Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally): Review Haiku

Oh, that awful moment
when gender politics
rears its ugly head.

Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) by Lisa Yee, illustrated by Dan Santat. Scholastic, 2009, 160 pages.

No Girls Allowed: Review Haiku

Tidy summary
of historical cross-dressers
in graphic form.

No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom, and Adventure by Susan Hughes and Willow Dawson. Kids Can, 2008, 80 pages.

Shelf Discovery: Review Haiku

Relive your cringe-worthy
adolescence through classic
YA favorites.

Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick. Avon, 2009, 448 pages.

Allie Finkle #4: Review Haiku

The dramarama
of fourth grade, now with extra
theatre-y goodness.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls #4: Stage Fright by Meg Cabot. Scholastic, 2009, 224 pages.

Joey Fly, Private Eye #1: Review Haiku

Ace Lacewing for the
older set: a bug-sized bit
of cinema noir.

Joey Fly, Private Eye: Creepy, Crawly Crime (#1) by Aaron Reynolds. Holt, 2009, 96 pages.

Umbrella Summer: Review Haiku

Go-to girl for great
middle grade offers study
in grief. Bring tissues.

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff. Harper, 2009, 240 pages.

The Problem with the Puddles: Review Haiku

Wants to be Horvath,
but isn't. Totally heart
Tricia Tusa, though.

The Problem with the Puddles by Kate Feiffer. S&S, 2009, 208 pages.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Practicing the Piano: Review Haiku

Can be tiresome in
a way Clementine never
is, but still a hoot.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Practicing the Piano (But She Does Love Being in Recitals) by Peggy Gifford. Schwartz & Wade, 2009, 176 pages.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.