FINISHED:
Skye, Obert. (2011). Wonkenstein: the creature from my closet. New York: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt.

[This one has gotten some decent reviews, but I found it to be quite lacking...

When Robert Burnside finally got his own room, its closet was without a door so his father installed one that he found at a garage sale. There might be something wrong with it, though: the door handle has a creepy face on it (did it just wink??), and, one evening, a small creature pops out of the closet looking like a hybrid of Frankenstein’s monster and… Willy Wonka (Robert once used the closet as a “laboratory”, and has since begun to throw books in there). Jumping on the Wimpy Kid (Amulet, 2007-2011) bandwagon, Skye’s protagonist shares more than a passing likeness to Greg Heffley: he’s a bumbling, twelve year-old outsider who continually stumbles into awkward situations, and even has a precocious little brother and a typical, aloof, teen older sibling. In addition, it is written in journal style and littered with drawings – and, though this one has drawings that look like a kid might have actually drawn them, they are much less appealing and humorous than those in the Wimpy Kid series. Adding in the fantasy/science fiction element of the creature attempts to set this title apart from Kinney’s series, but the “plot” often wanders away from Wonkenstein and just focuses on the goofy and embarrassing things that Robert does (collecting thumbtacks with faces, trying not to burp in class, accidentally signing up to recite a poem at a school assembly), mostly in front of the prettiest girl at school. Though young readers who just can’t get enough of the Wimpy Kid and/or Big Nate (HarperCollins 2010-2011) books will likely eat this up in similar fashion, it definitely feels like a pale copy. A sequel featuring a hybrid Harry Potter/Chewbacca (Star Wars) creature is teased/promised.]

STARTED:
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. (2011). Tantalize: Kieren's story. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Reviewing this new graphic novel for ACL...]

*

FINISHED:
Scieszka, Jon [ed.]. (2011). Guys read: Thriller. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Skye, Obert. (2011). Wonkenstein: the creature from my closet. New York: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt.

[Reviewing for ACL...]

*

FINISHED:
Joyce, William, and Geringer, Laura. (2011). Nicholas St. North and the battle of the Nightmare King. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Scieszka, Jon [ed.]. (2011). Guys read: Thriller. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[Reading for ACL...]

*

FINISHED:
Auxier, Jonathan. (2011). Peter Nimble and his fantastic eyes. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[.]

STARTED:
Joyce, William, and Geringer, Laura. (2011). Nicholas St. North and the battle of the Nightmare King. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

*

Holiday Book 2011

Duvoisin, Roger. (1955). One thousand Christmas beards. New York: Knopf.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Norriss, Andrew. (2012). I don't believe it, Archie. New York: David Fickling/Random House.

[A week in the incredible life of Archie, the boy who seems to court strange happenings, and the girl whom he meets that wants to be around Archie to see for herself just how crazy things can get for him. Each day, Archie’s mother sends him on an errand from which he always gets sidetracked, with Archie eventually returning home, the errand undone, and his mother exclaiming, “I don’t believe it, Archie!” Monday’s adventures involve a runaway piano and a car that gets covered in gravel; Tuesday revolves around getting accused of killing a dog, though he actually ends up accidentally saving the dog’s life; on Wednesday, Archie helps to save his local library from being bulldozed and turned into a car park when he gets super-glued to the front door; Thursday involves being mistaken for a kidnapped child, etc. This is a mildly humorous, yet unnecessary, episodic Younger Reading title that is frequently maddening – most of the situations in which Archie finds himself could be stopped short if only the adults involved would shut up and let Archie talk. The many British-isms (post [mail], mum, lorry, etc.) may throw some younger readers for a loop, though each double-page spread has at least one pen and ink illustration to help make the text less intimidating. Kind of funny, bizarre, and definitely slight.]

STARTED:
Auxier, Jonathan. (2011). Peter Nimble and his fantastic eyes. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Smelcer, John. (2006). The trap. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

[.]

STARTED:
Norriss, Andrew. (2012). I don't believe it, Archie. New York: David Fickling/Random House.

[Reviewing for SFPL...]

*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Kinney, Jeff. (2011). Cabin fever. New York: Amulet.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Barrows, Annie. (2011). Ivy + Bean: No news is good news. San Francisco: Chronicle.

[.]

STARTED:
Smelcer, John. (2006). The trap. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Morpurgo, Michael. (2011). An elephant in the garden. New York: Feiwel & Friends.

[With her father a soldier serving in World War II, Lizzie’s mother (Mutti) goes work at the nearby Dresden Zoo, immediately taking a shine to Marlene, a young elephant who has recently lost her mother. As Dresden begins to become a target for bombings, the zoo decides that they need to kill all of the animals to prevent them from escaping, but Mutti convinces the zoo director to let her keep Marlene in her care. After their home is destroyed in an air raid, Lizzie, her younger brother Karli, and Marlene set off on a walk toward Allied troops in Heidelberg , along the way coming across a Canadian paratrooper who has been shot down and eventually joins the family on their journey, pretending to be an older sibling in an effort to hide his true identity from the German army. During all of the madness of war, there is a sweet ray of hope where Lizzie and her family end up watching over a group of parentless choir children on their exodus, and, in an effort to keep their spirits up, promise each rides on Marlene’s back. Morpurgo, author of War Horse (Scholastic, 2007) doesn’t shy away from (nor does he beat you over the head with) an anti-war sentiment – early on, when the bombings begin, Mutti explains, “What we are seeing now is a world gone mad, children, a world full of brutes, all intent on killing one another. And we should not forget that we are all responsible for making it happen, for letting it happen.” As per an Author’s Note, Morpurgo has based his tale on two true World War II stories: one of a woman in Belfast who saved an elephant from being slaughtered at a zoo during a bombing raid, and the other documented by a friend’s grandmother who fled with hundreds of thousands of other German refugees toward American forces. Told using a framing technique of modern day Lizzie relating the story to a nurse and her son at the nursing home where Lizzie is spending the rest of her days, this is a moving yet unsentimental or gratuitous story of the neverending spirit, during wartime, of a young family... and their elephant.]

STARTED:
Barrows, Annie. (2011). Ivy + Bean: No news is good news. San Francisco: Chronicle.

[Hey, it's a new Ivy + Bean...]

*