The Family Fang: Review Haiku

Anytime I feel

like I'm a bad mother, I'll

just re-read this book.

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson. Ecco, 2011, 320 pages.

The Flint Heart: Review Haiku

A little crazypants,

but she's the National

Ambassador, y'all.

The Flint Heart by Katherine & John Paterson. Candlewick, 2011, 304 pages.

Journal of Best Practices: Review Haiku

When they said, "for better
or worse, in sickness and in health,"
they meant it.

The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband by David Finch. Scribner, 2012, 240 pages.

There Is No Dog: Review Haiku

Take one Joan Osbourne
song; add the awesomesauce of
Meg Rosoff; stir. Squeeeeee.

There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff. Putnam, 2012, 256 pages.

The Detention Club: Review Haiku

Convoluted story
full of comma splices.
Try Scieszka instead.

The Detention Club by David Yoo. Balzer + Bray, 2011, 299 pages.

The Optimism Bias: Review Haiku

Repetitive,
fascinating look at our
inner Pollyannas.

The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain by Tali Sharot. Pantheon, 2011, 272 pages.

The Canterbury Tales: Review Haiku

I had totally
forgotten how random, weird,
and dirty these were.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, adapted by Seymour Chwast. Bloomsbury, 2011, 144 pages.

The Forgotten Affairs of Youth: Review Haiku

Isabel thinks deep
thoughts again. (Who will
punch Cat in the face for me?)

The Forgotten Affairs of Youth by Alexander McCall Smith. Pantheon, 2011, 272 pages.

Look I Made a Hat: Review Haiku

Worth it for the chapters
on George and Woods alone.
I heart me some Steve.

Look I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes, and Miscellany by Stephen Sondheim. Knopf, 2011, 480 pages.

(Ahem. http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/400599/bro-down)

Popularity Papers #3: Review Haiku

It's cringy because it's real,
and real because it's cringy.
Well played, girls.

The Popularity Papers #3: Words of (Questionable) Wisdom from Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow. Amulet, 2011, 208 pages.

Science Fair Season: Review Haiku

Totally made me
wish I'd been an engineer.
Rock on, smartypants.

Science Fair Season: Twelve Kids, a Robot Named Scorch . . . and What It Takes to Win by Judy Dutton. Hyperion, 2011, 288 pages.

The Fourth Stall: Review Haiku

Dude, it's The Godfather

in middle school. What more
do you need to know?

The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander. Walden Pond Press, 2011, 336 pages.

The Influencing Machine: Review Haiku

Brilliant, clear-eyed look
at the state of media
and how we got here.

The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media by Brooke Gladstone. Norton, 2011, 192 pages.