The Librarian Writer

Title: The Hallowed Ones Author: Laura Bickle Publisher: Graphia Publication Date: September 25, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-0547859262 320 pp. ARC provided by publisher I picked up this ARC at the ALA Conference this summer because the premise is so wildly unique. There's all this Amish romance out there, but I'd never -- EVER -- seen Amish horror before. It would either be brilliant or a bust. It's bloody brilliant. Laura Bickle introduces readers to Katie, a young Amish woman who's looking forward to Rumspringa , that time when Amish teenagers leave their sheltered community and go among the "English." She fantasizes about going to the movies and wearing blue jeans. But she expects she'll return after Rumspringa and marry Elijah, the boy next door and her best friend. While the Amish community is strict, Katie has small rebellions like reading comic books at the drug store in town and drinking Coke. But Katie knows that her biggest flaw ...

Title : Bushman Lives! Author : Daniel Pinkwater Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Books for Children Publication Date : October 9, 2012 ISBN-13 : 978-0547385396 256 pp. ARC provided by publisher Bushman Lives! is the latest book by Daniel Pinkwater and in case you've missed it, he's been serializing the novel for the past year, one chapter a week. But if you want to read the entire novel at once, it's slated to be published next month. Bushman Lives ! takes place in 1960's Chicago, but except for the lack of cell phones and the Internet, it doesn't read as a historical piece. It does, however, read as a quirky piece, which one would expect from Daniel Pinkwater. Harold Knishke and his friend Geets are fans of the dearly departed gorilla known as Bushman. They greet each other with "Bushman lives!", sort as a secret code to each other and to people that they meet. It's the start of summer vacation and Harold has no real plans for the summ...

Title: Send Me a Sign Author: Tiffany Schmidt Publisher: Walker Childrens Publication Date: October 2, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-0802728401 384 pp. ARC from publisher via Netgalley I chose this title mostly because it was available on Netgalley when I needed something to read. I didn't know anything about it beforehand and I thought I'd give it chapter or two. Well, I read the whole thing. It's a good, solid read by debut author Tiffany Schmidt . Send Me a Sign centers on Mia, a happy, popular girl about to go into her senior year. So when she's diagnosed with leukemia, she's determined to keep her life as normal as possible. Even if that means not telling anyone about her cancer. All Mia succeeds in doing is alienate her friends, including the one friend she does trust enough to tell, cute boy-next-door Gyver. There were times when I wanted to throttle Mia, who is so deep in denial that she makes some seriously misguided choices. But I can also unde...

"I'd change my name to Lola."  Oh, August, with your heat and humidity, I can't say I'm sorry to say good-bye to you. It was a pretty good reading month, though. I read Send Me a Sign by Tiffany Schmidt (review pending) and I'm almost finished with Amish-meets-vampires horrorfest The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle. I also got onto the audiobook bandwagon. They are the perfect antidote to road rage during my commute. For starters, I listened to Jesse Eisenberg do a good job as Cassel in Holly Black's White Cat. I also listened to What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen . It's a nominated Teens' Top Ten book, and I can see why. The books centers on McLean, a girl whose parents have gone through a bitter divorce and who recreates herself each time she moves into a new town with her dad. Until the one town where she ends up having to be herself. Whoever that is. Bonus video: Sarah Dessen talks about What Happened to Goodbye Happy ...