May 12 release of fantasy/science fiction for kids and teenagers

Here are the children's and YA fantasy and science fiction for today. As always, the blurbs are mostly lifted from Amazon, and the list comes from Teens Read Too (if anyone sees any I missed, please let me know!)

It is a great day for 9-12 year olds (and for some of the rest of us too):

Alien Feast (Chronicles of the First Invasion), by Michael Simmons. "Things are getting better with the alien invasion. Sure it’s still not too uncommon to come home and find your step-parents reduced to a pile of unsavory feet—but at least now with the disease killing the aliens off, you have a relatively decent chance of making it through a day.... William knows this first-hand, having lost both his step-parents, but when the aliens kidnap his long-time crush Sophie’s scientist parents (and the government won’t help) it’s up to William, Sophie, and William’s bizarre Uncle Maynard to save them…and perhaps the rest of the world while they are at it. A hysterically twisted adventure that will knock your feet off!"

The Beast of Blackslope (The Sherlock Files), by Tracy Barrett. "Xena and Xander have been looking forward to their vacation in the peaceful country village of Blackslope. But when a huge monster begins to terrorize the town, the young detectives are faced with a mystery that seems impossible to solve. Sherlock Holmes, Xena and Xander’s famous ancestor, investigated the case of a horrible beast in Blackslope, but that was nearly a hundred years ago. It couldn’t be the same creature after all this time—could it?"

Darkwood, by M.E. Breen. "Darkness falls so quickly in Howland that the people there have no word for evening. One minute the sky is light, the next minute it is black. But darkness comes in other forms, too, and for thirteen-year-old Annie, the misery she endures in her Uncle’s household makes the black of night seem almost soothing. When Annie escapes, her route takes her first to a dangerous mine where a precious stone is being stolen by an enemy of the king, and later to the king’s own halls, where a figure from Annie’s past makes a startling appearance. All the while, reported sightings of kinderstalk— mysterious, wolf-like creatures that prowl Howland’s dark forests—grow more frequent."

Dragon Spear, by Jessica Day George. "As far as Creel is concerned, all is finally right with the world. The dragon king, Shardas, and his queen, Velika, have made a home for themselves on the Far Islands, and for the first time in centuries it seems dragons and humans might be able to live together in peace. So what better time for Creel and Luka to plan their wedding. But then Velika gets kidnapped by a band of rogue dragons in need of their own queen. And Creel and Luka leap to aid Shardas and rescue her—only to discover that Luka’s father has set his sights on taking back the Far Islands from the dragons."

The Magic Thief: Lost, by Sarah Prineas. Conn, the hero of The Magic Thief, is back in a second great adventure. "Conn may only be a wizard's apprentice, but even he knows it's dangerous to play with fire . . . especially around magic. His master, Nevery, warns him that it could all blow up in his face. Besides, they have bigger problems to deal with. There is evil afoot in the city of Wellmet, an evil that isn't human. But Conn is drawn to the murmurs he hears every time he sets off an explosion—something is trying to talk to him, to warn him. When none of the wizards listen, Conn takes matters into his own hands. His quest to protect everything he loves brings him face-to-face with a powerful sorcerer-king and a treachery beyond even his vivid imagination." Here's my review.

Operation Storm City: The Guild of Specialists Book 3, by Joseph Mowll. "Deep in the Sinkiang Desert in China, forces converge in the race to find Ur-Can — the fabled Storm City. Becca and Doug are desperate to reach the lost city and discover their parents’ fate, but enemies, old and new, threaten to arrive first and take control of the ancient machine located there. Can Doug and Becca solve the final mystery and stop the power-hungry General Pugachev from endangering the planet — or will they find their parents only to lose them forever? Weaving in maps, vintage photos, and gatefolds, this final adventure is filled with special features, including a foldout of a formidable zeppelin airship."

Seekers #3: Smoke Mountain, by Erin Hunter. "The burning Smoke Mountains are more treacherous than anything the bears have faced before, and tensions run high as they encounter obstacle after obstacle. A rushing river and hostile flat-faces separate them from their goal, and a bear is pushed to the brink of death. Signs and omens point in different directions, and the bears, though traveling together, must each follow his or her own star . . . causing one bear to leave the group forever. "

The Soldiers of Halla (Pendragon), by D. J. MacHale. "It has all been leading to this. Every victory. Every loss. All the thrills and sadness; the hope and despair. Bobby Pendragon's heart-pounding journey through time and space has brought him to this epic moment. He and his fellow Travelers must join forces for one last desperate battle against Saint Dane. At stake is not only the tenth and final territory, but all that ever was or will be. Everywhere. This is the war for Halla. Every question is answered. Every truth is revealed. The final battle has begun.

Winter Wood: Book 3 in the Touchstone Trilogy,by Steve Augarde. The third book of a series that began with The Various, about which I have heard much that is good, and that I really mean to read soon.





Young Adult:

The Burning: Triskellion 2, by Will Peterson. "After the shocking revelations in Triskellion, being guests of the "Hope Project" might seem like a relief. But Rachel and Adam soon figure out that they’re being held prisoner, and that the program has more sinister goals than archaeological research in mind. A hideous discovery at the funeral of their grandmother makes it clear that the teenagers must flee from England to Paris, Seville, and finally Morocco, evading not only their former benefactors but also the followers of "The Englishman," a zombie-like figure with a frightening agenda of his own."

Generation Dead: Kiss of Life, by Daniel Waters. Sequel to last year's Generation Dead. "Phoebe Kendall may be alive, but she feels just as lost and alone as her dead friends. Just when she reconciled herself to having feelings for a zombie -- her Homecoming date Tommy Williams -- her friend Adam is murdered taking a bullet that was meant for her. Things get even more confusing when Adam comes back from the grave. Now she has romantic interest in two dead boys; one who saved her life, and one she can't seem to live without."

Legacy of Blood, by Michael Ford. The Spartan Quest series continues with Lysander's next adventure, in which he and his comrades head off to bring an Italian trading port back into line. "In the heat of battle Lysander finds himself in front of the great statue in the main square, and is shocked to see that the figure is wearing the Fire of Ares. Is this Lysander’s ancestor? He must find out his connection to this town and its people, and in so doing reveal more of his mysterious heritage, hidden from him for so long."


And finally, here's a new release that's not fantasy or science fiction, but which I reviewed a few months ago: Hidden Voices: The Orphan Musicians of Venice, by Pat Lowery Collins.





A few more to come tomorrow. And come back around 6pm EST for today's Timeslip Tuesday...

Come to the Castle for Nonfiction Monday

Come to the Castle!: A Visit to a Castle in Thirteenth-Century England, by Linda Ashman, illustrated by S.D. Schindler (Roaring Brook Press, 2009), invites the reader to travel back in time to the late medieval ages, where the Earl of Daftwood is holding a grand fest.

What is pleasure for the earl, in his comfortable status as lord of the manor, is the opposite for those underneath him, and we see his servants (including the noble Privy Lord, the cook, the herald) scurrying to pull the party together. It isn't that much fun to be a knight, in an overheated tin can, either. But let the feast begin!

"Prepare the Great Hall-
The banquet's tonight!
Arrange the old trestles;
Drape them in white.

The goblets must sparkle,
The silver must shine.
Oh no, dear-don't wash them!
Some spit will do fine."

I've always had a penchant for the medieval, and so can't help but rave over the loveliness of the book design, illustrations, and illuminated initials that make this book a gorgeous physical object. It drew my boys to it instantly, and they were very taken with the pictures (full of detail) and they were very interested in the illuminated letters, which they had never seen before in a children's book (incidentally, these might be a challenge for the young independent reader, since they can be hard to figure out the first time through). And, of course, they were very taken with the illustration of the privy.

As the quote above illustrates, the book is told in verse. I was rather doubtful about this, because reading it to myself, the words seemed a tad forced. But reading it aloud to the boys, things moved much more swimmingly, and we enjoyed it a lot (although I never did fall quite in love with the words).

In short, a beautiful and educational book, great for reading aloud, and, I hope, inspiring young artists to draw their own more detailed fantastically medieval settings.

Here's another review, from Abby (the) Librarian, and a cool podcast at Just One More Book!

For more non-fiction books, visit the Non-Fiction Monday Roundup at Book Scoops!

Header art

For some time, I have been wanting a header that is pretty like other people's headers. Here is my first shot, lifted from a Hubble picture. I may be making further stabs at this (and most definitely tweaking the width of this one). I am rather fond the orange snail effect at the right, which was totally fortuitous.

Here's the original picture, N1808 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, from the HubbleSite Picture Album:



A long time can be spent looking at the HubbleSite Picture Album.

Dreamhunter, by Elizabeth Knox

A little while ago, Laini Taylor wrote enthusiastically about Dreamhunter, by Elizabeth Knox (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2006, 365 pp). Since I know and trust her opinions, I dutifully checked it out of the library, and enjoyed it very much.

Laura and Rose are cousins, raised like sisters on an island nation (vaguely New Zealand) off in the middle of nowhere, round about the early 1900s. Now that they have turned 15, they are eligible to try to cross into the Place, a dry, dead, realm of dust and ruins, that only a few can enter. In the Place, dreams can be caught, and shared with the sleep of others back in the real world. Crossing the boarder to hunt for dreams is a lucrative, but dangerous profession, as the lives of Rose's mother and Laura's father show. They are two of the first and greatest dream catchers, famous and wealthy. But Laura's father has learned things about the Place that have driven him to the brink of desperation, and he disappears the night before she is to try to enter it herself for the first time.

Laura passes through, leaving Rose behind. Nothing has changed in the place since her father's last visit--and Laura beings to dream the same dreams he had found there--nightmares that lead her to the dark secrets of Dreaming that corrupt members of the government are hiding. Laura, Rose, and Rose's father slowly begin to unravel the mystery of her father's disappearance, while Laura begins to learn that dreaming was not the only magical legacy her father left her. And at last Laura brings the dreams and the magic back with her, to challenge the real world...

I should have trusted Laini more, and had book 2 (Dreamquake) on hand, because just when things start reaching a boiling point, book 1 ends. And I didn't have book 2 yet bother bother.

And that's my main quibble with this book--I wouldn't have had it any shorter, but much of it does read like preamble to The Main Events, and so I think it might require a bit of patience for some readers. Adding to the preambe-lish feel were the numerous switches in points of view, that occasionally felt somewhat forced, in the author needing to share information sense. I myself, however, found dreamhunter Laura and school girl Rose such interesting characters, and the Place so compellingly creepy, that the only thing that required my patience was dealing pleasantly with interruptions. And now, of course, patiently waiting till I can get the second book.

This is one that I would recommend in particular to fans of Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series, or Jenny Davidson's The Explosionist-- ie, people who like period fiction that is almost realistic but with a fantastical difference and mysterious circumstance, and which involves school girls/15 year old former school girls who have headed off into Adventures Lives.

Gwenda Bond, at Shaken and Stirred, wrote about these books back in August of 2007, in a bid to get them the attention she thought they deserved. I just checked--no one in the entire state has Dreamquake or Dreamhunter checked out of the library (except me). I don't really expect the people of Rhode Island to be reading reviews from 2007, but don't they read Laini's blog????

Button Up! Wrinkled Ryhmes

Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes, by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Petra Mathers (Harcourt 2009) came my way recently when I was lucky enough to win a copy from Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect. This is an utterly delightful book of poems about clothes, from shoelaces to jammies to sweaters and more! All the items of clothing (sparkling characters, one and all) are worn by small animals (of equal charm).

Here's the first verse of one of my favorites:

"Emily's Undies"

We're Emily's undies
with laces and bow.
Emily shows us
wherever she goes.
She doesn't wear diapers,
not even to bed.
Now she wears undies
with ruffles instead.

(the second verse is even better).

Here's another favorite first verse, from "Jennifer's Shoes:"

We are Jennifer's shoes.
We came home in a box.
Now we go walking
when Jennifer walks.
When Jennifer walks,
we step out too-
one of Jennifer's feet
per shoe.

Gosh, I would like to keep going--these poems are so fun! The pictures are so engaging (Jennifer is a small mole child, Emily a mouse).

Thanks, Tricia, for this lovely book! (And if you visit her post here, you can read "Tanya's Old T-Shirt." Perhaps the best poem about an old T-shirt ever written for children!!!

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Picture Book of the Day.

Five favorite books for my son's last day as a five-year old

Today is the last day of my life that I will have a five-year old. The change from five to six seems huge to me--when you are six, you are truly no longer a squidgy baby...sigh.

In honor of this, here are the five books that my son loved the best this past year.

The Last Polar Bears, by Harry Horse. The story of Grandfather and Roo the dog's journey to the North Pole struck some deep chord in him, and he was tremendously taken by the humor of it. He is getting the other three books in this series tomorrow.




United Tweets of America: 50 State Birds Their Stories, Their Glories, by Hudson Talbott. An entertaining and informative book about state birds. On the one hand, it was gratifying that this Christmas gift was embraced so enthusiastically, and it's great that he's learned so much about the USA. On the other, I am so gosh darn sick of this book. I have read it about fifty times, and that is just too many. It still makes him laugh, however. Especially the cardinals.


The First Dog, by Jan Brett. The story of how paleowolf, hungry and looking for left-overs, became the first dog. He likes the humor of this one too.






GON (Book I of IV), by Masashi Tanaka. The fierce intensity of this small but powerful dinosaur appeals greatly.






And finally, one that isn't funny at all, but which was his favorite book last summer:

Let's Explore a River (Books for Young Explorers), by Jane McCauley. A photojournal of three children taking a trip down a river. Out of all the books in a lovely used bookstore in Vermont, this is what he wanted...




There were many others that he loved as well, but he keeps these five on his special shelf, face out, because he loves them best (except for Let's Explore a River, which he had forgotten about. After reading it more times than I wanted to, it is still fresh in my mind).

Amd tomorrow, he will be getting many more books...

Misc. pieces of paper, and other things

I have lost my most recent to be read list. I ran out of room on my previous one (here it is, the last time I scanned it, but more got added since):
and started a new one, tidy-like, with titles marching down the side of the page. Gone. So this morning I bravely started a new one, on the back of an envelope (First entry -- The Golden Age, by John Wright. Apparently very good sci fi). The envelope already had a picture of a rabbit, some things that look like lampshades, etc. and, curiously, a small note from myself: "Let's ask ourselves if this is something else." I didn't mean the bunny.

Probably it is something to do with the archaeology of place, about which I have been writing for the past few days. I give the envelope three days before I absentmindedly put it in the recycling bin. Here's another piece of paper from my desk, a 19th-century engraving (very romanticized) of the Native American fort I'm writing about.

But it doesn't matter, exactly, losing lists of books I might have loved, because I already have enough books to last for the several months of uninterrupted leisure that are not going to happen any time soon (my eight year old is now reading more every day than I am. This is not right, and obviously he needs more Chores). I have, however, begun to sort out an assemblage of books for Mother Reader's Annual 48 Hour Reading Challenge (for which I like to have about 25 books on hand, all of the light, tasty snack variety). It's coming up June 5-7, and is a lot of fun, with great prizes (although of course being a pious child I realize that it is the Love of Books and Friend etc etc that really matters.....perhaps). It would also be a prize in and of itself to move some of the books from my house to the library.

In other, more weighty, news, there's an online auction going on (of lovely things, bookish and otherwise) to raise funds to help a children's librarian and fellow blogger, Bridget Zinn.

And in other, non-weighty news, I got a blog award a little while ago, from Ashley at PikeAlicious Books, an award given to new blogs and blogging friends. Thanks Ashley!

So I am happy to pass it on to Kate, aka The Book Aunt, whose blog I have been meaning to put in my blog list for ages and I will go do that right now....

May 4th/5th new releases of childrens and YA fantasy/sci fi

Here are the new releases for May 4th and 5th. I continue to be stunned that so many of the books being published are science fiction or fantasy, mainly the latter (and if you want to see for yourself, the list from which I draw my own can be found here, at Teens Read Too).

I asked a little while ago if these lists were being enjoyed, and it seemed they were. But one faithful reader, my sister, has let me know she finds them boring, and that she prefers blogs that act as filters, recommending what is best instead of throwing the whole mass of books out there. And I know that I have not been filtering much, but this time of year I spend just about every free minute (all thirty six of them on an average weekday) working in the garden. Once everything is planted, I will be reviewing more. (In the meantime, I will make a random recommendation of The Hollow Kingdom, by Clare Dunkle, which isn't new (2003) but which is very good, and which I think my sister might like).

And now, the new releases, which I have decided to split by reader age.

9-12 Year Olds:

Dormia, by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski. "Alfonso Perplexon is an unusual sleeper. He climbs trees, raises falcons, even shoots deadly accurate arrows, all in his sleep..."




Freaky Monday, by Mary Rodgers and Heather Hatch. A student and her teacher switch places ala Freaky Friday.


Herbert's Wormhole, by Peter Nelson, illustrated by Rohitash Rao. A novel in cartoons. "This is a really cool story about our trip to the future. You're gonna love it because we're in it and it's got aliens and it's awesome." Going by the great review at Welcome to My Tweendom, I'm putting it on my eight year old's list.



Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart (The Knights of Arrethtrae), by Chuck Black.

YA:

Ghost Huntress Book 1: The Awakening, by Marley Gibson.

Cathy's Ring, by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman. Book three of the IF FOUND CALL 650-266-8202 series.

Dead Is So Last Year, by Marlene Perez. "Something very strange starts happening in Nightshade the summer that the eldest Giordano sister, Rose, gets a job working at Dr. Franken's research laboratory..."




Dragon's Heart: The Pit Dragon Chronicles, Volume Four, by Jane Yolen. Has anyone reading this read 1,2, or 3? Are they worth reading? Would I, or possibly my sister, like them?????

The Faerie Path #4: The Immortal Realm, by Frewin Jones. "...when a Faerie baby suddenly falls ill, followed by more and more Faeries—including her own sister Cordelia—Tania knows that something is terribly wrong. Ditto regarding vols. 1-3.

The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 5), by Rick Riordan.

The Plague, by Joanne Dahme. Historical fiction (medieval), but with a plot that I think, many fantasy readers might find appealing: "With the aid and protection of a quirky band of friends—a Spanish minstrel, a monk, a gravedigger, a band of merchants—Nell must evade not only the Black Prince, a practitioner of the dark arts, but the plague as well, as she fights to return to the King and country."


Wings, by Aprilynne Pike. "Fifteen-year-old Laurel has led a sheltered, homeschooled life in a very small town, so when her parents decide to move and enroll her in high school, she has trouble getting used to her new life. A life, as it turns out, that’s not at all like those of other kids. One clear sign is a winglike blossom that blooms on her back. Oh, and her new best friend, the scientifically minded David, reveals under a microscope that her cells are more plant than animal. But it takes an encounter at her old home with the handsome but decidedly different Tamani to convince her that she is a faerie." I'm looking forward to this one!

Edited to add:

Here's another, that I have seen called YA: Starfinder: Book One of the Skylords, by John Marco: "Steam trains and electricity are rapidly changing the world. Moth of Calio is obsessed with the airships developed by his friend Fiona’s grandfather Rendor, and dreams of taking to the air one day like his heroes, the Skyknights.But not everyone is happy to see humans reach the skies. For thousands of years, the mysterious and powerful race known as the Skylords have jealously guarded their heavenly domain. But Moth and Fiona are about to breach the magical boundary between the world of humans and the world of the Skylords."


The next lot comes out on May 12.

Gratification re The Magic Thief

So for several months I have been telling our children's librarian that she should read The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas. At last she did, and she loved it! She then chose it for next month's Share a Story book club (4th and 5th graders), and recommended it to the principal of our local elementary school. Who called her to say that she read it in one night, and loved it too! I am pleased.

So much so that I shall give the library the copy of Magic Thief: Lost that Harper Collins gave me, because come May 14th (the day after the book club meeting), there will be a lot of 4th and 5th graders in my corner of RI looking for it....and I feel a bit of an obligation to them.

My son has already decided that The Magic Thief will be the first book he reads when he turns nine. I think it will be just right for him. It is amazing to look back to last year, when I was worrying about his reading...today he has read of his own volition for two and a half hours, and he is reading more as I type. Now I have decided to be anxious about him not playing outside enough.

New science fiction/fantasy releases, May 1st edition

Another busy day today for science fiction and fantasy.

Arachnid: the Spider King (Beast Quest, No. 11), by Adam Blade. I've never read any Beast Quest books...perhaps when my eight-year old turns nine this summer, I'll get him book one.

Or perhaps this one:

Bella Balistica and the Forgotten Kingdom, Adam Guillain "A race for a map, a lost tomb, and tablets that could awake the forces of the gods take fiery spirit Bella Balistica on an exciting expedition to Turkey in this fast-paced, multicultural adventure." (It says May 1st at Amazon, but not yet available, so I dunno if this actually comes out today or not...). Sequel to Bella Balistica and the Temple of Tikal.

Beyond Corista (Shadowside Trilogy, The), by Robert Elmer.
"Oriannon, a very human-looking girl, has a very special gift: the ability to record what she sees and experiences like the hard drive of a computer." The third in a trilogy.

The Chronicles of Faerie: The Book of Dreams, by O.R. Melling "Dana Faolan, the spunky half-faerie heroine of The Light-Bearer’s Daughter, the third book in The Chronicles, has been using her access to the land of Faerie to escape the troubles of being a teenager in a new town. But a dark, mysterious enemy is determined to sever the two worlds forever, thus dooming both." Set in Canada, which adds interest, but there are several books that come before this one.

The Broken Thread, by Linda Smith. "Fifteen-year-old Alina comes from a long line of women who have gone to serve on the Isle of the Weavers, and she has always dreamed of doing the same." Based on the rest of the Amazon blurb, this one has gone on my list.



Cat Magic, by Holly Webb. "Lottie is happy to spend her time talking to the animals in the shop. Then one day, to her surprise, the animals start to talk back! Suddenly Lottie's summer is better than she could have dreamed - it's purr-fectly magical!"

The Dark Garden (Dark Man), by Peter Lancett "The Dark Garden" is part of an award-winning fiction series for young adults with a reading age as low as 5-7. Each book features Dark Man, a shadowy, brooding loner who has been recruited to play a part in a secret, cataclysmic struggle between good and evil.In "The Dark Garden", the Dark Man has been captured by the Shadow Masters. He hangs from a tree in a mysterious garden, his power drained. There is nothing he can do to break free. But in the moonlight, something moves. It is Claire. She has the power to turn moonlight into sunshine and bring the garden to life." Sounds intriguing. But what do they mean by that reading level bit? Fifth grader? Five year old?

Several books are coming out today in a series by Bill Myers called The Elijah Project, for 9-12 year olds.
On the Run (Elijah Project, The) Book 1. "Zach and his sister Piper are on the run, searching for their parents while protecting their little brother Elijah. Although he never speaks, there is something pure and supernatural about the boy that the powers of heaven want to protect and the powers of darkness want to destroy."
The Enemy Closes In (Book 2)
Trapped by Shadows (Book 3)
The Chamber of Lies (Book 4)

Crown Of Wizards (Secrets Of Droon Special Edition), by Tony Abbott. (9-12 year olds make out very well today). "Has Eric gone bad for good? The young wizard has joined forces with the villainous Moon Dragon, Gethwing, to seek out a magical artifact that will give them untold power." Never read any Droon books, no comment.

The Dark Planet (Atherton, Book 3), by Patrick Carman. I have heard very good things about this series, and intend, in my copious free time, to read them....

The Sisters Grimm: Book Seven: The Everafter War (Bk. 7), by Michael Buckley.

Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass, by Erica Kirov. For 9-12 year olds. "What would you do for an hourglass that stopped time?"

Guardian Of The Darkness (Moribito), by Nahoko Uehashi. Sequel to Gaurdian of the Spirit. "Balsa returns to her native Kanbal to clear the name of Jiguro, her dear mentor, who saved her life when she was six years old. But what should be a visit of truth and reconciliation becomes a fight for her life when she learns that Jiguro had been a member of King Rogsam's personal bodyguard. After Jiguro fled Kanbal with her, Rogsam sent the other bodyguards after them one by one--Jiguro's best friends, whom he had to kill to protect Balsa. Now, with the help of two Kanbalese children, Balsa must unwind the conspiracy surrounding Jiguro and the mystery of the Guardians of the Dark."

Memory's Gate (Time Thriller Trilogy), by Paul McCusker. The final episode of a YA trilogy.

Nightmare's Edge (Echoes from the Edge), by Bryan Davis. "Nathan Shepherd, in the company of his restored mother and two mysterious beings called supplicants, searches for his father in the land of dreams. With the collapse of the entire cosmos at hand, only his father holds the answers to what Nathan must do to save billions of lives."

The Princess Plot, by Kristen Boie. Perhaps not strictly speaking a fantasy, but close: "Jenna has just won the starring role in a film about a princess--sweet! In the wink of an eye, she's whisked off to a remote, romantic kingdom for the "shoot." But something's amiss: First, she finds out she bears an uncanny resemblance to the real princess, who has run away following the death of her father, the king. Then she learns that the conniving regent plans to use her to take control of the country, now being fought over by rebels. As the plot twists and turns, Jenna discovers just what she's made of--and just why she resembles the missing princess so much!"

Vamped, by Lucieene Diver. Vampire highschool fun!

The Demonata #8: Wolf Island, by Darren Shan.

Come back on May 4th for more!

Another release from April 28--Once a Princess, by Sherwood Smith

I am so sold:

Once a Princess (Sasharia En Garde)"contains a kick-butt mother-daughter team, a wicked king, a witty pirate with an unfortunate taste for neon colors, inept resistance fighters, a dreamy prince who gallops earnestly hither and yon, and a kick-butt princess in waiting."

I just discovered Sherwood Smith last fall, and am so happy to have done so. Jo Walton over at Tor has an interview up with her today, which is where I saw Once a Princess. It is a fascinating interview, by the way, with lots about world building, and writing, and publishing, and all those good things.

But that cover. I do not like that cover. I so deeply do not like that cover. If it weren't for the cover I would seriously consider buying this on spec as a mother's day gift (reading it myself first, of course, so as to be sure).

On May 1st, which would be tomorrow, the sequel comes out! Twice a Prince, it's called, and I do not think it is fair that he gets to keep his tummy covered. Although why bother to wear a shirt at all if you are going to expose that much chest.

Wonderous Strange, by Lesley Livingston

Just a quick commenting, not a real review, because this has already been out a while (and it has been waiting for me to review it for a while, and although it deserves reviews just as much as anyone else, time is short in spring. The crops need planting, etc.).

I'd already read Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely) when I approached Wondrous Strange, by Lesley Livingston (2008, HarperTeen, 327 pp), and as a result, I was uncertain. The plot sounded pretty similar--girl finds faerie destiny in urban setting with some bad faerie types trying to thwart her and her faerie/human romance. I was pleased to find that, plot aside, the two books very different in feel and texture, and that Wondrous Strange was a rather satisfying read in its own right. In fact, I would highly recommend this book to the 13 or so year old who hasn't yet begun reading paranormal romance/urban fantasy--I think this is a perfect introduction to those sub-genres. It is light-hearted and quite funny in places, which makes a nice change (I would like more bits of humor please, modern writers of YA fantasy), and it is not as Dark and Urban as many other books are. I liked the backdrop of the theatre, I liked the characters, and I liked the writing in a pleasant read kind of way.

Except that the male love interest is named Sonny. Why? Why was a child taken as a changeling by the Winter King named Sonny? Is it ironic, in that Sonny had no chance to be his parents' son? Also ironically, the name makes me think sun-burned farm boy (as unwintery as you can get in a name), and this is not right. I mean, Frosty would be wrong too, but what about something like "Seth?"

Other reviews can be found at The Book Zombie, Teen Book Reviews, and The Dreamer Reader.

New science fiction and fantasy releases of April 28

I'm a day late with these new releases, but what a day it was. There are several that I want very badly, several that seem to have a lot of appeal for the young teenage boy, and several that I think my own eight year old might enjoy lots. Incidentally, is anyone enjoying these lists that I have been putting up? I'd like to know, because it takes a while to do them...and please, if anyone knows of any I missed, or got wrong, or what have you, let me know!

(nb: blurbs lifted shamelessly from Amazon because I have not read a single one of these yet).

The Awakening (Darkest Powers, Book 2), by Kelley Armstrong. This is the sequel to The Summoning, a truly gripping story. I can't wait to read this one.

Council of Evil (Villain.net), by Andy Briggs. Jake clicked on "a mysterious Web site, Villain.net, that let him download powers like radioactivity and laser vision. Now he’s a superpowered global fugitive wanted for theft, kidnapping, blackmail . . . and the pending destruction of the planet. Not bad for a fourteen-year-old."

The Eternal Smile: Three Stories, by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by Derek Kirk Kim. Three graphic short stories, that intertwine: "In the first, a comic-fantasy adventure, a plucky young knight vanquishes monsters to win the princess’s love. In the second, a wacky cartoon spoof on Uncle Scrooge, a tycoon frog’s latest wealth-grabbing scheme leads him to create an entire religion around a mysterious smile in the sky. In the last, a lonely peon trapped in a humdrum working world falls prey to e-mail fraud." I haven't seen any buzz about this. Has there been any? It seems like it might be rather wonderful.

Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow, by James Rollins. "When a mysterious envelope arrives for Jake Ransom, he and his older sister, Kady, are plunged into a gripping chain of events. An artifact found by their parents—on the expedition from which they never returned—leads Jake and Kady to a strange world inhabited by a peculiar mix of long-lost civilizations, a world that may hold the key to their parents' disappearance."

Keyholders #2: The Other Side of Magic, by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones. Sequel to This Side of Magic, this book (by the author of the Bailey School Kids series) is set in Morgantown, a town on the border between the real world and the magical world. "Natalie is surprised to learn from her neighbor, Mr. Leery, that her classmates Penny and Luke are apprentice Keyholders. A Keyholder’s job is to guard the border between the real world and the magical world. Natalie is even more surprised when she finds out that she could be a Keyholder too—if she forms a “link” with a rat named Buttercup. "

This looks like a series I might try on my eight-year old.


A Kiss in Time, by Alex Flinn, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, from the prince's point of view--only the "prince" is a modern teenager...





The Princess and the Bear, by Mette Ivie Harrison. I am very eager to read this one, the sequel to The Princess and the Hound.






Radiant Darkness, by Emily Whitman. A re-telling of the story of Persephone, with a twist. I want it!






Rise of the Heroes (Hero.com), by Andy Briggs (two books in one day!). "Toby, Pete, Lorna, and Emily are just average kids—until they stumble upon a Web site called Hero.com and download powers that turn them into superheroes. At first, flying, teleporting, and shooting lasers from their eyes seems like nothing but fun. But when the supervillain Doc Tempest kidnaps Toby and Lorna’s mom, things take a darker turn. "

Sea Monsters and Other Delicacies (Awfully Beastly Business), by David Sinden, Matthew Morgan, and Guy Macdonald. "When a sea monster arrives at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Beasts, Ulf the werewolf must risk his life to save it. But the evil Baron Marackai is back -- and beasts are on the menu! Can Ulf stop the cruel Beast Feast before he ends up as a tasty dessert himself?" Another I might try on my son.

Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia, by Cindy Pon. "No one wanted Ai Ling. And deep down she is relieved—despite the dishonor she has brought upon her family—to be unbetrothed and free, not some stranger's subservient bride banished to the inner quarters. But now, something is after her. Something terrifying—a force she cannot comprehend. And as pieces of the puzzle start to fit together, Ai Ling begins to understand that her journey to the Palace of Fragrant Dreams isn't only a quest to find her beloved father but a venture with stakes larger than she could have imagined." Another that's on my list.

Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter, by R. J. Anderson, yet another one I want-- "one young faery—Knife—is determined to find out where her people's magic has gone and try to get it back. Unlike her sisters, Knife is fierce and independent. She's not afraid of anything—not the vicious crows, the strict Faery Queen, or the fascinating humans living nearby. But when Knife disobeys the Faery Queen and befriends a human named Paul, her quest becomes more dangerous than she realizes. Can Knife trust Paul to help, or has she brought the faeries even closer to the brink of destruction?"

The Last Apprentice: The Spook's Tale: And Other Horrors, by James Delaney. Another series for 9-12 year olds, that "follows the terrifying adventures of the Spook's apprentice, Thomas Ward." I think I might read this series before putting them into my eight-year old's tender hands...sounds scary!

Which Ursula Le Guin to read first, plus "Another Story" by Le Guin, for Timeslip Tuesday

So Ursula Le Guin (perhaps my favorite author of all) has won the Nebula again, for Powers, and a commenter on my post about that asked which Le Guin would be a good one to start with. My husband and I talked about this on our way to work (he is also a fiercly loyal fan) and came up with two suggestions (if you have your own recommendation, please leave a comment!)

First would have to be A Wizard of Earthsea. This is as important a YA fantasy as they come, I think, the first book I know of to explore what happens when a boy goes off to wizarding school. Ged comes to the wizards' school on the island of Roke untrained and unlettered, but full of talent and eager to prove himself. Showing off his power one night, he unleashes a dark being stronger than his magic can contain, and is pursued by it through the archipelagos of Earthsea, until he decides to turn and be the pursuer himself. It is incredibly rich in details of character, place, and magic, and a cracking good read.

The cover at right is that on the first edition. Ged was written as being from a dark skinned people, and it has been a constant annoyance to Le Guin that this has never come across in any of covers or in the movie version (which has nothing much to do with the story in the book. Here's her take on it: A Whitewashed Earthsea: How the Sci Fi Channel wrecked my books).

Anyway, a Wizard of Earthsea is also a good place to start because it is the first of a series, and there are lots of very nice books that come after it.

My second recommendation would be The Dispossessed (1974), which won both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards in 1975. It explores the life of Shevek, a brilliant mathematician on a planet colonized by idealists who have eschewed all personal property. Shevek's discovery of a way in which communications can pass through space instantaneously puts him at odds with factions of on his own planet, who are afraid of change, and takes him back to the planet from which his ancestors fled. There he must negotiate a society of property and inequality that wants desperately to possess what he has to give. This is an extraordinary book. It is a brilliant portrayal of communal life in a would-be utopian society (the book is subtitled An Ambiguous Utopia), on a planet with a marginal atmosphere, and Shevek is an unforgettable character--the ultimate idealist/intellectual/loner/dreamer/husband/father. I think I have made it sound kind of unexciting, but it is a gripping read and I love it dearly and I think everyone should read it.

And now here is an Ursula Le Guin story of time travel--"Another Story," published in 1994 in an anthology entitled A Fisherman of the Inland Sea.

On the planet of O, Deo grows up listening to his mother tell stories from her childhood on Earth. His favorite is the story of the fisherman, who leaves his family for the sea king's daughter. After one night, maybe more, he leaves her to return to land, only to find that many years have passed, and everyone he loved has died. Growing up, he reliazes that this is her own story- her family on Earth grew old while she traveled away from home, through light years of space.

He himself chooses to follow the same path, leaving his beloved family to study on Hain, a planet not quite so far away. It is, in fact, close enough that when, after a few years, he returns for a visit, only a decade has passed, and those he loves, including his dearest friend Sidi, are still themselves. They are older, Sidi is married, their lives have gone on much further than his.

But back on Hain, Deo and his teachers are coming close to a technology that will allow travel through space without time displacement, and Deo volunteers to try to use it to journey home. He does, and he doesn't make it back. Instead of arriving when he left Hain, he slips back through time to his first journey away from home, and his life, and Sidi's, become another story.

It's a lovely story. It is full of the anthropology that Le Guin does so well (on O, every marriage involves four people); in fact, some might find that there is a bit too much on the customs of that place, and not enough Action. But I myself like the carefully constructed world that is the backdrop for Deo's emotionally intense journey. The resonance of paths that we could have taken, the chance to go back and take them again, makes this one of my favorite of Le Guin's stories.

Nebula Awards Announced--Powers by Le Guin wins!

Oh my gosh. I am stunned by the news that Powers (Annals of the Western Shore), by Ursula Le Guin--a YA novel, character driven and gently paced--has won the Nebula. My money was on The Name of the Wind all the way, which was on the longer list for the Nebula this year, but not the final ballot. *


Is this the first time a YA book has won the best novel award? I'm very pleased, because I love Le Guin in general, and am happy every time she gets recognition, but since I think that the second book in this series, Voices, is much better, I'm a little mmph-ish.

The Andre Norton Award, which specifically is awarded for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, went to Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room), by Ysabeau Wilce.

*edited to add--here is what Le Guin said about The Name of the Wind: "It is a rare and great pleasure to find a fantasist writing not only with the kind of accuracy of language absolutely essential to fantasy-making, but with real music in the words as well. Wherever Pat Rothfuss goes with the big story that begins with The Name of the Wind, he'll carry us with him as a good singer carries us through a song."

The Magic Thief: Lost

The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas (Harper Collins), was one of my favorite books of 2008. It was one of the first books I read for the Cybils last fall, and it stayed firmly in the small group of books I was determined to push onto our final shortlist. Happily, no pushing was required.

Here's the blurb I wrote for the Cybils website:

"This fast-paced, fun, and engrossing story tells of a young thief who has survived on the strange streets of Wellmet alone, thanks to his quick hands and quick wits. But when Conn picks the pocket of the wizard Nevery, and pulls out the stone that is the locus of Nevery's magic, his life changes. As the wizard's new apprentice, Conn has only thirty days to find his own locus magicalicus, or lose his new status. Much worse is the fact that someone, or something, is sucking the magic out of Wellmet, and Conn has to use every bit of his quickness, and every bit of his new-found magic, to defeat the Magic Thief. A great adventure, with great characters!"

And so when book number two, The Magic Thief: Lost(coming May 12), arrived at my door courtesy of Harper Collins (thanks!), I felt delight, and a tinge of trepidation. Would I enjoy it as much? Would Conn's utterly engaging voice still be there? Would the really swell cast of supporting characters continue to delight?

So I started reading....and enjoyed it no end.

At the end of Book 1, Conn's new-found locus magicalicus went up in smoke, so he's back to a nebulous status--still Nevery's apprentice, but no longer welcome at the school of magic. But Conn is convinced that he can still reach the magic of Wellmet, if only he can find exactly the right combination of magically explosive ingredients. What with the creepy dark shadows turning people to stone in the night, and his own feeling that the magic needs him, he can't stop his incendiary experiments just because he might blow the house up and be exiled from Wellmet...

I will stop there, so as not to be spoilerish.

As I read, I would occasionally stick my head out of the book to ask myself why I was enjoying it so much. The brisk pace? The engaging characters, who are interesting because of what they say and do, without Prineas ever going into much authorial detail about their inner lives? The insertion of letters and journal entries from points of view of characters other than Conn, which I enjoyed very much? It's not the plot, qua plot, that hooks me, although I have no quarrel with it. I'm thinking that it is mainly because of Prineas' writing.

Here's an example, found just now by opening the book at random:

"His spell book was fat, held closed with a lock because it was bursting with paper markers and dried leaves and interesting bits of maps."

I find it charmingly immediate, while being full of backstory that we'll never know about (why the leaves? I try hard, myself, to keep organic matter out of my favorite books). It's friendly writing, if you know what I mean, without fancy-pants latinate vocabulary words, or overuse of adjectives and adverbs, or epically run-on descriptive sentences.

And so it's hard for me to imagine the fantasy-reading middle schooler who would not enjoy this series, and it makes great escapist pleasure reading for older readers too.

Disclaimer: Book 3 of the series (Magic Thief: Found) has been written and is in the works, and book 4 is coming along well, which is very nice. However, I was dismayed to read at Sarah Prineas' blog that Harper Collins has not yet agreed to publish book 4--they are waiting and seeing. Obviously, I want to read Book 4, and so want Book 2 to sell just as many copies as it can. But I am as certain as can be that I would have written the same review even if I hadn't known this.

Incidentally, the paperback of The Magic Thief has just been released, and includes Extras!

Appendix for those who have read Book 1:

Perhaps, like me, one of your favorite characters is Benet, the taciturn knitting henchman who bakes a mean biscuit. Here is a teaser from the second book:

"I caught a look at Benet's face. It was gray, and his lips were darker gray, and he was still as stone. He was stone. Nevery kept saying the spell, and I laid blankets over Benet." (page 81)

This was a very worrying part.

Shortlist for the 2009 Carnegie Awards

The press release for the Carnegie Awards calls these "seven outstanding ‘rites of passage’ novels." In all seven, the main characters are boys.

COSMIC, , by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Macmillan, age range 8+
BLACK RABBIT SUMMER, by Kevin Brooks (Puffin, age range 14+)
AIRMAN Eoin Colfer (Puffin, age range 9+)
BOG CHILD Siobhan Dowd (David Fickling Books, age range 12+)
OSTRICH BOYS Keith Gray (Definitions, age range 12+)
THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO Patrick Ness (Walker, age range 14+)
CREATURE OF THE NIGHT Kate Thompson (Bodley Head, age range: 14+)

I am particularly happy to see Airman on the list--this was one that impressed all of us on the Nominating Committee for the Cybils so much that it made our shortlist for that award, and it hasn't yet gotten the attention it deserves.

Here's the blurb that my co-panelist Amanda Feller, who blogs at the Shady Glade, wrote for the Cybils website:

"Conor Broekhart love of flying started when he was born in a falling hot air balloon at the 1878 Paris World Fair. Conor dreams of inventing the world's first airplane, a dream that is interrupted when he is accused and jailed for a crime he didn't commit. But Conor's not about to let the person truly responsible get away with it. A rousing adventure story with a sensible hero, with a dash of Jules Verne and The Count of Monte Cristo, Eoin Colfer's Airman will satisfy readers young and old alike."

Black Rabbit Summer and Ostrich Boys I have never heard of...

Here's the Guardian's take on it.

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass for Timeslip Tuesday

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass (Scholastic Press, 2009, 267pp, middle grade).

Amanda and Leo were born on the same day, in the same hospital. Their parents didn't know each other, and didn't particularly want to, but fate, helped by a mysterious old woman who's lived in their town for longer than anyone can remember, throws the children together. And Leo and Amanda spend birthday after birthday together, best friends.

The tenth birthday, however, was different. After it was over, Leo and Amanda weren't on speaking terms anymore. Now the eleventh birthday has come, the first where each kid is having a separate party. Amanda can't wait for it to be over with.

There's just one problem. The next day it's her eleventh birthday all over again.

Trapped in a daily time shift, Amanda slowly starts to push at the borders of temporal inevitability--at first reluctant to change anything, she gradually grows more confident in her daily exploration of her eleventh birthday. When she realizes that Leo too is repeating that particular day, together they set out to mend their friendship, and decide to push the boundaries of what they can do (Amanda, for instance, auditions as a drummer for a local rock band, Leo reads poetry at the open mic event at the local senior center). With every night washing out the consequences of the day before, life is whatever they want to make of it. But even the best birthday grows old, and so they set out to find the strange old woman who they suspect might have the solution to the time trap they have fallen into.

This is a beautifully realistic book, with the angsts of eleven-year old life front and center, but it is also a beautifully magical book, a what-if story of the nicest sort, that leaves the reader with lots to day-dream about. This dualistic nature might annoy the middle grade reader set on reading Fantasy (the consequences of the fantasy are explored much more fully than the magic itself), or the one fixed on Realistic Fiction (who might find the magic an irritant), but I think it more likely that it would make a fun change for either. To borrow the criteria of one of the judges in the School Library Journal Battle of the Books, I think my child self would have enjoyed it quite a bit. My adult self found it a very pleasant book to read while recovering from the flu (except that I kept imagining reliving day after day of recovering from flu....)

Some other reviews can be found at Teen Lit Review, Welcome to my Tweendom, and A Year of Reading.

At the Guadian Book Blog, a new look at The Death of Grass

I've never read The Death of Grass, by John Christopher, which has just been re-issued. At the Guardian Book Blog, Sam Jordison, who did read it as a child, re-visits it, and finds it much, much scarier now that he's a grown up.

"As a boy, I read it primarily as an unusually dark, but highly unlikely imaginary game. Safe in my schoolroom, knowing that the cold war was winding down and blissfully unaware of the approaching recession of the early 1990s, Christopher's threats about A-bombs and food shortages seemed remote, even quaint. Now I have a family of my own and the cold winds of financial meltdown are beginning to bite, the desperation in The Death of Grass seems far closer."

I tended to avoid things that were disturbing as a child, but now, as an adult reading the slew of distopian, cataclysmically awful (plot, not writing) books that are so easy to find in the YA section, it's pretty easy to be anxious about the future.

Sci fi/fantasy releases on the 20th and 21st of April

The 20th has just one book The Reformed Vampire Support Group, by Catherine Jenks. Booklist described the cast of characters as "barely likable whiners and pathetic hand-wringers" but went on to praise the book's humor. I myself don't mind whining, but I do prefer likable whiners (my children come to mind)...so I might pass for the moment on this one (but see the enthusiastic recommendation in the comments).


The 21st, on the other hand, brings with it several books:

Bad Girls Don't Die, by Katie Alender. A spooky sounding story of ghostly possession--I want it!

Warriors: Power of Three #6: Sunrise, by Erin Hunter

Vampire Kisses: The Beginning, by Ellen Schreiber

And then, of course, there's Fragile Eternity (Wicked Lovely), by Melissa Marr. Many of us are looking forward to this. But did you know that she has begun a new series of graphic novels, set in the same universe, also releasing today?

Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales, Volume 1: Sanctuary, by Melissa Marr, illustrated by the Xian Nu Studio. From the Amazon blurb:

"The desert is far away from the schemes of the Faerie Courts—and that's how Rika likes it. Once a mortal and now a faery, Rika seeks isolation and revels in her ability to appear invisible to humans. Then, she meets him. Artistic and kind, Jayce is the last person Rika wants to hide from.

But change is coming, challenging Rika's freedom and her new romance, as her past pursues her, even into the heart of the desert. . . ."

The Shirley Jackson Awards short list

The Shirley Jackson Awards honor outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic. While I agree that "The Lottery" is an utter triumph of a short story, and The Haunting of Hill House is very scary, my favorites of Jackson's books are the two about her family (Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons), and if you are a parent and haven't read these yet, you should. As is true for the lives of so many of us with small children, there is suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic in plenty. They are very funny (even for those who don't have children).

I am not sure that can be said for any of the books on the awards shortlist:

• Alive in Necropolis, Doug Dorst (Riverhead Hardcover)


• The Man on the Ceiling, Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem (Wizards of the Coast Discoveries)


• Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory (Del Rey)


• The Resurrectionist, Jack O’Connell (Algonquin Books)


• The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (William Morrow)


• Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Knopf)

I am happy to see Tender Morsels getting another nod (which is the main reason I'm posting this), because I liked it very much, even though it is not, um, funny.

The awards will be presented on Sunday, July 12th 2009, at Readercon 20, Conference on Imaginative Literature, in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Another award presented at Readercon is the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award. From the Science Fiction Awards Watch website:

Winner receives

Recognition at last.

Submissions method

None, but it helps to have been forgotten.

Slob, by Ellen Potter

Slob, by Ellen Potter (May 14, 2009, Philomel Books, 197 pp)

Every day, 12-year old Owen gets three oreo cookies in his lunch. They give him a moment of bliss, no matter how bad the school day. Even though he would rather eat a whole package, he's smart enough (with an IQ just shy of genius), to know that he's plenty fat already. It's hard for him to forget, what with the constant reminders from his sadistic gym teacher and sundry classmates. But his cookies comfort him.

At home, more comfort comes from his work on Nemesis, a mass of tangled wire coils and hardware that Owen and his little sister have scavenged from demolition sites. Nemesis, if successful, will let him watch what was shown on television on a certain night two years ago. When he wasn't fat.

Then one day someone takes the oreos from his lunch box. And it happens again, and again. The obvious suspect is the new kid, the one with the scary scar, rumored to have a switchblade in his sock. Owen decides it is time to take action...

Although Owen, an engrossing and sympathetic narrator, is front and center, his little sister, Jeremy, has an engrossing and powerful sub-plot of her own. She is, in fact, one of the most engaging fictional little sisters I've encountered for a while, and her presence in the book adds a lot.

Slob isn't "a story about a fat boy," although Owen is fat. Nor it is about the misery of middle school, although that is there too. It is much more, and Potter does an incredibly skillful job moving delicately from the mystery of the cookies to larger story arcs of love and loss and growing up. (It made me cry a bit at the end).

Other reviews can be found at Kids Lit and Bookshelves of Doom.