FINISHED:
Balliett, Blue. (2010). The danger box. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
DiTerlizzi, Tony. (2010). The search for WondLa. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[.]

*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Riddell, Chris. (2008). Ottoline and the yellow cat. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Baccalario, Pierdomenico. [trans. Leah D. Janeczko]. (2010). Star of stone (Century quartet: Book 2). New York: Random House.

[.]

STARTED:Balliett, Blue. (2010). The danger box. New York: Scholastic.

[Reading to see if I deem it worthy of appearing on the 2010 ACL Distinguished List - plus, I really liked her earlier books and have been awaiting this one...]

*

FINISHED:
Beil, Michael. (2010). The Red Blazer Girls: The vanishing violin. New York: Knopf.

[.]

STARTED:
Baccalario, Pierdomenico. [trans. Leah D. Janeczko]. (2010). Star of stone (Century quartet: Book 2). New York: Random House.

[For some reason, I like this guy (fun mysteries? exotic and vivid locales? the inclusion of dossiers containing photos and other realia?) - so far I'm not quite sure where all of this is leading, but I'm still along for the ride.]

*

FINISHED:
Jinks, Catherine. (2010). The genius wars. New York: Harcourt.

[Review to come:

(Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy) : Cadel is settling in with his new foster parents (his former caseworker and the cop who helped suss out the evil genius who would stop at nothing to see Cadel dead) and taking computing classes at university thinking that life is back to normal when Prosper English, once thought to be Cadel’s father, shows up on a number of surveilance cameras around town. Soon, Cadel’s friend’s electric wheelchair is out of her control and tumbles down some stairs, traffic lights are messed with causing another of Cadel’s friends to be involved in a traffic accident, and a commuter bus’s GPS link up system is hijacked causing the bus to slam into Cadel’s home. Clearly, no one Cadel knows is safe and all forms of technology surrounding Cadel are subject to possible corruption. This concluding volume in Jinks’s Evil Genius trilogy acts as a kind of commentary on our dependence on computers, the complete interconnectivity of electronic systems, and the ease with which computers can be hacked and used to spy and/or cause harm. This is a compelling read with some fun, paranoid suspense that is HEAVY on computer jargon and technical descriptions making it likely best enjoyed by those who have a solid knowledge of computers and computer systems.]

STARTED:
Beil, Michael. (2010). The Red Blazer Girls: The vanishing violin. New York: Knopf.

[Thought the first one was FUN FUN FUN...]

*

FINISHED:
Collins, Suzanne. (2010). Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic.

[Not bad... but I just wasn't compelled to tear through it like I was with the previous installments. Yeah, it needed to wrap things up, but it could've used some more of the action and adventure of the first two books. Here, it seemed to me like the action sequences were just stuck in in order to provide sequences that would pick up the pace. Disappointed, but, as with LOST, the journey itself was satisfying enough to justify an unsatisfying ending.]

STARTED:Jinks, Catherine. (2010). The genius wars. New York: Harcourt.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:
Rich, Simon. (2010). Elliot Allagash: a novel. New York: Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Collins, Suzanne. (2010). Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic.

[Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!]

*

FINISHED:
Wallenfels, Stephen. (2009). POD. Honesdale, PA: Namelos.

[.]

STARTED:
Rich, Simon. (2010). Elliot Allagash: a novel. New York: Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Napoli, Donna Jo. (2010). The wager. New York: Henry Holt.

[.]

STARTED:
Wallenfels, Stephen. (2009). POD. Honesdale, PA: Namelos.

[Heard great things and read some great reviews. Sounds right up my alley.]

*

FINISHED:
de Fombelle, Timothee. (2009/10). Toby and the secrets of the Tree. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

[After spending two years living amongst the Grass People, whom the tree inhabitants believe to be primitive savages, Toby Lolness returns to the lower branches believing that his parents are dead (though they have actually been imprisoned and are attempting to tunnel out an escape route) and finds that others are being enslaved to dig an enormous crater to the center of the tree. In addition, Toby’s love, Elisha, has been locked in an egg by Toby’s childhood best friend, Leo Blue, who has now taken control of the tree and intends to marry Elisha. Though smart, densely written, and rich in character-drawing, this concluding volume in the series gets bogged down with the introduction of a number of new characters and subplots which only serve to take the focus off Toby too often and for far too long. Further, the Leo Blue character wasn’t developed enough in the first book to make the war between the friends have much power and impact. However, the strong ecological and ennvironmental message shines here with Toby’s father, Sim, finally getting people to hear his message that the tree is a living being (“The Tree is fighting back! The Tree is defending itself against us!”). All-in-all, a beautifully written series that will have limited appeal for those kids with a taste for solid, dense fantasy a la Steve Augarde’s The Various (David Fickling, 2004).]

STARTED:Napoli, Donna Jo. (2010). The wager. New York: Henry Holt.

[Reading for ACL.]

*