This Sunday's Roundup of Middle-Grade Science fiction and fantasy, with bonus Squid!

Here is this week's round up of middle-grade fantasy and science fiction review and sundries from around the blogosphere. Please let me know if I missed anything!

Damsel, by S.E. Connolly, at Charlotte's Library.

The Entertainer and the Dybbuk, by Sid Fleischman, at the Owl in the Library.

I So Don't Do Spooky, by Barrie Summy, at TheHappyNappyBookseller, and also an interview with the author.

Raider's Ransom, by Emily Diamond, at Fuse #8.

The Secret of Zoom, by Lynne Jonell, at Charlotte's Library.

Spellbinder, by Helen Stringer at the Owl in the Library.

Kate at Book Aunt has compiled a most excellent list of the best middle grade fantasy from the past 110, including her top ten for the 2000s-- lots of fantasy!

At Boys Rule Boys Read! you will find Kringle, Lost Worlds, Frost Giants and the Incredible Power of Reading.

At Cynsations, here's an interview with K.A. Holt, author of Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel. (Mike Stellar is that very rare sort of book--space-based science fiction for kids, and is a darned good read).

And here's an interview with Kate DiCamillo at Reading Rockets.

Finally, Small Beer Press became one of my favorite publishers when they brought out The Serial Garden, a complete collection of the Armitage stories by Joan Aiken (here's my review). They are currently having a special sale, where a dollar from every book sold goes to the Franciscan Children's Hospital, so now would be an excellent time to buy this absolutely wonderful book!

And even more finally, anyone who might find the juxtaposition of squids and Victorian Christmas cards interesting please do go read this fascinating article on sugarplum steampunk!

The Secret of Zoom, by Lynne Jonell

The Secret of Zoom (Henry Holt, middle-grade, 2009, 291pp) by Lynne Jonell (author of Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat).

Ten-year old Christina lives a boring and lonely life in an old stone mansion on the edge of a hill. Looking down, she can see school children playing games she's never had a chance to join in on. Looking up, she can see the hills and forests that hide Loompski Labs, where her father works. It was in one of those labs that an explosion claimed her mother's life, and since then she's been kept Safe by her well-intentioned but distant father.

But one day an orphan boy named Taft snatches a few precious moments from his work as a trash collector to ask her a question, and her life changes.

"Have you found the tunnel yet?"

So Christina hunts for the tunnel that is supposed to lead from her home up toward the hills. And when Taft makes a daring escape from the mysterious compound full of orphans where he has lived for years, he seeks refuge with Christina, and the two begin a perilous journey of adventure and discovery below ground...

What sinister fate awaits the orphans, carted up into the hills inside garbage trucks by sinister Lenny Loompski? What is the explosive secret of Zoom, the strange, magical metal with which Lenny is obsessed? Can the two plucky children turn the Zoom to their own purposes in time to foil Lenny and save the orphans?

The Secret of Zoom is reminiscent of Joan Aiken's books-- it's an entertaining adventure with a plucky heroine, and has a plot that, while not exactly absurd, goes well beyond what is credible and common-sensical (as the cover art suggests). School Library Journal named it one of their best 100 books of 2009; I personally wouldn't go that far (perhaps because I think it has more kid appeal than grown-up reader appeal). But I can easily imagine this somewhat charmingly eccentric story captivating younger readers--it's a fast, relatively easy read that offers an interesting take on the familiar plot of parentless children bravely thwarting the bad guy.

You can read an excerpt of the book here.

Harper Collins has made the first two chapters of Conspiracy of Kings available!

Here at the Harper Collins website are the first two chapters of Megan Whalen Turner's new book, A Conspiracy of Kings.

(Now I sort of wish my ARC wasn't in the mail heading off to the west...I sort of want to read it all again....)

But as it happens, I'm reading another conspiracy book that's very good--The Lost Conspiracy, by Frances Hardinge.

And just for the heck of it, another fun one is The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones.


Both of these might well be enjoyed by MWT fans!

Damsel, by S. E. Connolly

If you are looking for a fun, fast book to give to a nine or ten-year old who loves fairy tales and quests, Damsel, by S.E. Connolly (Mercier Press, 2009, 156pp), is a good choice!

Annie's father is a hero. After Annie's little brother was born, he'd promised his family that he'd give up his hero-ish ways, and settle down, but that was before the wizard Greenlott started terrorizing the kingdom. A shortage of heroes meant that he had to set off again...but now he hasn't come back.

Ten-year old Annie knows she's no hero. Many's the time her father had said she'd make an excellent damsel someday. But even a damsel-to-be has to take action when things get desperate, so Annie takes off to save her father, his big book of hero tips under her arm.

"A hero is a man who continues to try, even when all hope seems to be gone," the book advises (page 12). Annie knows she's "just" a girl, but still she has the guts to try.

And almost before she knows it, she's saving young Roger, a putative prince, from death by giant spider, and escaping (with Roger's help) a nastily amorous frog prince. Then the two of them, both determined to be as heroic as a servant boy and a damsel can be, must work together to face down a dragon...and foil the evil wizard.

Annie's bold quest is a humorous and engagingly written journey of adventure and self-discovery. It's not a book I'd recommend to the adult reader of middle grade fiction, who might not find the story sufficiently deep or original for their own reading pleasure, but it's a very good one for its intended audience. The younger reader who dreams of days of yore when knights were bold should enjoy it a lot, and might also find it delightful to learn that damsels can do more than toss their hair and shriek prettily.

Parents of girls defying gender stereotypes, or parents of servant boys who long for greater things, might want to put this one in their children's hands.

Note--the giant spiders are a bit scary, and the frog prince a bit disturbing, but there isn't anything that should be troubling to the savvy 8 or 9 year-old. Here's the spider gore:

"Annie!" roared Roger. "Look out for the..."

Annie brought the sword down sharply and it slid right in between the spider's head and midsection.

"Goo!"

As the spider screamed and slumped down, a fountain of green and brown slime erupted from the wound Annie had made and covered her from head to toe.

"There was a warning on the next page of the book," said Roger quietly. (page 43)

Damsel has been nominated for the Cybils Awards in the middle-grade science fiction and fantasy category, and the publisher graciously sent review copies all the way from Ireland! Thanks.

postscript: "I could see it happening," my nine-year old son commented. "There are tons of tomboys running around." And now I am wondering if this is good (he finds it plausible) or bad--is the "tomboy girl" a stereotype in its own right that needs to be defied? Which this book does, in fact, do-- Annie is not particularly "tomboyish," just smart and gutsy. Likewise Princess Meg, in Kate Coombs' Runaway Princess and Runaway Dragon, which I also just read for the Cybils (my review).

A list of book recommendations by and for fans of Megan Whalen Turner

When I gave away my ARC of A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner (coming out this March), I asked that everyone who entered recommend books for us fans of the Queen’s Thief series to read while we waited for spring...and beyond (d.v.).

Here is the list that resulted from those comments, organized by author. There’s lots of fantasy, some historical fiction, a bit of sci fi, and a bit of straight young adult, and a smidge of adult fiction. There are authors I love, authors who have been on my own to-be-read list for years, and authors I've never heard of. In these books you have been promised great characterization, great political intrigue, great writing, and quite a few thieves….

Lloyd Alexander
"The Westmark Trilogy....deconstructs fantasy tropes magnificently, and it's full of court intrigue, revolutionaries, infighting, war, betrayal, and realistic well thought out political maneuvering. It gets at the philosophical heart of much high fantasy in the same way MWT's books do with the Gods and Goddesses. There's also no magic, so it has a similar feel to the Thief books."

Isabella Allende
Ines of My Soul "a spectacular read"

Avi
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Pam Bachorz
Candor

Ellen Booraem
The Unnamables. "It's not quite as complex as Turner's stuff, but it still gives the reader a whole lot to think about while defying her expectations."

Libba Bray
A Great and Terrible Beauty

Sarah Rees Brennan
The Demon's Lexicon. "Which is the only other book for which I belong to an LJ community that I don't write fanfiction for. Well written, witty, fast paced, and with a punch to the gut ending with just the right amount of foreshadowing. Brennan is like Turner, one of the few writers who can really pull off a surprise ending."

Patricia Briggs
“[The] Mercedes Thompson series, about a skinwalker who shifts into coyote form, puts me in mind of Gen as well. Mercedes has a flexible mind, like Gen.”

Lois McMaster Bujold
“The Miles Vorkosigan books….are my favourite books along with MWT's. She writes such awesome characters.” And another commenter opined that the Vorkosigan books "have an amazing cast of characters, intriguing plots, and amazing writing. Miles' forward momentum often reminds me of Gen." A helpful commenter adds: "Several people have suggested newcomers to the Vorkosigan books to start with Cordelia's Honor, but I would suggest starting with Young Miles."
"The Curse of Chalion....(along with its sequel, Paladin of Souls, not to mention the Sharing Knife series)" "The gods in this book and their relationship with humans are particularly well done."

Meg Burden
Northlander. "Great debut novel with a sequel (The King Commands) coming out shortly."

Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game.

Kristin Cashore
"An author who writes great female characters...Her books Graceling and Fire are both excellent."

Susanna Clarke
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell-"an exhausting, exhaustive book but truly well worth the time invested. If Jane Austen was badass enough to write gutsy fantasy, this would be it."

Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games and sequel Catching Fire

Alison Croggon
The Pellinor series

Sarah Dessen
Keeping the Moon a.k.a. Last Chance, The Truth About Forever, Just Listen, Lock and Key

Diane Duane
So You Want To Be A Wizard series (Wizard's Holiday & Wizards at War being by far the best).

Clare Dunkle
The Hollow Kingdom trilogy. "It's a delicious, fast read, with a strangely charismatic main character!"

Dorothy Dunnet (MWT is herself a fan of Dunnet)
“The Lymond Chronicles….my favourite books of all time featuring a brilliant but tortured hero and plenty of political intrigue. They're a challenging read but I can't rec them highly enough.”

David Anthony Durham
Acacia

David Eddings
'The Belgariad' "just a really great, fun read - followed by 'The Malloreon' which isn't as good but you just HAVE to keep reading because you love the characters so much."

Nancy Farmer
A Girl Named Disaster and The Eye, The Ear and The Arm "for readers who like historical elements with a bit of supernatural intervention." Also House of the Scorpions--a "spectacular read"

Lorna Freeman
Covenants

Catherine Fisher
"Incarceron....has a good mix of political intrigue, action, and excellent world-building. For me, MWT is all about the characters and about providing a story that is much deeper and twistier then it initially appears, and this book fits in that mold."

Lynn Flewelling
The Nightrunner series. "That's one of my favourites for fantasy/politics/thievery rolled in one."

Phil and Kaja Foglio
The Girl Genius series. "The series itself is a webcomic though it does have collected volumes, which currently numbers eight. The main character is a lovely blend of strong sympathetic heroine and mad scientist. The main romance especially reminds me of MWT as the lovers in question have both political obstacles and trust issues."

Neil Gaiman
"....especially Anansi Boys- about the son of a trickster god." "Any and all works by Neil Gaiman ('American Gods' is very dark, 'Anansi Boys' is lighter but still somewhat dark, 'Neverwhere' is just a fantastic romp in underground London)."

Jessica Day George
Dragon Slippers trilogy

William Goldman
The Princess Bride. "I think Gen and Wesley are quite similar."

Joanne Harris
Runemarks [I second this one-a complex story involving the Norse gods]

Shannon Hale
The "Books of Bayern" (several recommendations came in for the Goose Girl et seq)

Frank Herbert
"Turner's genius for excellent characters is what keeps me coming back for more and another book that does that for me regarding great characters is Dune."

Robin Hobb
The Assassins Trilogy and Tawny Man Trilogy "both star Fitz, who has some Gen-like qualities, and happen to be amazing sets of books. The Liveship Trilogy goes in between them, and is also fantastic."

Tanya Huff
The Valor books (Valor's Choice, The Better Part of Valor, Heart of Valor, Valor's Trial and a fifth book to come). They're sci-fi and a great deal more "genre-y" than MWT's stuff, but lovely none the less. They have interesting plots that include action, intrigue, romance, and one of the best main characters of all time. I don't know if I want to be Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr or marry her.

Diana Wynne Jones
"Howl's Moving Castle is the obvious one, but I think MWT's fans would enjoy the Dalemark Quartet and Deep Secret as well." "Howl's Moving Castle. Sometimes Howl reminds me of Gen when he's in his moody phases. :D"
"Dianna Wynne Jones is an author that MWT herself recommends (In the extras in the back of The Thief, if you have the right edition.) All of her books are unpredictable and original. Nothing is ever what it seems. Everybody has heard of Howl's Moving Castle, but she has written other stuff besides our beloved Howl, including sequels: Castle in the Air, and House of Many Ways. Both of which are just as clever and hilarious as the first Howl. One of the funniest she's ever written is Tough Guide to Fantasyland...."

Patrice Kindl
Goose Chase. It's an interesting twist on typical fairy tales, and the voice of the main character reminds me of Gen.

Laurie R. King
The Mary Russell series "for wit."

Kate Klise
Letters from Camp. "It's one of those books that sucked me in when I first read it, and still hooks me every time."

Kate and Sarah Klise
"Regarding the Fountain: A Tale In Letters of Liars and Leaks. I'm recommending it because of the way the plot fits together in the end of all of the books in this series."

Steve Kluger
Last Days of Summer. "It isn't fantasy, but it has an extremely unreliable narrator (read: compulsive liar) whom I love to bits."

Stephen Lawhead
The King Raven trilogy--Hood, Scarlet, and Tuck. "The legend of Robin Hood set in Medieval Wales, it's a really wonderful retelling that follows the basic plot while adding a new insight into the legend. Every so often this Robin Hood (Rhi Bran in Welsh) reminds me of Gen."
And also The Song of Albion Trilogy.

Harper Lee
To Kill A Mockingbird. "I usually like fantasy better, but I loved this one."

Ursula K. LeGuin
The Earthsea trilogy--"a good deal more philosophical and painstaking in its plot progression than the usual fantasy fare but haunting and beautiful." [to which I add a recommendation for Four Ways to Forgiveness--beautifully written character-driven political intrigue]

C.S. Lewis
Till We Have Faces "This one would be for the older fans. It seems like a straight forward enough story, until the twist at the end. There are gods and queens and small kingdom politics."

Margaret Lovett
The Great and Terrible Quest

Barry Lyga
Any of his books

Scott Lynch
'The Lies of Locke Lamora' and its sequel 'Red Seas Under Red Skies'. "The main character, Locke, is a similar thief to Eugenides but due to his upbringing (and not having a Eddis or father) is a much rougher and dangerous sort. The worldbuilding is fantastic in these novels, the politics rich and intriguing and the characters are vividly drawn that you can't help but want to desperately know what happens to them next."

Margaret Mahy
"Changeover, because it's also very well written. (It's an early, superior example of a YA paranormal.)"

Anything by Melina Marchetta

Juliet Marillier
Wildwood Dancing. "Beautiful prose, an unconventional love story, a sensible heroine, and a villain who will make you want to scream with anger." [to which I add--the sequel, Cybil's Secret, is even better and has gods and and tricksy people and is thus more MWTish]

Yann Martel
"My favorite part of [MWT's] books is her ability to weave twists and turns into the plot that are both unexpected and yet entirely plausible. With that in mind, I'd recommend Life of Pi...."

George RR Martin"A Song of Ice and Fire" series "if you're nuts enough to start an unfinished series set in a world where no one is safe and few people are as easily defined as they might at first seem."

Patricia McKillip
The Riddle-Master trilogy. “Or, frankly, anything else by her. Winter Rose (a variation on Tam Lin) and In the Forests of Serre (inspired by the Firebird legend) are two of my favorites.”

Robin McKinley
The Blue Sword and The Outlaws of Sherwood.

L.A. Meyer
The Bloody Jack adventures. "....while none of the characters overtly reminds me of MWT's characters, nevertheless reminds me overall of her genre by consisting of historical fiction (though in this case, it's real Napoleonic history, not alternate universe), intriguing and well-developed characters, adventure, a measure of international politics, and of course good writing."

Walter Miller
A Canticle for Leibowitz

Catherine Gilbert Murdoch
Dairy Queen, Off Season, and Front and Center. "Wonderful, wonderful characters."
Princess Ben. " I enjoyed the witty voice, the complex characters, and the fairy tales turned on their heads."

Garth Nix
especially The Abhorsen/Old Kingdom Books (start with Sabriel) and the Keys to the Kingdom series (start with Mister Monday).

Naomi Novik
The Temeraire series. "The Napoleonic Wars--with dragons! Great, relatable characters in amazing situations, more political intrigue, fun history revisionism, superb and exciting character development for everyone involved, and tactical/warfare scenes written in a way that is suspenseful and engaging (not usually my cup of tea, so this is really saying something).

Patrick O'Brian
The Aubrey-Maturin series--"some of my favorite books."

Kenneth Oppel
Airborn, Skybreaker, and Starclimber

Edith Pattou
East

Michelle Paver
"The Wolf Brother series...has great characters, a marvelous extended plot, and a bit of magic."

Sarah Prineas
The Magic Thief. "Fun and smart middle-grade fiction with a great thief."

Tamora Pierce
"Any of her books." And, more specifically, the Tortall books-- “I'm particularly fond of the original Alanna quartet, but the closest to MWT in terms of content is probably the Trickster duo, with spies, thieves, court politics, and interfering gods.”

Elizabeth Pope
The Sherwood Ring. "The main character has always reminded me a little of Gen."

Terry Pratchett
Night Watch. Of course it's better if you've read the other City Watch books first, but it also works beautifully on it's own. There's some political machinations, but the story is primarily about Sam Vimes (one of my all time favorite characters) dealing with a city poised to explode into violence."
Seconded, and a third person wrote "there are a LOT of books in this series but each book is a pleasure to read, and 'Nightwatch' is the crown jewel that makes you feel privileged to have read something so utterly great. If you find his eclectic, frenetic style a little distracting then you can start out with the Tiffany Aching series to warm up before diving into the deep end with 'Color of Magic' (the first book)."

Pullman, Philip
I rather enjoyed the His Dark Materials trilogy, mostly because it was so character-driven (especially The Subtle Knife).

Mary Renault
The King Must Die "held MANY echoes of the Queens Thief series for me. (It's a re-telling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur). The Hellenic setting, and Theseus's relationship with his gods, and the fall of Crete... actually the echo is probably the other way: perhaps this is one of Turner's influences. Theseus's experience of religion is fascinating!!"

Riordan, Rick
"Percy Jackson and the Olympians would very much appeal to Sounisians, I think."

Ellen Raskin
The Westing Game "I...enjoyed the plot twist, though it's definitely written for younger readers."

Amelia Atwater Rhodes
Hawksong. "It's a lovely story about two monarchs coming together (in marriage for the sake of their kingdoms)"

Patrick Rothfuss
"The Name of the Wind. Much longer than Turner's books, and it's the first book of a yet-to-be-finished trilogy, but the main character is remarkably similar to a young, cynical Gen. There is some thievery, and it's one of the most impressive books I've read in ages."

Mary Doria Russell
The Sparrow and its sequel. "So moving and substantial."

Dorothy L. Sayers
The Lord Peter Whimsey books. "It's a fantastic series, with twists and turns, a lot of comedy, and fantastic characters - I suspect anyone who loves Gen would also love Peter!"

Kate Serendy
The Chestry Oak. "The story of a little prince living in Hungary before and during the Nazis invasion. Well written, unforgettable characters, and a lot of love."

Sharon Shinn
Summers at Castle Auburn. "Her books are a bit hit and miss with me, but Summers at Castle Auburn is the one book of hers I adore, and which everybody seems to love as well - well, I would not recommend it to somebody who loves military sf or something, but anybody who might be charmed by a story about princesses (though really it is not about that..)"
Also Mystic and Rider "a story about adventure, friendship, and true love!

Sherwood Smith
"Crown Duel, which isn't quite as well crafted as Turner's books, but whose plot and characters carried me happily along."
"Crown Duel is fabulous—battles, misguided heroine, mysterious marquis, political intrigue, a hint of magic... Pretty much everything you could ever want in a novel. :-)"
And also Wren's Quest, Wren to the Rescue, and Wren's War, and the Inda series.

Wen Spencer
Tinker, and "her Ukiah Oregon books, which [are] SF and wonderfully addictive too."
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. It's a fairly simple story following the friendship that forms between two couples over four decades. Stegner's prose is beautiful and he has such great insights into life, especially about friendship. If you're wanting something different, you should give it a try.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped. Alan Breck and Gen are long-lost relatives (down to the Scottish accent!) [me--Gen has a Scottish accent????!!]

Caroline Stevermer
A College Of Magics and A Scholar of Magics--"great reads."

Mary Stewart
The Merlin Trilogy ("The Crystal Cave," "The Hollow Hills," and "The Last Enchantment")....are excellent. Like Megan Whalen Turner, their (more overtly historical) setting feels very real, but also mythic. If you enjoyed Gen's interactions with the Gods, you might be interested in Merlin's experience of power."

Maggie Stiefvater
Shiver (My fourth favorite book after MWT's!)

Jonathan Stroud
The Bartimaeus Trilogy. "Delightfully snarky humor, magic, political intrigue, and dynamic characters who make sometimes unpredictable choices."

Rosemary Sutcliff'
"I read The Shining Company, which was good but dark; I'm pretty sure her other books have got to be good as well. The prose was well-crafted and the characters were complex, though the plot wasn't as twisty as an MWT plot."
"I can highly recommend Rosemary's Sutcliffe's Mark of the Horse Lord. In the beginning of KofA, Costis echoes a line from the end of this book and it's a lot of fun to run into it."
Other Sutciff recommendations: The Eagle of the Ninth, The Lantern Bearers, The Shield Ring, Warrior Scarlet, and Knight's Fee

Kate Thompson
The New Policeman.

Hannah Tinti
The Good Thief. "It obviously involves thievery which I must admit is what attracted me to it in the first place, but it turned out to be excellent. The writing beautiful and witty."

Terry Trueman
Stuck in Neutral and Cruise Control

Joan D. Vinge
The Snow Queen "which is a science fiction rewrite of the traditional Norse fairytale of the same name. Again, deep characters and good writing, but this time in a different genre. It's one of my favorite books."

Cynthia Voigt
The Tillerman Cycle

Brent Weeks
The Night Angel Trilogy, starting with The Way of Shadows. “His world-building is fantastic, he delves into the complicated politics like MWT, but also like her, the characters are core. The main character actually is a street urchin (instead of pretending he was one ;) ) and it's about assassins rather than thieves, but who doesn't love assassins?”

Elizabeth E. Wein
“The Winter Prince reminded me of the Turner series, with political intrigue, beautiful prose, and nuanced characters.” And another commenter seconded this, recommending the whole series: The Winter Prince, A Coalition of Lions, The Sunbird, The Lion Hunter, The Empty Kingdom. I myself have read the last two, and agree that, in as much as they have character driven political trickiness, they are a good fit for us!

Martha Wells
"I particularly like City of Bones but the series that starts with the Wizard Hunters (followed by the Ships of Air and the Gate of the Gods) is good as is the Element of Fire."

Scott Westerfeld
Leviathan. "Clever plots, brilliantly lovable characters. . ."

Ellen Emerson White
The President's Daughter, White House Autumn,Long Live the Queen (Winner: ALA Best Book for Young Adults), Long May She Reign

N.D. Wilson
100 Cupboards and Dandelion Fire. "Fantastic stuff!"

Patricia Wrede
"The wondeful books she wrote in tandem with Caroline Stevermer. Sorcery and Cecilia, The Grand Tour and The Mislaid Magician. Also Mairelon the Magician. And from another commenter: "I especially like Magician's Ward, about a pickpocket in a magical period London, and Snow-White and Rose Red, a retelling of the fairy tale."

David Wyndham
The Chrysalids--"amazingly well-written."

Marcus Zusak
The Book Thief. "Similar to Turner's work in that the prose is gorgeous. (And there is some thievery...)"

So there you go. I hope you find something here to enjoy!

The winner of my Conspiracy of Kings ARC giveaway

The winner of my ARC giveaway is Free Narnian! (please contact me to let me know how to get it to you!)

Stay tuned for the compilation of the comment suggestions into a reading list for Megan Whalen Turner fans.

In My Mailbox--great holiday happiness thanks to Kristin Cashore

This is the first time I have ever taken part in the "In My Mailbox" meme. But some things are just so special that they have to be shared: Today I got home-made cookies from Kristin Cashore.


And signed copies of her books. Because this year I took part in the Blogger Secret Santa gift swap, and Kristin Cashore was my Secret Santa!!!!! Am I not lucky?

I feel especially lucky because Fire was on my Christmas wants list (see post below). And no one had gotten it for me, and I would have cried at Christmas. I haven't read it yet--although I did win an ARC at one point, it seems to have gotten lost in the mail, and by the time it was actually released, I was reading for the Cybils, so I am very happy.

And the cookies are very, very good!

Thank you Kristin!

Just a side note: today is the last day to enter my giveaway of my ARC of Conspiracy of Kings, which feels nicely symmetrical to me--balancing my happiness of today with another reader's happiness tomorrow. (And I guess, being extremely unselfish, that I could send the winner of my giveaway a few of my Kristin Cashore cookies, too...).

My Own Just Before Christmas Read-the-Books-I-Got-Last-Christmas Mini Challenge, plus my Wants List for this year!

Many of us get lots of books for Christmas. Books we have asked for, books we have been longing to read, books that we are thrilled to receive.

But then some of us end up with a sad little pile of books we got as presents that we know we want to read, and know we are going to enjoy, and which we are saving for that perfect moment...

I have three of these books, and I am going to read them before Christmas, perfect moment be danged.

I know that I have obligations. There are books that I got from publishers that I need to finish reading (waves apologetically to publishers). There are 24 books still to be read for the Cybils (waves cheerfully to fellow panelists). I have to tend my children off and on (does nothing that might attract the attention of children), go to work, etc.

But. In the next ten ten days, I am going to read: Ballet on Tour, by Nada Curcija-Prodanovic, The Bell at Sealy Head, by Patricia McKillip, and A Wind in Cairo, by Judith Tarr (I had a copy of this ages ago, read the first few chapters, and lost it....I wonder if I will like it!).

Because this Christmas, I am pretty sure I am getting more books. Here is the wants list I shared with my family (which is not the same as my "books I want to read list," in that these are ones I can't get from the library or am pretty sure I want to have forever).

New to list:

The Indra books by Sherwood Smith
Twelve, Jasper Bull (UK)
Hardcover of Chalice, by Robin Mckinley
Holiday Summer Decie Merwin
Margaret Mayhew's The Little Ship
Fire Kristin Cashore
Fire by Robin Mckinley and Peter Dickinson
The Golden Shore by Elinor Lyon
Robina Beckles-Wilson A Time To Dance
A Wind is Blowing, by Monica Edwards

On list last year:

Katherine of Feather Ghyll Anne Bradley
Margo Benary-Isbert The Wicked Enchantment
Monica Redlich Jam Tomorrow
Philip Turner Dunkirk Summer
William Mayne Words and Music,
Noel Streatfeild The Children on the Top Floor, The Bell Family.
Stevenson, D.E. Spring Magic, Four Windows, hardcover of The Four Graces, hardcover of The Tall Stranger
Saville, Malcom All Summer Through, Christmas at Nettlefield, Ewing,
Juliana Mary’s Meadow and Other Tales of Fields and Flowers
Jean Estroail Drina Ballerina
Cartell, Esme Rescue at Ravendell

Anyone who wants to join me in this particular challenge is more than welcome to!

Middle-grade fantasy and science fiction round-up!

Welcome to this week's round-up of all things middle-grade science fiction and fantasy from around the blogsphere! If I missed your post, please let me know in the comments or via email (at right).

Here are this week's reviews:

Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor, at Tempting Persephone.

The Brain Finds a Leg (2009), by Martin Chatterton, at Critique de MrChompChomp.

The Doofuzz Dudes and the Blood Tree (2009), by Roslyn J. Motter, at Charlotte's Library.

Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninga Frogs (2010) at The HappyNappyBookseller. (oh gosh, I want this one for my kids, but it doesn't come out till February!)

Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull, at Owl in the Library.

The Green Bronze Mirror (reissued 2009), by Lynne Ellison, at Charlotte's Library.

Highway Cats (2008), by Janet Taylor Lisle, at Becky's Book Reviews.

The Lost Conspiracy (2009), by Frances Hardinge, at Eva's Book Addiction.

Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel (2009), at Eva's Book Addiction.

Odd and the Frost Giants (2009), at Eva's Book Addiction.

Raider's Ransom (2009), by Emily Diamond, at Eva's Book Addiction.

The Runaway Dragon (2009), by Kate Coombs, at Charlotte's Library.

Syren (Septiums Heap Book 5) (2009), by Angie Sage, at Book Aunt.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009), by Grace Lin, both at Book Aunt and from a young reader who blogs at c16km. Excitingly, Grace Lin was a guest on the Today Show on Friday--if you missed it, you can watch it here at Blue Rose Girls.

At Boys Rule Boys Read! you can find Incredible Danger, Intrigue, Stupidity, and Lost Worlds.

Here's an interview with Simon Rose at The Story of a Writer, that added several books to my to be read list!

And here are some lists:

At The Reading Zone, you can find a tween book buying guide for mythology buffs, and I have a round-up post of my own about all the middle-grade ghost stories (that I'm aware of) of 2009!
The Telegraph over in the UK has a nice list of book recommendations for kids for Christmas, that includes several fantasy books.

Finally, and this is of great interest to all of us who want more multi-cultural sci fi/fantasy for young readers, here's something I read about at Cynsations:

"Tu Publishing, a multicultural fantasy and science fiction press for children and young adults, needs your help to get started. In order to launch the press, Editorial Director Stacy Whitman has set up a kickstart funds drive to raise money from contributors. In order to help her reach her goals, this community has been formed to auction off items, services, crafts, and other various and sundry offerings, with all the proceeds going to the Tu kickstart page. We hope to help Stacy and Tu reach the goal of $10,000 by Dec. 14." Here's the direct link to the auction.

That's it for this week-- please feel free to send me links during the week (charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com) for next Sunday's round-up!

Thanks for stopping by!

Give the Gift of Ghosts--spooky books from 2009 for middle-grade readers

Nothing says "Happy Holidays" like a ghost (well, maybe not, but if ghosts at Christmas were good enough for Dickens, who am I to argue). It's not surprising that after the success of The Graveyard Book last year, there was a slew of fun and entertaining spooky stories for kids published the past year. And here they are.

The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43, by Harriet Goodwin (Stripes Publishing, 2009, 253pp, available in the UK). It has been raining for weeks, and the weather matches the gloom young Finn has felt since the sudden death of his father, and his mother's decline into depression. To escape the tension of his home, Finn sets out for a joy-ride in his mother's car. Out on the moors, in the driving rain, he loses control. By chance, he is flung from the car through the thin veil covering Exit 43, one of the passages through which the dead return to visit the land of the living. There he befriends Jessie, a young Victorian girl, newly aware that she is dead, who grieves for her own lost family.

But the seal protecting the opening to Exit 43 has been dangerously weakened both by the rain and by Finn's passage, and now the water is pouring in, threatening to extinguish the fires that keep the ghosts alive. And it's up to Finn and Jessie to release the Firepearl that is the only thing that can save the spirits of the dead, and Finn's own life.

By turns exciting and poignant, which a cast of great ghosts, this is definitely one I'd recommend to anyone who loved The Graveyard Book!

Spellbinder, by Helen Stringer (2009, Feiwel and Friends, 372pp) is another spooky story from the UK (although it's available here in the US). Young Belladonna can see ghosts, and, even though she has to worry about talking to people her classmates can't see, it's a darn good thing that she can. Because, even though her parents are dead, they are still home, taking loving care of her. Then all the ghosts vanish, dragged out of our world. And Belladonna and Steve (a tricksy boy from school, not yet a friend) are off to find out what has happened...even if it means travelling to the land of the dead, where they are pitted against the ominous forces of darkness raised by a wicked alchemist. Lots of ghostly fun, with a mysterious dark dog, the Wild Hunt, and a plucky Edwardian schoolgirl who has haunted the school since a nasty incident on the tennis court, and who keeps a stiff upper lip throughout.

An enthralling new take on the plot of chosen children facing Evil.

Suddenly Supernatural: Scaredy Kat, by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (Little, Brown, 2009, 256 pp). Like Belladonna, Kat is a school girl who can see dead people. But for Kat this means following in the footsteps of her mother, and helping the ghosts find peace. Not how she wants to spend her life, necessarily, but she has no choice. In this sequel to School Spirit, Kat must help the spirit of a boy trapped in an abandoned old house. And in the meantime, in an engagingly un-spooky sub-plot, her best friend Jac is wrestling with her own demon--her mother's incessant demands that she be a world-famous cello player.

This series is great for the younger end of "middle grade" (4th and 5th), as it's lighter and easier than the two above. I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed these two books (one reason might be my fondness for plots (or, in this case, sub-plots) about musical prodigies).

The Ghost on the Stairs (Haunted), by Chris Eboch (2009, Simon and Schuster, 169 pp) is another one for that age range, but it features a boy, 13 year old Jon, as the central character. His 11 year old sister, Tania, can see ghosts, but Jon is the only one who knows this. The last thing Tania wants is for their mom and stepdad to find out--they run a ghost-hunting reality television show, and Tania wants no part of it. But when the show takes the family to a haunted hotel, Tania begins to get to know the ghost who haunts it, and to know that there is more to her story than meets the eye...and Jon and Tania become involved in a tragedy that ended over a hundred years ago.

It's a fun one for kids, and it's an interesting take on the challenges of communication with spirits (Cybils review copy gratefully received from the publisher).

The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker (Tachyon Publications, 2009, 144 pp). Here's one I'd recommend to anyone older than nine. It tells of an orphaned girl and the old hotel that rises up from the sands of a lonely beach to shelter her. It isn't exactly a ghost story, but it does feature the very charming ghost of the hotel's head bell-boy. Here's my full review. (Cybils review copy gratefully received from the publisher).



I So Don't Do Mysteries, by Barrie Summy (Delacorte, 2009, 272 pp). Seventh-grader Sherry is not looking forward to her trip to San Diego. She's being shipped off to stay with her great-aunt while her father and new stepmother are off on their honeymoon, which is bad enough. But the ghost of her mother, a police officer killed in the line of duty, is complicating things. She needs Sherry's help with her efforts to succeed at the Academy of Spirits--her assignment is to solve a mystery at the San Diego animal park. So Sherry has to turn detective, whether she likes it or not...

The twist in Summy's approach to ghosts adds interest to a reasonably pleasant comedy/adventure that ecologically-minded girls might well enjoy lots.

Dying to Meet You: 43 Old Cemetery Road, by Kate Klise, illustrated by M. Sarah Klise (Harcourt 2009, 147 pp). This one is an epistolary story, copiously illustrated. It tells of an author with a desperate case of writer's block, the Victorian house he rents for the summer, and the boy and his best friend (the ghost of an author famous for the number of her rejections) who come with it. When the story begins, the author is a grumpy curmudgeon, but by its end, boy, ghost, and author are happily co-authoring best-sellers, and have formed a somewhat unlikely, but charming, family.

I'm not exactly sure how interesting kids would find the relationship between a sixty-something author and a ghost, but I found it a nice read. It would also make an excellent gift for a writer who has just conquered their own writer's block (or who has found new love with a ghost). The sequel, Over My Dead Body, came out this fall, but I haven't read it yet.

Hannah's Winter, by Kierin Meehan (Kane/Miller, 2009, 228 pp). A twelve-year old Australian girl, visiting Japan, finds herself enmeshed in the fantastical mystery surrounding the ghost of a long-dead boy. This was one of my personal favorites of 2009--here's my full review. Give this one to the girl of any age (fantasy reader or not) who loves all things Japanese. (Cybils review copy gratefully received from the publisher)


If I missed any middle-grade 2009 ghost stories, please let me know! And here's the list I compiled of 2008 ghost books last Christmas season...

(any commissions earned through the Amazon links will benefit the Cybils)

The Runaway Dragon, by Kate Coombs

In The Runaway Princess, Kate Coombs introduced us to a young princess named Meg, who refuses to be shut up in a tower while princes quest on her behalf. Instead, she sneaks down to save the dragon, and warn the witch and the brigands that the princes are out to get them...and in the process, she befriends the little dragon child, Laddy.

Now, in The Runaway Dragon(2009, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, middle grade, 285pp), we get to hear what happens to Meg and Laddy next.

When Laddy decides he getting to be too much of a grown-up dragon to hang around a farm, with just one measly bit of gold, he sets off on his own to make his way in the world. Meg, anxious for his safety, goes off to find him, accompanied not just by the men-at-arms her father insists on, but by her friends from the first book--Cam, the young palace gardener, Dilly, her maid-in-waiting, and Lex, a young wizard with a penchant for hot chocolate.

And a wild and wonderful quest awaits them, through a dark wood haunted by the tropes of fairy tales past--the diminutive and surly guide, the white stage, the damsel with magically growing hair, and the giant...All but one of the men-at-arms are ensnared by the spell of the stag, and Cam, Dilly, the remaining young soldier, and the hair-endowed damsel are kidnapped by the giant and taken home for his little giant girl to play with. But how can Meg and Lex save them, when they find themselves prisoners of the wicked would-be empress of the dark castle? And what of young Laddy? Will he still want to be friends with Meg, now he has a hoard of his own?

It is a most entertaining read, one I'd recommend in a second to anyone with a fondness for fairy tales and plucky girls. Meg might not be that great at magic (although she's good at raising sneezing fits and the most charming magical scarf I've ever read about), and she's still working on her swordsmanship, but she is tough, and smart, and determined, persevering in the face of difficulties. In short, a true hero.

And Coombs' writing is sharp and funny, and interesting--it's clear that she's having fun with her words, and that makes it fun for the reader too! It's not the most wildly original plot, described in its bare bones, but what Coombs does with her story, and its characters, makes for a fresh and fast read. (I especially liked the scenes in which the prisoners of the giant are forced to be dolls for the little (big) girl. Guess whose super-long, magical hair is a big hit).

It's not necessary to have read the first book first, although it makes this one more engaging--it is always nice to be reunited with characters that one likes. There is some scariness in the dark castle, but nothing gory or drastically violent. There are hints of possible future love, but nothing is made explicit. The spacing of the lines is generous and easy on the eye (without overdoing the wide margin bit), and the vocabulary is neither patronizingly simple nor overly erudite. In short, middle-grade at its most perfect middle!

To steal Mother Reader's idea of pairing books with sundry related items, this would be an excellent book to pair with fencing lessons, so your own girl can cast off gender stereotypes and become a heroine-in-training! But even without the fencing lessons, it would make a great present.

The Runaway Dragon has been nominated for the Cybils, who will (if I did it right) receive any commission made from sales through my Amazon links (which is not as unselfish as it might sound, because I live in a state where I can't do it for myself!).

Three fun picture books in verse

Just for fun, and a change of pace, here are three rhyming picture books in honor of Poetry Friday (a weekly roundup of poetry related posts, hosted today by Wild Rose Reader). All three passed my fairly critical test for rhyming stories--reading them aloud, I didn't feel the need to change any of the words in order to make things scan better!

Cool Dog, School Dog, by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by Tim Bowers (Marshall Cavendish, 2009). "Tinka is a fun dog, a sun dog, a run-and-run-and-run dog." But when her boy goes off to school, leaving her behind, there is much sadness. There only one thing to do--head off for school herself! Now "Tinka is a cool dog, a school dog, a breaking-all-the-rules dog." Crash down the halls she runs, breaking into her boy's classroom. But even though she's going to have to go home soon, the kids have a great time reading to her, and want her to come back again! The verse gives energy and verve to the charming story--it's a lot of fun!

The Busy Tree, by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Lisa Falkenstern (Marshall Cavendish, 2009) is more peaceful. It is a gently instructive story, told by an old oak tree--"I'm a tree, a busy tree...come and see." And, indeed, in the world of the tree all manner of things are happening. For instance, "Here is my trunk, where busy ants scurry, searching for food as they march in a hurry." And another example--"Hear my green leaves as they shake in the wind, breathing out air for all to breathe in." The verse gives impetus and interest to the descriptions of the world of the tree. Highly recommended for the nature loving, squirrel-fond child (like my six-year old, who does not want me to pass this one on to the library).

And finally, Swamp Song, by Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Ponder Goembel (Marshall Cavendish, 2009). This is a swingingly fun, toe-tapping extravaganza of swamp critters letting loose.


Ibis stands
at the cattail hedge.
flappin' her wings
at the water's edge.

With a flip, flap, flippity-flap
FLIP, FLAP, FLAP.

Within the verses are nestled instructional nuggets, telling of life in the swamp:

Black Bear claws
at a cypress tree,
markin' his space
for all to see.

With a scritch, scratch, scritchity-scratch.
SCRITCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH.

And the dressed-up animals (so perhaps this does count as fantasy?) all join together at the end for a burst of swampy song. Fun, and educational to boot!

(disclosure: all three books were received as review copies from Marshall Cavendish)

A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner

A week ago tomorrow, an advance reader's copy of A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner (Harper Collins, 2009, YA, 312pp) entered my life. In keeping with the season, I was very thankful.

Here's how my reading went: "Sophos!" (huggles Sophos) "Magus!" (hugs Magus) "Eugenides!" (too shy to hug Gen) "Attolia!" (too shy to even call her by her real name, let alone hug her) etc etc.

Needless to say, I love the characters Turner created in her Queen's Thief series (The Thief, Queen of Attolia, and King of Attolia), and reading the fourth book about them was a pleasure, although not unmixed with anxiety about them.

In large part the anxiety comes from problems facing the three contiguous countries involved--Attolia, Eddis, and Sounis. Somehow these traditionally waring realms must join together to face the threat of the Medes, a nation more powerful than any of them separately, that has fixed its greedy eyes on them. In the meantime, the Queen of Eddis has been warned by the gods that a volcanic eruption will destroy her city.

And young Sophos, heir to the kingdom of Sounis, is in rather dire straits, and it is unclear just what will happen to his country (and to him).

And that's all I'm saying about the plot, because I don't want to spoil it.

I will say, though, that Turner has produced another masterfully intricate book, one that demands re-reading and discussing and careful analysis of just about every word. Her incredibly intelligent writing challenges the reader to exercise her* own intelligence, and that's a lovely thing. I need to re-read it a few more times so as to get it all fixed in my head!

I do want to share one non-spoilery quote from the Magus with you all, because it is something that he might have posted to Sounis, the livejournal fan community for these books. It is just the sort of detail we delight in noticing (generally in retrospect):

"That lying little monster complained about everything: the food, the horses, the blankets, the company. He even found fault with the stories I told by the fire, but I cannot recall that he ever once complained about the climbing." (page 117)

To which the next character replies: "So many things are obvious in retrospect, aren't they?"

*It strikes me that every passionate MWT fan I know is of the female persuasion. My own dear husband, currently reading the book, admires them a lot too, but can't be called passionate. He had forgotten who Sophos was (shock horror).

Important announcement:

I feel that it would be too greedy to keep my ARC when I know so many other people want it. I'll be buying the hardcover of course when it comes out in March (word on the street is that there will be a map!). So, please visit the next post down so as to find out how to enter to win my ARC.

(disclaimer: ARC received from the publisher, for which I say "Thank you so much!" And now I guess I will have to keep blogging another three or four years, so that Harper Collins will consider me worthy of an ARC of book 5....or, alternately, I could become a Harper Collins author ha ha)

Win an ARC of a Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner!

This contest is now closed--the winner is Free Narnian! (please contact me so I can send it off to you!)

I am giving away my ARC of A Conspiracy of Kings. To enter, please leave a recommendation for a book that us fans of Megan Whalen Turner would enjoy, and at the end, I'll compile them (unless I won't, because of their being too many), and we'll have a nicely tidy list of things to read while we wait for March, and to fill the empty years while we wait for Book Five...

I will leave this contest open until next Monday, December 7th (which should give my husband time to finish reading it, and me to read it again). The contest will close at the end of day, 11:59 pm.

And I will ship internationally.

Here's the list of books that resulted!

My seasonal header art: charmingly festive, or simply grotesque?

Does the alien snail look too weird with his little santa hat? I'm not sure I actually put it on his head, but with alien snails, it's hard to tell. (The snail, by the way, is really a genuine piece of super-nova, and not my own creation!)

A Gift Suggestion--pair the Graveyard Book with EAU DE GHOUL

Mother Reader just posted a lovely list of 105 Ways to Give a Book, matching books with sundry other gifts that go beautifully with them.

Now from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs come the perfect sundry items to give with a Neil Gaiman book. They have created a line of perfumes inspired by his stories.

With The Graveyard Book, perhaps you'd like to give GHÛLHEIM, inspired by this passage:

Ghouls do not build. They are parasites and scavengers, eaters of carrion. The
city they call Ghûlheim is something they found, long ago, but did not make. No
one they call knows (if anyone human ever knew) what kind of creatures it was
that made those buildings, who honeycombed the rock with tunnels and towers, but
it is certain that no-one but the ghoul-folk could have wanted to stay there, or
even to approach that place.

Even from the path below Ghûlheim, even from miles away, Bod could see that all of the angles were wrong -- that the walls sloped crazily, that it was every nightmare he had ever endured made into a place, like a huge mouth of jutting teeth. It was a city that had been built just to be abandoned, in which all the fears and madnesses and revulsions of the creatures who built it were made into stone. The ghoul folk had found it and delighted in it and called it home."

A dark and disjointed scent: smoke and black musk, bladderwrack, opopponax, galangal, and pepper.

New releases of fantasy and science fiction for children and teens--the beginning of December edition

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science books for children and teenagers from the beginning of December. A short list, but not without interest. As usual, my source is Teens Read Too, with help from Amazon. And, if you were, by any chance, to shop through the Amazon links, you'd be benefiting the Cybils!

9 to 12 Year Olds

The Midnight Masquerade with Princess Emma and Princess Jasmine (The Tiara Club), by Vivian French. "Princess Emma and Princess Jasmine are visiting the Tiara Club Academy to determine if they would like to become members. Together with the other princesses, they early await the Midnight Masquerade, a huge party complete with masks and ice skating! But will someone try to spoil the fun, and who will win the chance to be taken to the ball in style on a dog-driven sleigh?"


Raiders' Ransom, by Emily Diamand. "It's the 22nd century and, because of climate change, much of England is underwater. Poor Lilly is out fishing with her trusty sea-cat when greedy raiders pillage the town--and kidnap the prime minister's daughter. Her village blamed, Lilly decides to find the girl. Off she sails, in secret. And with a ransom: a mysterious talking jewel. "If I save his daughter," Lilly reasons, "the prime minister's sure to reward me." Little does Lilly know that it will take more than grit to outwit the tricky, treacherous piratical tribes!"


Young Adult

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl. "Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything."

Blood Ninja by Nick Lake. "Is Taro, a fisherman's son, destined for greatness? In the course of a day, Taro's entire life changes: His father is murdered before his eyes, and Taro is taken by a mysterious ninja on a perilous journey toward safety. Someone wants Taro dead, but who -- and why? With his best friend, Hiro, and their ninja guide Shusaku, Taro gets caught in the crossfire of a bitter conflict between rival lords for control of imperial Japan. As Taro trains to become a ninja himself, he's less and less sure that he wants to be one. But when his real identity is revealed, it becomes impossible for Taro to turn his back on his fate."

What I Wore to Save the World, by Maryrose Wood. "Senior year's coming up fast and Morgan still has no clue about college, or a career-the whole rest of-her-life thing is basically a blank. Maybe it's because she spent her junior year obsessing about Colin, the hot Irish guy she fell for last summer (that was right around the same time she discovered she's a half- goddess from the days of Irish lore... you had to be there). She even saved Colin from a nasty enchantment, but he doesn't know that. Colin doesn't believe in magic, not even a little. But then a mysterious message reunites her with Colin, who turns out to be caught up in the biggest faery-made disaster ever. We're talking the end of reality-not just reality TV. To save the world, she's going to have to tell Colin the truth about her half-goddess mojo. But if he doesn't believe in magic, how will he ever believe in her?"

The Green Bronze Mirror, by Lynne Ellison, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Green Bronze Mirror, by Lynne Ellison (CnPosner Books, 2009, younger YA, 117pp), was first published when the author was just 14, back in 1966. It has recently been republished in a new paperback edition, with new illustrations by Philip Smiley, and I was offered a review copy. Time travel back to Roman Britain and Rome itself--how could I say no?

What follows is a mixed review. But since I so almost liked this a lot (and I am certain I would have liked it more when I was 12, perhaps even loved it), and I think that others (in particular 12 year-old girls who love Rosemary Sutcliff) may enjoy it more than me, I decided to go ahead with it.

I was captivated by the story's beginning. Fifteen-year old Karen is on a sea-side holiday with her family, but spurning the dubious attractions of tourist shops, she makes her way alone along the beach, reveling in her solitude, pretending a little to herself.

Here's a bit I particularly liked, that I'm putting in because it made Karen come quite real to me:

"She went slowly down to the sea again, and finding a piece of wood brought in by the tide, she drew a horse in the firm wet sand; a good horse, because she'd been drawing them a long time, galloping along the ground with its legs in an interesting position. The position was correct, though; she had studied photographs and knew just how a horse's legs behaved when it galloped" (pp 6-7).

And when Karen finds a green bronze mirror, and looks into its polished surface, and travels back in time to Roman Britain, I was prepared to lose myself in the story.

Indeed, it was a tremendously interesting read, for the most part. Karen, now a slave, is taken to Rome to be sold, where she finds herself a nanny to two somewhat spoiled Roman children. She is appalled by the (graphically described) spectacle of the Roman games, joins a community of secret Christians, and falls in love with a handsome young man who is a slave like herself. But this is Nero's Rome, and it's not a safe place for anyone when it starts to burn. Particularly not safe for Christians....

There are parts of the story that sing, parts that enthrall and excite. Time travel-wise, it's good stuff--an excellent picture of Rome and the Romans seen through modern eyes.

But it's very much a fourteen year old's book. Things happen with a suddenness that is disconcerting--there's no skilled writerly build up to Karen's romance or her meeting with the Christians, and by the time she's ready to head back to England and find the mirror again, with the help of a magical druid a Roman witch has told her to find, I was no longer sure I cared that much.

The introverted, imaginative girl I had fallen for had become lost in a sea of events.

Karen accepts her lot as a slave with a disconcerting matter-of-factness. Surely it would be an introvert's nightmare to be in her position, but it doesn't seem to bother her. There are jarring awkwardness in the writing--as when suddenly, although we are told Karen was not particularly religious in the present, she is proclaiming things like "One day the whole world will be converted to our way of thinking" (p 68). Um. Not so, actually, and this spoiled, for me, the lovely bits about her experience with the small community of the faithful. Her relationship with her young man is also unevenly written. One moment they're in each others arms, and then, when she tells him she wants to go back to the present, his response "It's a pity, though" (p 94) lacks a certain emotional umph. This sort of choppiness spoils what could have been a swoon-worthy relationship. I could go on in this vein...

Then there is the copy editing, or, more accurately, the lack thereof. We all are guilty of typos (some of us more than others), but this book really exceeds the excusable with its misplaced and missing bits of punctuation, odd formatting, and whole words left out (although an errata note for the worst page is provided). The text, incidentally, is very small, which I thought would bother me, but didn't.

So I am disappointed--I wanted to like this book so much, and it could have been so very good, if, in the republishing, some of it had been tweaked a little by the author. Incidentally, Lynne Ellison never went on to write another book. This is a pity--I would love to read more by her, especially now that she's no longer fourteen!

At Historical Fiction, there's a guest post by Ellison and a giveaway of the book.

(disclosure: as mentioned above, I received a review copy of this book from its publisher).

The Year's Best Fantasy and Science Fiction for kids and teenagers, according to School Library Journal

School Library Journal has posted its Best Books 2009. Here are the fantasy and science fiction books they picked, to wit:

The Lost Conspiracy, by Frances Hardinge
The Secret of Zoom, by Lynne Joneel
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

Fire, by Kristin Cashore
The Carbon Diaries 2015, by Saci Lloyd
Creature of the Night, by Kate Thompson
Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield

There aren't any criteria given for what constitutes "bestness" but I'm sure that they are all fine books. Although I have only read three of them, and so don't know for sure.

And that annoys me a bit, because lord knows I have done nothing in the past year but read fantasy and science fiction for children and teenagers, and now I feel somehow that I should have read more more more....

On a happier note, I am rather pleased that The Secret of Zoom is getting some attention--I just finished it and enjoyed it (review to come), and I know from personal experience that this hasn't made it into many libraries yet and it really should. Although I think its title works against it.

All of these books, incidentally, have been nominated for the Cybils....the shortlists for which will appear at the beginning of January (I have 27 more books to read).

A phone box becomes a library

Just because, here's a rather nice story from the Guardian. The folk of Westbury-sub-Mendip faced a double loss. First, their local library closed. Second, their iconic red telephone box was threatened. The solution was beautifully simple--make the phone box into a free, honor-system, library!

Isn't it typical, though, that the children's books end up in a box on the floor....