Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman does explain why his hero is named Odd. This Odd is a crippled twelve-year old Viking boy who gets involved with some of the Norse gods who have been enchanted and exiled to Midgard. In the process, he saves them, saves the world, and saves himself.

I'm not sure this makes it quite up to the level of YA. It is a children's book. Even if I didn't like Gaiman's work, it would have been irresistible sold as it was on the same special deal as the previous Odd book.

And now I am caught up - for the moment. Given the number of hours that I have this semester (both teaching and taking) I probably won't get much personal reading done. But when this semester is over, I should be through with the taking classes part. A friend of mine finished his master's over the summer - and suddenly he is posting long thoughtful pieces on Facebook. I am so looking forward to the day ---