As the first round of the Cybils is coming to a close, I’m eagerly anticipating the release of the shortlists. (Ours is very interesting, to say the least.) As a teaser, I’m doing an all-Cybils edition of the Jacket Flap-a-thon this month. (That, and it’s pretty much all I read!)

Mockingbird (Philomel): “In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white–the world is full of colors–messy and beautiful. Kathryn Erskine has written a must-read gem, one of the most moving novels of the year.”

It’s simple, direct, and intriguing, doing everything a jacket flap should do: it makes you want to read the book.

Wildfire Run (HarperCollins): “The president’s retreat, Camp David, is one of the safest places in the United States. So why can’t the President’s son, Luke, and his friends Theo and Callie stay there without Secret Service agents constantly hovering over them, watching their every move? And yet, when an earthquake sets off a raging wildfire, causing a chain reaction that wreaks havoc at Camp David, they are suddenly on their own. Now Luke needs a plan:

Penny Dreadful (Random House): “What if you were really bored with your life? What would you wish for? Penelope Grey wishes for something—anything!—interesting to happen, and here’s what she gets:

• Her father quits his job.
• Her family runs out of money.
• Her home becomes a pit of despair.

So Penelope makes another wish, and this time the Greys inherit a ramshackle old house in the middle of nowhere. Off they go, leaving the city and their problems behind them. Their new home is full of artists, tiny lions, unusual feasts, and true friends. Almost immediately, their lives are transformed. Penelope’s mother finds an unexpected job, her father discovers a hidden talent, and Penelope changes her name! Penny’s new life feels too magical to be real, too real to be magic. And it may be too good to last . . . unless she can find a way to make magic work just one more time—if it even was magic. Any Which Wall author Laurel Snyder introduces a quirky cast of characters as pleasantly strange as they are deeply real. Abigail Halpin adds to the charm with her distinctive line drawings. Fans of Polly Horvath’s My One Hundred Adventures, Ingrid Law’s Savvy, and Jeanne Birdsall’s The Penderwicks will be enchanted by Laurel Snyder’s alternatively humorous and poignant look at small-town life and what it really takes to become a happy family.”
I promise that I really didn’t copy the flap copy when I mentioned The Penderwicks in my review. Still, it’s spot-on, in its book comparisons, and while I think it gives away more than it should (and makes it sound more magical than it is), it’s still very good copy.

Other Books Read This Month:
Crunch
Tortilla Sun
Betti on the High Wire
Moon Over Manifest
The Importance of Being Earnest
Joey Fly, Private Eye in Big Hairy Drama
Jellaby
Enola Holmes: The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye
The Ring of Solomon
Because of Mr. Terupt
Emily’s Fortune
Happy Birthday, Sophie Hartley
When Molly Was a Harvey Girl
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Round Things