The Rad Librarian

When I tell people that 9 out of the 20 largest economies in the world are virtual, they just don’t believe me.  “But it’s just fake gold/whuffies/tokens right?”  People buy and sell and speculate on these games with real money.  Put it this way.  World of Warcraft’s economy is worth more than  either Portugal’s or Poland’s.  Which leads to a great young adult novel about the workers who make their living in these games and their global effort to organize their labor.  Doctorow creates a believable, fast paced adventure novel across many countries with important economic lessons.  Just the relationship between the IWW and the IWWWW  is worth the price of the novel.  Teens and adults will like this in equal measures.

Fun and adventurous young adult dystopian tale of a Prison who becomes self aware.  My teen bookclub loved this the most this year, and the surprise ending made it even better.  The adults who have read it also enjoyed the world building and twists and turns. 

Okay, here’s my first negative review.  I was bored by the glacial pace of this year’s Newbery winner.  100 pages in and I would have stopped reading, but I’m asked often for award winner J and YA titles, so I toughed it out.  What a big waste of time.  A gentle New York in the 70’s time travel story that would be forgotten if it was written in the  70’s and now it’s just as boring.  Nothing new plot -weak characterization. No no no.

Quirky coming of age YA short novel featuring 19 sock puppets named Marcel, treasure hunts, family secrets, and refreshingly good dialogue.  It’s hard to capture a teen voice and Brown does a marvelous job with Dree who is grieving the death of her dad and the possibilities he represented.  Teens looking for something different will really enjoy this, and having it take place in Edmonton add to the interest.

Super fighter Katsa must learn to control her Grace of killing to defeat a king with a terrible power.  This is a great mix of action and intrigue with strong character development.  Though this is YA, adults will love it too.  The prequel Fire is just as good.