FINISHED:

Konigsburg, E.L. (1969). About the B'nai Bagels. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Park, Linda Sue,... [et al.]. (2007). Click. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[Been intrigued by this one for awhile.]

*

FINISHED:

Buckley-Archer, Linda. (2006). Gideon the cutpurse: Being the first part of the Gideon trilogy. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Konigsburg, E.L. (1969). About the B'nai Bagels. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[Time to satisfy my Konigsburg addiction.]

*

FINISHED:

Byars, Betsy. (1976). The tv kid. New York: Viking.

[.]

STARTED:
Buckley-Archer, Linda. (2006). Gideon the cutpurse: Being the first part of the Gideon trilogy. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[Been on my list for quite awhile.]

*

FINISHED:

Stork, Francisco X. (2010). The last summer of the Death Warriors. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[My review for ACL is forthcoming...]

STARTED:
Byars, Betsy. (1976). The tv kid. New York: Viking.

[I was/still am a TV KID.]

*

FINISHED:

Sheth, Kashmira. (2010). Boys without names. New York: Balzer + Bray.

[Nominated this one for our Distinguished List:

Gopal and his family flee rural India with barely more than the clothes on their backs in an effort to escape debt and find work in Mumbai. Once there, Gopal is determined to help out by finding work only to be lured into slaving in a sweatshop gluing beads onto frames without any hope of being able to leave/escape. Five other boys are also being held captive with Gopal by a man whom Gopal has nicknamed Scar, and when Gopal arrives, the boys are so defeated and powerless that they have lost their identities and become nameless. Gopal opens up to the other boys by telling them stories which are accounts of actual events in his life, and, ultimately, it is because of his telling these autobiographical kahanis that he and the other boys begin to get to know each other, eventually revealing/gaining their actual names rather the nicknames that Gopal has assigned to each. Gopal is a likeable and exemplary character with whom the reader sympathizes as he is tirelessly concerned with his families’ well-being, doing everything he can to find a way to make money and make things less desperate for his young twin siblings. Although the novel takes awhile to get going (Gopal doesn’t end up in the sweatshop until a third of the way through) and the ending is a bit abrupt, this is an encouraging, and often harrowing, tale of a strong young man who ends up stifled and enslaved, but, through the power of self and storytelling, ultimately finds his freedom. (Reviewed from ARC.)]

STARTED:
Stork, Francisco X. (2010). The last summer of the Death Warriors. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

ABANDONED:
Fisher, Catherine. (2010). Incarceron. New York: Dial/Penguin.

[Got through more than half and just found it convoluted and convenient. Plus, the whole thing is centered around this physical "place" which I just couldn't wrap my head around - I mean, I just couldn't picture what this "prison" looked like and how it was all laid out, and that seemed like a pretty big thing in a novel where the physical setting is supposed to be a character.]

STARTED:
Sheth, Kashmira. (2010). Boys without names. New York: Balzer + Bray.

[Reviewing for ACL.]

*

FINISHED:

Lin, Grace. (2009). Where the mountain meets the moon. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

[LOVED this wonderful little tale. I especially enjoyed the fact that there a bunch of little stories/fables/folktales told throughout the novel which, in the end, add up to a larger tale - in addition to the fact that the whole novel is, in itself, a fable/folktale. Simple, straightforward, clever - all the qualities of a "classic" - and Lin's full-color artwork throughout is excellent. COMPLETELY worthy of the Newbery Honor which it received.]

STARTED:
Fisher, Catherine. (2010). Incarceron. New York: Dial/Penguin.

[Reading to see if I deem it worthy of appearing on the ACL 2010 Distinguished List - and the year has just begun...]

*

FINISHED:

Tyler, Anne. (2009). Noah's compass. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Lin, Grace. (2009). Where the mountain meets the moon. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

[Have heard such great things about this one - and it just won a Newbery Honor.]

*

FINISHED:

Clarke, Arthur C. (1968). 2001: A space odyssey. New York: ROC/Penguin.

[.]

STARTED:
Tyler, Anne. (2009). Noah's compass. New York: HarperCollins.

[A new Anne Tyler novel! A new Anne Tyler novel!]

*

FINISHED:

Stewart, Trenton Lee. (2009). The Mysterious Benedict Society and the prisoner's dilemma. New York: Megan Tingley Books/Little, Brown and Company.

[.]

STARTED:
Clarke, Arthur C. (1968). 2001: A space odyssey. New York: ROC/Penguin.

[One of my very favorite movies (since being shown it in Mr. Norris' English class in middle school) and I've always wanted to read the book... with the ultimate goal of reading all in the series.]

*