FINISHED:

Beil, Michael D. (2009). The red blazer girls. New York: HarperCollins

[.]

STARTED:
Crutcher, Chris. (2009). Angry management: Three novellas. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

[Reading to review for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:

Cooper, Susan. (1965). Over sea, under stone. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Beil, Michael D. (2009). The red blazer girls. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

[With a title and cover like the ones this has, how could I possibly resist?]

*

FINISHED:

Korman, Gordon. (2001). Island: Escape. New York: Scholastic.

[I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this short series. Really, they took no time at all to read (perfect for reluctant readers!), the kids were varied in their personalities and knowledge-bases, and there was a decent amount of action and suspense. Six young people who have been deemed as "troubled" for various reasons by their families converge on a small boat for an "Outward Bound"-ish adventure. Soon after setting sail, the weather turns nasty, the ocean waves begin to swell, and then all hell breaks loose with the kids eventually finding themselves stranded on a (seemingly...) deserted island. Will and Lyssa are violently feuding brother and sister, Luke is the smart and misunderstood (and framed!) hero, Ian is the TV kid whose survival know-how comes from watching countless hours of the Discovery Channel, Charla is a super-fit all-sports star, and J.J. is the delinquent and spoiled son of a famous Hollywood actor. Together these 6 battle the elements, each other, and... other things (don't want to spoil the fun!!)... in this breezy, tense, and compelling survival series. I think I may try one of Korman's other short series.]

STARTED:
Cooper, Susan. (1965). Over sea, under stone. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[Thought that it was about time I gave this classic series a try - seems like it should be right up my alley.]

*

FINISHED:

Korman, Gordon. (2001). Island: Survival. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Korman, Gordon. (2001). Island: Escape. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

*

FINISHED:

Korman, Gordon. (2001). Island: Shipwreck. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Korman, Gordon. (2001). Island: Survival. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

*

FINISHED:

Teague, Mark. (2009). The doom machine.. New York: Blue Sky/Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Korman, Gordon. (2001). Island: Shipwreck. New York: Scholastic.

[Giving the three in this series a go. I don't think I've read anything by Korman before, and this series has always intrigued me. Must be due to my overwhelming love for LOST.]

*

STARTED:
Teague, Mark. (2009). The doom machine.. New York: Blue Sky/Scholastic.

[Reviewing for ACL. Review to follow...]

*

FINISHED:

Wilson, N.D. (2007). 100 cupboards. New York: Random House.

[Henry's parents go missing so he has to move in with his uncle, aunt, and cousins. In the middle of the night, one of the walls in the attic bedroom where Henry is staying begins to crack, revealing a bunch of little built-in doors. Eventually, Henry and his cousin Henrietta find a key in one of the little cupboard doors which opens up the impenetrable door to his grandfather's old room. AND, in grandfather's room is a cupboard door big enough to crawl through - the pair discover that turning a couple of knobs built into the cupboard-filled wall changes where the door in grandfather's room will lead. Liked this one a lot - especially the whole idea of a wall filled with little doors that each open to some other world/dimension: wind and the smell of the forest come through one of the doors, and through another one can be seen yellow walls and the occassional glimpse of a pantleg. Fascinating.]

STARTED:
Wilson, N.D. (2009). Dandelion fire. New York: Random House.

[Moving right on to Book 2 - reading it to see if I deem it worthy to be on the ACL Distinguished Books List for 2009...]

*

FINISHED:

Huxley, Aldous. (1932). Brave new world/Brave new world revisited. New York: HarperCollins.

[Um, this is SO not the book I remember reading in high school English class. Come to think about it, maybe I only read the chapters that I had to do a presentation on. Lots of stuff to think about... Read a bunch of Revisited, but ultimately gave up. I honestly had thought that it was a novel as well - while it is certainly an interesting and thought provoking essay, I just needed to start reading some light fiction again..]

STARTED:
Wilson, N.D. (2007). 100 cupboards. New York: Random House.

[Have heard great things about this one - need to read the sequel, Dandelion Fire, for ACL distinguished list, so I figured it would be a good time to read it.]

*

FINISHED:

MacDonald, George. (1969). The light princess. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[Well, it doesn't seem like it would fly all that well with youth today. As I started to read it I thought, "This might make a good, short read-aloud..." and then quickly reconsidered. The language was SO antiquated and odd. Many times I not only tripped up on the words, but had a difficult time trying to figure out who he was talking about and/or what was happening. Yes, it's the story of a princess who is born without gravity and discovers that in water she feels "normal". Soon, the evil princess who cursed the disability onto the princess does a spell to drain the lake and kingdom of all it's water. It is then that a roaming prince who has become smitten with the princess volunteers to sacrifice himself to save the princess and kingdom.]

STARTED:
Huxley, Aldous. (1932). Brave new world/Brave new world revisited. New York: HarperCollins.

[An old classic that I remember reading in high school English class and have been wanting to revisit now that I'm older and wiser.]

*