FINISHED:
Ogburn, Jacqueline K. (2017). The Unicorn in the Barn. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[Reviewing for ACL - it doesn't actually come out until July.  Review soon...]

STARTED:  
Whitehead, Colson. (2016). The Underground Railroad. New York: Doubleday/Penguin Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Gottesfeld, Jeff. (2016). The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window. New York: Knopf. 

[.]

STARTED:
Ogburn, Jacqueline K. (2017). The Unicorn in the Barn. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Mittlefehldt, Rafi. (2016). It Looks Like This. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[I read for ACL, to weigh in on whether or not it should be included on our annual "Best Books of the Year" list.  And, my vote will be "No".  I was REALLY getting in to it - despite the very choppy sentence structure throughout - and then the last half of  the book turned out to be a major disappointment for me.

(SPOILER-ISH)
For one thing, I was expecting/REALLY hoping that the death-by-car-crash was going to turn out to be the rotten classmate who kept leering at Mike.  Sure, let Mike believe for a day or two that it was Sean - give us some despair - but then have him discover that it was, instead, the bully who had been fighting his own internalized homophobia, and let Mike end up with Sean, even if it won't be easy because of their conservative families.  This, because...

I believe that we just don't need gay tragedies right now.  This felt to me like the kind of book that would've been written in the 70s or 80s when the gay pride movement had an enormous uphill battle ahead of it.  Then, a tragic end to a gay love story would've at least been a reflection of the times - a bit of a cynical parable on the state of the country and the treatment/popular thought about homosexuality at that time.  BUT, we've come a LONG way since then, and, even now, have to push even harder to get over the last hurdle (stupid, white, conservative men...).  What we need are gay romances with happy endings - a la Tim Federle's THE GREAT AMERICAN WHATEVER or Becky Albertalli's fantastic SIMON vs. the HOME SAPIENS AGENDA.  Gay conversion therapy and suicide??  That kind of cynicism right now is just damaging.  Gay kids need to finally be able to revel in the fact that they, too, deserve true love.]

STARTED:
Gottesfeld, Jeff. (2016). The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window. New York: Knopf.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Medina, Juana. (2016). Juana & Lucas. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

STARTED:
Mittlefehldt, Rafi. (2016). It Looks Like This. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Reading for ACL to see if I deem it to be "distinguished".  When, while trying to entice someone to read it, they said it had to do with a boy in the Midwest who was dealing with coming out to his not-so-understanding family, I jumped up and said, "Sounds familiar.  I'll take it!"]

*

FINISHED: 
Sweet, Melissa. (2016). Some Writer!:  the Story of E.B. White. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[.]

STARTED:
Medina, Juana. (2016). Juana & Lucas. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Reynolds, Jason. (2016). Ghost. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Sweet, Melissa. (2016). Some Writer!:  the Story of E.B. White. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
McMann, Lisa. (2016). Going Wild. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Reynolds, Jason. (2016). Ghost. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Holm, Jennifer L. (2016). Full of Beans. New York: Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
McMann, Lisa. (2016). Going Wild. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Grimes, Nikki. (2016). Garvey's Choice. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Highlights.

[.]

STARTED:
Holm, Jennifer L. (2016). Full of Beans. New York: Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Kinney, Jeff. (2016). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[.]

STARTED:
Grimes, Nikki. (2016). Garvey's Choice. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Highlights.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Reynolds, Jason and Brendan Kiely. (2015). All American Boys. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Kinney, Jeff. (2016). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[Must try to read the very popular new titles kids will be asking for... plus, they are occasionally kind of laugh-out-loud amusing...]

*

FINISHED:
Brown, Box. (2016). Tetris: The Games People Play. New York: First Second.

[.]

STARTED:
Reynolds, Jason and Brendan Kiely. (2015). All American Boys. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Lin, Grace. (2016). When the Sea Turned to Silver. New York: Little Brown.

[.]

STARTED:
Brown, Box. (2016). Tetris: The Games People Play. New York: First Second.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Dashner, James. (2016). The Fever Code. New York: Delacorte/Penguin Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Lin, Grace. (2016). When the Sea Turned to Silver. New York: Little Brown.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Bayard, Louis. (2016).  Lucky Strikes.  New York: Henry Holt.

[.]

STARTED:
Dashner, James. (2016). The Fever Code. New York: Delacorte/Penguin Random House.

[Another Maze Runner book!]

*

FINISHED:
Barnhill, Kelly. (2016). The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Young Readers.

[It is the annual practice of the Protectorate to leave the youngest child of the village in the woods as a sacrifice to appease a rumored witch who lives there, but that witch, Xan, actually rescues these children and delivers them to be raised in another town.  One year it is Luna whom she saves, and in doing so accidentally lets the young girl drink so much moonlight that it imbues her with magical powers, powers that Xan suppresses in Luna until her 13^th birthday when she may be more ready to deal with them.  Barnhill’s tight, thoroughly-realized fairy tale features a number of strong and determined characters including Luna, whose mission it is to find out who she is and where she came from; Antain, a young man whose mission is to find and expose the truth about the Protectorate; and a woman, deemed mad, whose mission is to prove her sanity and find the daughter that was taken from her.  Side characters Glerk, a bog creature, and Fyrian, a minute dragon, ground the story and provide much needed comic relief, respectively, and though the second quarter of the book stalls a bit, at midpoint it picks up steam again when a number of the seemingly disparate stories begin to intertwine and then doesn’t let up until the last page.  There’s a cautionary message to be gleaned here about discovering what – or who – the real evil is when one is kept in the dark with regard to the truth, especially when it is used as a means of control.  As Antain’s wife, Ethyne, says, “Knowledge is powerful, but it is a terrible power when it is hoarded and hidden.  Today, knowledge is for everyone.”]

STARTED:
Bayard, Louis. (2016).  Lucky Strikes.  New York: Henry Holt.

[.]

*

FINISHED:

Phelan, Matt. (2016).  Snow White.  Somerville, MA: Candlewick.


[.]

STARTED:
Barnhill, Kelly. (2016). The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Young Readers.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Gidwitz, Adam. (2016). The Inquisitor's Tale. New York: Dutton/Penguin/Random House.

[.]

STARTED:  
Phelan, Matt. (2016).  Snow White.  Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Alexander, Michelle. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: The New Press.

[To be fair, I only read the Introduction and one of the chapters... because that is what we were asked to do as part of a book discussion group that I'm now a part of!  When I have time to engage in something that I don't need to review, I'll likely give it full read because it seems like required reading.]

STARTED:
Gidwitz, Adam. (2016). The Inquisitor's Tale. New York: Dutton/Penguin/Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Springstubb, Tricia. (2016). Every Single Second. New York: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

[Italian American Nella deals with growing apart from her best friend Angela, the stroke of her great grandmother, Angela’s brother being involved in what appears to be a racially-motivated shooting, and a father who is still reeling from the consequences of his actions when he was in his youth.  This dense and heavy, though eminently engaging, novel is startlingly current with its examination of race relations and veteran mental health issues, while rife with poignancy as it deals with broken fathers haunted by ghosts that prevent them from moving forward, and the preciousness of every single moment in life.  “Then” and “Now” chapters track the dissolution of the friendship between Nella and Angela, and the beginning of Nella’s friendship with quirky, science nut Clem, slowly revealing to the reader character motivations and secrets.  One of Springstubb’s major strengths is her use of deliciously insightful 3^rd person narration, which is cleverly deft with description as she fleshes out a world without you even realizing it, and how her adolescent protagonists continually assess and reflect upon the world around them and their place in it.  Though filled with references to Christianity/God that could limit its appeal, its Springstubb’s gift with language, imagery, and subtle humor that ought to overrule.]

STARTED:
Alexander, Michelle. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: The New Press.

[.]

*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Hanlon, Abby. (2016). Dory Fantasmagory: Dory Dory Black Sheep. New York: Dial/Penguin.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Grunberg, Greg, and Lucas Turnbloom. (2016). Dream Jumper: Book 1: Nightmare Escape. New York: Scholastic.

[In his dreams, Ben is a superhero of sorts, helping people fight off nightmarish creatures.  Thing is, he truly is jumping into the dreams of others!  When his mom makes him go to a sleep study center after seeing that he is constantly exhausted, Ben discovers a ward there filled with people in sleep-comas, including some kids that Ben has seen in his dreams who need saving from a snarling beast.  Billed as “Book 1”, this graphic novel definitely reads like an origin story, clearly setting the stage for further adventures and leaving some mysteries yet to be fully revealed, including a possible legacy of Dream Jumpers in Ben’s family, and the unexplained disappearance of his father.  Panels are, for the most part, clear and uncluttered, depicting a strong sense of energy and movement.  With a few side characters that have darker skin tones, there is an attempt at character diversity, though Ben and his best friend Jake (who hilariously wants to capitalize on Ben’s ability) are very white, and the object of Ben’s affection, Kaylee Wu, looks like Ben if he had long, dark hair.  With some creepy characters (like syringe-hurling doctors and ghoulish vampires) to add just the right amount of scary without being too nightmarish, this one should please those who are beginning to experience the joys of graphic novels.]

STARTED:
Springstubb, Tricia. (2016). Every Single Second. New York: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

[Re-reading for an ACL review.]

*

FINISHED:
Oliver, Lauren, and H.C. Chester. (2016). Curiosity House: The Screaming Statue. New York: HarperCollins.

[All exhibiting remarkable abilities (mentalism, super-strength, bendability, etc.) Thomas, Pippa, Sam, and Max are tweens living in, and performing with, Dumfrey’s Dime Museum which is falling on hard times.  In an effort to draw crowds, the owner, Mr. Dumfrey, begins using mannequins to stage grisly tableaux of recent murders (which involve people the protagonists know), that seem to be connected to bad-man-on-the-loose Rattigan who “created” the tweens (and may still be after them).  Presumably catching the reader up on the events of Book 1 early on, it wouldn’t be entirely necessary to have read the previous installment to understand what is going on, but is probably a good idea.  Slow to get moving after slogging through a number of false starts, this second episode features intriguing, somewhat fleshed-out characters with nothing much to do.  Only really necessary where the first book is already on shelves.]

STARTED:
Grunberg, Greg, and Lucas Turnbloom. (2016). Dream Jumper: Book 1: Nightmare Escape. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

*