This is the seventy-fourth time travel book I've reviewed for Timeslip Tuesday, and I'm getting a bit nervous. After today, I'll only have four books in reserve, for those weeks where I haven't found time to read a new one....five if you count my husband's promise to do a guest post about Red Shift (Alan Garner), which would bring some welcome (?) gloom to my cheerful little blog, but I'm not holding my breath.
But anyway. Today's book is: Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander (Henry Holt, 1963), Alexander's first book for children. It is not gloomy. It tells of Jason, a boy, and Gareth, a cat, and how Gareth uses his catly magic to take them both back in time.
"Lucky Gareth," Jason sighed, lying back and closing his eyes. "I wish I had nine lives."
The cat stopped purring. "I wish I did, too." he said.
Jason started up in surprise. Not because Gareth had spoken. Jason had always been sure he could if he wanted to. It was what Gareth had said." (pages 4-5)
Gareth might not have nine lives, but he does have something else. He can visit nine different lives, in nine different times and places. And he can take Jason with him.
Boy and cat travel around the globe, starting with ancient Egypt and ending in Revolutionary War Massachusetts, and everywhere they go, a little vignette of interesting encounter/adventure awaits. They meet Leonardo da Vinci, become friends with the young Japanese Emperor, are taken hostage by the Incas, and are found guilty of witchcraft in 17th-century Germany. And more.
Their travels through the past are particularly fascinating to Jason, Gareth, and the cat-loving reader because of the great variety in people's attitudes toward cats--there's veneration, appreciation of their utility, affection, and fear. Without being too overtly didactic, Alexander gets some decent non-cat history and cultural anthropology into the story too....and (being Alexander) he underlines the moral point:
"I learned a lot about cats...and different places," Jason said.
"That was only part of it," said Gareth. "If you think back, everybody we met had something to tell you--about themselves, and about yourself. It's a way of finding out a part of what you have to know to be a grown-up." (page 205).
Not exactly subtle, but I think it does encapsulate one reason why books mean so very much to the avid young reader. Alexander went on to write the Chronicles of Prydain just after finishing this book, and the theme of "finding out what you have to know to be a grown-up" is central to those books. I was just the right age when I read them, and I know that the messages he put in those books hit home for me...Of course, Lloyd Alexander went on to write the same story over and over again, and this theme of growing up began to grow old, and not other book of his ever became dear to me. Oh well. Back to Time Cat.
In Time Cat the "lessons" are much less overt, and much less powerful. It can be enjoyed as just a fun and colorful romp through time, a book to give to the fan of the Magic Tree House books, for instance, when those are outgrown. I plan to try it on my own boys, and I bet they'll like it.
But its episodic nature, which allots only a fleeting bit of time for each character interaction, makes the book feel a lot like a series of postcards. It doesn't quite have enough to hold the attention of an older reader looking for the numinous, the truly engrossing, the beautiful enchantments of a true classic. Bottom line--it's not going to go to the nursing home with me and my best beloved books, but it's a perfectly fine young middle grade story. Especially, most emphatically, a good one for the young cat lover.
Today's the second day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week--a day when participants are sharing interviews of their BBAW assigned partners! I was matched with Joanne, of Jo-Jo Loves to Read, and here's my interview with her:
1. What made you decide to start a book blog? How long have you been blogging? Do you have any advice you'd give new bloggers?
It will be two years next month since I first started my blog, and I think the original purpose for me was to find another outlet to discuss books that my book club wasn't showing an interest in. Advice I would give to new bloggers is don't let yourself become overwhelmed with review copies. It's ok to say NO! We started book blogs because we like to read so be sure to keep the enjoyment in one of your favorite leisure activities.
2. Has your blog's focus changed since you began? Or did you start with a clear idea in your mind of what sort of books you'd read, and stick with it?
Well, when I started my blog I wasn't really sure where I was going with it! But then I thought this would be a good way to expand into reading genre's that I don't usually read. After reading a couple of books that are not in my usual genre I decided that I'm just not going to do that any more. There are plenty of bloggers out there that read specific genres that I do not enjoy, so I'm going to stick with the one's that I like.
3. The book blogging world is pretty big these days (over 7000 book review blogs are tracked by Technorati), and there seem to me to be a number of clusters, or communities, within it. Do you have a sense of a particular blogging community that you are part of?
I guess I do feel that I am a part of a community that contains blogs that focus on literary fiction or an eclectic mix. Besides the few historical fiction blogs that I view, I really only regularly visit blogs that share a balanced assortment of reviews, such as memoirs, contemporary fiction, cultural fiction, or classics (just to name a few).
4. Has blogging changed your reading habits? Do you have more books on your tbr pile now, for instance? Has the number of books you read a week gone up? And where do you get the majority of the books you talk about?
Blogging has changed my reading habits in that I definitely read more. I think it also inspired me to start listening to audiobooks, which I am so thankful for discovering! I have the opportunity to read (or shall I say listen) to so many more books that I wouldn't have been able to in the past. Audiobooks also introduced me to the thriller/suspense genre, which I found I just love to listen to, but never really enjoyed reading before.
My TBR pile goes up almost every day-all it takes is a visit to a couple of blogs in the morning and I find a new book I HAVE to read! Before blogging I probably only read about 2 books a month, but now I can average about a book a week so my reading has definitely gone up.
I get my books from various sources. Publishers, authors, PR firms, and several come from requests through the Shelf Awareness newsletter. I have also received review copies through LibraryThing and Goodreads. I feel that I should give special mention to Hachette Book Group and TLC Tours because they are both so generous with their review copies and giveaways that they offer!
5. And, speaking of reading habits, have you had a chance to try out your new kindle yet? Do you like it?
With all of the review copies on my pile I haven't really had a chance to try out my Kindle yet and it's driving me nuts! I'm going to start getting my book club selections on my Kindle, but before the Kindle was given to me I already had most of the books for the next year that my group is reading. I do plan on reading our Christmas selection, Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah on the Kindle so I will be sure to let you know how it goes after I get to experience it fully. I might even buy the Good Husband of Zebra Drive (our November selection) on the Kindle and let one of the ladies buy my used copy. The little bit that I have been able to check out I can tell you has definitely floated my boat!
6. Where are your favorite places to read?
One of my very favorite places to read is on my deck in the summertime. With a glass of ice water, tea, coffee or wine on a sunny day I can just stay there all day! But since we live in Northern Wisconsin most of my reading is done in the recliner in the family room.
7. Do you ever write critical, or even negative reviews? Or do you see your reviews as primarily recommendations?
I think it's so important to be honest with the reviews that I write so I think I have written critical or even negative reviews. I do try to still find some positive within the book in this case and not be distasteful about it. Just because a certain book wasn't right for me, doesn't mean that the next person that reads my review would not enjoy it.
8. I see on your blog that you are a member of a pretty active book club. Did your involvement with the book club predate your blogging? Do you review on your blog the same books you talk about with your club?
Our book club first started meeting in September of 2004 so we are just starting our 7th year together! We have a great bunch of ladies and we always have a nice selection of books that we read throughout the year. Since I review all of the books that I read I do post reviews about them also. You can see our complete list of book club picks since our group began on my blog here.
We actually just finished a book that I didn't particularly care for and one of the ladies asked me if I was going to blog about it. And I told her it wouldn't be right if I didn't let other bloggers know what I honestly thought about this book.
9. I primarily read middle grade and YA fantasy and science fiction, and so I am rather clueless about good books for adults, reviewed by bloggers like yourself! What's a book you've loved this past year that I should read?
A couple of my favorite books from the last year were Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman and Labor Day by Joyce Maynard. I usually recommend books to people depending upon what they usually read and since you enjoy middle grade books these might be great for you! Both of these books have children as the main characters between the ages of 9 and 12 and they have such a good message and story. Oh sorry, I just noticed you asked for one and I gave you two!
Thanks so much for being my partner, Joanne! It was great meeting you! And in looking around all the new to me blogs taking part in BBAW, I've been seeing CeeCee cropping up all over the place--I'll definitely be looking for this myself now!
DK set themselves an ambitious task with this book--to concisely survey the music of the world, in an inclusive way, in a book for kids. The result is a pretty astounding book. It's not without issues (about which more below), but it's pretty fantastic--the best book about world music for children I've ever seen.
The Children's Book of Music is divided into three sections--- Early music (50,000 BCE - 1600 CE), Classical music (1600-1900), and Modern music (1900--). Early music is the section of the book that most deeply delves into musical traditions around the world. It begins a fascinating smorgasbord of what we've learned from archaeology and history about truly ancient music, but quickly fans out into music across cultures. The gamelan orchestras of Bali, which get a wonderful double-page spread; the "world of wind" features Polynesian nose flutes and South American pan pipes; "rituals and religious music" is (rightly) broadly defined, with Maori singers, National Anthems, the Soweto gospel choir and more sharing a double-page spread. There's another about Yatsuhashi Kengyo, "father of modern koto." These sections are all lavishly illustrated with pictures of people from today’s world, making music and dancing.
I could provide many more examples, but I hope this gives you some idea of what this part of the book is like. I would have loved this section of the book, if its title, Early music (50,000 BCE - 1600 CE), hadn't implied that all the musical traditions described ended in 1600. This implication is contradicted the photographic evidence, and the text itself, that clearly show these musical traditions as alive and vibrant today. I think that DK probably meant "music that had its beginnings long before 1600" but still, I do not like the wording they chose at all. Big Sigh.
In a children's book geared toward a western audience, it's not surprising that there's a generous chunk (part two of this book) about"classical" music. This is a primarily European section, although there are nods to diversity, with mention, for instance, of the Beijing opera, and a rather lovely spread about "dazzling dances" that is nicely diverse. And there are other pleasing bits of diversity in unexpected places within this section-- "Brassed off," for instance, leaps away from the orchestral instruments one might have expected,and includes a large illustration of a triton shell player, pictures of the shofar and nafir, the serpent and the bazooka. So it's not nearly as dominated by "great European music" as it might have been (although it is very famous-composer heavy). I think, however, that the title heading here is somewhat problematic, too, because "classical" music didn't stop at 1900, as the last section (Modern music (1900--)) of the book indicates....
When I reached this final section of the book, I turned to my husband for his opinion. He's an ethnomusicologist, and has taught courses on world music that include many of the subjects discussed here (like the blues), and he's much more knowledgeable about reggae, and jazz, afropop, and rock then I am. He gave a running commentary as looked through the book ("oh good, they put her in" type remarks), and in general was impressed and approving of the choices DK made about which musicians to highlight (although he wanted more about Dylan...). (His main complaint about the book, incidentally, was that his own class of instrument, the bagpipes, doesn't get a mention).
In short, this is a beautiful, diverse book (albeit still skewed in favor of western music). The accompanying cd is a brilliant touch that brings the musics discussed in the text to life. There is much to appreciate here, with fascinating information made accessible through clear writing and marvellous illustrations.
I just really really wish (getting back to that troublesome section heading) that DK hadn't fallen into the trap of putting non-Europeans into the past, when it is clear that there are many non-European musical traditions that are alive and well. And though the subjects that are included in this book are dealt with in clear, balanced, informative ways, I wish, as well, that there had been less emphasis put on performative music. I would have liked more about music made communally--music that doesn't need a large audience,or any audience at all. Like lullabies, work songs, and Irish music played in someone's kitchen...
Non-Fiction Monday is hosted today by Rasco from RIF! (disclaimer--review copy received from the publisher)
The assignment for the first day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week is this--"to share with us about a great new book blog you’ve discovered since BBAW last year! .... Tell us why this blog rocks your socks off and why you keep going back for more."
I'm bending the rules, and sharing two blogs that I've added to my list. The first is author Katherine Langrish's blog, Seven Miles of Steel Thistles. I have gotten loads of enjoyment from her long and juicy posts about mythology, fantasy, older books, fairy tales and more, as well as from her books (I've reviewed The Shadow Hunt, and Troll Fell), which I've also had the pleasure of discovering this year!
The second blog I'd like to wave hello to is Chachic's Book Nook, a fun and friendly place I always enjoy visiting. Chachic shares my taste in books, with just enough that's different to make things interesting! And she just let me know that one of my favorite authors has a new book out-- Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith!
Hello, fellow readers of middle grade science fiction and fantasy! Here's this week's round-up of such reviews, interviews, and etcs. as I could find. Let me know if I missed you!
Kathryn Lasky (The Guardians of Ga’Hoole) at Clickthecity.
Fiona McIntosh (The Whisperer) at The Australian Literature Review (note--I'd never heard of The Whisperer, so I looked it up here--it's a magical circus book. Seems like circuses are a Big Thing right now in mg/YA sff....)
And even though Kathi Appelt's books are not exactly fantasy, but more magical realism (the term she herself uses) here's an interview with her at Bobbi Miller's blog.
Miscellaneous things of great interest:
The Enchanted Inkpot offers a fun back to school list for the fantasy protagonist.
Sometimes, in compiling these round-ups, I'll make judgement calls about what is and isn't middle grade, and about what is and isn't fantasy/science fiction/speculative fiction. If you disagree, please say so! In "The Pirate Code of Children's Literature," Stacy Whitman (Editorial Director, Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books) talks about how and why the middle grade/YA call is made. And middle grade and young adult author Hannah Moskowitz blogs about the same subject, with lots of references to fantasy, at her blog, Invincible Summer.
Speaking of Stacy-- she recently created Tu Books in order to publish multicultural science fiction and fantasy for kids and teens--excitingly, the first two books that Tu will publish have just been announced:
"Stacy Whitman at Lee & Low Books has acquired the first novels for the Tu Books imprint, which launches in fall 2011. The imprint will focus on multicultural MG/YA science fiction and fantasy. For the launch list, Whitman has acquired World rights to a YA paranormal thriller tentatively titled Wolf Mark by Joseph Bruchac, author of Codetalker and Skeleton Man. When Lucas King’s black-ops father is kidnapped and his best friend, Meena, put in danger, Lucas’s only chance to save them is hidden away in an abandoned, monster-guarded mansion. The deal was done by Barbara Kouts of the Barbara S. Kouts Agency.
Whitman has also bought world rights to Galaxy Games by Greg Fishbone, a MG science fiction trilogy about an incoming asteroid that turns out to be an alien spaceship, visiting Earth to recruit a team of kid athletes to compete in the upcoming Galaxy Games Tournament. The first book, tentatively titled Preliminaries, will be published as part of the Tu Books launch list in fall 2011."
Remembering Green, by Lesley Beake (Francis Lincoln, 2010 in the US, middle grade, 111 pages) is a dystopia for upper middle grade kids, set in a future Africa.
Two hundred years from now, the oceans have drowned much of the earth. On a fortified island that was once a mountain in South Africa, technology has created a hold-out of "civilization," where the Tekkies live in relative comfort. But one thing technology can't do is make rain come from the dry skies...
North, on the mainland of Africa, a girl called Rain inherited the promise of her name...bound to a lion cub in an ancient ritual, she might be able to restore, at least in part, the balance of nature. Rumors of her existence lead the Tekkies to kidnap her, to try harness her for their own use, and now she, and her lion Saa, are prisoners on the island.
"Sometimes, on days when the wind blows from the north for a change, I can smell Africa. Here they call it 'Out', and they worry about it, looking over their shoulders as if there were something there waiting to pounce." (page 16)
For Rain and Saa, life on the island is far from paradisal. Lonely and afraid, Rain is unsure what the Tekkies expect from her, and even more unsure that she will ever find her home again. But she has friends from outside who have infiltrated the island and are working to free her. One of these is Ghau, a boy she might be falling in love with. When word comes that a Grand Ceremony is being planned, one that involves a sacrifice, Rain and Saa are forced to risk everything to try to escape....
One the plus side, this almost fable-like story* has a central plot I found compelling, and it manages to pack a powerful message about the risks of global warming without being too didactic. It is also great to find a science fiction story in which the central character is a young girl from Sub-Saharan Africa, and Rain's heritage was most intriguing.
But I found the book as a whole to be somehow thin--it is very short, at 111 pages, and I just don't think the author gave herself enough time to fully develop either her world or her characters. I wanted more! The complicated story, with its the clash of ancient mystical heritage and technology in a world where the climate has been irrevocably changed, and the set-up of a lonely kidnapped girl living in an alien society, cried out to me to be explored in greater detail.
It's still a book I'd recommend to middle-school kids, especially those looking for young African heroines--and this isn't to disparage the sophistication of middle grade readers, but simply a feeling that they might not yet be so familiar with futuristic dystopias that they will share my disappointment. Indeed, the succinct story telling might well be an asset for this audience.
And I bet that the relationship between Rain and her lion cub, the one area of where the book fully realizes its potential, is a bit hit with animal-loving kids.
"I couldn't touch Saa. There was not enough space through the grid. The only thing that could reach her was my voice. I lay on the ground beside her cage and let my words surround her.
*****
And so our nights would pass on our journey to nowhere, Saa and I. She lay very still. Her ears hardly twitched and her great paws were lifeless--both of us were powerless in the face of this captivity. I would not run--our captors knew that. I would not melt into the darkness and disappear, not with Saa caged and broken. Saa was my life now. Saa was everything. I would die for her if I must." (pages 19-20)
*I am now struggling a little in my own mind about what I mean by "fable-like." I think the cadence of the storytelling, with many paragraphs beginning "And" and "But" and "So," gives the story a spoken feel, which in my mind is part of "fable." This sort of story telling also slows down, I think, the immediacy of the action, distancing the reader from what's happening--another quality of "fable" in my mind. I might, however, think fable means something entirely different tomorrow.
(Note on age: Amazon has this as YA. In my mind, it's not--there's little violence, and romance is in the future).
White Cat, by Holly Black (Simon and Schuster, 2010), is pretty close to my ideal of what a YA fantasy thriller should be. Mystery! Mayhem! Cool and unusual magic! Interesting characters!* It is the first book I can ever remember taking upstairs with me, and finishing in bed next to my little one "I guess Mama's not going to read to me tonight...." he murmured plaintively. But I only had five more pages, and I had to find out what happened....(and then I read to him).
(I know I overuse parentheses in this post (sorry!) but sadly I don't have time to de-parenthesize).
Cassel is not quite like the other kids at his prep school. For one thing, his family are curse workers--they possess magical (and very illegal) skills. His mother's in jail for emotional manipulation on a very high level (she can twist the feelings of anyone she touches, including rich men...). His grandfather is able to kill with a touch (a useful skill for a hit man). His older brother's gotten involved with a high level curse worker family--the mafia of the magical. Seventeen-year old Cassel himself has accepted that he has no curse working abilities himself, but he does have his own abilities as a con man, and runs a rather lucrative gambling ring at his school.
But when he wakes up trapped on the roof of his dorm, with no idea how he got there (or how to get off), Cassel's life begins a spiral out of control into a tangle of magic, crime, and twisted (very very twisted) family secrets. Cassel comes up against murder, transformation, the manipulation of memory, and more...and the reader (me at least) is left on the seat of her chair, reading hungrily to find out the answers to the mysteries that have exploded into his life.
Told from Cassel's point of view, the reader gets to unravel the plot threads along with him, making for satisfying reading (except for a bit at the end, where the author withholds information from the reader--I can see why she did it, but I felt a bit miffed, and began to wonder if I should Question what I had been told previously). Like Cassel, we aren't sure who we can trust, who is using whom, and why. Black makes her world of curse workers satisfyingly real, without resorting to information dumps. She's assembled a (mostly) stellar cast of supporting players, and she manages to make us care about (many) of her characters, while keeping all but one (not Cassel) morally ambiguous. (Although I was rooting for Cassel throughout).
This is the first YA book of Black's I've finished--I found Tithe much too gritty for my taste. This was also gritty, but not as much--there's considerable violence here too, and some of it is disturbing, but it doesn't take up too much page time, and I was able to accept it as necessary for the truly exciting story. There's a romantic sub-plot line, but it's not particularly gritty, or expansive.
(In short, I liked the book lots).
*It also has several scenes that involve cleaning out an old house full of junk. For some reason I am strangely attracted to such books.
"There were no such things as dragons, were there? Only in stories. Only in tales told around the hearth on winter's nights, to set you shivering with cozy fear. Only in pictures."
So young Ansel tells himself as he rides north into the mountains, following in the wake of Brock the Dragon Slayer. One morning he'd been the unwanted youngest son of a tavern keeper, mute since his mother's death. The next, his father has handed him over to be Brock's servant. Now, headed off to look for dragons, Ansel is understandably concerned with their reality.
Brock himself isn't a believer. His handy crocodile skull is all he needs to convince gullible folk that he's a true dragon slayer. But their journey is taking them up into a snowy mountain range where strange things are happening--just the sort of things you'd expect if there really was a dragon.
The villagers believe, so much so that they have left a girl, named Else, up in the heights to serve as a dragon offering. Ansel and Brock try hard not to believe...but when they, and Else, are actually being pursued by a ravenous flying worm, it's pretty impossible not to.
No Such Thing as Dragons combines adventure and well-drawn characterization in a delightfully succinct story. Once Ansel, Brock, and Else meet the dragon, Reeve gives us an almost minute by minute account of what happens, bringing to vivid life the desperate immediacy of their situation, as the dangers of the natural world--the snow, and ice, and the creature itself-- beset them fiercely. Reeve brings to life the entire range of the struggling in snowy mountains experience, from generic chilly plodding to utterly panicked conviction that death is imminent.
Although my memories of the mountains are the most vivid (overshadowing even the dragon), Ansel, Brock and Else became nicely clear in my mind as well. They are given just enough back story to be credible, given just enough guts to get off the mountain alive, and are allowed to show very human weakness (some more than others). I liked very much that Ansel isn't a Chosen One. He doesn't suddenly develop unrealistic abilities and become an extraordinary hero; he remains solidly a boy, one forced by desperate circumstance to persevere in the face of danger. Else, too, is not a stock damsel in distress; she is a nuanced character in her own right. Even Brock, so used to telling the one-dimensional story of himself as Great Dragon Slayer, gets to become a real, believable, person. Each of these characters must question themselves--courage, trust, and loyalty are all put to the test when the possibility of death by dragon becomes all too real.
The result is a compelling page-turner of a story that feels entirely plausible. Those who equate dragons with High Fantasy-esque questings and magics might be a tad disappointed; those who love historical fiction merged with the fantastical should enjoy it lots.
Monster Slayers, by Lukas Ritter (Wizards of the Coast, 2010, middle grade, 249 pages)
Evin longs to leave his village--longs to put his Rougish skills to the test and to become a heroic slayer of monsters. When he watches from the edge of the forest as his village is overrun by gnolls, who set the buildings alight and kidnap the its inhabitants, it seems like his chance might have come. He and his friend Jorick (who dreams of becoming a great swordsman), the only two left free, set off to save their friends and family. Their path brings them to a young elf wizard, a girl named Betilivatis, whose helpful book, A Practical Guide to Monsters, and even more helpful magical abilities, enable them to reach the underground chambers where the villagers have been imprisoned....
But things aren't quite adding up in Evin's mind. Betilivatis seems to be hiding secrets, something very odd seems to have happened to the villagers, and the motivations of the gnolls seem far stranger than one might expect. And even stranger still, Evin begins to be tormented by the feeling that he himself might not be the person he thinks he is....
What began as a straightforward, very Dungeons and Dragons-like adventure turns into a much more twisty tale, as Evin and his companions begin to question everything they have taken for granted, and find out that the true enemy is much more dangerous than just a few monsters....
And so, what seemed to me at first a perfectly adequate middle grade adventure, fine for kids, but not much more than that, ended up catching and holding my attention. I wouldn't go so far as to urge adult fans of mg sff to seek this one out, but I'd happily recommend this to the kid whose beginning to take an interest in Dungeons and Dragons, and any kid who enjoys a fun fantasy adventure. I think it would be pretty perfect for the kid who enjoyed, for instance, the Dragon Slayer Academy books, and is ready for something a bit more challenging in a similar vein.
Wizards of the Coast, the folks who bring us Dungeons and Dragons, as well as D. and D. inspired books such as this, have created an introductory on-line D. and D. adventure, The Heroes of Hesiod, for kids 6 and up, which is based on this book. My own older son has been asking me to play D. and D. with him, and I think I will point him here....
And here's an interview with Lukas Ritter at Nina Hess.
Note on age: There is violence, and there are tense moments, but the gore is not lavish, and the tension not so scary as to cause bad dreams. It's a generously spaced book, too, and the vocabulary is not particularly daunting, making it a good one for the not quite so confident younger middle grade reader.
(disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher at ALA this summer)
When Ursula Le Guin was eleven, she submitted a time travel story to Astounding Stories.* It was rejected, but, twenty odd years later, another time travel story became her first paid acceptance. Since then, time slippage has been an inescapable fact of life in Le Guin's universe, one in which characters traveling through the vastness of space age only hours or days, while years pass by on the planets. The vagaries of time passing, and the emotional consequences of time slippage, are mentioned in her novels, but it is in her short stories that she has confronted most directly the consequences and implications of time travel.
For today's Timeslip Tuesday, I offer a quick look at three of Le Guin's early time slip stories, all from The Wind's Twelve Quarters, Le Guin's first anthology of short stories. There are spoilers (the fact that these involve time travel, right off the bat), for which I am sorry, but there it is.
"Semley's Necklace" (written in 1963) became the prologue of Le Guin's first novel, Rocannon's World. It tells of a highborn lady from a far away planet, who journeys into space to reclaim her family's valuable necklace from a museum of interplanetary exotica. But Semley, determined to bring her husband and her daughter back this long-lost treasure that will save them from poverty, doesn't know the cost that she will pay...the cost of lost years. It is a sad and romantic story--not as complex as Le Guin's writing was to become, but still packing considerable emotional punch.
"Winter's King" (first published in 1969) was Le Guin's first foray into the world of Gethen, also know as Winter, to which she would return for The Left Hand of Darkness. It is part political intrigue, part an exploration of what it means for a people to be without fixed gender, and part a time travel story. It is told from the point of view of a young king, who is forced to leave her planet, her kingship, and her baby...and who, years later, returns.
And finally, this anthology contains "April in Paris," (that first story Le Guin got paid for) which is not sad at all. It is smart, and funny, and uses time travel most delightfully to bring a disparate group of lonely people (20th century historian, medieval alchemist, Roman slave girl, and alien archaeologist from the future, plus a lost dog) together. Since it's set on earth, Le Guin gets to have a bit fun with the cultural disconnects between modern and mediaeval France, making this a lighter read than the two stories above, although it, too, is emotionally moving.
The Wind's Twelve Quarters contains many other fine stories, but these three time travel ones stuck with me most. I think one reason for this is that they share another theme that Le Guin revisits often, one that resonates with me lots--that of home coming. Le Guin's books and stories are full of characters who voyage, and return; they seek places where they will be able to live fully, and they seek people with whom they can make "homes" for themselves, regardless of place. In all three of these stories, time travel is what drives the home coming/exile, and it does so very effectively, although perhaps a tad mechanically. In her novels, with more room to maneuver, she's able to create her stories of voyage and return without needing the short cut to emotional intensity that time travel gives to these stories.
"Another Story", written by Le Guin several decades after these, shows even more clearly this Le Guinian use of time travel to pack great emotional intensity into a a short story. It has already gotten its own Timeslip Tuesday post here.
And I have to stop now, because I am writing this on my lunch break at the library and I have to go back to work....
Welcome to this week's compilation of middle grade fantasy/science fiction book reviews and news from around the blogs (at least, all that I could find).
Eric Reinhold (Ryann Watters and the King’s Sword) at Speculative Faith.
and a very moving interview with Terry Pratchett at The Gaurdian.
Misc.
It's been Grey Griffins Week at Shannon Whitney Messenger's blog--I've been meaning to start this series for ages....the link above takes you to the first post, which happens to be a giveaway, but do read on from there....
Katherine Langrish is wrapping up her discussion of Witches with a fourth post on Good Witches, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles.
And the big news of the weekend is the announcement of the Hugo Awards--the Best Novel award was a tie between The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi, and The City & The City, by China Mieville. Tor has the full list here.
Finally, you have till midnight tomorrow (Monday) to enter to win one of two copies of Spaceheadz here at Charlotte's Library! Or you can head over to the O.W.L. (by September 13), to enter to win Spaceheadz and more over there!
It's quite a nice little assortment, this edition of new releases. My pick would be The Crowfield Curse from the middle grade titles, and Firelight from the YA....
ALIEN CONTACT: ALIEN AGENT by Pamela F. Service. Most humans know that scientists are combing outer space for evidence of intelligent life in the universe. And most aliens know that the Galactic Union has been diligently jamming those efforts until Earth is ready to join. A small group of aliens has other ideas, though. They plan on sending humans fake messages as part of a plan for world domination. Only one "human" can stop them Zack Gaither, Alien Agent. Zack will have to use all he's learned in his previous adventures to save Earth from the Gnairt. Fortunately, he's got some help this time. And she's kinda cute...
BENJAMIN FRANKLINSTEIN LIVES by Matthew McElligott. Victor Godwin's orderly life is upended when he discovers that Benjamin Franklin never actually died-he was put into suspended animation and hidden away for more than 200 years in Victor's basement! After an accident reawakens Ben, Victor must not only help him adjust to the modern world but also help him overcome a slight flaw: when Ben runs low on energy, he turns into a rampaging monster desperately hungry for electricity! All this while trying to take first place in the school science fair. With one of history's preeminent scientists helping out, what could go wrong?
THE CLOUD SEARCHERS: AMULET by Kazu Kibuishi. In the third installment of the thrilling Amulet series, Emily, Navin, and their crew of resistance fighters charter an airship and set off in search of Cielis, a mythical city believed to be located on an island high above the clouds. The mysterious Leon Redbeard is their guide, and there's a surprising new addition to the crew: the Elf King's son, Trellis. But is he ally or enemy? And will Emily ever be able to trust the voice of the Amulet?
THE CROWFIELD CURSE by Pat Walsh.It's 1347 and fifteen-year-old Will, an orphan boy, lives at Crowfield Abbey. Sent into the forest to gather wood, he rescues instead, a creature from a trap - a hob, who shares with Will a terrible secret. Somewhere in the forest behind the abbey where he lives, is a grave. And buried deep in the snow is an angel. But how can an angel die? What has it to do with the monks of the Abbey? When two hooded strangers arrive at Crowfield asking questions about the angel's grave. Will is drawn into a world of dangerous Old Magic. "The Crowfield Feather" was short-listed for the "Times" Chidren's Fiction Competition in 2008. This is a stunning debut novel and the first of a two part series.
THE DEAD BOYS by Royce Buckingham. In the desert town of Richland, Washington, there stands a giant sycamore tree. Horribly mutated by nuclear waste, it feeds on the life energy of boys that it snags with its living roots. And when Teddy Matthews moves to town, the tree trains its sights on its next victim.
From the start, Teddy knows something is very wrong with Richland.Every kid he meets disappears before his eyes. A trip to the cemetery confirms that these boys are actually dead and trying to lure him to the tree. But that knowledge is no help when Teddy is swept into the tree’s world, a dark version of Richland from which there is no escape . . .
THE FAMILIARS by Adam Jay Epstein & Andrew Jacobson.After three young wizard apprentices are kidnapped by the evil queen of a distant land, it is up to their familiars, their magical animal companions -- a street smart alley cat, a precocious blue jay, and a bumbling tree frog -- to save them.
THE GHOST OF CRUTCHFIELD HALL by Mary Downing Hahn.When twelve-year-old Florence boards the crowded horse-drawn coach in London, she looks forward to a new life with her great uncle and aunt at Crutchfield Hall, an old manor house in the English countryside. Anything will be better, she thinks, than the grim London orphanage where she has lived since her parents' death.
But Florence doesn't expect the ghost of her cousin Sophia, who haunts the cavernous rooms and dimly lit hallways of Crutchfield and concocts a plan to use Florence to help her achieve her murderous goals. Will Florence be able to convince the others in the household of the imminent danger and stop Sophia before it's too late?
GHOST DOG SECRETS by Peg Kehret. Each day, Rusty feeds a dog that’s left chained in the frigid weather with no shelter and no food or water. When he realizes that the dog’s been injured, Rusty and his friend Andrew unchain the dog and take it. Are they stealing, or are they rescuing a dog in need?
With the dog living in their secret hideout, the boys face multiple challenges, including a mysterious ghost dog that tries to lead them to a startling secret, Andrew’s snoopy sister, and the escalating threats of the dog’s abusive owner. The fast-paced suspense builds to a surprising conclusion, which will leave young readers cheering for Rusty’s compassion and determination.
GHOST HUNT: CHILLING TALES OF THE SEARCH FOR THE UNSEEN by Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson. An exciting new middle grade collection of spooky paranormal investigations based on REAL ghost hunts from stars of the TV show Ghost Hunters, the number one reality show on cable television!
In a lush, thick volume, Ghost Hunt will feature multiple stories dramatized with cliff hangers and red herrings to heighten suspense and character interaction. Through the investigations, the reader will learn the ins and outs of ghost hunting, how to spot a hoax, and how to face their fear of the paranormal.
The book will also have tips for ghost hunting at the end of the book, including guides to the technical equipment and how to set up your own traps for ghosts. Though presented as fiction, these stories are based on real cases, and the GHOSTS ARE REAL!
HALF UPON A TIME by James Riley. Life’s no fairy tale for Jack. After all, his father's been missing ever since that incident with the beanstalk and the giant, and his grandfather keeps pushing him to get out and find a princess to rescue. Who'd want to rescue a snobby, entitled princess anyway? Especially one that falls out of the sky wearing a shirt that says "Punk Princess," and still denies she's royalty. In fact, May doesn't even believe in magic. Yeah, what's that about? May does need help though--a huntsman is chasing her, her grandmother has been kidnapped, and Jack thinks it’s all because of the Wicked Queen . . . mostly because May’s grandmother might just be the long-lost Snow White.
THE LIMIT by Kristen Landon. An eighth grade girl was taken today . . .
With this first sentence, readers are immediately thrust into a fast-paced thriller that doesn't let up for a moment. In a world not too far removed from our own, kids are being taken away to special workhouses if their families exceed the monthly debt limit imposed by the government. Thirteen-year-old Matt briefly wonders if he might be next, but quickly dismisses the thought. After all, his parents are financially responsible, unlike the parents of those other kids. As long as his parents remain within their limit, the government will be satisfied and leave them alone. But all it takes is one fatal visit to the store to push Matt’s family over their limit—and to change his reality forever.
THE LOST ISLAND: RIPLEY'S BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, and also SHOCK HORROR: RIPLEY'S BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION by Robert Ripley. Join the Ripley's Bureau of Investigation - a group of teen agents with special gifts - as they embark on a series of action-packed adventures, travelling the world in pursuit of extraordinary events and tales. These wonderful new stories are perfect for adventurously minded children between the ages of 7 and 11. In "Shock Horror", reports of mysterious fires, exploding trees and unexplained power cuts in a remote Rocky Mountain town reach the RBI. Is there any truth in the terrifying stories of a strange figure in the forest with sparks flying from his fingertips? Using their own powerful skills, the RBI are tested to their limits on the sizzling adventure.
M IS FOR MAMA'S BOY: N.E.R.D.S. by Michael Buckley. In this second outing for the 5th grade super spies, Duncan Dewey, codename "Gluestick", is the point of view character. This time the group must fight a very unlikely villain - he still lives with his Mum. In other words, it's the NERDS against a nerd.
NO SUCH THING AS DRAGONS by Philip Reeve. A dragon story with a brilliant twist…. Ansel's new master slays dragons for a living. He says he's hunted the monstrous worms all over Christendom and has the scars to prove it. But is Brock just a clever trickster in shining armour? Ansel is sure there are no such things as dragons. So what is the man-eating creature that makes its lair in the crags of Dragon Mountain? Ansel and Brock must climb the ice face to discover the terrifying truth.
PLAIN KATE by Erin Bow. Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. As the wood-carver's daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden charms are so fine that some even call her "witch-blade" -- a dangerous nickname in a town where witches are hunted and burned in the square.
For Kate and her village have fallen on hard times. Kate's father has died, leaving her alone in the world. And a mysterious fog now covers the countryside, ruining crops and spreading fear of hunger and sickness. The townspeople are looking for someone to blame, and their eyes have fallen on Kate.
Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he'll give Kate the means to escape the town that seems set to burn her, and what's more, he'll grant her heart's wish. It's a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes that she can't live shadowless forever -- and that Linay's designs are darker than she ever dreamed.
SCARLETT DEDD by Cathy Brett. You're dead Scarlett...Previously a poor taste jibe from school frenemies, now a statement of fact.
Scarlett is absolutely mortified (in more ways than one) to discover that she's accidentally killed herself while trying to get out of a school trip. Even worse, she's taken her entire family with her. Life as a ghost is pretty dull - if only some of her friends were dead too...
YOUNG ADULT
BEYOND THE MASK: THE GRASSLAND TRILOGY by David Ward In this dramatic conclusion to the Grasslands Trilogy, Corki, Pippa, and all their friends are reunited for a final fight to determine the future of Grassland. After escaping the mountains of Grassland, where Corki and Pippa and their friends were slaves and soldiers, the fugitives finally found a new life, and are seemingly safe at last.
But as the former slaves explore new lands to the north, they discover that cruelty and injustice are not only found in Grassland, and that the people they visit may need their help. Grassland, too, may need assistance. When an appeal from an old friend reaches Corki and Pippa in their travels, will they have the courage to do what’s right for their old land, despite its cruel history? What will it cost them to change Grassland for the better?
THE COUNSELING: GHOST HUNTRESS by Marley Gibson Kendall has just discovered who Emily really is, lost her boyfriend, and nearly died doing the thing she loves most--ghost hunting. It's time to take a break and try to reconcile all the changes she's going through. So Kendall heads to the Sierra Mountains, where there's a camp especially for young people with gifts such as hers. It's a time for reflection and self-discovery.
But when she gets to California, she once again finds restless spirits--and the boy in her last vision. It may be the end of one chapter of her life and the beginning of a new one.
CRUSADE by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie For the past two years, Jenn has lived and trained at Spain’s Sacred Heart Academy Against the Cursed Ones. She is among the few who have pledged to defend humanity or die trying. But the vampires are gaining power, and the battle has only just begun. Forced to return home after death takes a member of her family, Jenn discovers that San Francisco is now a vampire strong-hold. As a lone hunter apart from her team, Jenn is isolated—and at risk. She craves the company of her fighting partner, Antonio: his protection, his reassurance, his touch. But a relationship with Antonio comes with its own dangers, and the more they share of themselves, the more Jenn stands to lose. Then Jenn is betrayed by one who was once bound to protect her, causing her to doubt all she had held as true. To survive, Jenn must find the courage to trust herself—and her heart.
EXTRAORDINARY by Nancy Werlin.Phoebe finds herself drawn to Mallory, the strange and secretive new kid in school, and the two girls become as close as sisters . . . until Mallory's magnetic older brother, Ryland, shows up during their junior year. Ryland has an immediate, exciting hold on Phoebe, but a dangerous hold, for she begins to question her feelings about her best friend and, worse, about herself. Soon she'll discover the shocking truth about Ryland and Mallory: that these two are visitors from the faerie realm who have come to collect on an age-old debt. Generations ago, the faerie queen promised Pheobe's ancestor five extraordinary sons in exchange for the sacrifice of one ordinary female heir. But in hundreds of years there hasn't been a single ordinary girl in the family, and now the faeries are dying. Could Phoebe be the first ordinary one? Could she save the faeries, or is she special enough to save herself
FEAR: 13 STORIES OF SUSPENSE AND HORROR edited by International Thriller Writers Association Turn the pages if you dare. . . .In this collection of thirteen fabulously chilling storiesÑfrom thirteen true masters of suspense, including five New York Times bestsellers and a number of Edgar Award nominees, all edited by none other than R. L. StineÑnothing is what it seems. From cannibalistic children, to an unwitting date with a vampire, to a crush on a boy who just might be a werewolf, no scary stone is left unturned. A must-have for all fans of the genre!
FIRELIGHT by Sophie Jordan. Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.
Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.
IMMORTAL BELOVED by Cate Tiernan. Nastasya has spent the last century living as a spoiled, drugged-out party girl. She feels nothing and cares for no one. But when she witnesses her best friend, a Dark Immortal, torture a human, she realizes something's got to change. She seeks refuge at a rehab for wayward immortals, where she meets the gorgeous, undeniably sexy Reyn, who seems inexplicably linked to her past. Nastasya finally begins to deal with life, and even feels safe--until the night she learns that someone wants her dead.
IMMORTAL REMAINS: WEIRDSVILLE by Rook Hastings Four freak accidents. Four mysterious deaths. Four signs of trouble. Welcome back to Weirdsville…
"You see, the girls that died – it wasn't by accident. They were cursed, every one of them. Cursed to meet a horrible death… And I'm going to be next."
Four girls from posh school Riverbank have been killed in seemingly random but freakish ways and it’s not long before Bethan and co. are lured into investigating the grisly case. Is it really just coincidence or is there something more sinister going on?
Meanwhile Hashim’s playing truant, Kelly’s on the warpath and Jay’s trying to avoid someone even more close to home… Himself.Scary, paranormal and supernaturally chilling experiences are everyday in a town like Weirdsville.
LURE by Deborah Kerbel. A Victorian garden, a fishing lure, and a ghost named John .Absolutely nothing is going right for Max Green. His parents have just uprooted their family from Vancouver to the bleak suburbs of Toronto, he has no friends, and everybody at his new high school is ignoring him. To make matters worse, he's in love with an older girl who's completely out of his league.
When Max discovers a local library rumored to be haunted by ghosts, he's immediately drawn to it. With the help of some cryptic messages, he begins to piece together the identity of the teenage ghost and the mysterious chain of events that have connected its spirit to the building for over a century. But just who was John, anyway? Why has he chosen to contact Max? And what does an old fishing lure have to do with solving the mystery?
MONSTER HIGH by Lisi Harrison. From Lisi Harrison, the New York Times bestselling author of The Clique and Alphas, comes a new series with a fresh twist on high school, romance, and the "horrors" of trying to fit in. The monster community has kept a low profile at the local high school, but when two new girls enroll, the town will never be the same. Created just fifteen days ago, Frankie Stein is psyched to trade her father's formaldehyde-smelling basement lab for parties and prom. But with a student body totally freaked out by rumors of monsters stalking the halls, Frankie learns that high school can be rough for a chic freak like her. She thinks she finds a friend in fellow new student Melody Carver-but can a "normie" be trusted with her big secret?
PAST MIDNIGHT by Mara Purnhagen. Let me set the record straight. My name is Charlotte Silver and I'm not one of those paranormal-obsessed freaks you see on TV…no, those would be my parents, who have their own ghost-hunting reality show. And while I'm usually roped into the behind-the-scenes work, it turns out that I haven't gone unnoticed. Something happened on my parents' research trip in Charleston—and now I'm being stalked by some truly frightening other beings. Trying to fit into a new school and keeping my parents' creepy occupation a secret from my friends—and potential boyfriends—is hard enough without having angry spirits whispering in my ear. All I ever wanted was to be normal, but with ghosts of my past and present colliding, now I just want to make it out of high school alive….
REVAMPED by Lucienne Diver. The fanged fabulousity of Vamped, FLUX's fastest-selling new release, is back! Gina's Rules for Surviving Super Spy Club Training: 1. First, the dirt and sweat are just too horrible to contemplate. 2. Unless you enjoy cold showers, be the first one to the bathroom in the morning. 3. Cargo pants make you look hip-py. 4. Making out on missions, unless it's part of your cover, is totally grounds for extra push-ups. 5. When going goth, you've totally got to strike words like totally, awesome, and phat from your vocabulary. 6. Who's actually running the Super Spy Club, you ask? I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.
VANISHED: WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES/CODE NAME CASSANDRA by Meg Cabot. Jessica Mastriani has never liked attention. All she wants is to make it to high school graduation like any ordinary girl. But when Jess is struck by lightning, she becomes anything but ordinary: suddenly she has the ability to locate missing children.
Now Jess is getting noticed in all the wrong ways and by all the wrong people. The media is obsessed with her and her story. The FBI is tapping her phone. And what’s going on with sexy senior Rob? Soon Jess learns the hard way that not everyone who is lost wants to be found….
With no one to trust, it's up to Jess to decide what to do with her new power—before it’s decided for her.
Z by Michael Thomas Ford. The First Rule of Torching: Cleanse with fire.
Josh is by far the best zombie Torcher around—at least, he is in his virtual-reality zombie-hunting game. Josh has quickly risen through the player ranks, relying on the skill, cunning, and agility of a real Torcher.
The Second Rule of Torching: Save all humans.
But luckily for Josh, zombies exist only in the virtual world. The real zombie war is now more than fifteen years in the past, and the battle to defeat the deadly epidemic that devastated his family—and millions of others—is the stuff of history lessons.
The Third Rule of Torching: You can't bring them back.
Charlie is the top-ranked player in the game. Since all the players are shrouded in anonymity, Josh never expects Charlie to be a girl—and he never expects the offer she makes him: to join the underground gaming league that takes the virtual-reality game off the screen and into the streets. Josh is thrilled. But the more involved he gets, the more he realizes that not everything is what it seems. Real blood is spilling, members of the team are disappearing, and the zombies in the game are acting strange. And then there's the matter of a mysterious drug called Z. . . .
boom! (or 70,000 light years) by Mark Haddon (David Fickling Books, 2010, middle grade on up, 195 pages)
When I heard that Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, had written a science fiction book for kids, it went on my list. By happy chance, when my husband was laid low last week with Sickness, I was able to bring it home from the library to comfort him in his affliction. And he was comforted. (He also got Mockingjay, but he liked this one lots better).
boom! tells of two English lads, Jim, the narrator, and his buddy Charlie, who stumble into a gang of aliens with cool technology and tails. The tails they keep hidden, because tails are a dead giveaway when you are trying to pass as human...and two of the aliens are passing as teachers in Jim and Charlie's school. Soon, the boys Know Too Much, Charlie falls into their clutches, and Jim finds himself enlisting the help of his big sister, Becky (with whom relationships had been strained) for a wild motorcycle ride to Scotland, where the aliens have their secret base...Fortunately, the pluck and cunning of the kids (with help from Becky, who wields a mean club) is sufficient to squelch the alien threat, and all is well...for the moment, at least.
Good, straightforward boys vs aliens. Character development is beautifully combined with action and cool stuff, and unlike many "aliens on earth" stories, the characters actually get to journey out among the stars....In short, a most excellent science fiction for the young, the bedridden not quite so young, or any reader who wants a brisk and zesty adventure.
My only reservation is that the cover (literally) doesn't tell you a darn thing about what the book is about. Not a single helpful word. And the first paragraph, although it describes an interesting sandwich choice, doesn't do much to express "this is a cool book with aliens!" It does not help that the sandwich is Red Leicester and gooseberry jam, which most American kids would not understand, and those that would might well find repulsive. However, at least the title is no longer Gridzbi Spudvetch, which graced its first incarnation back in 1992. In short, it will probably need to be hand-sold to kids.
This is not Haddon's first venture into writing for kids--I have now added his Agent Z series to my list of things to look for. Perhaps I will be able to get 10 year old child to read them, even. Boom! did not attract his fickle gaze. Which is too bad. Maybe if I read him the first five chapters or so out loud....
Riley was 12 when she died and went with her parents into the afterlife. There life is not so tremendously different--she still lives with parents (and dog) in the same house (except the neighborhood is empty, what with the neighbors all being still alive). Her parents seem to be adapting just fine to a state of things that allows them to explore, and develop, and enjoy the life beyond, but for Riley, it isn't that easy. Her big sister isn't there with them. Riley's life when she was on earth, and for her first year or so in the afterlife, was defined by her fixation on her big sister Ever...and it's hard to pull away from watching Ever even now. Plus she's having a hard time accepting the fact that she'll be twelve forever (gah!), and she can't quite grasp what the Afterlife wants from her.
But finally Those In the Know summon her before the Council. She is assigned the role of a Soul Catcher, one who travels down to Earth to persuade reluctant spirits to let go and come to the afterlife. And she's also been assigned a guide named Bodhi, a boy she immediately nicknames dorky guy in her own mind (only problem is, once you're in the afterlife, your thoughts are an open book...).
Riley's first mission is to persuade one of the most famous ghosts of England, the Radiant Boy of Warmington Castle, to stop haunting and more on:
"This is where he lives," Bodhi said, his voice filled with reverence. "The Radiant Boy. He's been here for years. Centuries, really."
"Why do you call him that," I squinted, more interested in delaying than in getting the actual answer.
"Because that's his name." He shrugged, chewing on his bottom lip in this weird way that he has.
"So, you're telling me that his mom actually named him the Radiant Boy?" I shook my head and rolled my eyes, fingers drumming against my wool, plaid skirt. "No wonder he's still here, still haunting the place. He's angry. He wants a do over. A second chance with a better name. It's not his fault. The kid got a bum deal."
Bodhi peered at me from the corner of his eye, clearly not amused. "No one knows his real name, or even where he came from All that's known about him is that he's spent hundreds of years scaring people. The how and why is a mystery, and that's where you come in." (pp 72-73 of ARC)
Turns out, Bodhi has little unfinished business of his own, and the two of them are about to be put through the wringer of supernaturally induced fear, anger, and grief....
Radiance is a middle-grade companion to Noel's Evermore et seq., which are Young Adult, but it is most definitely a stand alone-- nothing depends on having read Evermore (I actually haven't read it myself...someday), and YA readers who love that series might find it disappointing that this one is not more YA. It is very middle grade--there's Riley's voice, smart alecky, 12 year old, and, much more to the point, there's the central theme of trying to make it past being 12--worrying about growing up, moving away from your family, starting to think about the choices you are making--all those big questions that make middle school so much fun.
Of course, since Rilely's dead, you might think these things are irrelevant, but that's not quite how Noel's afterlife works.
I was uncertain about Noel's afterlife, into which the reader is plunged at the beginning of the book--I shared Riley's doubts and confusions about just how things were working. But once we headed down to earth on page 65, the book became essentially a fun ghost story, and I began to enjoy it quite a bit. It's not a book I personally loved (mainly because of my doubts during the first 64 pages of afterlife), but it's one I'd happily recommend to fans of the Suddenly Supernatural series by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, or Chris Eboch's Haunted series, who are looking for something more Tween-wards. And I myself am looking forward to the sequel--more ghostly fun with Riley and Bodhi (who turns out not to be dorky at all....).
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