FINISHED:
Eagar, Lindsay. (2017). Race to the Bottom of the Sea. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Eleven-year-old Fidelia Quail must go live with her Aunt Julia, a librarian who lives above the town library, after her internationally-acclaimed, underwater biologist parents die at sea during a powerful storm while exploring in a submarine of Fidelia’s creation.  Not long thereafter, while still grieving the loss of her parents, Fidelia finds herself kidnapped by Merrick the Monstrous, a pirate, and is forced to help him retrieve a treasure in a cave deep under the sea.  White Fidelia is a strong, intelligent, richly-drawn protagonist with a gift for invention and inquiry, while periodic flashbacks cleverly build a full portrait of compassion for the eccentric, larger-than-life Merrick.  Though it feels slightly overlong at times, Eager provides cinematic action sequences which play as though you are watching a vivid movie, as well as a couple of startling revelations which should surprise even the most keen reader.  With an intriguing setting – which seems to exist in its own time and place – and dynamic characters, hand this one to those who enjoy broad adventure stories.]

STARTED:
Balliett, Blue. (2018). Out of the Wild Night: A Ghost Story. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

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FINISHED:
Snyder, Laurel. (2017). Orphan Island. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Kullab, Samya. (2017). Escape from Syria. Buffalo, NY: Firefly.

[.]

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FINISHED: 
Pullman, Philip. (2017). The Book of Dust: Volume One: La Belle Sauvage. New York: Knopf.

[.]

STARTED:
Meloy, Colin. (2017). The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid. New York: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

[.]

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FINISHED: 
Lee, Mackenzi. (2017). The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Applegate, Katherine. (2017). Wishtree. New York: Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan.

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FINISHED:
Cole, Henry. (2017). Bayberry Island [Brambleheart #2]. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Chipmunk Twig and two friends travel on a boat liberated from a bottle to deliver a baby dragon to its home, wherever that may be.  Eventually becoming shipwrecked on an island where there are other baby dragons, the trio are soon joined on the island by the nefarious Professor Burdock who followed the friends so that he could take all of the dragon babies back home and put them to work in a foundry.  Plus, there may be a traitor in their midst.  The early chapter book reader-friendly design has at least one of Cole’s own soft, pencil-drawn spot art illustrations on the majority of spreads, and the visually descriptive text is ideal for those who want an adventure led by animals, but who might not yet be ready for Avi’s Poppy series (HarperCollins, 1999), or Brian Jacques’ Redwall tales (1987, Philomel).  While it’s not completely necessary to have read the previous book, the task of Twig and friends won’t carry as much weight, though, it should be noted that some details about Book 1 are recalled at the end of this second volume, retroactively cluing in those who may have missed the first book in the series.]

STARTED:
Pérez, Celia C. (2017). The First Rule of Punk. New York: Viking/Penguin Random House.

[.]

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FINISHED: 
Wolk, Lauren. (2017). Beyond the Bright Sea. New York: Dutton/Penguin Random House.


[.]

STARTED:
Donoghue, Emma. (2017). The Lotterys Plus One. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

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FINISHED:
Wegelius, Jakob. (2017). The Murderer's Ape. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Yoon, Nicola. (2016). The Sun is Also a Star. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[.]

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FINISHED: 
Martin, Ann M., and Laura Godwin. (2014). The Doll people set sail. New York: Disney/Hyperion.

[Review for ACL forthcoming...

And here it is:

The Palmer family is renovating their bedrooms while they are out of town, so all of the girls’ dolls are boxed up for safe storage… but the family also happens to be putting stuff into boxes that will be shipped overseas to an international charity.  It should come as no surprise that the box marked “ATTIC” with the dolls in it gets mistaken for one that should get shipped to the Allied Transatlantic Charities (or “ATC”, as is written on the boxes), and the dolls soon find themselves aboard a cargo ship.  Taking place just a few weeks after the events of their last adventure (The Runaway Dolls, Hyperion, 2008), which is briefly summed up at the beginning, the body of this installment involves the dolls setting out on search parties to find others who fell out of their box as it was being loaded onto the boat.  Plodding at times, with a few more dolls added to mix who really don’t add anything or have much to do (including Johnny-On-the-Spot who looks suspiciously like Woody from the Toy Story films [Disney/Pixar], and some mermaids and mermen who are desperate to “return to the sea”… even though they are plastic dolls…), this fourth installment in the Doll People series feels a bit thin with storylines that come across as forced.  A bright spot, however, is the fact that Brett Helquist has taken over the illustration duties from Brian Selznick, with Helquist adding a touch more texture which gives everything more depth.  Not the best in the series, but those who are invested will find something to enjoy here with characters that they have come to know and love.]

STARTED:
Balliett, Blue. (2015). Pieces and players. New York: Scholastic.

[This may be the end of this blog for the next year...  Newbery Committee rules stipulate that I can't review anything publicly that may be considered for the award.  I'll get clarification...]


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

[Lucy, her mother, and well-known nature photographer father move to a small town where the twelve-year old joins forces with a neighbor boy, Nate, to document loons living on an island in the lake on which they live.  Lucy, an avid photographer herself, begins taking pictures in order to win a photo scavenger hunt contest, but must find a way to enter anonymously as her father will be the judge.  Lord cleverly has her protagonist discover and explore her new surroundings through the lens of a camera, and along the way Lucy has experiences that will be all-too-familiar to tween/young adult readers. Including dealing with subconscious feelings of jealousy when Nate hangs out with another girl, Lucy also ends up pondering the ethics of submitting her photos under Nate’s name and using a photo that he has asked her not to enter; and beginning to get a taste of some of life’s harshest realities like the impermanence of life (unlike photographs which can capture something forever) and dealing with Nate’s grandmother as she begins to display signs of dementia.  With a pace that never lags, a believable and relatable lead character, and a tone that never becomes saccharine, Lord’s coming-of-age novel hits the right notes.]


STARTED:
Curtis, Christopher Paul. (2014). The Madman of Piney Woods. New York: Scholastic.

[.]


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