He was a good little monkey

Curious George, in brief.

The Year of Living Biblically: Review Haiku

Publishing gimmick
of Biblical proportions!
Still a fun read, though.

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs. S&S, 2007, 388 pages.

The Dead and the Gone: Review Non-Haiku

(with apologies to William Carlos Williams and Joyce Sidman)

This is just to say

I have read Susan Beth Pfeffer's The Dead and the Gone
which most of you
can't get your hands on yet

Forgive me
it was amazing
so bleak
and so rich

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Harcourt, 2008, 320 pages.

Dude, I'm friggin' Einstein

Cash Advance Loans

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Review Haiku

A brilliant fusion
of words, doodles, cheese mold, and
humiliation.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. Amulet/Abrams, 2007, 217 pages.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. Amulet/Abrams, 2008, 224 pages.

Catch-22: Review Haiku

This is the line where
comedy and tragedy
are horribly blurred.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. S&S, 1961, 443 pages.

#24 on The LIST.

Home again

I'm home from NCTE. The conference itself was pretty quiet, but I did score some wicked cool stuff:

Signed galley of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
Signed galley of The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Galleys of new novels by Linda Sue Park, Jeanne Birdsall, and Gary D. Schmidt
Overpriced swag from Mary Poppins on Broadway (dude, the Munchkin will totally flip)

Lots of bloggers were out and about, including Fuse, Chicken Spaghetti, Jen Robinson, and Liz B. I also got a goodly amount of reading done (thank you, time alone with no dependents!), so new haiku will come soon.

If I can make it there

Off tomorrow avec bebes for NCTE in NYC. Fortunately, said bebes are spending the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's, while I bustle about the city gleefully free from small creatures climbing all over me. If I'm lucky, I will get to see Fuse and Alison, too.

But -- poop on a stick! -- the labor movement has decided that I will not get to see The Little Mermaid on Broadway (or, as she is known in my house, "Ariel the Little Mermaid," with nary a pronoun to be found). At least Mary Poppins is still on the docket.

Prayers, karma, and other good feelings for two uneventful ferry rides with the little monsters would be appreciated. (At least the beagle is staying home this time.)

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Review Haiku

You'd think it would bore --
medieval verse monologues? --
but instead, it sings.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz. Candlewick, 2007, 85 pages.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian: Review Haiku

Yep, it's award bait --
but the thing is, it's also
a damn good story.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Little Brown, 2007, 229 pages.

UPDATED: 2007 National Book Award winner for Young People's Literature. (See? Told you it was award bait.)

Guyaholic: Review Haiku

V's looking for love.
It's not her mother's road trip --
and thank God for that.

Guyaholic by Carolyn Mackler. Candlewick, 2007, 192 pages.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Review Haiku

Wait, this book is full
of Christian symbolism?
But it's so subtle . . .

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. Geoffrey Bles, 1950, 186 pages.

#23 on The LIST. Listened to on a Playaway device (read by Michael York, who, sadly, is now forever associated with an unfortunate cup of coffee).

Run: Review Haiku

Gorgeous prose lifts an
otherwise superficial
look at race, fam'ly.

Run by Ann Patchett. Harper, 2007, 295 pages.