FINISHED:
West, Jacqueline. (2010). The books of Elsewhere: The shadows. New York: Dial.

[My review for ACL:

Olive, perpetual new student, and her nomadic, mathmetician, computer screen-glued parents move into a dusty old house still full of the previous occupants’ Victorian-era belongings. One of the first things that Olive notices is the abundance of paintings (which seem permanently attached to the walls) whose images, when viewed through a pair of found antique reading glasses, begin to move. Ever the curious explorer, Olive discovers that she is able to climb into these paintings and, while wandering around in one, comes across a frightened little boy in an old nightshirt who claims to have been stolen from the real world and imprisoned in the painting by a malevolent, ever-watching shadow. West’s debut novel, the first in an assumed series, is briskly paced and, for the most part, engaging, with a spunky outcast for a protagonist in whom avid readers of the genre will recognize shades of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (HarperCollins, 2002). A trio of talking cats add comedy and a bit of confusion: aside from the occasional difficulty of keeping them straight, their motives are unclear as they seem genuinely helpful but appear to be “working for” the shadowy force. Thorough, vivid physical description provides a definite sense of environment and the premise is intriguing enough to attract young fantasy beginners. (Reviewed from ARC.)]

STARTED:
Connor, Leslie. (2010). Crunch. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Reading for ACL.]

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