Codes for Reviews

First Initial (Overall Rating):
E = Exceptional
VG = Very Good
G = Good
F = Fair
NR = Not Recommended

Second Initital (Reading Level):
A = Average Reading Level
E = Easy
M = Mature

“The views expressed are of individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views of their respective institutions.”

For more information about YAR, please email Dora Ho at dorah2005@gmail.com


Monday, December 30, 2013

Man Made Boy

High School Fiction

F/A  Skovron, Jon. Man Made Boy. Viking, 2013.  368p.  978-0670786206.  17.99.

The Show is not your average Broadway play; the acts are real and the cast and crew, including Medusa, Frankenstein, and trolls, all live underneath the theater since they can’t go out in public. Frankenstein and his bride’s 16-year-old computer hacker son, Boy, is tired of living hidden away. He runs away from the theater and ends up on a wild road trip meeting other “people” like him along the way. The premise was great, but the storyline failed. If the author had just stuck to the road trip and not included a crazy computer virus storyline that came in and out, but ultimately led to the conclusion of the novel, it would have been a better read. Teens who enjoy fairytale retellings or monsters in general would still like it though. Loren Spector, LAPL, Memorial

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Andrew Zimmern's Field Guide to Exceptionally Weird, Wild, & Wonderful Foods

G/A  Zimmern, Andrew.  Andrew Zimmern's Field Guide to Exceptionally Weird, Wild, & Wonderful Foods.  Feiwel, 2012.  197p.  978-0-312-60661-9.  14.99.
If you're looking for something slightly different for a cookery section, you'll find this thumb--through item rather interesting.  Zimmern shares his experiences and opininated tastes about cow's blood, lamb spleen and maggot cheese.  He also has comments about wiggling octopus arms, "pig poop chutes" -- aka chitlins, and spicy grasshoppers.  Non-food related trivia is also included (i.e. a Midwest style cheeseburger -- Juicy/Jucy Lucy brings to mind Lucille Ball of I LOVE LUCY fame and psychiatrist Lucy from the PEANUTS gang.)  Certain species of rats are deemed quite tasty.  They can also characteristically hang out together as a clan -- similar to the entertainers' RAT PACK:  Sinatra, Martin, Davis, Lawford and Bishop.  A unique purchase with discretionary funds.  E.M. Roublow, LAPL, San Pedro Branch.