FINISHED:
Griffin, Adele. (2010). Picture the dead. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Fire.

[My review for ACL:

When both her twin brother, Toby, and her fiance, William, are killed in the Civil War, orphan Jennie Lovell, now living with her snobby, brutish aunt and uncle feels utterly alone. After having her picture taken by a “spirit photographer”, Jennie sees in the developed photos unexplainable objects which, in turn, end up being clues that William seems to be sending from the grave. Griffin has crafted a gothic ghost story of love and loss in which the first person narration sounds true and of the day as well as coming across as perfectly suited to the genre. Brown’s “period” ink-rendered photos and scrapbook curios appear between each chapter lending a visual to the narrative, although photos taken to mimic the period would’ve gone further in making the tale more “realistic” and eerie. Included are short explanations of the society of the day in which the novel takes place, the Civil War, Confederate prisoner-of-war camps, Spiritualism and spiritual photography. Mannered and moody in perfect amounts, this one should appeal to fans of other Spiritualist novels such as Ian Lawrence’s Séance (Yearling, 2009) and Laura Amy Schlitz’s A Drowned Maiden’s Hair (Candlewick, 2006). (Reviewed from ARC.)]

STARTED:
Horvath, Polly. (2010). Northward to the moon. New York: Schwartz & Wade.

[Really enjoyed the first book...]

*

FINISHED:

Mull, Brandon. (2007). Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Griffin, Adele. (2010). Picture the dead. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Fire.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:

Ventura, Jesse. (with Dick Russell) (2010). American conspiracies. New York: Skyhorse.

[.]

STARTED:
Mull, Brandon. (2007). Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[Couldn't wait to read the next one...]

*

FINISHED:

Mull, Brandon. (2006). Fablehaven. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Ventura, Jesse. (with Dick Russell) (2010). American conspiracies. New York: Skyhorse.

[What can I say? I'm a conspiracy theorist at heart...]

*

FINISHED:

Heiligman, Deborah. (2009). Charles and Emma: The Darwin's leap of faith. New York: Henry Holt.

[.]

STARTED:
Mull, Brandon. (2006). Fablehaven. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[Was drawn in by the cover art the very first time I laid eyes upon it.]

*

FINISHED:

Baccalario, Pierdomenico. [trans. Leah D. Janeczko]. (2009). Ring of fire (Century quartet: Book 1). New York: Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Heiligman, Deborah. (2009). Charles and Emma: The Darwin's leap of faith. New York: Henry Holt.

[.]

*

FINISHED:

Stead, Rebecca. (2007). First light. New York: Wendy Lamb.

[.]

STARTED:
Baccalario, Pierdomenico. [trans. Leah D. Janeczko]. (2009). Ring of fire (Century quartet: Book 1). New York: Random House.

[I think that I may be the only one who got into the Ulysses Moore books - and I just found out today that there are MORE than the ones that got published by Scholastic in the U.S.! Unfortunately, the remaining titles in the series are only available in Spanish. I really like this guy's plotting, sense of environment, and use of faux scrapbook items (i.e. photos, receipts, maps, ticket stubs, etc.) to tell his stories. I just hope that they don't stop translating this series into English mid-way through...]

*

FINISHED:

Kilworth, Garry. (2006). Attica. London: Atom/Little, Brown Book Group.

[.]

STARTED:
Stead, Rebecca. (2007). First light. New York: Wendy Lamb.

[Had heard great things about this one when it came out. Now that she's won a Newbery - for a book I thoroughly enjoyed - I thought I'd try this one.]

*

FINISHED:

Law, Ingrid. (2008). Savvy. New York: Walden Media/Dial/Penguin.

[.]

STARTED:
Kilworth, Garry. (2006). Attica. London: Atom/Little, Brown Book Group.

[I have a whole shelf at home FILLED with books that I've had checked out for months which I've been waiting to read... and this one I heard about a couple of days ago, found it on the shelf at the library, and am bumping it to the front of the queue. Why do I even have the queue shelf at home?]

*

FINISHED:

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

[Maggie and her brother Jason receive presents bequeathed to them by their recently deceased grandfather, Gee, a renowned photojournalist. Maggie's is a box of shells which she is instructed to return to where they were found (thus helping her to "see the world"), and Jason's is one of Gee's old cameras (also, providing him with a way to "see the world"). I thought this one started out quite strong... but then just got a little incomprehensible. A great way to tell a story, with different authors covering different events which then all come together like a puzzle, but does this really have to do with multiple realities? Or is it really about being able to peel another version of someone off themselves which then has a life of their own?? Maybe this one should go back in my queue for rereading one day...]

STARTED:
Law, Ingrid. (2008). Savvy. New York: Walden Media/Dial/Penguin.

[Newbery Honor winner that's been sitting on my shelf for quite awhile.]

*