Friday, August 27, 2010


FINISHED:
de Fombelle, Timothee. (2006/8). Toby alone. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

[.]

STARTED:
de Fombelle, Timothee. (2009/10). Toby and the secrets of the Tree. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

Monday, August 23, 2010


FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2010). Seekers: Fire in the sky. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
de Fombelle, Timothee. (2006/8). Toby alone. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

[Am reviewing the sequel for ACL so I thought I'd get up to speed.]

*

Thursday, August 19, 2010

ABANDONED:
Riordan, Rick. (2010). The red pyramid. New York: Disney/Hyperion.

[Chase scene after chase scene after chase scene with a TON of crazy exposition on a BUNCH of Egyptian gods, goddesses and creatures who are inhabited by Egyptian spirits who either live in lavish homes or in underground pyramids. Whew. SO LONG, and kinda tedious. Plus, the humor is just SO obvious and snarky - I had the same problems with "The Lightning Thief" so I stopped after the first book in that series. Guess Riordan just isn't my cup of tea.]

STARTED:
Hunter, Erin. (2010). Seekers: Fire in the sky. New York: HarperCollins.

[Book 5 in the series...]

*

Friday, August 13, 2010


FINISHED:
Berlin, Eric. (2007). The puzzling world of Winston Breen. New York: Puffin/Penguin.

[.]

STARTED:
Riordan, Rick. (2010). The red pyramid. New York: Disney/Hyperion.

[It's the book that EVERYONE is reading...]

*

Wednesday, August 11, 2010


FINISHED:
Hahn, Mary Downing. (2010). The ghost of Crutchfield Hall. New York: Clarion/Houghton Mifflin.

[My official ACL review:

Orphan Florence is pulled from the orphanage where she’s been living for the past seven years and whisked away to Crutchfield Hall, a rural gothic mansion where a well-to-do aunt and uncle reside. Florence quickly realizes that all is not well, however, when she discovers that her recently deceased cousin, Sophia, seems to be lingering and has it out for Florence’s ailing cousin James. What’s worse, Sophia’s “death day” is approaching (it’s been a full year since she died) and her influence on Florence is strengthening while Florence finds it harder and harder to resist Sophia’s pull. This is a vivid, if typical, Victorian ghost story steeped in rich language and descriptive passages which give a strong sense of place and mood and, at a brisk 150 pages, would be perfect for those ready to graduate from collections of shorter scary stories. [Reviewed from ARC.]]

STARTED:
Berlin, Eric. (2007). The puzzling world of Winston Breen. New York: Puffin/Penguin.

[Heard it's fun.]

*

Monday, August 9, 2010


FINISHED:
Law, Ingrid. (2010). Scumble. New York: Dial/Penguin/Walden Media.

[.]

STARTED:
Hahn, Mary Downing. (2010). The ghost of Crutchfield Hall. New York: Clarion/Houghton Mifflin.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

Friday, August 6, 2010


FINISHED:
Oppel, Kenneth. (2010). Half brother. New York: Scholastic.

[Full review to come, but I REALLY liked this one and will nominate it for the ACL Distinguished Books List. And here it is:

It’s 1973, and thirteen year-old Ben’s father, a behavioral research scientist, brings home a week old baby chimpanzee whom he hopes the family will treat as a human while he attempts to teach him sign language. Only-child Ben is at first wary, but eventually comes to love and protect Zan (named after Tarzan) as if he really were a little brother, even going to great and extreme lengths to keep Zan around when it appears that he will be shipped off when the project is shut down. This is a straightforward, methodically plotted story that tackles such thought-provoking questions as “What makes a human a human?” and “What is a person?”, while delving into the issues of animal rights and the ethics of testing on animals. Emotionally riveting without being manipulative, there is a particularly well-handled, unsentimentally moving scence where, after the research project has been disbanded and he has been taken to a preserve where he’ll spend the rest of his days, Zan is stripped of everything that had once made him “human” with Ben despondently remarking, “We fooled him into thinking we were his real family.” Certain to incite discussion, this is stirring novel of family relationships and the ramifications of scientific posturing in the name of discovery. [Reviewed from ARC.]]

STARTED:
Law, Ingrid. (2010). Scumble. New York: Dial/Penguin/Walden Media.

[Do I deem it worthy of the ACL Distinguished List?]

*