The Incredible Rockhead: Rock Paper Scissorlegz by Scott Nickel and C.S. Jennings

Chip Stone was having an ordinary day until a strange nurse injects him with a secret substance. Whenever he's in danger, his head turns into a giant rock. Before long he's warding off dangerous enemies like Dozer and Papercut and trying to figure out how to take down the evil General. It's a good thing that he has friends like his sidekick-slash-best friend Spencer along for backup!

This The Incredible Rockhead: Rock, Paper, Scissorlegz collection brings together four previously released Incredible Rockhead books into one massive mega-volume. I like the idea of having it as a collection, though, because it keeps the story flowing so that someone can sit down and read the whole adventure from beginning to end (I am an impatient reader, and I suspect that some young kids are, too), and at around 130-ish pages, the collected story isn't that long. I also liked the comic-book touches of advertisements for various products interspersed within the action. The art is colourful, the story is action-based, and the writing is funny. If you've ever dreamed of what Rock, Paper, Scissors would be like in a real-life supervillian-fuled version, this is definitely the book for you.


Find it at IndieBound.

I received a copy from NetGalley courtesy of Capstone Young Readers.

Read it with:
Teen Boat by Dave Roman and John Green
Zinc Alloy by Donald Lemke and Douglas Holgate
The Incredible Rockhead by Scott Nickel

Scott Pilgrilm Volume 1: Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Scott Pilgrim's life is pretty uncomplicated. At 23 he lives in a tiny apartment with his gay roommate Wallace, he plays in a band called Sex Bob-omb, and he's dating a high school student (which sounds like it could be complicated, but since they've barely ever even hugged, it's a pretty laid-back relationship). Then he starts dreaming of a strange girl with roller-blades and awesome hair. Who is she? How did she end up in his head? When the girl - Ramona Flowers - materializes in his real life, he has to make sure he's not dreaming... then he has to find a way to make her want to spend time with her. He keeps hearing something about her evil exes, but that's can't be too bad, right? Right?

This is the first time that I've written about a book for a second time, but I think that a full-colour edition with extra behind-the-scenes content warrants talking about this book again. I originally picked up the Scott Pilgrim series because of the then-upcoming movie with Michael Cera; I've since seen the movie, so it's almost like I can never un-see it through that lens. But this re-read let me focus on the details: the way that the backgrounds really looked like Toronto areas, the casual awesomeness of Kim Pine, the easy blend of real life and video game fantasy. If you've never read the series, now is the time to pick it up and check it out in full-colour glory, and if you have read the series I guarantee you haven't seen it like this before.

Check out Scott Pilgrim online and Bryan Lee O'Malley's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Oni Press.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley 

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Kendall knows exactly what to expect in her small-town life. She's grown up with the same people, done the same things, and thought the same thoughts. She dreams of a life beyond Cryer's Cross - a life where she can study dance and never have to hear about potato farming again. Then Cryer's Cross is rocked by the mysterious disappearance of a young girl..and just when things are settling back into a routine, someone close to Kendall disappears as well. Everyone fears the worst, and Kendall struggles to find the strength to keep on living. One of her distractions comes from the new guy in town, Jacian,  a moody loner who gets under Kendall's skin. As she struggles to understand the mystery of long-buried secrets, Kendall herself might just be in danger.

Cryer's Cross mixes real-life things like college applications, relationships, and obsessive-compulsive disorder with an eerie, other-worldly twist. Kendall's life is made up of routines; some routines are put on her by nature, like the potato harvest each fall, while other routines are ones caused by her OCD that she must do to keep dangerous thoughts away. I can't comment on how accurately McMann portrays a character with OCD, but she did do a great job of creating a character who slips in and out of rationality. She is deliberate in her actions and precise in her words; she won't even call her best friend Nico her boyfriend because she can't promise the future commitment that that implies. As she spends time with Jacian, though, she starts opening up more of herself. The two are attracted to each other (I don't think that that needs a spoiler alert - almost any time that a guy and a girl clash so hard in the first part of a novel will have them attracted to each other before very long) but it's complicated - both Kendall and Jacian have their own issues that they need to work through. This book is for people who like the creepy, ghosty kind of supernatural more than the action-packed vampire or zombie supernatural; it would be a good read-alike for someone who likes the supernatural mysteries of Lois Duncan or Mary Downing Hahn.


Check out Lisa McMann's website.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan
Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
Dead to You by Lisa McMann

Cecil the Pet Glacier by Matthea Harvey and Giselle Potter

Ruby's life isn't exactly normal. Her mother is a tiara designer and her father spends all his time trimming topiary. She just wants to fit in...and she also wants a dog. But while on vacation (in Norway, of all places), something else finds Ruby: a glacier named Cecil. A pet glacier is the last thing that Ruby wants, but maybe it's just what Ruby needs.

I loved the gentle absurdity of a pet glacier; that's what originally drew me to this title. I also liked the cover's visual of Ruby with her three identical dolls (the Three Jennifers).  The book is extremely visually interesting (I'm just smitten with Giselle Potter's style), but it also has a great story with neat turns of phrase. It's an unusual spin on the 'child wants a pet' story, which is always a favourite for young kids, but even at its most absurd there is a firm layer of heart underneath. Definitely look to add this one to a library's picture book collection.

Check out Matthea Harvey's website and Giselle Potter's website.

I received a review copy from Edelweiss courtesy of Schwartz & Wade/Random House.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Ice by Arthur Geisert
Not Like I'm Jealous or Anything edited by Marissa Walsh
The Year I Didn't Go to School by Giselle Potter
The Boy Who Loved Water by Roni Schotter

Daisy's Perfect Word by Sandra V. Feder illustrated by Susan Mitchell

Daisy loves words. She loves the way they sound and the way that her mouth moves as she says them. She loves saying them and reading them and hearing them. Daisy likes other things, too, like her friends, her family, and her teacher, Miss Goldner. Miss Goldner has just announced that she is getting married and moving away. Daisy is happy for her (engaged is a wonderful-sounding word) but also sad that she won't be able to see Miss Goldner around school anymore. Daisy knows what the perfect present for her teacher would be: the perfect word. Now all she has to do is find it!

Talking about words is almost like a sneaky way of talking about reading where you're not necessarily talking about reading at all; even kids who aren't strong readers can have favourite words, and talking about words and playing with words is a great way to make literacy fun. There was a nice building of suspense as Daisy was trying to find the perfect word for her teacher. What would it be? How could any word be perfect? Daisy is a great character; she loves words and thinks about them a lot, but she's also does regular kid stuff like eating chocolate treats and getting excited over a sleepover. I think Daisy's love of books, reading, and words will resonate with kids who also love books and reading, and they will be rewarded with rich words and clever passages. (I particularly liked the description of Daisy's neighbour Samantha as a girl who liked the words 'stop' and 'mine.') A quick look at Sandra V. Feder's website confirms that more Daisy books are on the way; look for the next one in Spring 2013.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Kids Can Press.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller by Jane O'Connor
13 Words by Lemony Snicket
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
Kylie Jean, Spelling Queen by Marci Peschke

Toppling by Sally Murphy with illustrations by Rhian Nest James

John loves dominoes. He can spend hours lining them up, making a pattern, and then sending them toppling. It's so satisfying when everything goes exactly the way that it's supposed to. Sometimes John's best friend Dom sets up the dominoes with him; John really likes spending time with Dom and they get along really well. Then Dom gets sick and stop coming to school. What can John do to help make things feel right again?

Like many kids, I suspect, I'm not entirely sure how to actually play dominoes, but I've definitely spent some time setting them up and knocking them over. I know that there must be books out there that explore what it means when your friend gets sick, but I think that well-crafted books for this young elementary school audience will always be welcome. John's world doesn't exactly fall apart, but it shifts and slips; he still goes to school, he still eats dinner with his family, he still hangs around with friends, but it's not the same because his best friend isn't there. The book also touches on how helpless people feel when something like another person's health is out of their hands; it also brings in the different ways that people react to serious news. The verse-novel style blends well with the illustrations, giving readers a glimpse both into and at John's world.

Check out Sally Murphy's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Candlewick Press.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
Jessi's Wish by Ann M. Martin
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Pearl Verses the World by Sally Murphy

Are You Sleeping, Little One? by Hans-Christian Schmidt and Cynthia Vance

Animals all over the world need to go sleep. Dogs, caterpillars, kangaroos - all of these little ones go to sleep with their parent watching over them carefully. As you read about these animals, it's the perfect opportunity to curl up as your own little one lays down his head and nods off to dreamland.

Animals are a popular choice for children's books; baby animals can be so cute. (I particularly liked the sloths). Each animal gets a page, and each page has two lines. The lines don't always have an exact rhyme, but there is a soft rhythm that can help to lull children to sleep. There's no shortage of bedtime books out there, but given that bedtime happens every day (and maybe even multiple times a day, if you include nap times), it's a market that can hold a lot of bedtime books. If you're looking for gentle, animal-based bedtime story, this could definitely be the book for you.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Abbeville Press.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Sleep on it! by Kevin Kelly
It's Time to Sleep, My Love by Eric Metaxes
A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na
Good Night, Sleep Tight by Emma Quay

Intentions by Deborah Heiligman

The last thing that Rachel thought she would find in the sanctuary of her synagogue was the Rabbi having sex. But there he was, up on the bima, having sex...and with a woman who is not his wife. The foundation of Rachel's world starts to crack. Her parents are fighting more than ever. Her grandmother isn't always lucid (and doesn't always know who Rachel is). And now the Rabbi, the man who she respected and who guided her spiritual life, has been revealed to be a terrible sinner. How can she face him? How can she continue to listen to him talk about God and religion and faith? How can anything in her life be the same?

This was a new spin on the betrayal aspect for me; I don't think I've seen a storyline where a girl loses faith in her Rabbi and then acts out in frustration and anger. The cover, while attention-grabbing, doesn't quite match the book; I find it to hint at darker content (I'm not sure why...the model's eyes, perhaps?) than Intentions actually has. Rachel as a character is grown up in many ways and so young in others. Many of her ideas about sex and relationships are naive but she's also recognizing very adult desires in herself. Characters like that are intriguing to me because there's so much potential; they can go in almost any direction because their whole worlds are shifting. There are a lot of interesting ideas mixed in with the storyline: the intention behind your actions, putting good out into the world, fixing a broken world, taking responsibility for your actions, trusting people who have wronged you, and what it means to be a good person. I was a big fan of Deborah Heiligman's Charles and Emma and I really enjoyed reading a novel from her (and I hope there will be more - of both her fiction and non-fiction).

See more at Deborah Heiligman's website.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman
Gravity by Leanne Lieberman
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt

Scarlett Dedd by Cathy Brett

Scarlett Dedd is dead. All her life she's had to deal with cracks and puns about her last name; being pale and thin didn't help, either. But now she really is dead due to a tragic mushroom mix-up. There are some cool things about being dead, but mostly she misses her friends, who are still very much alive. Scarlett gets a great idea: she can use her new invisibility and other supernatural gifts to cause some...accidents around her friends. At first her friends were intrigued by the idea of being haunted, but now they're starting to get scared. Will Scarlett go through with her plan?

Poor Scarlett. Her life didn't sound like much fun while she was alive (bratty brother, self-absorbed parents, second-hand clothes, self-involved friends), and then in death she still barely seems to catch a break. I did wonder why she would go to so much trouble to kill her friends, because, well...they didn't seem like good friends in the first place. Aside from Psycho, her not-really-boyfriend-even-though-they-had-mutual-crushes, no one seemed that affected by her death. But somehow Scarlett's internal logical made it make sense. Talking about the story is just one element of the book. It's format makes for quite a reading experience. It's not really a graphic novel; there's too many pages of prose for it to be considered that. But the book does have lots of illustrations and at times even the placement of the text becomes part of the art. I think the ideal reader for this would be someone who reads both graphic novels and 'word' novels; they might have an easier time getting into the flow. But don't let that scare you off from picking it up or suggesting it to readers who like funny supernatural stories (especially because there's not a lot of violence, not really, considering that it involves dead people and attempted murder). While the story wraps up nicely, there are also enough threads left that could be spun into more stories. I wouldn't be surprised if Scarlett makes another ghostly appearance someday!

Check out Cathy Brett's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Fat Vampire by Adam Rex
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Ember Fury by Cathy Brett

The End: 50 Apocalyptic Visions From Pop Culture That You Should Know About...Before It's Too Late by Laura Barcella

There are some days where it seems like the end of the world could happen at any time. Global warming, terrorism, zombies: the end is near...at least in the movies. Films, books, plays, and art show some of the ways that people have expressed their views on the end of the world. In The End, 50 different visions of the apocalypse are explored in detail, examining how the world ends (and how likely it is to happen in real life).

There was something oddly reassuring about reading this book. Almost every scenario, whether it included viruses or zombies or the flooding of the entire earth, was said to be extremely unlikely to happen in real life - or, if it did, to have very different results than are shown in pop culture. I knew that I was going to like this book when one of the first things Laura Barcella talked about was the scarcity of women in strong, leading roles during "the end." Why is the apocalypse such a male-dominated event? Where are women while the world is ending? I also love serious explorations of popular culture; while this book maintains a light, often humorous tone, it does believe that there is something to be gained from examining how authors, directors, and artists have positioned the end of the world. Like many of Zest Books' other titles, this just screams "high interest" and is worth considering for inclusion in a library's non-fiction collection.

Check out Laura Barcella's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Zest books.

Find it at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's website.

Read it with:
The Stand by Stephen King
How to Fight, Lie, and Cry Your Way to Popularity (And a Prom Date) by Nikki Roddy
Reel Culture by Mimi O'Connor
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien 

Go-for-Gold Gymnasts: Balancing Act by Dominique Moceanu and Alicia Thompson

Noelle Onesti is incredible on the balance beam. She has the opportunity to be one of the best Junior Elite gymnasts in the country. She's already qualified for the national championships, but it's going to cost a lot of money for her to make the trip from Texas to Philadelphia. Money is something her family doesn't have a lot of, and Noelle is worried that her gymnastics expenses are already putting a strain on her family. She doesn't want to disappoint her coaches or her parents, but she can't face the truth, either. Will she ever get her chance to show the country what she can do?

By this point in the series it's pretty clear that each of the girls in the Texas Twisters has their own issues/storylines: Britt is the new girl who struggles to fit in, Jessie is dealing with an eating disorder and taking a look at her commitment to gymnastics, Christina has an over-involved mom who's likely trying to live through her daughter. Noelle has buckets of talent, a competitive drive, attention to detail...and a sensitive nature that means she worries about everything. She worries about her parents' business, she worries about the financial toll of gymnastics, she worries about the way her older brother is acting out (and in turn worrying her parents, giving Noelle one more thing to worry about). The best part about this book is that it flushes out the personalities of all of the girls on the squad; we're no longer seeing them through Britt's eyes (and get to see Britt through someone else's eyes). This four-book series is just what to give young readers who have been entranced by Gabby Douglas and the other gymnasts at the London Olympic Games. It doesn't gloss over the hardships that the gymnasts face but still packs in a lot of drama, action, and heart.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Go for the Gold by Elizabeth Levy
Off Balance: A Memoir by Dominique Moceanu
The Go-for-Gold Gymnasts: Winning Team by Dominique Moceanu and Alicia Thompson
The Go-for-Gold Gymnasts: Reaching High by Dominique Moceanu and Alicia Thompson

The Grunt and the Grouch: Big Splash! by Tracey Corderoy

 The Grunt and the Grouch are roommates and best friends. They both love all kinds of gross stuff, which makes sense, because they're trolls. In Big Splash! they have three adventures. In one, they decide to get some exercise by going to the local pool. In another, they babysit a couple of wild little trolls. And in the last one, they go camping...but not in the way they thought they would. With short chapters, large print, and lots of illustrations, this is a trollrific series aimed at young readers.

The cover of the book cautions "This book contains slime, snot, mud, and other trollrific treats." Readers would be wise to heed this caution, because it's a great indicator of who this book is for. If the idea of snot, slime, and more turns your stomach, you're not the intended audience. If, on the other hand, it only makes you want to read the book more, you're in for a treat. This book (and, I imagine, the rest of The Grunt and the Grouch books) practically screams "great for reluctant readers." If you know a newly independent reader who is frequently complaining about the lack of gross stuff in their books, keep this title in mind.

See more about Tracey Corderoy at her website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Capstone.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Shrek! by William Steig
The Grunt and the Grouch by Tracey Corderoy
The Grunt and the Grouch: Beastly Fangs! by Tracey Corderoy
Treasure in the Graveyard by Roberto Pavanello

Where's Eddie? by Daniel Nunn and Steve Walker

Eddie loves playing hide and seek. Of course, he's an elephant, so that makes it difficult for him to hide anywhere. That's okay, though, because he loves playing anyway! He's ready to hide - are you ready to find him? Count to ten, get set, go!

There's something really great about elephants in children's books. I think it might have to do with size; in real life they're so big but in picture books they the proportions can be so varied. Sometimes they can expand right off the page; sometimes they will be tiny. In Where's Eddie? in particular, there's the very funny concept of an elephant playing Hide and Seek. The elephant is drawn in a cartoony way while the background is a true-to-life photograph.  Of course he has a hard time hiding, or rather, "hiding," but all the better for the young children reading this book. Because he's so easily findable kids can use their words to describe where he is. There are lots of hide and seek puzzle books out there; this isn't one of those books. This is a board book that will encourage children to develop and build their vocabularies while inspiring them to start their own game of Hide and Seek.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Capstone Young Readers.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Near or Far: Where's Eddie? by Daniel Nunn
What's Up, Baby? by Kathleen Rizzi
Where's the Kitten? by Cheryl Christian
Elefante by Vanita Oelschlager

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Life is changing for Georges (that's pronounced George, with a silent s). He and his parents have just moved into a new apartment in Brooklyn. It's not far away from their old place, but just far enough so that things seem strange. Speaking of strange, not long after he moves in he sees a poster for a super secret spy club. Not sure what to expect, he goes and meets Safer, a homeschooled boy who lives in his building. As their friendship grows, Georges is forced to learn the difference between what's real and what's not and that the truth sometimes has many different shades.

You need to read this book. The writing in this book is beautiful, period, full stop. The characters, the pacing and plotting, the storyline - just outstanding. The book reached me emotionally but not manipulatively and not in a fake way; every reaction that I had to it was one that the book earned. I don't want to say too much about it, because I'm afraid that if I do I might spoil something by accident. I was a big fan of When You Reach Me and am so thrilled to be able to share this book with friends in the same way I shared When You Reach Me.

Check out Rebecca Stead's website.

 I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House/Wendy Lamb books.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

How to Watch the Olympics by David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton

In one sense, it's easy to figure out how to watch the Olympics: find a TV station that has the broadcast rights or stream it online, and you're watching the Olympics. But what exactly are you watching? How does one score points in a judo match? What's the difference between kayaking, canoeing, and rowing? What are the events that make up the decathlon? What about the heptathlon? What makes the modern pentathlon so modern? And what exactly is a repechage? With chapters for each of the sports (as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, medal ceremonies, past Olympic games, and discontinued Olympic sports), How to Watch the Olympics aims to be your go-to reference book during the 2012 London Olympic Games.

As a big fan of the Olympics, the cover of this book caught my eye as I was browsing in an airport bookstore. I initially hoped that it would be a critical socio-political at the games (with possible topics including American broadcasting strategy, the amount of money spent on the games, gender equality and inequality). Instead, though, it was a history-slash-introduction of the games and the sports on display, something I was also interested in checking out. As a young girl I latched onto a copy of one of David Wallechinsky's Complete Book of the Olympics and read it over and over until the pages started falling out. That was almost twenty years ago, though, and  as I often feel with reference books, I wondered about its use in a world where so much information is available online; as I sat on my couch with my iPhone and this book, how many times would I reach for each one? I didn't keep track, but there have been times where I was reaching for the book (particularly during the cycling events). While I do think that this book would only be enhanced in some kind of ebook form that would allow links to video footage, maps, and more photographs, it can easily stand without these things (and, in fact, has to - it's very clear that this is an "unofficial" Olympic book and as such does not have any pictures of the Olympic rings, flames, or mascots). The intended audience is the average Olympic watcher - someone who might know something about a few of the sports but has little knowledge of others. It strikes a tone somewhere between chatty and instructional (and uses a lot of British expressions along the way). It could be read through from beginning to end, but also works if you want to pick it up and dip into sections as needed. I'd really love to see a companion version for the Winter Olympics as well as updated versions for future Games.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
The Complete Book of the Olympics 2012 Edition by David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky
The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer by David Goldblatt
Gold by Chris Cleave
Inside the Olympics by Nick Hunter