FINISHED:
Jones, Rob Lloyd. (2013). Wild Boy. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Now a sideshow freak in London in 1841, Wild Boy, so named because he is covered in hair from head to toe, finds himself on the run when he is wrongly accused of the murder of a professor who was working on a mysterious machine.  With only a sideshow acrobat as an ally, the two discover a plot involving a man with a golden globe for an eyeball, a shadow society called the “Gentlemen”, and a device which, Wild Boy is told, “is a very powerful machine, one that changes you.  Imagine a machine that could make you normal, like everyone else.”  Wild Boy is a complex character who, even after an early life of abandonment and brutal abuse, is strong and determined, and it is a Sherlock Holmes-ian gift for reading people that ultimately leads him to triumph. Though seemingly aimed at a younger audience, this is a novel that doesn’t shy away from brutality – Wild Boy is ruthlessly (and sometimes disturbingly) taunted and beaten, both verbally and physically, again and again throughout.  This is a strong, Victorian-set mystery which brings into the mix the early understandings of electricity and its properties and uses, giving the proceedings a hint of Frankenstein-ish gothic darkness.]


STARTED:
Weston, Robert Paul. (2013). The creature department. New York: Razorbill/Penguin.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Ursu, Anne. (2013). The real boy. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[.]


STARTED:
Jones, Rob Lloyd. (2013). Wild Boy. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]


*

FINISHED:
Tartt, Donna. (2013). The goldfinch. New York: Little, Brown.
[This one was a BEAST that took me WAY TOO LONG to get through - amazing, because I tore through her last book, The Little Friend, in just a few days.  "Long, plodding, uneventful" best describes her current novel.  Don't get me wrong, I think that she's an AMAZING writer, but this one just went on and on without much of a point.  A character study with too much minutia.  I'm finding it somewhat hard to believe that people are falling over it THAT MUCH.]


STARTED:
Ursu, Anne. (2013). The real boy. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[.]


*

FINISHED:
Blackwood, Sage. (2013). Jinx. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]


STARTED:
Tartt, Donna. (2013).  The goldfinch. New York: Little, Brown.


[A new Donna Tartt!  A new Donna Tartt!  Every 10 years or so...]


*

FINISHED:
Stroud, Jonathan. (2013). The screaming staircase (Lockwood & Co.: Book 1). New York: Disney/Hyperion.


[.]


STARTED:
Blackwood, Sage. (2013). Jinx. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
DiCamillo, Kate. (2013). Flora & Ulysses: the illuminated adventures. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.


[When a squirrel gets sucked up inside a vacuum cleaner, young cynic and superhero-fan Flora saves the squirrel, only to find out that it now has superpowers, an insatiable hunger, and a penchant for writing poetry.  Dealing with a "temporarily blind" neighbor boy, her divorced parents (including her mother who wants Flora's father to take the squirrel out to be killed), and using the wisdom of Terrible Things Can Happen to You (a bonus in her favorite comic, The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto!), Flora manages to save the squirrel (dubbed Ulysses) and find hope and love in a world where there previously appeared to be none.  Laugh out loud hilarious, with cheeky sophisticated language and some pages rendered in comic style, this is one of the most enjoyable books that I've read this year!]


STARTED:
Stroud, Jonathan. (2013). The screaming staircase (Lockwood & Co.: Book 1). New York: Disney/Hyperion.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Pinkwater, Daniel Manus. (1979). Alan Mendelsohn, the boy from Mars. New York: Dutton.


[.]


STARTED:
DiCamillo, Kate. (2013). Flora & Ulysses:  the illuminated adventures. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Choldenko, Gennifer. (2013). Al Capone does my homework. New York: Dial/Penguin.


[.]


STARTED:
Pinkwater, Daniel Manus. (1979). Alan Mendelsohn, the boy from Mars. New York: Dutton.


[A recommended title.]

*

FINISHED:
McMann, Lisa. (2012). Island of silence (Unwanteds: Book 2). New York: Aladdin.


[.]


STARTED:
Choldenko, Gennifer. (2013). Al Capone does my homework. New York: Dial/Penguin.


[Reading to see if it's as good as the first two...]


*

FINISHED:
Levithan, David. (2013). Two boys kissing. New York: Knopf.

[Narrated by the ghosts of gay men who died of AIDS, this one cuts between a couple of different storylines:  two young men attempt to break the world record for kissing, two teens (one of whom is transgendered) meet at a Gay Prom and begin to date, a gay teen couple help to normalize gay relationships, and a nihlistic teen who is constantly on gay-hookup sites runs away from home.  Pretty powerful stuff, and an interesting look at a range of current gay youth relationships.  This one also points out how much "better" things are for those who are coming out today (seeing as homosexuality is much more "normalized" these days), versus those gay men who had to live in the shadows, completely denying themselves, in the '70s and '80s. ]


STARTED:
McMann, Lisa. (2012). Island of silence (Unwanteds: Book 2). New York: Aladdin.

[The first in this series is one that I like to booktalk and put in kids' hands... and I realized that I haven't read EITHER of the sequels!]

*