Cynthia Kadohata won the National Book Award last year for THE THING ABOUT LUCK, and she follows that up with another strong book.  Lightning didn’t strike twice, however.  She doesn’t have the most memorable character of the year; that honor would go to Gregory Maguire for Baba Yaga in EGG & SPOON. But it’s still a strong novel.  in HALF A WORLD AWAY, twelve-year-old Jaden was adopted from Romania, but he views himself as an epic fail for his adoptive parents, at least that’s how he rationalizes their decision to adopt a second child from Kazakhstan.  Once they get there, however, they find that “their” baby has already been adopted, and they are left scrambling for an alternative.  Jaden is curiously drawn to Dimash, a three-year-old who doesn’t speak yet; he will soon age out of the orphanage.  This is just another wonderful piece of storytelling with strong, plot, characters, and setting.