this is my spring break?

North, by Donna Jo Napoli. I'm quitting this book after 29 pages, mostly because of the dialogue. The main character seems likable, and the situation and plot thus far could possibly lead to a good story, but the author is faking it. Not only does it feel like she is talking down to her readers, but she is trying to capture the inner city/black dialect, and falls flat on her face. Not only does she not truly capture the manner in which children talk among themselves, but the attempts to capture dialect feel forced. It seems like the author hasn't spent too much time listening to the language she is trying to reproduce. Write what you know.

The Coolest Cross-Sections Ever!, by Richard Platt; illustrated by Stephen Biesty. I rather think of this as a boy book, mostly because it is the kind of thing my nephew would love. He's into the detail of what's in a firetruck, all the pieces in the train engine, all that, and this has it. It has cross-sections of lots of things, but it also has lots of processes, like steps on a car assembly line or how diamond rings are made. I personally didn't like it much, but the level of detail is amazing.

Nerd in Shining Armor, by Vicki Lewis Thompson. I figured I should get to read something over spring break that I wasn't forced to analyze. This is it.