FINISHED:
Jones, Rob Lloyd. (2013). Wild Boy. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Now a sideshow freak in London in 1841, Wild Boy, so named because he is covered in hair from head to toe, finds himself on the run when he is wrongly accused of the murder of a professor who was working on a mysterious machine.  With only a sideshow acrobat as an ally, the two discover a plot involving a man with a golden globe for an eyeball, a shadow society called the “Gentlemen”, and a device which, Wild Boy is told, “is a very powerful machine, one that changes you.  Imagine a machine that could make you normal, like everyone else.”  Wild Boy is a complex character who, even after an early life of abandonment and brutal abuse, is strong and determined, and it is a Sherlock Holmes-ian gift for reading people that ultimately leads him to triumph. Though seemingly aimed at a younger audience, this is a novel that doesn’t shy away from brutality – Wild Boy is ruthlessly (and sometimes disturbingly) taunted and beaten, both verbally and physically, again and again throughout.  This is a strong, Victorian-set mystery which brings into the mix the early understandings of electricity and its properties and uses, giving the proceedings a hint of Frankenstein-ish gothic darkness.]


STARTED:
Weston, Robert Paul. (2013). The creature department. New York: Razorbill/Penguin.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Ursu, Anne. (2013). The real boy. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[.]


STARTED:
Jones, Rob Lloyd. (2013). Wild Boy. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]


*

FINISHED:
Tartt, Donna. (2013). The goldfinch. New York: Little, Brown.
[This one was a BEAST that took me WAY TOO LONG to get through - amazing, because I tore through her last book, The Little Friend, in just a few days.  "Long, plodding, uneventful" best describes her current novel.  Don't get me wrong, I think that she's an AMAZING writer, but this one just went on and on without much of a point.  A character study with too much minutia.  I'm finding it somewhat hard to believe that people are falling over it THAT MUCH.]


STARTED:
Ursu, Anne. (2013). The real boy. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[.]


*

FINISHED:
Blackwood, Sage. (2013). Jinx. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]


STARTED:
Tartt, Donna. (2013).  The goldfinch. New York: Little, Brown.


[A new Donna Tartt!  A new Donna Tartt!  Every 10 years or so...]


*

FINISHED:
Stroud, Jonathan. (2013). The screaming staircase (Lockwood & Co.: Book 1). New York: Disney/Hyperion.


[.]


STARTED:
Blackwood, Sage. (2013). Jinx. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
DiCamillo, Kate. (2013). Flora & Ulysses: the illuminated adventures. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.


[When a squirrel gets sucked up inside a vacuum cleaner, young cynic and superhero-fan Flora saves the squirrel, only to find out that it now has superpowers, an insatiable hunger, and a penchant for writing poetry.  Dealing with a "temporarily blind" neighbor boy, her divorced parents (including her mother who wants Flora's father to take the squirrel out to be killed), and using the wisdom of Terrible Things Can Happen to You (a bonus in her favorite comic, The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto!), Flora manages to save the squirrel (dubbed Ulysses) and find hope and love in a world where there previously appeared to be none.  Laugh out loud hilarious, with cheeky sophisticated language and some pages rendered in comic style, this is one of the most enjoyable books that I've read this year!]


STARTED:
Stroud, Jonathan. (2013). The screaming staircase (Lockwood & Co.: Book 1). New York: Disney/Hyperion.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Pinkwater, Daniel Manus. (1979). Alan Mendelsohn, the boy from Mars. New York: Dutton.


[.]


STARTED:
DiCamillo, Kate. (2013). Flora & Ulysses:  the illuminated adventures. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Choldenko, Gennifer. (2013). Al Capone does my homework. New York: Dial/Penguin.


[.]


STARTED:
Pinkwater, Daniel Manus. (1979). Alan Mendelsohn, the boy from Mars. New York: Dutton.


[A recommended title.]

*

FINISHED:
McMann, Lisa. (2012). Island of silence (Unwanteds: Book 2). New York: Aladdin.


[.]


STARTED:
Choldenko, Gennifer. (2013). Al Capone does my homework. New York: Dial/Penguin.


[Reading to see if it's as good as the first two...]


*

FINISHED:
Levithan, David. (2013). Two boys kissing. New York: Knopf.

[Narrated by the ghosts of gay men who died of AIDS, this one cuts between a couple of different storylines:  two young men attempt to break the world record for kissing, two teens (one of whom is transgendered) meet at a Gay Prom and begin to date, a gay teen couple help to normalize gay relationships, and a nihlistic teen who is constantly on gay-hookup sites runs away from home.  Pretty powerful stuff, and an interesting look at a range of current gay youth relationships.  This one also points out how much "better" things are for those who are coming out today (seeing as homosexuality is much more "normalized" these days), versus those gay men who had to live in the shadows, completely denying themselves, in the '70s and '80s. ]


STARTED:
McMann, Lisa. (2012). Island of silence (Unwanteds: Book 2). New York: Aladdin.

[The first in this series is one that I like to booktalk and put in kids' hands... and I realized that I haven't read EITHER of the sequels!]

*

FINISHED:
Rowell, Rainbow. (2013). Eleanor & Park. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.


[.]


STARTED:
Levithan, David. (2013). Two boys kissing. New York: Knopf.


[Reading the SIGNED advanced copy that I got at ALA!]


*

FINISHED:
Crowder, Melanie. (2013). Parched. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.


[.]


STARTED:
Rowell, Rainbow. (2013). Eleanor & Park. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.


[Heard SO many wonderful things about this one.  And it takes place in 1986... when I was a teenager who listened to all of the bands that Park likes...]


*

FINISHED:
Grabenstein, Chris. (2013). Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library. New York: Random House.


[.]


STARTED:
Crowder, Melanie. (2013). Parched. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Boulle, Pierre. (1983). The whale of the Victoria Cross. New York: Vanguard Press.


[.]


STARTED:
Grabenstein, Chris. (2013). Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library. New York: Random House.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Larsen, Reif. (2009). The selected works of T.S. Spivet. New York: Penguin.


[.]


STARTED:
Boulle, Pierre. (1983). The whale of the Victoria Cross. New York: Vanguard Press.


[Patron recommendation...]


*

FINISHED:
Nix, Garth, and Sean Williams. (2013). The mystery (Troubletwisters #3). New York: Scholastic.


[After an old town recluse dies in the castle near their grandmother’s house, Jaide and Jack help a local bookseller with cataloguing an extensive book collection there, and the twins discover that the castle may be the location of the “Card of Translocation”, whose purpose is unknown but which their father has instructed them to find.  In addition, the two are led to believe that their father, who’s supposed to stay away from them so that he doesn’t drive their “Gifts” wild, may be involved in the death of the recluse, and their grandmother, a Warden of Portland who is responsible for protecting the world from “The Evil”, ends up in the hospital after being mysteriously driven off the road.   The proceedings are swiftly set into motion in this third installment of the series, and readers who may not have read (or remember) the first two books are brought up to date with some early interspersed catch-ups.  Though most of the action is saved until the last few chapters, fans of the previous installments will find plenty to enjoy along the way, with the cast of characters widening, and the history of the Wardens and Troubletwisters being explored and revealed in more depth, with the twins coming to learn more about their “Gifts” and what connects them to all of the other Troubletwisters that have come before them.]


STARTED:
Larsen, Reif. (2009). The selected works of T.S. Spivet. New York: Penguin.


[Jeunet movie coming soon!!]


*

FINISHED:
Nix, Garth, and Sean Williams. (2012). The monster (Troubletwisters #2). New York: Scholastic.


[.]


STARTED:
Nix, Garth, and Sean Williams. (2013). The mystery (Troubletwisters #3). New York: Scholastic.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Konigsberg, Bill. (2013). Openly straight. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.


[.]


STARTED:
Nix, Garth, and Sean Williams. (2012). The monster (Troubletwisters #2). New York: Scholastic.


[Reviewing Book 3 in the series and realized that I had not read the second one yet...]


*

FINISHED:

Sedaris, David. (2013). Let's explore diabetes with owls. New York: Little, Brown & Co.


[.]


STARTED:
Konigsberg, Bill. (2013). Openly straight. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Lawrence, Caroline. (2013). P.K. Pinkerton and the petrified man. New York: Penguin/Putnam.


[Having just set up shop as Virginia City’s newest detective, twelve-year old orphan P.K. Pinkerton is hired by Martha, a girl who witnessed the murder of a local “soiled-dove”, to find the killer.  When Martha herself goes missing, P.K. must look for a man who is “tall & slim & blond with a billy goat beard”… which, unfortunately describes half the men in Virginia City.  Told from P.K.’s perspective in “journal” form (chapters are referred to as “Ledger Sheets”), this second book in Lawrence’s recent Western Mysteries series picks up just days after the events of the first, with P.K. starting his detective business out of an old cigar shop.  P.K.’s undefined, though clearly evident, high-functioning Autism is referred to as he meticulously “catalogues” and memorizes the different brands of tobacco left in the shop from its last inhabitants, and still needs some schooling on how to read the emotions on others faces.  Though not as fast-paced and suspenseful as the first in the series, there’s still a good amount of action and surprises, and fans of the first novel, P.K. Pinkerton and the Deadly Desperados (G.P. Putnam’s/Penguin, 2012), will find plenty of enjoyment in this installment what with the duels, poker games, barn fire, and P.K.’s penchant for disguises (including posing as Martha in an effort to flush out the killer).  As in the previous volume, Samuel Clements makes an appearance as he was a writer for the Virginia City newspaper at the time, and a brief glossary is included which defines/describes period terms, people and places.  References to opium, prostitution, and some laissez-faire-treated, gruesome violence make this one best suited for a slightly older audience.]


STARTED:
Sedaris, David. (2013). Let's explore diabetes with owls. New York: Little, Brown & Co. 


[.]


*

There were a few books in between this post and the last, I just need to remember what they were...

FINISHED:
Pfeffer, Susan Beth. (2013). The shade of the moon. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[.]


STARTED:
Lawrence, Caroline. (2013). P.K. Pinkerton and the petrified man. New York: Penguin/Putnam.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Mauser, Pat Rhoads.  (1982). A bundle of sticks. New York: Atheneum.


[.]


STARTED:
Willingham, Bill. (2002). Fables #1: Legends in exile. New York: DC Comics.


[Was in the mood for a comic series - and this one, I just read, is being turned into a TV series soon...]


*

FINISHED:
Mull, Brandon. (2012). The candy shop war: Arcade catastrophe. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain.


[.]


STARTED:
Mauser, Pat Rhoads. (1982). A bundle of sticks. New York: Atheneum.


[Read this one in middle school - remember it vividly because the title refers to the word "faggot", which is what the protagonist gets called by the school bully...]

*

FINISHED:
Yancey, Rick. (2013). The 5th wave. New York: G.P. Putnam's/Penguin.


[.]


STARTED:
Mull, Brandon. (2012). The candy shop war: Arcade catastrophe. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain.


[He's one of my favorites...]

*

FINISHED:
Hartinger, Brent. (2007). Split screen: Attack of the Soul-sucking Brain Zombies. New York: HarperCollins.


[LOVE LOVE LOVE these books!  I've said it before many times, but, where were these books when I was growing up??  Funny and matter-of-fact, treating homosexuality (and bisexuality) as plain as one would heterosexuality.  AND, there's a "discussion" between Russel and his parents (who find out about his being gay... and don't handle it so well...) that is BRILLIANT.  I'm going to copy those pages and hold on to them - Russel doesn't back down at all in the talk, and, in fact, makes some brilliant points that render the priest somewhat speechless.  Where's the next one??]


STARTED:
Yancey, Rick. (2013). The 5th wave. New York: G.P. Putnam's/Penguin.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
Coben, Harlan. (2013). Six years. New York: Dutton/Penguin.


[.]


STARTED:
Hartinger, Brent. (2007). Split screen: Attack of the Soul-sucking Brain Zombies. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2013). River of lost bears (Seekers: Return to the wild #3). New York: HarperCollins.


[.]


STARTED:
Coben, Harlan. (2013). Six years. New York: Dutton/Penguin.


[Look, ma!  I can read books for adults, too!]

*

ABANDONED:
Mull, Brandon. (2013). Chasing the prophecy (Beyonders #3). New York: Aladdin.

[After weeks and weeks of plodding through this one... I finally... gave up!  Sorry Brandon!  You're one of  my favorites, but this series just didn't grab me... and I couldn't even stick it out to the end...]

STARTED:
Hunter, Erin. (2013).  River of lost bears (Seekers: Return to the wild #3). New York: HarperCollins.

[Reviewing for ACL... but it's not a chore because I'm kinda hooked on this series...]


*

FINISHED:

Lerangis, Peter. (2013). The colossus rises. New York: HarperCollins.

[Review forthcoming...]

STARTED:

Mull, Brandon. (2013). Chasing the prophecy (Beyonders #3). New York: Aladdin.

[One of my favorite children's/YA authors.]

*

FINISHED:
Green, John. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton/Penguin.


[This one had received SO MUCH hype that by the time I got around to reading it, maybe my perception was skewed.  That said, it still just didn't resonate with me as much as I expected it to.  Hazel and Augustus meet at a cancer support group meeting for teens, hit it off immediately, and embark on a relationship knowing full well that their time together will be limited.  While I thought some of the language was wonderful, many things that the kids say just didn't seem like they'd come from a teenagers mouth... even one who's staring death in the face.  The character of the author of Hazel's favorite book seemed like a gross caricature, and Hazel and Augustus's SUDDEN trip to Amsterdam (Augustus uses his "wish" from the Make a Wish Foundation...) didn't seem plausible.  This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the book at all, I suppose it was all of the praise that set it up for me as too good to be true.  NOTE: At one point toward the end, Hazel's mom says that she's been taking online college courses and, if all goes well, will go UP to the Bloomington campus in the summer.  Well, the characters live in Indianapolis... so... if they were to go to IU Bloomington from there, they'd be driving SOUTH (i.e. DOWN).  The author lives in Indy, so I don't know why he wouldn't know this... unless he's refering to one of IU's satellite campuses in Northern Indiana...]

STARTED & FINISHED:

deBonneval, Gwen. (2013). William and the lost spirit. Minneapolis, MN: Graphic Universe/Lerner.

[.]

STARTED:

Lerangis, Peter. (2013). The colossus rises. New York: HarperCollins.

[Reviewing for ACL...]

*

FINISHED:

Federle, Tim. (2013). Better Nate than ever. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[Where was this book when I was a tween/teen??  Nate steals away from his sheltered, conservative Pennsylvania town to head to New York so that he can audition for the role of Elliott in a new musical based on the movie "E.T.: the Extraterrestrial".  This is a hilariously fun novel that takes place over the course of just a couple of days, and which has Nate reconnecting with an Aunt who has been estranged from Nate's mother when she stole away to New York in an effort to be someplace more open-minded and accepting.  It's one of those books that every small town kid who's just coming into realizing s/he is gay ought to read in order to see that it truly does "get better".  Like I said, this one would've given me so much hope when I was a (closeted) teenager stealing away to Chicago at every opportunity so that I could be around some diversity.]


STARTED:
Green, John. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton/Penguin.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Balliett, Blue. (2013). Hold fast. New York: Scholastic.


[.]


STARTED:
Federle, Tim. (2013). Better Nate than ever. New York: Simon & Schuster.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
McAlpine, Gordon. (2013). The tell-tale start: The misadventures of Edgar & Allan Poe (Book 1).  New York: Viking.


[.]


STARTED:
Balliett, Blue. (2013). Hold fast. New York: Scholastic.


[LOVE HER.]

*

FINISHED:
Spinelli, Jerry. (2013). Hokey Pokey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.


[???  Not my cup of tea... and I'm not sure how many kids would pick this one up because of its ?? nature.  I think that it's just too esoteric for the intended audience.  I mean, a novel about a bunch of kids living in the desert with bicycles that behave like wild stallions??  I appreciate the fact that it's clearly an allegory about growing out of childhood, but I think that a kid would get it even less than I did.]


STARTED:
McAlpine, Gordon. (2013). The tell-tale start: The misadventures of Edgar & Allan Poe (Book 1).  New York: Viking.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
Johnson, Hal. (2012). Immortal lycanthropes. Boston: Clarion.


[Myron, a teenager that remembers nothing about his life from before five years ago when he was in a terrible accident, is a teen that has a severe facial disfigurement (“His face was partially reconstructed… but it was still a twisted, noseless face”) who, one day while fighting off a bully, discovers that he has extraordinary powers related to the fact that he is an “immortal lycanthrope”.  Finding out that he is one of a number of immortal people who are able to turn into a specific mammal at will sets Myron off on an adventure across the country to find out who he is, all the while being pursued by members of secret societies and other immortals who believe he is “the chosen one”.  Jumping from one random, seemingly unrelated event to another – very often predicated by Myron being knocked unconscious and waking up in a strange place – the proceedings get haphazard and bizarre with an unsatisfying “resolution” that involves Myron finding out on one of the very last pages which animal he can morph into, with him then swimming off (spoiler!) to who knows where.  Though it is not front and center as in R.J. Palacio’s Wonder (Alfred A. Knopf, 2012), Myron’s severe facial deformity is rarely mentioned or used as a basis for his motivations or reactions until he, gallingly, needs to use it to swindle people by gaining sympathy.  This is an odd, often muddled, debut novel with an almost stream-of-consciousness narrative that may attract readers based on the premise alone, but which might leave them feeling kind of confused...]


STARTED:
Spinelli, Jerry. (2013). Hokey Pokey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2012). The melting sea (Seekers: Return to the wild #2). New York: HarperCollins.


[.]


STARTED:
Johnson, Hal. (2012). Immortal lycanthropes. Boston: Clarion.


[Reviewing for ACL...]


*

FINISHED: 
Gale, Eric Kahn. (2012). The Bully Book. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]


STARTED:
Hunter, Erin. (2012). The melting sea (Seekers: Return to the wild #2). New York: HarperCollins.


[I'm reviewing #3 in the series for ACL, so I need to get caught up...]


*

FINISHED:
Lu, Marie. (2013). Prodigy: a Legend novel. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.


[.]


STARTED:
Gale, Eric Kahn. (2012). The Bully Book. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]

*

FINISHED
Saenz, Benjamin Alire. (2012). Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe. New York: Simon & Schuster.



[.]


STARTED:
Lu, Marie. (2013). Prodigy: a Legend novel. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Rosenthal, Betsy R. (2012). Looking for me. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.


[.]


STARTED:
Saenz, Benjamin Alire. (2012). Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe. New York: Simon & Schuster.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Barrows, Annie. (2012). Ivy + Bean make the rules (Ivy + Bean #9). San Francisco: Chronicle.


[.]


STARTED:
Rosenthal, Betsy R. (2012). Looking for me. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Snicket, Lemony. (2012). Who could that be at this hour? (All the wrong questions #1). New York: Little, Brown.


[.]


STARTED:
Barrows, Annie. (2012). Ivy + Bean make the rules (Ivy + Bean #9). San Francisco: Chronicle.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Palacio, R.J. (2012). Wonder. New York: Knopf.


[.]


STARTED:
Snicket, Lemony. (2012). Who could that be at this hour? (All the wrong questions #1). New York: Little, Brown.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Levithan, David. (2012). Every day. New York: Knopf.

[LOVED LOVED LOVED this one.  "A" is a being who wakes up in a different body every morning and doesn't identify as male or female.  One day, A wakes up as the boyfriend of Rhiannon and shares such an incredible day with her that he ends up falling in love.  From then on out, regardless of who A wakes up as s/he makes an effort to contact Rhiannon, eventually revealing to her the situation of his/her life.  A FASCINATING premise that, with only a hint of preachiness, brings up a multitude of issues.  AND, this is one that called up so many questions surrounding the premise (such as:  What do the teens whose bodies A takes over remember from that day when A is inside them??), but, amazingly, addressed all of the questions I had.]


STARTED:
Palacio, R.J. (2012). Wonder. New York: Knopf.

[So much buzz...]


*

FINISHED: 
Kinney, Jeff. (2012). Diary of a wimpy kid: the third wheel. New York: Amulet.

[.]

STARTED:
Levithan, David. (2012). Every day. New York: Knopf.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Rowling, J.K. (2012). The casual vacancy. New York: Little, Brown.


[.]


STARTED:
Kinney, Jeff. (2012). Diary of a wimpy kid: the third wheel. New York: Amulet.

[.]

*