FINISHED:
Nix, Garth, and Williams, Sean. (2011). Troubletwisters. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Meloy, Colin. (2011). Wildwood. New York: Balzer + Bray.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Newbery, Linda. (2010). Lucy and the Green Man. New York: David Fickling/Random House.

[Review forthcoming...

Here:
When her grandfather dies and his cottage and garden are sold to a redeveloper, Lucy worries that the Green Man (aka Lob), a shadowy being that lives in the garden who only she and her grandfather can see, will have nowhere to go. Lucy keeps Lob’s memory alive by making pictures of him and talking about him to her friends, though after continually being made fun of she eventually gives up hope of ever seeing the Green Man again. Meanwhile, Lob begins to travel, feeling mysteriously compelled in one direction, eventually coming upon an elaborate garden show in London. There he meets and goes home with an old gardener, Cornelius, who is able to see him, ending up helping to tend Cornelius’s community garden plot. In the end, coincidentally, Lucy and her family are awarded a plot in the community garden right next to where the Green Man has settled. Newbery’s tome is rich on mood and poetic flow: chapters are laid out over the course of a calendar year, marking a change in seasons; Lob’s thoughts are often expressed in a larger font and verse (“Work here’s done. The road’s calling. South. South. Head south, to the glittering city, the snaking river, where roads run together like the centre of a web. The road leads south, the rushing trains, the humming and buzzing in the wires. Walk. Walk.”); and there are quite a few impressionistic ink-pen drawings throughout. Though I really liked the tone and flow of this one, I fear that it may be too esoteric and, thus, have limited appeal to its intended crowd.]

STARTED:
Nix, Garth, and Williams, Sean. (2011). Troubletwisters. New York: Scholastic.

[Have never read any Nix and was intrigued by the cover art on this one.]

*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Clements, Andrew. (2011). Troublemaker. New York: Atheneum.

[.]

STARTED:
Newbery, Linda. (2010). Lucy and the Green Man. New York: David Fickling/Random House.

[.]

*

STARTED & FINISHED:
Santat, Dan. (2011). Sidekicks. New York: A.A. Levine.

[.]






Pien, Lark. (2009). Long Tail Kitty. Maplewood, NJ: Blue Apple/Chronicle.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Beil, Michael D. (2011). The mistaken masterpiece [Red Blazer Girls #3]. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

[.]

STARTED:
Webb, Philip. (2011). Six days. New York: Chicken House/Scholastic.

[Reviewing for ACL...]

*

FINISHED:
Whitehouse, David. (2011). Bed: a novel. New York: Scribner.

[.]

STARTED:
Beil, Michael D. (2011). The mistaken masterpiece [Red Blazer Girls #3]. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

[I'm a fan of these ladies...]

*

FINISHED:
Mason, Simon. (2011). Moon pie. New York: David Fickling/Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Whitehouse, David. (2011). Bed: a novel. New York: Scribner.

[Saw a "pre-pub alert" about this one and was FASCINATED by the premise...]

*

FINISHED:
Henkes, Kevin. (2011). Junonia. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Mason, Simon. (2011). Moon pie. New York: David Fickling/Random House.

[Reviewing for SFPL...]

*

FINISHED:
Clements, Andrew. (2011). Fear itself [Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School #2]. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Henkes, Kevin. (2011). Junonia. New York: HarperCollins.

[Who doesn't love Kevin Henkes?]

*

FINISHED:
Hardinge, Frances. (2011). Fly trap. New York: HarperCollins.

[[Reviewed from ARC.] Mosca Mye, a twelve-year old street urchin who is one of only a few in the land who can read, finds herself kidnapped while trying to make some money and brought to the town of Toll. Toll, she quickly discovers, is under the control of the Locksmiths and becomes a different, much more violent and harrowing town by night, when the day citizens are locked down to make way for the night dwellers. Mosca, her goose Saracen, and traveling companion/con man Eponymous Clent, trying to find a way to raise enough money to buy their way out of Toll, end up embroiled in the kidnapping of the Mayor’s daughter and the quest to find the town “Luck”, an object that the townspeople believe keeps disaster at bay. Along the way, plucky heroine Mosca, never one to dwell on adversity and always with her streetwise wits about her, finds herself in more than one dingy cell, impersonates a desert-dwelling girl and a mythic horse made of bone, and amongst a burning city hoping to stave off a war. This is a brilliant story brimming with intrigue, deception and social commentary, surrounding the notions of tyrannical leaders using fear as a method of control and labeling those who refuse to co-operate as “radicals”. Hardinge’s sequel to her widely acclaimed Fly By Night (HarperCollins, 2006), which doesn’t need to be read in order to get into this tome, is dense with detail, giving the story a vivid sense of place and helping to make the physical setting an active participant. The intimidating length and density make this one for serious bibliophiles only, thus limiting its appeal to dedicated young readers and adults. Though the journey is long, the payoff is definitely worth it.]

STARTED:
Clements, Andrew. (2011). Fear itself [Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School #2]. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

*