harvest 2008

So I swear that this year I will actually stay current and produce my year-end post in a timely manner. I'm even starting it in March. March, I tell you!

And now that it's January, I can see that I did a good job with this during the past year. Even if I'm not posting the harvest until the tenth eleventh of the month.

This was a good year of reading for me. I managed to hit seventy books. Even if I was having to push through the last book of the year, just finishing it with hours to spare.

I think this is the first time I've compiled stats of what I read. This is, surprisingly, more difficult than I had anticipated it would be. I believe this is due to the fluidity and imprecision of labels. Or at least the imprecision with which I labeled books. For example, in reviewing my reviews, I'm not sure why I classified Percy Jackson and The Shadow Thieves as fantasy but Oh. My. Gods. and Pandora Gets Jealous and Gods Behaving Badly as fiction when they're all about the Greek/Roman gods. And why did I label Suck It Up as fiction whereas, had I actually read it, I would have classified Breaking Craptastica as fantasy? So I believe that for my stats, I'm going to have to generalize the categories a bit to make them easier to assess. Perhaps I'll be more precise next year in my labeling.

That said, here are this year's stats:

Books read: 70
Pages read: 20,706

Nonfiction—Inspirational: 1
Nonfiction—Informational: 3
Nonfiction—Essay/Memoir: 1
Poetry: 1
Short Stories: 1
Graphic Novel: 3
General Fiction—Adult: 4
General Fiction—YA: 23
General Fiction—MG: 6
Fantasy—Adult: 3
Fantasy—YA: 8
Fantasy—MG: 8
Sci Fi/Apocalyptic—YA: 5
Sci Fi/Apocalyptic—MG: 3

2008: 32
2007: 21
2006: 5
2005: 3
2004: 3
2003: 2
2001: 2
1988: 1

Books Edited: 15
Books Evaluated for Publication: 4 (1 evaluated twice)

All in all, not a bad year. I think my best books for the year are Thirteen Reasons Why, The Willoughbys, How They Met, Unwind, Suck It Up, Larklight series, Gods Behaving Badly, My Most Excellent Year, The Graveyard Book, Paper Towns, What I Saw and How I Lied, Vintage, and Swish.

There aren't many that I regret picking up, though my least books for the year would include the books of Ember, Click, Changing Jamie, Girl v. Boy, Gifted, Magyk, Broadway Nights, The Shadow Thieves, Big Fat Manifesto, and A Mercy.

And finally, the year in review . . .

1. The Well of Lost Plots

   I think this may be my favorite Thursday Next book at this point. It's in this one where the world Fforde has created gets truly ingenious. I really love his characters, and Next really becomes likable at this point as she's not out creating her own problems (necessarily, anyway).

   
   
2. Click

   I picked this book up because I thought it was an intriguing idea and I like some of the authors. I like that the narrative is employing a variety of short stories by different authors. I just don't think it worked.

   
   
3. Thirteen Reasons Why

   This book is rather haunting. Good, but haunting nonetheless.

   
   
4. Slam

   I do remember that I picked it up because I like Nick Hornby and I was interested in seeing what he would do when writing YA. Truth be told, I recall being a bit disappointed. The writing was fair enough, it's just that neither the book nor the writing stood out.

   
   
5. The City of Ember

   The first book is, in terms of story and quality, the better book in the series. I think that has to do with the fact that apocalyptic fiction relies on the world you create.

   
   
6. The People of Sparks

   I think the quality of storytelling and writing is in a bit of a decline. Here, I attribute that to my general Dislike of the Sequel. I can't say I was particularly interested in more of Lina and Doon's adventures. And I guess my problem with this is that I find it a bit on the implausible side that Lina and Doon can be the saviors of civilization yet again. Perhaps it would have been better for the author to spread the glory around a bit.

   
   
7. How They Met

   And it's brilliant. Brilliant, I tell you. Then again, I have a tendency to think Levithan is brilliant as it is. The best part, though, is that through this book we discover that Levithan has always been brilliant.

   
   
8. Life As We Knew It

   What I like about these books in particular is the idea behind them. I read in an interview with Pfeffer that she intentionally wanted to explore how people respond to cataclysmic events but she wanted to do so without the event being the fault of humans. Hence the asteroid pushing the moon closer to earth. And the books are wonderful because of this.

   
   
9. Repossessed

   It's not my favorite Printz book I've read. It does have one of the sharper covers, but that's not necessarily a reason to recommend it.

   
   
10. The White Darkness

    I had initial difficulty getting into it because I just didn't like Sym. Fortunately, one thing she had going for her was that I could tell that I would more than likely end up liking her. I had to work at this, because she adores her uncle, who I could tell was a very bad seed from the get-go. And she's very passive, which I find to be an amazingly taxing trait to tolerate. She was also a bit slow on figuring out what was going on. I've noticed that I can handle this in third-person narratives, but I don't take it quite as well in first-person narratives.

    
    
11. The Prophet of Yonwood

    In terms of actual writing and storytelling, I felt this book was the weakest of the three. I think that is most evident when you get to the last chapter, which is essentially a required epilogue. And we all know how I feel about those. But DuPrau forced herself into that by leaving too many open threads that needed resolution. And she had to somehow connect this book to the other two, since it's billed as a prequel.

    
    
12. A Really Nice Prom Mess

    Initially, I wasn't digging the book. The action was rather blah and I wasn't overly fond of the protagonist's voice either. Fortunately, that all changed when Cameron left the prom with the bisexual Russian pot dealer. Suddenly there was something interesting happening. And suddenly Cameron's voice wasn't quite so irritating and whiny.

    
    
13. The Willoughbys

    I'm beginning to feel that you can't lose with a Lowry book. I've always enjoyed her writing. I find her to be insightful and well paced. This book is just as entertaining. I like the "old" feel to it. I like the dry, almost macabre, sense of humor to it.

    
    
14. Pandora Gets Jealous

    This book is cute, but it borders a bit on the fluff side. It's still set in Ancient Greece, but the language and attitude is very much contemporary American. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I guess it works well enough. The characters are interesting and seem to work well together.

    
    
15. Unwind

    Yes, it's another sci fi novel. And this one is good too. It's dark, there's no denying that. I mean, consider the premise: as a political compromise between the pro-life and pro-choice camps, legislation is passed that prohibits abortion, though when kids turns thirteen, they can be retroactively aborted, but all their parts must be harvested and recycled. Creepy. (Especially since you actually get to have a scene where a kid is being unwound.)

    
    
16. Attack of the Fiend

    I find that this series gets better and better with each book. Unlike Harry Potter, Tom continues to grow and learn and piece things together on his own. Yes, he makes some poor decisions, but he's drawn in such a way that you care about his learning curve and the conflict he has with his emotions and his profession.

    
    
17. Magyk

    I don't remember much about this book except that I found it to be rather disappointing. And I think I recall corresponding with someone about it (DesMama maybe?) wherein I enumerated its many flaws, but now I can't find those e-mails. Part of me wants to think that the plot was underdeveloped and overly predictable, that the characters were shallow, that there was nothing to stand out about this book. Of course, if it gives kids who are in love with Harry another series to dive into, then go for it.

    
    
18. Broadway Nights

    Whatever reviews I had read of this, they made it sound like this wonderfully written, gleeful romp. By and large, I was disappointed. I guess, when all is said and done, the writing was fine. The Broadway trivia was fun. But where I had issues with the book was with the protagonist. Knowing that, it shouldn't surprise you that I'm now going to complain about how I couldn't respect the character because I don't like books where the plot conflict stems from the character's inherent stupidity. I just have no sympathy for a guy who wants to bitch about how much his love life sucks when he insists on only dating guys who already have boyfriends. For years. If you choose to be the other man, you choose to be miserable.

    
    
19. The Battle of the Labyrinth

    I love it. Lots and lots and heaps and heaps. Basically, this is one of my favorite series. And I really like where Riordan has taken it. I find the way in which he has given the Labyrinth life and character to be intriguing. I like that Percy is still an utterly likable character. I like that he's being put in positions where he has to make difficult decisions. And I like the end and how Percy has chosen to relate to the characters around him. I'm anxious for the next (perhaps closing?) volume in the series.

    
    
20. The Manny Files

    My surprise with this book was the age. I confess that I was expecting it to be an adult novel, taking after Nanny Diaries. But I was wrong. After I adjusted to that massive paradigm shift, I found that I enjoyed the novel.

    
    
21. The Shadow Thieves

    I picked this book up from a Devil's Den end stand that basically said if you like Percy Jackson, you should read this. The employee who put up that stand ought to be fired. The premise behind this book has so much promise, even if it is fairly standard—two kids must venture into the Underworld to save us all. The characters the author has created are actually fairly interesting. But somehow, it all just fell apart and failed to work.

    
    
22. Savvy

    I really liked this book. It's a fairly simple, straight-forward read, but it settles into just the right places. You get the "extraordinary" ability fantasy elements of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but because the author doesn't take you out of this world, it seems all the more endearing.

    
    
23. Saints of Augustine

    This was a slow book to get into, but in the end, I enjoyed it. It's not at the top of my to recommend list, because I really don't recall much more about it other than the impression that I appreciated how Ryan approached their friendship and the tension Sam brought to it because he wasn't able to own up to his homosexuality or how that would affect his friendship.

    
    
24. Heart to Heart

    Initially, I thought this book was amazing and had decided I was going to get a copy for the kids to have. I really liked that you had poetry inspired by and about art. Now that some time has passed, I find that my feelings of love and adoration have quelled significantly. There was more poetry in there that didn't impress than there was that did. At least in terms of what I remember. I think the organizational breakdown for the book is a good concept but ineffectively realized.

    
    
25. Zen and the Art of Faking It

    This was a cute story. I mean, how can you help but love a boy who finally gets something good from moving every year? Granted, declaring yourself a zen guru can't help but end poorly. But it was a cute story. Nothing to jump up and down about, but cute nonetheless.

    
    
26. Vintage

    I'm frustrated that I've taken so long to get around to writing about this book. It's one of the stories I found most interesting this year. And this considering that I am not generally a fan of ghost stories. (Although, I guess that technically there are two ghost stories I've read in the last year that I've really liked.) Even today, there are particular scenes that were conceived so well that I can still visualize them. That's the talent of this author.

    
    
27. If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

    I remember nothing about this book. Even the book blurb isn't helping me this time. I apparently Goodreaded it three stars. Perhaps I should downgrade that since it obviously wasn't memorable.

    
    
28. Strays

    At this point, I remember rather little about this book. I picked it up because the premise—lonely boy talks to dogs—seemed rather intriguing. And I've enjoyed Koertge in the past. In the end, I enjoyed this book as well. At least that's the impression I have. There was nothing stellar to make it stand out, but it was a good book about learning to find your place in a new pack.

    
    
29. Alt Ed

    Again, not much remembering going on here. Although I think that I'm more fond of it now than I might have been when I read it. On Goodreads, I gave it three stars, so it likely was just an average read. It likely had good resolution. I was likely frustrated with some of the characters. Perhaps, though, because The Breakfast Club is one of those movies from my youth, I couldn't help but not be impressed by this novel.

    
    
30. The Dead & the Gone

    I like how the second one moves from a rural setting to a metropolis setting. I like how her protagonists rise to meet the challenge of surviving. I like how in the second you already know what's going to happen with the weather, which in some ways made the book even more chilling since you knew what the protagonist and his sisters would soon be coming up against.

    
    
31. Changing Jamie

    I'm not sure what to say about this book. I think the story idea is interesting, but I really didn't like the execution.

    
    
32. Something Rotten

    It has been well-established that I lurves me some Fforde. This has been my least favorite book in the series. Not that that's bad—it's still Fforde and it's still the brilliant world he's created. But I think I might be burning out a bit on it. I think that's why I just recently finally started the fifth novel in the series. Regardless, you should read The Eyre Affair so that you too can fall in love with the series.

    
    
33. The Adoration of Jenna Fox

    I had generally overlooked most reviews of this book, partly because the cover just didn't quite catch me. But then I read Abby's review, which did more to intrigue me before it sold me by connecting it to The House of the Scorpion. And it is good. Of course, I have this thing for dystopian/post-apocalyptic sci fi. It's not as good as Scorpion (or at least what my lingering feelings for Scorpion indicate), but it presents an extremely plausible future and sharp questions about bioethics and human environmental responsibility. I like the poetic use of language throughout the book, which even includes poetry to function as chapter breaks.

    
    
34. The Spark

    This book has some good inspiration, but I must confess to not liking the presentation. At all. It's set up in a fictional narrative. Cool concept, but it just doesn't work right. I think this is because we are introduced to all these characters who are intriguing and wise and brilliant in their own way, but they each only get a page and a half to offer up some variation of an anecdotal soliloquy. And that was frustrating.

    
    
35. Outbreak

    I wonder about some of the connections the author draws between epidemics and social changes, and that's perhaps the best thing I pull from this book. But I don't see too many junior high kids wanting to delve further into research pursuing the link between the Romantic worship of tuberculosis with our current obsession with waifish models as the pinnacle of beauty and health.

    
    
36. The Final Farewell

    So let's start with some full disclosure: I love Patricia Wiles. Though I had many authors I enjoyed working with while at Covenant, I can easily—oh so easily—say that Patricia was my favorite. And that's because she's brilliant. Utterly brilliant. Her sense of voice is wonderful. Her dedication to her craft—particularly the revision element of her craft—is absolutely stellar. And she doesn't resent and despise her editor. In fact, she actually takes criticism and praise quite well.

    
    
37. Suck It Up

    It's part vampire novel/part superhero novel/part gay metaphor novel. But it's fully enjoyable. The author has done a grand job of creating a character—Morning McCobb—who is so fully likable. And that's nice for a change. I like the snippets of the IVLeague.us website that have been included. (Though I was greatly disappointed to find out that when you log on to that website, it is not the IVLeague website but is merely a redirectional link to the author's website.)

    
    
38. Girl v. Boy

    So, let's just get it out on the table. We all know by page five (if not when we pick up the book) that Luisa is going to end up dating the boy writing the male perspective. Fortunately, Luisa and her friends know and acknowledge this as well, though she does her best to ensure she doesn't date Scoop. That said, the one thing I must completely commend the authors for are the red herrings and other diversions to make us believe that maybe Luisa isn't actually dating Scoop. There is one very good diversion thrown in there, and I was impressed by it.

    
    
39. Gifted

    I don't think there is really anything touching or tender about it, and it's a far cry from compelling (as evidenced by the five other books I completed during its reading). I also question anyone who claims that the novel is funny. Tragic, perhaps. But certainly not funny. (I found it to lack even a semblance of a sense of humor.)

    
    
40. Larklight

    What I find to be most enjoyable about this book is the voice. It is written with a Victorian sensibility that can only be achieved with a twenty-first century enjoyment of the currently perceived absurdity of the Victorian voice. ("I felt a little like saying 'Eeeeeeeeek!' myself, but seeing Myrtle so afraid reminded me that I was British, and must be brave.") This carries through from narrative voice through chapter titles to even the subtitles of the book itself. The characters are also very likable and fun to spend time with. And they're not the cause of the problems. I really like that in a character.

    
    
41. Rapunzel's Revenge

    Personally, I'm rather meh about this novel. I think the story is interesting, but I would have preferred the phenomenal, full-fleshed version that I know Shannon can produce. That said, kudos to her for delivering a girl power book with a heroine who actually has some internal power, as opposed to that unnamed-travesty-that-I-have-still-not-cracked-open-regardless-of-the-glee-I-feel-in-all-the-negative-reviews-I've-read-of-it. Most of the graphics are rather cool, but I feel that quality was sometimes inconsistent. Of course, that's coming from a non–graphic-novel-reader perspective. It's not my favorite book out there, but I'm glad it iis out there.

    
    
42. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

    I find the method of storytelling here to be fascinating. I think the subject of old movies works well, particularly when considering how the author has reinforced that feel by framing each page in black. I can't say I'm gaga over the style of the illustrations or even the quality of the writing, but I can say that I'm impressed with how the illustrations and story work so well together and enhance the overall feel. I don't believe the book earned the effusive praise it garnered for quality (as everything is merely average), but it does merit the attention it has received for its uniqueness.

    
    
43. Gods Behaving Badly

    This book is clearly not for everyone (chapter two is Apollo and Aphrodite going at it—bored—in the bathroom). That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. So much. I'm trying to think of how to describe this book to give it justice. Basically, I found myself laughing. Often. I was so entertained by it. Your main character in this one is Artemis, which was pleasant to see since she's often ignored in mythological retellings for the other more boisterous gods, and she's rather disgruntled and unhappy. Of course, you cram the gods and their larger-than-life personalities into a London town home when they're dying because people no longer believe in them and that's bound to happen. Though, truth be told, Hermes is my favorite god in this book. Of course, that's likely due to him getting some rather choice scenes.

    
    
44. Starcross

    Starcross continues the Larklight saga, and it's every bit as enjoyable as the first one. What's especially nice is the quick pacing, especially from the get go. Of course, this is possible because the world has already been set up, and we know how to approach it. Art is still quite enjoyable in all his proper British stiff upper lipness.

    
    
45. Audrey, Wait!

    I'm torn on how much I actually enjoyed this book. Let me explain . . . While I was reading this book, I was proofreading a book that also deals with a rocker and his best friend who happens to be his muse and he writes many songs about her not loving him and blah blah blah. Anyway, Audrey is clearly such a better book. But I'm unsure if I liked Audrey on its own merits or on its comparative merits.

    
    
46. Oh. My. Gods.

    Overall, I'm left with an average impression of Oh. My. Gods. I take a bit of issue with Phoebe neglecting the good, nice guy, even though he is every bit as much a god as the jerkwad she does go after. I think the overall plot and world development is a bit shallow and unsatisfying. I'm not sure if I even like Phoebe. However, it's nice to read a sports book about a girl. The moments about running are genuinely good in terms of description and feeling. (During these scenes, it made me think of Samantha.) I really liked that this novel didn't constrain itself to the pantheon, as a good portion of the kids are descendants of the minor gods.

    
    
47. Generation Dead

    Since I'm still unwilling to pick up the Vampire Craptastica burdening my shelves, it makes perfect sense that I would instead pick up a book about zombies. I found this to be an intriguing book. For starters, I really like the premise—some teenagers are undead, and we have no idea why. I like that instead of being about popularity (like the other zombie books out there), this one is about social integration and community tolerance.

    
    
48. The Maze of Bones

    This book is a little bit Westing Game meets DaVinci Code meets Baudelaire Orphans meets Harry Potter.

    
    
49. The Last Apprentice: Wrath of the Bloodeye

    For starters, I'm not happy with the flap copy as it's quite misleading. The Fiend (a.k.a. the Devil) is roaming the County, intent on destroying everything in its path. And yes, it wants to destroy Tom, but it has its reasons for sending its daughter Bloodeye after Tom instead. And I really don't see the "critical mistake" that Tom makes. True, he makes a questionable choice, but it really isn't a mistake. Unless all choices that lead to difficult or trying circumstances are mistakes. I always figured that was just part of living life and growing.

    
    
50. My Most Excellent Year

    This was such an enjoyable book. Really. I found myself entertained throughout. The flap copy doesn't really tell you much about the plot. Part of that is because what really matters in this book is the characters. Fortunately, unlike the award-winning atrocity that is Criss Cross, this character-driven book has well-drawn characters who you can actually like. It also has wit and heart. As another blog I came across at one point (but can't find now) put it, this is a book about the family you're born with and the family you choose.

    
    
51. Big Fat Manifesto

    For starters, I'd say this book is far from hilarious. As a point of fact, I really didn't like this book. At all. Oprah's Kids Reading List be damned. I'm not even sure now how this book ended up on my To Read list, seeing as how I can't find any reviews of it in the blogs I generally haunt.

    
    
52. A Giant Problem

    I confess that I wish I hadn't picked up the first book in this series as I feel compelled to complete the series. They should have left well enough alone with the first series. Fortunately, this second book is paced much better without the self-referential crap of the first one. I'm even starting to like the protagonist. Even better, it looks like this series is only going to be a trilogy instead of a pentology.

    
    
53. The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second

    For starters, let me say how pleased I am that this book wasn't promoted as a YA novel just because it has a teenaged protagonist. I'd say there's far too much discussion of sexuality for them to consider doing that, but, well, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging anyone?

    
    
54. The Loser's Guide to Life and Love

    By and large, I was disappointed with this book. I'm sure that it likely failed for me because of higher-than-appropriate expectations. The mechanics of the writing weren't bad, but I feel the novel as a whole lacked spark.

    
    
55. The Graveyard Book

    I must confess to being very pleased with this book. It has a slow start as far as pacing goes, but the writing really is quite lovely. And the characters are drawn rather well. I like the layout, with the novel being composed of a number of short stories that tie together to reveal the overarching plot and denouement. Overall, it works quite nicely. And I think it is also a rather appropriate seasonal book.

    
    
56. Paper Towns

    I really really really like John Green's writing. Paper Towns is no exception. Sure, all three of his books seem to follow the somewhat geeky, antisocial boy who is obsessed with the ever enigmatic and illusive girl. But it works. And it works well. I like the intelligence and wit that Green brings to his characters. Even when his characters are built around one or two primary characteristics, they still feel like they've been fully rounded out. And I find them to be likable.

    
    
57. Do Not Open

    As is seemingly the case with all nonfiction, it took me a while to read this book. Unlike most nonfiction, though, that seems perfectly fine for this book. For starters, all the information is typically bundled into two-page spreads. As is the case with most DK books, text is clumped into one- or two-sentence fact bites. And it's interesting. I really like the randomness of it all. Another feature I find intriguing with the layout on this book is the little bubble at the bottom of each spread pointing you to a couple other related topics. Which means that you don't have to read the book linearly.

    
    
58. Out of Patience

    Out of Patience is delightfully quirky in the same way that Holes is quirky, though not quite as complicated. And what's not to love about a story that revolves around the history of toilets and plungers and a bizarre curse? Where the local baseball team gets up for the Seventh Inning Stench as the trucks from the local fertilizer company drive by making their deliveries? The characters are realistic and truly likable. I think this is something Meehl does well, as I compare his two books. He creates protagonists that are quirky and lovable and who you really want to succeed.

    
    
59. Mothstorm

    Really, there's not much to say about Mothstorm that hasn't been said about the previous two books in the series. I enjoy the voice and writing. I enjoy the story and the alternative world the author has created. It all just makes me quite happy.

    
    
60. The Adventures of You

    The point where I'm most befuddled about my feelings is the voice. To preface, the publisher is the same as produced the Choose Your Own Adventure books that I dearly loved in my youth. They were fun and empowering for a reader. This book, as were those, is told in the second person. I find the novelty of that to be intriguing, and so when the publisher sent me the book, I was anxious to read it and see how it worked.

    
    
61. Chains

    I picked up Chains because it's one of the NBA finalists. I was looking forward to it because of its author. Unfortunately, I find myself grossly underwhelmed by it.

    
    
62. Runaways

    I don't read graphic novels very often as they're just not something I'm all that into. But someone at some point blogged about this series, and it sounded intriguing to me. Basically, you have a group of kids who discover that their parents are super villains who intend to bring about the end of the world. Throughout the series, you get some cross-pollination with other heroes (presumable from the Marvel universe, but my knowledge here is lacking). There's treachery and heroics and all sorts of stuff. I guess it was okay. If nothing else, they were easy Trax reads. I'm sure I know others who would appreciate them better than I do.

    
    
63. Cal Cameron by Day, Spider-Man by Night

    I'm actually a bit surprised that I hadn't read this particular book before, but I'm glad I hadn't. You see, it's nice to come across something that is older. It's oddly refreshing. It's nice to have a story that's told rather straight forwardly. It's nice to have normal characters who aren't riddled with dysfunction and abnormality. The writing is good. The characterization is good. Actually, this is how good the characterization is—Cannon actually got me to be sympathetic toward and like a quarterback. That in and of itself is a feat worth commending. I really like how she walked us through his growth to where he becomes a better, truly likable person.

    
    
64. What I Saw and How I Lied

    Despite an intriguing opening scene, I feared I was in for more blah. The beginning is slow. The initial looks at the characters are as through a dirty window. The setting and atmosphere are okay, but nothing to shake a stick at. But then it kicks in. And the book is good. More than anything, Evie turns out to be phenomenal. Her growth and development is unexpected and wonderful. You watch her do hard things, impressed that she's actually able to do them. And yet she redeems herself so that you're not as worried about who she might become.

    
    
65. The Book of Animal Ignorance

    This is so my kind of nonfiction book. Trivia. Lots and lots o' trivia. It's smartly written. Entries are brief. It's quite an enjoyable book. And it's instructive. Oh. And the authors are clearly dog people, which means they're good people.

    
    
66. One False Note

    When I reviewed the first book in the series, I complained about the alternating first-person chapters, because I hated being in Amy's head. Fortunately, Korman has moved the story to third person, which works a lot better for me as a reader (even if I'm not fond of third-person omniscient or Korman's frequent shifts in character POV throughout the novel). I think it also works better for the story. There's something to be said for following the mystery while observing the action as opposed to being the action.

    
    
67. The Tales of Beedle the Bard

    I'm glad that Rowling is not letting the Harry Potter universe fade away. As I've noted before, I'm not overly fond of Harry himself, but I do like the universe in which he exists. So I'm glad we get some of the fairy tales that form the core of that universe. I'm pleased that we get Dumbledore's commentary with them; he's so much more likable than Harry.

    
    
68. Swish

    To say that I loved this book would be a bit of an understatement. Such joy and amusement while reading. (If you ask Dec, too much joy and amusement, otherwise he wouldn't have told me to be quiet so he could sleep or concentrate on his sudoku.) Derfner has a voice and attitude rather similar to Dan Savage, and I think we all know how much I love Savage. When it comes down to it, Derfner is a good cross between Savage (wit and wisdom) and Sedaris (narrative storytelling).

    
    
69. Science Fair

    The story itself has an intriguing premise and quirky characters. But it just doesn't come together in the end. Furthermore, the wit and charm seemed to be largely MIA. When all is said and done, I felt the book was far too long, and I was just yearning for it to be over. (Stupid Must-Finish-the-Book curse.)

    
    
70. A Mercy

    It should not take three weeks to read a 165-page book. I picked this book up because I heard Morrison on the Diane Reams show (which Dec tells me is being rebroadcast today). It sounded interesting to me, and because I'd never read any Morrison before, I thought I'd give it a go. To say I didn't like it would be somewhat of an understatement. Truth be told, the only reason I finished it when I did was because I wanted desperately to finish seventy books this last year.

A Mercy

A Mercy
by Toni Morrison
Literary fiction. 167 pp.
Knopf. 2008.

flap copy:

A powerful tragedy distilled into a jewel of a masterpiece by the Nobel Prize–winning author of Beloved and, almost like a prelude to that story, set two centuries earlier.

In the 1680s the slave trade was still in its infancy. In the Americas, virulent religious and class divisions, prejudice and oppression were rife, providing the fertile soil in which slavery and race hatred were planted and took root.

Jacob is an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, with a small holding in the harsh north. Despite his distaste for dealing in "flesh," he takes a small slave girl in part payment for a bad debt from a plantation owner in Catholic Maryland. This is Florens, "with the hands of a slave and the feet of a Portuguese lady." Florens looks for love, first from Lina, an older servant woman at her new master's house, but later from a handsome blacksmith, an African, never enslaved.

There are other voices: Lina, whose tribe was decimated by smallpox; their mistress, Rebekka, herself a victim of religious intolerance back in England; Sorrow, a strange girl who's spent her early years at sea; and finally the devastating voice of Florens' mother. These are all men and women inventing themselves in the wilderness.

A Mercy reveals what lies beneath the surface of slavery. But at its heart it is the ambivalent, disturbing story of a mother who casts off her daughter in order to save her, and of a daughter who may never exorcise that abandonment.

Acts of mercy may have unforeseen consequences.

It should not take three weeks to read a 165-page book.

I picked this book up because I heard Morrison on the Diane Reams show (which Dec tells me is being rebroadcast today). It sounded interesting to me, and because I'd never read any Morrison before, I thought I'd give it a go. To say I didn't like it would be somewhat of an understatement. Truth be told, the only reason I finished it when I did was because I wanted desperately to finish seventy books this last year.

Here's the deal. It is superbly crafted. Morrison knows how to put words together and create beautiful images. Case in point:

Reverend Father is the only kind man I ever see. When I arrive here I believe it is the place he warns against. The freezing in hell that comes before the everlasting fire where sinners bubble and singe forever. But the ice comes first, he says. And when I see knives of it hanging from the houses and trees and feel the white air burn my face I am certain the fire is coming.

Exquisite language throughout. The use of multiple narrators is executed with absolute precision and mastery. I still didn't like it.

For all of Morrison's grandiose mastery of her craft, I think that she failed to instill a soul in this novel. And so there was little to pull me forward and through the novel, little to help me engage emotionally with the snapshots of characters portrayed. I guess that's my beef with literary fiction in general—why should I waste my time reading an author who is writing for the sake of writing? Now, this is not what other readers and reviewers of Morrison will tell you in their effusive praise of her work. A few are linked below. So if you like this kind of thing, you're going to love A Mercy.

As a note, on Goodreads I gave it two stars. My actual like of the book would have merited one star. However, it's craft merits five stars. So I compromised at two.

Other reviews:
1morechapter | Powell's Books | Book Chronicle

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

Don't forget about our Twelfth Night Celebration this coming Monday.

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period
by Gennifer Choldenko
YA fiction. 217 pp.
Harcourt. 2007.

flap copy:

For Kirsten McKenna, the world is crumbling. Her parents are barely speaking to each other, and her best friend has come under the spell of the school's queen bee, Brianna. Only Kirsten's younger science-geek sister is on her side.

For Walker Jones, the goal is to survive at the new white private school his mom has sent him to because she thinks he's going to screw up like his cousin. (Walk keeps telling her, "Don't have to worry, Momma. Before I go bad I'll let you know, send a Hallmark card ready-made for the occasion . . . 'On the eve your son messes up.'")

But Walk is a good kid. So is his new friend, Matteo, though no one knows why Matteo will do absolutely anything that hot blond Brianna asks of him.

Then Kirsten discovers something that shakes her and Walk to their cores . . .

"You knew all along," Walk says.

"No I didn't."

"You're lying . . . You found out and then you told the whole world."

Completed June 16.

I remember nothing about this book. Even the book blurb isn't helping me this time. I apparently Goodreaded it three stars. Perhaps I should downgrade that since it obviously wasn't memorable.

That said, you should probably just check out these other reviews:

Book Addiction | Becky's Book Reviews

Zen and the Art of Faking It

Don't forget about our Twelfth Night Celebration this coming Monday.

Zen and the Art of Faking It
by Jordan Sonnenblick
MG fiction. 264 pp.
Scholastic. 2007.

flap copy:

When the going gets tough—fake it!

Look, I didn't ask to move to Nowheresville, Pennsylvania. I stick out here like a squid on Mount Everest. The way I figure it, blending in won't make people like me. Or solve my huge family problems. Or get me noticed by Woody, the fearless, wild-haired, guitar-rocking girl of my dreams—without getting my butt kicked buy her huge, evil friend.

Blending in is impossible. So maybe it's time to stand out.

Meet San Lee, a (sort of) innocent teenager, who moves against his will to a new town. Things get interesting when he (sort of) invents a new past for himself, which makes him (sort of) popular. In fact, his whole school starts to (sort of) worship him, just because he (sort of) accidentally gave the impression that he's a reincarnated mystic.

When things start to unravel, San needs to find some real wisdom in a hurry. Can he patch things up with his family, save himself from bodily harm, stop being an outcast, and maybe even get the girl? Sort of . . .

Completed June 11.

This was a cute story. I mean, how can you help but love a boy who finally gets something good from moving every year? Granted, declaring yourself a zen guru can't help but end poorly. But it was a cute story. Nothing to jump up and down about, but cute nonetheless.

Something Rotten

Don't forget about our Twelfth Night Celebration this coming Monday.

Something Rotten
by Jasper Fforde
Fantasy. 383 pp.
Penguin. 2004.

back copy:

Detective Thursday Next has had her fill of her responsibilities as the Bellman in Jurisfiction. Packing up her son, Friday, Thursday returns to Swindon accompanied by none other than the dithering Danish prince Hamlet. But returning to SpecOps is no snap—as outlaw fictioneer Yorrick Kaine plots for absolute power, the return of Swindon's patron saint foretells doom, and if that isn't bad enough, back in the Book World The Merry Wives of Windsor is becoming entangled with Hamlet. Can Thursday find a Shakespeare clone to stop this hostile takeover? Can she vanquish Kaine and prevent the world from plunging into war? And, most important, will she ever find reliable childcare? Find out in this totally original, action-packed romp, sure to be another escapist thrill for Jasper Fforde's legion of fans.

Completed July 19.

It has been well-established that I lurves me some Fforde. This has been my least favorite book in the series. Not that that's bad—it's still Fforde and it's still the brilliant world he's created. But I think I might be burning out a bit on it. I think that's why I just recently finally started the fifth novel in the series. Regardless, you should read The Eyre Affair so that you too can fall in love with the series.

Alt Ed

Don't forget about our Twelfth Night Celebration this coming Monday.

Alt Ed
by Catherine Atkins
YA fiction. 198 pp.
Speak. 2003.

back copy:

Susan Callaway, bullied and overweight, faces daily humiliation at the hands of her classmates—and she's had enough. With her anger about to reach the boiling point, Susan lands in an alternative education class, a sort of group therapy for the nearly expelled. School is bad enough, but facing off with five peers, including her cruelest tormentor, is worse. Now Susan is being forced to do something she's always avoided—talk about herself and listen to what other people have to say about her. She has two choices: find her voice, or be prepared to take the insults in silence. It won't be easy, but alt ed may be just the last resort Susan needs.

Completed June 22.
Again, not much remembering going on here. Although I think that I'm more fond of it now than I might have been when I read it. On Goodreads, I gave it three stars, so it likely was just an average read. It likely had good resolution. I was likely frustrated with some of the characters. Perhaps, though, because The Breakfast Club is one of those movies from my youth, I couldn't help but not be impressed by this novel.

Strays

Don't forget about our Twelfth Night Celebration this coming Monday.

Strays
by Ron Koertge
YA fiction. 167 pp.
Candlewick. 2007.

flap copy:

"So where are you staying?" the dog asks.
"With some people who take care of strays."
"Like the pound?"
"Kind of."

Sixteen-year-old Ted O'Connor's parents just died in a fiery car crash, and now he's stuck with a set of semi-psycho foster parents, two foster brothers—Astin, the cocky gearhead, and C.W., the sometimes-gangsta—and an inner-city high school full of delinquents sure to eat him alive. He's having pretty much the worst year of his miserable life. Or so he thinks.

Completed June 21.

At this point, I remember rather little about this book. (This will also be the case for the next four reviews. But I must get these reviews posted so that I can finish my year-end post.) I picked it up because the premise—lonely boy talks to dogs—seemed rather intriguing. And I've enjoyed Koertge in the past. In the end, I enjoyed this book as well. At least that's the impression I have. There was nothing stellar to make it stand out, but it was a good book about learning to find your place in a new pack.

Science Fair

Science Fair
by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
MG fiction. 394 pp.
Disney. 2008.

flap copy:

Toby Harbinger, an eighth grader at Hubble Middle School near Washington, D.C., is in big trouble. He made the mistake of selling his dad's priceless original Star Wars blaster to a lunatic who thinks he's Darth Vader and travels with a large, hairy sidekick known as the Wookie. Now the lunatic wants more from Toby, whose only hope of getting out of this mess is to win first prize at the school science fair: $5000.

But others want the prize too—a group of rich students and their super-ambitious, high-powered parents, who will stop at nothing to see their spoiled kids win. What these parents don't know is that an evil mastermind is using them to get hold of top-secret military technology as part of a fiendish plan to destroy the United States.

When Toby discovers this plot, he and his two best friends, Tamara and Micah, try to alert the school authorities, including the fearsome principal, known as The Hornet. But powerful forces are working against Toby and his friends: they're snared in a frame-up and get taken into federal custody, facing espionage charges. Meanwhile, the mastermind proceeds with his evil plan of destruction.

In a desperate bid to escape, the kids find themselves in league with a fairly mad scientist and two bumbling foreign dignitaries armed with cheese so smelly it is used as wolf repellent. With the seconds ticking away and the FBI close on their heels, this bizarre band sets off on a madcap mission to stop the science fair—and save the country—before it's too late . . .

I picked up this book because I rather liked Peter and the Starcatchers by this duo but found my interest in their writing dwindling as the series progressed. So I figured this would be an excellent opportunity to see if it was the writing or the story that had lost me. By the time I finished Science Fair, I realized it was the writing.

The story itself has an intriguing premise and quirky characters. But it just doesn't come together in the end. Furthermore, the wit and charm seemed to be largely MIA. When all is said and done, I felt the book was far too long, and I was just yearning for it to be over. (Stupid Must-Finish-the-Book curse.)

Other reviews (these reviews actually like the book):
Christian Science Monitor | What Mary's Reading | Provo City Library

Swish

Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever
by Joel Derfner
Personal essay. 255 pp.
Broadway. 2008.

flap copy:

Joel Derfner is gayer than you. Don't feel too bad about it, though, because he has made being gayer than you his life's work. At summer day camp when he was six, Derfner tried to sign up for needlepoint and flower arranging, but the camp counselors wouldn't let him because, they said, those activities were for girls only. Derfner, just to be contrary, embarked that very day on a solemn and sacred quest: to become the gayest person ever. Along the way he has become a fierce knitter, an even fiercer musical theater composer, an so totally the fiercest step aerobics instructor (just ask him—he'll tell you himself).

In Swish, Derfner takes his readers on a flamboyant adventure along the glitter-strewn road from fabulous to divine. Whether he's confronting the demons of his past at a GLBT summer camp, using the Internet to "meet" men—many, many men—or plunging headfirst (and nearly naked) into the shady world of go-go dancing, he reveals himself with every gayer-than-thou flourish to be not just a stylish explorer but also a fearless one. So fearless, in fact, that when he sneaks into a conference for people who want to cure themselves of their homosexuality, he turns the experience into one of the most fascinating, deeply moving chapters of the book. Derfner, like King Arthur, Christopher Columbus, and Indiana Jones—but with a better haircut and a much deeper commitment to fad diets—is a hero destined for legend.

Written with wicked humor and keen insight, Swish is at once a hilarious look at contemporary ideas about gay culture and a poignant exploration of identity that will speak to all readers—gay, straight, and in between.

To say that I loved this book would be a bit of an understatement. Such joy and amusement while reading. (If you ask Dec, too much joy and amusement, otherwise he wouldn't have told me to be quiet so he could sleep or concentrate on his sudoku.) Derfner has a voice and attitude rather similar to Dan Savage, and I think we all know how much I love Savage. When it comes down to it, Derfner is a good cross between Savage (wit and wisdom) and Sedaris (narrative storytelling).

And when you read other reviews where they talk about how Derfner manages to carry you over a multitude of emotions, it's true. Really, the book was quite good in capturing a range of feelings and experience and juxtaposing them against unexpected backdrops. For example, the chapter about the ex-gays included an insightful discussion of the differences in forgiveness in the Jewish and Christian traditions and what it means to love one's self. Or this snippet from the chapter about teaching aerobics:

"What would you say being gay means to you?" my sociology-student friend had asked.

I had thought for a long time before saying, "It's nothing, and it's everything."

Yes, being gay is just one of a thousand thousand traits that make up my character, no more remarkable than my love of M&M's or my ability to mess up a room in fifteen seconds flat or my failure to understand the appeal of Luke and Owen Wilson.

But I believe that the desire to love and be loved is the strongest force on earth. And in that way, being gay affects every interaction in which I take part—just as being straight affects every interaction in which straight people take part. Every human motive is in the end a yearning for companionship, and every act of every person on this planet is an effort not to be alone. (129)

When all is said and done, Derfner is a pleasant read, with plenty of humor mixed in with thoughts and lessons about life, insecurity, self-worth, and love.

Other reviews:
Hawley Blog | Bilerico Project

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard
by J. K. Rowling
MG fantasy. 111 pp.
Levine. 2008.

back copy:

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers' attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger's new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot," "The Fountain of Fair Fortune," "The Warlock's Hairy Heart," "Babbitty Rabitty and Her Cackling Stump," and of course, "The Tale of the Three Brothers." But not only are they the equal of fairy tales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter.

I'm glad that Rowling is not letting the Harry Potter universe fade away. As I've noted before, I'm not overly fond of Harry himself, but I do like the universe in which he exists. So I'm glad we get some of the fairy tales that form the core of that universe. I'm pleased that we get Dumbledore's commentary with them; he's so much more likable than Harry.

The illustrations are the primary drawback I see to these books; I so very much prefer Mary GrandPré's style to Rowling's. (And can anyone explain the actual anatomy of the horse on page 70? I mean, is his leg supposed to be an extension of his neck? It's a minor thing, but it troubles me.)

One False Note

The 39 Clues: One False Note
by Gordon Korman
MG fiction. 174 pp.
Scholastic. 2008.

back copy:

The race is on to find 39 Clues that safeguard a great power, and fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her younger brother, Dan, are shocked to find themselves in the lead. The search seems to be taking them to Vienna, and they hold a coded piece of Mozart's sheet music that's key to finding the next Clue. But tailed by a pack of power-hungry relatives, Amy and Dan can't see if they are sailing toward victory—or straight into a deadly trap.

When I reviewed the first book in the series, I complained about the alternating first-person chapters, because I hated being in Amy's head. Fortunately, Korman has moved the story to third person, which works a lot better for me as a reader (even if I'm not fond of third-person omniscient or Korman's frequent shifts in character POV throughout the novel). I think it also works better for the story. There's something to be said for following the mystery while observing the action as opposed to being the action.

Korman downplayed much of the historical tidbittery of Mozart. Whereas this helped move the action along more smoothly, I miss the fleshing out of the historical character.

Perhaps the greatest improvement Korman has brought to the series is the diminished role of the Cahill cousins. I think it was important to get some heavy exposure to them in the first book, especially considering that they're the antagonists of the series. But I like not having to focus on so many of them all the time.

In the end, I'm really liking the way the series is progressing and developing. The multiple authors are going to provide some variety, and right now I'm okay with that. (We'll see how I like it after the third book, considering that I already love reading Riordan and Korman.)

Other review:
Help Readers Love Reading

Vintage

Vintage
by Steve Berman
YA Mystery. 200 pp.
Lethe. 2007.

back copy:

In a small town, a lonely teen walking along a highway one autumn evening meets the boy of his dreams, a boy who happens to have died decades ago and haunts the road. Awkward crushes, both bitter and sweet, lead him to face not only the ghost but youthful dreams and childish fears. With its cast of offbeat friends, antique Ouija boards, Vintage offers readers a memorable blend of dark humor, chills and love that is not your typical teen romance.

Completed June 14.

I'm frustrated that I've taken so long to get around to writing about this book. It's one of the stories I found most interesting this year. And this considering that I am not generally a fan of ghost stories. (Although, I guess that technically there are two ghost stories I've read in the last year that I've really liked.) Even today, there are particular scenes that were conceived so well that I can still visualize them. That's the talent of this author.

But.

I think the weakness of the book is that it gives off a self-published vibe.* I know I shouldn't disparage smaller, independent presses, but there's something that just seems to be lacking—spelling and punctuation errors, typesetting irregularities, general feel of the book. I realize that authors publish where a publisher expresses interest; I just feel that it's unfortunate for Vintage because this book is good and really deserves more attention, especially when you consider that it was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award presented by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. (More about this at Under the Covers, linked below.)

Other reviews:
Under the Covers | Elisa Rolle | Milkboys | Shooting Stars Mag

*about Lethe Press:

Lethe Press is an independent publishing house specializing in speculative fiction, books of gay interest, poetry, spirituality, as well as classic works of the occult & supernatural. Named after the Greek river of memory and forgetfulness (and pronounced Lee-Thee), Lethe Press is devoted to ideas that are often neglected or forgotten by mainstream publishers. Founded in 2001 by author Steve Berman, Lethe Press has grown steadily in its first few years. Our books have been finalists for, and in cases won, such awards as the Andre Norton, Gaylactic Spectrum, Golden Crown Literary, and Lambda Literary Awards. Our anthologies have featured the works of many acclaimed and New York Times best-selling authors.

Lethe Books are distributed by several wholesalers, including Baker & Taylor, Bookazine, and Ingram. Our books are easily ordered by libraries and all booksellers, both online and brick-and-mortar. We especially encourage our readers to patronize their local bookstores, in particular their local gay bookstores. It's worth the extra effort to support a community institution run by your neighbors!

The Book of Animal Ignorance

The Book of Animal Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong
by John Lloyd & John Mitchinson
Information. 241 pp.
Harmony. 2007.

flap copy:

Fast on the heels of the New York Times bestseller The Book of General Ignorance comes The Book of Animal Ignorance, a fun, fact-filled bestiary that is sure to delight animal lovers everywhere. Arranged alphabetically from aardvark to worm, here are one hundred of the most interesting members of the animal kingdom explained, dissected, and illustrated, with the trademark wit and wisdom of John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. Did you know, for instance, that

• when a young albatross takes wing, it may stay aloft for ten years
  
• vampire bat saliva—unsurprisingly, when you think about it—is the source of the world's most powerful blood thinning drug, appropriately called draculin
  
• bombardier beetles fire a boiling chemical spray out of their rears at 300 pulses per second
  
• a bald eagle's feathers weigh twice as much as its bones
  
• a giant tortoise recently died at the documented age of 255
  
• octopuses are dexterous enough to unscrew tops from jars
  
• spider silk is so light that a strand long enough to circle the world would weigh as much as a bar of soap

So meet the water bears that can live in suspension for hundreds of years, the parasite carried by your cat that makes men grumpy and women promiscuous, and the woodlouse that drinks through its bottom. Marvel at elephants that walk on tiptoe, pigs that shine in the dark, and woodpeckers that have ears on the ends of their tongues.

If you still think a pangolin is a musical instrument, that hyenas are dogs, or that sheep are pointless and stupid, The Book of Animal Ignorance has arrived just in time.

This is so my kind of nonfiction book. Trivia. Lots and lots o' trivia. It's smartly written. Entries are brief. It's quite an enjoyable book. And it's instructive.

Oh. And the authors are clearly dog people, which means they're good people.

What I Saw and How I Lied

What I Saw and How I Lied
by Judy Blundell
YA historical fiction. 281 pp.
Scholastic. 2008.

flap copy:

When Evie's father returned home from World War II, the family fell back into its normal life pretty quickly. But Joe Spooner brought more back with him than war stories. When movie-star handsome Peter Coleridge, a young ex-GI who served in Joe's company in postwar Austria, shows up, Evie is suddenly caught in a complicated web of lies that she only slowly recognizes. She finds herself falling for Peter, ignoring the secrets that surround him . . . until a tragedy occurs that shatters her family and breaks her life in two.

As she begins to realize that almost everything she believed to be a truth was rally a lie, Evie must get to the heart of the deceptions and choose between loyalty to her parents and feelings for the man she loves. Someone will have to be betrayed. The question is . . . who?

After my experience with Chains, I was not looking forward to continuing forward with the NBA finalists, especially considering that I've been avoiding the Lockhart book since its release. Fortunately, when the NBAs were announced, What I Saw came out as the winner.

Then I started the book. Despite an intriguing opening scene, I feared I was in for more blah. The beginning is slow. The initial looks at the characters are as through a dirty window. The setting and atmosphere are okay, but nothing to shake a stick at.

But then it kicks in. And the book is good. More than anything, Evie turns out to be phenomenal. Her growth and development is unexpected and wonderful. You watch her do hard things, impressed that she's actually able to do them. And yet she redeems herself so that you're not as worried about who she might become.

I really liked this book in the end. I liked the characterization and the setting, especially as Blundell managed to turn post-War Florida into a character itself. So I'm pleased it won the NBA, spurring me to read it.

Other reivews:
Becky's Book Reviews | YA Books Central | The Virtual Loft

Cal Cameron by Day, Spider-Man by Night

Cal Cameron by Day, Spider-Man by Night
by A. E. Cannon
YA fiction. 133 pp.
Delacorte. 1988.

flap copy:

Cal Cameron, high school jock and superhero comic book fanatic, is an insider at Scenic View High School. He's popular and he does the "right things." But Cal's life isn't as perfect as it looks. His cranky old granddad practically lives in Cal's back pocket, and Cal resents his brilliant sci-fi nut brother whose friends go to restaurants dressed as their favorite science-fiction characters. It is his emotionally distant father, with whom Cal has nothing in common, who saddens him the most.

But at the beginning of his junior year, cal's popular facade disappears. his heart isn't in anything—not even football. It's a time of crisis for Cal Cameron.

Enter Marti Jeffs, who has legs "like Charles Atlas" and isn't ashamed of them. Brand-new at Scenic View High, Marti doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks about her. Cal, who has made a career of being "in," is fascinated by Marti. They become friends, but Cal is careful to pursue their relationship away from high school because Marti is so unlike Cal's friends, and around her Cal acts like a different person. Cal feels as though he's leading a double life—Cal Cameron by day, Spider-Man™ by night.

This provocative and engaging novel, winner of the Fifth Annual Delacorte Press Prize for an Outstanding Young Adult Novel, introduces a remarkable, appealing hero, and A. E. Cannon, a highly original and witty writer.

I have a tendency to be rather forthcoming with my thoughts about the books I read. Occasionally, I have thoughts about how unabashed I may have been. For example, sometimes an author will come across my blog. When that happens, I reread what I've written about their book. With the most recent time this has happened, I reread the review to discover that I didn't say anything positive about the book. And I felt bad about that, because the book wasn't bad; it was just mediocre. But more than that, I felt bad because I've met this author before (maybe a couple times even) and she is wonderful and nice. So I decided that I would remedy this by reading one of her other books.

Hence Cal Cameron. I'm actually a bit surprised that I hadn't read this particular book before, but I'm glad I hadn't. You see, it's nice to come across something that is older. It's oddly refreshing. It's nice to have a story that's told rather straight forwardly. It's nice to have normal characters who aren't riddled with dysfunction and abnormality. The writing is good. The characterization is good. Actually, this is how good the characterization is—Cannon actually got me to be sympathetic toward and like a quarterback. That in and of itself is a feat worth commending. I really like how she walked us through his growth to where he becomes a better, truly likable person.

Fobby tells me that he thinks I'll also like Charlotte's Rose, despite my strong misgivings toward pioneer stories. (Really, if you have read as many pioneer manuscript submissions as I have, you'd have your misgivings about pioneer stories as well. Just ask DesMama.) So maybe I'll pick that one up sometime soon.

Runaways

Runaways
Vol 1 (1–6): Pride & Joy
Vol 2 (7–12): Teenage Wasteland/Lost and Found
Vol 3 (13–18): The Good Die Young
Vol 4 (1–6): True Believers
Vol 5 (7–12): Escape to New York
Vol 6 (13–18): Parental Guidance
Vol 7 (19–24): Live Fast
by Brian K. Vaughan
Graphic Novel. 7 vols.
Marvel.

back copy, vol 1:

At some point in their lives, all young people believe their parents are evil . . but what if they really are?

Meet Alex, Karoline, Gert, Chase, Molly, and Nico—a group of teens whose lives are about to take an unexpected turn. When these six young friends discover their parents are all secretly super-powered villains, the shocked teenagers find strength in one another. Together, they run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives—vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy.

I don't read graphic novels very often as they're just not something I'm all that into. But someone at some point blogged about this series, and it sounded intriguing to me. Basically, you have a group of kids who discover that their parents are super villains who intend to bring about the end of the world. Throughout the series, you get some cross-pollination with other heroes (presumable from the Marvel universe, but my knowledge here is lacking). There's treachery and heroics and all sorts of stuff. I guess it was okay. If nothing else, they were easy Trax reads. I'm sure I know others who would appreciate them better than I do.

Chains

Chains
by Laurie Halse Anderson
YA historical fiction. 316 pp.
Simon & Schuster. 2008.

flap copy:

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight . . . for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.

From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.

I picked up Chains because it's one of the NBA finalists. I was looking forward to it because of its author. Unfortunately, I find myself grossly underwhelmed by it.

For starters, I just wasn't able to connect to the story or Isabel. I realize that part of this is because the protagonist is a slave and is, therefore, unable to effectively control her own life. Typically with a story like that, though, you are able to connect a bit more with the protagonist's character and thoughts, but I found that to be lacking even. Plotwise, it was slow. In terms of supporting characters, I feel the book lacked nuance; characters were either good or they were bad. I guess you did get some middle ground with the minor minor characters, though.

On the plus side, the voice seemed unique and consistent throughout. And the typesetting is phenomenal. Actually, the typesetting is really the only thing I feel is truly worth commending this novel. Otherwise, truth be told, it was just a female version of Octavian Nothing, which holds the distinction of being one of the more boring books I've ever read.

Other reviews:
Abby (the) Librarian | Becky's Book Reviews | Jen Robinson's Book Page

The Adventures of You

Fabulous Terrible: The Adventures of You
by Sophie Talbot
YA fiction. 231pp.
Chooseco. 2008.

back copy:

In six short months, your entire life has gone into turnaround . . .

"Oh my God. Emily, I got in!!!

Trumbull Woodhouse! THE most exclusive, most expensive, most amazing all-girl boarding school has just accepted YOU! It's the school that turns out famous CEOs, notorious movie stars, and even a Nobel prize winner. And you? You're just this girl from Hatterly, South Carolina. Just some orphan kid with a dysfunctional foster family and a secret.

What secret? You see things. Things from the future. Whole scenes, actually—like movies in your brain, only then they turn out to be real. You used to think everyone got them . . . but then people started to think you were crazy. So you stopped talking about them, and now your episodes are getting worse. How are you going to hide them living with a bunch of strangers 24/7?

You try to stay below the radar and fit into your new life, that's how. But an unknown enemy tries to undermine your every effort to belong. Meanwhile, you begin to suspect your new alma mater has a past as strange and difficult as your own. A society sworn to uphold the founder's deepest secrets has become divided. A war for power seethes just under the campus's placid calm. And a mysterious missing book of predictions is about to change your world forever . . .

I have mixed feelings about this book. There are some things I rather like. There are some things I find intriguing. There are some things that drive me crazy. It's been a week since I finished it, and I'm still not sure how I really feel about it.

Let's just get this out of the way . . . Spelling and punctuation is often a disgusting mess. It's not the worst I've seen this year, but it's downright lamentable.

The plot is sloooooooooow. Aside from the introductory parts, you really don't have anything happen until maybe fifty pages form the end. However. Once that plot starts, it's actually quite interesting. Sure, it's a take on Harry Potter, but the environment works. And the premise that's finally explained is interesting enough that I'm considering reading the second book. (I don't see it listed online, though the third book is.)

The characters are conceived well. I think the author has done a good job of taking stock characters and tweaking them just enough that they're clear and interesting individuals.

The point where I'm most befuddled about my feelings is the voice. To preface, the publisher is the same as produced the Choose Your Own Adventure books that I dearly loved in my youth. They were fun and empowering for a reader. This book, as were those, is told in the second person. I find the novelty of that to be intriguing, and so when the publisher sent me the book, I was anxious to read it and see how it worked.

I'm not sure if it does. You see, second person more directly places the reader in the protagonist's body. With the CYOA books, this worked because the reader was able to make decisions that affected the plot that he or she was reading. This book, though, is a straight narrative told in that voice. I personally found myself conflicted because this character was now imposing her values on me. And there were decisions she made that I strongly disagreed with, but I had no choice but to go through with them. She was much more passive than I, and she withheld information from others when I wouldn't have. As a reader, this left me with a bit of anxiety. It's one thing to identify with a character, but it's quite another to be a character.

When all is said and done, I'm left feeling that this story might have been better told in first person. I think it would have flowed more naturally and been more compelling.

Even so, as I said, I'm mixed on my review. I think I'll give the second book a chance to see how it fairs.

Mothstorm

Mothstorm; or, The Horror from Beyond Uranus Georgium Sidus; or, A Tale of Two Shapers: A Rattling Yarn of Danger, Dastardy and Derring-Do upon the Far Frontiers of British Space!
As Told by Art Mumby, Esq. (with the Usual Interpolations by Miss Myrtle Mumby) to Mr Philip Reeve (Purveyor of Scientific Romances to the Discerning Gentry) & Illuminated Throughout by Mr David Wyatt ('The Devonshire Da Vinci')
MG fantasy. 387 pp.
Bloomsbury. 2008.

flap copy:

Say it isn't so! A sinister cloud has appeared on the edge of the Known Universe, and it seems to be moving closer. The nearest planer, Georgium Sidus, has but two human inhabitants: the missionary reverend Cruet and his daughter, Charity. Their last communication? 'Great danger—imperative that—' And then nothing. To determine the nature of the threat and rescue the Cruets, Art, Myrtle and family decide to bravely go where only one man and his daughter have gone before.

But the mothy evils they discover within the monstrous cloud are far beyond anything their imaginations could concoct (and that's saying quite a lot). Lucky, then, that Jack Havock is hot on their heels to help in battle to save the Universe . . . again.

So, after much waiting, I finally got my book. Not from the Devil's Den, mind you, but from your good old-fashioned neighborhood independent bookstore.

Really, there's not much to say about Mothstorm that hasn't been said about the previous two books in the series. I enjoy the voice and writing. I enjoy the story and the alternative world the author has created. It all just makes me quite happy.

If anything, I'm just disturbed that I can't seem to come across any reviews of it online. That's just not right. It must needs be more popular than it is.

Out of Patience

Out of Patience
by Brian Meehl
YA fiction. 292 pp.
Delacorte. 2006.

flap copy:

Twelve-year-old Jake Waters is mortified by his dad's dream of opening the American Toilet Museum. Jake's heard enough about antique toilet seats, royal chamber pots, and vintage plumbers. Toilets have caused enough turmoil in Patience, Kansas, already.

You see, Patience is cursed. Has been ever since 1877, when Jeremiah Waters installed the first flush toilet west of the Mississippi. The Dolphin Deluge Wash-Down Water Closet caused a mighty big stink, and since then Patience has been drying up like a cow pie in August. Sure, Jake likes playing work-up baseball with his pals Howie and Sira, but he's tired of waiting for the curse to finish off their tiny town.

Jake wants out of Patience.

Sure enough, when Jake's father brings an ancient relic back home for his museum, it triggers the curse's last promise: "The day the Plunger of Destiny returns, the final destruction begins!" As clouds of doom gather, Jake is torn between the urge to run and the desire to do the one thing that might save Patience: solve the mystery of what happened the day Jeremiah Waters last sat in the water closet of doom.

Join Jake and his friends as they try to flush out the truth in Brian Meehl's twisted tale of pipe dreams and toilet trouble.

I got this book a while ago because it sounded quirky and fun. Then it ended up on the To Read Pile of Doom, and eventually settled down to the point where it finally winded up shelved and unread. While I was shelving the books I've bought and read in the last few months, I remembered that I had this book as I put Suck It Up, also by Meehl, in its place. This weekend, because I finished a couple books and Mothstorm still hadn't come in from the Devil's Den and I was just having a hard time getting into Inkdeath, I decided to pick this off the shelf.

I'm so glad I did.

Out of Patience is delightfully quirky in the same way that Holes is quirky, though not quite as complicated. And what's not to love about a story that revolves around the history of toilets and plungers and a bizarre curse? Where the local baseball team gets up for the Seventh Inning Stench as the trucks from the local fertilizer company drive by making their deliveries? The characters are realistic and truly likable. I think this is something Meehl does well, as I compare his two books. He creates protagonists that are quirky and lovable and who you really want to succeed.

Anyway, I recommend this book to those who enjoyed Suck It Up or Holes.