FINISHED:

Oates, Joyce Carol. (1996). We were the Mulvaneys. New York: Dutton/Penguin.

[When I thought about reading a Joyce Carol Oates novel and decided to read this one, I had no idea, until now when I Googled it, that it had once been an Oprah's Book Club selection (and, oh, how difficult it was to find a jacket image without the Oprah logo...). Thinking about it, though, I can see how this one would fit that bill pretty well. Reading it, I kinda saw it as a more sophisticated, denser Anne Tyler novel (who I quite enjoy, by the way - our cat Macon is named after one of her characters...), what with it being about the goings-on of an American family. Oates's novel is a wonderful, fully-fleshed depiction of the dissolution of a typical American family in the 1970's - a successful father, devoted and quirky mother, all-American athlete oldest brother, brainy middle brother, pretty and popular cheerleader daughter, and youngest boy who narrates the tale, all the while trying to find his place in it all. Though it frequently takes its time, the rewards are many: stunning descriptions, dropped hints of important events that are then more fully realized later, and characters that are so fully examined that you can truly understand their motivations. Having been reading SO MUCH children's and YA literature these days, I had forgotten how rich and involving a novel can actually be.]

STARTED:
Hooper, Mary. (2008). Newes from the dead. New York: Roaring Brook.

[Reading for ACL.]

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STARTED & FINISHED:

Cleary, Beverly. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. New York: HarperTrophy/HarperCollins.

[Newbery Medal winner which I read over the last two nights in bed.]

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FINALLY FINISHED:

Johnson, Elizabeth. (1971). Break a magic circle. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

[.]

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WATCHED:

Waters, M. (Director). (2008). Spiderwick chronicles [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount/Nickelodeon.

[Don't normally list here the movies that I watch (an idea for ANOTHER blog?) but this one is children's librarian related and was surprisingly good - like, kinda really enjoyable. From my recollection of the books, the film did a darn good job of staying close to the events in the books (not super hard to do since the books are relatively short), and the visual effects were almost TOO good - some of the characters were kinda creepy-real looking. Violent - should we really see the kids deep bite wounds and watch slices appear on their flesh when they're clawed at? - and I was a bit surprised by some of the language - at one point, one of the boys says, "What the HELL??" Really enjoyed this one - much more than I thought that I would. I kinda wish now that I'd gotten to see it on an IMAX screen.]




STARTED & FINISHED:

DiTerlizzi, Tony, and Black, Holly. (2008). Beyond the Spiderwick chronicles: The Nixie's song. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[Continues with some of the Spiderwick creatures. There are new kids in this one, but the old ones are reference, and one of the boys joins the action - and, most surprising of all, the "fourth wall" is broken and the book takes a post-modern turn by having the kids go to a book signing by the actual authors of the books - essentially, the author and illustrator (Black and DiTerlizzi) appear in their own book. This one moves the action to Florida swamps and involves fairies and giants. To be honest I'm writing this a few weeks after I read it... and it was such a slight read that I kinda don't remember what actually happened in it...]

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Yorinks & Egielski: a Brilliant Partnership

These two have collaborated on a number of children's picture books together (which was news to me as I thought they had only teamed up on "Hey, Al"). With Arthur Yorinks magical realism-esque stories told in short, brilliant sentences, and Richard Egielski's highly detailed, soft colored, and shaded illustrations, these two have a partnership going which is truly fantastic. The books, really, start before the title page, and with the illustrations frequently extending beyond their borders, you've got tales that masterfully transcend the page.


STARTED & FINISHED:

Yorinks, Arthur. (1980). Louis the fish. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[Surreal, and, undoubtedly, inspired partly by Kafka. Louis grew up loving fish and cleaning out fish tanks for work, but, ultimately, is forced into taking over his father's butcher shop. One morning, he wakes up to find he has transformed into a salmon. A fun little tale, if not a bit bizarre - especially the double-page spread of Louis being attacked by meat wielding meat.]



Yorinks, Arthur. (1986). Hey, Al. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[Winner of the 1987 Caldecott Medal, this one is a tale of a working man who lives in a tiny, bland apartment with his "faithful dog, Eddie". One morning, a brightly colored, and incredibly large, bird pokes its beak through Al's bathroom window and invites Al and Eddie to visit him on his island floating in the sky. Many beautiful and colorful animals await them there, but when Al and Eddie begin to transform into birds themselves, the two jump ship and return home. The last page with the sole sentence, "Paradise lost is sometimes Heaven found", paired with the illustration of Al painting his drab abode a bright yellow, speaks volumes.]



Yorinks, Arthur. (1989). Oh, Brother. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[Another tale of the "magical", although this one is much more grounded in reality than the previous two. Milton and Morris are twin brothers who mischievously cause the oceanliner they are on to sink on their way to New York. After being washed ashore they are moved from orphanage to orphanage, finally escaping and taking jobs with the circus and selling apples, both with similarly disastrous results. Ultimately, resulting to pickpocketing, they are taken in by a tailor who puts them to work. When he passes away, the brothers take over the business by posing as tiny, old tailors where they then find themselves in the Queen of England's court, and, finally, reunited with their parents. Another great one.]

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FINISHED:

Lerangis, Peter. (2005). Smiler's bones. New York: Scholastic.

[.]


STARTED:
Oates, Joyce Carol. (1996). We were the Mulvaneys. New York: Dutton/Penguin.

[GASP! I'm actually reading another "big boy" novel...]

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STARTED:
Johnson, Elizabeth. (1971). Break a magic circle. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

[Drawn to this one because of the illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman. I've renewed it 13 (THIRTEEN!) times and figured it was about time I actually got around to reading it. It's short...]

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FINISHED:

Iserles, Inbali. (2008). The Tygrine cat. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

[Reviewing for ACL - will post review here when finished with it.

Here it is:

Mati, a young cat set adrift on a ship by his mother, Queen of the Abyssinia Tygrine, finds himself much later in a marketplace of an unfamiliar town. Here, he comes across the Cressida Cats, a clan of feral felines who live amongst humans in the labyrinth of tunnels below the market. Mati, after being banished from the clan for a crime that he didn’t commit, comes to understand that he is being pursued by the evil cat who murdered his mother, but may be able to fight back using the words and advice from feline spirits with ties to Ancient Egypt who live in the Fianey, the space between waking life and sleep. From the cover alone, comparisons will undoubtedly be drawn to Erin Hunter’s Warriors series (HarperTrophy, 2001-), and those assumptions are not unfounded – this is a story about warring bands of cats which even comes with a map of the territory where the action takes place, a la the aforementioned books by Hunter. The descriptions are often quite detailed and the action is brisk, but some of the details surrounding the ancestry of the cats and their connection to the spirit world are a bit murky. While a few of the historical details about the cats are factual, most appear to be fictitious and, thus, a librarian should encourage readers to do research of their own if interested in cats and their connection to Ancient Egypt. While not groundbreaking, this is a book that has a sweet subplot which lightly explores the relationships between cats and humans and is perfect for fans of fantasy tales where animals are the main protagonists.]


STARTED:
Lerangis, Peter. (2005). Smiler's bones. New York: Scholastic.

[One of those ones that I grabbed while shelving books at work. Just sounds like an incredibly intriguing premise: Eskimos at the turn of the century (1897) who are taken to New York to be "living, breathing museum exhibits".]

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FINISHED:

Laser, Michael. (2008). Cheater: a novel. New York: Dutton Books/Penguin.

[Read for ACL review. Will post my review once it is written.

Voila:

Karl is the smartest kid in his high school - destined to be the valedictorian - and, thus, is recruited as the “answer man” for a band of popular kids who have a cheating ring going. Finally convinced to take part after being seduced by one of the prettiest girls in school (could she really be into Karl, or is she just doing whatever it takes to to get him on board?), Karl is thrown into a world of high-tech gadgetry (including a pen with a camera in the tip which sends the image to a wrist watch) and ultimately has to decide whether or not he should divulge the names of his fellow cheaters to a Vice Principal who seems just as criminal and crooked as the students he hopes to catch in the act. While not the first YA novel, and, quite likely, not the last, to deal with cheating, this one has some interesting examinations of how Karl’s working with the popular kids affects his friendships with his original group of friends, and the value of grades and how they affect an entire community. Karl himself is a well-rounded and fleshed out character whose inner struggles dominate the majority of the book, and, though the Vice Principal comes across as a bit overly diabolical, the rest of the characters come across as genuine. In addition, the 3rd person narration is funny and fresh, with each chapter beginning with a different rule for cheating which, ultimately, informs the events of that chapter. This is a novel of high school which might get a kid to examine the pros and cons of cheating and come to conclusions for themselves.]


STARTED:
Iserles, Inbali. (2008). The Tygrine cat. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

[Reviewing for ACL. First impression is that it looks like it's going to be in the Redwall / Warriors vein.]

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