FINISHED:

Scieszka, John. (2008). Knucklehead. New York: Viking/Penguin.

[I did, indeed, find this autobiography worthy of being on the ACL Distinguished Books List. So darn funny - I saw it as "David Sedaris... for kids". Most of it is about growing up in a household with a bunch of brothers and the mayhem and hilarity that ensued. Though it was a much different time when Mr. Scieszka was a child, I should hope that kids these days will still find it somewhat relevant as well as hilarious. And, what boy with brothers can't relate to the crossing of streams/sword fighting chapter?]




Martin, C.K. Kelly. (2008). I know it's over. New York: Random House.

[Here's my official review for ACL - I was truly impressed with it:

Nick is your typical Canadian teenager: position on his high school’s hockey team, crappy retail job at the mall, recently divorced parents, lots of friends, and beginning to seriously navigate the rough waters of love and sex. After having only dated for a few months, and having been on a break after things got a little too serious, Nick’s girlfriend Sasha tells him on his driveway on a snowy Christmas Eve that she’s pregnant . Lost and feeling helpless and alone, Nick sleepwalks through his job, skips some school, and attends a New Years’ Eve party where he proceeds to get drunk and high in the hopes of forgetting, at least for the night, the frustrating and confusing situation in which he has found himself. Sasha’s revelation comes within the first few pages of the novel, and the rest of the novel is told in flashback, covering the events leading up to the telling, and then eventually catching up to the moment and carrying on from there. While dealing with his own issues, Nick, in a genuine and well-drawn side plot, helps his longtime best friend Nathan “come out” to him and Nathan’s homophobic single father. Martin’s impressive debut novel touchingly and accurately portrays teen life while also being an incredibly insightful and thorough examination of a teenage boy dealing with a pregnant girlfriend who “needs time alone to cool things off”, while just hoping to do the right thing, if he can only figure out what that may be.]

STARTED:
Anderson, M.T. (2008). The astonishing life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the nation: Volume II: The kingdom on the waves. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

[Thought the first volume was pretty much a masterpiece, so I'm on to the second part. Also, it's up for Distinguished at ACL...]

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