May Recap

May wasn’t my greatest month for reading.  But, I did get some good books read. So in case you missed it- here’s what I read:(Numbers correspond to their placement on my list of books read so far for the entire year.)
24. Being Nikki- Meg Cabot 
25. The Chocolate War- Robert Cormier 
26. Dead is the New Black- Marlene Perez
27. Jellicoe Road- [...]

Jellicoe Road- Melina Marchetta

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This Printz winner took me a while to get into. I’d say I was a third, to half of the way into it before I really became intrigued, but then I didn’t put it down.  There are numerous interesting characters whom I loved, but at the same time had some difficulty keeping everything [...]

From the Library

Today I went to pick up The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party at the library and lo and beholdJellicoe Road was also waiting for me. I’m going to try to read them both relatively quickly because I have a feeling there are waiting [...]

Kit’s Wilderness- David Almond

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Kit’s Wilderness is a novel that is very realistic but includes fantastical elements.  Kit is a 13 year old boy whose family has recently moved back to the town in which is grandfather grew up.  Part of the story revolves around Kit’s grandfather’s declining health and mental state.  I identified with this aspect [...]

A Step From Heaven- An Na

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This book reminded me of Kira Kira, as they both tell stories of Asian immigrants in America.  I found this book a little hard to get into, perhaps because it doesn’t focus on one time in her life but rather goes from Kindergarten through beginning college.  The story follows a Korean girl from [...]

Nation- Terry Pratchett

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This Printz honor book has historical and fantastical elements to it.  With both male and female teens being central to the story it will appeal to both sexes.  As the characters are on an isolated island there is a lot of adventure, science, and discussion of faith.  Some parts of the story seemed [...]

Poll #2 Results

Here are the results from last week’s poll: What is your favorite Printz Award Winner?
1. Looking for Alaska- John Green (42%, 10 votes)
2. Monster- Walter Dean Meyers (29%, 7 votes)
3. Jellicoe Road- Marcella Marchetta (8%, 2 votes) 
3. American Born Chinese- Gene Luen Yang (8%, 2 votes)
4. how i live now- Meg Rosoff (4%, 1 votes)
4. The First Part [...]

American Born Chinese- Gene Luen Yang

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American Born Chinese might be my favorite book of 2009.  It was so much FUN to read.  I laughed out loud several times, from the dialogue and the illustrations.  Written in the format of a graphic novel it follows three story lines that come together at the end.  It took me a minute to [...]

Monday Poll #2: Printz Winners

Please feel free to link to any reviews you’ve done of these books.  I’ve read several of these books but not all so I’ll be interested in seeing what has been written about them.

The White Darkness- Geraldine McCaughrean

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The White Darkness is a novel that combines history, science, mystery, and teenage angst into a great read.  It is not a quick read as many YA books are, but is still fun to read.  I felt this book had a lot of substance to it.  Sym, a 14-year old girl, has an imaginary [...]