Thursday, November 5, 2015

Lumberjanes 1: Beware the Kitten Holy

Written by: Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis

First line: Mal, Molly, what the Joan Jett are you doing?

Why you should read this book: As our tale opens on this popular graphic series, five friends have sneaked out of the cabin at their overnight camp in the middle of the night, and spooky things are happening. There are weird three-eyed foxes to fight and mysterious messages in anagram, and their counselor doesn't believe them, but the camp director might. It's girl power all the way as the Lumberjanes investigate the strange goings-on around there, using all their scouting knowledge to defeat monsters and solve problems.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It always bothered you that Harry Potter never got busted for sneaking around in the middle of the night.

When No One Is Watching

Written by: Eileen Spinelli

First line: When no one is watching, I dance.

Why you should read this book: In a poetic voice, a little girl illustrates how her shyness is situation-dependent. When alone, she is fearless, but among others, she shrinks away. However, in the company of her one special friend, she can be herself.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're an extreme extravert.




A Year with Marmalade

Written by: Alison Reynolds and Heath McKenzie

First line: Ella and Maddy were best friends.

Why you should read this book: When Maddy's family goes away for a year, Ella has to take care of her cat, Marmalade. Ella and Marmalade are both heartbroken by their loss, but gradually they warm up to each other. Time passes, and the three friends are soon reunited.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't get cats.


How the Library: (NOT the Prince) Saved Rapunzel

Written by: Wendy Maddour and Rececca Ashdown

First line: On the sixteenth floor of a tall tower block sat Rapunzel, quite idle, whilst growing her locks

Why you should read this book: Reimagined in an urban setting, Rapunzel is not held captive by a witch, but by her own sense of inertia. Although various neighborhood folks attempt to get her out of her own head, she refuses them all, including the prince. When her aunt finally stages in intervention, it turns out that Rapunzel has somehow been offered a job, which is all she needs to turn her life around.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're unemployed and getting frustrated.


I Am Princess X

Written by: Cherie Priest

First line: Libbie Deaton and May Harper invented Princess X in fifth grade, when Libby's leg was in a cast, and May had a doctor's not saying she couldn't run around the track anymore because her asthma would totally kill her.

Why you should read this book: In a really fast paced thriller, May Harper never fully accepted the death of her best friend, Libbie, even though she went to Libbie's funeral years ago. When she starts to see images of their character, Princess X, all over town and the Internet, she's convinced that Libbie is in trouble, in hiding, and desperately trying to send her a message. With the help of a disgraced computer hacker called Trick, May follows the clues left in a webcomic and races against time and a dangerous interloper they call the Needle Man in an effort to learn what really happened to her best friend.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Your child is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.