1/11/11

Timeless, by Alexandra Monir, for Timeslip Tuesday

Timeless, by Alexandra Monir (2011, Delacorte, YA, 304 pages) is a debut time-travel romance, with a dash of mystery, published today!

Michele's happy life as an ordinary high school student ends when her mother is killed in a car accident. Suddenly she finds herself in the palatial New York home of the grandparents she had never met before--they had disowned their mother when she ran off with Michele's father. Michele never knew her father either--and now she feels truly alone in the world...

But when she finds the golden key that belonged to her mother, Michele finds herself travelling back in time to 1910. There, in the world of gilded age luxury, she meets the young man she's been dreaming of for years. Philip, with his sapphire blue eyes, is one of the few people who can see her there in the past, and they fall in love. But time travel is a tricky thing. The past brings her not only Philip's love, but entanglement in the scandals of families for whom ambition and power mean more than happiness. When she learns that Philip's life might be ruined by his love for her, her travels back to the past take on a terrible urgency...

Timeless is heavy on the romance. Here's an example:

"The way he looked at her was so intimate it made Michele feel exhilarated and shy all at once. She glanced down at the piano keys, trying to calm her racing heart. And then she felt Philip's hand gently lift her chin, and she looked, mesmerized, into those sapphire eyes. Their faces slowly drew toward each other, and he softly brushed his lips against hers." (page 121).

This was not my cup of tea (sapphire eyes just don't do it for me). And I felt very doubtful about the book. (btw, for those who are concerned -- hot and heavy kissing is the extent of their relationship).

But happily for me, the story picked up its pace when Michele and Philip are separated, and her travels back to the past (the 1920s and the 1940s) involve a wider cast of characters. Not only must Michele find a way to give Philip a chance at a meaningful life, but it becomes clear that there is a time-travel mystery surrounding her long-lost father as well. And so the pages turned briskly...until I reached the fatal words "TO BE CONTINUED." Yoiks, I said to myself, now fully invested in the story. How vexing.

I found Monir's writing to be at times a bit stiff, and her various sub-plots not all entirely convincing. But those who are fond of fantastical romances should enjoy this one lots (and this seems to be born out in the reviews linked to below!)

A samply of other reactions: La Femme Readers, Just Another Book Blog, Flippin' Fabulous, and Only Sexy Books Allowed

Added bonus--music is an important part of the story, and a link to two songs, for which Michele wrote the words and Philip the music, can be found at the author's website.

(disclaimer: ARC received from the publisher)

1/10/11

One last quick post about the Newbery Award--its psychic SLJ reviewer!

Looking in my state's library catalogue for Moon Over Manifest (this year's Newbery Winner, just in case you don't know), I came across its School Library Journal Review: "This thoroughly enjoyable, unique page-turner is a definite winner," wrote Renee Steinberg. How right she was!

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword wins the Sydney Taylor Award

Fantasy may have been shut out of the Newbery, but Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, written and illustrated by Barry Deutsch, was the Sydney Taylor Award winner in the Older Readers Category, the first graphic novel to be so honored. How can one resit its tag-line: “Yet Another Troll-Fighting 11-Year-Old Orthodox Jewish Girl.”

But despite that, it is downstairs in my book pile even as I type, still unread but only a little overdue....sigh.

Will a Fantasy Book Win the Newbery? Answer: No.

Fantasy/sci fi has had pretty good luck with the Newbery Award recently, what with When You Reach Me and The Graveyard Book. Will it do it again?

The top contenders are Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, and Keeper, by Kathi Appelt, both of which are books in which the fantasy elements are more "magical realism" -- the fantastical is important in each of them, but it's subtle; not dragony at all!

I'd be happy if Ninth Ward won--I love that book!

And we'll find out in just a few hours....

Edited to add:

It was very hard not being able to blog while at work today!!!! But I'm home again.

As most of you probably know, speculative fiction didn't do so well this year. No love from the Newbery committee. No love from the Batchelder committee (translated books), although Departure Time, by Matti is almost fantasy...And no love from Pura Belpre (best author and illustrator of Latina descent). Neither of the two sff books from the Morris list (YA debut) won.

There were a few little bright spots, though--The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex won the Odyssey Award (audiobook), and Ninth Ward won a Coretta Scott King author honor for Jewell Parker Rhodes.

And there were two very bright spots indeed. Terry Pratchet won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his contribution to YA literature, and the winner of the Printz Award (YA) was Shipbreaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi.

You can find a very tidy complete set of lists over at Kids Lit (each award in its own post, so work your way down).

1/9/11

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy

Another Sunday, another round-up. (If you are new to these round-ups, here's how they work). Please let me know if I missed something either by leaving a comment or emailing me (charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com)!

The Reviews:

Behemoth, by Scott Westerfeld, at The Book Zone (for boys)

The Coming of the Dragon, by Rebecca Barnhouse, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

The Dragon Games (Books of Umber 2) P. W. Catanese, at Book Talk

The End of the World Club, by J & P Voelkel, at Charlotte's Library

Fairies and the Quest for Neverland, by Gail Carson Levine, at Shannon Whitney Messenger

Fever Crumb, by Philip Reeve, at Fantasy Literature

Forgive My Fins, by Tera Lynn Childs, at Small Review

The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman, at Biblio File.

The Hawk and His Boy, by Christopher Bunn, at Rita's World.

The Invisible Order: Rise of the Darklings, by Paul Crilley, at Beyond Books.

The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan, at Ex Libris

The Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark 1), by John Claude Bemis, at Middle Grade Ninja

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings, by Hélène Boudreau, at Manga Manica Cafe and One Book at a Time

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, by Jennifer Trafton, at BookKids

Season of Secrets, by Sally Nicholls, at Kids Lit (possibly this isn't fantasy...but I want to read it!)

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

The Thirteenth Princess, by Diane Zahler, at Madigan Reads

Trail of Fate, by Michael P. Spradlin, at Fantasy Literature

A Whole Nother Story, by Dr. Cuthbert Soup, at Wandering Librarians

The Wide-Awake Princess, by E.D. Baker, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Windblowne, by Stephen Messer, at Fuse #8

A two for one post at Finding Wonderland--The Magic Thief: Found, by Sarah Prineas, and Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, by R.L. LaFevers

Authors interviewed and guest posting:

Hilari Bell (most recently The Trickster's Girl, which is YA, but also the mg Goblin Gate) at The Enchanted Inkpot

John Claude Bemis (The Clockwork Dark Series) at Middle Grade Ninja.

Hélène Boudreau (Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings) at Manga Maniac Cafe.

Janice Hardy (Blue Fire, book 2 of the Healing Wars) at Cynsations

Dr. Cuthbert Soup (Another Whole Nother Story) at TC&TBC

Jennifer Trafton (The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic) at The Rabbit Room

Other Things of Interest:

The sad news this week was the passing of Dick King Smith...His book, The Sheep-Pig (1983), became Babe, one of my favorite movies ever.

This week's Fairytale Reflections guest at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles is Gillian Philip, talking about Tam Lin.

Author N.R. Williams is blog touring to promote her new book, The Treasures of Carmelidrium; the full schedule can be found here.

And finally, here is a steampunk wedding cake, found at Ciara Knight's Steampunk Saturday:

1/7/11

The End of the World Club, by J & P Voelkel

Those looking for reading material to offer readers pining for next Rick Riordan book should consider turning to the Jaguar Stone series by J & P Voelkel. The two books available thus far, Middleworld (my review) and The End of the World Club, offer a similar combination of adventure mixed with mythology--in this case, two brave kids plunged into a conflict with some of the more unpleasant deities of the Mayan pantheon...

In The End of the World Club (Egmont, December 2010, middle grade, 368 pages), Max, the son of two Mayan archaeologists who had to rescue his parents from the Lords of Death in book 1, is back home from the jungles of Central America. But to save his parents, he cut a deal with the gods...and they aren't going to let it slide. He has ten days to bring the Yellow Jaguar stone to Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, or else.

The Yellow Jaguar was taken to Spain by a conquistador, so Max and Lola, the Mayan girl who was central to the events of Book 1, head off to find it, along with an ancient Mayan king and his mother, whose spirits are currently housed in the bodies of howler monkeys (sounds odd, but it works for them!). But someone else wants the stone--Ah Puku, the God of Violent and Unnatural Death, the god who's about to take control when the new celestial cycle begins next year. Not a nice god at all, and he's throwing just about everything he's got against the two kids.

From one danger to the next, Max and Lola (and the howler monkeys) ricochet around Spain, facing ghosts, murder chargers, human sacrifice, an hideously unnatural wedding (in which Lola has been cast as the bride), and much more! Fortunately, they make it through the obstacles in their way, due mainly to Lola's smarts, and the bravery of the Howler monkey royals (Max means well, and does his best, but he can't really compare to Lola).

Like Middleworld, The End of the World Club is jam packed with scary and exciting adventures. Part of the fun of the first book was watching as Max and Lola became friends under difficult circumstances; in this book, the authors try to add similar character development by introducing the first glimmerings of young love (Max is jealous of a Spanish guy who's fallen for Lola). It felt a bit forced to me. Max also got a lot more screen time in this book than Lola, which was a disappointment--I find her a much more interesting (and intelligent) character! So from a character-development point of view, I prefer the first book.

That being said, the trials and tribulations of Max and Lola's death-filled journey around Spain make for exciting reading, and I'm looking forward to the next book (especially if there's more Lola!)

(arc received for review)

1/6/11

Bad Greek god and goddess puns

Even though I have lots of reviews that I need to write, I'm not going to. Instead, I am going to share the bad puns that my husband and I came up with on our morning commute. We like, from time to time, to take a subject, like "the elements in the periodic table," and see how far we can get with puns (what do you call an email from Nigeria offering you thousands of dollars? Silicon).

Today's subject was Greek Gods and Goddesses.

What Greek god is so hot you could fry an egg on him?

Pan.

Why did the number of parking tickets spike when Persephone was carried off to the underworld?

Demeter wasn't working.

What Greek goddess are you most likely to find at the Rhode Island School of Design?

Artemis (Arty Miss).

Oh the hilarity.

A bit late...but here are my Christmas present books!



Loveliness. And I got two more for my birthday this week--another Ann Lawrence, and the new Patricia McKillip. Now all I need is time...and I really need to stop diverting myself during breaks at work by visiting the library on-line and requesting far too many books.

And here are the books my husband got:


The cider book was a hopeful surprise purchase...and happily it was his favorite book of the lot. We have eight young apple trees, and hopes of making our own cider some year. He also got the fiftieth aniversy edition of the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, by Alan Garner, a lovely book that arrived to late to be in the pile.

1/4/11

Warped, by Maurissa Guibord, for Timeslip Tuesday

Warped, by Maurissa Guibord (Delacorte Press, January 11, 2011, YA, 352 pages), for Timeslip Tuesday.

When I was young, back in the 1980s (sigh) there weren't any romantic time-travel books specifically for teenagers (I think). However, that seems to be changing...and so a new sub-sub-genre emerges, the Romance Time Travel, of which Warped is a fine example (other recent examples being Prada and Prejudice, and Along the River, and I have two more in my tbr pile that I think will qualify).

This is one of those books that is impossible to review without spoilers... So, if you would like a fun time-travel fantasy romance, that keeps the reader entertained, but stretches credulity somewhat, you could just stop reading now and get the book (when it comes out next week).

Or you could keep reading.

Tessa Brody wasn't enjoying spending her evening attending an auction with her book-seller father...but the last lot of books included a unicorn tapestry that seemed to call to her. Pre-empting her father, she makes the high bid...and the tapestry is hers. It will change her life.

When Tessa touches the threads, she finds herself living the life of a Renaissance peasant girl--not just any girl, but the virgin who is to be the bait to lure a unicorn. But the unicorn is really a handsome nobleman, William de Chaucy, enchanted by a wicked witch who has torn the thread of life from him, and from six others as well. Once the unicorn is captured, he will be woven into the place of honor at the center of her tapestry--and his life force will be used by the witch to keep herself young forever.

But back in the present, Tessa is the new owner of the enchanted tapestry. When she plucks a loose thread from it, she releases William...and now she has an ex-unicorn Renaissance lord in her bedroom, with an evil witch determined to get him back. To make matters worse, the Norns (the goddesses of in charge of the threads of life and the fate of ever human ever born) are furious at the disruption the witch has caused to their weaving, and they think Tessa is responsible. And the Fates don't take kindly to meddlers.. Everything, and every one (including William) who Tessa loves could be doomed unless she returns the seven stolen threads of life from the tapestry to the Norns. Which the witch, of course, is dead set against...

It might seem like a complicated plot, but Guibord keeps things moving briskly and reasonably. Many questions arise for which Tessa (and the reader) have no answers for, but all (mostly) becomes clear, and Guibord strikes a nice balance between rushing toward explanations and keeping the reader in suspense. Her characterization of Tessa appealed to me lots (artistic, insecure, sometimes sarcastic), and my favorite parts of the book were those set in real life, with Tessa and her best friend Opal trying to figure out what the heck was happening, with lots of snappy dialogue. My one real issue, plot-wise, was with the Norns--for Powerful Goddesses of Fate they were surprisingly ineffective, and downright wrong viz identifying the culprit behind the lost threads. I wasn't convinced by them.

Within the action and danger of the swirling plot, the romance between Tessa and William flowers. It's a relationship strained both by the issue of looming mortal peril, but also by Tessa's role in the unicorn hunt. William isn't sure he can trust her, and makes this clear...but the overwhelming power of their mutual attraction triumphs in the end. It's more than a bit fairy-tale like, but that's part of the fun, except that I would have liked William better if, instead of getting all huffy and distrustful periodically, he had clarified his issues and given Tessa a chance to tell her side of the story. So not my personal favorite teen romance, although I grant him a certain hotness (and I think teen readers will find him even hotter!).

In short, despite my two issues (the Norns and lack of trust business), I enjoyed this one, and the pages turned briskly. Guibord took an interesting and entertaining premise, and delivered a fun read. This is her first novel--I'll be looking forward to more from her.

Time travel-wise--William is a time traveller from the Renaissance to our present, and although his experience as such isn't central to the plot, it does enliven things, in the fairly standard delighted-wonder-of-person-from-the-past way (pizza! electricity! asphalt!). Tessa's brief dream-like travel to the past doesn't really count as real time travel--she was living someone else's life. I think this will appeal more directly to those who want fantasy romance, rather than hard-core aficionados of Time Travel, which is just fine.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

Out of the Shadows wins Costa Book Award


It was announced this evening that Out of Shadows, by Jason Wallace has won the Costa Book Award for best children's book. Here's the blurb lifted from the awards website:

"Zimbabwe, 1980s. The fighting has stopped, independence has been won and Robert Mugabe has come to power offering hope, land and freedom to black Africans. It is the end of the Old Way and the start of a promising new era.

For Robert Jacklin, it's all new - new continent, new country, new school. And very quickly he is forced to understand a new way of thinking, because for some of his classmates the sound of guns is still loud, and their battles rage on.....white boys who want their old country back, not this new black African government. Boys like Ivan. Clever, cunning Ivan. For him, there is still one last battle to fight, and he's taking it right to the very top."

It sounds fascinating...

1/3/11

Welcome to the first Non-Fiction Monday Round-up of 2011


Thanks for stopping by for this first Non-Fiction Monday of the year!

My own contribution is The Dark Game: True Spy Stories, by Paul S. Janeczko (YA, Candlewick, 256 pages).

I turn to the Cybils Non-fiction shortlists as a tried and true source of great books for my kids (and me). Happily, I had one of the shortlisted titles already on hand--I'd gotten Janeczko's book out of the library a few weeks ago on the strength of the many positive reviews I'd been seeing of it. And it did not disappoint!

With stories of spies ranging from the Revolutionary War to today's cyber spying, Janeczko offers in depth looks at particular men and women and their espionage careers. He's not aiming for a comprehensive history of spying--rather, his focus is on stories that exemplify particular historical periods. And so there was a very personal element to this book--it's full of strong characters (both men and women) who keep the attention of the reader fixed on their adventures.

Many of the stories, what with the concomitant risks of being a spy, and the high military and political stakes involved, were full of suspense and kept me at the edge of my seat! And I kept looking up from the book to share things I'd learned with my family. I didn't know, for instance, that one of the key spies of the Revolution was an unnamed woman from New York. I didn't know that there was a group of Choctaw code talkers in World War One, or that a tunnel was dug under East Berlin to allow the West to tap into the Soviet phone lines. In short, I was both educated and entertained. And my ten year old son likewise--I'm reading it out loud to him, and he is enjoying it lots too.

A fine shortlist choice!

Please leave your non-fiction links in the comments, and I'll post them as the day progresses!

Speaking of the Cybils, several of the Non-Fiction Panelists share their shortlists--you can find them at Simply Science, Check It Out, and Picture Book of the Day.

At Great Kid Books you can find You and Me Together--Moms, Dads, and Kids Around the World, by Barbara Kerley, and One World, One Day, also by Barbary Kerley.

At NC Teacher Stuff, there's Beco's Big Year: A Baby Elephant Turns One, by Linda Stanek.

Shelf-employed offers up two books in the Food is CATegorical series, books "featuring the main food groups and healthy living."

Wendie's Wanderings looks at What's in a ...Hole? by Tracy Nelson Maurer.

At AAKidsBooksTalks you will find Simeon's Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till, by Simeon Wright.

At Chicken Spaghetti there's Saving the Baghdad Zoo

Wild About Nature blog has a review of Arctic Lights Arctic Nights by Debbie S. Miller.

Abby the Librarian shares Come See the Earth Turn, by Lori Mortensen.

The Children's War features Remember D-Day: the Plan, the Invasion, Survivor Stories by Ronald J. Drez

The Cath in the Hat has I Can Sculpt, a how-to book on sculpting for young artists ages 4 to 7.

At Wrapped in Foil there's another Cybils shortlisted book--Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot

A favorite of mine, A Seed is Sleepy, can be found over at Jean Little Library.

And Pink Me has one for us grown-ups (on paper at least)--Print Workshop: Hand-printing techniques + truly original projects by Christine Schmidt.

Stacy Loscalzo looks at Just One Bite: 11 Animals and Their Bites at Life Size.

At Bookish Blather there's The Girl in the Song (the women who inspired 50 rock songs)

Thank you all for all the lovely links! Now I go back to stripping paint off cupboards...but I'll be checking back in.

Two more have joined:

Lori Calabrese looks at Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever.

And at TheHappyNappyBookseller you can find Come See the Earth Turn- The Story of Leon Foucault.

And a third--Beowulf: a Tale of Blood, Heat, and Ashes, by Nicky Raven, illustrated by John Howe, at All About the Books with Janet Squires.

(I stripped the cupboard. While I was stripping that cupboard, however, a mouse became trapped in another cupboard, and ripped the fresh contact paper to shreds. Sigh. Our cat is the worst mouser ever. I have caught more mice than she has).

And one final contribution: At Rasco from RIF you can find The Native Trees of Canada.

Thank you all for joining in!!!

1/2/11

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

Happy New Year, all readers and writers of middle grade science fiction and fantasy, and welcome to the first mgsff round-up of 2011. If I missed your post, or that of your best friend, or anything you happened to see, please let me know! And thank you, all of you in the past year who have mentioned on your own blogs that I am doing these round-ups--I appreciate it, and you are welcome to do it again, not because I want the visitors qua visitors so much, but for the Sake of the Books, because the whole point of these round-ups is to bring attention to them.

What mg sff book are you most looking forward to in 2011? I, myself, am having trouble immagining a world beyond January, so I'll go with Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem.

First, the big/already probably old news:



What do these books have in common?
A. I like them all lots
B. Little pink was used in the cover art, and as far as I know, there are no sparkles*
C. Good writing and tons of kid appeal
D. They all include vampire yetis
E. All of the above

*I haven't seen the finished cover of the Shadows. Are there sparkles???

Answer: (mostly) E. They are the finalists in the Elementary Middle Grade Science Fiction/Fantasy category of the Cybils Awards (for which I was a panelist), and they show beautifully the range of mg sff today. They include horror, humor, reimagined fairy tales, tragedy, wondrous inventions, ghosts, evil, magic...They are girl books and boy books, books perfect for younger readers, and books perfect for grown-ups! I wish we could have shortlisted more books--there are several I'm still very wistful about...

I think my favorite cover is The Dead Boys--the Evil Tree tickles my fancy lots. But I can't decide which is my favorite book, and I pity the judges of the next round who have to pick just one winner!

This week's reviews:

Beauty, by Robin McKinley, at Nayu's Reading Corner. If I were to pick just one book to give to an eleven year old girl, this would be it. Beauty, incidentally, just got a very new and sharp looking cover over in the UK, shown on the far right. My own version, read in the 1980s, looking very 1980s indeed, leads the parade:







Behemoth, by Scott Westerfeld, at Boys Rule Boys Read

The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau, at Reading Vacation

The Good Little Devil, by Ann Lawrence, at Charlotte's Library

Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London, by Keith Mansfield, at Charlotte's Library

The Jumper Chronicles--Quest for Merlin's Map, by W.C. Peever, at Eating Y.A. Books

A Matter of Magic, by Patricia C. Wrede, at The Book Smugglers

Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, at books4yourkids

Shadow, by Jenny Moss, at Reading Vacation

The Shadow Hunt, by Katherine Langrish, at Eva's Book Addiction

Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, by R.L. Lafevers, at TheHappyNappyBookseller

Melina at Reading Vaction takes a look at the Suddenly Supernatural series -- Book 2--Scaredy Kat, and Book 3--Unhappy Medium

and Gregory Breen takes a look at the Artemis Fowl series at Suite 101.

Interviews:

Greg Van Eekhout (Kid vs Squid) at Spookycyn

Susan Fletcher (Ancient, Strange, and Lovely--Book 4 of the Dragon Chronicles) at Euphoria

Other Stuff:

I thought it would be but the work of minutes to pull together a list of all the mg and ya dragon books published in 2010. It wasn't. You can find the long long list that resulted here!

The Nebula Awards have a category (the Andre Norton Awards) for YA books, and now the Hugo Award folks are thinking of doing the same, with an award for YA books including "those for younger children" (read more at Cheryl's Mewsings)

And finally, for the little bon mote I like to offer at the end of these round-ups, here is a selection of "Ancient Robots and Victorian Androids" at Dark Roasted Blend. Really cool stuff! I am something of a fan of Marie Rutkoski's books (The Cabinet of Wonders and The Celestial Globe), and so was immensely tickled to learn that John Dee, Elizabethan Alchemist, devised a wooden beetle that could fly:

1/1/11

New releases of sci fi and fantasy for kids and teens--the first half of January, 2011

I, for one, don't actually need any new releases--I have on hand enough books from 2010 to survive weeks of being snowed in...and I am still convinced that I will find the time to read them all.

But new years, and new releases, happen, and this First Half of January list is an especially appealing one. My top pick is Season of Secrets, by Sally Nicholls--it sounds so good that I will graciously forgive her for how much she made me cry with her first book (Ways to Live for Ever). I also have the two YA timeslip books on hand to review on forthcoming Tuesdays, which makes me happy!

(As usual my information comes from Teens Read Too, with blurbs from the publishers. Feel free to point out any errors or omissions!)

MIDDLE GRADE

ALIEN ENCOUNTER: ALIEN AGENT by Pamela F. Service "Zack's back at work again, as an Alien Agent. His assignment: find an alien kid who hijacked a spaceship to Roswell, New Mexico. Sound easy? Not quite. Because Zack's dad is going too. And he's being chased by a man with a serious grudge against aliens. Can Zack find the missing alien and keep the truth from his dad while escaping the clutches of one Major Garrett? It's all in a day's work for Earth's Alien Agent."

A BOY AND HIS BOT by Daniel H. Wilson "When young Code falls down a hole while following a mysterious robotic insect, he lands in a world that defies all imagination. Everything in Mekhos is made from metal and circuitry, including the citizens-who happen to be robots. To find his way home, Code must first cross Mekhos's bizarre and dangerous landscape to reach the Beam Stalk. There, an artifact known as the Robonomicon is being guarded by an evil ruler who has plans to destroy Mekhos. Can Code free the Robonomicon, save the robots of Mekhos from impending doom, and still get himself back to Earth in time to catch the school bus? With its dazzling array of robots and futuristic gadgetry, this rollicking story will hold special appeal for boys and budding sci-fi lovers everywhere."

BUBBLE IN THE BATHTUB: DOCTOR PROCTOR'S FART POWDER by Jo Nesbo (I wasn't able to find a blurb for this sequel to Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder...)

THE DEADLY CONCH: TARA TRILOGY by Mahtab Narsimhan "After the conclusion of The Silver Anklet, Tara’s triumphant return to Morni is short-lived. Tara’s deceased former stepmother, Kali, seeks revenge through her daughter, Layla. And so begins a series of carefully orchestrated events to cast suspicion on Tara: a dead dog in the village temple, contaminated well water, and whispers that Tara is still possessed. Layla fuels the villagers’ blind superstitions and fears. Soon all of Morni is against Tara, even her own family. Death seems to be the only way to stop her evil stepsister. Tara turns to Lord Yama and his deadly conch for help. He takes her to the Underworld to seek advice, but when she returns, she has only 24 hours to prove her innocence and to save the village before she must go back to the World of the Dead. Forever. Can Tara believe in herself once more to defeat Layla, or will Lord Yama and his deadly conch claim their next victim? The harrowing conclusion to the thrilling Tara Trilogy answers these questions and more."

ENTER THE ZOMBIE: NATHAN ABERCROMBIE, ACCIDENTAL ZOMBIE by David Lubar "When Mr. Murphy finds out that evil organization RABID is using a student academic and athletic competition to recruit agents, he asks Nathan, Abigail, and Mookie to form a team and enter the contest. Things go terribly wrong when Nathan’s nemesis, Rodney the bully, forms his own team to go up against Nathan. Soon Rodney and his pals start to notice some very odd things about Nathan. Will they discover Nathan’s secret and expose his zombie identity to the entire world?"

FREEDOM STONE by Jeffrey Kluger. "Lillie's papa believed in freedom--for him, his family, and all the slaves on the Greenfog plantation. So when the Confederate Army promised freedom to the family of every slave who served in the Civil War--whether they came home or not--Lillie's papa decided he had to take the chance.

But when Lillie's family got the news that her papa was killed, they weren't freed. The army claimed that Lillie's papa was a thief. Lillie knew that couldn't be true! Even worse, the master started making plans to sell off Lillie's little brother, Plato. With the help of an old slave, Bett, who bakes bread that bends time, Lillie travels to the battle during which her father died to find out the true story. Using a little magic of her own, Lillie rights a few wrongs and buys her family their freedom."

MAGIC HEARTS: CANDY FAIRIES by Helen Perelman
"It's Heart Day in the Candy Fairies series"

THE MISSING MAGIC: B MAGICAL by Lexi Connor. "An enchanting new series about an eleven-year-old witch, Beatrix, will cast a S-P-E-L-L on readers! Eleven-year-old Beatrix just wants to be able to cast spells the way all the other witches can. But when B discovers that magic happens when she spells out a word, the C-H-A-O-S begins!"

RESCUE ON TANKIUM3: MISSILE MOUSE by Jake Parker "Missile Mouse is back in action for an amazing new adventure!

The daring agent Missile Mouse must help free a planet forced into slavery by evil King Bognarsh. But things get dicey when Bognarsh hires the Blazing Bat to take Missile Mouse out before he can shut the operation down."

SEASON OF SECRETS by Sally Nicholls "Molly and Hannah have just lost their mother, and while Dad "figures things out", they're sent to stay with their grandparents in a quiet country town. Everything is different: there are only ten kids in their entire school; they have to walk home by themselves every day; and a phone call from Dad just isn't the same as a hug. In fact, they're not even sure when, or if, their dad will be back for them.

One night Hannah decides to run away, and Molly follows her out into the storm. Suddenly, Molly is surrounded by dogs and strange men on horseback, and they're all chasing a man in the road. Molly rushes to find someone to help him, but when she returns, he's nowhere to be seen. She finds him again the next day, and he's badly injured. As he heals, Molly befriends him and realizes that there's something magical about him. He can make a flower blossom in the palm of his hand; he can make a sapling grow in the dead of winter. Molly wants desperately to figure out who he is and just how much power he has. If he can make the trees come to life again, is there still hope for Molly's mother?"

THE TROUBLE WITH SECRETS: B MAGICAL by Lexi Connor "An enchanting new series about an eleven-year-old witch, Beatrix, will cast a S-P-E-L-L on readers!

Eleven-year-old Beatrix is thrilled -- she can finally cast spells just like the rest of her family. When her non-magical best friend George finds out her secret, however, the result is T-R-O-U-B-L-E!"

YOUNG ADULT

XVI by Julia Karr. "Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world - even the most predatory of men - that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past - one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer."

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis "Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules. Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
"

ALL JUST GLASS by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. "Sarah Vida has given up everything for love. From a legendary family of vampire-hunting witches, Sarah was raised to never trust a vampire, to never let her guard down, and to avoid all tricky attachments of the heart. But now Sarah IS a vampire—changed by the boy she thought she loved. Her family has forsaken her, and Sarah herself is disgusted by her appetite for blood. Aida Vida is Sarah's older sister, the good, reliable sibling who always does her family proud. But when Aida's mother insists that Sarah be found and killed, Aida is given the one assignment that she may not be able to carry out.
Taking place over just twenty-four hours, ALL JUST GLASS tells the story of a game-changing battle that will forever change the world of the Den of Shadows. And at its center is the story of two sisters who must choose between love and duty."

AWAKENED: HOUSE OF NIGHT by P.C & Kristin Cast "Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’s House of Night, Neferet has sworn vengeance on Zoey. Dominion over Kalona is only one of the weapons she plans to use against Z. But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Skye and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there. Being Queen would be cool, wouldn’t it? Why should she return to Tulsa? After losing her human consort, Heath, she will never be the same – and her relationship with her super-hot-warrior, Stark, may never be the same either…And what about Stevie Rae and Rephaim? The Raven Mocker refuses to be used against Stevie Rae, but what choice does he have when no one in the entire world, including Zoey, would be okay with their relationship? Does he betray his father or his heart?

In the pulse-pounding 8th book in the bestselling House of Night series, how far will the bonds of friendship stretch and how strong are the ties that bind one girl’s heart?"

THE FAEMAN QUEST: THE FAERIE WARS CHRONICLES by Herbie Brennan "....with The Faeman Quest, Brennan returns to the world of Faerie to introduce a new character - Mella, the daughter of King Consort Henry and Queen Holly Blue. When Mella accidentally travels to the country of Haleklind, she discovers rebel forces preparing an invasion using a terrifying new magical weapon. This novel features old favorites-Brimstone, Pyrgus, and Lord Hairstreak's head-but readers will identify immediately with Mella, whose stubborn streak and fiesty daring must save the Faerie realm from mass destruction."

HEART OF GOLD: THE LAWS OF MAGIC by Michael Pryor At a loss after finishing their end-of-year exams, Aubrey and George travel to the Gallian capital, Lutetia, where it so happens that the lovely Caroline is studying natural history. Aubrey wants to pursue a cure for his condition—though his family has other ideas, and he's soon burdened with a royal mystery to solve, old letters to procure, a missing ornithologist to locate, and a spot of diplomatic espionage. These tasks should keep Aubrey occupied—but that would be underestimating his sense of curiosity and uncanny knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone is stealing people's souls and turning them into mindless monsters, and the country's magical lifeline, the Heart of Gold, has been stolen, leaving the city in chaos. Aubrey, George, and a somewhat reluctant Caroline are on the case in this engaging read.

HEXBOUND: DARK ELITE by Chloe Neill Lily Parker is new to St. Sophia's School for Girls, but she's already learned that magic can be your best friend-or your worst enemy. That's why Lily has to learn how to control her newly discovered paranormal abilities while fighting the good fight with her best friend Scout as they take on Chicago's nastiest nightlife-including the tainted magic users known as Reapers...

INVASION: A CHAOS NOVEL by Jon S. Lewis Colt McAlister is drawn into a war against things he thought only existed in comic books. After a car wreck takes the lives of his parents, Colt moves to Arizona to stay with his grandfather. There, an informant tells him that his parents were actually murdered because his mom, a journalist, was getting ready to write a story exposing Trident Industries. Along with Oz and Danielle, his new comrades at Chandler High, Colt vows to uncover the truth. But the more they learn, the more bizarre reality becomes. Mind control, jet packs, and flying motorcycles only scratch the surface of what they discover. Colt is recruited by a secret organization called the Central Headquarters Against the Occult and Supernatural. But the battle isn't just against an out-of-control giant corporation. A gateway to another world is opening, and the invasion has already begun.

THE JUDAS CODE: MONSTER REPUBLIC by Ben Horton. "The explosion at the Prime Minister's visit to Long Harbour means the cover of the Monster Republic is blown, and they are forced deep into hiding. Lazarus Fry turns his tactics to infiltration, and is confident of their swift crushing. Plus his new pets, the Blood Hawks, are hungry to get their talons into some fresh kill...But Fry hasn't counted on this band of rebel kids' awesome will for survival. When your back is against the wall, the only option is to come out fighting..."

THE LEGACY by Gemma Malley When a Pincent Pharmaceutical van is ambushed by the rebel group known as the Underground, its contents come as a huge surprise-not drugs, but corpses in a horrible state. It appears that the pharmaceutical company's top drug, Longevity-which is supposed to eradicate disease and ensure eternal life-isn't living up to its promises. Now a virus is sweeping the country, killing hundreds in its wake, and Longevity is powerless to fight it. But when the unscrupulous head of Pincent claims that the Underground is responsible for releasing the virus, it's up to Peter, Anna, and their friends to alert the world to the terrifying truth behind Longevity before it's too late.

THE LEGEND OF WARAWA: CHOSEN BY DESTINY TO FIGHT THE EVILS OF THE EXTREMES
by Robert C. Powers (couldn't find a blurb, but I guess it could be fantasy...)

MAD LOVE by Suzanne Selfors "When you're the daughter of the bestselling Queen of Romance, life should be pretty good. But 16-year-old Alice Amorous has been living a lie ever since her mother was secretly hospitalized for mental illness. After putting on a brave front for months, time is running out. The next book is overdue, and the Queen can't write it. Alice needs a story for her mother-and she needs one fast.

That's when she meets Errol, a strange boy who claims to be Cupid, who insists that Alice write about the greatest love story in history: his tragic relationship with Psyche. As Alice begins to hear Errol's voice in her head and see things she can't explain, she must face the truth-that she's either inherited her mother's madness, or Errol is for real."

THE NASCENZA CONSPIRACY: THE CASSAFORTE CHRONICLES by V. Briceland . "Petro Divetri—younger brother of famed sorceress Risa Divetri—just wants to be left alone. His status as one of the seven ruling families in Cassaforte has saddled him with unwanted attention, from bullies as well as from those seeking favors. So when Petro and his best friend Adrio are sent to far-off Nascenza for the Midsummer High Rites, they swap identities. Their prank goes awry when Adrio, mistaken for Petro, is kidnapped by rebels determined to overthrow the king. With the help of Emilia, a palace guard who wants to prove her worth, Petro must rescue his friend and defeat a political plot that threatens to wipe out all of Cassaforte."

NIGHT SCHOOL: BLOOD COVEN by Mari Mancusi "After their parents' shocking revelation about their fae heritage and an attack on their lives, the McDonald twins are forced to hide out deep in the Swiss Alps at Riverdale Academy, a secret vampire slayer training facility. And with no way to contact their vampire boyfriends for rescue, they're going to have to play nice with the locals. But when Sunny starts acting strange, Rayne realizes that there's more to fear at Riverdale than getting staked by the student body-leading to a showdown in Fairyland that may cost the twins their lives"

SHADOWSPELL: FAERIEWALKER by Jenna Black "On top of spending most of her time in a bunkerlike safe house and having her dates hijacked by a formidable Fae bodyguard, Faeriewalker Dana Hathaway is in for some more bad news: the Erlking and his pack of murderous minions known as the Wild Hunt have descended upon Avalon. With his homicidal appetite and immortal powers, the Erlking has long been the nightmare of the Fae realm. A fragile treaty with the Faerie Queen, sealed with a mysterious spell, is the one thing that keeps him from hunting unchecked in Avalon, the only place on Earth where humans and Fae live together. Which means Dana’s in trouble, since it’s common knowledge that the Faerie Queen wants her – and her rare Faeriewalker powers – dead. The smoldering, sexy Erlking’s got his sights set on Dana, but does he only seek to kill her, or does he have something much darker in mind?"

SHANTORIAN: TRACKERS by Patrick Carman "In the 21st century landscape of bits and bytes, everyone leaves a digital footprint ... even the most advanced cyber criminals. And that's where the Trackers come in. Four tech-savvy kids armed with high-tech video cameras and esoteric coding skills, the Trackers can find almost anyone, anywhere. Told through a collage of videos, text, and websites, Trackers #1 follows Adam, Finn, Lewis, and Emily as they become entangled in a high-tech, high-stakes game of cat and mouse with Shantorian, the world's most dangerous hacker. At least, that's who they think they're tracking....

As the four dig deeper into the shadowy world of online crime, they soon learn that things aren't always as they seem."

TIMELESS by Alexandra Monir "When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives."

TRICKSTER'S GIRL by Hilari Bell "In the year 2098 America isn't so different from the USA of today. But, in a post-9/11 security-obssessed world, "secured" doesn't just refer to borders between countries, it also refer to borders between states. Teenagers still think they know everything, but there is no cure for cancer, as Kelsa knows first-hand from watching her father die. The night Kelsa buries her father, a boy appears. He claims magic is responsible for the health of Earth, but human damage disrupts its flow. The planet is dying. Kelsa has the power to reverse the damage, but first she must accept that magic exists and see beyond her own pain in order to heal the planet."

UNEARTHLY by Cynthia Hand "Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy. Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?"

WARPED by Maurissa Guibord "Tessa doesn't believe in magic. Or Fate. But there's something weird about the dusty unicorn tapestry she discovers in a box of old books. She finds the creature woven within it compelling and frightening. After the tapestry comes into her possession, Tessa experiences dreams of the past and scenes from a brutal hunt that she herself participated in. When she accidentally pulls a thread from the tapestry, Tessa releases a terrible centuries old secret. She also meets William de Chaucy, an irresistible 16th-century nobleman. His fate is as inextricably tied to the tapestry as Tessa's own. Together, they must correct the wrongs of the past. But then the Fates step in, making a tangled mess of Tessa's life. Now everyone she loves will be destroyed unless Tessa does their bidding and defeats a cruel and crafty ancient enemy."

THE WATER WARS by Cameron Stracher
"Welcome to a future where water is more precious than oil or gold...Hundreds of millions of people have already died, and millions more will soon fall-victims of disease, hunger, and dehydration. It is a time of drought and war. The rivers have dried up, the polar caps have melted, and drinkable water is now in the hands of the powerful few. There are fines for wasting it and prison sentences for exceeding the quotas.

But Kai didn't seem to care about any of this. He stood in the open road drinking water from a plastic cup, then spilled the remaining drops into the dirt. He didn't go to school, and he traveled with armed guards. Kai claimed he knew a secret-something the government is keeping from us... And then he was gone. Vanished in the middle of the night. Was he kidnapped? Did he flee? Is he alive or dead? There are no clues, only questions. And no one can guess the lengths to which they will go to keep him silent. We have to find him-and the truth-before it is too late for all of us."

WISHFUL THINKING by Alexandra Bullen "If you could wish for a different life, would you? What if that life changed everything you thought was real? Adopted as a baby, Hazel Snow has always been alone. She's never belonged anywhere--and has always yearned to know the truth about where she comes from. So when she receives three stunning, enchanted dresses--each with the power to grant one wish--Hazel wishes to know her mother. Transported to a time and place she couldn't have imagined, Hazel finds herself living an alternate life--a life with the mother she never knew.

Over the course of one amazing, miraculous summer, Hazel finds her home, falls in love, and forms an unexpected friendship. But will her search to uncover her past forever alter her future?"

The Cybils Elementary and Middle Grade Sci Fi Fantasy Shortlist!!!!

For the past few months, I and my fellow panelists have been busily burrowing our way through the 150 books nominated for the Cybils Awards in the Elementary/Middle Grade Sci Fi Fantasy category!

And here (drum roll) is our beautiful Shortlist, as officially announced five minutes ago over at the Cybils Website:

Call, The (The Magnificent 12)
by Michael Grant
Katherine Tegen Books
Nominated by: Ben

Michael Grant has crafted a great beginning to a new series that is guaranteed to leave you wanting more action, more plot development, more laugh-out-loud humor and the next book in the series. The Call follows a 12-year-old boy named Mack who is just a "medium" regular old boy with nothing special about him. However, he soon learns he is one of 12 Magnifica and it is up to him to track down the other eleven kids to stop the evil forces. This book will have you reading right through until the end as you come across some interesting characters and some scenes that may cause you to squirm. Through it all you will find yourself laughing along with the adventures of Mack. --Aaron Maurer

Dead Boys, The
by Royce Buckingham
Putnam Juvenile
Nominated by: Mike Schoeneck

When Teddy moves to a desert community, he makes a lot of new friends, but they are all dead! Victims of a tree mutated by toxic waste into a vicious killer, the boys all perished ten years apart, and if Teddy can’t help them rest in peace, he may be next tasty snack for the maniacal tree. This creepy tale is packed with action, suspense, sly humor and an environmental message as well. --Karen Yingling

Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs
by Ursula Vernon
Dial
Nominated by: Debbie Nance

This second tale of the young dragon, Danny Dragonbreath, is full of hilarious enchantment that should delight the fantasy reader of any age. When Suki, a Japanese exchange student, is beset by Ninja Frogs, Danny and Wendell, his geeky iguana pal (who's fallen hard for Suki), travel with her to mythical Japan to find out what's going on. Danny thinks it's the greatest thing ever to be in the thick of real Ninja action, Wendell's worried about Suki, and as for Suki herself--she just wants to be a comic-book reading veterinarian, preferably a veterinarian who isn't being stalked by Ninjas...Not only is this a laugh-out-loud story, with smart, snappy dialogue and endearing characters, but Vernon's many illustrations, including panels that carry the story forward, are masterpieces of comic art. --Charlotte Taylor

Fever Crumb
by Philip Reeve
Scholastic
Nominated by: Gwenda Bond

Fever is a foundling, adopted as an infant girl and educated by the Order of Engineers, all male, who live in the head of a giant statue. But she has other memories, too--ones that aren't hers, that arise on her first assignment outside the head. Who is Fever Crumb, and why do people want her dead? This prequel to Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines quartet, set in a future London that bears the traces of our own in its language ("Who gives a blog?") and technology, introduces a new series. Yet smart, original, and full of memorable images--of paper boys, and movable fortresses, and a head full of bald engineers--Fever Crumb also stands alone. --Anamaria Anderson

Ninth Ward
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Little, Brown
Nominated by: Hallie Tibbetts

Twelve-year-old Lanesha has always seen the ghosts of New Orleans, including that of her mother who died in childbirth. While she thinks often about the Uptown family that’s abandoned her, her heart belongs to her caretaker Mama Ya-Ya, the Ninth Ward where they live, and her dreams of becoming an engineer. This gripping, magical portrait of the days before, during and after Hurricane Katrina follows Lanesha as she and her friend TaShon battle real-life dystopian conditions to save their own lives (and their dog, Spot). The result is a powerful survival story that will haunt young readers. --Gwenda Bond


Reckless
by Cornelia Funke
Little, Brown
Nominated by: Angela

Jacob Reckless never intended for his younger brother, Will, to learn about Mirrorworld. He had been keeping it secret since discovering the enchanted portal shortly after their father's disappearance. But when an enchantment causes Will to slowly turn to stone, Jacob realizes he can no longer afford to keep the magic of the land a secret. Accompanied by a shape-shifter and Will's girlfriend, Jacob sets out to find the antidote before his brother's transformation is complete. Cornelia Funke deftly intertwines familiar fairy tales and characters into an action-packed quest tale full of political rivals, jealous lovers and deadly monsters. --Nicole Signoretta

Shadows, The (The Books of Elsewhere, Vol. 1)
by Jacqueline West
Dial
Nominated by: Sandra Stiles

After being forced to move into an old Victorian household with her Math nut parents, 11-year-old Olive discovers an amazing secret, stuffed into a dresser drawer is a pair of spectacles that allows Olive to climb through the pictures on the walls and into another world that is strangely similar to the real world, right down to the houses and neighbors. However, Olive quickly realizes there are a lot of hidden secrets contained within the old house like why a mysterious cat follows her around, why none of the pictures on the wall can be moved and who is the child Morton who lives inside the mysterious world known as Elsewhere. This first book in the Books of Elsewhere series, weaves a dark tale of mystery, adventure and a battle against a darker power that is determined to turn the lights out on Olive’s world for good. --Cindy Hannikman



Which one do you like best?

And then there's the YA Sci Fi/Fantasy shortlist, which is full of books I didn't expect to see, but includes some favorites of mine (although it is missing a few books I had hoped to see sob sob):

Brain Jack, by Brian Falkner

Guardian of the Dead, by Karen Healey

Plain Kate, by Erin Bow

Pod, by Stephen Wallenfels

Rot & Ruin, by Jonathan Maberry

Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi

The Wager, by Donna Jo Napoli

Congratulations to all the authors! Now the books will make their way to the second round panelists, who will have the virtually impossible task of picking one winner....to be announced in February.

Thanks, Fellow Panelists, Sheila Ruth, our sff leader, and Anne Levy, Cybils Administrator, and special thanks to all the publishers and authors who sent us books!

(The links in this post take you to Amazon, where the Cybils Awards will earn a small commission from any purchases. That commission will be used to buy awards for the winners...)

12/31/10

The Dragons of 2010

To celebrate the last day of 2010, here's a list of all the Middle Grade and Young Adult dragon books from 2010! There are lots here I haven't read (which, since all I seem to have done in 2010 is read, baffles me more than somewhat). The blurbs in quotation marks, therefore, are lifted from the publishers' descriptions.

Ancient, Strange, and Lovely: the Dragon Chronicles by Susan Fletcher. "In a new dragon novel by Susan Fletcher, Bryn must save a dracling from a dangerous modern world that seems to have no place for an ancient dragon."

Attack of the Ninja Frogs and Curse of the Were-Wiener by Ursula Vernon. 2010 was a happy year--two new Dragonbreath books! I do so adore these stories, part elementary chapter books, part graphic novels. They are laugh out loud funny. Danny Dragonbreath is an utterly engaging draconic hero, and his adventures are utterly delightful. Here's my review of Ninja Frogs, here's my review of Were-Wiener.

The Coming of the Dragon by Rebecca Barnhouse. A beautiful historical fantasy that re-tells the story of Beowulf versus the Dragon from the point of view of Rune, a young boy who must stand up beside the king he loves against a horrible evil. I highly recommend it--here's my review.

The Dragon in the Library: Dragon Keepers by Kate Klimo. "Dragon keepers Jesse and Daisy need help! Emmy, their rapidly growing dragon, has become a real grouch, saying she's missing "something," and the cousins don't have a clue what that something is. Jesse and Daisy go online to ask Professor Andersson, their favorite dragon expert, for help and end up seeing him being kidnapped! The kidnapper is none other than Sadie Huffington, the girlfriend of their enemy, St. George the Dragon Slayer. She has hatched a wicked scheme to use the professor to both find St. George and capture Emmy. Now the dragon keepers and their dragon must storm Sadie's castle and rescue the professor from the witch and her pack of vicious dog-men!"

Dragon Games: The Books of Umber by P. W. Catanese. Sequel to Happentance Found. I'm not sure that the baby dragons actually play enough of a role in this one to justify its inclusion, but I'm a fan of this series, which tells of the fantastical adventures of a young boy (Happenstance) and his mysterious guardian, Lord Umber (who reminds me a bit of Diana Wynne Jones' Howl). Lots of adventure of the wildly creative sort, and characters I care about. And some bonus baby dragons toward the end.

Elspeth: Shadow of the Dragon by Kate O'Hearn. “Kira and Elspeth have already broken First Law many times over. Now outlawed and running for their lives, they are determined to stand amongst the men and fight the unjust First Law that binds the kingdom. But cruel Lord Dorcon still stands in their way and the heat of his chase is stronger than ever. A prophecy to fulfill, a cruel monarchy to upend.”

The Final Quest: Secrets of Droon by Tony Abbott "An immortal dragon. A long hidden secret. The kingdom of Droon is at the brink of war. . . The situation in Droon has never been more desperate. The wizard Galen is missing. Eric has been forced undercover with Gethwing, the all-powerful Moon Dragon. And millions of beasts are assembling outside Jaffa City, ready to attack Droon's capital. Eric, Keeah, Neal, and Julie will do whatever it takes to save their beloved kingdom. But to defeat the Moon Dragon, they'll need to uncover the greatest secret in all of Droon. . . ."

Found: The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas. Trouble is, once again, hot on young Conn's heels. In this third book of the Magic Thief series, he finds himself exiled from his city. Searching for his locus magicalus, a stone that would focus his powers of magic, he finds a dragon instead...I am awfully fond of young Conn, and happy to see him return to his old form in this third book of the series after a rather somber second book. Eminently readable--I found myself very reluctant to put it down when looking at it again this morning....and might well have to finish re-reading it later today!

Gauge: The Dragons of Wayward Crescent by Chris D'Lacey. "The town council wants to demolish the old clock and replace it with a fancy modern one. Lucy's mother is determined to stop it -- with the help of a timing dragon named Gauge. Will Gauge, Lucy and the ghost Sir Rufus Trenchchomb be able to outsmart Councilman Roger Trustable before time runs out?"

Gold Dragon Codex: The Dragon Codices by R.D. Henham. "When the blue dragon Lazuli threatens to destroy Sandon's village of Hartfall, Sandon vows to locate the legendary gold dragon, once Hartfall's sworn protector, and convince it to return. Sandon finds the gold dragon's lair--only to stumble on a secret that throws everything he thought he knew about his home and his family into question. Filled with everything readers love about dragons--power, action, and intrigue--this tale shows what one boy can accomplish when he finds the strength of a dragon lies within himself."

How to Ride a Dragon's Storm by Cressida Cowell. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, everyone's favorite reluctant Viking hero, has three months, five days and six hours to discover America, get back to Berk, save his father, battle Polarserpents and win the annual Inter-Tribal Friendly Swimming Race. Can he do it?"

Ivy's Ever After by Dawn Lairamore. Ivy doesn't want to marry Romil, Prince Charming dude who showed up to claim her, and her kingdom. He's a jerk. So she joins forces with an undersized dragon to thwart his evil plans...it's a lighthearted adventure, that should be pleasing to those who enjoy fun riffs on fairy tale conventions. (my review).

Knights of the Ruby Wand: Secrets of Droon by Tony Abbott. "Oh no! The secret of Droon is a secret no longer. Eric's mother knows about the rainbow staircase . . . and what's worse, so does Gethwing. The Moon Dragon has sent his minions to the Upper World to search for a magical object that could give him power over all of Droon. Now no place is safe from Gethwing's dark magic. . ."

The Last Hunt, by Bruce Coville. In this fourth volume of the Unicorn Chronicles, the land of Luster is in turmoil. Young Cara, half girl, half unicorn, must set off on a quest to find a dragon...or the unicorns will be hunted and killed. This was one I read for the Cybils, and I've not read the first three books, so the various maelstroms of danger and action into which I was plunged (lots of characters, lots of different story lines) made for a dizzying experience....I think I need to play catch-up to appreciate this one...

No Such Thing as Dragons by Philip Reeve. Ansel's new master is taking him high into the snowy mountains, to find a dragon, and slay it. That's what professional dragon slayers do, after all. But though this man knows there's no such thing as dragons, there is something waiting for them up in the snow...something very much like a dragon. Not a friendly one. This is exiting historical fantasy, scary and gripping as all get out (my review).

A Practical Guide to Dragon Magic by Susan Morris. "Do you wish you could fly on wings of your own? Breathe fire? Cast spells in the blink of an eye? These are the secrets only dragon magic can teach you. In this next edition in the Practical Guide family of fantasy essentials, dragon expert Sindri Suncatcher opens up his notebooks one last time to give readers an insider's look into the Darastrix Academy, a place where young wizards and dragon hatchlings live side-by-side mastering the powerful magic that makes dragons so special. For every fantasy fan who loves dragons and wants to know everything about these enigmatic creatures, this book reveals the greatest dragon secrets of all."

Shadow: Dragon Orb by Mark Robson "Pell and his night dragon Shadow must find the dark orb to help save the Oracle, leader of all dragonkind. But Segun, a power-hungry tyrant, stands in their way. Pell must use his flying skills, bravery, and resourcefulness to the limit, as Segun is determined to get the orb—even if it means killing the opposition."

Ultimate Magic: Merlin's Dragon by T. A. Barron. This is third book of a series, and I read it expecting to be confused. But instead, when I found myself plunged into a great battle, with a great dragon named Basil leading the defenders of Avalon against various bad guys, I found myself drawn into the story....and I was happy to follow Basil, and sundry other characters, off in their subsequent quest to defeat the evil mastermind behind it all, Doomraga. Basil is perhaps the most Heroic dragon of all those published in 2010...

The Wyverns' Treaure: Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist by R. L. LaFevers. This third book about young Nathaniel is my favorite of the series to date, in large part due to LaFevers wonderful way with wyverns. Nathaniel and Aunt Phil are off to Wales in this book, where the wyverns are in an uproar. Someone has intruded into their territory, and the truce keeping them from pillaging the Welsh countryside is in jeopardy...never have Nathaniel's Beastologist skills been put to so fraught a test! With this book, I began to feel as though I were at last travelling toward answers to the larger mystery of the series--the fate of Nathaniel's missing parents--and this made the story more spacious and meaningful. The simple yet satisfying prose, numerous illustrations, and light touches of comic relief that characterize this series make it perfect for many an upper elementary reader. And the wyverns in this particular book are great.

Young Adult

Dragons are holding their own in books for teenagers quite nicely! I knew there were lots of mg dragons, but there are plenty for older readers as well.

The Battle of the Sun by Jeanette Winterson "Jack is the chosen one, the Radiant Boy the Magus needs in order to perfect the alchemy that will transform London of the 1600s into a golden city. But Jack isn’t the kind of boy who will do what he is told by an evil genius, and soon he’s battling to save London in an epic and nail-biting adventure featuring dragons, knights and Queen Elizabeth I."

Has anyone read this? It sounds good.

The Dragon's Apprentice: the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica by James A. Owen. "Seven years after the events of The Shadow Dragons, John, Jack and Charles are finally able to return to their beloved Archipelago of Dreams. But even as their return is celebrated by old friends, new concerns shadow the reunion: the threat of Ecthroi, primordial Shadow. And perhaps even worse, the apparent splintering of Time itself. Now, the Caretakers must fight against their most fearsome enemy ever and attempt to restore Time. They must journey through a forgotten Door from the destroyed Keep of Time in order to seek out the Dragon's Apprentice. If they fail, it will mean the end of both of the worlds. But success will carry its own price--a price that may be too high even for the Caretakers to bear."

Dragons of Darkness by Antonia Michaelis. Two boys, Jumar, an invisible prince of Nepal, the other Christopher, a German boy searching for his kidnapped brother, join forces in an incredible journey through the mountains. There they see the havoc wrought by the beautiful but deadly color dragons, who steal all that is good and beautiful wherever their shadows pass. The grey rice in the fields has no sustenance, and worse still, any person touched by a dragon's shadow becomes a bronze statue. The suffering of the mountain people is exacerbated by the war between the Maoists and the Royalists. The rebel cause becomes real to the boys in the person of Nayu, a girl their age who is recruiting for the Maoists. She is brave, she is beautiful, and both boys fall hard for her... Jumar, Nayu and Christopher must journey bravely through mountains where death--in the beauty of a dragon's wing, in the muzzle of a gun, in the land itself-- could lie around every corner. And it would be a lot easier if they were sure what they were looking for...(my full review)

The Dragons of Noor by Janet Lee Carey "A dreamwalker who has lost her way. A shape shifter who fears his own dark power. A fire herd punished for his magic. Can these three teens keep the human world of Noor and the magical world of Oth from splitting apart? The ancient trees of Noor are dying. If the blight kills the last azure trees whose deep roots bind the worlds, the bridge between Noor and Oth will split apart forever. Already as Hanna, Miles, and Taunier sail to the source of the blight, the rent between the worlds is widening, and magic is going out of Noor. The quest deepens when a strange wind blows across Noor stealing young children, and Hanna is powerless to protect her younger brother from the stealing wind. The Three journey east to the azure forests of Jarrosh. East to the dragon lands. East to the place where the wind-stolen children were taken. In Jarrosh, among dragons, the Three will be challenged to discover their hidden powers. Each of them must break beyond the boundaries of self to discover the ancient magic joining all to all."

Choke: Pillage by Obert Skye. "Choke....continues the eccentric adventures of Beck Phillips, who seems to have a knack for causing mischief in the secluded village of Kingsplot. In book one, Beck used his unique gift to unexpectedly hatch several dragon eggs. Thankfully, the dragons were destroyed . . . or were they? In Choke, a stranger has discovered that Beck Phillips is the key to finding and hatching a lost dragon s egg a task that will bring the riches and fortune that Beck s family was destined to have. Beck learns that outward appearances can be deceiving and that grown-ups really do have valuable lessons to offer. Readers will laugh out loud at Beck s antics and sit on the edge of their seats while Beck and his friends confront Liz, the largest, most ferocious dragon Beck has ever seen!"

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."

Heartless, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. "Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon marry. She dreams of a charming prince, but when her first suitor arrives, he's not what she'd hoped. Prince Aethelbald of mysterious Farthestshore has travelled a great distance to prove his love--and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be on the hunt and blazing a path of terror.

Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald's offer--and ignores his cautions with dire consequences. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in his sights. Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil."

Starlighter: Dragons of Starlight by Bryan Davis. "Dragons are enslaving humankind and a black egg signals the end of the world. Jason Masters must journey to another realm and join forces with a slave girl named Koren to rescue the captives and save two worlds from destruction. What if the Legends Are True? Jason Masters doubted the myths: people taken through a portal to another realm and enslaved by dragons. But when his brother is taken, he must uncover the truth and find the portal before it's too late. Once he's through the portal, he meets Koren, a slave in the dragons' realm, who struggles to destroy a black egg prophesied to doom all mankind. Jason and Koren must work together to save their two worlds before the dragons learn that their secrets have been discovered."

Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn. Here's what I said in my review: "a rather unusual fantasy, in that it combines contemporary YA-ness--the heroine's best girl friend who is putting the pressure on her to grow up, the developing relationship with the cute boy-- with Dragons. And the result is a rather fun, rather interesting, and more than somewhat memorable story. " In an alternate modern world, there's human territory, and dragon territory, and the two stay seperate. But Kay breakes the rules...and becomes friends with a dragon. Will their friendship bring peace, or will it exacerbate the existing tensions and lead to war? I'm looking forward to the sequel (my full review).

Wings of Fire, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. Jablon. A rich anthology of dragon stories both old (Ursula Le Guin's The Rule of Names) and new (included are two never before published stories by Holly Black and Margo Langevin). Other big names include George R.R. Martin, Naomi Novick, and Charles De Lint. The editors set out to gather together the best dragon stories the could, and the result is a hefty book with much to enjoy-- some stories delight, and others disturb...


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