September books

Will try to get to this more in October. Read mostly children's and young adult books in September. Back to the semester and the days are just too full!
BooksSeptember 2011
1. Hidden by Helen Frost (young adult book)
2. The Sherlock files: the missing heir by Tracy Barrett (intermediate book)
3. Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman
4. Les miserables by Victor Hugo
5. Life is but a dream by Cheryl Sherman
6. Commentary on the whole Bible vol 1 of 6 by Matthew Henry
7. Missing on superstition mountain by Elise Broach (intermediate book)
8. Astronaut academy by Dave Roman (graphic novel)
9. Level up by Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel)
10. Killer Pizza, the slice by Greg Taylor
11. The map of me by Tami Lewis Brown (intermediate book)
12. When you reach me by Rebecca Stead (intermediate book)
13. Anya's ghost by Vera Brosgol (graphic novel)
14. My life undecided by Jessica Brody (young adult)
15. Lost, a dog called Bear by Wendy Orr (intermediate book)
16. One summer by David Balducci
17. Crazy love by Leslie Morgan Steiner
18. How to die of embarrassment every day by Ann Hodgman
19. Americus by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill (graphic novel)
20. Bake sale by Sara Varan (graphic novel)


1) Told in two voices, this is the story of a young girl who is abducted when a stranger steals her mother’s car. The abductor does not know she is in the car and she eventually escapes unharmed. The second voice is the daughter of the abductor. Years later, these girls go to the same summer camp and discover the identity of the other. Very well done.
2) A great mystery book for fourth to six graders who may delight in trying to solve the crime. Main characters are a sister and brother who are distantly related to Sherlock Holmes.
3) In stellar Kellerman fashion, there is blood and gore as well as psychological motivation. The clues are there, it’s not his fault that I usually miss them all!
4) It took several weeks to make my way through this tome; however, it was well worth it!! If you have not read this, get it free on your Kindle.
5) Not worth reading, not sure why I pursued to the end.
6) Another one that took months to go through. I am now contemplating, more Matthew Henry or move on to a more modern commentator on one of the books in the New Testament. Any thoughts?
7) Another mystery for young people. Why do authors, even female authors, feel they have to make girls peripheral characters? Can’t girls be brave and rescuers as well as boys?
8) A graphic novel about a young boy who goes away to school in outer space. All the usual school plots: bullies, bad teachers, etc, but this time it takes place in outer space.
9) Another graphic novel, this time for slightly older readers. The story is about a boy whose father wants him to be a doctor, but he wants to play video games. Through many tortuous incidents, the boy ends up being a surgeon and his years of conquering video games give him the skill: eye-hand coordination, that he needs.
10) A somewhat gory fantasy about a trio of high schoolers who fight monsters while working at pizza shop that doubles as a front for a monster fighting cadre of super stars.
11) When Margie’s mother leaves the family, this 12 year old takes matters into her own hands, commandeers her father’s car and tries to find where her mother has gone. Touching story of how Margie always feels inferior to her younger, smarter sister, but still feels the need to take care of her.
12) A Newbury winner, this book uses time travel to tell the story of how Miranda and Sal negotiate their sixth grade year, including how Sal’s life is saved by a classmate who comes back in time to save him from being hit by a bus. Stead uses L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time as a touchstone book for Miranda and as a way to explain time travel. Definitely one that I would recommend.
13) A graphic novel for high schoolers, this did nothing for me, but might be good for reluctant older readers.
14) Brooklyn is 15 and continuously makes bad decisions, so she decides to put her life decisions onto a blog and let readers vote on her decisions. Cute and perfect for upper middle school or early high school readers.
15) A story of a boy whose parents are divorcing. His dog is important to him so when the dog runs away while moving, it is devastating. The dog is soon found along with a new friend who loves animals. Pretty simplistic and a little didactic.
16) One of my book club members loves David Balducci, so I thought I’d give him a try. Formulaic writing, with no special style. Will not read any more of his numerous books; good, that will save LOTS of time!
17) Joined a second book club and we read this book, then talked for 2 hours about abusive men and abusive relationships. Kind of scary and kind of sad. One thing that came up was: how honest was Steiner in saying at the end that her life is now perfect? We will probably never know!
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19) A memoir written about the first 10 years of the author’s life. Supposedly geared toward intermediate kids and she writes directly to the kids at times. I am not sure if this will interest young readers, but I found it hilarious, as she is from the same era as me and many of the memories are all too familiar!
20) A graphic novel within a graphic novel. The story of a high school boy who loves books, has few friends and spends time at the library. The GN within is a fantasy and attempts are made to ban this book from public libraries. Great to share during banned book week (just past).
21) A graphic novel with main characters shaped like cupcakes and eggplant. Cupcake is trying to sell extra baked goods so he can go on a trip to Turkey with Eggplant. Not much plot, but cute pictures and this may entice some young person to read.