FINISHED:

Barry, D., & Pearson, R. (2008). Science fair. New York: Disney Editions.

[.]

STARTED:
Benioff, David. (2008). City of thieves. New York: Viking/Penguin.

[Got this for Brian to read because I heard good things about it, but decided to read it as well because I LOVED 25th Hour (the movie).]

*

FINISHED:

Abbot, Tony. (2005). Kringle. New York: Scholastic.

[Ugh. Extremely disappointed in this one. Number one, it spent way too much time on just one part of his life - fighting goblins, who were building some doomsday device, while trying to save some kids - instead of (I had HOPED) making fun stories up to explain some of those things that we all know about Santa... maybe I was just expecting something more kid friendly... More importantly, I was disappointed that it got all "religious-y". NEVER did I imagine, picking the book up, that there would be a character who talked (for multiple pages) about the STORY of the "Christ child". That said, I would NEVER recommend it to a child at the public library as it isn't as "inclusive" as I assumed it would be. I guess he was truly going for the SAINT Nicholas thing...]

STARTED:
Barry, D., & Pearson, R. (2008). Science fair. New York: Disney Editions.

[Haven't read any of their Peter Pan novels and thought this one looked like it would be fun.]

*

Christmas Book 2009

Kohara, Kazuno. (2009). Here comes Jack Frost. Venice, CA: Roaring Book Press.

[LOVED her Ghosts in the House from last year. Though this one lacks some of the quirky fun of her previous book, it's still graphically amazing, this time rendered in cool blues and white. A great winter tale that I'm pleased to include and preserve as part of my Christmas picture book tradition.]

*

FINISHED:

Clements, Andrew. (2009). Extra credit. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Abbot, Tony. (2005). Kringle. New York: Scholastic.

[Thought I'd get in the holiday spirit.]

*

FINISHED:

Alexander, Lloyd. (1968). The high king. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

[.]

STARTED:
Kinney, Jeff. (2009). Diary of a wimpy kid: Dog days. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[I find these amusing.]

*

FINISHED:

Kinney, Jeff. (2009). Diary of a wimpy kid: Dog days. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[.]

STARTED:
Clements, Andrew. (2009). Extra credit. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[A new Andrew Clements book!]

*

FINISHED:

Niffenegger, Audrey. (2009). Her fearful symmetry. New York: Scribner.

[Twin girls, upon reaching their 21st birthday(s), inherit an apartment in London owned by their mother's twin who recently passed away. After moving in they interact with the man downstairs who was their aunt's lover, an OCD hoarder agoraphobic upstairs, and a large old cemetery right outside their door. The girls are unsure of where they want their lives to go and are dreadfully unable to do anything without the other one around Secrets abound and supernatural occurrences in their apartment slowly draw the twins apart until one makes a drastic decision in an effort to permanently cut ties with her sister. Not bad... it kept me pretty well engaged but not super compelled to keep reading. In truth, I much preferred The Time Travelers Wife - it just seemed to have more of a central story to push everything along. Here, there are a couple of characters who just seem there to pad the novel and the whole thing lacks a real central storyline. I enjoyed it for the most part, but thought that it had so much potential that wasn't quite reached.]

STARTED:
Alexander, Lloyd. (1968). The high king. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

[Finishing up the series... finally.]

*

FINISHED:

Anderson, M.T. (2005). Whales on stilts. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc.

[.]

STARTED:
Niffenegger, Audrey. (2009). Her fearful symmetry. New York: Scribner.

[.]

*

FINISHED:

Hague, Michael. (2008). In the small. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

[.]

*

FINISHED:

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

[LOVED THIS. BEST YA BOOK OF THE YEAR, in my opinion.

Thomas wakes in a freight elevator to find himself in the middle of a wide glade surrounded by towering, vine-covered walls, without any memory of who he is or where he may have come from. Similarly, the other boys he comes to meet in the Glade have no idea how they got there or how to get out: there are doors in the walls which lead to various mazes, but the mazes change every day and are filled, at night, with hideous beasts they have named Grievers. When a girl appears in the elevator the day after Thomas arrives remarking, “Everything is going to change,” Thomas and the other boys, some with hostile accusations, begin to wonder if this all doesn’t have something to do with him. Thomas is a likeable character through whose eyes the reader gets to also experience and unravel the bewildering events, and sprinkled throughout are bizarre and intriguing clues to who or what may be behind the maze (beetles with the word WICKED printed on their backs? a cliff in the middle of the maze which leads to nowhere?) which will keep readers enthralled and guessing. Dashner’s novel, the first in a trilogy, is a page-turning dazzler with chapter cliffhangers which demand continuing on to the next chapter. Definitely hand this one to those who are thirsting for other dystopian thrillers like Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008).]

STARTED:
Anderson, M.T. (2005). Whales on stilts. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc.

[.]

*