Lost & Found by Shaun Tan has been sitting on my desk for the past month or so, patiently awaiting my attention. As a huge fan of The Arrival and Tales From Outer Suburbia, I knew this book deserved a quiet, solitary read. So I took it home last night and finished it in one sitting. It’s difficult to say what, exactly, makes each of the three stories in this book perfect. But I think it is their strangeness. At first glance, the images hover on the edge of being incomprehensible. Then the words and art give way to just enough meaning that you feel the story is getting at something essential and true, but you can’t quite put your finger on what it is. “The Red Tree” is about a little girl who feels lost, alone, disappointed, confused, and–worst of all–hopeless, until a tiny spark of joy transforms her world into something beautiful. “The Lost Thing” (fun fact: Tan won an Oscar for an animated short of this story), is about a boy who finds a creature that quite clearly does not belong where it is. Instead of abandoning the thing, he protects it and cares for it until he finds its true home. “The Rabbits” (illustrated by Tan, written by John Marsden), is a quietly devastating allegory about the suffering of a colonized people. I’m still mulling over what this book meant to me, but I think it could mean something entirely different to YOU. So read it!

Lost & Found by Shaun Tan has been sitting on my desk for the past month or so, patiently awaiting my attention. As a huge fan of The Arrival and Tales From Outer Suburbia, I knew this book deserved a quiet, solitary read. So I took it home last night and finished it in one sitting. It’s difficult to say what, exactly, makes each of the three stories in this book perfect. But I think it is their strangeness. At first glance, the images hover on the edge of being incomprehensible. Then the words and art give way to just enough meaning that you feel the story is getting at something essential and true, but you can’t quite put your finger on what it is. “The Red Tree” is about a little girl who feels lost, alone, disappointed, confused, and–worst of all–hopeless, until a tiny spark of joy transforms her world into something beautiful. “The Lost Thing” (fun fact: Tan won an Oscar for an animated short of this story), is about a boy who finds a creature that quite clearly does not belong where it is. Instead of abandoning the thing, he protects it and cares for it until he finds its true home. “The Rabbits” (illustrated by Tan, written by John Marsden), is a quietly devastating allegory about the suffering of a colonized people. I’m still mulling over what this book meant to me, but I think it could mean something entirely different to YOU. So read it!

Being a literary, teenage recluse was never so much fun. Not just fun, but downright page-turning. And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky chronicles fifteen year old Keek’s summer of chicken pox, parental divorce, and friend/boyfriend angst. Chronically itchy and stuck indoors, she turns to Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and the soothing sounds of her typewriter to get her through. All former snarky teens who ever lovingly cradled a book and whispered to it, “You’re the only one who understands me,” should read Tibensky’s debut ASAP! I personally sleep with it under my pillow.

Being a literary, teenage recluse was never so much fun. Not just fun, but downright page-turning. And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky chronicles fifteen year old Keek’s summer of chicken pox, parental divorce, and friend/boyfriend angst. Chronically itchy and stuck indoors, she turns to Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and the soothing sounds of her typewriter to get her through. All former snarky teens who ever lovingly cradled a book and whispered to it, “You’re the only one who understands me,” should read Tibensky’s debut ASAP! I personally sleep with it under my pillow.

This week, I am immersed, obsessed, and pretty much living in the world of The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong. I mean, I was expecting it—hello, it’s Kelley Armstrong! It’s a different kind of being sucked-in than I expected after her Darkest Powers series, but in a way that feels spot-on. In The Gathering, sixteen-year-old Maya lives with her parents in a tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island, living an ordinary life and not wondering too much about her background or the paw-print birthmark on her hip. Until now. And yes, that’s when all the strange (aka awesome) things start happening—mountain lions, a sexy bad boy, a best friend that can “feel” situations, unexplained deaths, a mystery about Maya’s biological parents, oh my! It’s a slow, wonderfully achey build to see where it all might lead…read it!

This week, I am immersed, obsessed, and pretty much living in the world of The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong. I mean, I was expecting it—hello, it’s Kelley Armstrong! It’s a different kind of being sucked-in than I expected after her Darkest Powers series, but in a way that feels spot-on. In The Gathering, sixteen-year-old Maya lives with her parents in a tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island, living an ordinary life and not wondering too much about her background or the paw-print birthmark on her hip. Until now. And yes, that’s when all the strange (aka awesome) things start happening—mountain lions, a sexy bad boy, a best friend that can “feel” situations, unexplained deaths, a mystery about Maya’s biological parents, oh my! It’s a slow, wonderfully achey build to see where it all might lead…read it!

The force is strong with Darth Paper Strikes Back. So strong, in fact, that I am forced to believe that author Tom Angleberger must moonlight as a Jedi Master to have crafted what is at once the perfect homage to Star Wars while in the same moment a spot-on depiction of the trials of middle school. In this latest, Tommy, Kellan and the gang despair when Dwight, along with everyone’s favorite advice guru Origami Yoda, is abruptly suspended from school. In a last-ditch effort to have Dwight reinstated, Tommy rallies the gang to compile this case file to prove that Dwight is an indispensable, albeit quirky, member of the school community. But with Darth Paper, wielded by Harvey, out to prove otherwise, does Dwight stand a chance of returning to Ralph McQuarrie Middle School? Bonus! Follow the 5-fold Origami Yoda instructions in the back of the book to create a wise (and ultra-cute) cubicle buddy.

The force is strong with Darth Paper Strikes Back. So strong, in fact, that I am forced to believe that author Tom Angleberger must moonlight as a Jedi Master to have crafted what is at once the perfect homage to Star Wars while in the same moment a spot-on depiction of the trials of middle school. In this latest, Tommy, Kellan and the gang despair when Dwight, along with everyone’s favorite advice guru Origami Yoda, is abruptly suspended from school. In a last-ditch effort to have Dwight reinstated, Tommy rallies the gang to compile this case file to prove that Dwight is an indispensable, albeit quirky, member of the school community. But with Darth Paper, wielded by Harvey, out to prove otherwise, does Dwight stand a chance of returning to Ralph McQuarrie Middle School? Bonus! Follow the 5-fold Origami Yoda instructions in the back of the book to create a wise (and ultra-cute) cubicle buddy.