Monday, April 28, 2008

And I'm Spent.

The Sister's Grimm: The Problem Child, by Michael Buckley. I'll keep reading these even though I'm done with the project. They do tend a bit towards the angry side-- I wouldn't give them to happy princess girls. But I rather like them.

Double Helix, by Nancy Werlin. This would be a good one for teen readers who are reticent to move into science fiction. The library has it indexed as s-f, but it barely counts. Reader's won't be overwhelmed by any cheesy fictional planets and social systems. It's more of a mystery with some close-to-legitimate science than anything else.

Mary Poppins, by P.L. Travers. The reader will recognize some lines or scenes used in the movie, but the two are very different. This might not be so enjoyable for current children, but as piece of literature and as a piece of children's literature from before the genre had a name, it's quite good. Older children and even high schoolers might enjoy it-- I did.

Stormbreaker, by Anthony Horowitz. This is a little bit silly, because all the readers will know that nothing like this could ever actually happen; although it has no mystical elements, it is so unlikely that it is practically fantasy. What 14-year-old boy doesn't want to pretend to be James Bond, though, even for a little while. The writing is actually quite good, certainly appropriate for the age level.

Justice League Unlimited: United They Stand, from DC Comics. These are pretty lame, in terms of story. This is number 1, but the reader needs to have some serious background knowledge of the characters, or the stories won't make as much sense. They are seriously lacking in terms of plot-- the stories are, in fact, little more than a backdrop for incredibly curvaceous characters, vibrant colors, and poor puns. If kids want graphic novels, there are so many better ones than this to spend the library's money on.

2 comments:

Ms. Yingling said...

You have to think of Stormbreaker as a 12-year-old fantasy. It's wildly popular in my school. I have a record 8 copies, and none of them every make it back to the shelf. Congratulations on reading so much! You have a good mix of titles.

Ann Wilkes said...

Hi Sarah,
Judging by your reading selections and your favorites listed in your profile, I'm guessing you'd love Awesome Lavratt. It works as SF or YA SF. Easy to follow for YA audience. It's silly SF with lots of puns, mind control and adventure. You can read the first pages at the publisher's printer's site. Go here first and click on the purchase link, which will take you to the printer site where you can peek. http://www.unlimitedpublishing.com/wilkes

I'd love to see it get into some library YA sections. Pardon the shameless self promotion but it seemed like it would be just your kind of book.