This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs

Welcome to mg sff roundup post #105 in which I have compiled all the mg sff related things I found in this week's blog reading! This being mg sff roundup #105 means I have been spending my early Sundays in this fashion for over two years, which stuns me more than somewhat. Thank you, bloggers, for writing about mg sff, thank you blog readers for stopping by, and thank you writers and publishers for making it all possible!

You may have noticed that I don't have a logo for these round-ups. I have tried to come up with one, but all my troubled brain offers me is a picture of a rainbow unicorn kitten clinging to the back of a rocket, and I don't think we want that. If anyone feels like taking a stab at creating a single image that embodies all the goodness of mg sff, please do!

Anyway. Please let me know if I missed your link (I've been known to miss my own posts). And (she says shyly) if you like these round-ups, any mention on your own blog would be appreciated!

The Reviews:

The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True, at the excelsior file

Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor, at Slatebreakers and Good Books and Good Wine

The Annotated Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie with notes by Maria Tatar, at The Children's Book-A-Day Almanac

The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy (audiobook review) at The Nocturnal Library

Between Two Ends, by David Ward, at Books Beside My Bed

Bless This Mouse, by Lois Lowry, at Books Beside My Bed

The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright, at Literate Lives

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg et al., at books4yourkids

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, by L. Frank Baum, at Strange and Random Happenstance

Fly Trap, by Frances Hardinge, at Good Books and Good Wine

The Last Musketeer, by Stuart Gibbs, at The Fourth Musketeer

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, at Book View Cafe

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Book Nut and Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Hades: Lord of the Dead, by George O'Connor, at Madigan Reads

The Hidden Gallery, by Maryrose Wood, at Good Books and Good Wine

The History Keepers: the Storm Begins, by Damian Dibben, at Charlotte's Library

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at The Book Smugglers

The Inquisitor's Apprentice, by Chris Moriarty, at Kirkus

Janitors, by Tyler Whitesides, at Geo Librarian

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Waking Brain Cells

Midnight Blue, by Pauline Fisk, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at Stacked

The Only Ones, by Aaron Starmer, at Parenthetical

Princess of the Wild Swans, by Diane Zahler, at Small Review, continuing at Ruby's Reads

Reckless, by Cornelia Funke, at Library Chicken

A School for Villians, by Ardyth De Bruyn, at Nayu's Reading Corner

The Secret of the Magic Ring, by Karen McQuestion, at Karissa's Reading Review

Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck, at Jennifer Rumberger

The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere 1), by Jacqueline West, at Library Mama

Son of Neptune, by Rick Riordan, at Good Books and Good Wine

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Scattered Pages and LDS Women's Book Review

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Guys Lit Wire

Three Norse fantasies (Troll Blood, Bracelet of Bones (YA), and Runemarks) at Fantastic Reads

Authors and Interviews

Delia Sherman (The Freedom Maze) is this week's Big Idea-er at Whatever

Merrie Haskell (The Princess Curse) at Small Review

Other Good Stuff:

Sherwood Smith on the "zing" of the Harry Potter books at The Book View Cafe

The New York Times Notable Children's Books of 2011 list is not one to delight the fan of fantasy for kids; there are only two "middle grade" books that might count--Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck, and The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman, by Meg Wolitzer, and in one of these (Duncan Dorfman) the fantastical element is so small a part of the plot that it's being considered for the Cybils Awards as a straight middle grade. However, A Monster Calls (which is as much middle grade as it is anything else) is there in the YA section.

Kirkus was more fantasy friendly; here's what they picked:



















Deb Marshall will be hosting a Middle Grade Readathon January 2-8. More info. here!

And Erica at the Book Cellar is hosting a YA/MG Fantasy Book Challenge--here's the list of 2012 books she's gathered so far, and here's the sign up page.

Mary at Kidlit.com writes about books with animal characters, from the point of view of an agent. Very timely, given that this is the Year of the Middle Grade Mouse.

Boys Read is recommending two fantastic books by the late, much lamented Ben Boos--Swords, and Fantasy: An Artist's Realm

This coming Saturday will find me in Boston, at The Exquisite Conversation The Exquisite Conversation: An Adventure in Creating Books! with Katherine Paterson, MT Anderson, Natalie Babbitt, Susan Cooper, Timothy Basil Ering, Steven Kellogg, Patricia MacLachlan and James Ransome at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium, Dec 3, at 1 p.m. I'll also be attending the wine and cheese event after the presentations, a fundraiser for The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance. It sure would be comforting to know if any of you all are going, and might want to talk to me....

This Sunday's mg sff roundup!

Welcome to this Sunday's middle grade sci fi/fantasy round-up, in which I've gathered together as many blog posts about mg sff as I could find! If I've missed yours, do let me know, and do feel free to email me links at any time during the week!

It being Father's Day, I have been wracking my brains trying to come up with Good Fathers in mg sff. The best one I could come up with is the dad in A Whole Nother Story--sympathetic, interested in his kids, and determined to bring their mom back. I also like Septimus Heap's father lots. But mostly dads seem deader or absenter even than moms....and even nice dads, like Min Li's in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, get pushed of stage pretty fast...

Do you have a favorite mg sff dad?

The Reviews:

Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity, by Dave Roman, at Geek Dad and Charlotte's Library

The Beejum Book, by Alice O. Howell, at Books & other thoughts

Cinder and Ella, by Melissa Lemon, at its all about books and Reading Vacation (where you can also find this character interview)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne Valente, at Just Booking Around

Goliath, by Scott Westerfeld, at The Compulsive Reader

Invisible Inkling, by Emily Jenkins, at Postcards from La-La Land

Juniper Berry, by M.P. Kozlowsky, at TheHappyNappyBookseller

Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

My Father's Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett, at Anita Silvey's Book-a-Day Almanac

Nation, by Terry Prachett, at Stacked (audiobook review)

No Passengers Beyond this Point, by Gennifer Choldenko, at Bookends

Noah Barleywater Runs Away, by John Boyne, at Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, by Jennifer Trafton, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Seven Sorcerers, by Caro King, at books4yourkids

Spellbound, by Jacqueline West, at Books Together

A Tale of Two Castles, by Gail Carson Levine, at Charlotte's Library

Zombiekins, by Kevin Bolger, at Somewhere in the Middle

Other Good Things:

At Cracking the Cover, you can read about how a father and his son turned their bedtime ritual into the fantasy novel Sword of Darrow.

At Seven Miles of Steel Thistles, Fairytale Reflections continues with Gwyneth Jones, and Anita Slivey looks back with fondness at Brian Jacques

For Harry Potter fans, head over to Tor, where there's an ongoing Potterpalooza celebration going on until the release of the final movie. And of course there's
Pottermore....coming soon.

And finally, to celebrate the release of Juniper Berry (my review coming up on Wednesday, d.v.), Walden Media is holding a writing competition:

"Juniper Berry is a story about a girl trapped in a modern-day fairy tale: a world that is both terrifying and enticing. After you read the first two chapters, write your own story of terror and temptation in 500 to 1500 words. Make your story appropriate for kids. The first sentence should start with “Mother and father aren’t quite right.”

Who: The contest is open to US residents between the ages of 9 and 14.

When: Send your entry before July 1, 2011.

Prizes: One winner will receive the following prize:

1. One Apple® iPad®
2. Selection of Walden Pond Press eBooks, hardcovers and paperbacks
3. Story featured on walden.com

More details can be found via the link above.

In which I disclose all regarding my middle grade fantasy and science fiction roundup posts

In the interests of transparency I've decided to explain how I construct my weekly Sunday roundups of middle grade fantasy and science fiction (mg sff) posts from around the blogging world.

I started these roundups of blog posts because I wanted them to exist! I wanted to read reviews of the sub-genre I enjoy most, and mg sff reviews tend to be scattered all over the place--every week it seems I find them at blogs I'd never heard of before. And I wanted to help shine a spotlight on mg sff in general--YA and adult sci fi/fantasy get much more blog coverage, and my hope is to balance things a bit. I'm awfully pleased that people are enjoying the roundups; I enjoy doing them.

I want to make it clear that this isn't a list of reviews I think are the best, or a list of the books that I think are the best. It's simply what I've found. Initially I had envisioned people sending links to me that I would list à la Poetry Friday or Nonfiction Monday, and I thought someday I would send the meme on its way to other hosts. But this didn't happen (although one person does send me links regularly--thanks). Maybe it will someday.

What has happened instead is that I compile every mg sff related post I find during my daily blog reading, and on Sunday morning I also do google blog searches on "middle grade fantasy," "middle grade science fiction," and "children fantasy book" or a variant of the same. If you put one of the first two in your post, I should find it. If I'm feeling ambitious, I might blog search titles of new releases that I haven't seen reviews for yet. Every week I miss things, and I'm happy (in a very rueful way) to be told that I have, so that I can put them in. I post these roundups in the morning...so Sunday afternoon posts will (mostly) appear in next week's version.

I don't include every blog post I find. I don't, for instance, include short posts that are simply mentions, reiterations of the publisher's blurb, and/or two sentence reactions--I want the links I include to have some substance. This is, of course, a judgement call. I also chose not to link to posts that seem to me to be essentially advertisements for a book, other products, or particular websites.

I also find myself making judgement calls every week about what constitutes "middle grade," (which is technically ages 9-12). Sometimes I include reviews of books that are labeled YA that seem to me, or to the reviewer, or to some other reviewer altogether, the sort of thing an eleven or twelve year old might really enjoy. Some weeks, I seem to adhere to stricter parameters. The fact that I haven't read every book myself adds randomness to what I include, which can't be helped.

Sometimes I link to graphic novels that are mg fantasy, and sometimes I don't. I've never made an effort to find them, but if I do come across them, I might put them in...

Whether I agree or not with the worldviews of other bloggers isn't a factor when I decide to link to them. A variety of perspectives adds interest; that being said, the blogs I tend to read are the ones I tend to like, so I'm more likely to find their posts. I do most emphatically reserve the right not to link to any post that I find abhorrent.

And finally, I won't, in general, link to reviews of Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, or, indeed, early books of other popular series...unless they say something new and special (there are only so many reviews of the same book that one wants to read).

Please free to contact me with suggestions as to how to make the round-ups better, or if you'd like to try your own hand at a week's worth of rounding up! Please let me know if I've misspelled a name or a title! And please feel free to send me links at any time, if you've written a post, read a post, had your book written about in a post, or done an interview -- charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com.

And thank you, all you nice people who have mentioned these roundups on your own blogs! It is much appreciated.

(question--which do you prefer, round-up or roundup? I've just been told the latter is more correct (and took all the hyphens out), but the former looks nicer to me...)

This week's middle grade sci fi/fantasy roundup

Here's this week's round-up of what I found in my blog reading.  Let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews:

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass, at Mister K Reads

The Big Beast Sale, by David Sinden, at Back to Books

The Claws of Evil (The Battles of Ben Kingdom), by Andrew Beasley, at The Book Zone 

Curse of the Thirteenth Fey, by Jane Yolen, at Charlotte's Library and The Book Brownie

Escape To Witch Mountain, by Alexander Key, at This Blog Belongs to Emily Brown

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Ms. Yingling Reads
and a joint review in three parts at The Brain Lair, Maria's Melange and Library Fantatic

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Sonderbooks

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Book Angel Booktopia and Sonderbooks 

Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Island of Silence (The Unwanteds, Book 2) by Lisa McMann, at Akossiwa Ketoglo

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at In Bed With Books and Karissa's Reading Review 

Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at The Write Stuff 

The Ninnies, by Paul Magrs, at Strange and Random Happenstance

On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave, by Candace Fleming, at books4yourkids

The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at alibrarymama

The Prairie Thief, by Melissa Wiley, at Bookie Woogie and Sonderbooks

Signed by Zelda, by Kate Feiffer, at books4yourkids

Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy, at Read in a Single Sitting

Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy, at Annie McMahon

A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeline L'Engle, at Secrets & Sharing Soda

The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Barb Middleton, at Nerdy Book Club 

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, at Time Travel Times Two

When You Wish Upon a Rat, by Maureen McCarthy, at Charlotte's Library

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom, and Poseidon and the Sea of Fury (Heroes in Training books 1 and 2), by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams at Small Review

Two by Eva Ibbotson at Read in a Single Sitting-- Not Just a Witch, and Dial a Ghost

The 100 Cupboards series, by N.D. Wilson, at Mister K Reads 

Authors and Interviews

Catherynne M. Valente at Wondrous Reads

Other Good Stuff:

Wondering if a mg sff might win the Newbery, I made a list of all the mg sff books that got stars (shamelessly plucking them from Elizabeth Bluemle's comprehensive list at Shelftalker)

My sister and I had fun making up our own tunes for Menolly's songs, but these guys almost certainly a. did a better job b. took it seriously (found at  Tales of the Marvellous, where you can read more about them).  I just want to add that the cover of Dragonsong used for the second cd is just about my favorite book cover illustration ever, and it works exquisitely as a cd cover!

Lolcats of the Middle Ages (found via Light Reading):

And finally, speaking of book covers, though not mg sff covers, here is a new book called Doomed:

 

Here is what I saw....

....a rather cute cyclopedian (cyclopsian? one-eyed?) animal (my son saw a "really weird tube worm"...)  It has taken me a lot of effort to see it as the hand it is supposed to be.

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

Greetings, middle grade science fiction and fantasy friends, and welcome to another week's worth of what I found from around the blogs that of interest to us mg sff fans (please let me know if I missed your post--things were more scattered than usual this week!). If you are new to these round-ups, here's the full story.

But first, a Giveaway. At Book Expo America, I found three extra mg sff ARCs, and brought them home to give away here. And I'm not announcing it elsewhere, or putting it in the header, because you who read these round-ups are the people to whom I want to give these books (technical details at the bottom the post).


Here they are:

(although the ARC
of The Orphan of
Awkward Falls has a
different cover)




And now the reviews:

The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley, at Steph Su Reads

The Cabinet of Wonders, by Marie Rutkoski, at books4yourkids

Day of the Assassins, by Johnny O'Brien, at Charlotte's Library

The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens, at Candace's Book Blog and The Fringe Magazine

Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at Waking Brain Cells

Knightly Academy, by Violet Haberdasher, at A Backwards Story

The Lost Conspiracy, by Frances Hardinge, at By Singing Light (which should have gone in last week's round-up, but ended up in a draft post all by itself)

The Midnight Gate, by Helen Stringer, at The O.W.L. and at Wicked Awesome Books

No Such Thing as Dragons, by Philip Reeve, at books4yourkids

Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem, at Geo Librarian

The Society of Dread (Candleman) by Glenn Dakin, at Nayu's Reading Corner (and she has a give-away here)

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at Reading Vacation

The Wikkeling, by Steven Arntson, at The Book Smugglers


Authors and Interviews:

Janice Hardy (The Healing Wars series) at The Compulsive Reader

Stephanie Burigs (Kat, Incorrigible) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Glenn Dakin (Candleman) at Nayu's Reading Corner

Helen Stringer (The Midnight Gate), at The O.W.L. (includes give away)

Nathan Bransford (Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow) at From the Mixed Up Files

Eric Nylund (The Resistors) at Random Acts of Reading

Matthew Kirby (The Clockwork Three) at From the Mixed Up Files

Other Good Stuff:

The Book Smugglers (it was great to meet them in person at the Book Blogger Convention!) showcase the mg sff books they took home with them.

Here's Alan Rickman's good-bye to Snape, from Empire Magazine, via Bookshelves of Doom

Giveaway Details:
There will be three winners (ie, one book each). Leave a comment to enter, make sure there's a way to contact you, and let me know the order in which you want them. International friends are welcome to enter too! I'll pick the winners just before I post (d.v.) next week's roundup.

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs

Another week, another mg sff roundup! Please let me know if I missed your post or the posts of your loved ones. (Even if I read your blog, it's very possible I fumbled the link...apologies in advance!)

The Reviews

Above World, by Jenn Reese, at Intergalactic Academy

The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine Richards, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at Hope is the Word and The View From My Mind

The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

Crater Lake: Battle For Wizard Island, by Steve Westover, at Why Not? Because I Said So

Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia

Domenic, by William Steig, at Becky's Book Reviews

Fangbone! Third Grade Barbarian, by Michael Rex, at Fuse #8, and two posts at Oz and Ends-here, and here.

Gates of Rome (Timeriders Book 5), by Alex Scarrow, at The Book Zone

A Greyhound of a Girl, by Roddy Doyle, at Charlotte's Library

The Humming Room, by Ellen Potter, at Good Books and Good Wine and Book Yurt

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

Invisible Inkling, by Emily Jenkins, at Cracking the Cover

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Reading With My Ears

Magical Mischief, by Anna Dale, at Charlotte's Library

The Magician, by Michael Scott, at A Strong Belief in Wicker

The Museum of Thieves, by Lian Tanner, at Geo Librarian

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Five Minutes for Books

The Pocket and the Pendant (Max Quick 1), by Mark Jeffery, at The Book Maven's Haven

Princess of the Wild Swans, by Diane Zahler, at The Book Cellar

Revenge of the Horned Bunnies (Dragonbreath 6) by Ursula Vernon, at Back to Books

The Ruins of Gorlath (Ranger's Apprentice), by John Flanagan, at library_mama

Scary School, by Derek the Ghost, at RJ Does Books!

Seeds of Rebellion (Beyonders Book 2), by Brandon Mull, at Shannon Messenger

Sophia the Flame Sister (Spell Sisters 1), by Amber Castle, at Nayu's Reading Corner

To Catch a Mermaid, by Suzanne Selfors, at GreenBeanTeenQueen

The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at My Precious and The Book Addict

A two for one post at Fantastic Reads--King of Shadows, by Susan Cooper, and Astercote, by Penelope Lively

And a two for one audio book review--N.E.R.D.S. 1 and 2, at The O.W.L.

And finally, a second round Cybils mg sff panelist (Kim of Si, se puede!) looks back at the short list.

Authors and Interviews

Katherine Roberts (The Sword of Light) at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Marianne Malone (Stealing Magic) at Random Acts of Reading

Jenn Reese (Above World) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Michelle Lovric (Talina in the Tower) at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Suzanne Selfors (To Catch a Mermaid) at GreenBeanTeenQueen

Derek the Ghost (Scary School) at Boys and Literacy

Other Good Stuff:

Finally A Monster Calls, one of my favorites of 2011, has won an award--The Red House Children's Book Award, whose winners are chosen by the votes of children in the UK (which just goes to show that the book does have appeal to children, which some may have been unsure of).

The Green Book, by Jill Patten Walsh, is being republished in mid March with a nifty new cover, which makes me very happy--it wasn't exactly hard to find cheap copies of it, but maybe now it will find new readers. If you have a thoughtful and meditative six or seven year old--read them this book! It will knock their socks off.

Here's a nice list of science fiction for girls, at Polenth's Quill

And from the Dept. of Futures that (thankfully) Never Happened, a look at the fashions of the 20th century, as imagined in 1893 (see more pictures at io9):

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/23/14)

Welcome to this week's round-up--I didn't have time to do much scrounging, so may well have missed things--please let me know!
The Reviews:

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Things Mean a Lot

The Blue Lady, by Eleanor  Hawken, at Nayu's Reading Corner (giveaway)

The Children Next Door, by Jean Ure, at Charlotte's Library

Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at alibrarymama

The Eighth Day, by Diane K. Salerni, at Middle Grade Mafioso

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo, at Candace's Book Blog and GreenBeanTeenQueen

The Gargoyle in my Yard, by Philippa Dowding, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Geranium Cat's Bookshelf

The Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz, at Becky's Book Reviews

The House on Parchment Street, by Patricia McKillip, at Finding Wonderland

How to Catch a Bogle, by Catherine Jinx, at alibrarymama

How To Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell, at Mister K Reads

The Interrupted Tale, by Maryrose Wood, at Kid Lit Geek

The Lotus Caves, by John Christopher, at Views From the Tesseract

Magic Marks the Spot, by Caroline Carlson, at Mister K Reads

Operation Bunny: The Fairy Detective Agency's First Case, by Sally Gardner, at Bibliophilic Monologues

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, at The Book Monsters

The Quantum League: Spell Robbers, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Charlotte's Library and The Englishist

The Rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson, at Sonderbooks

Rose, by Holly Webb, at Sonderbooks

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Neilsen, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

The Secret Box, by Whitaker Ringwald, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Shadow Throne, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, The A P Book Club, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and Stacked

Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Guys Lit Wire

A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, at Literate Lives

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at My Precious

Theodosia and the Last Pharoah, by R.A. LaFevers, at Jean Little Library

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Sonderbooks

The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey, at The Book Monsters

Zoe and Zack and the Yogi's Curse, by Lars Guignard, at Candace's Book Blog


Three at Views from the Tesseract:  Tesla's Attic, by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman, Spider Stampede by Ali Sparks, Sasquatch Escape, by Suzanne Selfors

Two at Redeemed Reader-- The Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, and The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick

And two at Ms. Yingling Reads:  Handbook for Dragon Slayers and The Shadow Throne

Authors and Interviews:

Jennifer Nielsen (The Shadow Throne) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Nikki Loftin (Nightingale's Nest) at The Book Cellar (giveaway)

Neil Shusterman and Eric Elfman (Tesla's Attic) at Project Mayhem

F.T. Bradley (Double Vision: Code Name 711) at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

A weeks' worth at Susan K. Quinn:

Monday: Warrior Faeries and Math Magick: How Susan Kaye Quinn is using a Virtual Author Visit video and Teacher's Guide to reach readers with her MG novel, Faery Swap.

 

Tuesday: Faery, Fairy, Sweet and Scary: a discussion with MG author Kim Batchelor on writing about Faeries in kidlit.

 

Wednesday: Sci Fi for the Middle Grade Set: a discussion with MG author Dale Pease about writing SF for kids.

 

Thursday: Writing Indie MG: a roundup of indie MG authors (Michelle Isenhoff, Elise Stokes, Lois Brown, Mikey Brooks, Ansha Kotyk) about why they write MG and how to reach readers, including their indie MG author Emblazoner's group catalog.

 

Friday: Marketing Indie Middle Grade - The Hardest Sell - about reaching MG readers as an MG author.

Other Good Stuff:

A Tuesday Ten of music at Views from the Tesseract

Lee and Low is giving away a copy of Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today's Youth, by Gregory J. Reed, signed by Rosa Parks herself!  Head on over to Lee and Low's Facebook page to enter; ends Feb. 26

Looking ahead to next weekend--Middle Grade March kicks off with a day long read-a-thon--more info. here

And looking even further ahead, here's the Fall 2014 Children's Sneak Preview from Publisher's Weekly --lots of good mf sff!

This Sunday's Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction Roundup

Here are this week's reviews of middle grade (9-12 year olds) fantasy and science fiction books from around the blogosphere (click on the book title for the review).

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass, at Fantasy Book Critic.

The Blue Shoe: A Tale of Thievery, Villainy, Sorcery, and Shoes, by Roderick Townley, at Enchanting YA Reviews.

The Castle Corona, by Sharon Creech, at Owl in the Library.

City of Fire, by Laurence Yep, at the Jean Little Library.

G-Man: Learning to Fly, a story told in comics form, at Oz and Ends.

The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker, at Eva's Book Addiction.


Imagia and the Magic Pearls, by Monroe Tarver, at Dad of Divas.

Lost Worlds, by John Howe, at Shelf Elf.

The Mysterious Benedict Society, at One Librarian's Book Reviews.


Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments, by Emily Ection, at Charlotte's Library.

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, at Tor.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, at Tor.


The Revenge of the Itty-Bitty Brothers, by Lin Oliver, at Charlotte's Library.

Sent, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at Charlotte's Library.

The Shifter (the Healing Wars, Book 1), by Janice Hardy, at Charlotte's Library.

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, at Fantasy Literature...Frankly.

At Boys Rule Boys Read, you can find Norse Gods, King Arthur, and Kick-Butt Superheros!

Here's an interview with David Lubar (author of Cybils nominee Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie) at Cynsations.

And finally, here are the thoughts on middle grade fantasy from Brian, aka MrChompChomp, fellow mg sff Cybils panelist.

Did I miss anyone? Please let me know in the comments! And if you review or write about middle grade science fiction and fantasy during the week, feel free to drop me an email--charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com.

And come back in a week for more mg sff fun!

This Sunday's middle grade fantasy and science fiction roundup

Welcome to another week's worth of carefully (more or less) gathered blog posts pertaining to middle grade science fiction and fantasy! If you like these round-ups, do please consider mentioning them on your own blog--I'd love more people stopping by to enjoy all the great reviews etc.!

If I missed your post, let me know...and anyone, including authors and publishers and publicists, is welcome to send me links to blog posts at any time during the week--charlotteslibrary at blogspot dot com. Thanks.

The Reviews:

Artemis the Brave (Goddess Girls) by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at Biblio File

Behemoth, by Scott Westerfeld, at Fantasy Literature

Beyonds, by Brandon Mull, at The Literary Wife

Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine, at Anita Silvey's Children's Book-a-day Almanac

Fantasy: An Artist's Realm, by Ben Boos, at Charlotte's Library

Fourth Grade Fairy, by Eileen Cook, at Manga Maniac Cafe

Lair of the Bat Monster (Dragon Breath) by Ursula Vernon, at The HappyNappyBookseller

Luka and the Fire of Life, by Salman Rushdie, at Tia's Book Musings

The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Magnificent 12: The Call, by Michael Grant, at Book Review Blog for Caroline Hooton

Priscilla the Great, by Sybil Nelson, at Reading Tween

The Red Pyramid (audiobook), by Rick Riordan, at The O.W.L.

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, by Jennifer Trafton, at Charlotte's Library

Skeleton Man, by Joseph Bruchac, at Charlotte's Library

Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem, at Stella Matutina

Spellbinder, by Helen Stringer, at Books & Other Thoughts

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at Book Nut

Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander, at BellaOnBook's Blog

The Time Travelling Fashionista, by Bianca Turetsky at TheHappyNappyBookseller and Confessions of a Book Addict

Under the Green Hill, by Laura L. Sullivan, at Middle Grade Ninja

Authors talking:

Laura L. Sullivan (Under the Green Hill) at Middle Grade Ninja
Katherine Langrish's blog tour for West of the Moon continues, more info. here at her blog
Kate Milford (The Boneshaker) at Novel Journey

Other Things of Interest:

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is getting a sequel. I was pleasantly surprised when I actually got around to reading the book (actually listening to it....); it wasn't that bad. But still, I wasn't desperate for more. However, since the writer of the sequel is going to be I writer I admire lots, Frank Cottrell Boyce (Cosmic), I am cautiously optimistic.

And in a similar vein, Jacqueline Wilson is going to be updating Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit (1902) for modern children. Why, I ask. Why.

Over at the SLJ Battle of the Books, Team MG SFF is holding its own--A Tale Dark and Grimm and Keeper both won their last matches.

The Magician's Nephew will be the next Narnia movie....I was hoping for The Silver Chair...

Booklist has assembled their top 10 graphic novels for kids, with fantasy nicely represented.

The shortlists for 2010 Aurealis Awards (Australian spec fic) have been announced; here are the children's books:

Grimsdon, Deborah Abela, Random House
Ranger's Apprentice #9: Halt's Peril, John Flanagan, Random House
The Vulture of Sommerset, Stephen M Giles, Pan Macmillan
The Keepers, Lian Tanner, Allen & Unwin
Haggis MacGregor and the Night of the Skull, Jen Storer & Gug Gordon, Aussie Nibbles (Penguin)

This is more a general interest item than a mg sff specific one, but if you have a few minutes, do visit the 2011 White Raven list! It's a list compiled each by the International Children's Library in Germany, and it is fascinating glimpse of what's being published around the world. I found this over at Mitali's Fire Escape--her book, Bamboo People, is one of the 8 that represents the US, and she is in most excellent company (you can see the list at her blog)!

And finally, there is the sad news of the passing of Diana Wynne Jones. I love her books dearly; they live right next to my bed.

There are two new books coming--Earwig and the Witch
(Greenwillow, Summer 2011), and a collection of DWJ's articles, lectures, and talks from David Fickling Books next year.

Still, I would have been happy if she had kept on writing forever.

48HRC Wrap-up Post

(note--to those looking for the mg sff roundup, it won't be up till later this evening....I've been too busy reading to do other crucial household tasks, and must do those first....)

I have just finished 48 hours of not reading as much as I would have liked to, but which brought me great reading pleasure none the less.

Since I last posted, I have read

The Chalet at Saint-Marc, by Suzanne Butler (1968, 114 pages), which was just about the most unexciting children trapped alone by heavy snow story that I have ever read. They never run out of food or fuel; although someone falls ill, it is a random neighbor; the rescue mission to bring said neighbor help is easy as all get out; and to top it off the rescue helicopter makes an utterly uneventful round-trip. Hmph.

Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, by Fannie Flagg (359 pages). Although I was moved to tears (literally) by this touching story, and read it avidly, at the end of it I was feeling that the central character (an old woman of great folksy charm, wisdom, virtue, loved by all who know her, friend of the small animals and bringer of happiness to all living things she encounters) maybe was a bit too good to be true. But I enjoyed it.

The Sunny Side, short stories and poems by A.A. Milne (312 pages). I very much enjoy Milne's essays, and hoped I'd like these stories, but didn't, quite, although I did chuckle now and then.

Plus "Broomsticks and Sardines," by Joan Aiken, out loud to children (10 pages of hideously tiny type, difficult for one who has become accustomed to the swollen fonts of contemporary children's books to read in a dark room. The copy I was reading from was my own from when I was 10).

plus 98 pages of Hawksbill Station, by Robert Silverberg (haven't finished it yet, but it's very good), and 253 pages of Mistress of the Storm,by M.L. Welsh, that I also haven't finished but intend to later today because it is really good, and I will be writing about it tomorrow.

Final Stats:

Pages Read: 2963 (less than the past two years, but I was alone with the kids, and goodness knows they'd be in trouble if they were the ones stuck in a snow-buried chalet without parents)

Time Spent Reading and Blogging: 15 hours and ten minutes time spent reading, plus 2 hours and forty minutes of social media time, for a grand total of 17 hours and 50 minutes

Number of Books No Longer on my TBR Pile: 13
Effect this has had on my TBR pile: negligible
Number of tbr books discovered in a box in the hallway after photo of tbr pile was taken: 11; Number of tbr books I forgot were in a secluded pile in the spare room: 7. Overall feeling that progress has been made--some, because I did read some books that I've had for ages.

Number of Books that Made Me Cry: 3 out of 13. Not bad.

What made this 48HRC different from previous ones: I DID NOT MISPLACE A SINGLE BOOK! No time wasted wandering around cursing!

Thanks so much, Pam, for hosting this again!

Welcome to this week's edition of the middle grade sci fi/fantasy roundup, in which I find all the mg sff blog reviews, interviews, and etcs., I can, and share them! Please let me know if I missed your post, and please feel free to send me anything you think is of interest at any time!

The Reviews:

The Appothecary, by Maile Meloy, at Literary Lunchbox

Archer's Quest, by Linda Sue Park, at Book Nut

The Beast, by Barry Hutchison, at The Book Zone

The Borrowers, by Mary Norton, at Book-a-day Almanac

The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright at Literate Lives

The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody, at Fuse #8 and Charlotte's Library

Dragon Castle, by Joseph Bruchac, at Book Nut

Dragon Keeper, by Carole Wilkinson, at living peacefully with children

The Dragon's Tooth, by N.D. Wilson, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Earwig and the Witch, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Charlotte's Library

Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian, by Michael Rex, at Original Content

The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman, by Meg Wolitzer, at Readatouille

Floors, by Patrick Carman, at Good Books and Good Wine and The Book Swarm

The Invisible Tower, by Nils Johnson-Shelton, at More Than True

Janitors, by Tyler Whitesides, at Readingunky's Reading Roost

Juniper Berry, by M.P. Kozlowsky, at Good Books and Good Wine

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Story Snoops

Little Women and Me, by Lauren Baratz-Logstead, at Ms. Yingling Reads

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at Pass the Chicklets

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Karissa's Reading Review and Ms. Yingling Reads

The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskell, at Slatebreakers

Sir Gawain the True, by Gerald Morris, at Literate Lives

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Bloggin' 'bout Books

The Wide Awake Princes, by E.D. Baker, at Puss Reboots

Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at Charlotte's Library and Jen Robinson's Book Page

At Time Travel Times Two you'll find two elevator stories--Time at the Top, and A Year Without Autumn

Authors and Interviews:

Sarah Prineas talks Winterling in a Big Idea post at Whatever, and is interviewed at The Book Cellar and Read, Write, Repeat

Jasmine Richards (The Book of Wonders) at The Book Zone

Mark Griffiths (Space Lizards Stole My Brian!) at Wondrous Reads

The Horn Book has published an adapted edition of a keynote address Richard Peck (Secrets at Sea) gave at a colloquium this fall

Other things of interest:

Those looking for more books, and blogs, to read might want to check out the YA/MG fantasy challenge hosted by Erica at The Book Cellar.

At Once Upon a Blog, you can admire the illustrations to The Zen of Oz, by Cathy Pavia:

Another week's worth of middle grade sci fi/fantasy postings from around the blogs

Welcome to this week's roundup of posts relating to middle grade fantasy and sci fi that I found in my blog reading; please send me your link, or leave it in the comments, if I missed it!

Sad news, first. Peter D. Sieruta, who wrote the incomparable blog, Collecting Children's Books, has died. This is just really a sad, huge loss for the world of children's books, and of course my heart goes out to his family, and real life friends. I myself never had the pleasure of meeting Peter, but knowing that he was in the world, able to share his vast knowledge of children's books at the drop of the hat, was a great thing. Jules of Seven Impossible Things has more.

The Reviews

Always Neverland, by Zoe Barton, at A Room With Books

Amulet: The Last Council, by Kazu Kibuishi, at Book Nut

Bigger Than a Breadbox, by Laurel Snyder, at Library Mama

The Boggart, by Susan Cooper, at Book-a-Day Almanac

Deadly Pink, by Vivien Vande Velde, at Book Aunt

Giants Beware! by Rafael Rosado and Jorge Aguirre, at Library Mama and Wandering Librarians

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Slatebreakers

The Girl Who Owned a City, by O.T. Nelson, at Wandering Librarians

A Greyhound of a Girl, by Roddy Doyle, at Waking Brain Cells

Grimalkin, the Witch Assassin (The Last Apprentice), by Joseph Delaney, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Gustav Gloom and the People Taker, by Adam-Troy Castro, at Shannon Messenger

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at books4yourkids and Random Musings of a Bibliphile

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms, by Lissa Evans, at books4yourkids

Knight's Castle, by Edward Eager, at Hope is the Word

Lawn Mower Magic, by Lynne Jonell, at Secrets & Sharing Soda

The Mapmaker and the Ghost, by Sarvenaz Tash, at Bookworm1856

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny-Detectives Extraordinaire, by Polly Horvath, at Oops...Wrong Cookie

Once Upon a Toad, by Heather Vogel Frederick, at Book Aunt

Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, at Small Review and at Book Aunt

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier, at Parenthetical

Phoebe Alleyn and the Quantum Sorcerer, by S.P. Brown, at Nayu's Reading Corner

The Prince Who Fell From the Sky, by John Claude Bemis, at My Precious and Bunbury in the Stacks

Remarkable, by Lizzie K. Foley, at Charlotte's Library

The Rifts of Rime, by Steven Peck, at The Write Path

Searching for Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede, at Book Nut

Seeds of Rebellion, by Brandon Mull, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

Spaceheadz, by Jon Scieszka, at Wondrous Reads

Snivel, by Dale E. Basye, at Back to Books

Storybound, by Marissa Burt, at Carina's Books

The Wizard of Dark Street, by Shawn Thomas Odyssey, at Sonderbooks

A two for one, at Candace's Book Blog--The Thief Lord and The Magician's Elephant

Authors and Interviews

Marissa Burt (Storybound) at Literary Rambles (plus giveaway!)

James Mihaley (You Can't Have My Planet, But Take My Brother, Please!) at From the Mixed Up Files and at Project Mayhem

Alyson Miers (Charlinder's Walk), at A Thousand Wrongs (plus giveaway!)

Other Good Stuff:

For those of us interested in books out in the UK, the Bookbuzz 2012 list has just been posted (and includes some mg sci fi/fantasy books that I had never heard of before and now want to read....)

A meditation on Fakelore vs Folklore, by Jane Yolen, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

"It's Complicated" a blog dialogue hosted by CBC Diversity (an orginization "dedicated to increasing the diversity of voices and experiences contributing to children's literature -- encouraging diversity of race, gender, geographical origin, sexual orientation, and class among both the creators of and the topics addressed by children's literature.")


And having nothing to do with mg sff, here's a poignant image I felt compelled to share (via Jenny Davidson). "The ordeal left him with minor wounds...." More at the BBC