Secret Keeper: Review Haiku

Familiar tropes in
unfamiliar setting.
Bengali girl-power!

Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins. Delacorte, 2009, 225 pages.

Headless

Um, not sure where my banner went. Will investigate and get back to you.

Update: All right, Blogger, I give the frak up. You picked the wrong night to mess with me, and now I have to punch you in the face. If anybody out there knows how to fix this problem (I have a banner hosted on another website, the uploading of which to Blogger has ALWAYS WORKED and is suddenly NOT WORKING, and uploading a file from my computer DOES NOT WORK EITHER and I just spent AN HOUR DOING BAD PHOTOSHOP to create a NEW BANNER which ALSO DOES NOT WORK), please let me know.

Jellaby: Review Haiku

He's a big purple
dinosaur that doesn't make
me want to vomit.

Jellaby by Kean Soo. Hyperion, 2008, 143 pages.

Newbery, Caldecott, Printz -- oh my!

In case you haven't already heard:

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/2009medawardwin.cfm

Overall, I gotta say I'm quite pleased. I haven't read the Gaiman but I've heard lots of raves. I love The House in the Night, and I'm thrilled for Laurie Halse Anderson (though surprised that her lifetime achievement did not extend to specific Chains love). And someday Jan Thomas really needs to get a Geisel.

Oddly Normal: Review Haiku

Oddly, this did nothing
for me. I can't even
write a good haiku.

Oddly Normal, Volume I by Otis Frampton. Viper Comics, 2006, 112 pages.

OMG I WANT I WANT

Two famous doctors (Lecter and Furter), in wee precious rodent form.

Thanks to Fuse for the link.

Racing Odysseus: Review Haiku

College prez goes to
school. ("Did I mention I'm a
college president?")

Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again by Roger Martin. University of California Press, 2008, 262 pages.

Hail to the Chief

What are you doing reading blogs? Go watch the inauguration!

Warmer than you, probably

Spending the long weekend at a family wedding in Arizona -- and with any luck, not wearing two+ pairs of socks.

The Numerati: Review Haiku

They will know us by
our data. (Actually,
they already do.)

The Numerati by Stephen Baker. HMCo, 2008, 244 pages.

Four-Year-Old Humor

Munchkin: Knock-knock!
Me: Who's there?
Munchkin: Piratehead!
Me: Piratehead who?
Munchkin: CRAZY!

Snort.

Outliers: Review Haiku

Gladwell pokes a privileged
thumb in Horatio
Alger's hard-work eye.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. Little Brown, 2008, 309 pages.

My money's on Polly Darton

Snort.

18th-century Connecticutian or Muppet?

Thanks to Educating Alice for the link.

Iodine: Review Haiku

My head is spinning
and I think I need a shower.
Sorry, Haven.

Iodine by Haven Kimmel. Free Press, 2008, 223 pages.

The Darwin Awards Next Evolution: Chlorinating the Gene Pool: Review Haiku

Mantra of morons
everywhere: "Seemed like a good
idea at the time."

The Darwin Awards Next Evolution: Chlorinating the Gene Pool by Wendy Northcutt. Dutton, 2008, 291 pages.

The Hunger Games: Review Haiku

The gripping plot
almost made me forget about
the comma splices.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic, 2008, 374 pages.

2008 Cybils Finalists!

Posted here.

I'm looking forward to diving into the nonfiction picture books.

Happy New Year!