FINISHED:
Alexander, Kwame. (2014). The Crossover. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[.]

STARTED:
Sheinkin, Steve. (2014). The Port Chicago 50 : Disaster, mutiny, and the fight for civil rights. New York: Roaring Brook.

[Reading for a mock Newbery...]


*

FINISHED: 
Balliett, Blue. (2015). Pieces and players. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Alexander, Kwame. (2014). The Crossover. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[Reading for a mock Newbery...]


*

FINISHED: 
Martin, Ann M., and Laura Godwin. (2014). The Doll people set sail. New York: Disney/Hyperion.

[Review for ACL forthcoming...

And here it is:

The Palmer family is renovating their bedrooms while they are out of town, so all of the girls’ dolls are boxed up for safe storage… but the family also happens to be putting stuff into boxes that will be shipped overseas to an international charity.  It should come as no surprise that the box marked “ATTIC” with the dolls in it gets mistaken for one that should get shipped to the Allied Transatlantic Charities (or “ATC”, as is written on the boxes), and the dolls soon find themselves aboard a cargo ship.  Taking place just a few weeks after the events of their last adventure (The Runaway Dolls, Hyperion, 2008), which is briefly summed up at the beginning, the body of this installment involves the dolls setting out on search parties to find others who fell out of their box as it was being loaded onto the boat.  Plodding at times, with a few more dolls added to mix who really don’t add anything or have much to do (including Johnny-On-the-Spot who looks suspiciously like Woody from the Toy Story films [Disney/Pixar], and some mermaids and mermen who are desperate to “return to the sea”… even though they are plastic dolls…), this fourth installment in the Doll People series feels a bit thin with storylines that come across as forced.  A bright spot, however, is the fact that Brett Helquist has taken over the illustration duties from Brian Selznick, with Helquist adding a touch more texture which gives everything more depth.  Not the best in the series, but those who are invested will find something to enjoy here with characters that they have come to know and love.]

STARTED:
Balliett, Blue. (2015). Pieces and players. New York: Scholastic.

[This may be the end of this blog for the next year...  Newbery Committee rules stipulate that I can't review anything publicly that may be considered for the award.  I'll get clarification...]


*

FINISHED: 
Curtis, Christopher Paul. (2014). The Madman of Piney Woods. New York: Scholastic.

[.]


STARTED:
Martin, Ann M., and Laura Godwin. (2014). The Doll people set sail. New York: Disney/Hyperion.

[.]


*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Gownley, Jimmy. (2014). The dumbest idea ever!  New York: Graphix.

[.]

FINISHED:
Lord, Cynthia. (2014). Half a chance. New York: Scholastic.

[Lucy, her mother, and well-known nature photographer father move to a small town where the twelve-year old joins forces with a neighbor boy, Nate, to document loons living on an island in the lake on which they live.  Lucy, an avid photographer herself, begins taking pictures in order to win a photo scavenger hunt contest, but must find a way to enter anonymously as her father will be the judge.  Lord cleverly has her protagonist discover and explore her new surroundings through the lens of a camera, and along the way Lucy has experiences that will be all-too-familiar to tween/young adult readers. Including dealing with subconscious feelings of jealousy when Nate hangs out with another girl, Lucy also ends up pondering the ethics of submitting her photos under Nate’s name and using a photo that he has asked her not to enter; and beginning to get a taste of some of life’s harshest realities like the impermanence of life (unlike photographs which can capture something forever) and dealing with Nate’s grandmother as she begins to display signs of dementia.  With a pace that never lags, a believable and relatable lead character, and a tone that never becomes saccharine, Lord’s coming-of-age novel hits the right notes.]


STARTED:
Curtis, Christopher Paul. (2014). The Madman of Piney Woods. New York: Scholastic.

[.]


*

FINISHED:
Milford, Kate. (2014). Greenglass House. New York: Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[Took me WAY too long to finish this one...

Certain to ruin his much-needed quiet Christmas break, a number of strangers arrive one by one to stay at Greenglass House, an old smuggler’s inn run by Milo’s parents.  When a number of the mysterious guests’ items disappear, Milo and the daughter of the inn’s cook assume alternate identities, inspired by an old RPG game that Milo’s father used to play, and attempt to solve the mystery.  As an adoptee, Milo’s opportunity to build a “character” for himself from the ground up when investigating the missing items allows him to figure out that although he may not have been a part of the decisions made which affected him in his past, he will get to decide who he will become.  The chilly setting, largely vacant inn, and cast of characters with shadowy intentions who seem to all have a connection to the history of the inn, all add to the tone, while Milo’s attempts to discover the secrets of the inn, his parentage, and… well…  an out-of-leftfield twist toward the end keep the pace.  Despite being a bit dense, though less obtuse than Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game (Dutton, 1978), this one should please fans of mysteries driven by a solid mood.]

STARTED:
Lord, Cynthia. (2014). Half a chance. New York: Scholastic.

[.]


*

FINISHED: 
Averbeck, Jim. (2014). A Hitch at the Fairmont. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]


STARTED:
Milford, Kate. (2014). Greenglass House. New York: Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[.]


*

FINISHED:
Holm, Jennifer L. (2014). The fourteenth goldfish. New York: Random House.

[.]


STARTED:
Averbeck, Jim. (2014). A Hitch at the Fairmont. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]


*

FINISHED:
Perkins, Lynne Rae. (2014). Nuts to you. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

[.]


STARTED:
Holm, Jennifer L. (2014). The fourteenth goldfish. New York: Random House.

[.]


*

FINISHED:
Bell, Cece. (2014). El Deafo. New York: Amulet.

[.]


STARTED:
Perkins, Lynne Rae. (2014). Nuts to you. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

[.]


*

FINISHED:
Woodson, Jacqueline. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen/Penguin. 

[.]


STARTED:
Bell, Cece. (2014). El Deafo. New York: Amulet.

[.]


*

FINISHED: 
Dashner, James. (2009). The maze runner. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[.]


STARTED:
Woodson, Jacqueline. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen/Penguin.

[LOTS of Newbery buzz...]


*

FINISHED:
Clements, Andrew. (2014). The map trap. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[Alton is a fiend for maps, finding a way to turn the personalities of those around him into maps.  After his maps - some of which may be embarrassing to some of his subjects, like his first-year teacher whom he got into trouble - go missing, Alton has to follow the demands of a ransomer to get them back.  Not one of my favorites in the Clements cannon, but those who are already into his slimmer (this one is just 144 quick pages) school stories should enjoy this one.  Never mentioned in the text, I'm still wondering if Clements intended for the character of Alton to lie somewhere on the Asperger's spectrum, what with his obsession with maps and general inability to relate to his peers.]


STARTED:
Dashner, James. (2009). The maze runner. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[Rereading before seeing the movie.  This was my FAVORITE book of 2009, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it translates onto the big screen.  The book itself is so cinematic already, that it seems like the transition should be a pretty smooth one.]


*

FINISHED:
Sedgwick, Marcus. (2014). She is not invisible. New York: Roaring Brook/Macmillan.

 [.]


STARTED:
Clements, Andrew. (2014). The map trap. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[There's always time for a new book by Andrew Clements!]


*

FINISHED: 
Engle, Margarita. (2014). Silver people: Voices from the Panama Canal. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

[The blatant racism and horrific conditions surrounding the monstrous undertaking of the construction of the Panama Canal is told through the voices of characters such as Mateo, a 14-year-old Cuban who lies about his age in order to be able to work on the project; Anita, a young, female herb collector/seller; Henry, a Jamaican hoping to send money back home; and various U.S. historical figures such as U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (“All around me, workers with shovels / are making the mud fly, the white / Americans supervising while black / islanders dig, on hillsides / so steep / and unstable / that it would be a real / waste to risk wrecking / valuable / machines”).  Engle’s devastating free-verse novel eloquently lays out the racial injustice between the whites and Europeans (paid in gold and referred to as “gold people”) who acted in more supervisory capacities, and those of color (paid in silver, they became known as the “silver people”) who had to not only deal with deplorable and dangerous working conditions, but also segregation and horribly inadequate living conditions.  Especially compelling are sections containing poems from the voices of the jungle flora and fauna who also had to endure this environmentally disruptive project, with howler monkeys stating, in all caps, “WE HATE YOUR BOOM / WE FEAR YOUR BLAST / WE ROAR OUR FURY / GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY,” and trees lamenting “but our only movement / is growth / less / and less / growth / after each sunrise / of dynamite explosions / and sharpened blades / of the ruthless / ax.”  There is hope, though, as Henry and Mateo become friends (“Then we sit / together, / medium-dark / and dark-dark, / as if / the bizarre / Canal Zone rules / did not / matter. / They don’t.”), and Mateo and Anita marry.  In the Epilogue, a letter written from a character attending the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, mentions that though there is plenty hailing this new “man-made Wonder of the World,” no mention whatsoever is made of the “silver people” and what they endured. “No one cares because no one knows,” he writes. Well, thanks to Engle’s elegant and affecting novel, more will now know.  Included are a Historical Note and Selected References.]


STARTED:
Sedgwick, Marcus. (2014). She is not invisible. New York: Roaring Brook/Macmillan.

[.]


*