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

[.]

STARTED:
Gemeinhart, Dan. (2018). Good Dog. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

*

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

[.]

STARTED:
Connor, Leslie. (2016). All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Teller, Janne. (2010). Nothing. New York: Atheneum.

[Whoa.]

STARTED:
Cunningham, Michael. (2010). By nightfall. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux.

[Thought it was time to read a "big boy" book...]

*

FINISHED:
Mull, Brandon. (2007). The candy shop war. Salt Lake City: Shadow Mountain.

[Interestingly, I read where Brandon Mull said that The Candy Shop War was a fan favorite and many people ask him if there will be a sequel. I found this one a bit sluggish and difficult to get through. Four kids are recruited by the mysterious old woman who runs the new candy store in town. As a reward for their help, the woman give the kids candy that makes them somewhat weightless, that shocks others when you touch them, and even changes their appearance. Meanwhile, the woman has the whole town hooked on a confection which renders them oblivious to anything around them. The four friends put some bullies in their place, rob a grave, break into the local library, travel through mirrors, and one even gets to jump back and then forward in time. Fun, and I'll certainly read a sequel because I think Mull is a talented author, but for some reason it took me WAY too long to finish.]

STARTED:
Martel, Yann. (2010). Beatrice and Virgil: A novel. New York: Spiegel & Grau.

[It may be cliche to say but, I LOVED Life of Pi - I even have it on my shortlist of books to read again.]

*

FINISHED:

Niffenegger, Audrey. (2009). Her fearful symmetry. New York: Scribner.

[Twin girls, upon reaching their 21st birthday(s), inherit an apartment in London owned by their mother's twin who recently passed away. After moving in they interact with the man downstairs who was their aunt's lover, an OCD hoarder agoraphobic upstairs, and a large old cemetery right outside their door. The girls are unsure of where they want their lives to go and are dreadfully unable to do anything without the other one around Secrets abound and supernatural occurrences in their apartment slowly draw the twins apart until one makes a drastic decision in an effort to permanently cut ties with her sister. Not bad... it kept me pretty well engaged but not super compelled to keep reading. In truth, I much preferred The Time Travelers Wife - it just seemed to have more of a central story to push everything along. Here, there are a couple of characters who just seem there to pad the novel and the whole thing lacks a real central storyline. I enjoyed it for the most part, but thought that it had so much potential that wasn't quite reached.]

STARTED:
Alexander, Lloyd. (1968). The high king. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

[Finishing up the series... finally.]

*

FINISHED:

Gaiman, Neil. (2008). The graveyard book. New York: HarperCollins.

[I was actually much more impressed with this one that I thought I might be. The novel begins with a family of 4 being murdered by a mysterious stranger. Well, actually, only 3 are murdered - the baby boy crawls out of his crib, out the front door, and into a nearby graveyard where he is taken in and raised by the (eccentric) ghosts of the graveyard's inhabitants. Somewhat episodic, Bod (his "adoptive" parents name the boy Nobody Owens) wanders the graveyard finding treasure in an old tomb, helps to get a gravestone for a witch, befriends a young girl, eventually attends school (though is careful to keep a low profile), and learns life lessons and tricks from the local ghosts. Naturally, there is a thread of dread throughout knowing that the tall dark stranger who murdered Bods parents is searching for Bod in order to finish the job. A ghostly take on Kipling's "Jungle Book" stories that satisfied my need to read something Halloween-seasonal.]

STARTED:
Hautman, Pete. (2009). How to steal a car. New York: Scholastic.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*