The Hidden Injuries of Class by Richard Sennett and Jonathan Cobb. W.W. Norton and Company, 1993. 288 pages

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch. Amulet Books, 2010, 141 pages.

Great Graphic Novel about Mirka Hirschberg, a smart and brave Orthodox Jewish girl from a big family, who rejects the womanly arts her stepmother is always trying to teach her and instead yearns to fight dragons! Let's hear it for girl heroes!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Harper Collins, 2008, 3007 Pages.

Bod, (Nobody) Owens's entire family is killed when he is a baby. But while the killer searches in vain to complete the job, Baby Nobody wanders into a graveyard where the folk who live there raise him as their own. There is lots for a living boy raised in a graveyard to learn. I listened to the audio book-- one of the very best-- read by Gaiman himself. The story told as the author intended. FABULOUS on every level.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein. Random House, 2013.

BookClub loved this one-- highest score so far. A cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Hunger Games (minus the hunger and the brutality), Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library is full of book title puns and clues and games. 12 twelve year olds win a contest that lets them spend the night at the branch new library before it opens, but they must solve a series of clues to win the Exit game. Fun with lots of  character "types", and Justice prevails! I am recommending it to eveyone.

Artimis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. Hyperion reissue, 2009. 334 pages.

Love the audio version-- ignore the jarring music in the prologue. It stops. Love the voices and the brogue.

Alanna: the first adventure by Tamora Pierce. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1983, 249 pages.

First of Song of the Lioness series. A Librarian I know and respect once told me that Tamora Pierce was her favorite author. This is my first Tamora Pierce book. I loved it. Pierce is a wonderful writer-- and whisks us into another world full of high fantasy magic, medieval social structures and a believable characters in otherwise unbelievable situations. So well written. Recommend it freely. Strong Girls from a master of the genre.