11.30.2009

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.: Review Haiku


Take one classic
homework assignment, add heartfelt
angst, label neatly.


The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner. Walker, 2009, 195 pages.

11.26.2009

Marching for Freedom: Review Haiku


I can't find anything
negative to say about
this book. Can you?


Marching for Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge. Viking, 2009, 72 pages.

11.25.2009

Emmaline and the Bunny: Review Haiku


Odd little fable
about the virtues of being
Untidy. Sweet.


Emmaline and the Bunny by Katherine Hannigan. Greenwillow, 2009, 96 pages.

11.23.2009

Cupcakes of Doom: Review Haiku


This may be the most
bizarre book ever. Mad props
for the title, though.


Cupcakes of Doom by Ray Friesen. Don't Eat Any Bugs, 2009, 100 pages.

11.20.2009

Any Which Wall: Review Haiku


Half-baked (overbaked?)
Eager homage is good, but
I wished for more meat.


Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder. Random, 2009, 245 pages.

11.18.2009

Wimpy Kid: Dog Days: Review Haiku


What George Costanza
would have been like in middle
school. Amoral glee.


Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney. Abrams/Amulet, 2009, 224 pages.

11.16.2009

The Miles Between: Review Haiku


From the Calder Game
school of coincidences,
a road trip writ large.


The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson. Holt, 2009, 272 pages.


P.S. Really? This is the final jacket? Bleah.

11.11.2009

T-Minus: Review Haiku

You think you know the
story (and you do), but this
is still a stunner.

T-Minus: The Race to the Moon by Jim Ottaviani, Kevin Cannon, and Zander Cannon. S&S/Aladdin, 2009, 124 pages.

11.09.2009

The Lost Art of Gratitude: Review Haiku


The egghead-y-est
busybody in Edinburgh
strikes again.


The Lost Art of Gratitude (An Isabel Dalhousie novel) by Alexander McCall Smith. Pantheon, 2009, 262 pages.

11.06.2009

Max Quigley: Review Haiku


Sociological
value, I'm sure, but I
just didn't like him.


Max Quigley: (Technically) Not a Bully by James Roy. HMCo, 2009, 202 pages.

11.04.2009

Pilgrims: Review Haiku


Good, but I really
don't need to read sex scenes by
Garrison Keillor.


Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance by Garrison Keillor. Viking, 2009, 297 pages.

11.02.2009

Going Away Shoes: Review Haiku


Small-town women trapped
in various boxes try
to escape, but don't.


Going Away Shoes: Stories by Jill McCorkle. Algonquin, 2009, 272 pages.