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Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Feb10

I think I ordered this YA novel from the library because it was on the list of nominees for the Cybils, Young Adult Fiction category, and I had some grandiose idea of reading several of the books that were nominated in that category after finishing the Middle Grade Fiction list. The title of this particular novel begins with “A”, and it’s about a road trip. With a premise like that, how could it miss?

(I love road trip stories. It Happened One Night with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Road to Rio with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Rain Man with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. The TV series Route 66. The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon. However, I’ve never actually read the classic American road trip book, On the Road by Kerouac, because I’m not much for trippin’ while trippin’.)

Talk about detours. Back to Amy and Roger. I loved this book right up until Maryland. Amy is a California girl, traveling across the USA in her mom’s red Jeep Liberty, with good looking college guy Roger, designated driver for said Jeep. The two are headed for Connecticut where Amy will deliver the car to mom, and Roger will take a train to spend the summer with his dad in Philly. Of course, the two are destined to fall madly in love and live happily ever after. But there are glitches. Roger has a girlfriend, or maybe an ex-girlfriend. Amy’s just recovering, or maybe not recovering, from some mysterious traumatic event which seems to have something to do with her father’s death a couple of months before the story begins. Amy’s not too perky. Roger’s still hung up on Hadley, the beautiful, rich ex. Roger drinks root beer, and Amy drinks cream soda (until she discovers sweet tea in Kentucky). Roger listens to Dashboard Confessional, Owl City, The Lucksmiths, and many, many others I’ve never heard of. Amy listens to, believe it or not, show tunes.

Roger and May’s Epic Detour Road Trip of Discovery was fun. They discover America’s loneliest highway in Utah. Amy takes pictures of trees. They eat in lots of diners. Roger’s friend, Cheeks, shows them the best of Wichita, Kansas. They picnic on a golf course. They spend the night in a honeymoon suite, the last vacancy in town. They spend another night in the Jeep Liberty in the Walmart parking lot. Unfortunately, when the twosome get to Maryland, they’ve worked through all their psychological problems and previous entanglements , and the only thing left to do is . . . of course, go to bed together. No, the Act is not described explicitly or salaciously. Yes, the very fact of the road trip having to end this way made the book change from a book I wanted to give my sixteen year old daughter with my recommendation into a book that I wished I could have given to my sixteen year old daughter without reservations or hesitation.

I have an entire post composed in draft form about the permutations that have occurred in the old “boy meets girl” plot line. My basic premise is that instead of boy and girl overcoming obstacles and eventually getting married and living happily ever after (or not, as in Romeo and Juliet), now they overcome obstacles and fall into bed together without benefit of clergy or marriage certificate. This change in young adult (and adult) fiction is not an improvement on the old formula, and although it may or may not reflect the culture at large, it’s a sad state of affairs. I aspired to commitment and marriage, and I certainly hope my children do the same.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Jan17

Ship Breaker is on the shortlist for the Cybils YA Fantasy/Science Fiction Award.

Ship Breaker was a finalist for 2010 National Book Award in the category of Young People’s Literature. (The winner was Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine.)

Ship Breaker won the 2011 Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.

And, having just finished reading this award-winning piece of dystopian fiction, I would say it deserves the nominations and awards and accolades it’s recieved. I would also say that the PC setting and themes in the book didn’t hurt its chances in the running for awards. The world in Ship Breaker is a world destroyed and reconfigured by climate change and the greed of oil hungry corporations and industries. By the time the story opens, oil is an extremely scarce commodity, and the world’s transportation systems run on other forms of energy, for the most part. Our hero, Nailer, is one of the lowest of the low in the New World Order, a scavenger who works the light crew on wrecked oil tankers and other useless hulks washed up on the beach where Nailer lives. The best Nailer can hope for is a place on another crew when he outgrows his ability to crawl into the small spaces where copper wiring and other “scavenge” can be found on the wrecked ships. Nailer’s mother is dead, and his father is mean, violent and drug-addicted.

Ship Breaker becomes a story about loyalty and heredity and the limits of trust when Nailer finds a “lucky strike,” something that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. Will he take advantage of his luck and run with it, or will he choose to save the life of a worthless and dangerous captive at the risk of his own? This story was exciting and spell-binding. It will appeal to Hunger Games fans and other readers of dystopian science fiction and technofiction.

I had only one problem with the book, not a problem that made me consider quitting the book, but a problem, nevertheless. Why does Nailer make the choices he makes? Nailer is a classic hero. He chooses right, no matter that he stands to gain riches and save his own life by making other decisions than the ones he makes. Why? He’s loyal to his friend, Pima, and her mother, Sadna, because they have taken care of him in the past, given him a place to stay, food, and a job. Tit for tat. Pima is Nailer’s crew leader, and Nailer has sworn a blood oath to “have her back”. Then, other people enter the equation, and although Nailer has no rational reason, and no real sense of morality, to give his loyalty to anyone else, he does. Why? Nailer himself doesn’t know, and the reader is never given any good insight into Nailer’s core allegiance either. He’s realistic about the cruelty of the world he lives, somewhat superstitious, and highly intelligent inspite of his lack of education and opportunity. So why does he turn quixotic without Quixote’s code of knightly honor to sustain him?

“The blood bond was nothing. It was the people that mattered. If they covered your back, and you covered theirs, then maybe that was worth calling family. Everything else was just so much smoke and lies.”

If that’s so, then why does Nailer sacrifice himself for someone who has done nothing for him and very likely never will?

Still, it’s a good book, and you may find answers to my questions that I didn’t see. Warning: Lots of violence, very little or no language or sexual situations.

Split by Swati Avasthi

Jan14

See below the review of Andrew Klavan’s The Identity Man. Split is another book about change and whether it is possible for a young man to become a new person, leave behind his old patterns of thinking and his past crimes, and as Jace, the protagonist in this book, puts it, “take the bastard-no-longer pledge.”

When sixteen year old Jace shows up on his older brother Christian’s front step with a split lip, a few dollars, and a reluctance to answer questions, it’s touch and go as to whether or not Christian will let Jace stay–even overnight. Both young men are running from their abusive father, and together they endanger each other. However, Jace has nowhere else to go, and maybe, even though he’s possibly a broken kid, unfixable and dangerous, perhaps he’s not hopeless yet. At least Jace would like to convince himself and Christian that it’s not too late, that he can leave his dad and the anger that is his dad’s bequest to him, all behind.

Again, the question is “can a person really change, become new, leave the past behind?” If so, how? Jace tries sheer will power, and that works for him to some extent. He also finds a “good woman,” but he’s afraid to take advantage of the benefits of a loving relationship with a girl he is attracted to because he’s afraid he can’t be the good man she needs and deserves. Finally, the answers in this book are honesty, brotherly loyalty and love, exercise for the purpose of anger management, and taking it one day, one hour, one minute at a time. Those are pretty good answers, perhaps inadequate in the long run, but perhaps not as far as leaving an abusive past behind.

Split was one of the books on the shortlist for the Cybils in the category of Young Adult Fiction, and I’m definitely understanding why it’s one of the top books that the panel chose. The relationship cues and under-currents are subtle and spot on, and Jace is an intelligent and astute judge of character, even of his own. His insights into what is going on beneath the surface of his family’s dynamics, plus the references to Shakespeare and other literary lights, were what made the book for me.

Warning: some language, (domestic) violence, and sexual references make this a book for mature young adults with a tolerance for that sort of material.

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Jan12

So, on Monday Moon Over Manifest was something of a surprise winner of the Newbery Medal for “the most distinguished American children’s book published the previous year” (2010). And I just happened to have a copy of the winning book in my library basket, a leftover from the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction panel that I hadn’t been able to find before the deadline in late December for our shortlist to be finalized. I read the book yesterday.

I can now say that if the publisher (Delacorte) had seen fit to send a review copy, I might very well have pushed to put Moon Over Manifest on our shortlist. Of course, that’s easy to say now, hindsight and all. But I haven’t been too excited about or fond of some of the recent Newbery Award books. And I said so. Last year’s book, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead was great, but of course, I’m a Madeleine L’Engle fan, so I would like anything that paid tribute to A Wrinkle in Time. I tried to read Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book three times year before last and never got past the first few chapters. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! seemed sort of, dare I say it, boring, and The Higher Power of Lucky was just O.K.

Moon Over Manifest is the story of a girl, twelve year old Abilene Tucker, whose father, Gideon, is a hobo. Abilene and her dad have been riding the rails together for as long as she can remember, but now (summer, 1936) Gideon has sent Abilene to live with an old friend of his in Manifest, Kansas while Gideon takes a job on the railroad back in Iowa. Abilene is not happy about being separated from her loving and beloved father, and she is determined that Gideon will come get her by the end of the summer. In the meantime, Abilene wants to find some information about the time Gideon spent in Manifest during World War I, before Abilene was born. What she gets is a nun, Sister Redempta, who teaches at the Sacred Heart of the Holy Redeemer Elementary School and gives her a summer assignment on the last day of school. Abilene also meets:
Shady Howard, the bootlegger who is also the interim pastor of the First Baptist Church
Miss Sadie, fortune teller, spirit medium, conjurer, and story-teller extraordinaire,
Hattie Mae Harper Macke, newspaper columnist and amateur historian of Manifest,
and two new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, who join Abilene in searching for The Rattler, a spy who may or may not be selling secrets from Manifest to the enemy.

The story alternates between 1936 and Abilene and her friends and 1917-18 when the Manifest townspeople of 1936 were just growing up and when Abilene’s father should have been making his mark on Manifest’s history. Will Abilene find mention of her father in any of the stories Miss Sadie tells? How does Miss Sadie know so much about all of the secrets and events that make up the story of Manifest, Kansas? Does Shady have stories to tell about Abilene’s father? Who is or was The Rattler, and is he still in Manifest, spying on people and keeping secrets? Will Gideon come back to get Abilene, or has he deserted her for good?

Let’s start with the cover. Abilene is walking on the railroad track, thinking about her father and about the stories Miss Sadie tells. Do kids walk on the railroad tracks anymore? I lived about four blocks from the railroad tracks when I was growing up, and I certainly did. I walked along the tracks and looked for lost coins and thought about stuff. I love the cover of this book. So nostalgic.

Then there’s the story. Abilene is an engaging character, independent, feisty, and determined. But she’s also respectful and grateful for the people in Manifest who help her and feed her and take care of her. I like respectful and thankful, since it seems to be in short supply sometimes in book characters and in real kids. Abilene’s story feels real and has a flavor of the summertime adventures of the Jem and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. Abilene and her two buddies roam all over Manifest all summer long, and they make up stories and hunt for The Rattler with impunity and without much adult interference. The adults are available, but not over-involved. I think my kids could use some of that kind of independence and free-range experience.

As Abilene grows up over the course of the summer, she also learns more about her father and about his history, his character, and his flaws. Twelve is about the right time for a daughter to begin to see her father as a real person with a past and with hurts that need to be healed. In Moon Over Manifest, Gideon is a good father who “deserts” his daughter for good reasons, unlike the mother in another lauded book of 2010, One Crazy Summer. In facter the two books could be compared in several ways—feisty young heroine, absent parent, a summer of growth and discovery, people who are not who they seem to be–and I think Moon Over Manifest would come out the winner in a head-to-head competition between the two books.

So, Moon Over Manifest is a fine novel; it will probably appeal most to mature readers with good to excellent reading skills. The chronological jumps are well marked and easy to follow, but some of the psychological insights into family history and relationships are going to go over the head of young readers no matter how well they can follow the plot. Still, Ms. Vanderpool’s book is a good addition to the historical fiction of the Great Depression and a worthy Newbery Medalist.

The Many Faces of Homeschooling in Cybils Middle Grade Fiction

Jan3

The Ignorant Abusive Religious Zealot Homeschoolers: Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth by Sandra Dutton. The “Christian” mother in the story threatens to homeschool Mary Mae if Mary doesn’t forget about fossils and quit asking so many questions about the Bible. Then Mama slaps Mary Mae for being sassy. That was the last straw for me. Homeschooling is not a threat or a penalty, folks.

The Negligent Irresponsible Homeschoolers: I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson. Semicolon review here. Donatella decides that Emma isn’t fitting at school, and she needs help in the bead shop. So mom gives her an old math book and puts Emma behind the counter to mind the shop. Not my favorite image of homeschooling and not fair.

The Overprotective Smothering Homeschoolers: How To Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart.
A secondary character in the book is David’s new friend, Sophie, whose mom has serious smother mother issues. Sophie has been homeschooled before the beginning of the story, and now she’s “escaped.” Her mother just needs to find something to occupy her time other than Sophie’s life and education.

The Happy Nomad Homeschoolers: Travels With Gannon and Wyatt by Patti Wheeler and Keith Hemstreet.

“A home, most of us think, is where we have our stuff–our bed and clothes and books and games–but I don’t really agree. My home is wherever I happen to go to bed that night, be it a hotel in Hong Kong or a sailboat off the coast of Fiji.
My brother and I have been home schooled most of our lives. Lucky for us, my mother is an amazing teacher. So is my dad, for that matter.”

The Simple Life Homeschoolers: Nuts by Kacy Cook.

“I wasn’t always homeschooled. When I was in first grade, we lived in a big city and I went to a big school. But Mom and Dad wanted to ‘simplify’ our lives, so we moved to this small town, Meadowlake, Ohio. Mom began working from home and learned about homeschooling. I haven’t gone to regular school since. My brothers have never been.
There is a lot I like about being homeschooled–especially that we get to travel and I can spend more time playing the piano, reading, or poking around on the computer–but at that moment I loved being homeschooled. There wouldn’t be any way to raise a baby squirrel if I went to regular school all day.”

Of course, I prefer the impression that the last title on the list gives of homeschooling. The adventure scenario isn’t too bad either, although most of us don’t get to go to Africa on safari.

I must say that the other three are stereotypes that I really don’t see too often, if at all. I’ve never met a homeschool mom as ignorant as Mary Mae’s mother in Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth. I don’t know any homeschooled families who use their kids as free child laborers and throw them outdated textbooks as a pretense of educating them the way Emma Freke’s mother does. And if some of the homeschool parents I know are a little over-protective by my standards, so are many of the moms and dads who have their children in public and private schools. I’m sort of a free-range kids advocate myself with a lot of spiritual (Christian) training thrown into the mix.

Have you noticed homeschooling becoming more mainstream in children’s and YA fiction? If so, is it being depicted faithfully or stereotypically? I did notice that the only Christian (so-called) homeschooler in this bunch was Mary Mae’s mom, and of course she’s the one who slaps her daughter for being sassy. Whereas most of the homeschoolers I know are approaching education from a Christian perspective, no slapping involved, and only a healthy minority are non-religious.

Semicolon’s Twelve Best Young Adult Fiction Books Read in 2010

Jan2

Honestly, the best books I read in 2010 were mostly young adult fiction books. These novels, marketed to young people ages 14-21, are the work of some of the best writers working today. Because of the age group, the authors are required to keep it simple, not simplistic, but too many fancy tricks or philosophical meanderings and you lose your target readers. I guess I just have a young mind.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Semicolon thoughts here.

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson. Semicolon review here.

Somebody Everybody Listens To by Suzanne Supplee. Semicolon review here

Hush by Eishes Chayil. Semicolon review here.

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter. Great book in the Gallagher Girls series.

Heist Society also by Ally Carter. I just finished this one tow days before 2011, and it was really good. I can’t wait to see the movie.

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins. Semicolon review here.

Exposure by Mal Peet. Soccer and celebrity in South America. Semicolon review here.

For the Win by Cory Doctorow. Computer games and organized labor? Semicolon review here.

This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas. Nominated for the first annual INSPY awards in the YA fiction category, this book tells the story of a young protege victimized by an older mentor. Nothing graphic or overtly sexual or violent makes the story even more creepy and disturbing.

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar. Semicolon review here. A story about bridge? Really? Yes, but it’s a good story about bridge, and you can skip the technical parts if you want.

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr. A preacher’s kid in a struggling family faces questions about her faith until a community tragedy eclipses personal concerns. Winner of the first annual INSPY award for YA fiction that “grapples with expressions of the Christian faith.”

I’m making this list before the announcement of the Cybils shortlists, and I hope that several of the above will make the YA fiction shortlist. We’ll see.

Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell

Dec31

Several of the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominees deal with kids who get themselves into a heap of trouble by lying.

In I, Nicky Flynn, Finally Get a Life (and a Dog), the title character finds himself enmeshed in a web of lies when he tries to investigate the history of his new dog, Reggie. Some old guys at the park assume that Nicky is the grandson of Reggie’s previous owner, a blind man named Alf, and Nicky goes along so that he can find out more about Alf and why Reggie, a former guide dog, was retired and sent to the pound. Then, Nicky starts telling more and more lies to sustain his investigation until eventually the lies get out of hand, Reggie gets hurt, and Nicky becomes a fugitive from his mom, maybe even from the law.

Ratfink by Marcia Thornton Jones is about Logan, who’s starting fifth grade determined to stay out of trouble. However, trouble seems to follow him, especially when the new girl in school becomes his arch-enemy, and Logan’s best friend, Malik, decides Logan can’t be trusted, and Logan’s grandfather starts doing embarrassing stuff. The solution for Grandfather’s memory problems in the book is a little unbelievable, but it does mesh well with Logan’s “memory problem” of telling exaggerated stories when he should stick to the truth and nothing but the truth. Logan learns to save the stories for written fiction.

The girls also have their issues with making up stories and lies to impress others.

The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt has Moxie reinventing herself when she goes away to boarding school and realizes that she can be anyone she wants in this new place where nobody know her. Will she be the Mysterious Earth Goddess (MEG), the Hale and Hearty Sports Enthusiast (HHSE), or the Detached, Unique, Coolly Knowing Individual (DUCKI)? And can she possibly remember which persona she tried out on which new friend without her trusty notebook? I liked the fact that Moxie was just trying out different attitudes when things got totally out of hand. I can see that sort of thing happening to an imaginative thirteen year old. And I liked the idea that when it came time for confessions, Moxie kept some friends and lost others because that’s the way it really works. Lies have consequences, but sometimes you get forgiveness, too.

In My Fake Boyfriend Is Better Than Yours by Kristina Springer, Tori thinks her old, but now wealthy, friend, Sierra, is making up the boyfriend she says she acquired in Florida while on vacation at the beach. So Tori invents her own fake boyfriend, and the competition becomes fast, furious and time-consuming. Cute and sweet and twisty-turny. You’ll keep reading to figure out who’s telling the truth, who’s going to confess, and whose boyfriend really is a fake.

Nutsby Kacy Cook features 11 year old Nell, a homeschooler, who lies to her mentor, Libby, over the internet about her age and other details of her life so that she can take care of two baby squirrels she finds in her yard instead of taking them to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. It turns out to be a really bad idea, with some devastating consequences for at least one of the squirrels.

In Happy Birthday, Sophie Hartley by Stephanie Greene, almost ten year old Sophie tells everyone at school that she’s getting a baby gorilla for her birthday. Even though Sophie knows deep down that her parents never really promised her a real baby gorilla, she almost convinces herself that her birthday wish will come true. Thereby demonstrating one danger of lying: you might even fool yourself.

I would recommend all of the above, but my favorite was Moxie Roosevelt. Have any of these books or others made you think about lies, exaggerations, and the consequences thereof? I think it would be great book club theme to read several of these books with a group of kids and discuss how easily untruths can spin out of control and cause a world of hurt.

The shortlists for the 2010 Cybils will be announced on New Year’s Day. And that’s no lie.

Semicolon’s Twelve Best Middle Grade Fiction Books of 2010

Dec30

When Molly Was a Harvey Girl by Frances M. Wood. Semicolon review here. Thirteen year old Molly pretend to be eighteen so that she and her old sister Colleen can get jobs together as Harvey girls at the famous restaurant chain in Raton, New Mexico. I liked the vivid portrayal of what it was like to work in the Harvey House restaurant and of the characters in a 1880’s town on the frontier of civilization.

Wishing for Tomorrow: The Sequel to A Little Princess by Hilary McKay. Semicolon review here. Whatever happened to Sara Crewe and all her friends at Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies? Find out in this lovely story by the author of the Casson family books.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm. Semicolon review here. Eleven year old Turtle joins the Diaper Gang when she goes to live with her extended family in Key West, Florida.

The Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson. Semicolon review here. I couldn’t resist this Dear America story about the daughter of a Baptist pastor who ministers to Japanese Americans during World War II.

Clementine, Friend of the Week by Sara Pennypacker. Semicolon review here. The best Clementine book so far. Fine.

Belly Up! by Stuart Gibbs. Semicolon review here. A cantankerous hippo who is the main attraction at FunJungle dies mysteriously, and Teddy is convinced that Henry the Hippo is the victim of cold-blooded murder. But can he prove it? And will Summer McCracken, the rich daughter of FunJungle’s owner, J.J. McCracken, be a help or a hindrance in the investigation?

Betti on the High Wire by Lisa Railsback. Semicolon review here. Babo lives in an abandoned circus with other abandoned children in a country torn by war and civil unrest. Then, Babo is adopted by Melons (Americans), and she becomes Betti, and the confusion begins. An excellent story about adoption and family and culture shock.

Crunch by Leslie Connor. Semicolon review here.A fuel shortage strands the Marriss parents up north while the kids take care of the Marriss Bike Barn. And bicycles become a hot commodity.

The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. When Moxie goes away to boarding school, she realizes that she can reinvent herself as anyone she wants to be. But can she remember who she’s decided to become?

Wildfire Run by Dee Garretson. Son the president of the United States, Luke and his friends, Callie and Theo, must escape a forest fire and security systems to save their lives when they are accidentally stranded at Camp David.

Boys Without Names by Kashmira Sheth. Eager to find work after his hungry family arrives in Mumbai, 11-year-old Gopal ends up locked in a one-room “factory” making beaded frames with five other boys so beaten down they don’t even talk to one another. The boys have no names because their boss manipulates them to distrust one another in the interest of keeping them in slavery. Heart-rending, but never preachy, and ultimately hopeful.

The Death (and Further Adventures) of Silas Winterbottom: The Body Thief by Stephen M. Giles. Melodrama at its best, in the tradition of Lemony Snicket. Three young people from quite dysfunctional families gather at the home of their evil and dying uncle, Silas Winterbottom, to find out who his heir will be. Will it be Adele, whose mother has threatened to send her to a horrible school if she doesn’t bring home the bacon? Or will Isabella, the beautiful con artist and thief, be able to fool Uncle Silas into choosing her? Or will Silas choose Milo, who’s only there for revenge? Daring, dastardly, and devious.

And that’s my sort of short list. The short list for the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction category will be announced on January 1, 2011. All I can say is that some of the books on my list may be on the official short list, and others will not. There’s some seriously good fiction out there, folks.

And Now For Something Completely Different: Cybils Off the Wall

Dec30

Some of the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction books I read were just . . . well, oddballs. In a good way, mostly.

Sir Seth Thistlethwaite and the Soothsayer’s Shoes by Richard Thake. O.K. First read that title out loud. It’s absolutely the best book title I’ve read this year. In the book, Sir Seth and his friend Sir Ollie, “fearless and famous ten year old knights”, go out in the morning to “seek out injustice and uphold fair play and rescue fair maidens from fire-breathing dragons, and, if time allowed, slay all those miserable, invisible things hiding under your bed.” Lots of wordplay, punning, and rhyming make this title somewhat reminiscent of Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth. I was also reminded of The Princess Bride and strangely enough, maybe because of the illustrations (?), of Adventures in Odyssey. Sir Seth and Sir Ollie and their faithful steed, Shasta, who’s really a dog, go on a quest to find the soothsayer’s truth-telling shoes that have been stolen from Sir Shawn Shrood the Soothsayer of Thatchwych by poxy Prince Quincy of Poxley Castle in High Dudgeon. Yeah, if you like that description, you’ll enjoy lots more tongue twisters and creative anachronisms in this short, but sweet imaginary adventure story.

Finn Reed, Flu Fighter: How I Survived a Worldwide Pandemic, the School Bully, and the Craziest Game of Dodge Ball Ever by Eric Stevens is a another kind of oddity. Finn Reeder finds himself keeping a journal for his sixth grade English class for five weeks in the midst of a worldwide flu pandemic. When, one by one, everyone in his school, everyone at home, all of his friends, even his worst enemy, all fall victim to H1N1 flu, Finn Reeder ends up plying solo dodge ball in an empty gym with a crazy coach looking on from afar. Can Finn survive and avoid the craziness and the flu virus that have overtaken his teachers, family and schoolmates? And who is the silent substitute wearing a gas mask to school?

Secrets of a Lab Rat: Mom, There’s a Dinosaur in Beeson’s Lake by Trudi Truett has fourth grade inventor Scab McNally finding a prehistoric swamp creature in Beeson’s Lake. But the only way his mom will let him go back to the lake so that he can prove the existence of the dinosaur is for Scab to pass the Salmon level swim class. Unfortunately, Scab’s afraid of swimming, especially diving. Fortunately, he knows how to fake it or avoid it. Unfortunately, he plays a prank and gets himself grounded. Fortunately, Scab has an escape hatch through his bedroom window. Unfortunately . . .

Spike and Ali Enson by Malaika Rose Stanley. Spike, who is adopted, discovers that Ali, his new baby brother is actually an alien, not human at all. Is it just a case of sibling rivalry?Or is it true, and will anyone believe Spike before it’s too late? Velly British, with all the talk of “mates” and “nappies” and shepherd’s pie. Also, very strange, since Ali really is a space alien, maybe, I think.

Buddy Zooka in the French Quarter and Beyond by Tracey Tangerine. I tried, but couldn’t get into this one. However, it might appeal to some of the more zany readers in the audience. So here’s the publisher’s blurb: “Buddy Zooka brings the French Quarter to life like no one since Ignatius Reilly. Buddy is a happy-go-lucky musician in the French Quarter until one day he goes fishing and catches an alligator, Mardi Gater, who quickly decides to take up residence in Buddy’s hat. Thrown off his usual carefree routine, Buddy loses his smile and starts to contemplate his world. Buddy’s journey turns spiritual as faith healers show him how man has been degrading his environment and how the secret to our salvation resides within each one of us.”

Departure Time by Truus Marti. Translated from the Dutch and it, too, lost me from the beginning. The hotel from hell? A talking rat and a fox host? Amnesia and a traveling musician father? I’m just not putting all this stuff together. But Charlotte loved it. And Betsy at Fuse #8 thought it was “a singular, memorable book.” So either I gave up too soon, or I’m not as strange as They are.

Anyway, if you’re up for odd, bizarre, eccentric, or freaky, one of the above might tickle your fancy. Tell them I sent you.

The shortlists for the 2010 Cybils will be announced on New Year’s Day.

Oh, and what’s the strangest book you read this year?

Around the World with Cybils Nominees

Dec29

Asia
Afghanistan: Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai. Semicolon review here.
Thunder Over Kandahar by Sharon McKay.
Burma: Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins. Semicolon review here.
China: Year of the Tiger by Allison Lloyd.
Japan: Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus. Semicolon review here.
India: Boys Without Names by Kashmira Sheth.
Laos: Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong. Semicolon review here.
Northern Mariana Islands: Warriors in the Crossfire by Nancy Bo Flood.
Vietnam: A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata. Semicolon review here.

Africa
Botswana: Travels With Gannon and Wyatt by Patti Wheeler and Keith Hemstreet. Semicolon review here.
Liberia: Mamba Point by Kurtis Scaletta.
Abe in Arms by Pegi Dietz Shea. (YA)
Nigeria (?): Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke.

Europe
France: No and Me by Delphne de Vigan. Semicolon review here.
Scotland: The Young Chieftain by Ken Howard.
Italy: Ana Maria’s Gift by Janice Shelfeman.
England: Pies and Prejudice by Heather Vogel Frederick.
The Netherlands: Departure Time by Truus Matti.

South and Central America
Cuba: The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez. Semicolon review here.
Chile: The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan and Peter Sis.
Fictional Central American country: Max Cassidy: Escape from Shadow Island by Paul Adam. Semicolon review here.

North America
Mexico: Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures#5: The Amazing Mexican Secret by Jeff Brown.
The Heart Is Not a Size by Beth Kephart.
Bermuda: Camp X: Trouble in Paradise by Eric Walters.
Canada: Grease Town by Ann Towell. Semicolon review here.