FINISHED: 
Kelly, Erin Entrada. (2018). You Go First. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Yang, Kelly. (2018). Front Desk. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Springstubb, Tricia. (2018). Cody and the Heart of a Champion. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]














STARTED & FINISHED:
Avi. (2018). The Button War. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]











STARTED & FINISHED:
Sell, Chad. (2018). The Cardboard Kingdom. New York: Knopf/Penguin Random House. 

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Bertman, Jennifer Chambliss. (2018). The Alcatraz Escape [Book Scavenger #3]. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Johnson, Maureen. (2018). Truly Devious. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Bertman, Jennifer Chambliss. (2017). The Unbreakable Code [Book Scavenger #2]. New York: Henry Holt/Macmillan.

[Thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, and the author, who is also thoroughly enjoyable, came to my library for a reading/signing after Book Scavenger came out.  She emailed me a few months ago to let me know that the sequel was coming, and asked if I'd like an advanced copy.  Well, of course!  It finally came the other day, along with a lovely note from Ms. Bertman saying that I should look on page 349.  She name-checked me in the Acknowledgments!  And, I'm proud to have been called out on this one because it's REALLY FUN.  I'm going to say that it actually improves upon the original in that it is much more streamlined and singularly focused.  Kids all across the world will enjoy it, but living here in San Francisco and getting to read about kids traveling all over this city is amazing.  Jennifer, FANTASTIC job!]

STARTED:
Madonna, Paul. (2017). On to the Next Dream. San Francisco: City Lights.

[My husband said that I had to read this one.  I guess that it mirrors our situation, though, hopefully not too much because it seems to deal with his being evicted from his San Francisco apartment...]

*

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

[.]

STARTED:
Reynolds, Jason and Brendan Kiely. (2015). All American Boys. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Feldman, Jody. (2014). The Gollywhopper Games:  The new champion. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

[Being the middle of three boys in his family, Cameron is used to not getting very much attention, but his time in the limelight has arrived when he is chosen to participate in the 2^nd Gollywhopper Games.  Naturally, Cameron makes it through the preliminary rounds to snag a spot in the final games, and it is here that he has to work through a series of word puzzles and challenges that take place in the magical, and unbelievable, Golly Toy and Game Company Headquarters.  This sequel to Feldman’s own The Gollywhopper Games (Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 2008) lacks the punch and wonder of its predecessor, not giving the reader a full sense of the world she has previously created. The answers to some of the puzzles leads Cameron and the other contestants to specific toys in the Golly Toy catalogue… thus making them so that we have to follow along while Cameron solves them, without getting a fair chance to do so ourselves, which is half the fun of a book of this sort.  In addition, some of the tasks/puzzles are strictly physical and, quite often, unbelievable (an enormous, indoor “wasteland” of rocks, caves and ponds??) and difficult to visualize.  While there are valuable messages about honesty, which ends up getting Cameron more attention that if he had kept quiet and won the million dollar prize, and finding your place in your family dynamic, those who appreciated the first title will certainly find enough to like here, but they may need to wait until the (teased) third book in the series to find what they are truly craving.]


STARTED:
DiTerlizzi, Tony. (2014). The battle for WondLa. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[LOVE LOVE LOVE this series and push it on anyone and everyone who comes into the library.]


*

FINISHED:
Grabenstein, Chris. (2013). Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library. New York: Random House.


[.]


STARTED:
Crowder, Melanie. (2013). Parched. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Mull, Brandon. (2012). The candy shop war: Arcade catastrophe. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain.


[.]


STARTED:
Mauser, Pat Rhoads. (1982). A bundle of sticks. New York: Atheneum.


[Read this one in middle school - remember it vividly because the title refers to the word "faggot", which is what the protagonist gets called by the school bully...]

*

FINISHED:
Barrows, Annie. (2012). Ivy + Bean make the rules (Ivy + Bean #9). San Francisco: Chronicle.


[.]


STARTED:
Rosenthal, Betsy R. (2012). Looking for me. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.


[.]


*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Fearing, Mark. (2012). Earthling! San Francisco: Chronicle.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Cline, Ernest. (2011). Ready Player One. New York: Crown.

[This one was FUN FUN FUN - mainly because it was targeted directly at me. Grow up playing videogames and going to arcades in the '70s? Is Wargames (MGM, 1983) one of your favorite movies? Did you watch all of the great sitcoms of the '80s like Family Ties? Cline (clearly a man that I could be friends with) has crafted a novel that is part Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, part DaVinci Code (only the best parts...) or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, along with a healthy dose of pop culture nostalgia and dystopian science fiction. 30 & 40-something geeks rejoice!]

STARTED:
Applegate, Katherine. (2012). The one and only Ivan. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Wells, Robison. (2011). Variant. New York: HarperTeen.

[.]

STARTED:
Williams, Michael. (2011). Now is the time for running. New York: Little, Brown.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Anderson, M.T. (2010). The suburb beyond the stars. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Choldenko, Gennifer. (2011). No passengers beyond this point. New York: Dial/Penguin.

[.]

*

Holiday Book 2010

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

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Beil, Michael. (2010). The Red Blazer Girls: The vanishing violin. New York: Knopf.

[.]

STARTED:
Baccalario, Pierdomenico. [trans. Leah D. Janeczko]. (2010). Star of stone (Century quartet: Book 2). New York: Random House.

[For some reason, I like this guy (fun mysteries? exotic and vivid locales? the inclusion of dossiers containing photos and other realia?) - so far I'm not quite sure where all of this is leading, but I'm still along for the ride.]

*

FINISHED:
Berlin, Eric. (2007). The puzzling world of Winston Breen. New York: Puffin/Penguin.

[.]

STARTED:
Riordan, Rick. (2010). The red pyramid. New York: Disney/Hyperion.

[It's the book that EVERYONE is reading...]

*

FINISHED:
Sachar, Louis. (2010). The cardturner. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[Hoping to be included in the will of a wealthy uncle, Alton's mom forces him to be the cardturner (cardplayer) for his blind "favorite uncle" who is an avid bridge player. Not my cup of tea. Funny, in the note from the author at the beginning, Sachar says that people told him, "Who would want to read a book about bridge?" Having read this one, I can understand where they are coming from. It just didn't grab me in any way, and all of the bridge-speak went right over my head. Without a rudimentary knowledge of trump-like card games your average kid would be lost and likely give up.]

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

[LOVED the Fablehaven series so much I thought I'd try out this one - which I remember seeing Mull comment on as being a fan favorite.]

*

FINISHED:
Dashner, James. (2008). The 13th Reality: The journal of curious letters. New York: Shadow Mountain.

[.]

STARTED:
Mull, Brandon. (2010). Fablehaven: Keys to the demon prison. New York: Shadow Mountain.

[The LAST one! What a brilliant series - hope this one doesn't disappoint.]

*

FINISHED:

Konigsburg, E.L. (1969). About the B'nai Bagels. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Park, Linda Sue,... [et al.]. (2007). Click. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[Been intrigued by this one for awhile.]

*

FINISHED:

Stewart, Trenton Lee. (2009). The Mysterious Benedict Society and the prisoner's dilemma. New York: Megan Tingley Books/Little, Brown and Company.

[.]

STARTED:
Clarke, Arthur C. (1968). 2001: A space odyssey. New York: ROC/Penguin.

[One of my very favorite movies (since being shown it in Mr. Norris' English class in middle school) and I've always wanted to read the book... with the ultimate goal of reading all in the series.]

*