The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. Random House. 1974. (over the years, many reprints and imprints!) Library copy. The Plot: Trinity is a school ruled by an elite clique, The Vigils, and the person who runs that clique is Archie Costello. Archie creates “assignments” for his fellow students: various stunts and pranks. Jerry is a [...]
Doll Bones by Holly Black. McElderry Books. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: Zach, Poppy, and Alice get together nearly everyday to play an elaborate game with dolls, action figures, and stories that grow and twist and turn, all related to the “Great Queen” doll that Poppy’s mother keeps locked in a cabinet. [...]
The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. Book website. First in a trilogy. The Plot: It is months after the aliens first came, the Others, and sixteen year old Cassie Sullivan is huddled in a tent, alone with just her baby [...]
Last week, I reviewed 17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma (Dutton, 2013). That review was for people who, well, don’t want to know too much about a book going in. So, short version of 17 & Gone for those readers is that Lauren is seeing ghosts, including a girl who may still be alive, [...]
17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma. Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: Lauren’s beat up old van breaks down on a snowy day on the way to school, and because of that, she sees the missing poster she must have passed day after [...]
Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick. Roaring Brook Press. 2013. Review copy from publisher. The Plot: Always, there is an Eric and a Merle; a hare and a loss; and the island of Blessed. These are the constants. What changes in the seven stories of Midwinterblood is the time, starting in the future, 2073, and going back [...]
Scowler by Daniel Kraus. Delacorte Press, Random House. 2013. Review copy from publisher. The Plot: August, 1981. Changes are coming; Ry Burke, 19, knows this. The family farm is dying and he, his mother, Jo Beth, and his eleven year old sister Sarah, will have to leave. Sarah hunts the sky for changes of a [...]
Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta, Candlewick Press, 2013. Reviewed from the Australia edition (Viking, an imprint of Penguin Group (Australia), 2012), a gift from a friend. will be published April 2013. Background: This is the final of three books (and one short story) that make up the The Lumatere Chronicles. It began with Finnikin of [...]
Relish: My Life In The Kitchen by Lucy Knisley. First Second. 2013. Review copy from publisher. It’s About: Relish is a memoir/coming of age book about food and cooking, told in a graphic novel format. The Good: It’s a memoir. And coming of age book. About food. And cooking. In a graphic novel format. What else [...]
Black Helicopters by Blythe Woolston. Candlewick Press. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: “I’m Valkyrie White. I’m fifteen. Your government killed my family.” Valley has been bathed, so that she doesn’t smell of wood smoke and instead smells like other teen girls. Valley has been dressed, in jeans and a T-shirt and a hoodie, [...]
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