The Librarian Writer

Title: Secret Coders Author: Gene Luen Yang Illustrator: Mike Holmes Publisher: First Second Publication Date: September 29, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-1626720756 96 pp. ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley Secret Coders is exactly the kind of book I love to booktalk, especially when promoting Summer Reading Club. It has a mystery, it has a diverse cast, it has basketball, it has a friendship theme, and it has STEM. And best of all, it's a graphic novel. Graphic novels are my go-to booktalk because they appeal to kids who say they don't like to read. These kids may have reading difficulties, they may be English learners, or maybe they just haven't found the right book yet. But a graphic novel, especially one like Secret Coders , has the visual appeal to grab their interest and keep them turning pages. Mike Holmes delivers a lively and cartoony style. His artwork during the coding explanations are clear and accessible. Secret Coders is the first in a se...

Title: Trouble Is a Friend of Mine Author: Stephanie Tromly Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books Publication Date: August 4, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-0525428404 336 pp. ARC provided by publisher There are hi-jinks aplenty in this screwball mystery by Stephanie Tromly . Zoe is the new kid at school when she meets Digby, a weird, smart, completely impossible boy who drags her into an investigation of a missing girl. An investigation that may be linked to Digby's sister, who also went missing years before. The dialog snaps, crackles, and pops as Zoe becomes Digby's somewhat willing accomplice in break-ins, drug deals, and fictional class assignments ... all in the name of finding the truth. The action is over the top, from a mysterious cult next door to a Gatsby themed winter formal where nothing goes right. It reads like a television pilot that's been turned into a YA novel, because while one mystery is wrapped up, another is remains, sending up for a sequel. And th...

Title: The Little Woods Author: McCormick Templeman Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Publication Date: July 10, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-0375869433 336 pp. ARC from publisher via Netgalley I was looking forward to a good YA mystery when I chose The Little Woods by McCormick Templeman. The protagonist, Cally Wood, decides to go to hoity-toity boarding school St. Bede's Academy because her sister disappeared there years before. Maybe Cally's looking for closure. Maybe she's looking for answers. She's definitely going to find trouble. Cally has a great voice that pulled me in right away. Snark is de rigueur for YA novels these days, but Cally's voice wasn't just snark. There was real wit in her observations about the school, her new classmates, and herself. But that, unfortunately, isn't enough to carry the novel. The actual mystery is predictable and while I kept hoping for some creepy suspense to crawl in from the woods, it didn't materialize. ...

Title : Pretty Crooked Author : Elisa Ludwig Publisher : Katherine Tegen Books Publication Date : March 13, 2012 ISBN-13 : 978-0062066060 236 pp. ARC from publisher via Netgalley What's weird is that as I'm writing this book review at a coffeehouse, two young white women are talking about their time in private school and how two Latino kids (the only two in the school!) spoke Spanish together in the cafeteria and how stigmatizing that was. So Elisa Ludwig seems to have tapped into a certain private school zeitgeist in her debut novel (the first in a series), Pretty Crooked . Willa Fox is the newbie at ultra-rich Valley Prep. After years of moving around the country with her bohemian mom, a big sale of her mom's artwork gives them the cash to live it up in fancy schmancy Paradise Valley, Arizona. Willa starts hanging out with the all-powerful Glitterati and moons over cute boy Aidan. Except all is not well in her shiny new world. First of all, Willa learns...