[close] From stapling her brother's hair to the pillow to freezing a dead fly in the ice cube tray, the impish protagonist of 17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore never rests. This unflappable mischief-maker leaves a trail of exasperated family members, teachers, and crossing guards in her wake, but somehow we suspect she will grow up just fine - as a brilliant writer or inventor, no doubt. Told in the first person, the book is simply a series of the girl's "ideas" ("I had an idea to do my George Washington report on beavers instead") and consequences ("I am not allowed to do reports on beavers anymore") One imagines the list growing infinitely longer and more absurd; setting limits on our heroine's activities clearly has no bearing on her future behavior or creativity.

Nancy Carpenter's illustrations, rendered in pen and ink and digital media on crumpled and emery-boarded paper (!) are the perfect foil to Jenny Offill's hilariously dry text. The cool-as-a-cucumber narrator simply reports--the illustrations and our own imagination fill in the blanks. Wonderful. --Emilie Coulter [close]