My own reading has been taking a back seat to desperate work on home renovation, back to school busyness, and visiting family....but others of you all have still been reading, and here's what you wrote! Please let me know if I missed your post.
The Reviews
The Book of Bad Things, by Dan Poblocki, at Storytime Hooligans
Cabinet of Curiosities, by Stefan Bachman, Katherine Catmull, Claire Legrand, and Emma Trevayne, at Fantasy Book Critic
The Castle Behind Thorns, by Merrie Haskell, at Tales of the Marvellous
Courting Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at alibrarymama
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Not Acting My Age
Dreamwood, by Heather Mackey, at Geo Librarian
Evil Fairies Love Hair, by Mary G. Thompson, at The Hiding Spot (giveaway)
The Fog of Forgetting, by G.A. Morgan, at Between the Pages
The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer Holm, at My Precious, The Fourth Musketeer, and Ms. Yingling Reads
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
Greenglass House, by Kate Milford, at BooksForKidsBlog
Invitation to the Game, by Monica Hughes, at Dead Houseplants
The Iron Trial, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, at The Story Goes... and Log Cabin Library
Loot, by Jude Watson, at Nerdy Book Club
Magic in the Mix, by Annie Barrows, at Semicolon
The Mark of the Dragonfly, by Jaleigh Johnson, at For Those About to Mock
Mouseheart, by Lisa Fiedler, at Fantasy Book Critic
The Pirate's Coin, by Marianne Malone, at Time Travel Times Two
The School For Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at One Librarian's Book Reviews and Log Cabin Library
The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, at Reader Noir
A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, at Bibliobrit and The Children's Book Review
The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo, at alibrarymama
Starfire (The Guardian Herd 1), by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, at This Kid Reviews Book
The Stones of Green Knowe, by L.M. Boston, at Tor
The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick, at The Book Monsters
The Whispering Skull, by Jonathan Stroud, at Hidden In Pages
The Witch's Boy, by Kelly Barnhill, at Good Books and Good Wine
A three-fer (?) at Views from the Tesseract--Rose and the Lost Princess, by Holly Webb, The Forbidden Flats, by Peggy Eddleman, and Rain Dragon Rescue, by Suzanne Selfors.
Authors and Interviews
Havelock MacCreely (My Zombie Hamster) asks "Why Do I Write Middle Grade?" at The Children's Book Review
Pat Walsh (The Hob and the Deerman, a book all about Brother Walter the Hob! which will make those who liked The Crowfield Curse and The Crowfield Demon squee joyfully) at Wondrous Reads
Lou Anders (Frostborn) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Laurisa White Reyes (The Rock of Ivanore) at Write About Now
Other Good Stuff
Rick Riordan is being quizzed on Greek mythology in a live webcasted event Sept. 23, more info. here at SLJ.
"Mary Poppins is a Wizard who Literally Sings her Spell" at Tor; of course, that's the movie Mary Poppins; the book character is much more mysterious....
Also at Tor, a look back at the impact of the Animorphs
A lost chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has come to light; read more at The Gaurdian
The Kidlitcon Program is out in the world--please come to Sacramento this October to be part of the conversation!
And finally, the deadline to apply to be a Cybils Panelist is this Friday, Sept. 5.
8/31/14
8/29/14
There's a week left to apply for the Cybils...and here's a YA Speculative Fiction Cybils Winner's Poll!
Maybe you've already applied to be a panelist for this year's Cybils Awards....or maybe you've never heard of the Cybils. If you haven't, these are awards for children's and YA books in various categories, chosen by panels of bloggers from lists of books nominated by all and sundry. There are two rounds of judging--starting in October, first round panelists pick shortlists from the pool of nominated books, and after the shortlisted books are announced on the first of January, the second round panelists pick the winners. The deadline to apply to be a panelist is this coming Friday, September 5th.
There are two speculative fiction groups--one for Elementary and Middle Grade books, and one for YA. I've already talked up the joys of being an EMG panelist, since I'm the category chair, so today I'm shinning a little light on the fun of YA Spec. Fic.!
For starters, they always get more books than we do in EMG. And with so many truly excellent YA spec. fic. books published every year, they have a heck of hard time limiting their shortlists to the maximum of seven books! The first round (October through December) is some of the most intense and enjoyable reading and book discussing you'll ever experience, and it is tremendously worthwhile. The number of applicants for YA Spec. Fic. is down a bit this year, so do consider throwing your name into the pool of potential panelists--just think of all the great books published in this Cybils year that you will get to read and discuss! (year being Oct.16, 2013 to Oct. 15, 2014).
Here's where you apply. It really is a lot of fun, a chance to become an expert in a particular field, and a great way to make new blogging friends! The rosters of panelists are announced mid-Sept., and book nominating starts Oct. 1. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
And now, here are the books that have won in YA Spec. Fic. in the eight years of the Cybils' existence! (Jonathan Stroud, btw, has the honor of having won in both YA and EMG. Will Shannon Hale, with eligible EMG books, be able to pull the same trick off this year???)
I'll announce the winner next Friday, but in the meantime, here's how things stand on Saturday morning:
8/27/14
Dark Eden, by Chris Beckett
I started several months ago, and found myself on a planet without a sun. Life here on Eden comes from the hot core of the planet, and the indigenous creatures have evolved enough bioluminescence for humans to survive. But the humans aren't exactly thriving--quite quickly we learn that this is in in-bred group, all descended from two people a few generations back, and it's clear that they are rapidly loosing the technology and learning of Earth.
And the book didn't work for me immediately--I just didn't want to be on Eden, with a somewhat miserable group of people in a weird dark place all sitting around in one small valley waiting for Earth to find them again, stuck with them on a world that brought them no sense of wonder or beauty
But I came back to it, and was rewarded. Because one of the young men of Eden, John Redlantern, is also tired of just sitting there in a valley whose resources are being strained by the growing population of Family. And he leads a small group away from the first settlement, experimenting, innovating, taking Eden for what it is, and making it a place where people can actually Live, as opposed to simply surviving.
Of course, there are many who don't want change, and who hate John for breaking up Family. And so, along with hope, John brings war to Eden...
And the reading of the book was very much like the story of the book--a reluctance to be there, with a gradually growing sense that there were people I could care about, and wonders of Eden beyond that first small valley that really were the stuff of wonder. And as the book gathered steam, the central point--that the life worth lived is one that's not spent passively waiting to be somewhere else, that being Here, and doing all you can with that, is what's important, became tremendously appealing and interesting.
So although it never quite became a book I loved, it did become one I read with ever more riveted fascination, helped along by the character's own realization that they were making a new Story that would shape the future of Eden.
Some added value comes from an exploration of gender roles. Though John is the Hero of the epic that he is creating, narrating much of the story, a young woman who goes with him, Tina, narrates considerable parts of it. And through her eyes we gain an awareness of a matriarchal society being challenged, and a sense of questioning how women can fit into this new story created by this new hero. I myself would have liked to see Tina given an ending with stronger hints that there will be power for her, and other women, in the new future, but at least the issue was raised. There's also the inclusion of a central character with a disability (club feet, resulting from the inbreeding), who is the smartest of the bunch and who is right up there in terms of being an essential creator of the new future for the Edenites.
disclaimer: review copy received from the publishers.
The KidLitCon 2014 Program is out in the world!
So for the past six weeks, I have been much preoccupied with developing the program for KidLitCon 2014 (Oct. 20-11, Sacramento--register here) and at last it is out in the world!
There are two smallish things I'm still waiting for before it is All Done, but it is done enough to go out in public, and here it is. I am somewhat abashed to realize I put myself first. It was not intentional :)
Kidlitcon 2014: Blogging Diversity in Young Adult and Children’s Lit: What’s Next?October 11 and 12, 2014 Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, Sacramento, CA
(Link to Registration Form) (Link to KidLitCon Main Page)
Friday, October 11
8:30-9:30 Registration
9:30-9:55 Welcome and Opening Remarks
10-10:50 A Finding Your Voice, Finding Your Passion- Blogging With Conviction
Charlotte Taylor Charlotte’s Library
Blogging is hard work, made easier by passion. Having an intense focus (such as a passion for some aspect of diversity, or some particular sub-genre) can both motivate the blogger and help the blog find its audience. But passion and conviction by themselves aren’t enough to make a blog a success for both its writer(s) and its readers—you have to be able to communicate them effectively. Topics in this session will include how to find the voice, or voices, that work for you, and how to use them to make a stronger, more powerful blog.
10-10:50 B Finding and Reviewing the Best in Diverse Children’s and YA
Nathalie Mvondo Multiculturalism Rocks!Gayle Pitman The Active VoiceKim Baccellia Si, Se Puede- Yes, You Can!
Many bloggers want to review more diverse books, but are uncertain about where to find the best ones, and are uncertain how to evaluate and promote them. This session, featuring three bloggers who focus on multicultural and LBGT books, will help bloggers get diverse books onto their blogs and into the hand so young readers.
11-11:50 A Sistahs (and Brothers) Are Doing It for Themselves — Independent Publishing From the Creators’ and the Bloggers’ Points of View
Laura Atkins Laura Atkins, Children’s Book EditorZetta Elliott Fledgling[with blogger to be determined]
Is it possible, in a publishing world that so dramatically lacks diversity in its offerings, to provide viable alternatives, using people power to provide books that all children in this country can relate to and enjoy? We think so! An ever growing number of authors and illustrators are independently creating children’s books, and many of these are about diverse subjects and children. An editor, and author and self-publisher, and a blogger come together to talk about different models and approaches to creating independent children’s’ books, and the role of bloggers in publicizing them, with a discussion of reviewing self-published books from the blogger’s point of view.
11-11:50 B Social Media Tips and Tricks for Bloggers
Kelly Jensen (Stacked and Book Riot)
You write a blog post and now you want people to find it. This session will give you tips and tricks for best social media practices across a variety of platforms, including Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook. Learn how to build an engaged and excited readership, as well as how to manage the nitty-gritty components of social media. Whether you’re new at it or you fancy yourself a seasoned pro, you’ll learn some new best practices.
12-1:30 Lunch (box lunches included in price of registration)
This first lunch will feature optional talk clusters, where bloggers can gather with those who share their particular interests (such as “diverse spec. fic” “picture book reviewing” “middle grade books” “LBTG” etc.), with the option of general seating as well. (Please share ideas for conversational groups with Charlotte Taylor (charlotteslibrary@gmail.com).
1:30-3 Getting Beyond Diversity and Getting to the Story
Edith Campbell Crazy Quilt EdiHannah Gómez sarah HANNAH gómezJewell Parker Rhodes
While gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, or ability add to who we are, they do not define who we are. And these differences do not define our stories. How do we teach, discuss, or describe diverse books without making diversity the issue? Should we? How do we respond to the perception that ʺdiverse booksʺ are only for ʺdiverse peopleʺ and deliver book reviews and essays that highlight what makes books universal for those disinclined to think diversity is for them while acknowledging readers who need and deserve to find themselves in literature? Presenters Edith Campbell, Hannah Gómez, and author Jewell Parker Rhodes will deliver an interactive session with talking points, booktalks, strategies and much honest discussion.
3-5 Author Mix and Mingle
Meet and mingle with authors, publishers, and of course fellow bloggers! Signed books to buy, swag and ARCs to snag, good conversations to be had.
Dinner (paid for individually) at The River City Brewing Company
Saturday, October 11
8-9 Registration for new arrivals
9-10 KEYNOTE Mitali Perkins— Can Bloggers Diversify the Children’s Book World? You Bet We Can.
Blogger and author Mitali Perkins will share stories of how some key blogs have made a difference through the years, offer practical tips on how to influence our circle of blog readers, and discuss how to integrate our social media platforms with our blogs for maximum impact.
Mitali Perkins (mitaliperkins.com) has written nine novels for young readers, including Rickshaw Girl (chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the top 100 books for children in the past 100 years) and Bamboo People (an American Library Association’s Top Ten Novels for Young Adults, starred in Publishers Weekly as “a graceful exploration of the redemptive power of love, family, and friendship.”) Mitali graduated from Stanford University in Political Science and received her Masters in Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley. After spending 13 winters in Boston, she now lives and writes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her blog, “Mitali’s Fire Escape: A Safe Place to Think, Chat, and Read About Life Between Cultures” (mitaliblog.com), has been around since April 23, 2005.
10-10:25 Break
10:25 -11:05 Beyond the Echo Chamber of the Kidlitosphere: Reaching Readers.
So you’ve read the book and written your review. Now what? Learn where the readers are, how to reach them and what to say so they’ll listen.
Pam Margolis, Unconventional Librarian
11:15 to 12: Skype session with Shannon Hale
12-1:30 Lunch (box lunches included in the price of registration)
1:30-3 We Need Diverse Books Presents: Book Bloggers and Diversity, an Unbeatable Combination with Mike Jung, Karen Sandler, S.E. Sinkhorn, and Martha White
In the first part of this session, the panelists will share the lessons learned from the very successful #WeNeedDiverseBooks social media campaign with regard to crafting your message, using your message, and establishing an emotional connection. Second, the panelists will focus on how diverse children’s literature can enrich our blogs, and how authors and editors can further expand the content available to us.
3:-3:30 Break
3:30-5 We’re Not Going To Take It and Neither Should You: Why Book Bloggers DO Have the Ability to Make Divers Books Happen
Hannah Gómez sarah HANNAH gómezKelly Jensen Stacked and Book RiotFaythe Arrendondo YALSA-The HubSummer Khaleq Miss Fictional’s World of YA Books
We know bloggers matter to the publishing industry and to readers. And we know reading diversely is important for all readers, as it opens up your worldview. But how can bloggers effect positive change when it comes to diversity? This session will explore the ways bloggers can audit their own reading habits, assess and address personal biases, as well as create and curate stronger content as it relates to diversity in all shapes and forms — race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, body image, and more. We’ll offer tools and tips for not just finding and highlighting diverse reads, but also how to advocate for diversity within one’s own blog and beyond. This is more than an awareness of diversity; it’s an opportunity and an obligation for active change.
5-9 Banquet at The Citizen Hotel (included in conference price)
____
We welcome your feedback about the 2014 KidLitCon!
Charlotte Taylor: Program Coordinator
with:
Sarah Stevenson and Tanita Davis and Jen Robinson: Co-Chairs
Reshama Deshmukh and Melissa Fox: Author Coordinators
Maureen Kearney: Registration Coordinator
_____
There are two smallish things I'm still waiting for before it is All Done, but it is done enough to go out in public, and here it is. I am somewhat abashed to realize I put myself first. It was not intentional :)
Kidlitcon 2014: Blogging Diversity in Young Adult and Children’s Lit: What’s Next?October 11 and 12, 2014 Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, Sacramento, CA
(Link to Registration Form) (Link to KidLitCon Main Page)
Friday, October 11
8:30-9:30 Registration
9:30-9:55 Welcome and Opening Remarks
10-10:50 A Finding Your Voice, Finding Your Passion- Blogging With Conviction
Charlotte Taylor Charlotte’s Library
Blogging is hard work, made easier by passion. Having an intense focus (such as a passion for some aspect of diversity, or some particular sub-genre) can both motivate the blogger and help the blog find its audience. But passion and conviction by themselves aren’t enough to make a blog a success for both its writer(s) and its readers—you have to be able to communicate them effectively. Topics in this session will include how to find the voice, or voices, that work for you, and how to use them to make a stronger, more powerful blog.
10-10:50 B Finding and Reviewing the Best in Diverse Children’s and YA
Nathalie Mvondo Multiculturalism Rocks!Gayle Pitman The Active VoiceKim Baccellia Si, Se Puede- Yes, You Can!
Many bloggers want to review more diverse books, but are uncertain about where to find the best ones, and are uncertain how to evaluate and promote them. This session, featuring three bloggers who focus on multicultural and LBGT books, will help bloggers get diverse books onto their blogs and into the hand so young readers.
11-11:50 A Sistahs (and Brothers) Are Doing It for Themselves — Independent Publishing From the Creators’ and the Bloggers’ Points of View
Laura Atkins Laura Atkins, Children’s Book EditorZetta Elliott Fledgling[with blogger to be determined]
Is it possible, in a publishing world that so dramatically lacks diversity in its offerings, to provide viable alternatives, using people power to provide books that all children in this country can relate to and enjoy? We think so! An ever growing number of authors and illustrators are independently creating children’s books, and many of these are about diverse subjects and children. An editor, and author and self-publisher, and a blogger come together to talk about different models and approaches to creating independent children’s’ books, and the role of bloggers in publicizing them, with a discussion of reviewing self-published books from the blogger’s point of view.
11-11:50 B Social Media Tips and Tricks for Bloggers
Kelly Jensen (Stacked and Book Riot)
You write a blog post and now you want people to find it. This session will give you tips and tricks for best social media practices across a variety of platforms, including Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook. Learn how to build an engaged and excited readership, as well as how to manage the nitty-gritty components of social media. Whether you’re new at it or you fancy yourself a seasoned pro, you’ll learn some new best practices.
12-1:30 Lunch (box lunches included in price of registration)
This first lunch will feature optional talk clusters, where bloggers can gather with those who share their particular interests (such as “diverse spec. fic” “picture book reviewing” “middle grade books” “LBTG” etc.), with the option of general seating as well. (Please share ideas for conversational groups with Charlotte Taylor (charlotteslibrary@gmail.com).
1:30-3 Getting Beyond Diversity and Getting to the Story
Edith Campbell Crazy Quilt EdiHannah Gómez sarah HANNAH gómezJewell Parker Rhodes
While gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, or ability add to who we are, they do not define who we are. And these differences do not define our stories. How do we teach, discuss, or describe diverse books without making diversity the issue? Should we? How do we respond to the perception that ʺdiverse booksʺ are only for ʺdiverse peopleʺ and deliver book reviews and essays that highlight what makes books universal for those disinclined to think diversity is for them while acknowledging readers who need and deserve to find themselves in literature? Presenters Edith Campbell, Hannah Gómez, and author Jewell Parker Rhodes will deliver an interactive session with talking points, booktalks, strategies and much honest discussion.
3-5 Author Mix and Mingle
Meet and mingle with authors, publishers, and of course fellow bloggers! Signed books to buy, swag and ARCs to snag, good conversations to be had.
Dinner (paid for individually) at The River City Brewing Company
Saturday, October 11
8-9 Registration for new arrivals
9-10 KEYNOTE Mitali Perkins— Can Bloggers Diversify the Children’s Book World? You Bet We Can.
Blogger and author Mitali Perkins will share stories of how some key blogs have made a difference through the years, offer practical tips on how to influence our circle of blog readers, and discuss how to integrate our social media platforms with our blogs for maximum impact.
Mitali Perkins (mitaliperkins.com) has written nine novels for young readers, including Rickshaw Girl (chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the top 100 books for children in the past 100 years) and Bamboo People (an American Library Association’s Top Ten Novels for Young Adults, starred in Publishers Weekly as “a graceful exploration of the redemptive power of love, family, and friendship.”) Mitali graduated from Stanford University in Political Science and received her Masters in Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley. After spending 13 winters in Boston, she now lives and writes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her blog, “Mitali’s Fire Escape: A Safe Place to Think, Chat, and Read About Life Between Cultures” (mitaliblog.com), has been around since April 23, 2005.
10-10:25 Break
10:25 -11:05 Beyond the Echo Chamber of the Kidlitosphere: Reaching Readers.
So you’ve read the book and written your review. Now what? Learn where the readers are, how to reach them and what to say so they’ll listen.
Pam Margolis, Unconventional Librarian
11:15 to 12: Skype session with Shannon Hale
12-1:30 Lunch (box lunches included in the price of registration)
1:30-3 We Need Diverse Books Presents: Book Bloggers and Diversity, an Unbeatable Combination with Mike Jung, Karen Sandler, S.E. Sinkhorn, and Martha White
In the first part of this session, the panelists will share the lessons learned from the very successful #WeNeedDiverseBooks social media campaign with regard to crafting your message, using your message, and establishing an emotional connection. Second, the panelists will focus on how diverse children’s literature can enrich our blogs, and how authors and editors can further expand the content available to us.
3:-3:30 Break
3:30-5 We’re Not Going To Take It and Neither Should You: Why Book Bloggers DO Have the Ability to Make Divers Books Happen
Hannah Gómez sarah HANNAH gómezKelly Jensen Stacked and Book RiotFaythe Arrendondo YALSA-The HubSummer Khaleq Miss Fictional’s World of YA Books
We know bloggers matter to the publishing industry and to readers. And we know reading diversely is important for all readers, as it opens up your worldview. But how can bloggers effect positive change when it comes to diversity? This session will explore the ways bloggers can audit their own reading habits, assess and address personal biases, as well as create and curate stronger content as it relates to diversity in all shapes and forms — race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, body image, and more. We’ll offer tools and tips for not just finding and highlighting diverse reads, but also how to advocate for diversity within one’s own blog and beyond. This is more than an awareness of diversity; it’s an opportunity and an obligation for active change.
5-9 Banquet at The Citizen Hotel (included in conference price)
____
We welcome your feedback about the 2014 KidLitCon!
Charlotte Taylor: Program Coordinator
with:
Sarah Stevenson and Tanita Davis and Jen Robinson: Co-Chairs
Reshama Deshmukh and Melissa Fox: Author Coordinators
Maureen Kearney: Registration Coordinator
_____
8/26/14
Requiem for a Princess, by Ruth M. Arthur, for Timeslip Tuesday
Here is the story:
When she is 15, and off at boarding school studying music, Willow Forrestser is told by another girl that she is adopted. The shock is considerable, and in as much as she can't bring herself to talk to her parents about it, and is still weak from a nasty case of flue, she has something of a breakdown. Happily she gets to take time off school to recuperate, and goes to Cornwall, to a lovely old house by the coast, where she builds her strength back up doing light gardening and piano playing (I feel I could use this too).
There she finds herself intrigued by the story of Isabel, a young Spanish girl adopted by the head of the family at the beginning of the 17th century (a time when the Spanish were not loved by the English). Nobody can tell her much about Isabel, though her portrait hangs in the house and Willow sleeps in her room...just that she was assumed to have drowned when she was still young. But Willow can't stop wondering, as she restores the Spanish Garden Isabel laid out, and walks the same paths along the shore. And gradually she finds herself dreaming, more and more vividly, of Isabel's life back in the past. Through her dreams, she sees the growing danger surrounding Isabel, and the nightmarish events that led the night when she disappeared from history.
The book is told in the first person points of view of Willow in the present, and Isabel in the past. This is time travel as spectator sport--Willow is an uninvolved observer, and though there are two loose ends to Isabel's story that get tied up because of Willow, there is little meaningful interaction of past and present (it's more like two parallel stories, one present and one past, than it is time travel, but there's just enough substance to Willow's dreaming to make me able to count it.
Though both the girls are emotionally perturbed for much of the book, the book itself is not full of fraught immediacy. There's a distance to the whole tone, with emotions told and not shown. Willow is an interested, but somewhat dispassionate observer of her own life and Isabel's. Isabel is a somewhat passive exile. Why does she just accept the fact that she's stuck in Cornwall? She never suggests to anyone that a letter be written to her family in Spain. It is also not believable how isolated from the community she is. She is not particularly emotionally convincing either.
So the beautiful setting and the pleasing historical mystery are enough to carry the story, and I think for the young romantic daydreaming 10 or 11 year old it would all be magical.....especially since it all ends well...but for the grown-up who has read lots of similar stories, there's just not quite enough here to make it one to love.
Although I did appreciate that the piece of music that gives the book its name, Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte, which Willow plays often, is one I myself played (very badly) back in the day (here is a nice piano version of it).
(Ruth M. Arthur seems rather collectible--I was surprised by how expensive some of her books, like this one, are even when ex-library. Probably it is a boom fueled people who read the books when they were young back in the 1960s/70s, who were enchanted then, and nostalgic now....I am very glad I have copies of the books I loved most when I was young, so that I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to find them again.....)
8/25/14
Me at FangirlNation, talking about middle grade sci fi/fantasy
I am still more or less on vacation here, but you can find some of my thoughts and book recommendations of middle grade speculative fiction over at FangirlNation!
8/24/14
This week's round of middle grade science fiction and fantasy from around the blogs (8/24/14)
A light week for reviews....I myself have nothing, because of being on vacation, desperately trying to Make Happy Memories for the children darn it. Please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
The Boundless, by Kenneth Oppel, at Fantasy Book Critic
Chase Tinker and the House of Destiny, by Malia Ann Haberman, at Words Escape Me
The Cottage in the Woods, by Katherine Coville, at Educating Alice
Dreamwood, by Heather Mackley, at Bibliobrit
Evil Fairies Love Hair, by Mary G. Thompson, The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer L. Holm, at Educating Alice, Waking Brain Cells, and Hope Is the Word
Frostborn, by Lou Anders, at The Book Monsters
Gabriel Finley and the Raven's Riddle, by George Hagen, at Wandering Librarians
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Leaf's Reviews
The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, at The Hiding Spot
Greenglass House, by Kate Milford, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Hades Speaks, byVicky Alvear Schecter, at Mom Read It
The League of Seven, by Alan Gratz, at Ms. Yingling Reads, thebookshelfgargoyle, Librarian of Snark, and Tor
The Mark of the Dragonfly, by Jaleigh Johnson, at Geo Librarian
The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier, at Welcome to my (New) Tweendom
The Ninja Librarians: The Accidental Keyhands, by Jen Swann Downey, at Tales of the Marvelous
Odessa Again, by Dana Reinhardt, at Not Acting My Age
Oliver and the Seawigs, by Philip Reeve, at Becky's Book Reviews
The River Singers, by Tom Moorhouse, at Wondrous Reads
Rose and the Lost Princess, by Holly Webb, at alibrarymama
Rose and the Magician's Mask, by Holly Webb, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
A Stranger at Green Knowe, by L.M. Boston, at Tor
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Semicolon
Authors and Interviews
Jennifer Donnelly (Deep Blue) at A Backwards Story
Mary G. Thompson (Evil Fairies Love Hair) at Small Review and Word Spelunking
Marcus Sedgwick (The Raven Mysteries) at Wondrous Reads
Other Good Stuff
The Application Period for Cybils Judging closes Sept. 5 and because Cybils judging is really really fun you should seriously think of applying. (Some categories get more applicants than others--"picture books" gets many more applications than it can handle, whereas "graphic novels" has not yet gotten much love this year. MG SF is kind of in the middle).
Via Waking Brain Cells--casting news for A Monster Calls (Sigourney Weaver!)
From Teen Librarian Toolbox-- the good things the Ferguson Library is doing (yay libraries!)
Malorie Blackman (UK children's laureate) talks diversity in children's books at The Gaurdian
The lastest Kidlitcon shoutout from Tanita at Finding Wonderland
And speaking of diversity, September brings the More Diverse Universe reading challenge! yay! (I would kind of like to include in my reading a non-fiction book about science for grown-ups, just for a change; any recommendations? The requirement is that the author be a POC.)
Brave Kitties of WW I! at io9. Trench warfare is hell, but better when you have a kitty friend.
The Reviews
The Boundless, by Kenneth Oppel, at Fantasy Book Critic
Chase Tinker and the House of Destiny, by Malia Ann Haberman, at Words Escape Me
The Cottage in the Woods, by Katherine Coville, at Educating Alice
Dreamwood, by Heather Mackley, at Bibliobrit
Evil Fairies Love Hair, by Mary G. Thompson, The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer L. Holm, at Educating Alice, Waking Brain Cells, and Hope Is the Word
Frostborn, by Lou Anders, at The Book Monsters
Gabriel Finley and the Raven's Riddle, by George Hagen, at Wandering Librarians
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Leaf's Reviews
The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, at The Hiding Spot
Greenglass House, by Kate Milford, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Hades Speaks, byVicky Alvear Schecter, at Mom Read It
The League of Seven, by Alan Gratz, at Ms. Yingling Reads, thebookshelfgargoyle, Librarian of Snark, and Tor
The Mark of the Dragonfly, by Jaleigh Johnson, at Geo Librarian
The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier, at Welcome to my (New) Tweendom
The Ninja Librarians: The Accidental Keyhands, by Jen Swann Downey, at Tales of the Marvelous
Odessa Again, by Dana Reinhardt, at Not Acting My Age
Oliver and the Seawigs, by Philip Reeve, at Becky's Book Reviews
The River Singers, by Tom Moorhouse, at Wondrous Reads
Rose and the Lost Princess, by Holly Webb, at alibrarymama
Rose and the Magician's Mask, by Holly Webb, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
A Stranger at Green Knowe, by L.M. Boston, at Tor
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Semicolon
Authors and Interviews
Jennifer Donnelly (Deep Blue) at A Backwards Story
Mary G. Thompson (Evil Fairies Love Hair) at Small Review and Word Spelunking
Marcus Sedgwick (The Raven Mysteries) at Wondrous Reads
Other Good Stuff
The Application Period for Cybils Judging closes Sept. 5 and because Cybils judging is really really fun you should seriously think of applying. (Some categories get more applicants than others--"picture books" gets many more applications than it can handle, whereas "graphic novels" has not yet gotten much love this year. MG SF is kind of in the middle).
Via Waking Brain Cells--casting news for A Monster Calls (Sigourney Weaver!)
From Teen Librarian Toolbox-- the good things the Ferguson Library is doing (yay libraries!)
Malorie Blackman (UK children's laureate) talks diversity in children's books at The Gaurdian
The lastest Kidlitcon shoutout from Tanita at Finding Wonderland
Brave Kitties of WW I! at io9. Trench warfare is hell, but better when you have a kitty friend.
8/20/14
Kidlitcon 2014 Program peek, starring Jewell Parker Rhodes!
Here's a peak at her session, where she'll be joining two great bloggers:
Friday 1:30-3 Getting Beyond Diversity and Getting to the
Story
Jewell Parker Rhodes (fangirl squee from me!)
"While gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, or ability add to who we are, they do not define who we are. And these differences do not define our stories. How do we teach, discuss, or describe diverse books without making diversity the issue? Should we? How do we respond to the perception that ʺdiverse booksʺ are only for ʺdiverse peopleʺ and deliver book reviews and essays that highlight what makes books universal for those disinclined to think diversity is for them while acknowledging readers who need and deserve to find themselves in literature? Presenters Edith Campbell, Hannah Gómez, and author Jewell Parker Rhodes will deliver an interactive session with talking points, booktalks, strategies and much honest discussion."
And that is just one of the great sessions at this year's Kidlitcon; I'm putting the final touches on the program, and should have it all done (d.v.) on Monday! Please join us in Sacramento, CA October 10th and 11th for a really fantastic time of talking blogging and books and diversity non-stop!
*and speaking of Cybils, now is the time to sign up to be a panelist for the 2014 season!
8/19/14
Crashing the Party (Time Flyers #4), by Perdita Finn, for Timeslip Tuesday
This was my first Time Flyers book, but I was able to quickly pick up on the pertinent backstory. Josh and Katie are two ordinary American middle schoolers whose family is chosen to host time travelling kids of many lands via the Time Flyers program (the parents don't know about the time travelling, because they are
And she becomes worse when she masters the art of cultural immersion into the circle of It Girls at Katie and Josh's school.
And then things get even worse when she refuses to go home again....
I guess the point of the story is that middle school is even worse than it usually is when you have a bitchy French aristocrat who treats you like dirt staying with you and going to your school. Which is certainly a reasonable plot, but its one that, in this case at least, lacks much emotional depth. There were a few brief intimations that there might be depth to the girl's character, but they were too fleeting to have any umph.
The story itself is not all that educational--if you had never heard of the French Revolution, that would be one thing to learn, and you would also learn that French aristocrats of that time period had a rather generous sense of entitlement. But this particular French girl is so busy becoming American that her own time is not of interest to her, so we don't hear much about it. There is an Educational Epilogue in which information on life in late 18th century France is shared, but it is so much easier to pick up on information that's embedded in the text that I'm not sure how useful this is.
I am not deeply tempted to look for the other books in the series, except that they are quick reads, and goodness knows there will be other Difficult Tuesdays in my future....
8/17/14
This Week's Round-up of Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy (8/17/14) w/ special announcement and discussion question!
So Google has killed blog search, and though there's a way to force it to search blogs, this returns far fewer hits. So I might well be missing an ever growing number of posts; let me know if I missed yours! (And if any publicists or marketers want to send me direct links to blog tour stops, review links, etc., that would be great.)
The Reviews:
The Book of Bad Things, http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-book-of-bad-things.html
The Castle Behind Thorns, by Merrie Haskell, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
Courting Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at The Book Smugglers
Ever After High, by Shannon Hale, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Evil Fairys Love Hair, at Mary G. Thompson, at The Book Monsters
The Fog of Forgetting, by G.A. Morgan, at I Read to Relax
The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer Holm, at For Those About To Mock, Log Cabin Library, Emily Reviews! Random Musings of a Bibliophile, and Librarian of Snark
Frankie Dupont and the Mystery of Enderby Manor, by Julie Anne Grasso, at The Ninja Librarian
Frostborn, by Lou Anders, at Adventures in Scifi Publishing, The Book Monsters, and Ageless Pages Reviews
Gabriel Finley and the Ravens of Doom, by George Hagen, at Log Cabin Library
The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, at Becky's Book Reviews and Charlotte's Library
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Curiosity Killed the Bookworm
The Hypnotists, and its sequel, Memory Maze, by Gordon Korman, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Inventor's Secret, by Chad Morris, at The Obsessive Bookseller (missed it last week)
The Iron Trial, by Holly Back and Cassandra Clare, at Zach's YA Reviews
Kat, Incorrigible (series review), by Stephanie Burgis, at Fantasy Fiction
Loot, by Jude Watson, at Reader Noir
The Luck Uglies, by Paul Durham, at Fantasy Book Critic
The Magic Thief series, by Sarah Prineas, at Beyond Books
Magyk, by Angie Sage, at Rcubed's Reads and Reviews
Memoirs of a Neurotic Zombie, by Jeff Norton, at Juniper's Jungle
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, at Sonderbooks
No Such Thing as Dragons, by Philip Reeve, at Hidden in Pages
Nuts to You, by Lynne Rae Perkins, at Librarian of Snark
The River at Green Knowe, by L.M. Boston, at Tor
Ship of Souls, by Zetta Elliott, at Reading in Color
The Time of the Fireflys, by Kimberley Griffiths Little, at Five Minutes for Books
Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life, by P.J. Hoover, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow and books4yourkids
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at Michelle Isenhoff
Authors and Interviews
Mary G. Thompson (Evil Fairies Love Hair) at Cracking the Cover, The Book Monsters, and The Children's Book Review
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
The Call for Cybils Panelists goes out tomorrow! Once again, I'm the team leader for middle grade speculative fiction. Throw your name into the hat to be a panelist in judging either the first round (coming up with a shortlist of 5-7 books) or the second round (picking a winner from the shortlist!).
The reading period for the first round runs from October through December, and there will be c. 150 books nominated in MG Spec. Fic. (published from Oct. 16, 2013 through Oct. 15, 2014).
Here's what you should ask yourself before applying to be a panelist--
--how many books have I read already? If you have a comfortable cushion of eligible books read already, that is good.
--how easy is it for me to get hold of books? Some books will come from publishers, but others we'll have to find ourselves at libraries. So if it is hard for you to get a hold of books, the first round is probably not a good fit for you.
--am I a fast reader? First round panelists don't have to read all the books, nor do they have to finish the books they count as "read." But you do have to be able to read lots, and fast.
--are there things happening this fall that will make it hard to do lots of reading?
--do I want to be thinking about books in a rather briskly frantic way just before Christmas?
But on the plus side, you can also ask yourself: do I want to spend this fall reading tons of books in my favorite genre and having a great time discussing them intensely with fun, interesting, fellow fans?
Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions!
Other Good Stuff
An interesting look at the structures of the Harry Potter books at Bookriot
I could fill this post with Giver related things, but am sticking to this one: Lois Lowry and Phillip Noyce interviewed in tandem at Deadline Hollywood
And then I just found this one, which I wouldn't actually call "good"-- "The Giver Now Has Its Very Own Nailpolish" at Jezebel
Why, world, why?
Discussion Question (I don't know if this will be a regular feature or not, because I can easily imagine not having decent questions every Sunday for next several years...but we will see. Let me know what you think!)
So over on Twitter, Anne Ursu drew my attention to this line from the (starred) Kirkus review of Sparkers, by Eleanor Glewwe-- "Social injustice is a rare theme in middle-grade fantasy..." And as Anne said, "no," because clearly social injustices of many kinds (economic, gender-based, racial prejudice) are a dime a dozen in mg fantasy. But maybe, I thought (and I haven't read the book yet, so I might be off-base) the author of that Kirkus line is thinking that rebellion/active efforts to subvert the dominant system by a group of people constituting the driving force of the plot is rare. I can think of lots of books in which individuals fight/are victims of social injustice, but not so many that take it to the larger level of the oppressed taking on the system as a group.
Here's what I came up with:
Zelpha Keatly Snyder's Below the Root trilogy (1975-1978)--a dominant group of people up in the trees, a subordinate group of rebels trapped below the roots, and the brave group of young teens who bring down the injustice of it (of course three of the main people fighting the system are from above the root, with only one from below, but there's a larger sense that a revolution is underway).
Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway (2012) --set in a society in which those with no magic are oppressed by those who have it, and tells of the efforts underway to change this.
Janice Hardy's Healing War trilogy (2010- 2011) which features a rebellion against foreign oppressors.
What do you think?
I think that more fantasy and science fiction for kids explicitly involving fights against social injustice can only be a good thing...and speaking of fighting against social injustice, here's a guide to "Becoming a White Ally to Black People in the Aftermath of the Michael Brown Murder" at What Matters
The Reviews:
The Book of Bad Things, http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-book-of-bad-things.html
The Castle Behind Thorns, by Merrie Haskell, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
Courting Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at The Book Smugglers
Ever After High, by Shannon Hale, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Evil Fairys Love Hair, at Mary G. Thompson, at The Book Monsters
The Fog of Forgetting, by G.A. Morgan, at I Read to Relax
The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer Holm, at For Those About To Mock, Log Cabin Library, Emily Reviews! Random Musings of a Bibliophile, and Librarian of Snark
Frankie Dupont and the Mystery of Enderby Manor, by Julie Anne Grasso, at The Ninja Librarian
Frostborn, by Lou Anders, at Adventures in Scifi Publishing, The Book Monsters, and Ageless Pages Reviews
Gabriel Finley and the Ravens of Doom, by George Hagen, at Log Cabin Library
The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, at Becky's Book Reviews and Charlotte's Library
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Curiosity Killed the Bookworm
The Hypnotists, and its sequel, Memory Maze, by Gordon Korman, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Inventor's Secret, by Chad Morris, at The Obsessive Bookseller (missed it last week)
The Iron Trial, by Holly Back and Cassandra Clare, at Zach's YA Reviews
Kat, Incorrigible (series review), by Stephanie Burgis, at Fantasy Fiction
Loot, by Jude Watson, at Reader Noir
The Luck Uglies, by Paul Durham, at Fantasy Book Critic
The Magic Thief series, by Sarah Prineas, at Beyond Books
Magyk, by Angie Sage, at Rcubed's Reads and Reviews
Memoirs of a Neurotic Zombie, by Jeff Norton, at Juniper's Jungle
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, at Sonderbooks
No Such Thing as Dragons, by Philip Reeve, at Hidden in Pages
Nuts to You, by Lynne Rae Perkins, at Librarian of Snark
The River at Green Knowe, by L.M. Boston, at Tor
Ship of Souls, by Zetta Elliott, at Reading in Color
The Time of the Fireflys, by Kimberley Griffiths Little, at Five Minutes for Books
Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life, by P.J. Hoover, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow and books4yourkids
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at Michelle Isenhoff
Authors and Interviews
Mary G. Thompson (Evil Fairies Love Hair) at Cracking the Cover, The Book Monsters, and The Children's Book Review
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
The Call for Cybils Panelists goes out tomorrow! Once again, I'm the team leader for middle grade speculative fiction. Throw your name into the hat to be a panelist in judging either the first round (coming up with a shortlist of 5-7 books) or the second round (picking a winner from the shortlist!).
The reading period for the first round runs from October through December, and there will be c. 150 books nominated in MG Spec. Fic. (published from Oct. 16, 2013 through Oct. 15, 2014).
Here's what you should ask yourself before applying to be a panelist--
--how many books have I read already? If you have a comfortable cushion of eligible books read already, that is good.
--how easy is it for me to get hold of books? Some books will come from publishers, but others we'll have to find ourselves at libraries. So if it is hard for you to get a hold of books, the first round is probably not a good fit for you.
--am I a fast reader? First round panelists don't have to read all the books, nor do they have to finish the books they count as "read." But you do have to be able to read lots, and fast.
--are there things happening this fall that will make it hard to do lots of reading?
--do I want to be thinking about books in a rather briskly frantic way just before Christmas?
But on the plus side, you can also ask yourself: do I want to spend this fall reading tons of books in my favorite genre and having a great time discussing them intensely with fun, interesting, fellow fans?
Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions!
Other Good Stuff
An interesting look at the structures of the Harry Potter books at Bookriot
I could fill this post with Giver related things, but am sticking to this one: Lois Lowry and Phillip Noyce interviewed in tandem at Deadline Hollywood
And then I just found this one, which I wouldn't actually call "good"-- "The Giver Now Has Its Very Own Nailpolish" at Jezebel
Discussion Question (I don't know if this will be a regular feature or not, because I can easily imagine not having decent questions every Sunday for next several years...but we will see. Let me know what you think!)
So over on Twitter, Anne Ursu drew my attention to this line from the (starred) Kirkus review of Sparkers, by Eleanor Glewwe-- "Social injustice is a rare theme in middle-grade fantasy..." And as Anne said, "no," because clearly social injustices of many kinds (economic, gender-based, racial prejudice) are a dime a dozen in mg fantasy. But maybe, I thought (and I haven't read the book yet, so I might be off-base) the author of that Kirkus line is thinking that rebellion/active efforts to subvert the dominant system by a group of people constituting the driving force of the plot is rare. I can think of lots of books in which individuals fight/are victims of social injustice, but not so many that take it to the larger level of the oppressed taking on the system as a group.
Here's what I came up with:
Zelpha Keatly Snyder's Below the Root trilogy (1975-1978)--a dominant group of people up in the trees, a subordinate group of rebels trapped below the roots, and the brave group of young teens who bring down the injustice of it (of course three of the main people fighting the system are from above the root, with only one from below, but there's a larger sense that a revolution is underway).
Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway (2012) --set in a society in which those with no magic are oppressed by those who have it, and tells of the efforts underway to change this.
Janice Hardy's Healing War trilogy (2010- 2011) which features a rebellion against foreign oppressors.
What do you think?
I think that more fantasy and science fiction for kids explicitly involving fights against social injustice can only be a good thing...and speaking of fighting against social injustice, here's a guide to "Becoming a White Ally to Black People in the Aftermath of the Michael Brown Murder" at What Matters
8/16/14
Searching For Sky, by Jillian Cantor
This was what happened to me with Searching For Sky, by Jillian Cantor (Bloomsbury, May 2014, YA).
Sky and her mother, and River and his father, had left the United States for a peaceful life alone on a small island in the south Pacific, and life was good--sometimes a bit hungry, but good. Then the two adults died when River and Sky were young teens, and River and Sky were alone...with even less to eat. So when River sees a boat, he signals to it...and the two of them are rescued, and taken back to California.
Living with a grandmother she'd never known even existed, in a world of modern conveniences and social norms she has no clue about, Sky struggles to keep herself intact. But worse than all those things is that she is separated from River...and it is like part of herself, her real self, is gone. And gradually Sky learns the reasons why her mother took her to that far off island....and it is not a pretty story....And then she finds River again, and Sky at last thinks that her dream of escaping back to the island will come to pass...
So I enjoyed the story, liked Sky just fine, liked the dark secrets gradually revealed, found the ending solid, etc. It was a fine book.
But all throughout I had Mental Commentary going full force--questioning details of island survival, and the likelihood that they wouldn't have been found sooner, questioning Sky's reactions to the modern world and the efforts of the grown-ups to instruct her (they did a pretty bad job, in my opinion. An awful job. What they needed was an anthropologist/sociologist, not a shrink), questioning her grandmother's choices, questioning Sky's state of mind (it's told from her first person viewpoint, and I wasn't quite convinced that her voice was believable, given her up-bringing). I had a lot to question, and this kept me from really accepting Sky's story qua story.
Of course, all this made it more interesting for me, and I enjoyed the reading of it just fine. If you are looking for a YA mystery/suspense/romance, that isn't quite exactly any of those but is more a story of personal grown and exploration of life with more than a bit of sadness, you might well enjoy this one lots.
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.
8/13/14
The Bell at Sealey Head, by Patricia McKillip
But I am So Glad I have now read The Bell at Sealey Head because it is one of my most favorite of all Patricia McKillip's books and I loved it.
It is a beautiful story of ordinary life twisted with magic in which nice people such as I'd like to be friends with who like books and stories and questioning the edges of reality learn about the magic and not much Happens in an action-packed sort of way and there are small things that made me laugh and beautiful pictures painted in my mind.
So pretty much a perfect book for me, and if you at all love the same books I love do try it!
Here is a quick synopsis-
Every day, just as the sun sets, the bell at Sealy Head rings. No one has seen the bell, no one knows its story--it is a mystery that is part of the fabric of life. One young woman writes stories to explain it, one young man listens for it with his blind father, as their inn sits empty, one young man comes from far away (bringing lots of books) to find its story, one dying woman in her ancient manor house holds to its sound and to life, waiting....and another young woman hears it, but has moved passed it to the magic of the world that sometimes can be seen through the doors inside the manor. And behind the doors is a third young woman, caught in an endless ritual of magic of which the bell is a part... (There are other people too, worth mentioning, but I feel I've mentioned enough).
And their lives all come together and they figure out the story (with the help of books) and untangle the chains of magic (which have a malevolent twist to them) and it is a happy ending with nice romance and it is flavored nicely with bits of comic relief from minor characters.
Yep. Possibly even my favorite McKillip.....
If I were marketing it I would want to market it to YA readers because the main characters are in their teens, and it is very much a teens growing up story, but it is so different from what's in the YA section these days that I don't know how it would do there.....(pause while I try to think of a contemporary YA title I would describe as "beautiful magic." Cannot think of one).
8/12/14
The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, for Timeslip Tuesday
When Sophia's great-grandmother was a girl in Boston, back in 1799, the world fractured in time. A great disruption brought the past to some places, the future to others...and history ceased its linear progression. And a new era of exploration and map-making began, that ended up taking Sophia's parents to a far of time and place, leaving her with her cartographer uncle in Boston. Slowly she learns to read map of memories held in glass, maps of earth, of water....but she is not permitted to stay sheltered in New Occident.
Instead, she when her uncle is kidnapped, Sophia must follow a trail of cartographic riddles across a time-struck continent...a journey that will take her to the end of the known world, and a map that might change everything once again. It's a journey that brings new friends, adventures of all sorts, wild flights of imagination to delight the tourist heart of the fantasy reader. And interspersed with Sophia's story we see what is happening to her uncle, the tortured prison of someone with a time shattered backstory of her own.
So the thing with this book is that there is So Much Story, and so much to learn about the world while following Sophia, that it really cannot be gulped down. And it requires patience to learn to be in that world....many pages of patience before the twistings of fate gather enough momentum to really get the story rolling. But it rewards the reader lots and lots with its imaginative delights and great characters. And the premise of the shifting times is genius--and one reason that the book was slow to read for me is that it invited more daydreaming and speculation than was good for page turning.
It really does take time to get going, though, so you have to trust that it will be worth it to try to make sense of everything. And so, though this is a middle grade book for kids in grades 5 and up, it isn't going to be for every middle grade fantasy fan. Give it to the kid who, like Sophia, daydreams strange worlds...the thoughtful kid, who's a fast and confident reader, who looks at reality slight slant-wise. Or give it to grown-ups who love the way the best fantasy books for kids open new windows in the mind.
My middle grade speculative fiction comrade from last year's Cybils Awards reading, Stephanie Whalen, recommend this one in her School Library Journal Review to those who loved The Rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson, and found it comparable to Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy. I don't disagree, but to me it gave an even stronger feeling of similarity to the Monster Blood Tattoo series of D.M. Cornish in the sheer splendorous details of its imagination.
I have to say, though, that I personally admire the book more than I love it with the sort of cozy fondness I feel for my favorite books--it really is almost too much of a good thing in the elaboration of its imagination for my taste.
Despite that, I am pretty sure I want my own final copy of this one. The copy I read was an ARC, and the final book, with its generous servings of cartography, is a lovely book qua book....
8/11/14
Parched, by Georgia Clark
Tess spent the first fifteen years of her life in the comfort of Eden--a closed-off community of abundant resources. Then tragedy sent her fleeing into the Badlands outside Eden, where life is a hardscrabble struggle. After a year of fighting for survival, she's tracked down by an Edenite, who persuades her to come back to work to topple the dictators of Eden and bring justice (and little things like water) to the people of the Badlands. And Tess agrees...but she has her own reasons for going home again, ones her would-be revolutionary colleagues could never guess.
Back in Eden, and welcomed into her uncle's home, Tess meets his student Hunter, assigned by her uncle to help her catch up with her education. And there is attraction between the two of them...(I found him very geekily appealing myself).
And then, to summarize briskly and without spoilers, the revolutionaries, with Tess now on board, set to work to foil the evil plans of Eden to bring death to the people of the Badlands once and for all. There's exciting confrontations involving robots and high-tech gizmos, and there are game-changing secrets of the sort that those who like unreliable narrations will enjoy tremendously (even though it's easy to see the biggest of the revels coming, it is still cool in an intellectually and emotionally diverting way).
So--Dystopian romance with robotics, and a nice helping of social justice. Engaging central characters, who have a most interesting relationship indeed. Nice fast pacing, but with enough breaks in the action to satisfy those, like me, whose eyes blur when the pacing is too exciting. The world of Eden and the Badlands isn't in itself a desperately fresh premise, but the twists at work in the story makes it interesting. It's also pretty believable, which is depressing.
It deserves lots of teenaged readers, who will enjoy it immensly. And that includes younger YA readers (the 12 and 13 year olds)--there is some violent torture and death, and some romance, but not of an older readership kind. Though there is certainly space left for a sequel, it ends in a satisfying, non-cliffhangery place, which I appreciated.
(I also appreciated that the cover does not show Tess with impossibly beautiful hair looking all thin yet tough. I like the classic sci fic vib the domed cities gives off'; it is a nice change).
I am already thinking ahead to October, and the Cybils--this is definitely a possibility for my YA Speculative Fiction nomination.
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
8/10/14
This week's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy (8/10/14)
Welcome to another week's worth of middle grade sci fi/fantasy gleanings....please let me know if I missed your post or the posts of your loved ones!
The Reviews
11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass, at Wandering Librarians
The Ascendance Trilogy (The False Prince et seq.), by Jennifer Nielsen, at Tales of the Marvelous
Bad Magic, by Psuedonymous Bosch, at Log Cabin Library
Bravo Victor, by Jemima Pett, at The Ninja Librarians
Chase Tinker and the House of Destiny, by Malia Ann Haberman, at This Kid Reviews Books
Deep Blue, by Jennifer Donnelly, at Boarding With Books
The Forbidden Stone, by Tony Abbott, at The Hiding Spot
The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer Holm, at Sharon the Librarian, Teen Librarian Toolbox, and Oh Magic Hour
Frostborn, by Lou Anders, at Mom Read It, Librarian of Snark, and Wondrous Reads
Furies of Calderon, by Jim Butcher, at The Book Sphere
The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, at Icey Books
The Iron Trial, by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, at What a Nerd Girl Says and The Bibliomaniac
Loki's Wolves, by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr, at Booked Till Tuesday
The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas, at Hidden In Pages (audiobook review)
Memory Maze (The Hypnotists 2), by Gordon Corman, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier, at The Hiding Spot
The One Safe Place, by Tania Unsworth, at The Book Monsters
The Path of Names, by Ari Goelman, at Kid Lit Geek
The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, at Geo Librarian
Storybound, by Marissa Burt, at The Cheap Reader
The Time of the Fireflies, by Kimberley Griffiths Little, at Middle Grade Mafioso
The Time of the Ghost, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Here There Be Books
Treasure of Green Knowe, by L.M. Boston, at Tor
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow
Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at My Precious
The Wrath of Siren, by Kurt Chambers, at Annie McMahon
Authors and Interviews
Mary G. Thompson (Evil Fairies Love Hair) at The Enchanted Inkpot
N.D. Wilson discusses Boy of Blur in a Sneaky Peeks Video #1 at Wild Things
Other Good Stuff
Disney takes the first steps toward making a movie of A Wrinkle In Time, via Waking Brain Cells
Rocket and Groot reimagined as Calvin and Hobbs. Love. (via Tor)
You know that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory cover with Veruca as creepy doll on it? Travis at 100 Scope Notes took that approach to a logical conclusion of brilliance....you will never think of The Secret Garden the same way again.
Ursula Le Guin talks to Michael Cunningham about "genres, gender, and broadening fiction" at Electric Lit
Thoughts on having to teach The Lightning Thief for a 6th grade mythology unit, at Teach the Fantastic
An article in the Applied Journal of Social Psychology suggests that reading Harry Potter can teach kids empathy (there's a lay-person friendly summary here at Science of Us
"7 Black Women Science Fiction Writers Everyone Should Know" at For Harriet, which is made more specifically MG SFF relevant by the news that the film rights to Akata Witch have been optioned. And indeed, it would make an awesome movie....
The Call for Cybils Judges begins August 18th! I am returning as organizer of Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, and please all of you who love MG SF think hard about throwing your hats into the ring to be panelists! Here's how I chose panelists:
--I check to make sure they are in fact enthusiastic about MG SF (don't send in a sample post that says "I don't read much middle grade" as has happened in the past), and check to see if there's some thought to their reviews
--I try to balance tried and true veterans with new folks, try to include teachers, parents, librarians, authors, general fans etc, so a range of background and experiences are included in the mix
--I try not to have too many of my top candidates siphoned off by other needy categories.
If you want more information or have questions, please feel free to email me (charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com)
And finally, in an effort to encourage my kids do make things this summer, I brought out the boxes of miscellaneous junk and hardware such as result from having an old house and huge barn full of stuff, and this is the robot my 11 year old made (with a bit of tool-using help, because of it being his first time). Its eyes are holograms from expired credit cards. (The picture was taken in an unsalubrious corner of my semi-subterranean, 250-year-old office. My own walls aren't quite that bad).
The Reviews
11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass, at Wandering Librarians
The Ascendance Trilogy (The False Prince et seq.), by Jennifer Nielsen, at Tales of the Marvelous
Bad Magic, by Psuedonymous Bosch, at Log Cabin Library
Bravo Victor, by Jemima Pett, at The Ninja Librarians
Chase Tinker and the House of Destiny, by Malia Ann Haberman, at This Kid Reviews Books
Deep Blue, by Jennifer Donnelly, at Boarding With Books
The Forbidden Stone, by Tony Abbott, at The Hiding Spot
The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer Holm, at Sharon the Librarian, Teen Librarian Toolbox, and Oh Magic Hour
Frostborn, by Lou Anders, at Mom Read It, Librarian of Snark, and Wondrous Reads
Furies of Calderon, by Jim Butcher, at The Book Sphere
The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, at Icey Books
The Iron Trial, by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, at What a Nerd Girl Says and The Bibliomaniac
Loki's Wolves, by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr, at Booked Till Tuesday
The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas, at Hidden In Pages (audiobook review)
Memory Maze (The Hypnotists 2), by Gordon Corman, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier, at The Hiding Spot
The One Safe Place, by Tania Unsworth, at The Book Monsters
The Path of Names, by Ari Goelman, at Kid Lit Geek
The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, at Geo Librarian
Storybound, by Marissa Burt, at The Cheap Reader
The Time of the Fireflies, by Kimberley Griffiths Little, at Middle Grade Mafioso
The Time of the Ghost, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Here There Be Books
Treasure of Green Knowe, by L.M. Boston, at Tor
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow
Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at My Precious
The Wrath of Siren, by Kurt Chambers, at Annie McMahon
Authors and Interviews
Mary G. Thompson (Evil Fairies Love Hair) at The Enchanted Inkpot
N.D. Wilson discusses Boy of Blur in a Sneaky Peeks Video #1 at Wild Things
Other Good Stuff
Disney takes the first steps toward making a movie of A Wrinkle In Time, via Waking Brain Cells
Rocket and Groot reimagined as Calvin and Hobbs. Love. (via Tor)
You know that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory cover with Veruca as creepy doll on it? Travis at 100 Scope Notes took that approach to a logical conclusion of brilliance....you will never think of The Secret Garden the same way again.
Ursula Le Guin talks to Michael Cunningham about "genres, gender, and broadening fiction" at Electric Lit
Thoughts on having to teach The Lightning Thief for a 6th grade mythology unit, at Teach the Fantastic
An article in the Applied Journal of Social Psychology suggests that reading Harry Potter can teach kids empathy (there's a lay-person friendly summary here at Science of Us
"7 Black Women Science Fiction Writers Everyone Should Know" at For Harriet, which is made more specifically MG SFF relevant by the news that the film rights to Akata Witch have been optioned. And indeed, it would make an awesome movie....
The Call for Cybils Judges begins August 18th! I am returning as organizer of Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, and please all of you who love MG SF think hard about throwing your hats into the ring to be panelists! Here's how I chose panelists:
--I check to make sure they are in fact enthusiastic about MG SF (don't send in a sample post that says "I don't read much middle grade" as has happened in the past), and check to see if there's some thought to their reviews
--I try to balance tried and true veterans with new folks, try to include teachers, parents, librarians, authors, general fans etc, so a range of background and experiences are included in the mix
--I try not to have too many of my top candidates siphoned off by other needy categories.
If you want more information or have questions, please feel free to email me (charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com)
And finally, in an effort to encourage my kids do make things this summer, I brought out the boxes of miscellaneous junk and hardware such as result from having an old house and huge barn full of stuff, and this is the robot my 11 year old made (with a bit of tool-using help, because of it being his first time). Its eyes are holograms from expired credit cards. (The picture was taken in an unsalubrious corner of my semi-subterranean, 250-year-old office. My own walls aren't quite that bad).
8/8/14
Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics
My Latin teacher, Mrs. Jones, made me memorize this quote from the Aeneid when I was 15--Sunt lacrimae rerum, et mentem motilia tangunt (There are tears of things, and they touch the human heart). It pretty much sums up the book I just finished-- Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics, edited by Chris Duffy (First Second, July 2014, YA on up)
Many of the poems of the WW I English poets that are anthologized here, illustrated by various graphic artists, were not new to me, but seeing them illustrated twisted, sharpened, and deepened my emotional reaction to them. And my emotional reaction to the pity of it, and the horror of it, is so great that any intellectual response is dampened to the banality of "I don't like this one as much" or "Yes, that is great writing, and gee those are powerful images" (then taking a break in the reading to allow the eyes to clear).
So I can't critically review this one.
I can say, though, that I think it is a valuable book. And that I think we need books like this, in a format that's friendly and familiar to young readers, that might shake the foundations of safe complacency.
"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gurgling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
[Sweet and good it is to die for your country].
George Pratt's black and white illustrations, understated, matter of fact, help bring the point of Wilfred Owen's famous poem home.
So yes, it's a good book, with the emotional heft of great poems made more so by the drawings. And it's made education friendly by the ordering of the poems by their sequence in the war--The Call to War, In the Trenches, and Aftermath, by an introduction explaining trench warfare and poetry, bios. of the poets, and by notes about each poem and its adaptation. You can go look at these things here at First Second.
And moving on from there, more poetry comics, please, First Second! They are such a useful and easy way to acquire cultural literacy.
Example: On a much lighter and somewhat tangential note--Busman's Honeymoon, by Dorothy Sayers (the one in which Peter and Harriet are married) is full of quotations and references (I would like an annotated edition, please) and I finally (!), thanks to inclusion of Everyone Sang, by Siegfried Sassoon, realize where the line that comes into Harriet's head at one point "Everyone suddenly burst out singing" comes from. It's not utterly tangential, because of course Lord Peter was himself a veteran of WW I....and this makes the peace he finds with Harriet all the more powerful. As Sasson's poem goes on to say--
"And beauty came like the setting sun:
My heart was shaken with tears, and horror
Drifted away..."
Which Sayers doubtless knew and was thinking of, because she was smart without the help of poetry comics!
(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)
(for the first time in ages, I get to be part of Poetry Friday, hosted today at A Year of Reading!)
Many of the poems of the WW I English poets that are anthologized here, illustrated by various graphic artists, were not new to me, but seeing them illustrated twisted, sharpened, and deepened my emotional reaction to them. And my emotional reaction to the pity of it, and the horror of it, is so great that any intellectual response is dampened to the banality of "I don't like this one as much" or "Yes, that is great writing, and gee those are powerful images" (then taking a break in the reading to allow the eyes to clear).
So I can't critically review this one.
I can say, though, that I think it is a valuable book. And that I think we need books like this, in a format that's friendly and familiar to young readers, that might shake the foundations of safe complacency.
"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gurgling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
[Sweet and good it is to die for your country].
George Pratt's black and white illustrations, understated, matter of fact, help bring the point of Wilfred Owen's famous poem home.
So yes, it's a good book, with the emotional heft of great poems made more so by the drawings. And it's made education friendly by the ordering of the poems by their sequence in the war--The Call to War, In the Trenches, and Aftermath, by an introduction explaining trench warfare and poetry, bios. of the poets, and by notes about each poem and its adaptation. You can go look at these things here at First Second.
And moving on from there, more poetry comics, please, First Second! They are such a useful and easy way to acquire cultural literacy.
Example: On a much lighter and somewhat tangential note--Busman's Honeymoon, by Dorothy Sayers (the one in which Peter and Harriet are married) is full of quotations and references (I would like an annotated edition, please) and I finally (!), thanks to inclusion of Everyone Sang, by Siegfried Sassoon, realize where the line that comes into Harriet's head at one point "Everyone suddenly burst out singing" comes from. It's not utterly tangential, because of course Lord Peter was himself a veteran of WW I....and this makes the peace he finds with Harriet all the more powerful. As Sasson's poem goes on to say--
"And beauty came like the setting sun:
My heart was shaken with tears, and horror
Drifted away..."
Which Sayers doubtless knew and was thinking of, because she was smart without the help of poetry comics!
(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)
(for the first time in ages, I get to be part of Poetry Friday, hosted today at A Year of Reading!)
8/6/14
A readathon of my own! Gratefully Reading the Books Given
Would you like to join me in my Gratefully Reading the Books Given Readathon? I realize that I might be alone in my shame, but if not, please feel free to play too! I went and poked at Mr. Linky, but you seem to have to pay to make a widget of your own, and I don't feel like doing that. So I'm going to do a round-up by hand-- leave a comment with your intro post to join!
Here are my own presents (and doubtless I am missing some, because the piles of books are deep and dark and precariously staked). I will start reading them Thursday evening, and have them all read by Monday evening!
Clockwise from left: from-- Maureen, an unknown blogger (it's been so long), and Brandy:
From my dear husband (yes, that first one is a book by a favorite author that I've had for years and haven't read):
And one more from my husband, and one from my sister:
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