Begone the Raggedy Witches, by Celine Kiernan

Begone the Raggedy Witches, by Celine Kiernan (Candlewick, September 11 2018), is a lovely new middle grade fantasy for kids who delight in exploring magical worlds along with brave kids finding their own magical powers!

Mup had no idea her mother came from a world of magic until the night her great-aunt died, and the raggedy witches stole her father away.  Her father was the bait that would pull her mother back into that world to save him, so that the queen of the witches, Mup's own grandmother, could eliminate her as a rival.  This comes as a surprise to Mup's mother; her great-aunt had decided to raise her in mundane Ireland, with no knowledge of her magical heritage.

Mup, her little brother (transformed into a puppy), the ghost of the great-aunt, and her mother cross the boarder into a place where the witch queen has clamped down on all magic that is not part of her cabal of evil, raggedy witches.  Mup's mother comes into her inheritance of magic.  And, this being a good, proper, middle grade fantasy, it turns out that Mup has a magic of her own that she must learn to draw on if she is to get them safely home again.  But will her mother want to leave, now that she knows she is the heir to this place of wonders?

It is a really satisfying story, with a nice balance of internal anxiety for family and new friends and external anxiety about formidable magical opponents.  The initial journey through the magical world that sets things in motion gives the reader, and Mup, time to figure out what's happening, and introduces Crow, a shape-shifting boy, with his own desperate need for family, who both helps Mup with her quest and becomes another person for her to care for.  Mup isn't interested in saving the world; she's interested in saving those she loves, and so, though there's plenty of vividly described fantasy-type adventuring and  battling against evil magic (with Mup manifesting fascinating magic of her own!) there's plenty of emotional heart here too.

This was first published in Ireland, and remains un-Americanized; Mum is not corrected to Mom, for instance, making it even more interestingly foreign to American readers.

There's scary stuff (the raggedy witches, though their name makes them sound, perhaps, a little silly, are very nightmarish), and there's one rather no-punches-pulled death, but all in all I'd be happy to give this to a fantasy fan at the younger end of middle grade--the magic-loving 4th grader.  And I'd also be happy to give it to the magic loving upper end kid--the 7th grader feeling pressured by controlling grown-ups (like Mup's Great-aunt) and wanting to escape the mundanity of middle school,

I enjoyed it lots, and am very happy it's the first book of a trilogy!  There's lots of work to be done in the world of the raggedy witches, and it will be a pleasure to see Mup and her family set to it!

and now I go see what Kirkus thinks...and although theirs was a metaphor that did not occur to me, I am happy to see we ended up in the same place.

From their starred review:

"Kiernan has crafted something at once familiar and delightfully surprising with this fantasy quest. Like biting into an unassuming brownie to discover it has a heart of Nutella, Mup’s narrative has all the hallmarks of a traditional misadventure with the fairy folk, but the unusual deployment of the “chosen one” trope, a plot-driving interweave of magic and family tension, and ineffably Irish elements of worldbuilding and characterization deliver readers an unexpected twist of richness.

It’s fortunate a trilogy is planned, for readers will surely demand more of Mup."

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

The Turning, by Emily Whitman

The Turning (Greenwillow, July 24, 2018) is Emily Whitman's first foray into middle grade, and I hope there will be more mg to come from her!

This is the story of Aran, a boy born to a selkie mother, who is late to take his own seal form.  He keeps up with his seal kin as best he can; even though he's not able to become a seal, he is still a phenomenal swimmer, and doesn't suffer from the cold.  But he's growing too big for his mother to help him travel for long distances, and his kin are beginning to worry that he'll never become truly one of them (after all, his father was human), and he might even pose a danger to their survival (a boy swimming with seals attracts attention....)  When his mother sets out on a long distance mission to seek council from the wise elders far to the north, she reluctantly finds a human home in which he can wait for her.  And so Aran must live as a human boy...

It is hard.  The minutia of being human (the cloths, the food, the daily life) are difficult, but more worryingly, Maggie, the woman he's staying with has a husband, prone to drunken violence, and though he's out at sea, there's the risk he might come back before Aran's seal mother does.  He makes a good friend, a bi-racial girl named Penny, who he learns to trust, and he learns to read, discovering the magic of books with her and her grandfather.  Being human isn't so terrible after all, but the call of the sea is strong, and Aran longs to swim again with his selkie family.

And then his mother doesn't come back when she promised too.  And the drunken husband comes home, and Maggie's life is in danger.  Aran flees out into the open ocean, with only the moon for company, but he can only swim so far....

Fortunately, there's a happy ending that makes the worrying worthwhile!  (Kirkus really didn't like the ending, for what it is worth, but I think that is a perfect ending for young middle grade readers!)

Give this one to myth and magic loving, dreamy sort of readers on the younger middle grade side (9-10 year olds), who will be entranced by Aran's life as both boy and seal child.  Though of course the particulars of Aran's situation won't be shared by those readers, his difficult situation of growing up into a conflict of who he's expected to be, who he wants to be, and who he's going to be able to become is deeply relatable.  Aran's naivete is understandably great, and young readers, with the advantage of having lived as humans their whole life, will be moved by his journey toward understanding and accepting his dual identity.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Black Dog Short Stories 1 and 2, by Rachel Neumeier

I am not a werewolf, qua werewolf fan, nor I am drawn to short stories (they are so often short).   But I was not surprised by how much I enjoyed the anthology of Black Dog Stories 1 and 2 (published in 2016, combining two previously published anthologies).  I am a huge fan of Rachel Neumeier, and these particular short stories are all set in the same world, with characters I already know from reading the Black Dog series, and the Black Dogs are not werewolves in any typical sense of the term (though they are shapeshifters....).

Here's what you get in these stories--a chance to spend time with the folks you've already met in the novels, seeing bits of their backstories, seeing them struggle with the pull of Black Dog demonic forces within them, seeing them do ordinary things like Christmas shopping that turn dangerous.  Each story adds to the world and its people, and because there's no overarching Plot of Danger, each story is a chance to really get to know the people involved.  And Rachel Neumeier does people very well. 

Even though many of the central characters are Black Dogs, with a sort of ravening madness that lurks beneath the control they must constantly maintain, they are decent people, people one is glad to see moving toward more positive outcomes both personally and in terms of staying alive.   That, coupled with lots of additional bits of world building, including an elaboration of the Christian elements (saints who intervened to tilt the balance away from demons), Black Dog genetics, the effects Black Dogs have in different societies, and a new sort of magical enemy, made me read just about straight through. 

If you've never tried Rachel Neumeier's books, but you like werewolves, start with Black Dog (my review) knowing that you'll have lots of great reading ahead of you!  If you've never tried her books, but like the books I like, start with Mountain of Kept Memory or House of Shadows. 

disclaimer:  copy happily received from the author

The Evil Wizard Smallbone, by Delia Sherman

If you are a fan of Diana Wynne Jones, hasten to get your hands on The Evil Wizard Smallbone, by Delia Sherman (Candlewick, September 13, 2016)!  Do likewise if in general you enjoy stories of boys apprenticed to eccentric (evil?) wizards, surreptitiously learning more than they are being taught, and having to face an enemy far above their pay grade,

12 year old Nick has run away from his uncle's home.  He had planned to do this, but the moment came sooner than he'd thought it would, and he's left wandering around in the middle of a Maine blizzard.  Chance takes him to the home of the Evil Wizard Smallbone, who takes him in (and turns him into a spider almost immediately).  When he's a boy again, Nick finds that he's Smallbone's minion, cooking and looking after the animals.  Smallbone appears to have no interest in teaching him magic, and in fact Nick lied and said he couldn't read.

But Smallbone's home is a bookstore (Evil Wizard Books), and the books know that Nick can read just fine, and so when he's ready, they give him just the right books that awaken his own gifts of magic (and teach him useful life skills, like focus and perseverance, and also forcing him to do a lot of thinking about who he himself really is).  And it's a darn good thing the bookstore does this, because the Smallbone's enemies, lead by the formidable ancient werewolf Fidelou, are pressing hard against the magical boundaries of the town (and a very peculiar town it is) that Smallbone is sworn to protect.  The boundaries are weakening, Smallbone isn't getting any younger, and finally Nick must throw the weight of his own magic into Smallbone's camp, even though Smallborn is, of course, an  evil wizard.....

Or perhaps not that evil?  This is one of the most interesting things about the book--Smallbone does some questionable things to Nick, and in the past has done some truly awful things, but he's rather likeable, even though he's basically keeping Nick hostage as a minion.....So it's nicely twisty that way.

But what is really really really fun is to see the bookstore teaching Nick magic.  The books talk back to him (in text), and it is tremendously entertaining!  The premise of the whole thing is also very enjoyable, and there are good supporting characters to round things off. 

Highly recommend to not just DWJ fans but to anyone who likes the same sort of books I do! 

and now I get to check to see if Kirkus agrees with me....

"Though Fidelou and his crew of biker werewolf minions add some dramatic distraction, it is Nick’s evolution into a young wizard that commands attention. Readers journey with Nick as he stumbles through what was real in his world, his grief at losing his mother, into a magical world that gives him a sense of purpose.
Fans of fantasy will be captivated—and hoping for a sequel."

So yes.  There you go.  Although I don't think this actually Needs a sequel, because it ends beautifully with an Ending, and is a standalone story.  And the things that make this one so much fun (the snarky books and the ambiguioty of Smallbone) are done, so I'm not sure I'd like the sequel as much.   But I do know for sure that I want more MG fantasy from Delia Sherman!

disclaimer: review copy received with conviction at ALA and I have been saving it for months even though I really wanted to read it immediately and it was a great distraction during a stressful week.

Serafina and the Black Cloak blog tour--review, interview, and great giveaway!

Serafina and the Black Cloak (middle grade, Disney-Hyperion, July 14, 2015) is the story of a rather unusual girl who lives at the end of the 19th century in secret with her father in the basement of Biltmore House, built by the Vanderbilt family in Asheville, North Carolina.  Serafina's father is in charge of maintaining the physical plant of the estate, so he's not a secret, but Serafina spends her days tucked away in the basement, only venturing out at night.   She has taken on herself the job of catching the estate's rats, something that she's preternaturally good at, and she's unusual in other ways as well....and more or less content with her life, because she's never known anything different, other than glimpses of the Vanderbilt family and their guests, but she's naturally rather lonely.

Then children start disappearing.  And Serafina sees the horrible spectre of a man in a black cloak, who is taking them away.  Though she finds him frightening, being a reasonable person, she is determined to track him down before more children vanish.  Her hunt leads her to a spooky old cemetery, where there are supposedly fewer bodies than there should be, and it also leads her to answers about just who she herself is.  And it's that story of her own heritage will allow her, with help from the Vanderbilt's orphaned nephew who's become her first friend (and who seems to be the next target),  to defeat the man in the black cloak and strip him of the cloak's powers....

So basically this is a mystery/horror story, where the mystery is solved not by sleuthing but by confrontations with evil, and everything is very tidily resolved.  The horror elements are creepy, but not overpoweringly the stuff of nightmares, partly because each confrontation has a beginning and an end--there's not an all pervasive sense of horror, though the menace is real and constant. Serafina, so very unusual, but so relatable with her loneliness and her questions about just who she is, is a charming heroine.  And the Biltmore estate and the spooky woods around it make a great setting!  (Indecently, though this story is set in a huge old house, the house itself is simply the setting, not a key part of the story in its own right.  So if you are a fan of stories exploring big old houses, you'll get some of that, but not tons and tons).

Try this one on kids who loved the Goosebumps series, who may be ready for a change of pace.  And it's also an obvious one for introspective introverted girls (especially those who like cats!)  wondering what their own lives will turn out to be and hoping to find a good friend like Serafina does.

And now it's my pleasure to welcome Robert Beatty! My questions are in purple.

Did you get to do lots of wandering through the secret places of the Biltmore estate in preparation for the book?

Yes. I studied Biltmore Estate extensively, in person, as I was writing Serafina and the Black Cloak. I went through all the different areas of Biltmore House, including all the various rooms and secret places Serafina sneaks through in the book. I studied all the public areas, but I also delved into the deepest reaches of the basement and sub-basement. It’s very cool down there. I’ve also explored the organ loft and other non-public areas she prowls through. The technical and architectural details I describe in the house actually exist, including the secret doors in the Billiard Room, the pipes of the organ loft, the various furniture items and art works, the drying rack machines where Serafina hides, and the electric dynamo generator that her pa is struggling to fix.

Is the mysterious cemetery based on a real place?

Yes. It’s actually based on two real places. First, it’s based on Riverside Cemetery here in Asheville, which is a beautiful old Southern cemetery that’s said to be haunted. Sometimes they give haunted nighttime tours there. It’s the burial place of the great writers O. Henry and Thomas Wolfe. The winged stone angel depicted in the story is a homage to Thomas Wolfe’s angel statue in “Look Homeward Angel” (which is actually in a different nearby cemetery). Thomas Wolfe is one of Asheville's wonderful literary heroes. The haunted cemetery in the book is also based on a small private cemetery on the grounds of Biltmore Estate. At the end of the video book trailer  we depicted Serafina’s cemetery using a combination of these locations.

Is the story of the black cloak based on a real legend?
 

The black cloak itself is from my imagination. But there are other elements of the story that are indeed based on the folklore in this area, especially the element related to Serafina’s ancestry (trying to avoid spoilers here). Around here, the state government insists those creatures do not exist here. But many people here believe they do and sometimes see them. There are many older folk who say these mountains were once filled with them. Part of the inspiration for Serafina and the Black Cloak was this idea that even to this day, officials will say one thing, but the people of the mountains will believe another. I think that’s cool. I’ve always been drawn to the lost creatures of our past.

And finally, will we get to read more about Serafina?
 

Yes, I hope so. There is much more to Serafina’s story. 

I hope so too!

If you are intrigued by Serafina's story, please leave a comment (by midnight next Wednesday, the 22nd) to be entered to win this great prize pack including the book, and notebook, and a pen!

Pure Magic, by Rachel Neumeier

To say that Rachel Neumeier's Black Dog series, of which Pure Magic (out now in paperback!)  is the second novel, is my favorite werewolf series isn't saying much, because I can't think of another werewolf series I like.   But perhaps the fact that I now do have one I like shows that these are really good books, liable to be enjoyed by those that share my taste.  In any event, I read Pure Magic in a sitting that was almost single, except for the bits when guilt drove me to do house and garden chores.

The basic premise is that some people are born Black Dogs, whose dark shadow aspects let them turn into wolves (perhaps more shapeshifterish than werewolfish, because of the moon not being a key ingredient).  There are also some people who are Pure--who have the antithesis of the black shadow, and who can do magic, and who are prized by (the more civilized) Black Dog communities because of their calming, protective energies.  There are also vampires (very bad) who have mostly been destroyed in a brutal war between them and the Black Dogs, and as a result of that war, ordinary people are now aware that Black Dogs exist.

Pure Magic continues the story of  Dimilioc, a good community of Black Dogs, who don't hunt people, and who don't want stray lawless Black Dogs doing so either.   A new person is being brought into this group--Justin, a teenaged boy who is Pure (mostly the Pure are women, so this is odd) who has No Clue whatsoever about what  Black Dogs are until some savage renegades attack him.    He also has no clue what Pure Magic is, and what it can do, and why he should bother, and he does not much like the idea that the master of Dimilioc is pretty determined that he should stay with them.

So he escapes to go back to the southwest where his grandmother is, and Natividad, the Pure girl who was the heroine of book 1, goes with him because she thinks that her Black Dog community needs to face a new threat that's popped up down there, and it will force their hand if she is in danger and the strongest of Dimilioc's Black Dogs will come to her rescue and the enemy will give way easily....

She was right about the danger part.  The defeating the enemy fairly easily part...not so much.

So clearly there's lots of world-building, and it is good, solidly fascinating world-building that (most importantly) serves as a most interesting stage on which the characters can lead character-filled lives while constantly fighting for their lives/ learning magic/getting to know each other (includes very interesting romance!).  Even if, like me, you aren't drawn to werewolves qua werewolves, especially fighting werewolves, do try this series!  If I had a copy of book 3 at hand (it isn't out yet, so I don't) I would have moved right on into it, house and garden be hanged! 

NB:  Brandy at Random Musings of a Bibliophile (a fellow fan of the series) did a much more thorough job summing everything up, so if your interest is at all piqued, visit her post.  And also Maureen's post, at By Singing Light.  (and I feel that when me and Brandy and Maureen and also Chachic all like a book very much, it goes to show something).

Black Dog was published by the sadly short-lived Strange Chemistry imprint of Angry Robot, and Rachel has decided to self-publish the series, interspersing the novel length segments with short-story collections.  My review copy of Pure Magic was sent by the author.

Lost Children of the Far Islands, by Emily Raabe, with thoughts on how I judge "kids with destiny" stories

Lost Children of the Far Islands, by Emily Raabe (Knopf, April 2014), is a middle grade fantasy that takes the magical creatures of the oceans around the British Isles and transplants them to the coastal waters of Maine.   It's the story of three siblings who find themselves visited one night by a mysterious messenger, and taken out to sea to the island far off the coast where their grandmother lives....where they find that they are shapeshifters, able to take seal form.  And they find (much more disturbingly!) that their destiny is to take part in a age old battle against the darkest creature of them all--a destroyer who wants to ravage the oceans until there is no life left.

I found it a gripping, fast read that I was able to enjoy even in the midst of a frenzied, stressful week, and I appreciated the fact that it stands alone just fine (there's one unanswered question, but it doesn't materially affect this particular story).

When I read a book about children in our world facing off against ancient folkloric evil, I have a rubric (which I am putting into words for the first time here, so I might well be missing something obvious!) by which I judge it.  Here's how Lost Children of the Far Islands came out in my mind.

1.  Are the young protagonists distinct people, or simply child-shaped spaces?  The kids here are two almost 11-year-old twins, a girl (Gus) and a boy (Leo), and their little sister, Ila.  The story's told mostly from Gus's point of view, but the other two gets some page time as well.  Gus is a girl primary character of the sort whose gender is a non-issue-- if you want your random boy to read books with girls, this is one that won't present problems in that regard.

All three kids are all individuals, especially young Ila, who is tremendously vibrant (she can also shapeshift into fox form, and I have a fondness for young fox shifters).   There are tensions between the siblings that all of us who have siblings can relate to just fine.  The kids have interests and personality traits that set them apart which for the most part become clear organically in the story, as opposed to traits that appear blatantly pinned on the character by the authorial hand.

2.  Is there a reason for these particular kids being the ones that have to help save the world?   I like to have a clear sense that only these particular characters are in the position to do what needs to be done, and I like it when "specialness" is balanced by a dash of reality.  Harry Potter is convincing as a hero because he has so much support; likewise Will Stanton from The Dark is Rising couldn't have done squat alone.    I get especially nervous when a prophecy is involved (as is the case here), not just because so many fictional prophecies are truly tortured verse (this one was unobjectionable), but because there's often not a satisfying reason why a particular character is the Destined Child of Prophecy.  I think destiny is a fine thing, and can be a good source of character tension, but sometimes I can't help but feel that prophecies are window dressings.  And if I'm not clear that there's a reason it's these particular kids by about a third of the way through the story, it's hard for me to care.

Lost Children of the Far Islands passes this test just fine. The kids aren't simply plunked down into the middle of Destiny...it sneaks up on them with a nicely growing sense of danger, and they have to discover secrets about their mother, and their ancient grandmother, before realizing what exactly they are part of.  Likewise, the catalyst for confrontation comes not from the playing out of predestined roles, but because something goes wrong--there is a betrayal--which is more satisfying, I think.

3.  Are the mythological elements made into something fresh and convincing?  Does the fantasy make sense?   I think in metaphors, and I'm finding myself thinking of this question in Christmasy terms--the single tree, made beautiful, as opposed to the sensory overwhelmingness of Christmas-tree land box stores, too shiny-full for any coherent story to emerge.   This test is also passed just fine--  Emily Raabe doesn't try to bring every single last bit of Celtic mythology into the story--she sticks pretty much to the mythological creatures, and they fill the story just fine.

4.  (This one might be just a matter of personal taste)  Is there a reason for the places that are important in the story to be those places, and are the places described in such a way as to make clear pictures in my mind?  My favorite part of this book was the time spent on the mysterious far island where the magical grandmother lives--it is a lovely island, with lost mundane treasures and a library holding a far from mundane book.   It's not at all clear to me why all the magical opposition of good and evil should have ended up off the coast of Maine, instead of home in the British Isles, but this didn't bother me enough to be an actual objection.

So in short, Lost Children of the Far Island is a fine story, though best, I think, for those that don't already have tons and tons of fantasy under their belts already.  It's one I'll offer to my ten year old, who has yet to meet any seal folk in his reading, but I don't think it's appeal goes far beyond that target audience, which isn't a criticism, just a reality.  I think that to be a book for grown-ups to truly love, there has to be something of the numinous--the sort of magical beauty that leave the reader stunned--and that's a very rare thing indeed, so much so that I don't even include it in my list of mental criteria.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

The Witch's Curse, by Keith McGowan

The Witch's Curse, by Keith McGowan (Henry Holt, 2013), takes up right where The Witch's Guide to Cooking With Children left off, with Sol and his little sister Connie escaping from the city where they were almost eaten by the witch who lived next door.  But what Sol had hoped would be a simple bus ride through the forested mountains to their aunt's house turns into a nightmare when the two children find them selves lost in the cursed forest of yet another evil witch.  A witch who turns children into animals, and then sends out her fearsome hunter to slay them.

If they can make it through the forest, they'll be safe, but the power of the witch is strong, and it is all very touch and go indeed.  The witch has had, after all, years of experience entrapping children...and the children are still new at the business of escaping.  And since I don't want to spoil particulars of the plot, that's all I shall say.

It's a  more straightforward adventure than the first book, which was more playful in its juxtaposition of the witch's culinary musings with the danger the children were in of becoming part of her meal plan.   Here we also have glimpses into the point of view of both the witch and her huntsman, but it's a more familiar story of lost children in danger in an evil forest....Though it takes a while for Sol and Connie to realize the extent of the danger they are in, because the reader is privy to the bigger story, what might otherwise have been a slowish start is instead almost immediately tense, and gets more so.  And as was the case in the first book, the relationship between the siblings, sometimes fraught with tension of its own, adds a human element to the supernatural dangers.

Here's what I especially liked--the fact that the hunter himself is under a curse, and is therefore not clearly evil.  I like my antagonists nuanced, and I hope we see more of him in the next book.  That being said, this particular witch is not nuanced at all--at least the witch in the first book was killing children for a reason, not just as part of a sadistic game--but an all out wicked witch is perfectly acceptable, I think, in a fairy tale.

The Witch's Guide was a reimagining of  Hansel and Gretel, and The Witch's Curse is a retelling of the more obscure Brother and Sister.   There's no need to rush out and read the original story first, but having just done so myself after the fact, I appreciate the way it is twisted here lots!  Sol and Connie are not the two original children, but rather follow in their footsteps, walking unwittingly into a nightmare for which they are poorly prepared (for instance, Sol's homemade computer/gps/etc. device, which should have been able to save the day, begs to be recharged at a crucial juncture!).

Highly recommended for intelligent readers who like a nice, dangerous adventure with twists and turns;  though not, perhaps, a series for the child who's already frightened of what's out there in the dark woods...

The Witch's Curse is one of many fine books nominated for this year's Cybils Awards in Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction.  Anyone can nominate books they love, but nominations close tomorrow night, so time is short....

disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher

Summerkin, by Sarah Prineas

In Winterling, Fer (short for Gwynnefar, or Jennifer, as her father's mother calls her) saved a magical land from a wicked queen whose rule threatened to cast it into endless winter.  Fer learned that her mother had once been the lady of this land, and that first book ended with Fer becoming lady herself.

In Summerkin (HarperCollins, April, 2013), Fer returns to the land...but there are those who think that because she is human, she cannot be the true Lady.   To prove that she is, Fer must compete in a challenge organized by the High Ones--and they aren't explaining the rules.  All she knows is that if she looses, her Summerlands are once more in danger.  Three will compete against her for the crown--a magical girl from a desert land, a Lich boy of the damplands, and a third from the High Ones realm, whose beautiful appearance belies a dark heart.

And in the meantime, Fer must figure out if she can truly trust Rook, the shape-shifting, surly, mischievous puck boy she thinks of as her best friend...and Rook must figure out if he can still be a wild, untamed puck and still be a friend to Fer.  The story is told from their alternate perspectives, making this tension an integral part of the story.

The contest for the crown is no Hunger Games, and indeed these books are perfect for the kid whose still a few years too young for the violence of that series (ie, the fourth grader, give or take a year).  Instead, Fer proves herself worthy not through physical prowess, or violence, but by being a good, caring, person.  Which is not to say that it's not exciting, because it is.

The main interest for me, though, lay not in the action-full elements of the competition, but in Fer's struggle to figure out what sort of rular she wants to be, and her relationship with Rook.  There's enough going on throughout the story to keep things from being bogged down in too much introspection, but enough of this character-centered element to the story to make it one I enjoyed lots.

If, like me, you want the boys in your life to read books with strong girl central characters, these are spot on--there are many mythological creatures and fantastical beings (a good hook for the young fantasy lover), set in a compelling, brisk story.    My own boy (now 10) loved Prineas' Magic Thief books (me too), and so I should have no problem convincing him to try Winterling...

Here's another review of Summerkin at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

The Shark King, a Toon Book by R. Kikuo Johnson

The Shark King, a Toon Book by R. Kikuo Johnson (April, 2012, 40 pages), is an easy reader graphic novel that's multicultural, intellectually interesting, and emotionally engaging, which is just about the swellest combination of descriptive phrases I can imagine combining (and the pictures are nice too!).

It's the story of Kalei, a girl in long ago Hawaii, who all unwittingly marries the Shark King, a shape-shifting deity. On the night before their child is born, her husband returns to the sea, leaving her to raise the boy alone. But Nanaue is no ordinary child. His inherited enough of his father's shape shifting magic so as to appear monstrous at times (jaws snapping from his back!), and his appetite is insatiable. So much so that the fisher folk of the nearby village grow hungry....and when they realize Nanaue is to blame, they try to hunt him down.

But the father Nanaue longed to meet is waiting for him, and so all ends well. Except that poor Kalei is left alone, which I found sad (in as much as I automatically relate, quite naturally, to the mother. I would be very sad if my boys dove off into the sea and I never saw them again, and the handful of shells Kalei gets as a memento would not be much comfort. Young readers doubtless won't have this particular issue).

The story is simple enough so that the young reader can read it independently, and enjoy it as an adventure story, but complex enough, with it's themes of finding one's true self, parent/child relationships, and being different, that the young mind will be fed on a deeper level. As a bonus feature, there's a little guide at the end on how to read comics with kids.

I'd have loved another bonus feature giving more information about the original myth, but that's my only complaint.



disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Wolf Mark, by Joseph Bruchac

Wolf Mark, by Joseph Bruchac (Tu Books, Sept 15, 2011, YA, 392 pages)

Here's one for those who want their paranormal mixed with science fiction (of the set-on-earth laboratory variety), in a story both character-driven and action-packed!

Luke's parents made sure he knew what he needed to know to survive--how to fight, how to think, and how to escape. He grew up accepting that his Dad's work in special, top-secret, missions around the world meant that his family would never live peacefully in a suburb with a nice picket fence.

But he never thought things would become as grim as they have after his mother's death. Luke's dad is seeking a drug and alcohol fueled escape from reality, and the two of them are living in a tin can mobile home on the edge of a middle of nowhere southwest town (that just happens to be home to an international hush hush biochemical corporation). Luke just tries to get by, keep his head down so that no-one will find out just how different he is (which is considerable). He's hoping to maybe, someday, ask Meena, the Pakistani girl he likes more than a little, to come for a ride on his motorcycle, as well as hoping to avoid the sinister attentions of a group of sunglass-wearing, pale-skinned Russians, with pronounced canines, who have arrived at his high-school...

Luke's plan to lay low doesn't stand a chance. When his dad is kidnapped, things get very strange, and very scary. In the course of escaping from his father's enemies (motorcycle chase action, and the thugs don't stand a chance), he finds out that there are lots of things his dad never told him (a mysterious old house full of secrets plays a big role here--always a plus in my point of view). The biggest of these secrets is that Luke is a skin-walker--able, like his Native American ancestors, to take the form of a wolf....

Which proves wildly helpful when taking on an evil corporation that plans to take over the world with its twisted genetic manipulations.

Wolf Mark moves from the slow-paced everyday of life in high school to an action-packed crescendo of good guys vs bad guys. The first part of the book tells of Luke's life as a high-school student...there are disquieting elements, and it's clear that Luke is something far out of the ordinary, though he tries to keep a low profile. But once Luke's father is kidnapped, ordinary goes right out the window, and mayhem, danger, evil plots and extraordinary secrets take over!

Those who read my blog regularly can guess I liked the first part of the book best--the detailed character-driven set-up. Luke's discovery that he is a skin-walker, and his exploration of that part of his heritage, was also most intriguing. Since the book is told in the first person, the reader gets a very nice sense of Luke's motivations and reactions.

On the other hand, the incredibly action-packed end was both too incredible and too action-packed for my taste, and I found a few plot points just a bit too much to swallow.

That being said--those who like thrillers of great thrilling-ness, with the technological and the paranormal operating side by side, will probably like the second half even more than the first. It all hangs together (albeit by the skin of its teeth toward the end), it's tremendously gripping, and the twists Bruchac brings to his story are a fresh and fascinating take on werewolves and vampires (Native American shape-shifting plus old-world legends! How cool is that!).

It's definitely a good one to offer a teenaged boy who's a "reluctant" reader, which is something that Bruchac was thinking about when he wrote it, as shown in this quote from a recent interview with him at Boys and Literacy: "... I love fantasy and horror and always wanted to add something to that genre from an American Indian perspective. And I am very interested in writing stories for the reluctant reader, especially young men who often feel little connection to books at that stage in their lives--even though I believe they need good stories even more in their teenage years."

Other readers say:

"It's just an awesome thrill ride with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. A great book for readers who like action, spy thrillers and are a bit burned out on paranormal. YES paranormal! NO melancholy, love triangles, or wallowy ick." (Biblio File)

"If you’re a fan of action-adventure stories, the darker edge of paranormal, believe there is an element of truth behind every conspiracy theory, and enjoy first-person stories told in an original voice, then I’d recommend reading this one." (Dark Side of the Covers)

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

Shapeshifter, by Holly Bennett

The ancient Irish tale of the great hero Finn mac Cumhail tells how he chased a white deer and found the love of his life. For the deer was a woman named Sive, one of the Sidhe, the fairy folk, who had been trapped in the shape of a deer by the dark magic of an evil druid. Inside the shelter of Finn's holding, she is safe, until trickery draws her out again, and once again she must live as a deer; but this time, she has Finn's baby at her side.

And in that story, Finn finds his young son eventually, but never sees Sive again....

Shapeshifter, by Holly Bennett (Orca, 2010, YA, 237 pages) takes the bare bones of Sive's story and makes them come alive. She gives it a beginning--the story of Sive as a young girl, with a magical voice whose songs can persuade anyone who hears them to do whatever she asks. This gift is the reason why the dark druid to wants to possess her...to use her power for his own nefarious purposes.

But Sive has another gift--she can transform herself into a deer, and while she is in that shape, the druid cannot find her or compel her to his will. So for lonely years she lives in exile, until she finds her way to Finn...and human love. As in the original story, it doesn't last, but it is Finn's son, raised by his mother in fleeting human moments snatched from the hateful power of the druid, who will ultimately save her. And so Sive's story gets a bittersweet ending--she is saved from her curse, but will never be able to return to Finn again.

On the one hand, this is a dreamlike, rather lovely, and rather moving story. On the other, it's told with a slight distance to it, that kept me from finding it completely absorbing and convincing. The narrative is primarily from Sive's third-person point of view, with occasional alternate perspectives, also third person, which is fine--I don't mind that. But, in a series of interjections, various characters (primarily Sive) look back on events, and tell in the first person how they felt at the time. I'm not sure it did anything that omniscient third person couldn't have done--it didn't make me feel closer to the characters; in fact, it did the opposite, because of throwing me out of the world of the story.

A similar feeling of distance gradually builds as the story progresses, because of the faster passing of the years. We see Sive's earlier adventures in great detail, but once she's become a deer, time moves rapidly, so her life with Finn, and her life with her son, are not given in great detail. Obviously, there are limits to what the author could include, but it still felt as though the characters were moving away from the reader, back into a distant story.

With regard to shapeshifting, however, Bennett has done a lovely job! Sive's dual life as woman and as deer is beautifully and convincingly explored. Although this is not a book I'd call a must read, I do recommend it to those who like shapeshifting tales and retellings of legends--it has a lovely fairy tale feel to it.

The Old Country, by Mordicai Gerstein

I am fascinated by shape shifter books--not so much the paranormal variety seen in so many contemporary YA books, but the quieter kind of shape shifting, the sort that has a magical, fairy tale quality to it. The Old Country, by Mordicai Gerstein (Roaring Brook Press, 2005, middle grade, 144 pages), has this fairy tale quality in spades (although I think it is perhaps more fable than fairy tale, because there is a Moral). It tells of a girl who stares too long into the eyes of a fox, in country long ago and far away.

"In the Old Country, every winter was a hundred years and every spring a miracle; in the Old Country, the water was like music and the music was like water. It's where all the fairy tales come from, where there was magic and there was war. It's where I was a little girl, and where I was a fox" (pp 2-3).

When the fox and Gisella meet each other's eyes, the fox steals the girl's human form from her. Gisella, lonely and bereft in her new shape, must learn to hunt; the fox hopes to learn to make music. But war comes soon after the forced exchange...and the fox girl disappears along with Gisella's family, who have become refugees displaced by the cruelty of the senseless violence. To get her human self back, Gisella must find the fox...and so, in the company of a cat, a chicken, a bear and a fairy (of the small winged variety) she sets off on her four fox feet along a path that takes her to the court of the king.

So far so good on the plot front--a company of magical animals, performing as a circus act to travel through a war torn country is fine with me (the fairy doesn't do much, and is unobtrusive). But then it gets a bit odd.

Once in the king's court, where they find Gisella's people imprisoned behind barbed wire, her brother blinded by the war, and the fox girl unable to play music (turns out foxes aren't great at music) things get strange. The magical folk of the world (kin of Gisella's fairy) are in trouble--the war has destroyed their place on earth. So all the birds and beasts and magical creatures bring the rival rulers to trial, the rulers are found guilty, and anarchy (with the hope of stability to come) ensues.

I wasn't convinced by the story at this point, and my doubts about the book as a whole were intensified by the following issues I had.

My Issues:

--Popping up within this somewhat strange story are elements of magic that are almost random, such as a chicken that lays golden eggs, and the magical healing of Gisella's brother's blinded eyes (involving dew from a corpse).

--The level of violence and horror is great, but almost farcical at times, and the moral (war is bad) is both obvious and intrusive.

--The story is being told by an old woman to a young child, in somewhat formal language, and perhaps because of this I felt a certain distance between myself and the characters. I was interested, but not deeply vested emotionally.

--I don't think the fairies added anything useful to the mix.

You might conclude from this that I didn't like the book...but it was fascinating, and I read it in almost a single sitting. Gisella the fox is a beautiful creation, poised at a tipping point between the world of animals, the world of magic, and the unhappy human condition. I might not have loved this one, but not only did I find it thought-provoking, I even found it, at times, full of the Magical Storieness that is that is the main reason I read fantasy--the sense of wonder that the words of a skilled writer can bring into the reader's suburban living room.

Although I think that basically what my reaction boils down to is that I like shape-shifting foxes, but prefer them unaccompanied by Fairies and Morals.

Here's a thoughtful (positive) review at Collected Miscellany, that discusses two opposing reviews (negative from SLJ and positive from PW).

Anyone else read this one?

Reckless, by Cornelia Funke

Reckless, by Cornelia Funke (2010, Little Brown, upper middle grade onwards, 394 pages, illustrated by the author)

"Once upon a time, there was boy who set out to learn the meaning of fear..."

After his father's disappearance, Jacob Reckless made a habit of creeping into his study, searching for answers. One night, when he was twelve, he found a piece of paper: "The mirror will open only for he who cannot see himself." And with that cryptic clue to guide him, Jacob passes through his father's mirror into another realm. A place where fairy tales are real.

Fast forward twelve years, during which Jacob has explored the mirror world obsessively, neglecting his mother and little brother, Will. The mirror world has become enmired in a war between humans and the Goyl, stone-skinned subterranean people who are bent on claiming the upper lands as their dominion. For the first time, Will has followed Jacob through the mirror, and disaster has struck. Will has been injured by a Goyl, and is slowly turning into one of them himself, the stone spreading through his skin.

Now Jacob must desperately quest through all the dangers of the twisted tales of the mirror world, looking for a way to save his little brother. Accompanying the two brothers are Fox, a shapeshifting girl who has been Jacob's companion for years (who is waiting for him to notice that she is more than just his friend, the fox, but also a girl who loves him), and Will's girlfriend Clara, who made her way through the mirror to find him. Together they face a frightening panoply of magic and mayhem in a world where death is no fairy tale at all.

"I know why you're here." Clara's voice sounded distant, as though she were speaking not about him but about herself. "This world doesn't frighten you half as much as the other one. You have nothing and nobody to lose here. Except Fox, and she clearly worries more about you than you do about her. You've left all that could frighten you in the other world. But then Will came here and brought it all with him." (page 208).

Despite the ostensibly already grown-up age of the central characters, this is a book about growing-up, about how the relationships of brothers and friends, and perceptions of oneself, change in terrifying ways as adulthood is entered. Jacob might be 24 on paper, but the young man in the mirror world is more an avatar of oldness exploring a fantasy world than a convincing adult--his character is still very much that of the reckless adolescent, confused by his emotional responses to the questions posed by growing up. Although sex lurks in the background (it's never explicitly or centrally part of the story), for Jacob it is still the hormonally charged lust of the adolescent--he has yet to learn love (oh poor Fox. I felt for her so very much).

And the lands behind the mirror, built of fractured fairy tales, are full of metaphors that reflect this. The younger brother, turning into unloving stone, who his older brother can no longer protect. The tomboy girl (Fox), who now wants to be seen as someone else. The fairy tales share this theme--there was no instant true love that could save the sleeping beauty here in this place, and the gingerbread houses lie empty. The way to the Red Fairy, with all her magically irresistible sex appeal, lies through the lands of the unicorns, who gore and trample anyone who looks at them. The mirror world itself is rushing away from its own childhood--new inventions and technology (many of them introduced by Jacob's father) are changing things rapidly.

This reliance on metaphor is fascinating, and had a profound effect on the way I read the book. Mostly I gallop through books I'm enjoying, hardly aware that there is an author at all. When reading this book, however, I was always conscious of the Funke's presence, deliberately introducing scenes and set pieces to further the creation of the edifice of the story. This feeling was heightened by the occasional insertion of explicit fairy tale references, like the quote I used to begin this review (which comes right at the end of the book, on page 389--I hope it's not too much of a spoiler). She is a lot like a dungeon master, putting challenges in the way of her characters, rolling her narrative dice to determine if they will live or not.

And indeed I think the most perfect audience for this book would be the roll playing 12 or 13 year old boy, caught (metaphorically) in the same place as Jacob...So although this is one that will be enjoyed very much by many adults, this is a middle grade book (I had wondered). But it's not a middle grade book for younger kids--there are terrifying things here. The cover is rather brilliant in this regard--it is fierce and scary and magical, just like the mirror world, but it is disturbing enough to deter those looking for happy endings who won't be comfortable inside this world (it's another one I had to keep face down so my seven year old didn't have to look at it).

I'm not quite the right reader for this one--I enjoyed it lots intellectually, but the flip side of that is that I never lost myself in the world of the story, which happens with the books I love best. That being said, my only real complaint is with the ending; as the jacket flap says: "If you've come for happily ever after, you've come to the wrong place." But I wouldn't have minded just a bit more reason to think that Jacob is finally going to grow up....(oh, Fox, I feel for you so), and I think the story needed that hope.

Other thoughts at Squeaky Books, IMCPL Kids, and A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy.

The Grey Horse, by R.A. MacAvoy, for Retro Friday

The Grey Horse, by R.A. MacAvoy (1987, YA, although it was marketed as an adult book--there wasn't much fantasy marketed as YA per se back in the day, 247 pages)

Before the explosion of paranormal romances, before fairy lovers were as common as all get out, before the myths of Ireland had been written about and written about, there was The Grey Horse, by R.A. MacAvoy.

A hundred and thirty years or so ago, when the English ruled all of Ireland, an old man named Anrai met a grey horse on the hill. And Anrai, Irish through and through, was much taken with the animal, which was clearly a native born and bred, just like himself. When the horse offered him a ride, Anrai cast off common sense and mounted...and the grey horse took him for a wild race, over the hills and through the town, past its staring inhabitants:

"God to you, Anrai O Reachtaire!" called one of them, "I have the weaving your own Aine spoke for!" Anrai stared straight ahead of him with a face of forbidding majesty, and affected not to hear. One hand he carried clenched at the horse's withers, as though it held a rein of such fine and narrow leather it could not be seen from a distance, while with the other he fished in his waistcoat pocket and drew out his silver pocket watch, which he held in front of his face in a preoccupied, businesslike manner." (pp 8-9)

Clearly this is no ordinary horse. In fact, not a horse at all, but one of the other folk...Ruairi Mac Eibhir, who has come back to the mortal world to find a bride. But will the woman who has entered his dreams agree to his proposal? Maire Standon is no weak reed, to fall for fairy magic--she is is as strong and stalwart as a young tree, more than a match for any fairy foolery. To win her heart, Ruairi will need more than magic. He will need to prove himself by his actions in the human world.

And the world of Maire and Anrai and their families is not a happy one. The Troubles are at their height, and Ireland is a volatile powder keg of injustice. In the real world, real people are suffering, at a personal, homely scale as well as in the larger political realm. And Ruairi, the gray horse of Ireland, can only do so much...

This is a book with just tons of heart, and tons of magic made intimate and real through R.A. MacAvoy's loving and detailed world-building and people-building. If you like a. shapeshifters b. fairy lovers c. historical fiction about Ireland, in which ordinary people can do extraordinary things d. books about old couples, very much in love still, keeping their dignity in the face of fierce odds e. horses, or f. any combination of the above, find this book!

(although I really would have liked a bit more romance...there was lots of chemistry, but not quite enough, um...er...)

Apologetic end note: sorry I didn't put in the fadas on the names (that's the acute accent)--I don't know how...

Every Friday Angie at Angieville hosts Retro Friday, and I am have been meaning to write this one up and contribute it for ages! Yay for getting something off the mental to-do list.

Little Sister, by Kara Dalkey

Little Sister, by Kara Dalkey (Penguin, 1996, upper mg/YA, 192 pages)

In Japan, around 900 years ago, 13 year old Mitsuko lived the life of a typical noble girl. Sheltered from all outside trouble, modestly hiding her face behind her sleeve, she joins her sisters in writing poems, and dreaming vague dreams. But when trouble comes, and her household is endangered, Mitsuko and her sisters flee to the family's mountain lodge. On the way, they are attacked by brigands, and the husband of Mitsuko's beloved older sister is slain.

Now her sister sits like a souless shadow facing death. When the local warlord threatens to take in her family by force, Mitsuko drags her sister off into the forest, desperately looking for a way to save her. Taking shelter in a shinto shrine, Mitsuko prays for help...and help comes, in the form of Goranu, a tengu--an immortal, shape-shifting demon.

Goranu takes pity on Mitsuko, and leads her off on an adventurous quest to find her sister's lost spirit. It is a quest that takes them into the realms of dragons, gods, and demons, to the land of the ancestors, and to the sheltering home of a poor family she had once looked down on. And as Mitsuko learns first-hand the wonders of this world and the worlds unseen, she comes to realize that, even if she saves her sister, she can never return to the life of stifled privilege she had once led. Nor can she give up her shapeshifting, tricksterish, loyal friend, Goranu...even if he is a demon.

Shinto and Buddhist folklore mingle to make a magical journey of a book, one with beautiful images and wondrous happenings to spare. It is a beautiful journey character-wise too, as Mitsuko learns and thinks and grows...she is a worthy heroine indeed, determined and thoughtful. And Goranu is a most intriguing character in his own right, and the relationship that develops between them is tremendously interesting, and not without lightly humours touches.

Their relationship is not entirely satisfying, though...there's a gap of several years between the end of the quest and the end of the book, before the last conversation between the two that we are given. I really would have liked some more of these missing years of their friendship--as it was, the ending came as something of an abrupt surprise that hadn't been foreshadowed.

(oh my gosh--I just found that there is a sequel--The Heavenward Path. I Must Read it Now! Pause while I go place library hold on it....Done)

Dalkey's prose seems, at first, somewhat stiff and measured (the book's School Library Journal reviewer called its rhythm "choppy and unnatural," with some justification), and I was somewhat doubtful initially, but soon I wasn't thinking about style at all--just about the story. In the end, I was entranced, and I'd recommend this to anyone with a fascination for historical Japan, brave girls on magical journeys, or shapeshifters.

Age wise--nothing happens that isn't upper middle grade appropriate (a bit of violent death, but not too much), but I think the somewhat off-putting formality of the narration might make this more accessible to a YA audience. Publishers Weekly put at 10-14, Amazon has it as 9-12, and it's catalogued in my library as YA....My own call is 11 on up. And it's one that grown up readers of juvenile fantasy, like me, might well enjoy lots.

Thanks, Heather, for the recommendation! Here's part of Heather's comment (on another shapeshifter review): "Not only the best shapeshifter book by far I've ever read (I haven't read Mistwood yet), but one of the best Asian fantasies as well." I'm not quite sure I'd go that far, but I did like it lots! (and I can't wait for the sequel!)

Shapeshifter's Quest, by Dena Landon

After reading Mistwood, by Leah Cypess, and loving it, I vaguely set out to read other shapeshiter books. And happily, Shapeshifter's Quest, by Dena Landon (Penguin, 2005, older middle grade/younger YA, 182 pages) was close at hand in my local library.

Syanthe has grown up imprisoned in a forest, where all her shapeshifting kind have been trapped by the king and the powerful, magic wielding, priesthood that serves him. But for Syanthe, the imprisonment is illusory. She alone was hidden before she could be tattooed with the magical mark that kills any shapeshifter who tries to escape. Now the forest is dying, and her own mother is deathly ill. And Syanthe is the only one who can venture into the world beyond, to find a cure.

It is a dangerous journey. The priesthood is powerful, evil, and determined that the only magics in the realm should be under their control--death, or worse, awaits if she is caught. But fate is kind to her, and soon her path crosses with that of Jerel, a young man who is much more than he seems. He, too, has a mission--and a magic--of his own.

Shapeshifter's Quest is a lovely fast read, and I enjoyed the characters and their magics considerably. Syanthe is a nicely brave and compassionate heroine, and the story flows briskly and coherently. It's only main flaw is that it rather lacks subtlety--a huge suspension of disbelief is required to swallow Jerel's appearance in Syanthe's life. It's a tremendous coincidence that he should be the one to find her curled up by the side of the road--not only is he the perfect person to help her achieve her own goals, he is also soon to become more than just a helpful acquaintance...It made it a bit hard for me to really believe this story.

That being said, this is one I'd give in a sec to my 12 year-old self. I would have loved it to pieces. My adult self, however, loves Mistwood more--more tricksy, and more emotional punch. Like Mistwood, this was a debut novel; I went looking to see if Landon had any more books, because I enjoyed this one, but she doesn't seem too...

(The cover makes Shapeshifter's Quest look a lot older (reader-wise) than it is--there's some violence, but nothing dire, and the romance is understated).

Anyone have any favorite shapeshifter books to recommend for me to read next?

Wild Magic, by Cat Weatherill

My 24 Hour Read-a-Thon reading got derailed yesterday evening, when I decided that it was my duty to go to the school fundraising event...but I got up early this morning, and have read another book!

Wild Magic, by Cat Weatherill (Walker and Co., 2007, middle grade, 278 pages) was a lovely book to read in the dark of the morning. It's a retelling of the Pied Piper story, taking the bones of that familiar fairy tale and building a magical story with them.

"He dared to be different. Into a sad, drab world of gray and black he had come, burning bright in turquoise and jade. Dazzling as a dragonfly. He had played a pipe and the rats had followed, dancing till they drowned in the quick brown water of the river. They had to follow him. They couldn’t resist his music. And Marianna couldn’t resist it now. It was glorious. She wanted to dance. She wanted to dream. She wanted to follow the Piper.

And Marianna wasn’t alone. The streets were packed with children. Every boy, every girl in Hamelin Town seemed to be there, and they were all dancing.

Except one." (page 4)

It was never explained in the original story just what the Pied Piper was going to do with the children of Hamlin Town, when his piping led them into the hill. In Wild Magic, the Piper has a reason--he's seeking the one magical child he was told would be among them, hoping to be free of the terrible curse that has tortured him for centuries. For the piper is actually one of the elves who live in the land beyond, and years ago he broke the laws of that realm. Now every full moon he is turned into a terrible beast...and if he can find the right child, he can pass on the curse and be free of it.

But the right child wasn't among those who followed his piping through the door in the rock. Marianna knew that her brother Jakob was falling behind on their dance to the piper's music, but under its spell she couldn't stop to help him, and Jakob never made it through.

In his wrath when he discovers that he doesn't have the child he seeks, the piper turns the children into animals. Now Marianna is a fox...and is pretty sure she might stay that way forever. But Jakob is still searching for a way in, and it is his magic and true heart that can save both his sister and the piper. If he is willing to pay the price...and it is a terrible one.

Weatherill doesn't go into great detail about the workings of her enchanted realm, but I think this is a strength of the book, rather than a weakness, that there is lots of unexplained magical-ness--it is the blank spaces on maps, after all, that are the most enticing. More worryingly, her transformation of Finn the Piper from child kidnapper to sympathetic character might seem, to older readers, a tad forced, and some suspension of disbelief is required to accept this.

But despite that, I found Wild Magic a rather delightful middle-grade fairy-tale retelling--there's plenty of adventure and magical world making, and it's an exciting story. I'd recommend this one highly to any young reader who's looking for enchantment.

And I'd also recommend it to anyone who was left hanging at the end of the original story. This is my favorite kind of fairy tale retelling--one that address the glaring questions left unanswered by the original. Not just what happened next, or who these people were, but why the heck it all happened in the first place!

Here are two other reviews, at Collected Miscellany, and at Book Nut.

(disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher)

Mistwood, by Leah Cypess --giveaway!

No Timeslip Tuesday today...Blackout, by Connie Willis, travelled south with me but remained unopened...The Puzzle Ring, by Kate Forsyth, was opened, but I'm still in the middle of it.

But I do want to recommend the one book out of the 10 I took with me that I did read and enjoy despite the sad way I spent my weekend--Mistwood, by Leah Cypess (Harper Collins, April 27, 2010, 303 pp in ARC form). It's the story of Isabel, a shapeshifter who is, despite her inhuman powers and an agenda that has no room for love, one of the most endearing characters I've read in ages. There's lots of political intrigue, magic, and just enough romance, and it is a true page turner.

Cypess does an extraordinarily deft job of keeping the reader inside Isabel's point of view--like her, we aren't sure who to trust, what machinations are at work, and to whom she should give her loyalty. She's built her world with enough solidity to make it work, while avoiding information dumps, and her magic is kept nicely subservient to the plot, rather than being overwhelmingly over explained. Since all of this is done in rather lovely writing (and the aforementioned romance is rather a nice one), the result is a book to squee for.

I agree with the back of the ARC that this is one for fans of Kristin Cashore and Megan Whalen Turner*, although it felt less Dense then either of those--it seemed a faster, lighter read. Which is not bad--sometimes one wants a rich layer cake, sometimes a fruit tart, and both types of books/deserts offer their own type of complexity.

I packed Mistwood on the strength of Angie's glowing review, and it was just the sort of book I needed. I am pretty sure that I will put this on my Christmas present list, and so I would like to pass my ARC on to another reader. Leave me a comment by midnight on the 15th of March, and it could be yours.

*ha--I just saw on her website that Queen of Attolia is listed as one of her favorite books! I am not surprised.

And the winner, produced by random number generation, is Kathy! (I'll be emailing you...)

(ARC picked up at ALA midwinter)