Friday Finds!

Not too many finds this week. My roommate keeps making Half-Price Books runs without me, so he's been doing far better than I in the "finds" area. Still, it seems like I can't get through a week without my shelves bulging just a bit more. Here's the few books that I rounded up this week:

- Stolen by Lucy Christopher
An upcoming Spring release from Scholastic, this one came wrapped in black paper with a orange butterfly sticker, mimicking the simple, stark cover design. I don't know what to expect with this one - a story written as a letter from a kidnapped girl to her captor, these kind of books can be really engrossing, but also borderline exploitative and titillating. There will always be this trend in YA literature, as girls never seem to tire of stories that both demonstrate extreme survival and the ultimate lesson of "some girls have it way worse."

And I received two very nice paperbacks from the wonderful people at Harper Perennial:

-More of This World or Maybe Another by Barb Johnson
I have a galley of this book that I read last May, but I'm so glad to have a published copy. I loved this book - the craftsman-like detailing that Johnson does really creates this vivid community that serves as the focus of these interwoven stories. A multi-character portrait of a rundown New Orleans community, this is a great book for people who don't usually read short story collections because it works as both story collection and collective novel.

- Girl Trouble by Holly Goddard Jones
Of the short story collections I've devoured this past year, I've yet to dig into a collection lengthy or dense, but I think Girl Trouble might fill that void. Another sure to be wonderful collection of stories from Harper Perennial, this one came out this past September. Also, this is another Southern-touched collection, and it seems that there is no end to my fascination with the landscape and character described from the various perspectives of Midwest and Southern culture. I plan on getting into this one as soon as I can make room for an adult read.

Friday Finds

After the heaping loads of the last two weeks, I took it easy on my bookshelves and bank account and only grabbed a few items.

- Our GM, Chris, handed over the ARC of the upcoming Margaret Atwood, Year of the Flood, for which I'm psyched for. Atwood is usually the opposite of light-hearted, and with the summer waning (really, August? Already?) I'm not sure if I'm in the best of spirits to be sinking into one of her complex, heavy-duty novels. That being said, I'll probably start it this coming week. Immersing yourself in children's literature has many, many rewards, but there's a significant shortage of depressing yet brilliant books written for young audiences. Whenever I find myself getting into a rut with what I'm reading for kids, I turn to adult titles to shake up my system, whether its with heavily plotted morality plays, wickedly crafted murder mysteries, wry, ironic statements on present popular culture... even the occasional horror title... Sometimes I read myself into such a coming-of-age hole that the only thing that can save me is a good old gory monster story.

Three from the Scholastic box that arrived today:
- Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve - He's a favorite among intermediate-level enthusiasts, and I've never read any of his stuff. Why not start out with this very intriguing upcoming release? This one's a fantasy-mystery about an orphan discovering her roots through assisting an archaeologist with a top-secret mission. Oh, and I want the coat the illustrated girl is wearing on the cover of the ARC. This one comes out April 2010.

- The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco Stork - Because I really liked Marcelo in the Real World, and this one sounds pretty heady. Out March 2010.

- Smile by Raina Telgemeier - A graphic novel about a girl getting braces. I'm a sucker for this type of cute comic thing. They're surprisingly hard to sell on people, though, but as Wimpy Kid gets bigger and bigger, the profile on young kid-friendly graphic novels may go up, and customers might respond better to something that at first seems juvenile and beside the point. This one hits February 2010.

And one from the Random House box I received a few weeks back:
- THree Rivers Rising by Jame Richards - A YA title about the Johnstown Flood, a topic that is close to my heart: My mother grew up in Johnstown, PA, and we still have relatives living in the town and around the area. I've been to the Johnstown Flood Museum many, many times, watched the same old rickety informational film, watched as the diorama lit up and flooded with water, walked the trail, stood around half-bored as family members read every plaque and information post available.

So yeah, I'm going to read this ASAP. Besides, I love historical/disaster YA titles.