Search Results for: Sara Zarr

Cybils Middle Grade Fiction Nominated Titles: 2008

10 Lucky Things That Have Happened to Me Since I Nearly Got Hit by Lightning
written by Mary Hershey
Wendy Lamb Books

Reviewed by: Sherry |

42 Miles
written by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Clarion Books

Reviewed by: Melissa |

A Thousand Never Evers
written by Shana Burg
Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers

Reviewed by: kbaccellia | Mary | Sherry |

Acadian Star
written by Helene Boudreau
Nimbus

Alexandria of Africa
written by Eric Walters
Doubleday Books for Young Readers

Alice’s Birthday Pig
written by Tim Kennemore
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Reviewed by: Sherry |

Aloha Crossing
written by Pamela Bauer Mueller
Pinata

Alvin Ho
written by Lenore Look
Schwartz and Wade Books

Reviewed by: Mary | Sherry |

Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers
written by Susan Marlow
Kregel

Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink
written by MAC
Toasted Coconut Media

Reviewed by: kbaccellia |

Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different
written by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb
Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers

Reviewed by: Sherry |

Brand New School, Brave New Ruby
written by Derrick Barnes
Scholastic

Breathing Soccer
written by Debbie Spring
Thistledown

Bringing the Boy Home
written by N. A. Nelson
HarperCollins

Reviewed by: Mary | shelfelf | Sherry |

Brooklyn Bridge
written by Karen Hesse
Feiwel & Friends

Reviewed by: Mary | thereadingzone |

Carlos is Gonna Get It
written by Kevin Emerson
Arthur A Levine

Reviewed by: Sherry |

Case of the Bizarre Bouquets
written by Nancy Springer
Penguin USA

Reviewed by: Mary |

Cemetery Street
written by Brenda Seabrooke
Holiday House

Chancey of the Maury River
written by Gigi Amateau
Candlewick Press

Cicada Summer
written by Andrea Beaty
Amulet

Reviewed by: Mary | Matt | shelfelf | Sherry |

Cosmic
written by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Macmillan

Daisy Dawson is on Her Way
written by Steve Voake
Candlewick Press

Reviewed by: Melissa |

Diamond of Drury Lane
written by Julia Golding
Roaring Brook

Reviewed by: Everead | Sherry |

Diamond Willow
written by Helen Frost
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

Reviewed by: Mary | Melissa | Sherry |

Dodger and Me
written by Jordan Sonnenblick
Feiwel & Friends

Reviewed by: thereadingzone |

Dog Lost
written by Ingrid Lee
Chicken House

Don’t Talk to Me About the War
written by David Adler
Viking

Reviewed by: Mary | Sherry |

Eleven
written by Patricia Reilly Giff
Wendy Lamb Books

Reviewed by: Mary | Melissa | Sherry | thereadingzone |

Ellie McDoodle: New Kid in School
written and illustrated by Ruth McNally Barshaw
Bloomsbury USA

Reviewed by: Melissa |

Elvis and Olive
written by Stephanie Watson
Scholastic

Eve of the Emperor Penguin
written by Mary Pope Osborne
Random House Children’s Books

Every Soul a Star
written by Wendy Mass
Little, Brown

Reviewed by: Melissa |

Fencing with Fear
Blake Education

Fiendish Deeds
written by P.J. Bracegirdle
Margaret K. McElderry

Finder’s Magic
written by C.M. Fleming
Onstage Publishing

First Daughter: White House Rules
written by Mitali Perkins
Penguin USA

Reviewed by: jocelyn | Sherry |

Forever Rose
written by Hilary McKay
Margaret K. McElderry

Reviewed by: Melissa | Sherry |

Fouling Out
written by Gregory Walters
Orca Books

Reviewed by: Sherry |

From Alice to Zen and Everyone in Between
written by Elizabeth Atkinson
Carolrhoda Books

Reviewed by: Everead | Sherry |

Greetings from Nowhere
written by Barbara O’Connor
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

Reviewed by: Mary |

Grow
written by Juanita Havill
Peachtree

Reviewed by: Mary | Matt | thereadingzone |

Hate that Cat
written by Sharon Creech
HarperCollins

Reviewed by: Mary | shelfelf |

Hockey Player for Life
written by Howard Shapiro
iUniverse

Hope Chest
written by Karen Schwabach
Random House Children’s Books

I’m So Not a Pop Star
written by Kimberly Greene
Usborne

I.Q.
written by Roland Smith
Sleeping Bear Press

Iggy the Iguana
written by Melissa Marie Williams
Longtale Publishing

In the Company of Owls
written by Peter Huggins
New South Books

Island of Mad Scientists
written by Howard Whitehouse
Kids Can Press, Ltd

Reviewed by: Melissa | Sherry |

Itch
written by Michelle Kwasney
Henry Holt

Reviewed by: Sherry |

Jeremy Cabbage and the Living Museum of Human Oddballs and Quadruped Delights
written by David Elliott
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Reviewed by: Mary | Matt | Sherry |

Jessie’s Mountain
written by Kerry Madden
Viking

Reviewed by: Mary | shelfelf | Sherry |

Jimmy’s Stars
written by Mary Ann Rodman
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

Reviewed by: Mary | Melissa | Sherry |

Julia Gillian and the Art of Knowing
written by Alison McGhee
Scholastic

Reviewed by: Sherry |

Just Grace Walks the Dog
written by Charise Mericle Harper
Houghton Mifflin

Reviewed by: Mary |

Keeping Score
written by Linda Sue Park
Clarion Books

Reviewed by: Mary | Sherry |

Little Audrey
written by Ruth White
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

Reviewed by: Mary | Melissa |

Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing
written by Guo Yue
Barefoot Books

Reviewed by: Melissa |

Lizard Love
written by Wendy Townsend
Front Street

Longhorns and Outlaws
written by Linda Aksomitis
Coteau

Reviewed by: Sherry |

Luck of the Draw
written by Diana Tuorto
Book Surge

Man in the Moon
written by Dotti Enderle
Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers

Mary and Jody in the Movies
written by JoAnn Dawson
Jabberwocky/Sourcebooks

Masterpiece
written by Elise Broach
Henry Holt

Reviewed by: Melissa |

Meeting Miss 405
written by Lois Peterson
Orca Books

Moxy Maxwell Does not Love Writing Thank You Notes
written by Peggy Gifford
Schwartz and Wade Books

Reviewed by: Mary | Melissa | Sherry |

Murder Sucks
written by June Whyte
Zumaya Thresholds

My Cousin the Alien
written by Pamela Stewart
Carolrhoda Books

My Dad’s a Birdman
written by David Almond
Candlewick Press

Reviewed by: Everead |

My New Best Friend
written by Julie Bowe
Harcourt

My One Hundred Adventures
written by Polly Horvath
Schwartz and Wade Books

Reviewed by: Mary | Sherry |

My So-Called Family
written by Courtney Schienmel
Simon & Schuster

No Cream Puffs
written by Karen Day
Wendy Lamb Books

Reviewed by: Melissa |

Piper Reed: The Great Gypsy
written by Kimberley Willis Holt
Henry Holt

Porcupine Year
written by Louise Erdrich
HarperCollins

Reviewed by: Mary |

Praire Dog Cowboy
written by V. Gilbert Zabel
4RV Publishing

Radiant Girl
written by Andrea White
Bright Sky Press

Reviewed by: kbaccellia | Melissa |

Samantha Hansen has Rocks in her Head
written by Nancy Viau
Amulet

Sarah Simpson’s Rules for Living
written by Rebecca Rupp
Candlewick Press

Savvy
written by Ingrid Law
Dial

Reviewed by: Everead | Mary | Melissa | shelfelf |

Searching for a Starry Night
written by Christine Verstraete
Echelon Press

Shooting the Moon
written by Frances O’Roark Dowell
Atheneum

Reviewed by: Mary | Matt | Sherry |

Sisters of the Sword
written by Maya Snow
HarperCollins

Reviewed by: Sherry |

Six Innings
written by James Preller
Feiwel & Friends

Reviewed by: Mary | Sherry |

State of Wilderness
written by Elysabeth Eldering
4RV Publishing

Steinbeck’s Ghost
written by Lewis Buzbee
Feiwel & Friends

Step Fourth Mallory!
written by Laurie Friedman
Carolrhoda Books

Taneesha Never Disparaging
written by M. LaVora Perry
Wisdom Publications

Thank You Lucky Stars
written by Beverley Donofrio
Schwartz and Wade Books

Reviewed by: Sherry |

The Adventures of Seamus the Sheltie
written by James Beverly
Nightengale Press

The Attack of the Growling Eyeballs
written by Lin Oliver
Simon & Schuster

The Big Splash
written by Jack Ferraiolo
Amulet

The Bone Magician
written by F.E. Higgins
Feiwel & Friends

Reviewed by: kbaccellia |

The Book of Nonsense
written by David Michael Slater
Blooming Tree Press

The Boy Who Dared
written by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Scholastic

Reviewed by: Mary | Sherry |

The Buddha’s Diamonds
written by Carolyn Marsden
Candlewick Press

Reviewed by: Sherry |

The Calder Game
written by Blue Balliett
Scholastic

Reviewed by: Sherry |

The Case of the Fiendish Flapjack Flop
written by Nate Evans
Jabberwocky/Sourcebooks

The Curse of Addy McMahon
written by Katie Davis
Greenwillow Books

Reviewed by: kbaccellia | Sherry |

The Dove Family Tale: A True Story
written by Jalma Barrett
Book Surge

The Floating Circus
written by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Bloomsbury USA

Reviewed by: Sherry |

The Girl Who Could Fly
written by Victoria Forrester
Feiwel & Friends

Reviewed by: Mary | Sherry |

The Gollywhopper Games
written by Jody Feldman
Greenwillow Books

Reviewed by: Melissa | Sherry |

The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower
written by Lisa Graff
Laura Geringer

Reviewed by: kbaccellia | Melissa |

The London Eye Mystery
written by Siobhan Dowd
David Fickling Books

Reviewed by: Everead | Melissa | Sherry |

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
written by Trenton Lee Stewart
Little, Brown

Reviewed by: Everead | Melissa |

The Penderwicks on Gardham Street
written by Jeanne Birdsall
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Reviewed by: Mary | Melissa |

The Postcard
written by Tony Abbott
Little, Brown

Reviewed by: Mary | thereadingzone |

The Secrets of the Cirque Medrano
written by Elaine Scott
Charlesbridge

The Tallest Tree
written by Sandra Belton
Amistad

Reviewed by: Sherry |

The Trouble with Rules
written by Leslie Bulion
Peachtree

Reviewed by: Melissa | Sherry |

The Truth About Truman School
written by Dori Hillestad Butler
Albert Whitman & Company

Reviewed by: Sherry |

The Underneath
written by Kathi Appelt
Atheneum

Reviewed by: Mary | Matt | Sherry | thereadingzone |

The Walls of Cartagena
written by Julia Durango
Simon & Schuster

Reviewed by: Melissa |

The Year of the Rat
written by Grace Lin
Little, Brown

Reviewed by: shelfelf | Sherry |

The Youngest Templar
written by Michael Spradlin
Putnam

Reviewed by: Sherry |

Third Grade Baby
written by Jenny Meyerhoff
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

Thirteen
written by Lauren Myracle
Dutton Juvenile

Tracking Daddy Down
written by Marybeth Kelsey
Greenwillow Books

Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains
written by Laurel Snyder
Random House Children’s Books

Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning
written by Danette Haworth
Walker Books for Young Readers

Reviewed by: kbaccellia | Melissa | thereadingzone |

Waiting for Normal
written by Leslie Connor
Katherine Tegen Books

Reviewed by: Everead | kbaccellia | Mary | thereadingzone |

Where the Steps Were
written by Andrea Cheng
Boyds Mills Press

White Sands, Red Menace
written by Ellen Klages
Viking

Window Boy
written by Andrea White
Bright Sky Press

Reviewed by: Sherry |

Zibby Payne and the Red Carpet Revolt
written by Alison Bell
Lobster Press

Saturday Review of Books: August 23, 2008

Aug22

“Every man who knows how to read has it in him power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant, and interesting.”
~Aldous Huxley

Welcome to this week’s Saturday Review of Books.

Hereâ€™s how it works. Find a review on your blog posted sometime this week of a book youâ€™re reading or a book youâ€™ve read. The review doesnâ€™t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can just write your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Now post a link here to the specific post where youâ€™ve written your book review. Donâ€™t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after youâ€™ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book youâ€™re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews theyâ€™re most interested in reading.

1. Carrie, RtK (Summer of Light)
2. 5M4B (Life is a Gift)
3. 5M4B (The Dangerous Days of Daniel X)
4. 5M4B (Be Last)
5. 5M4B (Breaking Dawn)
6. Carrie, RtK (Mandy)
7. Maw Books (Story of a Girl)
8. Maw Books (Sweethearts)
9. Maw Books (Jimmy\’s Stars)
10. Maw Books (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
11. Sarah, LH (Home)
12. Barbara H. (Children of the Storm by Georgi Vins\’ daughter Natasha)
13. Heather (Imagining Argentina)
14. Terri B. (White Nights)
15. Terri B. (Woman in White)
16. Amy @The Friendly Book Nook (The Foreinger)
17. Paul (The Singer Trilogy)
18. Stefanie (Blindness)
19. Anne (Of Plymouth Plantation)
20. Petunia (A Fatal Waltz)
21. Petunia (The Complete Maus)
22. Framed (Sense and Sensibility)
23. Framed (From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler
24. Jocelyn (North of Beautiful)
25. Jocelyn (The Spellman Files & Curse of the Spellmans)
26. SuziQoregon (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)
27. SuziQoregon (X-treme Dating)
28. SuziQoregon (The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop)
29. pussreboots (Church of the Dog)
30. pussreboots (Geography of Bliss)
31. Carrie K. (A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare)
32. Carrie K. (The Cross-Time Engineer)
33. Alessandra (Possessing Rayne)
34. Alessandra (A Certain Slant of Light)
35. Alessandra (Pretty Little Liars)
36. Alessandra (I\’m with Stupid)

37. Bonnie (The Watsons Go To Birmingham)
38. Katrina (Intimacy)
39. Katrina (Ruby Red)
40. Katrina (Neverwhere)
41. katrina (The Changeling)
42. ynne (Rachel & Leah)
43. Lynne (Without a Backward Glance)
44. Lynne (Hershey)
45. DebD (Enchantment)
46. KarenDV (At Large and At Small)
47. Janet (A Tale of Two Cities)
48. Janet (The Helper)
49. Marg (The Drowning Tree)
50. Shonda (Breaking Dawn)
51. Joy (Flowers for Algernon)
52. The Book Smugglers (The King\’s Favorite)
53. The Book Smugglers (Across the Nighingale Floor)
54. The Book Smugglers (Christopher Pike\’s books)
55. The Book Smugglers (Hunter Kiss)
56. The Book Smugglers (The Huntress)
57. The Thinking Mother (The Unnameables)
58. The Thinking Mother (But What About Socialization?)
59. The Thinking Mother (Marva Collins\’ Way)
60. Amy(Animal,Vegetable, Miracle)
61. Jennifer (Long Way Down)
62. Jennifer (The Sunday Philosophy Club)
63. Jennifer (Love in the Time of Cholera)
64. MFS (A Common Reader, Mustich)
65. Mindy Withrow (The Crime of Living Cautiously by Luci Shaw)
66. Sarah N. (Hoofbeats of Danger)
67. Nicola (Living Dead Girl)
68. Nicola (The Fatal Bullet)
69. Stephanie(Left to Die)
70. Stephanie(The Secret History)
71. Marie DeVries( Jimmy\’s Stars)
72. Marie DeVries( THe Adoration of Jenna Fox)

73. Wendy (Sweetsmoke)
74. Becky (Impulse & Initiative)
75. Becky (Frankenstein Takes the Cake)
76. Becky (Girl, Hero)
77. Becky (All Shook Up)
78. Becky (Wombat & Fox: Tales from the City)
79. Becky (Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix)
80. Becky (La Petite Four)
81. Becky (Rapunzel\’s Revenge)
82. Becky (Jimmy\’s Stars)
83. Becky (Born to Read)
84. Becky (Big Plans)
85. Becky (Butterflies in My Stomach)
86. Becky (God Gave Us Heaven)
87. Becky (God Loves Me More Than That)
88. Becky (When God Created My Toes)
89. Becky (Audrey Wait)
90. Noel (Framed)
91. Noel (Little Brother)
92. Miss Erin (Masterpiece)
93. Ann (Mystery Mile)
94. Lightheaded (Story of O)
95. Lightheaded (A Thing About Curtis)
96. Natalie (Eleven by Patrica Giff)
97. Natalie (Lights, Camera…. by Carolyn Keen)
98. Colleen (A Season of Night)
99. Captive Thoughts (The Poisonwood Bible)
100. Captive Thoughts (Jim the Boy)
101. Nicole (Diets for Healthy Healing)
102. david e (The Real Frank Zappa Book)
103. Jen Robinson (Listening Valley)
104. Lezlie (Cotillion)
105. Lezlie (Killer View)
106. Kristin (A Fraction of the Whole)

Saturday Review of Books: April 5, 2008

Apr4

Reading for experience is the only reading that justifies excitement. Reading for facts is necessary bu the less said about it in public the better. Reading for distraction is like taking medicine. We do it, but it is nothing to be proud of. But reading for experience is transforming.”
Henry Seidel Canby

Welcome to this week’s Saturday Review of Books. Hereâ€™s how it works. Find a review on your blog posted sometime this week of a book youâ€™re reading or a book youâ€™ve read. The review doesnâ€™t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can just write your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

1. Semicolon (AngelMonster)
2. Semicolon (Winter Haven)
3. Carrie (My Life and Hard Times)
4. Carrie (The Cricket in Times Square)
5. Carrie K. (Mayflower)
6. Benjie (Of All Sad Words)
7. Miss Erin (Skulduggery Pleasant Book 2)
8. Framed (The Roosevelts and the Royals)
9. Framed (Loose Threads)
10. Framed (The Magic Circle)
11. Maw Books (Bee Season)
12. 3M (Winter Haven)
13. Maw Books (Fablehaven)
14. MFS (On the nightstand)
15. Maw Books (The Fiction Class)
16. Barbara H. (Mansfield Park)
17. Staci at Writing and Living (Desiring God)
18. gautami tripathy (Asterix and the Mansions of the Gods)
19. Valentina (Harriet the Spy)
20. Valentina (Posy)
21. Jane – Much Ado (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
22. DebD (Artisan Bread in 5 Mins. a Day)
23. writer2b (True Spirituality)
24. writer2b (Fit Bodies Fat Minds)
25. Laura (The Bone People)
26. Sarah (Talk So Kids Will Listen)
27. Laura (The Gathering)
28. Just One More Book! Podcast (Heroes of Isle aux Morts)
29. Lynne (Miss Julia Strikes Back)
30. Lynne (The Rhyme Killers)
31. Lynne (The Final Diagnosis)
32. Lynne (Tell Me, Pretty Maiden)
33. Mo (Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy)
34. Mo (The Hangman\’s Beautiful Daughter))

35. Joy (A Garden of Vipers)
36. CoversGirl (Imperium)
37. Agent 99 (A Crooked Kind of Perfect)
38. CoversGirl (Don Quixote)
39. Darla D (The Devil\’s Storybook)
40. Darla D (Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr)
41. Darla D (Heir Apparent)
42. Darla D (The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets)
43. Darla D (Plum Lucky)
44. Darla D (Owlboy)
45. Nicola (Body Double)
46. Nicola (In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash)
47. Nicola (Coyote Autumn)
48. Sandy D. (The Wheel on the School)
49. Sandy D. (Amos Fortune: Free Man)
50. Mindy Withrow (Saving Women From the Church)
51. Wendy (Olive Kitteridge)
52. Wendy (Embers)
53. Wendy (Jackfish The Vanishing Village)
54. SuziQoregon (The Jasmine Moon Murder)
55. SuziQoregon (A Great Deliverance)
56. Hope (To Read or Not to Read)
57. violet (Not Easily Broken)
58. Isabella (The Painter of Battles)
59. Girl Detective (The Shadow Catcher)
60. Amy(Clouds Over Mountains)
61. At A Hen\’s Pace (Right Ho, Jeeves)
62. Melanie (Reflections on a Mountain Summer)
63. The Reading Zone (The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
64. The Reading Zone(Grayson)
65. Petunia (The Princess Bride)
66. The Book Smugglers (The Gunslinger)
67. The Book Smugglers (The Gunslinger Born)
68. Ruth (Some poetry anthologies)

69. Margaret (The Voyager\’s Stone)
70. Word Lily (Kristin Lavransdattar)
71. Patricia (Clever GIrl: Elizabeth Bentley)
72. Brandy from Afterthoughts (The Riddle of Amish Culture)
73. Becky (Alice\’s Adventures in Wonderland)
74. Becky (Dingo)
75. Becky (Guinevere\’s Gift)
76. Becky (George\’s Secret Key to the Universe)
77. Becky (Before Midnight)
78. Becky (Little Red Cap)
79. Becky (Cinderella by Cynthia Rylant)
80. Julie (Camilla)
81. Maureen E (March reading list)
82. Stephanie(Firefly Lane)
83. Susan (The Separation)
84. Marg (Lion\’s Honey_
85. Jen Robinson (Maggie Valley trilogy)
86. Jennifer (Something Rotten)
87. BeckyB (Astrid and Veronika)
88. BeckyB (The Shack)
89. Jake (Winter Haven)
90. Guppy (Topaz)
91. pussreboots (The Lion\’s Own Story)
92. pussreboots (Z for Zachariah)
93. pussreboots (Test-Drive Your Dream Job)
94. pussreboots (Q & A)
95. Noel (A Curse Dark as Gold)
96. 3M (Belong to Me)
97. 3M (The Sister)
98. Terri B. (Still Life)
99. Josh Sowin (Look Me in the Eye))
100. John Mutford (Reading Lolita in Tehran)

Saturday Review of Books: February 9, 2008

Feb9

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. From each of them goes out its own voice . . . and just as the touch of a button on our set will fill the room with music, so by taking down one of these volumes and opening it, one can call into range the voice of a man far distant in time and space, and hear him speaking to us, mind to mind, heart to heart.”
Gilbert Highet

1. pussreboots (The City)
2. pussreboots (Monkey See, Monkey Do)
3. pussreboots (Hungry Hill)
4. pussreboots (Midnight Sun)
5. Maw Books (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time)
6. Maw Books (Penny From Heaven)
7. Maw Books (Hattie Big Sky)
8. pussreboots (There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly)
9. Carrie, Reading to Know (Tom Sawyer)
10. Laura (The Pillars of the Earth)
11. Laura (Lenten Bible reading)
12. Heidi@Mt Hope (Sister Bernadette\’s Barking Dog)
13. Heidi@Mt Hope (For the Children\’s Sake)
14. Book Gal (The Time Traveler\’s Wife)
15. 3M (The Bell Jar)
16. Literary Feline (Merciless)
17. Literary Feline (Tokyo Year Zero)
18. 3M (HP and the Sorcerer\’s Stone)
19. 3M (HP and the Chamber of Secrets)
20. Why Homeschool (A Guidebook to Learning)
21. Framed (Twilight)
22. Framed (I Married the Klondike)
23. Framed (Look Me in the Eye)
24. 3M (The Bluest Eye)
25. Anne (Habits of the Mind)
26. writer2b (Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast)
27. writer2b (The Light of the World)
28. writer2b (Russell Hoban)
29. The Book Smugglers (Twilight)
30. Laura (The Secret River)
31. Hope(Middlemarch)
32. Trish (The Book Thief)
33. SFP (Our Horses in Egypt)
34. Trish (Tender at the Bone)

35. Joy (Twisted)
36. Just One More Book! Podcast (A Very Unusual Dog)
37. MFS (On the corner of my desk)
38. MFS (Sin in the Second City)
39. Carol (Home to Holly Springs)
40. Jill (Silent in the Sanctuary)
41. Noel (Absolutely True Diary…)
42. Noel (Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow)
43. Amy(The Chatham School Affair)
44. Amy(Drea When You\’re Feeling Blue)
45. Breeni Books (Born in Death)
46. Breeni Books (Deadly Sins-Deadly Secrets)
47. Breeni Books (And Tango Makes Three)
48. Breeni Books (Four Wives)
49. Breeni Books (Incredible Journey)
50. Shelf Elf (Salad People)
51. Becky (Wives and Daughters)
52. Becky (Accidental Time Machine)
53. Becky (On Banks of Plum Creek)
54. Becky (By Shores of Silver Lake)
55. Becky (Long Winter)
56. Eclectically Yours (MouseGuard)
57. Becky (Little Town on the Prairie)
58. Becky (These Happy Golden Years))
59. Becky (First Four Years)
60. Becky (Girl with the White Flag)
61. Becky (Sweethearts)
62. Becky (All of a Kind Family)
63. Becky (Footwork)
64. violet (On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness)
65. Chris@bookarama (The Winter Rose)
66. Chris@bookarama (Sonnets from the Portuguese)
67. Empress of Asia (Nicola)
68. Firewing (Nicola)

69. The Seeing Stone (Nicola)
70. The Golden Hoard: Myths and Legends of the World (Nicola)
71. Keturah & Lord Death (Nicola)
72. The Reading Zone (Sweethearts)
73. The Reading Zone (Trouble)
74. Mindy Withrow (The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World)
75. Moomin Light (Hogfather)
76. Carol (Three books on England by Susan Allen Toth)
77. Miss Erin (The Year of the Rat)
78. Lynne (Song of Solomon)
79. Alisia (The Road)
80. Sandy D. (Adam of the Road)
81. Terri B. (Dreamers of the Day)
82. Petunia (The Tale of Despereaux)
83. Em (Bass Ackwards & Belly Up)
84. Em (Garden Spells)
85. SuziQoregon (The Winter Queen)
86. SuziQoregon (The Kitchen Boy)
87. Dana (Alexander\’s Wonderful 90 Days)
88. The Book Smugglers (Stardoc)
89. Simply Sandy (my 2007 Books-in-Review)
90. Scribacchina (Mistress)
91. Lauren (City of Dreaming Books)
92. Melissa (The Year of Living BIblically)
93. Mrs. Hill (A War of GIfts)
94. auto-a (The Life of Pi)
95. Nithin (Curtain))
96. Jaimie Bell (100 Cupboards)
97. Tiny (A Great and Terrible Beauty)
98. Lisa (The Winter Rose)
99. Susan (A Bookseller of Kabul)
100. Heather (Never Let Me Go)
101. Heather H (So Say We All)

Newbery Predictions

Jan10

Franki at A Year of Reading invites readers and bloggers to predict the winner(s) of the Newbery Award and Newbery Honor books. I’m sure that, like Franki and Mary Lee, I will have no success at reading the minds of the Newbery committee members, but I’m probably more prepared to make a guess this year than I ever have been. Thanks to the Cybil awards process, I have actually read several books that were published in 2007. So here are my predictions:

1. Clementine by Sara Pennypacker. I thought this book was the best of all of the books I read that were nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the final cut for the Cybil award, so maybe I can send good vibes about it to the Newbery folks. I’ve only read about 17 of the Cybil nominees and dipped into 3 or 4 that I didn’t like enough to finish them. I did fall in love with Clementine. Oh my darling, oh my darling . . .

2. Alabama Moon by Watt Key. Even though I thought Alabama Moon was more appropriate for young adults (high school age and up) than for middle graders, I did like the book itself very much. Well-written story, interesting subject, good characterization —a good candidate for some award somewhere. Why not the Newbery?

3. Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata. I liked this book even though it wasn’t my favorite. I think the elite of the children’s literature world will love it. It’s multi-cultural; it’s anti-war; and it’s a good story. I suppose the only problem is that Cynthia Kadohata has already won the Newbery Award once, but it’s been awarded twice to the same author before. They could do it again.

4. Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy. If funny books like Clementine don’t win the Newbery, if we have to have a Serious Subject, then Yellow Star is my personal favorite for the award. It’s deep, disturbing, with an interesting twist at the end that ties into the title, and it’s still accessible to children. My then-eleven year old read it and liked it and learned from it.

5. Rules by Cynthia Lord. This one’s a dark horse, first children’s book published by Ms. Lord, possible winner, IF the committee members appreciate the story of a girl growing up with an autistic brother and making friends with a severely handicapped young man in a wheelchair.

If The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak wins, I will resign myself to the idea that I just don’t get contemporary children’s literature and go back to my pet project of reading all the Newbery Award and Newbery Honor books of the twentieth century. If all the world proclaims that The Book Thief is the best book ever written, I will still say, “I just don’t get what all the fuss is about!” Death narrates a book about the Holocaust, indeed! Give me Yellow Star, a real Holocaust story sans the bizarre narrator.

OK, I just figured out that Marcus Zusak is an Australian and lives in Sydney, and the Newbery Award is only awarded to American citizens. Oh, well, I needed to get that rant off my chest anyway after seeing Death Takes a Holiday, aka The Book Thief on every blogger’s year-end list of favorites from here to Kalamazoo.