Every week, I scour the blogs (at least, those that are in my reader, a list that is getting longer and longer) to extract posts of interest to fans of middle grade fantasy and science fiction. Here's what I found this week (please let me know if I missed your post, or the posts of your friends and family! Send me links at any time during the week!)
But first. Nominations for
the Cybils close on the fifteenth of October. Many fine books have been put forward in middle grade sci fi/fantasy, but I've pulled together
a list of books that haven't been nominated, just to remind people who might love them passionately that they aren't on the list yet.
The Reviews:Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel, at
The Secret Adventures of Writer GirlThe Apothecary, by Malie Meloy, at
Karissa's Reading Review,
Shall Write, and
Boomerang BooksA Beautiful Friendship, by David Weber, at
Book Aunt (Kate, aka Book Aunt, wrote to tell me that this is a good one for middle grade readers, even though it's listed as YA, so here it is)
Behemoth, by Scott Westerfeld, at
YA BibliophileThe Blue Umbrella, by Mike Mason, at
Back to BooksBigger than a Breadbox, by Laurel Snyder, at
StackedBreadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at
A Backwards Story,
The Book Rat, Galley Smith, and
The Book SmugglersThe Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright, at
My Reading Frenzy,
Random Musings of a Bibliophile, and
There's a BookThe Crimson Shard, by Teresa Flavin, at
Nayu's Reading CornerDarwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact, by A.J. Hartley, at
Lucy Was RobbedDiamonds and Doom (The Raven Mysteries) by Marcus Sedgwick, at
Wondrous ReadsDown the Mysterly River, by Bill Willingham, at
The King of Elfland's Second CousinFlood and Fire, by Emily Diamond, at
Charlotte's LibraryThe House of Arden, by E. Nesbit, at
TorIcefall, by Matthew Kirby (it might not be fantasy, but it sure reads like it) at
Charlotte's Library,
Cracking the Cover,
Figment, and
Fuse #8The Inquisitor's Apprentice, by Chris Moriarty, at
Boing Boing and
The Scattered BookshelfLiesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at
Candace's Book Blog,
Karissa's Reading Review,
A Backwards Story, and
Reading VacationThe Obsidian Dagger: Being the Further Extraordinary Adventures of Horatio Lyle, by Catherine Webb, at
Bart's BookshelfSally's Bones, by MacKenzie Cadenhead, at
We Be ReadingSea of Trolls, by Nancy Farmer, at
One Librarian's Book ReviewsThe Secret War, by Matt Myklush, at
Reading VacationSecrets of the Crown, by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, at
Shannon Whitney MessengerThe Shadows (Books of Elsewhere 1), by Jacqueline West, at
Jean Little LibraryThe Storm Begins (History Keepers) by Damian Dibben, at
Nayu's Reading CornerA Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at
My Reading FrenzyThe White Assassin, by Hilary Wagner, at
Shannon Whitney MessengerAuthors and Interviews:Maile Meloy (The Appothecary) at
Boomerang BooksMatthew Kirby (Icefall) at
Cracking the CoverMargaret Peterson Haddix (who has a story in Guys Read: Thriller) at
Literary Asylum
R.A. Jones (The Obsidian Pebble) at
The O.W.L.Matt Myklush (The Secret War) at
Reading VacationClete Barrett Smith (Aliens on Vacation) at
The Enchanted InkpotTeresa Flavin (The Blackhope Enigma, and its sequel, The Crimson Shard, just released in the UK) at
Nayu's Reading VacationHilary Wagner (The White Assassin) at
Literary RamblesErin Mcguire (illustrator of Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu) at
A Backwards StoryPatrick Ness was on a blog tour to celebrate the US release of A Monster Calls; Tasha at
Waking Brian Cells was the last stop, and has the full list.
Anne Ursu (Breadcrumbs) was also on tour; here are some stops--
Galley Smith, at
Book Rat, and at
The Book Smugglers, where you can find more links.
And Galaxy Games, by Greg Fishbone, was also on tour--you can find the stops
here , and here's a guest post by Greg Fishbone at
Susan Kaye QuinnAt her blog,
Illustration Matters, Joan Charles talks about her work in progress--illustrating The Ice Castle, by Pendred Noyce.
Other good stuff:At
SF Signal, Simon Haynes (Hal Junior: The Secret Signal) asks "Where all the junior science fiction has gone"
The Canadian Children's Book Centre announced a new award:
The Monica Hughes Award will honour excellence in the children’s science fiction and fantasy genre and comes with a $5,000 cash prize which will be awarded annually beginning in October 2012. And the winner of the Canadian Children's Literature Award was Plain Kate, by Erin Bow (thanks to
Cynsations for the news).
You've probably heard this already, but
The Washington Post has announced that Rick Riordan will be working on a new series based on Norse mythology.