FINISHED:
Pullman, Philip. (1995). The Golden Compass [His Dark Materials: Book 1]. New York: Ballantine/Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Tagame, Gengoroh. (2014). Endless Game. Berlin, Germany: Bruno Gmünder.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Gemeinhart, Dan. (2016). Some Kind of Courage. New York: Scholastic.

[SOOOO good, this one.  Will be reading it again, as I decided to review it for ACL.  Full review at that time...

In Washington State in 1890, twelve-year-old Joseph Johnson – no stranger to loss after his mother and sister die by disease, and his father is involved in a fatal accident – finds out that his beloved horse, Sarah, has been sold without his consent.  So begins Joseph’s epic and unceasing quest across the wild west to get her back, enduring a bear attack, being swept down roaring river rapids, and many more harrowing situations.  The first-person narrative in this dynamic, survival story allows Joseph to prove himself to be an endearing and complex character, unafraid to show sensitivity, and never fully discouraged despite continually getting so close to his goal, yet having it stripped from him again and again.  Joseph is accompanied on the bulk of his journey by Ah-Kee, a Chinese boy who doesn’t speak any English, with their relationship being such that even though they can’t fully understand one another, they poignantly have each other’s back at all times.  The character of Ah-Kee is handled with aplomb, touching upon the rampant racism of the time, and having Ah-Kee be the one who unflinchingly helps to deliver a baby to a woman in cabin out in the middle of nowhere.  Chapter-ending cliffhangers will keep readers swept up in the action, and Joseph’s heart and unyielding good nature will have readers rooting, and feeling, for him through to the very last page.]

STARTED:
Thorne, Jack. (2016). Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[$30?!??  Seems a bit greedy.]

*

 

FINISHED:
Park, Linda Sue. (2016). Wing & Claw: Forest of Wonders. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Clarke, Susanna. (2004). Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. New York: Bloomsbury.

[I'm going to give it go!  The paperback - at just over 1000 pages - is daunting, but I'm intrigued by the BBC series and really want to read the source material first.  I gave it a shot years ago...  Don't remember why I couldn't finish it...]

*

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!]

*

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:
Dumon Tak, Bibi. [Laura Watkinson, translator] (2011). Soldier bear. Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans.

[Interesting (true!) story about a group of soldiers in WWII who took in a bear as their mascot, but was then made an honorary soldier because of the theraputic nature of the bear to the soldiers.  Great story, but I found the writing (maybe it's a translation issue?) to be kind of stilted and plodding.]

STARTED:
McMann, Lisa. (2011). The Unwanteds. New York: Aladdin.

[It's touted as "Harry Potter meets the Hunger Games"...  Who WOULDN'T want to read this one?!?]

*

FINISHED:
Shelton, Dave. (2012). A boy and a bear in a boat. New York: David Fickling.

[Life of Pi meets Waiting for Godot... for kids!
That sounds like a joke, but it’s not.) This existential and esoteric title involves a boy who jumps in a rowboat captained by a bear and asks to be taken to the “other side” of a vast expanse of water.  What follows is 300 pages of hilariously dry, meaningless “action” including:  for a whole chapter the two play “I spy” with the only things to really spy being the sea and the sky (“Um, what did you say it began with again?” said the bear.  “S,” said the boy.  Like everything we’ve spied for the last hour, he thought.); the bear assures the boy that he knows where he’s going by pointing to a spot on an all blue map (“The boy was speechless.  A single tear traced a route down his cheek.  ‘No need to cry with joy,’ said the bear.  ‘It’s all part of the service.’”); and encounters with a terrifying creature from the deep (“Don’t hit him!” shouted the boy.  “Ask him if he knows the way!”) and a ghost ship (“What do you smell now?” said the boy.  “Danger!” said the bear.  “…or maybe marmalade.”).  The text is littered with cute, simple spot art every couple of pages which show a good amount of emotion (the bear is sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth while tying a fishing fly), and the chapters are episodic, relatively short, and easily digestible.  Although I fear this one might not get the response that it deserves, it sure made me laugh out loud!]

STARTED:
Wood, Maryrose. (2012). The unseen guest [The incorrigible children of Ashton Place #3]. New York: Balzer + Bray.

[Loving this series - they're pretty darned hilarious and clever...]

*

FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2012). Island of shadows (Seekers: Return to the wild #1). New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Hall, Teri. (2010). The line. New York: Dial.

[Ever since we got this one in I've been intrigued...]

*

FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2011). Spirits in the stars [Seekers #6]. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Birdsall, Jeanne. (2011). The Penderwicks at Point Mouette. New York: Random House.

[Yippeee!]

*

Holiday Book 2010

Helquist, Brett. (2010). Bedtime for Bear. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2010). Seekers: Fire in the sky. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
de Fombelle, Timothee. (2006/8). Toby alone. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

[Am reviewing the sequel for ACL so I thought I'd get up to speed.]

*

FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2010). Seekers: The last wilderness. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Clements, Andrew. (2010). Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School: We the children. New York: Atheneum.

[I like my Clements...]

*

FINISHED:

Hunter, Erin. (2009). Seekers #3: Smoke Mountain. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Collins, Suzanne. (2009). Catching fire. New York: Scholastic.

[Got a hold of an ADVANCED READER'S COPY! It's good to be colleagues with veterans in the field...]

*

FINISHED:

Hunter, Erin. (2009). Seekers: Great Bear Lake. New York: HarperCollins.

[The three bears from the first book are back, with the addition of a new one: Ujurak, the shape shifter introduced at the end of book one - who, I mentioned in my review of that title, kind of took me out of the story. It's one thing to have bears that can talk to each other, but it's another thing entirely to have an animal that can morph into any animal it chooses. At any rate, this installment felt a bit forced to me - it's as if Hunter is stalling and dragging things out just to have material for more books. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this one, just not as much as the first. In the end, thankfully, all three bears - Toklo the brown bear, Kallik the polar bear, and Lusa the black bear - meet each other and subsequent installments, I suppose, will have them traveling together in search of a place up north in which bears can live where there is still ice, food to eat, and that is far away from "flat-faces." A number of the events in the story seem like they will lead to something bigger that will have lasting impact on the characters, but which actually get wrapped up within a few paragraphs and then are forgotten. In one well-fleshed out storyline, Kallik finds her brother Taqqiq at a mass gathering of bears, but her brother has turned into a selfish creep that steals food from other bears and helps to kidnap a cub in an effort to infiltrate a bear colony and steal their food. For awhile it seems like he's going to remain a jerk, but then comes to trust family over friends. There is plenty to respect here: clearly, Hunter is a spiritual woman - the names of the characters seem to be Inuit and/or Native American influenced, and there is much talk among the bears of "guiding" spirits and the spirits of fallen bears becoming part of the trees or the water - and also much focus on the environment - with discussions of "firebeasts" belching smoke, "flat-face" constructions that are becoming an imposition on bear territory, and a great deal of worry over the disappearing ice and food supply. Though feeling somewhat like a filler installment, she's still got me hooked and I'll be looking forward to Book Three.]

STARTED:
Arnosky, Jim. (2009). The pirates of Crocodile Swamp. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin.

[Reading to review for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:

Hunter, Erin. (2008). Seekers: The quest begins. New York: Working Partners/HarperCollins.

[I gotta say, I really kinda liked this one. Indeed, I was compelled enough to keep reading and find out what happened to the 3 bears whose stories are told here. Actually, there are 3 stories told at the same time, with every 3rd chapter continuing the one bear's story. Kallik is a polar bear who, with her brother, is being led by their mother across the ice to land, as the warm months are approaching. Along the way, while swimming from ice sheet to ice sheet, Kallik's mother is attacked and murdered by killer whales, and Kallik is separated from her brother, thus leaving her to find her way to safety on her own. In the second story, Lusa is a black bear living in zoo who wonders what lies in the wilderness beyond the zoo fence. One day, a female grizzly is brought into the bear enclosure next to the one for the black bears, and she goes on about how she has lost her cubs and feels horribly about it. After attacking a zoo keeper, the female grizzly is taken away, and Lusa stops eating so that she'll be taken out of the bear enclosure and eventually finds her way out of the zoo. Lusa then skulks around the suburbs where she must forage in trash cans for food, beginning a journey to find the grizzly female's cub. Which, leads to the 3rd story: Toklo is a young grizzly bear tired of his brother being coddled by their mother. After the brother dies, Toklo's mother, so filled with grief, tells Toklo he must go off on his own and fend for himself. It is Toklo's mother who is then taken to the zoo, thus inspiring Lusa to break out in the hopes of finding Toklo so that she may tell him that his mother was sorry. It seems like all of the stories will converge in subsequent books (Lusa and Toklo do meet at the end of this one), and I will definitely keep reading to see what happens to these guys. My one major complaint - at least, it is the one thing that took me out of the story - is that there is a character whom Toklo meets who can change shape at will - from a human, to a bear, to a hawk, etc. There's a lot of "earth spirituality" in the book, which I'm fine with, but this character just took it too far...]

STARTED:
Augarde, Steve. (2006). Celandine. New York: David Fickling/Random House.

[Couldn't wait any longer to read this one. LOVED The Various and am really looking forward to finding out about Celandine in this prequel. Augarde has a way with words and his stories feel like classics of children's literature.]

*