Showing posts sorted by relevance for query small persons with wings. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query small persons with wings. Sort by date Show all posts

2/17/11

Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem

You'll notice that Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem (2011, Dial, middle grade, 302 pages) isn't called anything along the lines of Happy Flower Fairies of the Spring. S.P. with W. hate being called Fairies, and will express their displeasure in no uncertain terms.

13 year old Mellie Turpin has experienced this displeasure first hand. Until an ill-advised plan in kindergarten ended it, she shared her life with a S.P. with W.--but although he was willing to make her My Pretty Pony gallop around the room, he didn't want to be a show and tell exhibit. And so he took off, leaving Mellie to deal with the social fall out of having promised to bring a real live fairy to school.

And it was bad fallout; being dubbed "Fairy Fat" was the least of it.

So Mellie isn't unhappy when her grandfather's death means that she and her parents will move to the seaside town where he kept an inn, with plans of fixing the place up and selling it for great profit. Little does she know that the S.P. with W. are about to enter her life in full force, for Mellie's family history is intricately tied to the magic of the fairies. To her surprise, she learns that their magical way of life is under threat....the glamours they have been practicing are sapping their strength. The only way for them to survive is to turn back to an older magic, one based not on illusion but on skill. But there are those who reject that path....and though small, the Small People with Wings are formidable when crossed....and much mayhem results!

Initially I was unsure. Poor Mellie has it hard, and I was afraid that this might be a book where everything goes wrong in unhappy ad nauseum-ness. Happily, although many things did not go smoothly, to say the least, the light and zingy tone of Booraem's story telling kept me pleasantly diverted, and I was reminded of the sort of humour that permeates some of Diana Wynne Jones' books for kids.* And as is sometimes the case with DWJ, the characters here aren't always likable (at times I wanted to shake Mellie), and unpleasant things happen, but the power of the imagination and the verve of story carry the reader along swimmingly.

This is one I'm happy to recommend not only to its intended audience, but to grown-up readers as well. That being said, I'd say the intended audience here is upper middle grade on--it's not all fairy fun and games; Mellie has to cope with years of bullying and years of being taunted for being fat, not to mention having an alcoholic (dead?) grandfather who got turned into a clock. However, Mellie does have well-intentioned and supportive parents, which is a nice change, and she does (slightly unbelievably, given how prickly she is) make friends with a nice boy her own age....

Other thoughts at Eva's Book Addiction, Young Adult Books Central, and a nice long post over at Book Aunt.

And here's an interview with Booraem at Sarah Laurence Blog, and another at The Enchanted Inkpot.

*I'm not alone--Monica over at Educating Alice had the same thought

1/23/11

This Sunday's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy from around the blogs

Welcome to another week of middle grade science fiction and fantasy posts from around the book blogging world! Pleased let me know if I missed any posts...either by commenting, or emailing me-- charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com (and I welcome links at any time during the week!).

I've been asked to recommend other book blogs that review a lot of mg/ya speculative fiction--I have a list to the right of those I read regularly, and of course I link to a lot of other blogs during the course of these weekly round-ups. But if anyone would like to recommend their own favorite blogs with this particular focus, please leave a comment!

The Reviews:

13 Treasures, by Michelle Harrison, at The Book Smugglers

Airman, by Eoin Colfer, at Books For Youth

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, by R.A. Spratt, at Cloudy With a Chance of Books

Behemoth, by Scott Westerfeld, at Biblio File

Between the Forest and the Hills, by Ann Lawrence, at Charlotte's Library

The Conch Bearer, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni at Charlotte's Library

Cloaked, by Alex Flinn, at Book Aunt (this seems to be one of those younger YA books that's a good fit for upper mg readers)

Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, at The Book Smugglers

Crossing Over (Suddenly Supernatural 4), by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, at Reading Vacation

The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens, at Shannon Whitney Messenger

The End of the World Club, by J. & P. Voelkel, at The O.W.L. and at Brooke Reviews

Fused, by Kari Lee, at Reading Vacation and Magic Bean Review

The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester, at Lucy was robbed

Jane and the Raven King, by Stephen Chambers, at Mother Daughter Book Club

The Kings of Clonmel, by John Flanagan, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

Modern Fairies, Dwarves, and Other Nasties: a Practical Guide by Miss Edythe McFate, by Lesley M.M. Blume, at Margo Dill's Read These Books and Use Them

The Old Country, by Mordicai Gerstein, at Charlotte's Library

Scumble, by Ingrid Law, at Library Chicken

Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem, at Book Aunt

TIM: Defender of the Earth, by Sam Enthoven, at Ms. Yingling Reads

A True Princess, by Diane Zahler, at Book Aunt

The Undrowned Child, by Michelle Lovric, at Book Grotto

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, at Book Grotto

Wintercraft, by Jenna Burtenshaw, at Beyond Books

Interviews:

Ellen Booraem (Small Persons With Wings) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Kari Lee Townsend (Fused) at Reading Tween
Other Good Stuff:

Jane Yolen is this week's Fairytale Reflections guest at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

The writers over at the Enchanted Inkpot ask us to ponder "What's So Different About Children's Fantasy?"

Still more good stuff, though not mg sff:

At the Brown Bookself, there's the announcement of the 24 authors and 4 illustrators to be spotlighted in the 4th 28 Days Later initiative, "a month-long celebration of veteran and emerging children’s authors of color."

Bleeding Violet, by Dia Reeves, will be the book discussed for the African-American Read-In, a discussion organized by Ari, Edi, and Doret -stay tuned for the February date (I have been meaning to read Bleeding Violet for ags, so this makes me happy).

And finally, this week's random thing, which raises the bar something fierce for parents who are sff fans.

A personal TARDIS, made of cardboard (read more at io9).

My own cardboard skills clearly don't cut it (pun intended).

one last thing: I'm giveway two YA arcs (Sean Griswold's Head, by Lindsey Leavitt (March 1), and Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance, by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin (Feb 1), both from Bloomsbury), so leave a comment on the post where I talked about it first by midnight EST tonight if you'd like them!

2/6/11

This Sunday's Middle Grade Science Fiction/Fantasy Round-Up

Welcome to another week's round-up of the blog posts I found that pertain to middle grade fantasy and science fiction! Let me know, please, if I missed yours.

The Reviews:


Athena: the Grey-Eyed Goddess, by George O'Conner, at Library Chicken

Fever Crumb, by Philip Reeve, at By Singing Light

Fused, by Kari Lee Townsend, at Writers' Ally

The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker, at Fantasy Literature

Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at My Love Affair With Books

Middleworld, by J & P Voelkel, at Maltby Reads

Scumble, by Ingrid Law, at Books & Other Thoughts

Season of Secrets, by Sally Nicholls, at Fuse #8 and My Brain on Books

The Search for WondLa, by Tony DiTerlizzi, at A Year of Reading and at Great Kid Books

The Shifter (Healing Wars Book 1) at books4yourkids

Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem, at Eva's Book Addiction

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at Bookish Blather

The Time Travelers, by Linda Buckley-Archer, at Teacher Girl's Book Blog

True Princess, by Diane Zahler, at The Brain Lair, Jean Little Library, Galley Smith, Write for a Reader, and The Compulsive Reader (full tour schedule here)

The Witch's Guide to Cooking With Children, by Keith McGowan at Becky's Book Reviews

The Weaver, by Kai Strand, at The Story of a Writer

Zita the Space Girl, by Ben Hatke, at Kids Lit.

Two mice books at Book Aunt (Bless This Mouse, by Lois Lowry, and Young Fredle, by Cynthia Voigt)

Two Grimm books at Random Musings of a Bibliophile (A Tale Dark and Grimm, and The Grimm Legacy)

It was a Fantasitical Middle Grade Monday last week over at From the Mixed Up Files--Shannon Messenger shares some of her favorite mg fantasy books, and offers three chances to win one!

Author Interviews and Guest Posts, and other things:

Ellen Booraem (Small Persons With Wings) at Sarah Laurence Blog
Diane Zahler (A True Princess) at Galleysmith and The Cozy Reader

Locus Magazine gives awards every year determined by votes from fans (the votes of fans who are subscribers are weighted more heavily). They've put up some lists of recommended reading, although books that aren't on the list can be voted for too. Here's their "YA" list, which strays into "MG" territory:
It's a nice list, I think--a few surprises, such as Thresholds, which I haven't read, but will now, and Kid vs Squid, a fun book that flew under the radar somewhat.

and finally, via Buzzfeed: ducks wearing dog masks. Just in case you hadn't seen it yet.

6/26/21

River Magic, by Ellen Booraem

I read a Lot of middle grade fantasy (c 150-200 books a year), to the point where I wonder when I pick up a new book if it will really offer me something that will stick in the crowed part of my mind where I keep all the books I've read.  River Magic, by Ellen Booraem (April 2021 by Dial Books), did not disappoint.  Indeed, since I have enjoyed her previous books lots, I was not at all surprised.

Donna's aunt Annabelle was a fixture of her life--teaching her woodworking, and carving beautiful details around the family home, swimming with her in the river they both loved, and generally being loving and supportive. But then Annabelle drowned in the river. Now Donna's mother is working desperately to pay the bills, her big sister has become a total pill, her best friend Rachel has ditched her for the cool/mean girls on the basketball team, and Donna's in danger of being sent off to rich Cousin Betty to look after her horrible little boys. If only she could make enough money to help her mother somewhere closer to home...

When a strange old woman moves in to the ramshackle house next door, and hires Donna to clean it up, things are (perhaps) looking up. But the old woman is strange and scary, bad tempered and a terrible (and unlicensed) drive. She is, in fact, a thunder mage. And she's paying Donna in gold.

This does not, though, magically solve all Donna's problems. The gold is cursed, and isn't enough to save the her house, her friendship with Rachel crumbles further when Donna becomes friends with a quirky (aka weird) ex-homeschooled boy (unwillingly at first but with growing appreciation), and the mage's temper means the number of her chickens keeps growing. Then Rachel becomes one of the flock (I liked writing that sentence).

This is a lovely middle grade fantasy sort of Ack! pivotal moment, and also in true mg fantasy style, Donna rises to the occasion but doesn't have to be a hero all by herself. (not really a spoiler, because of the cover--there is a dragon on her side. The cool/mean girls and the unpleasant sister also rise to the occasion). And so there was a very satisfactory ending...

I am a visual and emotional reader, not a dispassionate critical reader. I'm not sure that River Magic is "wildly original," whatever that means, but I do know that I can scroll through it in my minds eye with beautiful clarity, and I remember bits that made me laugh, and that made me sorry for Donna. And I know it worked beautifully for the 45 minutes I was waiting in the car for one of my kids to do a thing, and I finished it up quickly once we got home. Though it isn't a book that I personally will love best forever (perhaps because it didn't push my mind anywhere it hadn't already been), it was a good one. The target audience, of course, have more roomy minds, and I bet this one will be popular with them!

From Kirkus, whose reviews are being paid to be more dispassionately critical (and who aren't allowed to say "nice fun mind pictures I liked it" and leave it at that):  "A carefully constructed interweaving of reality and magic that will transport and delight."  

(I have now decided to try to figure out of the next book I read is carefully constructed.  Do you suppose that is the same thing as "everything slots neatly into place?"  Eveything in River Magic slotted just beautifully, so there you go).

Here are my reviews of Ellen Booraem's earlier books--

Small Persons With Wings

Texting the Underworld (with an interview; a very interesting one at that)

I don't seem to have reviewed The Unnamables (so this is the goodreads link)



2/20/11

This Sunday's round-up of middle-grade science fiction and fantasy book releated posts from around the blogs

Hi, and welcome to another week of my gleanings vs mg sff books from around the blogging world. Let me know if I missed yours, and feel free to let me know at anytime during the week if you have a post you'd like included, or if you've seen a good one! (Authors and publishers, I mean you too).

The point of this exercise is to make it easier for readers to find reviews of mg sff, which tend to be very scattered around the bloggosphere (bloggisphere?), and also a lot more thin on the ground than reviews of picture books on the one hand, and YA books on the other hand. I did some serious google work this morning, looking reviews of new releases of mg sff, and came up with no additional posts. I couldn't, for instance, find any reviews of The Freedom Stone, by Jeffrey Kluger, Enter the Zombie, by David Lubar, or The Secret Zoo: Secrets and Shadows, by Bryan Chick. *

But on with what I did find.

First, congratulations to The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere, 1), the winner of the Cybils Award in middle grade sff! The sequel comes out this summer, and I can't wait for it!

The Reviews:

Brigitta of the White Forest, by Danika Dinsmore, at Charlotte's Library

The Children of Green Knowe, by L.M. Boston, at Stella Matutina

Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia Wrede, at The Blue Fairy's Bookself

The End of the World Club, by J & P Voelkel, at Books and Other Thoughts

The Farthest-Away Mountain, by Lynne Reid Banks, at The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

Fever Crumb, by Philip Reeve, at books4yourkids

The Folk Keeper, by Fanny Billingsley, at Charlotte's Library

The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester, at Shannon Whitney Messenger

Inkspell, by Cornelia Funke, at Musings of a Book Addict (guest student review)

Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, at Challenging the Bookworm

No Passengers Beyond this Point, by Gennifer Choldenko, at Waking Brain Cells

The Ranger's Apprentice Series, by John Flanagan, at YA Bibliophile

The Search for WondLa, by Tony Diterizzi, at TheHappyNappyBookseller

The Secret of Zoom, by Lynne Jonell, at Mister K Reads

The Shadows, by Jacqueline West, at One Librarian's Book Reviews and books4yourkids

Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem, at Charlotte's Library

Swept Away (The Secret of the Unicorn Queen, Book 1) by Gwen Hansen, at The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf, and book 2 of the series, Sunblind, also at The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

Timeriders: The Doomsday Code, by Alex Scarrow, at The Book Zone (for Boys)

The True Meaning of Smekday (audiobook edition) by Adam Rex, at Book Nut.

The Weaver, by Kai Strand, at Welcome to All-Consuming Books

The Interviews:

An interview with Rebecca Stead at Bookwitch (When You Reach Me was released fairly recently over there in the UK)

Matthew Kirby (The Clockwork Three) at MP Flory

Hélène Boudreau (Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings) at Write On!

Other Good Stuff:

Thoughts on Middle Grade vs Young Adult fantasy, with some choice examples of the former, at The First Gates.

At The Spectacle, Kimberley Griffiths Little talks about magical realism (a subject that I find fascinating as I able, or not, the label "fantasy" to the books I review). You can also enter to win a copy of her book, The Healing Spell, which I didn't realize has magical elements...even if I, myself, don't win, I'll be looking for it.

Katherine Langrish has wrapped up her lovely Fairy Tale Reflection series with a post of her own, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles (and by way of thanking her for all the wonderful reading this series offered, I wanted to mention the imminent release of all three of her "Troll" books in one volume, entitled West of the Moon).

I don't generally post about movie news, but this is so germane to the subject at hand I can't help it. Two middle grade fantasies by Eva Ibbotson books are headed for the big screen:

More information can be found at Bookyurt.

And finally, HarperCollins has a pretty neat program up and running (that you've probably already heard of) called Inkpop. It includes Weekly Writing Challenges; this week's challenge coincides with Courtney Allison Moulton's Angelfire. This isn't a mg book, which, since Inkpop is aimed at YA readers, isn't surprising, but maybe one week a mg book will be picked!


And even more finally, some of you who follow me in a reader might have seen a false start for this post; I just wanted to share the new paperback cover (left) for a book I liked lots, but whose original cover I found utterly incomprehensible: The Unnameables, by Ellen Booraem.





*Of course, I haven't reviewed these particular books myself...mainly because I don't have copies, and I am trying really hard to read the books I do have copies of (this isn't going so well. Sigh.)

9/3/11

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



Hi everyone! Here are the middle grade science fiction and fantasy blog postings I found this week---please let me know if I missed yours.

The Reviews

Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at Heise Reads & Recommends

The Dragon's Tooth, by N.D. Wilson, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Earwig and the Witch, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Bart's Bookshelf

Floors, by Patrick Carman, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Fly Trap, by Frances Hardinge, at By Singing Light

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne Valente, at Finding Wonderland

Goliath, by Scott Westerfeld, at Book Yurt and Bart's Bookshelf

Happenstance Found, by P.W. Catanese, at Abby the Librarian

The History Keepers: The Storm Begins, by Damian Dibben, at The Book Zone (For Boys)

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at Bookalicious

Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke, at Challenging the Bookworm

Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow, by Nathan Bransford, at Musings of a Restless Mind

Janitors, by Ty Whitesides, at Elana Johnson

The Last Dragon, by Jane Yolen, at Bea's Book Nook

The Magnificent 12: The Call, and The Trap, by Michael Grant, at The Book Smugglers, and The Call at Book Dreaming

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at Bookends

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier, at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog and Page in Training

Return to Exile, by E. J. Patten, at Other Stuff Exists

Sally's Bones, by MacKenzie Cadenhead, at Wicked Awesome Books

The Scarcrow and His Servant, by Philip Pullman, at Fantasy Literature

Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem, at Jean Little Library

The Silver Bowl, by Diane Stanley, at Sonderbooks

Smells Like Treasure, by Suzanne Selfors, at Donna St. Cyr

The Softwire, Books 1 and 2--Virus on Orbis, and Betrayal on Orbis, by P.J. Haarsma, at Books and Movies

Stinkbomb, by Rob Stevens, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at Steph Su Reads and Libri Dilectio

The Wikkeling, by Steven Arnston, at books4yourkids

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Figment

Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke, at Wandering Librarians

Authors and Interviews:

Julia Durango (Sea of the Dead--my review) at Following My Dreams -- she's currently working on a mg fantasy novel set in the Andean highlands in collaboration with Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. I'm sold!

Sue Perkins (the forthcoming Spirit Stealer) at Rebecca Ryals Russell

Other things of interest:

Back to school time is here! Here's a post on sci fi books for kids with schools at Suite 101, and here's a post about education in fantasy books at The Enchanted Inkpot.

Tablet has a feature on "Going Golem" (not the Lord of the Rings Golem, but Jewish golems in children's books)

Here's my compilation of the new releases of mg sff for the beginning of September.

And don't forget, all you mg sff reading and reviewing folks, that the time to put your name in the ring for the Cybils Awards is Now! (lots more people volunteer to be panelists than there are slots for, and I know picture books and YA are always inundated, but I am really curious about what happens with mg sff. Is there a glut or a dearth of people making it their first choice?)

Finally-- two people contacted me who I could not help, and I was wondering if any of you all could!

Request the first: A teacher of 4th and 5th graders is doing unit on archetypal characters ala Joseph Campbell. She's seeking a sci fi/fantasy short story to illustrate the archetype of the Threshold Guardian-- "The threshold is the gateway to the new world the hero must enter to change and grow.

 The threshold guardian is usually not the story's antagonist. Only after this initial test has been surpassed will the hero face the true contest and the arch-villain."

She's also looking for stories illustrating the shapeshifter and the shadow characters.

Request the second: a blog reader is looking a time travel book at least ten year old, shelved near Katherine Paterson. She says: "The title that I "remember" was Inbetween Time, which apparently is non-existent in the book world. The book was part of a trilogy series and the main character was named Strauss and a girl. The basic story line was that a girl would travel back in time and she fell in love with Strauss. I think it was based in the 1800's when she did travel back. Basically, she had to decide rather to stay with him or come back to her own time because he could not travel with her."

Any thoughts?

5/22/13

Waiting on Wednesday--Texting the Underworld, by Ellen Booraem

Just a quick reminder, before I get to the Waiting part--you can win a personalized copy of Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, by leaving a comment on my interview with her by midnight tonight.  If you like middle grade fantasy and haven't read this one, do so posthaste.

Now on to a new book I'm waiting for!
 
Ellen Booraem has demonstrated with her first two books (The Unnamables, and Small Persons With Wings--my review) that she can write thoughtful and fun middle grade fantasy--and I'm very curious to see how her writing continues to evolve--those first two books are very different in feel!   So I'm looking forward to her forthcoming book, Texting the Underworld, lots.  It comes out August 15, 2013, from Dial. 


Here's the blurb:

Perpetual scaredy-cat Conor O'Neill has the fright of his life when a banshee girl named Ashling shows up in his bedroom. Ashling is--as all banshees are--a harbinger of death, but she's new at this banshee business, and first she insists on going to middle school. As Conor attempts to hide her identity from his teachers, he realizes he's going to have to pay a visit to the underworld if he wants to keep his family safe.

"Got your cell?"
"Yeah . . . . Don't see what good it'll do me."
"I'll text you if anything happens that you should know."
"Text me? Javier, we'll be in the afterlife."
"You never know. Maybe they get a signal."


Ellen Booraem has disclosed that there's a riff on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice here, which I might have guessed, what with the Underworld and all, but which certainly piques my interest more, fan of reimaginings that I am.

(I find it amusing that corvids seem to be continuing their popularity on mg and YA speculative fiction covers...which reminds me of a crow joke--What do call two crows hanging out together?  An attempted murder (as in "a murder of crows").

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.


6/17/12

This Sunday's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs

The problem with a regular feature such as this is that it is boring to write the same introduction every week:

Welcome to another week of the posts I gathered from around the blogs of interest to fans of middle grade fantasy and science fiction. Please let me know if I missed yours, and feel free to send me links at any time!

It can't be helped. Onward.

The Reviews:

Cold Cereal, by Adam Rex, at Alexia's Books & Such and Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Coming of the Dragon, by Rebecca Barnhouse, at library_mama

Ebenezer's Locker, by Anne E. Johnson, at Readatouille

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at The Book Smugglers (with bonus Code Name Verity before you get to it....)

Fever Crumb, by Philip Reeve, at Fantasy Book Review

Halt's Peril, by John Flanagan, at Karissa's Reading Review

Juniper Barry, at Jean Little Library

The Lunatic's Curse, by F.E. Higgins, at Karissa's Reading Review

The Odyssey, by Gareth Hinds, at Children's Book-a-Day Almanac

Out of Time, by John Marsden, at HumbleIndigo

The Outcasts, by John Flannagan, at Fantasy Book Review

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Nortan Juster, at Book Nut

Rapunzel's Revenge, by Shannon and Dean Hale, at Challenging the Bookworm

Revenge of the Horned Bunnies, by Ursula Vernon, at AmoXcalli

The Stones of Ravenglass, by Jenny Nimmo, at Charlotte's Library

Stonewords, by Pam Conrad, at Charlotte's Library

Stormswept, by Helen Dunmore, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at Sharon the Librarian and at Wicked Awesome Books

Authors and interviews

Geoff Rodkey (Deadweather and Sunrise), at Educating Alice

Pete Johnson (The Vampire Fighters) at Babbleabout Children's Books and Nayu's Reading Corner

Robin LaFevers (Theodosia series, as well as the YA Grave Mercy) at Finding Wonderland

Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising et al.) at School Library Journal

Ellen Booraem (Small Persons With Wings) at Roots in Myth

Amanda Ashby (talking about the covers of Sophie's Mixed-up Magic series) at Melissa Walker

Other Good Stuff:

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Jim Kay, wins both the Carnegie (for writing) and Kate Greenway (for illustration) awards in one fell swoop!

And the winner of the Locus Award for Young Adult book is The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente

Here's an amusing list of 20 things characters in fantasy books should do more often, from Lev Grossman at Lytherus.

A list of middle grade beach reads with lots of sci fi/fantasy at Readatouille

A selection of sci fi picture books at io9 (and here's my own sci fi picture book post from awhile back)

And finally, happy Father's Day! From Darth Vader and Son, by Jeffry Brown (found at Gizmodo, where you can see more)



2/1/11

New releases of science fiction and fantasy for kids and teenagers--the first half of February, 2011

This is a really, really long list, with lots of books I want. I want Zita the Space Girl. I want The Floating Islands. I want the third of the Books of Umber. I could go on and on. I also very much want the time to read the three books on this list that I have in my possession, and that is why the YA books didn't get pictures this time around--I used up my alloted time.

disclaimer: since I haven't actually read all of these, I'm deciding they are sff based on their descriptions, except for Tall Story, which I'm putting in the list because it was nominated for the Cybils in mg sff (but I never got hold of a copy...). My information comes from Teens Read Too, and the blurbs (except, of course, the ones I couldn't find) come from Amazon and Goodreads.

BONGO FISHING by Thacher Hurd "Jason has a pretty normal life: he lives with his mom, he goes to school, he does his homework. But when he meets a short, bluish alien named Sam, his life begins to seem much less normal and a lot more...well, alien. Sam takes Jason bongo fishing in space, and a whole new world opens up. But when Jason's cat, Sputnik, disappears, things start to get a little weird. Interstellar travel isn't just fun and games, after all! Is the evil Dr. Zimburger involved? Or are there even more sinister forces at work?"

BRASS MONKEYS by Terry Caszatt "Bumbling, cowardly Eugene is forced to transfer to a new school in northern Michigan - in the middle of the year, and in the middle of a blizzard. Eugene is used to weird things happening in his life, but this feels really bad. He has no idea how bad it's going to get until he meets his English teacher, "Ming ther Merciless." To save his classmates from a fatal graduation from Ming's School of the Brass Monkeys, Eugene must deliver an unfinished book to a legendary teacher named McGinty, who is hiding in the underworld. With the help of some renegade teachers and his new friends, he begins an epic journey to find McGinty. Will Eugene survive the Cliffs of Notes and the Sea of Hot Lunches?"

THE CASE OF THE GLASGOW GHOUL: A SLIGHTLY JONES MYSTERY by Joan Lennon

LICENCE TO FISH: AGENT ALFIE by Justin Richards "SPUD—Secret Partners for Undertaking Destruction—has set up a secret base under the school pond and is using radio-controlled duck-cameras to gather information. But the chief SPUD agent has made the mistake of having his weekly edition of SPUD's Nasty Newsletter redirected to his new base—by Alfie's dad, the local postman! It doesn't take long for the gang to work out what SPUD are up to. Can Alfie and his friends find a way of turning the SPUD infiltration to their advantage? Of course they can—and soon the school is teaching the pupils using even more bizarre methods than usual, all for SPUD's benefit. Will the evil organization really believe in assassination by daffodil? Or that trained hamsters are used to infiltrate their bases? Of course they will!"

THE MASK WEARER: AMOS DARAGON by Bryan Perro "Amos Daragon's life changes forever the day a mermaid gives him a mask capable of harnessing the strength of the wind—and appoints Amos as the new Mask Wearer. His task: to find the masks for the other elements, earth, fire, and water. Only then will Amos be fully empowered to battle the evil forces that threaten to destroy the balance of nature and plunge the world into darkness.
To fulfill his destiny, Amos must make his way to the mysterious woods of Tarkasis. But a wicked sorcerer is terrorizing the land, searching for a skull pendant that was stolen from him—a pendant that conceals a secret weapon. What will Amos do when the pendant falls into his hands? Will Beorf, a boy who can morph into a bear, and Medusa, a snake-haired gorgon, turn out to be friend or foe? And will Amos master any of his newfound skills as Mask Wearer in time to face a formidable enemy? His chanllenges are great . . . and they're just beginning."

MIDNIGHT HOWL by Clare Hutton "Marisol and her mom move from the city to rural Montana for a few months, and stay with family friends and their twin children, Jack and Hailey. Marisol loves looking at the stars so far away from city lights, but she feels creeped out by the woods right by their house. She's even more scared when her new friend Lily warns her about the wolves there -- wolves that are most dangerous around the full moon. When she notices Hailey disappear several times late at night, Marisol starts to wonder...could she be friends with a werewolf?"

NO PASSENGERS BEYOND THIS POINT by Gennifer Choldenko "Three siblings - India, Finn, and Mouse - have less than forty-eight hours to pack up all their belongings and fly, without Mom, to their uncle Red's in Colorado, after they lose their house to foreclosure. But when they land, a mysterious driver meets them at the airport, and he's never heard of Uncle Red. Like Dorothy in Oz, they find themselves in a place they've never heard of, with no idea of how to get home, and time is running out."

OWL NINJA: SAMURAI KIDS by Sandy Fussell
"Across the valley, a drumbeat echoes. For ten days, the drum will call the mountain ryus to war, including the samurai kids from the Cockroach Ryu. Only Japan’s feudal emperor can stop the war, so Niya and Sensei Ki-Yaga set off on a grueling journey with all the Cockroaches, whose firm friendship and unusual skills must be put to the test in order to beg the Emperor to maintain peace. Sensei Ki-Yaga is respected and wise, but unfortunately, the last time he encountered the Emperor, the Emperor threatened to cut off his head. All seems hopeless until Ki-Yaga guides the Cockroaches to meet with the Owl Ninja clan. Samurai and ninja are supposed to be enemies, but can these two groups somehow work together to save the sensei and stop the battle in time?"

PANDORA GETS ANGRY: MYTHIC MISS-ADVENTURES by Carolyn Hennesy "Pandora and her friends are off to Persia to track the fifth evil: Rage. They have camels to help them cross the desert, but mysterious sandstorms and frightening strangers keep them from moving quickly. Luckily, help arrives in the form of a cute Persian boy who helps Pandy and her friends search for Persia's secret Garden of the Jin. In the garden, where genies hide their treasure, there is a lamp that was once used to imprison an angry genie. So Pandy & Co. just have to figure out how to capture one of the most enraged genies of all time. Easy, right?"

QUEST FOR THE SPARK: BONE by Tom Sniegoski Twelve-year-old Tom Elm is just an ordinary turnip farmer from the Valley, but he's always felt destined for something bigger. So when he discovers everyone in his village is asleep and plagued by nightmares, he assembles a band of unlikely heroes. They must fight to preserve the Spark--a divine light born at the core of a vast, dark nothingness called the Nacht. The Nacht is trying to permeate the Waking World with nightmares of the Dreaming, and it's Tom's mission to defeat the Nacht and its most loyal follower, the Constable. If he fails, his family--and everyone--might never wake up again.

THE QUEST OF THE WARRIOR SHEEP by Christine & Christopher Russell "When Sal the sheep is bonked on the head by an unidentified falling object, it can only mean one thing: Lord Aries, the Sheep of all Sheepdom is in trouble, and the sheep posse must save him.

Little do the sheep know that the mysterious object is actually a cell phone dropped by a couple of baaaaad bank robbers who will do anything to get it back. And a couple of woolbags aren't going to stand in their way!

And so the quest of the Warrior Sheep begins.
The bravest sheep in the universe are in for a wild ride!"

SECRETS AND SHADOWS: THE SECRET ZOO by Bryan Chick "Only weeks after their return from the Secret Zoo, Noah and his friends must go back—and face their biggest challenge yet. With monstrous sasquatches freely attacking the denizens of the zoo and the evil Shadowist at large, the fate of the world is at stake. As Crossers, Noah, Megan, Richie, and Ella would help protect the zoo from these dangers. But do they have what it takes to complete their training? And what other secrets are hiding in the shadows?"

SPIRITS IN THE STARS: SEEKERS by Erin Hunter "United once again, Toklo, Lusa, Kallik, and Ujurak continue across the ice. Conditions are harsh and especially treacherous for the black bear and grizzly bears who are not used to the brutal cold, never-ending snow, and limited food. But the bears are certain now that they're on the right course, and with the stars still guiding them, they push forward. When they reach land at last, the group is overjoyed, but something is not right. The bears who live here are ill. What's wrong with them? What can the foursome do to help? Is aiding these strangers the ultimate goal of their quest? Ujurak just might hold the key to their mission in his paws, yet it's Lusa the new bears are especially interested in.

Three young cubs, each from different backgrounds, and their mysterious shape-shifting companion have grown up together in their long and dangerous journey to save the wild. Now, when their task appears more difficult than ever, the bears must make a critical decision . . . and for one bear the path ends here."

STING THE SCORPION MAN: BEAST QUEST, THE DARK REALM by Adam Blade "Step into the Dark Realm--home to the most dangerous Beasts yet! The good Beasts of Avantia have been imprisoned in the kingdom of Malvel the evil wizard. Tom has already fought five terrible Beasts and is nearing the end of his Quest. But in order to achieve victory, Tom must navigate through the tunnels under Malvel's castle, where Sting the Scorpion Man is waiting."

TALL STORY by Candy Gourlay "Andi is short. And she has lots of wishes. She wishes she could play on the school basketball team, she wishes for her own bedroom, but most of all she wishes that her long-lost half-brother, Bernardo, could come and live in London where he belongs.

Then Andi's biggest wish comes true and she's minutes away from becoming someone's little sister. As she waits anxiously for Bernardo to arrive from the Philippines, she hopes he'll turn out to be tall and just as crazy as she is about basketball. When he finally arrives, he's tall all right. Eight feet tall, in fact—plagued by condition called Gigantism and troubled by secrets that he believes led to his phenomenal growth."

A TRUE PRINCESS by Diane Zahler "Twelve-year-old Lilia is not a very good servant. In fact, she's terrible! She daydreams, she breaks dishes, and her cooking is awful. Still, she hardly deserves to be sold off to the mean-spirited miller and his family. Refusing to accept that dreadful fate, she decides to flee. With her best friend, Kai, and his sister, Karina, beside her, Lilia heads north to find the family she's never known. But danger awaits. . . .

As their quest leads the threesome through the mysterious and sinister Bitra Forest, they suddenly realize they are lost in the elves' domain. To Lilia's horror, Kai falls under an enchantment cast by the Elf King's beautiful daughter. The only way for Lilia to break the spell and save Kai is to find a jewel of ancient power that lies somewhere in the North Kingdoms. Yet the jewel will not be easy to find. The castle where it is hidden has been overrun with princess hopefuls trying to pass a magical test that will determine the prince's new bride. Lilia has only a few days to search every inch of the castle and find the jewel—or Kai will be lost to her forever."

THE WAY OF THE DRAGON: YOUNG SAMURAI by Chris Bradford "Japan is threatened with war and Jack Fletcher is facing his greatest battle yet. Samurai are taking sides and, as the blood begins to flow, Jack’s warrior training is put to the ultimate test. His survival – and that of his friends – depends upon him mastering the Two Heavens, the secret sword technique of the legendary samurai Masamoto Takeshi. But first Jack must recover his father’s prize possession from the deadly ninja Dragon Eye. Can Jack defeat his ruthless enemy? Or will the ninja complete his mission to kill the young samurai..."

ZITA THE SPACEGIRL by Ben Hatke "When her best friend is abducted by an alien doomsday cult, Zita leaps to the rescue and finds herself a stranger on a strange planet. Humanoid chickens and neurotic robots are shocking enough as new experiences go, but Zita is even more surprised to find herself taking on the role of intergalactic hero. Before long, aliens in all shapes and sizes don’t even phase her. Neither do ancient prophecies, doomed planets, or even a friendly con man who takes a mysterious interest in Zita’s quest."

YOUNG ADULT

ANGEL: A MAXIMUM RIDE NOVEL by James Patterson In the seventh book in the bestselling series, evil scientists are still trying to convince Max that she needs to save the world, this time by providing the genetic link in speeding up the pace of evolution. Worse, they're trying to convince her that her perfect mate is Dylan, the newest addition to the flock. The problem is that, despite herself, Max is starting to believe it.

Fang travels the country collecting his own gang of evolved humans, but the two separate flocks must unite to defeat a frightening doomsday cult whose motto is Save the Planet: Kill the Humans. And this time, the true heroine, for once, might just be little Angel.

ANGELFIRE by Courtney Allison Moulton
First there are nightmares.

Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her. Then come the memories.

When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Now she must hunt.

Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember.

THE AUTUMN PALACE: ONDINE by Ebony McKenna "One boy, one girl, one plot to be foiled! Hamish the gorgeous man (and part time ferret) has a new job with the Duke as a spy in his Autumn Palace. So Ondine goes with him. She imagines a hugely romantic escapade together that involves lots of kissing. What she hadn't imagined was having to do endless laundry, go to school and keep Hamish the man a secret. All the while trying to find out who is plotting to kill the Duke. And if that weren't bad enough, it seems that Hamish is more interested in getting the Duke's attention than hers. Plus he's always in ferret form. Things can't go on like this! Can Ondine foil the would-be assassin, save the Duke and get her man back in gorgeous human form? It's going to take a little bit of magic, a lot of stolen kisses and some ferreting around..."

CLOAKED by Alex Flinn "I'm not your average hero. I actually wasn't your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all. It all started with a curse. And a frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.

There wasn't a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I've ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Everglades. Don't believe me? I didn't believe it either. But you'll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got cloaked."

CLOSER: TUNNELS by Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams "Closer to victory...or closer to death? An army of darkness is on the march: Who won't escape with their life? The fourth book in the New York Times Bestselling TUNNELS series!

At long last reunited with his dad, Will now spends his days exploring the "land of the second sun," decoding the cryptic glyphs carved into its three mysterious temples--or eyeing the wild animals with renegade girl Elliott. Chester, meanwhile, has finally returned Topsoil, where his homecoming is rapidly becoming a horror show. But an army of darkness is on the march. And the ruthless Rebeccas have once more cheated death. With a corps of cold-blooded Limiters at their command, they're determined to hunt Will to the bitter innards of the earth. This time, who WON'T escape with their life?"

CONSUMED by Kate Cann "The thrilling sequel to POSSESSED finds 16-year-old Rayne still entwined in the creepy history of Morton's Keep -- and about to discover that she's the only one who can stop the evil lurking there. Rayne's countryside escape has proven to be anything but -- the remote mansion house where she lives and works holds terrible secrets, and she feels trapped there. And when a new manager shows up, things take an even more sinister turn. Rayne doesn't know who to trust -- even the ghosts of Morton's Keep seem to be warning her. It's up to Rayne to overcome the ancient evil lurking here -- but how?"

CRYER'S CROSS by Lisa McMann "The small town of Cryer’s Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain.

When a second student goes missing—someone close to Kendall’s heart—the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school—messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there—Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions.

Something’s not right in Cryer’s Cross—and Kendall’s about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried."

CYBORG: CLONE CODES by The McKissacks "In the next Clone Codes installment, Houston, a cyborg, tells his story. Set in the year 2130, The World Federation of Nations determines through laws and regulations that all enhanced persons with three or more synthetic body or organ replacements are classified as three-fifths of a human being. As such, Houston is considered less than human and must fight to overcome the rules of his strange universe. Drawing on parallels to slavery, terrorism, caste system oppression, and war, readers confront the troubling and complex moral questions probed throughout history.

If the government learns of Houston’s cyborg status it could cost him his life--and change the course of history forever. With the help of Leanna, his friend, Houston is in a race with time, and he’s in a fight against the oppressive ways of The Cyborg Act of 2130...."

DARK MOON: WERELING by Steve Feasey "A few short months ago, Trey Laporte learned the news that would change him forever: He is a werewolf, and the evil vampire Caliban wants him dead. The threat becomes real when Caliban attacks Trey’s mentor, Lucien Charron, and leaves him fighting for his life.

Gwendolin, a wicked sorceress, holds the only key to saving Lucien. Together, Trey and Lucien’s beautiful daughter, Alexa, must enter the Netherworld to defeat her. The pressure for Trey is great—Alexa is counting on him to save her father. But when Trey and Alexa find themselves trapped and surrounded by demons, can Trey use his werewolf strength to save them both?"

DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver "Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't."

THE DEMON TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER by Jana Oliver "Seventeen-year-old Riley, the only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper, Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps. The good news is, with human society seriously disrupted by economic upheaval and Lucifer increasing the number of demons in all major cities, Atlanta’s local Trappers’ Guild needs all the help they can get – even from a girl. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing crush on fellow apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving distressed citizens from foul-mouthed little devils – Grade One Hellspawn only, of course, per the strict rules of the Guild. Life’s about as normal as can be for the average demon-trapping teen.

But then a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, sudden tragedy strikes the Trappers’ Guild, spinning Riley down a more dangerous path than she ever could have imagined. As her whole world crashes down around her, who can Riley trust with her heart – and her life?"

DESIRES OF THE DEAD by Kimberly Derting "The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.

As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger."

THE END OF TIME: THE BOOKS OF UMBER by P. W. Catanese The third book in P.W. Catanese's Books of Umber trilogy concludes the imaginative, page-turning adventures of Umber and Hap.

THE FLOATING ISLANDS by Rachel Neumeier "When Trei loses his family in a tragic disaster, he must search out distant relatives in a new land. The Floating Islands are unlike anything Trei has ever seen: stunning, majestic, and graced with kajurai, men who soar the skies with wings. Trei is instantly sky-mad, and desperate to be a kajurai himself. The only one who fully understands his passion is Araene, his newfound cousin. Prickly, sarcastic, and gifted, Araene has a secret of her own . . . a dream a girl cannot attain.

Trei and Araene quickly become conspirators as they pursue their individual paths. But neither suspects that their lives will be deeply entwined, and that the fate of the Floating Islands will lie in their hands. . . ."

GALLOWS AT TWILIGHT: WITCHFINDER by William Hussey "Eight pale hands - some with fingers stripped down to the bone - rose out of the earth. Slimy with rain, the rat-gnawed heads of four soldiers loomed into view. They moaned at the sky and their cry moulded itself into a word: 'FLLLLLLEEESSSSSSSSHHHHH!' The Demon Father has escaped from hell and walks among us, his trident symbol branded into the earth in countries all over the world. A scorching beacon. A call to arms. A sign that war is coming. Jake is struggling to harness his powers and live up to his reputation of the boy who closed the demon door. But now he must push all doubt aside. To stop the Demon Father Jake must change the course of history - embark on a treacherous journey deep into the past and into another dimension, filled with horror and pain. A place where innocent people are tried and tortured. A place where the law of the Witchfinder rules. Let the rushes be lit for there will be gallows at twilight."

HAUNTED by Joy Preble "Anne Michaelson is trying to forget everything that happened last year. But it's hard to do when her heart aches for Ethan and there's a wild-haired woman stalking her...

Ethan Kosinsky
is embracing his newfound mortality. But something is drawing him back to the girl he left behind-back to Anne and back to the magic...

A mysterious stranger is hunting Anne wherever she goes. No one sees her but Anne. When she searches for the woman's identity, Anne exposes secrets about her own life- things that will change her life forever. And when the gorgeous Ethan returns, her life gets a lot more complicated. Anne thought her journey with the Romanov family had ended, but it was just the beginning..."

THE HORN OF MORAN: ADVENTURERS WANTED by M. L. Forman "The land of Norsland is on the brink of war as two men have each claimed the throne. Only the true king can sound the Horn of Moran and prove his nobility. But the horn has been lost for years. If it is not found and soon it could mean the destruction of an entire nation. Young Alexander Taylor joins a band of seasoned adventurers who have been called up to retrieve the legendary Horn of Moran. Their journey to the mysterious Tower of the Moon will take them through an enchanted forest, into battle against a goblin army, past the watchful eyes of griffin guards, and face-to-face with a sphinx and her deadly riddles. With his sword, Moon Slayer, and the wise counsel from his wizard mentor, Whalen Vankin, Alex must use all his wizard and warrior skills to slay a darkness that may consume them all. Sequel to the bestselling Slathbog's Gold."

HOW TO BE A WEREWOLF: THE CLAWS-ON GUIDE FOR THE MODERN LYCANTHROPE by Serena Valentino. "Celebrate your inner beast —and harness that newfound animal magnetism! — with this essential guide to the lycanthropic lifestyle.

Are you subject to savage moods, extreme and unexplained buffness, and cravings for meat on the rare side? Do you long for super speed and reflexes, along with rapid healing and maybe a talent for telepathy? Welcome to the pack — and get ready to howl — as you sink your claws into this guide to everything life as a werewolf has to offer."

KINDRED by Tammar Stein "Miriam is an unassuming college freshman stuck on campus after her spring break plans fall through. She's not a religious girl--when pressed she admits reluctantly to believing in a higher power. Truth be told, she's about as comfortable speaking about her faith as she is about her love life, which is to say, not at all. And then the archangel Raphael pays Miriam a visit, and she finds herself on a desperate mission to save two of her contemporaries. To top it all off, her twin brother, Mo, has also had a visitation, but from the opposite end of the good-evil spectrum, which leaves Miriam to wonder--has she been blessed and her brother cursed or vice versa? And what is the real purpose behind her mission?"

THE IRON WITCH by Karen Mahoney "When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed Donna Underwood’s father and drove her mother mad. Her own nearly fatal injuries were fixed by alchemy—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. Now seventeen, Donna feels like a freak, doomed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. Only her relationship with her best friend, Navin, is keeping her sane.

But when vicious wood elves abduct Navin, Donna is forced to accept her role in the centuries-old war between human alchemists and these darkest outcasts of Faerie. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous guy with faery blood running through his veins and secrets of his own, Donna races to save Navin—even if it means betraying everything her parents fought to the death to protect."

LEX TRENT FIGHTING WITH FIRE by Alex Bell "Lex Trent is reigning champion of The Games contested between fickle Gods using human playing pieces. He has it all: Fame. Glory. Wealth. An enormous ego. But The Games are about to begin again and the Goddess of Luck wants Lex to defend their title. A challenge he can't resist, despite the risk of death, because the final round will take place in the Wild West, giving Lex the chance to claim the legendary Sword of Life (who wouldn't want that?). With Lex's mix of skill, quick wittedness and no small amount of outright cheating, he can't lose! Can he? Luck may usually be a lady to Lex...but in the Wild West they play by their own rules...and Lex has never been that good with rules."

THE LOCKET by Stacey Jay "On her seventeenth birthday, Katie discovers a locket and decides to wear it for good luck. But when her boyfriend Isaac finds out she cheated on him- with their mutual best friend Mitch, no less-he dumps her, leaving her devastated.

And then a miracle happens. The locket burns on Katie's chest and she feels herself going back two weeks in time, to the night she cheated with Mitch. At first, Kate is delighted to be a better girlfriend to Isaac this time around. But as other aspects of her life become inexplicably altered, she realizes that changing the past may have had a dangerous effect on her present.

Can she make things right before the locket destroys everything-and everyone-she loves?"

MIND GAP by Marina Cohen "Fourteen-year-old Jake MacRae's life is spinning out of control. He's making all the wrong choices; gambling, drinking, hanging around gang members; and now he's been asked to make a special delivery. What should he do? Jake knows either way that his decision will seal his fate, but what he doesn't realize is that this choice might not only destroy his life but the lives of those close to him.

Before Jake has a chance to make up his mind, he receives a mysterious text message inviting him to a flash party on a midnight subway train. As Jake steps off the platform and onto the ghostly 1950s-style Gloucester car, he has no idea he has just boarded a train bound for his worst nightmare. And what's more; he can't get off!"

ONE HUNDRED CANDLES: PAST MIDNIGHT by Mara Purnhagen
It's taken a long time for me to feel like a normal teenager. But now that I'm settled in a new school, where people know me as more than Charlotte Silver of the infamous Silver family paranormal investigators, it feels like everything is falling into place. And what better way to be normal than to go on a date with a popular football star like Harris Abbott? After all, it's not as if Noah is anything more than a friend….

But my new life takes a disturbing turn when Harris brings me to a party and we play a game called One Hundred Candles. It seems like harmless, ghostly fun. Until spirits unleashed by the game start showing up at school. Now my friends and family are in very real danger, and the door that I've opened into another realm may yield deadly consequences.

OUTSIDE IN by Maria V. Snyder "Me? A leader? Okay, I did prove that there's more to Inside than we knew. That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion—between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we're free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again—while still touching base with Riley, of course. He's the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there's outside and then there is Outside.

And something from Outside wants In."

RANCOUR by James McCann "Alix of Fillmore High is depressed about the prospect of finding a date for the prom. Boys who understand her — or whom she understands — are few and far between. But soon Alix’s life takes a turn that makes finding a prom date the least of her worries. She finds herself in the middle of a feud that’s been going on for a millennium. The combatants? A vampire and a werewolf! Werewolf Rancour has spent centuries trying to rid the world of vampires, while vampire Shay has been there to thwart his efforts at every turn. Alix gets more deeply involved when she learns that she was Rancour’s wife in a previous life. As the bodies continue to pile up, Rancour and Shay find themselves forced into an alliance by a new enemy stalking them. Author James McCann expertly blends the typical concerns of teens — love, football, parties, fitting in, racial tensions — with a chilling story of the supernatural."

RED MOON RISING by Peter Moore "Being only half-vamp in a high school like Carpathia Night makes you a whole loser. But Danny Gray manages to escape the worst of the specists at his school. Thanks to genetic treatments he had as an infant, most people assume Danny's other half is human. Which is a good thing. Ever since the development of synthetic blood – SynHeme – vamps have become society’s elite, while wulves like his father work menial jobs and live in bad neighborhoods. Wulves are less than second class citizens; once a month they become inmates, forced to undergo their Change in dangerous government compounds.

For Danny, living with his vamp mother and going to a school with a nearly all-vamp student body, it’s best to pretend his wulf half doesn’t even exist. But lately Danny's been having some weird symptoms -- fantastic night vision; a keener-than-usual sense of smell; and headaches, right around the full moon. Even though it's easy to be in denial, it's hard to ignore evidence. There's only a month until the next few moon, and Danny's time is running out."

SECRETS AND SHADOWS: 13 TO LIFEby Shannon Delany "Nothing's simple when you run with werewolves. Jess Gillmansen thinks she's seen it all but her eyes are about to be opened to even more danger and a reality far more paranormal than she's suspected. With Jess' realization that the Rusakovas' mother is still alive and imprisoned, the group's choices become harder and trust more important. Lines are drawn and relationships change as the broken Rusakova family struggles to reunite to free their mother - and those who Jess thought to be normal people show themselves to be much, much more..."

SHADOW WALKERS by Brent Hartinger "Zach lives with his grandparents on a remote island in Puget Sound in Washington State. With only his little brother, Gilbert, to keep him company, Zach feels cut off from the world. But when Gilbert is kidnapped, Zach tries the only thing he can think of to find him: astral projection. Soon, his spirit is soaring through the strange and boundless astral realm—a shadow place. While searching for his brother, Zach meets a boy named Emory, another astral traveler who's intriguing (and cute).

As Zach and Emory track the kidnappers from the astral realm, their bond grows—but each moment could be Gilbert's last. Even worse, there's a menacing, centuries-old creature in their midst that devours souls and possesses physical bodies. And it's hungry for Zach."

TORN FROM TROY: ODYSSEY OF A SLAVE by Patrick Bowman “You heard what the little filth said to me,” Ury growled. “He’ll be trouble. I say trench him now.” The other man spoke, his voice low and even. “I heard him, Ury. His mind is quick, and his Greek is good.” He knelt down beside my head. “Your choice, boy. Decide now.”

Alexi’s city is still burning when the Greeks catch him and give him a brutal choice: slavery or death. With his sister dead and his home destroyed, Alexi, a 15-year-old orphan from the streets of Troy, grits his teeth and chooses the life of a captive. He and the other Trojan survivors are forced aboard a ship bound for faraway Ithaca, under the command of the Greek warrior Odysseus. But none could foresee the perils of the cursed voyage to come: a brutal raid on the Cicones, a visit to the bewitching Lotus Eaters and a grisly encounter with a Cyclops all take a gruesome toll. Alexi has no idea how much worse his life is about to get.

WATERFALL: RIVER OF TIME by Lisa T. Bergren "In Book One, American teenager Gabi Betarrini accidently finds herself in sixteenth-century Italy . . . Knights. Swords. Horses. Armor. And Italian hotties.

Most American teens want an Italian vacation, but the Bentarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archeologist parents. Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds… until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves in the sixteenth-century—and in the middle of a fierce battle between knights bent on killing one another."

WITCH BREED: HELL'S UNDERGROUND by Alan Gibbons

WORD OF HONOUR: THE LAWS OF MAGIC by Michael Pryor "Magical genius Aubrey Fitzwilliam, along with his loyal friend George, is trying to immerse himself in his new life at college. But for Aubrey life is never straightforward. When Aubrey's father, the Prime Minister, invites them to take a ride on a top-secret submersible, Aubrey and George can't resist. But a sudden magical attack threatens to send them to the bottom of the ocean and begins a whirlwind series of events—a plot to rob Albion's largest bank, strange underground disturbances, and an opera singer who bears an uncanny resemblance to Aubrey's nemesis, Dr. Tremaine."

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