Fourth Quarter Reading 2009

Girlfriend Material by Melissa Kantor – More depth than I would have expected. I find myself thinking about this book somewhat regularly.

 

 

 

Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock – It’s hard for me to believe that this was from the same author who wrote Princess Ben.

 

 

 

Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians by Jarrett J. Krosoczka – So funny. I immediately bought copies for both my libraries.

 

 

 

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J Krosoczka – A quick, delightful read. These are excellent entry books into the world of Graphic Novels.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Touch by Francine Prose – Can hardly remember this book at all. Never a great sign.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Mockingbird by 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.

 

 

 

Atonement by 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.

 

 

 

The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts – I’d rather read Matilda, frankly. I think this book hasn’t aged all that well.

 

 

 

How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor – I could not believe how much the kids at my schools loved this book. 

 

 

 

My Haunted House by Angie Sage – Most certainly the shortest book I read this year.

 

 

 

Stitches: A Memoir by David Small – I get depressed just thinking about this book.

 

 

 

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix – A great book, but I have zero interest in reading the sequel.

 

 

 

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip M. Hoose – Really a fine book.

 

 

 

Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates – I had never even heard of this Newbery winner. Pretty good.

 

 

 

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen – So delightful. Can’t wait to read this one to my kids.

 

 

 

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz – I have avoided this book since all the negative responses to its winning the Newbery. But then I loved it.

 

 

 

Rabbit Hill by 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.

 

 

 

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff – Started out strong, but then dragged on until I nearly lost my will to live.

 

 

 

Call it Courage by Armstrong Perry – Call it Boring.

 

 

 

Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman – I loved this book. Time to pick up his book about Eleanor Roosevelt.

 

 

 

Medina Hill by 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.

 

 

 

Jumped by Rita Garcia-Williams – I am so not the ideal audience for these kinds of books. Gritty is not my style.

 

 

 

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner – My very favorite book of the year.

 

 

 

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson – Such a typical Printz kind of book.

 

 

 

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman – Fun to listen to on CD.

 

 

 

A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama by 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.

 

 

 

So You Want to be President? by Judith St. George – Delightful and funny.

 

 

 

Babymouse: Skater Girl by Jennifer L. Holm – Liked the Lunch Lady books better.

 

 

 

Sleeping Naked is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days by Vanessa Farquharson – Interesting, but I’m not giving up my toilet paper any time soon.

 

 

 

The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds – Bless this Newbery title for being short.

 

 

 

Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem by Jack Prelutsky – I loved this book. Jack Prelutsky is brilliant and clever.

 

 

 

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine – So good. So so good.

 

 

 

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor – I keep wondering: do teens really like this book or is it a book that adults THINK teens should like?

 

 

 

The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin – I keep trying to write about this book. It was so intense but brilliantly done.

 

 

 

Splendor by Anna Gobersen – This series petered off a bit for me.

 

 

 

Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by 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.

 

 

 

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan – I liked it while reading it, but have kind of forgotten about it since.

 

 

 

East by 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?

 

 

 

Soulless by Gail Carriger – What an odd combination of Victorian England and vampires.

 

 

 

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison – I laughed myself silly reading this one. Oh, Georgia, how I love you.

 

 

 

Shug by Jenny Han – Good, but it’s no “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”

 

 

 

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale – Delightful! I loved this book, as you well know.

 

 

 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson – A very fast, gripping read, but I had to skip a few too many pages for me to feel comfortable recommending.

 

 

 

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster – Sweet, but so obviously old. Also, so obvious what the ending was.

 

 

 

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver – Fascinating, but I still bought strawberries this week.

 

 

 

Sunshine by 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.

 

 

 

Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond – Printz committee, I just do not understand you at all.

 

 

 

Silent to the Bone by E. L. Konigsburg – What an odd book. E. L. Konigsburg, you kind of perplex me.

 

 

 

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jacyln Moriarty – Frankly, pretty forgettable.

 

 

 

Lovestruck Summer by Melissa C. Walker – Austin, how I miss you.

 

 

 

The Everafter by Amy Huntley – Quite delightful. A fast, weekend read.

 

 

 

Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech – Skip this, go straight to Walk Two Moons.

 

 

 

M.C. Higgins the Great by 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.

 

 

 

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking rat by Lynne Jonell – So terrific. I loved this book.

 

 

 

Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale – Good, but not as good as Rapunzel’s Revenge.

 

 

 

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean – Another Printz pick that had me completely stymied. Where do they FIND these things?

 

 

 

Sisters in Sanity by Gayle Forman – If I Stay was far superior. I wonder why she switched publishers.  

 

 

And that’s 2009.

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