Friday, October 30, 2009


FINISHED:

Gaiman, Neil. (2008). The graveyard book. New York: HarperCollins.


[I was actually much more impressed with this one that I thought I might be. The novel begins with a family of 4 being murdered by a mysterious stranger. Well, actually, only 3 are murdered - the baby boy crawls out of his crib, out the front door, and into a nearby graveyard where he is taken in and raised by the (eccentric) ghosts of the graveyard's inhabitants. Somewhat episodic, Bod (his "adoptive" parents name the boy Nobody Owens) wanders the graveyard finding treasure in an old tomb, helps to get a gravestone for a witch, befriends a young girl, eventually attends school (though is careful to keep a low profile), and learns life lessons and tricks from the local ghosts. Naturally, there is a thread of dread throughout knowing that the tall dark stranger who murdered Bods parents is searching for Bod in order to finish the job. A ghostly take on Kipling's "Jungle Book" stories that satisfied my need to read something Halloween-seasonal.]

STARTED:
Hautman, Pete. (2009). How to steal a car. New York: Scholastic.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

Monday, October 26, 2009


FINISHED:

Curtis, Christopher Paul. (1999). Bud, not Buddy. New York: Yearling/Random House.


[Damn, this guy can write.]

STARTED:
Gaiman, Neil. (2008). The graveyard book. New York: HarperCollins.

[Was trying to find a good one to read for the Halloween season and this one jumped off my shelf. I buy the Newbery and Caldecott winners each year, so I've had it sitting around and have been meaning to get to it.]

*

Friday, October 23, 2009


FINISHED:

Stead, Rebecca. (2009). When you reach me. New York: Wendy Lamb/Random House.


[This one did not disappoint - HIGHLY enjoyable. While I didn't find the big reveal all that surprising, I'm sure that a younger reader would be mystified and have MANY questions. Miranda is a young teen growing up in the late '70s with her mother and her mother's boyfriend. Along with helping her mother prepare for an appearance on the game show "The $20,000 Pyramid", Miranda is dealing with a best friend who seems to be slipping away and trying to figure out what is going on with mysterious notes that appear for her which seem to have knowledge of events that have yet to happen. This is a brilliantly crafted puzzle with little clues and facts being dropped here and there about these mysterious notes, while also being an effective novel about friendship and how kids treat each other while in their early teens. Completely readable and thought-provoking, this one makes you want to read it all over again once you finish the last sentence.]

STARTED:
Curtis, Christopher Paul. (1999). Bud, not Buddy. New York: Yearling/Random House.

[Been on my list of ones to read for quite awhile - especially since I LOVED Elijah of Buxton.]

*

Thursday, October 22, 2009


FINISHED:

L'Engle, Madeleine. (1962). A wrinkle in time. New York: Dell/Yearling.


[.]

STARTED:
Stead, Rebecca. (2009). When you reach me. New York: Wendy Lamb/Random House.

[Yippee! Looking forward to it!]

*

Sunday, October 18, 2009


FINISHED:

Hicks, Clifford B. (1963). Alvin's secret code. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.


[A fun little classic. Alvin, his pestering sister, and his best friend find a cryptic note in the gutter one afternoon. Naturally, they believe it to be some secret spy note and set forth to break the note's code. Along with the assistance of an old invalid in the neighborhood who is somewhat of an expert on codes, the trio learn about different kinds of secret codes including how some retail establishments code their wares. The main narrative here involves the trio helping a woman to find a lost "treasure" from slave days which the woman hopes will help her fund her ailing orphanage. FUN, informative, and interactive. PLUS, there is a whole series of tales of Alvin and his gang to entertain and amuse! Encyclopedia Brown, watch out...]

STARTED:
L'Engle, Madeleine. (1962). A wrinkle in time. New York: Dell/Yearling.

[I've NEVER read this one before... I KNOW!! I'm actually reading it in preparation for reading "When You Reach Me".]

*

Thursday, October 15, 2009


FINISHED:

Rodgers, Mary, and Hach, Heather. (2009). Freaky Monday. New York: HarperCollins.


[Well, this one lacked SO much of the dry wit and humor of the Rodgers' originals from the '70s and '80s. Here, Hadley is a star middle school student who feels self-conscious, is EXTREMELY jealous of her older sister's beauty, and realizes that she has thrown herself so much into her studies that she really has no social life. Ms. Pitt is the ultimate English teacher: progressive, thought-provoking, and LOVES each of her students dearly. One morning, after Hadley's failed report on "To Kill a Mockingbird", these two switch bodies and spend a day in each other's shoes. Hadley, as Ms. Pitt, has to deal with school administrators, an English department head interview, and the advances of a fellow teacher. Ms. Pitt, as Hadley, has to deal with Hadley's upset sister, a school dance, and the (hopeful) advances of a fellow student. While Hadley's story is interesting - she really is a deep, intelligent girl in the middle of an existential crisis - but there's no real reason for these two to switch like there was in the original stories. Stick to the classics, I say.]

STARTED:
Hicks, Clifford B. (1963). Alvin's secret code. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

[Shelving at the library I come across SO MANY books that look interesting. This is one that kept popping up - admittedly, it is the artwork by Bill Sokol that really drew me in...]

*

Monday, October 12, 2009


FINISHED:

North, Joan. (1965). The cloud forest. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.


[.]

STARTED:
Rodgers, Mary, and Hach, Heather. (2009). Freaky Monday. New York: HarperCollins.

[This is apparently the year where I read all of the Rodgers body switching books - and here's a BRAND NEW one!]

*

Friday, October 9, 2009


FINISHED:

Westerfeld, Scott. (2009). Leviathan. New York: Simon & Schuster.


[My ACL review posted here soon. I LOVED it, though.

After Prince Alek’s parents, Archduke Ferdinand and Princess Sophie, are murdered in Serbia he is whisked away by fellows of the court for safety purposes aboard a metal walking machine. Meanwhile, a girl named Deryn poses as a boy, Dylan, so that she may join the Air Service and fly aboard the Leviathan, an organic, hydrogen powered, genetically created whale-beast. Alek and Deryn’s parallel stories finally converge (halfway through the novel) when the Leviathan crashes on a mountain glacier near the outpost castle where Alek is being hidden away from possible assassins, and both have a secret about their true identities to keep from each other. This is an alternate take on the events surrounding WWI wherein this time, in addition to war breaking out between countries, there is a divide between the Clankers, who rely on man-made oil and metal war machines, and the Darwinists, who have aircraft and vehicles born of genetically combined and modified beasts. In the end, Westerfeld has Alek and the other Clankers, and Deryn and the other Darwinists, being forced to combine their efforts and their machines while leaving plenty of unanswered details (such as some mysterious eggs that the Darwinists are keeping safe) for further installments of a planned series. Westerfeld, author of the Uglies series (Thorndike, 2005-2008) has constructed a richly detailed steampunk world with vivid action sequences to match, and it’s all augmented by Keith Thompson’s intricate illustrations. This one has great crossover appeal for boys, girls, and fans of science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction – and all will be hungry for Westerfeld’s next tome in this exciting new series.]

STARTED:
North, Joan. (1965). The cloud forest. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

[Recommended as a classic favorite by a colleague.]

*

Thursday, October 1, 2009


FINISHED:

Crutcher, Chris. (2009). Angry management: Three novellas. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.


[ACL review to come...

An overweight teen takes a facially scarred girl to Reno to confront the mother that abandoned her with an abusive father; a goth girl who writes for the school paper fights censorship and falls for the school jock while looking out for her foster sister; and a gay, African American student in a white, rural school finds a pink noose on his locker. These three short stories comprise Crutcher’s latest which also happens to bring back and throw together characters from some of his earlier novels. It’s all quite timely and important, but at the same time overly ambitious, incredibly didactic and message-y: even a devout Christian gives a monologue on how racism and homophobia are wrong (“Jesus didn’t care whether you were some other color than pasty white, or whether or not you were gay. His Father made them and He loved them all.”) In addition, there is a bracketing device involving a teen counselor which goes nowhere and has very little to do with the stories themselves. While it’s appreciated that Crutcher has brought up for discussion a number of pressing issues, it feels a bit overstated and preachy.]

STARTED:
Westerfeld, Scott. (2009). Leviathan. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*