FINISHED:
Killermann, Sam. (2013). A Social Justice Advocate's Handbook: A Guide to Gender. Austin, TX: Impetus.

[.]

STARTED:
Birdsall, Jeanne. (2018). The Penderwicks At Last. New York: Knopf/Random House.

[Yes, I should be listening to audiobooks, but... IT'S A NEW PENDERWICKS, and thus needs to be read IMMEDIATELY.]

*

FINISHED:

Larson, Hope. (2016). Goldie Vance: Volume One. Los Angeles: Boom! Box.

[.]

STARTED:
Larson, Hope. (2017). Goldie Vance: Volume Two. Los Angeles: Boom! Box.

[.]

*

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.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Hardinge, Frances. (2016). The Lie Tree. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[Took me awhile to finish this one...  True, I read The BFG in between, but although I found The Lie Tree just as remarkable as the hype, it was still a bit of a slog for me.]

STARTED:
DiCamillo, Kate. (2016).  Raymie Nightingale.  Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[We finally got copies in!  I can now see what all of the chatter is about!]

*

FINISHED:

Lockhart, E. (2008). The disreputable history of Frankie Landau-Banks. New York: Hyperion.

[.]

STARTED:
Clements, Andrew. (2006). Room one: A mystery or two. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

*

FINISHED:

Marriott, Zoe. (2008). The swan kingdom. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

[Liked it, but thought that it dragged in the middle. Lots of stunning descriptions, but not a whole lot of dialogue to move things along. Will post my ACL review when it is finished...

And here it is:

After her mother, Queen of the Kingdom, is viciously mauled to death by a mysterious beast, Alexandra’s father suddenly marries a woman who seems to have all of the Kingdom locked in a spell. Alexandra is then sent to another land to live with her aunt, all the while trying to get back and find her three older brothers who have all disappeared – most likely turned into swans. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale “The Wild Swans” (first published in 1838), Marriott’s take plays out as an extended fairy tale for a new generation of readers. Loaded with stunningly descriptive passages, the novel actually feels a bit heavy in this regard with very little narrative action. As Alexandra is making her way back to the Kingdom, there are whole sections without any dialogue at all to move things forward as Alexandra can not speak or else she’ll ruin a spell to save her brothers. This all serves to make the ending somewhat anticlimatic compared to all that comes before it. Still, the language is lovely, and fans of fairy tale fantasy with strong female protagonists will be delighted.]


STARTED:
Bray, Libba. (2007). The sweet far thing. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[Reading this one to see if I deem it "outstanding" for ACL. At over 800 pages, it's a BEAST.]


STARTED & FINISHED:

Stamaty, Mark Alan. (2004). Alia's mission: Saving the books of Iraq. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

[Read this one for obvious reasons. Such an amazing and inspiring story about a woman who feels so passionately about books and preserving history that she moves books out of the library in Basra and into her home in an effort to save them from possible bombing. Presented in a fantastic comic book/graphic novel format which ought to attract young ones to this story of bravery during wartime.]



Holm, Jennifer L., and Matthew Holm. (2007). Babymouse: puppy love. New York: Random House.

[Another great Babymouse adventure. In this one she goes through a series of pets (which all end up "lost" under her bed where they have a party together) before bringing home, caring for, and training a lost dog. FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY. The Babymouse series continues to please.]




Harper, Charise Mericle. (2005). Fashion Kitty. New York: Hyperion.

[Just couldn't resist this one - was especially drawn in by the glitter on the cover. A funny little graphic novel about a cat who realizes that she has special powers - especially the power to help people who are having a "fashion emergency". Had a bit of trouble telling one character from the other, but it was a swift little treat. Comes with mix and match panels in the middle.]

*

FINISHED:

Springer, Nancy. (2006). The case of the missing marquess: an Enola Holmes mystery. New York: Sleuth Philomel/Penguin.

[Was surprised by how much I REALLY liked this one. For one thing, this woman can WRITE. There are some descriptive passages here that are just MESMERIZING. Enola is the little sister of Sherlock, the sister that no one dares talk about because she came along SO late. Here, her and Sherlock's mother disappears - although she leaves cipher clues for Enola - with it looking like she has actually decided to ditch proper society and run off to join the gypsies. In the meantime, Enola herself decides to take off and head to London and, along the way, stumbles across a mystery surrounding a young boy who is believed to have been kidnapped. When our library gets in the second book in the series, I'll be sure to give it a read.]



Fleischman, Sid. (1986). The whipping boy. New York: Greenwillow/HarperTrophy/HarperCollins.

[Newbery Award winner for 1986 - kind of a "prince and the pauper" story about a prince and the boy that has been "hired" to take punishment for when the prince is naughty. They run away from the castle and end up getting into trouble with a couple of kidnappers who want to ransom the prince back to the king. The whipping boy tells the kidnappers that HE is the prince in the hopes that they'll let the prince go and the whipping boy will be free from the prince forever. Enjoyable and quick, but I find it a bit hard to believe that this was THE BEST book for kids of 1986...]

STARTED:
Curtis, Christopher Paul. (2007). Elijah of Buxton. New York: Scholastic.

[Was a Newbery Honor winner this year and I've only heard fantastic things about it.]

*