Which Books From 2011 Would You Take With You to a Deserted Island?

A Saturday with Morzant:

Morzant Poses a Hypothetical Question

to His Friends. Again.

MORZANT: Zulko, humans. No need to review your calendars. I’m indeed addressing you on a Saturday, rather than a Tuesday as I customarily do. I intended to ask my friends, as I did last year, what book released in the concluding year each would choose to take with them to a deserted island. Engrossed as I’ve been in my various experiments, I neglected to prepare this post before now. Given that this is the last day of 2011, I hurriedly assembled my friends.

Last year’s query was designed to enhance my understanding of hypothetical questions. The experiment rapidly dissolved into chaos as my friends insisted on altering the hypothetical question’s parameters. (That experiment is available for review here.) This year my friends have agreed to respect the question’s restrictions.

BIGFOOT: We’re ready, Morzant.

MORZANT: You’ve all signed the agreement, in triplicate?

BEVERLY: Yes. We’ve all signed your stupid papers. Now can we just get this over with? I’d like to get out of here before New Year’s Eve 2012.

MORZANT: Certainly. Each of you state which one book released in 2011 you would choose for your deserted island sequestration. We’ll start with the puppies.

LENNY: WON-TON: A CAT TALE TOLD IN HAIKU and—

MORZANT: Excuse me, Lenny, but there can be no “and.” Just one selection please.

LENNY: But I loved a lot of other books, too.

MORZANT: I understand. However, as per the agreement you signed, you’re to choose only the one book you loved best.

BIGFOOT: Actually, the agreement says we’re each allowed to pick up to twenty-one books.

MORZANT: Nonsense. Is states clearly right here that…. Oh, for the love of milky kitten whiskers! Who penciled in the number twenty?

NORMAN: Why are you looking at me?

MORZANT: Who else would tamper with my experiment?

NORMAN: Good point. But really, it wasn’t me this time.

MORZANT: And what’s this other scribbling? “Furthermore, each cryptid may also select any number of books released in this year from their ‘to-be-read pile’—those books they planned to, but did not have a chance to, read during 2011.” I demand to know who’s responsible for polluting my experiment!

BEVERLY: If it speeds things along, I am.

MORZANT: Have you no respect for science?

BEVERLY: Not particularly.

PENNY: Beverly didn’t do it.

MORZANT: Then who? Penny? Not you?

PENNY: I’m sorry! I respect science, I promise. But I couldn’t pick just one. I mean, there are a bunch of books I liked this year. And there are so many more I didn’t even get a chance to read!

BIGFOOT: Then it’s settled. We’ll all just make a huge list of books—

MORZANT: Wait a minute!

NORMAN: You’re the one who insisted we sign the agreement, Morzant. Now we have to stick to it.

MORZANT: Fine. If anybody needs me, I’ll be in the Hortozapher containment chamber, weeping.

The cryptids would bring the following books published in 2011 with them to a deserted island:

Books BIGFOOT read and loved:

BAD ISLAND

by Doug Tennapel

[YOUNG ADULT—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

Graphix-Scholastic

DARTH PAPER STRIKES BACK

by Tom Angleberger

[MIDDLE GRADE—SECOND IN THE ORIGAMI YODA SERIES]

Amulet-Abrams

THE END OF THE LINE

by Angela Cerrito

[YOUNG ADULT]

Holiday House

LEVEL UP

by Gene Luen Yang,

illustrated by Thien Pham

[YOUNG ADULT—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

First Second-Roaring Brook

Books BIGFOOT didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while relaxing under a coconut tree:

DEAD END IN NORVELT

by Jack Gantos

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

THE FINGERTIPS OF DUNCAN DORFMAN

by Meg Wolitzer

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Dutton-Penguin

MAGGIE & OLIVER OR A BONE OF ONE’S OWN

by Valerie Hobbs,

illustrated by Jennifer Thermes

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Henry Holt

NURSERY RHYME COMICS:

50 TIMELESS RHYMES FROM 50 CELEBRATED CARTOONISTS

edited by Chris Duffy

[COMIC FOR YOUNG READERS]

First Second-Roaring Brook

TRUE (…SORT OF)

by Katherine Hannigan

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Greenwillow-HarperCollins

THE UNFORGOTTEN COAT

by Frank Cottrell Boyce

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

Books MORZANT read and loved:

(The experiment has already been tainted; therefore, I see no reason for me to comply with the original terms of my hypothetical question. Or, as the Earth saying goes: If you can’t beat them, join them.)

QUEEN OF THE FALLS

by Chris Van Allsburg

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Houghton Mifflin

SWIRL BY SWIRL: SPIRALS IN NATURE

by Joyce Sidman,

illustrated by Beth Krommes

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Houghton Mifflin-Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

THE WATCHER: JANE GOODALL’S LIFE WITH THE CHIMPS

by Jeanette Winter

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Houghton Mifflin-Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Books MORZANT didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to after studying indigenous island snails:

THE DEAD

by Charlie Higson

[YOUNG ADULT—SECOND IN THE ENEMY SERIES]

Hyperion-Disney

THE INCREDIBLE LIFE OF BALTO

by Meghan McCarthy

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Knopf-Random House

THE UNDERTAKERS: RISE OF THE CORPSES

by Ty Drago

[YOUNG ADULT]

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Book MORTIMER read and loved:

GUINEA PIG, PET SHOP PRIVATE EYE #4: FISH YOU WERE HERE

by Colleen AF Venable,

illustrated by Stephanie Yue

[SILLY FUZZY BOOK]

Graphic Universe-Lerner

Book MORTIMER didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to from the comfort of his tiny island hut:

MOUSENET

by Prudence Breitrose,

with illustrations by Stephanie Yue

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Hyperion-Disney

Books PENNY read and loved:

ANYA’S GHOST

by Vera Brosgol

[YOUNG ADULT—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

First Second-Roaring Brook

THE GIRL BEHIND THE GLASS

by Jane Kelley

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Random House

WHITE CROW

by Marcus Sedgwick

[YOUNG ADULT]

Roaring Brook

Books PENNY didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while drifting along on a warm ocean current:

THE AVIARY

by Kathleen O’Dell

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Knopf-Random House

BLINK & CAUTION

by Tim Wynne-Jones

[YOUNG ADULT]

Candlewick

BREATH OF ANGEL

by Karyn Henley

[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN THE

ANGELAEON CIRCLE TRILOGY]

WaterBrook Multnomah-Random House

THE ISLE OF BLOOD

by Rick Yancey

[YOUNG ADULT—THIRD IN THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST SERIES]

Simon & Schuster

THE NAME OF THE STAR

by Maureen Johnson

[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN THE SHADES OF LONDON TRILOGY]

Putnam-Penguin

RETURN TO DAEMON HALL: EVIL ROOTS

by Andrew Nance,

with illustrations by Coleman Polhemus

[YOUNG ADULT—SEQUEL TO DAEMON HALL]

Henry Holt

IMAGINARY GIRLS

by Nova Ren Suma

[YOUNG ADULT]

Dutton-Penguin

THE SCORPIO RACES

by Maggie Stiefvater

[YOUNG ADULT]

Scholastic

THE VISION

by Jen Nadol

[YOUNG ADULT—SEQUEL TO THE MARK]

Bloomsbury USA

Books NORMAN read and loved:

SCARY SCHOOL

by Derek the Ghost,

with illustrations by Scott M. Fischer

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Harper-HarperCollins

WITCHES’ BREW

by Mary Labatt,

illustrated by Jo Rioux

[GRAPHIC NOVEL—FOURTH IN THE SAM & FRIENDS MYSTERY SERIES]

Kids Can Press

Books NORMAN didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while lounging on a big hot rock:

ALIENS ON VACATION

by Clete Smith,

with illustrations by Christian Slade

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Hyperion-Disney

THE BOY AT THE END OF THE WORLD

by Greg van Eekhout

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Bloomsbury USA

BREADCRUMBS

by Anne Ursu,

with illustrations by Erin Mcguire

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Walden Pond-HarperCollins

MISSING ON SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN

by Elise Broach,

with illustrations by Antonio Javier Caparo

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIRST IN TRILOGY]

Henry Holt

MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE

by Anna Staniszewski

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIRST IN TRILOGY]

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky-Sourcebooks

THE ONLY ONES

by Aaron Starmer

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Delacorte-Random House

ZOMBIE MOMMY

by M.T. Anderson,

with illustrations by Kurt Cyrus

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIFTH IN THE PALS IN PERIL SERIES]

Beach Lane-Simon & Schuster

Books BEVERLY read and loved:

BONE DOG

by Eric Rohmann

[PICTURE BOOK]

Roaring Brook

A MONSTER CALLS

by Patrick Ness (based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd),

with illustrations by Jim Kay

[YOUNG ADULT]

Candlewick

THE VISCONTI HOUSE

by Elsbeth Edgar

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

Books BEVERLY didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while sunning herself on the beach:

LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE

by Julie Sternberg,

with illustrations by Matthew Cordell

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Amulet-Abrams

THE MIDNIGHT ZOO

by Sonya Hartnett,

with illustrations by Andrea Offermann

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

MY NAME IS MINA

by David Almond

[MIDDLE GRADE—PREQUEL TO SKELLIG]

Delacorte-Random House

MY NAME IS NOT EASY

by Debby Dahl Edwardson

[YOUNG ADULT]

Marshall Cavendish

SMALL PERSONS WITH WINGS

by Ellen Booraem

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Dial-Penguin

Books OLIVER read and loved:

A BALL FOR DAISY

by Chris Raschka

[PICTURE BOOK]

Schwartz & Wade-Random House

ANIMALS HOME ALONE

by Loes Riphagen

[PICTURE BOOK]

Seven Footer Press

BLACKOUT

by John Rocco

[PICTURE BOOK]

Hyperion-Disney

NO DOGS ALLOWED!

by Linda Ashman,

illustrated by Kristin Sorra

[PICTURE BOOK]

Sterling

I MUST HAVE BOBO!

by Eileen Rosenthal,

illustrated by Marc Rosenthal

[PICTURE BOOK]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster

PERFECT SQUARE

by Michael Hall

[PICTURE BOOK]

Greenwillow-HarperCollins

WHERE’S WALRUS?

by Stephen Savage

[PICTURE BOOK]

Scholastic Press-Scholastic, 2011

Book OLIVER didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while cozied in a quiet island cave:

DAISY DAWSON AT THE BEACH

by Steve Voake,

with illustrations by Jessica Meserve

[CHAPTER BOOK]

Candlewick

Books LENNY read and loved:

CAT SECRETS

by Jef Czekaj

[PICTURE BOOK]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

EARTH TO CLUNK

by Pam Smallcomb,

illustrated by Joe Berger

[PICTURE BOOK]

Dial-Penguin

RAJ THE BOOKSTORE TIGER

by Kathleen T. Pelley,

illustrated by Paige Keiser

[PICTURE BOOK]

Charlesbridge

WON TON: A CAT TALE TOLD IN HAIKU

by Lee Wardlaw,

illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

[PICTURE BOOK]

Henry Holt

Books VIOLET read and loved:

APPLE PIE ABC

by Alison Murray

[PICTURE BOOK]

Hyperion-Disney

BEAR WITH ME

by Max Kornell

[PICTURE BOOK]

Putnam-Penguin

MINI RACER

by Kristy Dempsey,

illustrated by Bridget Strevens-Marzo

[PICTURE BOOK]

Bloomsbury USA

ME…JANE

by Patrick McDonnell

[PICTURE BOOK]

Little, Brown-Hachette

MY NAME IS ELIZABETH!

by Annika Dunklee,

illustrated by Matthew Forsythe

[PICTURE BOOK]

Kids Can Press

SAY HELLO TO ZORRO!

by Carter Goodrich

[PICTURE BOOK]

Simon & Schuster

Book VIOLET didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to read to her new friend, Orin the Iguana:

THE PRINCESS OF BORSCHT

by Leda Schubert,

illustrated by Bonnie Christensen

[PICTURE BOOK]

Roaring Brook