This list is all the books I have read this year that meet the qualifications with my Goodreads rating given at the time of completion. (5 stars---best.)
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
(Nancy Paulsen Books, Aug. 28, 2014)
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Cress by Marissa Meyer
(Feiwel and Friends, Feb 4, 2014)
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The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
(Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt and Company, March 18, 2014)
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Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines by Paul Fleischman
(Candlewick Press, Sept. 23, 2014)
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Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
(Dutton Juvenile, Feb. 11, 2014)
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Never Ending by Martyn Bedford
(Wendy Lamb Books, March 11, 2014)
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Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
(HarperTeen, June 3, 2014)
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She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
(Orion Children's Books, October 3, 2013)
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Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
(Margaret K. McElderry Books, July 15, 2014)
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The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer
(Knopf Books for Young Readers, April 8, 2014)
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Always Emily by Michaela MacColl
(Chronicle Books, April 8, 2014)
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Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn
(St. Martins Griffins, June 14, 2014)
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Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
(Little, Brown and Company, April 8, 2014)
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The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming
(Schwartz and Wade, July 8, 2014)
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Gandhi: My Life Is My Message by Jason Quinn
(Campfire Books, March 4, 2014)
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Girls Like Us by Gail Giles
(Candlewick Press, May 27, 2014)
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The Here and Now by Ann Brashares
(Delacorte Press, April 1, 2014)
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A Matter of Souls by Denise Lewis Patrick
(Carolrhoda Books, April 1, 2014)
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The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin
(Roaring Book Press, Jan. 21, 2014)
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Red Madness: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat by Gail Jarrow
(Calkins Creek Books, April 1, 2014)
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The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim #1 by EK Johnston
(Carolrhoda Books, March 1, 2014)
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The Tyrant's Daughter by JC Carleson
(Knopf Books for Young Readers, Feb. 11, 2014)
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We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
(Delacorte Press, May 13, 2014)
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Going Over by Beth Kephart
(Chronicle Books, April 1, 2014)
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The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
(Viking Juvenile, Jan. 2, 2014)
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Noggin by John Corey Whaley
(Atheneum Books for Young Readers, April 8, 2014)
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Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi
(First Second, June 11, 2014)
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The Sound of Letting Go by Stasia Ward Kehoe
(Viking Children's Books, Feb. 6, 2014)
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The Gospel of Winter by Brendan Kiely
(Margaret K. McElderry Books, Jan. 21, 2014)
I am always struck by my fluid memory. As I typed up this list and looked back on my Goodreads reviews I was tempted to change a few of the ratings because time has altered my view of the book as the memory and subsequent events have altered my impressions. But I held true. The ratings I listed are the ratings I gave the books the day I ranked them.
You may also wonder how objective I am when more than 3/4th of my ratings are 4 or 5. Keep in mind that I do a lot of homework before I choose a book. Most of the books listed here already had lots of star ratings from professional reviewing sites and I chose to read them based on those reviews. It actually should be more shocking there are any 2 or 3 ratings at all.
I didn't like Cress as much as you did, and haven't gotten to Dreams of gods and monsters. Is the rating because it was so long?
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I listened to Dreams of Gods and Monster, which take longer than reading it. Perhaps that is why I felt that the middle part really dragged. Carly is listening to it right now and she essentially thinks the same thing. That is why I gave it a 4.
DeleteMy 5 star rating of Cress was given right after I read it and I was so caught up in the world I had to give a top-notch rating. However since that time the story has faded so probably would be down-graded if I had to rank it today.