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

[.]

STARTED:
Wang, Jen. (2018). The Prince and the Dressmaker. New York: First Second/Roaring Brook.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Rhodes, Jewel Parker. (2018). Ghost Boys. New York: Little, Brown/Hachette.

[.]

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

[LOVE THIS SERIES.]

*

FINISHED:  
Babbitt, Natalie. (1975). Tuck Everlasting. New York: Square Fish/Farrar Straus Giroux.

[.]

STARTED:
Helget, Nicole. (2017). The End of the Wild. New York: Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Reynolds, Jason. (2017). Long Way Down. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Snyder, Laurel. (2017). Orphan Island. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[Newbery buzz.]

*

FINISHED: 
Ness, Patrick. (2017). Release. New York: HarperCollins.

[.] 

STARTED:
Williams-Garcia, Rita. (2017). Clayton Byrd Goes Underground. New York: Amistad/HarperCollins.

[Getting some Newbery buzz...]

*

FINISHED:

Thomas, Angie. (2017). The Hate U Give. New York: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

[.]

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

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Wegelius, Jakob. (2017). The Murderer's Ape. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Yoon, Nicola. (2016). The Sun is Also a Star. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Gemeinhart, Dan. (2017). Scar Island. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Aciman, André. (2007). Call Me By Your Name. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[.]

*

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

[.]

STARTED:
Nesbet, Anne. (2016). Cloud and Wallfish. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Whitehead, Colson. (2016). The Underground Railroad. New York: Doubleday/Penguin Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Marciano, John Bemelmans. (2016). Mischief Season [Witches of Benevento, Book 1]. New York: Viking/Penguin Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Oliver, Lauren, and H.C. Chester. (2016). Curiosity House: The Screaming Statue. New York: HarperCollins.

[All exhibiting remarkable abilities (mentalism, super-strength, bendability, etc.) Thomas, Pippa, Sam, and Max are tweens living in, and performing with, Dumfrey’s Dime Museum which is falling on hard times.  In an effort to draw crowds, the owner, Mr. Dumfrey, begins using mannequins to stage grisly tableaux of recent murders (which involve people the protagonists know), that seem to be connected to bad-man-on-the-loose Rattigan who “created” the tweens (and may still be after them).  Presumably catching the reader up on the events of Book 1 early on, it wouldn’t be entirely necessary to have read the previous installment to understand what is going on, but is probably a good idea.  Slow to get moving after slogging through a number of false starts, this second episode features intriguing, somewhat fleshed-out characters with nothing much to do.  Only really necessary where the first book is already on shelves.]

STARTED:
Grunberg, Greg, and Lucas Turnbloom. (2016). Dream Jumper: Book 1: Nightmare Escape. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

*

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

[.]

STARTED:
Markell, Denis. (2016). Click Here to Start. New York: Delacorte/Penguin Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Lane, Kathleen. (2016). The Best Worst Thing. New York: Little, Brown.

[.]

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

[.]

*

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:
Khan, Joshua. (2016). Shadow Magic. New York: Disney/Hyperion.

[Thorn, after having been captured while trying to find his father who took the blame for a crime Thorn committed, is bought and taken to Castle Gloom by Tyburn the executioner to be a squire.  Lilith Shadow, ruler in Castle Gloom after the rest of her family is killed, is being force to marry Gabriel Solar in an effort to bring peace between their kingdoms/houses.  When a failed poisoning of Lilith occurs, the tale suddenly becomes an entertaining murder mystery, filled with red herrings, magic, ghosts, a giant bat that Thorn learns to ride, and even some zombies, though the revelation of the true villain and what happened to Thorn’s father may not come as total shockers.  Plodding and overlong at times, this is still a nuanced fantasy with a vivid setting.  The characters of Thorn and Lilith are given equal time, thus broadening its appeal, though it should be noted that there are a handful of instances of visceral violence.  Full page illustrations in a dynamic, mood-setting style are scattered throughout.  Review based on ARC.]

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

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Gulik, Robert Hans van. (1965).  The Monkey and the Tiger (Judge Dee Mysteries). Chicago: University of Chicago Press/Macmillan.

[.]

STARTED:
Kelly, Erin Entrada. (2016).  The Land of Forgotten Girls. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

[Reviewing for ACL.  I think I'm allowed to say at this point that Blackbird Fly was a favorite of mine last year.]

*

FINISHED:
Raskin, Ellen. (1978). The Westing game. New York: Puffin/Penguin.

[.]

STARTED & FINISHED:
Roberts, Russell. (2004). John Newbery and the story of the Newbery Medal. Hockessin, DE: Mitchell Lane Publishers.

[.]

STARTED:
Barakiva, Michael. (2014). One man guy. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.
 [.]


*

FINISHED: 
Brown, Skila. (2014). Caminar. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

STARTED: 
Raskin, Ellen. (1978). The Westing game. New York: Puffin/Penguin.

[Continuing to read some of the previous Newbery winners.  I remember starting this one a number of years ago, but, for some reason, got thoroughly confused and gave it up...]


*

FINISHED:
Setterington, Ken. (2013). Branded by the pink triangle. Toronto, ON: Second Story.


[.]


STARTED:
Mull, Brandon. (2014). Sky Raiders (Five kingdoms #1). New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
Jinks, Catherine. (2013). How to catch a bogle. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.


[.]


STARTED:
Lynch, Chris. (2013). Casualties of war (Vietnam #4). New York: Scholastic.


[.]


*