Thursday, July 19, 2012

FINISHED:
Hartinger, Brent. (2003). The geography club. New York: HarperCollins.

[REALLY liked this one, and I'm excited to find out that it is the first in a series of novels about the central character, Russel.  Russel and 4 other students at his high school come together in solidarity over the fact that they are all either gay or bisexual and have no one else to talk to about this fact.  SO, they decide to start a fake geography club at school - believing that the name implies that the club is so boring that no other students will actually inquire about joining - where they can hang out together.  This is a FANTASTIC portrayal of high school dynamics that teachers should ABSOLUTELY have young students read in an effort to combat bullying, and to promote acceptance and tolerance.  Nothing is cut and dry, Russel is complex and conflicting, and there are SO MANY talking points around cliques and the treatment of others that this is a great read for kids who have outgrown James Howe's The Misfits (Atheneum, 2001).  Oh, if only this funny and spot-on portrait of a young teens coming out was around when I was growing up...]

STARTED:
Stephens, John. (2011). The emerald atlas. New York: Knopf.

[.]

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Monday, July 16, 2012

FINISHED:
Lowry, Lois. (2012). Son. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

[.]



STARTED:
Hartinger, Brent. (2003). The geography club. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

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Thursday, July 12, 2012

FINISHED:
Wright, Bil. (2011). Putting makeup on the fat boy. New York: Simon & Schuster.



[.]

STARTED:
Lowry, Lois. (2012). Son. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

[!!!!!!!!!!!!]

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Sunday, July 8, 2012

FINISHED:
Hautman, Pete. (2012). The obsidian blade: The Klaatu diskos: Book 1. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[[Reviewed from ARC.]


Tucker Feye lives with his mother and preacher father, Adrian, in small-town Hopewell County, Minnesota. One day while fixing a shingle on the roof, Adrian gets sucked into a swirling disk and disappears, only to return a short time later denouncing his faith and with an odd girl in tow. After his parents then leave to find a cure for a mysterious illness that has overtaken his mother, Tucker moves in with his Uncle Kosh and decides to see what these swirling disks are about, jumping into one and getting transported to the top of one of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. Though the novel’s first third has a sense of eerie mystery, once Tucker begins being transported through space and time via the portal disks, things get kind of convoluted and a tad confusing. There are a couple of different kinds of “beings” that Tucker encounters who aren’t clearly drawn or distinguishable, and one is never quite sure how all of the portals and their various worlds are interconnected. However, a compelling discourse on faith and religion in the digital age is here (“The greatest plague of all is upon us: The Digital Plague.”), as well as questions on the nature of time and space (“Is a future, once observed, still changeable? Or does the fact that we have observed it make it an immutable part of our personal past?”), adding to the novel’s mind-bending appeal. The first title in a trilogy, this one smacks of a lot of set-up, leaving a whole lot unanswered which one can only hope will be resolved in the next installments. That said, Hautman’s sci-fi tale is smart and thought-provoking with an intriguing cliffhanger ending that hints at jaw-dropping things to come.]


STARTED:
Wright, Bil. (2011). Putting makeup on the fat boy. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[Been in the mood for a young adult title with some strong gay characters.  This Stonewall Book Award winner should fit the bill...]

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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

FINISHED:
Stead, Rebecca. (2012). Liar & spy. New York: Wendy Lamb/Random House.

[.]


STARTED:
Hautman, Pete. (2012). The obsidian blade: The Klaatu diskos: Book 1. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Reviewing for ACL...]

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Monday, July 2, 2012

FINISHED:
Marcus, Leonard S. (2012). Show me a story!: Why picture books matter: Conversations with 21 of the world's most celebrated illustrators. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
[Fascinating read for ANYONE interested in children's literature - particularly children's picture books.  Interesting that most of the authors interviewed here never had any idea that they would end up writing/illustrating children's books.  A majority seemed to start out in graphic design and ended up falling into making books for kids. Some amazing names talking here: Mo Willems, Maurice Sendak, William Steig, TANA HOBAN (!)...]


STARTED:
Stead, Rebecca. (2012). Liar & spy. New York: Wendy Lamb/Random House.

[Reading the ARC that I got at ALA last weekend!]

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