Ravencave, by Marcus Sedgwick, for Timeslip Tuesday

I am determined to get back into the swing of blogging now that both kids are back from college and I have a long month ahead with no particular busyness planned.  That being said, Ravencave, by Marcus Sedgwick (March 2023, Barrington Stock), although a really good book, and perhaps the last children's/YA book of his to be published (he sadly died in the fall of 2022 at a much too young age) is a slightly questionable Timeslip Tuesday book.  It is actually a ghost story, but there is, toward the end, enough timeslipping that I am going ahead and using it today.

The story takes place in a single day, though it is a day is suffused with memories.  Jamie and his family (two parents, older brother) are on a rather miserable family holiday in Yorkshire.  The main point of the trip is to scatter his grandmother's ashes in the region where she was born, and the father is also keen to visit places where his ancestors lived and worked.  But the weather has been awful, the father has lost his job, and the mother, a published author, is suffering from writer's block.  No one is paying any attention to Jamie, not even his brother, though they used to get along really well.

And then Jamie sees a ghost, a girl who wants his help.  She's not just any ghost, but a family member from a hundred odd years ago, and she leads him away from his family, underground where a terrible tragedy occurred.  In the shock of what Jamie learns, his spirit briefly slips through time, visiting his long ago family in the places important to their lives.  It's no more than a few pages, but it serves to connect Jamie to the land and its history, and learn how he fits into it, in a way that's very meaningful, and rather comforting.

Sedgwick did a top notch job of building the suspense of the story.  It's not just a story of the supernatural, but a story of a hurting family and their relationships to each other.  And its the story too of the injustices experienced by the ancestral family--there's a thread of socialism that will appeal to progressive young readers (it's an 11-14 year old book, I think) without being too heavy handed to disrupt the flow of the story.

Knowing that the author was facing death while writing this incredibly poignant story makes it even more powerful.  One of the most memorable of the 100 books I've read so far this year.  It's only out in the UK at the moment, but if it sounds at all appealing, it's worth heading over to Blackwells and ordering a copy (with free shipping to the US and a favorable exchange rate), which was what I did, very soon after reading this review at Magic Fiction Since Potter.

no round up this week

 I'm writing this from the beatuiful Hudson River Valley, where my oldest has just graduated from Bard College (yay!  though the whole college experience was mucked with by the pandemic, they made it through!).  Now that May, with desperate home and garden work, is over, and both kids will be safely home, I'll have more time (d.v.) for blogging!  

This week's round up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy (5/21/23)

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

The Reviews

Aboard the Time Line, by Bastian Gregory, at  Bookworm for Kids 

Bloom, by Kenneth Oppel, ar Proseandkahn

The Book of Stolen Dreams, by David Farr, at Pages Unbound

Charlie Hernandez & The Golden Dooms, by Ryan Calejo, at Kiss the Book

The Firebird Song, by Arnée Flores, at NW Book Lovers

Future Hero #1, by Remi Blackwood, at Mark My Words: 

Kelcie Murphy and the Hunt for the Heart of Danu (The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts #2), by Erika Lewis, at Mark My Words

The Lake House, by Sarah Beth Durst, at YABookNerd

Mace and Hammer (Del Toro Tales #3), by Darby Karchut, at Log Cabin Library: 

Midwinter Burning, by Tanya Landman, at Scope for Imagination

Mission to Shadow Sea (Future Hero #2), by Remi Blackwood, at Mark My Words and YA Books Central

Revenge of Queen Rose, by Valinora Troy, at Hayley Reese Chow

Small Bites Back, by Hannah Moffatt,  illustrated by Rory Walker, at Book Craic

The Thief of Farrowfell, by Ravena Guron, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads 

The Witch of Woodland, by Laurel Snyder, at Unleashing Readers

Authors and Interviews

Laurel Snyder (The Witch of Woodland) at The Yarn (100scopenotes.com)

Matt McMann (Escape From Grimstone Manor) at From The Mixed Up Files

Other Good Stuff

Children's Book Picks UK - May 2023 at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

this week's round up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy (5/14/2023)

 I write this from a motel room in Ithaca NY where I am doing my motherly duty of fetching a child from college....I do appreciate at least the first few hours of the drive home, though, as it is the best conversational opportunity a parent gets at this point.  And happily I will be visiting the giant Ithaca library used bookstore later today.

As ever, please let me know if I missed your post! (which I might have, because I'm using my very old laptop which isn't conducive for pleasant browsing)

The  Reviews

 Epic Ellisons: Cosmos Camp, by Lamar Giles, at Ms. Yingling Reads:

 Escape From Grimstone Manor (Monsterious #1), by Matt McMann, at Mark My Words and YABookNerd

 The Extraordinary Curiosities of Ixworth and Maddox, by J.D. Maddox, at Kiss the Book and  Twirling Book Princess

The Girl Who Speaks Bear, by Sophie Anderson, at Kiss the Book 

The Golden Frog Games (Witchlings #2), by Claribel A. Ortega, at Charlotte's Library

Haarville, by Justin Davies, at Mark My Words

Hollowthorn (A Ravenfall Novel #2), by Kayln Josephson, at Mark My Words

Hummingbird, by Natalie Lloyd, at  Smack  Dab in the Middle

The Kingdom Over the Sea, by Zohra Nabi, at Book Craic

Kingston and the Echoes of Magic, by Rucker Moses and Theo Gangi, at Charlotte's Library

The One and Only Ruby, by Katherine Applegate, at Ms. Yingling Reads: 

The Prisoner of Shiverstone, by Linette Moore, at  Pages Unbound

Ravencave by Marcus Sedgwick, at Scope for Imagination

The Storm Child, by Gabriela Houston, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Stories of the Islands, by Clar Angkasa, at Fuse #8

The Wildstorm Curse, by Eve Wersocki Morris, at Valinora Troy

World's Worst Time Machine, by Dustin Brady, at Always in the Middle…  and Mark My Words

Authors and Interviews

 Hannah Moffatt (Small Bites Back) at Scope for Imagination

Matt McMann ( Escape From Grimstone Manor) YABookNerd

Kingston and the Echoes of Magic, by Rucker Moses and Theo Gangi, for Timeslip Tuesday

Yay for me!  I have a Timeslip Tuesday offering, and happily it was a book that was such a fast fun read that I was able to get it read between coming home from work and now---Kingston and the Echoes of Magic, by Rucker Moses and Theo Gangi (October 2021, G.P. Putnam's Sons).  

It's the second of a duology, and if you haven't read book 1 (Kingston and the Magician's Lost and Found) you will want to before opening this one, because otherwise you will probably flounder not knowing who everyone is, and all that happened before this one starts--in a nutshell, Kingston, his cousin Veronica, and their best buddy Too Tall saved Brooklyn from a magical catastrophe involving a portal to an alternate dimension, but couldn't rescue Kingston's dad, who remains trapped there.

Life is going on after those adventures....or maybe not.  Kingston and Veronica realize they are stuck in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over again.  And when they start hunting for an explanation, they find that the looping is tied to a plot to rewrite the timeline of the world, destroying all the reality they love.  Hints and strange helpers lead them on a path through time, as they slip into different pasts trying to find a way to stop the magician mastermind who is behind it all.  They spend time with their teenaged dads, for instance, and a fascinating visit to ancient Egypt is key to saving their world.  

Though it's said several times in the book that it isn't time travel, per se, it certainly was time slip, and very entertaining slipping it was.  And the authors did a great job making it all complicated, but easy to accept without fuss.  The kids are great characters, though I wish Too Tall, the only one without magic, had had a Moment of Helping that wasn't just him being tall enough to get out of the lap of a giant Pharoh statue and such.  He deserved more than just being the tall sidekick.

These are great books for kids who like arcane secrets, riddles, and magic tricks, kids who want books about city kids with magic, especially black urban kids who will get to see themselves here, and for grownups like me who enjoy good magical time slipping.

The Golden Frog Games (Witchlings #2), by Claribel A. Ortega

The Golden Frog Games (Witchlings #2), by Claribel A. Ortega (May 2, 2023, Scholastic), begins soon after the tumultuous events of the first book. Seven and her two best friends, Valley and Thorn, are still well aware that they are "spares"--young witches not chosen for one of the covens,  looked down on by most, and held in utmost contempt by too many- but they are not letting that stop them from living their own magical lives. 

There's lots of stress for all three. Seven, who has found herself an Uncle (in charge of her town's magical relationship with and care of magical creatures), is terribly worried about her magic--it isn't considered right for an Uncle to communicate with monstrous creatures as well as ordinary ones, but that's what Seven is doing.  Valley's coping with the fallout from the collapse of father's reputation, and is embarking on a very sweet relationship with another girl witch.  Thorn has put her shy self out front and center, competing in the Golden Frog Games, where witches from all the twelve towns compete for glory.  It's almost unheard of for a Spare to be a strong contender, but Thorn's skill with magical clothing is hard to beat.

And then the tension gets worse when someone starts using forbidden, archaic magic to attack Thorn.  It's only chance that the magic attacks harm others nearby...and since they aren't stopping, and no one in authority is able to figure out who is behind them, Thorn is in grave danger.

Seven is determined to solve the mystery.  In order to do so, she'll have to embrace the part of her magic that scares her most, and she'll need her friends.  But their tight bond is in danger of breaking.  And the dreadful Nightbeast of the first book calls to her from its magical prison....

This is a book that starts with a focus on magical extravaganza--the Golden Frog Games are lavish and lushly described, and will hook young readers who love to read of marvels.   The friendship tension, and Seven's anxiety that her magic is wrong, make it relatable.  But as the danger grows (and it gets very real and close to home), the tension of the mystery takes center stage.  There's still plenty of neat magical detail, and Seven's ability to communicate with animals adds lots of delightful moments, but the plot really starts boiling. 

I (a non-target audience reader, in case you didn't know that), liked the last third of the book best (I prefer reading about people figuring things out than about people being anxious)...and enjoyed it even more than I did the first one.  I continue to be a bit uncertain about the world building-- what lies beyond the twelve towns? How does their economy function?  but again--not the target audience.  And I continue to cheer for the struggle of the three Witchlings against prejudice, and am happy to cheer for the LGBTQ inclusion.

The book ends at a reasonable point, I guess, but also no it is not reasonable because there's a very big tense thing unresolved and there's clearly lots and lots more of the story to come.  It looks like there will be plenty of more dangerous and twisty plot to look forward to and of course big tense thing had better not stay that way!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Cover reveal for The Great Forest, by Valinora Troy

 Happy cover reveal to my friend Valinora's latest book, the third and final installment of the Lucky Diamond trilogy!  I had the good fortune to work with Valinora in the Elementary/Middle Grade Cybils Awards year before last, and I'm so happy for happy for her! 

The Great Forest blurb:

“Everything here hates you. The trees long to consume you, the ground to swallow you, the plants to poison you, and as for the creatures who live here… Your only chance of survival is to do exactly as I say. Clear?”

Twins Cathy and Alan are thrilled to be asked by the king of the Diamonds to enter the Great Forest on their eleventh birthday to complete the cleansing of the land. After all, Queen Rose is dead and all darkness gone from the trees. But when their home is attacked by a horde of vicious boars, and Alan and Cathy unwillingly taken to the Great Forest, the twins realise that evil remains there. Now they are faced with a terrible choice: escape from their captors and take their chances at survival, or find out who is waiting for them in the centre of the forest, and why?

 

Cathy and Alan are about to face the deadliest battle of their lives, against the forest, the monsters, … and each other.

 

The exciting conclusion to The Lucky Diamond trilogy

 

Cover art by Phan Duy

 

The Great Forest will be published on 21^st June 2023. The ebook is currently available here for pre-order at a special price of .99 cent/.99 pence

 

About the Author:

Valinora Troy has been writing since she was a child. Her first story popped into her head when she was 5 or 6, about a little girl who found a magic diamond. Recently she completed a M.A. in Creative Writing, specialising in Children & Young Adult fiction. Her short stories for adults have appeared in numerous venues. She has also served as a panellist for the CYBILS award, visits schools and libraries, and occasionally run writing classes for talented young authors. She hails from Blackrock, Co Louth, Ireland, and after living in Dublin for a number of years, recently returned to Louth to live in a magical writing cottage. Find out more at Valinora Troy – Children's Fantasy Writer

this week's round up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy (5/7/23)

 Nothing from me again this week, sigh, becuase of work, house, and garden, but next week I have great hopes for solid reading and reviewing! Here's what I found from others; as always, let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

 Clara Poole and the Long Way Round, by Taylor Tyng, at Mark My Words

Emba Oak and the Beckoning Bones, by Jenny Moore, at Book Craic

The Guardian Test, by Christina Soontornvat, at  Redeemed Reader

A Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Proseandkahn

Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom, by Nina Varela, at A Library Mama

The Lake House, by Sarah Beth Durst, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Might As Well Be Dead, by Mark Goldblatt, at Log Cabin Library

Nic Blake and the Remarkables, by Angie Thomas, at PBC's Book Reviews

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga #1), by Andrew Peterson, at Mark My Words

Skandar and the Phantom Rider (Skandar #2), by A.F. Steadman, at Mark My Words

The Snowcat Prince, by Dina Norlund, at Pages Unbound 

The Thames and Tide Club: The Secret City, by Katya Balen, ill. by Rachael Dean, at Scope for Imagination

Authors and Interviews

Angie Thomas |(Nic Blake and the Remarkables) at American Libraries Magazine

Matt McMann (Escape From Grimstone Manor), at Literary Rambles

Mark Goldblatt (Might as Well be Dead), at Smack Dab in the Middle

Polly Holyoke (Skyriders), at MG Book Village

Brian Young (Heros of the Water Monster), at Cynsations

Other Good Stuff

10 of the Best Magic Systems in Fantasy Books (includes some middle grade), at Book Riot