FINISHED:

Lerangis, Peter. (2013). The colossus rises. New York: HarperCollins.

[Review forthcoming...]

STARTED:

Mull, Brandon. (2013). Chasing the prophecy (Beyonders #3). New York: Aladdin.

[One of my favorite children's/YA authors.]

*

FINISHED:
Green, John. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton/Penguin.


[This one had received SO MUCH hype that by the time I got around to reading it, maybe my perception was skewed.  That said, it still just didn't resonate with me as much as I expected it to.  Hazel and Augustus meet at a cancer support group meeting for teens, hit it off immediately, and embark on a relationship knowing full well that their time together will be limited.  While I thought some of the language was wonderful, many things that the kids say just didn't seem like they'd come from a teenagers mouth... even one who's staring death in the face.  The character of the author of Hazel's favorite book seemed like a gross caricature, and Hazel and Augustus's SUDDEN trip to Amsterdam (Augustus uses his "wish" from the Make a Wish Foundation...) didn't seem plausible.  This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the book at all, I suppose it was all of the praise that set it up for me as too good to be true.  NOTE: At one point toward the end, Hazel's mom says that she's been taking online college courses and, if all goes well, will go UP to the Bloomington campus in the summer.  Well, the characters live in Indianapolis... so... if they were to go to IU Bloomington from there, they'd be driving SOUTH (i.e. DOWN).  The author lives in Indy, so I don't know why he wouldn't know this... unless he's refering to one of IU's satellite campuses in Northern Indiana...]

STARTED & FINISHED:

deBonneval, Gwen. (2013). William and the lost spirit. Minneapolis, MN: Graphic Universe/Lerner.

[.]

STARTED:

Lerangis, Peter. (2013). The colossus rises. New York: HarperCollins.

[Reviewing for ACL...]

*

FINISHED:

Federle, Tim. (2013). Better Nate than ever. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[Where was this book when I was a tween/teen??  Nate steals away from his sheltered, conservative Pennsylvania town to head to New York so that he can audition for the role of Elliott in a new musical based on the movie "E.T.: the Extraterrestrial".  This is a hilariously fun novel that takes place over the course of just a couple of days, and which has Nate reconnecting with an Aunt who has been estranged from Nate's mother when she stole away to New York in an effort to be someplace more open-minded and accepting.  It's one of those books that every small town kid who's just coming into realizing s/he is gay ought to read in order to see that it truly does "get better".  Like I said, this one would've given me so much hope when I was a (closeted) teenager stealing away to Chicago at every opportunity so that I could be around some diversity.]


STARTED:
Green, John. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton/Penguin.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Balliett, Blue. (2013). Hold fast. New York: Scholastic.


[.]


STARTED:
Federle, Tim. (2013). Better Nate than ever. New York: Simon & Schuster.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
McAlpine, Gordon. (2013). The tell-tale start: The misadventures of Edgar & Allan Poe (Book 1).  New York: Viking.


[.]


STARTED:
Balliett, Blue. (2013). Hold fast. New York: Scholastic.


[LOVE HER.]

*

FINISHED:
Spinelli, Jerry. (2013). Hokey Pokey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.


[???  Not my cup of tea... and I'm not sure how many kids would pick this one up because of its ?? nature.  I think that it's just too esoteric for the intended audience.  I mean, a novel about a bunch of kids living in the desert with bicycles that behave like wild stallions??  I appreciate the fact that it's clearly an allegory about growing out of childhood, but I think that a kid would get it even less than I did.]


STARTED:
McAlpine, Gordon. (2013). The tell-tale start: The misadventures of Edgar & Allan Poe (Book 1).  New York: Viking.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
Johnson, Hal. (2012). Immortal lycanthropes. Boston: Clarion.


[Myron, a teenager that remembers nothing about his life from before five years ago when he was in a terrible accident, is a teen that has a severe facial disfigurement (“His face was partially reconstructed… but it was still a twisted, noseless face”) who, one day while fighting off a bully, discovers that he has extraordinary powers related to the fact that he is an “immortal lycanthrope”.  Finding out that he is one of a number of immortal people who are able to turn into a specific mammal at will sets Myron off on an adventure across the country to find out who he is, all the while being pursued by members of secret societies and other immortals who believe he is “the chosen one”.  Jumping from one random, seemingly unrelated event to another – very often predicated by Myron being knocked unconscious and waking up in a strange place – the proceedings get haphazard and bizarre with an unsatisfying “resolution” that involves Myron finding out on one of the very last pages which animal he can morph into, with him then swimming off (spoiler!) to who knows where.  Though it is not front and center as in R.J. Palacio’s Wonder (Alfred A. Knopf, 2012), Myron’s severe facial deformity is rarely mentioned or used as a basis for his motivations or reactions until he, gallingly, needs to use it to swindle people by gaining sympathy.  This is an odd, often muddled, debut novel with an almost stream-of-consciousness narrative that may attract readers based on the premise alone, but which might leave them feeling kind of confused...]


STARTED:
Spinelli, Jerry. (2013). Hokey Pokey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2012). The melting sea (Seekers: Return to the wild #2). New York: HarperCollins.


[.]


STARTED:
Johnson, Hal. (2012). Immortal lycanthropes. Boston: Clarion.


[Reviewing for ACL...]


*

FINISHED: 
Gale, Eric Kahn. (2012). The Bully Book. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]


STARTED:
Hunter, Erin. (2012). The melting sea (Seekers: Return to the wild #2). New York: HarperCollins.


[I'm reviewing #3 in the series for ACL, so I need to get caught up...]


*

FINISHED:
Lu, Marie. (2013). Prodigy: a Legend novel. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.


[.]


STARTED:
Gale, Eric Kahn. (2012). The Bully Book. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]

*