FINISHED:
Steensland, Mark. (2012). Behind the bookcase. New York: Random House.

[ACL review forthcoming....]


STARTED:
Amis, Martin. (2012). Lionel Asbo. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

[My second "grown up" book in a month!]

*

FINISHED:
Walker, Karen Thompson. (2012). Age of Miracles: a novel. New York: Random House.

[Julia is on the cusp of her 12th birthday when the world changes:  the Earth's rotation begins to slow down causing the days to become longer.  Soon, the length of a day gets so long that the government steps in and decides that we should continue to live in a 24-hour cycle, with those who would rather continue to live by the rising and setting of the sun being labeled as outcasts who are forced to form their own communities.  In addition, everything we know about gravity and the Earth's magnetic fields begins to change, birds start falling from the skies, the tides are more extreme, whales beach themselves en masse, too much/too little sun makes it difficult for crops to grow, and a sickness strikes a number of the world's citizens.  This is the not-so-perky backdrop to Julia's typical preteen life navigating first love, her father's secrets, piano lessons, soccer practice, and difficult friendships with other girls.]

STARTED:
Steensland, Mark. (2012). Behind the bookcase. New York: Random House.

[Reviewing for ACL...]

*

FINISHED:
Hartinger, Brent. (2005). The Order of the Poison Oak. New York: HarperCollins.

[Russel is back!  This time, it's summer break and he volunteers to be a summer camp counselor with his friends Min and Gunnar - newly "out", it's his effort to be somewhere where he won't be harassed for being "the gay kid".  And, it turns out to be a summer filled with misbehaved 10-year old burn survivors, encounters with love (even if they turn out to be jerks), forest fires, poison oak, and therapeutic folktales.]

STARTED:
Walker, Karen Thompson. (2012). Age of Miracles: a novel. New York: Random House.

[Who doesn't love a good end-of-the-world book??]

*

FINISHED:
Eichler, Glenn. (2011). Mush!: Sled dogs with issues. New York: First Second.

[.]

STARTED:
Hartinger, Brent. (2005). The Order of the Poison Oak. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Schlitz, Laura Amy. (2012). Splendors and glooms. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.


[Review forthcoming...]

STARTED:
Eichler, Glen. (2011). Mush!:  Sled dogs with issues. New York: First Second.

[.]

*

STARTED:
Schlitz, Laura Amy. (2012). Splendors and glooms. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Reviewing for ACL (and The Emerald Atlas was becoming an albatross)...]

*