Elsetime, by Eve McDonnell, for Timeslip Tuesday

Elsetime, by Eve McDonnell (June 2020, Everything With Words), is a must read for time travel fans (and a very good read for middle grade fantasy fans, mg historical fiction fans, and so on....). Though it has, to the best of my knowledge, not been published yet here in the US, it's well worth getting your hands on (says one who did so!). I do have a slight caveat though--it's a book that will be most enjoyed by those able to wrap their minds tightly around the sort of twists and turns that so often happen with time travel, and if, like me, you have a tendency to gallop through good stories, you might suddenly find yourself a bit confused...I think I will enjoy it more when I reread it in two or three years!

In London in 1928, 12 year old Glory has lied about here age to get a job in a jewelry shop. She designs beautiful things, but the fact that one of her hands is wooden prosthetic means she can't always bring her creations to fruition. The rather nasty woman she works for is not sympathetic, paying Glory a pittance while profiting off her designs.

In 1864, Needle is desperately trying to keep himself and his mother fed, following in the footsteps of his father who mysteriously disappeared by scrounging in the mud of the Thames for bits and pieces to turn into saleable ornaments. Like his father, Nettle has a magical gift--he can feel the stories of the things he finds. When he finds some metal fragments from 1928, with the names of victims of a horrible flood, he travels in time to that year, determined to give a warning.

There he meets Glory, and their stories intersect. The clock is ticking, and Glory herself might be one of those who will drown...but the two kids are up against villainous characters, and the problems that come with time travel. Fortunately, a very clever crow named Magpie, Nettle's helper from his own time, is a fellow time-traveler, and gives them just the assistance they need to add to their own determination and cleverness. And though Nettle, in the end, returns to his own time, he's changed both his life and Glory's for the better, in a lovely way (and not just by saving Glory's life...).

It's a truly engrossing story of friendship and hardship and creativity, given great tension by the threat of the devastating flood to come (a real event). McDonnell paints vivid pictures and brings her characters beautifully to life. And though the twist at the end didn't quite work for me (see caveat above), because I though one of the characters was perfectly capable of being more helpful earlier on, it was still one I enjoyed lots. Since I love to read about making things, I especially loved the crafting parts of the story, of which there were a generous plenty!

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (4/24/22)

Sadly (for me) I have nothing to contribute this week, because life, but here's what other people wrote about.  Let me know if I missed your post!

Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality, by Roshani Chokshi, at a backwards story

Bibi Blundermuss and the Tree Across the Cosmos, by Andrew Durkin, at Independent Book Review

The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston, at Staircase Wit

Curse of the Night Witch, by Alex Aster, at Pages Unbound

Dragon Legend (Dragon Realm #2) by Katie Tsang and  Kevin Tsang, at Rajiv's Reviews

Dragon Mountain (Dragon Realm #1) by Katie Tsang and Kevin Tsang, at Rajiv's Reviews

Dread Wood, by Jennifer Killick, at A Tale of Two Pages, The Book Dutchesses, And On She Reads, Rebbie Reviews, ForBooksSake, Book Craic, Herding Cats, Sifa Elizabeth Reads, and Gina Rae Mitchell

Freddie vs. The Family Curse, by Tracy Badua, at Say What?

Healer and Witch, by Nancy Werlin, at Bookends

The Horse and his Boy, by C.S. Lewis, at Staircase Wit

Hunters of the Lost City, by Kali Wallace, at Bookworm for Kids

The Lucky Diamond, by Valinora Troy, at Book Craic

Magicborn, by Peter Bunzl, at Scope for Imagination

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton, at Log Cabin Library

Pony, by R.J. Palacio, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)

The Rainbow Weaver's Apprentice (The Fairy Tunnels Book 1), by  Elena Jagar, at N.N. Light's Book Heaven

Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee, at Children's Books Heal

We Are the Song, by Catherine Bakewell, at nerds of a feather, flock together

Willodeen, by Katherine Applegate, at Not Acting My Age

Witchlings, by Claribel Ortega, at PR Review

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T. Kingfisher, at Sonderbooks (audiobook review)

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, by Eleanor Cameron, at Staircase Wit

Two by Deva Fagan--The Mirrorwood and Nightingale, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction

Two at Paper Fury--The Astronaughties by Andrew Cranna, and Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good by Louie Stowell

Authors and Interviews

Jodi Lynn Anderson (Thirteen Witches series), at Middle Grade Ninja (podcast)

Other Good Stuff

"Next Level Middle Grade Fandom, or, What Erin Hunter’s Warriors Series Hath Wrought" at Fuse #8

"‘Nevermoor’ Musical Adaptation in the Works at Paramount" at The Hollywood Reporter

this week's round-up of mg sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs 4/17/22

Happy Easter to those celebrating today. I always enjoy picking a Victorian card to share....

as always, please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality, by Roshani Chokshi, at Log Cabin Library

Aviva vs. the Dybbuk by Mari Low, at YA Book Central

The Dragon Realm Series, by Katie and Kevin Tsang, at The Bookwyrm's Den

Dragon Rising, by Katie and Kevin Tsang, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

A Dragon Used to Live Here, by Annette LeBlanc Cate, at Charlotte's Library

Dread Wood, by Jennifer Killick, at Book Craic

The Frights of Fiji, by Sunayna Prasad, at paper fury 

Hedgewitch, by Skye McKenna, at Book Craic

The Impossible Girl, by Ashley White, at Bookworm for Kids

The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Charlotte's Library

The Midnight Unicorn, by Alice Hemming, at Log Cabin Library

The Mirrorwood, by Deva Fagan, at Charlotte's Library

The Revelry by Katherine Webber, at Whispering Stories 

Rules for Vampires, by Alex Foulkes, at Twirling Book Princess

The Sisters of Straygarden Place by Hayley Chewins, at Rapunzel Reads

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, by A.F. Steadman, at Say What?

Troubletwisters, by Garth Nix and Sean Williams, at Amy Rosenfeldt

Wildseed Witch, by Marti Dumas, at WOC Read

Two at Feed Your Fiction Addiction--The Ogress and the Orphans, by Kelly Barnhill, and The Button Box, by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani-Williams

Authors and Interviews

Dhonielle Clayton (The Marvellers) at WNDB

Deva Fagan (The Mirrorwood) at What Angela Reads (podcast)

Stacy Hackney (Sisters of Luna Island) at Book Briefs

Payal Doshi (Rea and the Blood of the Nectar), at Queries, Qualms, and Quirks (podcast)

Xiran Jay Zhao (Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor) at MG Book Village 

Stephanie Kate Strohm (Once Upon A Tide: A Mermaid’s Tale) at Pop Goes the Reader

Nancy Werlin (Healer and Witch) at Whatever

Other Good Stuff

At Book Riot, 20 of the best middle grade fantasy books

The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat

The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat (middle grade, April 12, 2022, Candlewick), tells of a fascinating voyage of discovery, with pleasing twists, a great heroine, lots of lovely mapmaking for those of us who like to read about work being done, and even dragons!

In a Thai-inspired reimaging of South East Asia, twelve-year-old Sai is determined to escape the poverty and miserable living conditions of the Fens.  She only has a year to save up enough money to make a new life for herself the kingdom of Mangkon, because only those who are given golden lineal beads (that show off their ancestry) when they turn thirteen are respected members of society.  She's managed to get work as an assistant to Paivoon, a famous mapmaker, and allows herself to hope she can make a future for herself, despite her lack of ancestors..

Then the Queen of Mangkon and all of its conquered territories decides to launch expeditions in all directions seeking new lands to add to the empire's glory.  Paivoon is chosen to be the mapmaker on board the ship headed south under the command of the woman who is one of the most famous war heroes in the kingdom.  But Paivoon has started to suffer from tremors, and can no longer trust his hands to write and draw clearly, so he offers Sai a place on the voyage to serve as his scribe.

After miserable sea sickness, Sai takes a keen interest in the voyage that takes her past new islands that are new to her and then off into uncharted waters.  The crew hopes to find the fabled southern continent of Sunderland (there's a lucrative prize if they do),  and Sai certainly would like that too.  But she can't convince Paivoon to take Sunderland's existence seriously.

Her life on the ship is somewhat complicated by a stowaway, an island boy named Bo, who proves important to the story both plot-wise and addition of character interest-wise.  And then her life becomes truly complicated by treachery that leads to her and Bo being castaway on their own, and then finding Sunderland.  And meeting dragons....(although to those who want lots of DRAGON, it's not a great feast of dragon-ness; its more like a soupçon of  dragon, that adds welcome fantasy spice and contributes to the central tension of the book very nicely).

What I liked lots--

The mapmaking.  Paivoon doesn't rely on the corpus of official maps, but takes seriously scraps of knowledge from fishermen, conveyed in their tales and rough drawings on scraps of cloth.  

Related to mapmaking, Paivonn teaches Sai that "discovering unknown lands" is a somewhat meaningless concept, because official voyages of discovery are by no means the first time people have ever reached place.  I especially appreciated how he leads her to understand that official claims to "newly discovered" places often leads to their exploitation (though it's not stated nearly so baldly in the book, so no need to worry about heavy-handed Messaging), and how at the end of the story the final map we see Sai make uses names to try to keep the Sunderland, and its dragon family, safe (at least for a little while).  I love it when words have power!

I loved Sai and Paivoon's teacher/student relationship more generally, and how Sai ends the story by passing on the opportunity she was given to another poor kid. 

I liked the pacing of the story...the time taken to establish the context, the ocean voyage in which very little that's Exciting happens, but much is learned.  (I have reservations about this in terms of young readers liking the book though--it won't be for every kid. I think the cover does a great job conveying the feel of the story--any reader drawn to that image will probably enjoy the book.)

And being a sucker for survival stories, I like the bit where Sai and Bo are stranded on a miserable island, and struggle to survive and escape.

To summarize:  I liked the book lots!  

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

The Mirrorwood, by Deva Fagan, for Timeslip Tuesday

Happy book birthday to the lovely middle grade fantasy, The Mirrorwood (April 12, 2022,  Atheneum Books for Young Readers), by Deva Fagan! What with all the new mg fantasy books this week, and the scramble to get reviews up, I was worried that Timeslip Tuesday would interfere with my plans....happily The Mirrorwood has enough timeslip in it that I can in good conscience count it as today's offering!

Fable's family lives near the impassibly thorny border separating the Mirrorwood, full of dangerous blight magic, from the safe, ordinary world. But blight still gets through, twisting whatever it touches into something impossible. And Fable was touched by it when she was born. She has no face of her own, but must borrow other's faces.... wearing them until they start fading into featureless gray, taking her life force with them. Her family loves her, and share their faces, but she can't go far from their farm, because those who are blighted are feared, and even hunted and killed.

And when a father/daughter blight hunter team sets their sights on her, the only way to escape is to try to get through the thorns into the Mirrorwood, where she had been heading to try to find a way to free herself of her curse. She's accompanied by the daughter, Vycorax, who hadn't been able to killer despite her father's orders. The two girls agree to truce as they set off to explore the world beyond the thorns.

There they find a world lost in a spell, cast by one of the Subtle Powers, the twisty immortals who can grant wishes, or make bargains that could snare the unwary. The people of the Mirrorwood have been trapped in a time loop; every day time resets and they live the day again for the first time. The only people who know of this trap are those who have themselves, like Fable, been blighted. They can see the horrible reality.... but can't do anything to fix it.

Fable and Vycorax are found by one of the Subtle Powers, the wish granter, who tells them how the Mirrorwood came to be cursed. The true prince has been caught by the time warp, and a blighted demon imposter has taken his place. If the demon is killed, the curse will be lifted, but it is an almost impossible task. Which the girls, in true mg fantasy form, set off to undertake regardless.... there really isn't a choice. Fable has made a wish of her own, as well--that she could have her own true face.

And this is where things really get interesting! Not only are the girls moving from enemies to loyal friends, but there's a twist to the whole demon prince thing.... the curse isn't exactly what the Subtle Power told them it was. Lyrian, the demon prince, proves to be a much more complex character than the girls had anticipated...

And also at this point is where I stopped just happily reading along, enjoying the story, and became grimly determined to read faster and faster so that I could see what would happen next! Twists and turns, new characters to meet and learn to care about, depth to the story and more about the darkness that preceded the curse, more impossible questing, riddle and illusions, alongside growth in Fable's character.

There's also an increase in the tension of the time warp; it's concentrated inside the castle, where instead of a day, those at the heart of the curse have only seconds of life repeating endlessly, those just outside have minutes or hours, not necessarily nice ones (one bit of this was immensely powerful, driving home the horror of what had happened.

It's clearly a riff on Sleeping Beauty, and it will please fans of reworked fairy tales just fine, but it's more than a reimagining; it's its own thing.  A lovely, gripping thing, with a strong message that it's what's inside that really counts.  Fable realizes that she is still her true self, no matter what her face is, and Vycorax learns that she can make her own choices, and not be bound to her single-minded killer of a father.  People who look like monsters aren't necessarily bad, and the converse as well.  

And as an added bonus, Fable's lovely cat, with whom she can speak, is along for the ride as well! 

The ending is satisfactory, making this a stand-alone, but I'd love to return to the Mirrorwood for more. Partly because it's such a wonderfully strange place, and partly because I'd like to see if the glimmerings of attraction between Fable and Vycorax, and a little between Fable and Lyrian, come to anything....I can't decide which I'd prefer!

short answer: I truly enjoyed it!

disclaimer: review copy received from the author, and deposited by the delivery person in shrubbery next to a door I don't use, so I was very glad I found it safely after who knows how long!

A Dragon Used to Live Here, by Annette LeBlanc Cate

A Dragon Used to Live Here, written and illustrated by Annette LeBlanc Cate (April 12, 2022, Candlewick) is an entertaining story within a story that I think would make a lovely read aloud for older elementary kids and the younger end of middle grade (7-10 year olds). Older kids, on their way to teen cynicism, might have to wait till they are grown-ups before they can enjoy it....

Thomas and Emily live in their parents castle, learning castle-y things, like archery, tapestry weaving, and courtly manners.  They are also skilled at writing and illustrating, and this comes in useful when they come across the den of the castle scribes while exploring a bit of the castle they'd never gotten around to before. The scribes, under the authority of a somewhat cranky woman called Meg (is she a witch? the children wonder), are happy to let the kids help with the heavy workload of party invitations.  And while they work, Meg starts telling the story of how the kids' parents met.

It's a story of a fierce dragon, who used to live in the castle, and knights of varying degrees of bravery, and elves; their mother was the dragon's captive, and their father helps with her rescue (she also helps herself).  As Meg's story unfolds (and is she telling the truth?), the kids stop thinking of her as possible witch, and more as a friend, and hearing how Meg and their mother used to be best friends before a terrible falling out makes them want to bring the two of them back together.   

There's a somewhat refreshing? jarring? unexpected? amusing? mix of modernity with the medieval. Yes it's castle life without modern technology, but there's a real world sensibility to it.  It ended up working for the story, but don't go into it expecting high fantasy.  And the dragon may or may not have been real; readers will have to decide for themselves! 

The writing is snappy and on point, carrying things briskly along.  Thomas and Emily don't just sit passively listening and scribing, but make plans, squabble, and do a bit of (mild) adventuring to try to move Meg and their mother back to friendship.   But Meg is definitely the star of the story.  She's a great character and a great storyteller, and I loved the den of scribes who are entertaining in their own right.  They are really good with paper and ink and sharp knives too--I loved their creativity!  And throughout the book there are many funny details and bits of dialogue that readers of all ages (but especially the target audience) will appreciate. Generous illustrations, also often amusing, add to the entertainment.

Story within story isn't my favorite framework, but when done well, as I think it is here, because I liked it, it is good entertainment!  For what it's worth, me and the Kirkus review are on the same page here--"Clever, multistranded, and off the charts in read-aloud potential."

but was the dragon real????? (and will Thomas continue to let himself enjoy drawing flowers...I hope so!)

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (4/10/22)

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, by Brandon Sanderson, at Say What?

Area-51 Interns: Alien Summer, by James S. Murray and Carsen Smith, at Crafty Moms Share

Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality (Pandava #5) by Roshani Chokshi, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction

The Button Box, by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani-Williams, at Always in the Middle

Dragon City, by Katie and Kevin Tsang, at Bookworm for Kids

Dragon Rising, by Katie and Kevin Tsang, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

A Dragon Used to Live Here, by Annette LeBlanc Cate, at Jean Little Library

Dread Wood, by Jennifer Killick, at JenJenReviews

Greta and the Ghost Hunters, by Sam Copeland, at Twirling Book Princess

Healer and Witch, by Nancy Werlin, at Charlotte's Library

How to Set the World on Fire, by T.K. Riggins, at The Children's Book Review

Hunters of the Lost City, by Kali Wallace, at Alison in Bookland 

It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit, by Justin Reynolds, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Last Mapmaker, by Christiana Soontornvat, at Log Cabin Library

Map of Flames (The Forgotten Five #1) by Lisa McMann, at Pamela Kramer

The Monster Missions, by Laura Martin, at Valinora Troy

The Ogress and the Orphans, by Kelly Barnhill, at Bellis Does Books

Once Upon Another Time, by James Riley, at The Bookwyrm's Den and Carstairs Considers

Operation Do-Over, by Gordon Korman, at Semicolon

Relatively Normal Secrets, by C. W. Allen, at BIbliomanaic Aza

Ripped Away, by Shirley Vernick, at alibrarymama

Secret Beneath the Sand (Unicorn Island #2), by Donna Galanti, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl, by Julie Kagawa, at Ms. Yingling Reads,  Log Cabin Library, and Feed Your Fiction Addiction

A String in the Harp, by Nancy Bond, at Semicolon

The Sisters of Luna Island, by Stacy Hackney, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Tiltersmith, by Amy Herrick, at A Bookish Way of Life

Witchlings, by Claribel A. Ortega, at Utopia State of Mind

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, by T. Kingfisher, at Not Acting My Age

Two at the NY Times--The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat, and The Ogress and the Orphans, by Kelly Barnhill

Authors and Interviews

Leah Cypess (Glass Slippers) at Whatever

Skye McKenna (Hedgewitch) at Love Reading 4 Kids

Claribel Ortega (Witchlings) at WNDB

When the Sky Falls, by Phil Earle

When the Sky Falls, by Phil Earle  (April 5th 2022 in the US by Bloomsbury Children's Books, June 2021 in the UK), is a moving book about a boy battered by life, and further traumatized by World War II.  

When we first meet 12-year old Joseph he's a kid arriving in London during the blitz; unlike the other young travelers at the station who are being evacuated out of the city, he's been sent into it after his grandmother decides she can no longer cope with him.  He's been packed off to stay with an old friend of hers, Mrs. F., who doesn't really want Joseph either.  Joseph is violently furious at his situation, and at the world, and before the reader knows his story, his frightening anger makes it hard to warm to him.

Mrs. F. is strong enough, though, to compel Joseph to some degree of cooperation, setting him to work helping keep up her family's zoo.  It's not much of a zoo anymore, thanks to the war.  Most of the animals have been shipped off to other zoos, or died.  One of the few left is a gorilla, Adonis.  Joseph finds Adonis terrifying at first, but as he sees the love Mrs. F. has for him, and learns that Adonis is grieving for the lost of his mate and his child, he opens himself to empathy and caring.  

School is a torment (again, his extremely reluctant attendance is a testament to Mrs. F.'s strong will), where his dyslexia keeps him from being able to read (he, and all the teachers he's had throughout his life, who have convinced him he's stupid, don't know it's dyslexia), and other boys make his life miserable. When the boys climb the zoo's fence to come beat him up, one gets too close to Adonis' cage, and the gorilla grabs him by the jacket.  Although the boy isn't physically harmed, he could well have been, and his father wants Adonis killed because of being a danger to the community.

Indeed, every night there's an air raid, which is most nights, Mrs. F. sits outside Adonis' cage with a gun to shoot him if he's ever freed by an explosion, because of the threat a free, angry gorilla would pose.....even though she loves him. (This part is based on a true story).

Gradually we learn details of Joseph's past--how his mother abandoned the family when he was five, and how his father went to war. Gradually Joseph becomes able to accept help, both from Mrs. F. (espeically when she's found the strength to share her own past tragedy with him) and from a girl who's just been orphaned by a bomb; neither will give up on him.  But it is his growing bond with Adonis that helps him most.  Part of it is the warmth of growing trust, that makes Jacob feel like a person worthy of trust.  I'm wondering a bit as well, though it's never stated, if Jacob gets a bit of help with anger management from the dreadful possibility of what Adonis, with no control over his own anger, is capable of.  The book is thought provoking like this, which I appreciated.

In any event, I found their relationship nicely convincing; I'd been afraid that my suspension of disbelief re human/primate friendships was going to be put to the test.  I needn't have worried; it was a plausible relationship, not a sentimentally idealized anthropomorphic one.  

There is not a happy ending.  But though it is sad, it is an ending that give hope for a new beginning, as Mrs. F. and Joseph become family. 

It's a grimly vivid picture of life in a city being destroyed, with a protagonist on the verge of destroying his own life.  When I reached the end, it took me a while to shake of the tension of it all; like all really good and engrossing books, I'd been living it.  A truly powerful read.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

 

Healer and Witch, by Nancy Werlin

I just gave five stars on Goodreads to Healer and Witch, by Nancy Werlin (mg* Candlewick, April 12, 2022).  I am chary with my stars--only 6 out of the 92 books I've read so far this year have gotten 5 of them--all books that not only are very good books, but very good reads that make reality vanish and remind me why I love reading!  Such as Healer and Witch.

Sylvie is a girl learning healing from her mother and grandmother in Renaissance France.  Her mother's skill as a healer is based on knowledge and understanding, but her grandmother can do more, to the point of being magical.  When Sylvie gets her first period, her own gifts blossom, and like her grandmother there a magical twist to them--she can enter peoples minds, and tweak their memories.  When her grandmother dies, Sylie can't stand to see her mother suffering in a morass of grief, and so tries to help with a bit of memory removing.  It goes horribly wrong, and her mother doesn't remember her own mother, or even Sylvie.

So Sylvie sets out alone into the world to try to find another wise woman who can teach her how to use her gifts, so that she can fix what she broke, and never make such a mistake again.  She is both healer and witch...and the later is a dangerous thing to be when suspicions of witchcraft can lead to death.  A much younger boy, the blacksmith's son whose always getting into trouble, follows her out of their village, and refuses to be sent home, and proves to be an important part of her journey (and a nice part of the story!).  A meeting with a wise woman in the nearest town sets her off to the city of Lyon, as part of a wealthy young merchant's caravan.  

But neither the wise woman or the young merchant are exactly who they seem, and Sylvie's gifts place her in great danger.  She must fight fiercely for her right to use her powers as healer/witch as she sees fit, figuring out how to use them ethically, and making sure she is making decisions for herself in a time and place that's often unkind to young women.  There's a nice romance too-- the powerful young merchant offers to protect her by marrying her, and she declines (and figures out how to protect herself), but in the course of travelling together they start trusting each other enough to share their darkest secrets.  It's a slow romance, but a sweet one.  

It's not a swirling fast-paced book full of Things Happening, and indeed a lot of what happens takes place in Sylvie's head, which was fine with me!  Sylvie is beautifully thoughtful and intelligent, and I appreciated her lots. There is trauma (in the young merchant's past too, from his desperate childhood as a thief "and worse") and of course in Sylvie's life--her love for her mother is unchanged though her mother doesn't know who she is.  But there is healing too, and (slight spoiler) I appreciated that magic isn't the answer for this.

It's good historical fiction too, with enough of the history part (especially social and economic history) to be interesting without info dumping on the reader. My only gripe is that the blurb says this is medieval France.  Not.  Clearly it's Renaissance- Henry VIII is on the throne in England, and the Medici family is busily doing their Medici thing down in Italy....

short answer--I really liked it!  

*note about target audience--recently there was a lot of chat on twitter from folks wanting more books for the 12-14 year old kids who are leaving middle grade (9-12 years old) but who aren't the target audience just yet for much of Young Adult. This is a book for those in-betweenish sort of readers, who want a bit of romance, who want books about independent young women (the heroine here is 15) figuring out what sort of person they want to be.  This isn't a book that I'd give to a 9 or 10 year old, but I'd give it in a flash to 11-13 year old me and other dreamy kids who aren't quite ready to grow up but are enjoying starting to think about it from the safe perspective of fantasy....and I think the cover does a great job at targeting this group of readers!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Meant to Be, by Jo Knowles

Though most of my middle grade reading is sci fi/fantasy, I also enjoy escaping into other peoples reality with good non-magical mg fiction!  Case in point, this weekend's read--Meant to Be, by Jo Knowles (March 22, Candlewick).

We first met sisters Rachel and Ivy in Where the Heart Is, which ends with the family loosing their home out in the country and having to move to an apartment.  That book was mostly Rachel's story; this is Ivy's, and it stands alone just fine.

Ivy is happy with the new apartment home.  For the first time in her life, she has friends close at hand--Lucas and Alice, two other kids the same age as her.  Together they religiously watch a cooking show, and try to use the ingredients the contestants use in their own culinary experimentation (which is mostly successful).  She is not happy, though, that the her sister and parents can't see that the apartment, though small, is a great place to live. She just doesn't empathize with them.

And when Alice, who lives with her grandmother, gets sad news about her absent mother, whose troubles with addiction lead to her leaving Alice behind, Ivy missteps her response, straining their friendship almost to the breaking point.

With the help of the building superintendent, who's teaching Ivy how to fix things, she starts to realize that helping other people with their problems doesn't always mean doing what she, Ivy, things is best for them.  And though she still, at the end of the book, likes living in the apartment, and is still anxious because she doesn't want things to change, she's become quite a bit wiser and more considerate of other people's feelings.

Which isn't to say this is a preachy book!  It all happens naturally and warmly, and although I imagine that if I'd read this when I was ten or so I might have taken the message to heart, there's definitely enough happening (small things, but interesting ones) to make this a good story and a good read.  

Definitely one for kids who like sort of quite slice of life books, particularly for young foodies!  I myself would have put a cupcake prominently on the cover if I'd been designing it...the eggs and mixer do indicate the cooking, but not as appealingly, perhaps, as a nice cupcake!

short answer--I enjoyed it lots, and perhaps am an even more thoughtful person than I was before (?)

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher (thanks!)

This week's round-up of mg sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (4/2/22)

A late round-up this week (bloglovin, where many of my links were waiting for me) was troubled today...but I'm glad it came back, because most of the reviews this week are for books that I haven't seen in past round-ups! Please let me know if I missed your post; it's more likely this week because even when I was in bloglovin, it was off kilter....

The Reviews

The Accidental Apprentice, by Amanda Foody, at Books YA Love

Aviva vs. the Dybbuk, by Mari Lowe, at Say What?

A Darkening of Dragons, by S.A. Patrick, at The Bookwyrm's Den, and  Log Cabin Library

Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts, by Erika Lewis, at Prose and Kahn

The Ogress and the Orphans, by Kelly Barnhill, at Book Nut

Paola Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares, by Tehlor Kay Mejia, at Puss Reboots

River (Warriors: A Starless Clan #1), by Erin Hunter, at Say What?

The Sea of Always (Thirteen Witches #2), by Jodi Lynn Anderson, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Secret of the Storm, by Beth McMullen, at Books YA Love

The Sheep, the Rooster, and the Duck, by Matt Phelan, at Redeemed Reader

A Storm of Sisters, by Michelle Harrison, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

The Thief Who Sang Storms, by Sophie Anderson, at A Dance with Books

The Tiltersmith, by Amy Herrick, at Say What?

The Triplets get Charmed (Trillium Sisters #1) by Laura Brown and Elly Kramer, at Rajiv's Reviews

Authors and Interviews

Dhonielle Clayton The Marvellers and Julian Randall (Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa) at SLJ

Lisa McMann (The Forgotten Five: Map of Flames) at From the Mixed Up Files

Gabriela Houston (The Wind Child), at PaperBound Magazine

Gregory Maguire (Cress Watercress) at Middle Grade Ninja

Adam Perry (Ghosts Come Rising) at MG Book Village (nb--I'm not sure this is actually fantasy, but it sounds cool whether there are any real ghosts or not!) 

today's mg sci fi/fantasy round up is delayed

 blogloving is over capacity, and I can't get in to find all the posts I was saving for today.....will keep trying!  

In the meantime, here's a cautionary tale--don't put books on radiators.

Today's example of "Why Charlotte can't accomplish anything because of always having to spend precious time solving problems of her own creation"-- I thought, as I placed the library book on top of the radiator--"sure hope this doesn't fall down the back of it!" It did. And the book was too wide to just be pulled out (and even my small, delicate (?) hands don't fit) so it had to be lifted up and out with a piece of random home-renovation wood that was conveniently close at hand...ten minutes of my life, gone just like that!

But the book has been recovered, so all is well in the end.....