Two Whacky Middle Grade Fantasies--The Revenge of the Itty-Bitty Brothers and Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments

There's a sub-genre of middle-grade fantasy that embraces the over-the-top and runs with it. These are the sort of books where silliness rules, where characters are caught in situations that break all the rules, books that set out to entertain their intended audience and keep them turning the pages. They are the sort of book that you might give to the child who loved the Captain Underpants books back when they were learning to read, and who might still be re-reading them.

Here are two examples, from my recent Cybils reading--both of these have been nominated in the middle grade science fiction and fantasy category.

Revenge of the Itty-Bitty Brothers, by Lin Oliver, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin (Simon and Schuster, 2009, 159pp) is the third book of the Who Shrunk Daniel Funk? series. But it's not necessary to have read the first two to enjoy this one. A (moderately gross) encounter with a taco leads Daniel Funk to a breakthrough--through the explosive expulsion of digestive gasses he can control when he shrinks! This is great news for his tiny twin brother, Pablo, who lives a semi-secret life among the detritus of Daniel's room. Now the two can be tiny together, sharing the joys of marshmallow trampolining, soap surfing in the bathtub, and, as the grand finale, shooting into space in model rockets over the La Brea tar pits...

It's straight-forward, light-hearted fun, told in crisp, clear sentences. There are hints that future books in the series might explore some of the intriguing questions that aren't answered here--what happened to the Funk family dad, who disappeared while off on a scientific expedition? Will Pablo always be small? Will his mother and sisters ever get to meet him??? I'd love to know more about these aspects of the story, and less about what it is like to wallow in an ice-cream sundae...but the intended readers who aren't me (fourth and fifth grade boys, I'd say) might well disagree!

Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments, by Emily Ecton (Aladdin--Simon and Schuster, 2009, 229 pages), is a notch up age-wise (seventh grade-ish, I think), and not so much a Boy book--it's narrated by a girl, and there is less burping. That being said, there is a sheep-shaped pepper shaker who has come to life and who is having major digestive issues:

"Eunice patted me on the hand with her little hoof. "We'll be quiet. But if you get a chance?" She did a little hip swivel. There was no sound at all from her insides. "I'm very clumpy," she whispered.

I nodded. "I'll see what I can do." Nothing like adding "find a good sheep innard substitute" to your list of things to do." (p 139)

And the pepper shaker is not the only inanimate thing to come to life. When Arlie and her friend Ty find a mysterious dragonfly pendant, and playfully drape it over the necks of various lawn ornaments and sundry knick knacks, stuffed animals, and Mr. Boots' favorite toy (Mr. Boots being a neurotic Chihuahua), little do they know the mayhem they are about to unleash...

It is non-stop insanity--no quite moments of tranquil beauty and intricate character development here (although I like the "just friends for now" relationship between Ty and Arlie very much)! But Ecton has a way with words that makes the reading fun for all ages, even if it is all, perhaps, just a bit too crazy for my own taste.

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for supporting the Cybils by sending us panelists review copies!

Sent, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, for Timeslip Tuesday

Sent, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster, 2009, middle grade, 308pp), is the second book of The Missing. It's not entirely necessary to have read Found, the first book of the series, before reading Sent, but it will spoil Found considerably if you read this one first....so consider this whole review a spoiler for Found.

Jonah, Katherine, Chip and Alex were ordinary 21st century kids. It's true that three of them were orphans, found as babies on a mysterious airplane that appeared out of no where, but other than that, life was normal. But then they learn that all those babies were rescued from certain death back in various pasts, and that the time has come for them to be sent home again to meet their destinies and fix the wrinkles that have formed in time. If, like Chip and Alex, you are the Princes in the Tower, supposedly killed by your wicked uncle Richard III, the smooth course of history might be the last thing on your mind.

When Chip and Alex are sent back to 15th century, Jonah and Katherine travel with them, much to the dismay of JB and the other mysterious time guardians of the future, who are working to Fix things. Chip and Alex gradually take on their medieval identities, caught up in a perilous contest over the crown of England. But Jonah and Katherine are determined to bring them safely back to the present, even if it means donning medieval armor and joining in the Battle of Bosworth Field...

It's a fast, fun read. Haddix is an excellent story-teller, and keeps things swinging along.

Despite the engrossing action, however, there's not a whole lot of emotional wallop to the story. Partly this is because the mechanisms of plot are given more prominence than the subtleties of characterization and emotional response--although the kids have distinct personalities, they are painted with a rather wide brush.

In larger part this lack of emotional punch is due to the fact that these kids have it very easy, time-travel wise. They are in touch with JB for most of their time in the past, and can be pulled out at any moment, and, even in the final battle, there is no immediate sense that they will come to any harm. And they are never modern children forced to act convincingly in the past. Chip and Alex have ready made identities to slip into, and Jonah and Katherine are handily made invisible by a futuristic gizmo that translates for them. Even when they have to leave their translator in the present, after a brief break from the middle ages, they get an injection of linguistic elixir that solves the language problem...

But although this isn't the most powerful story I've ever read, it is a lovely history lesson packaged in adventure, one that (for the most part) steers clear of obvious didacticism. In this aspect of the book I give Haddix high marks. Her Richard III is not a monster, and the princes in the tower are clearly caught in a complex situation for which there is no easy answer. I loved the way she brought Shakespeare's version into the picture, raising the issue of literary propaganda!

In short, this is a good, kid-friendly read that's also a great introduction to the trickiness of the historian's craft. I'll be looking forward to the next books in the series...

Sent has been nominated for the Cybils in middle grade science fiction/fantasy, and its publisher, Simon and Schuster, very generously provided us panelists with review copies--thanks.

This week's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy reviews

Here's the second installment of my weekly roundup of middle-grade (ages 9-12) science fiction and fantasy reviews of books old and new from around the book blogs. Here's what I've found so far, but please leave me a comment if I've missed yours, and I will add it to the list! (and feel free to spread the word about this too).

At One Librarian's Book Reviews, you can find Found (ha ha), by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

Kate at Book Aunt looks at Spellbinder, by Helen Stringer (2009).

Fuse #8 reviews Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin (2009)

At A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, Liz has The Witch's Guide to Cooking With Children, by Kevin McGowan, a modern re-telling of Hansel and Gretel (2009).

Jennifer, at the Jean Little Library, talks about Violet Wings, by Victoria Hanley (2009). And at Children Come First, Olgy has another Victoria Hanley book, that's at the top end of my definition of middle grade-- The Light of the Oracle.

At Fantasy Book Review (UK) there's Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth, by Chris Priestley (2009).


The Curse of the Spider King, by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper (2009), is currently on a huge blog tour of Christian Science Fiction/Fantasy blogs--here's one of its first stops, at The Christian Fantasy Review, and there a long list of the other participating blogs.

At Emeraldfire's Bookmark there's a look at The Taker and the Keeper, by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin (2009), a Cybils nominee that I reviewed a few weeks back here. And it's also reviewed by Anastasia here at BirdBrain(ed) Book Blog.

Eva at Eva's Book Addiction is currently the middle-grade science fiction and fantasy book reviewing champion. Here she has Silksinger, by Laini Taylor (2009), here she has Ottoline Goes to School, by Chris Riddell (2009), and here she has The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan (2009), all Cybils nominees.

Critique de Mr. Chomp Chomp takes a look at When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (2009), another Cybils nominee.

I myself only reviewed one book this week (here), being rather busy with other things. It was Lost Worlds, by John Howe (2009), a lovely non-fiction book.

This past week saw the Winter Blog Blast Tour of author interviews organized by Colleen at Chasing Ray, where you can find the full schedule. Here are the interviews with mg sff authors:

Derek Landy, of Skulduggery Pleasant fame, at Finding Wonderland.
Frances Hardinge (The Lost Conspiracy and more) at Fuse #8
Patrick Carman (Skeleton Creek) at Miss Erin
Laini Taylor (the Dreamdark Books) at Shelf Elf
Jim De Bartolo (illustrator of the above) at Seven Impossible Things
R.L. LaFevers (the Theodosia books, and also Nathaniel Fludd, Beasteologist) at HipWriterMama
and, because The Thief is middle grade, even if the next two books more YA-ward, there's Megan Whalen Turner at HipWriterMama.

(did I miss anyone?????)

Notes from the world of the library book sale

Our sale is still ongoing....my sale, really, even though I have some helpers. I have moved 6,000 books at least 3 times each.

Library book sales are frustrating things. The preview night is horribly stressful, for small sales like ours--we need the dealers to come, since they are the biggest spenders, but they can be very hard to deal with, making nasty remarks about the quality of the books offered, leaving messy piles for us to put away, and generally being demanding. They weren't bad this time around, but, on the other hand, they weren't buying many books. Sigh.

And the local newspaper put in wrong information about the days the sale was open, just saying Monday, instead of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so business is way down. A couple of people have said to me that they think the newspaper did it on purpose, because (they say) the paper supports the other, bigger, library, which is located in the more affluent part of town, and, they say, that library wants our library to close so they can have the totality of the town library budget (which might well be true). I really, really, don't want to think that the newspaper would be so mean, but I am pretty sad.

On a lighter note, a copy of Twilight showed up in the donations for the First Time! Harry Potters showed up within months of their releases, so I guess the people of my town love Bella more, in that they are so unwilling to part with her...

And I did already get to spend $350 of the dollars buying legos for the library's new lego club, which was fun.

But still. I am thinking of making my oldest dress in a book costume and dance at the intersection tomorrow, to bring in more traffic. If only I had a book costume on hand...Ninja, yes, but that is not Useful...

Passing the buck to Laini Taylor over at Shelf Elf

Because I have a library booksale to run, starting tonight, and because it is mostly all being done by me, I am passing the buck (or book ha ha) to an interview with Laini Taylor over at Shelf Elf, which makes much better reading than anything I am capable of right now! And then I pass the buck some more, to an interview with Laini's husband, artist Jim Di Bartolo, at Seven Impossible Things, where there is much wondrous art of a fantastical sort to admire.

And even though Laini's book, Lips Touch, didn't win the National Book Award for Young People's Literature (the winner was Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Phillip Hoose , it is still incredibly cool that it made the short list!

And, speaking of awards, The Graveyard Book won another one--the prestigious UK Booktrust Teenage Prize, and you can read Gaiman's thoughts on all his winning-ness, and some loosing-ness, here at the Guardian. I think that the Cybils (hooray for us!) was the first major award he won, so that at least should have had its first fine freshness...

New Releases of Fantasy and Science Fiction for Children and Teenagers--the middle of November edition

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teenagers from the middle of this month! As usual, my info comes from Teens Read Too, and the blurbs are lifted from Amazon.

For 9-12 year olds:

Celia's Robot by Margaret Chang. "Ten-year-old Celia is messy and disorganized, so her father builds her a robot to turn her life around. High-tech Robot is part nanny, part housekeeper, and all friend, but Celia worries that Dad build Robot because he and Mom are too busy to take care of her. Then Robot goes missing, and Celia wonders if she's lost her father's love as well."

Claim to Fame by Margaret Peterson Haddix. "It was a talent that came out of nowhere. One day Lindsay Scott was on the top of the world, the star of a hit TV show. The next day her fame had turned into torture. Every time anyone said anything about her, she heard it. And everyone was talking about Lindsay: fans, friends, enemies, enemies who pretended to be friends....Lindsay had what looked like a nervous breakdown and vanished from the public eye. But now she's sixteen and back in the news: A tabloid newspaper claims that Lindsay is being held hostage by her father. The truth? Lindsay has been hiding out in a small Illinois town, living in a house that somehow provides relief from the stream of voices in her head. But when two local teenagers try to "rescue" Lindsay by kidnapping her, Lindsay is forced to confront everything she's hiding from. And that's when she discovers there may be others who share her strange power. Lindsay is desperate to learn more, but what is she willing to risk to find the truth?"

Clay Man: The Golem of Prague by Irene N. Watts. "It is 1595, and the rabbi’s son Jacob is frustrated with having to live in the walled ghetto known as Jewish Town. Why can’t he venture outside of the gates and explore the beautiful city? His father warns him that Passover is a dangerous time to be a Jew and that the people from outside accuse the Jews of dreadful deeds. But one night, Jacob follows his father and two companions as they unlock the ghetto gates and proceed to the river, where they mold a human shape from the mud of the riverbank. When the rabbi speaks strange words, the shape is infused with life and the Golem of Prague is born."

Everwild (Skinjacker Trilogy) by Neal Shusterman. "There was the rumor of a beautiful sky witch, who soared across the heavens in a great silver balloon. And there were whispers of a terrible ogre made entirely of chocolate, who lured unsuspecting souls with that rich promising smell, only to cast them down a bottomless pit from which there was no return. Everlost, the limbo land of dead children, is at war. Nick the "Chocolate Ogre" wants to help the children of Everlost reach the light at the end of the tunnel. Mary Hightower, self-proclaimed queen of lost children and dangerous fanatic, is determined to keep Everlost's children trapped within its limbo for all eternity. Traveling in the memory of the Hindenburg, Mary is spreading her propaganda and attracting Afterlights to her cause at a frightening speed. Meanwhile, Allie the Outcast travels home to seek out her parents, along with Mikey, who was once the terrifying monster the McGill. Allie is tempted by the seductive thrill of skinjacking the living, until she learns a shocking secret: Those who skinjack are not actually dead."

The Giant-Slayer by Iain Lawrence. "The spring of 1955 tests Laurie Valentine’s gifts as a storyteller. After her friend Dickie contracts polio and finds himself confined to an iron lung, Laurie visits him in the hospital. There she meets Carolyn and Chip, two other kids trapped inside the breathing machines. Laurie’s first impulse is to flee, but Dickie begs her to tell them a story. And so Laurie begins her tale of Collosso, a rampaging giant, and Jimmy, a tiny boy whose destiny is to become a slayer of giants. As Laurie embellishes her tale with gnomes, unicorns, gryphons, and other fanciful creatures, Dickie comes to believe that he is a character in her story. Little by little Carolyn, Chip, and other kids who come to listen, recognize counterparts as well. Laurie’s tale is so powerful that when she’s prevented from continuing it, Dickie, Carolyn, and Chip take turns as narrators. Each helps bring the story of Collosso and Jimmy to an end—changing the lives of those in the polio ward in startling ways."

Grk Smells a Rat by Joshua Doder. "Tim Malt; his parents; his dog, Grk; and his friends Natascha and Max Raffifi have just arrived in India. They are all set to see the famous sights and watch Max compete in a tennis tournament. But after meeting a boy named Krishnan, they learn about the Blue Rat Gang, a group that enslaves children. Krishnan needs help to rescue his sister from a cruel life of forced labor, and Tim and Grk are up to the challenge. Racing against time, Tim and Grk are chased through dark alleys only to find themselves face-to-face with the infamous leader inside the Blue Rats’ headquarters. Can they foil his evil plans before it’s too late?"

Lost Worlds by John Howe. "From the world of Aratta and Mohenjo-Daro to Atlantis and Camelot, this visually stunning book is a window with a view that takes readers on an historical, archaeological, and mythological journey through lost worlds, those abandoned in time, buried and forgotten, and the ones that live in the imagination. Attempting to put the most plausible pieces of history together, John Howe, concept artist for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, begins the journey that will move readers to explore these lost worlds even further."

The Luckiest Boy by Scott Christian Sava. "13 year old Russell Ranger is the unluckiest boy in the world. Nothing ever seems to go his way. Nothing good at least. One day, though, he meets a real, honest to goodness Leprechaun, who grants him a wish... just one wish. So he wishes to be the Luckiest Boy in the World! Suddenly, his family wins the lottery, gets to meet his favorite football player, and even discovers Bigfoot. He's a worldwide celebrity. But something's not right. All of the good luck is going to Russ. But, that means all the bad luck is given to the rest of the world! Now, earthquakes, stock market crashes, and a deadly asteroid threaten the existence of everyone on Earth, and only Russ can stop it... if he can find the Leprechaun to give his good luck back!"

Olivion's Favorites (Marvelous World) by Troy Cle. "When Louis Proof collapsed in pain in front of his uncle's store, he thought he was going to die. Instead he awoke in Midlandia, a place of the impossible. Almost as soon as he arrives, three eNoli -- people who look human but are otherworldly -- try to kill him. In fact, it seems as if everyone in Midlandia is trying to kill Louis and the other two human teens, Cyndi Victoria Chase and Devon Alexander. The three are Favorites. If they survive Midlandia, they will have great powers. That's a big "if," though. Louis must find Cyndi and Devon, who've been flung to different parts of Midlandia. Only when the three are together will Olivion's Gate appear. Then they will be able to cross the Gate, meet the Olivion, and return home. The three teens must also pay attention to everything on their journey. It is not enough to be a Favorite; they need to learn how to use their newfound abilities. Tremendous challenges await them at home. But as they're about to learn, those challenges are only the beginning. A threat is coming that is greater than anyone -- human or eNoli or iLone -- can imagine...."

Scurvey Goonda by Chris McCoy. "In Book One of this two-part story, an endearing misfit embarks on an amazing adventure in search of his friend Scurvy Goonda, an outrageous invisible pirate with an insatiable love for bacon. Part friendship story, part madcap adventure, readers who love stories in which almost-ordinary kids travel to fantastical lands and become heroes will revel in the imaginative landscape and characters featured in this original debut. While adventure-loving vegetarians will find much to savor, this is a must-read for all who love bacon—which plays a key role in the story’s sizzling climax!"

Versus: Warriors by Steve Stone. "Ten of the greatest warriors of history meet for the first time. From Viking vs. Aztec Warrior and Samurai v. Gladiator to Medieval Knight vs. Zulu, Versus explores who would triumph and why, if these fiercest warriors were to engage in deadly battle against one another. Data files compare and contrast weaponry, armor, tactics and codes of honor, while eye-catching background scenes of arenas provide historical and cultural context. With the computer-gamer in mind, designs brings history's warriors into the 21st century and readers will be treated to large, gate folded pages that enhance the experience of each battle In the end, only one can be crowned history's ultimate warrior. Who will it be?"

Young Adult:

Angel in Vegas: The Chronicles of Noah Sark by Norma Howe. "Who is Noah Sark, really? And what is he doing in the men’s room at Angelo’s Donut Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada? No use asking him; he doesn’t know. But he’s gambling that an assignment from above will shed some light — after all, a life depends on it! Only master satirist Norma Howe could craft a provocative meditation on free will from blending one (or maybe two) budding teen romances, a psychic fair, a dead frog, a headful of blond curls, and Las Vegas in all its glitz and kitsch (hello, Elvis!) with the dramatic backstory of Princess Diana in Paris. The jackpot? A wild and witty portrait of an unlikely guardian angel on a desperate mission to save a certain unknown girl from a certain unknown disaster."

Betrayals: A Strange Angels Novel Lili St. Crow. "Poor Dru Anderson. Her parents are long gone, her best friend is a werewolf, and she’s just learned that the blood flowing through her veins isn’t entirely human. (So what else is new?) Now Dru is stuck at a secret New England School for other teens like her, and there’s a big problem— she’s the only girl in the place. A school full of cute boys wouldn’t be so bad, but Dru’s killer instinct says that one of them wants her dead. And with all eyes on her, discovering a traitor within the Order could mean a lot more than social suicide. . ."

The Magician of Hoad by Margaret Mahy. "Heriot Tarbas was born with a gift. Visions wake him in the middle of the night, and others' thoughts invade his head. Heriot's mind already feels torn apart when the King of Hoad decides to tear him away from his family. Heriot quickly discovers that life in the royal court is much more difficult and complex than life on the farm. Being at the beck and call of a King who expects him to read friends' and foes' minds alike is no small challenge, but neither is being caught in a power struggle among three princes and an intimidating Hero of Hoad. As Heriot hones his skills and grows into the role of the Magician of Hoad, the number of people he can trust becomes smaller. Loneliness threatens to engulf him until a chance encounter brings a street urchin named Cayley into his life. Heriot feels inexplicably drawn to Cayley, someone he sees so much of himself in, yet at times feels like he does not understand at all. But even amidst the turmoil, Heriot is certain that his ever-developing power is the key to his destiny...if only he could figure out exactly what that destiny is supposed to be."

Dr. Sigmundus: The Resurrection Fields (The Promises of Dr. Sigmundus) by Brian Keaney. "Beginning where Book 2, The Cracked Mirror, left off, this finale to the Promises of Dr. Sigmundus trilogy takes readers into bizarre realms with fanciful creatures, continuing its signature exploration of the price of freedom and self-determination. Focusing on the ongoing struggles of its teenaged protagonists, Dante and Bea, it is a journey at once thrilling and thoughtful, with plenty to offer for pure reading enjoyment and book discussion."

The Shadowmask: Stone of Tymora, Book II by R.A. & Geno Salvatore. "Though robbed by a masked spellcaster and left for dead by a demon, twelve-year-old Maimun refuses to give up the magic that rightfully belongs to him. After reuniting with dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden and Captain Deudermont's crew, Maimun sets off on a sea-faring chase that will test both the strength of his spirit and of his friendships. As perilous storms rock Sea Sprite and vicious pirates bombard its decks, a mysterious force gathers in the Moonshaes, determined to bring Deudermont's ship - and Maimun's quest - crashing to an end on its shores."

Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat. "Escape. Milena, Bartolomeo, Helen, and Milos have left their prison-like boarding schools far behind, but their futures remain in peril. Fleeing across icy mountains from a terrifying pack of dog-men sent to hunt them down, they are determined to take up the fight against the despotic government that murdered their parents years before. Only three will make it safely to the secret headquarters of the resistance movement. The fourth is captured and forced to participate in a barbaric game for the amusement of the masses — further proof of the government’s horrible brutality. Will the power of one voice be enough to rouse a people against a generation of cruelty?"

Shadowland: The Immortals by Alyson Noel. "Ever and Damen have traveled through countless past lives—and fought off the world’s darkest enemies—so they could be together forever. But just when their long-awaited destiny is finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon Damen…one that could destroy everything. Now a single touch of their hands or a soft brush of their lips could mean sudden death—plunging Damen into the Shadowland. Desperate to break the curse and save Damen, Ever immerses herself in magick—and gets help from an unexpected source…a surfer named Jude. Although she and Jude have only just met, he feels startlingly familiar. Despite her fierce loyalty to Damen, Ever is drawn to Jude, a green-eyed golden boy with magical talents and a mysterious past. She’s always believed Damen to be her soulmate and one true love—and she still believes it to be true. But as Damen pulls away to save them, Ever’s connection with Jude grows stronger—and tests her love for Damen like never before…"

For all ages:

Fairie-ality Style: A Sourcebook of Inspirations from Nature by David Ellwand. "Photographer David Ellwand’s eye for natural beauty has brought him international renown. In this stunning new volume, a follow-up to FAIRIE-ALITY: THE FASHION COLLECTION FROM THE HOUSE OF ELLWAND, he uses the same gorgeous array of natural elements — feathers, flowers, stones, shells, and more — to explore the limits of imagination in home design as well as haute couture. Partly an inspirational sourcebook for imaginative DIY projects, partly a showcase of unique fantasy fashion, FAIRIE-ALITY STYLE is an eco-designer’s dream — the ultimate exploration of truly organic materials."

Lost Worlds, by John Howe, for Nonfiction Monday

There are some books which, the moment you see them, invite you to open them. The opening is accompianied by appreciative murmurs, and thoughts of gift giving. Lost Worlds, by John Howe (Kingfisher, 2009, older middle grade on up, 95 pp), is just such a book. Mysterious looking. Engaging. Alluring. And with great content inside!

In his introduction, Howe (who was the concept artist for the Lord of the Rings movies) writes:

"There are two kinds of lost worlds: Those abandoned in time, buried and forgotten, like Aratta or Mohenjo-Daro, and the ones that live in the imagination, from Atlantis to Camelot. The first ones we might call real, since they once had streets filled with people. The latter are real, too, but in a different way; they embody our need for symbols and meaning." (page 9)

And so he sets out to offer a tour of the lost worlds (both real and fantastical) that have captured the imaginations of people for millennia. Howe takes his readers from the Garden of Eden, to Thebes, to Cahokia, Shambhala, Avalon and the Hollow Earth (and many more magical places--24 in all), offering, like a good tour guide, much clearly presented information about each one. Alongside the words are pictures--both beautiful original art, and also photographs of the real places and artifacts from them. The detailed, colorful illustrations bring the places to life--the reader can imagine, for instance, walking the streets of Mohenjo-Daro, or arriving at Timbuktu...

The imaginary places included are skewed toward a European world-view, and even some of the places that aren't in Europe are discussed from the point of view of European eyes. There is, however, considerable cultural and geographical variety. The one striking geographical omission from the lost places featured is East Asia--there are no lost worlds of China or Japan (although there is Shambhala, high in the Himalayas). A few are included in the Appendix at the end, which gives tantalizingly brief descriptions of more lost worlds. Although there's a glossary and an index, I would really have appreciated a map--many of the places described are real, and it would be useful to know where they are.

That being said, this is a beautiful book, one that educates as it entertains. It would a great gift for the middle-school kid (maybe 5th grade up) who is fascinated by archaeology and mythology (and who loves the "ology" books). It would also make a good gift for an older fantasy loving teenager, or even an adult lover of fantasy. And, as an added bonus, there's a forward by Ian McKellen (aka Gandalf).

Review copy received from the publisher.

Today's Non-Fiction Monday is at Tales from the Rushmore Kid.

Interview with Megan Whalen Turner at HipWriterMama, and more Winter Blog Blast Tour goodness

If you are at all a fan of Megan Whalen Turner, you must not miss today's interview with her at HipWriterMama! (there was something in it that made me squee like the fan girl I am). This interview is part of the Winter Blog Blast Tour, organized by Colleen over at Chasing Ray, where you can find the whole schedule.

Here are today's other offerings of particular interest to us fans of speculative fiction/sff:

Derek Landry at Finding Wonderland
Frances Hardinge at Fuse Number 8
Mary E. Pearson at Miss Erin

Introducing the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy Roundup!

Looking for reviews of middle grade science fiction and fantasy (sf/f) can be something of a hit or miss proposition. Books in this genre are often reviewed at blogs that have a general children's book focus, but you never know when that's going to happen, and middle grade books seem to show up only sporadically (if at all) at blogs whose focus is sf/f. So, inspired by Sherry at Semicolon, who hosts a review round-up every Saturday, today I'm introducing a similar, but more focused, weekly feature here, one that I hope will happen every Sunday.

I'm inviting everyone who's blogged about middle grade science fiction and fantasy (new or old) in the past week to leave me a link to their reviews, responses, reminiscences or remarks (as many as you want from the past week). Then, at the end of the day, there will be a lovely consolidation of mg sff posts that will be a nice and tidy resource for folks looking for the books, and all of us who like to read about them!

Middle-grade generally means books for children 9 to 12 year old, but if you have reviews of books that skew a bit younger than that, that's fine with me (but any older, and you are getting into YA territory, which is a whole different thing....). And, for future weeks, links to reviews can be emailed to me at any time, if you think you might not be commenting on that week's roundup Sunday itself.

So. Here we go!

This Week's Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviews (alphabetical by blog)

At Boys Rule Boys Read:

Salt Water Taffy: The Seaside Adventures of Jack and Benny - The Truth about Dr. Truth by Matthew Loux (a graphic novel) As an added bonus, this link also gives a review of The Monstrumologist...(YA)

Carl has a whole bunch more links that aren't from this week in his comment below--do check them out! But I couldn't resist linking to his review of The Roar, by Emma Clayton (2009), because it is next up on my Cybils reading list...

Here at my place (Charlotte's Library):

The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance (The Candle Man, Book 1), by Glenn Dakin (2009)
A Walk Through a Window, by kc dyer (2009)
Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel by K.A. Holt (2009)

At Eva's Book Addiction:

Darkwood, by M.E. Breen (2009)
Sent, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (2009)

At The Excelsior File:

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (2009)

At Fantasy Book Critic, Cindy has:

The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker (2009)
Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark Book 1) by John Claude Bemis (2009)
The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1, by PJ Haarsma (2008)

At Fantasy Book Review:

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, by David Benedictus (2009)

At Jean Little Library:

The Runaway Princess and its sequel, The Runaway Dragon, by Kate Coombs (2006 and 2009)

At Owl in the Library:

Powerless, by Matthew Cody (2009)

Please let me know if I am being unclear about anything, and please leave me your links!

THANKS!

The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance (Candle Man, Book One)

The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance (Candle Man, Book One) by Glenn Dakin (Egmont, 2009, Middle Grade, 300 pages)

Theo has lived all his life a prisoner, shut away in miserable confinement by his guardian (the head of the "Society of Good Works) to keep him from contaminating the outside world with his mysterious illness. But on a birthday outing to a nearby deserted cemetery, he finds a mysterious birthday gift--someone out there knows who he is.

Turns out the Society of Good Works are not good at all. Pitted against that society is another, the Society of Unrelenting Vigilance. And Theo might be just the hero they are looking for. But the Dodo, another mysterious bad guy with legions of extinct creatures at his command, wants Theo too...

Theo finds himself swept into a London of sinister underground tunnels, villains large and small, and creatures that he never dreamed existed (the smoglodytes are especially fun, in a polluted sort of way!). It's all a bit much for a boy whose barely even been outside, but with the mysterious powers of the Candle Man to help him, maybe Theo and his new friends can prevail...

This is an action-packed adventure, that takes the familiar trope of orphaned boy with special powers and runs with it like crazy! There are hints of steam-punkishness that add interest--such as infernal machines down in a dark underworld that never existed. It's definitely middle-grade, in that the darkness is leavened with a bit of silliness, and though there is violence, it is not disturbingly wrenching. It's a great one for readers who enjoy rather frenetic pacing, brisk shifts in the point of view from hero to various assorted secondary characters, and a densely packed canvas of villains, good guys, and assorted fantastical creatures.

The problem with all that, though, is that it doesn't leave much room for strong relationships to develop among the characters, or between the reader and the characters, for that matter. I wish there had been a bit more quite time to spend with Theo when he wasn't in mortal peril. He's a rather wonderfully neurotic character (blame it on his peculiar upbringing), and I hope he brings his quirkiness with him into the next book of the series (The Society of Dread, coming Fall 2010). I'm also hoping to find out more about Chloe--the young agent of the Society of Unrelenting Vigilance who plays a pivotal role in guiding Theo to his confrontation with the bad guys.

Here's one of my favorite passages from the book:

"I would be glad to meet anybody," Theo said eagerly. "There have been thirteen so far if you count a skeleton and don't count--what does Sam call those flying things?" Theo asked Chloe, remembering the garghoul.

"Birds," snapped Chloe." (page 84)

But it really was a garghoul, as Chloe well knows....

The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance has been nominated for the Cybils in the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy category, and the publisher generously provided review copies for us panelists (thanks Egmont!)

Agnes and the Giant

Agnes and the Giant, by Anne Adeney, illustrated Daniel Postgate (Franklin Watts, 2009, 31pp). Here's a great learning-to-read adventure from the UK, one of the Hopscotch series of books that tell the stories of Britain in easy reader form.

Sometimes it takes a brave and clever girl to stop a rampaging giant. Bolster is just such a giant, terrorizing the countryside of Cornwall, always on the lookout for a tasty child to eat for his supper. Knight after knight has tried to slay him, to no avail.

So little Agnes takes matters into her own hands.

"Where's Bolster, the cowardly giant?" she shouted. "I hear even a sheep is cleverer than him."

Bolster roared with rage.

"I can beat anyone and do anything!" (pp 16-17)

So Agnes challenges him to fill a small pool with his blood, and Bolster is sure it will be but the work of minutes. Little does he know that Agnes has tricked him! The pool is actually joined to the sea by a cleft in the rock cliffs, and Bolster grows weaker and weaker as his blood pours into the ocean...and at last, he tumbles off the side himself, leaving the rocks stained red.

And if you go to the Cornish town of St. Agnes, and walk along the seaside, you can still see those red rocks today.

It's a fun and interesting story for the kid who's just becoming an independent reader, and who wants a touch of fantastical gore to spice things up! It hasn't been published in the US yet, as far as I can see, but it's available here at a reasonable price.

Disclaimer: my copy of the book was sent to me by the author, who I am very proud to say is my sister-in-law!

Obituary for Louise Cooper, British Fantasy Author, in today's Guardian

British fantasy writer Louise Cooper died in October at the most untimely age of 57. Here's a link to an obituary in today's Guardian.

Cooper wrote for both adults and children, including, most recently, the Mermaid Curse Quartet, book 1 of which is shown at right. She is perhaps best known for The Time Master Trilogy.

Here's link to a more personal remembrance, at Mundania Press.

Rachel Neumeier's new books (Waiting on Wednesday)

One of my favorite books of last year was The City in the Lake, by Rachel Neumeier (my review). On a whim yesterday I looked to see if she might be having a new book out soon...and Yes! Riches beyond the dreams of bookish avarice:

From her website:

"The first book of the Griffin Trilogy is called LORD OF THE CHANGING WINDS, and it is due to come out in the spring of 2010.

If you liked CITY, then I think you'll like CHANGING WINDS. CITY was published as YA and CHANGING WINDS is coming out as Adult Fantasy, but truly, I wrote them exactly the same way. I hope nobody is put off by either category."

A whole trilogy to look forward to!

But wait, there's more:

Another adult fantasy, House of Shadows!

But keep waiting, there's still more! Because Neumeier was under contract to write another YA novel, she has, and it is called Islands in the Sky, and you can take a peek at it here.

Goody gumdrops for us, as my grandfather used to say!

Waiting on Wednesday is the brainchild of Jill at Breaking the Spine; if you head on over there, you can find all the other books folks are anxiously awaiting...

A Walk Through A Window, for Timeslip "Tuesday"

A Walk Through a Window, by kc dyer (Doubleday Canada, 2009, middle grade, 222pp)

Darby has been sent to spend the summer with her grandparents on Prince Edward Island, where she's never been before (her father and her grandfather are not close). She's not happy about the long, boring months stretching in front of her, stuck in a "lame little place." At least, she thinks, she'll have plenty of time to practice skateboarding.

Then she meets Gabe, who takes it on himself to prove that she is wrong in her perception of the island.

"Follow me," Gabe's voice somehow carried through the storm. There was a clap of thunder and something leapt straight out at Darby from the grass. She jumped, but it was only Maurice, her grandparents' cat, hanging out here again. He must have been looking for shelter because he hopped past them onto the stone windowsill of the chapel.

"This place doesn't look very safe," Darby yelled, looking at the half-collapsed roof and piles of rubble inside. Definitely more like a chicken-house than a chapel."

"Perhaps you are correct," Gabe replied. "But what choice have we? Please take my hand."

She grabbed on and they stepped up onto the windowsill..." (page 48)

And then they walk through the window, and go back in time.

Three times Darby passes through during the course of the story, and each time she finds herself on a journey to Canada. She sees the first people to follow the caribou herds across the Bering Straits land bridge, she sees, to her horror, the suffering of the Irish immigrants trapped on a coffin ship, and finally she watches her grandfather's great-grandfather's arrival at the end of the 18th-century. Gabe seems to be a part of each of the groups she visit, but Darby herself is a ghost, a passive spectator as she watches and learns from the past.

In the present, Darby is also watching and learning from the events unfolding around her, as her grandfather sinks slowly into the clutches of Alzheimer's. As she grows closer to her grandparents, Darby learns about her own family, and the tragedy that lead to her father's alienation from his parents.

This plot-line in the present gives depth and meaning to the episodic time-slip elements, which, although engrossing, well-written, and historically accurate, fall squarely on the passively didactic side. And in turn her encounters with the past make Darby an increasingly sympathetic character (especially as she turns to the local library for help making sense of the stories she has seen--this almost makes up for her complete lack of interest in Anne of Green Gables).

This is the sort of book that is an excellent read for those who like to learn history from their fiction--it's interesting and enjoyable. If I knew any 10 or 11 year olds traveling to Canada, I'd give it to them in a second. But, for me at least, it never made the transition to truly magical...almost, but not quite.

Perhaps this is because Gabe, who instigates the time slipping, and who has active roles to play in the past, remains a complete mystery, and never gets to be much more than a plot device. Why does the window take them back in time, and how did Gabe figure it out? Why can people see Gabe but not Darby? Who the heck is he, anyway? I can't help but feel that the book would have been richer if more had been made of him...

In the end, it is the family dynamics in the present that are more compelling than the time travel, especially the moving portrayal of Darby's Grandfather, with his memories of war and past tragedy. Here Dyer succeeds rather powerfully in creating a poignant picture of what it means to have history, and to belong to a family and a place.

Here's another review, from Kate at The Book Aunt last April, where I left a comment saying that this one was going on my list! I'm glad it got nominated for the Cybils mg sff/f (for which I am a panelist), because I've been wanting to read it ever since, and I'd like to thank the publisher for sending review copies--thank, Doubleday Canada!

Read Kate's review reminds me that I also added Dyer's Eagle Glen trilogy to my list--Kate says it's "about a girl named Darrell Connor who travels through time to Scotland, Italy, England, and Spain at crucial points in history and deals with villainous intrigues" and I am so sold. After the Cybils...

The longlist for the Carnegie Award--lots of fantasy (and other good books)

Guess what! The Graveyard Book has been nominated for another award! But so have lots of other good books, and here they are--the longlist for the Carnegie Award, which is the UK Newbery/National Book Award equivalent:

Agard, John The Young Inferno
Allen-Gray, Alison Lifegame
Almond, David Jackdaw Summer
Anderson, Laurie Halse Chains
Anderson, R J Knife
Ashley, Bernard Solitaire
Bowler, Tim Bloodchild
Brennan, Sarah Rees The Demon's Lexicon
Brooks, Kevin Killing God
Burgess, Melvin Nicholas Dane
Caldecott, Elen How Kirsty Jenkins stole the elephant
Cassidy, Anne The Dead House
Chancellor, Henry The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn: The Museum’s Secret
Christopher, Lucy Stolen
Creech, Sharon Hate That Cat
Crossley-Holland, Kevin Waterslain Angels
Dogar, Sharon Falling
Donaldson, Julia Running on the cracks
Dowd, Siobhan Solace of the Road
Dowswell, Paul Auslander
Finn, Daniel Two Good Thieves
Fisk, Pauline Flying for Frankie
Forman, Gayle If I Stay
Gaiman, Neil The Graveyard Book
Golding, Julia Wolf Cry
Grant, Helen The Vanishing of Katharina Linden
Hardinge, Frances Gullstruck Island (published in the US as The Lost Conspiracy)
Hearn, Julie Rowan the Strange
Higgins, F E The Eyeball Collector
Hoffman, Mary Troubadour
Kennen, Ally Bedlam
LaFleur, Suzanne Love, Aubrey
Laird, Elizabeth The Witching Hour
Manning, Mick & Granstrom, Brita Tail-End Charlie
Muchamore, Robert Brigands M.C.
Ness, Patrick The Ask and the Answer
Newbery, Linda The Sandfather
Patterson, James Max
Peet, Mal Exposure
Perera, Anna Guantanamo Boy
Philip, Gillian Crossing the Line
Pratchett, Terry Nation
Rai, Bali City of Ghosts
Reeve, Philip The Snipper
Riordan, James Fever Crumb
Riordan, Rick Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian
Sedgwick, Marcus The Kiss of Death
Sedgwick, Marcus Revolver
Strangolov, Lazlo Feather and Bone
Stroud, Jonathan Heroes of the Valley
Valentine, Jenny The Ant Colony
Ward, Rachel Numbers
Whitley, David The Midnight Charter
Wilson, Leslie Saving Rafael

(that is to say, at least the six I've read have all been very good...)

And in a celebratory spirit, Sarah Rees Brennon has the first chapter of her sequel up on line here!

Children's Book of Art, from DK, for Non-fiction Monday

In my mind, the DK brand of non-fiction is synonymous with beautifully designed and copiously illustrated packages of information, ranging from the intricately particular to the more general. That pretty much sums up the Children's Book of Art, released this September. This book takes the reader on a chronological journey that explores art, in all its myriad forms, from cave paintings to graffiti.

There are sections on particular cultures, such as Dreamtime art, Chinese art, and African sculpture. There are sections on particular artists, dominated by many of the standard European heavyweights like Van Gogh and Picasso, but including some artists who were new to me--like Australian artist Sidney Nolan and the English artist Damien Hirst. There are sections that explore themes, like "Gods and heroes in art" and "Work in art."

And there are sections, which I found particularly fascinating, on how to make art oneself. Some tips and techniques I can imagine trying out with my own children (ideas from the section of watercolor, for instance) and others that might be a bit beyond us (how to make blue pigment from grinding lapis lazuli, and how to carve marble) that nevertheless make for engrossing reading.

I was a little saddened by the paucity of women artists (Mary Cassatt gets a double spread, and I noticed that some women are mentioned in the section on Naive art, a few more in Postwar Abstract art, and one in Abstract sculpture; I might have missed others). But, of course, the dominance of men isn't exactly DK's fault...

And I would have liked more anthropological elaboration, with global examples, on the lightly touched on point that art "can also be a meaningful idea" (page 9). I don't think this is explored enough, but then, I'm an anthropologist myself, and this is the part of art I find most fascinating.

But still. This is a lovely, fact-filled, pretty diverse look at art. It's a book that would make a great addition to the library of any young art lover (or art-lover-to-be).

Here are some other reviews, at Five Minutes for Books and 100 Scope Notes. And, in the interests of full disclosure, I received my copy from the publisher.

Today's Non-fiction Monday is hosted by Abby (the) Librarian.

Old Swedish Fairy Tales, by Anna Whalenberg

So I've been thinking about fairy tales this week, and thought this would be a good time to share a book I have loved since I was old enough to read. Growing up, some of the books I re-read most often were the old fairy tale collections that had belonged to my father when he was a little boy. And my most favorite of these was Old Swedish Fairy Tales, by Anna Whalenberg (translated by Antoinette DeCoursey Patterson, Hampton Publishing Company, 1925).

These are lovely stories. There's castle on an island held up by the hand of a sleeping underwater giant, and magic soap bubbles and water nymphs and good people being rewarded by magic (and less good people getting what they deserve too) and a witch in the woods and a woman who loved a tree (shown at right)...and I read them over and over again.

It truly is a wonderful collection of stories, and it seems to be readily available (on Amazon it starts at $18.28).

Here's a teaser for my favorite story, one that started my love affair with fictional glass-blowing:



Anyone else have a favorite fairy tale collection from their childhood that they still treasure?

Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel, by K.A. Holt

See up there, next to my orange snail, where it says I review science fiction and fantasy books? Um. I just did some math. Turns out I've reviewed or talked about fantasy 184 times, sci fi only 23. It's true that I gravitate more toward fantasy, but my personal bias is not entirely to blame. There is much less science fiction for children and teens then there is fantasy.

But today I have a science fiction book for middle grade kids! And it isn't a Jimmy Neutron type boy genius concocting things in his lab story, nor is it an aliens among us story. It is a real, honest-to-goodness, edge-of-your seat straight-up space adventure.

It is Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel, by K.A. Holt (Random House, 2009, middle grade, 262pp).

Young Mike has been having a rough time of it ever since the last mission that set off to terraform Mars was lost in space. A lot of people think his parents were to blame. Then suddenly he is whisked by his folks off on mission number 2. But strange things are happening on board their space craft, and soon Mike isn't sure if even he can still believe his parents are the good guys.

Mike puts his intelligence and technological savvy to work sneaking information from under the noses of the grownups, with the help of a very odd, but even more knowledgeable, girl named Larc. But meanwhile, the bad guys, whoever they are, are getting closer, and there's only way out.

"I just thought we would hide in here- not fly away!" I looked crazily around the pod. Through the porthole next to me, I saw stars streaking by.

Larc giggled and said, "Belt." Her belt slid off and she hovered in front of me. With her hair whipping around and her billowing jumpsuit, she looked like a ghost or a fairy or something.

"An escape pod is for escaping, Mike. It's not called a hiding pod." (pp 195-196)

Mike Stellar is a fun space adventure, narrated by a smart kid who's confused and annoyed (with good reason), but likable. There's cool technology that doesn't distract from the story. A mystery to solve. (although, characteristically, I was too busy reading to stop and ask if I knew what was going on). A wacky girl, who's even smarter than the boy.

This probably isn't a book that will appeal to grown-up fans of science-fiction, for whom the plot and its concomitant technology might seem simplistic. But, since they aren't the target audience, so what. I bet Mike Stellar is a huge hit among ten and eleven year olds, and, given how few recent middle grade books there are about kids in space,* I bet it will be fresh and fun for them as all get out.

And then they can go forward and read Asimov.

*please, leave recommendations of such books in the comments! I want to know if I am totally wrong! (although I wouldn't, of course, mind being told just how right I am).

Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel is a nominee for the Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy category, for which I am a panelist. The copy I was reviewed was provided by the publisher.

YA Fairies in the NY Times

Just a quick post-let to put up a link to this Sunday's NY Times Book Review, where there's an article on YA Fairy Books (rather inaccurately entitled "Field Guides to Fairies"). It talks about some great books-- Ash, by Malinda Lo, Eyes Like Stars, by Lisa Mantchev, Fairy Tale, by Cyn Balog, Wings, by Aprilyne Pike, and Fragile Eternity, by Melissa Marr.

Laini Taylor gets a mention at the end: "But the books in her beautifully written “Dreamdark” series are for a younger audience, and unlike the other fairy-themed novels discussed here, they don’t cross human and otherworldly realms but are rooted in a self-contained fantasy world, like Tolkien’s Middle-earth. There’s no tortured adolescent sexuality, just adventure, flying carpets, hideous monsters and stolen magic. Hardly a fairy tale at all."

On the other hand, they do fit the description "Field Guides to Fairies" rather better than the books discussed. And now I am wondering to myself--is there any YA book with fairies that doesn't have "tortured adolescent sexuality?"

But anyway, it's nice to see the Times following the lead of Once Upon a Week (which has now officially ended).

Book Blogger Holiday Swap

My favorite part about Christmas is looking forward to it, and in that spirit, I've just signed up for the Book Blogger Holiday Swap! It's an annual book blogger secret Santa, now in its third year. I've never done this before, but it sounds like fun. The deadline for sign on is November 12, 2009.

New Releases of Science Fiction and Fantasy for Children and Teens--the beginning of November edition

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science fiction of children and teens from the beginning of November. Actually, there's only one YA title in the lot...

I am particularly exited about the release of books three and four of the Keyholders series, so much so that I have already bought them. This is a great series for the eight or nine year old hesitant reader!

(My information comes from Teens Read Too, with help from Amazon).

CURLY AND THE FENT by Sally Morgan & Ambelin, Blaze, & Ezekiel Kwaymullina. "Curly gets in trouble enough already, but it really starts when he discovers a monster called a Fent (from Fent Land) that lives in the cupboard. Adults can’t see the Fent, so when it tickles Curly in the car until he shrieks and eats Dad’s new invention, there’s no one to blame but Curly! To make matters worse, Billy the school bully can see the Fent too, and he wants it for himself. What’s poor Curly to do?"

CURSE OF THE SPIDER KING: THE BERINFELL PROPHECIES by Wayne Thomas Batson & Christopher Hopper. "The Seven succeeding Elven Lords of Allyra were dead, lost in the Siege of Berinfell as babes. At least that's what everyone thought until tremors from a distant world known as Earth, revealed strange signs that Elven blood lived among its peoples. With a glimmer of hope in their hearts, sentinels are sent to see if the signs are true. But theirs is not a lone errand. The ruling warlord of Allyra, the Spider King, has sent his own scouts to hunt down the Seven and finish the job they failed to complete many ages ago. Now 13-year-olds on the brink of the Age of Reckoning when their Elven gifts will be manifest, discover the unthinkable truth that their adoptive families are not their only kin. With mysterious Sentinels revealing breathtaking secrets of the past, and dark strangers haunting their every move, will the young Elf Lords find the way back to the home of their birth? Worlds and races collide as the forces of good and evil battle. Will anyone escape the Curse of the Spider King?"

ERAGON'S GUIDE TO ALAGAESIA by Christopher Paolini. "From the creators of the bestselling books Dragonology, Egyptology, Piratelogy, and others, this is a never-before-seen glimpse into the world of Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance cycle. Alagaësia comes alive in a lush and detailed look at an unforgettable magical land. From elves, dwarves, Urgals, humans, and dragons, to the natural landscape and the magic it contains, Eragon himself offers the reader an unsurpassed tour. This oversized, full-color book provides 15 spreads chock full of spectacular artwork, engaging novelty elements, and fascinating insights into Eragon’s home. With gorgeous jewels adorning the cover and pages filled with envelopes, gatefolds, samples of dragon skin, and more, Eragon’s Guide to Alagaësia is sure to appeal to the legions of fans of Christopher Paolini’s bestselling Inheritance cycle."

HOOTCAT HILL by Lucy Coats. "Linnet Perry is a 13-year-old girl living in Wyrmesbury. Ordinary on the surface, she has hidden powers which she must be taught to use. When the ancient worldwyrm stirs, fear spreads throughout the town. People begin to disappear. Unless the wyrm is returned to sleep, there will be natural disasters and worse—too much old magic will leak into the world, disturbing the careful balance of modern life. Only Linnet has the rare combination of magics needed to embark on the dangerous quest through the natural and spiritual world to redress the imbalance and restore order. But is she strong enough—and willing enough—to confront her gifts, and use them—especially since all she has ever wanted was to fit in and be like everyone else?"

IN TOO DEEP: THE 39 CLUES by Jude Watson. "A hint from their parents’ past puts Amy and Dan on the trail of secrets their grandmother Grace would NEVER have wanted them to know. Awful memories begin to crowd in on Amy, just as her enemies circle closer. How far would she go to protect Dan? How much of a Cahill is she prepared to be? Perhaps Grace was right – some secrets are better left buried."

INSIDE THE MAGIC: KEYHOLDERS by Debbie Dadey & Marcia Thornton Jones. "Oh, no! Mr. Leery has been kidnapped by the evil Queen of the Boggarts. It’s up to the apprentice Keyholders Penny, Luke, and Natalie to rescue him. Together with their links, a unicorn named Kirin, a dragon named Dracula, and a rat named Buttercup, the three Keyholders cross the border to the land inside the magic—a place where anything can happen. Will they find Mr. Leery in time?"

KICKING AND SCREAMING: MEET THE KREEPS by Kiki Thorpe. "When Polly joins the soccer team, her strange stepmom, Veronica, becomes her biggest fan -- and the spookiest soccer mom Endsville has ever seen!"

THE MISSING KIN: THE CHRONICLES OF KRANGOR by Michael Pryor. "While Adalon and his friends Targesh and Simangee gather supporters at the Lost Castle, the mad Queen Tayesha and her ruthless general continue to wage war on the Seven Kingdoms of Krangor. It is only when Simangee finds a legend in an ancient text that the rebels begin to have renwed hope. Do the Missing Kin of the saur really exist? Can the three friends find the winged saur and convince them to join their cause before the war is lost?"

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DON'T: CYBERIA by Chris Lynch. "Zane lives in a future in which everything is networked and microchipped. His bedroom talks to him, reads his temperature, and informs him when he will next need to go to the bathroom. His parents are wired, too—both are network broadcasters with studios at home—although Zane never sees them unless he makes an appointment. His best pal is his dog, Hugo, who wears a microchip installed by the family vet that allows him to talk when Zane wears a special earphone. But Hugo tells Zane things he isn't supposed to know—for example, that Dr. Gristle has been performing twisted techno-experiments on an entire lab full of animals, and that the boy is the only one who can rescue them." (from School Library Journal)

MY UNWILLING WITCH STARTS A GIRL BAND: RUMBLEWICK'S DIARY by Hiawyn Oram. "Witty Rumblewick the cat is back, writing about even more hilarious hijinx with his unwilling witch in Book 3 of the series. Rumblewick is Haggy Aggy's right-hand cat, contractually bound to shape her into the best witch she can be. The problem? Haggy Aggy is a most unwitchy witch, and she has no interest in boiling frogs--she wants to be a STAR! Now Haggy is dead-set on entering the Girl Bands Are Us contest and becoming a rockstar. But how is Rumblewick to stop her and avoid the wrath of the ruling witches if he can't stop his head from bopping along with the music? With hand-written text of varying sizes, doodles, and comical black-and-white illustrations throughout, it's easy to believe you're really reading a diary."

THE OK TEAM by Nick Place. "Hazy Retina was born out of focus. He’s all blurry around the edges. And when he’s nervous or embarrassed, he disappears completely. He’s always thought of himself as a freak, until he gets a visit from the Australian Federation of Hero Types. It turns out he’s an Entry Level Grade Two Superhero! Now he just has to find some equally low-grade heroes who are prepared to join his team—the OK team. This hilarious adventure story features newspaper articles, cartoons, collectors handwritten notes, photographs, transcripts, and graffiti."

PRINCESS GRACE AND THE GOLDEN NIGHTINGALE: THE TIARA CLUB by Vivian French. "Fairy G is taking the princesses to the Museum of Royal Life! Princess Grace can’t wait to hear the golden nightingale sing, but the horrible twins Diamonde and Gruella are determined to get her into trouble."

PRINCESS LUCY AND THE PRECIOUS PUPPY: THE TIARA CLUB by Vivian French. "Princess Lucy has a secret. She doesn’t like games—and it’s nearly Sports Day! But when Queen Molly asks her for a special favor, Lucy is in for a real surprise."

REWIND ASSASSIN: TIME RUNNERS by Justin Richards. "The man Jamie and Anna are looking for is no ordinary killer. Dressed in a modern business suit and with a high-powered sniper rifle, his sights are set on Will Shakespeare and changing history—if the Time Runners don't stop him. Their old enemy, Darkling Midnight, wants to form an alliance against the assassin. But can he be trusted? As the Spanish Armada, wrecked and defeated eight years previously, surfaces from the watery depths, and soldiers who should be long-dead leap ashore to invade England, Jamie and Anna realize that nothing is quite as it seems. It will take all their courage and ingenuity to defeat their sinister enemy."

THE UNUSUAL MIND OF VINCENT SHADOW by Tim Kehoe. "Vincent Shadow isn't particularly good at sports and is constantly being picked on by his classmates at Central Middle School. But it is Vincent's unusually creative mind that truly separates him from other kids his age. Vincent's top secret attic lab is crammed with toy prototypes --from Liquid Superballs to Bullz-I Basketballs and Sonic Snorkelz--and he has a sketch book filled with drawings of toys he still wants to build. So when a chance encounter with an eccentric toy inventor offers him the opportunity to go from unknown weird kid to toy inventor extraordinaire, Vincent realizes that playtime is over: it's time to get serious about toys."

THE WRONG SIDE OF MAGIC: KEYHOLDERS by Debbie Dadey & Marcia Thornton Jones. "When Penny, Luke, Natalie and their links return home after rescuing Mr. Leery from the clutches of the evil Queen of the Boggarts, they find a lot of changes in Morgantown. Mrs. Bender, the principal, has decided on longer school days with no recess. The cafeteria ladies are serving up some extremely yucky food (even more than usual). And their teacher, Mr. Crandle, is giving them twice as much homework. What is wrong with all the adults in town? Could it be another scheme from the Boggart Queen? It’s up to the apprentice Keyholders to find out."

And here's the one YA release:

FADE OUT: THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES by Rachel Caine. "Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again...Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve's castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger-and way more dangerous-than anyone suspected."

Tell Me a Story: Women of Wonder

Women of Wonder, the third volume of the Tell Me a Story audio book series, offers 68 minutes of stories from around the world. The tales and legends included are a wonderful addition to the story world of any listener-the selections reach beyond the more common stories of the fairy tale cannon, and they feature brave girls and young women using their wits to succeed.

The stories are:

"The Cleverest Tune," (Britain) read by Bryce Dallas Howard
"The Goddess and the Ogre," (Cambodia) read by Jessica DiCicco
"Whisker of the Lioness," (Ethiopia) read by Margot Rose
"The Lady and the Judge," (Turkey) read by Wendy Hammers
"Reindeer Maiden," (Siberia) read by Yvette Freeman
"Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind," (America) read by Paula Poundstone.

With the exception of the last story, my children and I were unfamiliar with these tales, and it was delightful to make the acquaintance of this diverse collection. It's diverse not only globally, but narrative-wise as well, offering as it does a most entertaining mix of magic, smarts, and the supernatural.

My only disappointment was with the music that compliments the stories--I wish it had been as diverse as the stories themselves (although my children had no complaints).

Women of Wonder was the winner of the 2009 Parents Choice Gold Medal and 2009 NAPPA Gold Medal for story telling. For more about volumes 1 (Timeless Folktales from Around the World) and 2 (Animal Magic), visit MythsandTales.com.

(review copy provided by the producer)

Favorite childhood books of the authors we love, inscribed and signed, are being auctioned...

Would you like to own a copy of one of Neil Gaiman's favorite childhood books, with a signed inscription from him inside? Or one of J.K. Rowling's? The Little Auction that Could gives you a chance to bid on these and more, to raise money for a pretty special library.

Karla Preissman, a mother from Florida with a passion for books, wanted a library for the abused and neglected children who live at the Hibiscus Children’s Center. So she came up with an extraordinarily ambitious, and delightfully simple, fundraiser

She asked famous people to sign their names in a copy of a book that influenced or delighted them back when they were children, and, beginning today, they are being auctioned off.

Here are some of the books, with their inscriptions:

Jane Goodall, Tarzan (If only Tarzan had married the right Jane)
Maya Angelou, Story of Phillis Wheatley (To the winning bidder at Hibiscus Children`s Shelter, Joy! Maya Angelou; July 24, 2009)
Jason Taylor, Tom Sawyer (Read & grow!)
Sean Connery, Treasure Island (Best wishes)
Philip Knight, The Kid from Tomkinsville (Just do it!)

What a great way to celebrate books and kids!

(photo by Robert Holland)

Fairy Tale Retellings for Once Upon a Week...

This week a celebration of fairy tale retellings--Once Upon a Week-- is taking place, hosted by Today's Adventures. Lots of fun reviews and interviews to read, and, for me at least, lots of new to me blogs to visit!


In the spirit of fairy tale-ness, I went through and found all the fairy tale retellings I've reviewed, and offer them again today! I am a little surprised that out of 796 posts I only have seven that are retellings of "classical European fairy tales" (but on the other hand, I've reviewed lots of fantasy books that are fairy tale-esque in their own right...see list of recent reviews at right!)

Ice, by Sarah Beth Durst

Ash, by Malinda Lo

Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand, by Louise Hawes

Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George

My Fair Godmother, by Janette Rallison

Glass Slipper, Golden Sandal, by Julie Paschkis

And now I feel inspired to seek out more re-tellings, preferable retellings of "fairy tales of many lands" done with cultural sensitivity...so please make suggestions! (and come back tomorrow for a review I'd already planned of a cd featuring just such stories...)

And now I am also wondering what makes a Fairy Tale different Folk Tale. Are there ever girls in ball gowns on the covers of the later? Or is it something more fundamental, (like shoes)?

The Secret-Keeper, by Kate Coombs, a fantasy picture book

The Secret-Keeper, by Kate Coombs, illustrated by Heather M. Solomon (Atheneum Books, 2006, 24 pp)

The Secret-Keeper is a beautiful picture book that tells of Kalli, a young woman who lived by herself in the woods. The people of the town came to her, to tell her their secrets, and the words they spoke would take shape in her hands, and she would store away the things they had become in the many little drawers of her house. The secrets were sad, and bad, many small mean things (and some larger things), and surrounded by them all, Kalli grew sad and sick.

When the townsfolk found her lying alone, near death, at first they did not know what to do. Telling Kalli secrets was what they were used to, but they did not want to add to the weight of sadness she carried. So they began to tell other secrets, of love, and hope, and happiness, and these turned into beauty.

And then when Taln, the potter's son, told his own secret to Kalli, her happiness was complete.

This is the sort of picture book that is a lovely thing to give to an older child, one who can already read, but who has not yet grown dismissive of childish things. My nine-year old loved it. It is also the sort of picture book that will delight the grown-up who is not afraid to sniff a bit while reading a children's book (my husband and myself).

I know the author, Kate Coombs, as the blogger behind Book Aunt (where she currently has a lovely post up about witches), which is why I sought out this book.

The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker

For today's Timeslip Tuesday, I offer a hotel that traveled through time, bringing with it a cook and a dog. The time travel part is not the point of the book, so I feel a little diffident about saying that it is a Timeslip story. But, in as much as my reading at present is (mostly) dictated by the books nominated for the Cybils in MG Sci Fi/Fantasy (as this one is) it is the best I can do today...also, I liked the book and wanted to write about it.

The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker (2009, Tachyon Publications, middle grade, 180pp)

More than a hundred years ago, a grand hotel was built far from civilization, on great sand dunes beside the ocean. Sand dunes are tricky to build on, and these were no exception. One day a great storm arose, and the beautiful hotel was buried...Now another storm has come, and washed away everything that Emma has ever known and loved. Cast away on the same sands that cover the hotel, Emma holds back her grief while she struggles to survive.

Then Winston, the ghost of the Bell Captain from the old hotel, appears by her campfire, offering comfort and companionship. And then, when the winds begin to blow again, they uncover the old hotel.

"It was a palace of turrets and spires, verandahs and cupolas, scrollwork and gilded weathervanes. In some places it was five stories tall. It was the most beautiful building Emma had ever seen, and brightly burning lights above the fourth-floor balcony spelled out its name:

THE GRAND WENLOCK." (p 37)

Nothing has changed since the day it was lost, because, hidden in its depths, is a mechanism that can hold time still. Still inside, brought forward from the past, is the motherly cook, ready to give all the hospitality of the Wenlock to Emma. And it is wonderful hospitality, with beautiful rooms to explore and tasty meals to eat.

The arrival (by boat) of a pirate and the arrival (by home-made flying contraption) of Masterman, a young boy who is the last of the Wenlock family, both seeking the lost Wenlock fortune, leads to a treasure-hunt around the grand hotel. More arrivals soon appear--strange and magical guests. So Emma, the pirate, the ghostly Bell Captain, Masterman, and the cook set themselves to the running of the hotel.

But it's hard to relax when you can be buried by sand again at any minute. The only solution is to move the hotel.

The Hotel Under the Sand is a strangely delightful story. I especially loved Emma's explorations of the hotel (being a fan of books in which children explore strange old houses). I could happily have stayed at this part of the book much longer, as all the myriad arrivals scattered the story a bit. I realize that "plots" often require that things happen, but the magic of the hotel was so powerful that I wanted more time to enjoy it before things got truly surreal...Although I enjoyed the treasure hunt a lot too.

One could (perhaps) characterize this book as Joan Aiken-ish (the fantastical absurdity of plot) with a dash of Elizabeth Enright's Goneaway books (the abandoned mansion/hotel). If you like slightly old-fashioned feeling stories, far removed from reality, with brave girls overcoming calamity, wondrous hotels and very strange hotel guests, and if you don't require lots of Dramatic Action Packed Adventure, and are able to tolerate a bit of pirate, you will probably like The Hotel Under the Sand a lot.

Incidentally, the nature of the catastrophe that washed away Emma's family is never revealed, and she very deliberately is not thinking about it while she struggles to survive, and then becomes engrossed in the hotel. It is only at the end, when the hotel is safe, that she allows herself to cry...adding a sudden depth to the whole story.

There are charming black and white illustrations by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law sprinkled throughout--but, as is so very often the case, I feel Bad because I didn't even realize they were there because I was so busy reading the story....if you read it yourself, please take a moment to appreciate them. Or you can go to this entry at the Tachyon blog, to see some for yourself...

Here are some other reivews, at The SF Site, and The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswaggle, Gent.

Many thanks to the publisher for sending us MG SF/F Cybils Panelists review copies! We appreciate it.

Tender Morsels wins World Fantasy Award for best novel; Jane Yolen wins Lifetime Achievement award

Young Adult books, and children's too, are well represented in this year's World Fantasy Awards (announced November 1). A YA novel, Tender Morsels is one of this year's best novels, and prolific children's and YA author Jane Yolen received a lifetime achievement award. Shown at right is the forth-coming Australian cover of Tender Morsels, illustrated by Shaun Tan, who by happy chance won this year's Best Artist Award. I love it--it is so much more comforting than the US cover.

Lifetime Achievement: Ellen Asher & Jane Yolen

Best Novel (tie): The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow) & Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin; Knopf)
Best Artist: Shaun Tan
Special Award – Professional: Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant (for Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House). Small Beer Press publishes books for children and teenagers, like The Serial Garden, by Joan Aiken, The Privilege of the Sword, by Ellen Kushner, and Kelly Link is herself the author of Pretty Monsters and Magic for Beginners, two great YA short story collections.

Here are the other winners:

Best Novella: “If Angels Fight”, Richard Bowes (F&SF 2/08)
Best Short Story: “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss”, Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 7/08)
Best Anthology: Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, Ekaterina Sedia, ed. (Senses Five Press)
Best Collection: The Drowned Life, Jeffrey Ford (HarperPerennial)

Special Award – Non-Professional: Michael Walsh (for Howard Waldrop collections from Old Earth Books)

Ghost Town, by Richard Jennings

Ghost Town, by Richard Jennings (Houghton Mifflin, 2009, upper middle grade/YA, 165 pp).

When its factory closed, the life began to drain away from Paisley, Kansas. Family after family moved away, until the only two people left in town are 13 year-old Spence Honesty and his TV addicted mother. And Spence's imaginary friend, Chief Leopard Frog, bad poet and carver of talismans.

One lonely day, the rabbit Chief Leopard Frog carved for Spence asks to be photographed. So Spence digs out his father's old camera, and begins to shoot picture after picture of life in a town where everyone has left. And in the some of the pictures appear the people who once lived there, most often pictures of Maureen, the older girl who had lived next door, who once, unforgettably, lifted her shirt for Spence (this is the one incident that makes this perhaps not entirely suitable for younger middle grade readers--Spence matter-of-factly describes what lay beneath). Not every picture Spence takes is populated, but a few from every role of film bring back the people who have gone.

"There were many lovely compositions featuring flowers and mushrooms and mailboxes; a rather formal portrait of the Shiba Inu family standing on their front porch without a single smile among them; a couple of action shots of the Foos engaged in repairing a vacuum cleaner, and a full roll of exposures of Maureen.

That's when I knew for a fact how lonely I was." (page 100)

In the meantime, Chief Leopard Frog has found an unlikely outlet for his poetry and carvings (marketed as bad luck charms) via Uncle Milton's Thousand Things You Thought You'd Never Find, and is well on his way to fame and fortune...and the media, in the form of a young woman hoping for a breakthrough of her own, has come knocking on the one door of the one home left in Paisley.

The imagined and the longed for and the real converge...and Spence, Paisley, and Chief Leopard Frog will never be the same.

Here's Spence, musing about the old saying, "be careful what you wish for:"

"...I think it means that if you're wishing you had excitement in your life and all of a sudden you're dealing with the bruised egos of sensitive imaginary Indians, and the sudden bursting forth of motherly behaviour by a former television vegetable, and the unannounced arrival of a smart-aleck cutie-pie way too old for you, and letters from modern-day pirates of the Caribbean, not to mention notes from girls who once lived next door and the occasional unexplained photograph of a vanished person, well, it's like that other old saying that goes, "It's either feast of famine." (pp 123-124).

It's a funny, sweet, magical book.

Even though on paper this might seem easily classifiable as "fantasy," what with ghost images appearing in pictures and an imaginary friend who seems rather more real than most, I don't think that label quite suits this story. Spence is an unreliable narrator (I think)* with a great imagination, and the dreamlike pictures of the people he is missing so badly are never seen by anyone else.

So this isn't a book I'd give to someone who is looking for fantasy style "magic." I'd be most quick give it to a sensitive, introverted eleven or twelve year old, although I don't by any means think its appeal is limited to just that demographic. For instance, I'm going to pass this one on to my husband, something I don't often do with middle grade/ya fantasy books. But the quality of the writing, the rather brilliant portrayal of Spence in his lonely adolescent state, and the lovely mixture of poignancy and humor make this a book many grown-ups (like my husband, I hope, and me, I know) will appreciate very much.

Note on Chief Leopard Frog: I had my doubts about whether the inclusion of an imaginary Native American Chief was a good idea, or whether it would be offensively stereotypical. I think Jennings managed to avoid the latter...but I'd be curious to hear from anyone else whose read this!

*This is one of the things I would talk about if I were running a discussion about this book (and I think it would be a great book club choice) -- here's an unreliable narrator (whose last name is, ironically (?) Honesty), who is making things up like crazy but who is actually incredibly honest in his self-assessment, who is bent on documenting, in his photography, the reality of his abandoned town, except that there are ghost images, and who never actually lies to the narrator. Except for maybe once.

And there are so many lovely metaphors too, subtly tucked away in the story...Lots to talk about!

Here are other reviews and remarks, at Guys Lit Wire, The Happy Nappy Bookseller, and Chasing Ray.

New releases of fantasy and science fiction for children and teenagers--the end of October edition

Happy Halloween! Here are the end of October science fiction and fantasy treats for children and young adults. As usual, I get my list from Teens Read Too, and the blurbs from Amazon...

Nominations for the Cybils Awards ended two weeks ago, and the panelists are busily reading. It was a banner year for young adult fantasy in particular--will this coming year be as good? Starting from this post of new releases, these will all be books eligible for next year. I hope that by the time 2010 nominations role around, I'll have the whole year's worth of new sf/f mg and ya releases (at least the ones I know of) all covered, to help people remember the books they enjoyed most!

For 9-12 year olds

AVALON: THE WARLOCK DIARIES VOLUME 2 by Rachel Roberts. "No matter how hard they try, it seems warlock and mage magic just can’t work together. Kara is determined to find a way and asks Donovan to the Ravenswood "Adopt a Beast" dance. Things get out of hand when the imp, Crumble, lets loose a warlock love spell on the mages to keep them occupied while he kidnaps all of Ravenswood’s magical animals."

BURN by Camilla d'Errico. "Burn was once human. He also had a family and friends, until a metallic angel of death took everything from him. This mechanical monster, Shoftiel, was one of many living machines made to help humanity that revolted and declared war on their creators. It tore through Burn's home and wreaked havoc on his city until the buildings collapsed, crashing down upon them. Emerging from the rubble, Burn and Shoftiel discover their once separate bodies have become one -- neither human nor machine, but a freak union of both. Internally their minds are caught in a raging battle for control. Just as mankind must struggle against the sentients for survival, Burn must find the strength to overcome Shoftiel's genocidal programming to retain whatever's left of his humanity."

CARBONEL & CALIDOR by Barbara Sleigh. "Carbonel’s human friends Rosemary and John soon encounter magic in the form of a ring set with a fiery red stone that grants wishes to whoever wears it. And it’s a lucky thing, too, because Carbonel needs Rosemary and John’s help. It seems that his son Calidor has rejected his princely status for the love of a streetwise cat named Wellingtonia (also known as Dumpsie). Even worse, Calidor has apprenticed himself to the witch-in-training Mrs. Dibdin. With all this going on, it’s just a matter of time before Carbonel’s old nemesis Grisana—accompanied by her slyboots daughter Melissa—hatches a plan to take control of Carbonel’s kingdom once and for all."

THE CASE OF THE PURLOINED PROFESSOR: THE TAILS OF FREDERICK AND ISHBU by Judy Cox. "Frederick and Ishbu live in Miss Dove's classroom, where they learn--and eat--to their hearts' content. But one fateful evening Natasha arrives with disturbing news: her father, a famous professor and scientist, has gone missing! For the second time in their lives, the rats embark on a worldwide journey. They travel the globe to save their friend and meet such colorful characters as a secret clan of badgers, two vicious rat terriers, and a stuffy English show mouse. It's another whirlwind adventure they'll never forget!"

CROWN OF EARTH: SHIELD, SWORD, AND CROWN by Hilari Bell. "The moment Prince Edoran hears these words from Weasel's trusted friend Justice Holis, Edoran knows he has to find a way to rescue Weasel, who has been kidnapped in Edoran's place. Edoran's task is far from easy. Life-threatening challenges greet him at every step as he searches for Weasel, forced to hide his true identity from all he meets along the way. The journey is full of surprises and revelations, as Edoran learns for the first time the real meaning of hard labor and the cost of a meal. The story builds to a stunning climax, where the true nature of the magical objects of Deorthas is at last revealed."

DARK MAGE: AVALON, WEB OF MAGIC by Rachel Roberts. "The Dark Sorceress and her companions in the Otherworlds have decided to get rid of the mages once and for all. She targets Kara, who is particularly vulnerable to evil fairy magic since she is related to the Dark Sorceress. To save herself, Kara and her fellow mages, Emily and Adriane, must embark on a dangerous mission. They must go to the Otherworlds and retrieve the stolen power crystals of Avalon before it’s too late."

DRAKE'S COMPREHENSIVE COMPENDIUM OF DRAGONOLOGYby Dr. Ernest Drake & Dugald A. Steer. "From the esteemed Dr. Drake comes a beautifully illustrated, lovingly assembled tribute to all things dragonological, featuring:
— A guide to dragon species, with entries on everything from the well-known European dragon to the lesser-known hydra — as well as pseudo-species such as the phoenix and the incognito
— Insight into dragon biology, from flight to reproduction (with tips on how to tell the males from the females)
— An in-depth look at dragons’ habits, including migration, communication, camouflage, and notorious hoarding practices
— A section on humans and dragons, offering secrets of tracking and taming, deciphering riddles, and becoming a dragon master
— Practical essentials such as how to keep records, use spells, keep specimens, and care for sick dragons
— A comprehensive glossary, index, and much more."

A HORSE, OF COURSE!: WIND DANCERS by Sibley Miller. "Inspired by Career Day at their neighboring school, the Wind Dancers decide to explore what they can do and be too—from a police horse to a performance horse, from a race horse to a ranch horse, with funny and surprising results."

HUNGRY AS A HORSE: WIND DANCERS by Sibley Miller. "Sirocco, the lone colt among a trio of fillies, is always hungry. Will he lose his appetite when his fellow Wind Dancers challenge him to learn to cook, or will he become a chef extraordinaire?"

THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED by Nancy Farmer. "In this much-anticipated conclusion to the Sea of Trolls trilogy, Notland is no place to seek one's true calling. Or is it?"

OVER MY DEAD BODY: 43 OLD CEMETERY ROAD by Kate Klise. "The International Movement for the Safety & Protection Of Our Kids & Youth (IMSPOOKY) dictates that Seymour cannot live in the mansion at 43 Old Cemetery Road "without the benefit of parents." Ignatius B. Grumply tries to explain to Dick Tater, the head of IMSPOOKY, that he and Seymour are in a lovely living (and publishing!) arrangement with the ghost of Olive C. Spence. Dick Tater is not convinced. But this clever trio can’t be broken up as easily as he imagines . . ."

POWERLESS by Matthew Cody. "Twelve-year-old Daniel, the new kid in town, soon learns the truth about his nice—but odd—new friends: one can fly, another can turn invisible, yet another controls electricity. Incredible. The superkids use their powers to secretly do good in the town, but they’re haunted by the fact that the moment they turn thirteen, their abilities will disappear—along with any memory that they ever had them. Is a memory-stealing supervillain sapping their powers?"

SECRET OF THE SIRENS: THE COMPANIONS QUARTET by Julia Golding. "A girl discovers that she can bond with all mythical creatures and becomes part of a secret society sworn to protect them."

TRAIL OF FATE: THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR by Michael P. Spradlin

Young Adult

BLACKBRIAR by William Sleator. "Danny can feel something sinister about his new home, Blackbriar, an old, abandoned cottage in the English countryside. The residents of a nearby town refuse to speak of the house and can barely look Danny in the eyes. Then Danny begins to have strange dreams of fires and witches, and awakes to shrieks of laughter that seem to come from another time and place.With help from his friend, Lark, Danny begins to unravel the mysteries of Blackbriar and its frightening past,through the discovery of an ancient doll and a chilling list of names and dates carved on the cellar door. But what might be most terrifying of all is the mystery that does not lie in the past but in the here and now. . . . "

DRAGONFLY by Julia Golding Princess Taoshira of the Blue Crescent Islands is appalled when she is ordered to marry Prince Ramil of Gerfal in order to unite their lands. And he's not too pleased, either. They hate each other on sight. So, when Tashi and Ramil are kidnapped, they fear there's no escape - from their kidnappers or from each other. Can they put aside their differences long enough to survive ambush, unarmed combat, brainwashing, and imprisonment? And will the people they meet on their adventure help them or betray them to the enemy?

NEVER AFTER by Dan Elconin. "Leaving everything behind for the Island was Ricky's dream come true. When his happily ever after is not quite what it seems, he discovers that running away means running toward bigger problems. Trapped on the Island, Ricky must join together with the only people he can trust to help him face his fears and return home. But the only way off the Island is to confront the person who trapped Ricky and his friends in the first place. With countless enemies and true peril staring them down, Ricky's mission to leave this so-called paradise will become a battle for their very lives."

A NEW DAWN: YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS ON STEPHENIE MEYER'S TWILIGHT SAGA edited by Ellen Hopkins. "A New Dawn is packed with the same debates readers engage in with friends: Should Bella have chosen Edward or Jacob? How much control do Meyer's vampires and werewolves really have over their own lives? The collection also goes further: Is Edward a romantic or a (really hot) sociopath? How do the Quileute werewolves compare to other Native American wolf myths? What does the Twilight series have in common with Shakespeare? With contributions from Megan McCafferty, Cassandra Clare, Rachel Caine and many more, A New Dawn answers these questions and more for a teen (and adult!) audience hungry for clever, view-changing commentary on their favorite series.

DEFINING NEW MOON: VOCABULARY WORKBOOK FOR UNLOCKING THE SAT, ACT, GED, AND SSAT by Brian Leaf.

A BANQUET FOR HUNGRY GHOSTS: A COLLECTION OF DELICIOUSLY FRIGHTENING TALES by Ying Chang Compestine. "According to Chinese tradition, those who die hungry or unjustly come back to haunt the living. Some are appeased with food. But not all ghosts are successfully mollified. In this chilling collection of stories,Ying Chang Compestine takes readers on a journey through time and across different parts of China. From the building of the GreatWall in 200 BCE to themodern day of iPods, hungry ghosts continue to torment those who wronged them. At once a window into the history and culture of China and an ode to Chinese cuisine, this assortment of frightening tales—complete with historical notes and delectable recipes—will both scare and satiate!"

DESTINY'S PATH: WARRIOR PRINCESS by Frewin Jones. "Ranwen refuses to take orders from anyone—even the Shining Ones, the ancient gods whose power is feared throughout the land. They want her as their Chosen One, destined to save her country from the Saxons. But Branwen doubts she's truly ready to be a leader. Then a messenger from the skies shows her a vision of a bleak and violent future—a future in which Branwen has abandoned her destiny, and those most dear to her suffer unspeakable horrors. There's a blurry line between good and evil, and those Branwen trusts the most are capable of the greatest betrayal. The Shining Ones have spoken. Will Branwen answer their call?"

FIRE: TALES OF ELEMENTAL SPIRITS "Master storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson, the team behind Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits, collaborate again to create five captivating tales incorporating the element of fire. In McKinley’s “First Flight,” a boy and his pet foogit unexpectedly take a dangerous ride on a dragon, and her “Hellhound” stars a mysterious dog as a key player in an eerie graveyard showdown. Dickinson introduces a young man who must defeat the creature threatening his clan in “Fireworm,” a slave who saves his village with a fiery magic spell in “Salamander Man,” and a girl whose new friend, the guardian of a mystical bird, is much older than he appears in “Phoenix.” With time periods ranging from prehistoric to present day, and settings as varied as a graveyard, a medieval marketplace and a dragon academy, these stories are sure to intrigue and delight the authors’ longtime fans and newcomers alike."

LOCKDOWN: ESCAPE FROM FURNACE by Alexander Gordon Smith. "Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison. The answers lie in a long-ago meteor strike, a World War II–era comic book (Fantastic Futures, starring the first superhero, Johnny Noble), the green-flamed Witch Fire, a hidden Shroud cave, and—possibly, unbelievably—“powerless” regular-kid Daniel himself."

THE SHADOW DRAGONS: CHRONICLES OF THE IMAGINARIUM GEOGRAPHICA by James A. Owen. "World War II has been raging for three years, but a more terrible evil is just over the horizon. The last stones are falling from the Keep of Time, and the Imperial Cartological Society, led by Richard Burton, has collected doors and is building a new tower at the request of an old enemy: the Winter King's shadow. He has a terrible weapon -- the Spear of Destiny -- that can be used to command the shadows of anyone it touches. The Shadow King uses the Spear of Destiny to enlist an unstoppable army of Dragon shadows. And after the Archipelago falls, the Shadow King intends to use the turmoil of World War II to take over both worlds. All the legendary Caretakers, past and present, come together to save two worlds, and their only hope lies with a small group of companions who are on the quest for the broken sword Caliburn: the Grail Child, Rose Dyson; her clockwork companion, the owl Archie; a dead professor of ancient literature; and the mythical knight Don Quixote."

TEMPTED: HOUSE OF NIGHT by P. C. & Kristin Cast. "So…you’d think after banishing an immortal being and a fallen High Priestess, saving Stark’s life, biting Heath, getting a headache from Erik, and almost dying, Zoey Redbird would catch a break. Sadly, a break is not in the House of Night school forecast for the High Priestess in training and her gang. Juggling three guys is anything but a stress reliever, especially when one of them is a sexy Warrior who is so into protecting Zoey that he can sense her emotions. Speaking of stress, the dark force lurking in the tunnels under the Tulsa Depot is spreading, and Zoey is beginning to believe Stevie Rae could be responsible for a lot more than a group of misfit red fledglings. Aphrodite’s visions warn Zoey to stay away from Kalona and his dark allure, but they also show that it is Zoey who has the power to stop the evil immortal. Soon it becomes obvious that Zoey has no choice: if she doesn’t go to Kalona he will exact a fiery vengeance on those closest to her."

The Museum of Mary Child, by Cassandra Golds

Writing a review of The Museum of Mary Child, by Cassandra Golds (Kane Miller, 2009, 329pp, for readers 10ish on up) is a bit daunting. I somehow want to convey just how much I enjoyed this book without spoiling it at all. I hope I succeed, because I think this book is rather special...

A long while ago, near a city that isn't a real city, a girl named Heloise lives next door to the Museum of Mary Child. She has never been inside it. Her godmother, cold and unloving, shows visitors through it, and always the visitors leave disturbed and shaken.

Heloise who is not allowed to have friends. She is not allowed to play. She is not allowed to know the meaning of love--her bible, the one book she can read, has been edited, and pages glued together, to keep her from anything that speaks of that forbidden subject. But one day, hidden under the floorboards of her room, she finds a doll. And, having at last found something to love, something that needs protecting, Heloise is about to escape.

Her escape will take her into a family of orphaned girls, trained as a church choir (I loved this part most of all). It will bring her into contact with envoys of the Society of Caged Birds, who fly through the city at night doing good deeds. It will take her to the prison, and the mad house next door to it, and, at last, it will bring her face to face with what lies inside the Museum of Mary Child.

This book is many things. It is a fairy tale, and it is a Gothic horror story. It is a lovely story about a girl discovering who she is and growing up. It is a fantasy, with magic that is real. It is a little bit of a mystery. And at the book's heart is a story about the redemptive power of love, with gentle allusions to Christianity. All these elements are happening at the same time, like juggling balls flying through the air, but they are held together in coherent form by Golds' wonderful characterization of Heloise.

I was riveted, and lost track of time and space. I also had to occasionally work hard at suspending disbelief, and I remain uncertain about the ending. But boy, did I have a good time reading this one. It felt to me a little bit like Elizabeth Goudge crossed with Oscar Wilde's fairy tales...and if you think you might know what I mean, you will probably like this book very much!


Note on the cover: This is not what I would have chosen. The girl show looks far too modern to be Heloise, and the whole ensemble leans too far, I think, toward the Gothic end of things, and doesn't convey enough of the book's fairy tale-ness. At right is the Australian cover, which doesn't match my image of the book either...

The Museum of Mary Child has been nominated for the Cybils in the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy category, for which I am a panelist. Here are other two other reviews, at Kids Lit and Sweet Trees.

PS: The museum is the creepiest museum I have ever read about. Anywhere.

PPS: Golds is also the author of Clair-de-lune (2006); after reading this review of it at the Guardian, it is high on my list of books to read after I have fulfilled my Cybils obligations!

Ice, by Sarah Beth Durst

Ice, by Sarah Beth Durst (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009, YA--14ish on up, 308pp), is a re-imagining of the fairy tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon."

Cassie has lived all her eighteen years in an arctic research station, where her father studies polar bears. When she was little, her grandmother told her the story of how her mother disappeared one day, a story that began:

"Once upon a time, the North Wind said to the Polar Bear King, "Steal me a daughter, and when she grows, she will be your bride....and so, the Polar Bear King kidnapped a human child and brought her to the North Wind, and she was raised with the North Wind as her father and the West, South, and East Winds as her uncles." (page 1)

Cassie knows this is just a story. But one day, when she sets off by herself to tag a polar bear, she finds that fairy tales can be true...and that she can save her mother from the castle of the trolls where she is imprisoned, if she herself will consent to be the polar bear's wife. Agreeing to the bargain, she sets off to live in a beautiful palace of ice, with the bear at her side. Each night, in the dark, he takes on human form, and gradually love grows between them. Then one night, Cassie breaks the rules. Now she must set off to the land east of the sun and west of the moon, to save her bear husband from the trolls, whoever they might be.

It is not just her own happiness, or the fate of her unborn child, that is at stake. In an original twist to the tale, Durst's bear is a guardian spirit, a mumaqsri, charged with ensuring the rebirth of the polar bears over whom he watches. But things have been going wrong, and there are too few souls to give life to the babies being born. By saving her husband, Cassie can help set this balance right again--if she can outwit those who would trap her forever.

In her journey to rescue the polar bear, Cassie shows herself to be a formidable heroine. The story becomes a nail-biting test of her survival skills as she crosses the ice, and tests her wits and resolve, and her love for her husband, against a strange force of nature that wants to prevent her from reaching the castle of the trolls. Durst skillfully handles Cassie's emotions, making her a very real and (almost always) believable character, despite the improbability of her circumstances. The one truly jarring element is the return of Cassie's mother--this was ostensibly the main reason why Cassie married Bear, and it is rather summarily dealt with.

The incorporation of spirit guardians, with its concomitant environmentalism, adds depth to this fairy tale retelling. And it's a very nice touch that Cassie is able to use her training as a scientist to help her bear with his mission, traveling with him as he delivers souls to the baby bears to gather data that improve the odds that the species will continue (in the original story, she saves her husband by doing laundry. This is much more cool).

By setting her fairy tale in the modern world, one where girls can be scientists, and polar bears are endangered, and by adding a spiritual dimension to the plot, Durst gave herself a place to reimagine an old story in an exciting and entertaining way, and does so rather splendidly.

Here are a few other reviews and recommendations, at Bib-Laura-Graphy, Grow Wings, The Book Butterfly, Book Geeks, and Kids Lit, and here's an interview with Durst at The Enchanted Inkpot.

Review copy supplied by the publisher at the request of the author.

Fire, by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson (Waiting on Wednesday)

Tomorrow (Thursday October 29) is a happy day for McKinley and Dickinson fans--Fire, a collection of short stories, will be released! This book is the second in a planned series covering the four elements. Water, published in 2004, whetted (pun intended) my appetite for more, but this volume was a tad delayed.

Robin McKinley, it turns out, has a little issue with her stories.

There was Sunshine, which decided it wanted to be a book (and if you like vampires and haven't read this one, do so! Now!) . Dragonhaven, ditto, except the vampire part. Chalice, ditto. Which was rather nice for us readers, to have three new McKinley books, but not so great for the anthology....

So anyway, Fire comes out tomorrow! I, for one, will be putting it on my Christmas wants list. It is just the sort of book I like to offer my personal shoppers--easy to buy, and one I have to have.

You can read more here at Robin McKinley's blog.

Teaser for A Conspiracy of Kings posted on Facebook

Greenwillow has posted a teasingly short teaser for Megan Whalen Turner's upcoming book, A Conspiracy of Kings, on facebook....

Is the "younger man" Sophos? Is the peashooter involved? (Here's the blurb for the book, in case you don't remember the peashooter....)

I want more! I don't want to wait till March!

The Taker and the Keeper (Red Monocle 1) for Timeslip Tuesday

The Taker and the Keeper, by Wim Colemand and Pat Perrin (ChironBooks, 158pp, ages 8 and up), is one of those books that isn't quite a timeslip, in as much as the time to which the children travel isn't real, but since the kids think for a good part of the book that they've travelled through time, I'm doing to go with it for today's edition of Timelip Tuesday.

Gregory and Yolanda are two ordinary middle school kids, who are about to become heroes. The colored lenes that Gregory found in a box discarded by their old science teacher are more than just pieces of glass--they let the kids see a dark tunnel that leads them back to the Dark Ages. But it is a Dark Ages in even more trouble than usual. The stone that holds Excalibur, waiting for young Arthur to pull it out, is there, but the sword is gone. Morgan Le Fey has stolen it in her own bid for power, and in doing so has just messed up the course of history, both in the realm of ancient story, and in our own modern world.

It's up to Gregory, the Taker of risks, and Yolanda, the Keeper of the true stories, to help Merlin and his young apprentice set things straight.

This is the sort of book that's great for a nine or ten year-old looking for a pretty straightforward narrative punctuated by danger (like a battle with a giant venomous serpent) and adventure (scaling the walls of a forbidding castle, and confronting the animated suits of armour inside). The "timeslip" part is rather nicely done, and I chuckled when Yolanda, confronting the medieval folk, assumes they are costumed festival participants--"These people really need to get a life," she grumbles (page 53).

In many ways The Taker and the Keeper reminded me of the Magic Tree House books (although at a reading level several grades up), which is a fine thing if you are a young reader, but less so if you are an adult lover of middle grade fantasy. Like those books, stylistically this one is aimed at young readers (shortish sentences, relatively un-latinate vocabulary), and story-wise, the experienced fantasy reader is not going to be blown away by the plot or stunned by the depth of characterization.

But the kid who's perhaps a reluctant reader might well find this an exciting read, and that's who it's written for, after all. I am pretty sure my own nine-year old will enjoy it a lot.

(Bonus points to the book for featuring a girl of color, a non-issue in the story, but apparent in the cover art).

The Taker and the Keeper has been nominated for the Cybils Awards in the MG Sci fi/fantasy category. Many thanks to the publisher for sending us panelists review copies! And please feel free to purchase this, or any other book you want, through the Cybils link at the right, to help fund the awards!

How to be a Genius: Your Brain and How to Train it, for Nonfiction Monday

There are some books that you know instantly will make marvelous presents for a curious child (no genius required). How to be a Genius: Your Brain and How to Train It, by John Woodward, illustrated by Serge Seidlitz and Andy Smith (DK, 2009) is such a book.

I'm imagining giving it to my children at the start of Christmas vacation at Grandma's house, imagining many happy hours poring together as a family over the information bits, challenging each other to the mind puzzle bits--mazes, memory challenges, logic problems--it will be a beautiful thing.

And this is a beautiful, wonder-filled book. There are the plenty of challenges for the reader (some of which I have excelled at, others not so much, although already being, of course, a genius, I am not worried about those). But there's also tons of information of the sort that fascinates the non-fiction loving child (or genius grown-up). There's a two page spread, for instance, on Mary Anning, the girl who found the ichthyosaur fossil. There's another on Leonardo da Vinci. I could go on and on.

There's also a lot of attention payed to how the brain works, like the section entitled "What is Creativity?" that talks about luck, building on what's already buzzing in your brain, imagination, brain waves, incubation, and, hardest of all, follow through.

Here's a little snippet on how we read, which explains why some of us can't proof read our own blog entries:

As lnog as you wrtie the frsit and lsat lttres of a wrod, you can sitll raed it (pgae 121)

The engaging illustrations add lots of lively, humorous, and informative detail. A lovely, fun book to share with your 8-9 year old child, even though he might think he is a genius already....and a great one for older kids (and grown ups) to read on their own.

Nonfiction Monday, a regular feature of the children's book blogosphere, is at Wrapped in Foil today!

Full disclosure: review copy received from the publisher.

readathoning -- final update!

Well, it's now 8:56, almost an hour since the readathon ended. I started The Forever Formula, by Frank Bonham, and read 54 more pages in the last hour (25 minute of reading). Only 1160 pages read, far short of my goal...I only managed to read 5 hours and 35 minutes altogether.

Here are my answers to the final meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? not really applicable, because of having to spend so much of the 24 hours being a mother...

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Gosh, we are all so different-- but I think short and snappy definitely works best in general.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? It was pretty good as it was!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The encouragement from all the organizers and cheerleaders was great!

5. How many books did you read? Only three and a bit... sigh...

6. What were the names of the books you read? The Dragons of Ordinary Farm, The Lightning Thief, The Museum of Mary Child, and part of The Forever Formula.

7. Which book did you enjoy most? Mary Child.
8. Which did you enjoy least? The Dragons of Ordinary Farm.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? na

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'd be happy to be a reader again, preferably with my husband at home!

Thank you all so much, Readathon Team! It was great fun!

Part 6: Slept until six, which was not the plan :( Finished The Museum of Mary Child, which turned out to be a book that drew me in utterly, the sort that makes you forget you are reading. 329pp/45 more minutes.

Part 5: Read for about another hour, half way through The Museum of Mary Child. It is not quite like any book I can think of. But although I am enjoying it very much, I am calling it quits for the night...I'll be back around 5 tomorrow morning!

Part 4: Half way through-8:11 pm. Read about an hour and half more-hard to tell how much, exactly, because it was so fractured. Finished The Lightning Thief (375 pp)--it was a very good challenge book, gripping without being dense.

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now? About to start either Toby Alone, or The Museum of Mary Child

2. How many books have you read so far? 2. Sigh.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Probably The Museum of Mary Child.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? It wasn't possible, what with my husband being away for the weekend.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Every time one of my boys asked for my attention, I gave it to them in a self-sacrificing, utterly patient and loving way. "Of course I will get more milk for you, my little angel," I said, "I know you will be happy to get it for yourself once you grow that last crucial bit of biceps muscle required for safe pouring from a gallon jug, but in the meantime, I don't mind in the least little bit putting down my book so that you feel Loved." Or something like that.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I am really enjoying all the mini challenges and efforts to encourage participants. More so, in fact, than the reading, because, after all, I do as much reading as I can almost every day....

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? no

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? try to not have a Halloween party to take the children to, but, if I do, to make the horned helmet the day before.

9. Are you getting tired yet? Sadly, I haven't had a chance to read enough yet today to become tired of it...

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Nope, sorry!

Part 3: 1:20pm. Only managed to read half an hour more (100 pages of The Lightning Thief). Am unable to concentrate. The sword-fighting down below is getting louder. The horns are not affixing themselves well to the helmet. In fifteen minutes we go to a Halloween party, with or without horns. Possibly without swords too. But I am taking my book.

Part 2: Three hours into the challenge, I have read for 2 hours and five minutes, and finished my first book, 412pp worth. And I just took part in the second mini-challenge, putting myself on the map! What fun!


Part 1:

My first reading hour of Dewey's 24 hour readathon is done--174 pages of The Dragons of Ordinary Farm. I started at 8 am, as per instructions, but lost twenty minutes to feeding and watering the children....

Here's my first mini challenge, in which I answer Questions:

3 facts about me: I am a poor planner, and am going to have to go to the grocery store today; I have a paper mache berserker helmet drying on my wood stove, and I have two chickens who also need to be feed and watered some time this morning....

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? I have about thirty books in my pile, but I'm not committing to any of them--instead, I'm treating it like an all you can read buffet.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? I'd say about 4000 pages would do me....and I'll try to comment on a fair number of blogs....hour wise, I can't commit to anything.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon--I'm in! (also wolf skins, library books, and Miss Suzy had a baby)

It's supposed to be a rainy day here in Rhode Island tomorrow, which means the pressing things that need to get done outside won't get done....so, since I'll probably be inside reading anyway, I decided to jump on board Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon! (I'm number 344--yoikes!)

I won't be reading for the full 24 hours--my husband is off teaching at a gathering of Irish pipers in the Catskills (I got to go to Kidlitcon last week, so it evens out), which means I will have my Darling Boys with me all day. And we have a Halloween party to go to, which means that I have to make a Berserker costume tonight, and sadly, we have no wolf skins kicking around the house...any one in Rhode Island have any spare pelts I can borrow?

Anyway. I sure have lots of books to read...and they are mostly library books that have multiple holds on them, so I feel guilty as heck about keeping them piled up here. My goal is to read at least five books tomorrow. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, as they say at my children's school. (We never said the lemon part when I was young, although I was at a British school in Portugal at their age, so what do I know. Veering further off topic, I find it interesting that in the Bahamas, where we lived next, "Miss Suzy" was popular, and almost identical to the US version).

Planet Narnia (a link to a review) and a slew of links for the fairy tale lover

Planet Narnia, by Michael Ward, sounds incredible (in, perhaps, all senses of the word). Anyone who is at all interested in the hidden depths of the Narnia books (or hidden depths of books in general)-- read this review at the Times Online, and see if you don't agree.

Thanks to Jenny Davidson, whose blog, Light Reading, is a constant source of linkish divertissement.

And from Monica at Educating Alice, I learned that the Guardian has been doing a whole series on fairy tales....she has all the links at her place.

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman (Harper Collins, 2009, 117 pages) is a gem of a book. It is smaller than average, and instead of a bright dust jacket, it is a plain dark blue, except for the color plate on the cover. It looks special--old and magical, yet friendly. The black and white illustrations, by Brett Helquist, add to the feeling that this might be a book from long ago, but are considerably less scary than the bulk of the fairy tale illustrations I can remember from the old books of my childhood. In short, this is the sort of book that makes you want to pick it up.

Odd and the Frost Giants had not been inside our house for more than a few minutes before my older boy had it in his hands. I didn't let him read it to himself, though-I wanted to read it to him. And for the next few nights, we were enchanted by the story.

In Norway, long ago, a boy named Odd leaves home very early one cold winter morning, when it was supposed to be spring, but wasn't. After his father had died while off being a Viking, a tree had crushed his leg, and his mother had married a man who did not want him. With nothing left to keep him in his village, he sets off to live alone, as best he can, in his father's old woodcutting hut.

There in the snowy woods he meets three animals--a fox, a bear, and an eagle--and learns that they are Norse gods, transformed by the curse of a Frost Giant. The giant has claimed Asgard, the realm of the gods, as his own, and, unless he is driven out, winter will last forever.

The gods (Loki, Thor, and Odin), trapped in their animal forms, think it's all pretty hopeless, but they have nothing to loose, and Odd doesn't either. So when Odd suggests that a visit to Asgard might be in order, off they go, with Odd riding on the bear's back, to find the rainbow bridge that leads away from Midgard, the middle earth where humans live.

And then Odd must face the Frost Giant. He can't outfight the giant, he can't think of a way to trick him, and he doesn't have any special magical powers or talismans. All he has is a carving his father had begun before he died, and his wits...

I am very fond of Odd. He is smart without being smart-aleky, unhappy without ever whining, brave partly because taking action beats doing nothing, and partly because of his delighted self-awareness that he is living a story:

"As the bear sped up, the cold went through Odd's clothes and chilled him to the bone.

The fox dashed ahead of them, the eagle flew above them and Odd thought, crazily, happily, I'm just like one of the brave lords in my mother's ballads. Only without the horse, the dog and the falcon." (page 21)

The gods don't come off as well as Odd does. This should not be a surprise to anyone familiar with Norse mythology, and the bickering back-talk between Thor and Loki is delightfully spot-on (Odin, the rather grumpy and aloof eagle, has much less to say).

My nine year-old loved this book. He knows his Norse mythology pretty well, however, and I wonder how much that contributed to his reaction, in as much as he was able to greet Thor and Loki as old friends. I am pretty sure, however, that Gaiman has created a solid enough enchantment to sustain even young readers meeting these gods for the first time. He doesn't try to fit "An Introduction to the Gods of the Vikings" into his story, but instead trusts his readers to find their own way in, with a minimal amount of overt explanation. As events unfold, some things are made clear, but other stories and mysteries and magics are only hinted at.

In short, this is a lovely book to buy a child, for winter time reading together under the covers or in front of a fire. It is a lovely book to have on one's shelf. It is a lovely book for those who delight in Norse Mythology. It's hard to predict if this will please "Gaiman fans," because his books are all so different from each other, but those who loved The Graveyard Book will, I think, like this one.

And now I am trying to decide in my own mind if Odd, from this book, and Bod, from The Graveyard Book, are pretty much the same boy in different circumstances....they both provoke a similar maternal response in me.

The end note of Odd and the Frost Giants implies that there may be more stories about Odd--I do so hope that is the case. The book was written for World Book Day in the UK--the cover for that edition (which kids could buy for just one pound) is at right.

Here are some other reviews, at Things Mean a Lot, Chasing Ray, and Shelf Elf, and, by way of interesting contrast, reviews by adults for adults at SF Signal and Graeme's Fantasy Book Review.

Odd has been nominated for the Cybils Awards in middle grade science fiction and fantasy, for which I am on the short list committee; the opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Airman, by Eoin Colfer, is being made into a movie

Last year I was one of a panel of bloggers who shortlisted Airman, by Eoin Colfer, for the Cybil's Shortlist in YA Sci Fi/Fantasy. And so even though I don't pay much attention to movie adaptations, this article at Fantasy Book Review caught my eye.

It's really easy to picture this book as a movie, what with the ballooning, the mines, the prison inmates, and the escape from prison all so vividly brought to life by the words....I might even go see it.

The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggott, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggott (Harper Collins, 2009, middle grade, 322 pp) is much more than a time slip story. But because the element of time travel is central to the resolution of the plot, I am happy to feature it as today's Time Slip Tuesday book.

It is 2004, and the Red Sox are cursed. Ever since they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees back in 1919, nothing has worked for them.

A 12 year old Red Sox fan named Oscar is pretty sure he is cursed too. Neither of his parents, who adopted him as a baby and who were since divorced, seems to want him anymore, and he can't help but wonder if it is because he isn't white.

When his mom takes off to Baltimore, leaving him with his father (a surprise to both of them), Oscar learns that there are reasons, good ones, why he never spent the night with him before. Turns out, his father lives under Fenway Park (home of the Red Sox), with a strange assortment of Cursed Creatures. These include his three fairy great-aunts, the Weasel Man, Smoker the organ player, and most mysteriously scary of all, the Pooka....

Now that Oscar has joined the Cursed Creatures, there's only one way out for all of them. Somehow, Oscar must break the Curse, unraveling its mystery one clue at a time. But meanwhile, some of the denizens of the under-park are dead set against any tampering with the Curse, and will do just about anything to stop Oscar and his supporters.

The best way to break a baseball curse is through a game of baseball. Oscar must use the magic of Fenway Park to travel back in time, so that he can field a team of baseball greats--not necessarily the greatest athletes, but the ones who had been wronged--"the players with some sorrow to heal, some sorrow that burrowed down into the dirt of Fenway Park." (page 256)

Oscar goes back to when each of these players was just a kid like himself, and invites them back to play the first great game of their lives. These encounters back in past are moving and poignant glimpses into the lives of the boys who would go on to change baseball--like Jackie Robinson, whose mother is trying to support her five kids, Ted Williams, whose mother is too busy helping "the poor" to look after her family, Pumpsie Green, too tired from his day of hard labor to sleep....and Babe Ruth himself, a young orphan working long hours in a tailor's shop.

Facing these kids--the orphaned, the poor, the dark skinned, the immigrants-- are a team of players who embody the worst of the sport, those who will do anything to win. And back in the present, the curse is still in force. The Red Sox have lost the first three games of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees.

The Prince of Fenway Park is two books in one. It's a fantastical quest story, with a lavishly imagined and very engaging alternate world. But it's also the story of the racial injustices that taint the history of baseball, and if sometimes Baggett presents this history in largish chunks, a tad removed from the fantasy story line, that's just fine with me, because it is so darn moving, and powerful, and so important.

I feel like I should confess, however, that there was one part of the book I didn't read all that closely--the play-by-play of the Final Game. I'm not, actually, a baseball fan...

But for the kid who is, who might be a reluctant-ish reader, I bet the entire book would be utterly enthralling. It would be absolutely perfect of the 10 or 11 year-old Red Sox fan who loves Harry Potter. Yankees fans, not so much.

Note: There has recently been some controversy about this book (as described in Baggott's September editorial in the Boston Globe). To quote from the author's note:

"Although The Prince of Fenway Park is a work of fiction, it relies on and intersects with history. The word nigger appears in this novel three times--on pages 177, 257, and 299. In each of these cases, I was relying on facts and real quotes.

"I believe that the word nigger is the most hateful word in the English language. Although it is morally wrong to use this word, censoring it would be an attempt to sanitize the past. I refuse to do so--for the sake of children or any readers, for that matter. When we try to alter history, we cannot truly understand and learn from our mistakes, and we are guilty of diminishing the truly great acts of heroism in the battle against racism."

The Prince of Fenway Park has been nominated for the Cybils, in the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy category.

The Unfinished Angel, by Sharon Creech

The Unfinished Angel, by Sharon Creech (Harper Collins, 2009, 164pp)

High in the Swiss Alps, in an old stone tower, lives an angel. At least, a being who is pretty sure she or he is, in fact, angelic. But this being feels confused, and unfinished--without an instruction manual, or other angels to give advice, it's pretty hard to be sure what exactly an angel is, or what an angel is supposed to do.

"Me, I am an angel. I am supposed to be having all the words in all the languages, but I am not. Many are missing. I am also not having a special assignment. I think I did not get all the training." (page 2)

The arrival of Zola, an American girl, which strong expectations about angels, changes things. Zola's father has come to set up a school, one that will bring children from around the world together in peace. Zola's goals are more immediate--to get the angel to do something about the orphaned children scavenging a living in hiding outside the village.

And so the angel tells its story in short chapters, as Zola's convictions compel it to act more directly in the world, and all becomes well in the little Italian village. Which sounds a bit cliched, but is, in fact, what happens.

This is the sort of children's book that I think adults who don't normally like children's books will love, and will give to their grandchildren. There may be many adult readers who will consider this a beautiful book, one that nicely expresses the rewards of right action (although it does not underline morals with a heavy hand, and although it is about an angel, it is not a directly religious book).

Many adult readers who are less high-minded, but who like stories with orphans (like me) might enjoy the 'saving the orphans" plot very much, as I did.

Other adults, and perhaps a large number of the putative grandchildren referred to above, may not like the book. They may well have trouble with the angel's voice, one that inexplicably mangles simple English (although there are jarring bits of grammatical correctness). They may well not have much patience with the angel's occasionally peevish introspection, and somewhat confusing abilities.

On the other hand, they may well cheer Zola on as she briskly encourages the angel to do more.
They might find the angel's idiosyncratic, wacky use of English delightful. And for a certain type of kid, the angel's circumstances might strike a chord. After all, middle school doesn't come with an instruction manual either, and goodness knows, the right words and the right actions are something that takes practicing.

I'd be real curious to know if any children, perhaps the sub-set of intuitive, patient children, fall for this book. I am not even sure if my uncynical child-self would have loved it, or if I would have disliked it very much. I think I might have loved it, what with the medievally set up of an angel in a stone tower (such as the random example shown at right), and my own self-identity as a Good Child. But it is hard, as an adult, to be sure (even though I am still a big fan of stone towers and good deeds) I would have liked it, and I am actually finding it rather hard to figure out my Final Opinion of it even now...

Here are other reviews, at Tweens Read, and 3T News and Reviews.

The Unfinished Angel has been nominated for the Cybils in middle grade science fiction and fantasy.