The Year in Review, Part Two

Librarian of Snark's Favorite Middle-Grade Books of 2013

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales by Nathan Hale

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Skottie Young

Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson

New Lands by Geoff Rodkey

House of Hades by Rick Riordan

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

Odette's Secrets by Maryann Macdonald

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K.G. Campbell

Constable & Toop by Gareth P. Jones

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Honorable Mentions

Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George

Marco Impossible by Hannah Moskowitz

Salt by Helen Frost

As you can probably tell, I am enormously behind on my reviews. Does anyone have a good solution for this? I almost never sit down and write a review for a book immediately after finishing it and, quite frankly, I don't find reviewing as satisfying as starting a new book, so I have to make time for it. This means that there are still books I read this summer that I haven't yet read. Batches of mini-reviews? I know I've done that before, but I often feel like I'm not giving good books their due when I lump them all together. I know I used to update the blog every day, which would certainly help, but I found that to be overwhelming in terms of keeping up the pace and I'm not sure I want to go back again. Any suggestions?

Having strayed from the topic at hand, once again, this is a small sample of the middle-grade books I read this year. To see more, explore my "middle-grade" or "tween" tags. I also didn't include books published before this year so at least one of my absolute favorites (Mr. and Mrs. Bunny - Detectives Extraordinaire!) is missing from this list. Stats-wise, I read approximately 99 middle-grade books (allowing for some overlap with young adult titles). As far as Newbery predictions, I feel, once again, woefully under-read, particularly with regards to the frontrunners (Doll Bones, The Real Boy (both books I have sitting in my TBR piles at home, actually), One Came Home, etc.). From what I have read, I'd be pleased to see The Year of Billy Miller win something, or the much-contested Hokey Pokey (which I didn't include above, but hit the link for my review). What are you predicting? Anything I absolutely must try to read before the awards announcements?