"Stay on target" "Almost there..."

I feel like the Red Five fighter and Gold Leader in "Star War"s trying to hit the Death Star’s weak spot. I’ve got my eye on the prize, but I’m exhausted! I’m up to 96 and have just a few to go!!

First up: What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones. The sequel to What My Mother Doesn’t Know picks up where the first book left off. This novel in verse is told from Robin Murphy’s point-of-view. Former “super-loser” Robin is just positive that his girlfriend (the super-popular Sophie) will dump him on the first day of school. But, to his surprise, she walks right up to him in the cafeteria and takes his hand. Sophie is shut out by her former friends for hanging out with Robin, so Robin and Sophie take on a “us against the world” attitude. Robin, an artist, is invited to audit an art class at Harvard and starts making new friends, potentially pulling him away from Sophie. Going from super-loser to “kind-of-popular-with-new-friends” is quite a ride for Robin and it is a lot of fun to take the trip with him. I really liked Sophie and Robin from the first book, and like them even more now.

Daniel X: Alien Hunter by James Patterson & Leopoldo Gout is next up. This is the graphic novel version of Patterson’s novel Daniel X. This one confused me a bit. The story suffers a bit when it changed formats, from a full-length novel to a graphic novel. I could still follow the story, but could tell there were lots of details that were left out. Daniel X is a shape-shifting alien hunter on Earth whose job it is to kill all the evil aliens on the List of Alien Outlaws he inherited after his parents’ murder. His next target is alien #7 and Daniel realizes he’ll have to get #7’s son to help him. The illustrations are great, but there was something lacking in the narration. I think I’ll try to read the novel to get the “full picture” (but maybe not this week).

Another winner!!! The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, this is Alexie’s first book for Young Adults and it’s amazing. This is the story of Junior, who lives on a Spokane Reservation with his family. The family doesn’t have much in terms of money, but they have plenty of despair, depression, and alcoholism. Junior decides he doesn’t want the rest of his life to be this way and decides to go to high school off the reservation. This decision isn’t taken too well by Junior’s friends, in fact, his best friend stops talking to him. Junior feels like he’s being split in two, the “kid from the Res” and “a normal kid with a kind-of girlfriend” in a white town. Junior’s voice is so real, I could feel his pain and his joy and I hope Alexie gives us an update on how Junior is doing. Junior is an artist and the comic-like illustrations are fantastic. This book landed on several “best of” lists last year for good reason.