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

[After being publicly humiliated for his perceived weakness by his executioner father, Jebel embarks on a mythic quest to ask a fire god for invincibility in hopes of being able to return to his home and win a competition to be the new town executioner. Accompanying Jebel is a slave, Tel Hesani, whom he knows he will eventually need to sacrifice in order to appease the god, though along the way Jebel learns tolerance and the fact that it’s the journey, not what’s at the end of the road, that really matters. Shan, author of the popular vampire series Cirque du Freak (Little, Brown, 2001) has penned a (trademark) gory homage to Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which includes cons, cannibals, and involuntary graverobbing. Most characters are a bit one-dimensional and the quest story is nothing new, but Jebel’s paradigm shift in regard to what he has always learned is traditionally “right” or “normal”, and the examination of religious differences (though somewhat heavy-handed) are important lessons. Plenty of blood is shed through realistic human-on-human stabbings, slicings and beheadings which should satisfy young adult horror fans [Reviewed from ARC.].]

STARTED:
Houtman, Jacqueline. (2010). The reinvention of Edison Thomas. Honesdale, PA: Front Street/Boyds Mills.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

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:
Dashner, James. (2008). The 13th Reality: The journal of curious letters. New York: Shadow Mountain.

[.]

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

[The LAST one! What a brilliant series - hope this one doesn't disappoint.]

*

FINISHED:
Jacques, Brian. (2004). Rakkety Tam. New York: Firebird/Penguin.

[.]

STARTED:
Dashner, James. (2008). The 13th Reality: The journal of curious letters. New York: Shadow Mountain.

[The Maze Runner was my favorite book of 2009, so I thought I'd read something else by Dashner.]

*

FINISHED:
Mull, Brandon. (2009). Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain.

[SOOOOO good.]

STARTED:
Jacques, Brian. (2004). Rakkety Tam. New York: Firebird/Penguin.

[#17...]

*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Small, David. (2009). Stitches: A memoir. Venice, CA: W.W. Norton & Company.

[Whoa. Blown away by this one.]

*

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

[.]

STARTED:
Mull, Brandon. (2009). Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain.

[LOVE LOVE LOVE these books.]

*

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!]

*