A Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson. McElderry, 2007. 32 pages

Karma Wilson with another winner-- Frog in the Bog has everything a storytime favorite needs-rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, numbers, repetition humor and a surprising (to kids) ending. "There's a small hungry frog sitting on a log in the middle of the bog". As frog eats 1 tick, 2 fleas, etc., he gets bigger and bigger until he realizes the log is an alligator. When frog opens his mouth to yell, all the insects jump out in reverse order. Joan Rankin's illustrations lend a muted, watery feel that works very well. Cute and fun-- flows better than some of Wilson's work. Reminiscent of Root's One Duck Stuck.

Life Sucks by Jessica Abel. First Second, 2008. 192 pages

Fun and quirky new graphic. Think of a vampire CLERKS. Dave is a young, depressed emo vampire boy-- a vegetarian vampire who refuses to kill- he lives on past date blood bank blood. Unlike the Anne Rice world of wealthy, educated, sophisticated vampires, the real vamp world is a lot like our own--Dave works the night shift at a quicky mart-- the owner is his vampire master who has en-wage-slaved him for eternity-- an eternity of sweeping the parking lot and pouring plastic cheese on nachos. Dave falls for a goth human girl named Rosa but so has his rival-- a jerky surfer boy vampire who is very strong. Who will Rosa choose.
Clever and witty-- the book is very clerks--i loved it and the subtle humor and dead end job focus will appeal to older more irreverent teens. An award winning graphic.

Shock Doctrine; the rise of disaster capitalism by Naomi Klein. Metropolitan Books, 2008.

Hole In My Life by Jack Gantos. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. 200 pages

How many children's book authors would write a memoir about serving time in federal prison for drug running during their young adult years? Jack Gantos would-- and did so brilliantly with this Prinze and Siebert award winning book. Written in a style that is very reminiscent of the Joey Pigza series, Gantos gives an honest and frank account of his late teen life and the actions and choices he made that led to his being convicted of drug running at age 19 and sentenced to federal prison for several years. The story is well told and compelling; funny and horrifying and sad and uplifting. We like Gantos and we care what happens to him, even as we cringe for him as he makes what we all know are terrible decisions that will have terrible consequences. And prison is tough-- Gantos is quite skillful in his ability to portray prison as a very violent and scary place-- full of sex and drugs-- and he does so honestly (important for all of us, yes, but especially so for young adults) but without sensationalizing it. No easy feat. And it was the constant violence and fear and hopelessness of prison life that forced Gantos to soul search and, finally, to make a decision to get serious about what he had always wanted to do--to write, to become a writer...a decision that not only carried him through the rest of his sentance, but one that Gantos credits with carrying him through the rest of his life. YES, YES, YES

Greetings From Somewhere Else A Novel by Monica McInerney. Ballentine Books, 2009. 448 pages

A very light weight, chick lit novel about Lainey Byrne, type A career girl with lots of family problems and responsibilities who suddenly finds herself forced to leave everything behind to run a bed and breakfast in Ireland in order to meet the terms of a dead aunt's will so her father can inherit the land and sell it to pay for his much needed medical treatments. How's that for a family guilt trip? Lainey-- dutiful daughter that she is-- is totally selfless and, being the only one the family can count on, gives up everything, her career, her home, her love, in order to make this thing work.
The story is weak and predicable and , as noted by a previous LT early reviewer, the supporting characters are undeveloped types more than well thought out characters in their own right. I did not care for Lainey nor for her ridiculous predicament and i doubt anyone else will either. Sorry-- this one is not for me and I would not recommend it to anyone.