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

Welcome to this week's listing of what I found in my blog reading of interest to fans of middle grade fantasy and sci fi!  Please let me know if I missed your post! (n.b.--authors and publicists, you are welcome to send me links too!)  Caveat--I do exercise a modicum of judgement as to what I include; if something is too short and vague, or too much just an ad for a book, I probably won't include it.

The Reviews:

Benjamin Franklinstein Meets the Fright Brothers, by Larry David Tuxbury and Matthew McElligott, at  KimberlyLynKane

Chase Tinker and the House of Magic, by Malia Ann Haberman, at Helene's World of Books

Divide and Conquer (Infinity Ring, Book 2), by Carrie Ryan, at Charlotte's Library

Dragonsong, by Anne McCaffery, at Kid Lit Geek

Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Random Musings of a Bilbliophile

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, by Suzanne Collins, at Fyrefly's Book Blog 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling, at Random Musings of a Bilbliophile

Horten's Incredible Illustions, by Lissa Evans, at Semicolon

In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at Abby the Librarian

Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Barbara Ann Watson

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood at the NY Times and Charlotte's Library

The Merman and the Moon Forgotten, by Kevin McGill, at Candace's Book Blog 

Museum of Thieves, by Lian Tanner, at Fantasy Literature

The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Teen Reader's Diary and The Book Zone 

The Secret Room, by Antonia Michaelis, at Project Mayhem and Charlotte's Library

The Shadow Mask (Sound Bender 2), by Lin Oliver & Theo Baker, at Jen Robinson's Book Page

Spirit Fighter, by Jerel Law, at Semicolon

Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at Geo Librarian and Fantasy Literature

The Sword of Six Worlds, by Matt Mikalatos, at A Christian Worldview of Fiction

Tales from Lovecraft Middle School:  Professor Gargoyle, and The Slither Sister, by Charles Gilman, at Good Books and Good Wine and The Slither Sisters, at A Bookish Way of Life and Ms. Yingling Reads

The Thirteenth Princess, by Diane Zahler, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Geo Librarian

Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldren, edited by Jonathan Strahan, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia 

The Volcano Disaster, by Peg Kehret, at Time Travel Times Two

The White Mountains, by John Christopher, at That Blog Belongs to Emily Brown

Authors and Interviews:

Diane Zahler's guest post for the fabulous Retell Me a Story series at One Librarian's Book Reviews  (anyone interested in retellings should definitely check out all the week's posts!)

Mike Young (Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities) at Book Nut

Charles Gilman (Lovecraft Middle School) at Good Books and Good Wine

W.H. Beck (Malcolm at Midnight) at From the Mixed Up Files

Other Good Stuff

The Edgar Shortlists (honoring mysteries) have been announced, and the juvenille books include two fantasies--Fake Mustache and 13 Hangmen.

Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O'Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind by Tom Angleberger (Abrams - Amulet Books)
13 Hangmen by Art Corriveau (Abrams - Amulet Books)
The Quick Fix by Jack D. Ferraiolo (Abrams - Amulet Books)
Spy School by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage (Penguin Young Readers Group - Dial Books for Young Readers)

Sheila Ruth, who blogs at Wands and Worlds, and who is in large part responsible for the success of the Cybils (she's the one who contacts publishers asking for review copies of books the panelists can't get themselves), is embarking on an effort to publish a graphic novel version of Ratha's Creature--the story of a brave and charismatic prehistoric cat.   She's turned to kickstarter to help fund it--more info here.