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:
Peck, Richard. (2011). Secrets at sea. New York: Dial.

[.]

STARTED:
Morpurgo, Michael. (2011). An elephant in the garden. New York: Feiwel & Friends.

[Reviewing for ACL...]

*

FINISHED:
Langrish, Katherine. (2010). The shadow hunt. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Kopp, Sheldon B. (1972). If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him! Ben Lomond, CA: Science and Behavior Books.

[Saw it on FRINGE, read a description, and knew that I HAD to read it.]

*

FINISHED:
Black, Holly, and Justine Larbalestier, eds. (2010). Zombies vs. unicorns. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

[Which is cooler: zombies or unicorns? This anthology of 12 short stories, 6 featuring zombies (on whose side editor Justine Larbalestier firmly falls), and 6 featuring unicorns (the team led by editor Holly Black), aims to settle this debate once and for all. The stories themselves run the gamut: a girl rescues a newborn unicorn from a carnival sideshow at a time when unicorns are running wild and murdering with their poisonous horns; a take on a babysitter horror story where a college student ends up sitting for a famous actress’ adopted, reanimated children; a man is beheaded after being accused of sexually assaulting a princess, but when the princess gives birth is becomes clear that the baby’s father was actually a unicorn; and a group of high school students are determined to have their prom despite the fact that their town is becoming overrun with zombies, many of whom are their family members and fellow students. Interestingly, two of the zombie stories are written in 1st person and are not explicitly about homosexuality, but in both there are references, or a sense of equation, between homosexuality and being a zombie. In one of the stories, after the female narrator and a female friend become “blood buddies” with a bit of zombie blood, the friend cryptically says, “Like, if Dr. Bill saw you and me next to each other, he’d figure out what we were.” Each story is preceded by a witty tete-a-tete – palate cleansers that involve the editors stating their arguments, relating to the upcoming story, on behalf of their preferred beast. For the most part, every story is a compelling gem – some funny, some eerie, and some just plain bizarre – making the debate of “zombie or unicorn” that much more difficult.]

STARTED:
Railsback, Lisa. (2010). Noonie's masterpiece. San Francisco: Chronicle.

[Reading for ACL Distinguished.]

*

FINISHED:

Alexander, Lloyd. (1968). The high king. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

[.]

STARTED:
Kinney, Jeff. (2009). Diary of a wimpy kid: Dog days. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[I find these amusing.]

*

FINISHED:

MacDonald, George. (1969). The light princess. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[Well, it doesn't seem like it would fly all that well with youth today. As I started to read it I thought, "This might make a good, short read-aloud..." and then quickly reconsidered. The language was SO antiquated and odd. Many times I not only tripped up on the words, but had a difficult time trying to figure out who he was talking about and/or what was happening. Yes, it's the story of a princess who is born without gravity and discovers that in water she feels "normal". Soon, the evil princess who cursed the disability onto the princess does a spell to drain the lake and kingdom of all it's water. It is then that a roaming prince who has become smitten with the princess volunteers to sacrifice himself to save the princess and kingdom.]

STARTED:
Huxley, Aldous. (1932). Brave new world/Brave new world revisited. New York: HarperCollins.

[An old classic that I remember reading in high school English class and have been wanting to revisit now that I'm older and wiser.]

*