2009 Year-End Round Up

Another year, blah blah blah, here's the round-up.


Favorite Middle-Grade Reads
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) by Lisa Yee


Favorite YA Reads
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Fire by Kristin Cashore
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Going Bovine by Libba Bray


Favorite Nonfiction
Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge


Favorite Adult Reads
The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larson
Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Davis


Favorite Graphic Novels
Stitches by David Small
Adventures in Cartooning by James Sturm et al.


Favorite Book from The LIST
Um. I seem to have only read one this year. Fortunately it was good.
Personal History by Katharine Graham


Best Jackets of the Year (among the books I read, anyway)
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Why We Make Mistakes by Joseph T. Hallinan


Biggest Accomplishment in 2009
Still finding time to read lots of books and post 169 times even after starting business school. (I shoulda reviewed my Very Boring Marketing Textbook, at the very least . . . )


Here's to more good reads in 2010.

THREE: Birthday Haiku

OH MY GOD YOU ARE
INSANE. Happy birthday to
the Boyest of Boys.

Odd and the Frost Giants: Review Haiku

A wint'ry tale of
bravery and redemption
for a wint'ry night.

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. Harper, 2009, 117 pages.

Merry Christmas from the Library of Congress

I don't know where these originally came from -- if you do, please give credit in the comments. I put my favorites in bold.

Merry Christmas!

A selection of Library of Congress (LC) subject headings for the holidays
Shopping malls -- Religious aspects
Muzak (Trademark) -- Psychological aspects
Advertising -- Toys
Advertising -- Confectionery
Christmas show windows
Avarice in children
Temper tantrums in children
Department store Santas -- Protection
Christmas on postage stamps
Camels in art
Jesus Christ -- Nativity -- Juvenile drama
Sheep -- Behavior
Christmas decorations -- Risk assessment
English holly -- Handling -- Accidents
Christmas tree ornaments -- Materials -- Brittleness
Christmas lights -- Defects
Candles in interior decoration -- Safety aspects
Christmas trees -- Fires and fire prevention
Interior decorators -- Wounds and injuries
Reindeer -- Flight
Santa Claus -- Career in aviation
Sleighs -- Handling characteristics
Near misses (Aeronautics)
Chimneys -- Design and construction -- Safety aspects
Chimneys -- Accidents
Sleep disorders in children -- Risk factors
Christmas stockings -- Evaluation
Confectionery -- Materials -- Sampling
Toys -- Materials -- Impact testing
Blister packs -- Materials -- Acoustic properties
Unparliamentary language
Jealousy in children
Impulse control disorders in children
Gift wrapping -- Materials -- War use
Stress (Psychology) -- Religious aspects
Behavior disorders in children
Children in public worship -- Prevention
Brussels sprouts industry -- Seasonal variations
Christmas cookery -- Health aspects
Hanukkah cookery -- Fiction
Abdominal pain in children -- Risk factors
Crying in children
Household animals -- Effects of stress on
Chocolate -- Effects of high temperatures on
Norway spruce -- Effects of drought on
Rug cleaning
Christmas television programmes -- Psychological aspects
Hyperactivity in children
Intergenerational conflict
Violence in children
Headache -- Psychosomatic aspects
Dreidel (Game)
Child behavior checklist
Herod I, King of Judea, 73-4 B.C. -- Philosophy
Alcohol -- Therapeutic use

Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have: Review Haiku

Fat kid rules the world --

temporarily, anyway.
Great YA voice.

Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff. Egmont USA, 2009, 311 pages.

The Dream Stealer: Review Haiku

Odd length, odd story,
but a charming way to pass
half an hour or so.

The Dream Stealer by Sid Fleischman, illustrated by Peter Sis. Greenwillow, 2009, 96 pages.

Bone: Out from Boneville: Review Haiku

Um, how is it that
I've never read Bone before?
Shame, Emily. SHAME.

Bone #1: Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith. Graphix, 2005, 138 pages.

Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally): Review Haiku

Oh, that awful moment
when gender politics
rears its ugly head.

Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) by Lisa Yee, illustrated by Dan Santat. Scholastic, 2009, 160 pages.

No Girls Allowed: Review Haiku

Tidy summary
of historical cross-dressers
in graphic form.

No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom, and Adventure by Susan Hughes and Willow Dawson. Kids Can, 2008, 80 pages.

Shelf Discovery: Review Haiku

Relive your cringe-worthy
adolescence through classic
YA favorites.

Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick. Avon, 2009, 448 pages.

Allie Finkle #4: Review Haiku

The dramarama
of fourth grade, now with extra
theatre-y goodness.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls #4: Stage Fright by Meg Cabot. Scholastic, 2009, 224 pages.

Joey Fly, Private Eye #1: Review Haiku

Ace Lacewing for the
older set: a bug-sized bit
of cinema noir.

Joey Fly, Private Eye: Creepy, Crawly Crime (#1) by Aaron Reynolds. Holt, 2009, 96 pages.

Umbrella Summer: Review Haiku

Go-to girl for great
middle grade offers study
in grief. Bring tissues.

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff. Harper, 2009, 240 pages.

The Problem with the Puddles: Review Haiku

Wants to be Horvath,
but isn't. Totally heart
Tricia Tusa, though.

The Problem with the Puddles by Kate Feiffer. S&S, 2009, 208 pages.

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.: Review Haiku

Take one classic
homework assignment, add heartfelt
angst, label neatly.

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner. Walker, 2009, 195 pages.

Marching for Freedom: Review Haiku

I can't find anything
negative to say about
this book. Can you?

Marching for Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge. Viking, 2009, 72 pages.

Emmaline and the Bunny: Review Haiku

Odd little fable
about the virtues of being
Untidy. Sweet.

Emmaline and the Bunny by Katherine Hannigan. Greenwillow, 2009, 96 pages.

Cupcakes of Doom: Review Haiku

This may be the most
bizarre book ever. Mad props

for the title, though.

Cupcakes of Doom by Ray Friesen. Don't Eat Any Bugs, 2009, 100 pages.

Any Which Wall: Review Haiku

Half-baked (overbaked?)
Eager homage is good, but
I wished for more meat.

Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder. Random, 2009, 245 pages.

Wimpy Kid: Dog Days: Review Haiku

What George Costanza
would have been like in middle
school. Amoral glee.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney. Abrams/Amulet, 2009, 224 pages.

The Miles Between: Review Haiku

From the Calder Game
school of coincidences,
a road trip writ large.

The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson. Holt, 2009, 272 pages.

P.S. Really? This is the final jacket? Bleah.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Practicing the Piano: Review Haiku

Can be tiresome in
a way Clementine never
is, but still a hoot.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Practicing the Piano (But She Does Love Being in Recitals) by Peggy Gifford. Schwartz & Wade, 2009, 176 pages.

T-Minus: Review Haiku

You think you know the

story (and you do), but this

is still a stunner.

T-Minus: The Race to the Moon by Jim Ottaviani, Kevin Cannon, and Zander Cannon. S&S/Aladdin, 2009, 124 pages.

The Lost Art of Gratitude: Review Haiku

The egghead-y-est
busybody in Edinburgh
strikes again.

The Lost Art of Gratitude (An Isabel Dalhousie novel) by Alexander McCall Smith. Pantheon, 2009, 262 pages.

Max Quigley: Review Haiku

Sociological
value, I'm sure, but I
just didn't like him.

Max Quigley: (Technically) Not a Bully by James Roy. HMCo, 2009, 202 pages.

Pilgrims: Review Haiku

Good, but I really
don't need to read sex scenes by
Garrison Keillor.

Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance by Garrison Keillor. Viking, 2009, 297 pages.

Going Away Shoes: Review Haiku

Small-town women trapped
in various boxes try
to escape, but don't.

Going Away Shoes: Stories by Jill McCorkle. Algonquin, 2009, 272 pages.

Angry Management: Review Haiku

Might be nice stories
without the heavy thwacking
of moral lessons.

Angry Management by Chris Crutcher. Greenwillow, 2009, 246 pages.

Dude. I am TOTALLY famous.

Somehow I made OnlineSchool.net's list of 100 Best Book Blogs for Kids, Teens, and Tweens. Clearly they were smoking something. [slinks away secretly thrilled]

If I Stay: Review Haiku

Unfathomable
loss, sensitively handled.
It will stay with you.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman. Dutton, 2009, 201 pages.

The Summer I Turned Pretty: Review Haiku

But wait a minute --
I wanted her to end up

with the other one!

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. S&S, 2009, 276 pages.

Ten years ago today, I was doing this.

Happy anniversary, darlin'.

The Chosen One: Review Haiku

Chilling look at what
happens when men become God.
Hide your daughters, folks.

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams. St. Martin's, 2009, 213 pages.

The Guinea Pig Diaries: Review Haiku

We get it, A. J.:

your wife is a saint and you're
a work-in-progress.

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment by A. J. Jacobs. S&S, 2009, 256 pages.

Lunch Lady: Review Haiku

Love these, but I can't
get Adam Sandler out of
my head. "Sloppy Joes . . . "

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute and Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians by Jarret J. Krosoczka. Knopf, 2009, 96 pages (both).

Home Game: Review Haiku

Sort of like labor
stories: most interesting to
the people in them.

Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood by Michael Lewis. Norton, 2009, 190 pages.

Lost in the Meritocracy: Review Haiku

Midwestern boy goes

East to find -- surprise! -- he's no
F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever by Walter Kirn. Doubleday, 2009, 211 pages.

Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle: Review Haiku

Perfectly captures
the selfishness of pre-teens.
A winning debut.

Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino. Roaring Brook, 2009, 154 pages.

P.S. "Grabowskys." "Grabowskys'." Or if you prefer, "Grabowskies" and "Grabowskies'." Just please, for the love of God, NOT "Grabowsky's."

Life Among the Lutherans: Review Haiku

Warmed-up retellings
from APHC. Just like
leftover hotdish.

Life Among the Lutherans by Garrison Keillor. Augsburg, 2009, 183 pages.

Change-up: Review Haiku

Kept me on the
exercise bike twice as long. Plus,
Aaron Bleeping Boone!

Change-up: Mystery at the World Series. Knopf, 2009, 308 pages.

Wishful Drinking: Review Haiku

Somewhere in here there's
a lightsaber/electroshock
therapy joke.

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. S&S, 2008, 163 pages.

P.S. Happy birthday, Boy Scout!

Hell Is Other Parents: Review Haiku

Better than your
av'rage Mommy Confessional.
With bonus Boy Spock!

Hell Is Other Parents: And Other Tales of Maternal Combustion by Deborah Copaken Kogan. Hyperion, 2009, 209 pages.

Carter Finally Gets It: Review Haiku

Some problems with voice;
still, a painfully funny
take on teenagers.

Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford. Hyperion, 2009, 300 pages.

Best Friends Forever: Review Haiku

Another Weiner
winner -- but what does jacket
have to do with book?

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner. Atria, 2009, 359 pages.

One False Note and The Sword Thief: Review Haiku

The clues fly fast and
furious: a convoluted,
high-stakes muddle.

One False Note: 39 Clues #2 by Gordon Korman. Scholastic, 2008, 174 pages.
The Sword Thief: 39 Clues #3 by Peter Lerangis. Scholastic, 2009, 160 pages.

The Wildwater Walking Club: Review Haiku

Sometimes, "one foot in
front of the other" is a
good philosophy.

The Wildwater Walking Club by Claire Cook. Hyperion, 2009, 239 pages.