Bestest. Skateboarding. Zombies.

Sharif. Medeia. Bestest. Ramadan. Ever.
Almira would really like to be true to her religious heritage and make her Muslim grandfather proud of her by fasting for Ramadan without cheating, but it's hard. When things get tense at school, whether with her best friend Lisa or her crush Peter, a cookie would really make things better. While her parents are not religious, her grandfather is, and now that he is teaching Almira to drive, she realizes how different his opinions are from her own. Life has its ups and downs; she and Peter get closer and closer, but her father gets upset about her pictures of male stars on her computer. She does well on her fast, but she and Lisa fight. Just like any high schooler, Almira must figure out the best way to strike a balance for herself.
Strengths: This is a great, every day life girl book where the main character is Muslim. She has troubles with friends, boys and food. The cover will make lots of readers pick it up. And of course, there are so few books with Muslim main characters not set in predominately Islamic world that this is all the better. In fact, my only fiction with Muslim main characters are the following:
Abdel-Fattah. Does My Head Look Big in This; Ten Things I Hate About Me. (Australia)
Al-Windawi, Thura. Thura's Diary: My Life in Wartime Iraq (Iraq)
Clinton. A Stone in My Hand. (Set in Gaza)
Robert. From Somalia with Love. (London)
Staples. Under the Persimmon Tree (set in Pakistan)
Weaknesses: Almira whines a bit much for my taste, and the writing was repetitive on occasion and could have used a little more editing. (Her mother is hot, she likes-Peter-does-he-like-her etc.) That said, if I wrote a realistic fiction book, my style would probably be very much like this.

Walter, Eric. Grind.
FINALLY!!! A skateboarding book my boys will like! Phil Falcone loves to skate; he'd rather do that than go to his first period class. Unfortunately, he's not a great skater and is prone to injury. When he and his friend Wally meet Bam Bam, a famous skateboarder, they learn that he is making money from running a web site and decide to pursue their own. Phil's ex-girlfriend Lisa and a tech-savvy friend help them put together a site, talk it up in chat rooms, and score sponsors. The site is successful, but Lisa still won't forgive Phil for their misunderstanding, and injuries threaten the future of their site.

Strengths: Not preachy like a lot of books on skateboarding. Illegal skating is addressed but not looked down upon, and the lucrative skateboarding site is a somewhat fantastical touch. Like in The Secret Ingredient, I find it hard to believe that the sites would get that many hits. Either that, or I am not a smart blogger. (Entirely possible!)
Weaknesses: Same as strengths. As a parent, I was concerned about lack of safety. Also, while Orca books are great, the Follett bound versions have such small margins. I would love to see these reformatted.

McElligott, Matthew. Benjamin Franklinstein Meets the Fright Brothers.
From the Publisher: ""Wherein is contained an accounting of the quest by our subject and his young compatriots to solve a mystery of vampires terrorizing the great city of Philadelphia.". Benjamin Franklin returns from the dead, moves into Victor Goodwin's downstairs apartment, and faces peril from vampires in Philadelphia, a pair of bike shop owners, and a shadowy figure known as 'the Emperor.'" Sequel to Benjamin Franklinstein Lives!

This falls on the elementary side of the Pilkey Line but would be great for elementary boys who like Steampunk. While the historical inventors being brought back to life are not technically zombies, that's what the cover would indicate, and my readers, while frothing at the mouth for zombie books, are more interested in zombie fighting and gore than humorous takes on their antics.

All These Things I've Done Giveaway

When I saw the description of this new Gabrielle Zevin book, All These Things I've Done, in a Follett catalog, I knew I had to read it. I was jealous that Ms. Martin was hosting a giveaway, but when I checked my e mail, Zeitghost Media asked me if I wanted to host one as well! Absolutely. How could you not love this description:"In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family."

Want to read it? Shoot me an e mail at msyingling (AT) yahoo (DOT) com. You get an extra entry if you are a follower, and another extra entry if you link to this post. Just let me know! (I'm feeling tech challenged today or would have an easy to use form!) Winners will be drawn by a panel of independent judges. (Probably student library assistants.)

Here's a trailer for the book as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym0meJp1wIU

Down to the Sea in Ships

Peck, Richard. Secrets at Sea.
Publication date 13 October 2011. ARC received from Dial Books.

Helena, a mouse, and her two sisters and small brother live a quiet life with the Cranston family in Cleveland in 1887. When the family decides to go to London to try to find a husband for Olive, the mice decide to go along even though they hate the water. On board, they are quickly made at home by Nigel, a mouse steward who has the brother work for him, and the Duchess of Cheddar Gorge, who is concerned that Helena's humans are not behaving in a way that will accomplish their goals. Life at sea has it's moments of adventure, but the main concern is the social life of the people and the mice. In the end, both Olive and her sister find suitors, and the mouse family also find various occupations as the result of the trip.

Strengths: For me to make it all the way to the end of a talking mouse book and enjoy it is something. I've been hankering for Marjorie Sharp's Miss Bianca for a while, ever since seeing Sean Ashby's Basil of Baker Street reimagined cover, and this was a worthy successor. The book is very graphically pleasing, with good spacing of the print and fine pictures, although Mr. Ashby's would have been even better!
Weaknesses: I've been trying to get Warriors fans to read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH with no success; even Redwall has been a hard sell. I know that mice have been a hot topic lately; Voigt came out with Young Fredle, and Lowry has Bless This Mouse, but it just must be something that younger students like. Also, it would be nice if publishers would print the e mail of the person to whom I should send the review link.


Korman, Gordon. Unskinkable: Titanic Book One
Several young people from widely disparate backgrounds end up on the Titanic: Paddy was a street criminal who ran afoul of a gang and saw his best friend beaten to death, Sophie is the embarrassed daughter of an outspoken suffragette, Alfie lies about his age in order to work on the ship and be near his father, and Juliana is a daughter of privilege. The four interact on the ship; we know that disaster is coming, but they don't! I can't wait until Collision Course and S.O.S. come out!

Strengths: There have been a lot of books coming out about the Titanic, since it is the 100th anniversary of its sinking, and it is a topic that is always interesting to middle school students. Korman's short, three book series like Island and Dive are really brilliant; they essentially trick children into reading a much longer book, just broken up into sections!
Weaknesses: I should have waited to buy this until the entire series was out, because students will be bugging me for the next volumes!

Timeslip Tuesday

Timeslip Tuesday was started by Charlotte at Charlotte's Library.

West, Jacqueline. Spellbound. (The Books of Elsewhere #2)
Olive is still getting in trouble in her big stone house that was built by an evil magician. She's trying to get Morton out of his painting, but without the glasses that let her into the paintings, she must rely of the three cats, who are not being helpful. When Rutherford, an annoying boy obsessed with trivia, moves in next door, he suggests that Olive find the McMartin's grimoire, or spellbook, and use that to get Martin out. After an extensive search, Olive finds the book, but strange things start to happen once she does. Why is her neighbor, Mrs. Nivens, sneaking around? Will Annabelle manage to come back? Will she ever be able to get Morton out of the painting? Olive must use the magic at her disposal for good, rather than evil, to accomplish this.
Strengths: This sequel to The Shadows has lots of good, creepy moments, and lots of magic is being used. I'm starting to get a lot more requests for books involving magic. While technically not a time travel book, this does mess with the space/time continuum, so we'll count it!
Weaknesses: The title. Titles? Rather confusing, and just not strong.


Odyssey, Shawn Thomas. The Wizard of Dark Street.
Oona's uncle is the wizard in charge of keeping Dark Street hidden from both the citizens of New York in 1877 and keeping it safe from the fairies, with whom the denizens of the street had an epic battle. When he is supposedly killed at an interview for his apprentice, Oona starts to investigate. She was supposed to be his apprentice, but wants to give up magic for detective work. The investigation becomes more pressing when Oona finds out that Pendulum House, where the wizard always lives, is about to be torn down and converted into a beach themed resort by Red Martin, who hopes to make a lot of money by opening the street up to citizens of New York. Oona thinks she knows what has happened to her uncle, but she must figure out a way to bring him back, keep Red Martin from tearing down the house, and find out what evil forces are behind her uncle's disappearance in the first place.

Strengths: A convincing fantasy world and a strong main character make this a fresh entry into a genre that has a lot of really bad books! Fans of Mebus' Gods of Manhattan will like another book where New York is almost a character.
Weaknesses: I didn't quite believe that Oona's misplaced use of magic resulted in the death of her mother and sister-- wasn't someone watching her? I would have been happier if she would have had another objection to becoming the wizard after her uncle.

Middle Grade Nonfiction In My Mailbox Monday

It's Middle Grade Monday over at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe. Nonfiction Monday was started by Anastasia Suen. The Round Up today is at Playing By The Book. In My Mailbox Monday is hosted by The Story Siren; since these three came in a Follett order on Friday, we're going to count them.

Rubalcaba, Jill. and Cline, Eric H. Digging for Troy: From Homer to Hisarlik.

This relatively short (66 pages) nonfiction book is a must have for middle schools that cover ancient Greece in the 7th grade curriculum, as well as a great addition to high school libraries that teach The Odyssesy. It's hard to explain to students why there may or may not be an actual site of Troy; since even Schliemann was a little muddled on that point, it's no wonder students are confused. Rubalcaba (the author of the excellent

The Wadget Eye) and Cline do a great job of explaining the excavations at Hisarlik, and include a chapter on the story of the Trojan War, which is very helpful. They then proceed to explain how excavations were carried on over a period of years, and how each layer added to our understanding of Bronze Age life. I especially appreciated how the different primary archaeologists of the site were covered; I spent many long hours in the Carl Blegen Library at the University of Cincinnati.

Strengths: Well illustrated, brief but informative, this is a fantastic overview for understanding Hisarlik and it's relationship to Troy. The cover is wonderful as well.

Weaknesses: Some sidebars explaining people, places, etc.

could have been added, making this a little easier for a teacher to use to introduce the topic to classes.

Brevard, Katherine Mclean. The Story of Guns: How They Changed the World.

Starting in Ancient China, this book gives a brief overview of the development and use of guns throughout history. Period pictures illustrate different types of guns, and sidebars describe different related topics such as gunpowder or child soldiers. Focusing on wars that added much to the development of guns, this ends with World War II and Vietnam, then continues with a chapter on the spread of arms through the world and ends with a chapter on "A World Transformed by Violence".

Strengths: This is a nicely balanced account; while it gives damning statistics about gun deaths in the US, it also explains that gun rights are important to many Americans as well. This is a topic that many boys are interested in, and since this is very historically based, I don't mind having it in the library.

Weaknesses: Several years ago, the principal told me to remove all the gun books from the library; since most of them were bought by the former librarian who was a rabid supported of the NRA, I didn't mind, because the books were not balanced. I do worry that someone will want me to get rid of this one or have concerns about

certain students reading it, even though it is a historical overview and not anything advocating that 7th graders bring guns to school.

Dessen, Sarah. What Happened to Goodbye.

Mclean's father has a consulting job that requires him to move from town to town to try to resurrect struggling restaurants. Since Mclean doesn't want to live with her mother (who left her father for the head basketball coach of a team her father loved) and her new family, this means that Mclean moves as well. To cope with this, she has taken to reinventing herself at every new town-- peppy cheerleader, Goth girl, mop wringer. She is trying to create a new persona during her senior year at her newest town when she meets Dave and his friends and is caught off guard, revealing more of her real personality than she would like. She also gets invested in the restaurant her father is supposed to close down. She is still angry at her mother, who wants Mclean to spend more time with her. There's plenty of drama, but a nice solution.

Strengths: It occurred to me that the reason middle grade students like to read Sarah Dessen is that the slightly older girls have much more autonomy than they have. In most of the books, at least one parent is somewhat removed from daily life, and the characters are allowed to travel about town freely. I'm so glad that Dessen makes these appropriate for middle school students; most reviews list this as 8th grade and up, but there is nothing that would be objectionable to younger students. Or, more importantly, their parents!

Weaknesses: This didn't have quite the oomph of Lock and Key or Along for the Ride, but was good nonetheless. Have concerns about the cover dating quickly-- see? Low ride jeans don't look good on anyone!

Bad Taste in Boys

Harris, Carrie. Bad Taste in Boys.
This is possibly the worst book cover I have ever seen. Nothing about this cover indicates that it is an excellent, fairly gory ZOMBIE book. I'm going to have to offer this book to boys open to page 151 and quote "Mike Luzier stood in the doorway. A piece of his scalp had ripped loose and was dangling to his shoulder. Blood dribbled from his mouth, and I wasn't sure whose it was. He wore his football uniform; his body was totally misshapen underneath it. He moved toward me with an uncoordinated lurch."

But the cover? Looks like a cheesy beach read about a girl in L.A. with a drug problem, bad collagen injections, and a violent dating history.

Instead, the story is a good zombie one. Kate is a trainer for the football team because she thinks it will look good on her med school application. In the coach's office, she finds unlabeled drug vials and suspects steroids, but when the football players start vomiting black gunk, looking as if they have died, and then coming back to attack people, she knows that something worse has happened. It's a localized zombie plague, starting in the performing enhancing injections the coach gave the football players, and spread by their bite. When Kate realizes that she is not exhibiting symptoms after exposure, she figures out that her epilepsy medication is keeping them at bay and sets out to try to control the plague before it gets any worse.

Strengths: Zombies. Football. Black viscous vomit. Body parts plinking off. I also really liked Kate. The budding romance between her and a football player is a nice touch. I love Carrie Harris' web site, and I hope that she can translate her love of monsters into some nice, gory, Paul Zindel Rats-like books!
Weakness: Wow. The cover. Really, I have no other objections, but I am either going to have to wait for a paperback copy with a different cover or create a new one myself. Why not a zombie football player on the front?

Sorry about the ranting and gauntlet flinging this week. I said I would stop the personality leakage after the summer, but it only got worse. Next week-- only book reviews!

Guy Friday-- Gauntlet Flinging.

Hey, you! HarperCollins! (Jab, jab.) I'm glad that you are publishing the Guys Read series and put together awesome panels of authors of books for boys at an American Library Association event in 2007 (Which Robert Lipsyte talks about here) and at Book Expo America. I believe at one point, the word lucrative was bandied about, and that's what I want to talk about today.

You can make money selling books for boys! All you need to do is to become a one stop source for harried female librarians, teachers and parents who really don't have a clue what boys want to read.

Have you done a web search for "books for boys" recently? You don't find much, and most lists are outdated. Even Guys Read could be a little better. I spend hours looking for books for boys and still struggle to find them. Hours.

Are you not making money on Tim Green's books? Because I buy two or three copies of each of those titles. Penguin isn't making money off the thirteen copies of Anthony Horowitz's Stormbreaker that I have? Little, Brown doesn't find Darren Shan remunerative? Simon and Schuster recently saw the light about publishing a fourth Monstrumologist book by Rick Yancey (I bought three of the first.). Random House has a list of boy books-- they manage to put 17, going all the way back to The Book of Three in 1965. Only 17 books in 46 years? Come on! And what's the HarperTeen list? Michael Grant, Pittacus Lore, and a hundred women?

And shame on you, HarperCollins, for not bringing Barry Hutchison's Invisible Fiends books to the US. Seriously, what on earth are you thinking? Do they not make money in the UK?

This is what we need: A web site that says "Hey, girl librarians recommending books to boys are busy! Let us help! Look, focus groups of actual boys like THESE books."

Please give us:

1. Lists!
2. More books guys like!
3. Reviews of these books!
4. A frequently updated blog of guy related book news!

Sure, authors don't want to write for just one gender and lose sales or readers. But if the studies (Center on Education Policy, ALA) are correct and boys struggle with school because they aren't reading as much, isn't it worth it?

Like it or not, by middle school and high school, there is a dichotomy between boys and girls. They don't sit at the same lunch tables, they don't watch the same t.v. shows, they don't wear the same clothes, and they don't always read the same books.

Men in publishing, men authors, men teachers and men librarians, if you want to help boys get books, please help the girls in the front lines.

I'm a girl. There's only so much that I can do. And you can bet I'm not wearing boys' underwear.

My Brother's Shadow

Schröder, Monika. My Brother's Shadow.
Published on 27 September. ARC received from Ms. Schröder.

For Moritz, the war First World War has gone on too long. His father was killed, his younger sister died of the Spanish flu, and his brother is currently off fighting. While he like his job as a printer at the newspaper, he is not happy that his mother has to work in a factory instead of staying at home doing sewing. He's even less pleased to find that she has become increasingly active in the socialist party and is against the Kaiser. Moritz is involved briefly with a gang of thugs with whom his brother Hans "found" food supplies but feels uncomfortable stealing things. When his mother is sought by the police and his brother comes home from the war gravely injured and angry, Moritz is torn between supporting the beliefs of his family and being true to his own. This is made even more difficult when he meets a Jewish girl, Rebecca, and falls in love with her.

Strengths: The detail of everyday life in this period is wonderfully researched, from the description of the food to the activities of young men like Hans. The story is a complex one, and the point of view of a German is something all too rare in young adult literature. The historical notes at the end are very helpful and made me want to know what Moritz and Rebecca's experience would be during World War II, when they would possibly have been parents of children who would have been considered Jewish.
Weaknesses: This is an excellent book, and I already have three boys interested in it, but because of the current bee in my bonnet about books for boys, this seemed slightly lacking in action. I am hoping that given the quality of the story, the boys won't notice!

Why Jarrett Krosoczka Read Anne of Green Gables: A Putative Tale

First, I want everyone with 20 minutes to spare and a desire to find good books for boys to rush over to Mr. Krosoczka's blog and watch the video of the HarperCollins Guys Read Panel at Book Expo America. Really. It's good stuff, especially the part about Mr. Krosoczka reading my very favorite book in the world, Anne of Green Gables. My thought, however, was "Why on earth would his librarian hand him that?" Here is my speculation:

When the boys who were trying to hide in the library, giggling over books on pandas with the pretense of needing a nonfiction book finally went back to the cafeteria, Ms. Medias thought she might be able to step out of the library briefly.

But one boy remained.

He wasn't a bad boy, but all he checked out were drawing books. She'd tried, over the past two years, to give him some novels, but he wouldn't read anything. Politely, he'd declined The Chocolate War, The Contender, and The Book of Three. Said "no" to a biography of Michaelangelo. Turned down Hatchet, Bearstone, Ghost Brother, and The Man Who Was Poe. But now he was wandering in the fiction again, gazing about him with a stricken, persecuted look that Ms. Medias knew all too well.

"Jarrett, do you need a book today?" she asked.

Jarrett sighed. It was Thursday, and his language arts book report was due on Monday. None of the books appealed to him. He loved to draw, and nothing had pictures. Why didn't stories have pictures anymore? Not babyish pictures, but awesome pictures of superheroes saving the world from imminent cosmic destruction, or spies blowing things up or... well, anything. But they didn't. He sighed again and nodded his head wearily.

"Well," Ms. Medias said, bouncing up and down just a bit, "what sounds good today? History? Fantasy? Sports? Adventure?"

I want a story about an evil language arts teacher who tortures her students by making them write journals about how they feel about Bridge to Terebithia, he wanted to say. I want an avenger to make her stop having kids do graphic organizers on the plot elements of The Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Instead, he just shook his head.

"How about a funny book? We have a new Gordon Korman. Or some Brian Jacques. Have you read Redwall?" Ms. Medias glanced at the clock. It was 12:10. Lunch would be over soon, and she hadn't left the library since 7:30 that morning. Jarrett shook his head again. She walked him over to the new book shelf by the circulation desk.

"Do any of these look good? We just got in a new shipment. This Park's Quest is good. Or some Walter Dean Myers. What do you feel like reading today?"

Jarrett could see the students standing up in the cafeteria, ready to be dismissed to their next class. Ms. Medias, while helpful, was starting to have a scary, somewhat wild look in her eyes, and she kept fidgeting in a way that made him nervous.

"Anything. I'll read anything. It just has to be over 200 pages long."

The bell was about to ring. Ms. Medias had a research class coming in right at the start of the next period, and the library was booked solid after that until school let out at 3:15.

She grabbed the first book she saw and thrust it into his hands. Only when he looked at the cover did she notice what she handed him.

"Anne of Green Gables?" he asked.

"It's my absolute favorite," Ms. Medias replied as she stamped the book and handed it back to him. "You'll love it."

And then she ran to the bathroom.

Now is the Time for MORE BOY BOOKS!

Williams, Michael. Now Is The Time For Running.
Deo and his brother Innocent do their best to enjoy life in their Zimbabwean village even though war rages around them and they are constantly hungry. When the soldiers come and demand food from an American shipment that has not arrived, Innocent, who is mentally challenged, gets upset and runs off. When the brothers return to the village, their family and many of their neighbors have been killed. They take off to seek the help of their mother's friend, but are told that they will need to go to South Africa in order to be safe. After a harrowing trip across a wild animal preserve, they make it to South Africa, where they are glad to get low paying jobs on a tomato farm. When the locals start harassing them for being foreign, they go to the big city and find a community under a bridge, where they set up residence, and Deo is able to play soccer again. There is still a lot of prejudice and hatred against foreigners, and Deo is not able to keep Innocent safe.

Strengths: Like Perkins' Bamboo People, this is a harrowing account of a place in the world with which many students will not be familiar. While we have not had any students from Zimbabwe, we have many from Ghana and Somalia, and this might help students understand why so many family flee their own countries and come to the United States. Boys will like this because of the difficulties faced by Deo. There's definitely an adrenaline rush in both the descriptions of fighting and soccer.
Weaknesses: This might be too violent for 5th and 6th graders, but is certainly something that older students should read.


Hays, Anna. Portia's Exclusive and Confidential Rules on True Friendship.
Sequel to Portia's Ultra Mysterious Double Life

Portia lives with her mother who runs an organic vegetarian restaurant and frequently makes Portia eat her odd experiments. A new girl who is very fond of animals of all kinds, Misty, who enlists Portia's help with all manner of bug and critter related tasks and mysteries. A budding detective, Portia is also trying to find her father, not alienate her best friend, Amy, and keep up with her school work.
Strengths: The girls love the Aladdin Mix books and will often read one a night. Anything dealing with friendship is an easy sell in middle school.
Weaknesses: This was published in 2009 and already is technologically dated, since Portia relies heavily on her PDA. Now she would just have an iPhone. On a personal pet peeve level, I didn't like the goofy names, like Portia Avatar or Mr. Scuzzy, the teacher.


Alert reader Alex at The Children's War sent the following link to an excellent article by Robert Lipsyte about boys and reading: "Boys and Reading: Is There Any Hope?" (The illustration by Ed Nacional at left is from that article.) I talked to several parents at Curriculum Night last night about how difficult it can be to keep 8th grade boys reading. Given the list of Most Popular YA Books I posted yesterday, this quote rings especially true: "But I think it’s also about the books being published. Michael Cart, a past president of the Young Adult Library Services Association, agrees. “We need more good works of realistic fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, on- or ­offline, that invite boys to reflect on what kinds of men they want to become,” he told me. “In a commercially driven publishing environment, the emphasis is currently on young women.” And then some. At the 2007 A.L.A. conference, a Harper executive said at least three-­quarters of her target audience were girls, and they wanted to read about mean girls, gossip girls, frenemies and vampires. "

Amen! And what my boys really want are funny books about school situations, action books, and a little romance. Yes, romance, just from a boy perspective.

And skateboarding. I actually e mailed Mr. Lipsyte and asked that he write a skateboarding book. He said if he did, he would name a character after me. I'm still waiting!!

100 Most Popular YA Books

Found this list at Helen's BookBlog via Headful of Books via Rather Barefoot Than Bookless, which mentions finding the list on a Swedish site! This list is VERY heavy on paranormal romance and fantasy, and almost entirely devoid of realistic fiction for boys. Hmmm. This is what I've been saying all along-- teachers, librarians and bloggers are predominately women and the books available reflect that. Sigh.

For what it's worth, here is the list. The books highlighted are ones I have read:

1. Alex Finn – Beastly

2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones

3. Ally Carter – Callagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)

4. Ally Condie - Matched

5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills

7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)

9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)

10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)

12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)

13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret

15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)

16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)

17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3, 4)

18. Christopher Paolini – Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)

19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)

20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)

21. Cornelia Funke - Inheart (1, 2, 3)

22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse

23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply

25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)

26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere

27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest

28. Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)

29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)

31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why

33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)

34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines

37. John Green – Looking for Alaska

38. John Green – Paper Towns

39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)

40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)

41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)

42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)

43. Lauren Kate - Fallen (1, 2, 3)

44. Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)

46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)

47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

48. M.T. Anderson – Feed

49. Maggie Stiefvater - The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)

50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)

52. Markus Zusak – The Book Thief

53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger

54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

55. Mary Ting – Crossroads

56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)

57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)

58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

60. Meg Rosoff – How I live now

61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)

63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road

64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)

67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion

68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind

69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline

70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust

71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book

72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 )

73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)

74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks

79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)

80. Sabrina Bryan and Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip

81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride

82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key

83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever

84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

85. Scott Westerfeld – Leviathan (1, 2)

86. Scott Westerfeld – Uglies (1, 2, 3)

87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days

88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy

89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)

90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)

92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host

93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)

94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees

95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)

96. Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)

97. Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)

99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)

100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

In My Mailbox

Saunders, Stephanie. Villain School: Good Curses Evil.
ARC received from contest at Project Mayhem.

Rune Drexler is a vampire at the School for Wayward Villians because he isn't evil enough. When the headmaster (his father!) thinks he can be more evil, he is assigned a Plot: he must kidnap a princess and a baby, find a henchman, and overthrow a kingdom. Rune has two conspirators, Wolf and Jezebel, the daughter of Dracula. Rune's father tells Chad, Rune's half-brother, to sabotage Rune's attempts. Rune overhears this and is surprised to learn that Chad is his half brother. The group sets off through the Forgotten Forest, fight dragons, sprites, and ogres. They are helped by a band of fairies who also give them a foundling baby. They meet the Princess Ileana and rescue her by kidnapping her from the Resistance. They find Ileana's parents, who are fighting to get their kingdom back, and run into Chad's mother, the evil Muma Padurii. Rune is able to defeat her, complete his tasks and move up a rank, while finding out more information about how the "villains" that he fights are linked to the school.
Strengths: This is a good fantasy/quest book for younger students who are interested in monsters. It might also assuage the withdrawal pains of Lemony Snicket fans.
Weaknesses: This is slightly young; I can see my 6th graders who love Michael Buckley reading it, but not my 8th graders.

Brown, Tami Lewis. The Map of Me.
ARC recieved from Barbara Fisch of Blue Slip Media.

When her mother, who loves to collect chickens, leaves a note on the refrigerator that she is leaving, Margie and her sister peep try to contact their father at his job selling tires, but he is too busy to talk to them. Sure that her mother has gone to the International Poultry Hall of Fame, Margie and peep take off in their father's car to find her. After an eventful trip, they end up at the Hall of Fame only to realize that it is a gift shop and that their mother is not going to be there. With the support of the woman who runs the shop, they are reunited with their father and start to move on with their lives minus their mother.
Strengths: The new cover is much better than the one on the ARC. For fans of Weeks' So B. It or other quirky problem novels, this will be a good choice.
Weaknesses: Again, a bit younger than my students like, and on a personal level, a little too quirky/Southern. Most people seem to like that, but I don't.

Webster, Travis. Sally Forth, Vile Curmudgeon.
"Dead tree version" received from author.

Sal and his father Hal run a bakery in Gordonsburg. They find a free trained bear, Gorgenschtein, who helps them in the bakery but turns out to be a minion of the evil Vincent Con Vinnevigne who helps kidnap the father. The police and anothering bear named Automne help find the father, who has been zombified in the same way as the trained bear.. Vincent has taken the father because he somehow got the baking talent (via potion) that was meant for Vincent. Hal has sold the bakery to Vincent because of various money problems. Sal also has to deal with the mayor, who is taxing the bakery heavily to help fund his yearly ball. Automne seems to be helping Sal but injects him with the same serum that turned him into a super smart bear. Automne also "fixes" Hal, turning him super smart, but compelling him to want to take over the world. Vincent blows Hal and the trained bears up, and the mayor uses this as an excuse to arrest Sal and Automne for the explosion, levying another huge fine against them. To work this off, the two are engaged in a baking contest against Vincent. Vincent wins, but Sal finds out that his deceased father has left him the means and a plan to survive.
Strengths: Lots of goofiness and funny turns of phrase. Inventive situations and slap stick humor make this something that readers of Dav Pilkey type books will enjoy.
Weaknesses: Again, on the young side. The title is slightly unfortunate, since my entire family asked why I had a Sally Forth (as in the comic strip) book on the counter after it arrived. While the goofiness is amusing, it wears a bit and made the plot a tiny bit confusing.

Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday was started by Anastasia Suen. The Round Up today is at Capstone Connect. It's also Middle Grade Monday over at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe. I'm going to save In My Mailbox Monday (hosted by The Story Siren) for tomorrow. Whew. Too many things for this early in the week!




Shepard, Alan and Slayton, Deke with Barbree, Jay. Moon Shot. (1994)
Enhanced iPad version sent by Open Road Media

Since I barely remember the first man walking on the moon (I was allowed to stay up past my bedtime-- I was four!), this was an interesting look into the minutiae of planning and executing this land mark feat. Even more interesting to me was learning that Barbree had been a news correspondent covering NASA for 53 years! That's some dedication! Barbree was no doubt the main writer on this, with information provided by the two astronauts. The enhanced iPad version has short (minute and a half) video clips interspersed throughout, which is a nice touch.
Strengths: This reads more like a novel than a nonfiction book, so it might be easier to get kids pulled in. There are a few mild swear words, but nothing too bad. I fear that this may be out of print in "dead tree version". I have no way to circulate an enhanced version.
Weaknesses: An enhanced version could have been so much more. A nonfiction book with more pictures and side bars would have lent itself more readily to this platform. Since this read more like a novel, the videos, while interesting, seemed like more of an interpolation.


Latimer, Clay. VIP Pass to a Pro Basketball Game Day.
This is part of a Capstone series that includes baseball, hockey and football. These short (32 pages), well-illustrated books offer an interesting peak behind the scenes at how the players spend their time while not visible to the public as well as information about others such as trainers and organizers at different venues. Who knew that basketball players had such nice airplanes to travel in?
Strengths: Well laid out, with sidebars, a glossary, and an index. This will not take long for my students to read, but they will be picked up frequently.
Weaknesses: I would have liked a longer version with more information.