What's New? Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Pop on over there to share your new books and ogle what other bloggers got.

For review:

Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin. 414p. Little Brown Books for Young Readers, August 6, 2013. 9780316203791.

Publisher synopsis: Teen rocker Ritchie Sudden is pretty sure his life has just jumped the shark. Except he hates being called a teen, his band doesn't play rock, and "jumping the shark" is yet another dumb cliché. Part of Ritchie wants to drop everything and walk away. Especially the part that's serving ninety days in a juvenile detention center.

Telling the story of the year leading up to his arrest, Ritchie grabs readers by the throat before (politely) inviting them along for the (max-speed) ride. A battle of the bands looms. Dad split about five minutes before Mom's girlfriend moved in. There's the matter of trying to score with the dangerously hot Ravenna Woods while avoiding the dangerously huge Spence Proffer—not to mention just trying to forget what his sister, Beth, said the week before she died.

This latest offering from acclaimed author Sean Beaudoin is alternately raw, razor-sharp, and genuinely hilarious.

The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook by Joanne Rocklin. 218 p. Aumlet Books/ Abrams, April 2, 2013. 9781419705250.

Publisher synopsis:

In this warmhearted middle-grade novel, Oona and her brother, Fred, love their cat, Zook (short for Zucchini), but Zook is sick. As they conspire to break him out of the vet’s office, Oona tells the stories of his previous lives, ranging in style from fairy tale to grand epic to slice of life. Each of Zook’s lives have echoes in Oona’s own family life, which is going through a transition she’s not yet ready to face. Her father died two years ago, and her mother has started a relationship with a man named Dylan—whom Oona secretly calls “the villain.” The truth about Dylan, and about Zook’s medical condition, drives the drama in this loving family story.

Purchased:

Last week, after I posted my haul for the week, I trekked to my favorite children's book store to sob and buy books. A week ago Thursday, I received an email from them stating that, after 20 wonderful years, the store was closing and that everything was on sale. This is terrible news! I adore that store! It's a bit out of my way and has to compete with the ease of online buying, but I always planned a trip there every few months and devoted the fiction portion of my school buying to the store. 

The good news is that service to schools and libraries will continue so I will not lose total contact. Still, it's sad that the brick and mortar presence will be gone.

I left there with five picture books, which I have already read and donated to my library and these novels.

From top to bottom: (with partial bibliographic info)

The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleberger. 190 p. Amulet Books.

Poison by Bridget Zinn. 276 p. Hyperion.

Struck by Lightning: the Carson Phillips Journal by Chris Colfer. 256 p. Little, Brown and Company.

33 Minutes...Until Morgan Sturtz kicks my butt by Todd Hasak-Lowy. 210 p. Aladdin.

Will Sparrow's Road by Karen Cushman. 216 p. Clarion Books.

The Bully Book by Eric Kahn Gale. HarperCollins Publishers.

That's it for me this week. Today is the first day of my spring break. I hope to get a ton of reading done this week. TOM, the tbr pile is threatening to take over my house. What did you get?

Happy Reading!