2014: Year in Review Haiku

Reviews posted: 128 (Clearly I'm falling down on the job.)

I feel like I read way more MG than YA this year, but apparently all the love went to YA.

Favorite MG reads of 2014
The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry
The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jenni Holm
The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson
El Deafo by Cece Bell

Favorite YA reads of 2014
Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang
When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
Noggin by John Corey Whaley
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Greatest Nostalgia for One's Junior High Reading Years
The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations

Favorite Jackets of 2014
100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh
Noggin by John Corey Whaley
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Happy birthday, Boy.

Petty Theft: Review Haiku

Weirdo novel about
weirdo people stealing books
and being French.

Petty Theft by Pascal Girard. Drawn & Quarterly, 2014, 104 pages.

Hodie Christus natus est

Lights, please.


And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Over Easy: Review Haiku

Eggs, bacon, cocaine --
just your average 1970s
diner fare.

Over Easy by Mimi Pond. Drawn & Quarterly, 2014, 272 pages.

The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken: Review Haiku

Come for the wordplay,
stay for the illustrations.
Chickens are funny.

The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken (Chicken Squad #2) by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Kevin Cornell. Atheneum, 2014, 112 pages.

An Age of License: Review Haiku

A perfect last-minute
gift for your favorite
post-college wanderer.

An Age of License: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley. Fantagraphics, 2014, 189 pages.

Kate the Great: Review Haiku

A little trite, but
SO true to the modern
fifth-grade experience.

Kate the Great, Except When She's Not by Suzy Becker. Crown, 2014, 272 pages.

The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations: Review Haiku

Some parts haven't aged
well, but overall, as awesome
as I recall.

The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations by Ellen Conford. Little Brown, 1976, 220 pages.

(Ignore the "TWO PAWS UP BOOKS" in that image. Jackets of OP books are hard to find . . . )

Falling Into Place: Review Haiku

Add to your list of
Debuts That Knock It Out of
the Park. Powerful.

Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang. Greenwillow, 2014, 304 pages.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place: Review Haiku

Way more fun than a
Victorian setting has
any right to be.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry. Roaring Brook, 2014, 351 pages.

ADVENT FAIR! Saturday, 9:00am to 2:00pm!

Local friends, stop by tomorrow for fabulous crafts, gift baskets, handmade items, and more! I'll be manning the raffle table (win a FitBit One or a Kindle Fire HD Kids' Edition!) and helping our youth mission trip-goers sell Lumps O' Coal (perfect for stocking stuffers!) to fund our summer adventure to West Virginia with Appalachia Service Project.

Kill My Mother: Review Haiku

Crazypants fever
dream of a noir-ish mystery.
Femme fatales rule.

Kill My Mother by Jules Feiffer. Norton, 2014, 148 pages.

The Long Haul: Review Haiku

The Parent-reader
in me didn't find this
as funny as the Kid.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney. Amulet, 2014, 224 pages.