April Accomplishments

These are a few of my favorite 'first' lines read in April 2010.

Words. I'm surrounded by thousands of words. Maybe millions. Cathedral. Mayonnaise. Pomegranate. Mississippi. Neapolitan. Hippopotamus. Silky. Terrifying. Iridescent. Tickle. Sneeze. Wish. Worry. Words have swirled around me like snowflakes--each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands.

My name is Dovey Coe, and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not. I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars. I aim to prove it, too. I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him.

It was four thirty in the morning and Scarlett wanted answers. Unfortunately, four-thirty-in-the-morning questions are often of a very different nature than, say, three-twenty-in-the-afternoon questions.

It was a burnished, cloudless day with a tug-of-war wind, a fine day for flying.


April's Top Six:

Scarlett Fever. Maureen Johnson.
Out of My Mind. Sharon M. Draper.
Catching Fire. Suzanne Collins.
The Runaway Dragon by Kate Coombs.
Princess of Glass. Jessica Day George.
Airhead. Meg Cabot.

Results of April's Poll:

How long do you stick with a book that just isn't working for you?

There were 194 votes! The majority of you (36%) give a book one to two chapters. 27% of you give a book three to four chapters. 21% of you give a book a 100 pages. And 14% of you give a book 50 pages.

Number of Board Books: 7

Who's that Snoring? A Pull-the-Tab Bedtime Book. Jason Chapman. 2010. January 2010. Simon & Schuster. 12 pages.
Where's Your Nose? Begin Smart Books. 2010. May 2010. 16 pages.
My Little Baby. Begin Smart Books. 2010. May 2010. 16 pages.
Animal Faces. Begin Smart Books. 2009. October 2009. 8 pages.
Baby Says. Begin Smart Books. 2009. October 2009. 16 pages.
Look Around and Listen. Begin Smart Books. 2009. October 2009. 8 pages.
Bouncy Baby. Begin Smart Books. 2009. October 2009. 12 pages.

Number of Picture Books: 14

Where the Mild Things Are: A Very Meek Parody. By Maurice Send-Up. Illustrated by Bonnie Leick. 2009. September 2009. Simon & Schuster. 40 pages.
Wee Little Bunny. Lauren Thompson. Illustrated by John Butler. 2010. January 2010. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.
The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah. By Leslie Kimmelman. Illustrated by Paul Meisel. 2010. February 2010. Holiday House. 32 pages.
Aunt Mary's Rose. By Douglas Wood. Illustrated by LeUyen Pham. 2010. March 2010. Candlewick Press. 32 pages.
Just Like A Baby. Juanita Havill. Illustrated by Christine Davenier. 2009. February 2009. Chronicle Books 32 pages.
Dogs. Emily Gravett. 2010. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.
Baby Blessings: A Prayer for the Day You Are Born. Deloris Jordan. Illustrated by James E. Ransome. 2010. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.
Farm. Elisha Cooper. 2010. April 2010. Scholastic. 48 pages.
Moon Bear. Brenda Z. Guiberson. Illustrated by Ed Young. 2010. May 2010. Henry Holt. 40 pages.
Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly (A Cat the Cat Book) by Mo Willems. 2010. February 2010. HarperCollins. 24 pages.
What's Your Sound, Hound the Hound (A Cat the Cat book) by Mo Willems. 2010. April 2010. HarperCollins. 32 pages.
Lily Brown's Paintings. By Angela Johnson. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis. 2007. Scholastic. 32 pages.
Not All Princesses Dress in Pink. By Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple. Illustrated by Anne-Sophie Lanquetin. 2010. June 2010. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.
Princesses Are Not Perfect. Kate Lum. Illustrated by Sue Hellard. 2010. March 2010. Bloomsbury. 32 pages.

Number of Children's Books: 5

Porky and Bess. By Ellen Weiss and Mel Friedman. Illustrated by Marsha Winborn. 2010. February 2010. Random House. 48 pages.
Mercy Watson Thinks Like A Pig. Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. 2008. Candlewick. 80 pages.
The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz. Illustrated by Angela Barrett. 2010. February 2010. Candlewick Press. 128 pages.
Max Spaniel: Funny Lunch. David Catrow. 2010. May 2010. Scholastic. 40 pages.
I Am Going! (An Elephant & Piggie Book). Mo Willems. 2010. Hyperion. 64 pages.

Number of Middle Grade: 9

The Other Half of My Heart. Sundee T. Frazier. 2010. June 2010. Random House. 304 pages.
The Runaway Dragon by Kate Coombs. 2009. FSG. 304 pages.
The Thirteenth Princess. Diane Zahler. 2010. HarperCollins. 245 pages.
The Line. Teri Hall. 2010. March 2010. Penguin. 224 pages.
Dovey Coe. Frances O'Roark Dowell. 2000. Simon & Schuster. 192 pages.
Chicken Boy. Frances O'Roark Dowell. 2005. Simon & Schuster. 208 pages
Out of My Mind. Sharon M. Draper. 2010. March 2010. Simon & Schuster. 295 pages.
The Year of Goodbyes. Debbie Levy. 2010. Hyperion. 144 pages.
Warriors in the Crossfire. Nancy Bo Flood. 2010. March 2010. Boyds Mill Press. 142 pages.

Number of YA: 15

Catching Fire. Suzanne Collins. 2009. [September 2009] Scholastic. 400 pages.
Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles. 2010. April 2010. Walker (Bloomsbury) 336 pages.
The Lost Conspiracy. Frances Hardinge. 2009. September 2009. HarperCollins. 576 pages.
Scarlett Fever. Maureen Johnson. 2010. February 2010. Scholastic. 352 pages.
The Best and Hardest Thing. Pat Brisson. 2010. May 2010. Penguin. 240 pages.
Gone. Lisa McMann. 2010. February 2010. Simon & Schuster. 214 pages.
Bleeding Violet. Dia Reeves. 2010. January 2010. Simon & Schuster. 454 pages.
Splendor. Anna Godbersen. 2009. HarperCollins. 391 pages.
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. 1996. HarperCollins. 224 pages.
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. 2000. HarperCollins. 288 pages.
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. 2006. HarperCollins. 400 pages.
Princess of Glass. Jessica Day George. 2010. May 2010. Bloomsbury USA. 272 pages.
Paisley Hanover Acts Out by Cameron Tuttle. 2009. Penguin. 432 pages.
Airhead. Meg Cabot. 2008. Scholastic. 340 pages.
Being Nikki. Meg Cabot. 2009. Scholastic. 352 pages.

Number of Adult: 5

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. Kelly O'Connor McNees. 2010. Penguin. 336 pages.
The Darcy Cousins. Monica Fairview. 2010. Sourcebooks. 432 pages.
Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford. 2009. [December 2009]. Random House. 320 pages.
Enclave by Kit Reed. 2009. Tor. 368 pages.
Within the Hollow Crown. Margaret Campbell Barnes. 1948/2010. SourceBooks. 368 pages.

Number of Christian: 9

As Young As We Feel. Melody Carlson. 2010. March 2010. David C. Cook (Pub). 352 pages.
God's Little Princess Devotional Bible. By Sheila Walsh. 2006. Thomas Nelson. 352 pages.
My First Read-Aloud Bible. Retold by Mary Batchelor & Penny Boshoff. 2010. February 2010. Scholastic. 256 pages.
Sixteen Brides. Stephanie Grace Whitson. 2010. April 2010. Bethany House. 352 pages.
She Walks In Beauty by Siri Mitchell. 2010. April 2010. Bethany House. 400 pages.
Raised With Christ: How The Resurrection Changes Everything by Adrian Warnock. 2010. January 2010. Crossway. 272 pages.
What Does God Want of Us Anyway?: A Quick Overview of the Whole Bible. Mark Dever. 2010. Crossway. 128 pages
Dig Deeper: Tools for Understanding God's Word. By Nigel Beynon and Andrew Sach. 2010. Crossway. 160 pages.
Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. D.A. Carson. 2010. February 2010. Crossway Publishers. 173 pages.

Number of Nonfiction: 4

Surviving the Angel of Death. The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz. Eva Mozes Kor and Lisa Rojany Buccieri. 2009. [November 2009]. Tanglewood Press. 175 pages.
Prowling the Seas. Exploring the Hidden World of Ocean Predators. By Pamela S. Turner. 2009. October 2009. Walker. 40 pages.
If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking The Secrets of Stonehenge. Marc Aronson. 2010. March 2010. National Geographic. 64 pages.
Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa. Jeanette Winter. 2008. Harcourt. 32 pages.

Number of Graphic Novels: 0

Number of Poetry: 2

Think Again. JonArno Lawson. Illustrated by Julie Morstad. 2010. Kids Can Press. 64 pages.
Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian. 2009. March 2009. Simon & Schuster. 56 pages.

Number of Short Story Collections/Anthologies: 0



© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews