Children’s and Middle Grade Fiction:
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm. Semicolon review here.

The Reinvention of Edison Thomas by Jacqueline Houtman. Semicolon review here.

The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter. Semicolon review here.

Emily’s Fortune by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Semicolon review here.

Young Adult Fiction:
Cate of the Lost Colony by Lisa Klein. Semicolon review here.

Diamond Ruby by Joseph Wallace. Semicolon review here.

The Fool’s Girl by Celia Rees. Semicolon review here.

Illyria by Elizabeth Hand. Semicolon review here.

The Serpent Never Sleeps: A Novel of Jamestown and Pocahontas by Scott O’Dell.

The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams. Semicolon review here.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Semicolon thoughts here.

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson. Semicolon review here.

Wishing on Dandelions by Mary DeMuth.

Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson. Semicolon review here.

Finding My Place by Traci L. Jones. Semicolon review here.

Jump by Elisa Carbone. Semicolon review here.

Somebody Everybody Listens To by Suzanne Supplee. Semicolon review here.

The Heart Is Not a Size by Beth Kephart. Semicolon review here.

Adult fiction:
The Passion of Mary-Margaret by Lisa Samson. Semicolon review here.

June Bug by Chris Fabry. Semicolon review here

Veiled Freedom by J.M. Windle. Semicolon review here.

Nonfiction:
1776 by David McCullough. Semicolon review here.

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch.

Beginning October 1st and continuing through the rest of the year, I’m going to be busy reading for two different awards for which I am a judge: the Cybils, and the INSPYs, the Bloggers’ Award for Excellence in Faith-Driven Literature. I’m not allowed to review the nominees on the shortlist for the Young Adult fiction INSPY until after the award is decided and announced on December 13, 2010. So you won’t be seeing those excellent books highlighted here at Semicolon until then. You can download a printable list of all the shortlisted books for the INSPYs here, read, and make your own judgements. I may be reading and reviewing some of the INSPY shortlist in other categories here at Semicolon, if I can find the time.

But you will be seeing a LOT of middle grade fiction reviews in the next couple of months. That’s because there will be over 100 books nominated for the Middle Grade Fiction Award for the Cybils, and I plan to read as many of those books as I can. I’m having a great time finding the books at the library even now while nominations are still open. I and six fellow panelists will be reading, winnowing, discussing and trying to agree on a shortlist of five to seven books that are the best of the best in middle grade fiction for 2010. I hope the reviews I post in the next two months will also be helpful to my blog readers as you choose Christmas presents, as you look for reading for your students, homeschooled and otherwise educated, and as you read for your own enjoyment.

Let the reading fun begin!