Truckers by Terry Pratchett

Truckers is the first book in Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad Trilogy, which is geared towards a children's/YA audience. This was only the 2nd Pratchett book I've read, and I enjoyed it just as much as I did Going Postal. 

The book begins with a group of nomes who decide to abandon their Outside habitat in favor of something safer. They hitch a ride on one of the trucks that they have watched and end up inside the Store (Arnold Bros. (est 1905)). What ensues is basically a parody of the early Church, and it is delightful. I need to obtain a copy of Diggers, the next in the trilogy. Perhaps I'll luck out on my trip to Half Price Books this morning.

This will fulfill my "P" author in the A-Z challenge (the completion of which is looking quite grim...)

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Horror by Christopher Moore

I think my tags for this book in Library Thing say it all: Christmas, humor, fiction, Santa Claus, zombies

How can you not love any book that matches Santa Claus with zombies???

This is only the 2nd book I've read by Christopher Moore, but I have every one on my wish list on Amazon, and I can't wait to read them all. Moore is brilliant.

In this book, the Angel Raziel comes to Earth to perform a Christmas miracle and sort of flubs it up a bit. A little boy's wish that Santa, who he saw killed, be brought back to life. This, of course, leads to mayhem.

I particularly liked the fruit bat named Roberto.

Here is one of my favorite passages from the book:

Sour Nerds? Cinnamon Geeks? Or Gummy Boogers? Sam Applebaum's mom was picking out a "nice" reasonably priced Cabernet, and Sam was allowed one item of candy from the rack at Brine's Bait, Tackle, and Fine Wines. Of course the Boogers would last the longest, but they were all mundane green-apple finish, while the Nerds proffered a fruity variety and an impudent little top note of tang. Cinnamon Geeks had a rich nose and a bit of a bite up front, but their tiny certified-public-accountant shape betrayed their bourgeois origins.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Unlike most of the reviews I've read (which I admit are few), I actually like Kite Runner better than this one. It's been a few years since I read that one, so I can't really pinpoint why this is, but there ya go. I think Kite Runner was more plot-driven, while A Thousand Splendid Suns was more character-driven, and while reading this one, I just kept waiting for something to happen.

That said, I really enjoyed this book. I thought Hosseini (a man, if you don't know), did a remarkable job writing as two separate women, with two separate voices. If you've read my blog long enough, you probably know I don't like to give away too much of the book in my "reviews," so I won't go into much detail here. If you don't much about this book, here's a brief synopsis. The book is set in Afghanistan and focuses on two main characters, Mariam and Laila, whose lives intersect. The book opens while one of the main characters, Mariam, is still a child, in the 1960s, but it covers the period from then up until almost-present-day. As you can imagine, the book is wrought with the horrors of the war-torn Middle East, and it isn't always easy to read. It is, however, a quick read and very well-written. I do highly recommend this one.

This book will fill the "T" title slot in the A-Z Challenge.

Wait for Me by An Na

I hate that I waited so long to review this book, as I'm not sure how well I'll remember it now. But still, I'm going to attempt it, using the questions I was asked as part of Weekly Geeks.

But first, since no one asked me this, here is a quick summary. Mina is a Korean-American girl, who, on the outside, appears to be the perfect daughter. She helps take care of her younger sister, who is hearing impaired (but not deaf), and she is a straight A student, with plans to go to Harvard. But Mina is hiding a secret - she has been altering her report cards to reflect higher grades than she actually is receiving, with the help of Jonathan, another Korean-American boy with whom she has grown up, and who her mother thinks is absolutely perfect. While helping at her parents' dry cleaning business, Mina meets Ysrael, an immigrant worker, and establishes a relationship that makes her uncomfortable about the life she is living.

1. Have you read any others by An Na? How would you say Wait for Me compares to her other books?

I haven't read any other of An Na's books, so I don't have a basis for comparison. I do know that her previous book, A Step from Heaven, was a Printz Award winner. As Wait for Me deals with a difficult topic, and one that is likely not far from the truth of many girls' situations (based on stories I hear from my husband, who is a high school teacher that teaches a large population of Asian students), I wouldn't be surprised to see this one win awards, either.

2. What country is An Na from? What are her books like?

An Na was born in Korea, but grew up in Southern California. As I mentioned before, this is the only Na book I have read, so I don't know if her first book has the same feel. Wait for Me was a very unhappy book. Mina is miserable at home, knows she is deceiving her mother (who greatly favors her over her sister), and knows that there is no way she will ever be able to get into Harvard with her grades. Once she meets Ysrael, she has to hide her friendship from her mother, who doesn't approve of Ysrael, because of his ethnicity. There was very little about this book that was upbeat.

3. In "Wait For Me" did An Na combine humour along with serious issues? The main character is Korean-American but I would like to know if her family pressured her to follow Korean tradition or was she free to embrace American tradition?

I don't remember any humor in Wait for Me at all. It was a very serious book, through-and-through. The second part of this question is difficult. Mina's family is very traditional and stereotypical. Her family owns a dry cleaning business, and they don't trust anyone outside of the family to staff the business, until Mina's father hurts his back and her mother grudgingly hires a Mexican immigrant, of whom she is terribly racist towards. Her mother expects her to be a perfect student and to go to a prestigious school (Harvard being the cream of the crop in her experience). I think this is her mother's vision of American tradition, but Mina is forced to abandon any activities that aren't beneficial to her college application. All her free time is spent studying, and the only activity she participates in is chorus. Mina has to sneak around to spend time with Ysrael. She certainly isn't allowed the freedome of a "typical" American teenager.

4. How was Point-of-View handled? Was there a single POV character or did it alternate among two or more. Was it always clear whose eyes and mind were filtering?

The book alternated between two characters. The parts where Mina was the focus were in first person. The other chapters focused on her sister, Suna. These chapters were written in third person. It was very clear when the POV changed.

5. How was language used to set tone and mood?

Mina's sections were generally angrier. Words like "snapped," "tirade," "shoving," were common.

6. Was the prose dense or spare? Were sentences generally simple or complex?

The sentences in Mina's section were longer, more complex. They sounded more mature than Suna's sections, which reflects the age difference between the two (about 5 years difference). The sentences in Suna's sections tended to be short and choppy.

This book fills the "N" author position in the A-Z challenge.

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell

As part of the most recent Weekly Geeks, I'm reviewing this book "interview style." I received more questions from Joy Renee, and I promise I'm not ignoring her excellent questions, but they require more thought, and in the interest of just getting this posted, and I'm going to have to skip those.

What is Julie and Julia about?
Julie Powell was 29 years old, working as a secretary in post-9/11 New York City, and was basically having an existential crisis. After running across Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking at her mother's house, Julie came up with the idea of cooking all the recipes in the book over the course of a year. Her husband, Eric, suggested she blog about it and thus started the Julie/Julia Project. The blog became extremely popular and ultimately Julie got a book deal out of it, the finished product being Julie & Julia. The book is not just a republishing of the blog in book form, but instead it is Julie's recounting of her experience cooking and blogging her way through the project. Another one of the questions was is this non-fiction. Yes, it is.

Please share your impressions of Julie as a person.
This one is a tough one. If you've read my previous post about this book, you will know that maybe 1/3 of the way through the book I realized I went to high school with Julie. She was a year younger than me, and we didn't really know each other, but I definitely knew who she was. Especially since she dated someone who eventually dated one of my best friends and, um, me, sort of. So while reading this book, I couldn't keep from picturing her as I remembered her from almost 20 years ago and trying to reconcile that memory with what I was reading. Hard to do when you didn't really know the person other than in passing. I actually know way more about her now than I ever did then! One funny thing. At the point in the book where I began to really wonder if this might be the same Julie I remembered, she mentioned being on her high school drill team and that the only reason she had tried out was to prove she couldn't make it, but then did and had to suffer through it for the year. I distinctly remember being *very* surprised way back when that she was on drill team - she just didn't seem the type. I guess I was right! Getting back to the real question though. I really liked Julie in the book (even before I realized who it was). I've seen some scathing reviews, and a lot of people really disliked her, but I thought her humor was great. She may have been a little obsessive (can't really say much there, as I think I would be the same way if I were doing something like this). The one thing that seemed a little weird was her VERY STRONG dislike of Republicans. Now, I'm a Democrat, but I thought some of the things Julie said about her Republican coworkers was just downright mean.

The book came out of a cooking project and a blog. Did it inspire you to take on a similar project of your own?
It made me think this could be a cool idea, but I don't think I could ever take on anything like this. I am way too picky of an eater to work my way through an entire cookbook. I could see wanting to cook all the recipes that I would *eat* maybe... Or all the desserts in a book. Hmmm...that's not a bad idea!

Addendum: (I originally wrote out these responses last Friday, and I've thought more about this since then.) While I could never take on an official project like this, I did buy a copy of The Foods and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas last night, and I have every intention of attempting as many recipes out of this book as possible. I even will likely blog about it (among other food-related things) at a yet-to-be-created blog which I will call "Hold the Onions, Please."
Have you ever tried to master the art of French cooking? Would you want to?

No and no! I wouldn't mind dabbling a bit, but French food's not my thing really. Or maybe it's just this impression of French food I have that's not my thing.

Did you feel that Julie adequately conveyed the humor and struggles of trying to live up to a famous cookbook author? How would this book have been different if she'd tried taking on Martha Stewart, for example?

Yes, I thought Julie did a really good job at this. I'm not sure the book would have been that different had she been trying to be Martha. Different struggles, but probably similarly frustrating.

Edited to add this question...Did you find any good recipes in the book?

This wasn't a cookbook, per se, so no. There were references to a few recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking that sounded good, though, that I might one day hunt down. Don't remember what they were, though....

I passed this book along to a friend of mine this past weekend that I went to high school. She was much more informed than me. When I asked, "Do you remember Julie Foster?" she said, "Yes! Didn't she write a book or something?"

This book will fill the "J" title category in the A-Z challenge.

The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi

I think this book made it to my wishlist after a mention in either (the now defunct) Pages or Bookmarks. I always find it interesting to begin books that have been on my wishlist for a long time, because in most cases I've completely forgotten what it was about them that grabbed my attention in the first place. Such was the case with The Icarus Girl.

Jessamy Harrison was born in England, but her mother is Nigerian and her father British. Jess has always been a moody, quiet child, but when she meets Titiola (Jess calls her TillyTilly because she can't pronounce Titiola) while visiting family in Nigeria things start to get weird.

Overall, I really liked this book. However, the end left me a little mystified. Honestly, I'm not sure how it actually ended. So I had to knock half a star off my rating, giving it 3.5 stars instead of 4. Also, Jess is supposed to be an 8-year-old little girl, and she is much too wise and articulate for a girl of that age, in my opinion. Oyeyemi was only 18 when she wrote The Icarus Girl, which I find very impressive!

This fills the "I" title spot in the A-Z challenge.

The Braid by Helen Frost

I read The Braid because it is on the Tayshas List, a recommended reading list by the Texas Library Association. It got great reviews on Amazon, but I have to say it didn't leave much of an impression on me.

The book is very short - around 90 pages, so I was able to read it in one afternoon. The story is of a Scottish family in the 1850s who are evicted from their home. The entire family is supposed to emigrate to Canada, but one sister hides so that she can stay behind with her grandmother, who is moving to a nearby island. The night before the family departed, the sisters braided their hair together and, when she left, Sarah cut the braid and left half with her sister and carried the other half with her. The family encounters much hardship on the way to and in Canada, while Sarah, the sister who stays behind finds love, and, in a different way, also hardship.

The book itself is very clever. It is narrated alternately between two sisters, Jeannie and Sarah. Each narrative section is accompanied by a poem featuring some aspect of the previous narrative. At the end of the book, Frost explains the form of the book, which is quite complex. In fact, I need to go back and look at the book before returning it to the library, as I think knowing this about the book will make it stand out more in my memory.

I do recommend this one, especially since it is such a short read. While the strength of this book is in the clever format, I would have enjoyed a longer novel more I think, in order to get to know the characters more.

This book fills the F author spot for the A-Z challenge.

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

Oh, this was just a fabulous book! I was reminded of Stardust, as it was a fairy tale, although, even though I liked this book a lot, Stardust was still better.

Keturah is a storyteller, and, after she follows a hart into the forest and gets lost, she keeps Death at bay by telling him a story, winning extra days by promising the ending the next day. She bargains with Death that in order to win her life, she must find her true love.

I loved the fairy tale quality of this book. This was one I had a hard time putting down. I highly recommend it to any of you who participated in the Once Upon a Time challenges.

I can use this one for the "L" author for the A-Z challenge. Also, if you've reviewed this one, let me know!

Masterpiece by Elise Broach

I loved this little book! Marvin is a beetle. He lives in an apartment occupied by James, James' distant mother, his pompous stepfather, and his little brother, William, the only good thing about his parents' divorce. Marvin wants to do something special for James for his birthday and ends up experimenting with the pen and ink set James got as a gift from his artist father. As it turns out, Marvin is a brilliant artist! When James' parents find the picture Marvin drew, they assume, naturally, that James made it, and this leads to a series of events, ultimately involving the theft of a masterpiece.

I didn't know what to expect from this book, as it could easily have gone either way. Marvin was a very believable character (well, if you can get past the anthropomorphism). The story was, of course, a bit far-fetched, but it was so cute. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed The Tale of Despereaux or Chasing Vermeer. It started out reminding me of Beverly Cleary's mouse books, but the intended reader is, I think, a bit older than for those books, and the story is more complex.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that this was an ARC copy; Masterpiece is due to be published in September.

If you've reviewed this one, leave a comment!

This fills the "M" spot in the A-Z Challenge.

One Good Punch by Rich Wallace

Seriously, I don't remember the last time I've finished so many books in so little time. No complaints!

I started One Good Punch over lunch today and finished it tonight while hanging out at our newly renovated downtown library, where my husband was teaching a web development basics class. One Good Punch is a short novel; the ARC copy I read is only 114 pages. I guess it's more of a novella.

Mike Kerrigan is a squeaky clean senior, who dreams of being a great track star and then having a successful writing career. He has a job with the local paper writing obituaries. When he gets caught with 4 joints in his locker, courtesy of a real winner of a friend, he has to decide whether to rat out his "friend" or take the fall himself, giving up all he has worked so hard for.

I think this book would have been much better if it had been longer, with more time to develop the characters. Instead, I feel like so much was glossed over - especially the way Mike finally resolved the situation. This book was ok, but nothing to really write home about.

If you've reviewed this book, leave a comment and I'll link to you hear.

This book fills the "O" title in the A-Z Challenge.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I've just been a reading roll lately. I read this one in one day, too. This book was fantastic!

Arnold (Junior) Spirit is a Spokane Indian, the bottom of the proverbial totem pole on his reservation in Montana. Arnold was born with hydrocephalus, had brain surgery as a baby that he wasn't expected to survive, and suffered from seizures. As a result, he was constantly bullied as a kid. After what could have been a disastrous event (he threw a book in class, frustrated that they were forced to use the same book his mother used 30 years previous, and hit his teacher and broke his nose), he was convinced by said teacher to transfer to the "white" school in a nearby town, off the reservation. Arnold then had to deal not only with being the new (Indian) kid in a racist town, but also with being the kid who had shamed his reservation by leaving.

Interspersed with comic strips (Arnold is an aspiring artist), the book has a lot of humor. But some humor is obviously just a tool to cover up pain. Growing up on a poor reservation is not easy. Arnold is forced to deal with several deaths in a very short time; most of the people he knows are alcoholics; his best friend hates him. But the book is full of hope and optimism. I can easily see why this book won the National Book Award for Young Adult Literature.

There are parts of this book that may be inappropriate for younger readers (I'm not quite ready for my 11-year-old to read it), due to, shall I say, autoerotic content.

Other reviews:
Amanda (the librarian)

This book fulfills the "A" author for the A-Z Challenge.

Prey by Lurlene McDaniel

This book was one of the ARCs I brought home from the Texas Library Association conference and the first Lurlene McDaniel book I've ever read. I've heard of McDaniel; I even used one of her books in an assignment several years ago in a children's lit class when I had to compile a list of books on a certain topic. This book is not the type of book McDaniel typically rights, by her own admission in the author note.

Prey is the story of a teacher who seduces her 15-year-old student and proceeds to have a (highly inappropriate) sexual relationship with the boy. The story is told from the point of view of three characters: Lori Settles (the teacher), Ryan Piccoli (the boy), and Honey Fowler (Ryan's best friend, who is secretly in love with him). While this book is definitely a page-turner (I finished it in one day, something I haven't done in ages), it is deeply disturbing. The relationship is consensual, insomuch as a 15-year-old boy can consent to sex with a woman more than twice his age, but that doesn't justify the affair. The whole thing is really very sad. It becomes clear early on that Lori was sexually abused at some point, and Ryan lost his mother tragically when he was very young. There is so much psychology involved, but again, nothing that makes it right.

You know how sometimes one error in a book can throw you off and bug throughout the book? I had this happen in this book. Ryan is 15, a freshman in high school. At one point in the book, his father tells him he should start thinking about college and maybe fill out some apps. As a freshman? Yeah, that happens. And in the same conversation, Ryan tells his dad he has already taken the SATs. Um, no, not as a freshman. I found this really annoying, because McDaniel rights books for teenagers, and has for years, and you would think she would be more in touch with what teenagers actually do, and when. Sorry - I know it's nitpicky, but the author lost credibility with me at that point.

I give the book about 3 stars. I enjoyed it; I couldn't put it down. But the subject matter was disturbing, and, really, the writing style wasn't very good.

If you've reviewed this book, leave a comment, and I'll link to it here.

This book fills the "M" author spot for the A-Z challenge.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Wow. I have been avoiding this book like the plague. After reading many reviews, I was convinced it wasn't my thing, and I had no intention of reading it. But then I decided to read books off the 2008-2009 Tayshas List, which is a recommendation list for high school students put together by the Texas Library Association, and this was on the list. When my randomizer spat out this particular book as the first selection off the list, I cringed, and I almost resubmitted in order to get a different title. But I decided to persevere, and I checked the library catalog. I was still reading another book, but was thinking ahead in case I needed to place one on hold. When I saw that I would, indeed, need to place it on hold, I was secretly happy, because all copies were checked out, and there wasn't first in line. I decided that if, when I finished the book I was reading, if my copy wasn't already on its way, I would choose a different book. Obviously, it didn't work out that way, since I am now reviewing it.

I was so wrong about this book. Yes, it is bleak, dreary, somber, dismal, and any other synonym you can think of. But it is SO GOOD. I would give it 5 stars, except for the fact that I feel that McCarthy used too may $5 words, for no real reason. Well, he probably had a reason, but it was over my head. I lost count of how many words I didn't know, and I consider myself to have a very good vocabulary. I really feel that there is a completely different level to this story that I just didn't get. But, I quit analyzing literature after I completed my lit requirements in college, and I don't intend to pick it up again now.

For those needing a synopsis, The Road takes place years after an apocalyptic event, and there are very few survivors. "The man" (as he is referred to throughout the book) and his young son (I never gathered from the reviews I've read that the son was a young boy; I always assumed he was at least a teenager) are making their way south, presumably to find more "good guys." The going is bleak, marked with periodic fortunate events that allow them to keep going a little further. I kept trying to figure out where exactly they were. I know they were in the Virginia/North Carolina/Georgia area at the beginning, due to a reference to a "See Rock City" sign, and they were headed towards the coast. My assumption was that they were heading toward the southern coast, perhaps the Gulf of Mexico, but I think, actually, they were headed toward the Atlantic coast, as the intention was to continue heading south once reaching the coast. You can't really go any further south from the Gulf of Mexico...

If you, like me, have hesitated to read this, I urge you to give it a chance. I honestly couldn't put it down once I started.

If you've reviewed this book, leave a comment, and I'll link to your review.

This book counts as my "R" title in the A-Z challenge.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis is a memoir, told in graphic novel form, of Marjane Satrapi's childhood in Iran, during the Islamic Revolution. The story is told in black-and-white pictures, comic-strip style, though there is little comic about them. Satrapi's story is filled with horrors and frustrations. Horrors at watching (not necessarily literally) friends and family die. Frustrations of being a woman in such an oppressive society. Satrapi was a very brave child, standing for what she believed in from a very young age. Her family embraced the Western lifestyle in a time where Islamic fundamentalism prevailed, putting their very lives in danger.

This book is now part 1 of a 2-part series. This particular book ends when Satrapi is either 12 or 13 and she leaves Iran for Austria, to continue her education. I very much want to read Persepolis 2, to hear the rest of her story.

Satrapi spoke here in Houston not long ago - unfortunately it was a weeknight, and weeknight gigs are hard to arrange with 2 youngish kids. I hear it was very good, and I wish we could have made it.

If you've reviewed this book, leave a comment, and I'll link to your review.

Other reviews:
Marg at ReadingAdventures
tinylittlelibrarian at Tiny Little Reading Room

This book fills the "S" author spot in the A-Z Challenge.

A-Z Challenge

Joy over at Thoughts of Joy is hosting the A-Z Challenge. I've been tempted by this one for a few weeks but thought I would be crazy to join. Well, I'm giving in to temptation. The one caveat is that as many as possible of the books have to come from my TBR mountain or be ones I already planned to read. (That's pretty much my tactic for all challenges.) Anything else, when possible, came from my Amazon wishlist. So, here's my list of what I plan to read, subject to change, of course.
* means this an exception to my rule

Title:


A: American Gods by Neil Gaiman (completed 5/19/08)
B: Black Ships by Jo Graham (completed 2/29/08)
C: Chicken Boy by Frances O'Roark Dowell (completed 1/19/08)
D: Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell (completed 1/24/08)
E: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin*
F: Firegirl by Tony Abbott (completed 1/16/08)
G: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (completed 10/08)
H: Hubert Invents the Wheel by Claire Montgomery, Monte Montgomery, and Jeff Shelly (completed 3/17/08)
I: The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi (completed 7/11/08)
J: Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (completed in 7/08)
K: King Dork by Frank Portman (completed 1/20/08)
L: Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye (completed 2/6/08)
M: Masterpiece by Elise Broach (completed 6/16/08)
N: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
O: One Good Punch by Rich Wallace (completed 6/9/08)
P: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (completed 5/2/08)
Q: Queen of Dreams by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
R: The Road by Cormac McCarthy (completed 6/7/08)
S: Stardust by Neil Gaiman (completed 4/26/08)
T: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (completed 8/23/08)
U: Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill*
V: The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory*
W: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (completed 3/27/08)
X: Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
Y: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
Z: Zeke and Ned by Larry McMurtry*

Authors:

A: Alexie, Sherman - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (completed 6/8/08)
B: Bray, Libba -The Sweet Far Thing (completed 4/13/08)
C: Connolly, John - The Book of Lost Things (completed 6/1/08)
D: Domingue, Ronlyn - The Mercy of Thin Air
E: Erian, Alicia - Towelhead
F: Frost, Helen - The Braid (completed 7/5/08)
G: Ganeshananthan, V.V. - Love Marriage (completed 5/24/08)
H: Halpern, Jake - Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction (completed 2/3/08)
I: Irving, John - A Prayer for Owen Meaney*
J: Jenkins, Emily - Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic
K: Klasky, Mindy - Girl's Guide to Witchcraft
L: Leavitt, Martine - Keturah and Lord Death
M: McDaniel, Lurlene - Prey (completed 6/7/08)
N: Na, An - Wait for Me (completed in 7/08)
O: Osborne, Mary Pope - Pompeii: Lost and Found (completed 2/10/08)
P: Pratchett, Terry - Truckers (completed 11/1/08)
Q: Quindlen, Anna - Blessings*
R: Roach, Mary - Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
S: Satrapi, Marjane - Persepolis
T: Tingle, Tim - Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom
U: Unsworth, Barry - Pascali's Island*
V: Valdes-Rodriguez, Alisa - Haters
W: Wizner, Jake - Spanking Shakespeare
X: Xinran - Sky Burial
Y: Yep, Lawrence - The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
Z: Zusak, Markus - I Am the Messenger*