FINISHED:
Funke, Cornelia. (2018). The Griffin's Feather [Dragon Rider #2]. New York: Chicken House/Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Kondo, Robert & Tsutsumi, Dice. (2017). The Dam Keeper: Book One. New York: First Second/Roaring Brook.

[.]

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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: 
Mull, Brandon. (2017). Dragonwatch:  a Fablehaven Adventure. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain.

[.]

STARTED:
Coates, Ta-Nehisi. (2016). Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet [Book One]. New York: Marvel Worldwide.

[.]

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FINISHED: 
Lin, Grace. (2016). When the Sea Turned to Silver. New York: Little Brown.

[.]

STARTED:
Brown, Box. (2016). Tetris: The Games People Play. New York: First Second.

[.]

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FINISHED:
Barnhill, Kelly. (2016). The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Young Readers.

[It is the annual practice of the Protectorate to leave the youngest child of the village in the woods as a sacrifice to appease a rumored witch who lives there, but that witch, Xan, actually rescues these children and delivers them to be raised in another town.  One year it is Luna whom she saves, and in doing so accidentally lets the young girl drink so much moonlight that it imbues her with magical powers, powers that Xan suppresses in Luna until her 13^th birthday when she may be more ready to deal with them.  Barnhill’s tight, thoroughly-realized fairy tale features a number of strong and determined characters including Luna, whose mission it is to find out who she is and where she came from; Antain, a young man whose mission is to find and expose the truth about the Protectorate; and a woman, deemed mad, whose mission is to prove her sanity and find the daughter that was taken from her.  Side characters Glerk, a bog creature, and Fyrian, a minute dragon, ground the story and provide much needed comic relief, respectively, and though the second quarter of the book stalls a bit, at midpoint it picks up steam again when a number of the seemingly disparate stories begin to intertwine and then doesn’t let up until the last page.  There’s a cautionary message to be gleaned here about discovering what – or who – the real evil is when one is kept in the dark with regard to the truth, especially when it is used as a means of control.  As Antain’s wife, Ethyne, says, “Knowledge is powerful, but it is a terrible power when it is hoarded and hidden.  Today, knowledge is for everyone.”]

STARTED:
Bayard, Louis. (2016).  Lucky Strikes.  New York: Henry Holt.

[.]

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FINISHED: 
Gidwitz, Adam. (2016). The Inquisitor's Tale. New York: Dutton/Penguin/Random House.

[.]

STARTED:  
Phelan, Matt. (2016).  Snow White.  Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

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FINISHED:
Cossanteli, Veronica. (2016). The Extincts. New York: Henry Holt/MacMillan.

[Hoping to help his single mother out financially, George answers an ad for help at a local farm, only finding out when he gets there that its owner is taking care of a menagerie of extinct and mythological creatures.  With the help of a girl named Prudence, George is on a mission to find a basilisk from the farm who is on the loose and turning the town’s animals (and a few humans) to stone, hoping to catch it before it can fall into the hands of Prudence’s taxidermist stepmother.  Dry humor abounds, and George learns that “real men aren’t afraid of pink” and that it’s ok to be friends with a girl, though Prudence’s evil, taxidermist stepmother and her henchmen come across as villainous caricatures.  Originally published in the UK, there are a few “British-isms” that may confound some (Mum, redundancy money, rugby tackle, cherry stone, fancy-dress party), but shrewd readers should be able to discern their meaning through context clues.  Digitally-created, spot illustrations that read somewhat flat are scattered throughout, while a glossary at the end provides a bit of information about some of the creatures featured in the story.  Readers eager for a more sophisticated story about a sanctuary for fanciful creatures are best to try out Brandon Mull’s far superior Fablehaven series (Shadow Mountain, 2006-).  Review based on ARC.]

STARTED:
Joyce, William. (2016). Ollie's Odyssey. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[New William Joyce!  New William Joyce!  And it's an illustrated novel!]

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