This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs

Welcome to another week's worth of the middle grade sci fi/fantasy posts etc I found in my blog reading! If I missed your post, please let me know, especially if you reviewed a book starting with J, V, or X. It is a dream of mine to someday have the whole alphabet represented in one round-up, and although I searched diligently (and found several letters I needed), and cheated a bit by making Dragonbreath my D, I couldn't find those three. So if you reviewed, for instance, Jake Ransom, Janitors, or Juniper Berry this past week, please let me know! The only V I can think of is Villain School: Good Curses Evil, and I can't think of a single X.

The Reviews:

Above World, by Jenn Reese, at Hooked on Books

Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okarafor, at A Rogue Librarian's Reading List

The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy, at BooksYALove

Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at Book Nut

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg et al., at Sonderbooks

The Crowfield Curse, by Pat Walsh, at Fantasy Literature

Dragonbreath 5--No Such Thing as Ghosts, by Ursula Vernon, at Back to Books

Escape from Planet Yastol, by Pamela Service, at Charlotte's Library

The Flint Heart, by Katherine Paterson and John Paterson, at Back to Books

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, at The Book Jotter

Hal Junior: The Secret Signal, by Simon Hayes, at Charlotte's Library

The Humming Room, by Ellen Potter, at Karissa's Reading Review

The Invisible Tower, by Nils Johnson-Shelton, at Natasha's Shelf

Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at Amused by Books

Lawn Mower Magic, by Lynne Jonell, at Geo Librarian

The Lost Children, by Carolyn Cohagan, at Mister K Reads

M is for Mama's Boy (Nerds, book 2), by Michael Buckley, at Mister K Reads

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at Squeaky Books

Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, at Book Love

On the Bright Side, by S.R. Johannes, at The O.W.L.

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Abby the Librarian and books4yourkids

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan (graphic novel) at Fantasy Book Review

Quest for the Secret Keeper, by Victoria Laurie, at Just Deb

Reckless, by Cornelia Funke, at Adventures of a Book Wyrm

Sidekicks, by Dan Santat, at Books Beside My Bed

Sun Slower, Sun Faster, by Meriol Trevor, at Charlotte's Library

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at The Broke and the Bookish

The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at Caroline Thinks

The Whisper, by Emma Clayton, at Charlotte's Library

Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at Lady With Books and Ms. Yingling Reads

You Have to Stop This, by Pseudonymous Bosch, at Literary Review

Zombie Tag, by Hannah Moskowitz, at Trdyffrin Kids

Two time travel books--The Magic Half by Annie Barrows, and Voices After Midnight, by Richard Peck, at time travel times two

Authors and Interviews

Dawn Larimore (Ivy and the Meanstalk) at Cracking the Cover

S.R. Johannes (On the Bright Side) at The O.W.L.

Jenn Reese (Above World) at So I'm Fifty

At Seven Miles of Steel Thistles, Delia Sherman (The Freedom Maze) reflects on the story of the Snow Child.

Kate Bernheimer, editor of The Fairy Tale Review, is interviewed at flyway

And at the Enchanted Inkpot there's a stirring (or at least very interesting) discussion of tropes

Other Good Stuff


(found via The Lemme Library, with a funny dig at poor Peta). I wouldn't have minded them at all, actually, for my doll house playing when I was young. There was a shortage of male dolls of appropriate height.

It's Peep Time at the Washington Post! If I were a Washington D.C. area resident, I'd be tempted to do The Hunger Peeps (starring The Peep Who Was on Fire).

My fascination with the competitive world of rabbit jumping continues (thanks to Jenny Davidson)

This rabbit is pretty good, but this one here is still my favorite.

The fourteenth is International Book Giving Day. My husband's Valentine present (a signed copy of Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes), has already been opened, but I'll be giving a book each to the boys, and giving some to their schools. And I'll be getting, if the mail cooperates, and my husband got me what I hope he would, a copy of The Crowfield Demon.

John Christopher, great sci fi writer for teens, has died; here's his obituary in The Guardian.

I couldn't resist including this image from the childhood artwork of one of Charles Darwin's sons (found at Oz and Ends). It pleases me very much. (The one on left is apparently riding an eggplant).

I hope all of you have safe and happy Valentine's Days, and thanks for coming by!