Each Little Bird That Sings

by Deborah Wiles

This was nice. That's all I can say.

The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan.

This REALLY made me want to re-read my books on Greek Mythology, and SORT OF made me want to track down the sequel.

Lunch Money

by Andrew Clements.

Why was this nominated for an award? Because it teaches a lesson about math?

Wing Nut

by MJ Auch.

This was pretty good, if somewhat distressing. It had a believably uplifting ending.

The Naked Mole Rat Letters

by Mary Amato.

I really enjoyed this combination of e-mails and diary entries, even though the diary included copious amounts of dialog which always annoys me because no one ACTUALLY writes dialog in their diaries.

First Boy

by Gary Schmidt.

One of my class mates thought this was just wonderful. I was bored, annoyed and disappointed.

Project Mulberry

by Linda Sue Park

Very cool exploration of how an author develops a story occurring between chapters. I thought that part would suck, but it did not.

Double Identity

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Oooh, cloning.

Jack's Run

by Roland Smith

The sequel to Zach's Lie, which I just learned was an ALA Quick Pick for reluctant readers. I can see that. Because, again, this would have been AWESOME if I were a ten year old boy.

Shakespeare's Secret

by Elise Broach

I haven't read anything written for this age group (9ish) since I WAS that age group.

This was excellent. If I had read this when I was young, I might have been much more amenable to reading Shakespeare in high school.