6/30/19
this week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi is up (6/30/19)
Here's what I found on-line this week; please let me know about anything I missed!
The Reviews
The Afterwards, by A.F. Harrold, at Randomly Reading
Carnival Catastophe (Problim Children #2), by Natalie Lloyd, at Children's Books Heal
Earth Swarm, by Tim Hall, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
The Invasion (Animprophs) by K.A. Applegate, at Lost in Storyland
The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, by Lamar Giles, at Randomly Reading
The Magical Apothecary, by Anna Ruhe (and why it should be translated into English), at A Dance with Books
Malamander, by Thomas Taylor, at Diva Booknerd
The Mortification of Fovea Munson, by Mary Winn Heider, at Sharon the Librarian
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norman Juster (new audiobook review), at Locus
Podkin One-Ear, by Kieran Larwood, at Say What?
The Root of Magic, by Kathleen Benner, at Mom Read It
Rumblestar, by Abi Elphinstone, at Amy the Zany Bibliophile
The Sacred Artifact, by Caldric Blackwell, at Red Headed Book Lover
Silent Lee and the Adventure of the Side Door Key, by Alex Hiam, at The Write Path
Time Sight, by Lynne Jonell, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Train to Impossible Places, by P.G. Bell, at Sarah Withers Blogs
Where the River Runs Gold, by Sita Bramachari, at Book Craic
Wooden Bones, by Scott William Carter, at Millibot Reads
Authors and Interviews
A.M. Howell (The Garden of Lost Secrets) at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
Max Brallier (The Last Kids on Earth) at the B. and N. Kids Blog
Other Good Stuff
A round-up of every Dark Crystal thing coming later this year at Tor
Beyond Harry Potter: 35 Fantasy Adeventure Series Starring Mighty Girls at A Mighty Girl
6/26/19
Mammothfail and me
A recent article, YA Twitter Can Be Toxic, But It Also Points Out Real Problems" by Molly Templeton on Buzzfeed, took me back in time:
"In the late 2000s, the science fiction and fantasy (SFF) community — which overlaps greatly with YA — had something of a reckoning. Eventually known as RaceFail ’09, it was, as author N.K. Jemisin wrote in a blog post a year later, “a several-months-long conversation about race in the context of science fiction and fantasy that sprawled across the blogosphere. It involved several thousand participants and spawned several hundred essays — and it hasn’t really ended yet, just slowed down."
RaceFail started as MammothFail, when Patricia Wrede's Thirteenth Child was widely called out for its erasure of Native Americans (there were lots of mammoths, but no indigenous people). I was part of that conversation, and it was a watershed moment for me as a reader, a reviewer, and a purveyor of books for my own kids.
Here's my review of Thirteenth Child.
The conversations that took place on line were a real wake up call for me, and I set out to do what I could to promote diverse books. Here's my post about what I did in the immediate aftermath, which included a trip to the local bookstores to try to put my money where my mouth was by buying diverse books (this did not break the bank). Subsequently I made a concerted effort to seek out diverse middle grade and YA fantasy and science books, and started compiling the list of my reviews (around 240 of them so far). In the past few years, my attention has shifted some from my own blog; I now write for the B. and N. Kids Blog, where I try to make sure diverse books get included (which is annoying to me for the purpose of my own list of review, because once I review a book there I don't review here, so my list is missing all the Rick Riordan Presents books, for instance....).
It was good to have this reminder of MammothFail because I have been becoming complacent, and need to make sure I keep reviewing diverse books here, and supporting new authors by actually buying books from local bookstores (I've mostly just been keeping up with what comes in the mail....). Happily I think it would actually take more money than I have to go back to the same bookstores I went to in 2009 to buy every book with non-white kids on the cover (I can't go today, but will try to later this week....), but of course they're still outnumbered by the white kids and animals, as this infographic from CCBC shows (the full article in which this image appears can be read here):
.
I squirm a bit reading some of my 2009 thoughts; "own voices," for instance, wasn't something that had come into my consciousness, and I'm glad for all the folks on twitter who keep educating and informing me. That being said, this reminder of MammothFail also made me badly miss the blogging days of yore; twitter is a thin substitute for the conversations that took place in blog comments. Reading blogs made it easier to connect to people in meaningful ways, both because you could say more and give more context in posts than in tweets, and because you actually could get to know the people you were interacting with. Of course, blogs attracted toxicity too, and for many of us it was an echo chamber, so it wasn't perfect, but I still miss those day!
And just for kicks, looking back at 2009, I found another controversy I'd forgotten about. From my post about it:
There was a bit of a stink recently when it was revealed that a new anthology, The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF, edited by Mike Ashley, had in it not a single story by a woman or a person of color--here's the table of contents, and some interesting reading in the comments. I found at Feminist SF-The Blog this quote from Ashley, explaining that this "...probably has something to do with my concept of “mind-blowing”. Women are every bit as capable of writing mindblowing sf as men are, but with women the stories concentrate far more on people, life, society and not the hard-scientific concepts I was looking for."
"In the late 2000s, the science fiction and fantasy (SFF) community — which overlaps greatly with YA — had something of a reckoning. Eventually known as RaceFail ’09, it was, as author N.K. Jemisin wrote in a blog post a year later, “a several-months-long conversation about race in the context of science fiction and fantasy that sprawled across the blogosphere. It involved several thousand participants and spawned several hundred essays — and it hasn’t really ended yet, just slowed down."
RaceFail started as MammothFail, when Patricia Wrede's Thirteenth Child was widely called out for its erasure of Native Americans (there were lots of mammoths, but no indigenous people). I was part of that conversation, and it was a watershed moment for me as a reader, a reviewer, and a purveyor of books for my own kids.
Here's my review of Thirteenth Child.
The conversations that took place on line were a real wake up call for me, and I set out to do what I could to promote diverse books. Here's my post about what I did in the immediate aftermath, which included a trip to the local bookstores to try to put my money where my mouth was by buying diverse books (this did not break the bank). Subsequently I made a concerted effort to seek out diverse middle grade and YA fantasy and science books, and started compiling the list of my reviews (around 240 of them so far). In the past few years, my attention has shifted some from my own blog; I now write for the B. and N. Kids Blog, where I try to make sure diverse books get included (which is annoying to me for the purpose of my own list of review, because once I review a book there I don't review here, so my list is missing all the Rick Riordan Presents books, for instance....).
It was good to have this reminder of MammothFail because I have been becoming complacent, and need to make sure I keep reviewing diverse books here, and supporting new authors by actually buying books from local bookstores (I've mostly just been keeping up with what comes in the mail....). Happily I think it would actually take more money than I have to go back to the same bookstores I went to in 2009 to buy every book with non-white kids on the cover (I can't go today, but will try to later this week....), but of course they're still outnumbered by the white kids and animals, as this infographic from CCBC shows (the full article in which this image appears can be read here):
.
And just for kicks, looking back at 2009, I found another controversy I'd forgotten about. From my post about it:
There was a bit of a stink recently when it was revealed that a new anthology, The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF, edited by Mike Ashley, had in it not a single story by a woman or a person of color--here's the table of contents, and some interesting reading in the comments. I found at Feminist SF-The Blog this quote from Ashley, explaining that this "...probably has something to do with my concept of “mind-blowing”. Women are every bit as capable of writing mindblowing sf as men are, but with women the stories concentrate far more on people, life, society and not the hard-scientific concepts I was looking for."
6/25/19
The Last Beginning, by Lauren James, for Timeslip Tuesday
Clove, a Scottish teenager in 2051, gets hit with two emotional wrenches in one week. Her best friend Meg, who she has a crush on, has just fallen in love with a boy, Clove's cousin. On a more earthshaking note, Clove's parents tell her that she is adopted, and that her birth parents, Matt and Kate, are famous for saving the world from a bioterrorist threat developed by England, and then disappearing. Clove sets the family's AI device, nicknamed Spart, to work trying to track them down (she is a whiz at computer programing).
And in the meantime, her mother has almost finished getting her time machine up and running.
Spart the AI delivers the strange information that Matt and Kate keep showing up in history, starting in 1745. So Clove decides that she will use the time machine to go back to find them, to try to figure out what happened to them and why they keep showing up a various crisis points of history. The time machine works, and Clove becomes friends with Ella, a girl a little older. She also meets then-Matt and then-Kate, and unfortunately changes the past. When she returns to her own time, everything is horribly altered, and she starts disapparating...but a bit more time travel shenanigans patches things up.
I don't want to go into any more details about what happens next, but it involves lots more time travel, Ella and Clove falling in love (Ella keeps popping up....and has an interesting story of her own), and Matt and Kate saving the world....
I was very doubtful about how easy a time of it Clove had in 1745, but it turns out there's an explanation for this that made me smile. And though there are many bifurcations and manipulations of time, I managed not to get overwhelmed with confusion. Clove and Ella's romance is very sweet, as is the love between all the different Matt and Kates, and the love in Clove's nuclear family. The story includes on-line exchanges between the characters, some from the future, including Clove's chats with Spart, and some steamy exchanges with Ella, and these lighten the weight of the world saving and time travel confusion very nicely, and made me chuckle.
This is the sequel to The Next Together, but it stands alone just fine, and quite possibly works better if you have never read that one (which is the story of Matt and Kate). Not knowing the details of their lives makes the reader feel closer to Clove as she figures things out. Although of course reading about Matt and Kate second might mean their story is less gripping...so really one should probably read both books first!
But in any event, I liked this one lots, and am glad to have an excellent lesbian sci fi time travel with smart girls saving the world to recommend! (we need more!)
6/23/19
this week's round-up of mg sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs
Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows, by Ryan Calejo, at Latinx in Kid Lit
Chronicles of ancient Darkness, by Michelle Paver (series review) at Fantasy Faction
The Curse of Greg (An Epic Series of Failures #2) by Chris Rylander, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Dragon Captives (Unwanteds Quests #3), by Lisa McMann, at Say What?
The First, by Katherine Applegate, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)
The Girl Who Sailed the Stars, by Matilda Woods, at Always in the Middle and Two Points of Interest
Have Sword, Will Travel, by Garth Nix and Sean Williams, at Milliebot Reads and Tales from the Raven
The House with Chicken Legs, by Sophie Anderson, at Say What?
The Ice Garden, by Guy Jones, at Hidden in Pages
The Lost Tide Warriors, by Catherine Doyle, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
Midsummer's Mayhem, by Rajani LaRocca, at alibrarymama
The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly, by Rebecca K.S. Ansari, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Monster Catchers, by George Brewington, at Confessions of a Book Addict
Nooks and Crannies, by Jessica Lawson, at Completely Full Bookshelf
The Once and Future Geek (Camelot Code #1), by Mari Mancusi, at Charlotte's Library
Once Upon a Frog (Whatever After #8) by Sarah Mlynowski, at Jill's Book Blog
Over the Moon, by Natalie Lloyd, at Susan Uhlig
Return of the Evening Star, by Diane Rios, at Always in the Middle
Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races, by K.D. Halbrook, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Space Dragons, by Robin Bennett, at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers and A Garden of Books
The Storm Keeper's Island, by Catherine Doyle, at Susan Uhlig
Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows, by J.M. Bergen, at Book Dust Magic
The Tunnels Below, by Nadine Wild-Palmer, at Kids' Book Review
Wildspark, by Vashti Hardy, at BookCraic
Authors and Interviews
Kobe Bryant (The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, created by Bryant, written by Wesley King) at B. and N. Kids Blog
Tara Tyler (Windy Hollow-Beast World #3), at The Cynical Sailor and His Salty Sidekick and Writer's Alley
Other Good Stuff
I hosted the cover reveal for Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan
The Reviews
Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows, by Ryan Calejo, at Latinx in Kid Lit
Chronicles of ancient Darkness, by Michelle Paver (series review) at Fantasy Faction
The Curse of Greg (An Epic Series of Failures #2) by Chris Rylander, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Dragon Captives (Unwanteds Quests #3), by Lisa McMann, at Say What?
The First, by Katherine Applegate, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)
The Girl Who Sailed the Stars, by Matilda Woods, at Always in the Middle and Two Points of Interest
Have Sword, Will Travel, by Garth Nix and Sean Williams, at Milliebot Reads and Tales from the Raven
The House with Chicken Legs, by Sophie Anderson, at Say What?
The Ice Garden, by Guy Jones, at Hidden in Pages
The Lost Tide Warriors, by Catherine Doyle, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
Midsummer's Mayhem, by Rajani LaRocca, at alibrarymama
The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly, by Rebecca K.S. Ansari, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Monster Catchers, by George Brewington, at Confessions of a Book Addict
Nooks and Crannies, by Jessica Lawson, at Completely Full Bookshelf
The Once and Future Geek (Camelot Code #1), by Mari Mancusi, at Charlotte's Library
Once Upon a Frog (Whatever After #8) by Sarah Mlynowski, at Jill's Book Blog
Over the Moon, by Natalie Lloyd, at Susan Uhlig
Return of the Evening Star, by Diane Rios, at Always in the Middle
Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races, by K.D. Halbrook, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Space Dragons, by Robin Bennett, at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers and A Garden of Books
The Storm Keeper's Island, by Catherine Doyle, at Susan Uhlig
Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows, by J.M. Bergen, at Book Dust Magic
The Tunnels Below, by Nadine Wild-Palmer, at Kids' Book Review
Wildspark, by Vashti Hardy, at BookCraic
Authors and Interviews
Kobe Bryant (The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, created by Bryant, written by Wesley King) at B. and N. Kids Blog
Tara Tyler (Windy Hollow-Beast World #3), at The Cynical Sailor and His Salty Sidekick and Writer's Alley
Other Good Stuff
I hosted the cover reveal for Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan
6/21/19
Mr. Penguin and the Lost Treasure, by Alex T. Smith
Mr. Penguin has always dreamed of being an adventurer. So when he sets up shop along with Colin, a spider friend, offering his services to the townsfolk, he expects to be inundated with requests for help. Finally the phone rings. Boudicca Bones, owner of the Museum of Extraordinary Objects (who's human) needs his help finding the treasure supposedly hidden in the museum.
So Mr. Penguin and Colin set out, and find that being adventurers isn't a walk in the park! Beneath the Museum is a marvelous and dangerous landscape, full of things that could seriously damage anyone exploring there. And then the danger gets even more dangerous, when the adventurers face a dastardly double-cross! Fortunately, Edith (another human) who lives in the park with her pigeon friend, Gordon), thought Mr. Penguin might need some help, and comes to the rescue! The day is saved, the bad guys are caught, and Mr. Penguin and Colin are famous (poor Edith gets a reward, but not the fame....).
It's a fun fast read, that should go down very nicely indeed for younger readers. I didn't see the twist coming, and it upped the level of tension beautifully! The illustrations are amusing, and Mr. Penguin, in his own unheroic and not tremendously useful way, is an appealing character (Colin is much more useful, and I actually liked him better!). Young pedants might be annoyed that Mr. Penguin lives in a igloo and can't swim, but they can get over that.
And as is so often the happy case with series starters for the young, there's not too long to wait for the next installment--Mr. Penguin and the Fortress of Secrets comes out October, 2019!
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.
6/18/19
The Camelot Code: The One and Future Geek, by Mari Mancusi, for Timeslip Tuesday
The time has come for Arthur to pull the sword from the sword and become king! But when Guinevere, his best friend, accidently drops a magical treasure down Merlin's enchanted well, and Arthur tries to get it back, he falls in himself....and travels through time to our present. Merlin has set up the well to serve as a connection to the modern era, where he enjoys the benefits of Wifi, and plays an online fantasy game, Camelot's Honor, with two ordinary kids, Sophie and Stu. When Merlin realizes he's lost Arthur to the future, he calls Sophie and Stu back into the past. With the help of Merlin's magic, Stu becomes a stand-in for Arthur, and Sophie goes back to the present to try to bring him back before the future is irrevocably changed. And Guinevere travels down the well too, to try to do the same.
In our present, things become chaotic. Already things from the original timeline are different. Arthur of course is faced with tremendous culture shock, but finds that he quite likes high school--he makes friends with Lance (once Stu's stepbrother, but not in this new present), and joins the football team. When he reads about himself via google, he is naturally horrified to learn what would have happened if he'd become king, and so when he meets Guinevere at high school, their relationship is strained (especially when Lance falls hard for her....). More importantly, Arthur has no desire to go back to his rightful time.
Complicating things is the fact that Arthur's half sister, Morgana, has followed him to the future, where, being outside Merlin's protection, he'll be easier to kill!
Now it's up to Sophie to convince Arthur to come home (or else peperoni pizza will never be a thing, and she doesn't want to live in that world), while Stu struggles to hold the fort (literally and figuratively) while the threat of the Saxon invaders looms...
So there's a lot happening, but it all works together really well, and it's a lot of fun! Merlin, dabbling with modern technology and trying to keep everything together, provides nice humor. Geek girl Sophie is a delight, and Arthur's ultimate high school triumph is strangely believable. There's some real-world emotional depth provided by the strain that's entered Sophie and Stu's friendship, when she's afraid he's drifting away from her preferred gamer-geek life, and she's afraid of loosing him (things move past geek gamers vs sports players, though- Sophie and Stu realize you can do both). And of course Arthur's struggle with his destiny, and his own relationship with Guinevere, is hard for him.
Recommended in particular to fans of Vivian Vande Velde's Heir Apparent series, which are also computer gaming mixed with fantasy. Which is me. I'll be looking for book 2, Geeks and the Holy Grail, when it comes out this October!
(Of course, the Arthurian past isn't a real "middle ages," but it still serves the story well).
6/17/19
Cover reveal for Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan
It's always so exciting when an author you enjoy has a new book coming. I'm thrilled to be hosting the cover reveal for Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan; it sounds great, and looks great too!
First the synopsis:
If you missed Deva's earlier books, now's a great time to fix that! Here they are, with links to my reviews:
Fortune's Folly (2009)
The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle (2010)
Circus Galacticus (2011)
First the synopsis:
A young wizard’s apprentice discovers that the best magic is not the biggest or the brightest, but the magic unique to you, in this cinematic middle grade fantasy.
Antonia may not be the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen, but she’s worked hard to win her place as apprentice to renowned sorcerer Master Betrys. Unfortunately, even her best dancing turnip charm might not be enough when Moppe the scullery maid turns out to be a magical prodigy. Now that Betrys has taken Moppe on as a second apprentice, Antonia’s path to wizarding just got a bit more complicated.
Antonia may not be the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen, but she’s worked hard to win her place as apprentice to renowned sorcerer Master Betrys. Unfortunately, even her best dancing turnip charm might not be enough when Moppe the scullery maid turns out to be a magical prodigy. Now that Betrys has taken Moppe on as a second apprentice, Antonia’s path to wizarding just got a bit more complicated.
But when Betrys is accused of treason, Antonia and Moppe are forced to go on the run. To prove their master’s innocence—and their own—the rivals must become allies. As their island province teeters on the brink of rebellion, they’ll face ancient spells, vengeful mermaids, enchanted turnips, voice-stealing forests, and one insatiable sea monster.
Coming from Atheneum Books for Young Readers in April, 2020.
And here's the cover! The art is by Saoirse Lou and the design is by Rebecca Syracuse.
Fortune's Folly (2009)
The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle (2010)
Circus Galacticus (2011)
6/16/19
this week's round-up of mg sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (6/16/19)
Here's what I found this week; please let me know of any posts I missed! thanks.
The Reviews
Alistair Grim's Odditorium, by Gregory Funaro, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Begone the Raggedy Witches, by Celine Kiernan, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)
The Book of Secrets, and The Books of Answers ( Ateban Cipher #s 1 and 2), by A.L. Tait, at Charlotte's Library
Briar and Rose and Jack, by Katherine Coville, at BooksForKidsBlog
The Clockwork Ghost, by Laura Ruby, at Puss Reboots
Dino Knights, by Jeff Norton, at Charlotte's Library
Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at TBR and Beyond
Fire and Thorn, by Mary Yee, at Nike N. Chillemi
Furthermore, by Tahereh Mafi, at Read Yourself Happy
The Little Grey Girl, by Celine Kiernan, at It's All About the Book
The Monster Catchers, by George Brewington, at My Comfy Chair
The Root of Magic, by Kathleen Benner Duble, at Always in the Middle and Charlotte's Library
Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidiker, at Fuse #8
Thisby Thestoop and the Wretched Scrattle, by Zac Gorman, at Log Cabin Library
Through the Untamed Sky (Riders of the Realm #2), by Jennifer Alvarez, at Children's Books Heal
Authors and Interviews
Tui T. Sutherland (Wings of Fire) at Publishers Weekly
Megan Frazer Blackmore (The Story Web) at Nerdy Book Club
Rajani Larocca, at YAOMG, and ABA
Caroline Carlson (The Door at the End of the World) at SteaMG
https://steamg.org/blog/2019/6/15/an-imposter-in-the-alliance
Chelsea Flagg (Tinsy Clover) at This is Writing
Erin Entrada Kelly (Lelani of the Distant Sea) at Harper Stacks
Adam Jay Epstein (Snared) at What and Why with Max Ross (podcast)
Other Good Stuff
More new books in the UK at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
Movie news--
One of the few Discworld books that I'd label "middle grade," The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents," is coming to the screen, more at Tor
Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston, is coming from Universal; more here at The Hollywood Reporter
"Five Magical Realism Books for Kids Who Love Magic" at The Children's Book Review (note from me-is it time for me to just accept that "magical realism" has been co-opted to mean "magic in the real world" and move on with my life?)
The Reviews
Alistair Grim's Odditorium, by Gregory Funaro, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Begone the Raggedy Witches, by Celine Kiernan, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)
The Book of Secrets, and The Books of Answers ( Ateban Cipher #s 1 and 2), by A.L. Tait, at Charlotte's Library
Briar and Rose and Jack, by Katherine Coville, at BooksForKidsBlog
The Clockwork Ghost, by Laura Ruby, at Puss Reboots
Dino Knights, by Jeff Norton, at Charlotte's Library
Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at TBR and Beyond
Fire and Thorn, by Mary Yee, at Nike N. Chillemi
Furthermore, by Tahereh Mafi, at Read Yourself Happy
The Little Grey Girl, by Celine Kiernan, at It's All About the Book
The Monster Catchers, by George Brewington, at My Comfy Chair
The Root of Magic, by Kathleen Benner Duble, at Always in the Middle and Charlotte's Library
Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidiker, at Fuse #8
Thisby Thestoop and the Wretched Scrattle, by Zac Gorman, at Log Cabin Library
Through the Untamed Sky (Riders of the Realm #2), by Jennifer Alvarez, at Children's Books Heal
Authors and Interviews
Tui T. Sutherland (Wings of Fire) at Publishers Weekly
Megan Frazer Blackmore (The Story Web) at Nerdy Book Club
Rajani Larocca, at YAOMG, and ABA
Caroline Carlson (The Door at the End of the World) at SteaMG
https://steamg.org/blog/2019/6/15/an-imposter-in-the-alliance
Chelsea Flagg (Tinsy Clover) at This is Writing
Erin Entrada Kelly (Lelani of the Distant Sea) at Harper Stacks
Adam Jay Epstein (Snared) at What and Why with Max Ross (podcast)
Other Good Stuff
More new books in the UK at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
Movie news--
One of the few Discworld books that I'd label "middle grade," The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents," is coming to the screen, more at Tor
Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston, is coming from Universal; more here at The Hollywood Reporter
"Five Magical Realism Books for Kids Who Love Magic" at The Children's Book Review (note from me-is it time for me to just accept that "magical realism" has been co-opted to mean "magic in the real world" and move on with my life?)
Get your Hildafolk feels in real life with these giant wooden sculptures in the forests of Denmark
6/15/19
The Book of Secrets, and The Book of Answers, by A.L. Tait
The Book of Secrets, and The Book of Answers, by A.L. Tait (together comprising the Ateban Cipher duology, Kane Miller, 2019 in the US), tell of a mysterious book and the boy who becomes its protector. If you like reading about the high.jinks of the plucky medieval kids thwarting bad guys, you'll enjoy these two books lots.
Gabe, the main character, is not the sort of reader who enjoys books about plucky kids thwarting bad guys (although he's never read any). Growing up in the monastery where he was left as a foundling, he loves the books in the monastic library, and has never thought about living elsewhere. But then an old monk is attacked, and badly injured, and is barely able to hand Gabe a precious book, with an enigmatic command--"take it to Aiden." When Gabe rushes to find help for Brother Benedict, he finds instead that there's a conspiracy at foot in his monastery, and it's no longer a safe place for him or the book.
Woefully unprepared for life on the outside, Gabe is fortunate to be taken under the wing of a band of brigands. These aren't ordinary outlaws, though; instead, they are four girls who for various reasons have chosen to live outside the law. Two are sisters, hoping to save their father from the dungeon of the local stronghold, one is escaping an arranged marriage, and one is a girl whose parents have been killed.
It soon becomes clear that dangerous and powerful men are searching for Gabe and the book, and that these men are plotting against the kingdom. They've replaced the king's son with a puppet, and now the real prince has joined the band, hoping they can help him get back to his rightful place. Tons of adventures and perils await as Gabe and his new friends race to find the secrets of the book, and set wrongs right.
If you love medieval adventures, you'll enjoy these two books greatly! Gabe and co. are great characters, and the girls in particular are tons of fun! Gabe's progression from innocent babe in the wood to someone able to step up to the plate is especially pleasing. Their escapades strain credulity a bit, but without being over the top unbelievable. I'm categorizing this as fantasy, although there's no actual magic, because it's set in an alternate version of our world (mostly indicated by the politics--a king who isn't a real historical figure, but also one where paper books existed earlier than our ours), and because the book does seem to have the promise of real alchemy in it.
There's some violence, but nothing horrific, so I'd be happy offering this to readers as young as 8 or 9, the age at which I myself would have especially enjoyed them! Especially recommended to younger Ranger's Apprentice fans.
disclaimer: review copies received from the publisher
Gabe, the main character, is not the sort of reader who enjoys books about plucky kids thwarting bad guys (although he's never read any). Growing up in the monastery where he was left as a foundling, he loves the books in the monastic library, and has never thought about living elsewhere. But then an old monk is attacked, and badly injured, and is barely able to hand Gabe a precious book, with an enigmatic command--"take it to Aiden." When Gabe rushes to find help for Brother Benedict, he finds instead that there's a conspiracy at foot in his monastery, and it's no longer a safe place for him or the book.
Woefully unprepared for life on the outside, Gabe is fortunate to be taken under the wing of a band of brigands. These aren't ordinary outlaws, though; instead, they are four girls who for various reasons have chosen to live outside the law. Two are sisters, hoping to save their father from the dungeon of the local stronghold, one is escaping an arranged marriage, and one is a girl whose parents have been killed.
It soon becomes clear that dangerous and powerful men are searching for Gabe and the book, and that these men are plotting against the kingdom. They've replaced the king's son with a puppet, and now the real prince has joined the band, hoping they can help him get back to his rightful place. Tons of adventures and perils await as Gabe and his new friends race to find the secrets of the book, and set wrongs right.
If you love medieval adventures, you'll enjoy these two books greatly! Gabe and co. are great characters, and the girls in particular are tons of fun! Gabe's progression from innocent babe in the wood to someone able to step up to the plate is especially pleasing. Their escapades strain credulity a bit, but without being over the top unbelievable. I'm categorizing this as fantasy, although there's no actual magic, because it's set in an alternate version of our world (mostly indicated by the politics--a king who isn't a real historical figure, but also one where paper books existed earlier than our ours), and because the book does seem to have the promise of real alchemy in it.
There's some violence, but nothing horrific, so I'd be happy offering this to readers as young as 8 or 9, the age at which I myself would have especially enjoyed them! Especially recommended to younger Ranger's Apprentice fans.
disclaimer: review copies received from the publisher
6/12/19
The Root of Magic, by Kathleen Benner Duble
Willow's Dad was supposed to take her to her hockey game in New Brunswick. But when he cancelled at the last minute, Willow's mom took her, and with no other choice, took her little brother, nicknamed Wisp, as well. Her mother is in a constant state of desperate worry over Wisp, who has been very ill for ages, with no reason found, and no way yet found to help him recover, and her father has pulled away from the family, unable to cope otherwise. Driving home through Maine they are caught by a fierce snowstorm, and their car ends up hanging perilously half over a bridge. Fortunately, help arrives in the form of the snowplow team of Kismet, a little town in the middle of nowhere, and the three of them are taken in by Cora, who runs the town's only lodging house.
The snow continues, and Maine declares a state of emergency. And so they are stuck in Kismet, and Willow's mom is almost frantic about Wisp, although he is no worse than usual. Then she hears that the doctor at the local hospital might be able to help him, and she starts hoping again. Willow is fed up with everything; she loves Wisp, but doesn't want him subjected to yet another round of futile tests and proddings and no answers. And she wants to get home, to her friends, and to her father.
Their first snowbound day in Kismet is enlivened by local kids coming round--Topher, a boy a bit older than Willow, and his little brothers. Willow does enjoy Topher's company over the next few days, but he seems a little weird in an off sort of way, and so does the whole town for that matter....and then her mother starts acting strangely calm and happy, and not at all anxious to leave. What is it about Kismet that makes it strange?
And so Willow sets herself to finding the heart of the magic (real magic) that flows through the roots of the town. When she does, she realizes she will have an awful decision to make. Stay with her brother and mother in a town she'll never be able to leave, or leave them behind for a wild, uncertain future?
I think this is a book kids will love more than mothers do. Willow's mother has two children, after all, and though I can sympathize with her spending all her emotional energy on her desperately ill child, I still judge her for not having much of anything to give Willow (although driving to New Brunswick in winter shows she does care, so maybe I'm too harsh). Romantically inclined kids will almost certainly find the attraction between Willow and Topher sweet as all get out. Kids will also come to the magical element of the story with fresher eyes, and so it will be more intriguing for them.
The final choice that Willow and her mother and Topher face, though, is just as heart crunching for adults as it is for kids, and sheds a retroactive power over the story as a whole.
disclaimer: review copy received from its publicist.
6/9/19
Dino Knights, by Jeff Norton
Henry is a humble dinosaur stable boy, who can only admire from afar the Dino Knights who protect his kingdom of Brecklan, though sometimes his admiration is shaken by the snooty arrogance of some of the knights in training, who are quick to lord it over him. Henry has a way with dinosaurs, and when the lord he serves is menaced by a T-Rex, Henry rushes to see if he can help. The savage T-Rex turns docile when Henry speaks to it, and to Henry's own surprise, lets him ride it. Now Henry has been promoted to Dino Knight in training himself!
When the enemies of Brecklan sent a flock of pterodactyls to attack, and Lord Harding is kidnapped, Henry and the other Dino Knights set off to the rescue. Once again, Henry's gifts save the day, and he learns the secret of his uncanny abilities.
This week's round up of middle grade fantasy and sci from around the blogs (6/9/19)
Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
Aru Sha and the Song of Death, by Roshani Chokshi, at Nica Fictional Fandoms
Below the Root, by Zilpha Keatly Snyder, at Say What?
Call me Alistair, by Cory Leonardo, at Magic Fiction Since Potter
The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande, by Adam Gidwitz and David Bowles, at Geo Librarian and Liv the Book Nerd
Game of Stars, by Sayantani Dasgupta, at Say What?
House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Puss Reboots
The Last Last-Day-of-Summer,by Lamar Giles, at Redeemed Reader
The Light Jar, by Lisa Thompson, at Always in the Middle
Midsummer's Mayhem, by Rajani LaRocca, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Charlotte's Library
Nevermore: the Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at Book Nest
The Order of the Majestic, by Matt Myklusch, at Mom Read It
The Revenge of Magic, by James Riley, at Geo Librarian
Spark, by Sarah Beth Durst, at BookCraic
The Story Web, by Megan Frazer Blakemore, at Charlotte's Library
Time Sight, by Lynn Jonell, at Redeemed Reader
The Time Travel Team: The Great Historic Mystery, by Jordyn Hadden, at Foreward Reviews
The Vengkeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey, at Tales From the Raven
Wings of Olympus, by Kallie George, at Say What?
Authors and Interviews
Kurt Kirchmeier (The Absence of Sparrows) at From the Mixed Up Files
Other Good Stuff
What's new in the Uk, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
The finalists for the Mythopoeic awards have been announced, here are the Children's Literature Finalists:
The Reviews
Aru Sha and the Song of Death, by Roshani Chokshi, at Nica Fictional Fandoms
Below the Root, by Zilpha Keatly Snyder, at Say What?
Call me Alistair, by Cory Leonardo, at Magic Fiction Since Potter
The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande, by Adam Gidwitz and David Bowles, at Geo Librarian and Liv the Book Nerd
Game of Stars, by Sayantani Dasgupta, at Say What?
House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Puss Reboots
The Last Last-Day-of-Summer,by Lamar Giles, at Redeemed Reader
The Light Jar, by Lisa Thompson, at Always in the Middle
Midsummer's Mayhem, by Rajani LaRocca, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Charlotte's Library
Nevermore: the Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at Book Nest
The Order of the Majestic, by Matt Myklusch, at Mom Read It
The Revenge of Magic, by James Riley, at Geo Librarian
Spark, by Sarah Beth Durst, at BookCraic
The Story Web, by Megan Frazer Blakemore, at Charlotte's Library
Time Sight, by Lynn Jonell, at Redeemed Reader
The Time Travel Team: The Great Historic Mystery, by Jordyn Hadden, at Foreward Reviews
The Vengkeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey, at Tales From the Raven
Wings of Olympus, by Kallie George, at Say What?
Authors and Interviews
Kurt Kirchmeier (The Absence of Sparrows) at From the Mixed Up Files
Other Good Stuff
What's new in the Uk, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
The finalists for the Mythopoeic awards have been announced, here are the Children's Literature Finalists:
- Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado, The Chronicles of Claudette series: Giants Beware!; Dragons Beware!; Monsters Beware! (First Second)
- Jonathan Auxier, Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster (Harry N. Abrams)
- Sarah Beth Durst, The Stone Girl’s Story (Clarion Books)
- Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead, Bob (Feiwel and Friends)
- Emily Tetri, Tiger vs. Nightmare (First Second)
6/8/19
Midsummer's Mayhem, by Rajani LaRocca
Mimi suffers from youngest child syndrome--one big sister is a wonderful dancer (modern dance fused with classical Indian dance), one a wildly talented soccer player, and her big brother is great at acting. Mimi's a talented baker, inspired by her Indian-American mother's own cooking, but that seems like small beans compared to the rest of the family talents. The rather depressing summer ahead, with her best friend gone off to Australia, brightens when a new café opens in town, and announces a baking contest for kids, Mimi sets out to win it and show everyone she matters too. But it is a most unusual café, in which there is magic afoot...
The café is not the only odd thing about this summer. Mimi follows snatches of music into the woods near her house, and there she finds Vic, a mysterious boy who shares both her Indian heritage and her interest in cooking. When Vic is in the wood, it becomes a place of strangeness, with wild boars, cobras, and a massive banyan tree. Mimi accepts it unquestioningly, perhaps a bit bemagiced by it, and hopes that Vic can be her best friend for the summer.
First to fall to the magic is Mimi's father, a food critic, who looses all his gastronomic intelligence and starts eating with insane voraciousness after trying a chocolate from the café. Then Mimi and Vic start experimenting with the alleged properties of herbs to affect moods...and mayhem breaks out when one of her sisters is besieged by two love-sick swains.
Mimi has to figure out how to undo the magic, and win the baking contest, and both are rather touch and go. Because Mrs. T., the cafe's proprietress, is none other than Titania, queen of the fairies, and what she wants is usually what she gets. And this summer, she wants Mimi....
Mimi's challenges, both the real world baking and the magical baking tensions (especially the curse on her father), are sufficient to keep the plot gripping, especially for young foodies! But we never lose sight of Mimi the person, dealing with her family, and with very relatable anxieties and insecurities, and emerging a more confident person.
It's one that I can imagine being loved both by fans of realistic family and friend stories and by those who crave magic intruding into the real world. I know Shakespeare's play pretty well, and so I had the great enjoyment of seeing it reworked in a real world setting, but I think it would work just fine for kids who don't know the original.
Basically, if you love the cover (and what's not to love!) you'll love the book.
6/7/19
The Secret Spring: a Mystery Romance for Young People, by Emma Atkins Jacobs
And indeed, it made no demands (except on my credulity) and actually proved more enjoyable than I thought it would.
The spring in the title isn't the season, but a hardware type spring in an old trunk, that our heroine, 16-year old Laurel, impulsively buys at an auction, and what's in the trunk when the secret spring is secret no more is what sparks the mystery, such as it is (not much--two strangers are much too interested in the trunk). Indeed, though the book advertises itself as a mystery romance, it's really about a shy girl in a musical family who are on tour for the summer in the Chautauqua circuit, who pushes herself to step past her shyness and work on talking to people. It's a pleasure to see her succeed, and I felt like I picked up some useful tips. She does get a romance, but (surprise!) not one built on realistic friendship.
What I found most unrealistic though is that Laurel (in, I think, 1905) could find in the old trunk a wedding dress at least thirty years old and wear it to perform in without trying it on first to make sure it fits and it does fit perfectly. The cover suggests she tries it on, but I really don't think she ever does until the big night....also how could that dress be fit into that trunk along with a bunch of other stuff without being mangled to death?
I really enjoyed the Chautauqua setting--I knew nothing about this going in, and it was pretty interesting, with lots of details about the folks in the audience, and the different lectures and performances. There were lots of small domestic details too, like all the ironing that had to be done by Laurel and her mother....
I also thought it was appropriate that I was reading this on the D-Day anniversary, because it's a wartime book. Here's the back of the book:
which then sets my mind wondering if there are any books about high school victory chorus members....I would read those books.
And here's the inside back flap:
Perhaps if the publisher hadn't splurged on including a full page reproduction of the cover opposite the title page, we'd have won the war faster.
as an added bonus, the book came with the January 1945 edition of "Young Wings: the Book Club Magazine for Young Americans." It was fascinating reading, almost like reading a blog.... Llamas were big in 1945.
6/5/19
The Story Web, by Megan Frazer Blakemore
Alice's dad was the shining light of her small town in Maine, and the light of Alice's life (her mother is loving too, but very busy), with his stories and fun and ice-hockey playing (Alice is a wicked good goalie). But then he went to war, and when he came back, he wasn't shining any more, and now he's gone. He writes her letters, full of love and fully of whimsical mythological reimagined bits of his life, but he doesn't say when he'll come back to her. Blaming herself, she turns away from her best friend Lewis and her beloved hockey.
When she was five, her father took her into the woods and showed her a giant spider web. It was a story web, whose spiders were given strength by true stories they were told. Now the story web is failing, and it seems to be taking Alice's community down with it. Another girl, Melanie, is the only person who knows of this problem, and she's determined to get Alice and Lewis to help her fix it. But Melanie is the niece of an eccentric woman the townsfolk say is a witch, and neither she nor her aunt have friends in town.
The world of this town is not just it's people, though. The animals in the woods around it know about the story web too, and they're sending envoys to Alice so that she can use the gifts for story that she learned from her father to encourage the spiders again. And so at last Alice, Lewis, and Melanie join forces, and not only is the web restored, but Alice finds the courage to tell her community true stories they need to hear--about her father, about Melanie's aunt, and about herself.
And so the reader gets a pretty strong nudge to think about the power of the stories we tell about ourselves and each other, how the stories we tell can sometimes show more about ourselves than about the people in them, and how stories, whether they are true or not, can change lives. It's not a didactically presented Message, but it is a powerful one.
What's really lovely about this book though is Alice's pain and her struggle through to the other side of it, with help from Lewis, who never wanted to stop caring about her, and Melanie, who never had friends before. Her dad's struggle with mental illness is moving, and I especially like that he never stopped loving his family, nor they him (mental illness doesn't automatically mean dysfunctional parenting....).
It's warm and loving and hopeful, and the characters (except the not so nice ones) are real and loveable, and although the story web itself requires a huge suspension of disbelief, the thinking animals, acting to save it, bolster the magic and give it a place to stand. (If you can't believe in the actual web with magical spiders, you can just think of it as a metaphor.) I think it's my favorite of Megan Frazer Blakemore's books so far...
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
6/4/19
The Edge of Forever, by Melissa E. Hurst
In the future it's been discovered that some people possess a gene that allows them to time travel, and these people have been taken under the control of the government and trained as historical observers. In 2146, 17-year-old Bridger is one of these being trained. On a routine school-time travel training trip, things go wrong-- he gets distracted by seeing his dead father in the crowd, and partly because of that, his partner is killed. Now Bridger's determined to find out what his dad was doing at that time and place, and he finds that his father was trying to break the most fundamental rule of time travel. He was trying to prevent the murder of a 16 year old American girl, Alora.
Back in 2013, Alora has started having blackouts, each time waking up in a different place. That's not the only thing on her mind--her Aunt Grace is struggling to keep their property, and she has a mystery of her own--what happened to her parents? A darker mystery is about to shake her community, when one of her classmates is murdered. And who is the mysterious boy who's shown up unannounced?
It is, of course, Bridger, there illegally to save her from the fire that will claim her life, and maybe save his father in the process. But he's three months too soon. And so the two teens have plenty of time to tackle all the mysteries, before being hit at the end with the biggest and most dangerous surprise of all....
This is the sort of book that reminds me why "government/corporate controlled time travel in the future" is generally my least favorite time travel sub-genre. It's often too confusing (in this case I was confused by aspects of the future world, and all the various jumpings around through time, but this could just be me) and often it's not as magically and emotionally compelling as happenstance time travel. The fact that half the book is from Alora's realistic quotidian point of view (high school, family uncertainty, asshole boy, classmate murdered....), and that for most of Bridger's point of view he's also reacting to our present day world, with very little culture shock, did not make it more interesting for me.
One the other hand, the mysteries were engaging, and the last third was gripping (all the answers come Bang at you at the end). So if you think high school drama, murder, and sci-fi sound like fun, you might well enjoy it.
This stands alone just fine, but there is a sequel--On Through the Never, and though I didn't love this one, I might give it a try.....
6/2/19
this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (6/2/19)
Here's what I found this week; as ever, please let me know what I missed!
The Reviews
A Box of Bones, by Marina Cohen, at Charlotte's Library
The Curse of Ragman's Hollow, by Rhys A. Jones, at splashesintobooks
The Fairy Tale Detectives, by Michael Buckley, at proseandkahn
The Last Spell Breather, by Julie Pike, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
The Library of Ever, by Zeno Alexander, at For Those About To Mock
Nevermore: the Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at TBR and Beyond
Order of the Majestic, by Matt Mvklush, at Always in the Middle
Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles, by Thomas Lennon, at Redeemed Reader
The Root of Magic by Kathleen Benner Duble, at Log Cabin Library
Rumblestar, by Abi Elphinstone, at Snow White Hates Apples
Time Sight, by Lynne Jonell, at Charlotte's Library
The Tragical Tale of Birdie Bloom, by Temre Beltz, at Pages Unbound
Twice Magic (The Wizards of Once, #2), by Cressida Cowell, at Of Books, Photography, and Tea
Two at Lost in Storyland--Spark, by Sarah Beth Durst, and Briar and Rose and Jack, by Katherine Coville
Authors and Interviews
Ronald Smith (The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away), at Middle Grade Book Village
Zeno Alexander (The Library of Ever) at Maria's Melange
Malayna Evans (Jagger Jones and the Mummy's Ankh) at steaMG
Other Good Stuff
"Coming out on top of a bidding war, Universal Pictures has optioned the rights to Amari and the Night Brothers, the debut novel by first-time author B.B. Alston." (Read more at The Hollywood Reporter)
At Dream Gardens podcast, you can hear Roshani Chokshi talking about The Iron Ring, by Lloyd Alexander
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