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11/15/09

Introducing the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy Roundup!

Looking for reviews of middle grade science fiction and fantasy (sf/f) can be something of a hit or miss proposition. Books in this genre are often reviewed at blogs that have a general children's book focus, but you never know when that's going to happen, and middle grade books seem to show up only sporadically (if at all) at blogs whose focus is sf/f. So, inspired by Sherry at Semicolon, who hosts a review round-up every Saturday, today I'm introducing a similar, but more focused, weekly feature here, one that I hope will happen every Sunday.

I'm inviting everyone who's blogged about middle grade science fiction and fantasy (new or old) in the past week to leave me a link to their reviews, responses, reminiscences or remarks (as many as you want from the past week). Then, at the end of the day, there will be a lovely consolidation of mg sff posts that will be a nice and tidy resource for folks looking for the books, and all of us who like to read about them!

Middle-grade generally means books for children 9 to 12 year old, but if you have reviews of books that skew a bit younger than that, that's fine with me (but any older, and you are getting into YA territory, which is a whole different thing....). And, for future weeks, links to reviews can be emailed to me at any time, if you think you might not be commenting on that week's roundup Sunday itself.

So. Here we go!

This Week's Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviews (alphabetical by blog)

At Boys Rule Boys Read:
Salt Water Taffy: The Seaside Adventures of Jack and Benny - The Truth about Dr. Truth by Matthew Loux (a graphic novel) As an added bonus, this link also gives a review of The Monstrumologist...(YA)
Carl has a whole bunch more links that aren't from this week in his comment below--do check them out! But I couldn't resist linking to his review of The Roar, by Emma Clayton (2009), because it is next up on my Cybils reading list...

Here at my place (Charlotte's Library):
The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance (The Candle Man, Book 1), by Glenn Dakin (2009)
A Walk Through a Window, by kc dyer (2009)
Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel by K.A. Holt (2009)

At Eva's Book Addiction:
Darkwood, by M.E. Breen (2009)
Sent, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (2009)
At The Excelsior File:
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (2009)
At Fantasy Book Critic, Cindy has:
The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker (2009)
Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark Book 1) by John Claude Bemis (2009)
The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1, by PJ Haarsma (2008)
At Fantasy Book Review:
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, by David Benedictus (2009)
At Jean Little Library:
The Runaway Princess and its sequel, The Runaway Dragon, by Kate Coombs (2006 and 2009)



At Owl in the Library:
Powerless, by Matthew Cody (2009)



Please let me know if I am being unclear about anything, and please leave me your links!

THANKS!
at

10 comments:

  1. EasterNovember 15, 2009 at 9:35 AM

    I reviewed Matthew Cody's superhero novel Powerless this week at http://owlinthelibrary.typepad.com/owl-in-the-library/2009/11/review-powerless.html

    Thank you for starting this! I think it's a great way to get the word out about fantasy and sf for middle graders.

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  2. CharlotteNovember 15, 2009 at 10:10 AM

    Thanks for your link, Easter!

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  3. Iron Guy CarlNovember 15, 2009 at 1:22 PM

    Dear Charlotte,
    I’m Carl from the Boys Rule! Boys Read blog. Our target audience is middle-grade boys and we’ve reviewed a lot of sff since that is what many of our boys like. We’re thrilled that you’re gathering reviews for middle-graders—so thrilled, in fact, that I’m sending a bunch of past reviews. The first two are from the last week or so and the others go back a ways. I’m sorry to send so many but I’m just too excited! One more thing—some of these posts refer to events going on with our library and the reviews may be hidden further down the post. Also, since our target audience is middle-grade boys, we use a lot of goofball humor. Even though a lot of grownups read our blog, we aim at the boys—which is easy since we are mentally about 12 years old ourselves! Thanks.

    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2009/11/being-horrified-while-mysteriously.html

    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2009/11/leviathan-by-scott-westerfeld.html


    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2009/09/city-of-ember-books.html


    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2008/08/old-book-prospector-finds-gold-in-erec.html

    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2009/05/dragonslayer-likes-erec-rex-i-like.html

    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-been-long-time-since-i-rocked-and.html

    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2008/08/rock-rock-to-you-drop.html

    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2009/08/master-jedis-summer.html


    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2009/06/first-terrific-book-of-summer.html

    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2008/12/blast-off-space-cadet.html

    http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com/2009/04/roar-by-emma-clayton.html

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  4. susanNovember 15, 2009 at 1:56 PM

    Great feature. Thanks for hosting this.

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  5. KailanaNovember 15, 2009 at 5:00 PM

    Oh, some interesting looking books there that I have never heard of before. Will have to check them out!

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  6. CharlotteNovember 15, 2009 at 5:19 PM

    Thanks Carl, for all the links! See you next week, I hope!

    And thanks Susan and Kailana for your nice comments!

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  7. JenniferNovember 15, 2009 at 7:08 PM

    This is a great idea! There definitely needs to be more attention paid to MG. Yay for tweens!

    http://jeanlittlelibrary.blogspot.com/2009/11/runaway-fairy-tales-by-kate-coombs.html

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  8. Anamaria (bookstogether)November 15, 2009 at 10:49 PM

    Thanks for starting this, Charlotte! Nothing to add this week, but hoping to have at least a few reviews to share next time. Now if only I could get ahold of The Runaway Dragon....

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  9. CindyNovember 16, 2009 at 5:29 AM

    What a great idea! You are right that most SF/F blogs tend to stray from reviewing middle grade fiction but I don't mind it at all :).

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  10. Deva FaganNovember 17, 2009 at 7:36 AM

    I love that you are doing this. It seems sometimes like the YA sff crowds out the very fine crop of MG stuff so it will be wonderful to have a roundup like this!

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