FINISHED: 
Kinney, Jeff. (2018). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[.]

STARTED:
Tagame, Gengoroh. (2018). My Brother's Husband: Volume 2. New York: Pantheon/Penguin Random House.

[.]

*

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: 
Hanlon, Abby. (2018). Dory Fantasmagory: Head in the Clouds. New York: Dial/Penguin Random House.

[Dory's got a loose tooth, and Mrs. Gobble Gracker is posing as the Tooth Fairy.  When Dory can't find a banana on which to call for help, what will she do?]

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

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Harris, Chris. (2017). I'm Just No Good at Rhyming and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups. New York: Little, Brown/Hachette.

[.]

STARTED:
Tamani, Liara. (2017). Calling My Name. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Cuevas, Michelle. (2017). The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole. New York: Dial/Penguin Random House.

[After being turned away at NASA, when she asks to see Carl Sagan so that she can give him a recording of her deceased father’s laughter for inclusion on the Voyager launch, 11-year-old Stella Rodriguez unwittingly has a black hole follow her home.  While Larry (as Stella names the black hole) begins to devour whatever it can, Stella discovers that as she throws items with memories of her dad attached to them into the black hole, it begins to appear as though the objects, and all of the feelings associated with them, never existed in the first place.  Cuevas has a gift for dry humor, fully evident in the 100 page, surreal journey (reminiscent of Roald Dahl and Norton Juster) that Stella and her brother take in a clawfoot tub while inside Larry; a journey that helps Stella work through her grief and regain an appreciation for “home” (“Sometimes what you think is a black hole in your life turns out to actually be a wormhole.  A portal.  A way home.”).  Cuevas’s own spot illustrations are sprinkled throughout the text, which is laugh out loud hilarious, touching, and a bit bizarre.]

STARTED:
Moore, David Barclay. (2017). The Stars Beneath Our Feet. New York: Knopf.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Schlitz, Laura Amy. (2017). Princess Cora and the Crocodile. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

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

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Holm, Jennifer L. (2017). Swing It, Sunny. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Schlitz, Laura Amy. (2017). Princess Cora and the Crocodile. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Tynion IV, James. (2017). The Backstagers: Volume 1: Rebels Without Applause. Los Angeles: BOOM! Box.

[Umm... this one is just... odd.  Not really at all what I was expecting.]

STARTED:
Haydu, Corey Ann. (2017). The Someday Suitcase. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Her last middle grade book, Rules for Stealing Stars, came out during my Newbery year and was one of my favorites - so much so that I read it a couple of times.  It STILL lingers in my mind, even 2 years later.  There's just something viscerally affecting about it.  It's will definitely be one that I return to from time to time.]

*

FINISHED:
Wood, Maryrose. (2015). The Unmapped Sea (Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #5). New York: Batzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Goldberg, Susan. (2017). Gender Revolution [Special Issue]. Journal of the National Geographic Society, 231(1).

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Oh, Ellen [Ed.]. (2017). Flying Lessons & Other Stories. New York: Crown/Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Bryan, Ashley. (2016). Freedom Over Me. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[The last of this year's Newbery winners that I need to read.]

*

FINISHED:
Shevah, Emma. (2016). Dara Palmer's Major Drama. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky.

Appreciated this one even more the second time!
[Dara Palmer, a 5^th-grader who lives in London after having been adopted by her Caucasian parents from a Cambodian orphanage when she was a toddler, more than anything in her entire life wants the lead role of Maria in her school’s production of The Sound of Music.  When the part goes to someone else, she begins to wonder if it’s because she doesn’t look like what Maria “should” look like… when really it’s because she just can’t act.  Dara’s narration brims with hyperbolic-tween personality, showcasing her flair for being dramatic – with lots of asides such as “huuuggghhhtttt”, “whuuhhuuuhhhhh”, and the like – and occasionally zoning out while having a “mind movie” (which usually involve her celebrity crush, Bradley Porter).  Fun spot art and doodles adorn every page adding an amusing flippancy, but while humorous, Shevah’s novel is also surprisingly insightful as Dara becomes increasingly aware of her “otherness”, noticing that no one in movies, on TV, or featured in magazines resembles her (“I looked like a giant chocolate bunny in a room full of snowmen.”), while, at the same time, learning the importance/value of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes when taking part in a drama exercise to better understand her sister Georgia, adopted from Russia, with whom she has an adversarial relationship.  A thoughtful look at adoption from the adults’ side, with Dara’s parents reassuring their love for her while also encouraging her to explore her Cambodian heritage through its food and language, and from the perspective of a child who is finally old enough to begin asking questions.  Hilarious, touching, and important.]

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

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Holm, Jennifer L. (2016). Full of Beans. New York: Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
McMann, Lisa. (2016). Going Wild. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Kinney, Jeff. (2016). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[.]

STARTED:
Grimes, Nikki. (2016). Garvey's Choice. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Highlights.

[.]

*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Hanlon, Abby. (2016). Dory Fantasmagory: Dory Dory Black Sheep. New York: Dial/Penguin.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Wolff, Jana. (1997). Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother. Honolulu, HI: Vista Communications.

[.]

STARTED:
Yang, Gene Luen, and Sonny Liew. (2014). The Shadow Hero. New York: First Second/Roaring Brook.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Shevah, Emma. (2016). Dara Palmer's Major Drama. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.

[.]

STARTED:
Stewart, Trenton Lee. (2016). The Secretkeepers. New York: Little, Brown.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Anderson, John David. (2016). Ms. Bixby's Last Day. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[With their favorite teacher in the hospital battling cancer and unable to make it back to school for a goodbye party, Brand, Steve, and Topher hatch a plan to skip school and comb the city collecting some of Ms. Bixby’s favorite things (cheesecake, wine, etc.), thinking that they will bring the party to her.  Chapters rotate through the individual points of view of the three main boys:  Steve, who is Japanese-American and living in the shadow of his perfect sister; Brand, white, and struggling to singlehandedly take care of his father who is now paraplegic following a work accident; and Topher, a brilliant white kid who loves words and drawing.  The bulk of the novel takes place over the course of a single day – the day they skip school to follow through with their plan – with each of the boys ruminating through flashbacks which flesh out their histories and individual associations with Ms. Bixby.  Plaintive and sentimental, but not overly so, this is one of those cleverly done stories that reveals itself by moving forward in time while slowly filling in the past with revelations that help to elucidate the larger picture and the motivations behind character actions.  An amusing “caper” dotted with hilarious setbacks, and a solid depiction of boys who are supportive friends, Anderson’s novel highlights the impact we can have on each other without ever realizing it, and the fact that even if you feel alone, in reality there’s likely someone looking out for, noticing, and championing you.]

STARTED:
Fitzgerald, Laura Marx. (2016). The Gallery. New York: Dial/Penguin.

[.]

*