:
Stewart, Trenton Lee. (2008). The mysterious Benedict Society and the perilous journey. New York: Megan Tingley/Little, Brown and Company.

[I've been sitting on this one for months. It's time that I read it so that I can get it back to the library and let someone else read it.]

*

FINISHED:

Orwell, George. (1949). Nineteen eighty-four. New York: Plume/Penguin.

[.]

STARTED:
Clements, Andrew. (2000). The janitor's boy. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks/Simon & Schuster.

[After Nineteen Eighty-four I needed something quick and breezy...]

*

FINISHED:

Alexander, Lloyd. (1967). Taran wanderer. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

[These books just bring me such joy and hit the nail on the head as to what I'm looking for. I guess I'm a sucker for the medieval fantasy tales of knights and kings and creatures, and these are some of the best of that lot. I'm kind of shocked to see that, of all of the 5 books in the series, this is the ONE that didn't get ANY ALA recognition because this one is so much about finding oneself. I loved that Taran spends time with a foundryman, a weaver, and a potter all in an effort to figure out what he's "meant to do". Though none are his true calling, he learns lessons on what it means, and how important it is, to live your own life and be true to yourself, no matter who you are or what you do.]

FINISHING:
Orwell, George. (1949). Nineteen eighty-four. New York: Plume/Penguin.

[MANY other things to read, but I really should finish this one first...]

*

FINISHED:

Almond, David. (2008). The savage. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

[Somewhat familiar, but pretty cool. I like the idea of having a literary doppelganger that begins to cross the lines of reality, and Dave Mckean's illustrations add immensely to the tone of the story.]

STARTED:
Alexander, Lloyd. (1967). Taran wanderer. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

[Working my way slowly through the Chronicles of Prydain. Thing is, though, I can't remember if I've read book 3 or not! Unfortunately, I haven't read any of them since beginning this blog, so I can't check... Reading the description of The Castle of Llyr it SOUNDS familiar, but I couldn't really tell you what happened in it. I erred on the side of having read it and am continuing on...]

*

FINISHED:

Urban, Linda. (2007). A crooked kind of perfect. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc.

[Yeah, pretty much every praise for this one was spot on. A simple, breezy little tale about a girl, Zoe, who wants to play the piano but ends up having to play the organ instead. Her teacher says that Zoe is good enough to play in a nearby competition, so her agoraphobic father who spends his days taking at-home college courses, breaks out of his shell, and is forced to take her. Fun, interesting characters, including the town roughneck kid who ends up hanging out and baking with Zoe's father, and a harrowing scene with Zoe being invited to her ex-best friend's birthday party, by the girls mother (which, believe it or not, happened to me once!), and bringing socks when the party theme was shoes. Straightforward, with a heroine that will make you smile in sympathy and identification.]

STARTED:
Almond, David. (2008). The savage. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

[Reading to see if it should go on the Distinguished Books list.]

*

FINISHED:

Volponi, Paul. (2008). The hand you're dealt. New York: Atheneum.

[Review will be posted here when I've written it. I can say, though, that I wasn't a huge fan.

You didn't ask for it, but here it is:

Huck, a high school senior, takes part in his town’s annual poker tournament in an effort to exact revenge on last year’s winner, the high school math teacher, Mr. Abbott. The tournament winner gets a watch blessed by the Pope passed to them that they may wear until the next champion is announced – the watch that Abbott had the gaul to steal off the wrist of previous year’s winner: Huck’s father, who was in a coma at the time. There isn’t a whole lot of compelling action, the subplot involving Huck trying to woo a female classmate is thin, and a roaring flash forward at the very beginning of the novel then falls flat without a suitable payoff when the story comes back around to that moment again. Although the Texas hold-em’ variation of poker is described early on in terms of how cards are dealt, there is never any explanation of how poker itself is played, thus rendering those without any knowledge of the game/sport shut out of the action. Further, the Abbott character is over-drawn as a villain, boasting, complaining, and even going so far as to trick kids in his classroom into thinking they are doing poorly while taking math tests – he’s just too much of a horrible teacher to be believed. While this one may appeal to those young adults or reluctant readers looking for a brisk read and caught up in the current popularity of televised poker tournaments, all others are advised to place their bets elsewhere.]

STARTED:
Urban, Linda. (2007). A crooked kind of perfect. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc.

[At the Distinguished Books round-up last weekend, when this book was brought up there was an overwhelming positive buzz about this one. Next to the name of this one on the list I wrote "READ IT".]

*

FINISHED:

Kinney, Jeff. (2009). Diary of a wimpy kid: The last straw. New York: Amulet/Harry N. Abrams.

[.]

STARTED:
Volponi, Paul. (2008). The hand you're dealt. New York: Atheneum.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

STARTED:
Kinney, Jeff. (2009). Diary of a wimpy kid: The last straw. New York: Amulet/Harry N. Abrams.

[Yay! Always fun to read these.]

*