Grave Mercy and The Wicked and the Just are, in so many ways, polar opposites.
But how often do we see YA books set in the Middle Ages? Not very, which makes it almost impossible not to think of these in a compare and contrast essay. So that’s what you get.
Both feature strong female heroines, well [...]
Middle Age Girl Power: Grave Mercy vs The Wicked and the Just
By on November 6, 2012
Is It That Time of Year Already?
By on November 5, 2012
You know, the time of year when it’s all about the lists? When we see what achieved consensus among the review journals, what got dissed, and what we missed?
Why yes, folks, it IS that time, because November started with Publishers Weekly Best Books 2012. Now, PW is always first, and they’re earlier this year than [...]
Does Never Fall Down Stand Up to the Hype?
By on October 31, 2012
Never Fall Down, Patricia McCormick
Balzer + Bray, May 2012
Reviewed from ARC
National Book Award Finalist. Three stars. Patricia McCormick. Never Fall Down is a critical and popular darling, and there is absolutely no question about the emotional impact of the story. You would need to be a stone to stay dry-eyed reading about the atrocities Arn [...]
A New Kind of Fairy Tale: Dust Girl
By on October 28, 2012
Dust Girl, Sarah Zettel
Random House, June 2012
Reviewed from ARC
Welcome to the Dust Bowl as you’ve never seen it before, peopled by lots more than, well, people, in a new series that covers some of the same territory as American Gods or The Flight of Michael McBride (sadly out of print, but a crossover treasure if [...]
A Confusion of Princes (or, Khemri’s Clearly Excellent Adventure)
By on October 25, 2012
A Confusion of Princes, Garth Nix
Harper, May 2012
Reviewed from ARC
Let’s go back in time for a moment, to the heady golden days of science fiction as the place where sweeping stories examine the nature of humanity and also contain explosions and cool tech.
Are you with me?
Because A Confusion of Princes is a throwback in the [...]
A Confusion of Princes (or, Khemri’s Clearly Excellent Adventure)
By on October 25, 2012
A Confusion of Princes, Garth Nix
Harper, May 2012
Reviewed from ARC
Let’s go back in time for a moment, to the heady golden days of science fiction as the place where sweeping stories examine the nature of humanity and also contain explosions and cool tech.
Are you with me?
Because A Confusion of Princes is a throwback in the [...]
Data: Readership Poll Results
By on October 23, 2012
With 120 results, here are the results!
(If you haven’t taken the poll, you can still access it here. If the responses increase significantly, I’ll post updated data, of course.)
Google Forms plays badly with anything, and Excel hates me, so this is just the straightup data for now. I’ll try to play with the Excel files [...]
The Chaos (Epic Post!)
By on October 22, 2012
The Chaos, Nalo Hopkinson
Margaret K. McElderry, April 2012
Reviewed from final copy
Over at Heavy Medal a month or so back, in the comments, the question was raised about emotional v intellectual engagement.
In a nutshell: is it fair that we tend to preference books with which we engage emotionally?
In that discussion, Mark Flowers (hi, Mark!) of Cross-Referencing [...]
Dying to Know How this Is YA
By on October 19, 2012
Dying to Know You, Aidan Chambers
Amulet Books, April 2012
Reviewed from ARC
Look, Aidan Chambers is an immensely accomplished writer. He was one of the early Printz winners, people write critical essays about his books, and he plays quite impressively with form in many of his novels. He certainly has a a steady command of his language, [...]
Radiant Days?
By on October 15, 2012
Radiant Days, Elizabeth Hand
Viking, April 2012
Reviewed from final copy (that I bought for myself the day it came out)
I’ve probably said this before, but by and large I love this blog. I love talking to intelligent, passionate people about books. I love disagreeing and I love having my mind changed. I even love, although sometimes [...]
Checking In: What Have You Read So Far?
By on October 14, 2012
So, maybe it’s just that we haven’t had a lot worth saying, or maybe it’s just that the seriously chatty readers (hi, Elizabeth!) are muzzling themselves for various reasons. But comments have been pretty mellow, and we’re thinking there might be a readership question.
Also data is cool and we’re curious what the general readership is [...]
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
By on October 10, 2012
The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Emily M. Danforth
Balzer + Bray, February 2012
Reviewed from ARC
There’s a lot to discuss here. A lot of win and a lot of flaw, really.
Let’s start with win, which is the writing.
The writing is mature, sophisticated, free of unnecessary embellishments. There are marks of the author’s MFA; there is a style [...]
After the Snow, Questions
By on October 6, 2012
After the Snow, S.D. Crockett
Feiwel and Friends, March 2012
Reviewed from ARC
I’ve got that feeling again, the one I had about There Is No Dog, that sense of bafflement because the book I read may not be the book others read. This is a 3-star book* that also made it into the New York Times. It’s [...]
Gone Fishin’
By on October 4, 2012
Catch and Release, Blythe Woolston
Carolrhoda Lab, February 2012
Reviewed from final copy
Blythe Woolston’s debut (The Freak Observer) won the Morris. Her sophomore effort is getting some buzz (especially from Kelly over at Stacked), although it didn’t do so well on the star collecting. Then again, my research shows zero stars for The Freak Observer, and the [...]
So. Many. Books.
By on October 1, 2012
Remind me to never ever make a schedule. Because here we are, October first, and do you know how close we are to posting reviews of Q2 books?
About 2 weeks.
In a possibly misguided attempt to get caught up — in general, this year is so rich with multiply starred books that getting them all covered [...]
Beneath a Meth Moon
By on September 28, 2012
Beneath a Meth Moon, Jacqueline Woodson
Nancy Paulsen Books, January 2012
Reviewed from final copy
Remember how we talked about stars and the way a book can deserve a star for reasons that in no way correlate to Printzliness?
Beneath a Meth Moon could be Exhibit A to illustrate the gap that can exist between stars and the gold. [...]
I Think There Is No Contender
By on September 24, 2012
There Is No Dog, Meg Rosoff
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, January 2012
Reviewed from ARC
Can we talk about There is No Dog?
Because either this book misses its mark by a mile or I’m missing something.
It’s by Meg Rosoff, author of the 2005 Printz award winner how i live now, a book that blows me away every. single. time [...]
I Think There Is No Contender
By on September 24, 2012
There Is No Dog, Meg Rosoff
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, January 2012
Reviewed from ARC
Can we talk about There is No Dog?
Because either this book misses its mark by a mile or I’m missing something.
It’s by Meg Rosoff, author of the 2005 Printz award winner how i live now, a book that blows me away every. single. time [...]
A Little Bit of House Keeping
By on September 23, 2012
Remember how we mentioned we were going to talk about books in roughly chronological order, but then we not-helpfully-at-all listed them alphabetically by — of all librarian crimes — title?
Well, it’s occurred to us that those of you reading along might appreciate more of an indexed approach.
So here it is, listed alphabetically by author by [...]
More than Paint by Numbers
By on September 19, 2012
Graffiti Moon, Cath Crowley
Knopf, February 2012
Reviewed from ARC
I [redacted but it starts with F and is something Ed might say] love this book.
I actually started this post once before, and I had nice things to say, but I was being a bit dismissive. It’s “sweet and light,” I said. Ah, the perils of only reading [...]
