Clubbing
Andi Watson (Author)
Josh Howard (Illustrator)
Minx a abandoned division of
DC Comics
ISBN 9781845765804
Charlotte Brook is in big trouble because she got caught trying to use fake ID to get into a club. Her parents have exiled her to her grandparents, a golf course in the countryside. She was sent to the country to keep her out of trouble, and to punish her. Soon this Goth girl shopaholic is trying to solve a murder.
The MINX line of comics was supposed to feature strong female characters, to be a premier series of comics for girls and young women. They achieved that as the 5 I have read so far have all been excellent books that I would be proud if my daughter would read when she was older. This is a story of a strong female character, yes she gets in trouble. But basically she is a good girl. These are excellent books. Well written and illustrated. What is best about this series is that almost all the books present a different culture, or ethnicity, yet together they present strong examples of good character, and strong females trying to find their way in the world. As well, they are entertaining enough that almost anyone can read them and learn from the stories.
MINX Graphic Novels:
The P.L.A.I.N. Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg (May 2 2007)
Re-Gifters by Mike Carey, Marc Hempel, and Sonny Liew (Jun 6 2007)
Clubbing by Andi Watson and Josh Howard (July 11 2007)
Good as Lily by Derek Kirk Kim and Jesse Hamm (Aug 1 2007)
Confessions of a Blabbermouth by Mike Carey, Louise Carey, and Aaron Alexovich(Sep 12 2007)
Kimmie66 by Aaron Alexovich (Nov 7 2007)
Burnout by Rebecca Donner (Jun 24 2008)
Water Baby by Ross Campbell(July 8 2008)
The New York Four by Ryan Kelly (July 22 2008)
Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci (Sep 23 2008)
Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki (Oct 14 2008)
Token by Alisa Sheckley (Nov 4 2008)
All Nighter by David Hahn (Unreleased)
Janes Go Summer by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg (Unreleased)
My Daddy And Me
Amy E. Sklansky (Author)
Ard Hoyt (Illustrator)
Scholastic
ISBN 9780545218337
This board book is a lot of fun, with a series of illustrations and short story lines about what children enjoy doing with their daddies. There are 4 or 5 different sets of father and child, with the two doing different things around the seasons, like a picnic, a day at the beach, camping, raking leaves, splashing in the rain, skating in the winter park and just being together. The illustrations are a classic pen and ink style, reminiscent of Norman Rockwell's work. It is a wonderful little book. Whatever the weather we go together.
The Seventh Level
Jody Feldman
Green Willow Books an imprint of
Harper Collins
Browse Inside
ISBN 9780061951053
Travis Raines always seems to be getting in trouble. But as his principal keeps saying: 'Things are not always as they appear'. Travis wants to join the Legend, a secret group at his middle school that plans events and surprises for the students. He has started getting blue envelopes giving him directions, tests and trials that will get him into this group. But he is receiving two different types of envelopes - bright shiny ones and plain ones. One set seems to keep getting him in trouble. He is not supposed to tell 
anybody about the envelopes. As his life gets more and more complicated trying to follow the instructions in the letters, he must learn who to trust, even if it is someone he least expected.
Well-written, this book has a fast pace, and as the excitement builds, you cannot put the book down. Travis is a great lead character. He will either remind you of yourself or someone you know. The details focus on life in and around middle school.
Gray Horses
Hope Larson
Oni Press
ISBN 9781932664362
This story blew me away completely. I never knew so much could be said without words. It is the first graphic novel I have read that had more panes without words than with them. Also the words themselves are done in an interesting way. This book is the story of Noemie, a French exchange student. She is in Onion City and on her own for the first time. She soon becomes friends with Anna the daughter of the local baker. She is being photographed by a mysterious boy and she is struggling with nightmares from her past. One of the really unique things about this book is that almost all of Noemie's dialogue and thoughts are in both French and English. The first night I read the book I read it through three times, once reading both, once just reading the French and once just the English. This story conveys so much and most of it without the use of words. It is wonderfully done, and I know I will read it again and again and get more from it each time.
Hope Larson seems to write a different graphic novel in each town she lives in. She is currently working on a graphic novel of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. To be honest, I cannot wait.
Books by Hope Larson:
Salamander Dream (2005)
Gray Horses (2006)
Chiggers (2008)
Mercury (2010)
Geektastic (Illustrator 2009)
A Curate For All Seasons
Fred Secombe
Fount on imprint of
Harper Collins
ISBN 97800006276845
Also in
Chronicles of a Curate
ISBN 9780006280532
This second book in the Chronicles of the Curate series is just as funny as the first. As Fred settles into his role and responsibility as a Curate he seems to make fewer mistakes, and has fewer faux pas and yet life in the ministry remains just as humorous. Now engaged to Eleanor Davies, a young Doctor, this 
young clergy has a very different life from the single curate that arrived in town. He founds his first Gilbert and Sullivan Society in the church, even while managing the affairs of the parish, with a quirky, twitchy assistant curate and a boring lay preacher. Life in Pontywen is never easy or simple, and Fred's life and adventures in the ministry make for good clean fun. Laugh-out-loud funny, this book is worth picking up, either as the single volume or as the 3-in-one collection along with How Green Was My Curate and Goodbye Curate.
Top 10 fiction books of the second quarter of 2010 are:
Clubbing 
