Posted in Award Winners, So Many Good Books, YA Novels

Split

split.gif“Now I have to start lying.” Isn’t that a great first line?!
16-year-old Jace shows up at his brother Christian’s apartment, or at least what he hopes is his brother’s apartment, and the last name says Marshall, not Witherspoon. He drove all the way from Chicago to Albuquerque and he might not be in the right place?
Split (Alfred A. Knopf, 2010) by Swati Avasthi is a story about escaping domestic abuse. But physically escaping is easier than escaping the damage done. You’ll have to read the book to see whether Jace and Christian can do so in this award winning debut novel. (Split won in the Cybils YA Fiction category for 2010!)
There’s a book trailer on Swati’s site. Plus you can enjoy reading about her playlists and naming (and renaming) her characters.

Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

origami-yoda.jpgThe Strange Case of Origami Yoda (Amulet Books, 2010) by Tom Angleberger is one cute middle grade graphic novel.
6th grader Tommy is trying to figure out if the finger puppet is real or, as his friend Harvey says, just “a paperwad.” But Dwight isn’t smart enough to say all the things Origami Yoda says, is he? Tommy has each person write up their Origami Yoda experience and then both Harvey and he comment. Book ends with Tommy and his conclusions, oh, and directions to make your own Origami Yoda.
Read an interview with Tom about the book here. His website has a superfolder talk zone where you can see pictures of other characters made by fans.darthpaper.jpg
The next book, Darth Paper Strikes Back, has recently come out. Don’t you love the title? I need to get my hands on that one.
Check out Tom’s alter ego at Berger and Burger.