12/11/20
Hide and Seeker, by Daka Hermon
12/3/20
The Girl and the Ghost, by Hanna Alkaf
Here's the first line--“The ghost knew his master was about to die, and he wasn’t exactly unhappy about it.” The witch's blood, which once filled this spirit, a pelesit, with magic, has grown thin, and though he didn't have any ethical qualms about carrying out the malicious errands she used to send him on, he is read for a change. And so when she dies, he sets out to find his new master, who must be someone of the same bloodline, with the same magic within them. That someone is the witch's baby granddaughter, Suraya.
When Suraya becomes aware of the pelesit, she welcomes his friendship, and names him Pink, the sort of name her stuffed animals have. Her mother is cold and distant, and Suraya is a lonely child, and so Pink becomes her inseparable companion as she grows up. Pink, though he's a spirit made for nasty mischief, grows to love Suraya, and would do anything to keep her safe and happy. But when Suraya makes friends with another girl, Jing, and finds happiness outside of Pink, he is consumed by angry jealousy. And since a pelesit has no moral compass, he persecutes Jing. Though Suraya then shuts Pink out of her life, she can't cut all ties with him--they are bound by blood. Finally in desperation she turns to her mother for help, and her mother, for pretty much the first time ever, is there for her.
But when her mother brings in a pawing hantu, a man who can capture spirits, Suraya can't go through with consigning Pink to his custody. And her instincts are sound in this--he is not collecting spirits for altruistic reasons. Suraya and Jing, and Pink, agree to find their way back to the place where Pink was created by the witch, and lay him to peaceful rest. The pawing hantu pursues them, with his own small army of spirits, and in the cemetery where Pink was made, things almost go horribly wrong before all is set right....
My heart ached for Suraya so much. This is a powerful exploration of loneliness and friendship, and though Pink and Suraya's relationship is toxic in many ways, and Pink's jealousy almost spoils it entirely, there is still genuine love between them. Likewise, though Suraya and her mother have a terrible relationship, there's still enough of a bond between them that there's hope they will move forward with love. And Jing is simply a great friend, with nothing toxic about her at all!
People and places, ghosts and graveyards, all become vividly real. It's not a comfort read, but it is a gripping and immersive one, and middle school kids, with all the angst of that age group, will find much to relate too.
11/23/20
On These Magic Shores, by Yamile Saied Méndez
Minerva (in her mind, and at school she's Minnie) might be in 7th grade, but she has her long range plan in place--get the part of Wendy in the school's yearly production of Peter Pan, use that as a springboard to leadership at school, and from there on up to becoming the first Latina president of the United States. In the short-term, her primary responsibility is looking after her two little sisters while their mother, an Argentinian American, works two jobs. Money is tight, and their basement apartment is unlovely, but the family is managing.
Then the night before Minnie's audition, Mamá doesn't come home, and Minnie is overwhelmed by worry for her, and for herself and her sisters. Will the girls be sent to separate foster homes? Minnie can't leave her much younger sisters home alone, but she can't stand to miss the audition. So she brings her sisters, and it goes badly.
Then comes a week of trying to pretend everything is normal, though Minnie has a hard job of it--a 12- year-old can't go to school and look after kids at the same time, and without Mamá, what will they eat? And how can Minnie come up with the $50 audition fee for the play? (aside--do public schools really charge that much for kids to be in the play? This surprised me lots).
But Minnie and her sisters aren't exactly alone. Their mother has filled their ears from babyhood with stories of the fairies who came first from Europe to Argentina, and then from Argentina to the United States. Her little sisters believe, and insist on leaving saucers of milk for them. Minnie's a skeptic. But when little bits of glittery luck start coming her way, the evidence becomes undeniable that there's magic at work.
And with the help from magic, and with a new friend, a quirky kid named Maverick and his wealthy family, and with some help from their landlord, who is kinder than Minnie had thought, things are held together. But Mamá is still missing, and Minnie decides to take action, contacting the grandmother in Argentina she's never met. The grandmother had had a premonition she'd be needed (possibly thanks to the magic), and is able to come to the US. And Mamá comes home from the hospital.
With huge relief, Minnie is able to shed her responsibilities, and her Mamá, still gravely ill, is able to as well, now her own mother is there. And Minnie now believes in fairies just as much as her little sisters do.
In the meantime, there's the play--Minnie isn't cast as Wendy, but as Tiger Lily (because of her brown skin, she wonders?) and she puts her foot down about the racism of the story, refusing to take the part. She's able to convince the school to tweak the play, finds another girl, a newly arrived immigrant, to take the part of Lily, a leader of Amazons. There are many other bits that speak to the experience of being a browned skinned, Spanish-speaking, child of immigrants in the story, including a nasty run-in with a racially profiling cop, that make the story relevant to the real world.
This is a great one for readers who are fascinated by stories of kids coping on their own without grownups! It's believable and scary, but the magic of the fairies leavens the darkness with its subtle sprinkles of gold, and the ending is warm and comforting. Because the magic is so subtle, this is also a great one for the fan of realistic fiction who has to read a fantasy book for school!
I personally enjoyed it lots, though I wasn't certain at first; Minnie starts of as a rather unsympathetic character, but as the story unfolds she grew on me lots. And I loved the magic, and didn't even mind that there was no big reveal of fairies (it stays subtle, but undeniable, till the end). I hadn't heard about this one until it was nominated for the Cybils Awards, and I'm glad it was so that I was compelled to read it!
10/24/20
Thirteens, by Kate Alice Marshall
10/13/20
Displacement, by Kiki Hughes, for Timeslip Tuesday
10/10/20
Ikenga, by Nnedi Okorafor
Ikenga, by Nnedi Okorafor (Penguin Random House August 2020) is a gripping fantasy set in modern Nigeria. Anyone who likes stories of real-world kids dealing with extraordinary powers and the extraordinary responsibilities that come with them will love this one!
Nnamdi's father was the chief of police of the town of Kalaria, a man determined to rid the town of the criminals that were basically running the place. When he is murdered, Nnamdi is sure the most powerful of the criminals, dubbed the Chief of Chiefs, is responsible. Nnamdi wants justice for his father, but what can a 12 year old boy do?
Then his father's spirit appears to him, and hands him an Ikenga, a small statue full of power. The Ikenga gives Nnamdi the chance to carry on his father's mission to end the crime wave destroying Kalaria, and bring down the Chief of Chiefs. When he is angry, the Ikenga transforms into a giant shadow man of tremendous strength, and the criminals give him many opportunities to be angry. Soon several are behind bars, but the Man, as the shadow being is known, becomes himself the object of fear--Nnamdi as the Man is violent, and almost kills several criminals. Nnamdi is horrified by this violence, and by what worse things his alter ego might do, but he has so much anger he doubts his ability to stay in control.
The stress of this situation drives a wedge between him and his best friend, Chioma, but fortunately, when he is honest with her, this heals, and she's able to help him in both confronting criminals, and solving the mystery of who killed his father.
This is in large part a superhero story (Nnamdi is himself a big fan of comic book heroes, and compares the Man to the Incredible Hulk). But Nnamdi is not just a superpowered fighter for justice. He's a grieving and confused kid, struggling to do the right thing, and confronting injustice and corruption as best he can. As a result, there's lots of emotional heft to the story, alongside the "ka-pow" action and adventure.
It's also a lovely visit to Nigeria, with lots of details about the town and daily life.
nb: Ikenga is eligible for the Cybils Awards, and has not yet been nominated! (any one can nominate books in a range of childrens/YA categories, including Elementary/Middle Grade speculative fiction, where Ikenga belongs!)
9/8/20
The Magic in Changing Your Stars, by Leah Henderson, for Timeslip Tuesday
8/14/20
Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, by Fleur Bradley
JJ Jacobson is a young ghost hunter, but hasn't yet found any good ghosts to hunt. So when his mother gets a surprising invitation for a weekend at the famous, and supposedly haunted, Barclay Hotel. She's always awfully busy and preoccupied with her peanut butter and jelly business, but he convinces her to go, and to take him with her.
She isn't the only one to get a mysterious invitation; a handful of other guest have been carefully selected as well. And when they arrive, they find out why--all but one of them is a suspect in the death of the hotel's owner! And then the snow begins to fall, trapping them....with a murderer.
As well as hunting ghosts, JJ has to hunt for the answers to the mysteries in which his mom has been entangled. Fortunately there are two other kids at the hotel--Penny (grand-daughter of another guest) and Emma, who lives there. They join forces, exploring the hotel together, discovering the secrets of the other guests, and hunting for ghosts (because yes, the hotel is haunted!).
The hotel is a fascinating place, and the kids are entertaining company! They make a great team-- Penny (who is black) loves books, and puts that to good use, JJ loves his ghost hunting, and there's lots of detail about his technology. Emma knows the hotel, so she's their guide. There are plenty of twists, and nothing is quite as it seems, making the pages turn quickly. The solution wasn't what I was expecting at all (though I did guess a few things)!
For kids who like mysteries, ghosts, and weird hotels and playing Clue, this is a perfect book, especially for those on the younger side of middle grade (the 9 and 10 year olds). And it's lots of fun for everyone else too!
Here are all the other tour stops:
8/1/20
Curse of the Night Witch, by Alex Aster
Everyone (or almost everyone) born on Emblem Island has a mark that shows their particular gift, and a lifeline that magically shows the highs and lows to come, and how long that life will be. Twelve-year old Tor isn't happy with his long, boring life line, that promises no excitement, and downright hates his leadership emblem. He doesn't want to be leader, and doesn't want to spend his days studying the dry texts of leadership education. He desperately wishes he had an emblem for water breathing isntead--underwater is where he is happiest.
At the annual New Years celebration, all the islanders throw wishes into the bonfire, and some are granted. Tor's wish is one of those. The next morning he wakes up with his leadership emblem gone...but now there's a curse symbol in its place, and his life line is shortened almost to nothing. Then his best friend Engle, and his not-friend, Melda (the only other leadership marked kid in his village), get contaminated by the curse. Now they too have only a few weeks to live.
The only way to rid themselves of the curse is to find the legendary Night Witch, who haunts the island's stories, gathered together in the Book of Cuentos that the kids take with them. Those stories are their guides to the fearsome dangers of magical creatures and treacherous terrain outside their home village. The island is bigger and more wonderful and horrible than they had dreamt, but they keep going, and learn to trust each other, and the stories. (And they get home safely in the end, with the immediate problem solved, but new dangers and challenges looming--I can't wait for the next book!).
All the things that make middle grade fantasy adventure so much fun to read can be found here. There's wildly extravagant world-building that somehow managed never to tip me out of the story in disbelief, solid friendship between the kids (including the antagonist to friends relationship of Tor and Melda), bravery (bolstered by lots of help from grown-ups along the way, which I appreciated), thought-provoking considerations of destiny, and a much more nuanced final confrontation than I'd been expecting! The stories in the Book of Cuentos are rooted in tales told to Alex Aster by her Columbian grandmother, which makes the book even more appealing.
Personally, something that made this interesting to me is that it's not a portal fantasy, but a fantasy quest carried out by insiders to the magic of their own world. I think this helped make it feel tight and contained, and helped keep the pacing brisk.
I'd recommend it to fans of the Morrigan Crow series--totally different setting, but a similar playful feel to the magical setting (although possible I'm thinking about Morrigan because she was "cursed" too...but I think it's a good recommendation nevertheless). It also felt like one for anyone who enjoyed Lalani of the Distant Sea, and basically one for anyone who likes magical monsters and kids with magical gifts!
short answer-- a really strong series start that I enjoyed lots.
7/23/20
Mysterious Messenger, by Gilbert Ford
Maria's life is constrained by her mother's profession as a fake psychic. "Madame Destine" makes a living conning the gullible out of valuable possessions, and it's Maria's job to hid in a closet and make sound effects during the seances. Mr. Fox, the apartment superintendent and more than friend to her mother, makes more sounds from the basement. Maria doesn't go to school, she's not allowed friends, and her mother is manipulative and controlling (and just terrible at providing healthy meals, nurturing, support, etc.). Maria's only escape is at the public library, and her only friend (a secret from her mother) is a ghost, Eddy, who can communicate by controlling her writing hand.
When Mrs. Fisher, an elderly widow who isn't well off, is conned out of her wedding ring, Eddy takes action. Apparently there's a treasure hidden in Mrs. Fisher's apartment, and he starts giving Maria clues about how to find it. The library's her first starting place, and there she meets a boy named Sebastian, who lives in her appartment building. Though she's forbidden to talk to him, she can't shake him, and when he finds out that she's on a hunt for treasure, he becomes her comrade. Mrs. Fisher becomes a friend to Maria too, and over the next few weeks Eddy's messages bring all three closer, though no closer to the treasure....
But the librarian is concerned about Maria, and gets the neighborhood police officer to look into her living situation. Madame Destine and Mr. Fox decide it's time to head out of town, but when they discover the treasure hunt, they want a piece of that action, and Maria, Sebastian, and Mrs. Fisher find themselves in danger.
The clues Eddy provides make this a rather unusual treasure hunt, sending the kids delving into the history of the Beat poets, artists, and musicians with whom Mrs. Fisher and her husband were friends (a visit to the archives of the NY public library, for instance, and to one of the clubs where poets hung out). This was fascinating to me, and I assume that smart kids, the sort that are used to picking up all sorts of random information online, will appreciate it too.
I did get frustrated that Eddy didn't provide clearer directions to the treasure, but then I (and Maria as well) realized the treasure wasn't everything. Eddy turns out to have good reasons for wanting Maria to escape her horrible mother and find friends who can help her, and the journey toward the treasure is what makes this happen....that being said, there is a wonderful, bibliophile's dream of a treasure!
There's also a happy ending for Maria, but I was a little grumpy that once she found out who her father was, and found out Madame Destine was only her stepmother, no one made any effort to find her relatives. Her dad's family is Puerto Rican, and possibly her mother's too, so it would have perhaps been challenging, but not impossible.
But in any event, this one's a winner for kids who enjoy found families, treasure hunts, books, ghosts, and kids with psychic powers! I also appreciated the educational side of things, and in fact have more appreciation for Jackson Pollock than I did last week...though I still am not interested in reading the Beat poets.
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
6/29/20
Thieves of Weirdwood, by Christian McKay Heidicker
It ends at an ending, but there's lots of scope for more, and I hope more comes sooner rather than later!
(note to those looking for it--the RI library system is shelving this under S for Shivering, even though Heidicker's name is clearly on the cover...I'm not sure how universal this choice of shelving name is....)
6/25/20
Hunted by the Sky, by Tanaz Bhathena
Twenty years ago, vicious King Lohar ascended the throne of Ambar, and his priests prophesied that a magic-wielding girl, marked with a star, would be his downfall. So of course he began hunting all girls with star-shaped birthmarks, draining their magic, and killing them
6/18/20
Equality Girls & the Purple Reflecto-Ray, by Aya de Leon
girls taking pictures, both of them wearing “Miss Tween” T-shirts.
“I think it’s just an idea somebody made up to get girls to worry about
things that don’t really matter,” Daniela said.
“But sometimes I like putting on fancy clothes and enjoying how I look,”
Jalisse said.
“That’s different,” Malaya said. “That’s about enjoying fashion and color
and style. There’s so much creativity in that. You sew a lot of your own clothes.
It’s not about competing with other girls for who some guy thinks is prettiest.”
6/16/20
"When Life Hands You a Lemon Fruitbomb" by Amerie (from a Phoenix First Must Burn) for Timeslip Tuesday
The very first story, "When Life Hands You a Lemon Fruitbomb" by Amerie, is a time slip story, and so it's the subject of today's post. But it hurts to spoil it by saying what happens, because it's so good and the twist is lovely. So I won't go into much detail, and you can just go ahead and buy this lovely anthology yourself if you want to read the story as it should be read!
However, in order to have a post about the time slip-ness of the plot, I have to write about it. So.
It's a story of Earth being invaded by aliens, nicknamed "orcs." Earth fights back, and two brave black girls are among the humans who travel through a wormhole to push back against the invaders. They are both serving as interrogators, trying to find information about their enemy that can save earth. But the wormhole has taken them back in time, and there is no humanity on Earth to save this far back in the past. There's only a distant plant, and the orcs, and legend the orcs have of something that will come to pass in the future. And the two girls take the steps that will make that happen.
And, even biggest spoiler, the thing they will make happen is the orcs invasion of Earth, and the trip through the wormhole, each iteration creating an alternate beginning. (Time travel via sci fi wormhole doesn't happen in YA very often, by which I mean I can't think of another example).
I needed that spoiler to make my main comment--it was such a brilliant placement of this story as the first one in this collection, because of course it leads into all the other fifteen alternate realities full of black girl magic that follow.
It's a great story, as are many of the other 15. Some I liked more than others, but it's really strong collection, and there were several I loved. But this one, I think, is my favorite.
(the second book I bought was Kingdom of Souls, by Rena Barron, which I had also been wanting to read!)
6/12/20
Lightning Girl, books 3 and 4, by Alesha Dixon
A magical stone work powers of light (and lightning) in Aurora, and now she's gone from being an ordinary kid to a world famous hero. But being a young hero is tough when supervillains (older, more cunning, and more confident) are out to steal the stone, and three others of equal power, from their guardians.
Her adventures take her around the world as she struggles to foil the evil masterminds trying to claim the powers from themselves. Small victories are followed by ever greater struggles and intrigues, and though Aurora can shoot lightning from her hands, she is really no match for her enemies; her sympathetic heart and lack of cunning make her rather easily manipulated by super-smart villains! Fortunately, she has good allies--her secret agent magical grandma, her morally dubious aunt, who comes with an ostrich who has no morals at all (but who is a great help when riled up!) and friends, both ordinary and superpowered. And also she has a growing confidence in not just her powers, but herself, that helps keep her going.
This a great series for kids who enjoy about reading wild adventures of ordinary kids thrown in to extraordinary adventures. There's plenty of humor (although I myself find the antics of the ostrich appalling rather than funny...), plenty of relatable middle grade self-reflection, and warm family and friend relationships. The world of the books keeping getting bigger, with the Queen of England, for instance, getting involved in story.
If you're looking for stories of black girls (Aurora's bi-racial) saving the world, and you're not finding much, do check this series out (as a bonus, you also get her tech genius brother and science genius little sister). A satisfying stopping point is reached at the end of the fourth book, but the epilogue sets the stage for further challenges to Lightning Girl!
disclaimer: review copies received from the publisher.
6/6/20
The Way to Rio Luna, by Zoraida Córdova
Danny Monteverde and his sister, Pili, lost their parents when he was a baby, and in the shuffle between foster homes and group homes that was his childhood, he had only two constants--Pili's love, and the fairytales she read to him from their treasured copy of The Way to Rio Luna. Then when he was nine, Pili wasn't there anymore--run away, the authorities decided. But Danny believes she is waiting for him in Rio Luna, if only he can find his way there...then his current foster father, who's horrible, destroys the book, and his hopes dwindle.
During a class field trip to the New York library, Danny wanders by himself into a rare book room, and finds one of the rarest books of all, out and open--an original copy of The Way to Rio Luna, from which magical arrows emanate. He finds a friend, too, a girl named Glory who also believes in magic, encouraged by her eccentric Aunt North scoops both Danny and the book up, and takes them to her home, promising to help Danny follow the arrows to Rio Luna.
Each chapter in the book links our world to the world of Rio Luna, and each holds a key. Danny, Glory, and Aunt North set out to track them down, travelling from New York, to Ecuador, to Brazil, and finally to Ireland.* They meet the characters in the stories, Leigh the Bard, who foiled the plans of the Shadow Queen to take over Rio Luna, the legendary guinea big who travelled to the land of shooting stars, and the Kohlrabi King, who's set up a sanctuary for magical beings in Brazil. They are joined by Llewellyn, a young Jackalope Prince who's squeezed his way into our world, who adds lightly comic notes, while being a stalwart ally. And they meet the Shadow Queen, who has broken free of her prison, and who wants to use the keys the children have found to return with her army of shadows and resume her conquest.
But Danny, Glory, and Llewellyn persevere, and at last they reach Rio Luna, and Pili, in what is not so much a happy ending as the beginning of a new adventure...
The bonds of family and friendship are front and center, and the appeal of following a path into stories from a beloved a book is always great. Younger middle grade readers will especially enjoy this diverse, vividly descriptive, story. It wasn't quite to my own taste; there was too much whimsy for me (by way of context, I didn't really enjoy The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, or Summer In Orcus), and I felt there was not quite enough depth and building of tension to the story of the Shadow Queen, who sort of abruptly erupts into full confrontational villainy towards the end), but I'm sure many readers who aren't me will love it!
*aside--this sort of travelling is why it's good to have a well-funded and well-connected aunt, who belives in magic, with you on your middle grade adventures in the real world. Further aside--Danny does have a passport from when he was a baby, but the fact that it would have expired is not an issue, which raised my eyebrows because sometimes I'm a stickler for details like this.
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher