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Month in review

Reviews:
Angus and the Cat by Marjorie Flack
Another Life by Charles Oberndorf
Austenland by Shannon Hale
Castway Cats by Lisa Wheeler
Chicka Chicka ABC by Bill Martin Jr. and Lois Ehlert
City of Light, City of Dark by Avi
Clifford the Small Red Puppy by Norman Bridwell
Constellation Chronicles: The Lost Civilization of Aries by Vincent Lowry review copy
Day of the Dragon-King (Magic Tree House #14) by Mary Pope Osborne
The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers
Dino-Dinners by Brita Granstrom
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1) by Mary Pope Osborne
Don't Say Ain't by Irene Smalls
Do You Want to be My Friend? by Eric Carle
Emmaline and the Bunny by Katherine Hannigan
Esoteric City by Bruce Sterling
Evolution's Shore (aka Chaga) by Ian McDonald
Harriet and the Garden by Nancy Carlson
I Spy Fun House by Jean Marzollo
I Wish That I Had Duck Feet by Dr. Seuss
Jin Jin the Dragon by Grace Chang
Lizzi & Fredl: A Perilous Journey of Love and Faith by William B. Stanford
Logicist by Carol Emshwiller
Madeline and the Cats of Rome by John Bemelmans Marciano
The Mammy by Brendan O'Carroll
Minifred Goes to School by Mordicai Gerstein
Miss Pickerell and the Geigor Counter by Ellen MacGregor
The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood
Nightwings by Robert Silverberg
One Yellow Lion by Matthew Van Fleet
Opera Cat by Tess Weaver
Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains by Dawn Menge
Riding High by John Francom and James Macgregor
Sassy by Gloria Mallette
The Stars Down Under by Sandra McDonald
Strange Reading by Grant Uden
The Sunless Countries by Karl Schroeder
Tarot Cafe Volume 1 by Sang-Sun Park
Tepper Isn't Going Out by Calvin Trillin
Tiger on a Tree by Anushka Ravishankar
Vacation Under the Volcano (Magic Tree House #13) by Mary Pope Osborne
The West End Horror by Nicholas Meyer
Where Is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox
Yoko's Paper Cranes by Rosemary Wells

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City of Light, City of Dark: 01/12/10

Avi is one of those authors who has written an umpty-billion novels across a number of genres. He could easily be his own section in the library or bookstore. In my own local library, Avi's books take up three rows of shelves. I could easily spend a month just reading and reviewing his books.

City of Light, City of Dark is a graphic novel illustrated by Brian Floca. It reconstructs the history of Manhattan island in an urban fantasy framework. The island belongs to the Kurbs but they lease the land to humanity. All they have to do is keep safe a small token (literally a bus token) of their power and return it by the winter solstice to an agreed upon location.

Every generation has an appointed keeper of the token. It's always a woman and she's given the power to disguise herself but like so many New York heroes she has to keep her true identity a secret even from her own husband and child.

Most of the novel is told from the daughter's point of view. She's been told her mother is dead and her name has been changed. She lives with her father and they are forever in debt to a blind man who desperately seeks the power of the token.

Manhattan, though never called by name, is recognizable in Brian Floca's black and white illustrations. The surrounding cities and boroughs retain their names but Manhattan is just the Island or the City. The way the Kurbs control the city's fate reminds me of one of my favorite films, Dark City.

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