Saturday, January 28, 2012

STARTED:
Lu, Marie. (2011). Legend. New York: Penguin/Putnam.

[Going on a trip and wanted something to read outside of what I HAVE TO read.]

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Sunday, January 22, 2012


FINISHED:
Riggs, Ransom. (2011). Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books.

[Not quite as wonderful as I had hoped/heard it might be - it was definitely worth reading, though. After his grandfather is viciously murdered, Jacob decides that it might be in his best interest to go visit the island and school where his grandfather grew up in order to see for himself if the wild tales his grandfather told were true. What Jacob ends up finding on the island is way more than he ever imagined, and he must ultimately decide if he wants to return to his old life or stay where/when (...) he is... Filled with creepy, apparently authentic period photos, though overall lacking the eerie tone that I was expecting.]

STARTED:
Reeve, Philip. (2011). Web of air. New York: Scholastic.

[Reading for ACL to see if I deem it worthy of inclusion on our Distinguished List...]

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012


FINISHED:
Ness, Patrick. (2011). A monster calls. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Whoa. This one is brutal... but amazing. Conor, whose mother is going through cancer treatment, is visited by the yew tree behind their house who says that it will tell him 3 stories, and expects Conor to tell it one story. When his mom seems to be taking a turn for the worse, Conor's grandmother comes to begin making arrangements for Conor to come live with her - something that Conor will have no part of. What is the yew tree after? Why does it keep showing up? What does it want Conor to admit?? Heartbreaking and powerful.]

STARTED:
Riggs, Ransom. (2011). Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books.

[.]

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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Wednesday, January 11, 2012


FINISHED:
Bruchac, Joseph. (2011). Wolf mark. New York: Tu/Lee & Low.

[Luke is a seventeen year-old living in a trailer with his father, a former Special-ops agent who has turned to alcohol and pot for comfort after the death of Luke’s mother, who does well in school, has a crush on his best female friend, rides a motorcycle, and just so happens to be a shapeshifter. When his father goes missing and he’s led to an old house by a note his father left behind, Luke finally comes to fully embrace his “skinwalker” ancestry by putting on a wolf skin he finds in an old chest which transforms him into a human/wolf hybrid. Luke’s search for his father ultimately ends (with the help of some Russian students at school who seem to be a vampire mafia) at Maxico, a mysterious “cutting edge” research facility in town which, it turns out, needs shapshifters in order to do tests on cellular self-regeneration, with the goal of hoping to stop the aging process. Despite a few encyclopedic asides that assume ignorance of the reader and come across as didactic, and some cultural references that Luke makes which seem unlikely for a teenager of today (“Make it so!” from Star Trek: Next Generation, David Byrne, E.T.), Luke’s personal journey is thorough and thoughtfully realized with a lot of attention paid to Luke coming to understand who he is and what that means (“That, my father’s brief instructions told me, has long been the way of our people. You must learn to be human first before you can accept the power and not be lost in it. Otherwise, you become a creature out of nightmares with no compassion for any being, no urge other than to hunt and kill.”). The novel’s size (almost 400 pages) and lack of much dialogue may be intimidating, but short, digestible chapters and a story which brings in elements of science fiction, thrillers, horror, spiritual lore, and even teen romance help to keep up a steady pace that moves the action along. An Author’s Note speaks to Bruchac’s own heritage, research on werewolf lore, knowledge of martial arts, and wanting to justly depict Russian characters.]

STARTED:
Jones, Allan, and Chalk, Gary. (2010). The Six Crowns: Trundle's quest. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

[.]

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Friday, January 6, 2012


FINISHED:
Brosgol, Vera. (2011). Anya's ghost. New York: First Second/Roaring Brook.

[REALLY REALLY liked this one...]

STARTED:
Bruchac, Joseph. (2011). Wolf mark. New York: Tu/Lee & Low.

[.]

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Thursday, January 5, 2012


FINISHED:
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. (2011). Tantalize: Kieren's story. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Quincie and her uncle are reopening their family restaurant as Sanguini’s, an Italian restaurant that will cater to “predators” and “prey”… vampires and humans. When the head chef, Vaggio, is found murdered in the kitchen, Quincie’s on again/off again boyfriend, Kieren, a human/werewolf hybrid, is accused of the brutal killing. This sets Kieren off on an investigation to not only find out who really murdered Vaggio, but also to find out what may have happened to all of the high school students that have recently gone missing, eventually discovering that the new head chef of the restaurant is using it as a device to create new vampires. Based on her own 2007 dark fantasy novel Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007), though with the focus shifted from the female protagonist to her hybrid (human/werewolf) boyfriend, this graphic novelization ends up being more boring than violent: there’s one scene where the vice principal of Quincie and Kieren’s school gets his head chopped off, but, otherwise it’s Kieren driving around town trying to find Quincie for the majority of the story. Being based off of a novel, there are definite moments where it seems like there is jump in the storyline/action, and some of the illustrated panels are so busy and muddy that it is difficult to figure out what we are being shown. That said, though the werewolf/vampire craze may be waning, this will find a definite audience – albeit one that may be disappointed in the lack of blood and gore. A brief Author’s Note discusses the literary and setting inspirations for the original novel. [Review based on ARC.]]

STARTED:
Brosgol, Vera. (2011). Anya's ghost. New York: First Second/Roaring Brook.

[.]

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Wednesday, January 4, 2012


FINISHED:
Skye, Obert. (2011). Wonkenstein: the creature from my closet. New York: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt.

[This one has gotten some decent reviews, but I found it to be quite lacking...

When Robert Burnside finally got his own room, its closet was without a door so his father installed one that he found at a garage sale. There might be something wrong with it, though: the door handle has a creepy face on it (did it just wink??), and, one evening, a small creature pops out of the closet looking like a hybrid of Frankenstein’s monster and… Willy Wonka (Robert once used the closet as a “laboratory”, and has since begun to throw books in there). Jumping on the Wimpy Kid (Amulet, 2007-2011) bandwagon, Skye’s protagonist shares more than a passing likeness to Greg Heffley: he’s a bumbling, twelve year-old outsider who continually stumbles into awkward situations, and even has a precocious little brother and a typical, aloof, teen older sibling. In addition, it is written in journal style and littered with drawings – and, though this one has drawings that look like a kid might have actually drawn them, they are much less appealing and humorous than those in the Wimpy Kid series. Adding in the fantasy/science fiction element of the creature attempts to set this title apart from Kinney’s series, but the “plot” often wanders away from Wonkenstein and just focuses on the goofy and embarrassing things that Robert does (collecting thumbtacks with faces, trying not to burp in class, accidentally signing up to recite a poem at a school assembly), mostly in front of the prettiest girl at school. Though young readers who just can’t get enough of the Wimpy Kid and/or Big Nate (HarperCollins 2010-2011) books will likely eat this up in similar fashion, it definitely feels like a pale copy. A sequel featuring a hybrid Harry Potter/Chewbacca (Star Wars) creature is teased/promised.]

STARTED:
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. (2011). Tantalize: Kieren's story. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Reviewing this new graphic novel for ACL...]

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Sunday, January 1, 2012


FINISHED:
Scieszka, Jon [ed.]. (2011). Guys read: Thriller. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Skye, Obert. (2011). Wonkenstein: the creature from my closet. New York: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt.

[Reviewing for ACL...]

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