Booklist Online: More than 130,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers - from the trusted experts at the American Library Association

Lynn: OK – let me just get this out of my system at the start. I am furious with Philip Reeve! I have PILES of books that I need to read, review deadlines and a blogging partner who was wondering quite vocally why I hadn’t passed Fever Crumb (Scholastic, April 2010) along to her. It [...]

Lynn: Incarceron (Penguin/Dial 2010) has already gathered five starred reviews and is one of the most talked about books of the new season. As a devoted skeptic, I started this book with a prove-it-to-me attitude but this is a bandwagon I am happily joining. Set in a future earth, the story follows two teens, each [...]

Lynn: So – Cindy and I are reading the great new 2010 arc’s as fast as we can turn the pages but we don’t want to move on without wedging in some of the outstanding late 2009 books. Raiders’ Ransom (Scholastic/Chicken House, Dec. 2009) is one I don’t want anyone to miss. It’s 23rd century [...]

Cindy: This might be the most fun graphic novel I’ve ever read and a good one to share with teachers who are still not sure about the format’s place in school. Julian Calendar is a nerd. When his family moves to a new school he sets out to have a fresh chance at popularity by [...]

Lynn: I’ve been aching to read this book and when Cindy’s vendor order finally came in she brought Leviathan (S&S/Simon Pulse) straight to me. Talk about friendship! There is a lot to enjoy in just having the book in your hands. The cover and size of the book are attractive before you ever open the [...]

Lynn: We left Todd Hewitt and Viola Eade in a breathless cliff-hanger at the end of The Knife of Never Letting Go. It has been a long year of waiting! The second volume, The Ask and the Answer (Candlewick, Sept. 2009), picks right up from that point. Todd and Viola have run right into the [...]

Lynn: Laura’s diary is filled with entries that could be found in any teenage girl’s journal: her crush on the boy next door, fights with her older sister, exam worries and her love for music and her band. What sets this book apart are the other entries! In Carbon Diaries 2015 (Holiday House, 2009) global [...]

Lynn: Kenneth Oppel does many things well in his writing but he especially knows how to create nail-biting cling-to-your-seat action scenes. Starclimber (Harper/EOS, 2000) does that right from the first page when pilot-in-training Matt Cruse discovers a ticking time bomb on board his ship. The first two books in this series, Airborn and Skybreaker introduced [...]

Cindy: It’s very exciting to have had an early peek at Catching Fire (Scholastic, Sept. 1, 2009) but that just means the wait for book three will seem even longer! One thing I know for sure, it will be worth the wait, whether you are a lucky soul in the same boat, or if you [...]

Lynn: The clock is ticking. Humanity’s days are numbered as the earth’s population sickens and dies following a close pass by the comet Bhaktul and the virus it spread through the atmosphere. Only those under 18 seem to be immune and as society breaks down, a scientist steps forward with a controversial plan. Two years [...]