This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/23/14)

Welcome to this week's round-up--I didn't have time to do much scrounging, so may well have missed things--please let me know!
The Reviews:

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Things Mean a Lot

The Blue Lady, by Eleanor  Hawken, at Nayu's Reading Corner (giveaway)

The Children Next Door, by Jean Ure, at Charlotte's Library

Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at alibrarymama

The Eighth Day, by Diane K. Salerni, at Middle Grade Mafioso

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo, at Candace's Book Blog and GreenBeanTeenQueen

The Gargoyle in my Yard, by Philippa Dowding, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Geranium Cat's Bookshelf

The Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz, at Becky's Book Reviews

The House on Parchment Street, by Patricia McKillip, at Finding Wonderland

How to Catch a Bogle, by Catherine Jinx, at alibrarymama

How To Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell, at Mister K Reads

The Interrupted Tale, by Maryrose Wood, at Kid Lit Geek

The Lotus Caves, by John Christopher, at Views From the Tesseract

Magic Marks the Spot, by Caroline Carlson, at Mister K Reads

Operation Bunny: The Fairy Detective Agency's First Case, by Sally Gardner, at Bibliophilic Monologues

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, at The Book Monsters

The Quantum League: Spell Robbers, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Charlotte's Library and The Englishist

The Rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson, at Sonderbooks

Rose, by Holly Webb, at Sonderbooks

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Neilsen, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

The Secret Box, by Whitaker Ringwald, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Shadow Throne, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, The A P Book Club, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and Stacked

Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Guys Lit Wire

A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, at Literate Lives

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at My Precious

Theodosia and the Last Pharoah, by R.A. LaFevers, at Jean Little Library

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Sonderbooks

The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey, at The Book Monsters

Zoe and Zack and the Yogi's Curse, by Lars Guignard, at Candace's Book Blog


Three at Views from the Tesseract:  Tesla's Attic, by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman, Spider Stampede by Ali Sparks, Sasquatch Escape, by Suzanne Selfors

Two at Redeemed Reader-- The Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, and The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick

And two at Ms. Yingling Reads:  Handbook for Dragon Slayers and The Shadow Throne

Authors and Interviews:

Jennifer Nielsen (The Shadow Throne) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Nikki Loftin (Nightingale's Nest) at The Book Cellar (giveaway)

Neil Shusterman and Eric Elfman (Tesla's Attic) at Project Mayhem

F.T. Bradley (Double Vision: Code Name 711) at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

A weeks' worth at Susan K. Quinn:

Monday: Warrior Faeries and Math Magick: How Susan Kaye Quinn is using a Virtual Author Visit video and Teacher's Guide to reach readers with her MG novel, Faery Swap.

 

Tuesday: Faery, Fairy, Sweet and Scary: a discussion with MG author Kim Batchelor on writing about Faeries in kidlit.

 

Wednesday: Sci Fi for the Middle Grade Set: a discussion with MG author Dale Pease about writing SF for kids.

 

Thursday: Writing Indie MG: a roundup of indie MG authors (Michelle Isenhoff, Elise Stokes, Lois Brown, Mikey Brooks, Ansha Kotyk) about why they write MG and how to reach readers, including their indie MG author Emblazoner's group catalog.

 

Friday: Marketing Indie Middle Grade - The Hardest Sell - about reaching MG readers as an MG author.

Other Good Stuff:

A Tuesday Ten of music at Views from the Tesseract

Lee and Low is giving away a copy of Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today's Youth, by Gregory J. Reed, signed by Rosa Parks herself!  Head on over to Lee and Low's Facebook page to enter; ends Feb. 26

Looking ahead to next weekend--Middle Grade March kicks off with a day long read-a-thon--more info. here

And looking even further ahead, here's the Fall 2014 Children's Sneak Preview from Publisher's Weekly --lots of good mf sff!

This week's middle grade science fiction and fantasy round-up (March 24, 2013)

Here's this week's worth of middle grade sci fi/fantasy fun!  Please let me know if I missed your post.

The Reviews

The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell, at The Hiding Spot

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Time Travel Times Two

Bot Wars, by J.V. Kade, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Charlotte's Library

The Cypher (Guardians Inc.), by Julian Rosado, at Lady With Books

Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede, at The Hub 

Dragon Born, by Toby Forward, at Charlotte's Library

Dragon Run, by Patrick Matthews, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Writer of Wrongs

Frogged, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Candace's Book Blog (scroll down)

Garden Princess, by Kristin Kladrup, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile 

A Greyhound of a Girl, by Roddy Doyle, at Sonderbooks

Kat Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at Welcome to my Tweendom 

Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at Annie McMahon

Larklight, by Philip Reeve, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia 

The Little Yokozuna, by Wayne Shorey, at Charlotte's Library

The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Book Haven

My Very UnFairy Tale Life, by Anna Staniszewski, at Sharon the Librarian

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia

The Prairie Thief, by Melissa Wiley, at Akossiwa Ketoglo

The Serpent's Shadow, by Rick Riordan, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo, at Bibliophilic Monologues

A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at Book Nut

The Water Castle, by Megan Frazer Blakemore, at A Fuse #8 Production 


Authors and Interviews

Jennifer Rush, aka J.V. Kade, (Bot Wars) at Sturdy for Common Things

The Chronicles of Egg blog tour reaches its final stops


Other Good Stuff

The Children's Book Week Finalists have been announced, and Tasha at Waking Brain Cells has a nice spread showing them all.   MG sff is represented by Stickman Odyssey, Book 2: The Wrath of Zozimos by Christopher Ford. (And that's it? YA is all speculative fiction).  Rick Riordan, however, is in the running for author of the year...

Thoughts on "Desiring Dragons," by the writers at Unsettling Wonder

Two Blog Events of interest--Fairy Tale Fortnight, hosted by The Book Rat and A Backwards Story, and Once Upon a Time VII, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.

I would love to know what became of the little girl who started embroidering this sampler showing the solar system way back in1811 (recently featured on the blog of the Museum of Childhood).  Clearly her mother was not unsympathetic to the girl's interest in science, and never forced her to finish it....

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy goodness (3/10/13)

Happy Spring Forward Day, if you can muster any enthusiasm for it, and welcome to this week's round-up of middle grade (ages 9-12 ish) fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs.  I have a nagging feeling that somewhere bloggers are blogging prolifically about mg sff and I'm not finding them, so do please let me know if a.  you have a post I missed  or b. you saw someone else's post that you think is worth sharing.

(I have been thinking for a while about creating a mgsff round-up icon; this is my first attempt.  I think the nose cone/tower roof needs to be more defined).

The Reviews:

The Battles of Ben Kingdom:  The Claws of Evil, by Andrew Beasley,  at Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at alibrarymama

The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at Kristen Evey

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at Tor, Fantasy Literature, and BooksYALove

The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper, at Sonderbooks

Dark Lord: The Early Years, by Jamie Thomson, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Dead Kid Detective Agency, by Evan Munday, at That's Another Story

Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg), by Geoff Rodkey, at GreenBeanTeenQueen and Akossiwa Ketoglo

Dragonsong, by Anne McCaffrey, at alibrarymama

Emily Knight I am..., by A. Bello, at Fantastic Reads 

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Fellowship For Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at Candace's Book Blog 

Freaks, by Keiran Larwood, at Charlotte's Library

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Finding Wonderland 

George's Secret Key to the Universe, by Stephen and Lucy Hawking, at Maria's Melange 

Icefall, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Mister K Reads

The Little Secret, by Kate Saunders, at Beyond Books

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Ms.. Yingling Reads, Finding Wonderland, Book Nut, Small Review, Charlotte's Library, and In Bed With Books

A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia (giveaway)

Unlocking the Spell, by E.D. Baker, at Charlotte's Library

W.A.R.P.:  The Reluctant Assassin, by Eoin Colfer, at Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at Postcards From La-La Land 

and at Tales of the Marvelous, at look at the first three Oz books


Authors and Illustrators

Illustrator Erin McGuire on creating the cover art for Anne Ursu's new book (The Real Boy) at Nerdy Book Club

Frances Hardinge (A Face Like Glass) at Tor

Anna Staniewski (My Epic Fairy Tale Fail) at Literary Rambles 

Robin LaFevers (Nathaniel Flood--Beastologist series, Theodosia series)--
"The Play's The Thing," at Writer Unboxed

The Chronicles of Egg is on tour--here are the stops

Kit Grindstaff (The Flame in the Mist) at Corsets, Cutlesses, and Candlesticks


Other Things of Interest

Not middle grade, but of interest (especially for those of us looking to expand our age ranges, reading-wise)--the James Tiptree Jr. Award winners have been announced!

The SLJ's Battle of the Kids Book's is about to begin, with three mg sff contenders--Starry River of the Sky, Splendors and Glooms, and The One and Only Ivan.  Of these three, my favorite is Starry River....The Undead Poll (where readers can vote for a book that was eliminated early to rise from the dead and fight in the final round) closes tomorrow.

This Week's round-up of mg sff, Feb 3, 2013

Welcome to this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy; please let me know if I missed your link!

The Reviews

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, by R.A. Spratt, at Sonderbooks

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Bone: Quest for the Spark, Book 3, by Tom Sniegoski and Jeff Smith, at Guys Lit Wire

Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at The Book Smugglers 

The Crimson Shard, by Teresa Flavin, at Charlotte's Library

Dragon Seer's Gift, by Janet McNaughton, at That's Another Story

Elliot and the Goblin War, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Geo Librarian

The Fellowship for Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at Maria's Melange

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Shannon Messenger, and in a continuing discussion between Maria's Melange,  The Brain Lair, and The Library Fanatic

Ghosts of the Titanic, by Julie Lawson, at Time Travel Times Two 

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at Sonderbooks 

Michael Vey : Rise of the Elgin, by  Richard Paul Evans, at A Thousand Wrongs

Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, at Semicolon

North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Fantastic Reads 

Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy, at Annie McMahon

The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at The Book Brownie

Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at Book-A-Day Almanac

The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket, by John Boyne, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey, at Charlotte's Library

Authors, Illustrators, and Interviews

A chat with the illustrator and designer of The Year of Shadows at The Book Smugglers

Laurisa White Reyes (The Rock of Ivanore) at The Enchanted  Inkpot

Katherine Applegate shares her reaction to winning the Newbery at Publishers Weekly

Marissa Burt (Storybound) at Literary Rambles

Other Good Stuff:

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of American ( SFWA) has a new interest group of writers who write mg and YA.  Here's the first of a series of posts from this group--a survey of the writers' editors and agents, asking them how they define MG and YA.

I made a resolution this year to read one fantasy book for grown-ups every week.  My list of possible choice has just expanded--here's the Locus 2012 recommended reading list.   The only one I've heard of is Boneland, by Alan Garner, which has been in the house for months and which my husband says is brilliant....

The Brown Bookshelf is once again celebrating Black History Month with 28 Days Later--every day a different author or illustrator is featured.  And today's entry has just added another book to my tbr list--The Summer Prince, by Alaya Dawn Johnson.

A post in which I look for feminism in middle grade sci fi/fantasy

Will a fantasy book win the Newbery? A look at the stars (literally)

The winner of the Newbery Award will be announced Monday--and I have been spending much thought on the chances of a fantasy book winning.

Obvious contenders that have been mentioned many times in many places are Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz,  Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, and The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate.   Of these, Starry River is my favorite, and I'd be happy to see it win.

But what of the other fine fantasy books published this past year?

Elizabeth at Shelftalker posted her masterful list of all the books that got stars from the professional reviewers last year.   And I, in turn, have gone through and extracted the sci fi/fantasy titles.   Here they are, with my commentary in italics:

SEVEN STARS --none.

SIX STARS-- none.
 
FIVE STARS--
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver (Harper)

Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz. (Candlewick)

Starry River of the Sky. Grace Lin. (Little, Brown)

There's two of the three mentioned above; I'm surprised that The Spindlers got so many--I found it a perfectly fine book, but not at all outstanding.

FOUR STARS
Who Could That Be at This Hour? Lemony Snicket, illus. by Seth. (Little, Brown)

It would be fun to see this with a shiny sticker on it, but unless this year's committee was very quirky, I can't see it happening.

THREE STARS

The Fire Chronicle (Books of Beginning #2). John Stephens. Knopf,

Greyhound of a Girl, A. Roddy Doyle. Abrams/Amulet

In a Glass Grimmly. Adam Gidwitz. Dutton

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny—Detectives Extraordinaire! Polly Horvath, illus. by
Sophie Blackall. Random/Schwartz & Wade

The One and Only Ivan,  Katherine Applegate, illus. by Patricia
Castelao. HarperCollins

The Seven Tales of Trinket, Shelley Moore Thomas, illus. by Dan
Craig. Farrar, Straus and Giroux

My own favorite of these is Greyhound of a Girl, but it's not eligible.   The Seven Tales of Trinket might be a dark horse in the race--I can imagine people agreeing to agree on it.  And there Ivan...which I didn't care for much myself, but those who love it seem to do so with a passion.   The people handing out stars this year seem to have appreciated humorous books--lots show up in the two star list too.

TWO STARS

The Brixen Witch,  Stacy DeKeyser, illus. by John Nickle. S & S, McElderry

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again. Frank Cottrell Boyce, illus. by
Joe Berger. Candlewick

Cold Cereal. Adam Rex. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There,
Catherynne M. Valente, illus. by Ana Juan. Feiwel and Friends

Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, The. Christopher Healy, illus. by
Todd Harris. HarperCollins/Walden Pond

Last Dragonslayer, The. Jasper Fforde. Harcourt

Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan. R.A. Spratt, illus. by Dan Santat.
Little, Brown

Oh No! Not Again! (Or How I Built a Time Machine to Save History) (Or
At Least My History Grade). Mac Barnett, illus. by Dan Santat.
Disney-Hyperion

On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave. Candace Fleming.
Random/Schwartz & Wade

Remarkable. Lizzie K. Foley. Dial

Summer and Bird. Katherine Catmull. Dutton

What Came from the Stars. Gary D. Schmidt. Clarion

Lots more humor--and The Last Dragonslayer, which I love but which isn't eligible.   I could easily see The Girl Who....coming home with something.   

ONE STAR

Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated. Gerald Morris, illus. by Aaron
Renier. Houghton Mifflin

Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent (The Father of Lies Chronicles).
Alan Early. Mercier Press

Bartholomew Biddle and the Very Big Wind. Gary Ross; illus. by Matthew
Myers. Candlewick

Castle of Shadows. Ellen Renner, illus. by Wilson Swain. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls. Claire LeGrand, illus. by
Sarah Watts. Simon & Schuster

Deadly Pink. Vivian Vande Velde. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Deadweather and Sunrise. Geoff Rodkey. Putnam

Dragonborn. Toby Forward. Bloomsbury

Earwig and the Witch. Diana Wynne Jones, illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky.
Greenwillow

The Empty City,  Erin Hunter. HarperCollins

The False Prince, Jennifer A. Nielsen. Scholastic Press

Five Nights to the Crimson Moon. Walter Renfrey. Walter Renfrey

Goblin Secrets. William Alexander. Margaret McElderry/S&S

Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange
Adventure. Lissa Evans. Sterling

Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book III: The Unseen Guest. Maryrose Wood. HarperCollins/Balzer and Bray

The Lost King, by Ursula Jones. Inside Pocket Publishing

Palace of Stone (Princess Academy). Shannon Hale. Bloomsbury

The Peculiar, Stefan Bachmann. Greenwillow

The Secret Prophecy, Herbie Brennan. Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins,

Ship of Souls. Zetta Elliott. AmazonEncore

Time Snatchers. Richard Ungar. Putnam.

The Traveling Restaurant: Jasper’s Voyage in Three Parts. Barbara
Else. Gecko Press

The Vengekeep Prophecies, Brian Farrey, illus. by Brett Helquist.
Harper

There are quite a few here I haven't read, mostly the ones that came out after October and so weren't part of my Cybils reading.   Of those I read, the two I like best that are eligible (Earwig and Horten aren't) are The Peculiar and The False Prince.  But I can't quite see them winning anything.   Betsy Bird really liked The Vengekeep Prophecies--"this is a standalone first novel that fulfills its promises and yet leaves you wanting more. In other words, the best kind of fantasy there is."  I will try to read it by Monday, so I can, if moved to do so, predict that it will win...

All of the 2012 books that I helped shortlist for the Cybils are on here--Ivan, The Peculiar, The False Prince, The Last Dragonslayer (Beswitched is 2011)-except for two.  Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, didn't get a star, which I think is too bad.  I'm not saying I think it should get anything on Monday, but it should have gotten a star, so I'm glad we shortlisted it and showed it some love.  Likewise, The Cabinet of Earths is a really rich and tasty fantasy that should have been starred.  Much more interesting and better written (in my opinion) than some that did get stars....I could see this one with an honor, perhaps, maybe....

Conclusion:  My money is currently on Starry River to represent for mg sff.  What do you think?

This Week's Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction Round-up (!/6/2013)

 Welcome to the first mg sff round up of 2013!  In case anyone is new to these posts, what I do is read skim as many blogs as I can, looking for reviews of mg sff, so that I can gather them all together in one easily found place so that fellow fans of the genre can enjoy them.   Please let me know, this week, or any week, if you have a post for me, or if I missed a post by you or your loved ones.

The Big News:

The Cybils Shortlists have been announced, and here are the lovely books us first round mg sff panelists came up with!  (click here to see the blurbs we wrote for them)

Beswitched by Kate Saunders
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung
The Cabinet of Earths by Anne Nesbet
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

The Reviews:

The Aviary, by Kathleen O’Dell, at Beyond Books

The Cup and the Crown, by Diane Stanley, at Kid Lit Geek

Elliot and the Goblin War, by Jennifer Nielsen, at My Precious

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Bookends and Literate Lives

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Ex Libris

Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling--Michael Morpurgo at The Guardian

Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Karissa's Reading Review

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Challenging the Bookworm

Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Stacked

The Path of Beasts, by Lian Tanner, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at books4yourkids 

Pip and the Wood Witch Curse, by Chris Mould, at Charlotte's Library

Posiden and the Sea of Fury, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at The Write Path

Shadow Breakers, by Daniel Blythe, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Spirit Fighter, by Jay Law, at Challenging the Bookworm

Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Who Could That Be At This Hour? by Lemony Snickett, at Biblio File 

Two fantasy moth books--Margaret and the Moth Tree, by Brit Trogan and Kari Trogan, and The Grey Ghost, by Julie Hahnke, at Charlotte's Library

Other Good Stuff:

At From the Mixed Up Files, Sayantani DasGupta asks--Is there a shortage of girls in mg sff?  I think not, myself, and the comments are full of recommendations.  Watching the books I'm offering to my own young fantasy reader, I'm rather thrilled to see how many books with central characters who are girls he's loving, and I think that if you want your boy to "read girls," mgsff is your best bet.  Followed by graphic novels.

Which is illustrated by my own look at the mg sff sequels and series continuators coming out this spring--6 star girls (one being a girl dragon) and 3 star boys.

For those interested in diversity in mg sff--here's my round up of all the 2012 books I found whose central protagonists aren't white kids.

It would actually take 2.5 million seagulls to lift the Giant Peach (via The Guardian).   Logistically challenging.

My favorite books of 2012, and the Cybils shortlists

I waited until today to share my favorite books of 2012, partly because I was reading right up to the wire, and partly so as not to inadvertently give away anything about the Cybils shortlist for mg sff.  Now the shortlists are up!

Here's what we shortlisted (and boy, was it a stuggle to limit it to seven out of the grand total of 151 books nominated!)

Beswitched by Kate Saunders
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung
The Cabinet of Earths by Anne Nesbet
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

I have no idea which is going to win, and I don't envy the second round panelists their job!  For the full blurbs of our shortlist, and all the other fine shortlists, head over to the Cybils site!

On to my own favorite books.

For the first time in my life, I tried to keep track of the number of books I read in a whole year, using Goodreads.  I finished at least 312 books (not including picture books or graphic novels), which is about what I expected, given all the other distractions in my life.  In the process of recording, I did, however, surprise myself by realizing for the first time how many books I start but don't finish (I didn't keep exact track, but it was easily 100).   Of all the books I read, only nine were re-reads (thanks to the influx of books to review, and to the Cybils, and to so many recommendations from other bloggers!)  Although it's fun reading new books, this makes me a bit sad, because being a re-reader is part of my self-image.  Rather than consuming books and moving on, like a brush fire, I want to surround myself with books I love, and keep them for future warmth.

So these are my favorites of the books that I read in 2012 that I have kept to read again (not counting the already re-read).  Which is a very personal thing, so this list isn't at all the same as a list of books that I'd argue were the "best," or the books I'd recommend most heartily. 

 

The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde.  Utterly satisfying magical fun.

Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green. Best doll house furniture of the decade. Good fox too. Other things as well.

The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater.   I will want to read this again just before reading the next one!

Summer of the Mariposas, by Guadalupe Garcia McCall.  Sisters!  Plus new to me mythology and and a setting and context that was utterly fascinating.

House of Shadows, by Rachel Neumeier.   I think I will enjoy it even more on re-reading, because of soothingly knowing what's going to happen!

Caterpillar Hall, by Anne Barrett.   A beautiful comfort read that I should have read in my childhood so that I could already have had the pleasure of re-reading it many times.

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen.   I love Sage, and can't wait for the sequel.

The Sherwood Ring, by Elizabeth Marie Pope.   I put this one off for years, because of not really liking the 18th century.  Silly me!

(just for my own record keeping, I reviewed 144ish books, not including picture books or easy graphic novels).

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy from around the blogs (Nov. 18, 2012)

Welcome to another week of what I found in my blog reading of interest to fans of mg sff!  Please let me know if I missed your post.

The Reviews:

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Book Nut

The Boneshaker, by Kate Coombs, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Brightworking, by Paul B. Thompson, at Semicolon

The Coming of the Dragon, by Rebecca Barnhouse, at Chachic's Book Nook

Constable and Toop, by Gareth P. Jones, at The Book Zone

The Cup and the Crown, by Diane Stanley, at Book Nut 

Darkbeast, by Morgan Keyes, at Semicolon

The Drowned Vault, by N.D. Wilson, at Book Nut 

Gravediggers: Mountain of Bones, by Christopher Krovatin, at Geo Librarian

Here Where the Sunbeams Are Green, by Helen Phillips, at My Precious

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Jean Little Library

Horten's Incredible Illusions, by Lissa Evans, at Challenging the Bookworm

Ivy's Ever After, by Dawn Lairamore, at 300 Pages

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at A Library Mama

The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, at Tales of the Marvelous

Malcolm at Midnight, by W.H. Beck, at Page in Training

Margaret and the Moth Tree, by Brit Trogen and Kari Trogen, at Book Nut 

Max Quick: The Pocket and the Pendant, by Mark Jeffrey, at Time Travel Times Two 

Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, at Leaf's Reviews

The Ordinary Princess, by M.M. Kaye, at The Book Smugglers

Princess of the Silver Woods, by Jessica Day George, at Karissa's Reading Review (labeled YA, but I've always thought George's princess books were perfect for upper mg)

Sammy Feral's Diaries of Weird, by Eleanor Hawkin, at Nayu's Reading Corner

The Seven Tales of Trinket, by Shelley Moore Thomas, at Semicolon

The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, by Nikki Loftin, at Charlotte's Library

The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at Challenging the Bookworm and Lily's Book Blog

Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Sharon the Librarian

Whatever After: Fairest of All, by Sarah Mlynowski, at Semicolon

The Whispering House, by Rebecca Wade, and A Greyhound of a Girl, by Roddy Doyle, at Semicolon

Authors and Interviews

Helen Phillips (Here Where the Sunbeams are Green) at From the Mixed Up Files

A video clip of M.T. Anderson talking about  Wardrobes and Rabbit Holes: A Dark History of Children’s Literature can be seen at Fuse #8

Other Good Stuff

The books for 2013's World Book Night have been announced--representing mg sff are The Phantom Tollbooth and The Lightning Thief.

Hobbit tourism in New Zealand, at the Guardian

Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, wins the National Book Award

U is for Unicorn, with Katherine Roberts, at Scribble City Central

And just because nothing says Thanksgiving like cute hedgehogs (?), here's a festive dessert idea from The Cupcake Blog:

Another week's worth of Middle Grade Speculative Fiction links, rounded-up for your reading pleasure!

Please let me know if by some horrible chance I failed to link to your post, or to the posts of your loved ones.

The Reviews

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Semicolon

The Borrowers, by Mary Norton, at Reading To Know

Down the Mysterly River, by Bill Willingham, at Fyrefly's Book Blog

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, Catherynne M. Valente, at Tales of the Marvelous 

Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at The Book Smugglers

Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins, at Quirky Bookworm

Grimm Tales, by Philip Pullman, at The Telegraph

The Hidden Gallery, by Maryrose Wood, at Confessions of a Bibliovore 

Island of Silence, by Lisa McMann, at Michelle Mason

The Maelstrom (The Tapestry Book 4), by Henry H. Neff, at The Write Path

Margaret and the Moth Tree, Kari and Brit Trogen, at Jean Little Library 

The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at Guys Lit Wire

Monsters on the March (Scary School 2) by Derek the Ghost, at Good Books and Good Wine 

Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plot, by R.A. Spratt, at Semicolon

On the Day I Died, Candace Fleming,  Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Semicolon

The Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda, at Charlotte's Library

Seeing Cinderella, by Jenny Lundquist, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Shadow of the Hawk, by Curtis Jobling, at In Bed With Books

The Sixty-eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone, at Wandering Librarians

The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at The Musings of ALMYBNENR and Charlotte's Library

Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at Sonderbooks

Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Books Beside My Bed 

Time Snatchers, by Richard Ungar, at Semicolon

The Time-Travelling Fashionista at the Palace of Marie Antoinette, by Bianca Turetsky, at BooksYALove

Troll Hunters, by Michael Dahl, at The Book Monsters

User Unfriendly, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Books & Other Thoughts

Verdigris Deep (aka Well Witched in the US), by Frances Hardinge, at The Book Smugglers

What Came from the Stars, by Gary Schmidt, at Waking Brain Cells, and a chat review at Reads for Keeps

The Whispering House, by Rebecca Wade, at Charlotte's Library


Authors and Interviews

Cornelia Funke (Ghost Knight) at The Telegraph

Adam Gidwitz (In a Glass Grimmly) talks spooky fairy tales at Educating Alice 

Nikki Loftin (The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy) at Cynsations

Marissa Moss (Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris) at A Backwards Story

Jennifer Nielsen (The False Prince) at A Thousand Wrongs (giveaway)

Craig Everett (Toby Gold and the Secret Fortune) at A Thousand Wrongs (giveaway)


Other Good Stuff 

R is for Ravana at Scribble City Central, with Sarwat Chadda

How cool is it to use lego minifigures in your book trailer? Here's one at Cynsations for Chronal Engine that does just that, plus a giveway of the book.

A lovely list of time travel book series for kids at Time Travel Times Two

And a list of middle grade science fiction at Educating Alice, that inspired me to make my own page of reviews.

Portal Fantasies--agents diss. them, writers and readers react (conversation starts at Dangerous Jam, with lots of comments, and continues at Making Light)  My take: the portal fantasy is alive and well in middle grade fantasy).

Neil Gaiman explains All Hallows Read at Tor

To mark 200 years of the Brothers Grimm, Germany has established a fairy tale route--over 375 miles of German castles, forests, and medieval towns.  Here's a review from the Guardian.

Cybils nominations--looking back at eligible books from 2011

So nominations for the Cybils are chugging along, and sixty some books have been nominated in the middle grade sci fi/fantasy category, and over ten mg sci fi/fantasy books have been nominated in other categories....but still there are important and interesting books missing.

Now, I am not a fiercely, desperately competitive and neurotic person and I don't every year get saddened by the fact that more YA sci fi/fantasy books get nominated than middle grade ones and I don't write frantic posts saying ACK! These books haven't been nominated and I don't obsessively check just about every hour to see if any new books have made it onto the mg sff Cybils list.  (Kidding.  I am and I do).

This year some of the pressure is off me because publishers get to do a bit of filling in the blank at the end.  So this is not a frantic, hysterical post; it is a calm and reflective post, in which I look back at November and December of 2011 to see what books came out then that haven't been nominated yet.

It used to be that there was a great website that listed books by their release date, and I used to go through these lists and cull the middle grade and YA sci fi/fantasy books into lists I shared here.  But it went dark in March.   Still, the November (part a and part b) and December lists (part a and part b) are there....So if you haven't nominated, take a look and see if you are reminded of a beloved book, and if looking back at those lists reminds you of a YA title you want to nominate, I guess that's ok too.

I didn't actually read as many of these as I would have thought I might have, but here are some that look interesting to me personally, and some I read and liked:

MOUSENET by Prudence Breitrose

BESWITCHED by Kate Saunders (now nominated!)

THE FUTURE DOOR: NO PLACE LIKE HOLMES by Jason Lethcoe
 
THE GRAVE ROBBERS OF GENGHIS KHAN: CHILDREN OF THE LAMP by P.B. Kerr 

 LITTLE WOMEN AND ME by Lauren Baratz-Logsted 

MADAME PAMPLEMOUSSE AND THE ENCHANTED SWEET SHOP by Rupert Kingfisher

THE OUTCASTS: BROTHERBAND CHRONICLES by John Flanagan

 SNOW IN SUMMER: FAIREST OF THEM ALL by Jane Yolen (now nominated)

 THE TWILIGHT CIRCUS: WOLVEN by Di Toft

(and here are some books from Jan-March) 

This Sunday's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (8/19/2012)

Here's what I learned this week: wall paper is not easier than plastering and painting. Unless your house is new. This is why I am late getting this up.

Here's what I found in my blog reading this week--please let me know if I missed your post or the posts of your loved ones!

The Reviews:

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Fantastic Reads

The Brixen Witch, by Stacy DeKeyser, at Charlotte's Library

The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at A Thousand Wrongs

Claws, by Mike and Rachel Grinti, at Charlotte's Library

Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg, book 1), by Geoff Rodkey, at Mister K Reads

The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire, book 1) by Tui T. Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library

Earwig and the Witch, by Diana Wynne Jones, at library_mama

Gods and Warriors, by Michelle Paiva, at The Book Smugglers

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Sonderbooks

Invisible Fiends: The Beast, by Barry Hutchison, at Bart's Bookshelf

The Lost Conspiracy aka Gullstruck Island, by Frances Hardinge, at The Book Smugglers

Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, Reading Everywhere, A Patchwork of Books, Ms. Yingling Reads (and probably lots of other blogs, but time is too short for me to look for them today....)

Project Jackalope, by Emily Ecton, at Charlotte's Library

The Second Spy (Chronicles of Elsewhere, 3), by Jacqueline West, at Beyond Books

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at Confessions of a Bibliovore and Gina Carey

The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brockett, by John Boyne, at So Many Books, So Little Time

The Wednesdays, by Julie Bourbeau, at My Precious

The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer, at Beyond Books

Authors and Interviews

Alan Garner at The Guardian (including his hilarious first attempt to end The Moon of Gomrath!)

Greg Leitich Smith (Chronal Engine) at From the Mixed-Up Files (giveaway)

Margaret Peterson Haddix at Cynsations (giveaway)

Other Good Things:

A plethora of Peter Pans, at Read in a Single Sitting

Juliet Marillier talks Beauty and the Beast, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Because I love Zita the Space Girl, I'm passing on this Jolly Raffle link.

A fascinating interview with an Andre Norton Award Juror, at the Intergalactic Academy -- do read it!

This Sunday's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (7/8/2012)

Welcome to another week's engatherment of what I found in my blog reading pertaining to middle grade (ages 9-12) science fiction and fantasy. I myself haven't read much this week, as I am in the throes of dining room remodeling, so much so that my little one, who has been known to say, "I guess you love books more than you love your own little child," said "You have been working too hard. You should sit down and read." Truer words were never spoken.

But in any even, other people have been reading and reviewing. Please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Above World, by Jenn Reese, at A Backwards Story

Astronaut Academy, by Dave Roman, at Guys Lit Wire

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Readatouille

The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander, at Book Nut

The Boy Who Howled, by Timothy Powers, at Readatouille

Castle of Shadows, by Ellen Renner, at Cracking the Cover

Dragon Castle, by Joseph Bruchac, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Dragonbreath--Lair of the Bat Monster, and Revenge of the Horned Bunnies, by Ursula Vernon, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at The O.W.L.

The Filth Licker, by Christy Burne, at BooksYALove

Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at The Book Monsters

The Groosham Grange series, by Anthony Horowitz, at The Write Path

Half Upon a Time, by James Riley, at The Book Cellar

Heirs of Prophecy, by Michael A. Rothman, at From Tots to Teens

Kat, Incorrigible, and its sequel, Renegade Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Jean Little Library

The Kindling, by Brandon Bell, at A Casual Read and Geo Librarian

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer, at Gossamer Obsessions

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at The Dancing Reader

The Magic Tunnel, by Caroling D. Emerson, at Charlotte's Library

The Name of This Book is Secret, by Pseudonymous Bosch, at library_mama

Nation, by Terry Pratchett, at YA's the Word

The Princess and Curdie, by George MacDonald, at Becky's Book Reviews

Project Jackalope, by Emily Ecton, at books4yourkids

Scream Street: Flame of the Dragon, by Tommy Donbavand, at Wondrous Reads

The Serpent's Shadow, by Rick Riordan, at Beyond Books

Spellbound (The Books of Elsewhere), by Jacqueline West, at Book Nut

The Storm Makers, by Jennifer E. Smith, at Bookalicious

The Unseen Guest (Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place) by Maryrose Wood, at Book Nut

The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at Everyday Reading

Authors and Interviews

Timothy Powers (The Boy Who Howled) at Readatouille

Joanne Levy (Small Medium at Large) at The O.W.L.

Carolyn Turgeon (Next Full Moon) at Literary Rambles (plus giveaway)

Katie W. Stewart (The Dragon Box) at The Reading Cafe

Michael A. Rothman (Heirs of Prophecy) at It's Raining Books

Other Good Stuff

Hufflepuff pride--"Sorted This Way," from The Mary Sue

"G is for Grim" (as in Death Dog)--Susan Price (Ghost Drum) at Scribble City Central

The favorite fairy tale retellings of various bloggers, at Random Acts of Reading

I'm always on the lookout for new lists of multicultural sci fi/fantasy, and here's a nice one at This Blog Belongs to Emily Brown, and here's an article on why parents should read multicultural books to their kids (found via Waking Brian Cells)

Cold fantasy for a hot summer's day, at Charlotte's Library

A nice piece on Eva Ibbotson at The Telegraph (also found via Waking Brain Cells)

And finally, from NOAA: "No evidence for aquatic humanoids has ever been found."

Note: any commissions earned from anyone buying a book through the Book Depository link in my sidebar will be used to buy the condo next door, from which horribly loud rap music is currently issuing.