A little cheesy, but oh, so good!

Started off my evening with Scott Morse's The Magic Pickle, a graphic novel (in full color!) published by Scholastic Graphix, which also publishes the Bone series. Must say that I was mildy amused by the tale of a cyrogenically frozen pickle ("Weapon Kosher") with super powers who must defeat a cadre of evil vegetables. ("They's reunited... the entire BROTHERHOOD OF EVIL PRODUCE!") Helped along by Jo Jo Wigman, whom he meets when he pops into her bedroom and fries the footies off her jammies, the magic pickle manages to fend off attacks from the Romaine Gladiator and save the world... for now. I'm currently holding this until one of my students finishes Chasing the Falconers-- he doesn't want to read anything but graphic novels, so I'm trying to broaden his scope. There are two sequels out, and you I'm buying.

I'm well aware that the Students Across the Seven Sea series is formulaic, but I do love them, and the latest installment, When Irish Guys are Smiling, from Suzanne Supplee, was particularly good. Delk (Odd name.) wants to study abroad because she is still grieving for her mother, who passed away two years ago, and is tired of dealing with her young, pregnant stepmother who wants to redecorate away all traces of any former life. In Ireland, she makes new friends, travels, and has a sweet romance with local sheep farmer's son. Lots of details about the countries make all of these interesting, but this one stands out because Delk whines less than many of the other main characters.

How could you not read this title by Brian James? Zombie Blondes. Hannah has moved around a lot with her constantly out-of-work father, and is desperate to fit in with the popular crowd at school, even though her friend Lukas claims that all of the cheerleaders are in fact zombies, and want to make her one as well. He might be right-- how else to explain all of the houses for sale and the strange dissappearance of classmates overnight? The brilliant part of this novel was that I wasn't entirely sure the cheerleaders were really zombies, or if Lukas felt that way because he had been friends with one until she became a cheerleader, and he used the term to describe her midless adherence to their social mores. Are they really zombies? You decide. This one will circulate without any prompting from the librarian.