FINISHED:
West, Jacqueline. (2010). The books of Elsewhere: The shadows. New York: Dial.

[My review for ACL:

Olive, perpetual new student, and her nomadic, mathmetician, computer screen-glued parents move into a dusty old house still full of the previous occupants’ Victorian-era belongings. One of the first things that Olive notices is the abundance of paintings (which seem permanently attached to the walls) whose images, when viewed through a pair of found antique reading glasses, begin to move. Ever the curious explorer, Olive discovers that she is able to climb into these paintings and, while wandering around in one, comes across a frightened little boy in an old nightshirt who claims to have been stolen from the real world and imprisoned in the painting by a malevolent, ever-watching shadow. West’s debut novel, the first in an assumed series, is briskly paced and, for the most part, engaging, with a spunky outcast for a protagonist in whom avid readers of the genre will recognize shades of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (HarperCollins, 2002). A trio of talking cats add comedy and a bit of confusion: aside from the occasional difficulty of keeping them straight, their motives are unclear as they seem genuinely helpful but appear to be “working for” the shadowy force. Thorough, vivid physical description provides a definite sense of environment and the premise is intriguing enough to attract young fantasy beginners. (Reviewed from ARC.)]

STARTED:
Connor, Leslie. (2010). Crunch. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Reading for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:
Cottrell Boyce, Frank. (2010). Cosmic. New York: Walden Pond.

[.]

STARTED:
West, Jacqueline. (2010). The books of Elsewhere: The shadows. New York: Dial.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:
Silverman, Sarah. (2010). The bedwetter: Stories of courage, redemption, and pee. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Cottrell Boyce, Frank. (2010). Cosmic. New York: Walden Pond.

[So many starred reviews!]

*

STARTED:
Silverman, Sarah. (2010). The bedwetter: Stories of courage, redemption, and pee. New York: HarperCollins.

[I put Eating Animals aside for the moment - figured this non-fiction title would read a bit faster...]

*

FINISHED:
Clements, Andrew. (2010). Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School: We the children. New York: Atheneum.

[.]

STARTED:
Foer, Jonathan Safran. (2009). Eating animals. New York: Little, Brown and Co.

[Comes highly recommended.]

*

FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2010). Seekers: The last wilderness. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Clements, Andrew. (2010). Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School: We the children. New York: Atheneum.

[I like my Clements...]

*

FINISHED:
Pfeffer, Susan Beth. (2010). this world we live in. New York: Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin.

[.]

STARTED:
Hunter, Erin. (2010). Seekers: The last wilderness. New York: HarperCollins.

[For some reason, she's got me hooked on this series of hers...]

*

FINISHED:
Mull, Brandon. (2008). Fablehaven: Grip of the shadow plague. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Pfeffer, Susan Beth. (2010). this world we live in. New York: Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin.

[.]

*

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

[.]

STARTED:
Mull, Brandon. (2008). Fablehaven: Grip of the shadow plague. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

*

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...]

*