The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, by Lamar Giles, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, by Lamar Giles, is a fun  time-tangle of an adventure, that will delight kids who like their fantasy wild and whacky!

Cousins Otto and Sheed are legends in their most unusual county, a where reality is somewhat askew.  They've made a reputation for themselves saving their town from paranormal dangers, earning them two Keys to the City for their services.  Otto's the deductive reasoner of the pair, taking careful notes.  Sheed brings energy and determination to the mix.  The strengths of both boys are needed when, on the last day of summer, the mysterious Mr. Flux arrives, plunging them into a new adventure.

Mr. Flux has a  camera that freezes anyone he takes a photo of, and soon he's frozen the whole town, and time itself has stopped.  The boys are the only un-frozen folks left, so it's up to them to save the day!    The town is full of different time personages  (such as Bed Time, Business Time,  Crunch Time, AM and PM, and the mysterious Witching Hour), all at loose ends without the passage of time, and Mr. Flux is gathering them in, to use as an army to stop to boys' efforts to start time again..

A traveler from the future tilts the balance in boys' favor.  He's not able to tackle Mr. Flux directly, but who does help them figure out why he's appeared in their town, and how to foil him (this involves some detective work in to the town's past, and a bit of time travel back to the point where things first went awry).  And at last, with the help of two girls who are Sheed and Otto's rivals in saving the day, time starts up again....

There's more to the plot than this, of course (for instance, as shown on the cover, there's a robot).  The reader is plunged into adventure right at the beginning, chaos and uncertainty resulting, followed by a calmer stretch in which answers emerge, alongside some reflection by both the characters and story on friendship, jealousy, lost opportunities, and loyalty, followed by another burst of mayhem.  That middle bit is like the string of a balloon, letting the reader connect to, and enjoy, the fanciful elements.   But throughout the book, the relationship between the two boys, who are great foils for each other and whose characters unfold very nicely during the course of the book, also adds relatable realism to the unreal adventure. 

This is Lamar Giles' first middle grade book, and it's a great one for younger middle grade readers (8-10 year olds) who like books that move like a fast dance from one sparkling thought to the next.  Sheed and Otto's adventure is a truly memorable one, with zaniness mixed with enough heart to hold it together.  

And with that I will stop mixing metaphors and thank the publisher for sending me a review copy!

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (3/31/19)

The middle grade sci fi/fantasy round-ups are back, after a break for Kidlitcon.  Please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor, at Chapters and Charms

The Apprentice Witch, by James Nicol, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)

Black and Blue Magic, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, at Say What?

Critter Haven, by Angelina Moretti, at Page Turns (you tube book talk)

Eventown, by Corey Ann Haydu, at Log Cabin Library

Explorer Academy: The Falcon’s Feather, by Trudi Treueit, at Mom Read It

Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret by Trudi Truett, at Redeemed Reader

Forgotten City, by Michael Ford, at Say What?

Gribblebob’s Book of Unpleasant Goblins by David Ashby, at Minerva Reads

The House with Chicken Legs, by Sophie Anderson, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, by Lamar Giles, at Always in the Middle, Falling Letters, proseandkahn, and Unleashing Readers

Lavender-Green Magic, by Andre Norton, at Tor

Little Apocalypse, by Katherine Sparrow, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at Kid Lit Geek

The Magic of Melwick Orchard, by Rebecca Caprara, at Always in the Middle

Nevermore: the Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at A Dance with Books

Starfell: Willow Moss and the Last Day, by Dominique Valente, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books 

Storm Hound, by Claire Fayers, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, at Sonderbooks

Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows, by J.M. Bergen, at Lauren's Bookshelf

The Truth About Martians, by Melissa Savage, at Rosi Hollinbeck

The Wizards of Once, by Cressida Cowell, at Mom with a Reading Problem (audiobook review)

Authors and Interviews

Angie Simbert (Bone's Gift, Lingering Echos) at Middle Grade Minded

Other Good Stuff

A creature-feature about unicorns at Booklist Reader

Dino Knights cover reveal!

I'm easing back into blogging after the excitement of Kidlitcon 2019 with a fun cover reveal!

Dino Knights, the first book in a new series by Jeff Norton (@the jeffnorton) comes out June 6th from Awesome Reads!

Here's the synopsis:

"Imagine medieval times where the dinosaurs never went extinct. When dinosaur stable boy Henry Fairchild stops a vicious T-Rex from attacking his master, he is invited to join the most elite group in Brecklan, the brave Knights of Panterra, the Dino Knights. But before he can prove himself, the enemies of Brecklan attack with a flock of pterodactyls and kidnap Lord Harding. Whether he's ready or not, Henry and the Dino Knights mount a daring rescue mission...but nothing is what it seems."

And here's the cover, by George Ermos:

Sounds (and looks) good to me!

The Jim Henson Company is making a live action tv show based on the book, which sounds like lots of fun too.

Dino Knights can be preordered here.

Seventh Grade vs the Galaxy, by Joshua S. Levy, for Timeslip Tuesday

I must start with a bit of a disclaimer--Seventh Grade vs the Galaxy, by Joshua S. Levy, for Timeslip Tuesday isn't a "time travel book."  But time travel does happen in it, getting our young heroes out of a sticky situation....and it having happened once, I'm thinking it might pop again in future adventures (I hope there will be future adventures!).

School 118 is a ship in orbit around Ganymede, which, though it might sound interesting to readers, isn't of particular interest to the elementary/middle school kids who are being schooled there.  Just boring routines of school, made more unpleasant for  seventh-grader Jack by his father's disgrace and the social fallout that's come Jack's way because of it.   But then everything dull and boring is shattered when the ship comes under attack, and  strange "Quarantine" countdown begins. Jack and two classmates, Ari and Becca, sneak off to the engine room to investigate what's happened, and Jack finds that the ship recognizes him, and asks if he wants to "engage."  And with the countdown at its last second, he says the word, and the ship blasts off into space....and Jack finds his father had transformed the school into humanity's first space ship capable of light speed...

Which ends in the school and its kids and faculty being taken captive by an alien race that keeps a tight hold of their known space.  Not a friendly, welcoming hold for young emergent beings like humanity.

Now it's up to Jack, Becca, and Ari, with a bit of help from Ari's hamster, and whoever keeps sending Jack cryptic warnings, to free School 118 from the aliens' clutches and make it back to the solar system. Bluff and chutzpah and luck get them and the ship free of their alien jailers, though their classmates are left behind.  But how can they find the fuel their school ship needs to get home again? (this is where the time travel, a simple amusement in an alien arcade, comes in handy....)

And then when they get home, having saved their classmates and teachers, it's clear that the story of seventh graders vs a hostile galaxy is far from over....

So this has a lot of kid friendly energy to it, from the zero gravity dodgeball of the beginning to the kids putting their computer game skills to work to get out from the aliens control at the end of it.  The dynamic between the three main protagonists isn't tremendously deep, but it's realistic and amusing enough to do its part to keep the story engaging. There's a bit of cool gadgetry for the young tech fan to want badly, lots of humor sprinkled throughout, even when things get tense, and the settling of humanity in Jupiter's orbit is good intro sci fi.

In short, this is definitely a solid pick for the sci-fi adventure loving 8-11 year old (both cover and title are very good indications of the sort of book it is, and kids who like those will like the book!)  There are other sci fi stories for this age with more emotional heft to them (Ambassador, by William Alexander, Last Day on Mars, by Kevin Emerson), but this one really stands out for its friendly-ness for kids looking for entertainment, with  kids like themselves saving the day (although this particular day still has lots of saving to come....)

disclaimer: review copy received from the author

The Deepest Blue, by Sarah Beth Durst

So yesterday evening was the end of a crappy weekend in which nothing went well and the weather was ick and there were no tasty snacks, and I gave up trying to Do all the Things around 7:30 pm and started reading The Deepest Blue, by Sarah Beth Durst, because I really wanted to.  By 8:30 I was not quite halfway through and cursing daylight savings because clearly I'd be staying up late till I finished.  But I read with such happy absorption that it only took me till 9:30, and then I could go to bed at peace!  It's always so nice to be reminded of why exactly one labels oneself a Reader.

But enough about me.

The Deepest Blue is set in the same world as the Queens of Renthia series, a world of bloodthirsty spirits barely (and sometimes not) controlled by strong women.  Unlike the three Queens books, this one is set on the islands out in the ocean, where people also live in the middle of a constant battle of wills between their queen and her heirs and the spirits, but where the structure of power and the training of heirs is not the same at all.

Mayara can sense the spirits, and control them in an untrained way.  She hides this ability, until she must use it to save her village.  Because then, just as she knew would happen, the Silent Ones come  to take her away.   The fact that she was just married is nothing to them.  The fact that they already took her older sister is nothing.  The fact that she has absolutely no interest at all in choosing between training to become one of the Queen's heirs, or being a Silent One, the law enforcers of the islands, is immaterial.

Mayara, believing her husband is dead, choses to try to become a heir.  The heirs of this realm are put to a trial that is most often fatal.  They are taken to an island full of spirits, who have been given one command--kill.   Any woman who survives for a month becomes an heir.

There are lies and secrets and death-dealing spirits in plenty on the island.  But there are also friendships and loyalties, and women helping each other, and actually doing something to fix things and regain some measure of control over their lives!

There's a second story also playing out, but I won't say what because spoilers, that's a lovely bit of intrigue of its own back on the main islands.

In any event, back to me--I loved it and it was just the right amount of intricacy of story and just the right amount of women I really liked spending time with!  And just the right sort of pacing, with lots of small details of ordinary things setting off the extraordinary things very nicely!  I'll give it one of the highest compliments I can-- I would be happy to start reading it all over again right now.

It isn't necessary to have read the Queens of Renthia books first, so if you feel daunted by the thought of a substantial trilogy, you could get your toes wet/bloody here first.  If you have read Queens and liked those books, you must read this because you will enjoy it lots and lots!  For younger readers, this might actually be the best book to start with.  It's not marketed as YA, but I know for certain sure I'd have loved it back at that age, as young as maybe 12, when I found Patricia McKillip and Diana Wynne Jones and Robin McKinley.  The Queens trilogy feels more older-reader friendly to me, but Mayera, though married, felt young enough that an adolescent can live alongside her beautifully.  (Possibly the island where Mayera is trapped full of hostile spirits, where she makes best friends and they survive together and there's Drama will also feel familiar to kids actually in middle school/high school),

Disclaimer: review copy received ever so gratefully from the author

the mg sci fi/fantasy round-ups are on hold till the end of March

What with organizing Kidlitcon (coming up the week after next!) and finishing home renovations before Kidlitcon company comes to stay with me, I have no time for the Sunday round-ups.  But I do have lots of reviews planed for the next few weeks, and I'll be back rounding up at the end of March!

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (3/3/19)

Nothing from me this week (I am busy busy busy getting Kidlitcon 2019 all ready to go!), but here's what other people wrote about mg sci fi/fantasy books (let me know if I missed your post!)

The Reviews

Arlo Finch series, by John August, at Nerdophiles

Dragon Flight (Dragon Slippers #2) by Jessica Day George, at Hidden In Pages.

Let Sleeping Dragons Lie, by Garth Nix and at Sean Williams, at Locus

Loki's Wolves (The Blackwell Pages #1), by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr, at Say What?

The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at Waking Brain Cells

Music Boxes, by Tonja Drecker, at Cat's Corner

A Perilous Journey of Danger and Mayhem: a Dastardly Plot, by Christopher Healy, at alibrarymama

The Secret of Vault 13, by David Solomons, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, at Imaginary Friends

Watch Hollow, by Gregory Funaro, at Rajiv's Reviews

Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans, at Say What?

Two at alibrarymama--The House in Poplar Wood, by K.E. Ormsbee, and The Boy, the Bird, and the Coffin Maker,by Matilda Woods

Two at Geek Mom- Charlie Hernandez and the League of Shadows, and Maybe a Mermaid

Two at The Book Search--The Storm Keeper's Island and The Flooded Earth

and four at Random Musings of a Bibliophile--Angel and Bavar, The Book of Boy, The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Meddlesome, and Ogre Enchanted

Authors and Interviews

Melanie Crowder (The Lighthouse Between Worlds) at Middle Grade Book Village

Sayantani DasGupta (The Game of Stars) at Kirkus 

Tonja Drecker (Music Boxes) at Author June McCrary Jacobs


Other Good Stuff

What's new in the UK, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Last of Her Name, by Jessica Khoury

Last of Her Name, by Jessica Khoury, is a an excellent sci fi adventure for any fans of the fall of the Romanovs and the possibility that Anastasia survived, and a good one simply for those who enjoy sci-fi adventure featuring strong female leads!

Stasia has spent her sixteen years roaming her father's vineyard with her dear friends Pol and Clio on a peaceful planet, one of a group known as the Belt of Jewels.  These planets were settled by humanity eons ago, and each went its own way until they were united through the communicative power of prisms and the family of scientists who discovered that power and became Emperors.   But sixteen years ago, the ruling family was overthrown, and now the planets are  held in the tight fist of  the Direktor Eminent and his Union henchmen.

When a union ship unexpectedly lands in Stasia's home town, on a mission to find the one daughter of the last emperor who might have survived, her life is upended.  The Direktor himself has come to stamp out a suspected Loyalist  insurgency and find the missing girl...and Stasia is that girl.  Pol, himself a Loyalist unbeknownst to her helps her escape on a ship the rebels have hidden, to take her to the Loyalist headquarters.  But Clio is left behind, along with her parents, and Clio in particular pulls at Stasia's heart.  That loyalty is more important than the struggle between the two warring factions, and she'll do whatever it take to save her friend.

That's the set up for a wild adventure, taking Stasia and Pol to many strange world, pitting them against many enemies, with new friends, and traitors, along the way.  Stasia must claim her difficult destiny if she is to save not just Clio, but the whole planetary confederacy, which depends on the mysterious prisms for which she is the only remaining point of access.

Stasia is not just a vessel for the larger plot, in large part because she doesn't want to be.  She doesn't want power, just her handy tool belt and things to fix, and her best friends, and this was perfectly believable.  The fervency of her need to save Clio struck me as excessive, but this passed as the story deepened in complexity (so if that bothers you to, don't let it stop you!).

The political conflict was a clear reimagining of the fall of the tsars and the rise of the Soviet Union, and I found it interesting and convincing.  Neither side of the struggle was clearly the "good guys."  The interplanetary travel and prism technology was a layer of sci-fi goodness that gave the story satisfying crunch (or perhaps the chocolate coating that gave a layer of tastiness.  Sorry.  I'm now thinking of kit kats, which has nothing to do with the book....).  

In any event, though I was doubtful for the first quarter or so because of not being intrinsically interested in more stories of lost princesses coming to power, which is where I thought this was going, it turned out to be not where this was going at all, and I liked it more and more as I read. It kind of reminded me of 1980s sci fi/fantasy--the sort of books I grew up on, and possibly explains why after reading this I reread Anne McCafrey's Crystal Singer (though the two books and their heroines are very different....). So yeah, I think teenaged me would have enjoyed this one lots.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Dragons Love Tacos 2, by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri, for Timeslip Tuesday

Here's a fun picture book for Timeslip Tuesday (which is code for "yet another week in which Charlotte wasn't organized enough to read a longer book in a timely fashion"). I have to confess I have never read Dragons Love Tacos, by Adam Rubin, illustrated Daniel Salmieri.  I feel, however, that I grasped the point, and the sequel (Dragons Love Tacos 2) gracefully fills in what happened in the first book.

In this sequel, dragons still love tacos, but there are no more tacos to be had!  They are all gone.  The unnamed human protagonist fortunately has a time machine, and he takes a few of the dragons back to when there still were tacos, so they can bring them back and plant them and restore tacos to the grieving world.  Time-travel with taco-eating dragons is tricky; spicy tacos make Dragons flame, which is bad for the time machine, as is accidently using salsa in place of engine grease...so things get a little wonky, and the pure time travel of the first few hops in the machine, looking for a time before the dragons ate the spicy tacos, gives way to surreal alternate universe travel (dragons love diapers!  tacos love dragons!).

As a time-travel purist, I can't quite approve--there's a lack of clarity to the time travel even before it gets weird.  Why did the protagonist think they'd travelled too far back in time on the second hop?  Yes, it's prehistoric (mixing "cave man" and triceratops, sigh), but the tacos look fine... I don't understand why the protagonist kid thought there was a problem.  (If anyone can answer this for me, please do!).

So don't read it for the time travel, but take it for what it is--a silly (in the positive sense of the word) story with illustrations that are pleasantly relaxed and whimsical.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/24/19)

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Beanstalker And Other Hilarious Scarytales,, by Kiersten White, at Reading Books with Coffee

Bone Hollow, by Kim Ventrella, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The  Crimson Skew, by S.E. Grove, at The Crimson Skew

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Fantasy Literature and Puss Reboots

Endling: The Last by Katherine Applegate, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)

Freya and Zoose, by Emily Butler, at Book Nut

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow (The Crowns of Croswald #2) by D.E. Night, at Log Cabin Library

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat #1 and #2, by Johnny Marciano, Emily Raymond, Emily, and Robb Mommaets (illustrations), at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Light Jar, by Lisa Thompson,  at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Mona Lisa Key (Time Castaways #1), by Liesl Surtliff, at Charlotte's Library

The Mysterious World of Cosentino: The Missing Ace, by Cosentino with Jack Heath, at Mom Read It

Nest of Serpents (Wereworld #4), by Curtis Jobling, at Say What?

Orphan Island, by Laurel Snyder, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

Secret in Stone (Unicorn Quest #2), by Kamilla Benko, at Charlotte's Library and Pamela Kramer

Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden, at A Backwards Story

The Song From Somewhere Else by A F Harrold and Levi Pinfold, at Acorn Books

The Star-Spun Web, by Sinead O'Hart, at A Little But a Lot

Storm Hound, by Claire Fayers, at Book Murmuration

The Transparency Tonic (Potion Masters #2), by Frank L. Cole, at Geo Librarian

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at Log Cabin Library

Authors and Interviews

Anne Ursu (The Lost Girl) at B. and N. Kids Blog

Claire Fayers (Storm Hound) at Mr. Ripleys Enchanted Books

Kamilla Benko (The Unicorn Quest series) at Geo Librarian

Carlos Hernandez (Sal and Gabi Break the Universe) at Rick Riordan Presents

Caldric Blackwell (The Sacred Artifact) at Books Direct

M. G. Velasco (Cardslinger) at MG Book Village

Other Good Stuff

Monica Edinger has a great review collection in the NY  Times Book Review

The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book have been announced. and two are middle grade:

Aru Shah and the End of Time, Roshani Chokshi (Rick Riordan Presents)
Peasprout Chen: Future Legend of Skate and Sword, Henry Lien (Henry Holt)

Secret in the Stone (The Unicorn Quest 2), by Kamilla Benko

Secret in the Stone is the second book in the Unicorn Quest series by Kamilla Benko (Bloomsbury Feb. 29, 2019). It continues the adventures of two sisters, Claire and Sophie, in the magical land of Arden that they'd entered (in good portal fantasy fashion) by climbing up one of the chimneys of their great-aunt's home.

Arden is a place full of magic, with different guilds each with their own domain of power.  Claire had discovered in the first book that she has Gemmer magic (an affinity with all things stone).  Sophie has yet to manifest any talent. But though Arden still has lots of magic, it's diminished since the unicorns were massacred by an evil queen years ago.   Meeting a unicorn toward the end of book one has given Claire hope that she can find out how to restore unicorns and their magic to Arden, keeping it from falling into civil war.  She and Sophie are possibly the last descendants of Arden's royal family, and if anyone can  wake the unicorns again, it is them.  Sophie is more doubtful.

But their path is complicated by a faction of Royalists, who want to bring the queen who killed the unicorns back (the story many people believe paints the queen in a much more positive light).  And so Claire and Sophie find themselves pawns in a larger game of conspiracies, secrets, and lies, complicated by the rising tensions between the various guilds of magic, and complicated as well when friends require rescuing from mortal peril.  On top of that, there's growing tension between the sisters--Claire's faith in unicorn restoration is not matched by Sophie, who's struggling with her complicated feelings about not having magic of her own.

The dangers mount as the book reaches its end, which comes with many new exciting surprises that will leave readers eagerly awaiting the next book!

It's a very satisfying middle grade fantasy--all the elements that one expects are there, with the interesting addition of explicit tension between the sisters--they love each other, but are frustrated with each other at the same time, and it's complicated by the fact that Sophie was dangerously ill in the real world.   So it's as solid a choice as you can get for offering to the young reader who loves unicorns (though they are actually not physically present in this book), the possibility of other worlds where ordinary kids can become magical, and stories of sisters!  

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Time Castaways: the Mona Lisa Key, by Liesl Shurtliff, for Timeslip Tuesday

If you enjoy quirky time-travel heist stories for middle grade readers, you'll love The Mona Lisa Key, the first book of Liesl Shurtliff's new Time Castaways series (Katherine Tegan Books, Sept. 2018).

Matt, adopted from Columbia, and his two younger (non-adopted) siblings, Ruby and Corey, have grown up spending almost as much time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as they have at home--both their parents work there.  They've also been very sheltered by their parents, forbidden to roam the city and never using public transportation.  Then one morning the kids, running late for school, decide to take the forbidden subway.  And it turns out their parent's rule was warranted, when the subway car turns into a time-travelling sailing ship.

The captain of the Vermillion crews his vessel with kids more-or-less randomly plucked from different times, and a few grown-ups of mysterious origin.  His interest in these particular kids, as it turns out, is not random at all.  Captain Vincent needs Max to solve a centuries old puzzle.

The first step is stealing the Mona Lisa in early 20th century Paris, at the exact same time that would-be art thieves are trying to abscond with her.  Captain Vincent explains that he's not a thief himself; he simply plucks treasures in danger from their moments of peril to be returned later.  And since the kids know the Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre in their own time, they accept that he's not a bad sort of time-travel pirate.

The Mona Lisa has a secret, and once that secret is unlocked, it leads to another clue, even harder to crack. , Captain Vincent become ferociously driven to solve the puzzle, pressing Max to use his gift for puzzle-solving deduction, and pressing the Vermillion on time-trip after time-trip, using the magical compass that lets him pick and choose when and where to go.

At the court of Queen Elizabeth, the kids' suspicions about the Captain prove justified, and only Max's strange rapport with the compass gives them any chance of seeing their own home place and time....

It's a whirlwind adventure.  The kids themselves would have welcomed more peaceful time on the ship in its home ocean between times, getting to know the crew (mostly friendly, all quirky), and the ship herself (she has a mind of her own, and I liked her lots).  Nor do they get to do much sight-seeing back in the past....it's mostly a series of in and out hops, with little interaction with people.  Character development is not a strong part of the story, especially for the two younger kids  (Corey, in particular, was a bit one-note), perhaps that will happen in the sequel.   So not my own personal favorite sort of time-travel book.  That being said, it is a fun mystery-infused adventure, though not, at this juncture at least, wildly original.  The feel of the story reminded a bit of Adrienne Kress, and I think if you like her books you'll like this.

The Kirkus review reaches much the same conclusion as I do: "Time-traveling pirates, whimsical humor, a sentient ship, and cliffhanger predicaments deliver generous helpings of quirky, retro-tinged entertainment." (Except I'm not sure what exactly they mean by "retro-tinged."  The kids had a cell phone, which made it seem totally au currant to me.  But possibly I am so old now that what seems normal to me seems retro to the youth of today....thinking even more about it, perhaps the fact that they shared a cell phone is retro.)

No mg sci fi/fantasy round up today

I have family visiting today, so no time for the round-up!  Come back next Sunday!

Cogheart, by Peter Bunzl

If you are in the mood for a late Victorian steampunk adventure (of the escape the bad guys sort) suitable for younger middle grade kids (8-9 year olds) but a pleasant read for grown-ups too, and like mechanical foxes, pick up Cogheart, by Peter Bunzl (Jolly Fox, Feb 12, 2019).  This has been on my Goodreads tbr list since it was first published over in the UK in 2016, and it was great to get the chance to read it now that it's being published here in the US!  (yes I know I could have gotten it through the Book Depository, but that way lies shopping madness....).

Lily's life at a regimented finishing school is unpleasant.  But when her father's housekeeper comes to fetch her away, things to not improve.  For one thing, tragedy has struck- her father is presumed to have died when his airship crashed.  For another, the housekeeper has taken over the house, tearing it apart in a mysterious search, all the money is (apparently) gone, and orphaned Lily (her mother died several years previously) has no one to care for her, except, perhaps, her godfather (though he is too old and sickly to take her in).

Meanwhile, the mechanical fox belonging to Lily's father survived the crash, and desperately tries to reach her to deliver a message.  But the fox is pursued by two murderous thugs (one of them truly creepy, with glass discs for eyes), and badly wounded by a gunshot, it barely makes it to a safe hiding place in the shed of the village clockmaker.  The clockmaker's son, Robert, finds the fox, who tells him to go get Lily.

Though Lily and Robert make it back to Robert's home safely, the two thugs are now pursuing them as well as the fox, and Robert's father is killed.  Fortunately they encounter a daring young woman who's an aviator as well as a journalist, and they escape in her zeppelin.   But the hunt goes on, and the stakes get ever higher, and the dangers greater...and their path leads to the heart of the mystery--Lily's father's greatest invention, the Cogheart…

Once the chase is on, about a quarter of the way into the book, it's an exciting and vivid adventure.  It had a steampunk Joan Aiken feel to it for me (the evil housekeeper reminded me vividly of The Wolves of Whillouhby Chase), and the mad dash through the skies and wide range of mechanicals was the sort of odd adventure she might have written if steampunk had occurred to her.  (I hope this is useful; if it is not useful because you have not read Joan Aiken, you should read Joan Aiken).

The two kids, Lucy and Robert, both were given the chance to have their characters made clear to the reader before life and death made character development mostly a matter of being brave (which was a greater leap for Robert than for Lily; his self-doubt and personal fears were greater, and it was satisfying seeing him over come them).   I liked them both, Lily for wanting to read forbidden adventures at school, and for appreciating that the mechanical constructs had genuine feelings and personalities, and Robert for being stalwart and endearing.

So all in all, a satisfying story!  Not exactly to my personal taste, because desperate flights from murderous thugs are not my cup of tea, but I enjoyed it nonetheless because of all the interesting details.

(I seem to have used more parentheses here than in any other review I've ever written.  This is probably meaningful in some way, but I'm not sure what way that would be.  In any event, it should not be held against the book.)

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/10/19)

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Adventurer's Guide to Treasure (and How to Steal It), by Wade Albert White, at Say What?

Angel and Bavar, by Amy Wilson, at Crossroad Reviews 

Big Foot and Little Foot by Ellen Potter (series review) at Geo Librarian

The Book of Boy, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, at Sonderbooks

The Boggart Fights Back, by Susan Cooper, at BooksForKidsBlog

Cogheart, by Peter Bunzl, at Log Cabin Library, Confessions of a Serial Reader, and Cracking the Cover

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at the B. and N. Kids Blog

Dragon Slippers, by Jessica Day George, at Hidden in Pages

Eventown, by Corey Ann Haydu, at Waking Brian Cells

The Ghost Road, by Charis Cotter, at Puss Reboots

The Girl with the Dragon Heart, by Stephanie Burgis, at By Singing Light

The Hive Queen, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Hidden in Pages

The Ice Garden, by Guy Jones, at Charlotte's Library

Into the Jungle, by Katherine Rundell, at Redeened Reader

The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, by Sharon Ledwith, at Say What?

Little Red Rodent Hood, by Ursula Vernon, at Jean Little Library

The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at Kristi Call and Maria's Melange

Nightbooks, by J.A. White, at Forever Lost in Literature

Outwalkers, by Fiona Shaw, at Charlotte's Library

The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away, by Roland Smith, at The Winged Pen

A Sprinkle of Spirits, by Anna Meriano, at Charlotte's Library
https://charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com/2019/02/love-sugar-magic-sprinkle-of-spirits-by.html
Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Reading in the Middle Grades

Unwritten, by Tara Gilboy, at Sharon the Librarian

Viper, by Bex Hogan, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

We're Not From Here, by Geoff Rodkey, at Fuse#8

Authors and Interviews

Henry Lien (Peasprout Chen series) at WriteOnCon

Michelle Harrison (A Pinch of Magic) at A little but a lot

Anna Meriano (A Sprinkle of Spirits) at Nerdy Book Club and Las Musas


Other Good Stuff

The Waterstones Children's Book Prize Shortlists have been announced; here's the "younger fiction:"

• The House with Chicken Legs, Sophie Anderson (Usborne)
• The Train to Impossible Places, P.G. Bell (Usborne)
• Brightstorm, Vashti Hardy (Scholastic)
• The Mystery of the Colour Thief, Ewa Jozefkowicz (Head of Zeus)
• The Boy Who Grew Dragons, Andy Shepherd (Templar)

all but one (The Mystery of the Colour Thief) is speculative fiction!

A round-up of mythic fantasy at Jean Little Library

SLJ is holding a Middle Grade Magic virual summit March 27
https://www.hbook.com/2019/02/news/preview-march-april-2019-horn-book-magazine/

Love Sugar Magic: A Sprinkle of Spirits, by Anna Meriano

It's such a lovely thing to enjoy the first book of a series lots (here's my review of Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble) and then to read the second book and not just enjoy it but love it!  A Sprinkle of Sprits (Walden Pond, Feb. 5 2019) continues the story of Leo, a girl whose family runs a magical bakery in a small Texas town, who longs to learn all she can about magic, even though her family thinks she's too young.  The oldest two of her four big sisters are also unencouraging about her friend Caroline; they don't think that magical folk should share too much with ordinary people.  Leo feels pressured to chose between friendship and magic, and she's knows she has responsibilities to the bakery...and now Caroline's feelings are badly hurt.

When Leo wakes up to find her abuela, dead for years, visiting her in very corporal form, she's sure that this time it isn't her fault.  Other spirits are popping up around town as well, and if it isn't Leo's magic at work, whose is it, and how can it be reversed?  The answer is unexpected, and a lovely surprise!

The six spirits all have their own agendas and unfinished business, and thought it becomes clear that they need to be sent back before they fade into nothingness, they aren't easily corralled.   Leo gets her family's permission to call on her friends to help, and a wild ghost chase ensues.  And finally, in the end, peace returns for both the living and the dead, and Leo finds out what her own particular magical gift is.

A Dash of Trouble is primarily about things going awfully wrong, so it was fun, but not desperately relaxing.  Things go wrong here too, but the point of the book is not magical mistakes, but family, communication, trust, and obligations, so it was a much warmer read!  I loved the spirits, each with their own concerns (they were sweetly mundane concerns--checking on family, garden, piano, and town...), and loved how Leo and Caroline's friendship survives its test to become stronger.  Leo becomes more empathetic, as well as more magical; she's much more likeable in this one!

And there are still all the warm, delicious treats being baked in the family business, sweeting the story even further.



For  more Anna Meriano goodness, including giveaways, visit the other blog tour stops!

February 5      Nerdy Book Club
February 7      Las Musas Reads
February 9      Charlotte's Library
February 10    A Library Mama
February 11    Boricua Reads
February 12    YAYOMG
February 13    Pragmaticmom
February 14    Latinos in Kidlit
February 14.   24hr.yabookblog

And finally, Anna Meriano will be here in Rhode Island in March for Kidlitcon Providence, talking about magic in the real world and signing books!