Fourth Quarter Reading 2009

1. 1. Girlfriend Material – Melissa Kantor

More depth than I would have expected. I find myself thinking about this book somewhat regularly.

1. 1. Front and Center – Catherine Gilbert Murdock

It’s hard for me to believe that this was from the same author who wrote Princess Ben. 

1. 1. Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians – Jarrett J. Krosoczka

So funny. I immediately bought copies for both my libraries. 

1. 1. Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute – Jarrett J Krosoczka

A quick, delightful read. These are excellent entry books into the world of Graphic Novels.

1. 1. Chasing Lincoln’s Killer – James L. Swanson

So well done. My mom read my copy and loved it, and I gave the adult version to both of Bart’s dads for Christmas.

1. 1. Touch – Francine Prose

Can hardly remember this book at all. Never a great sign.

1. 1. No Talking – Andrew Clements
      Only my second Andrew Clements, but FAR better than Frindle in my opinion.
      

1. 1. Mockingbird – Kathryn Erskine

It’s a bit hard for me to read these kinds of books, but this one was quite well-done and I loved the parallels to To Kill A Mockingbird.

1. 1. Atonement – Ian McEwan
      I don’t really know what to say about this one. I knew what the ending was before it got there. Also, the swearing really lessened my enjoyment of this book. 
   3. The Girl with the Silver Eyes – Willo Davis Roberts

I’d rather read Matilda, frankly. I think this book hasn’t aged all that well.

1. 1. How to Steal a Dog – Barbara O’Connor

I could not believe how much the kids at my schools loved this book. 

1. 1. My Haunted House – Angie Sage

Most certainly the shortest book I read this year.

1. 1. Stitches: A Memoir – David Small

I get depressed just thinking about this book.

1. 1. Found – Margaret Peterson Haddix

A great book, but I have zero interest in reading the sequel.

1. 1. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice – Phillip M. Hoose

Really a fine book.

1. 1. Amos Fortune, Free Man – Elizabeth Yates

I had never even heard of this Newbery winner. Pretty good. 

1. 1. Miracles on Maple Hill – Virginia Sorensen

So delightful. Can’t wait to read this one to my kids.

1. 1. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village – Laura Amy Schlitz

I have avoided this book since all the negative responses to its winning the Newbery. But then I loved it.

1. 1. Rabbit Hill – Robert Lawson

I felt like an old person when I read this book, since I was so on the side of the farmers, rather than the animals.

1. 1. How I Live Now – Meg Rosoff

Started out strong, but then dragged on until I nearly lost my will to live.

1. 1. Call it Courage – Armstrong Perry

Call it Boring.

1. 1. Lincoln: A Photobiography – Russell Freedman

I loved this book. Time to pick up his book about Eleanor Roosevelt.

1. 1. Medina Hill – Trilby Kent

Wish it could have been a smidge better. I donated my copy to my library, but no kids have read it yet. I want to know what they think of it. 

1. 1. Jumped – Rita Garcia-Williams

I am so not the ideal audience for these kinds of books. Gritty is not my style.

1. 1. These Is My Words – Nancy E. Turner

My very favorite book of the year.

1. 1. The First Part Last – Angela Johnson

Such a typical Printz kind of book.

1. 1. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices – Paul Fleischman

Fun to listen to on CD. 

1. 1. A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama – Laura Amy Schlitz

I didn’t realize until just now that this is the same author as “Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!” I am very observant.

1. 1. So You Want to be President? – Judith St. George

Delightful and funny.

1. 1. Babymouse: Skater Girl – Jennifer L. Holm

Liked the Lunch Lady books better. 

1. 1. Sleeping Naked is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days – Vanessa Farquharson

Interesting, but I’m not giving up my toilet paper any time soon.

1. 1. The Matchlock Gun – Walter D. Edmonds

Bless this Newbery title for being short.

1. 1. Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem – Jack Prelutsky

I loved this book. Jack Prelutsky is brilliant and clever.

1. 1. The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had – Kristin Levine

So good. So so good. 

1. 1. Lips Touch: Three Times – Laini Taylor

I keep wondering: do teens really like this book or is it a book that adults THINK teens should like? 

1. 1. The Rules of Survival – Nancy Werlin

I keep trying to write about this book. It was so intense but brilliantly done.

1. 1. Splendor – Anna Gobersen

This series petered off a bit for me. 

1. 1. Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith – Deborah Heligman

So interesting, but far more YA than I was expecting. For some reason, I thought it’d be middle grade level. Not so.

1. 1. The Middle Place – Kelly Corrigan

I liked it while reading it, but have kind of forgotten about it since.

1. 1. East – Edith Pattou

I was never so surprised as when a girl at church recognized this book and said it was one of her favorites. How had I never even heard of it?

1. 1. Soulless – Gail Carriger

What an odd combination of Victorian England and vampires.

1. 1. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? – Louise Rennison

I laughed myself silly reading this one. Oh, Georgia, how I love you. 

1. 1. Shug – Jenny Han

Good, but it’s no “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”

1. 1. The Actor and the Housewife – Shannon Hale

Delightful! I loved this book, as you well know.

1. 1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Steig Larsson

A very fast, gripping read, but I had to skip a few too many pages for me to feel comfortable recommending.

1. 1. Daddy-Long-Legs – Jean Webster

Sweet, but so obviously old. Also, so obvious what the ending was.

1. 1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life – Barbara Kingsolver

Fascinating, but I still bought strawberries this week.

1. 1. Sunshine – Robin McKinley

I don’t know what it was, but this book did nothing for me. I checked it out three times and renewed it twice more before I finished it.

1. 1. Kit’s Wilderness – David Almond

Printz committee, I just do not understand you at all.

1. 1. Silent to the Bone – E. L. Konigsburg

What an odd book. E. L. Konigsburg, you kind of perplex me. 

1. 1. The Year of Secret Assignments – Jacyln Moriarty

Frankly, pretty forgettable.

1. 1. Lovestruck Summer – Melissa C. Walker

Austin, how I miss you.

1. 1. The Everafter – Amy Huntley

Quite delightful. A fast, weekend read.

1. 1. Absolutely Normal Chaos – Sharon Creech

Skip this, go straight to Walk Two Moons.

1. 1. M.C. Higgins the Great – Virginia Hamilton

I realized I do not like books set over a period of just a day or two. Also, nothing happens in this book. Be warned.

1. 1. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking rat – Lynne Jonell

So terrific. I loved this book. 

1. 1. Calamity Jack – Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale

Good, but not as good as Rapunzel’s Revenge.

1. 1. The White Darkness – Geraldine McCaughrean

Another Printz pick that had me completely stymied. Where do they FIND these things?

1. 1. Sisters in Sanity – Gayle Forman

If I Stay was far superior. I wonder why she switched publishers.  

And that’s 2009.