Sports from Hell: Review Haiku

Middle-aged writer
puts a ferret in his pants
for the sport of it.

Sports from Hell: My Search for the World's Dumbest Competition by Rick Reilly. Doubleday, 2010, 224 pages.

I'm at ALA!

For my bookish friends who are also in DC for ALA Annual, come see me in the Charlesbridge booth, #2710!

Seven Year Switch: Review Haiku

Middle-aged woman
has midlife crisis. It's summer --

must be Claire Cook.

Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook. Hyperion, 2010, 256 pages.

Countdown: Review Haiku

Franny learns not to
duck and cover when it counts.

Fab docu-novel.

Countdown by Deborah Wiles. Scholastic, 2010, 400 pages.

P.S. Am I wrong to have wanted a little propaganda dispelling in the author's note (i.e., a newspaper over your head will not, in fact, protect you from nuclear fallout)?

Turtle in Paradise: Review Haiku

My second-favorite
Turtle in literature.

Our Gang, Key West-style.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm. Random, 2010, 208 pages.

The Double Comfort Safari Club: Review Haiku

You don't really care
what it's about, right? Just enjoy
some nice bush tea.

The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith. Pantheon, 2010, 224 pages.

[Incidentally: the first synopsis on that link is completely wrong. Strange.]

The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow: Review Haiku

Twenty-two minute
Nickelodeon sitcom
dressed up like a book.

The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow by Tim Kehoe. Little Brown, 2010, 185 pages.

Only One Year: Review Haiku

Broke my heart as a
mom; what would I have thought
as an eight-year-old?

Only One Year by Andrea Cheng. Lee & Low, 2010, 97 pages.

It's Not Summer Without You: Review Haiku

What is it with these
YA ladies and unfinished
summer romance?

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han. S&S, 2010, 275 pages.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Review Haiku

Holy HeLa -- the
best and very worst of
scientific progress.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Crown, 2010, 369 pages.

Octavia Boone's Big Questions About Life, the Universe, and Everything: Review Haiku

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll

want to throw things at the grownups.
Fabulous read.

Octavia Boone's Big Questions About Life, the Universe, and Everything by Rebecca Rupp. Candlewick, 2010, 192 pages.

P.S. Bonus points for the Hitchhiker's reference in the title.

Bobby the Brave (Sometimes): Review Haiku

Give this to all the
awkward, good-hearted fourth-grade
boys you know. Do it!

Bobby the Brave (Sometimes) by Lisa Yee. Levine/Scholastic, 2010, 176 pages.

P.S. Look, she signed it!