FINISHED:
Thorne, Jack. (2016). Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Turner, Pamela S. (2016). Samurai Rising. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Hautman, Pete. (2012). The obsidian blade: The Klaatu diskos: Book 1. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[[Reviewed from ARC.]


Tucker Feye lives with his mother and preacher father, Adrian, in small-town Hopewell County, Minnesota. One day while fixing a shingle on the roof, Adrian gets sucked into a swirling disk and disappears, only to return a short time later denouncing his faith and with an odd girl in tow. After his parents then leave to find a cure for a mysterious illness that has overtaken his mother, Tucker moves in with his Uncle Kosh and decides to see what these swirling disks are about, jumping into one and getting transported to the top of one of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. Though the novel’s first third has a sense of eerie mystery, once Tucker begins being transported through space and time via the portal disks, things get kind of convoluted and a tad confusing. There are a couple of different kinds of “beings” that Tucker encounters who aren’t clearly drawn or distinguishable, and one is never quite sure how all of the portals and their various worlds are interconnected. However, a compelling discourse on faith and religion in the digital age is here (“The greatest plague of all is upon us: The Digital Plague.”), as well as questions on the nature of time and space (“Is a future, once observed, still changeable? Or does the fact that we have observed it make it an immutable part of our personal past?”), adding to the novel’s mind-bending appeal. The first title in a trilogy, this one smacks of a lot of set-up, leaving a whole lot unanswered which one can only hope will be resolved in the next installments. That said, Hautman’s sci-fi tale is smart and thought-provoking with an intriguing cliffhanger ending that hints at jaw-dropping things to come.]


STARTED:
Wright, Bil. (2011). Putting makeup on the fat boy. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[Been in the mood for a young adult title with some strong gay characters.  This Stonewall Book Award winner should fit the bill...]

*

FINISHED:
Riggs, Ransom. (2011). Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books.

[Not quite as wonderful as I had hoped/heard it might be - it was definitely worth reading, though. After his grandfather is viciously murdered, Jacob decides that it might be in his best interest to go visit the island and school where his grandfather grew up in order to see for himself if the wild tales his grandfather told were true. What Jacob ends up finding on the island is way more than he ever imagined, and he must ultimately decide if he wants to return to his old life or stay where/when (...) he is... Filled with creepy, apparently authentic period photos, though overall lacking the eerie tone that I was expecting.]

STARTED:
Reeve, Philip. (2011). Web of air. New York: Scholastic.

[Reading for ACL to see if I deem it worthy of inclusion on our Distinguished List...]

*

FINISHED:
Wells, Rosemary. (2010). On the Blue Comet. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

[.]

STARTED:
Archer, E. (2011). Geek fantasy novel. New York: Scholastic.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

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

[Interestingly, I read where Brandon Mull said that The Candy Shop War was a fan favorite and many people ask him if there will be a sequel. I found this one a bit sluggish and difficult to get through. Four kids are recruited by the mysterious old woman who runs the new candy store in town. As a reward for their help, the woman give the kids candy that makes them somewhat weightless, that shocks others when you touch them, and even changes their appearance. Meanwhile, the woman has the whole town hooked on a confection which renders them oblivious to anything around them. The four friends put some bullies in their place, rob a grave, break into the local library, travel through mirrors, and one even gets to jump back and then forward in time. Fun, and I'll certainly read a sequel because I think Mull is a talented author, but for some reason it took me WAY too long to finish.]

STARTED:
Martel, Yann. (2010). Beatrice and Virgil: A novel. New York: Spiegel & Grau.

[It may be cliche to say but, I LOVED Life of Pi - I even have it on my shortlist of books to read again.]

*

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

[.]

STARTED:
Shan, Darren. (2010). The thin executioner. New York: Little, Brown & Co.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:

Buckley-Archer, Linda. (2006). Gideon the cutpurse: Being the first part of the Gideon trilogy. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[.]

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

[Time to satisfy my Konigsburg addiction.]

*

FINISHED:

Stead, Rebecca. (2009). When you reach me. New York: Wendy Lamb/Random House.

[This one did not disappoint - HIGHLY enjoyable. While I didn't find the big reveal all that surprising, I'm sure that a younger reader would be mystified and have MANY questions. Miranda is a young teen growing up in the late '70s with her mother and her mother's boyfriend. Along with helping her mother prepare for an appearance on the game show "The $20,000 Pyramid", Miranda is dealing with a best friend who seems to be slipping away and trying to figure out what is going on with mysterious notes that appear for her which seem to have knowledge of events that have yet to happen. This is a brilliantly crafted puzzle with little clues and facts being dropped here and there about these mysterious notes, while also being an effective novel about friendship and how kids treat each other while in their early teens. Completely readable and thought-provoking, this one makes you want to read it all over again once you finish the last sentence.]

STARTED:
Curtis, Christopher Paul. (1999). Bud, not Buddy. New York: Yearling/Random House.

[Been on my list of ones to read for quite awhile - especially since I LOVED Elijah of Buxton.]

*

FINISHED:

L'Engle, Madeleine. (1962). A wrinkle in time. New York: Dell/Yearling.

[.]

STARTED:
Stead, Rebecca. (2009). When you reach me. New York: Wendy Lamb/Random House.

[Yippee! Looking forward to it!]

*

FINISHED:

Teague, Mark. (2009). The doom machine.. New York: Blue Sky/Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Korman, Gordon. (2001). Island: Shipwreck. New York: Scholastic.

[Giving the three in this series a go. I don't think I've read anything by Korman before, and this series has always intrigued me. Must be due to my overwhelming love for LOST.]

*

FINISHED:

King, Stephen. (1991). Four past midnight: The Langoliers. New York: Signet/Penguin.

[.]

STARTED:
Buzbee, Lewis. (2008). Steinbeck's ghost. New York: Feiwel and Friends/MacMillan.

[Heard great things, plus I believe that it won an award - maybe something to do with Northern California authors?]

*

FINISHED:

Pearce, Philippa. (1958). Tom's midnight garden. New York: HarperCollins.

[By today's standards, I think that this one feels dated. That's not to say that it isn't good, I enjoyed it, but it felt a bit slow and not super exciting. Tom has to move into his aunt and uncle's flat for a time while his brother gets over having the measles. One night while in bed, Tom hears the hall grandfather clock chime 13 times. He gets up and opens the back door to find an immense garden there and a girl named Hattie who seems to be the only one who can see or hear him. Over the course of a few weeks - Tom even tries to come up with reasons that he needs to stay with his aunt and uncle - Tom visits the garden every night. Interesting things going on here like Hattie and Tom both think the other is a ghost, Hattie gets older over the course of the visits and begins to move on from her relationship with Tom and meet other young people. It's an interesting examination of time-travel that could inspire many conversations - in one particularly thought-inspiring moment, Tom tells Hattie to put her ice skates under a floorboard in her bedroom (now his) in her time so that when he goes up to the room in his time he will have ice skates that he can then bring with him the next time he visits her. SO, they end up ice skating together wearing the exact same skates...]

STILL READING...:
Anderson, M.T. (2008). The astonishing life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the nation: Volume II: The kingdom on the waves. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

[Picked it back up. It's a beast, but I've got to finish it before Sunday, and it's SO worth the time.]

*

FINISHED:

Piemme, Edizioni. (2008). Ulysses Moore: The isle of masks. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Clements, Andrew. (2008). Things that are. New York: Philomel/Penguin.

[Have been wanting to read this one myself (I got an advanced reading copy from someone who went to ALA) and was assigned to review it for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:

Rodgers, Mary. (1974). A billion for Boris. New York: Harper & Row.

[.]


STARTED:
Petty, JT. (2006). Clemency Pogue: Fairy killer. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[How can you resist a title like that? Just a short one to fit in before I tackle one for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:

Baccalario, Pierdomenico. (2007). Ulysses Moore: The house of mirrors. New York: Scholastic.

[There's just something about these books (this is the 3rd in the series) that is compelling to me. Can't really articulate it, though. The amazing thing is that this books is 244 pages and it took me NO TIME AT ALL to read. And, honestly, I'd have a hard time telling you exactly what happened in it because, well, not a whole lot happened. It all took place in a day, and the 3 kids (it's ALWAYS three kids - 2 boys and a girl) ran around town trying to figure out who this mysterious clockmaker guy was and what the deal is with all the doors and keys in Kilmore Cove - a place that they are finding out wants to be kept hidden from the world. The book is called The House of Mirrors but the house was in one chapter and in that chapter it got demolished. Of course, the sequel is coming and I will read it because these things are like candy - just quick and satisfying even though, like I said, nothing really happens in them.]

STARTED:
Babbitt, Natalie. (1975). Tuck everlasting. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[Classic that I've always wanted to read - and have known that I should read.]

*

FINISHED:

Price, Charlie. (2007). Lizard people. New York: Roaring Brook.

[Here's my ACL review - it was OK, but lacked a certain something:

While high school student Ben is checking his mother into a mental hospital ward after she claims that lizard people are taking over the Earth, he meets another young man, Marco who is doing the same with his mother. Through ongoing storytelling sessions, Marco tells Ben how he has traveled through time to the year 4000 via a wormhole in the trunk of a tree in his backyard, all in an effort to gain insight into mental illness and bring a cure back to 2007. The author does a solid job keeping the reader guessing as to the authenticity of Marco’s tale, especially when details of Ben’s own life start to show up in the story, and things get even more intriguing as no one else seems to have even heard of Marco causing Ben to question his own sanity – could his mother’s mental illness have been passed on to him? Not for the faint of heart, this is a young adult novel that refuses to shy away from the gritty and awful side of drug abuse and mental illness giving us a gritty picture of one young man’s struggles with his drug addicted, bipolar mother, his absentee/alcoholic father, and, ultimately, his own sanity. Fairly satisfying overall, but one wonders what the novel could’ve really been like if some of the supporting characters – especially Ben’s father and his best friend’s sister, Z – were more thoroughly fleshed out and their reason for being more thoroughly stated.]

STARTED:
Wiles, Deborah. (2007). The Aurora County all-stars. New York: Harcourt.

[A much lauded book from last year - I'm reading it to see if I feel the same way about it.]

*

FINISHED:

Prevost, Guillaume. (2006, 2007). The book of time. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[SO nothing to write home about, but not as bad as I initially thought. Will post my official review once it is done. Here it is:

After his father goes missing, Sam finds a mysterious stone pedestal in the basement of his dad’s bookshop. By fitting a coin into a slot on the pedestal Sam is transported through time to a World War I battlefield, a village of monks about to be pillaged by Vikings in Nova Scotia, and a tomb in ancient Egypt. Sam eventually figures out that his father is likely being held captive in Dracula’s castle but is unsure how to find his way through time to get there as the pedestals appear to be governed partly by thought. The adventures that Sam has at various places in time, in addition to being overly convenient (Hey, there’s a coin right over there that will help me leap through time again!), seem to be completely random and unrelated, not serving a central plotline but rather only providing interesting places and times for Sam to leap. Originally published in France, this is, however, the first tome in a trilogy, so the possibility still exists that these events may all come together in the forthcoming installments. The most interesting development doesn’t come until the very last page as Sam finds a desperate message from his father in a photograph from a library book, but the rest is pretty typical and lacking in any real excitement. Young fans of time travel fiction may find something worthy of their attention here, but all others will likely find themselves waiting for things to get interesting.]

STARTED:
Doder, Joshua. (2007). Grk and the Pelotti gang. New York: Delacorte Press.

[Reviewing for ACL - so far, it's a ROTTEN EGG.]

*