New Tales from Old Palomar (1-3), by Gilbert Hernandez

Hernandez' tales of magic realism in a small Central American town are entrancing and soap-opera addictive.

These three 32-page stories revisit Palomar's past, presenting another layer of the town's strange history. The books were released as part of the Ignatz series, a collection of short affordable comics partway between pamphlets and graphic novels. 

Demon's Covenant, by Sarah Rees Brennan

The follow-up to Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon's Lexicon is just as dark and broody a read.  In this sequel, the rough and abrupt Nick takes a back seat to Mae who struggles to protect her brother Jamie while following her own heart.  Nick is still compellingly dark and sarcastic while aloof and a little inhuman.

This book has just the right balance of intrigue, romance, and the unknown to entrance its readers.  Unusually, I find myself a little irritated by the cover, which is unrepresentative of the characters within.  Mae is a pink-haired high school goth girl who is neither so tall nor slender as the image on the cover of the book.  Her personal strength is a major part of her charm, and I wish that the book's publisher's represented her more consistently.

Mouse Guard, Fall 1152, by David Peterson

Mouse Guard is one of the best graphic novels in the children's section at my library. The visuals are fantastic, and it's an excellent storyline for children.  Sometimes I felt that the narrative could be a little more solid, and character arcs could be a little more straight forward, but I enjoyed reading this book.

White Cat, by Holly Black

White Cat is the first of Holly Black's new Curseworkers series, following a family of supernatural mafiosa.  I love the worlds that Holly Black creates.  Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside are some of my favourite teen novels, and some of the best examples of the Urban Fantasy genre.  They feature strong protagonists, surreal worldviews, and strange mysteries.

White Cat's male protagonist may garner this book a broader readership than Black's faerie novels, especially with the focus on grifting and underworld life.  This is good for the library where there seem to be so many more stereotypically "girl" than "boy" books in the teen section.  I'm always glad to have books like this that are likely to have wide appeal.

I enjoyed White Cat a great deal.  I could not put it down once I began reading.  Initially, I thought the story was predictable, and that I knew exactly where the narrative was going. Then Black threw me an unexpected loop and I was so happy to be surprised.  I can't wait until the next novel.

How to Be a Pirate, by Cressida Cowell

"How to Be a Pirate" is Cressida Cowell's second "How to Train Your Dragon" book.  Like the first, it is funny and good-natured.  I considered reading the whole series, but decided that I should keep the rest for when I really need a relaxing, amusing read (in between the next heavy teen novels).  I loved this book like I loved the first, and like the first my only significant issue was the lack of female characters.  I don't think a single girl or woman was mentioned in this book, not even Hiccup's mother Valhallarama.  I'm a little perplexed by this.  I know that research suggests that boys are much more interested in books that feature male protagonists, but this doesn't explain why there should be no female characters at all in an entire novel.  Nevertheless, I laughed a lot at this book and read with great joy.  When I have the time, I'll certainly be reading the rest of Cowell's novels.

Mad About Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans

This hardcover includes all the Madeline books.  As I'd only read a couple of them I thought it was time to acquaint myself with the rest.  I expected to love them.  I didn't.

Why?  I've been a stickler for poetry forms since I was a teenager, and the lack of consistent rhyme scheme in the Madeline books irritates me to no end.  You have to read the whole book to know HOW to read them, pacing breath and pronunciation differently every few lines.  Couplets are often inconsistent with the preceding and following couplets.  It sounds like the poetry I wrote when I was ten years old.  I understand that young children may not have a problem with the lyrical scheme and that many feel a deep love for these stories.  Perhaps if I'd read them as a child I'd feel the same way.  It is unfortunate that I did not.  I'd like to enjoy them, but it seems I am a little too late.  Madeline herself is a charming character, but the narrative is inconsistently written.  I'll keep these book stocked in my library, but won't be reading them in storytime.

Creature ABC, by Andrew Zuckerman

Creature ABC is a gorgeous alphabet/nature book.  Each letter is illustrated by two pages of crisply detailed photography of fish, insects, birds, amphibians,and mammals.

Few books take my breath away as this does.  Each scale of the chameleon, feather of the yellow canary, and quill of the porcupine stands out in sharp relief against the white studio background.  The mandrill stares at the camera, looking unnervingly reminiscent of a man in a monkey mask.  This is a book to inspire a new generation of naturalists.

The book is a child's version of this artist's coffee table book Creature, which I think I'll need to seek out next.  I expect I'll seldom see this book again once I return it to the library.  It's so captivating that it won't last an hour on the shelf before another child snaps it up.  I love carrying books that inspire such joy and awe.

The Maze of Bones, by Rick Riordan

The Maze of Bones is the first book of The 39 Clues, a hybrid creation from Scholastic Books.  Conceived as a book series, card game, video game, and contest, it's a very slick production.  Scholastic has stated their intention to draw reluctant readers to the books through the games, and while I'm sure that happens once in a while, it just feels like a highly designed marketing scheme to me.

Scholastic recruited a number of children's authors to write these books, which has the side-effect in library-land that the books aren't filed together on the shelf.  The first book is written by children's lit superstar Rick Riordan, with further volumes by heavyweights Gordon Korman, Margaret Peterson Haddix and a handful of others.

The Maze of Bones is a mystery adventure series, part Da Vinci Code and part Harry Potter.  The protagonists are orphans seeking to live up to their birthright,  out-think their relatives and competitors, and crack a code to find a treasure that could change the world.  Plot-holes include: several minors jetting across continents with no recognizable adult supervision, and poorly explained animosity between members of the four family groups.  Most characters are quite superficial, and everyone seems to solve obscure clues far too easily and at exactly the same pace.   I'm glad that it's inspired kids to keep reading, but I think I'll be reading the Wikipedia entries to see what I'm missing in the rest of the series.

Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay, the final volume of the Hunger Games trilogy, was the most anticipated teen novel of the summer.  It's an often-violent dystopian adventure featuring political intrigue, media manipulation, propaganda, and a love triangle.

Katniss Everdeen, victor of the Hunger Games and survivor of the Quarter Quell is in the spotlight of yet another deadly serious media production.  The rebels of District 13 want her to be the public face of their fight against the ruling Capital, but their methods and motivations are unnervingly close to those of the power that they would unseat.  Katniss must again pick her battles, deciding how best to support her family, survive her manipulators, maintain her individuality, and fight for a just society.

Katniss is one stubborn survivor.  She is passionate, impulsive, and increasingly bitter and shellshocked as the trilogy progresses.  In Mockingjay she spends about half her time in hospital beds recovering from one injury or another.  Katniss seems to be about to crack up at any moment which is a little unnerving when we're used to seeing her so strong, no less so when compared to the mental fragility of the other previous victors.  Each is shown to be suffering from some form of mental illness or post-traumatic stress.  It's been a while since I've read the previous books, but I think this one may be even more grim and violent.  Or perhaps the violence of war is more shockingly realistic than the reality show violence of the previous books.

I enjoyed Mockingjay, and Katniss is one of my favourite kick-ass protagonists, but I still can't get my head around why this series has captured so much attention.  The subject matter is timely and the books are page-turners, but there are other good books out there that don't inspire a fraction of this excitement.  A book store employee I was chatting with observed that it's one of the few series that appeals to both boys and girls, which may be part of the explanation, but I imagine in the end it comes down to luck.  The Hunger Games captured the right attention at the right time and has been launched into series super-stardom.

Ivy + Bean, by Annie Barrows

Last week I read the first three books in the Ivy + Bean series.  They're remarkably popular with 6 to 9 year old girls in my neighbourhood and I wanted to know what I was peddling.

Ivy and Bean did not expect to like each other.  Ivy is quiet and bookish while Bean can't sit still or stay out of trouble.  However, they both have active imaginations, like a good adventure, and are willing to break the rules.  They are an inseparable pair who have fantastic fun together, whether making magic potions, chasing away ghosts, or digging up dinosaur bones.

The stories are light and warm.  Ivy and Bean have just the right mix of naughtiness and niceness that readers can identify with and yearn to emulate.  I'll be interested to see how they stand up over time, but I suspect they'll be on our shelves for a good while.  They're a great post-reader, early-chapter book level that kids love and parents won't object to.