The Seer of Shadows

Avi is definitely one of my favorite authors of all time. He has a way with a story, for sure. One problem I have though - is who to recommend his books to. Currently, his books are cataloged in both the Juvenile and Teen areas of my library.

The Seer of Shadows is one that is currently not shelved in the teen area. But I think the spooky setting and ghost character would appeal to an older audience.

I will be handing it off to some of my test readers to prove or disprove my theory shortly.

Inubaka Vol. 8

Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs, Vol. 8 by Takashi Hashiguchi

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wow - this one was so sad! Poor Lupin runs away during a thunderstorm and no one knows where he is. And then he gets attacked by another dog!

No further romance between Tappei and Suguri :( Maybe in the next one, as they are set to go on holiday!

Review from Goodreads!

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

I can't believe I had never read this book until now. Gary D. Schmidt is now solidly in my top 3 YA authors of all time. I love ALL his books. He has a way of saying things that just resonates so loudly with me.

I always find the coolest quotes in his books. And Lizzie Bright was no exception. I don't have my copy in front of me right now (but I will edit this post when I have the quotes word for word).

I love how Mrs. Cobb turned out to be such a pivotal person in the story. And I think it's sad we didn't get to know more about Mrs. Hurd. Willis broke my heart when he painted those shutters and Turner is another one of Schmidt's AWESOME leading characters.

So - if you are like me and are waiting for some reason to give this one a go - wait no longer!

Breaking Dawn

My ranking of the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series:

1. Twilight
2. Breaking Dawn
3. New Moon
4. Eclipse

Breaking Dawn beat my expectations by quite a bit because I wasn't a fan of New Moon or Eclipse. But I thought she wrapped it all up quite nicely with this last installment. I enjoyed the parts about Nessie even though it was a bit weird and creepy.

I hope someone else comes along to give our teen readers another lovely series like J.K. Rowling, Christopher Paolini or Stephenie Meyer. I know that these series books may not be the best literature out there - but they get kids reading which is what is so important!

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Who would have thought a whole novel could be written - and a deep one at that - from the perspective of a mixed breed dog? Definitely not me. But when someone told me about the premise of this book, I was totally intrigued. I took it home and read it in one night.

Apart from some of the detailed racing stuff, I dug the book thoroughly. It was funny, sad, heartbreaking and completely believable. Yes - a book written by a dog was (to me) extremely believable. I kept looking at my dog and wondering if he was capable of such deep thoughts as Enzo. And I know it's doubtful but I really like the idea!

I hope more people read this book. It was recommended by several staff members in my library system and it gets my full recommendation as well!