Here's what I found this week. Let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews:
The Ability, by M.M. Vaughan, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
The Borrowers Avenged, by Mary Norton, at Tor
The Burning Bridge (Ranger's Apprentice 2), by John Flanagan, at Tales Between the Pages
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, by Claire Legrand, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Circle (Book 1 of the Sidhe), by Cindy Cipriano, at Jean Little Library
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Bookalicious and Puss Reboots
The Fate in the Box, by Michelle Lovric, at The Book Zone
Finally, and 13 Gifts, by Wendy Mass at Give a Hoot, Read a Book!
The Flame in the Mist, by Kit Grindstaff, at Word Spelunking
Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo and K.G. Campbell, at Readaraptor
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Fyrefly's Book Blog
The Goblin's Gift, by Conrad Mason, at The Book Plank
Goblins, by Philip Reeve, at Hidden in Pages
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Log Cabin Library
Hit the Road, Helen!, by Kate McMullen, at Ex Libris
Hokey Pokey, by Jerry Spinelli, at crossreferencing
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Good Reads with Rona
Keeper of the Black Stones, by P.T. McHugh, at Michelle's Paranormal Vault of Books
The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, at books4yourkids
The Monster in the Mudball, by S.P. Gates, at Kid Lit Reviews
The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, by Richard Peck, at Faith Elizabeth Hough
New Lands, by Geoff Rodkey, at Becky's Book Reviews
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease, at Time Travel Times Two
North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Books Together
The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at For the Love of Books and Lunar Rainbows
The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co.), by Jonathan Stroud, at Fuse #8
Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck, at Becky's Book Reviews
Sky Pony, by Elaine Breault Hammond, at Charlotte's Library
Starbounders, by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, at Charlotte's Library
Texting the Underworld, by Ellen Booraem, at Kid Lit Reviews
The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick, at Bookalicious, The Hopeful Heroine, and Random Musings of a Bibliophile
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Green Bean Teen Queen (with interview)
The Underland Chronicles, by Suzanne Collins, at Leaf's Reviews (note--the link goes to the wrap-up post; scroll through for individual posts)
What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World, by Henry Clark, at Candace's Book Blog and Charlotte's Library
The Year of Shadows, by Claire Legrand, at Book Yurt
Authors Talking
Kathi Appelt (The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp) at There's a Book
Ellen Booraem (Texting the Underworld) at The Enchanted Inkpot and Literary Rambles
Amy Herrick (The Time Fetch) at Novel Novice
#Doll Bones, by Holly Black--archived Twitter chat at Kid Lit Frenzy
Other Good Stuff
I am tremendously impressed by the pool of would-be panelists who have already applied for the Cybils in the first few days...but there is room for more. The deadline is the 31 of August. Here's my post about how it all works.
And thanks to the applicant who mentioned that Boston has Kidlit Drink Nights, which I didn't know about. I am tempted; my husband manages to go to Boston lots, so it must be possible....
Through that link I found out about the Boston Teen Author Festival--September 21st, from 11am-430pm at the Cambridge Public Library.
Continuing on in a social vein, the seventh annual KidLitCon is being planned for November 8th and 9th in Austin, Texas; I am going, and hope lots of you will too!
A post on magical rooms in children's fiction at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles
The Book Smugglers hosted a middle-grade round table, where five bloggers, including me, shared their favorite middle grade books (my five are the fantasy books I loved best back when I was ten or so).
Children of the King, by Sonya Hartnett, is the Children' Book Council of Australia's Younger Readers Book of the Year for 2013: "Three children have been sent to live in the countryside, safe from the
war in London. When they find two boys hiding in a castle, the past and
future come together to make an extraordinary adventure." It comes out here in the US in March of 2014; this is the Australian cover.
8/18/13
8/17/13
How Tui T. Sutherland made my 10-year-old do happy bounces
How great it is when one of your most favorite authors says that you and your book reading pals "sound like essentially THE COOLEST PEOPLE EVER." Pretty darn great, no matter how old you are, but when you are ten, and authors are still quasi-mythical beings, even more so. My ten-year-old loves Tui T. Sutherland's books (the Wings of Fire series, The Menagerie, and the Warriors books), so when I showed him this post at her blog, much happy bouncing ensued. And of course he was also excited to see the cover of the sequel to The Menagerie:
It is lovely to have a kid with whom I can share books. This past week he read Seven Sorcerers, and its sequel, Shadow Spell, by Caro King (great books), and loved them, and was chirp chirp chirping away about them yesterday. Gratifying. Having succeed so will with this recommendation, I tried to get him to promise to read the next book I offered him, without telling him what it would be, because if he knew the book was called The Runaway Princess (by Kate Coombs; here's my take on its sequel, The Runaway Dragon), and saw the girl-oriented cover, he might refuse to even try it. He was suspicious. I said that it should be called A Really Good Book About a Kid Making Friends with a Dragon, but he wouldn't bite. And then I told him the real title....and he is very doubtful. I know he would love it, so it is frustrating, but I still have hope. I can always bribe him with double chocolate milanos.
It is lovely to have a kid with whom I can share books. This past week he read Seven Sorcerers, and its sequel, Shadow Spell, by Caro King (great books), and loved them, and was chirp chirp chirping away about them yesterday. Gratifying. Having succeed so will with this recommendation, I tried to get him to promise to read the next book I offered him, without telling him what it would be, because if he knew the book was called The Runaway Princess (by Kate Coombs; here's my take on its sequel, The Runaway Dragon), and saw the girl-oriented cover, he might refuse to even try it. He was suspicious. I said that it should be called A Really Good Book About a Kid Making Friends with a Dragon, but he wouldn't bite. And then I told him the real title....and he is very doubtful. I know he would love it, so it is frustrating, but I still have hope. I can always bribe him with double chocolate milanos.
8/16/13
What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World, by Henry Clark
What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World, by Henry Clark (Little Brown, July 2013)
River, Freak, and Fiona are the last kids to live in the abandoned subdivision butting up against Hellsboro, where underground fires sparked by a chemical plant gone wrong have been burning for years. Everyday they meet at the bus stop by the old Underhill Mansion, though once at school Fiona goes her own way. But one day a sofa shows up on the curb next to their stop, and rummaging through it, looking for loose change, the kids find an exceedingly rare Zucchini crayon (from the limited edition Victory Garden set), perhaps the only one surviving.
And because of this crayon (long story) the kids find themselves part of a struggle between two opposing forces, centered on a mysterious intergalactic portal deep in the heart of toxic Hellsboro. On the side of Good (ie, keeping the Earth from being invaded by an army from another world) are the kids, an eccentric refugee from that alien world who's moved into the Underhill Mansion as part of a plan to keep the portal closed, and the Sofa. On the side of Bad is an immensely powerful criminal mastermind type, Edward Disin (also an alien), who's planning on enslaving all earthlings (and who was responsible for Hellsboro).
Disin has two weaknesses--he underestimates kids (which is why the threesome were recruited), and he has been deliberately infected with Compulsive Completest Disorder. He won't be able to think straight until he gets the Zucchini Crayon, but will that advantage be enough to allow the unlikely alliance of kids, sofa, and older non-earthly gentleman to stymy his plans?
The Sofa thinks it will. If the kids do their part...
This is a fine example of wacky sci fun for younger middle grade kids. It takes the wild and whimsical approach so common in elementary sci fi/fantasy and uses it to good effect in a longer, more thoughtful story. Sci fi and fantasy books, I think, offer tons of scope for pushing young readers out beyond the boundaries of their own life experiences, and, in an appropriately limited way (you wouldn't want to give a nine-year-old The Left Hand of Darkness), that's what this book does.
The kids, likable and realistic characters, are brave and smart, but not Specially so. Their lives have been tragically damaged by the Hellsboro disaster, and this gives emotional impetus to their quest to stop Disin. Freak's father became an abusive alcoholic after Freak's sister died of cancer. River's parents were killed in a car accident that left him slightly lame. Fiona's twin sister died at birth--all these things happened because of the Hellsboro disaster.
There's further food for thought-- throughout the story there are small jabs against corporate power--Disin's commercial empire (cell phones and packaged food) is a key part of his evil plan to turn humanity into his mindless minions, and Hellsboro is just the sort of environmental disaster that happens in real life. And on top of that, the relationship between the three kids evolves nicely, ending with Fiona acknowledging the two boys, uncool though they might be, as friends. But the author doesn't underline these themes with a heavy hand, so it doesn't feel didactic.
A very good one, in short, for the young reader intrigued by science fiction who is ready to move up to a pretty substantial book.
Here's what I especially liked--the Sofa. It is a great sofa. When the kids first meet it, it is almost Halloween, and the Sofa has made an effort to present itself as a pirate. And the kids might not have special gifts, but the sofa does--it can tessar (as in A Wrinkle in Time).
ARC gratefully received from Ms. Yingling Reads
River, Freak, and Fiona are the last kids to live in the abandoned subdivision butting up against Hellsboro, where underground fires sparked by a chemical plant gone wrong have been burning for years. Everyday they meet at the bus stop by the old Underhill Mansion, though once at school Fiona goes her own way. But one day a sofa shows up on the curb next to their stop, and rummaging through it, looking for loose change, the kids find an exceedingly rare Zucchini crayon (from the limited edition Victory Garden set), perhaps the only one surviving.
And because of this crayon (long story) the kids find themselves part of a struggle between two opposing forces, centered on a mysterious intergalactic portal deep in the heart of toxic Hellsboro. On the side of Good (ie, keeping the Earth from being invaded by an army from another world) are the kids, an eccentric refugee from that alien world who's moved into the Underhill Mansion as part of a plan to keep the portal closed, and the Sofa. On the side of Bad is an immensely powerful criminal mastermind type, Edward Disin (also an alien), who's planning on enslaving all earthlings (and who was responsible for Hellsboro).
Disin has two weaknesses--he underestimates kids (which is why the threesome were recruited), and he has been deliberately infected with Compulsive Completest Disorder. He won't be able to think straight until he gets the Zucchini Crayon, but will that advantage be enough to allow the unlikely alliance of kids, sofa, and older non-earthly gentleman to stymy his plans?
The Sofa thinks it will. If the kids do their part...
This is a fine example of wacky sci fun for younger middle grade kids. It takes the wild and whimsical approach so common in elementary sci fi/fantasy and uses it to good effect in a longer, more thoughtful story. Sci fi and fantasy books, I think, offer tons of scope for pushing young readers out beyond the boundaries of their own life experiences, and, in an appropriately limited way (you wouldn't want to give a nine-year-old The Left Hand of Darkness), that's what this book does.
The kids, likable and realistic characters, are brave and smart, but not Specially so. Their lives have been tragically damaged by the Hellsboro disaster, and this gives emotional impetus to their quest to stop Disin. Freak's father became an abusive alcoholic after Freak's sister died of cancer. River's parents were killed in a car accident that left him slightly lame. Fiona's twin sister died at birth--all these things happened because of the Hellsboro disaster.
There's further food for thought-- throughout the story there are small jabs against corporate power--Disin's commercial empire (cell phones and packaged food) is a key part of his evil plan to turn humanity into his mindless minions, and Hellsboro is just the sort of environmental disaster that happens in real life. And on top of that, the relationship between the three kids evolves nicely, ending with Fiona acknowledging the two boys, uncool though they might be, as friends. But the author doesn't underline these themes with a heavy hand, so it doesn't feel didactic.
A very good one, in short, for the young reader intrigued by science fiction who is ready to move up to a pretty substantial book.
Here's what I especially liked--the Sofa. It is a great sofa. When the kids first meet it, it is almost Halloween, and the Sofa has made an effort to present itself as a pirate. And the kids might not have special gifts, but the sofa does--it can tessar (as in A Wrinkle in Time).
ARC gratefully received from Ms. Yingling Reads
8/14/13
Today I'm over at The Book Smugglers, talking about my favorite Middle Grade fantasy books
I'm in great company today over at The Book Smugglers, talking about childhood favorites along with Heidi of Bunbury in the Stacks, Angie of Angieville, Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy, and Ana of Things Mean A Lot.
It was hard just picking five books, but I did:
The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge
Marianne Dreams, by Catherine Storr
A String in the Harp, by Nancy Bond
The Little Broomstick, by Mary Stewart
Tom Ass, by Ann Lawrence
Thanks for inviting me, Ana and Thea!
It was hard just picking five books, but I did:
The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge
Marianne Dreams, by Catherine Storr
A String in the Harp, by Nancy Bond
The Little Broomstick, by Mary Stewart
Tom Ass, by Ann Lawrence
Thanks for inviting me, Ana and Thea!
8/13/13
Apply to be a Cybils Panelist starting Thursday, or, Why 150 isn't a scary number of books
Panelist applications for the Cybils open this Thursday! For those who
haven't been involved with the Cybils before, and not sure about applying, here's my personal take on how things work (the official information is available at the Cybils website).
WHAT ARE THE CYBILS?
In a nutshell, the Cybils are book awards for children's and Young Adult books and aps, given by panels of volunteer bloggers. Anyone can nominate eligible titles in a variety of subgenres during the nomination period, which runs from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15, 2014. (Eligible titles are books published for children or teens between Oct. 16, 2012 and Oct. 15, 2013).
The nominated books/aps are evaluated by a first round of 5-7 panelists; at the end of December, these panelists send a short list of 5-7 titles to a second round of panelists, who then have to pick a winner. The main criteria for judging are audience appeal and literary merit.
Any currently active children's and YA book blogger, who is at least 16 years old, can apply to be a first or second round panelist for any of the following categories:
Book Apps
Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Elementary/Middle- Grade Nonfiction
Young Adult Nonfiction
Poetry
Middle Grade Fiction
Young Adult Fiction
Elementary/Middle- Grade Speculative Fiction
Young Adult Speculative Fiction
Some categories have more books nominated in them than others--last year Elementary and MG Speculative Fiction had 150, and Fiction Picture Books, Middle Grade and YA categories had as many, if not more (the YA categories, I think, were pushing 200). So the time commitment varies considerably.
FOR THOSE THINKING OF APPLYING:
The panels are comprised of returning Cybilians (dependable veterans), and newcomers.
This year I'm category organizer for Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction (formerly Sci Fi/Fantasy), which means choosing two balanced, thoughtful, enthusiastic groups of readers--first round readers who aren't daunted by the thought of a 150 or so book list, and second round panelists who will be sharp as all get out when picking the best of the best.
Do not be put off by that 150 number! It sounds much more scary than it is.
Why, though it is lot of reading, it's not so scary:
--not everybody has to read every book (it's a minimum of two readers for each book).
--not every book you can count as read has to be read in its entirety.
--you'll have read a number of the books already
--panelists know before the nomination period begins that they are panelists, and so the reading period actually begins in the middle of September (there are many books to read that you just know will be nominated).
--In many categories, like E and MG Spec Fic, some books will be very short, fast reads, which helps.
There's no fixed minimum number of books you have to read, and it is not a competition to see who can read the most books--there will be speed readers, and less speedy readers, and both are just fine, as long as there is sincere commitment and effort.
And of course, if you want to be a second round panelist, it's at most seven books to read.
Why you might want to apply--
It is really, really fun to talk enthusiastically about books you love (and love less well) with like-minded folk. You can say all sorts of things to your co-panelists that you would never say in public--squeeing, arguing, venting, and gushing are perfectly fine! It is a great way to revitalize your reading. (It is also a great way to distract yourself from things you'd rather not do, but that might be a reason not to apply...)
You make new friends. Some of my best blogging friends were fellow Cybilians.
After being a first round panelist, you will have an incredibly broad picture of what's up in the genre.
You will have a sense of satisfaction from having helped create a resource (the lists of finalists) that lots of people will appreciate.
Why you might not want to apply (particularly for the first round)
If you have a major life commitment this fall--having a baby, starting a new job, buying a house, etc.--you might not want to be a first round panelist (although I've worked with great co-panelists who have done these things while reading furiously!). Things get a bit intense around Christmas, when the deadline for the list of finalists looms, so you'll need to be able to spare some hours for group discussions/last minute re-reading/careful thought.
If you have a potential conflict of interest (perhaps you are in the book business in some way, or perhaps you have written an eligible book), that would preclude you from being an impartial panelist, you'll want to make sure this is made clear when you apply.
If you don't think it sounds like fun to check your email lots and lots to see what your co-panelists have to say about their reading, and to share your own thoughts, and to check off the books you've read in the spreadsheet, you might want to think it over...You don't have to go overboard, but you should plan on being Present in a meaningful way.
If you live outside the US, you are welcome to apply, but you will have a harder time getting hold of books (if this applies to you, and you think you could manage it, do feel free to explain when you fill out the application form!).
If for some reason you don't have easy access to a public library, you might have a hard time getting books; some books will come from publishers and authors, including ebooks, but many will not.
But in any event,
Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction is the Best Category Ever and the books are really good this year and I hope lots of you apply, although then I will have to make Hard Choices and be sad about not being able to pick everyone....
Which reminds me that it's common knowledge that some categories get lots of applicants (the YA ones, and fiction picture books), and some get lots fewer (poetry, non-fiction, book aps); you might want to keep that in mind when you indicate your choices. I have no idea how many people put E and MG Spec Fic down as their first choice last year, and I am very curious indeed to see how it plays out!
And if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments, or email me at charlotteslibary at gmail dot com.
WHAT ARE THE CYBILS?
In a nutshell, the Cybils are book awards for children's and Young Adult books and aps, given by panels of volunteer bloggers. Anyone can nominate eligible titles in a variety of subgenres during the nomination period, which runs from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15, 2014. (Eligible titles are books published for children or teens between Oct. 16, 2012 and Oct. 15, 2013).
The nominated books/aps are evaluated by a first round of 5-7 panelists; at the end of December, these panelists send a short list of 5-7 titles to a second round of panelists, who then have to pick a winner. The main criteria for judging are audience appeal and literary merit.
Any currently active children's and YA book blogger, who is at least 16 years old, can apply to be a first or second round panelist for any of the following categories:
Book Apps
Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Elementary/Middle- Grade Nonfiction
Young Adult Nonfiction
Poetry
Middle Grade Fiction
Young Adult Fiction
Elementary/Middle- Grade Speculative Fiction
Young Adult Speculative Fiction
Some categories have more books nominated in them than others--last year Elementary and MG Speculative Fiction had 150, and Fiction Picture Books, Middle Grade and YA categories had as many, if not more (the YA categories, I think, were pushing 200). So the time commitment varies considerably.
FOR THOSE THINKING OF APPLYING:
The panels are comprised of returning Cybilians (dependable veterans), and newcomers.
This year I'm category organizer for Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction (formerly Sci Fi/Fantasy), which means choosing two balanced, thoughtful, enthusiastic groups of readers--first round readers who aren't daunted by the thought of a 150 or so book list, and second round panelists who will be sharp as all get out when picking the best of the best.
Do not be put off by that 150 number! It sounds much more scary than it is.
Why, though it is lot of reading, it's not so scary:
--not everybody has to read every book (it's a minimum of two readers for each book).
--not every book you can count as read has to be read in its entirety.
--you'll have read a number of the books already
--panelists know before the nomination period begins that they are panelists, and so the reading period actually begins in the middle of September (there are many books to read that you just know will be nominated).
--In many categories, like E and MG Spec Fic, some books will be very short, fast reads, which helps.
There's no fixed minimum number of books you have to read, and it is not a competition to see who can read the most books--there will be speed readers, and less speedy readers, and both are just fine, as long as there is sincere commitment and effort.
And of course, if you want to be a second round panelist, it's at most seven books to read.
Why you might want to apply--
It is really, really fun to talk enthusiastically about books you love (and love less well) with like-minded folk. You can say all sorts of things to your co-panelists that you would never say in public--squeeing, arguing, venting, and gushing are perfectly fine! It is a great way to revitalize your reading. (It is also a great way to distract yourself from things you'd rather not do, but that might be a reason not to apply...)
You make new friends. Some of my best blogging friends were fellow Cybilians.
After being a first round panelist, you will have an incredibly broad picture of what's up in the genre.
You will have a sense of satisfaction from having helped create a resource (the lists of finalists) that lots of people will appreciate.
Why you might not want to apply (particularly for the first round)
If you have a major life commitment this fall--having a baby, starting a new job, buying a house, etc.--you might not want to be a first round panelist (although I've worked with great co-panelists who have done these things while reading furiously!). Things get a bit intense around Christmas, when the deadline for the list of finalists looms, so you'll need to be able to spare some hours for group discussions/last minute re-reading/careful thought.
If you have a potential conflict of interest (perhaps you are in the book business in some way, or perhaps you have written an eligible book), that would preclude you from being an impartial panelist, you'll want to make sure this is made clear when you apply.
If you don't think it sounds like fun to check your email lots and lots to see what your co-panelists have to say about their reading, and to share your own thoughts, and to check off the books you've read in the spreadsheet, you might want to think it over...You don't have to go overboard, but you should plan on being Present in a meaningful way.
If you live outside the US, you are welcome to apply, but you will have a harder time getting hold of books (if this applies to you, and you think you could manage it, do feel free to explain when you fill out the application form!).
If for some reason you don't have easy access to a public library, you might have a hard time getting books; some books will come from publishers and authors, including ebooks, but many will not.
But in any event,
Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction is the Best Category Ever and the books are really good this year and I hope lots of you apply, although then I will have to make Hard Choices and be sad about not being able to pick everyone....
Which reminds me that it's common knowledge that some categories get lots of applicants (the YA ones, and fiction picture books), and some get lots fewer (poetry, non-fiction, book aps); you might want to keep that in mind when you indicate your choices. I have no idea how many people put E and MG Spec Fic down as their first choice last year, and I am very curious indeed to see how it plays out!
And if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments, or email me at charlotteslibary at gmail dot com.
Sky Pony, by Elaine Breault Hammond, for Timeslip Tuesday
Sky Pony, by Elaine Breault Hammond (Acorn Press, 2010), is the first book I've read in which a magical flying pony is the mechanism for time travel!
12-year-old Katie is fed up with her life. Not only have her parents dragged her across Canada to live in what is essentially a shack in the middle of nowhere, they have surprised her by taking in a little boy who's just been orphaned. Without consulting her. And now Siggi (Icelandic heritage) seems to be more important than she is, and she's expected to be kind to him--when all she feels is resentment.
The one good thing to come from the move is Katie's new pony, an Iceland mare named Peggy. But Peggy is more than a good pony--she can fly, and, even more magically, travel through time. Katie finds herself back in the Victorian London of her favorite doll, Samantha...and Samantha blithely welcomes her to her privileged life.
There's a dark side, though, to Samantha's London. It's a place of street crime and desperate orphans. And though Katie gets home safely after her first visit, the second time Peggy takes her back is much different. Siggi was having his first ride on her too (not Katie's idea), and soon after they arrive in London, Siggi is kidnapped and sold off, along with Peggy, to work in the coal mines. Katie, now genuinely fond of Siggi, must find and rescue them...or they'll all be stuck in the past forever.
So basically, this is an example of time travel teaching a lesson to the main character--when Katie gets back to the present, she's all about being one big happy family. Which is fine. But I must confess that I liked the beginning of the book best, before the time travel happened--Katie was very realistically unhappy (and the pony sub-plot of stable work and riding was nice!), and if the book had kept on being realistic fiction, it might actually have been a more satisfying whole.
The time spent in Victorian London was something of an improbable blur of standard street urchins speaking in dialect, and standard dark alleys, interspersed with the unreality of Samantha's life (she is, after all, a doll, so a certain unreality is expected!). But it's an exciting enough story to interest younger readers new to 19th century England.
Short answer--This is one to offer older elementary readers who want a pony story with a magical twist. Not so much one for the older time-travel fan.
Interesting detail: Katie's father lost both legs in an accident when he was her age, but went on to become a geologist, which is a nice subversion of stereotype!
(and just in case anyone notices and thinks I made a mistake-the author's name isn't hyphenated on my copy of the book, so though it is at Amazon, I didn't put the hyphen in...)
12-year-old Katie is fed up with her life. Not only have her parents dragged her across Canada to live in what is essentially a shack in the middle of nowhere, they have surprised her by taking in a little boy who's just been orphaned. Without consulting her. And now Siggi (Icelandic heritage) seems to be more important than she is, and she's expected to be kind to him--when all she feels is resentment.
The one good thing to come from the move is Katie's new pony, an Iceland mare named Peggy. But Peggy is more than a good pony--she can fly, and, even more magically, travel through time. Katie finds herself back in the Victorian London of her favorite doll, Samantha...and Samantha blithely welcomes her to her privileged life.
There's a dark side, though, to Samantha's London. It's a place of street crime and desperate orphans. And though Katie gets home safely after her first visit, the second time Peggy takes her back is much different. Siggi was having his first ride on her too (not Katie's idea), and soon after they arrive in London, Siggi is kidnapped and sold off, along with Peggy, to work in the coal mines. Katie, now genuinely fond of Siggi, must find and rescue them...or they'll all be stuck in the past forever.
So basically, this is an example of time travel teaching a lesson to the main character--when Katie gets back to the present, she's all about being one big happy family. Which is fine. But I must confess that I liked the beginning of the book best, before the time travel happened--Katie was very realistically unhappy (and the pony sub-plot of stable work and riding was nice!), and if the book had kept on being realistic fiction, it might actually have been a more satisfying whole.
The time spent in Victorian London was something of an improbable blur of standard street urchins speaking in dialect, and standard dark alleys, interspersed with the unreality of Samantha's life (she is, after all, a doll, so a certain unreality is expected!). But it's an exciting enough story to interest younger readers new to 19th century England.
Short answer--This is one to offer older elementary readers who want a pony story with a magical twist. Not so much one for the older time-travel fan.
Interesting detail: Katie's father lost both legs in an accident when he was her age, but went on to become a geologist, which is a nice subversion of stereotype!
(and just in case anyone notices and thinks I made a mistake-the author's name isn't hyphenated on my copy of the book, so though it is at Amazon, I didn't put the hyphen in...)
8/12/13
Save the date for Kidlitcon 2013--Austin, Texas, on November 8th and 9th
I was tremendously exited when I checked my Kidlitosphere email just now, and saw a heads up for KidLitCon 2013! Yay! It's being planned for Austin, Texas on November 8th and 9th, with more details coming as they emerge.
Kidlitcon is my favorite convention of all--it is so wonderful to spend time in real life with other children's book bloggers!
Kidlitcon is my favorite convention of all--it is so wonderful to spend time in real life with other children's book bloggers!
Starbounders, by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson
My ten-year-old gave Starbounders, by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson (HarperCollins, June 2013) just about the most gratifying praise I think a kid can give a book--"I can't wait till my friends read this," he said, after devouring the book in almost a single sitting, "so that we can play Starbounders!" And indeed, the book is packed with enough action and adventure, cool technology and alien encounters, to inspire hours of imaginative play.
The people of Earth have no idea that there is a secret group of space-jumping, alien-fighting Starbounders representing humanity out there in the crowded galaxy. Zachary, though, has always known--his family has been Starbounders for generations. Now it's finally his turn to leave ordinary middle school behind and head off to the secret Starbounder academy, anxious about living up to the standards set by his famous family. Things don't go well, and it only takes a few days before Zachary and his two new friends (a fierce girl named Kaylee and an alien boy named Ryic) find themselves assigned to a stint as clean-up crew on an old space freighter as punishment for breaking school rules.
And then the freighter is high jacked when the interstellar prisoners it had on board escape, and it only narrowly misses crashing into a planet, and then Zachary and his friends are taken as hostages by one of the prisoners (a sort of newt-like alien, operating a humanoid robotic exoshell), and then they are stuck on an utterly inhospitable desert world, and things just Keep Happening!!! until finally it becomes clear that Earth itself is in danger (!) and the kids must foil the evil alien plot to destroy it.
So, yeah, lots and lots of action and adventure (almost overwhelmingly so), a fine premise, a modicum of character (the character development is sprinkled through so much excitement that it most definitely takes second stage). And the writing, full of vivid description, is perfectly adequate for the book's particular emphasis on non-stop leaping from one catastrophe to the next. Zachary's clearly the hero, but Kaylee and Ryic get to contribute meaningfully (girls and aliens will be comfortable playing Starbounders on the playground too).
Starbounders does what it sets out to do just fine--it is an entertaining, fast read for the young reader who complains about boring books, and who will be thrilled to see a bunch of kids foiling the plans of bad adults and flying around through space on desperate jumps from one danger to the next. It's not one, though, that older readers will necessarily enjoy for themselves; there's not quite enough thought-provoking substance underneath all the excitement.
This is the second young teens in space book of the year, the other being The Planet Thieves, by Dan Krokos (my review). Starbounders reads somewhat younger--I'd happily give it to a nine-year old; The Planet Thieves has a more complicated story line, and lacks the quick resolutions to danger of Starbounders; it works better, I think, for the eleven year old on up.
Note on cover: it's lovely to see kids (I assume they are Zachary and Kaylee) who can be read as any number of ethnicities! I'm not counting this, though, as an example of diversity, because the descriptions of the characters within the story are not specific enough (I didn't see any of Zachary; Kaylee has blond hair, with blue streaks-- who knows what color it really is).
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
The people of Earth have no idea that there is a secret group of space-jumping, alien-fighting Starbounders representing humanity out there in the crowded galaxy. Zachary, though, has always known--his family has been Starbounders for generations. Now it's finally his turn to leave ordinary middle school behind and head off to the secret Starbounder academy, anxious about living up to the standards set by his famous family. Things don't go well, and it only takes a few days before Zachary and his two new friends (a fierce girl named Kaylee and an alien boy named Ryic) find themselves assigned to a stint as clean-up crew on an old space freighter as punishment for breaking school rules.
And then the freighter is high jacked when the interstellar prisoners it had on board escape, and it only narrowly misses crashing into a planet, and then Zachary and his friends are taken as hostages by one of the prisoners (a sort of newt-like alien, operating a humanoid robotic exoshell), and then they are stuck on an utterly inhospitable desert world, and things just Keep Happening!!! until finally it becomes clear that Earth itself is in danger (!) and the kids must foil the evil alien plot to destroy it.
So, yeah, lots and lots of action and adventure (almost overwhelmingly so), a fine premise, a modicum of character (the character development is sprinkled through so much excitement that it most definitely takes second stage). And the writing, full of vivid description, is perfectly adequate for the book's particular emphasis on non-stop leaping from one catastrophe to the next. Zachary's clearly the hero, but Kaylee and Ryic get to contribute meaningfully (girls and aliens will be comfortable playing Starbounders on the playground too).
Starbounders does what it sets out to do just fine--it is an entertaining, fast read for the young reader who complains about boring books, and who will be thrilled to see a bunch of kids foiling the plans of bad adults and flying around through space on desperate jumps from one danger to the next. It's not one, though, that older readers will necessarily enjoy for themselves; there's not quite enough thought-provoking substance underneath all the excitement.
This is the second young teens in space book of the year, the other being The Planet Thieves, by Dan Krokos (my review). Starbounders reads somewhat younger--I'd happily give it to a nine-year old; The Planet Thieves has a more complicated story line, and lacks the quick resolutions to danger of Starbounders; it works better, I think, for the eleven year old on up.
Note on cover: it's lovely to see kids (I assume they are Zachary and Kaylee) who can be read as any number of ethnicities! I'm not counting this, though, as an example of diversity, because the descriptions of the characters within the story are not specific enough (I didn't see any of Zachary; Kaylee has blond hair, with blue streaks-- who knows what color it really is).
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
8/11/13
This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy from around the blogs (11 August, 2013)
Here's what I found this week; enjoy!
The Reviews:
The 13th Horseman, by Barry Hutchison, at Wondrous Reads
Ash Mistry and the World of Darkness, by Sarwat Chadda, at The Book Zone
Circus Galacticus, by Deva Fagan, at Kid Lit Geek
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Guys Lit Wire
Escape from the Carnivale (Peter and the Starcatchers), by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, at Kimberly's Book Life
The Frog Princess, by E.D. Baker, at Puss Reboots
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Fantasy Literature
The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe, by Dan Poblocki, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Heirs of Prophecy, by at The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow
The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healy, at Charlotte's Library
The House on Parchment Street, by Patricia McKillip, at Charlotte's Library
Janitors, by Tyler Whitesides, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb, by Ally Malinenko, at Offbeat Vagabond
Lupus Rex, by John Carter Cash, at Project Mayhem
The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at Karissa's Reading Review (audiobook)
North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Charlotte's Library
Penumbras, by Braden Bell, at Geo Librarian
The Reluctant Assassin, by Eoin Colfer, at YA Sleuth and books4yourkids
Return to Cardamom, by Julie Anne Grasso, at Kid Lit Reviews
The Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum, at Becky's Book Reviews
The Ruins of Gorlan, by John Flanagan, at magical middle-grade literature
Scepter of the Ancients (Skulduggery Pleasant Book 1), by Derek Landy, at Fantasy Literature and Skulduggery Pleasant, books 5 and 6-- Mortal Coil, and Death Bringer, by Derek Landy, at Original Content
The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co.) by Jonathan Stroud, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
The Shadowhand Covenant, by Brian Farrey, at Views from the Tesseract
Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Alison's Book Marks, The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia, and The Book Smugglers
Storybound, by Marissa Burt, at (k)atty at law
Teacher's Pest (Lovecraft Middle School), by Charles Gilman, at Zombies in My Blog
Texting the Underworld, by Ellen Booraem, at There's a Book and Charlotte's Library
The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
Time Snatchers, by Richard Ungar, at Time Travel Times Two
The Wednesdays, by Julie Bourbeau, at Bibliophilic Monologues
The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman, at The Reading Date (audiobook)
The Whatnot, by Stefan Bachman, at BookYAReview
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at AJ Cattapan
The Wild Hunt of the Ghost Hounds, by Penelope Lively, at Charlotte's Library
Wishbird, by Gabrielle Wang, at WhenIgrowupIwannawriteakidsbook (also an interview)
The Year of Shadows, by Claire Legrand, at The Reading Nook Reviews
Authors and Interviews
Ellen Booraem (Texting the Underworld) at The Children's Book Review, Word Spelunking, and at Charlotte's Library (giveaways with these)
Sarwat Chadda (Ash Mistry) on diversity at The Book Smugglers
Nikki Bennett (Four Fiends) at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
Other Good Stuff:
From the Dept. of Brilliant Art Mashups, a Mexican artist has reimagined Pokemon as Mayan monsters! See all the Pokemayans here at Monorobot (found at Tor)
The Reviews:
The 13th Horseman, by Barry Hutchison, at Wondrous Reads
Ash Mistry and the World of Darkness, by Sarwat Chadda, at The Book Zone
Circus Galacticus, by Deva Fagan, at Kid Lit Geek
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Guys Lit Wire
Escape from the Carnivale (Peter and the Starcatchers), by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, at Kimberly's Book Life
The Frog Princess, by E.D. Baker, at Puss Reboots
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Fantasy Literature
The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe, by Dan Poblocki, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Heirs of Prophecy, by at The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow
The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healy, at Charlotte's Library
The House on Parchment Street, by Patricia McKillip, at Charlotte's Library
Janitors, by Tyler Whitesides, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb, by Ally Malinenko, at Offbeat Vagabond
Lupus Rex, by John Carter Cash, at Project Mayhem
The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at Karissa's Reading Review (audiobook)
North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Charlotte's Library
Penumbras, by Braden Bell, at Geo Librarian
The Reluctant Assassin, by Eoin Colfer, at YA Sleuth and books4yourkids
Return to Cardamom, by Julie Anne Grasso, at Kid Lit Reviews
The Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum, at Becky's Book Reviews
The Ruins of Gorlan, by John Flanagan, at magical middle-grade literature
Scepter of the Ancients (Skulduggery Pleasant Book 1), by Derek Landy, at Fantasy Literature and Skulduggery Pleasant, books 5 and 6-- Mortal Coil, and Death Bringer, by Derek Landy, at Original Content
The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co.) by Jonathan Stroud, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
The Shadowhand Covenant, by Brian Farrey, at Views from the Tesseract
Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Alison's Book Marks, The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia, and The Book Smugglers
Storybound, by Marissa Burt, at (k)atty at law
Teacher's Pest (Lovecraft Middle School), by Charles Gilman, at Zombies in My Blog
Texting the Underworld, by Ellen Booraem, at There's a Book and Charlotte's Library
The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
Time Snatchers, by Richard Ungar, at Time Travel Times Two
The Wednesdays, by Julie Bourbeau, at Bibliophilic Monologues
The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman, at The Reading Date (audiobook)
The Whatnot, by Stefan Bachman, at BookYAReview
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at AJ Cattapan
The Wild Hunt of the Ghost Hounds, by Penelope Lively, at Charlotte's Library
Wishbird, by Gabrielle Wang, at WhenIgrowupIwannawriteakidsbook (also an interview)
The Year of Shadows, by Claire Legrand, at The Reading Nook Reviews
Authors and Interviews
Ellen Booraem (Texting the Underworld) at The Children's Book Review, Word Spelunking, and at Charlotte's Library (giveaways with these)
Sarwat Chadda (Ash Mistry) on diversity at The Book Smugglers
Nikki Bennett (Four Fiends) at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
Other Good Stuff:
From the Dept. of Brilliant Art Mashups, a Mexican artist has reimagined Pokemon as Mayan monsters! See all the Pokemayans here at Monorobot (found at Tor)
8/10/13
The Wild Hunt of the Ghost Hounds, aka The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy, by Penelope Lively
I recently got a new computer, and made a nice little space for it on the desk under the stairs. I moved the bookshelf that was on the desk, but there is still a small little bit of TBR creep (six books) off to one corner of it...and there I was this morning, reading blogs etc., and I saw that one of these books was The Wild Hunt of the Ghost Hounds, by Penelope Lively (UK title--The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy, 1971), and I asked myself why the heck I'd never gotten around to reading it...so I did.
Lucy has been sent from London to spend the summer with her aunt Mabel, who lives in a small Somerset village. She'd been there once before, as a child, and remembered vividly the fun she had had with three local children, two girls and a boy, and as the train gets closer, she's filled with anticipation, imaging them all having a wonderful summer together. But though her aunt's cottage is lovely, her old friends have changed--the two girls, daughters of a posh family, are now frightfully keen on all things pony (not of interest to Lucy), and Kester, the boy, being from a non-posh family, is rather beneath their notice, except as something to be patronized. And Kester doesn't seem to want much to do with Lucy....
Happily, this changes--Kester, in the lonely position of being sent to a better school than the other village kids, unbends toward Lucy, and for a while, they are happy exploring the wild moor and the forests and looking for fossils on the beach. And all is calm...(and beautifully described).
And then the dance begins. It seemed harmless enough to the Vicar, when he found the old leather mask to which stag horns had been attached--why not revive what was clearly an Olde Tradition, and use the recreated stag dance as the center piece of a fund-raising village fete? And soon six boys and six girls are outfitted with masks and horns, and the dance is brought back to life.
But the older people of the village remember the stories of what happened back before the dance was abandoned...and are afraid. It was more, or less, than a dance...there was a hunt, and there was the one hunted, and always there was the risk of wakening the old wild magic that the dance only imitated. And Lucy, watching her friend Kester pulled into that old story, is afraid as well. She can sense the Wild Hunt coming closer, looking for its quarry...
Doesn't that sound excellent, and just the sort of book a young imaginative Anglophile girl (me at 12) would love? And it was very gripping, and very real, and very magical...and the horror of the Wild Hunt grew and grew as the land was gripped by heat and drought...but yet it wasn't, quite, as good as I thought it should have been. I've had this sense of vague let down with Penelope Lively before--a feeling that I should be more swept off my feet then I am by the numinous magic of the story and by the wonderful evocative sense of old places and traditions that fill her books.
Is it, I asked myself, the fact that there's not a lot of tasty food in her books? That may sound shallow, but a nicely described meal of appropriate beauty/mystery/homeyness goes a long way toward making a story real. "Have another scone," as Aunt Mabel says, just doesn't do it.
But I rejected this hypothesis. Food alone wouldn't have filled the uncertain void I felt.
I considered the lack of something else I like very much in books--the main character doing something particular, either of a crafty sort, or an imaginative sort--making or pretending, in a way that makes a character a unique person. Lucy and Kester mostly have no external points to their lives--they like books, they like fossils, but mostly they are pretty blank. I felt I was getting closer...
And then I realized that Lucy and Kester, and for that matter the boys in the Stag Dance, have no agency to speak of, and are simply being washed over by old magic because they happen to be the ones that are there at the time. Who they are as people has little to do with it (Kester gets the role he does because of his outlier status, but it's not because of his particular Kester-ness). Looking back at the other Penelope Lively books I've reviewed (Astercote, A Stich in Time, The Driftway) the same lack of agency is there too-they are strong on place, evocative as heck, and they should be books I loved to bits....but I didn't, quite.
Oh well! I wouldn't mind quite so much if they hadn't come so close, especially this one....
Lucy has been sent from London to spend the summer with her aunt Mabel, who lives in a small Somerset village. She'd been there once before, as a child, and remembered vividly the fun she had had with three local children, two girls and a boy, and as the train gets closer, she's filled with anticipation, imaging them all having a wonderful summer together. But though her aunt's cottage is lovely, her old friends have changed--the two girls, daughters of a posh family, are now frightfully keen on all things pony (not of interest to Lucy), and Kester, the boy, being from a non-posh family, is rather beneath their notice, except as something to be patronized. And Kester doesn't seem to want much to do with Lucy....
Happily, this changes--Kester, in the lonely position of being sent to a better school than the other village kids, unbends toward Lucy, and for a while, they are happy exploring the wild moor and the forests and looking for fossils on the beach. And all is calm...(and beautifully described).
And then the dance begins. It seemed harmless enough to the Vicar, when he found the old leather mask to which stag horns had been attached--why not revive what was clearly an Olde Tradition, and use the recreated stag dance as the center piece of a fund-raising village fete? And soon six boys and six girls are outfitted with masks and horns, and the dance is brought back to life.
But the older people of the village remember the stories of what happened back before the dance was abandoned...and are afraid. It was more, or less, than a dance...there was a hunt, and there was the one hunted, and always there was the risk of wakening the old wild magic that the dance only imitated. And Lucy, watching her friend Kester pulled into that old story, is afraid as well. She can sense the Wild Hunt coming closer, looking for its quarry...
Doesn't that sound excellent, and just the sort of book a young imaginative Anglophile girl (me at 12) would love? And it was very gripping, and very real, and very magical...and the horror of the Wild Hunt grew and grew as the land was gripped by heat and drought...but yet it wasn't, quite, as good as I thought it should have been. I've had this sense of vague let down with Penelope Lively before--a feeling that I should be more swept off my feet then I am by the numinous magic of the story and by the wonderful evocative sense of old places and traditions that fill her books.
Is it, I asked myself, the fact that there's not a lot of tasty food in her books? That may sound shallow, but a nicely described meal of appropriate beauty/mystery/homeyness goes a long way toward making a story real. "Have another scone," as Aunt Mabel says, just doesn't do it.
But I rejected this hypothesis. Food alone wouldn't have filled the uncertain void I felt.
I considered the lack of something else I like very much in books--the main character doing something particular, either of a crafty sort, or an imaginative sort--making or pretending, in a way that makes a character a unique person. Lucy and Kester mostly have no external points to their lives--they like books, they like fossils, but mostly they are pretty blank. I felt I was getting closer...
And then I realized that Lucy and Kester, and for that matter the boys in the Stag Dance, have no agency to speak of, and are simply being washed over by old magic because they happen to be the ones that are there at the time. Who they are as people has little to do with it (Kester gets the role he does because of his outlier status, but it's not because of his particular Kester-ness). Looking back at the other Penelope Lively books I've reviewed (Astercote, A Stich in Time, The Driftway) the same lack of agency is there too-they are strong on place, evocative as heck, and they should be books I loved to bits....but I didn't, quite.
Oh well! I wouldn't mind quite so much if they hadn't come so close, especially this one....
8/9/13
The Cybils Elementary/Middle Grade Sci Fi and Fantasy winners of years past
The 2013 Cybils season is almost here--applications for being a panelist will open on the 15th of August, and close the 31st. Excited about this as I always am, I thought it might be fun to go back and take a look at the authors who were the winners in the Cybils Elementary/MG sci fi/fantasy from years past, to see what they are up to now!
2007 The True Meaning of Smekday written by Adam Rex. I am rather abashed that I have never read this one, and will try to do so soon... Since 2007 Adam Rex has been busy writing, and illustrating, picture books (such as Frankenstein Takes the Cake, and the illustrations for Neil Gaiman's Chu's Day). He's also written a YA book, Fat Vampire, and two books of MG sci fi/fantasy series, Cold Cereal, and Unlucky Charms (which is eligible for the Cybils this year!).
2008 The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. Before it won the Newbery and the Carnegie Awards, it was shortlisted for the Cybils...and Neil Gaiman continues to be Neil Gaiman. I haven't read the forthcoming Fortunately the Milk (2013) yet, but it looks like a perfectly eligible contender for this year!
2009 Dreamdark: Silksinger (Faeries of Dreamdark) written by Laini Taylor. Laini had originally planned to write more books about the Faeries of Dreamdark, and I hope some day she will, but in the meantime she's working on the third book of the YA Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy.
2010 The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere, Vol. 1) written by Jacqueline West. Happily for all of us who enjoyed this one lots, Jacqueline West has been busily writing more books in the series; the fourth book, The Strangers, came out in July, making it eligible for this year!
2011 The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale written by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright. Since Cheshire Cheese Cat, Carmen Agra Deedy has published The Return of the Library Dragon, for younger readers.
2012 The False Prince written by Jennifer Nielsen, and yay! the sequel, The Runaway King, was published this year (making it eligible), and the third book, The Shadow Throne, is coming March 2014.
So if you want to help pick the 2013 winner, in this or any of the various other Cybils categories, do throw your name into the hat this year! I'm the category organizer for Elementary/MG Speculative Fiction (we've tweaked the name this year), and I'll be putting up a post in the next day or so with all the detais about what being a panelist entails....
(Hmm... seems that blue and orangy/yellows are the cover color schemes most likely to win. They do all look very nice together....)
8/8/13
The House on Parchment Street, by Patricia McKillip (a middle grade ghost story)
Patricia McKillip is known these days (although perhaps known not quite well enough) for her gorgeous adult fantasy novels, full of beautiful words and worlds. But the first book* she published was not one of those. Instead, The House on Parchment Street (1973) is a ghost story for 10-13 year old kids, and it's a good one (with reservations beyond the hideous original cover--what was it about the 1970s that made mustard yellow so popular?).
Carol has been sent to stay with relatives in England for a month to expand her young mind. Her aunt and uncle welcome her to the old house on Parchment Street, but the tough boys her cousin Bruce hangs out with are enough to make her want to go back home almost immediately. And then, down in the cellar of the house, Carol sees a ghost--a man in black, disappearing through the wall. When Carol finds that Bruce has seen this ghost too they become allies in solving a mystery from the English Civil War.
That's the bare bones, as it were, of the ghost part--it's a fine ghost story, nicely creepy, with gradual realizations and historical clues allowing the kids to figure out what happened back in the past, and culminating in an exciting and dangerous discovery.
But the ghost part of the book is interwoven with the contemporary story of prickly friendships, the dynamic between Bruce and his father, Carol's experiences as an awkward stranger in a strange place--lots of character development, in other words. This realistic part of the book almost overshadows the ghost story; the ghosts never get to be people, as it were, but instead seem to be there to give events in the real world a focus. We don't actually find out the historical particulars of what happened, just the general outline of what happened. This bothered me as child--I wanted to know more about the mysterious girl from the past (we never learn her name!) and I think I only ever read it once, despite being a young anglophile, because of being vexed by this.
I did, however, enjoy my recent re-read--the place, the people, the story were all satisfying; at this point in my life I am perhaps less dependent on supernatural gratification for my reading enjoyment! I'd recommend this one, then, not so much to the ghost story lover, but to those who enjoy the old-fashioned sort of lonely girl in a strange place stories, if you know what I mean!
*Possibly this is her second published book. The Throme of the Erril of Sherril came out the same year...
Carol has been sent to stay with relatives in England for a month to expand her young mind. Her aunt and uncle welcome her to the old house on Parchment Street, but the tough boys her cousin Bruce hangs out with are enough to make her want to go back home almost immediately. And then, down in the cellar of the house, Carol sees a ghost--a man in black, disappearing through the wall. When Carol finds that Bruce has seen this ghost too they become allies in solving a mystery from the English Civil War.
That's the bare bones, as it were, of the ghost part--it's a fine ghost story, nicely creepy, with gradual realizations and historical clues allowing the kids to figure out what happened back in the past, and culminating in an exciting and dangerous discovery.
But the ghost part of the book is interwoven with the contemporary story of prickly friendships, the dynamic between Bruce and his father, Carol's experiences as an awkward stranger in a strange place--lots of character development, in other words. This realistic part of the book almost overshadows the ghost story; the ghosts never get to be people, as it were, but instead seem to be there to give events in the real world a focus. We don't actually find out the historical particulars of what happened, just the general outline of what happened. This bothered me as child--I wanted to know more about the mysterious girl from the past (we never learn her name!) and I think I only ever read it once, despite being a young anglophile, because of being vexed by this.
I did, however, enjoy my recent re-read--the place, the people, the story were all satisfying; at this point in my life I am perhaps less dependent on supernatural gratification for my reading enjoyment! I'd recommend this one, then, not so much to the ghost story lover, but to those who enjoy the old-fashioned sort of lonely girl in a strange place stories, if you know what I mean!
*Possibly this is her second published book. The Throme of the Erril of Sherril came out the same year...
8/7/13
Texting the Underworld, by Ellen Booraem--review, interview, and giveaway!
Texting the Underworld, by Ellen Booraem (Dial, Middle Grade, Aug. 15, 2013), deserves the star it got from Kirkus--this is a smart, funny, fantasy, set primarily in the real world, but with a most diverting excursion to the Underworld! It's the story of what happens when a (relatively) young and inexperienced Banshee, Ashling (who once was an Irish girl from the Dark Ages), shows up at the Boston bedroom of a somewhat timorous 12 year old Conor. The arrival of a Banshee means that someone is going to die...a frightening thing for anyone, but for Conor, to whom the world already seems dangerous and difficult, it's especially distressing! And to complicate matters further, Ashling is in no hurry to scream and leave; no, she wants to stick around in 21st century Boston, as a sort of supernatural exchange student, quite visible, quite audible, and quite difficult to explain to friends and family and the school principal.
Ashling doesn't particularly want to be a harbinger of death, and Conor most emphatically doesn't want anyone in his family to die, so the two of them (with help from Conor's grandfather and his little sister) hatch a plan. They'll visit the Underworld from whence Ashling was sent, and try to sort things out there....But the Underworld is a twisty and dangerous place, more so even than middle school, and Conor, deeply reluctant even in real life to visit places that aren't mapped, has to find the bravery and determination to face the supernatural challenge of lifetime.
The story zips along zippingly, the premise and its various ramifications are fascinating and fun (and even chuckle out loud funny at times), and there's lots of engrossing detail in both the characterization and mythological mayhem! Added to this is a thought-provoking subtext about living life in the face of death that gave it depth, and the author doesn't shy from delivering an appropriatly powerful emotional punch at the end. In short, I liked it lots, would recommend it to both kids and MG SFF reading grownups, and was very happy to have the chance to ask Ellen questions about it!
The Interview (with me in bold)
I adore the title.
Was it there from the beginning as part of your whole conception of the story,
or did it come to you at some later point in a flash of inspiration?
I didn’t realize how big a role texting would play until I
was well into the story, so the title was more of a last-minute endeavor. And I
can’t take credit for it, except that I knew I wanted to combine the mundane
with the otherworldly. (At one point I wanted to call it Death & Jelly
Beans.) I emailed ideas back and forth with my editor, Kathy Dawson—we had
lists and lists and LISTS of possible word combinations—and she’s the one who
came up with the winning combination.
Conor is a scaredy cat, and somewhat neurotic—not your typical hero (which, of course, is the point—this lets him have a character arc). I found that he teetered just on the brink of being too unheroic at the beginning of the book, and felt you walked a fine line between making him realistically an anti-hero and making him so much so that he becomes unsympathetic. How did you approach this conundrum? Was this something that caused difficulties in the writing of the book?
Conor is a scaredy cat, and somewhat neurotic—not your typical hero (which, of course, is the point—this lets him have a character arc). I found that he teetered just on the brink of being too unheroic at the beginning of the book, and felt you walked a fine line between making him realistically an anti-hero and making him so much so that he becomes unsympathetic. How did you approach this conundrum? Was this something that caused difficulties in the writing of the book?
It’s always a problem making sure your characters are
realistically flawed and yet likeable. Fortunately, fearfulness is a more
likeable trait than obnoxiousness, which was the problem I had to overcome with
Conor’s predecessor, Mellie in SMALL
PERSONS WITH WINGS. Being afraid of things is such a familiar feeling to all of
us that we usually can empathize with it. Also, most of Conor’s fears are also
mine, so I definitely was on his side when I was writing him!
There are so many
zestily entertaining aspects of the book. I especially loved Nergal (one of the denizens of the Underworld--a Babylonian god of death). Was
there any part or character who gave you special enjoyment?
I’m fond of Nergal, too, and I was so glad when he showed
up—he’s a nice, sensible guy, compared to most of the others who help run the
Underworld. I like that he’s eager for knowledge and not content with the
status quo the way so many in the Underworld are.
I came up with him after I realized that my afterlife could
not be just Celtic—I mean, the Irish aren’t the only ones who die, are they? So
I started looking into death deities from other cultures, and there was Nergal,
the Babylonian Lord of the Dead. He’s half lion, and for some reason in my mind
that meant dignity and kindness.
I enjoyed writing the Underworld scenes in general. Another
favorite character was the Cailleach, the unpleasant, black-robed portal guard,
who is based on a Scottish/Irish goddess of winter but actually turned out as a
weird combination of dementor, Ghost of Christmas Future, and every
ill-tempered old lady I’ve ever met.
How did you come to write middle grade, as opposed to YA or adult, books? I'm wondering, for instance, if you assayed attempts at those older type books and found they just didn't work for you, or if you always knew you wanted to write MG.
In my twenties I concentrated on short stories for adults
(none of which ever got published, thank heavens). I started writing for
younger readers because of characters my partner, Rob Shillady, a painter, had
developed on a whim in art school. He put Medford (his alter-ego) and his
sidekick the Goatman in paintings he did for friends, and I decided in my
mid-30s to write a picture book based on them. It stopped being a picture book
almost immediately, and over the next 20 years years (15 of them spent in a
desk drawer) it finally turned into THE UNNAMEABLES.
I don’t have a specific age group in mind when I start
books—they turn into middle grade all by themselves. The voice and the themes
that resonate most with me apparently lend themselves to that “tween” age, when
we’re first struggling with the issues of who we are and where we fit in the
world.
I am sitting here trying to think of a comparable book to T. the U.--one that has a contemporary setting, and an ordinary hero (ie, not the son of a god), and one in which the stakes are personal, or at least familial, but which has fully flowering mythological/fantasy mayhem. My mind is blank. Can you think of any?
The ones that first come to mind are some books by Diana
Wynne Jones, whose work I just love. Many of her heroes are of the Harry Potter
variety—normal kids who discover they have supernatural powers—but she also has
some protagonists who are just regular kids in a fix of some kind. EIGHT DAYS
OF LUKE’s David Allard, for example, is dealing with unpleasant relatives as
well as a bunch of Norse gods, and the children in THE OGRE DOWNSTAIRS are contending
with a new stepfather and the effects of a magical chemistry set.
But you’re right—it’s far more common that the hero in a
“domestic” fantasy like mine turns out to be supernatural in some way.
Easy one next--what were your favorite books as a child? Were you any that you feel have exerted an particular influence over your writing?
To my constant surprise and chagrin, no one’s ever heard of
the formative book of my childhood. It’s THE DAUGHTERS OF THE STARS, published
in 1939 in England by an American author, Mary Crary. It ran afoul of World War
II, and was rushed to publication before the country ran out of paper and ink.
As a result, it only has two of a planned set of Edmund Dulac illustrations,
which are utterly gorgeous, of course. My copy was a ninth birthday present from
an elderly lady in my neighborhood (definitely not one of the models for the
Cailleach).
The story is about the bureaucracy that runs the natural
world, meaning the stars, the wind, the rain, the oceans, and so forth.
Astrella, the younger Daughter of the Stars, is named Luminary of Two
Continents and has to transfer from one post to the other for a time. She takes
her young daughter, Perdita, on a hazardous journey across the heavens. In the
second half of the book, Perdita has adventures of her own.
In a foreword, the author complains that she’s sick of
reading stories in which the mother is dead, so she created one in which the
mother is the only parent in evidence. The heavenly bureaucracy, moreover, is
pretty much run by women, usually in their own right but also as the power
behind the throne. Astrella and Perdita are perfectly capable of taking care of
themselves with no knight in shining armor coming to their rescue.
I loved all that, and as well as Crary’s sense of
humor. Her book has been important to me
both personally and professionally. I realized after the fact that my concept
of a bunch of bureaucrats running the Underworld probably owed something to THE
DAUGHTERS OF THE STARS.
(Me: I shall add it to my Christmas list! It sounds great, and I love Dulac).
And finally, another easy one---what are you working on now?
I have two middle grade books and one for younger kids in
various stages of development—and the one farthest along might never see the
light of day so I probably shouldn’t talk about it. Suffice it to say that I’m always working on
something!
Thanks for the interview, Charlotte—this was fun!
Thank you, Ellen, for writing both the book and your answers to my questions!
The Giveaway
Penguin is offering two copies of Texting the Underworld to two winners (US only); please leave a comment to be entered! Ends next Wednesday (August 14) at midnight.And if you want even more, Ellen has shared the scene in which Conor and Ashling meet for the first time here at Scene 13ers!
The next stop on
Ellen’s blog tour for TEXTING THE UNDERWORLD is YA
Books Central. See you there!
8/6/13
North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, for Timeslip Tuesday
Sometimes the fact that I'm reviewing a book for Timeslip Tuesday is a spoiler right then and there, and deprives the future reader of discovering that for themselves as part of the natural unfolding of the book's mystery, I'm sorry about that. I console myself by thinking that a. people are reading this who are gatekeepers, who might want mysterious time travel books to offer their young charges, and b. people who might read it for themselves might actually be more likely too if they know there is time travel involved...
I myself did not know when I picked up North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler (Candlewick, Middle Grade, August 2013), what was going to happen. Mia and her mother arrive in a small fishing village in Cornwall, to help out her grandmother after her grandfather disappears. Lonely and bored, Mia wanders the beach...where she finds another girl's diary tucked inside the cupboard of a fishing boat, and writes a greeting in it.
After Dee, whose diary it is, manages to forgive Mia's transgression, and they become friends through the notes they write each other--actually meeting face to face is hard, because Dee lives out on an isolated island, and her father won't take her to the mainland when bad weather threatens.
But Mia has made another new friend, a boy named Peter....and his fancy is caught by the thought that he might bring the two girls together. And so he sets sail himself, to Dee's island...
And that's all I'll say, except that this where things get beautifully twisted!
It's a quite sort of mystery adventure--things unfold, and more pieces of complication are revealed, and there's a rather gripping bit of true danger, which makes for good reading. Though the ending is positively odd, and takes considerable swallowing on the part of all concerned (characters and me as reader), it all makes sense. More or less, and rather sudden, but still fine.
Mia's a likable. believable 12 year old, her pen-pal friendship with Dee is fascinating, and there's a lovely sense of place to it all. This is one that's perfect for the dreamy, introspective girl reader, who might possibly be a little lonely herself, but it's also good for those who like their time travel to take place person by person, with unfathomable magic gradually taking over their lives...
Other reviews at Jen Robinson's Book Page, and Random Musings of a Bibliophile
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
I myself did not know when I picked up North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler (Candlewick, Middle Grade, August 2013), what was going to happen. Mia and her mother arrive in a small fishing village in Cornwall, to help out her grandmother after her grandfather disappears. Lonely and bored, Mia wanders the beach...where she finds another girl's diary tucked inside the cupboard of a fishing boat, and writes a greeting in it.
After Dee, whose diary it is, manages to forgive Mia's transgression, and they become friends through the notes they write each other--actually meeting face to face is hard, because Dee lives out on an isolated island, and her father won't take her to the mainland when bad weather threatens.
But Mia has made another new friend, a boy named Peter....and his fancy is caught by the thought that he might bring the two girls together. And so he sets sail himself, to Dee's island...
And that's all I'll say, except that this where things get beautifully twisted!
It's a quite sort of mystery adventure--things unfold, and more pieces of complication are revealed, and there's a rather gripping bit of true danger, which makes for good reading. Though the ending is positively odd, and takes considerable swallowing on the part of all concerned (characters and me as reader), it all makes sense. More or less, and rather sudden, but still fine.
Mia's a likable. believable 12 year old, her pen-pal friendship with Dee is fascinating, and there's a lovely sense of place to it all. This is one that's perfect for the dreamy, introspective girl reader, who might possibly be a little lonely herself, but it's also good for those who like their time travel to take place person by person, with unfathomable magic gradually taking over their lives...
Other reviews at Jen Robinson's Book Page, and Random Musings of a Bibliophile
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
8/5/13
Giveaway--ARC of Wild Cards, by Simone Elkeles
Wild Cards, by Simone Elkeles (coming September 24), arrived in the mail from Bloomsbury a little while ago, and I liked Perfect Chemistry and its sequels quite a bit, so I started reading it just now...and I got about fifty pages in, reading about dysfunctional family dynamics, football, teenage love difficulties. Though I peaked at the ending and everything works out, I'm not going to continue. Just not my cup of tea.
And since I am sure that this will be absolutely someone else's cup of tea, I'm offering my ARC up for grabs! Just leave a comment before midnight, next Monday, August 12.
And since I am sure that this will be absolutely someone else's cup of tea, I'm offering my ARC up for grabs! Just leave a comment before midnight, next Monday, August 12.
8/4/13
The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle
The band of eccentric Prince Charmings, and the princess with whom their lives are entwined, introduced by Christopher Healy in The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom, are back for more twisted fairy-tale mayhem in The Hero's Guide to Storming The Castle (Walden Pond Press, April 2013).
Princes Liam, Frederick, Duncan and Gustav had hoped that their previous exploits, in which they did, in fact, foil a serious threat to their kingdoms, would finally have given them fame and respect...but it was not to be. Instead, they get derision. But all is not lost--a new great adventure awaits! The twisted ambition of Briar Rose, spoiled rotten and power mad, has united them, along with Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose, on a quest to storm the castle of the nasty kid turned Bandit King they met in book 1, and recover a lost artifact of incredible magical power (the sort of thing you wouldn't want a boy Bandit King to know he has. Also the sort of thing you wouldn't actually want Briar Rose getting a hold of...).
The adventures that ensue are packed with all sorts of absurdity (and slapstick humor and adventurous bizarrity and clowns). Mischances and incredible good luck vie for supremacy, and each of the characters must use his or her eccentric talents, and play nicely with the others, in order for them to have any chance of success against more, and worse, villains than they thought they would have to face.
Within all the vast canvas of high jinks and daring do, the central characters manage to be interesting people, more so here, I thought, than in the first book. They did, in fact, learn things from those adventures that changed them and made them more thoughtful and introspective. And at this point they are busily exploring their relationships with each other--Snow and Duncan are already nicely paired off, but will the other three predestined couples be happy in their matches? For Liam, this is a particular problem--Briar Rose, his fated bride, is not lovable. Fortunatly, the intricacies of castle storming gives her the chance she needs to Grow as a Person (hard to believe, but a good thing). And as well as the Love aspects of life, our heros and heroines have to continue to work on trusting and respecting each other. So definitely points for characterization.
It's lots of fun; good for the young reader who likes his or her fantasy zany, who got a kick out of the plethora of slapsticky humor in books for the elementary set, who is now ready to move on. This, I think, is one where response to the cover will be a good indication of whether a particular kid will like the book. I wasn't able to get my own Sample of Target Audience to try these (he is a big fan of the Ranger's Apprentice series, and takes his epic fantasy rather seriously), but I think there are many kids who will find both the Hero books very appealing indeed.
Here's another review, at The Book Smugglers
disclaimer: my copy of this was received courtesy of the publisher, via Ms. Yingling Reads (thanks!), as a prize in the 48 Hour Reading Challenge
Princes Liam, Frederick, Duncan and Gustav had hoped that their previous exploits, in which they did, in fact, foil a serious threat to their kingdoms, would finally have given them fame and respect...but it was not to be. Instead, they get derision. But all is not lost--a new great adventure awaits! The twisted ambition of Briar Rose, spoiled rotten and power mad, has united them, along with Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose, on a quest to storm the castle of the nasty kid turned Bandit King they met in book 1, and recover a lost artifact of incredible magical power (the sort of thing you wouldn't want a boy Bandit King to know he has. Also the sort of thing you wouldn't actually want Briar Rose getting a hold of...).
The adventures that ensue are packed with all sorts of absurdity (and slapstick humor and adventurous bizarrity and clowns). Mischances and incredible good luck vie for supremacy, and each of the characters must use his or her eccentric talents, and play nicely with the others, in order for them to have any chance of success against more, and worse, villains than they thought they would have to face.
Within all the vast canvas of high jinks and daring do, the central characters manage to be interesting people, more so here, I thought, than in the first book. They did, in fact, learn things from those adventures that changed them and made them more thoughtful and introspective. And at this point they are busily exploring their relationships with each other--Snow and Duncan are already nicely paired off, but will the other three predestined couples be happy in their matches? For Liam, this is a particular problem--Briar Rose, his fated bride, is not lovable. Fortunatly, the intricacies of castle storming gives her the chance she needs to Grow as a Person (hard to believe, but a good thing). And as well as the Love aspects of life, our heros and heroines have to continue to work on trusting and respecting each other. So definitely points for characterization.
It's lots of fun; good for the young reader who likes his or her fantasy zany, who got a kick out of the plethora of slapsticky humor in books for the elementary set, who is now ready to move on. This, I think, is one where response to the cover will be a good indication of whether a particular kid will like the book. I wasn't able to get my own Sample of Target Audience to try these (he is a big fan of the Ranger's Apprentice series, and takes his epic fantasy rather seriously), but I think there are many kids who will find both the Hero books very appealing indeed.
Here's another review, at The Book Smugglers
disclaimer: my copy of this was received courtesy of the publisher, via Ms. Yingling Reads (thanks!), as a prize in the 48 Hour Reading Challenge
This week's round-up of Middle Grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs, plus my new role with the Cybils Awards
First, my own news viz the Cybils Awards--after being a humble panelist for several years, I've been promoted to Category Organizer for Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy (aka Speculative Fiction)! This means that I'll be responsible for assembling the lists of brilliant first and second round panelists, making sure that the books nominated are where they should be, and generally keeping things in this category running smoothly.
And of course I want all of you regular contributors to these round-ups to apply to be panelists, because you all are the ones avidly reading mgsff. This is what the volunteer application looked like last year (look for the 2013 form on August 15) and in the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions!
And as always, please let me know if I missed your post this week!
The Reviews
Aesop's Secret, by Claudia White, at The Book Smugglers (scroll down)
The Book of Story Beginnings, by Kristin Kladstrup, at Laurel Holman
The Borrowers Aloft, by Mary Norton, at Tor
A Box of Gargoyles, by Anne Nesbet, at Charlotte's Library
The Bromeliad Trilogy (Truckers, Diggers, and Wings), by Terry Pratchett, at Here There Be Books
Cloneward Bound, by M.E. Castle, at Geo Librarian
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Hidden in Pages and Mrs. Payan Reads
The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens, at Book Hooked Blog (audiobook review)
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at A Reader's Adventure (audiobook review)
Fight of the Phoenix (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, book 1), by R.L. LeFevers, at The Write Path
Giving Up the Ghost, and The Secrets Within, by Phoebe Rivers, at Secrets & Sharing Soda
Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, at Slatebreakers
Harding's Luck, by E. Nesbit, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles
The Hypnotists, by Gordon Korman, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Igraine the Brave, by Cornelia Funke, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews
The Iron-Jawed Boy, by Nikolas Lee, at Ms. Bibliophile
Jack Templar Monster Hunter, by Jeff Gun-Hus, at Non-Stop Reads
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Sharon Messenger, at A Slightly Nerdy Bookworm
Listening to Lucca, by Suzanne LaFluer, at Random Acts of Reading
The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay, at Becky's Book Reviews
The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, by Richard Peck, at the Christian Science Monitor
North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
The Northern Frights (Scary School 3), by Derek the Ghost, at Little Library Muse
Oliver and the Seawigs, by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre, at The Book Zone
The Pirate's Coin, by Marianne Malone, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu, at Carina's Books and Reederama (I missed these last week, but thought people would be interested, so decided to include them....)
Return to Cardamom, by Julie Anne Grasso, at guiltless reading
Rump, by Liesl Shurtliff, at That's Another Story and The Book Smugglers
The Sasquatch Escape, by Suzanne Selfors, at Book Nut
The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Good Books and Good Wine
(audiobook review) and Death, Books, and Tea
The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, at Bookends
Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia and Mister K Reads
Starbounders, by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, at Sci Fi Chick
Tales From Lovecraft Middle School (books 1-3), by Charles Gilman, at Bewitched Bookworms
The Time Garden, by Edward Eager, at Here There Be Books
The Trap Door (Infinity Ring 3), by Lisa McMann, at Charlotte's Library
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Librarian of Snark
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Bookwyrme's Lair
Unicorns of the Mist--Wonderlight, by R.R. Russell, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews
The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman, at Bookworm 1858
The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, by Kate Saunders, at The Librarian's Daughter
The Year of Shadows, by Claire Legrand, at Bookshelvers Anonymous
Authors and Interviews
Julie Grasso (Return to Cardemom) at Nayu's Reading Corner
Ari Goelman (The Path of Names) at Nerdy Book Club
Merrie Haskell (Handbook for Dragon Slayers) at The Madeline Project
Braden Bell (Penumbras) at Literature Young Adult Fiction
Mary G. Thompson (Escape from the Pipe Men), at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
Other Good Stuff
Lois Lowry shares her thoughts on the film adaptation of The Giver.
The shortlist for the 2013 Kelpies Prize has been announced
If I were in Chicago, I'd go see the current exhibit at Gallery F, featuring "a ragtag team of artists joining together to pay homage to the life works of Roald Dahl." (found at Stacked).
And finally, today is National Sisters' Day. Big sisters saving little brothers is the most common sibling relationship in MG SFF these days, so much so that Summer and Bird, by Katherine Catmull is the only recent MG SFF book with a pair of sisters I can think of....moving up in age, my favorite sister book of the past year is Summer of the Mariposas, by Guadalupe Garcia McCall. Please feel free to share your own favorite fantasy sisters in the comments!
And of course I want all of you regular contributors to these round-ups to apply to be panelists, because you all are the ones avidly reading mgsff. This is what the volunteer application looked like last year (look for the 2013 form on August 15) and in the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions!
And as always, please let me know if I missed your post this week!
The Reviews
Aesop's Secret, by Claudia White, at The Book Smugglers (scroll down)
The Book of Story Beginnings, by Kristin Kladstrup, at Laurel Holman
The Borrowers Aloft, by Mary Norton, at Tor
A Box of Gargoyles, by Anne Nesbet, at Charlotte's Library
The Bromeliad Trilogy (Truckers, Diggers, and Wings), by Terry Pratchett, at Here There Be Books
Cloneward Bound, by M.E. Castle, at Geo Librarian
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Hidden in Pages and Mrs. Payan Reads
The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens, at Book Hooked Blog (audiobook review)
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at A Reader's Adventure (audiobook review)
Fight of the Phoenix (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, book 1), by R.L. LeFevers, at The Write Path
Giving Up the Ghost, and The Secrets Within, by Phoebe Rivers, at Secrets & Sharing Soda
Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, at Slatebreakers
Harding's Luck, by E. Nesbit, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles
The Hypnotists, by Gordon Korman, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Igraine the Brave, by Cornelia Funke, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews
The Iron-Jawed Boy, by Nikolas Lee, at Ms. Bibliophile
Jack Templar Monster Hunter, by Jeff Gun-Hus, at Non-Stop Reads
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Sharon Messenger, at A Slightly Nerdy Bookworm
Listening to Lucca, by Suzanne LaFluer, at Random Acts of Reading
The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay, at Becky's Book Reviews
The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, by Richard Peck, at the Christian Science Monitor
North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
The Northern Frights (Scary School 3), by Derek the Ghost, at Little Library Muse
Oliver and the Seawigs, by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre, at The Book Zone
The Pirate's Coin, by Marianne Malone, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu, at Carina's Books and Reederama (I missed these last week, but thought people would be interested, so decided to include them....)
Return to Cardamom, by Julie Anne Grasso, at guiltless reading
Rump, by Liesl Shurtliff, at That's Another Story and The Book Smugglers
The Sasquatch Escape, by Suzanne Selfors, at Book Nut
The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Good Books and Good Wine
(audiobook review) and Death, Books, and Tea
The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, at Bookends
Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia and Mister K Reads
Starbounders, by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, at Sci Fi Chick
Tales From Lovecraft Middle School (books 1-3), by Charles Gilman, at Bewitched Bookworms
The Time Garden, by Edward Eager, at Here There Be Books
The Trap Door (Infinity Ring 3), by Lisa McMann, at Charlotte's Library
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Librarian of Snark
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Bookwyrme's Lair
Unicorns of the Mist--Wonderlight, by R.R. Russell, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews
The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman, at Bookworm 1858
The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, by Kate Saunders, at The Librarian's Daughter
The Year of Shadows, by Claire Legrand, at Bookshelvers Anonymous
Authors and Interviews
Julie Grasso (Return to Cardemom) at Nayu's Reading Corner
Ari Goelman (The Path of Names) at Nerdy Book Club
Merrie Haskell (Handbook for Dragon Slayers) at The Madeline Project
Braden Bell (Penumbras) at Literature Young Adult Fiction
Mary G. Thompson (Escape from the Pipe Men), at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
Other Good Stuff
Lois Lowry shares her thoughts on the film adaptation of The Giver.
The shortlist for the 2013 Kelpies Prize has been announced
If I were in Chicago, I'd go see the current exhibit at Gallery F, featuring "a ragtag team of artists joining together to pay homage to the life works of Roald Dahl." (found at Stacked).
And finally, today is National Sisters' Day. Big sisters saving little brothers is the most common sibling relationship in MG SFF these days, so much so that Summer and Bird, by Katherine Catmull is the only recent MG SFF book with a pair of sisters I can think of....moving up in age, my favorite sister book of the past year is Summer of the Mariposas, by Guadalupe Garcia McCall. Please feel free to share your own favorite fantasy sisters in the comments!
8/2/13
The Adventures of Polly and the Wolf, by Catherine Storr
As I type this, my peripheral vision is full of unread books--enough books to last for ages of happy reading. But I make no progress, for I live 172 steps (I counted yesterday for the first time) from the library, and it is a library whose collection went thirty years untended, and there I am, running the book sales...and that means that I see everything that's now being weeded.*
I thought when I moved here that I would spend lots of time exploring the shelves of books from days gone by, and I did, but it is surprising what a person misses when looking at shelves that the same person wants very much when it turns up in a discard pile...and so I found myself, yesterday evening, curling up with The Adventures of Polly and the Wolf, by Catherine Storr (1957 in the UK, 1970 in the US), and rather pleased to be doing so. Catherine Storr, you see, is the (English) author of one of my most favorite middle grade fantasy books every, Marianne Dreams. And I had never read this book of hers before....
When we first meet the wolf, he is contemplating the book to which this a sequel--Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf (1955). He is, understandably, depressed--always Polly outwits him, never does he get to eat her. But maybe, maybe there is a way for the wolf to be clever, or at least so he thinks...And so he tries cunning plot after cunning plot, whether it's disguising himself as Father Christmas, studying hypnotism, or challenging Polly to a riddle game, but always something goes wrong, and Polly goes home uneaten.
It's maybe a bit too young for me, but it was enjoyable nonetheless, and it's a rather good book, I think, to give to the kid who needs a little bolstering with regard to facing fears. But mostly it is full of kid friendly humor, and I think it would make a great read aloud to a cunning sort of child who could appreciate the silliness of the wolf! I would have been very happy to read these stories to mine, when they were five or six. They may, though, be a bit challenging for young independent readers--Storr isn't shy about using words like "dexterous," and if you aren't a young reader who just happens to be from the UK of many decades ago you will have to be willing to let three-penny bits and buns wash gently over your head, as the strange sort of thing you might find when in a world where a talking wolf has a house just down the street....
Actually, thinking it over, I wouldn't mind reading this out loud to my 10 and 13 year olds. The dryish, not quite farcical humor might make them chuckle, even at their advanced ages...
*(also being weeded in this batch--several Noel Streatfeilds, including Theatre Shoes, a book that . made me faint with happiness when I found it in the Arlington Central Library back when I was young and visiting my grandparents. They weeded it out years ago, along with most of the other books that I checked out every single summer, and it makes me sad that children of today will not have Noel Streatfeild in their libraries.)
I thought when I moved here that I would spend lots of time exploring the shelves of books from days gone by, and I did, but it is surprising what a person misses when looking at shelves that the same person wants very much when it turns up in a discard pile...and so I found myself, yesterday evening, curling up with The Adventures of Polly and the Wolf, by Catherine Storr (1957 in the UK, 1970 in the US), and rather pleased to be doing so. Catherine Storr, you see, is the (English) author of one of my most favorite middle grade fantasy books every, Marianne Dreams. And I had never read this book of hers before....
When we first meet the wolf, he is contemplating the book to which this a sequel--Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf (1955). He is, understandably, depressed--always Polly outwits him, never does he get to eat her. But maybe, maybe there is a way for the wolf to be clever, or at least so he thinks...And so he tries cunning plot after cunning plot, whether it's disguising himself as Father Christmas, studying hypnotism, or challenging Polly to a riddle game, but always something goes wrong, and Polly goes home uneaten.
It's maybe a bit too young for me, but it was enjoyable nonetheless, and it's a rather good book, I think, to give to the kid who needs a little bolstering with regard to facing fears. But mostly it is full of kid friendly humor, and I think it would make a great read aloud to a cunning sort of child who could appreciate the silliness of the wolf! I would have been very happy to read these stories to mine, when they were five or six. They may, though, be a bit challenging for young independent readers--Storr isn't shy about using words like "dexterous," and if you aren't a young reader who just happens to be from the UK of many decades ago you will have to be willing to let three-penny bits and buns wash gently over your head, as the strange sort of thing you might find when in a world where a talking wolf has a house just down the street....
Actually, thinking it over, I wouldn't mind reading this out loud to my 10 and 13 year olds. The dryish, not quite farcical humor might make them chuckle, even at their advanced ages...
*(also being weeded in this batch--several Noel Streatfeilds, including Theatre Shoes, a book that . made me faint with happiness when I found it in the Arlington Central Library back when I was young and visiting my grandparents. They weeded it out years ago, along with most of the other books that I checked out every single summer, and it makes me sad that children of today will not have Noel Streatfeild in their libraries.)
8/1/13
A Box of Gargoyles, by Anne Nesbet
When A Box of Gargoyles, by Anne Nesbet (HarperCollins, May 2013), opens, its young heroine, Maya, is finally enjoying life--her evil ancestor has been defeated (as was told in last year's The Cabinet of Earths), her mother's health is improving, and she has ten days of vacation from school in which to enjoy Paris in the company of her Bulgarian friend, Valko. But her peace of mind is shattered when she is plunged into a new adventure of magical mayhem. Unfortunatly, the evil ancestor is not as thoroughly defeated as one might like, and is manipulating Maya with his sorcerous skills into bringing him back to unnatural life.
The ripple effects of the magic are spreading throughout Paris, and the two gargoyles that have taken up residence on Maya's fire escape are the least of it. Maya and Volko, with the help of a new character, Pauline (younger, but prodigiously intelligent), must figure out just what is going on in the midst of all the insanity that is overcoming Paris (starting with the strange affair of the stone wall around the Bulgarian embassy....which has the uniquly fascinting effect of Bulgarianizing the magic that ripples through the city).
And the most interesting, important question of all (to me, at least)-- is the beautiful, fascinating egg the gargoyles give to Maya for safekeeping good or bad?
The egg was my favorite part of the book, but I enjoyed the book as a whole considerably-- following along with Maya and Valko as they picked their way through a torturous web of magic, wondering if Maya would be able to find choices that could make a difference in the face of a fate that seems almost inescapable.
Real-world storylines--the worrying health of Maya's mother, and the threat that Valko might be taken back to Bulgaria--add further interest to an already rich plot. The relationship between Maya and Valko is a lovely boy/girl friendship, that might develope into something more, but which is very nicely taking its time.
You don't necessarily have to have read The Cabinet of Earths to enjoy this one, but it wouldn't hurt.
In a nutshell-- if you enjoy smart kids, trying to use logic to defeat evil magic, and if you want to visit a Paris in the grip of enchantment, this is a good one.
Here's what Kirkus said, and a meaty blog review at A Wrinkle in the Pages
The ripple effects of the magic are spreading throughout Paris, and the two gargoyles that have taken up residence on Maya's fire escape are the least of it. Maya and Volko, with the help of a new character, Pauline (younger, but prodigiously intelligent), must figure out just what is going on in the midst of all the insanity that is overcoming Paris (starting with the strange affair of the stone wall around the Bulgarian embassy....which has the uniquly fascinting effect of Bulgarianizing the magic that ripples through the city).
And the most interesting, important question of all (to me, at least)-- is the beautiful, fascinating egg the gargoyles give to Maya for safekeeping good or bad?
The egg was my favorite part of the book, but I enjoyed the book as a whole considerably-- following along with Maya and Valko as they picked their way through a torturous web of magic, wondering if Maya would be able to find choices that could make a difference in the face of a fate that seems almost inescapable.
Real-world storylines--the worrying health of Maya's mother, and the threat that Valko might be taken back to Bulgaria--add further interest to an already rich plot. The relationship between Maya and Valko is a lovely boy/girl friendship, that might develope into something more, but which is very nicely taking its time.
You don't necessarily have to have read The Cabinet of Earths to enjoy this one, but it wouldn't hurt.
In a nutshell-- if you enjoy smart kids, trying to use logic to defeat evil magic, and if you want to visit a Paris in the grip of enchantment, this is a good one.
Here's what Kirkus said, and a meaty blog review at A Wrinkle in the Pages
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