It’s not the first time Michael Fry’s work has been said to resemble that of another.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/06/06/cartoonist/

I’m always interested in stories set in Virginia, so I’m anxious to read The Milk of Birds by Sylvia Whitman. It’s about a teen in Richmond, VA who corresponds with a teenager in a Sudanese refugee camp. Whitman is a debut author and I have not read an ARC, so I know nothing other than the synopsis.

I thought Between Shades of Grey was remarkable, so I’m looking forward to Ruth Sepetys’s next novel, Out of the Easy. It’s set in 1950s New Orleans and is centered around the daughter of a French Quarter prostitute. There’s precious little in the way of children’s/YA historical fiction set in Louisiana (other than My Louisiana Sky, nothing is coming to mind), so I can’t wait to read this. Too often, fiction about New Orleans risks falling into easy stereotypes (voodoo, Mardi Gras stuff), but I’m hopeful that Sepetys doesn’t do this.

This is also more YA, but I’m dying to read Marissa Meyer’s sequel to Cinder. I thought that was a tremendously fun read, and I’m not a big fan of dystopian fiction. I’m quite weary-and wary–of the genre now.

Congratulations on Giant Dance Party. Hope it’s a success!