Step Aside, Pops: Review Haiku

When you don't know what
to get your smart-a$$ friends for
their birthdays, try this.

Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant! Collection by Kate Beaton. Drawn & Quarterly, 2015,

Highly Illogical Behavior: Review Haiku

I have yet to read
a Whaley I didn't love.
Friendship, out of doors.

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

It's Cybils Day!

Calloo callay, it's Cybils Day! Head on over here for the winners.

And many thanks to my fellow judges on the Graphic Novel panel!

Waylon! One Awesome Thing: Review Haiku

The only thing better
than more Clementine is
more Waylon and friends.

Waylon: One Awesome Thing by Sara Pennypacker. Hyperion, 2016, 208 pages.

2015: Year in Review

What time is it?

SHOWTIME!

No, really. It's time to take a gander at my favorites from 2015. (Please remember that all the books I read in 2015 aren't necessarily published in 2015. Sometimes I am ahead of the game; sometimes behind.)

Number of posts: 122
Number of books reviewed: 99 (ye gods; really? weaksauce)

Favorite MG
Orbiting Jupiter (this one could go YA or MG)
Roller Girl

Favorite YA
Goodbye Stranger (this too could go YA or MG)
Read Between the Lines

Favorite adult
Furiously Happy
Syllabus

Favorite discoveries of backlist awesomeness
Phoebe and her Unicorn
Missile Mouse

Favorite jackets
Good Mourning
Circus Mirandus
George
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Orbiting Jupiter: Review Haiku

Tough stuff told beautifully
by a master of
the form. Age issues?


Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt. Clarion, 2015, 192 pages.

Furiously Happy: Review Haiku

Come for the promise
of taxidermy; stay for
the affirmations.

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson. Flatiron Books, 2015, 329 pages.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn: Review Haiku

WHY HAD I NEVER
HEARD OF THIS TILL NOW?
Calvin & Hobbes, but sparkly.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson. Andrews McMeel, 2015, 224 pages.

We Should All Be Feminists: Review Haiku

A stocking stuffer
for all the feminists
in your whole family.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Anchor, 2015, 65 pages.

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer: Review Haiku

If I called Sophie
"plucky," would you ever
forgive me? Whatta chick!

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones. Knopf, 2015, 224 pages.

Circus Mirandus: Review Haiku

When the hype machine
gets it right: a stunning and
memorable debut.

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. Dial, 2015, 292 pages.

Syllabus: Review Haiku

Now and forever,

Lynda Barry is the funk
queen of everywhere.

Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor by Lynda Barry. Drawn and Quarterly, 2014, 200 pages.

The Nest: Review Haiku

Someone said "Oppel

goes Gaiman," and that feels just

right to me. Spooky.

The Nest by Kenneth Oppel, illustrated by Jon Klassen. S&S, 2015, 256 pages.

Lost in the Sun: Review Haiku

What do you do when
no one hates you as much as
you insist they should?

Lost in the Sun by Lisa Graff. Philomel, 2015, 304 pages.

Goodbye Stranger: Review Haiku

Hard to catalog
(MG? YA?) but oh so
easy to adore.

Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead. Wendy Lamb, 2015, 192 pages.

Sunny Side Up: Review Haiku

Serious fare from
the Babymouse sibs.
Addiction hurts everyone.

Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. Graphix/Scholastic, 2015, 224 pages.

Bone Gap: Review Haiku

Magic realism
in the cornfields: better than
grasshoppers, I'd say.

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. Balzer + Bray, 2015, 368 pages.

Roller Girl: Review Haiku

Take some time away
from your barbecues to meet
one kick-ass skate babe.

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson. Dial, 2015, 240 pages.

Read Between the Lines: Review Haiku

Everyone you meet
is fighting a battle you
know nothing about.

Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles. Candlewick, 2015, 336 pages.

Moonpenny Island: Review Haiku

More than your garden-variety
quirky middle-grade.
Trilobites!

Moonpenny Island by Tricia Springstubb. Balzer + Bray. 2015, 304 pages.