Rules for Ghosting, by A. J. Paquette

Rules for Ghosting, by A.J. Paquette (Bloomsbury, July, 2013) is an utterly just fine book to give to a seven to ten year-old who likes ghosts and big old houses.

Oliver and his family have moved to a big old house with a spooky reputation; they'll live there for six months as caretakers while its fixed up for sale (while, the owner hopes, adding a gloss of happy family normalcy to its reputation).   Dahlia has lived in this same house since she was a girl around Oliver's age (11 ish), although for most of the time she's been dead.  And it's been lonely for Dahlia--the house has been empty since her mother left for a nursing home, and she herself can't go anywhere.  

The same day that Oliver's family arrives, so does Mrs. Tibbs, a friendly official ghost come to liberate Dahlia, and teach her the rules of ghosting that will help her move on.    But hard on Mrs. Tibbs' heels comes a ghost-hunter, passing himself off as a repair man.  When his ghost capturing mechanism actually works on Mrs. Tibbs, Dahlia must manifest herself to Oliver and his siblings, working with them foil the ghost hunter's unpleasant plans...while still trying to find out what is anchoring her own ghost to the old house.

Told in chapters alternating between Oliver and Dahlia, it's full of busy ghostly old house fixing-up shenanigans, and rather fun, full of nicely created little descriptive elements that add interest.  Though it's not one I'd press on grown-ups, the intended audience should enjoy it lots.  

Pause while I consider if the intended audience skews toward one gender or another.... My heart says it is more a girl book, perhaps because I myself (a girl) would have enjoyed it when I was seven, and perhaps because the book starts with Dahlia making a garden of ghost flowers, which stereotypically and superficially feels  more like a "girl" thing.  However, a rational argument can also be made that there is boy appeal- Oliver is, after all, a boy, and the whole mechanics and technology of ghost hunting have (also stereotypically and superficially) boy appeal.    

Final answer: not a book with a strong tilt toward any particular gender.  

Note on age, which is also hard because 7-10 year olds vary so much in their expectations--the plot is complex enough for the higher end, but not to intense for the younger end.  That being said, I think this is an especially good one for the avid 7 year old devourer of books.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey, for Timeslip Tuesday

I am currently at my mother's house, and the two books I brought with me to read for this week's Timeslip Tuesday turned out not to be time travel after all.  So I went to my mother's bookshelf, to see what was there, and found this:

Which is the very copy of Dragonflight (1968) I read as a 12 year old, and obviously re-read many, as did my mother.  It's the first book in McCaffrey's Dragon Rider series, and is a sci fi classic (really sci fi, not fantasy, despite what "dragons" suggests).



Pern is a planet ravaged every two hundred years by devouring Thread (bad acid stuff that burns any living thing it touches) that falls from space.  To fight Thread, the people on the planet fly around on fire-breathing dragons, torching it with fiery dragon breath as it falls.  The dragons are psychically bonded with their riders, and the newest rider of the last remaining queen dragon is a young woman named Lessa (and her particular story is long and complicated....). 

Dragonflight is primarily about the dragon riders fighting the latest round of Threadfall, with Lessa and her consort, F'lar, doing their best with the few dragons who remain.   Things are pretty grim-- two extra centuries had passed before Thread came again, and only one stronghold of dragons is still there to take to the skies.

Lessa wants to fight directly, but hers is the last queen, too precious to be risked.  It's all Lessa can do to learn to fly...and when she finally gets the chance to teleport, she discovers that dragons can journey not only through space, but through time as well.  And this new found ability proves to be the key to saving the planet.

Looking back at it after all these years, I am still completely impressed by the wonderfully imaginative concept, and the extraordinary sense McCaffrey give the reader of really being in a strange and different place.   Her characters (in these early books of the series at least) are very real and dear to me, and though it's not hard to find small flaws in the writing, and wince at the sexist society, these issues weren't enough to ever spoil my enjoyment (especially since Lessa is a strong, not taking anything from anybody, character....).

It is also a fascinating time travel story.   The world building takes so very much the center stage that the time travel, although utterly crucial to the plot, is overshadowed, but it is truly Solid, pointful time travel--an ability is found, and put to use to save the day through a nicely developed learning process.   Which is to say, it's not a deus ex machina, but something that is scary, confusing, to be carefully considered, to be used in desperation, regardless of unknown risks.   In short, the way the time travel is carried out is pretty believable.

It's also the only time travel book I can think of in which living creatures are the key through which people can travel through time.  There are other books with time traveling creatures, but none that rely on the symbiotic psychic bond of human and non-human person to make the time travel happen. 

In short, I'll be getting my mother a new copy of Dragonflight.  The copy shown above fell apart in my hands pretty irrevocably, and she might well want to read it again....and me too. 

From L Space to E Space--good places on line to find YA books with appeal to fans of Terry Pratchett

This is the second of post recapping a presentation from the 2013 North American Discworld Convention--"From L-Space to E-Space"--the best YA speculative fiction for fans of Terry Pratchett, and how to find more of books to read on line.  The first post lists the books us panelists recommended; this post is Useful Links that will lead to even more books!

The Cybils Awards are given by panels of bloggers each year to the best books in various categories, and the shortlists generated by these awards are, I promise, excellent one-stop shopping for a reader looking for everything from picture books and apps (less relevant, but still) to the YA sci fi/fantasy we love!  Look for the shortlists/finalists in the column to the right.

The Enchanted Inkpot is a group blog of middle grade and YA fantasy writers, and a great place to find new books!

YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association) is a great place to go for YA reviews.

Kirkus Reviews not only has access to past reviews, but for books coming soon as well, and in addition to the reviews, there are good blogs there too.

And speaking of blogs, there are tons and tons of great blogs out there full of book reviews, and you could spend weeks visiting them all.  My co-presenters, Tanita (Finding Wonderland) and Sheila (Wands and Worlds), and I all have hundreds of reviews at our blogs, and Tanita and I have sidebars with blogs we ourselves like.  If you want to start exploring on your own, at   Grasping for the Wind, you'll find a massive list of sci fi/fantasy book bloggers.

There seems to be less blogging going on over in the UK, and it can be hard to stay on top of the new releases of sci fi and fantasy over there.

That being said, here are some good blogs-- Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books, Bart's Bookshelf, and An Awfully Big Blog Adventure.

And some other good UK sites--

The Bookbag is a UK collection of book reviews--lots of good browsing.

 UKYA --"celebrating YA fiction by  UK authors."  Lots of speculative fiction!

The Kelpies page at Floris Books--classic and contemporary children's books set in Scotland, with a lot of fantasy

The Waterstones annual children's book awards--here's 2013

I hope this is helpful! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or comments.

From L-Space to E-Space, Part one--YA Books for fans of Terry Pratchett

This post is a written summary of the session that Tanita Davis, novelist and blogger (Finding Wonderland and tanitasdavis.com), Sheila Ruth, independent publisher and blogger (Wands and Worlds), Anne Hoppe (Terry Pratchett's YA editor in the US) and I presented at the North American Discworld Convention this Sunday (July 7, 2013). The presentation had two parts-the first was a quick run through of YA books we wanted to recommend to Pratchett fans that they might not have read, and the second offered links and advice on how to use the Internet to find more books!  I've split my recap posts into two-this first is about the books, the second post  has the links to more places to find books.

We couldn't, of course, find books that contained every single aspect of Pratchett's wonderfulness, but every book we suggest is well-written, with great characters and world building.  Some are funny, some are serious, but all are Good Reads.  Some are true Young Adult books, some were published for grown-ups, but have much YA appeal, and some were written for kids aged 9-12, but have much broader appeal (promise).

Tanita suggests:

The M.Y.T.H. Inc series, begun by Robert Asprin 1978, who was joined by Jodi Lynn Nye, who is now continuing the series, with Myth Quoted, published this year.

John Connolly is an Irish writer best known for his adult crime series, but his books for younger readers (The Book of Lost Things, The Gates, and The Infernals)  have much Pratchetty appeal!

Diana Wynne Jones demands mention; her more satirical books are our pick for best cross-over (Dark Lord of Derkholm, The Year of the Griffin, and Tough Guide To Fantasyland)

Sarah A. Hoyt--urban shape-shifting fun, published for the adult market, but good for YA.  (Start with Draw One in the Dark)

Another adult author whose books read like YA is Lawrence Watt-Evans--there are 12 Legends of Ethshar novels, and Tanita says they are all good (The Misenchanted Sword is the first)

The 500 Kingdoms Series, by Mercedes Lackey--stories within stories.

Jasper Fford's Nursery Crimes series--The Big Over Easy, and The Fourth Bear.

Sheila suggests:

The Bartimaeus Trilogy, and the Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud.  The smart-aleck demon Bartimaeus would be right at home in Discworld!

Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman--a lovely one for those interested in the multi-species coexisting aspect of Discworld.  The UK cover is on the left, the original US cover is in the center, and the current US cover is on the right.

Lonely Werewolf Girl and Curse of the Wolf Girl, by Martin Millar-- a friend for Angua.   Not the best covers in the world, but good books!

The 5th Wave, by Rick Yancey--rich and twisty and thought-provoking alien invasion.

Northlander, and The King Commands, by Meg Burden--intelligent,character-rich fantasy ftw!

Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking Series--this is dark, and emotional wrenching, but intelligent, powerful stuff.

The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex.  Funny sci fi for the younger reader.

The Keys of the Kingdom Series, by Garth Nix.  Inventive and fun!

Charlotte suggests:

The Magic Thief series, by Sarah Prineas.   Not only is this series about a young thief and his journey into magic a good gateway  into Pratchett, but it's a good read for anyone.

I'm including Enchanted, and Hero (coming this fall) by Alethea Kontis because I wanted pretty dresses fun examples of fairy tale retellings--I love that aspect of Pratchett.

Vivian Vande Velde's virtual reality series--fun, geeky, and clever!

Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant series.  The adventures of charismatic, crime-solving skeleton and the human girl who is his protegee.  Witty banter, much fun.

Tanita already mentioned Jasper Fforde, but I wanted to add The Last Dragon Slayer, and its forthcoming (in the US, already out in the UK) sequel, Song of the Quarkbeast.   They have a very English sort of insanity to them.

Seven Sorcerers and Shadow Spell, by Caro King--I love this fantasy series--it is creepy, funny, magical, etc.etc. and deserves more readers.

Soul Enchilada, by David Macinnis Gill.   I thought a book whose premise was the demon Beelzebub coming to reposes a teenage girl's Cadillac might appeal to Pratchett fans looking for magical insanity set in our world. 

Anne suggests:

Team Human, by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan--you can read it just for fun, or to appreciate its thoughtful depths.  Another good different species living together--in this case, vampires in Maine....

Garth Nix's Abhorsen series.  Classic YA fantasy

Frances Hardinge--Fly by Night and Fly Trap  (Twilight Robbery in the UK).   Tremendously intelligent writing, great characters and world building.

Here's what audience members added to the list:

•Diana Peterfreund
•Artemis Fow, by Eoin Colfer
•Sarah Beth Durst – Into the Wild, Out of the Wild
•Neil Gaiman
•His Dark Materials – Phillip Pullman
•Patricia C. Wrede – Enchanted Forest Chronicles

•Girl Genius – Kaya & Phil Foglio (online, free)
•China Mieville – Railsea, Un Lun Dun
•Tom Holt – The Flying Dutch
•Douglas Adams
•Cornelia Funke – Reckless & Inkheart
•Catherynne M. Valente
•Diane Duane – Young Wizards (she’s writing more!)
•Lloyd Alexander
•Kat, Incorrigable, by Stephanie Burgis
•Libba Bray’s Going Bovine
•Piers Anthony – Xanth (with the caveat from Tanita, Sheila and me that these have huge sexism issues, and we wouldn't recommend them)
•Jim C. Hines – Jig the Dragonslayer
•Morgan Keyes-- Darkbeast
•Tanita S. Davis. (because her books are very good)

Thank you Anne and Sheila and Tanita (and David, Tanita's husband, who was our Powerpoint mastermind, adding to the slides as we spoke)!

No middle grade sci fi/fantasy round-up this week

Sadly, the hotel I'm staying in for the North American Discworld Convention doesn't have a public computer with an associated chair, and I didn't bring a laptop, so there won't be a middle grade sci fi/fantasy round-up this week.

But later in the day I"ll be putting up a written version of the power point Sheila, Tanita, and I are going to give this afternoon, if that's of any interest....

The Quirks: Welcome to Normal, by Erin Soderberg

The Quirks: Welcome to Normal, by Erin Soderberg (Bloomsbury, June 4, 2013)

The Quirk family is relentlessly quirky.  They can't help being magical--a grandpa who can turn back time, a mother who can manipulate peoples minds,  Penelope, who unintentionally manifests whatever she's imagining, and little brother Finn, who's invisible.  Only Molly, Penelope's twin sister, is ordinary.

And Normal, the town the Quirk family has just moved to, is ordinary as all get out.  Molly and Penelope desperately want to stay in one place for once in their lives--they've had to flee countless towns before, when things got to strange.   But if Penelope can't control her imagination,  and its rather noticeable funny/awful consequences,  it's goodbye to Normal.

Magic meets the everyday world...and the consequence are embarrassment. 

This is a good one for the kid who likes light-hearted stories, that aren't realistic but which are set firmly in our world.   It's easy to tell the author had fun with Penelope's runaway imagination, and kids will get lots of grins from it.  The (nicely present, but not underlined) theme of trying to fit in, while still being yourself, is a more serious counterpart to the overt humor.

It's very much an elementary book--excellent for third and fourth graders, of the type who enjoyed Dan Gutman's Weird School series and are ready for something the next notch up.

On a personal reader-reaction note-- most of the book I spent in a state of anxious squirm.   There are many embarrassing situations when Penelope's magic gets out of control, and as a parent, I was perturbed by the mother's neglect of invisible Finn.  Just because Molly is the only one in the family who can see him doesn't mean that poor Finn should be practically ignored by everyone else.   But I am well aware that this is an adult reaction--the target audience will probably not care that Finn hasn't been bathed for ages. 

Disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Crocuses Were Over, Hitler Was Dead, by Geraldine Symons (UK title--Now and Then), for Timeslip Tuesday

Crocuses Were Over, Hitler Was Dead, by Geraldine Symons (1977).  

The old house has been empty for years, sitting in its English gardens, waiting...and now it's being opened up again, as  tourist attraction.   Jassy is there to see it happen--she's staying in the cottage of the head gardener and his wife, while her little siblings recover from mumps.

As she explores the gardens, she meets a young man and his dogs, and they talk.  But when she gets back to the cottage, she realizes that there is a strangeness to her new friend.   There were crocus were blooming when she met him first, and he was worried about Hitler...and the crocuses are over, and Hitler is dead.

Slowly realizing that she's slipping back in time, she gradually finds out more about her new friend, facing a war that's about to destroy the peace of the old garden.  But why is he sometimes so kind and thoughtful, other times so wild and heedless? 

It's not much of a mystery, and not much of a plot, qua plot.  But it is magical, and beautiful, and makes pictures in the mind.  If you like gentle, very English, timeslip stories in which the only immediate tensions are small ones, you will enjoy this.   Jassy never has to actually do something (except keep past and present clear in her mind, so she doesn't seem strange and isn't a nuisance to the nice couple she's staying with), but it's a pleasure to explore the old house and its gardens with her.

There is, though, a bit of emotional depth.  It's rather poignant, in that gradually Jassy and the reader find out what's going happen to the nice young man in the war, and she can't do a thing about it.   So there a sense of sadness...but at least the house and the gardens make it through unscathed.

There's a copy for sale on Amazon right now for $1.49, which is a good price to pay for a rather lovely escape from reality.  And if you have an old public library whose shelves haven't been ruthlessly weeded, you might be able to find Geraldine Symons books about the adventures two early 20th century (or possibly late 19th century) girls, Pansy and Atalanta, that are well worth reading (especially Miss Rivers and Miss Bridges, in which they infiltrate the suffragette movement).

My favorite books of 2013 so far

So far in 2013 I have read 173 books, 27 of which are by Terry Pratchett (cause of me being a speaker a the Discworld Convention).  Even after such a binge, I am still eagerly looking forward to the next Discworld book on my list--only six more to go, and then I will have read the whole series in order of publication.

73 of the books I read came from the library, 55 were review copies, 8 were presents, and there were only three re-reads on the whole list (The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman--comfort reading about a grandmother who becomes a CIA agent; The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, and Jinx, by Sage Blackwood).  Which means that only 37 came from my tbr pile, and at that rate I will never get through it, and until I do, re-reading is going to have to keep taking a back seat.  

Here are my favorite books of 2013 thus far, judged by the simple, and very personal, criteria of me imagining re-reading them (because, darn it, I am a Re-reader):

Brat Farrar, by Josephine Tey.    A young man (Brat Farrar) assumes the place in a well-off English family of yesteryear of a boy thought to be dead.    Brat Farrar turns out to be one of the most likable, nay even lovable (I would have crushed on him back in the day, now I feel maternal--that what having sons does to a person) characters I met all year.   There's a mystery too--what really happened to the boy who dies?  Don't read the end before it comes naturally--I did, to make sure Brat was alright, and found out too much.  Note for other end-readers, so as to spare them from my mistake: Brat will be ok.

Astronaut Academy: Re-entry, by Dave Roman.  I love the whimsical humor of this graphic  novel series, and it's another in which I love the characters because of feeling maternal....

Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett.   Although I haven't yet re-read this particular Discworld book, I almost feel as though I have, because it has played itself over in my mind so often while I have been doing other things.  It made me cry.

The Bards of Bone Plain, by Patricia McKillip.    Isn't it lovely when a book by someone who is already a favorite author exceeds your expectations?  This one has everything I look for in McKillip--the old stories and musics, the images, the beauty of the writing, the characters I love, the mystery at the heart of the ancient land.

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, which I have already read twice!  Fine middle-grade fantasy, and I am so looking forward to everyone of this new author's future books!

There were lots of other books I enjoyed very much indeed--very good books, happy to recommend them, etc.-- but these are the ones I loved.