House of Dolls, by Francesca Lia Block

House of Dolls, by Francesca Lia Block, illustrated by Barbara McClintock (2010 HarperCollins, middle grade, 61 pages).

In her apartment in the city, Madison Blackberry has a dolls' house, a lovely one, full of beauteous small things made and collected by Madison's grandmother. And Madison's grandmother still loves it much more than Madison does--lavishing more attention on the dolls, it seems, then she does on Madison. Madison's parents are even more inattentive.

Bored and resentful, Madison turns on the dolls. But the dolls that live in her doll house are not simple toys. They have feelings--they love, and think, and are people in their own right. Wildlower, Rockstar, and Miss Selene are the three girl dolls, Guy and B. Friend, a stuffed bear, are the boyfriends of the first two. When Madison, like an angry god, takes Guy, and B. Friend from home, the lives of the dolls are cruelly shattered by the pain of war, and the agony of loss. Even crueler is the fate Madison visits on Miss Selene...

All comes right in the end, although too handily for my taste--suddenly her grandmother shows Madison affection, so she is able to reciprocate and restore the lives of her dolls to their former happy stasis....and then, bang, her parents are being affectionate to her too, and "the war is over."

House of Dolls is told partly from the point of view of the dolls, partly from Madison's point of view, in distinct segments. This change in perspective made the story seem a little distant--the lives of the dolls became, perforce, less real when Madison was the story's focus (even though the author still inserts their perspective, and specifically asks the reader to identify them). And the distance I felt from the story was reinforced by the somewhat self-conscious authorial voice, and the underlined Points.

"The combination of boredom and jealousy is a dangerous thing. Especially when the person feeling these things is so many times larger than you are." (page 23)

It's not un-moving, I loved the descriptions of the doll house, and the illustrations added greatly to the charm, and I had no quarrel with the writing qua writing....but somehow it didn't quite work for me. It felt a like an adult fable, and not so much like a book for children.

Added bonus feature: As far as I know, this is the first book about sentient dolls to feature an inter-racial couple--Guy, the soldier doll who is Wildflower's boyfriend, is a doll of color (a point that is underlined with a slightly heavy hand):

"Wildflower was a celluloid doll with long black braids of real hair, pale skin, and big brown eyes with painted on eyelashes. Guy was a dark-skinned plastic doll in army fatigues. It did not matter that they looked nothing alike. The first time Madison Blackberry lay them down next to each other in the white lace canopy bed and their arms brushed, Wildflower and Guy knew they never wanted to be separated." (pp 6-7)

And Barbara McClintock is faithful to this description in her illustrations.

Space, and The Human Body (One Million Things series) from DK

Space, by Carole Stott, and The Human Body, by Richard Walker, are two of the four books in DK's new One Million Things series.

These books are just as fact-filled as one expects from a DK book, with all the bright pictures illustrating said facts that DK does so well. However, with this series, DK has gotten more than somewhat quirky design-wise. The pictures illustrating the facts do not float in the empty space of the page--rather, they are contained within images and contexts from the everyday world. The gas giants in Space, for instance, become hot air balloons. Body languague, in The Human Body, is illustrated by a bunch of ordinary folks in a movie theater, not the isolated examples of happy, sad, cross that one commonly sees, and rather cleverly, blood circulation is shown as a banner advertizement in a subway station, and the heart is the engine of a car with its hood up. And really cool are the "Defenders" --the infection fighters of the body. They are shown as trading cards.

The result is, I think, a series of books that rather perfect for the reader who thinks best with visual metaphors, although I think their appeal is more univeral then that. The pictures that don't work as well are easy to ignore; the ones that do cleverly reinforce the facts presented. And, speaking from personal experience, this approach to illustration adds an extra layer of puzzle solving for the reader and the child being read to. Me, in all sincerity: Why is there a football on this page (p. 121 of Space) about rockets? Seven year old: it's a kid's room and the rockets are toys too! Me: duh. (followed by musing about whether rockets should be lumped with toys...and what that might say about our society etc etc.) Seven year old: It's just a picture.

Although Space is a bit more metaphorically random than The Human Body, both are fun additions to one's non-fiction library--they are much more interesting that most non-fiction encyclopedia type books around.

The Non-Fiction Monday round-up is at Moms Inspire Learning today!

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

Big News First: The Golden Duck Awards, for excellence in science fiction for children, have been announced (thanks to Science Fiction Awards Watch for the news). The winners are:

• Picture Book Award: Swamps of Sleethe by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Jimmy Pickering (Knopf)
• Eleanor Cameron Middle Grades Award: ZRex by Steve Cole (Penguin)
• Hal Clement Young Adult Award: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
• Special Award: You Write It: Science Fiction by John Hamilton (Abdo)

This week's reviews:

The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander, at Stella Matutina (here and here)

Boom, by Mark Haddon at The Excelsior File.

Don't Know Where, Don't Know When, by Annette Laing, at Lucy Was Robbed.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, at Rhiannon Hart.

Into the Land of the Unicorns, by Bruce Coville, at The Book on the Hill

Karma Bites, by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas, at A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

Magic Below Stairs, by Caroline Stevermer, at Bookends.

Nick of Time, by Ted Bell, at Maltby Reads!

The Shifter, by Janice Hardy, at Let the Words Flow.

A Tale Dark and Grimm, at Becky's Book Reviews.

Thresholds, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, at Fantasy Literature.

Zombiekins, by Kevin Bolger, at Book Aunt.

The Zombie Chasers, by John Kloepfer at Book Aunt.

Jenny's Books hosted a week celebrating Diana Wynne Jones-- here is Part 1 of the links to reviews, and here is Part 2.

It was also Once Upon a Time Week at Today's Adventure, and here's the round-up of all the links from that fairy tale filled extravaganza.

I don't, generally, include picture books in these round-ups. But for this one, I make an exception--The Shadow, by Donna Diamond, at Book Aunt. I have made the picture big so that you can see for yourself why this isn't, necessarily, a book your want to give to little kids....

Interviews:
Grace Lin (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon) at Book Dragon

Jill Vanderwood (Through the Rug) at Celina Reiling

And a piece of fun news to end with:

The YA Fantasy Showdown begins tomorrow! But do not worry, fans of MG--many mg favorites are going up against the big kids (I myself had the very great pleasure of writing Hermione vs Chrestomanci). This event is the brain child of Heather at The Secret Adventures of Writer Girl, where you can read more about it.

If Chrestomanci wins his round, he's up against either Katnis or Edward. My money is on Katnis, but part of me hopes Edward wins....Chrestomanci vs Edward would be very amusing, and lots of fun to write.

(and as a postscript I just want to stick in a link to a mg review of my own of a book I loved that isn't fantasy, but which is beautifully fantastical-- Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool, by Odo Hirsch)

Please let me know if I missed your post!

The Game, by Diana Wynne Jones

During the course of Diana Wynne Jones Week, hosted by Jenny's Books, I realized that I am not alone in finding many DWJ books more fun the second time through. Which is very strange--I can honestly say both, "I love DWJ," and also "I didn't like many of her books all that much the first time I read them."

A case in point is The Game (2007), which I just finished reading. It opens with young, orphaned Haley being sent off to Irelend after displeasing her grandmother. Suddenly she is thrown into a confusing throng of family, and when asked what she did to displease her grandmother, she answers" "...she said I was bringing the strands here and destroying all Grandad's work." At which point the first time reader might have reason to think "????????"

A flashback to Haley's childhood doesn't explain much, but it does introduce the Mythosphere--a celestial layer of story strands, containing every tale ever told. And it seems that Haley's family can all travel along these strands. The favorite game of her cousins, in fact, is Mythosphere scavenger hunt. So Haley is whirled through a tumbling panoply of story and myth, and it becomes clear that her family are rather, um, extraordinary. Only the malevolent, jealous power of her womanizing uncle keeps them bound on earth at all....

It's a beautiful wild romp of a story, that I didn't much care for the first time through because I Had No Clue what was happening. Nothing is ever explained. DWJ never once steps back from her story to hold the reader's hand in a reassuring authorial way. It's sort of like trying to identify wildflowers while running full tilt down a mountain--the story goes so fast, you can see the flowers are there, but you can't stop to appreciate them.

Until, that is, you read it again...and comprehension lends enchantment to the view. Or familiarity breeds content. Something like that.

Note on age: Publisher's Weekly, in a starred review, said 12 and up. School Library Journal said grades 5-8. I'm going to go with SLJ-- I don't think there is anything here, thematically or substantivly, "young adult." And I am wondering if reading a book like this comes more easily to the young; there was so much I didn't understand when I was a child, and I was so used to letting confusion wash right over me, that maybe it didn't bother me if I didn't have a clue what was happening in a story, as long as it was making pictures in my mind. And what ever her weaknesses, DWJ is brilliant at making pictures in the mind....

And I hope she gets the chance to make many more for us. As of May 15, she was about halfway through a new book, with the ideas in place for the next one...)

This concludes DWJ Week --thanks Jenny!-- but since it was so much fun, I have joined the DWJ discussion group. See you there?

Fairest of All, A Tale of the Wicked Queen, by Serena Valentino

In honor of Once Upon a Time Week, here's a (slightly expanded) reprise of a book I wrote a quick review of, that got buried in a post that was full of other books.

Fairest of All, A Tale of the Wicked Queen, by Serena Valentino (Disney Press, 2009, 250 pages). Valentino pulls off quite an accomplishment with this book--she tells the story of Snow White from the "evil" stepmother's point of view, making the Queen a sympathetic character. For the Queen was not always evil--once she was the young bride of the king, finding in her love for him and his little girl happiness that had escaped her growing up under the shadow of a truly evil father. But her father, even though ostensibly dead, still casts a shadow over her life, lingering in the sinister magic mirror that haunts her. The mirror's twisted messages to her, combined with the malevolent doings of three old women, distant cousins of the king, gradually drive the queen to madness and cruelty toward her beloved step-daughter.

She is as much a victim as Snow White, caught in an evil magic not of her own making, and her story is a compelling one, full of vivid imagery and tense emotional drama.

The cover, I think, is rather horrid. It does the book an injustice--although plenty dark toward the end, much of the book is not so black as the cover would suggest, and the Queen is, as I said, a sympathetic character. I would have chosen a cover showing her in a beautiful dress, in a brightly lit room, with the mirror front and center. Recommended highly to fans of fairy tale retellings.

(review copy received as part of my involvement with the Cybils Awards last year)

A poll, to test my hypothesis that there is a negative correlation between liking Diana Wynne Jones and liking Mervyn Peake

My husband and I overlap in our feelings about many books--we both love Ursula Le Guin (when we met, we both had the same Le Guin on our nightstands), and he enjoyed Megan Whalen Turner's books very much (a good thing for our marriage). But there are rifts in the lute.

Leaving aside Red Shift, by Alan Garner (him-brilliant, me--runs sobbing from room to throw self off cliff), the foremost significant disagreement we have is regarding Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan series (him--brilliant, me--I cannot appreciate the brilliant writing because I am drowning in a wasteland devoid of any spark of human comfort). The secondmost significant disagreement is regarding Diana Wynne Jones--I have tried him on several, and he did not care for them and won't read any more.

So, being a social scientist, I would like to collect data with which to test my hypothesis that there is a negative correlation between liking Titus Groan and liking Diana Wynne Jones.

Titus Groan or Diana Wynne Jones?

• I like/love Titus Groan, but not DWJ
• I like/love DWJ, but not Titus Groan
• I like/love them both
• I do not like either
• My feelings are so muddy that I can't pick one of the above
• The premise is so flawed that I won't pick
• Red Shift is better than anything Peake or DWJ ever wrote

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Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi

Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi (Little Brown, 2010, YA, 323 pages). In a future earth, the oceans have risen, cities have drowned, and fossil fuels are becoming obsolete. But some things are much the same as they are today--there are workers compelled by poverty and desperate circumstances to labor in hideously unsafe conditions, breaking up derelict hulks on the beaches. It is on such a beach, inside such a hulk, that we meet the central character--a boy named Nailor--and the crew of kids who work with him.

The ship breakers live desperate lives, but they are not without hope--everyone dreams of making a "lucky strike," and finding salvage worth enough to raise them a few rungs, at least, in the vicious pecking order of the beaches. When Nailor and his crewmate Pima find a clipper ship (a vessel that uses marvelous technology to harness the winds and fly infinitely faster than ships of today), they think their day has come. It is filled with riches. But on board they find Nita, the wealthy girl whose vessel it was, and she is still alive. She promises them that she is worth more living then dead, but there are many things she isn't saying. Like why her ship was wrecked on this bit of reef...and just who is it that its going to come looking for her. And when Pima and Nailor's lucky strike is discovered by the other salvors of the beach, including Nailor's father, the most dangerous of them all, what seemed like a gift from the gods turns ugly fast.

Nailor decides to throw his lot in with the wealthy girl. In a desperate effort to get he to safety, they jump a freight train headed toward drowned New Orleans. There they might find her friends...or they might not. Accompanying them is Tool, a half man/half dog -- one of many such beings, genetically altered to serve the rich. But Tool is nobody's servant...

And I'll stop with the summary now, and just say, for those who might think this sounds rather unbearably dark, that it becomes a fast-paced adventure and the ending is not without hope.

Which is a good thing, because for the first 80 pages or so, I wasn't sure I could finish this one, because the beginning is so very dark and gritty and sad, focusing, as it does, on the human suffering entailed in ship breaking. Which is not something futuristic and dystopian, that we, sitting comfortably with a good book, don't have to worry about. It goes on today--here's a current report on ship breaking in Bangladesh that describes almost exactly the ship breaking in this fictional "dystopia." As in today's world, those who do not have to worry about starving to death are comfortably insulated from what happens to those who live in dire poverty. And so this book wasn't reading as "fantasy" or "science fiction" for me (despite the half-men and the clipper ships). It was reading as gritty, heart-breaking realism (and I am disappointed that the author chose not to make clear that the pretty darn awful life he wrote for his characters is being lived by people in our own world; he does, however, include information about real-life ship breaking at the book's website).

However. Once the story, and the characters, get going, the book became much more readable (for wimpy me). For the most part, it's fairly standard kids in danger stuff; well-written and engaging, but not extraordinary. That being said, the plot of poor boy and rich girl forced to work together and critically consider their assumptions about each other and their world is deftly handled. The moral implications of choices made by characters are considered, which adds considerable depth to the story. But the main reason I kept reading was Tool--an utterly fascinating character who is the most science-fictiony part of the book, what with being a product of genetic manipulation. There is clearly more of his story to tell--I hope it plays a large part in the sequel, coming out sometime next year.

Question: when an author presents in a work of speculative fiction a specific, horrible thing that is present in our own world, but which isn't necessarily very well known, does he have any obligation to tell his readers about the real world part of things? Does it make the book stronger for you when he or she does, or do you find it not particularly relevant to the reading experience of the fictional work?

Edited to add: I'd forgotten to add this to my list of multicultural/multiethnic fantasy. Nailor is a mix (his hair and skin are dark, his eyes are blue), other central characters were more clearly identified as black and brown, and Nita's family names are Phatal and Chaudhury (although, since it's the future, these names might not be as clearly indicative of anything as they would be today). (thanks to Liz at a Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, for the details she provides--I myself returned my copy to the library without checking to see what the author actually said).

A sample of other reviews (of which there have been many): Presenting Lenore, Fluidity of Time, Book Ends, Kids Lit, Fantasy Book Critic, and io9. Lenore also has an interview and a giveaway!

(Anyone reading this who might want to do their gift giving in a way that can help real-world kids forced to live in dangerous misery might consider buying from Hiefer International or from SERRV--fair trade, hand-made, non-profit. This ornament is one of many affordable gifts you can buy to support the women of Bangladesh).

Spinners, by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen

Every time I go to my local public library, I try to take out at least one YA book, whether I need it or not (to improve the YA stats, and to make room on the shelves. I'm not allowed to donate any more YA books to the library, it's so full, and that hurts). Last night I was looking for a fairy tale retelling, to share for Once Upon a Time Week, and I came home with Spinners, by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen (1999, Penguin, YA, 197 pages in paperback)-- a retelling of the story of Rumpelstiltskin.

I love (with exceptions) fairy tale retellings. I love the twisty paths the authors take as the stories behind The Story unfold, making the unbelievable and often inconsistent parts of the original into a coherent narrative in which motivations make sense. And in the best sort of fairy tale retelling, the larger world of the new story will be filled with a magic of its own--with new enchantments built on the old.

For the first half of this book, I was afraid that Spinners wasn't this type of book. For one thing, it has, in my mind, three handicaps--it's told in the third person present, and it takes place over a period of 15 years, and it has two points of view. So for the first half of the book, I felt detached from the characters, seeing them as if from great distance. I watched as a young tailor made a terrible, morally reprehensible choice in a desperate effort to win the girl he loved by spinning straw into gold, a choice that led to his becoming a crippled outcast. I wasn't sure I cared. I watched as his daughter, believing the miller to be her father, lived a difficult life in his drunken shadow. My worry that I would not find the book reviewable grew.

But then I reached the halfway point, and the daughter, Saskia, began to spin, and her spinning became more and more elaborately narrated and fantastically beautiful. And by the time the miller made his drunken boast to the king, and Saskia found herself shut up in the first room full of straw, facing death unless she could spin it into gold, I was hooked.

Napoli and Tchen had hit their stride, and the motivations of the characters--crippled spinner, the beautiful and talented girl, and the greedy (yet not altogether loathsome) king were falling into place, making the story captivating enough so that the last seventy five pages flew by in tense and engaged reading, even though I knew the ending. Because, as is the case with all good fairy tale retellings, it's not the ending that matters, but how you get there....(or something like that).

This marks another addition to my compendium of Textile Fantasies. Reviewed to date are:

Avielle of Rhia, by Dia Calhoun
The Spellcoats, by Diana Wynne Jones
Tom Ass, by Ann Laurence
Brightly Woven, by Alexandra Bracken
Silksinger, by Laini Taylor

Puss in Boots, re-told by Diana Wynne Jones

Combining Diana Wynne Jones Week seamlessly with Once Upon a Time Week is DWJ's re-telling of Puss In Boots. It is a slim book, with only 86 large-fonted pages in the version I have (Scholastic, 1999), and it sticks very closely to the original story. Yet, this being DWJ doing the re-telling, it is smart, and brisk, and dotted with touches of humor.

"I don't think I have any brains," the miller's son said sadly. "I shall be a miller's assistant all the days of my life. All I shall ever be is District Wrestling Champion."

"You're not that much of a fool," said the cat. "But it doesn't matter because I have brains enough for both of us. The question is, do you have brains enough to trust me and do exactly what I tell you to do?"

"I think so," said the miller's son. "I've always admired the cunning way you hunt."

"Good," said the cat. "Then your sorrows are over. Save up your money until you can afford to buy me a pair of boots and a strong leather bag to match them."

"Boots!" said the miler's son. "Whatever for?"

"Uh-huh!" said the cat. "I said trust me. But if you must know, I get frustrated when I hunt out of doors. There are so many brambles." (page 9-11 of my edition).

It's not a book that hard-core fans of DWJ are going to want to seek out (unless they are completing their collection), but it is an awfully fun version of this old chestnut, great for reading aloud to the younger child, or for young reader to read alone.

A book I can't imagine reading--The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Undead

I think I will pass on reading this one (found via Graeme's Fantasy Book Review)


In the tradition of the blockbuster sensation Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Tor is proud to offer up The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Undead. Taking the original coming of age classic, Don Borchart has inflicted it with a taste of the macabre, as the world has been overrun by a Zombie epidemic that in the South has been dubbed "Zum." Where in the original text you would find Tom Sawyer duping his friends into whitewatching [sic] the fence, now in that same scene, Tom and his friends sharpen the edges of the fence to ward off Zombie approaches. Where Tom Sawyer doesn't have to fake his dealth [sic], just merely pretends to be a Zum. The murderous Injun' Joe is the first of the rising self-realized zombies, who know what they are and are even more vicious for it...

Tom Sawyer doesn't need zombies. And "Injun' Joe" is a problematical enough in the original, without being a zombie.

On the other hand, Dickens could use a few vampires. Like Estella in Great Expectations--she is pretty much un-dead already.

Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool, by Odo Hirsch

Here's a lovely book that isn't fantasy, although it is certainly fantastical--Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool, by Odo Hirsch (Kane Miller, 2010, middle grade, 214 pages). This one's an Australian import, already out there and coming to the US in September.

Darius Bell is the younger son of a proud family that has fallen on hard times. A long ago Bell ancestor did his city such a service that he was given a large land grant, and on that land, the Bell's constructed a vast estate, whose centerpiece was a huge, fantastical house (really huge and really fantastical--I loved it!). There was one requirement of the grant--every twenty five years, the Bells must give a gift, any gift, back to the city (which is now full of edifices of past Bell generosity).

It is almost time for the Bell's to give their gift again. But Darius' father has no money. The house is falling to pieces, and the only way the Bell's manage to stay there at all is through a network of families who work the land and harvest trees and fish the ponds in exchange for tithes. Darius, unlike his older brother Cyrus (who wants to leave the decaying grandeur of home to make a life for himself as an engineer named Robert), loves the Bell estate, and would do anything to save it. So when it becomes clear that his father is in deep denial viz gift giving (too proud of the family name to admit to poverty, too impractical to come up with a "worthy" gift), Darius sets out to find the perfect thing himself.

When an earthquake opens the way to an underground lake, a place of extraordinary beauty, Darius thinks he might have found the answer to his family's problems...but gifts, especially those with lots of legal strings attached, are tricky things.

The quality of Hirsch's writing is just lovely. It's full of description--the residents of the Bell estate, and the place itself, come to magical life. Those who love children's books about old, decaying houses full of endless rooms and follies will love this one. And all the description is merged beautifully with the story, so that my eyes never bounced of off unread adjectives in their haste to see what happened next.

Darius is a most lovable character--determined and plucky, despite being squashed somewhat by his older brother. I was firmly on his side from the get go, and he is one of my favorite fictional boys of the year. (Can't say the same, though, for his somewhat annoying proverb-mangling friend). Cyrus (aka Robert) grew on me considerably, and Darius' parents, even though they might seem ineffective (needing, as they do in Darius' mind at least), a lot of help, are not without dignity. And it is this dignity that comes to the fore toward the end of the book, when the author explores what really constitutes a good Gift (there's a fine lesson here, not made into a Moral with a capital M, but still very much present).

This is a wonderful book for the grown-up aficionado of middle grade children's literature- but I think there is more than enough scheming and exploring and imagining to enthral the young reader too.

added bonus 1: an interesting geology lesson
added bonus 2: lots of good things to eat

Here's another review from Australian Women Online that echoes my sentiments exactly.

Disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher at ALA in DC this summer, and now I have to decide whether to pass it on to the library as planned or selfishly keep it because I enjoyed it so very much. But since the book is so focused on giving, it would be hard to do the later...I don't think I could meet its eyes on my own shelves, as it were.

A Tale of Time City, by Diana Wynne Jones, for Timeslip Tuesday

A Tale of Time City, by Diana Wynne Jones (1987)

Vivien Smith was being evacuated from London in WW II when her trip to the country turned out to be much more than she bargained for--she ended up kidnapped by two boys from the future, and whisked off to Time City. There, far from the familiarities of home, she finds herself in a pickle of twisted time, and Jonathan and Sam, would-be-heroes, find they have the wrong Vivien Smith. She's just an ordinary girl, not the powerful twister of time they had hoped to capture.

Vivien can readily accept that the twentieth century was unstable, time-wise; but it's a bit harder to grasp that Time City itself, with its elaborate edifices and artifacts accumulated over the centuries, is about to collapse. To try to keep that from happening, Vivien, the two boys, and a helpful android set off to whisk through the ages, searching for the lost artifacts that will stabilize Time City, and, in a temporally rippling way, all of the past...but someone is to be working against them, and none of their plans are working out....

Oh dear. This is my least favorite Diana Wynne Jones; I had hoped, this second time through it, that I would fall for it, but it was not to be. There is just too much detail. Too much Happening. To many things, and people, and little bits of plot that never coalesce to make magic happen. And time travel-wise, it's a bit of an amusement park ride, rather than a finely wrought immersive experience. I never quite grasped the whole Point of Time City's existence, or why people traipsed around through time...and so, time travel-wise, it didn't engage me, and by the time the Exciting Final Showdown happened, I wasn't all that sure I cared.

Yet. If you like lots of detail, if you don't mind not having a clue for much of the time, if you can appreciate great inventiveness, you might like this one....especially, judging by Stella Matutina's review, if you are a child....I was a grown-up when I read this for the first time, and am still a grown-up, so I never got to read it with the (cliche alert) bright wonder of the child mind. There are bits that almost sing, but.

The Pinhoe Egg, by Diana Wynne Jones

The Pinhoe Egg, by Diana Wynne Jones (Greenwillow, 2006, middle grade, 515 pages, but it's the sort with very generous spacing so it's not really that long)

Christopher Chant, the svelte, incredibly powerful nine-lived enchanter, better known by his job title of Chrestomanci, was introduced to the world way back in 1977, with the publication of Charmed Life. He made appearances in a few other books (Witch Week and The Magicians of Caprona), and finally got his own book in 1988--The Lives of Christopher Chant. Then years of silence followed...but in the 2005, Jones revisited Chrestomanci with Conrad's Fate, followed in 2006 by The Pinhoe Egg. The Pinhoe Egg happens to be one of my favorite Diana Wynne Jones-es, so I'm offering it for Diana Wynne Jones week at Jenny's Books. Here goes:

Chrestomanci lives in a castle-type building, with spacious magical grounds. In The Pinhoe Egg, Jones takes us beyond his demesne, exploring the magical secrets that lie just outside his walls. Turns out, there are a lot of these. Two families, the Pinhoes and the Farleighs, full of all sorts of intrigue and secrets and shenanigans, have been practicing their own variety of enchantment for centuries. Young Marianne Pinhoe is the only girl of her generation, and she's expected to eventually become the clan matriarch. But fate has other plans in store for her, involving a mysterious Egg, a plague of frogs, a tangled web of domestic magic, and a strong and (perhaps) deadly network of enchantments that is keeping Something bound...

And Chrestomanci has no clue what's going on. Nope, so powerful are the Do Not Notice spells of the village families that he's been living in happy oblivion. Until, that is, Marianne becomes friends with his ward, young Cat (of Charmed Life fame). Both Cat and Marianne are strong magic users in their own rights, and together they began to unravel the mysteries of the Pinhoe and Farleigh families...

And in the process, they (and a host of other characters, old friends and new) are submerged in the sort of hugely entertaining magical mayhem that characterizes Jones' writing.

I like this one awfully much, but, as is often the case with DWJ, more so the second time reading it. Her plots are so tangly and her details so detailed and there is so much going on, that she repays re-reading more than just about any author I can think of. I'm still not entirely clear about every one of the motivations and machinations in The Pinhoe Egg, but I do know that Marianne is one of my favorite DWJ heroines (not because she is so very extraordinary; more the opposite in fact), it was wonderful to see so much more of Cat, and the magic is utterly fascinating.

Added bonus for animal lovers: baby griffin, and a horse who, although not magical per se, is a very fine horse indeed.
Added bonus for plant lovers: lots of gardening and other botanizing
Added bonus for people who like machines: machines (mixed with magic in a very strange way. Never underestimate the power of a dead ferret.)

Do Not Open: An encyclopedia of the world's best-kept secrets, for Non-fiction Monday

Do Not Open: An encyclopedia of the world's best-kept secrets, by John Farndon (DK Publishing)

First published in 2007, this amazing collection of fascinating "secrets" is now available in paperback form. I think DK really knocked it out of the park with this one-there is something for everyone. There's obvious stuff-- spy gear, ufos, lost treasures, and the like--subjects that will interest the young boy reader (quite possibly girls too, but boy reader is what I observe first hand), but there are sections devoted to more esoteric secrets. If you are interested in art, read about the secrets contained within Holbein's painting, The Ambassadors. Elizabethan alchemy is popping up in quite a few fantasy books these days, so the section on Alchemists and Wizards is very apropos, ditto the sections on the Knight's Templar and Werewolves vs Vampires. Young writers of science fiction might well find inspiration in the sections on the human genome, and the ingredients of a fast-food strawberry milkshake...And for the mathematically inclined, there are fractals and the Fibonacci sequence.

There are many, many more topics covered in DK signature style--crisply written prose blocks with lots of illustrations. 244 topics, in fact, on all sorts of subjects. Great fun to browse through (in which one is helped by suggestions of similar sections to go to next, leading to a long chain of explorations). In short, a fine source of cocktail party conversation, and a fine source of tidbits for the information loving kid to add to his store, to be shared with whoever he can find to listen to him. Leave this lying around your house (along with all the other books lying around the house la la la) and your ten year old boy will find it and be entranced. (And since for days at a time it might be buried beneath other books, he can have the pleasure of discovering it over and over again...)

The Non-Fiction Monday roundup this week is at Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

New Releases of Fantasy and Science Fiction for kids and teens-the beginning of August 2010 edition

Here are the new releases of science fiction and fantasy for children and teens from the beginning of August to the 10th. My information comes from Teens Read Too, and the publisher's blurbs are lifted from Amazon or directly from the publishers. The one I want most is the very last one on the list--You Wish, by Mandy Hubbard. It sounds brilliant...

Middle Grade:

APHRODITE THE BEAUTY: GODDESS GIRLS by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams The latest addition to the Goddess Girls series.

THE ATLANTIS COMPLEX: ARTEMIS FOWL by Eoin Colfer Artemis has committed his entire fortune to a project he believes will save the planet and its inhabitants, both human and fairy. Can it be true? Has goodness taken hold of the world’s greatest teenage criminal mastermind?

Captain Holly Short is unconvinced, and discovers that Artemis is suffering from Atlantis Complex, a psychosis common among guilt-ridden fairies - not humans - and most likely triggered by Artemis’s dabbling with fairy magic. Symptoms include obsessive-compulsive behavior, paranoia, multiple personality disorder and, in extreme cases, embarrassing professions of love to a certain feisty LEPrecon fairy.

Unfortunately, Atlantis Complex has struck at the worst possible time. A deadly foe from Holly’s past is intent on destroying the actual city of Atlantis. Can Artemis escape the confines of his mind – and the grips of a giant squid – in time to save the underwater metropolis and its fairy inhabitants?

The BODY THIEF: THE DEATH (AND FURTHER ADVENTURES) OF SILAS WINTERBOTTOM by Stephen Giles And you thought your family was strange.

I am dying. . . I might get the chance to know you before death takes me...I would like you to be my guest at Sommerset. . .I have enclosed a check for $ 10,000. . . Should you accept my offer...

Uncle Silas has always been greedy, evil, insulting, and extremely rich! But a dying uncle with a vast fortune is definitely one worth getting to know. Even if it means spending 2 months on his secluded island home with a houseful of suspicious servants and a hungry pet crocodile.

But what is Uncle Silas really up to? Will Adele, Milo, and Isabella outlive Uncle Silas to inherit his money? And just who is that mysterious "guest" in his basement? Is it worth the money (or their lives) to stick around and find out?

CLAW OF THE WEREWOLF: SCREAM STREET by Tommy Donbavand Luke is just one relic away from opening the doorway back to his own world and taking his parents away from the terrors of Scream Street! But the final search threatens to plunge him into the most dangerous adventure yet. With the help of Resus and Cleo, Luke is desperately hunting for the claw of a werewolf — and in the process he learns something most unexpected about Samuel Skipstone, the author who has helped them so much on their quest. This forces the trio into making a difficult decision, made harder by the witch convention taking place on Scream Street. The sixth and final relic is almost in Luke’s grasp, but will it ever be his?

THE FABLED FIFTH GRADERS OF AESOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL by Candace Fleming Welcome back to Mr. Jupiter's inimitable class at Aesop Elementary. His rambunctious, special students are fifth graders now . . . and they rule the school! Bernadette Braggadoccio stirs things up when her probing investigative reporting for the school's TV station reveals some scandalous stuff. But . . . don't believe everything you hear. Is that new art teacher really a crazy lady with zillions of cats, or could there be more to this story?

For their last year at Aesop, the fifth graders are hoping for the coolest class pet—a unicorn, a pink-headed duck, or at least a giant squid. Imagine their disappointment when they get guinea pigs. But . . . appearances can be deceiving. These guinea pigs have some very unusual traits.

THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A GHOST: AND OTHER TALES FROM NIGERIA
by Ifeoma Onyefulu As a child, Ifeoma Onyefulu was catapulted into a strange storytelling world predominated less by happy endings than by learning a lesson or two. For this collection, she retells nine of the best Nigerian tales. In The Girl Who Married a Ghost, stuck-up Oglisa discovers that pride goes before a fall; and in the Wrestler and the Ghost, the greatest wrestler in the world gets his comeuppance when he challenges a ghost. Many stories feature animals from the African jungle: Tortoise tricks the other animals so that he can win The Great Eating Competition, and hoards food for himself in The Famine — until the other animals become suspicious. Why the Lizard Nods His Head explores greed and how it can get you into deep trouble, while Lazy Dog and Tortoise shows that everyone should work together, unlike Dog who would never help his friends dig a well. Onyefulu retells these magical stories for generations of city-dwelling children who have moved far, far away from the world of animals and spirits.

JACK BLANK AND THE IMAGINE NATION by Matt Myklusch All Jack Blank knows is his bleak, dreary life at St. Barnaby’s Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten, and Lost—an orphanage in the swampland of New Jersey. Covertly reading old comic books is JackÂ’s only solace. But his life changes forever when he meets an emissary from a secret country called the Imagine Nation, an astonishing place where all the fantastic and unbelievable things in the world originate. Including Jack.

Jack soon discovers that he has an amazing ability—one that could make him the savior of Imagine Nation and the world beyond…or the biggest threat they’ve ever faced.

MISS FORTUNE by Brandi Dougherty Zoe’s never been superstitious, so when she and her best friend Mia have their fortunes read at a carnival, she doesn’t take it seriously. In fact, Zoe mocks the fortune-teller. But the woman gives Zoe a necklace to seal her fortune, and as soon as Zoe puts it on, unexplained things begin to happen to her. Her bike spins out of control, a fire starts in the oven when it isn’t on, and Zoe begins receiving threatening texts and emails. The necklace must be cursed! But when Zoe and Mia return to the site of the carnival, it’s gone! Can they break the curse before something terrible happens?

MISTY GORDON AND THE MYSTERY OF THE GHOST PIRATES by Kim Kennedy Things in the New England town of Ashcrumb are getting weird. Or just weirder. Misty Gordon, whose antique-dealing parents drive a van that says “D.E.A.D.” on the side (for “Deceased’s Estate and Antique Dealer”), is accustomed to weird.

One day, when accompanying her father to the estate of a recently departed clairvoyant, Misty discovers a notebook and a pair of eyeglasses that enable her to see ghosts! And solve mysteries. With the help of her new powers and her best friend, Yoshi, Misty learns that her hometown was settled not by respectable colonists but by pirates! And the ghosts of the pirates are returning to reclaim a dangerous, powerful treasure they lost centuries ago. Who will find it first, Misty or the pirates?

NIGHTSHADE CITY by Hilary Wagner Deep beneath a modern metropolis lies the Catacombs, the kingdom of remarkable rats of superior intellect. Juniper and his maverick band of rebel rats have been plotting ever since the Bloody Coup turned the Catacombs, a once-peaceful democracy, into a brutal dictatorship ruled by decadent High Minister Killdeer and his vicious henchman, Billycan, a former lab rat with a fondness for butchery. When three young orphan rats--brothers Vincent and Victor and a clever female named Clover--flee the Catacombs in mortal peril and join forces with the rebels, it proves to be the spark that ignites the long-awaited battle to overthrow their oppressors and create a new city--Nightshade City.

THE PACK by LM Preston Shamira is considered an outcast by most, but little do they know that she is on a mission. Kids on Mars are disappearing, but Shamira decides to use the criminals most unlikely weapons against them the very kids of which they have captured. In order to succeed, she is forced to trust another, something she is afraid to do. However, Valens, her connection to the underworld of her enemy, proves to be a useful ally. Time is slipping, and so is her control on the power that resides within her. But in order to save her brother's life, she is willing to risk it all.

SKULL OF THE SKELETON: SCREAM STREET by Tommy Donbavand None other than the Headless Horseman, the world’s most famous ghost, is appearing at Everwell’s Emporium to launch his new perfume, “Decapitation pour l’Homme.” Unfortunately, the celebrity’s head is stolen during the event, and his overbearing gargoyle manager is not amused. Eefa Everwell recruits Luke, Resus, and Cleo to help with the search, but Luke is on a headhunt of his own: he’s searching for a skull left behind by Scream Street’s first skeleton resident. Of course, Sir Otto Sneer is determined to thwart the trio — and when he launches a Frankenstein-esque monster, it’s all they can do to keep their own heads!

SKYCLAN'S DESTINY: WARRIORS by Erin Hunter

The return of a long lost Clan . . .

Many moons ago, five warrior Clans shared the forest in peace. But as Twolegs encroached on the cats' territories, the warriors of SkyClan were forced to abandon their home and try to forge a new life far away. Eventually, the Clan disbanded—forgotten by all until Firestar was sent on a quest to reunite its descendants and return SkyClan to its former glory.

Now, with Leafstar in place as leader, SkyClan is thriving. Leafstar is desperate to believe that her Clan will survive where the ancient SkyClan cats failed. But threats continue to plague the Clan, and as dissent grows from within, Leafstar must face the one question she dreads: Is SkyClan meant to survive?

THE TASTERS GUILD: THE POISONS OF CAUX by Susannah Appelbaum After the perilous adventure of The Hollow Bettle (Book I), the dark reign of the Nightshades is over at last, and a new day has arrived in Caux, a land long ruled by poison and deceit. The ancient Prophecy-the coming of a Noble Child to cure the one, true King-has finally begun.

But fear still grips the people of Caux, for they live in the shadow of the powerful, poisonous Tasters' Guild. Sequestered high within its corrupt walls sits Vidal Verjouce, the Guild's diabolical Director, his dark magic more potent than ever. Eleven-year-old Ivy, famed healer and Noble Child, and her friend and taster Rowan must venture inside the Guild itself if they are to find the door to their sister world, Pimcaux-and fulfill the Prophecy. But a deadly weed-once thought extinct-threatens their journey: scourge bracken, a plant dedicated to domination and destruction, also known, ominously, as Kingmaker. Who else has detected it? And will Ivy's remarkable gift-her dominion over plants and nature-be enough to thwart it?

THE THREE FURIES: EREC REX by Kaza Kingsley Erec Rex continues his quest to become king.

THRESHOLDS by Nina Kiriki Hoffman Maya’s family has just moved from Idaho to Spores Ferry, Oregon. She’s nervous about starting middle school and making new friends, but soon that’s the last thing on her mind. First, a fairy flies into her room. Then it turns out that the kids in the apartment building next door do magic, and their basement is full of portals to other worlds. She’s bursting with new experiences and delight . . . and secrets, because she can’t breathe a word to her family, not even when she winds up taking care of an alien!

Imagine the family in Ingrid Law’s Savvy seen through the eyes of a young Ray Bradbury. Cross the Threshold!

TOBY AND THE SECRETS OF THE TREE by Timothee de Fombelle Toby’s world is under greater threat than ever before. A giant crater has been dug right into the center of the Tree, moss and lichen have invaded the branches, and one tyrant controls it all. Leo Blue, once Toby’s best friend, is holding Toby’s beloved Elisha prisoner, hunting the Grass People with merciless force, and inflicting a life of poverty and fear on the Tree People. But after several years among the Grass People, Toby has returned to fight back. And this time he’s not alone: a resistance is forming. In the much-anticipated sequel to the award-winning Toby Alone, the compelling eco-adventure reaches its gripping conclusion.

UNEARTHLY ASYLUM: THE JOY OF SPOOKING by P.J. Bracegirdle In Unearthly Asylum, sequel to Fiendish Deeds, Joy discovers something strange happening at the Spooking Asylum.

A ZOMBIE'S GUIDE TO THE HUMAN BODY by Tom Becker & Mercer Mayer All of the critical information kids need to know about the human body, with a zombie twist! From head-to-toe, every human body part will be explored and explained with a combination of illustrated zombies and full-color photographs throughout. Learn how many bones are in the human body, what blood's made up of, how fast fingernails grow, where your dinner goes after you eat it, plus lots of fun zombie facts and tips so you can avoid losing your head (and brains) to one!

Young Adult:

ALMOST TO DIE FOR: VAMPIRE PRINCESS OF ST. PAUL by Tate Hallaway On her sixteenth birthday, Anastasija Parker learns that her so-called deadbeat dad is actually a vampire king. And he wants Ana to assume her rightful position at his side, in spite of the fact that she has witch's blood running through her veins-from her mother's side.

Too bad witches and vampires are mortal enemies. And now Ana's parents are at each other's throats over her future. It's up to Ana to make a choice, but deciding your eternal destiny is a pretty big deal for a girl who just wants to get through high school.

BETRAYAL by Gillian Shields here are the small betrayals: the unkind word, the petty lies. And there are the betrayals that break hearts, destroy worlds, and turn the strong sweet light of day into bitter dust.

When Evie Johnson started at Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies, her life changed in ways she couldn't possibly have envisioned: the discovery of her link with Lady Agnes, her special bond with Helen and Sarah, and their sisterhood in the astonishing secrets of the Mystic Way. Above all, Evie's love for Sebastian has turned her world upside down.

Now Evie returns to Wyldcliffe for another term and more danger. Surrounded by enemies, she lives every day in fear that Sebastian will fall into the darkness of servitude to the Unconquered Lords. The Wyldcliffe coven is plotting to destroy Evie and use Sebastian to secure their own immortality. Evie and her sisters must master the power of the Talisman before it is too late. But could it be Sebastian himself who will ultimately betray Evie?

BRAIN CAMP by Susan Kim & Lawrence Klavan (graphic novel) Neither artistic, dreamy Jenna nor surly, delinquent Lucas expected to find themselves at an invitation-only summer camp that turns problem children into prodigies. And yet, here they both are at Camp Fielding, settling in with all the other losers and misfits who’ve been shipped off by their parents in a last-ditch effort to produce a child worth bragging about.

But strange disappearances, spooky lights in the woods, and a chilling alteration that turns the dimmest, rowdiest campers into docile zombie Einsteins have Jenna and Lucas feeling more than a little suspicious . . . and a lot afraid.

DATING FOR DEMONS by Serena Robar I just started to grasp that my best friend is a half-blood vampire, and now I'm facing demons of my own. Colby needs my help with an ancient prophesy, and a mysterious loner, Hunter, has been kind enough to take me under his wing. But is he teaching me or studying me? Usually I'm on the sidelines but have been thrust into the thick of things by a zombie vampire attack and a surprising declaration revealing that I'm a Demon Hunter. Too bad no one buys it. If I could only get my best friend to believe in me before an ancient evil destroys her and her half-blood sisters, I might actually get the guy and save the world.

DIVIDED SOULS: DARKE ACADEMY by Gabriella Poole The Darke Academy is a school like no other. An elite establishment that moves to an exotic new city every term, its students are impossibly beautiful, sophisticated and rich. Death has followed the Darke Academy to the ancient city of Istanbul. An unseen hunter is on the loose. Scholarship girl Cassie Bell is fascinated by the city's beauty, but there's no time for her to relax. Torn between an old flame and a new romance, she must also choose between the select world of the Few and her loyalty towards her best friends. And all the time a killer is stalking the Few. As Cassie is about to discover, no one is above suspicion. Sometimes, the people you love can be the most dangerous enemies of all ...

THE ETERNAL ONES by Kirsten Miller Haven Moore can’t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother’s house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.

THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY, & JUNE by Robin Benway I hugged my sisters and they fit against my sides like two jigsaw pieces that would never fit anywhere else. I couldn’t imagine ever letting them go again, like releasing them would be to surrender the best parts of myself.

Three sisters share a magical, unshakeable bond in this witty high-concept novel from the critically acclaimed author of Audrey, Wait! Around the time of their parents’ divorce, sisters April, May, and June recover special powers from childhood—powers that come in handy navigating the hell that is high school. Powers that help them cope with the hardest year of their lives. But could they have a greater purpose?

April, the oldest and a bit of a worrier, can see the future. Middle-child May can literally disappear. And baby June reads minds—everyone’s but her own. When April gets a vision of disaster, the girls come together to save the day and reconcile their strained family. They realize that no matter what happens, powers or no powers, they’ll always have each other.

Because there’s one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood.

GIRL PARTS by John M. Cusick David and Charlie are opposites. David has a million friends, online and off. Charlie is a soulful outsider, off the grid completely. But neither feels close to anybody. When David’s parents present him with a hot Companion bot designed to encourage healthy bonds and treat his “dissociative disorder,” he can’t get enough of luscious redheaded Rose — and he can’t get it soon. Companions come with strict intimacy protocols, and whenever he tries anything, David gets an electric shock. Parted from the boy she was built to love, Rose turns to Charlie, who finds he can open up, knowing Rose isn’t real. With Charlie’s help, the ideal “companion” is about to become her own best friend. In a stunning and hilarious debut, John Cusick takes rollicking aim at internet culture and our craving for meaningful connection in an uberconnected world.

GUARDIAN OF THE GATE: PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS by Michelle Zink The ultimate battle between sisters is nearing, and its outcome could have catastrophic consequences. As sixteen year-old Lia Milthorpe searches for a way to end the prophecy, her twin sister Alice hones the skills she'll need to defeat Lia. Alice will stop at nothing to reclaim her sister's role in the prophecy, and that's not the only thing she wants: There's also Lia's boyfriend James.

Lia and Alice always knew the Prophecy would turn those closest to them against them. But they didn't know what betrayal could lead them to do. In the end, only one sister will be left standing.

I AM NUMBER FOUR by Pittacus Lore Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers y...more Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. we have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

INFINITE DAYS: A VAMPIRE QUEEN NOVEL by Rebecca Maizel "Throughout all my histories, I found no one I loved more than you...no one."

Those were some of Rhode's last words to me. The last time he would pronounce his love. The last time I would see his face. It was the first time in 592 years I could take a breath. Lay in the sun. Taste. Rhode sacrificed himself so I, Lenah Beaudonte, could be human again. So I could stop the blood lust. I never expected to fall in love with someone else that wasn't Rhode. But Justin was...daring. Exciting. More beautiful than I could dream. I never expected to be sixteen again...then again, I never expected my past to come back and haunt me...

THE IRON DAUGHTER: THE IRON FEY by Julie Kagawa Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her. Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

KISS ME DEADLY: 13 TALES OF PARANORMAL LOVE edited by Trisha Telep If you can possibly thirst for more mysterious metaphysical accounts of love, Trisha Telep has organized some of the greatest and most thrilling tales of paranormal paramours since The Eternal Kiss. She presents the acclaimed literary talent of thirteen unique authors, creating a collection of stories that will undoubtedly capture the imagination of every soul who dares to read them. Werewolves, ghosts, zombies, vampires, and fallen angels drive the plot of these riveting romances.

MANIFEST: A MISFITS NOVEL by Artist Arthur When fifteen-year-old Krystal Bentley moves to Lincoln, Connecticut, her mom's hometown, she assumes her biggest drama will be adjusting to the burbs after living in New York City.

But Lincoln is nothing like Krystal imagined. The weirdness begins when Ricky Watson starts confiding in her. He's cute, funny, a good listener—and everything she'd ever want—except that he was killed nearly a year ago. Krystal's ghost-whispering talents soon lead other "freaks" to her door—Sasha, a rich girl who can literally disappear, and Jake, who moves objects with his mind. All three share a distinctive birthmark in the shape of an M and, fittingly, call themselves the Mystyx. They set out to learn what really happened to Ricky, only to realize that they aren't the only ones with mysterious powers. But if Krystal succeeds in finding out the truth about Ricky's death, will she lose him for good?

THE THIN EXECUTIONER by Darren Shan In a kingdom of merciless tyrants, Jebel Rum's family is honored as royalty because his father is the executioner. But Rashed Rum is near retirement. And when he goes, there will be a contest to determine his successor. It is a contest that thin, puny Jebel has no chance of winning.

Humiliated and ashamed, Jebel sets out on a quest to the faraway home of a legendary fire god to beg for inhuman powers so that he can become the most lethal of men. He must take with him a slave, named Tel Hesani, to be sacrificed to the god. It will be a dark and brutal journey filled with lynch mobs, suicide cults, terrible monsters, and worse, monstrous men. But to Jebel, the risk is worth it.

To retrieve his honor . . .To wield unimaginable power . . .To become . . .The thin executioner

YOU WISH by Mandy Hubbard Kayla McHenry’s sweet sixteen sucks! Her dad left, her grades dropped, and her BFF is dating the boy Kayla’s secretly loved for years. Blowing out her candles, Kayla thinks: I wish my birthday wishes actually came true. Because they never freakin’ do.Kayla wakes the next day to a life-sized, bright pink My Little Pony outside her window. Then a year’s supply of gumballs arrives. A boy named Ken with a disturbing resemblance to the doll of the same name stalks her. As the ghosts of Kayla’s wishes-past appear, they take her on a wild ride . . . but they MUST STOP. Because when she was fifteen? She wished Ben Mackenzie would kiss her. And Ben is her best friend’s boyfriend.

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

Another Sunday, another round-up!

Here are the reviews that I found:

13 Treasures, by Michelle Harrison, at Eva's Book Addiction

100 Cupboards, by N.D. Wilson, at Read in a Single Sitting.

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, by R. A. Spratt, at Jean Little Library.

The Amaranth Enchantment, by Julie Berry, at The Book Nest.

Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex, by Eoin Colfer, at The Book Zone (for boys).

Crossing Over (Suddenly Supernatural), by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, at Books & Other Thoughts.

Dark Life, by Kat Falls, at The Book Zone (for Boys) and at Becky's Book Reviews.

Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke, at The Bookworm Chronicles.

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall, by Mary Downing Hahn, at The Fourth Musketeer.

Ivy's Ever After, by Dawn Lairamore, at Eva's Book Addiction

Karma Bites, by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas, at The O.W.L.

The Kneebone Boy, by Ellen Potter, at Book Aunt (note--Kate actually says this isn't fantasy, but since a lot of us (ie me) might have been making that assumption, I'm sticking it in anyway!)

No Such Thing as Dragons, by Philip Reeve, at Bookends.

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan, at Nayu's Reading Corner.

The Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale, at Emily's Reading Room.

The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan, at Eva's Book Addiction.

Rise of the Darklings, by Paul Crilley, at Fantasy Literature.

The Shadows (Books of Elsewhere 1), by Jacqueline West, at Books Together.

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at Fuse #8

The Unsinkable Walker Bean, a graphic novel by Aaron Renier, at 100 Scope Notes.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at Book Reviews for LS 5653 Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults.

Whistle Bright Magic--a Nutfolk Tale, by Barb Bentler Ullman, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams, by Rhonda Hayter, at Charlotte's Library.

Interviews:

For over a year, a book called A Most Improper Magick has been on my to-be-read list. At last, today, it is published (in the UK)! Here's an interview with its author, Stephanie Burgis, at Bart's Bookshelf.

J. and P. Voekel (Middleworld) continue their blog tour at Reading in Color.

Other Fun Stuff:

Diana Wynne Jones Week kicks off at Jenny's Books! Since, very very sadly, Diana Wynne Jones is critically ill, taking part in the celebration of her great books is a wonderful chance to pay homage to one of the greatest writers of fantasy for the younger reader...(and older reader too). And, for affecianados of fairy tales, Once Upon a Week is also beginning today at Today's Adventure.

At Tamora Pierce's blog -- "Why I write girl heros for the most part."

The League of Extraordinary Writers has been busily discussing Among the Hidden, by Margaret Petterson Haddix, as their July Book Club selection.

I've gathered together two lists of Cold Fantasy Books for a hot summer's day--here are Part 1 (for younger readers, 7-10ish) and Part 2 (for older readers).

Over at The Spectacle, there's an interesting post on Violence in mg sff.

With her review of Merry Go Round In Oz, Mari Ness has now reviewed all 40 of the canonical Oz books. When I was nine or so, and found out that the Library of Congress existed, I made plans to spend several days there reading them all. After reading these reviews, I'm not so sure this is going to happen...

Just for kicks, I put up a poll to see which Newbery Award winner that was a fantasy/sci fi book is best beloved. 60 people have voted so far...

Not specifically fantasy related, but still of interest: the Kidlit Con 2010 (this October, Minneapolis) information is up, registration begins now (and is surprisingly affordable), and I have a swell room-mate lined up already! It's a great conference to go to--there is lots of time for just talking to other book minded folk.

And speaking of meeting, here's a picture of me (brown hair, green shirt) listening to the fantasy writing panel at the Toadstool that I went to a week ago (lifted from Angie Frazier's blog, where you can see more pictures:

The authors shown, from r to l, are Deva Fagan, Angie Frazier, and 2/3 of Kate Milford. (Here's my account).

If you enjoy these round-ups, please feel free to spread the word! And if I missed your post, or that of your best friend, etc., please let me know! (I am especially anxious that because I don't read that many author blogs, I am missing many Good Posts....so, if anyone reading this happens to either be an author of mg fantasy/sci fi, or an avid reader of such blogs, please feel free to contact me with links at any time!).