Reading Roundup: January 2011

By the Numbers
Teen: 24
Tween: 11
Children: 11

Sources
Review Copies: 4
Swapped: 1
Purchased: 4
Library: 27

Standouts
Teen: Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
OH MY GOD. Ever since the very first book (reviewed here) I've known that Ness doesn't hesitate to make the hard choices when it comes to his characters. This tremendous novel winds up the provocative and demanding series just right.
Tween: Marching for Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge
The story of the civil rights movement has never been told quite like this: through the eyes of the children who were on the front lines, fighting just as hard as their parents for their own future.
Children: Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino
For such a short novel, this is proving difficult to recap in twenty-five words or less. Um, okay: loss, friendship, Vietnam, the moon landing, the way people are different underneath the surface, and a really well-done unlikeable girl protagonist. Yeah, you're just gonna have to read it.

Because I Want To Awards
Loved It But I Can't Sleep Without a Nightlight Now: Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
Just Plain Fun: Dead Guy Spy by Nathan Lubar AND Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Thank You So Much for Not Introducing Smoochies into This: How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
The Booktalk Writes Itself: Zombies vs Unicorns, edited by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black