September

And everything else I've read and enjoyed this month:

Though sometimes I wonder why I even bother to write reviews, since the keyword analysis on my statcounter looks like this:

74	25.78%	nick and norah's infinite playlist quotes
20	6.97%	nick and norah's infinite playlist book quotes
19	6.62%	nick and norah quotes
18	6.27%	quotes from nick and norah's infinite playlist
13	4.53%	nick and nora's infinite playlist quotes
8	2.79%	nick and norah's quotes
7	2.44%	the approximate cost of loving caroline
6	2.09%	quotes from nick and nora's infinite playlist
5	1.74%	quotes from the book nick and norah's infinite playlist
4	1.39%	quotes from nick and norah
4	1.39%	memorable quotes from nick and norah's infinite playlist book
3	1.05%	nick norah quotes
3	1.05%	nick and norah's infinite playlist quotes

(By the way, if you're interested in said quotes, I've posted some here and here)

Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee

Millicent Min, Girl Genius

by Lisa Yee

After reading all of the Julie books, I immediately had to read Good Luck, Ivy, the companion novel about Julie's best friend Ivy. While I'm not going to review it fully, I was really impressed by the way Yee wove in the historical details without distracting the reader away from the story, and so I decided to read Millicent Min (which I had been putting off for far too long).

As the title suggests, Millicent is a genius. At eleven, she has one year left of high school, and is taking her first college course (a poetry class) over the summer. She's excited to be starting college and finally being with her "intellectual peers" (rather than all those immature high schoolers), so she's looking forward to the summer. But then, her parents decide to sign her up for volleyball AND be forced to tutor Stanford Wong (family friend, and Millicent's sworn enemy).

However, volleyball ends up having one redeeming factor... Millicent meets Emily, a new girl in town, who has no idea that she's a genius, and even thinks that she's "cool." Afraid that she'll lose her first real friend if she tells the truth, Millicent gets swept up in a web of her own lies.

Yee's first person narration really brings Millicent to life, and her voice is realistic and nuanced, showing her to be both highly intelligent and socially confused at the same time. Even the supporting characters are fully realized (especially Stanford, Emily, and Millicent's grandmother Maddy), even as the reader sees them through Millicent's eyes.

Highly recommended for tweens and young teens, and just as Emily's mother gives Millicent a copy of one of the Ramona books*, this would be a great quick read for those wicked smart little kids who read classics for fun.

Both of the sequels to Millicent Min, take place during the same summer, chronicling the same events from the very different perspectives of Stanford Wong and Emily Ebers (respectively). I will admit to being a little disappointed with these sequels only because I had hoped that they took place after Millicent Min, so I could find out what happens next**, and how Millicent adjusts to some of the changes in her family. But, both of the novels were excellent in their own right, and can be read independently of each other.

To find the sequels in a library near you:

Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time

So Totally Emily Ebers

Other Blog Reviews

• Bookshelves of Doom (Millicent Min, Emily Ebers, and Stanford Wong)
• Miss Erin's interview with Lisa Yee, and review of Millicent Min
• Big A little a (review of Emily Ebers, written by Kelly's daughter)
• Little Willow's interview with Lisa Yee
• Planet Esme
• EmilyReads
• Look Books
• The Tome Reader

*This is only one of many references to classic children's literature in the novels. Stanford, for example, has to write several book reports for his summer school English class, including Holes and Number the Stars (and then ends up reading The Outsiders for fun!)

** Please, please, please can we have a sequel?

Julie, An American Girl by Megan McDonald

Julie, an American Girl by Megan McDonald

I remember getting my very first American Girl catalog in the mail*. I was about four years old, and I spent hours pouring over the pictures of the dolls and their outfits and accessories. Of course, back then, there were only three dolls, and three books about each of them. (Personally, Molly was my favorite, because of the braids -- and I got her for Christmas when I was five). A few years later, when American Girl released the Felicity series, I was lucky enough to attend Felicity's Elegant Tea-Party in Colonial Williamsburg. So, of course, I was excited to hear about Julie, the newest American girl, whose novels are set in the 1970s.

As the first novel begins, Julie, a 9 year-old living in San Francisco, is packing up to move out of her old house. Her parents are getting divorced, and she and her older sister are moving into a small apartment with their mother. For Julie, this means leaving her best friend (Ivy), and starting 4th grade at a new school. However, when she starts school and tries to join the basketball team, she finds out that girls are not allowed. In typical American Girl fashion, she starts a petition to fight for her spot on the team.

Like all American girl novels, these titled are peppered with cultural and historical references, (In one book, Julie asks her mom what Watergate is). To me, some of these references seemed a little bit forced, but this may be more because I'm reading them as an adult than from any flaw in the writing.

I also have a few quibbles with the historical accuracy. For example, Julie decorates her locker at school, and while I'm sure there were lockers in the 1970s, I'm not sure that they had them in elementary schools (none of the elementary schools here in Virginia Beach have them today, and I noticed that in The Wednesday Wars, the junior high still had cloakrooms and cubbies instead). Any librarian types want to verify this for me?

Regardless, tween girls will enjoy this glimpse into the era in which their parents were growing up.

To find any of the titles in a library near you, see below:

Meet Julie: an American girl

Julie tells her story

Happy New Year, Julie

Julie and the Eagles

Julie's Journey

Changes for Julie

(And, there's even a DS game!)

A few other random links --

A search of the blogosphere revealed this adorable blog about American Girl dolls and books written by two ten-year-olds (which makes me a bit sad that blogs didn't exist when I was 10)

Also, weirdly, when I looked at the Wikipedia page for American Girl, I found some possible errors, such as "The stories were originally written by author Daniel Steele"

*This may, in fact, have been the very first American Girl catalog ever.

Happy 100th Birthday, Astrid Lindgren!

Astrid Lindgren, born November 14th, 1907, is best known for her Pippi Longstocking series. However, as much as I liked Pippi*, two of Lindgren's other novels really captured my imagination as I was growing up, and I really believe that these titles never got the attention that they deserved. These two novels are Lotta on Troublemaker Street and Ronia, the Robber's Daughter.

Lotta on Troublemaker Street

Lotta wakes up one morning from a bad dream, convinced that her brother and sister were trying to hurt Bamsie (her favorite stuffed-animal). Upset that no one in her family believes her (and that her mother is trying to make her wear an itchy sweater), Lotta decides to run away.

This short, easy-to-read novel will appeal to fans of the Ramona books (or perhaps, today's Junie B. Jones fans), and it is also wonderful when read aloud.

Ronia, The Robber's Daughter

The first time I read Ronia, I was in Fifth Grade, and I just remember being completely enthralled.

I really can't do this novel justice in a short review, but it is essentially the story of the friendship between Ronia and Birk, children of rival bands of robbers -- a young Romeo and Juliet, in a way (though with a happy ending). And, although romance was never specifically mentioned, my nine-year-old self found the novel to be incredibly romantic .

With strong roots in the folk-tale tradition, this novel transports readers to a completely original world. Highly recommended, this novel has stood up to multiple re-readings**

*I was actually Pippi for Halloween when I was 4

**Okay, fine, I give in. I'll read it again. (and maybe that time, I'll write a real review)

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

When I was little, my mom read to me every night. She must have read hundreds of books to me, over the years, but some definitely stick out in my mind more than others, and none more so than the Ramona books*. Just thinking about them now, I'm chuckling picturing Ramona riding around the house on her tricycle singing "I'm going to have a party, I'm going to have a party."

So, when I read a review claiming that Clementine was the next Ramona -- I couldn't resist.

Clementine is not having a good week. On Monday, she gets sent to the principal's office for cutting off all of Margaret's hair. Which of course, she did because she was trying to help out her best friend, who had tried to cut glue out of her hair -- but no one will believe her. And that's only the beginning of the week. And, since Clementine is the "hard one" (compared to her younger brother, who has a different vegetable name in each chapter and is the "easy one"), the week is only going to worse.

Calling Clementine the next Ramona is, in my opinion, one of the highest compliments that could be paid to a youth book, and Clementine certainly earns it. Clementine is a fun and feisty new heroine and I'm looking forward to her next adventure. (coming Spring 2007).

*And when I was in high school and my mom was driving me to all sorts of rehearsals and lessons - we got the books on cassette, and I think I may have actually enjoyed them even more at 17 than I did at 4.

Award Winners Announced!

Award Winners Announced!

Am I a book-dork or what? My first thought when I woke up this morning was to check my Google Reader feeds to see if anyone had leaked any of the Printz/Newbery winners yet. (Last year, I found out about Shannon Hale’s Newbery Honor from her very cute blog entry about the phone call from the Newbery Committee).

Michael L. Printz Award for Young Adult Fiction:

• American Born Chinese by Gene Yang (already have this on hold – will read as soon as it comes in!)

Printz Honor Books:

• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (see my review here)

• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson (I guess I have to actually finish this one now!)

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Why did this not win?)

• Surrender by Sonya Hartnett (will get this from work tonight – curious as to why I haven’t heard much about it before)

Newbery Medal

• Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

Newbery Honor Books

• Rules by Cynthia Lord (also won the Schneider Family Book Award)

• Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (my review here)

• Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm (checked out already, will read today!)

Margaret A. Edwards Award (for lifetime achievement in young adult literature):

• Lois Lowry (author of The Giver, Gathering Blue, Number the Stars, etc…)

And, now that my “To-be-Read” list has gotten even longer – I think I should go read a little before work!

P.S. please let me know if any of the links don't work -- I was a little bit rushed.

Poor Little Witch Girl by Marie Desplechin

Poor Little Witch Girl by Marie Desplechin*

As soon as I saw the title, I knew I just had to read Poor Little Witch Girl. I adore books about witches (might I also recommend Bras and Broomsticks, Frogs and French Kisses, and my all-time favorite:The Witch Family). And what a cute little book this is.

Verbena is a witch, just like her mother, and her mother's mother, and every woman in her family. At 12 years old, however, all Verbena wants is to be normal, to be liked by the cute boy at school (Soufi), and to find her father. All her mother wants is for Verbena to be a powerful witch. Thus, one could say that there is a bit of tension in the family home (and when there are witches around -- tension can be dangerous!)

The really interesting thing about this novel is the point of view. The story is told from several points of view -- the mother's, the grandmother's, Verbena's, and even Soufi's, and while switching POV isn't something new -- this is the first time (that I can think of) that I have ever read a youth or teen book from the parent's POV. And in this one, it really works.

This is an adorable modern fairy-tale, and I would definitely recommend it for pre-teen girls (and older too -- since I loved it).

Marie Desplechin has published many books for children and adults in France -- this is her first to be published in the US. I liked it so much, I was actually tempted to try to buy some of her other titles in French (but apparently, I was overestimating my French abilities -- I couldn't even understand the summaries on Amazon!)

*yes, I do realize that the Wikipedia page is in French, but it has more information than the English version.

The End by Lemony Snicket

The End by Lemony Snicket

There are so many reviews out there for this book (and most of them are probably better written than mine could ever be) -- I'm just going to say that I enjoyed it more than I expected to, having read some bad reviews... and let you all read some of the reviews for yourselves!

New York Times
Quad Cities Times
Big A little A (and daughter)
Wands and Words

Princess Books

At work, whenever we get new books, there's this game we like to play, which we call "guess-which-staff-member-has-this-book-on-hold." Everyone has their specific type of books (such as vampire books, or graphic novels, or adult fiction with weird titles), and mine, apparently, is anything YA and pink. Apparently, I never realized it, but I have a thing for Princess Books.

So, about a week ago, I went on a Princess Book binge, reading 2 of them at night before I went to sleep, and then waking up the next morning, and reading another one. And so, I was inspired to make a list of the Best of Princess Books.

Oldies but Goodies

Melisande by E. Nesbit


E. Nesbit is probably best known for The Five Children and It and it's sequels, but I've always loved her fairy tales, and this is one of her best. Melisande is a variation on the king-and-queen-forget-to-invite-the-wicked-fairy-to-the-party theme. In this case, the fairy gives baby Melisande the gift of hair that keeps on growing, and growing, and growing. Having had a love/hate relationship with my own long hair for years, I could really relate to Melisande's plight. Plus, this edition has absolutely gorgeous illustrations.

The Princess and the Goblin by George McDonald

Speaking of gorgeous illustrations, this book has some of the best I've ever seen. I read this so long ago, I barely remember the plot, other than the Princess being kidnapped by Goblins, and Curdie rescuing her, but I really remember the feeling of reading it, of just being absolutely enthralled. The story is beautiful, the illustrations are beautiful... and now I really want to read it again.

The Light Princess by George MacDonald

Yet another variation on the curse-placed-at-birth-by-an-evil-fairy theme, this has been another favorite of mine for years. In this case, the curse is that the Princess will have no weight, and therefore, she cannot leave her room, because she would simply float away. This one has very nice illustrations by Maurice Sendak.


The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye

Okay, at this point, I think it goes without saying that these are all my favorites... and possibly that most Princess books are variations on a theme mentioned above... but in this one, the Princess's curse is simply that she is normal, ordinary. She has brown hair and brown eyes, rather than the typical blond hair/blue eye combination that is expected of princesses. And as the youngest of 7 princesses, she feels she doesn't belong, and thus, she runs away. This is the story of her journey.

Sleeping Ugly by Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen has written an amazing number of books, and most of them play with fairy tales in some fashion. In this one, as you can probably tell from the title, she plays with Sleeping Beauty. I just walked over and got this one off the shelf because I had almost completely forgotten the plot, but basically, it's cute, and funny, and they live happily ever after.

New(er) Princess Books




The Frog Princess, Dragon's Breath, Once Upon a Curse, and No Place for Magic by E.D. Baker

This is a very cute series that begins with the story of the frog prince, and then goes off in directions that you would never expect. In the first book, when the princess kisses the frog, instead of turning him back into a human, she turns herself into a frog, and they spend the rest of the book trying to figure out how to turn back into humans. The rest of the books continue in a similar manner, with Emeralda trying to break curses and learning how to use magic. (Once upon a Curse was the first of the 3 books of my Princess Book binge, and I read No Place for Magic a few days later)

Rapunzel: The One with All the Hair by Wendy Mass

I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It's a mass-market Scholastic paperback, so I wasn't really sure if it would be any good (yes, I know, I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, or publisher), but it was hilarious. I was actually lying in bed at midnight, laughing out loud reading this one. In this version of the story of Rapunzel, we get to hear what happened according to both Rapunzel and her prince (Prince Benjamin). Rapunzel is a spoiled teenager, Benjamin is a prince who prefers reading to hunting, and the way the story unfolds is almost believable. Definitely worth reading! (Book 2 of my Princess Book marathon)


The Princess Diaries (and many sequels) by Meg Cabot

The movie is cute and all, but the book is so much better. If possibly, listen to the audio book, read by Anne Hathaway (who plays Mia in the movie). The book is just so smart and funny, I was actually laughing out loud driving to work, listening to this one. (I may have gotten a few strange looks from people in other cars -- but I didn't even notice). Mia is just your average-intelligent-vegetarian-teenager, and all the faux pas she makes when she finds out that she is the princess of Genovia seem real. (They are a little over-the-top sometimes, but since the whole idea is, that's to be expected)


Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris



Completely original, and very, very cute. Tells the story more from the perspective of the prince (who, having run away from home at a very young age, doesn't even realize that he is a prince), who lives in a cave with a troll. He sees Princess Marigold across the river and starts sending her p-mail by way of a carrier pigeon. Ferris has created a wonderfully real world, and characters who make you want to keep reading. This is one that I can clearly imagine reading to my own children (when I have children -- hopefully in the very far future)



Born to Rule by Kathryn Lasky

Kathryn Lasky has written many, many books for children and young adults, and her Guardians of Ga'hoole series is especially popular (I haven't read those yet, but I will, someday). Born to Rule is the first in a new series about a camp for princesses. It is light and fun and has everything a good Princess Book should, and I will definitely be looking out for the next installment in the series. (Book 3 of my princess book binge)





Really, I could keep going... there are many more wonderful Princess Books out there... maybe I'll add a part 2 sometime;)