Weekend Reads.

Ingo, by Helen Dunmore. This is part of the quasi-fantasy genre that's been so popular the last few years (and that I usually love). This book was pretty good, but it just didn't do it for me. It's written in first person present, which always distracts me, and the author has a problem with commas, which also threw off my concentration. One of the secondary characters crucial to the story (the boy Mer, I can't remember his name) made the story rather unpleasant: he was nearly bipolar, snooty and judgmental, and all around a not nice guy. I think maybe the author was trying to make him different from a "regular" boy character, since he lives in the sea and everything, but she rather failed to make him unworldly. How the children feel and react to their father going missing was very well done, but their relationship with him before he left could use some shoring up. I'd put this more in J than YA. Owly: Just a Little Blue, by Andy Runton. Love love love! There are so many little details. I can't believe how expressive the characters are, considering they are just black and white shapes with eyes. I think 9,398 to go. And, just for fun, here's a story about me! Thanks to Jessica, who made me sound so smart!