Cybils Shortlist Announced

Cybils shortlists have been announced... and I'm very excited to see that one of the books that I nominated has made it to the finalists: Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke, in the easy readers/early chapter books category. Oh, I'm really rooting for it to win. I love that whole series. I do not envy the Cybils Round II judges - there are some very fine books in all the categories. Looking over the lists myself, I find it impossible to come up with any predictions on who the final winners might be, since they all seem so good!

Read in 2011

My goal was to read 150 books this year. Despite a last-minute read-a-thon, I still came up just short, with only 143. I got a very strong start last January. Being snowed in for over a week with an epic once-in-century ice storm will do that for for you! There isn't really a weak spot for the whole year, just a very slight falling behind each month. To be perfectly honest - I usually set a goal of 100 books a year, and I don't think too hard about it, and usually I hit that number, or come very close. I thought if I set a goal of 150, and just worked at it a bit, that I might just breeze right past that easily. I compare myself to folks who are serving on awards committees who read 200-300 books a year, and I think, "Wow, I could do so much better." 


On the other hand, I feel like the amount I've read this year is not too shabby! I really enjoyed a lot of these books. I participated in the 2011 Debut Authors Challenge and discovered a lot of awesome new writers. I'm glad I put together this master list -- as I was going through it, I kept thinking, "I can't believe I didn't put up a review for that one! Or that one! Hey, I never reviewed that? I could have sworn that I did!" So, I've got a lot of reviewing to catch up on, apparently! Let's take a look at what I read. 


January


1 Sisters Red - Jackson Pearce
2 Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace - Gordon MacKenzie
3 The Cardturner - Louis Sachar
4 Jane - April Lindner
5 Penny Dreadful - Laurel Snyder
6 Insatiable - Meg Cabot
7 Ghostopolis - Doug TenNapel
8 Dead in the Family - Charlaine Harris
9 Sister Wife - Shelley Hrdlitschka
10 The Strange Case of Origami Yoda - Tom Angleberger
11 The Vespertine - Saundra Mitchell
12 Avalon High - Meg Cabot
13 Inside Out - Maria V. Snyder
14 The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling - Maryrose Wood
15 Lucky - Rachel Vail
16 The Boy from Ilysies - Pearl North
17 Paranormalcy - Kiersten White
18 Doctor Horrible and Other Horrible Stories - Zack Whedon
19 Last Sacrifice - Richelle Mead
20 Fantasy: An Artist's Realm - Ben Boos
21 The Star Maker - Laurence Yep
22 Burned - Ellen Hopkins
23 Hourglass - Claudia Gray
24 Dirty Little Secrets - C.J. Omololu


February


25 Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict - Laurie Viera Rigler
26 Minder - Kate Kaynak
27 Slice of Cherry - Dia Reeves
28 Across the Universe - Beth Revis
29 XVI - Julia Karr
30 The Great Wall of Lucy Wu - Wendy Wan-Long Shang
31 Trickster's Girl - Hilari Bell
32 Delirium - Lauren Oliver
33 Angelfire - Courtney Allison Moulton
34 Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance - Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin
35 Season of Secrets - Sally Nicholls
36 Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess - George O'Connor
37 Infinite Days - Rebecca Maizel
38 The False Princess - Eilis O'Neal


March


39 Goose Chase - Patrice Kindl
40 Wither - Lauren deStefano
41 Angel Burn - L.A. Weatherly
42 One Hundred Candles - Mara Purnhagen
43 Bumped - Megan McCafferty
44 Eliza's Freedom Road - Jerdine Nolan
45 Firelight - Sophie Jordan
46 Alchemy and Meggy Swann - Karen Cushman
47 The Help - Kathryn Stockett
48 Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream - Jenny Han
49 The Iron King - Julie Kagawa


April


50 How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend - Gary Ghislain
51 The Latte Rebellion - Sarah Jamila Stevenson
52 Unearthly - Cynthia Hand
53 The Education of Bet - Lauren Baratz-Logsted
54 Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus - Atinuke
55 Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus - Atinkue
56 Inside Out and Back Again - Thanhha Lai
57 Dead Beautiful - Yvonne Woon
58 Pegasus - Robin McKinley
59 Drought - Pam Bachorz


May


60 Lost Voices - Sarah Porter
61 Brightly Woven - Alexandra Bracken
62 The Bloomswell Diaries - Louis L. Buitendag
63 Vesper - Jeff Sampson
64 A Long, Long Sleep - Anna Sheehan
65 Happy Birthday, Sophie Hartley - Stephanie Green
66 White Cat - Holly Black
67 Cinderella Smith - Stephanie Barden
68 Sidekicks - Jack D. Farraiolo
69 Falling in Love with English Boys - Melissa Jensen
70 Enclave - Ann Aguirre
71 The Girl's Guide to Homelessness - Brianna Karp
72 The Goddess Test - Aimee Carter


June


73 The Demon Trapper's Daughter - Jana Oliver
74 Hurricane Dancers - Margarita Engle
75 Skinned - Robin Wasserman
76 Thunder Over Kandahar - Sharon E. McKay
77 The Time Traveling Fashionista - Bianca Turetsky
78 Words in the Dust - Trent Reedy
79 Sinister Scenes - P.J. Bracegirdle
80 The Last Dragon - Jane Yolen
81 God No! - Penn Jillette
82 A Conspiracy of Kings - Megan Whalen Turner
83 Outside In - Maria V. Snyder


July


84 Wisdom's Kiss - Catherine Gilbert Murdock
85 Pink - Lili Wilkinson
86 The Girl of Fire and Thorns - Rae Carson
87 When Men Become Gods - Stephen Singular
88 Zita the Spacegirl - Ben Hatke
89 Ruby Red - Kerstin Gier
90 Pretty Bad Things - C.J. Skuse
91 A Treehouse of Your Own - John Harris
92 Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris


August


93 Lost Boy - Brent Jeffs
94 Misfit - Jon Skovron
95 EllRay Jakes is Not a Chicken - Sally Warner
96 Afterlife - Claudia Gray
97 Bunheads - Sophie Flack
98 Sidekicks - Dan Santat
99 Red Glove - Holly Black
100 Puppet Play - Diana Schoenbrun
101 Water Wars - Cameron Stracher


September


102 The Princess Curse - Merrie Haskell
103 A Kiss in Time - Alex Flinn
104 Juliet Immortal - Stacey Jay
105 The Iron Giant - Ted Hughes
106 Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
107 Soulless - Gail Carringer
108 Changeless - Gail Carringer
109 Wonderstruck - Brian Selznick


October


110 The Inquisitor's Apprentice - Chris Moriarty
111 Forgotten - Cat Patrick
112 Blameless - Gail Carringer
113 Shut Out - Kody Keplinger
114 Divergent - Veronica Roth
115 Dash & Lily's Book of Dares - Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
116 Alice in Wonderland - Martin Powell
117 Darth Paper Strikes Back - Tom Angleberger
118 Here Comes Trouble - Michael Moore
119 Vampire Knits - Genevieve Miller
120 Forever - Maggie Stiefvater
121 Boyfriends with Girlfriends - Alex Sanchez
122 Candor - Pam Bachorz


November


123 The Pledge - Kimberly Derting
124 The Rise of Renegade X - Chelsea Campbell
125 It's Not Really About the Hair - Tabatha Coffey
126 The Mephisto Covenant - Trinity Faegen
127 Frost - Wendy DelSol
128 The Not Quite Perfect Boyfriend - Lili Wilkinson
129 Hades: Lord of the Dead - George O'Connor
130 Darker Still - Leanna Renee Hieber
131 Peeled - Joan Bauer


December


132 Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer
133 Family Wanted: Stories of Adoption - Sara Holloway
134 Squish: Super Amoeba - Jennifer & Matt Holm
135 The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
136 Radiant Shadows - Melissa Marr
137 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever - Jeff Kinney
138 Soul Thief - Jana Oliver
139 The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss
140 Full Circle - Melora Hobbs Pond
141 The Emerald Atlas - John Stevens
142 The Girl Who Owned a City: The Graphic Novel - Dan Jolley
143 Shattered Dreams - Ellie James

Read in December

This month I read the following books:

1 Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer
2 Family Wanted: Stories of Adoption - Sara Holloway
3 Squish: Super Amoeba - Jennifer & Matt Holm
4 The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
5 Radiant Shadows - Melissa Marr
6 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever - Jeff Kinney
7 Soul Thief - Jana Oliver
8 The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss
9 Full Circle - Melora Hobbs Pond
10 The Emerald Atlas - John Stevens
11 The Girl Who Owned a City: The Graphic Novel - Dan Jolley
12 Shattered Dreams - Ellie James

Picture credit: The Reading Girl by Johann Georg Meyer von Bremen

Cabin Fever review

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever
by Jeff Kinney
Abrams
November 2011

I've been looking forward to reading this book, especially since hearing Jeff Kinney speak at the American Library Association last summer. As promised, this book reigns things in a bit, returning with a pared-down cast of characters: Greg Heffley and his family members, with a few mentions of his best friend Rowley. Like the earlier books in the series, this is a series of loosely-connected vignettes featuring Greg's family and friends. Middle-child Greg is just as self-centered as always and the family dynamics are very believable. Be careful what you wish for: in the last book, The Ugly Truth, I was a bit disappointed that Greg seemed to be growing up too fast. In this volume, Greg actually seems younger than he did in previous books. It's winter time, Christmas is around the corner, and Greg is more than a little creeped out by the idea that Santa is watching his every move! I did find it a bit of a stretch that Greg, who should be in 8th grade by now, would still actually believe in Santa Claus, but this was the crux of so many great jokes, that I didn't care. Just go with it!

More than ever, readers will see that Greg is a bright troublemaker, who means well, but can't seem to do anything right. When he puts up posters at school which are rained on, it leaves a mess, and he's terrified that the police will arrest him for vandalism. I think my favorite parts of the book are the flashbacks when we see a slightly younger Greg - for example, when Greg's younger brother Manny is a newborn, his mom buys Greg a baby doll to get him used to the idea of being a big brother. Young Greg loves that doll! Greg is adorable as he dotes over it, and readers are treated to a great picture of him caring for the doll as his mother sizes him up approvingly and his father looks on in mild alarm. Greg's always felt guilty for losing track of the doll - but it turns up after the basement is flooded. After years of neglect the doll is missing a leg and covered with muck so that it looks like something from a horror show - which in Greg's eyes only makes it cooler.

When a blizzard hits, Greg's dad is forced to hole up in a hotel and spends the holidays in peace and quiet in the warm comfort of his room. I was reminded strongly of the father from Calvin and Hobbes. Greg's older brother Roderick has been the baddie in previous books, but in this volume Manny is the villain. When the family is snowed in, and the house loses power, fussy toddler Manny craftily hoards all the best resources for himself. It's another bit of a stretch to think that little Manny could successfully adjust the house fuse boxes himself, but the story moves so quickly, I didn't mind it. And we have to give Manny credit - he's probably learned a lot by watching Greg in action. Who was once the student is now the master! 

This book is hilarious - I found myself laughing out loud, making embarrassing snorting noises, and demanding to read-aloud random portions to anyone who would listen. It's bust-a-gut funny and everything you hope for in a humor novel. I highly recommend it.


I borrowed this book from the library.

Crunch time

It's crunch time! I'm thisclose to hitting my reading goals this year. Will I make it? Only time will tell!

Waiting on Incarnate

The fantastic cover was the first thing to grab my attention, but the description sounds really interesting too.  Can't wait to try it!

Incarnate
by Jodi Meadows
HarperCollins

January 2012

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

My thoughts on AR Quizzes

I've been storing these thoughts up for a while, letting them rattle around, and I'm still not 100% certain I want to post about this yet. I've been thinking about Accelerated Reader Quizzes which are owned and run by Renaissance Learning, Inc. They're increasingly popular in schools. Kids read books, and then sign online to take a quiz. Enough successfully completed quizzes will accrue them points, and then they can spend points on prizes provided by their school. There usually are AR parties, hosted several times a year for kids who have maintained a certain level of success with the program.

Despite the expense, it's a very, very attractive package for schools to use. It quickly and easily sorts books by reading level and provides a nearly instantaneous level of feedback for administrators. They use a system called ATOS, similar to reading lexile to determine the difficulty of each book. Educators can log in and immediately pinpoint what classes, districtwide, have comprehension or vocabulary problems. Parents can log in and get several charts and graphs, displaying their child's accomplishments.

Ordinarily, I might not worry overmuch about what happens in schools. Sure, I want to support what homework kids might be doing, and educating everyone (including teachers!) about the difference between "the internet" and "databases" is a constant struggle. But, on the whole, I see the public library as an ideal place for pleasure reading - for people to turn their minds to what interests them. There's a real benefit to that. Taking a break from serious study refreshes the mind. When kids and teens have the chance to explore their own interests, they're more invested, and keeping involved at the public library (especially over the summer) has been shown to improve students skills. But, AR Quizzes are on my mind more and more, because they're growing increasingly ubiquitous, and the demand for them is beginning to encroach on what I do.

There are a couple of kids I helped at the library recently who especially stuck out in my mind. Probably the most heartbreaking was a little girl and her mother who came to me looking for suggestions for remedial reading - the girl hadn't gotten to go to any AR Quiz parties at her school that year, but she had high hopes that if she did a little better she'd make it next year. Wow! This was a child who sincerely enjoyed reading - maybe she was a little behind her grade level, but she wasn't what you'd call a "reluctant reader" - someone who finds reading difficult or a chore. She was still in high spirits, and frequently read for pleasure. I wondered how long it might take for that to change in the face of repeated messages that she was a failure.

I also particularly remember a kid who was energetically telling me about all the reading she'd done that week. She raced through five books and had aced the AR Quizzes for all of them! When I congratulated her, and asked her which were her favorites, she blithely assured me that she didn't remember any of them - she didn't need to, now that she'd finished the quiz. Wow. Will she be a lifelong reader? I somehow kind of doubt it. After all, with no quiz, or points to motivate her, why would she ever pick up a book? She seemed to enjoy reading in the same Skinnerian way that you might enjoy racking up points on a boring, easy, pointless video game. In my mind, that hardly counts as enjoying reading at all.

Finally, I worked with a boy this past week who was looking to stock up on chapter books for the holiday break. With his smartphone at the ready, he checked each book I recommended, and dismissed 4 or 5 of them out of hand when he didn't find them on arbookfind.com, or when they came up as "not on his level."

I've had hurried parents ask me why we don't shelve books by their AR level, as opposed to by author or by Dewey Decimal number, and I've had many requests to begin labeling our books with the AR book level prominent on the spine, as many school libraries currently do. That alone seems like a monumental task involving considerable expense in office supplies and staff time. It's not something that I'd look forward to doing, especially considering it's a proprietary system, owned by one company.

Last summer my library participated in a pilot program where we offered AR Quizzes at the branch (normally, they are only available at school) and barring any unusual circumstance, we will probably offer them next summer. I have my concerns though... last year the library got access to the quizzes for free, through the auspices of the local school that had a contract with Renaissance Learning. What will happen if and when Renaissance Learning asks the library for money to continue funding the ability to take quizzes at the library? What will happen if and and when the library discontinues carrying the quizzes, and then must cope with an outpouring of complaints from parents who demand the service?

Despite my concerns, public libraries exist to meet the needs of our communities. If people want AR Quizzes, if they're excited about them, we'll try to provide them. I can't begin to number the times that I've helped a parent by showing them how to use the arbookfind website - how grateful, even gleeful they were to have access to such a great tool. I've even seen aspiring authors use the AR website to gauge how to assess what level their unpublished books might be considered, and how to accordingly pitch their manuscripts.

Like it or not, AR Quizzes seem like they're here to stay for a while. I'm keeping a curious and cautious eye on how public libraries will continue to respond to the demand that they create.