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, [...]
Flashing back to two short years ago: April 2011! The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson. From my review: “In Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, Ginny Blackstone was left thirteen envelopes by her late aunt, resulting in a tour of Europe that pushed Ginny outside her comfort zone and gave her some insight and understanding into [...]
Sit back and get ready to learn all you ever wanted to know about what goes on in the secret rooms of Printz Commitee meetings! As I may have mentioned a zillion times, I was on the Printz Commitee in 2009 that selected Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta as the Printz Winner, along with four Honor books: The [...]
As I explained last April in Flashback Reviews, I’m “flashing back” to books read in prior years. This past year, I highlighted reviews I did in 2010, 2007, and 2005. I like highlighting past reviews for a few reasons: – I like revisiting the books I read – I like putting a bit of a [...]
Poison by Bridget Zinn. Hyperion. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: Kyra, sixteen, is not your typical hero. She is breaking into the home of the Master Trio of Potioners to steal a very specific, very deadly poison. So, thief and killer? Not quite. Kyra is — was — one of the Master [...]
When We Wake by Karen Healey. Little, Brown. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: “My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy.” And Tegan, sixteen, was happy. No, her life wasn’t perfect or flawless. Her father, a soldier, had died when she [...]
Bossypants by Tina Fey. Reagan Arthur Books, an imprint of Little, Brown. 2011. Audiobook narrated by Tina Fey (Little, Brown 2011). Listened to audiobook, borrowed from the library. Vacation reads (aka, when I talk about books for grownups and post them before holidays. St. Patrick’s Day counts.) It’s About: Tina Fey writes about her life. The [...]
A flashback to what I was reading in March 2007. The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin. From my review: “Matthew tells his story to his younger sister, Emmy; the story of their lives when Emmy was still small. When Matthew, Emmy, and their sister Callie lived with their mother and dreamed of escape. Nikki, their [...]
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