The Andre Norton Award Shortlist has been announced!

The Nebula Awards short lists have been announced! The Nebulas are awards voted on, and presented by, active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Here's the short list of books in the running for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, and isn't it a nice one!

• Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor (Viking Juvenile)
• Chime, Franny Billingsley (Dial Books; Bloomsbury)
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Hodder & Stoughton)
• Everybody Sees the Ants, A.S. King (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• The Boy at the End of the World, Greg van Eekhout (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• The Freedom Maze, Delia Sherman (Big Mouth House)
• The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Rae Carson (Greenwillow Books)
• Ultraviolet, R.J. Anderson (Orchard Books; Carolrhoda Books)

The first Andre Norton Award was given in 2005, to Valiant, by Holly Black. Here's a fasinating post by Sherwood Smith at Tor about Andre Norton, and how the award began.

Two awesome shortlists--the Andre Norton Award, and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize

The list of the books in the running for the 2013 Andre Norton Award have been announced-- here's what's in the running:

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy
Iron Hearted Violet, Kelly Barnhill (Little, Brown)
Black Heart, Holly Black (S&S/McElderry; Gollancz)
Above, Leah Bobet (Levine)
The Diviners, Libba Bray (Little, Brown; Atom)
Vessel, Sarah Beth Durst (S&S/McElderry)
Seraphina, Rachel Hartman (Random House; Doubleday UK)
Enchanted, Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
Every Day, David Levithan (Alice A. Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Summer of the Mariposas, Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Tu Books)
Railsea, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan)
Fair Coin, E.C. Myers (Pyr)
Above World, Jenn Reese (Candlewick)


A lovely, lovely list!  I've read all but three, and even though I didn't myself like every single one of the books, there's a nicely diverse tasty-ness to the ensemble.

Here's the full list of Nebula shortlists.


I take a keen interest in the shortlist for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, given over across the pond to new and emerging talent in three categories--picture books, fiction for ages 5-12, and teen books.   I like to have new UK authors to track down.  So I was a tad disappointed that the sci fi/fantasy side of this year's short list is a tad heavy on books I already knew...but I am rather intrigued by The Wolf Princess....

I figured the Norton books didn't need much introducing, but I copied the pictures and links for this list from the Waterstones site, because of some of them being ones I'd never heard of.

For Ages 5-12:

The Secret Hen House Theatre by Helen Peters

The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable

Chronicles of Egg: Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Barry Loser: I am Not a Loser by Barry Loser

Atticus Claw Breaks the Law by Jennifer Gray

 

Teen Books:

Insignia by S. J. Kincaid, et al.

Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind... by Andy Robb

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Lavender-Green Magic, by Andre Norton, for Timeslip Tuesday

This week's time travel book is an oldie-- Lavender-Green Magic, by Andre Norton (1974, also published in paperback in 2006; that's the cover shown below right).  It's the story of three kids who are left to stay in Massachusetts with grandparents they've never met when their dad goes missing in Vietnam and their mother has to go to work full time.    Holly, the oldest of the three, is filled with doubt.  The grandparents make a living from the town dump, piecing together and mending and salvaging what is discarded, and she's old enough to find this horrifying, but not so old as to appreciate it; the twins, Judy and Crockett, are young enough to be fascinated....And Holly is also worried about being black kids in a white school.   She keeps herself to herself, and tries to keep Judy safe/isolated too.  And of course all three miss their mom something fierce.

The old dump is located at the edge of what was once a grand estate, now home to ruins and an overgrown maze.   One night Judy dreams of it...and the next day she leads her siblings through it's twists and turns to the home of a wise-woman, named Tamar--who had lived there back in the 17th century.  Tamar, wise in the shaping of thoughts into power (as well as being adept at herbal cures) is able to see into their hearts, and what she sees in Holly does not make her happy....

And indeed, Holly seems to be overtaken by angry, hurtful thoughts.  She's the next to lead the kids through the maze, but she takes them to a different woman--Tamar's sister, Hagar.   Who's not a nice sort of witch wise woman at all.  Holly's choices almost bring disaster to the family....and also to Tamar, when she's suspected of having used her powers in a dark witchy way and a mob of Puritans comes for her.   But all works out well.  Especially happily, for those of us who like gardening, the maze proves to be the key that will save the land by the dump from being sold, and the grandparents from being evicted.

Past and present are nicely twisted, although there isn't a whole heck of a lot of nuance to Tamar and Hagar, and there's not a jot of explanation about their powers (which are indeed real and magical).  These things have to be taken on faith.

Don't be reading this one for a tremendously accurate account of the Puritans, because it isn't.   Do be reading it for the herb-lore, and the descriptive pleasures of finding of old things amongst the junk.  And it is rare and pleasing to see a family of African-American kids at the center of an old and lovely/scary magical adventure.   I would have loved it as a child, and didn't mind at all reading it as a grown-up even though I wanted to shake Holly quite often, which is tiring when you want to be reading for comfort.

And I could have done without the grandmother's dialecitcal English of "laws"-es and apostrophies (jus', etc.).   Long, long paragraphs of this, that I worry would be off-putting to the young reader of today.  And I wish we'd had a chance to see Holly opening to the possibility of friendships at school.   Oh well.  Apart from the grandmother's truly jarring turns of phrase, I thought Norton did a reasonable job with issues of race, making it neither too much or too little of the story.

One thing (a pedantic sort of thing) that I think Norton messed up on is Hagar's name.   I was online today, reading up on Tamar and Hagar, both very interesting Old Testament women.   Hagar was enslaved, raped, cast out with her son into the wilderness...but seen and saved by God, and centuries later her story resonated deeply with many African-American women (you can read more here; scroll down).  Once you know this, it's a bit of a jarring note to have Hagar be the villainous one in a story starring African-American kids.

(And nothing to do with this book, but this bit of research led me on to a lovely book from 1888 called Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature, which is free online here and very diverting and worth sharing).

Dragon Magic, by Andre Norton, for Timeslip Tuesday

Well, you know, you win some, you lose some...and Dragon Magic, by Andre Norton (1972), sadly fell into the later category for me. 

The premise was interesting enough--four middle school boys of desperate backgrounds and interests all living in the same neighborhood in the early 1970s, but not interested in being friends.  Then one of them discovers the magic of the beautiful dragon puzzle he finds in an old abandoned house--a puzzle with four dragons.  Each boy in turn puts together a dragon, which whisks him on a journey back in time, and they become friends in the present when they share their experiences.

The boys whose interactions in the present make a framing device for the stories of the past are:

Sig--ordinary guy of Germanic heritage, who finds himself helping Sigurd take on Fafnir.

Ras, aka George--a black kid, whose big brother has embraced the Black Power movement, who finds himself a Nubian prince enslaved in Babylon along with Daniel.  He gets to watch Daniel overcome an African swamp dragonish creature.

Artie--would be cool boy, who goes back in time to King Arthur and learns a valuable lesson about meaningful relationships.

Kim--adopted from Hong Kong, he goes back to ancient China where there is a very confusing war going on, and comes back knowing he should try harder to make friends.

So a diverse cast of kids who don't get all that much page time, but who actually manage to be somewhat more than stereotypes, which is good, and four stories that varied a lot in interesting-ness, which wasn't so good.  The first two (Sigurd and Daniel) were very interesting, the last two I found tedious.

Which could have been just me.  But the particulars of the stories aside, the whole ensemble never felt enough like a cohesive story to rise above the fractures of its form and make me really care.  In large part this is because the time travel magic put the boys into characters in the past--they weren't themselves, so there was no ongoing metacommentary.  The stories were told straight up,with no ties back to the present, in much the same way as you might find stories anthologized in a book of "Dragon Stories of Many Lands."  And on top of that, the boys had almost no agency within their stories, which made them even less interesting.

So that's generally why I didn't care for it.  Here's a particular thing that vexed me--in Ras's story, Norton keeps referring to him as "the Nubian" and not by his name.  All the other boys were referred to by name, and it bothered me that he was depersonalized this way. 

But the dragon puzzle was beautifully described...best dragon puzzle ever.

2009 Andre Norton Award Challenge

Reviewing Zoe's Tale a few days ago made me decided to read all the books nominated for this year's Andre Norton Award, the Nebula equivalent award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. Would any one like to join me? The award will be announced May 15th, so there's plenty of time. Here's the list:

• Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon, Jul09)
• Ice, Sarah Beth Durst (Simon and Schuster, Oct09)
• Ash, Malinda Lo (Little, Brown and Company, Sep09)
• Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev (Feiwel and Friends, Jul09)
• Zoe’s Tale, John Scalzi (Tor Aug08)
• When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)
• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, Jun09)
• Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon, Oct09)

It is not every day that you see the Newbery Award winner on the Norton ballot.

If you'd like to read these too, please leave a comment and I'll list participants here, with links to any posts you might have about them.....

Just to get things started, I've read Ash, Ice, Zoe's Tale, and Hotel Under the Sand, and read, but not reviewed, Eyes Like Stars and When You Reach Me.

Misty and Becky, have joined me, with Kate and Bookwyrm expressing some interest as well....Anyone else?

The Norton Award short list

Here's the short list for this year's Andre Norton Award. It 's nice to see three old friends I helped shortlist for the Cybils (the first three), and perhaps even nicer to see two other excellent books gets some recognition.

Graceling - Kristin Cashore (Harcourt, Oct 08)

Lamplighter - D.M. Cornish (Monster Blood Tattoo, Book 2, Putnam Juvenile, May 08)

Savvy - Ingrid Law (Dial, May 08)

The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson (Henry Holt and Company, April 08)

Flora’s Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room) - Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt, Sep08)


The Andre Norton Award is the Nebula Award given to the author of an outstanding young adult science fiction or fantasy book published in the previous year. The award is rather young—only three books to date have won it:

2007 Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling
2006 Magic or Madness, by Justine Larbalestier
2005 Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie , by Holly Black

All fantasy, with just one Sci. Fi. Book on this year’s short list (Jenna Fox).

Here's the list of nominees for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

The lists of nominees for the Nebula Awards have been announced; here are the books in contention for the Andre Norton Award, given for "young adult" books:

• Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown)
• White Cat, Holly Black (McElderry)
• Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press; Scholastic UK)
• Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, Barry Deutsch (Amulet)
• The Boy from Ilysies, Pearl North (Tor Teen)
• I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett (Gollancz; Harper)
• A Conspiracy of Kings, Megan Whalen Turner (Greenwillow)
• Behemoth, Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK)

What a list! What awesome books! What a nice mix!

The Boy from Ilysies is the only one I haven't read, but I quickly hurried over to Amazon where it was sitting in my shopping cart to place my order....

And here, just for the heck of it, are the "adult" titles:

• The Native Star, M.K. Hobson (Spectra)
• The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit UK; Orbit US)
• Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
• Echo, Jack McDevitt (Ace)
• Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)
• Blackout/All Clear, Connie Willis (Spectra)

I find it interesting that they are considering the Connie Willis books as a single entity. This is the only one I've read from this list, although several of the others are on my hideously engorged TBR list....

A list of time travel books with diversity

The Twinjas asked on twitter for recommendations of diverse time travel books, and so here one is!  I keep a list of time travel books, and a list of multicultural spec fic books, but the two aren't cross referenced, so I went into time travel and pulled out the relevant books.  Here's what there's not a lot of--LGBT time travel or time travel of characters with disabilities.  I have given my personal favorites stars, and I've given books I think of as "important reads in diverse time travel" double stars.  The links go to my reviews.

I am always open to more recommendations, so sent them my way please.

Multicultural (arranged more or less by age of reader)

Bonjour, Lonnie, by Faith Ringgold

The Little Yokozuna, by Wayne Shorey

The Magic Mirror, by Zetta Elliott

*Cleopatra in Space--Target Practice, and  The Thief and the Sword  by Mike Maihack

The Book that Proves Time Travel Happens, by Henry Clark

Chronal Engine, by Greg Leitich Smith

Abracadabra Tut, by Page McBriar

Turning on a Dime, by Maggie Dana

Bridge of Time, by Lewis Buzbee

Jacob Wonderbar and the Intersellar Time Warp, by Nathan Bransford

Phyllis Wong and the Return of the Conjuror, by Geoffrey McSkimming

*The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman

Dragon Magic, by Andre Norton

Lavender-Green Magic, by Andre Norton

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time, by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Freedom Stone, by Jeffrey Kluger

Facing Fire, by kc dyer

Roberto and Me: a Baseball Card Adventure, by Dan Gutman

Black Powder, by Staton Rabin

The Snipesville Chronicles (three books) by Annette Laing

The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Archer's Quest, by Linda Sue Park

*The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggott

And The Infinity Ring series from Scholastic, by various authors

YA on up

Black Powder, by Staton Rabin

The Girl Who Lept Through Time, by Yasutaka Tsutsui

*The Black Canary, by Jane Louise Curry

Echo, by Alicia Wright Brewster

*The Tomorrow Code, by Brian Falkner

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman

Transcendence, by  C.J. Omololu

Along the River, by Adeline Yen Mah

**Kindred, by Octavia Butler

**A Wish After Midnight, by Zetta Elliott

(With reservations re whether it really counts as diversity as stated in my review) The River of No Return, by Bee Ridgeway

Disability--

Dreamer, Wisher, Liar, by Clarise Mericle Harper

Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease

Non-Binary Gender--

*Several short stories by Ursula Le Guin, in The Winds Twelve Quarters and Fisherman of an Inland Sea

This Year's Andre Norton winner, nestled into this Sunday's Round-up of Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction from around the blogs

Welcome to yet another week's worth of gleanings--the reviews, interviews, news, etc. pertaining to middle grade science fiction and fantasy that I have hunted down. Please let me know if I missed yours!

That being said, here's a piece of news that isn't middle grade at all: the Andre Norton Award (the Nebula for childrens/YA books) has gone to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente. This book has a most interesting history. It started life as a children's book mentioned in another of Valente's books, Palimpsest. Then Valente actually wrote it, posting it a chapter at a time, inviting readers to pay her what they thought it was worth. Feiwel and Friends picked it up, and it's scheduled to be published as a book next spring (unless they move its publication date forward, what with it having already won a major award!) But in the meantime, here it is on-line. (and here's the full list of the 2010 Nebula winners).

Now for the Middle Grade Reviews:

Alien Encounter, by Pamela Service, at Jean Little Library.
The first two Alison Dare books at Books and Other Thoughts (I missed this last week, but since others might share my curiosity about this series, which looks more than a little cool, here it is today...)
Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer at Fantasy Literature.
Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies, by Andrea Beatty, at Jean Little Library.
The Billionaire's Curse, by Richard Newsome, at Book Aunt.
The Boneshaker, by Kate Milford, at Fantasy Literature.
Celia's Robot, by Margaret Chang, at The HappyNappyBookseller.
Dark Life, by Kat Falls, at The HappyNappyBookseller.
Dot Robot: Atomic Storm, by Jason Bradbury, at Nayu's Reading Corner.
Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Books and Other Thoughts
Foiled, by Jane Yolen, at Eva's Book Addiction.
The Forgotten Door, by Alexander Key, at Bellaonbook's Blog (a look back at an old favorite)
Hidden Boy, by Jon Berkeley, at Jean Little Library.
Little Sister, by Kara Dalkey, at Charlotte's Library.
Monster Slayers, by Lukas Ritter, at Star Shadow.
My Rotten Life (Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie Book 1), by David Lubar, at Zelda Del West.
Pyramid of Souls (Magic Keepers Book 2), by Erica Kirov, at Booking Mama.
The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan, at Becky's Book Reviews, Book Aunt, and My Reviews.
The Sixty-Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone, at Semicolon.
Stuck on Earth, by David Klass, at Charlotte's Library (labeled YA, but great, I think, for a 12 year old boy....)
Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris, by R.L. LaFevers, at Bookshelves of Doom.
Timekeeper's Moon, by Joni Sensel, at One Librarian's Book Reviews.
Troll Fell, by Katherine Langrish, at Charlotte's Library.
The Wide Awake Princess, by E. D. Baker, at Jean Little Library.

Massimiliano Frezzato's Keepers of the Maser comic, at Tor.

And there's also a look at the Shadow Children Series, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at The O.W.L.

Interviews:

An interview with Hilary Wagner, author of Nightshade City (coming in October) at Dreams Can be Reached.

An interview with Molly (a dog), who is one of the characters in Mary Cunningham's fantasy/mystery middle-grade novel, The Magician's Castle, at Pets and Their Authors.

And speaking of interviews, the Summer Blog Blast Tour kicks off tomorrow. The full schedule is here, and includes an interview with Kate Milford (The Boneshaker) tomorrow at Cashing Ray.

Other News:

Booklist Online has posted its 2010 Top 10 SF/Fantasy books for Youth ("2010" meaning the last 12 months...so Catching Fire, for instance, is there...)

Those of us unable to eat in a civilized fashioned at our dining room tables, because said tables are being used to store books, will welcome Mother Reader's 5th 48 Hour Reading Challenge! The weekend is June 4-6, the prizes awesome, the fun very fun.

Anything I missed?????? Let me know!

Gender and Writers of Middle Grade and Young Adult Fantasy/Science Fiction

A gender imbalance exists in science fiction and fantasy--male authors get anthologized more, get more awards, and get picked for lists more, as discussed in this article by Alisa Krasnostein--The Invisibility of Women in Science Fiction. Stella Matutina picked up on this issue today, and has vowed to spend the next 14 weeks highlighting great women writers of fantasy.

In composing a response to that post, it struck me that there exists the opposite gender imbalance (men getting noticeably less attention) in the genre I care most about--middle grade and YA fantasy and science fiction. I see it in my own reviewing--out of the last twenty books I reviewed, only three have been by men. This seems fairly typical of my blog. Looking through all my posts, I seem to review about 4 sff books by women for every 1 book by a man. To see if this bias was unique to me, I went through the last five of my middle-grade science fiction/fantasy roundups, to get data--female writers are reviewed or interviewed 63 times, male writers 37 times. That's just middle grade--I don't have any data for YA, but my impression is that YA bloggers are giving an even greater percentage of their attention to female writers.

Now, one could argue that this bias is because the book blogging community has a similarly disproportionate gender imbalance (I don't think I'm simply unaware of the 100s of teenaged boys blogging about sff books). I myself (female) find middle grade speculative fiction that features non-stop, sometimes icky, slapsticky violence, and/or overt grossness, unappealing, although I have reviewed some such books, and try to be fair to them (even if they aren't the sort of book I love myself). And many of these books are written by guys, for guys, and that is just fine. But it does mean that I won't be seeking them out all that eagerly. I haven't, for instance, been tempted by Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger, by Kevin Bolger.

Turning, however, beyond the day-to-day life of blogs to the awards, one sees the same gender imbalance. Out of the 14 books shortlisted for the Cybils in sff in 2009, only one was by a man (and he was Neil Gaiman). Out of the 8 books shortlisted for this year's Andre Norton Award (the Nebula for children's/YA books), 6 were by women; last year, 4 out of 5 were women, the year before, 5 out of 7. No man has ever won this award. Of the four fantasy books in contention for this year's Guardian's Children's Book Award, 3 are by women.

I looked at my last five posts on new releases of science fiction and fantasy for children and teens, to see if more women were being published. They are--there are 57 books by men, 102 by women. If I were writing this as an academic article, I'd also look at the sales data (NY Times bestseller list, books on display at bookstores), but life is too short...Still, even without that piece of the picture, it seems clear that middle grade/YA fantasy and science fiction is a female-dominated genre.

I thought it would be interesting to throw out all the reasons I could think of (whether I believe in them or not--so please don't assume I do!), under two main categories:

The Gender of the Readers:

Is this because girls ostensibly read more than boys, and, since women more often write girl-friendly books than boys, more women are being published (and more girls then want to read the books, continuing the cycle)? The gender imbalance in published books is more pronounced in YA--are boys moving more quickly into the adult section (for whatever reason), where there are more male authors? Is it the case that grown-up women (like me!) are more likely to "read down" than grown-up men, and publishers are thinking of this demographic (women with credit cards) when they make their decisions?

Larger Social Expectations/Gender Stereotypes

Are there larger social issues at play? Are women, for instance, (I write with tongue in cheek), subtly conditioned to take on the role of those who look after children, and thus choose to write for children? Or are there factors of ego at play? One can argue (although I wouldn't) that writing for children is less "prestigious" than writing for adults. Are women more comfortable with writing for children, because they are more accustomed to being told that what they do is not important? Or because they give less of a hoot about what other people think?

Or, more insidiously, is it because the publishers are suggesting to female authors that they write younger than they had originally wanted to, while marketing male-written sff as adult? An unconscious patronizing attitude, that may be coming into play in the Andre Norton Awards, that writing for children is the province of women.

I have a huge respect for books written for children and teens--those are the books I enjoy the most myself, and I think many of them are gorgeously written, incredibly creative, and all around excellent. I don't mind at all that so many talented women are writing just the sort of book I want to read. But I do mind the possibility that men might be having a harder time getting their mg/ya fantasy/science fiction published than women (if this is in fact, the case), and then getting attention for their books.

And I mind very much indeed that I, myself, have such a glaring gender imbalance on my blog, because I do care very much about boys reading (since boys is what I have at home), and I want my blog to be a useful resource to those looking for books for boys. Moreover, since it's absurd to think that "men write books for boys, and only boys," I would hate to think that I was unconsciously overlooking books by men that I (and other girl-type people) would like lots. So I will try to be mindful of that, when I am at ALA next weekend and pouncing on books. I will try to pounce with gender equity and an open mind.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/24/19)

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Beanstalker And Other Hilarious Scarytales,, by Kiersten White, at Reading Books with Coffee

Bone Hollow, by Kim Ventrella, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The  Crimson Skew, by S.E. Grove, at The Crimson Skew

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Fantasy Literature and Puss Reboots

Endling: The Last by Katherine Applegate, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)

Freya and Zoose, by Emily Butler, at Book Nut

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow (The Crowns of Croswald #2) by D.E. Night, at Log Cabin Library

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat #1 and #2, by Johnny Marciano, Emily Raymond, Emily, and Robb Mommaets (illustrations), at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Light Jar, by Lisa Thompson,  at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Mona Lisa Key (Time Castaways #1), by Liesl Surtliff, at Charlotte's Library

The Mysterious World of Cosentino: The Missing Ace, by Cosentino with Jack Heath, at Mom Read It

Nest of Serpents (Wereworld #4), by Curtis Jobling, at Say What?

Orphan Island, by Laurel Snyder, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

Secret in Stone (Unicorn Quest #2), by Kamilla Benko, at Charlotte's Library and Pamela Kramer

Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden, at A Backwards Story

The Song From Somewhere Else by A F Harrold and Levi Pinfold, at Acorn Books

The Star-Spun Web, by Sinead O'Hart, at A Little But a Lot

Storm Hound, by Claire Fayers, at Book Murmuration

The Transparency Tonic (Potion Masters #2), by Frank L. Cole, at Geo Librarian

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at Log Cabin Library

Authors and Interviews

Anne Ursu (The Lost Girl) at B. and N. Kids Blog

Claire Fayers (Storm Hound) at Mr. Ripleys Enchanted Books

Kamilla Benko (The Unicorn Quest series) at Geo Librarian

Carlos Hernandez (Sal and Gabi Break the Universe) at Rick Riordan Presents

Caldric Blackwell (The Sacred Artifact) at Books Direct

M. G. Velasco (Cardslinger) at MG Book Village

Other Good Stuff

Monica Edinger has a great review collection in the NY  Times Book Review

The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book have been announced. and two are middle grade:

Aru Shah and the End of Time, Roshani Chokshi (Rick Riordan Presents)
Peasprout Chen: Future Legend of Skate and Sword, Henry Lien (Henry Holt)

This Week's Round-Up of Middle Grade Sci fi/Fantasy (Dec 2, 2012 edition)

Here's what I found in my blog reading this week. It was a stickier week than usual, so apologies if I missed your post, and please let me know about it!

The Reviews:

Caught, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at Book Nut and Charlotte's Library

The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody, at Semicolon 

Dragon Slippers, by Jessica Day George, at The Book Smugglers

Finally, by Wendy Mass, at The O.W.L.

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Sonderbooks 

The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester, at Books Beside My Bed

The Golden Door, by Emily Rodda, at Cracking the Cover 

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at Great Imaginations

Kenny and the Dragon, by Tony DiTerlizzi, at Fantasy Literature

The Search for WondLa, by Tony DiTerlizzi, at Sonderbooks

Signed by Zelda, by Kate Feiffer, at Book Nut and Semicolon

The Sisters Grimm, by Michael Buckley, at KimberlyLynKane.com

The Secret History of Hobgoblins, by Ari Berk, at books4yourkids

Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at Bunbury in the Stacks

A Squire's Tale, by Gerald Morris, at Tales of the Marvelous

Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at alibrarymama and Kid Lit Geek

Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Semicolon

The Wednesdays, by Julie Bourbeau, at Book Nut

Wings of Fire: the Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui Sutherland, at Semicolon

A look at the Heroes in Training series, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at Books Beside My Bed  and another at A Thousand Wrongs

A look at the Demigod Diaries and The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at Boys Rule Boys Read 

2 books with bad black cats (Behind the Bookcase, and Escape from Hat) at Charlotte's Library

Other Good Stuff:

Sherwood Smith, who was there at its beginning, looks back at the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (nb:  middle grade books are also eligible)

The NY Times lists its notable children's books of 2012

Gift recommendation lists are popping up these days--here's a nice one at Book Aunt, that features some mg sff.

And for those wanting gifts of a bookish sort, check out YA for NJ--a Hurricane Sandy fundraiser in which YA authors are auctioning signed books, critiques, and visits at ebay (through Dec. 7)

At Scribble City Central, W is for Weres, with Curtis Jobling

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy has joined the Encyclopedia of Sci Fi on-line

And for those contemplating colleges, here are the top picks for Harry Potter fans.

Fortunately Totoro is roomy enough so that one can snuggle inside him (hat tip to Tanita, who hat tipped The Mary Sue)

Link to Megan Whalen Turner interview

The sci fi channel has an interview with Megan Whalen Turner up here, talking about one of my most favorite books ever, The King of Attolia. It's one of the nominees for the Andre Norton YA Sci fi and fantasy award. I am still not entirely sure why I love this book so much, but it was one of only a few books I read as an adult that I started re-reading within a week, and a few weeks after for a total of 3 times in one month. Which, when you realize what a hard time I have finding time to do my other reading (there are still bills I haven't opened that came a few weeks ago), is remarkable.

Also nominated is Life as We Knew It, which truly has a brilliantly believable catastrophe. But I still think the author should have moved to Maine for a winter in an unheated house before writing it, so as to make the survival aspects of it all more realistic.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy is up (7/12/15)

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Boy Who Lost Fairyland, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Hidden in Pages

Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe, at Nerdy Book Club

The Chosen Prince, by Diane Stanley, at Redeemed Reader

Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at books4yourkids, Randomly Reading, and Charlotte's Library

The Copper Gauntlet, by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, at Hidden in Pages

Curse of the Thirteenth Fey, by Jane Yolen, at Read Till Dawn

Danger in Ancient Rome, by Kate Messner, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The D'Evil Diaries, by Tatum Flynn, at The Book Zone (For Boys)

Diego's Dragon: Dragons of the Dark, by Kevin Gerard, at Always in the Middle

Fly By Night and Fly Trap, by Frances Hardinge, at alibrarymama

Hook's Revenge, by Heidi Schulz, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Hunt for the Hydra, by Jason Fry, at Fantasy Book Critic

Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff, at Geo Librarian

Octagon Magic, by Andre Norton, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Princes and the Goblin, by George MacDonald, at Views from the Tesseract

Return to Augie Hobble, by Lane Smith, at Mister K Reads

Secrets of Selkie Bay, by Shelley Moore Thomas, at Me On Books

Seraphina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty, at Falling Letters and Middle Grade Mafioso

Shadows of Sherwood, by Kekla Magoon, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Pages Unbound

Song for a Scarlet Runner, by Julie Hunt, at Charlotte's Library

Stolen Magic, by Gail Carson Levine, at Kid Lit Geek

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, at Leaf's Reviews

Time Square-UFO, by S.W. Lothian, at Always in the Middle

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Fantasy Literature

The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones, by Will Mabbitt, at The Reading Nook Reviews

Valiant, by Sarah McGuire, at In Bed With Books

Wish Girl, by Nikki Loftin, at Becky's Book Reviews

Zombie Baseball Beatdown, by Paolo Bacigalupi, at Teen Librarian Toolbox (audiobook)

Three at Ms.Yingling Reads--Battle Bugs #1, The Lizard Wars, and #2, The Spider Siege, by Jack Patton, and Seraphina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty

Authors and Interviews

Lou Anders (Thrones and Bones series) at Supernatural Snark

Karen Cushman at Fuse #8 talking about her forthcoming fantasy book (!)

Will Mabbitt (The Unlikely Advenutures of Mabel Jones) at The Reading Nook Reviews

 Other Good Stuff

Those of us who have been accused by our sensitive children for being "bad mothers" for exposing them to things too dark and disturbing will appreciate this pinterest board of "good fantasy, harmless bad guys" curated by books4yourkids

Bryan Konietzko (creator of The Last Airbender and Legends of Korra) announces Threadworlds, a new graphic novel, in which a young scientists sets out on adventures in galaxy where five planets share a single orbit.

And speaking of Graphic Novels, the Eisner Awards have been announced.

A Tuesday Ten of unorthodox princesses at Views from the Tesseract

The Amazing Acro-Cats are performing in Brooklyn....as if Brooklyn needed more reasons to be cool.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/3/18)

Here's this week's round-up; let me know if I missed your post!  thanks.

The Reviews

The Alchymist, by Michael Scott, at proseandkahn

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin, at Books4yourkids

Cogheart, by Peter Bunzl, at Geek Reads Kids

The Collectors, by Jacqueline West, at Lindsay Maeve Schubert

A Dash of Trouble (Love Sugar Magic #1), by Anna Meriano, at Fafa's Book Corner

The Darkdeep, by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs, at Cracking the Cover

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Charlotte's Library

Eleanor Roosevelt's in my Garage, by Candace Fleming, at Charlotte's Library

Eternal Seas, by Lexi Rees, at Chrikaru Reads

The Extremely High Tide, by Kir Fox and M. Shelley Coats, at Crossroad Reviews

Lenny's Book of Everything, by Karen Foxlee, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at For Those About to Mock and Teach Mentor Texts

Mabel Jones and the Doomsday Book, by Will Mabbitt and Ross Collins, at Puss Reboots

The Midnight HOur, by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder, at The Book Activist

The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier, at Suzanne Goulden

The Ropemaker, by Peter Dickinson, at Puss Reboots

Steel Magic, by Andre Norton, at Tor

Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows, by J.M. Bergen, at Always in the Middle, Bookworm for Kids, and Smitten for Fiction

Authors and Interviews

Anne Ursu (The Lost Girl) at Publishers Weekly

Author Kim Ventrella (The Skeleton Tree, Bone Hollow) talks about Magical Realism in Middle Grade at MG Book Village

Other Good Stuff

Congratulations to The Book of Boy, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Newbery Honor) and The Collectors, by Jacqueline West (Schneider Family Book Award MG honor) representing MG fantasy in the ALA awards! And congratulations to Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award.

Fantasy and Science Fiction for Kids--this Sunday's round-up of posts from around the blogs

Another week, another round-up! This one has Exciting Awards News down at the bottom, and lots of other good stuff from you, the blogging community. Please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews:

Amazing Greek Myths of Wonder and Blunder, by Michael Townsend, at Great Kid Books

Astrosaurs: The Sabre Tooth Secret, by Steve Cole, at Nayu's Reading Corner

The Boy at the End of the World, by Greg van Eekhout, at Fuse #8

Casper Candlewacks in Death by Pigeon, by Ivan Brett, at The Book Zone (for boys)

Cinderella, Ninja Warrior, by Maureen McGowan, at The O.W.L. and Books at Midnight, where you can also find Sleeping Beauty, Vampire Slayer.

The Dark City (Relic Master Book 1) at The Book Smugglers and Charlotte's Library (where I'm giving away two copies; ends Monday)

The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens, at Mudie Kids, Bewitched Bookworms, and at Books and Movies

The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle, by Catherine Webb, at Bart's Bookshelf.

Fantasy Baseball, by Alan Gratz, at TheHappyNappyBookseller

Foundling, by D.M. Cornish, at Just Booking Around

The Gates, by John Connolly, at Books From Mars

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne Valente, at Book Aunt and Ex Libris

Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow, by Nathan Bransford, at Musings of a Book Addict

Juniper Berry, by M.P. Kozlowsky, at Kid Lit Frenzy

Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at books4yourkids

The Midnight Gate, by Helen Stringer, at Book Aunt and Charlotte's Library

Reckless, by Cornelia Funke, at Book Nut (audiobook review)

The Resisters, by Eric Nylund, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Rotten Adventures of Zachary Ruthless, by Alan Woodrow, at Just Deb

Scary School, by Derek the Ghost, at Books Kids Like

The Shadow Hunt, by Katherine Langrish, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Silver Door, by Holly Lisle, at Books and Movies

Spellbinder, by Helen Stringer, at Wicked Awesome Books

A Tale of Two Castles, by Gail Carson Levine, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Throne of Fire, by Rick Riordan, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Underland Chronicles books 3-5, by Suzanne Collins, at Just Booking Around

Webster's Leap, by Eileen Dunlop, at Charlotte's Library

A World Without Heros (The Beyonders, Book 1), by Brandon Mull, at Karissa's Reading Review

Zita the Space Girl, by Ben Hatke, at Books & Other Thoughts

Authors and Interviews

Anne Ursu (Breadcrumbs) talks about her childhood reading at There's a Book

Sherwood Smith (Crown Duel) talks about the Harry Potter phenomena at Book View Cafe

M.P. Kozlowsky (Juniper Berry) at Mundie Kids

Maureen McGowan (Cinderella, Ninja Warrior) at The O.W.L.

Clete Barrett Smith (Aliens on Vacation) at Cynsations

Other good stuff:

Stacy Whitman, of Tu Books (a Lee and Low Imprint) talks about diversity in sci fi and fantasy for young readers in a not-to-be-missed three part series that begins here.

At The Enchanted Inkpot, there's a discussion of Tween books (with fantasy books, natch, being the ones discussed!)

The Lost Years of Merlin, by T.A. Barron, might be coming to the big screen

Lots of award news:

I Shall Wear Midnight, by Terry Pratchett, wins the Andre Norton Award (the YA Nebula). Here are the books it was up against:

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown)
White Cat by Holly Black (McElderry)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press; Scholastic UK)
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch (Amulet)
The Boy from Ilysies by Pearl North (Tor Teen)
A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (Greenwillow)
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK)

And here's the full list of winners.

The 2010 Aurealis Awards (which recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writer) have also been announced:

• BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL: Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
• BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY: "A Thousand Flowers" by Margo Lanagan
• BEST CHILDREN'S FICTION(told primarily through pictures): The Boy and the Toy, Sonya Hartnett (writer) & Lucia Masciullo (illustrator)
• BEST CHILDREN'S FICTION (told primarily through words): The Keepers, Lian Tanner

And continuing on with awards--

The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature "honors books for younger readers (from “Young Adults” to picture books for beginning readers), in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia."

Here's this year's shortlist:

• Catherine Fisher, Incarceron and Sapphique (Dial)
• Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight (HarperCollins)
• Polly Shulman, The Grimm Legacy (Putnam Juvenile)
• Heather Tomlinson, Toads and Diamonds (Henry Holt)
• Megan Whalen Turner, The Queen’s Thief series, consisting of The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, and A Conspiracy of Kings (Greenwillow Books)

End of awards section.

Just a reminder that I post lists of new releases in sci fi/fantasy for kids twice a month--here's the second half of May edition.

And finally, The Spectacle is closing up its shop. I've very much enjoyed their two and half year's worth of postings--so thank you, very much, Spectacle Bloggers, and good luck in all your ventures!

This Week's Roundup of Middle-Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction from around the blogsphere

Here's what I gleaned middle-grade fiction-wise from around the blogosphere this week. Please let me know if I missed your post, and I'll add it to the list when I get back home this evening!

The list of books nominated for the Andre Norton Award is as follows, and includes two middle grade books:

Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (mg)
Ice, Sarah Beth Durst
Ash, by Malinda Lo
Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev
Zoe’s Tale, John Scalzi
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (mg)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld

I've read all but two; the ones I've read are all very good!

Book reviews:

Judith Woods reviews two children's books for the Telegraph--The Liberators, by Philip Womack, and Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones.

Charmed Life, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Books & Other Thoughts, and a look at the Chrestomanci books as a group at Original Content.

The Cowardly Lion of Oz, by Ruth Plumly Thompson, at Tor.

The Farwalker's Quest, by Joni Sensel, at One Librarian's Book Reviews.

The Incorrigible Children of Aston Place: the Mysterious Howling, by Maryrose Wood, at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy.

The Night Fairy, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at Fantasy Book Critic.

The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggott, at One Librarian's Book Reviews.

Seaward, by Susan Cooper, at Angieville.

The Serial Garden, by Joan Aiken, at One Librarian's Book Reviews.

Starlight, by Erin Hunter, at Tea and Tomes.

Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children, by Conn Iggulden, at The Book on the Hill,

The Very Little Princess, by Marion Dane Bauer, at Becky's Book Review.

This week's middle grade science fiction and fantasy round-up (5/19/13)

Welcome to yet another week of what I found in my blog reading of interest to us fans of middle grade sci fi/fantasy, and possibly of interest to people who aren't fans themselves but have to buy the books for others.  Please let me know if I missed your post, please feel free to send me links any time during the week, please feel free to tell me about the posts of others, and please feel free to mention these round-ups on your own blog if the spirit moves you!

The Reviews

An Army of Frogs, by Trevor Pryce, at Journey of a Bookseller

The Bell Between Worlds, by Ian Johnston, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at Fantasy Book Critic

The Clan of the Scorpion (Ninja Meerkats), by Gareth P. Jones, at Jean Little Library

The Circle, by Cindy Cipriano, at SA Larsen

Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at The Book Smugglers and Cover2CoverBlog

Fyre, by Angie Sage, at Unlikely Librarian

Goulish Song, by William Alexander, at That Blog Belongs to Emily Brown 
and Tor

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Between the Pages

Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Great Imaginations

The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, bySharon Ledwith, at swlothian

Loki's Woves, by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

Nation, by Terry Pratchett, at The Book Smugglers

New Lands, by Geoff Rodkey, at Geo Librarian

The Path of Names, by Ari Goelman, at Charlotte's Library

The Planet Thieves, by Dan Krokos, at The O.W.L.

The Princelings of the East, by Jemima Pett, at The Ninja Librarian

The Reluctant Assassin, by Eoin Colfer, at Book Nut

The Rose Throne, by Mette Ivie Harrison, at Kiss the Book

Seeds of Rebellion, by Brandon Mull, at Fantasy Literature

Summerkin, by Sarah Prineas, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Kid Lit Geek

The Tree of Mindala, by Elle Jacklee, at alibrarymama

The Water Castle, by Megan Frazer Blackwood, at Charlotte's Library

Wednesdays in the Tower, by Jessica Day George, at Sharon the Librarian, The O.W.L. and Small Review (giveaway)

Wonderlight, by R.R. Russell

A World Without Heroes, by Brandon Mull, at Fantasy Literature

ps:  just once I would love to have a book for every letter of the alphabet.   So please, why not consider reviewing a book beginning with E, I, J, K, M, O, Q, U, V, X, Y, or Z?  Then I would not have to search frantically, and disappointingly, for reviews of The Menagerie, or Undertown.    For a while, Jinx and The Key and the Flame covered those two difficult letters, but that well seems to have run dry... You Only Die Twice, by Dan Gutman, gave me a Y once, but  no one has reviewed Zombie Kid or Zombie Tag or Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom for ages...

It's probably a fruitless task-- I don't know if I have ever been able to include a book beginning with X.  I once read a book beginning with X, but did not feel moved to review it.....

Authors and Inverviews

Sage Blackwood (Jinx) at Charlotte's Library (giveaway)

Anne Nesbit (Box of Gargoyles) at The Enchanted Inkpot

"Lemony Snickett" (Who Could That Be At This Hour?) at The Children's Book Review

Soman Chainani (The School for Good and Evil) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Ari Goelman (The Path of Names) at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia and Brooklyn Arden (who edited the book; giveaway)

Jessica Day George (Wednesdays in the Tower) at Small Review

Kelley Armstrong (Loki's Wolves) at Literary Rambles (giveaway)

Kit Grindstaff (The Flame and the Mist) at Cynsations

R.R. Russell (Wonderlight) at A Backwards Story

Barbara Brauner and James Iver Mattson (Oh My Godmother: The Glitter Trap) at All For One and OneFour Kidlit

Dorine White (The Emerald Ring) Blog Tour stops so far:

Tuesday, May 14- From The Mixed up Files of Middle Grade Authors- Author Interview and giveaway

Tuesday, May 14- The Misadventures of a Twenty Something- Review

Wed, May 15- I am a Reader, Not a Writer- Author Interview and giveaway

Thurs, May 16- Word Spelunker- Spotlight/Giveaway

Fri, May 17- The Writing Blues- Review

Fri. May 17- Adventures in Reading- Review

Sat. May 18- Mels Shelves- Review

The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle blog tour continues, at Candace's Book Blog, The Modge Podge Bookshelf, and The Hiding Spot

Other Good Stuff:

There's a Book has a giveaway for all three books of the Lovecraft Middle School series

Fair Coin, by  E.C. Myers (Pyr) has won the Andre Norton Award (I've not yet read it--should I?); here's the list of all the Nebula winners.

The Vindico, by Wesley King (G.P. Putnam’s Sons/ Penguin Group) has won the 2013 Red Maple™ Fiction Award  (grades 7-8). I haven't read this one either....

Here's a nice little list of Historical Fantasy at Views from the Tesseract

The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, has been optioned

Finally, here is my favorite new fantasy animal--the alot.  I like the alot a lot.  I think it needs its own book.