The Dead Boys: Review Haiku

You'll never look at
arboriculture the same
way again. Creepy!

The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham. Putnam, 2010, 208 pages.

Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs: Review Haiku

DUDE. What part of
"NINJA FROGS" did you not understand?

Wicked funny.

Dragonbreath #2: Attack of the Ninja Frogs by Ursula Vernon. Dial, 2010, 203 pages.

Reckless: Review Haiku

Twisted, heavy-themed
fairy-tale horror about
love and betrayal.

Reckless by Cornelia Funke. Little Brown, 2010, 400 pages.

The Magnificent Twelve: The Call: Review Haiku

Ordinary boy

given extraordinary

mission. Whiz-bang fun.

The Magnificent Twelve #1: The Call by Michael Grant. Tegen/Harper, 2010, 256 pages.

Ninth Ward: Review Haiku

Magic realism
adds dreamy subtext to a
flood-ravaged nightmare.

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Little Brown, 2010, 224 pages.

The Shadows: Review Haiku

A picture's worth a
thousand words -- but more than that
in Olive's new house.





The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere #1) by Jacqueline West. Dial, 2010, 241 pages.

Our Cybils 2011 MG SF/F winner!

Happy Cybils Day!

The Cybils Awards will be announced today! Check out www.cybils.com to see all the winners!

(Pay special attention to the middle-grade SF/F category. I hear their second-round panel was AWESOME.)

Animal Crackers: Review Haiku

Affecting story of
bullying, redemption,
and things up your nose.

Animal Crackers: A Gene Luan Yang Collection by Gene Luan Yang. SLG, 2010, 112 pages.

The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt: Review Haiku

Harmless sitcom-y
fun. Life lessons imparted;

just needs a laugh-track.

The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. Dial, 2010, 248 pages.

The Hidden Gallery: Review Haiku

A London adventure
for our favorite feral
children --plus, romance!

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #2: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood. Balzer + Bray, 2011, 240 pages.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Starts predictably,
middles unexpectedly,

ends delightfully.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan. Knopf, 2010, 272 pages.

Note: Ahem. Hermione POTTER?!

Real Live Boyfriends: Review Haiku

Love Ruby despite
(because of?) her self-destructive
Rabbit Fever.

Real Live Boyfriends. Yes. Boyfriends, Plural. If My Life Weren't Complicated, I Wouldn't Be Ruby Oliver. by E. Lockhart. Delacorte, 2010, 240 pages.

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins: Review Haiku

If Mary Poppins
were a pig. And shorter.
And completely insane.

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R. A. Spratt. Little Brown, 2010, 239 pages.

The Fabled [Fourth/Fifth] Graders of Aesop Elementary: Review Haiku

Punny collection
of life lessons without a
trace of "good-for-you."

The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary by Candace Fleming. Schwartz + Wade, 2007, 186 pages.

The Fabled Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary by Candace Fleming. Schwartz + Wade, 2010, 170 pages.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: Review Haiku

Not so much "funny ha-ha"

as "funny WTF?"

Nerdy goodness.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris. Little Brown, 2010, 176 pages.

Matchless: Review Haiku

The saddest fairy

tale in the whole wide world
gets a new life. Lovely.

Matchless by Gregory Maguire. Morrow, 2009, 112 pages.

Note: Yes, I KNOW it's not Christmas anymore. Shut UP.

Invisible Inkling: Review Haiku

Bullies come in all
shapes, sizes, and levels of

visibility.

Invisible Inkling by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Harry Bliss. Balzer + Bray, 2011, 144 pages.

Bless This Mouse: Review Haiku

A mousey Moses
leads her people out of danger

and into grace.

Bless This Mouse by Lois Lowry. HMH, 2011, 192 pages.

(Note: Now comes that post-convention time when I braggadociously review ARCs I picked up and read that aren't even out yet. Sorry.)

How Did You Get This Number: Review Haiku

Billed as a female
Sedaris; essays are fine
but just smile-worthy.

How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley. Riverhead, 2010, 274 pages.

We the Children: Review Haiku

Premise has promise,

but pretty weak opener:

way too unfinished.

We the Children (Keepers of the School #1) by Andrew Clements. Atheneum, 2010, 160 pages.