2010: Year in Review

Number of posts: 142
Number of book reviews: 128

Favorite middle-grade reads:
Octavia Boone's Big Questions About Life, the Universe, and Everything
Forge
Turtle in Paradise
Keeper
Countdown
One Crazy Summer

Favorite middle-grade reads that were separated at birth:
The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place)
The Kneebone Boy

Favorite chapter book-y reads:
Bink & Gollie
Prime Baby

Favorite YA reads:
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
This World We Live In
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin

Favorite grown-up reads:
Packing for Mars
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Marriage and Other Acts of Charity

Favorite sequels/series continuations:
Clementine, Friend of the Week
Bobby the Brave (Sometimes)
Ivy & Bean: Doomed to Dance
Ivy & Bean: What's the Big Idea?
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-Made Catastrophes

Best jackets of the year:
Forge
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend
You

The Kneebone Boy

Countdown
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

The Book Is Overdue!
The Checklist Manifesto
Zombies vs. Unicorns

Books that, if they do not get some kind of ALA award recognition, I will eat my hat:
Forge
One Crazy Summer
Countdown
Keeper
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Bink & Gollie
The Kneebone Boy

(And YES, I realize I have completely ignored nonfiction. BAD Emily. BAD BAD BAD.)

FOUR: Birthday Haiku

Remember when we
thought you couldn't talk?
You kinda got over that.

Happy birthday to my Boy!

Smile: Review Haiku

This worst-case dental
scenario gives Raina
time and room to grow.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier. Amulet, 2010, 192 pages.

Merry Christmas!

Doodlebug: Review Haiku

Self-empowered kid
fights the petty injustices
of middle school.

Doodlebug: A Novel in Doodles by Karen Romano Young. Feiwel & Friends, 2010, 112 pages.

The Charming Quirks of Others: Review Haiku

Wealthy, busybody
philosopher finds new
moral quandaries.

The Charming Quirks of Others: An Isabel Dalhousie Mystery by Alexander McCall Smith. Pantheon, 2010, 272 pages.

Forge: Review Haiku

Queen Laurie pens
another gem. (Now it doesn't
feel so cold outside.)

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson. Atheneum, 2010, 304 pages.

In the Company of Others: Review Haiku

Father Tim stars in
Irish soap opera of love,
lust, fam'ly secrets.

In the Company of Others: A Father Tim Novel by Jan Karon. Viking, 2010, 416 pages.

At Home: Review Haiku

Exhaustive, exhausting
minutiae of human
domesticity.

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson. Doubleday, 2010, 497 pages.

Simple Times: Review Haiku

Macrame for the
clinically insane. (Kidding;
there's no macrame.)

Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris. Hachette, 2010, 304 pages.

Dante's Divine Comedy: Review Haiku

The Cliffs Notes of AWESOME:
one hundred cantos in
black-and-white brilliance.

Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso, adapted by Seymour Chwast. Bloomsbury, 2010, 127 pages.

The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie: Review Haiku

Rich, complex topic,
but jumps around a lot, no?
I de-toed all mine.

The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact On Us by Tanya Lee Stone. Viking, 2010, 130 pages.

Into the Gauntlet: Review Haiku

Ten books and thirty-
nine clues later, and the answer
is . . . looooove. Okay.

Into the Gauntlet (The 39 Clues, #10) by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Scholastic, 2010, 176 pages.

Ivy + Bean: What's the Big Idea? Review Haiku

Not a polemic --

just a kid's-eye view of
climate change. Lurve these two.

Ivy + Bean: What's the Big Idea? by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Chronicle, 2010, 128 pages.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth: Review Haiku

Further confessions
of a budding sociopath.

Plus, puberty!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney. Abrams, 2010, 224 pages.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please enjoy some delicious turkey.

Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown: Review Haiku

Never underestimate
the power of jealousy
and ninja s'mores.

Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Knopf, 2010, 96 pages.

Allie Finkle: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake-Out: Review Haiku

Is there any fourth-
grader as self-assured as
Allie? Mean girls suck.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls #5: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake-Out by Meg Cabot. Scholastic, 2010, 192 pages.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-Made Catastrophes: Review Haiku

Zombie Louisa
May Alcott was my favorite
part. Love Alvin Ho!

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-Made Catastrophes by Lenore Look, illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Schwartz & Wade, 2010, 192 pages.

Troublemaker: Review Haiku

Wow, Leila was right:
this is a truly awful
book. (And that Barbie bod . . . !)

Troublemaker, Book 1: A Barnaby and Hooker Graphic Novel by Janet Evanovich and Alex Evanovich. Dark Horse Comics, 2010, 112 pages.

P.S. Huh. I coulda sworn Leila reviewed this. But now I can't find it. Regardless, I'm pretty sure she would hate it.

Babymouse: Cupcake Tycoon: Review Haiku

But did you do a
discounted cash flow analysis,
Babymouse?

Babymouse: Cupcake Tycoon by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm. Random, 2010, 96 pages.

Bink and Gollie: Review Haiku

What I really want
to know is, how can I get
a treehouse like that?

Bink and Gollie by Alison McGhee and Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Tony Fucile. Candlewick, 2010, 96 pages.

Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth: Review Haiku

Would've been more
effective if the creationists
weren't hillbillies.

Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth by Sandra Dutton. HMH, 2010, 134 pages.

Finally: Review Haiku

Random acts of kindness
don't really add up to
anything, alas.

Finally by Wendy Mass. Scholastic, 2010, 296 pages.

The Upside of Irrationality: Review Haiku

Pop psychology
explains why we do dumb things
that we know are dumb.

The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home by Dan Ariely. Harper, 2010, 352 pages.

Halloween cop-out

I am woefully behind in reading, so I offer instead this picture of my Hermione and my robot.

Enjoy.

What Happened on Fox Street: Review Haiku

Does it make me a
bad person if I liked this
but didn't love it?

What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstrubb. Balzer + Bray, 2010, 224 pages.

Mockingbird: Review Haiku

How do you make sense
of the senseless? Asperger's
story of grief, hope.

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. Philomel, 2010, 235 pages.

P.S. Yes. The Eagle Scout thing. But for some reason I spent the first fifty pages thinking it was a dummy chest (like "Annie, Annie, are you okay?" dummy), which seemed like a reasonable project.

How I Made It to Eighteen: Review Haiku

Harrowing, hopeful
take on breakdown, starkly rendered
in black-and-white.

How I Made It to Eighteen: A Mostly True Story by Tracy White. Roaring Brook, 2010, 151 pages.

Zilch: Review Haiku

Nuggets of wisdom
snuck in among the auto-
hagiography.

Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business by Nancy Lublin. Portfolio, 2010, 246 pages.

Big Nate: Review Haiku

Poor man's Wimpy Kid
takes delight in his under-
achievement. Still fun.

Big Nate: In a Class By Himself by Lincoln Peirce. Harper, 2010, 224 pages.

The Vanishing Violin: Review Haiku

A few wrong notes, but
overall, a great puzzle fest

for smart tween girls.

The Vanishing Violin (Red Blazer Girls #2) by Michael D. Bell. Knopf, 2010, 336 pages.

Zebrafish: Review Haiku

Gorgeous rich colors
tell of music, friendship, illness.
Great kid power.

Zebrafish by Peter H. Reynolds. Fablevision/Atheneum, 2010, 119 pages.

As Simple As It Seems: Review Haiku

Unique topic makes
run-of-the-mill coming-of-age
worth checking out.





As Simple As It Seems by Sarah Weeks. Harper, 2010, 192 pages.

P.S. What does this jacket have to do with anything? She skips rocks like, once. The nightgown is good, but otherwise . . . ?

Fly Away Home: Review Haiku

First adultery
novel where I didn't want

to punch everyone.

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner. Atria, 2010, 416 pages.

Brains for Lunch: Review Haiku

Sadly, not nearly
as awesome as the title/
concept would imply.

Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku by K. A. Holt. Roaring Brook, 2010, 96 pages.

Bone: Crown of Horns: Review Haiku

OMG I FINISHED
BONE. Now I am sad that

there aren't any more.

Bone #9: Crown of Horns by Jeff Smith. Graphix, 2009, 224 pages.

Just Let Me Lie Down: Review Haiku

Much of this is old hat,
but it will make you feel
like you're not alone.

Just Let Me Lie Down: Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom by Kristin van Ogtorp. Little Brown, 2010, 259 pages.

Sophie Simon Solves Them All: Review Haiku

Resident genius
unwillingly helps others,
makes friends. Plus, lemurs.

Sophie Simon Solves Them All by Lisa Graff. FSG, 2010, 112 pages.

Cybils Cybils Cybils

Yes, it's true -- once again I will be a Cybils judge, for round II of the SFF/elementary and middle-grade panel. I am looking forward to dipping into the faery waters again.

(Actually, I'm just trying to build up my geek cred.)

Mergers & Acquisitions from A to Z: Review Haiku

What? It's the only
book I've been able to read
for the past three weeks.

Mergers & Acquisitions from A to Z by Andrew J. Sherman. AMACOM, 2006, 288 pages.

(Or as I like to call it, Mergers & Acquisitions from A to Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . )

Prime Baby: Review Haiku

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Twisted alien sibling
genius. Sing-along!

Prime Baby by Gene Luen Yang. First Second, 2010, 56 pages.

Scumble: Review Haiku

Sometimes clumsy, always
heartfelt allegory
of adolescence.

Scumble by Ingrid Law. Dial, 2010, 416 pages.

Happyface: Review Haiku

Next time someone says
graphic novels aren't real novels,
give 'em this one.

Happyface by Stephen Emond. Little Brown, 2010, 307 pages.

What Women Want: Review Haiku

Could've been good if
the author weren't such a
chauvinistic douchebag.

What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly by Paco Underhill. S&S, 2010, 214 pages.

Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Review Haiku

Kathleen Norris plus
Anne Lamott plus the chick from
Northern Exposure.

Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Family, Friendships, and Faith in Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende. Algonquin, 2010, 287 pages.

Ling & Ting: Review Haiku

Is it wrong that I
kinda want to marry this
book? Adorable.

Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin. Little Brown, 2010, 43 pages.

Keeper: Review Haiku

Heart-tugging love stories:
read 'em and weep.
(Bonus points for the gay guys.)

Keeper by Kathi Appelt. Atheneum, 2010, 399 pages.

The Bedwetter: Review Haiku

Pretty much what you'd
expect: a few laughs, all of
it NSFW.

The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman. Harper, 2010, 240 pages.