Here's what I found this week; let me know if I didn't find your post!
The Reviews
13 Gifts, by Wendy Mass, at Read Till Dawn
Against the Tide (Spirit Animals Book 5), by Tui T. Sutherland, at ReadPlus
Alistair Grim's Odditorium, by Gregory Funaro, at The Overstuffed Bookcase
Back To Blackbrick, by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, at Readaraptor
Beastkeeper, by Cat Hellisen, at Bibliophilia, Please
The Blood of Olympus, by Rick Riordan, at The Book Monsters
The Castle Behind Thorns, by Merrie Haskell, at Becky's Book Reviews
The Dreamsnatcher, by Abi Elphinsone, at The Book Zone (For Boys)
Finally, by Wendy Mass, at Librarian of Snark
Ghosts of War: The Secret of Midway, by Steve Watkins, at Charlotte's Library
Greenglass House, by Kate Milford, at Hidden In Pages
Icefall, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Bibliobrit
The Lost Kingdom, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Bibliobrit
Mouseheart, by Lisa Fiedler, at Kid Lit Geek
No Passengers Beyond This Point, by Gennifer Choldenko, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow
Saving Lucas Biggs, by Marisa de los Santos and David Teague, at Time Travel Times Two
Smek for President! by Adam Rex, at Wandering Librarians
Space Case, by Stuart Gibbs, at alibrarymama
Spirit's Key, by Edith Cohn, at Kid Lit Geek
Thursdays With the Crown, by Jessica Day George, at alibrarymama
Urban Outlaws: Blackout, by Peter Jay Black, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books
The Zoo at the Edge of the World, by Eric Kahn Gale, at The Paige Turner
A look at A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, and Seven Stories Up, by Laurel Snyder, at Chasing Ray
Authors and Interviews
Dianne K. Salernie (The Inquisitor's Mark) at My Brain on Books
Abi Elphinsone (The Dream Snatcher) at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books
Other Good Stuff
The language of spellwork in Harry Potter, at Tor, and four new images from the first fully illustrated Harry Potter, also at Tor
The Paddington movie reviewed at SLJ
Of the 16 books taking part in SLJ's Battle of the Books, only one (Children of the King, by Sonya Harnett) is MG SFF. Oh well....
Only one? How sad ...
ReplyDeleteI've heard surprisingly good things about Paddington.
Paddington was always getting so sticky I never could quite enjoy the books!
DeleteYou wouldn't consider Egg & Spoon at the upper end of the MG readership? Or West of the Moon?
ReplyDeleteEgg and Spoon I personally think of as written for grown-ups, marketed as YA and just happening to have a child protagonist......I enjoyed it myself, but wouldn't give it to my personal 11 year old.
DeleteAnd West of the Moon I haven't read, but those that had came to the consensus for the Cybils that there is no actual fantasy and so it ended up in regular middle grade...I have been meaning to read it to see for myself!
I have to disagree with Egg & Spoon being written for grown-ups. While it is a book grown-ups will like, I think kids do too and I'm certain it was written for them. I know Gregory Maguire and while I haven't seen him in a while and have not talk to him about this book I know how strongly he feels about children's books/ (He co-directed a summer conference* for many years that I participated in which is how I got to know him) and am certain he intended this one to be for children.
ReplyDeleteWhile I hadn't thought to recommend it to my 4th graders, one saw it on my desk and asked to read it, liked it, another read it on his recommendation, and it is now making the rounds. And so it seems the advanced readers in my class are enjoying it, for what it is worth. I do think it is the sort of book I'd have liked too at their age or perhaps a year or two older. The voice does harken back to an older time, but I quite liked those old-fashioned books with ornery strong storytelling voices.
*http://www.clne.org/
(Oh I hate blogger. It just ate my lovely long comment).
DeleteTrying again-- I don't mean to say it was a book Intended for grown-ups, but it felt to me as if Maguire was speaking more to the grown-up part of my mind than to the part that appreciates kids books. Subjective, and it's been a while since I read it so I'm not sure I can make a strong argument. The only thing coming to mind is that Baba Yaga felt more amusing to me as a grown-up, with refs. to things kids wouldn't get, than I can imagine her feeling to me as a child.....