Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Monday, November 3, 2014

FINISHED:
Milford, Kate. (2014). Greenglass House. New York: Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[Took me WAY too long to finish this one...



Certain to ruin his much-needed quiet Christmas break, a number of strangers arrive one by one to stay at Greenglass House, an old smuggler’s inn run by Milo’s parents.  When a number of the mysterious guests’ items disappear, Milo and the daughter of the inn’s cook assume alternate identities, inspired by an old RPG game that Milo’s father used to play, and attempt to solve the mystery.  As an adoptee, Milo’s opportunity to build a “character” for himself from the ground up when investigating the missing items allows him to figure out that although he may not have been a part of the decisions made which affected him in his past, he will get to decide who he will become.  The chilly setting, largely vacant inn, and cast of characters with shadowy intentions who seem to all have a connection to the history of the inn, all add to the tone, while Milo’s attempts to discover the secrets of the inn, his parentage, and… well…  an out-of-leftfield twist toward the end keep the pace.  Despite being a bit dense, though less obtuse than Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game (Dutton, 1978), this one should please fans of mysteries driven by a solid mood.]



STARTED:
Lord, Cynthia. (2014). Half a chance. New York: Scholastic.

[.]


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Monday, June 6, 2011

Sunday, December 26, 2010


FINISHED:
Clements, Andrew. (2004). The last holiday concert. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Westerfeld, Scott. (2010). Behemoth. New York: Simon Pulse.

[LOVED LOVED LOVED the first one in this trilogy.]

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Saturday, December 26, 2009


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.]

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Friday, December 25, 2009

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.]

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Monday, November 30, 2009


FINISHED:

Peck, Richard. (2009). A season of gifts. New York: Dial/Penguin.


[.]

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

[Read good things about this one - plus, the premise seems like a winner.]

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Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Book 2008



Snicket, Lemony. (2008). The lump of coal. New York: HarperCollins.


[There was just a derth of good children's Christmas picture books this year. This one jumped out as this year's winner simply because it's Snicket and Helquist - always a winning combination. A lump of coal with an artistic sense can't find his place until he finds himself in the stocking of a rotten kid who wants to begin drawing. Random and not so Christmasy, but still fun.]

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