Wrapping Up 2009 - Reading

Tally Time!

In 2009 I read and reviewed:

82 novels totalling 20,893 pages

227 picture books

39 movies

and listened to at least 15 unabridged audio books

Tra la!

Wrapping Up 2009 - Challenges

I attempted five challenges in 2009. Some were lofty. Some were not. I didn't do too badly...if I'd read the 100 novel-length books I'd hoped to read, I could have possibly done it. There are just too many choices out there.

The 999 Challenge I finished all nine books in five categories (new-2009-books, books by an author I'd already read, Mystery/Thrillers, YA titles, and Just for the fun of reading it), but fell short in four categories (Early Reader Series-6, Books with an Arizona setting-3, Books relating to teaching literature-4, and Novels that take a contemporary twist on history-4 plus a mess of unfinished, uninteresting titles). Oh well.

The 2009 TBR Challenge was a real let-down. Of the 20 books in my TBR pile as of January 1st, I only read TWO, Mission to Sonora and Gray Ghost. That's bad news.

2009 1st in a Series Challenge was a winner - I was supposed to read 12 and I read 18. Hip, hip horray!

The Jewish Literature Challenge only required three books, and I read four. However, I'm really surprised that I didn't read more than that!

2009 Mini-Challenges - of the twelve mini-challenges, I fulfilled six and messed up on six. I guess I'm stubborn about reading outside my genre-comfort level. I really need to challenge myself more in my old age.

Medieval Challenge - A Tournament of Reading

A Tournament of Reading Challenge

This challenge is designed to get us all reading a little more medieval literature in 2010. The challenge will run from January 1st to December 31st, 2010, and will be hosted at Medieval Bookworm. Challenge gneres include history, medieval literature, and historical fiction. Medieval, for simplicity of definition, will be from 500-1500, and literature from all over the world is welcome, not just western Europe. There are three levels:

Peasant -Read 3 medieval books of any kind.
Lord-Read 6 medieval books, at least one of each kind.
King - Read 9 medieval books, at least two of each kind.

You're not required to make a list or stick to one. I've signed up for the PEASANT, because I need to diverge from my hohum path a tiny bit in this year to come!

The books I've read for this challenge are:
1.
2.
3.

Wow! America - Robert Neubecker

Hyperion Books, 2006
44 pages - 2 fold open
For: Ages 4 up
Endpapers: Huge colorful outline map of the US.

At first I didn't think that Ella would be too interested in this book. However, she was fascinated with the huge, colorful U.S. map. She liked to learn where she lived, and was able to point to Pennsylvania after going to other states. She realized that Arizona, where Nan lives, is very far away. She now knows where Maine is (she visits her cousins there), and Florida, where Disney World is located. She kept flipping back to the map to "remind" me of the locales of these places!

The book is presented in huge double-page spreads (and in two cases, TRIPLE page spreads!) We begin in New England. "New England is famous for fishing and ships and Patriots and Pilgrims." The scene we see is a wharf beside the sea, with a yellow-clad fisherman holding up a huge (reddish-orange) lobster. Okay, so it's already been cooked..... There are sea gulls and lobster traps, whales and fish. We travel from New England to New York Harbor and turn the book around so that we can see the Statue of Liberty standing tall on the two pages. Then Niagara Falls. When we arrive in Washington, we have to turn the page around and around, because the buildings are rising from each of the edges. Back to horizontal for the southeastern seashore, then vertical again for Cape Canaveral. We continue to turn the book through the midwest and west, arriving in Hawaii before we end in Alaska.

Turning this large book around and around was a little disconcerting, but Ella appeared to love it. She looked at the pictures and listened to the simple explanations. (The two three-page spreads were the Robert E Lee floating down the Mississippi and the Grand Canyon.) Every illustration had so many different things to find, it became a game of "can you find....."

There were saguaro cactuses at the Grand Canyon. One of my little peeves - the Sonoran desert ends far below the Grand Canyon, though they're definitely found in southern Arizona. Oh well, I'll let it go.

We both enjoyed this book.

The Colors of Us - Karen Katz

Henry Holt, 1999
32 pgs.
For kids, even very young ones
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Hands of different browns and sizes around the border

I've been reading book after book to Ella these past few days. I'd been looking at the hardcovers, and when I began hunting in the paperbacks, I was tickled to find a Karen Katz title. Her illustrations are distinctive, her message simple and clear.

Lena wants to paint her friends, so she asks her mother, an artist, how to mix the color brown. Which brown? They take a walk outside to check out the many different browns that people's skin tones can be. They see her friends, the retailers, relatives - all with a different shade of brown skin. Then Lena goes home and mixes the right color brown for each of the people that she wants to paint. Cinnamon, honey, chocolate, coffee, toffee.....yummy and right-on.

MOVIE - The Secret Life of Words

Released December 2006 Limited
NR (1:52)
Netflix
RT: 69% cag: 83%
Director: Isabel Coixet
Tim Robbins

This thought-provoking look at the aftermath of war/insanity and the sometimes bizarre ways that lives come together fascinated me.

Almost-silent, hearing-impaired Hanna lives a self-imposed isolated life working a drone-job at a factory in Ireland. She is forced to take time off (she has worked at the plant for four years without taking a day off) and goes by bus to a coastal Irish town. There we find that she is a nurse, as she takes on a short-term job caring for a burned and broken oil rig foreman.

Out in the middle of the ocean on this huge shut-down-for-repairs oil rig, she allows herself to be drawn in by this somewhat older, cynical, sensitive man - Joseph - played by Tim Robbins.

The story - the few people she meets - the slowly reavealed informaqtion about Hanna's past, just keep getting more and more interesting.

Shamed on most Americans (including me) for knowing so little about what really happened in Yugoslavia - Serbia - Croatia - Kosovo --I'm only just realizing NOW...

Good story (in an interesting, off-beat, indie sort of way), good acting, Tim Robbins, and lots and lots of stuff to think about.

82. Invisible I: The Amanda Project Book 1 - Melissa Kantor

The cover says the author is Stella Lennon.
Stella Lennon is the pseudonym of a collaboration.
Melissa Kantor actually wrote this book.
Other writers will write the next in the series.
Harper Teen 2009
296 pages
Rating 4

Amanda Valentino, new to Orion and Endeavor High School, has befriended Callie Leary. And since Callie is a member of the "I-Girls", the most popular freshman, and Amanda has been pegged by the other three I-Girls as a weirdo, she keeps the friendship secret. But she has felt more special in Amanda's company than she has in a long time. Callie's living with a secret - her mother has mysteriously left with not word, no reason, and her father has hit rock bottom - the rock bottom of a wine bottle.

And then, one day in March, Amanda disappears. She has left mysterious messages for three different people - Callie, Hal Bennett, and Nia Rivera. A fourth message is left in and on the assistant principal's car in the form of colorful grafitti. Neither Callie, Hal, or Nia knew that Amanda had any other friends, and they are certainly not friends.....yet. But the mystery of Amanda's appearance brings them all together.

I was intrigued and interested in the story. There are a lot of questions, about Amanda and her lies and secrets, but especially about Callie's mom, her disappearance, and why her father hates the assistant principal so much.

The story ends with the creation of a website that the three create in the hopes they find other people who might have known Amanda. The website is available for all to see: http://www.theamandaproject.com/ . There will be seven more stories, all written, it seems, by different authors (much like The 39 Clues). This will be interesting, and I plan to continue with the series - starting with Book #2, Signals from Afar, by Peter Silsbee, out in June of 2010.

What Makes a Rainbow? - Betty Schwartz

A Magic Ribbon Book
Illustrated by Dona Turner
Piggy Toes Press, Atlanta, 2000
$8.95
Board Book
Ages 3 and up

When I asked Ella what her favorite book was, she ran to her crowded book shelves and pulled out this book. And what a cool book it is!

When Little Rabbit assked his Mama, "What makes a rainbow?" she told Little Rabbit to ask some of his friends. As each page is turned, another satin ribbon is pulled across the page underneath the previous one. So Ladybug loves red, then Fox loves orange, Little chick loves yellow, Grasshopper loves green, Bluebird loves blue and Butterfly loves purple. Just add the sun, and you get the whole rainbow!

The whole ribbon concept is particularly cool, and the giant pop-up rainbow and sun at the last page turn is wonderful. Clever, clever, clever. Nice repetition and rhythm, short and interesting. Perfect for MY little three-year-old!

Tan to Tamarind - Malathi Michelle Iyengar

Poems about the Color Brown
Illustrated by Jamel Akib
Children's Book Press, SF, 2009
$16.95
32 pgs.
Rating: 4
Enepapers: Abstract brown leaves

A lovely book of poetry celebrating brown that includes family, tradition, food and home. Tan, sienna, topaz...bay, sepia, cocoa...ocher, beige, sandalwood...coffee, adobe, tamarind...spruce, nutmegt, BROWN. All written in the same format. A wonderful model. A beautiful picture book. Lovely poetry.

Sienna
Brown.
Sienna brown.
Rusty, dusty, coppery brown.

Reddish-brown mountains,
our southwest home.

Dad hears coyotes calling
I spot their sandy tracks.

Four o'clock breeze
drifts the smell of sage
across our sienna path.

Strong, unyielding brown.
Warm, abiding brown.

Keep going! You can make it!
We scramble over the rocks,
brush past juniper branches,
to reach the top and look out
across our sunset canyon,
sienna brown.

I can't show the indentations properly. Wish I could.

Yatandou - Gloria Whelan

Tales of the World: Mali, Africa
Illustrated by Peter Sylvada
Sleeping Bear Press, 2007
Rating: 4
Endpapers: White

Rusts and golds dominate this story, told in the first person by a young girl from Mali. The women in the village spend many hours each day pounding....pounding....pounding....the millet to make grain - at least three hours of pounding for one day's worth. Water is carried on the women's heads from a well. Many onions are grown to eat and sell at market. Andy they raise goats. It's work from dawn 'til dark - until the women earn enough to obtain a contraption that will immediately turn the millet to grain.

In an author's note we discover that thees grinding machines are "multifunctional platforms" that come from the U. N. Development Program and have been placed in over 350 African villages. Fascinating! I should read this to my student government in preparation for our upcoming P2P. I went to the website provided, http://www.ptfm.net/, but it looks as if this program is no longer functioning? I will have to do some further research.

Gloria Whelan also divulges in her author's note that part of the proceeds from this book will go to BwB (Building with Books) which helps kids in the U. S. and in Mali.

Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth - Sara Weeks

Illustrated by Robert Neubecker
Beach Lane Books, 2009
$16.99
32 pgs.
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Bright orange

What a nice combination of illustration and font to accentuate the clever storytelling in this book. As Sophie Peterman discusses everything that is disgusting about little brothers, we sympathize with her fully. and when she does come to the realization that maybe she can, indeed, live with him....she is rewarded with a bit of a surprise.

Very cute.

MOVIE - Alvin & the Chipmunks, the Squeakuel

"An awesome movie - pucker up, because the love train is coming." (Ashley & Brendan)
Released 12-23-09
PG (1:28)
12/26/09 at Maine Coast Cinemas with Bren, Ash, Bri & Heather
RT: 25%
Director: Betty Thomas

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are joined by the "Chipettes," three singing chipmunk cuties named Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor. When Dave is hospitalized because of an Alvin-accident, first Aunt Jackie comes to care for the boys --but ends up in another hospital. The boys are given over to cousin Toby, who spends the day playing video games and eating junk food. The boys are forced to begin high school, where Alvin becomes a football star. Adventure after adventure follow. They two singing chipmunk groups are set up in a musical competition to win $25,000 for their school music program, which is running out of money. (Ashley helped write this review. She is very clever with words.)

This was a cute movie. I watched it in a smallish theater FILLED with kids crackling popcorn bags and talking out loud, with a whimpering or crying here and there. It's been a long time since I went to a theater full of kids - by choice. The movie started almost ten minutes late, and there was nary an ad or a preview. The movie just....started. The volume of the movie wasn't very high, either. And the lights came on a good two minutes before the movie was over! But every kid in the audience was enthralled, and many guffaws came from the adults. I had more fun watching my two kids....they loved it. Ashley said it was REALLY good and Bren said it was AWESOME. (He's watched the first one over and over and over and couldn't wait for this squeakuel.) I'm glad I was able to accompany them!

81. Maze Runner - James Dasher

Delacorte Press, 2009
376 pgs.
Rating: 4

Thomas arrives at "the Glade" with his memory erased but with a weird sense of recognition. There is the huge maze with monstrously hight walls and doors that clang shut every night. Doors that protect them from the terrifying "grievers." Maze walls that change every night. Unanswered questions. Getting stung and going through "the change." A new boy arrives every month. Supplies arrive. For two years this has gone on. Thomas is the last newbie/"greenie" male. Everything changes after his arrival.

When I got to the end of the book and saw the words END OF BOOK ONE I threw the book across the room. There's no joy in this book at all. I don't know about its futre - a series? Enough of these series! Tell a good story in one book!

80. How To Take the Ex Out of Ex-boyfriend - Janette Rallison

G. P. Putnam's, 2007
266 pgs.
Rating: 2.5

Jesse breaks up with her boyfriend because he is running the student-body-president campaign for her twin brother's opponent. Of course she regrets it and tries to rectify it. Of course there's the usual funny attempts and misfires - with the always appreciated satisfying ending.

I read this for my TARC reading group. It was exactly what I expected. It was a quick read, perfect for reluctant high school female readers.

MOVIE - Up in the Air

Completely enjoyable, gives you a bit to think about.
Released limited 12-4-09
Released wide 12-25-09
R (1:49)
12/25/09 at Bangor with Fran and Christine
RT: 90% cag: 90%
Fandango: 83/100
Director: James Reitman
George Clooney

This movie has gotten lots of hype for awards this year...it's already been nominated for a number of Golden Globes. It was good...the perfect role for George Clooney. Cool, debonair, a slight dimpled-smile ever-present on his face. Ahhhhh, yes. Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, carefree with no family or romantic ties, at least until this movie begins. He works for a company that goes into firmss and fires the employees during downsizing. He's good at his job. He loves to fly and travel and knows every in and out to get the best of car rentals, room upgrades, and first class and priority flying. Until a young, just-out-of-school psychology major comes up with a way to cut costs, changing Ryan's life and job forevermore. And then there's the family wedding in northern Wisconsin that he has to atten - wheterh he wants to or not. No ties. No baggage. He gives motivational talks about emptying out your personal "back pack."

So it's easy to figure out what's going to happen. He falls for someone. He gets a little reconnected with his family and roots. He thinks about what his life really holds for him. The movie doesn't have the standard "pat" happy ending, but the ending works in the way it NEEDS to work. It feels okay. It was a good movie. I thought about it all night long, and that doesn't happen very much.

Know for the $64,000 question. Is it worth all the awards it's going to be up for this year? I'm going to have to see a few more of its competition to figure that out, I guess.....

Let There Be Peace on Earth - Jill Jackson & Sy Miller

Illustrated by David Diaz
Tricycle Press (Berkeley) 2009
$18.99
24 pgs. & cd
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Batik illustrations - snowflakes and circles, showing different symbols of peace from around the world

This seems to be a year that old folk songs are being turned into lovely picture books. Peter Yarrow's done a couple really recently and tonight I bumped into this one. Who can't love this song -- its simple words and memorable tune? Written in 1955, the words are now renewed in this eye-popping picture book.

The last few pages are informative - about the songwriters, the creation of the song, the actual score of the song, and interesting explanations for 12 different peace symbols. These are fascinating - from the Japanese crane (and mention of Sadako Sasaki) and middle Eastern pslm trees to Scandianvian misteltoe and the Chinese ying and yang - clear and simple information to take in, to share.

David Diaz continues to keep me enthralled. I've drooled over his illustrations before - his pleasing colors and designs completely cover the pge. They were "rendered in Adobe Illustration and Photoshop." How?

The Biggest Bear - Lyn Ward

Caldecott Medal 1953
Houghton Mifflin, 1952/1980
paper $6.95
84 pages
Rating: 3.5

The illustrations in this 1953 Caldecott Award winner are brown and white and lovely. The story is definitely 50 years old.

Johnny Orchard goes out to hunt a bear as is the custom in the area, apparently. However, he befriends a baby bear, takes him home, and makes a pet of him. The bear eats and grows, eats and grows, until he becomes somewhat of a menace looking for food. The father tells the boy that the bear must go back to live in the woods.

Of course he's too late. No matter where or how far he takes the now-grown bear, he always finds his way back. So only one thing can be done. The boy takes his rifle and heads out into the woods. But, instead of shooting him, they are captured in a huge trap. The zoo is looking for animals, and the zoo is where this huge bear will now live out the rest of his life.

Blech!

The pictures are very cool.

The story....well....is it still believable for some parts of the rural U. S? Because I don't think it was written as a tongue-in-cheek story. Did it match the times? Or is it just my-own-personal-anti-gun thing? Needless to say, many aspects of the story didn't do much for me. I've got to read more of these older award-winners...will this run true with others?

79. City of Ember - Jeanne DuPrau

Audio read by Wendy Dillon
Published 2003
6 unabridged cd's
6 hrs. 52 minutes
288 pgs.
Rating: 3.5

Lina and Doon have grown up in the city of Ember, where electricity is on from a set time in the morning to a set time in the evening. When the electricity is off, it is completely dark everywhere. And the electricity is failing for longer and longer periods of time more and more frequently. It's been 200 years since Ember's been built. People are unsure of the future.

Then Lina and Doon, recently graduated from school to jobs (as a messenger, and in the pipeworks that keep the city electricity running), discover a message about a possible way out of Ember. It is riddled with holes and missing information, so they have to piece together the words and clues they discover.

We are left anxiously awaiting the next installment of the story with great anticipation. And three other titles have followed in the series:

#2 People of Sparks
#3 Prophet of Yonwood (a prequel to the whole story)
#4 Diamond of Darkhold

Linda DuPrau has a website, and there has been a movie made (with Bill Murray and Tim Robbins!). You can see the movie trailer on the website.

This is my 500th post!

Unreal. I began this blog just to keep track of what I was reading and watching at the movies, and it has morphed into something I not only enjoy, but greatly look forward to. I began in August of last year, so about 17 months have flown by. YeeHa!

Pass It Down - Leonard Marcus

Five Picture-Book Families Make Their Mark
Walker & Co., 2007
$19.95
Really interesting
Endpapers: Glossy bright yellow

What an interesting book! It tells about five different families - all familiar to picture book readers - with photos of the family and illustrations of their work. I was particularly looking at the Myers family (since I'm on a roll with Creech's Love That Dog and Hate That Cat, but was very interested in the other four stories as well.

Included are:
The CREWS and JONAS family: Donald Crews, Ann Jonas, and Nina Crews
The HURD family: Clement and Edith Thacher Hurd and Thacher Hurd
The MYERS family: Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers
The PINKNEY family: Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney
The ROCKWELL family: Harlow and Anne Rockwell and Lizzy Rockwell

77. & 78. - Love That Dog AND Hate That Cat - Sharon Creech

Love That Dog, 2001
Hate That Cat, 2008
Rating for both: FIVE!

Two very special books, both written in verse, both with layer upon layer of witty writing, clever intertwining of poetry, and a healthy dose of a very cool relationship between a student and his teacher. I LOVED these books. I've read Love That Dog twice, and just knew that Hate That Cat couldn't come close. WRONG!!! So wrong....I think Hate That Cat is even better! Both are short reads, although Love That Dog is a bit shorter, and perhaps a little harder for some kids to get into. I read it aloud to my fourth graders after spending a week prepping them by sharing Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and "The Pasture", William Carlos William's "The Red Wheelbarrow:, many of Valerie Worth's SHORT poems, William Blake's "The Tyger," Walter Dean Myer's "Love That Boy", and some of the poetry of Arnold Adoff. They were oh-so prepared, and they loved it. It was great fun to read aloud, and the kids' reactions were very gratifying.

Now I'm preparing the pre-poetry for Hate That Cat. There's more William Carlos Williams and Valerie Worth,with additional poems from Edgar Allan Poe, Alfred Lord Tennyson, T. S. Eliot ("The Naming of Cats"!!!), and Walter Dean Myer's son, Christopher. There's alliteration and onomotapoeia, similes and metaphors, rhythm and image. There's laugh-out-loud cleverness and a rolling, thought-provoking storyline.

I don't want to share the plots. They're a joy to watch unfold. They take 20-30 minutes each to read. Enjoy, enjoy.

2010 Golden Globe Nominations

Everyone calls this the precursor to the Academy Awards. It seems almost a little more "down to earth" than the Academy Awards. This year, let's see how they compare! The nominees were announced this morning in LA, the award show will be on January 17th. I wonder how many of the movies I can get to see before then? I've seen six out of the 25, but many of them (13/25, actually) have either not come out or not hit Tucson yet!

And the winners are? See the red additions below! They work for me!

In alphabetical order:

(500) Days of Summer (Best Comedy/Musical, Actor)
*Avatar (Best Drama, Best Director)
*The Blind Side (Actress-Sandra Bullock)
Brothers (Actor)
*Crazy Heart (Actor-Jeff Bridges)
*Duplicity (Actress)
An Education (Actress)
*The Hangover (Best Comedy/Musical)
Hurt Locker (Best Drama, Best Director)
The Informant (Actress)
Inglorious Basterds (Best Drama, Director, Supporting Actor-Christoph Waltz)
Invictus (Director, Actor, Supporting Actor)
*It's Complicated (Best Comedy/Musical, Actress)
*Julie & Julia (Best Comedy/Musical, Actress-Meryl Streep)
The Last Station (Actress, Supporting Actor)
The Lovely Bones (Supporting Actor)
The Messenger (Supporting Actor)
Nine (Best Comedy/Musical, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress)
*Precious (Best Drama, Actress, Supporting Actress-MoNique)
*The Proposal (Actress)
Sherlock Holmes (Actor-Robert Downey, Jr.)
*A Serious Man (Actor)
*A Single Man (Actor)
*Up in the Air (Best Drama, Director, Actor and TWO Supporting Actresses) 90/90
The Young Victoria (Actress)

*Those I've seen....

We Trouble the Waters - Ntozake Shange

Illustrated by Rod Brown (paintings)
Amistad/Collins, 2009
32 pages
$16.99
Endpapers: Navy Blue

Being black in the south during Jim Crow - that's what these poems are about. Told in the first person, they are full of powerful voice/s. Poems entitled "Booker T. Washington School, 1941", "Water Fountains," Where I Live," Crying Trees," "Roadkill," "You Vote/You Die!" "The Klu Klux Klan," "Thank You Rosa Parks," "Martin Luther King, Jr.," " Brother Malcolm," "Sittin Down is Standin Up,".....

A couple of poems near the end have some interesting information added, to help people unaware of the history, or at least some of it. I wish there had been more explanations in the same vein for earlier poems. These are great poems, but many kids would need more explanation.

Cleanin Gal

if they catch me sittin/jus' for a moment
i might lose this heah job/but i can't 'ford to do that
all my children/matt, maceo, bertha, mae, sunshine, and the baby
'long with ma/look to me for vittles and shelter/
it's just that i got to scrub all these floors till tehy'd look like glass/
that takes all day and i still aint got to the laundry yet/
boilin clothes/starchin shirts/
Lawd have mercy i got to spend all day tomorrow ironin
so the missus and her mate can go to some bigshindig/
sposin i quit/how we gonna eat/no i aint going nowhere/
& there aint not fancy dunds or dancin in my future/
just scrubbin & scrubbin what aint mine

Heah Y'all Come

now the children run freely
toward each other
knowin no fears of the other
so what? she's brown and her lips thick
so what? yarmulkes atop their heads
Buddha's smile graces their faces
now America welcomes all the babies
si si/todos los ninos are ours
yes yes/wa alaikum salaam
& the gods watch over all children
& the flag protects each American
all

Author List A - H

Here are all the authors (and their books) from A to K that appear on this blog so far..... Authors L to Z can be found here.

Ada, Alma Flor
.....Gathering the Sun, 1997
Adler, David
.....Cam Jansen: The Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball, 1982
Albert, Michael
.....An Artist's America, 2008
Alexie, Sherman
.....The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, 2007
Allen, Susan
.....Read Anything Good Lately? (with Jane Lindaman) 2003
Alsanea, Rajaa
.....Girls of Riyadh, 2007
Amato, Mary
.....The Chicken of the Family, 2008
Anderson, Laurie Halse
.....The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School, 2009
Anholt, Laurence
.....Seven for a Secret, 2006
.....Chains, 2008
Applegate, Katherine
.....Home of the Brave, 2007
Appelt, Kathi
.....Brand-New Baby Blues, 2010
Armstrong, Mercy
.....Mercy Kill, 2011
Asher, Jay
.....Thirteen Reasons Why, 2007

Ashman, Linda.....Creaky Old House, 2009
.....M is for Mischief, 2008
.....Stella, Unleashed, 2008

Aston, Dianna Hutts
.....The Moon Over Star, 2008
Atkins, Jeannine
.....Anne Hutchinson's Way, 2007
Averbeck, Jim
.....In a Blue Room, 2008
Aylesworth, Jim
.....The Mitten, 2009
.....Our Abe Lincoln, 2009
Ayoob, Michael
.....In Search of Mercy, 2010
Barclay, Linwood
.....The Accident, 2011
.....No Time for Goodbye, 2007
Barnett, Marc
.....Guess Again, 2009
.....Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem, 2009
Barnhill, Kelly
.....The Mostly True Story of Jack, 2011
Barron, T. A.
.....The Day the Stones Walked, 2007
Barrows, Annie
.....Ivy & Bean (#1) 2006
Barry, Brunonia
.....The Lace Reader, 2008
Barton, Chris
.....Shark vs. Train, 2010
.....The Day-Glo Brothers, 2009
Bartone, Elisa
.....Peppe the Lamplighter, 1993
Baruzzi, Agnese & Sandro Natalini
.....The True Story of the Little Red Riding Hood, 2007/2009 US
Baskin, Nora Raleigh
.....Anything But Typical, 2009
Bastianich, Lidia
.....Nonna Tell Me a Story, 2010
Beam, Cris
.....I Am J, 2011
Beard, Alex
.....The Jungle Grapevine, 2009
Bennett, Jill
.....Green Poems, 1999
Berg, Elizabeth
.....The Art of Mending, 2004
Bernier-Grand, Carmen T.
.....Frida, 2007
Berns, Jennifer
.....Calvin Can't Fly, 2010
Berry, Steve
.....The Venetian Betrayal (DNF)
Bertram, Debbie
.....The Best Book to Read (with Susan Bloom) 2008
Bildner, Phil
.....The Hallelujah Flight, 2010
Billingsley, Franny
.....Chime, 2011
Birdsall, Jeanne
.....Flora's Very Windy Day, 2010
Blackaby, Susan
.....Nest, Nook & Cranny, 2010
Blessing, Charlotte
.....New Old Shoes, 2009
Block, Francesca Lia
.....House of Dolls, 2010
Bloom, Susan.
....The Best Book to Read (with Debbie Bertram) 2008
Blue, Rose & Corinne Naden
.....Ron's Big Mission, 2009
Bottner, Barbara
.....Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don't), 2010
Bouler, Olivia
.....Olivia's Birds:  Saving the Gulf, 2011
Bowen, Anne.
....I Know an Old Teacher, 2008
Bowsher, Melodie
.....My Lost and Found Life, 2006
Boyle, T. C.
.....When the Killing's Done, 2011
Brallier, Jess
.....Who Was Albert Einstein? 2002
Braman, Arlette N.
.....The Maya: Activities and Crafts froma Mysterious Land, 2003
Brande, Robin
.....Fat Cat, 2009
.....Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature, 2007
Brashares, Ann
.....Sisterhood Everlasting, 2011
.....3 Willows, 2009
Bray, Libba
.....Beauty Queens, 2011
Breen, Steve
.....Violet the Pilot, 2008
Brennan-Nelson, Denise
.....Willow (with Rosemarie Brennan) 2008
Brennan, Rosemarie
.....Willow (with Denise Brennan-Nelson) 2008
Brett, Jan
.....The 3 Little Dassies, 2010
Brewer, Heather
.....Eighth Grade Bites, The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod #1, 2007
Brewer, Paul
.....Lincoln Tells a Joke (with Kathleen Krull) 2010
Brooks, Geraldine
.....People of the Book, 2008
Brown, Eleanor
.....The Weird Sisters, 2011
Brown, Margaret Wise
.....Sleepy ABC (Katz) 1953/2010
Brown, Peter.....The Curious Garden, 2009

Bryant, Jen
.....A River of Words, 2008
.....Pieces of Georgia, 2006







Bunting, Eve
.....Finn McCool and the Great Fish, 2010
.....Our Library, 2008
.....Walking to School, 2008
.....One Green Apple, 2006


Burke, Jan
.....The Messenger, 2010
Burleigh, Robert
.....Abraham Lincoln Comes Home, 2008
Burton, Virginia Lee
.....Katy and the Big Snow, 1943
Buzzeo, Toni
.....Fire Up With Reading, 2007
Cain, Chelsea
.....Heart Sick, 2007
Caldwell, Ian
.....The Rule of Four (DNF)
Cameron, Ann
.....The Most Beautiful Place in the World, 1988
Carmichael, Clay
.....Wild Things, 2009
Cash, John Carter
.....Momma Loves Her Little Son, 2009
Cast, P. C. & Kristin Cast
.....Betrayed (#2 House of Night) 2007
.....Marked (#1 House of Night) 2007
Castellucci, Cecil.....Grandma's Gloves, 2010
.....Beige, 2007
Castillo, Linda
.....Breaking Silence, 2011
.....Pray for Silence, 2010
.....Sworn to Silence, 2009
Catasanu, Mirceau
.....The Strange Case of the Missing Sheep, 2009
Chadda, Sarwat
.....Devil's Kiss, 2009 (DNF)
Chayil, Eishes
.....Hush, 2010
Chen, Yong
.....A Gift, 2009
Cheng, Andrea
.....Where Do You Stay? 2011
.....Shanghai Messenger, 2005
Child, Lee
.....The Hard Way (Jack Reacher #10) 2006
.....Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher #11) 2007
.....Nothing to Lose (Jack Recher #12) 2008
.....The Affair (Jack Reacher #16) 2011
Chima, Cinda Williams
.....The Warrior Heir, 2006
Chin, Jason
.....Redwoods, 2009
Chin-Lee, Cynthia
.....Amelia to Zora, 2005
.....A is for Asia, 1997
Chocolate, Debbi
.....El Barrio, 2009
Christiansen, Candace
.....The Mitten Tree, 1997/2009
Cleminson, Katie
.....Magic Box, 2009
Clement, Rod
.....Grandpa's Teeth, 1997
Clements, Andrew
.....No Talking, 2007
.....The Jacket, 2002

Coben, Harlan
.....Deal Breaker, 1995
Colasanti, Susan
.....When It Happens, 2006
Collins, Ross
.....Dear Vampa, 2009

Collins, Suzanne
.....Hunger Games, 2008
Condie, Ally
.....Matched, 2010

Connelly, Michael
.....Chasing the Dime, 2002
.....Angels Flight, 1999
.....Blood Work, 1998
.....Trunk Music, 1997
.....The Last Coyote, 1995

Connor, Alex
.....The Other Rembrandt, 2011
Connor, Leslie
.....Waiting for Normal, 2008
Cook, Claire
.....Wildwater Walking Club, 2009
Cook, Eileen
.....Unraveling Isobel, 2012
.....What Whould Emma Do? 2009
Cook, Michelle
.....Our Children Can Soar, 2009
Cornwell, Autumn
.....Carpe Diem, 2007
Cottin, Menena
.....The Black Book of Colors, 2006
Coulter, Laurie
.....Secrets in Stone, 2001/reissue 2010
Cox, Judy
.....Carmen Learns English, 2010

Crais, Robert
.....Taken, 2012
.....The Watchman, 2007
.....Indigo Slam, 1997




Cramer, Rebecca
.....Mission to Sonora, 1998

Creech, Sharon
.....Hate That Cat, 2008
.....Love That Dog, 2001
Crimi, Carolyn
.....Rock 'N' Roll Mole, 20111
Crow, Kristyn
.....Bedtime at the Swamp, 2008
.....The Middle-Child Blues, 2009
Cummings, Pat
.....Ananse and the Lizard, 2002
Cushman, Karen
.....The Loud Silence of Francine Green, 2006
Cyrus, Kurt
.....Tadpole Rex, 2008
da Costa, Deborah
.....Hanukkah Moon, 2007
Danneberg, Julie
.....First Year Letters, 2003
Dasher, James
.....The Maze Runner, 2009
Davis, Jacky
.....Ladybug Girl, 2008
Davidson, Rebecca Piatt
.....All the World's a Stage, 2003
Day, Karen
.....A Million Miles from Boston, 2011
Day, Nancy
.....Your Travel Guide to Ancient Mayan Civilization, 2001
Deedy, Carmen Agra
.....14 Cows for America, 2009

de la Cruz, Melissa
.....Blue Bloods (#1 Blue Bloods series) 2006
.....Masquerade (#2 Blue Bloods series) 2007
.....Revelations (#3 Blue Bloods series) 2008
.....The Van Alen Legacy (#4 Blue Bloods series) 2009



DePalma, Mary Newell
.....The Perfect Gift, 2010
deRosnay, Tatiana
.....Sarah's Key, 2007
Deutsch, Barry
.....Hereville, 2010
DiCamillo, Kate
.....Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig (#5) 2008
.....Mercy Watson Fights Crime (#3) 2006
Dionne, Erin
.....The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet, 2010
Doctorow, Cory
.....Little Brother, 2008
Donaldson, Julia
.....Stick Man, 2008/2009 US
Doner, Kim
.....On a Road in Africa, 2008
Donovan, Jane Monroe
.....Small Medium & Large, 2010
Dorros, Arthur
.....Julio's Magic, 2005
Dowell, Frances O'Roark
.....Where I'd Like to Be, 2003
Draper, Sharon M.
.....Out of My Mind, 2010
Duffy, Carol Ann
.....The Gift, 2010
Du Prau, Jeanne
.....City of Ember, 2003
Dylan, Bob
.....Man Gave Names to all the Animals, 2010
.....Forever Young, 2008
Ehrlich, Amy
.....Rachel, 2003
Elliot, David
.....Knitty Kitty, 2008

Ellis, Deborah
.....No Ordinary Day, 2011
.....The Heaven Shop, 2004
Emberley, Ed
.....There Was an Old Monster, 2009
.....Chicken Little (with Rebecca Emberley) 2009
Emberley, Rebecca
.....Chicken Little (with Ed Emberley) 2009
Engle, Margarita
.....The Firefly Letters, 2010
Erskine, Kathryn
.....Mockingbird, 2010
Esbensen, Barbara Juster
.....Swing Around the Sun, 2003
Evanovich, Janet
.....Lean Mean Thirteen, 2007
.....Twelve Sharp, 2006
Ewing, Susan
.....Ten Rowdy Ravens, 2005
Fagan, Cary
.....The Big Swim , 2010
Fantaskey, Beth.....Jekel Loves Hyde, 2010
.....Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, 2009
Farmer, Nancy
.....Clever Ali, 2006
Faulkner, Matt
.....A Taste of Colored Water, 2008
Feiffer, Kate
.....President Pennybaker, 2008
Fern, Tracey E.
.....Pippo the Fool, 2009
Fisher, Valorie
.....Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears, 2003
Fitzmaurice, Kathryn
.....The Year the Swallows Came Early, 2009

Fleischman, Paul
.....The Dunderheads, 2009
.....The Birthday Tree, 1979/New Illustrations 2008
.....Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal, 2007
.....The Animal Hedge, 1983/2003

Fleischman, Sid
.....The Dream Stealer, 2009
Fleming, Candace
.....Imogene's Last Stand, 2009
Fletcher, Ralph
.....A Writing Kind of Day, 2005
Flinn, Alex
.....Beastly, 2007
Foley, Greg
.....Willoughby and the Lion, 2009
Ford, Christine & Trish Holland
.....Ocean's Child, 2009
Forman, Gayle
.....If I Stay, 2009
Formento, Alison
.....This Tree Counts, 2010
Fossum, Karin
.....Don't Look Back, 2011
Frank, John
.....How to Catch a Fish, 2007
.....The Toughest Cowboy, 2004
Frazee, Marla
.....The Boss Baby, 2010
.....A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, 2008
.....Santa Claus The World's Number One Toy Expert, 2005
Fredericks, Anthony D.
.....The Tsunami Quilt, 2007
French, Vivian
.....Growing Frogs, 2000
Frey, Stephen
.....Forced Out, 2008
Furlong, Monica.....Robin's Country, 1995

Gaiman, Neil
.....Crazy Hair, 2009
.....Blueberry Girl, 2009
.....The Dangerous Alphabet, 2008
Gall, Chris
.....Substitute Creature, 2011
.....There's Nothing to Do on Mars, 2008
Gallagher, Liz
.....The Opposite of Invisible, 2010
Gardner, Lisa
.....Say Goodbye, 2008
Gerber, Carole
.....Winter Trees, 2008
Gerstein, Mordicai
.....A Book, 2009
Gibfried, Diane
.....Brother Juniper, 2006
Gier, Kerstin, 2011
.....Ruby Red
Giff, Patricia Reilly
.....Big Whopper, 2010
.....Eleven, 2008
Gilchrist, Jan Spivey.....My America, 2007

Giles, Gail
.....Right Behind You, 2007
.....What Happened to Cass McBride, 2006
Giovanni, Nikki
.....The Grasshopper's Song, 2008
Glaser, Linda
.....Emma's Poem, 2010
Gliori, Debi
.....Stormy Weather, 2009
Gomez-Jurado, Juan
.....The Moses Expedition, 2008/trans. 2010
Gourley, Robbin
.....Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie, 2009
Graber, Janet
.....Muktar and the Camels, 2009

Grafton, Sue
.....T is for Trespass, 2007
.....S is for Silence, 2006
Grandits, John
.....The Travel Game, 2009
Green, Jane
.....The Beach House, 2008
Green, John & David Levithan
.....Will Grayson, Will Grayson, 2010
Greenfield, Eloise
.....In the Land of Words, 2004
Gregory, Jill
.....The Book of Names (2007) (with Karen Tintori)
Gregory, Kristiana
.....Bronte's Book Club, 2008
Grifalconi, Ann
.....The Village That Vanished, 2002
.....The Braves Flute, 1994
Grimes, Martha
.....Biting the Moon, 1999
Gross, Andrew
.....The Dark Tide, 2008
Gruber, Michael
.....The Book of Air and Shadows, 2007
Gutman, Dan
.....Miss Daisy is Crazy! 2004
Guzman, Lila & Rick
.....Frida Kahlo: Painting Her Life, 2006
Hader, Berta & Elmer
.....The Big Snow, 1948
Hale, Shannon
.....Austenland, 2007
Hamilton, Denise
.....The Jasmine Trade, 2001
Hamilton, Steve
.....The Lock Artist, 2009
Hannah, Kristin
.....True Colors, 2009 DNF
Hannigan, Katherine
.....True (...sort of) 2011 DNF
.....Emmaline and the Bunny, 2009
Harkness, Deborah
.....A Discovery of Witches, 2011
Harley, Avis.
....The Monarch's Progress, 2008
Harper, Lee
.....Snow! Snow! Snow! 2009
Harris, Charlaine
.....Dead Until Dark, 2001
Harris, Robie H.
.....The Day Leo Said I Hate You, 2008
Hartman, Bob
.....The Wolf Who Cried Boy, 2002
Hassan, Marian A.
.....Dhegdheer, A Scary Somalian Folktale, 2007
Havill, Juanita
.....Call the Horse Lucky, 2010
.....I Heard It from Alice Zucchini, 2006
Heide, Florence Parry.....Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of the Girl Who Floated) 2009
.....Some Things are Scary, 2000/Revised 2003
Heller, Linda
.....How Dalia Put a Big Yellow Comforter Inside a Tiny Blue Box, 2011
Hendrix, John
.....John Brown: His Fight for Freedom, 2009

Henkes, Kevin.....Little White Rabbit, 2011
.....My Garden, 2010
.....Birds, 2009
.....Old Bear, 2008
Hennessy, B. G......The Boy Who Cried Wolf, 2006
.....Because of You, 2005
Henson, Heather.....That Book Woman, 2008
Hesse, Karen
.....Brooklyn Bridge, 2008
Hest, Amy
.....The Dog Who Belonged to No One, 2008
Hills, Tad
.....How Rocket Learned to Read, 2010
Hinds, Gareth
.....The Merchant of Venice, 2008
Hinton, S. E.
.....Hawkes Harbor, 2004
Hoberman, Mary Ann
.....The Llama Who Had No Pajama, 1998
Hodgson, Mona
.....Bedtime in the Southwest, 2004
Hoffman, Alice
.....The Third Angel, 2008
.....The Ice Queen, 2005
Hoffman, Jilliane
.....Last Witness, 2005
Hoffman, Mary
.....The Color of Home, 2002
Hogrogian, Nonny
.....Cool Cat, 2009
Holmes, Sara Lewis
.....Operation Yes, 2009 DNF
Holt, Kimberly Willis
.....Piper Reed, Navy Brat
Holub, Joan
.....Groundhog Weather School, 2009
Hooper, Kay
.....Chill of Fear, 2005
Hopkins, Ellen
.....Burned, 2006

Hopkins, Lee Bennett
.....City I Love, 2009
.....Sky Magic, 2009
.....Home to Me, 2002
Hopkinson, Deborah
.....First Family, 2010
Horowitz, Dave
.....Twenty-six Princesses, 2008
Howe, James
.....Horace and Morris Say Cheese (which makes Dolores sneeze!) 2009
Howe, Katherine
.....The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, 2009
Huget, Jennifer LaRue
.....Thanks a LOT, Emily Post, 2009
Hughes, Langston
.....The Negro Speaks of Rivers, 2009
Hurd, Thacher
.....The Weaver, 2010
.....Bad Frogs, 2009
Hurst, Carol Otis
.....Rocks in His Head, 2001