THE AMBIDEXTROUS LIBRARIAN

CROW COUNTRY (KATE CONSTABLE) I tried, I really did.  It has a CBC Council Shortlist medal on it and everything.  But I just couldn't make it to the finish line. It was a good concept, mother and girl move out to the country, girl discovers old Aboriginal site of significance and is mystically and magically drawn into the stories that the land has to tell - as told by the crows.  She is also drawn back in time to witness a crime against the people of the land many, many years ago - and she must decipher what it is the crows want, so the same mistakes aren't made again (or something along those lines - like I said, I didn't make it to the end!). I am not sure why this story didn't hold my attention.  I really wanted it to.  Perhaps the plot didn't move fast enough?  The main character, Sadie, wasn't really all that interesting?  The crows weren't quite a strong enough feature of the narrative?  None of these reasons seem to really hit the na...

Cicada Summer (Kate Constable) I stumbled across Cicada Summer in a very "professional" attempt to increase my general knowledge of junior fiction. I had heard of Kate Constable, most recently through her acclaimed novel Crow Country , which won the 2012 CBCA Young Readers Book of the Year (haven't read it yet - should do soon!)   Cicada Summer  wasn't quite what I expected, mainly because I totally judged the book by it's cover and didn't read the blurb at all.  Regardless though, I found it to be quite an engaging story, and surprisingly atmospheric for a junior fiction novel. Eloise doesn't speak much.  Actually, she doesn't say anything at all, and hasn't really spoken since her mother passed on a wee while back.  Instead, Eloise speaks through her art, as she is quite a talented artist. Eloise's father, who is an "entrepreneur" and forever chasing his next big bucks breakthrough, has just been given a beautiful, but deca...