Wednesday, January 19, 2011

www: wake

By Robert J. Sawyer

Although Caitlin Decter is blind, she can effortlessly surf the Internet by following its complex paths clearly in her mind. When she receives an implant to restore her sight, instead of seeing reality, the landscape of the World Wide Web explodes into her consciousness.  TitlePeek

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Blindspot

BlindspotBy Kevin C. Pyle

The forest outside Dean Tollridge's new home is filled with traps, ambush sites, and enemy outposts that are ideal for 11-year-old Dean to launch war campaigns with his friends. In school Dean ignores his teacher in favor of planning war strategies. Using expressive panels in the green and brown tones of camouflage, writer-artist Pyle looks at a boy's fascination with war and adventure--and, like many boys, his ignorance of danger and consequences. The mission that Dean and his friends undertake, which is highlighted by full-color panels depicting the soldiers the boys imagine themselves to be, eventually leads the kids to destroy an old shack in the woods. In an instant, the boisterous fun becomes serious, and adult life intrudes on a boy's world.  Booklist

Life sucks

By Jessica Abel

Life sucks for Dave Marshall.  The girl he’s in love with doesn’t know he exists, he hates his job, and ever since his boss turned him into a vampire, he can’t go out in daylight without starting to charbroil.  Undead life in its uncoolest incarnation yet is on display in this cinematic, supernatural drama told with gallons of humor and hemoglobin.  In striking, colorful, B-movie style artwork and light-hearted, intelligent writing by Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria, and Warren Pleece, Dave Marshall’s story comes alive – in a vampiric kind of way.  TitlePeek

Monday, January 17, 2011

Cheerleading: from tryouts to championships


Edited by Caitlin Leffel

Written by the editors of the nations premier cheerleading publication, this book gives cheerleaders, coaches, and even mascots the inside edge not only on techniques and choreography, but also on competitions, types of squads, style, and attitude.  TitlePeek

All souls

By Christine Schutt

In 1997, at the distinguished Siddons School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the school year opens with distressing news: Astra Dell is suffering from a rare disease. Astra’s friends try to reconcile the girl’s suffering with their own fierce longings and impetuous attachments. Car writes unsparing letters, which the dirty Marlene, in her devotion, then steals. Other classmates carry on: the silly team of Suki and Alex pursue Will Bliss while the subversive Lisa Van de Ven makes dates with MissWilkes. The world of private schools and privilege in New York City is funny, poignant, and cruel, and at its heart is the stricken Astra Dell, "that pale girl from the senior class, the dancer with all the hair, the red hair, knotted or braided or let to fall to her waist, a fever and she consumed.  TitlePeek