FINISHED:
Neuvel, Sylvain. (2017). Waking Gods [The Themis Files: Book 2]. New York: Del Rey/Penguin Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Tynion IV, James. (2017). The Backstagers: Volume 1: Rebels Without Applause. Los Angeles: BOOM! Box.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Neuvel, Sylvain. (2016). Sleeping Giants [The Themis Files: Book 1]. New York: Del Rey/Penguin Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Neuvel, Sylvain. (2017). Waking Gods [The Themis Files: Book 2]. New York: Del Rey/Penguin Random House.

[Another adult book!  (It's a sequel to the last one...)]

*

FINISHED:
Hale, Nathan. (2017). One Trick Pony. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[This was a GREAT ONE!  Set in a future where the world has been decimated by a race of invading aliens, 3 young people are out exploring a cave, looking for any old technological items they can find.  They are part of a caravan of folks who are conservators of some of the last known remains of human civilization (books, films, technology, etc.).  The young explorers come across a treasure trove of forgotten tech, including a robot horse that bonds with the girl of the group.  Unfortunately, their waking up the long-buried tech alerts the Pipers (bubble-blowing aliens who eat technology... and humans).]

STARTED:
Konigsberg, Bill. (2017). Honestly Ben. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[REALLY enjoyed Openly Straight.]

*

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:
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...]

*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Fearing, Mark. (2012). Earthling! San Francisco: Chronicle.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
DiTerlizzi, Tony. (2012). A hero for WondLa. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[.]


STARTED:
Durbin, Frederic S. (2012). The star shard. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

[Reading for ACL Distinguished...]

*

FINISHED:
Service, Pamela F. (2011). Alien envoy. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner.

[Zack is an alien from the planet Izbor who was physically altered and sent to Earth as an Alien Agent for the Galactic Patrol. On Halloween night, Zack, the Alien Envoy to Earth, is picked up by fellow agents and whisked away in their spacecraft to meet with the Galactic Council who are deciding whether or not to invite Earth to join the Galactic Union. Unfortunately, it’s not an easy trip as the Kiapa Kapa Syndicate, who seem to have uncovered Zack’s true identity and are bent on making sure that he doesn’t make it in front of the Council, seem to be hot on their heels. Service has crafted a brisk, rollicking adventure with just the right amount of action and a healthy dose of hilarious description (“Zythis cleared his several throats.”), and even manages to slip in social messages about race relations (“When our people learned how to change the face of living things, we made it so that everyone was born a different color. That way there could be no groups of one color hating people of another color. Everyone was different.”) and commentary on how we treat our planet (“These people of Earth have not only endangered their own world; they could threaten the peace of the entire galaxy! A study of their history shows them to be a hopelessly reckless, warlike people.”). Gorman’s modern-cartoon illustrations appear in just the right amount – not too often or too sparse – and add the right zing, giving face to some of the more bizarrely described alien beings. This sixth installment in the Alien Agent series (Carolrhoda, 2008) works perfectly well on its own as a brief outerspace adventure that reluctant readers should find particularly appealing.]

STARTED:Potter, Ellen. (2010). The kneebone boy. New York: Feiwel & Friends.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Lore, Pittacus. (2010). I am Number Four. New York: HarperCollins.

[Number Four is a fifteen year-old who came to Earth with his “handler” Henri ten years ago, escaping his home planet of Lorien when Mogodorians invaded and wiped out the rest of the population. Still on the run from the Mogodorians, Henri and Number Four (who has taken on the pseudonym John Smith) settle for the umpteenth time in a small rural Ohio town, hoping to keep a low profile while John begins to come into and develop his “legacies”, or special powers. Unfortunately, after looking into a “they walk among us” underground ‘zine which has info that hits a bit too close to home, and being a bit too heroic and conspicuous while saving friends from a house fire, John receives a note saying “Are you Number 4?” and realizes that he’s been found and will have to fight for his survival. While it reads like a typical “teenager moves to a small town” screenplay, the plot is cliched (of course, John falls for the prettiest girl in school who happens to be the ex of the school sporto/bully), and most characters are 2-dimensional, the novel does move at a steady pace and there are a few surprises (what’s up with Bernie Kosar, the beagle that follows John around??). Though the book is said to be written by Pittacus Lore, a 10,000 year-old Loric Elder, Lore is actually a pseudonym for two co-writers, one of whom is Oprah-shamed author James Frey (A Million Little Pieces, Nan A. Talese, 2003). A feature film version of the book (co-executive produced by Steven Spielberg) is already due out in February 2011.]

STARTED:
Epstein, Adam Jay, and Jacobson, Andrew. (2010). The Familiars. New York: HarperCollins.

[Can't remember where I first heard about this one, but I was intrigued.]

*

FINISHED:
Wallenfels, Stephen. (2009). POD. Honesdale, PA: Namelos.

[.]

STARTED:
Rich, Simon. (2010). Elliot Allagash: a novel. New York: Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED:

Teague, Mark. (2009). The doom machine.. New York: Blue Sky/Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Korman, Gordon. (2001). Island: Shipwreck. New York: Scholastic.

[Giving the three in this series a go. I don't think I've read anything by Korman before, and this series has always intrigued me. Must be due to my overwhelming love for LOST.]

*