The Battle for Duncragglin, by Andrew H. Vanderwal

This Tuesday's timeslip is a new arrival to the genre-- The Battle for Duncragglin, by Andrew H. Vanderwal (Tunda Books, 2009, 310pp, middle grade). I would have pounced on this as a child--time travel to medieval Scotland!--and, in fact, I was rather eager to read it as an adult.

Twelve year old Alex has been raised by a reluctant uncle since the mysterious deaths of his parents. Now his uncle has decided to ship him off to an aunt in Scotland, who wants him even less. So little, in fact, that he never meets her--instead, he finds himself billeted at the home of a local farmer and his three children, two boys and a girl near his age. Like his own parents, their mother mysteriously disappeared.

The farm lies near a rocky coast, whose cliffs are guarded by the ruins of Duncragglin castle, the site of a bloody battle waged by the great Scottish rebel William Wallace. And beneath the castle, the stories say, are mysterious tunnels in the ground, from which no explorer returns. Naturally, the tunnels are forbidden, but the four children find the temptation irresistible, and one dark night they set off to see for themselves what secrets the underground labyrinth holds.

What they find is a mysterious chamber, covered with tangled carvings. Their exploration triggers a shift in the rocks, blocking the way they came, but creating a new passage. A passage that leads to 14th century Scotland.

There, in the past, Alex and his friends find themselves embroiled in the cause of William Wallace, fighting a brave campaign against the tyranny of the English. It is a grim past, full of the sad consequences of oppression and war. To continue his fight, Wallace must capture Duncragglin, and Alex realizes that the knowledge of the tunnels he and the others have brought from the future might be the key...and all the while, the children search the past for their lost parents.

This is the sort of timeslip where the past provides a colorful theatre for action and adventure. It is more a book for the battle-lover, whose heart races when the arrows start to fly, than it is for the romantic daydreamer (ie me), who likes best the timeslip stories that focus on character and intricate world building. Vanderwal's 14th-century Scotland remained somewhat two-dimensional to me (and I had a few quibbles, fact-wise--medieval Scottish peasants wouldn't have smoked pipes, for instance). I also had a hard time swallowing the time travel chamber, which exists without satisfactory explanation or context. It gave the whole time travel experience a slightly "choose your own adventure" feel, that I found unmagical.

But there is, as I said, plenty of action of a medieval kind:

"Alex crouched against the stone barrier of the elevated roadway with Annie and Katie. He knew they were still exposed to arrows from some of the archers, but hope they would be overlooked. Alex shielded Katie's body body with his. Annie lay beside him, her arms over her head and eyes squeezed tight.

It sounded like the end of the world. Screams, moans, and battle cries mingled; arrows clattered against the stones. Through the chaos, a soldier cried out from within one of the guard towers: "The gates! Open the gates! Sir James approaches with his men!" (p 264).

My favorite part, however, was toward the middle of the book, when the children are camped on their own by the shore. I like "children surviving outside alone" rather a lot as a plot line...and I wish there had been more of this!

In short, although this is not a book I loved myself, it's one I can imagine engaging young readers, happy to storm the castle along with Alex.

Fluorine for Non-Fiction Monday, and how a fictional chimp made me feel inadequate

For our recent train trip from Providence, RI to Washington D.C., I packed an enticing selection of books with which to entertain the boys. The winner, for most times read (coming and going) and depth of interest sustained, was Fluorine (Tom Jackson, 2004), one of a series called The Elements published by Benchmark Books (Marshall Cavendish). We poured over the diagram showing what happens when fluorine gas is added to uranium tetrafloride, were intrigued to learn that fluorine might become an ingrediant in artificial blood (sounds risky), and studied, as is our wont, the Periodic Table of Elements.

Being less scientifically minded than I might be, I posed challenging questions along the lines of "If you were an element, which element would you like to be?" I want to be one of the Nobel Gases, possibly Argon, in as much as I'm an introvert and don't react with others as much as more extroverted elements. Fluorine, for instance, is an incredibly pushy element--"It gets the girls," said my son, which led to a brisk discussion on the dangers of metaphors that incorporate gender stereotypes. And anyway, "Fluorine" sounds like a girl's name to me.

The Elements is a a fine series for non-fiction loving children, with human interest galore alongside the straight chemistry. It was not my idea to start checking them out, but my 8 year old has always had a passion for chemistry, and my 6 year old is happy to go along for the ride, so there we are (one of their most bitter public fights occurred at a library booksale, when they were 5 and 2, and both wanted a chemistry textbook--one because it was chemistry, the other because it was red). We are now reading Gold.

I feel very lucky to have children who like to learn, because it means I get to learn too, and no one is more aware of how much I don't know than I myself. The depth of my chemical ignorance was made clear to me when I first read The Uplift War, by David Brin, many years ago. In this book (an excellent story, incidentally), an "uplifted" female chimpanzee, who isn't considered especially intelligent or worthy of reproduction, manages to recognize the chemical formula for hemoglobin--C738H1166N812O203S2Fe--and saves the day. Not me. I can do H2O and CO2, but that's about it. I vaguely wonder if one reason I like fantasy better than science fiction is that it takes a lot more technological and scientific know-how to succeed as a science fiction character...Sigh. But if we keep on checking those element books out of the library, perhaps my children will be spared their mother's shame.

The Non-fiction Monday Roundup is at In Need of Chocolate today!

This week's new science fiction and fantasy for children and teenagers

Here are this week's (more or less) new releases of science fiction and fantasy for children and teenagers, taken, as ever, from Teens Read Too.

For 9-12 year olds:

Libyrinth, by Pearl North. "Haly is a Libyrarian, one of a group of people dedicated to preserving and protecting the knowledge passed down from the Ancients and stored in the endless maze of books known as the Libyrinth. But Haly has a secret: The books speak to her. When the threat of the rival Eradicants drives her from her home, Haly learns that things are not all she thinks they are. Taken prisoner by the Eradicants, who believe the written word to be evil, she sees the world through their eyes and comes to understand that they are not the book-burning monsters that she has known her entire life. The words of a young girl hiding in an attic—written hundreds of years before Haly’s birth—will spark the interest of her captors and begin the change necessary to end the conflict between the Eradicants and Libyrarians. With the help of her loyal companion Nod, a creature of the Libyrinth, Haly must mend the rift between the two groups before their war for knowledge destroys them all."

The Undrowned Child, by Michelle Lovric. "A captivating magical fantasy in a secret watery underworld, The Undrowned Child tells how eleven year old Teodora is swept into the storybook world of invisible children whose task is to save the dying city of Venice. Working alongside the mermaids Theodora's task is immense. Together can they save the city before the water destroys it?"

Young Adult:

Blue Moon: The Immortals, by Alyson Noel. Sequel to Evermore. "Just as Ever is learning everything she can about her new abilities as an immortal, initiated into the dark, seductive world by her beloved Damen, something terrible is happening to him. As Ever’s powers are increasing, Damen’s are fading—stricken by a mysterious illness that threatens his memory, his identity, his life. Desperate to save him, Ever travels to the mystical dimension of Summerland, uncovering not only the secrets of Damen’s past—the brutal, tortured history he hoped to keep hidden—but also an ancient text revealing the workings of time. With the approaching blue moon heralding her only window for travel, Ever is forced to decide between turning back the clock and saving her family from the accident that claimed them—or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows weaker each day..."

Eyes Like Stars: Theatre Illuminata, Act I, by Lisa Mantchev. "Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the actors of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family—and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known."




The Glittering Eye, by L.J. Adlington. "Shabti wakes in a barley field with nothing but a hoe in his hand and a head full of fragmented memories. A vicious master torments his days, working in the fields with no way of escape, until a hole suspended in mid-air, leads him to a room. Two shiny gold eyes glitter back at him. Questions. Who is he? And to where does this room lead? Amy arrives in Egypt to join her archaeologist father on an excavation. All around her tombs are unearthed, opened, entered. Left to her own devices, Amy discovers a rock. But not just any rock. A great tawny cat stares back at her from its smooth surface, its shiny gold eyes glittering. Questions. Where did it come from? And what should she do now? When past, present and future collide, it's clear that some things are best left buried..."

Monster's Proof, by Richard Lewis. "Livey Ell is the only normal person in a family of geniuses. She's a cheerleader with an absentminded professor father and a math genius of a little brother, and she's sure that life couldn't get any weirder than it already is. But when her little brother, Darby, brings his childhood imaginary friend Bob to life through a mathematical proof, things start to get really strange. Bob, a creature of pure math, hates chaos and disorder in any form. And as his power grows stronger, he becomes determined to fix our disorderly world in any way possible. But that's not the only danger. People know that Bob is in our world -- including a top-secret government organization that wants to control him, and a cult of Pythagoreans who worship him."

Resurrection (Wicked), by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié. "The Cahors witches must come together and find Jer and Eli as both the Deveraux and the Cahors family lines face eradication. All the secrets of the Cahors will be revealed, forcing them to overcome their greatest weaknesses in order to achieve their most powerful strengths. And only united do they have any chance at victory. Before the end, sacrifices will be made, alliances forged, and old friends lost forever."



And here's one that's not fantasy or science fiction, but it sounds like it is absolutely up my alley (anyone else out there read Marion's Angels, the final book of K.M. Peyton's Pennington series? It's a book I love, and this plot summary reminds me of it).

Waterslain Angel, by Kevin Crossley-Holland. "In the village of Waterslain in Norfolk, in the 1950s, a fragment from a carved angel's wing is discovered. Maybe the wooden angels that once supported the church roof were not, after all, destroyed centuries ago, but spirited away to safety. Two children decide to find them. There are few clues, but a strange inscription on the church wall leads them into terrifying places - up to the top of the church tower, down a tunnel where they are nearly drowned. Annie dreams of the man who was sent in by Cromwell to smash up the church, and of angels flying and falling. For Sandy, whose father, an American airman, was recently killed, the angels bring comfort. The whereabouts of the angels become clear to them - but then they discover that other people are hunting for them, and are determined to stop the children at all costs. The friendship between the boy adjusting to a new life in his mother's village, and the girl whose family have always lived on their remote farm, the haunting atmosphere of the Norfolk saltmarshes, and the strong sense of the past still present, give richness to a tense and fast-paced story of detection for younger readers."

Misc fantasy/sci fi stuff with an international flavor, including one item of particular interest to fans of Diana Wynne Jones

Here's an account from the Guardian Book Blog of the first Diana Wynne Jones Conference held last weekend over in Bristol. But, great sadness--DWJ could not be there herself, as she has just been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Moving beyond the UK, there's a fascinating two part look at international science fiction at SFSignal (Part 1 and Part 2).

And going up to Canada, here are the Young Adult novels shortlisted for the 2009 Sunburst Award, which honors Canadian writers of speculative fiction:

The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong (Doubleday Canada)
Dingo, Charles de Lint (Viking)
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (Tor)
Wild Talent, Eileen Kernaghan (Thistledown Press) (my review)
Night Runner, Max Turner (HarperTrophy)

The first four are friends from my Cybils reading last fall, and the fifth arrived in ARC form in my mail today. I am not at all sure which of the four I've read I'd pick. They are so very different from each other...

Keeping the international theme going with a German word, a festschrift celebrating Ursula Le Guin's 80th birthday is in the works--the call for contributions is here.

For those who like Manga, here are two cards from the Taiwanese Eastern Tarot Deck. Yes, the one on the right is "The Clonk." Very strange. I don't know Manga at all--is she supposed to look evil?

(from The Artwork of Modern Tarot, via Children's/Fantasy Illustrations).


Finally, and with no pretense of thematic cohesion, I'd like to thank JuJu, who just began to blog at Tales of Whimsy, for honoring me with The Kreativ Blogger Award.

The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams

If you are looking for a terrifying dystopia, yet are leery of science fiction, or, conversely, if you are a fan of science fiction dystopias who enjoys strong characterization and meticulously detailed world making, who is leery of "young adult" books, I enthusiastically recommend The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams (2009, St. Martin's Griffin, 213 pp, YA).

Thirteen year old Kyra grew up taking for granted the circumstances of her life--her father's three wives and her twenty brothers and sisters, the rules of life and belief in the Compound, dictated by the Prophet and his inner circle. When she was little, the rules were less strict. Books were permitted, as were visits into town. But now the son of the first Prophet is closing his fist ever tighter around the residents of the Compound. When this new Prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her sixty-year-old uncle (a nasty, lecherous man with six wives already), her spirit revolts. In the Compound, revolt means punishment, not just for Kyra, but for her beloved family, for Joshua, the boy she loves, and for the brave driver of the mobile library, whose books (surreptitiously gulped down in hiding) have sustained her over the years.

After gradually building up the horror that is life in the Compound, Williams brings Kyra's desperate situation to a head in a tremendously riveting chain of events. This is edge of the seat stuff.

While it is clear that the beliefs and dictatorship of the Prophet are grotesque, Williams manages to skillfully show how ordinary people, good and loving people, can stand be part of such a society. The bonds between Kyra, her mothers and father, and her female siblings (her brothers are ominously shadowy--young men are not valued here) are tight and loving. The original spiritual beliefs that brought the community together were not as distorted and evil as they later became. The progression of a planned religious utopia to a dystopia of truly dystopic proportions is fascinating and heartbreaking.

From page 151:

"Sit down," Father says. He puts his arm around my shoulder, pulls me close. I can smell leftover aftershave on him. I close my eyes and breathe deep the smell of my father. I'm leaning against his shoulder, just resting, just loving him, just wishing he could save me when he says, "Do you remember what happened to Brother Alex Delango?"

The smell of sage breezes past. "Yes," I say.

"Do you remember how he lost everything because he dared to contradict Prophet Childs?"

We sit for a moment, the quiet and cool night air between us.

"They took his children and wives and gave them to two other of the brethren. They made him leave, along with Brother Olsen and Brother Adamson. The three of them were run off, all of them losing their families because they crossed the Prophet. Do you remember?"

I nod. "Yes sir."

"Do you remember how those fathers were to those new wives and children?"

Again, I nod.

The night sky is full of stars. They look close enough to reach. If I didn't hurt so much, I bet I could touch one."

Having become rather deeply invested in Kyra (it's hard not to--she's an incredibly sympathetic, intelligent, and loving narrator), I would like a sequel (although it doesn't look as though that's in the works--see Lu Ann's Book Review interview, linked below). Williams has given her readers credit by not insulting them with a Happy Ending with all problems resolved...and I am still rather worried about Kyra.

There are scores of other blog reviews and reactions around; here is a sample: The Shelf Elf, The Compulsive Reader, Sara Zarr, Carrie's YA Bookshelf, and Jen Robinson's Book Page. Of particular interest is Melissa's reaction over at Here in the Bonny Glen, in as much as Melissa wonders how reading it as ebook changed her experience of the story...

And here's an interview with Carol Lynch Williams over at Cynsations, and another at Lu Ann's Book Review,

Incidentally, Patrick, the mobile librarian, is my nominee for Fictional Librarian of the Year.

A Wish After Midnight, for this Wednesday's Timeslip Tuesday

To misquote Churchy LaFemme, Timeslip Tuesday falls on a Wednesday this week. I'm thinking that next Tuesday might not be any better than the past few Tuesdays have been, and the books are piling up...so here it is.

A Wish After Midnight, by Zetta Elliott (2008, YA, 230pp).

Genna's Brooklyn is a hellish place to live. In her world of drug deals, cramped living space, and grime, there are two places of refuge--the library, and a private garden (free to the public on Tuesdays). In the library, Genna works to make her dream of college come true. In the peace of the garden, she tosses pennies into the fountain, making as many wishes as she has coins.

There in the garden one wish comes true, when she becomes friends, then more than friends, with Judah. To him, she is beautiful and strong, and he values her sharp mind and passionate intensity. But one night, the garden becomes a places of ghosts, and Genna makes a desperate wish that sends her careening back in time, to Brooklyn during the Civil War, just weeks before the Emancipation Proclamation.

It is not a good time to be a young black girl in New York City.

Her wish has dragged Judah into the past as well, into the last gasp of slavery, and its long aftermath. And then the New York City Draft Riots send the flames of racial hatred sky high, and the city burns...

This is powerful stuff. I would love to discuss this book with someone, to argue about which of the characters are most convincing, and which fall short (somewhat ironically, I'm not sure that the white couple who hire Genna to care for their child are as well characterized as they might have been). Í want to think more about the colonization of Liberia, touched on here. I want to discuss why I cared more for Genna in the present than in the past--I felt so distracted by the setting, the drama, and the action that occurred in the past, over quite a long period of time, that the person within it, whom I had gotten to know so slowly and with so much love in the first part of the book, was somewhat obscured.

And especially I'd like to argue about the ways in which modern Genna, with her knowledge of ghetto life in the present of 2001 and her achingly realizable ambitions (it is hard not to believe she can make it to college, heartbreaking to see her and her family struggle), copes with the much more overt racism (and the sexism) she encounters back in the 19th century.

This last point--the plot line of a modern girl, facing a hostile past--is part of what makes the time slip genre so interesting. Time travel can be used by writers who want to the adventure the past provides, or the chance to educate readers about a particular period of history. It can do both, while focusing on the central character's dislocation--the degree to which the history is made a central interest is fairly flexible. Unlike historical fiction, whose writers must, I imagine, always be looking anxiously over their shoulders for anachronisms, time travel writers are free to have a modern point of view. They can ask, essentially, "what does the past look like to us? What, back then, is alien to our sensibilities, but is, at the same time, bound up in how we got to where we are?"

That is what Elliott does here, in her page turning and heart wrenching portrayal of a girl's struggle to survive in two dangerous worlds.

You won't find this book in your local bookstore (unless it is a very unusual bookstore), because A Wish After Midnight never found a home with a publisher, and the author brought it out herself. A sequel, Judah's Tale, is in the works--as of June 26, there were twenty chapters, and Elliott is airing some as the book progresses at her blog.

Here are other reviews, at A Striped Armchair, Wands and Worlds, The HappyNappyBookseller, and Bookslut. At Cynsations, you can read an interview with Elliott, and see trailers for both this book and her picture book, Bird.

Academy 7, by Anne Osterlund

Academy 7, by Anne Osterlund (Speak, 2009, 259 pp).

At an ultra prestigious and ultra exclusive boarding school (only 50 students admitted a year, of whom only half get to stay the next), two paths cross. Dane is the son of privilege and power, and for him entering Academy 7 is an act of defiance against his abusively controlling father. For Aerin, the Academy offers hope that, after a desperate escape from the miserable existence she endured after her father's death, she will have a future.

Aerin and Dean are the two brightest students at Academy 7, challenging each other, and the assumptions that underlie their lives. By the end of the year, a relationship that began in competition has turned into much more, and they discover the secrets held at the top of the dark tower that looms over the school....

....a tower that can only be reached by space ship. Because Academy 7 is not an ordinary school, nor are Dane and Aerin typical American teenagers. Although plotwise, there's not a lot here to set the book apart from a standard girl meets boy at school story, Academy 7 isn't on earth. It's set in an interplanetary future, with a back story, geographic details, and technical tidbits that make it science fiction.

However, because the science fiction elements are essentially extraneous to the plot, Academy 7 might have more appeal for fans of the teen romantic fiction, who might find it an enjoyable change of setting. This is perhaps a good thing, because it seems to be marketed toward that audience, as there's absolutely nothing on the cover (either in the picture, or, more surprisingly, in the blurb on the back) to let the browser know that this story does not take place on earth. It is easy to imagine readers being rather surprised when they find themselves, in the first paragraph, on board a crippled spacecraft struggling to survive.

On the other hand, now that the characters have been introduced and the stage is set, there is most definitely room for more books in this world, and lots of scope for Aerin and Caleb to adventure out in the vastness of space....I would like that. Although, being a sucker for boarding school stories, I would be sad to say goodbye to the Academy and its intriguing headmistress just yet. At least one more book should be set there!

Other reviews at YA Book Nerd and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

This week's new releases of science fiction and fantasy for kids and teenagers

Here's what's come out in the past few days (taken, as ever, from the handy list at Teens Read Too).

9-12 year olds:

Fairypedia, by DK Publishing. "From England to Iceland to your back yard, did you know that hidden fairies are everywhere? You just need to know where to look! They come in every shape, size, and temperament, from the common mischievous Pixie to the ugly, grumpy Orculli."



Night Wings, by Joseph Bruchac. "Paul has always believed in the power of dreams. He knows that they are often warnings. Warnings that should be taken very seriously. Now his nightmare visions of a predatory winged creature are becoming all too real. And though Paul has always depended on the wisdom of his Abenaki ancestors' stories to guide his footsteps, no monster tale could have prepared him for what he is about to encounter, alone, at the top of one of the most dangerous mountains in the world."

The Search for Truth: Erec Rex, Book 3, by Kaza Kingsley. "Not only does the latest contest to become king appear to be a suicide mission, but it means more than just winning the crown of Alypium; if Erec doesn't succeed, then Upper Earth could disappear forever. So Erec must set out to retrieve the five Awen from their mystical hiding places and unite them, a herculean undertaking that has laid waste to all those who have attempted it. Before this can be completed, Erec will have to put a great friend in mortal danger and decide if that friend's life is worth the survival of Upper Earth. To succeed, he must face inner battles, passions, friendships, deadly missions, and daring risks in this breathtaking adventure.

THREE'S A KROWD: MEET THE KREEPS, by Kiki Thorpe. "When Polly brags to her snooty classmate, Denise, that she and her new stepfamily live in a castle, she doesn't expect Denise to invite herself over--and she doesn't know how to hide the fact that the castle is more like a haunted mansion! If Denise discovers how strange the Kreeps are, Polly's life at school is sure to be ruined!"



Young Adult:

Damsel, by S.E. Connolly. "The dragon roared and the clearing filled with shining whiteness. The flames burned with the pure deadly brightness that can only come from dragon fire. Annie closed her eyes but the scene imprinted on her vision; The knight tall and proud with his sword raised high and the dragon on her haunches, wings spread wide above them. When she opened her eyes all that was left of him was red hot armor glowing on the ground and a skittish grey mare neighing in panic. Can a damsel ever be the one to do the rescuing? Annie Brave thinks so. Her father, one of the most famous heroes of them all, is missing, presumed eaten. With no heroes available to rescue him from the clutches of the evil wizard, Greenlott, Annie takes his book "How to Slay Dragons - and Other Advice for the Hero in Training" and sets off on a rescue mission.

Ghost Town by Richard W. Jennings. "Spencer Honesty and his mom are the last people left in Paisley, except for Chief Leopard Frog, Spence’s imaginary friend. One lonely day, Chief Leopard Frog’s carved rabbit talisman tells Spence to take his photo, so Spence digs up his late father’s camera and starts shooting photographs all around his ghost town. When the photos come back developed, he does not expect to see his old neighbor Maureen Balderson in her bedroom. Or Ma Puttering clearing weeds in her yard. They aren’t in Paisley anymore. Yet there they are."

Full Moon (Dark Guardian #2) by Rachel Hawthorne. "Lindsey is wild and reckless, a natural rebel—maybe because her entire life was laid out for her even before she was born. Her parents are among the most powerful members of the Dark Guardians, an ancient tribe of werewolves, and they arranged Lindsey's betrothal to Connor long ago. The next full moon is coming all too soon, and then her commitment to Connor will be final—no turning back. She should be happy . . . so why can't she stop thinking about gorgeous, brooding Rafe? When a dangerous threat on the pack escalates, so do tensions between Connor and Rafe. A fight over Lindsey is imminent, but will it be to the death?"

Homecoming--Ghostgirl, by Tonya Hurley. "Charlotte Usher discovers that the afterlife isn't quite what she pictured when she's forced to intern at a hotline for troubled teens. Before she can officially cross over, she'll have to be a source of guidance for one such teen. The problem is she doesn't have much advice to offer since dying hasn't exactly boosted her confidence level. But when Hawthorne High's leading, love-to-hate cheerleader Petula and her gothic little sis' Scarlet find themselves suddenly resting-in-peace in comas, Charlotte's opportunity to save them will prove to be the risk of a lifetime-for all of them."

Laughing Wolf, by Nicholas Maes. "It is the year 2213. Fifteen-year-old Felix Taylor is the last person on Earth who can speak and read Latin. In a world where technology has defeated war, crime, poverty, and famine, and time travel exists as a distinct possibility, Felix's language skills and knowledge seem out of place and irrelevant. But are they? A mysterious plague has broken out. Scientists can't stop its advance, and humanity is suddenly poised on the brink of eradication. The only possible cure is Lupus Ridens, or Laughing Wolf, a flower once common in ancient Rome but extinct for more than 2,000 years. Felix must project back to Roman times circa 71 BC and retrieve the flower. But Can he navigate through the dangers and challenges of the world of Spartacus, Pompey, Cicero? And will he find the Laughing Wolf in time to save his how family and everyone else from the Plague of Plagues?"

The Quest for the Lance: Spy Goddess, by Michael P. Spradlin. "Fresh from pounding the streets of Tokyo in her designer boots, spy goddess Rachel Buchanan is called to yet another corner of the world. When a Mithrian artifact is pinpointed deep in the thick, sticky, dark, and endangered Brazilian rainforest, Rachel packs a bikini and heads for Latin America with her spy-school friends. Of course, it being the season of Carnival in Rio, the rest of the team might have a tough time dragging her away from the greatest party ever . . . or at least long enough to beat her archrival, Simon Blankenship, to the prize."

Demigods and Monsters, edited and introduced by Rick Riordan

Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, edited and with an original introduction by Rick Riordan (Benbella Books, 2009, 196pp).

There's a sadness, a melancholy not unlike a vegetable garden in October, when a favorite series comes to an end. Such a sadness is doubtless being felt by the many fans of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series who have just read the last page of the recently released The Last Olympian.

In this anthology of entertaining essays, authors of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teenagers (including two favorites of mine, Elizabeth E. Wein and Sarah Beth Durst) give readers a chance to revisit the series in a friendly, thought-provoking way, and tackle the tough questions that so many of us (?) have been asking.

From the back of the book:

"How are the Greek gods like your middle school principal?
Would you want to be one of Artemis’s Hunters?
Why do so many monsters go into retail—and why are they never selling anything a demigod really wants?

Find out:

· The pros and cons of having a god as a parent
· Why Dionysus might actually be the best director Camp Half-Blood could have
· How to tell a monster when you see one
· Why even if we aren’t facing manticores and minotaurs, reading myths can still help us deal with the scary things in our own lives"

There's also a glossary that provides a handy guide to the people, places and things of Greek mythology.

Reading a book like this is a great way to assuage the pain of the end of the series, showing, as it does, that good books make for good conversations, long after the last page is read and the cover is closed.

Waiting on Wednesday--Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones

As Anne of Green Gables said, when she had become Anne of the House of Dreams, "Oh Gilbert, I can't wait for spring," or something like that (she was going to have a baby).

I, too, am looking forward to spring, for very different reasons. Not only is Megan Whalen Turner's new book coming out, but Diana Wynne Jones will also have a new one, and it sounds lovely.

Lifted from her agent's page:

When the magician Jocelyn Brandon Hope died he bequeathed Melstone House to his grandson Andrew. He also left his ‘field of care’: an area of strangeness surrounding the land around the house, whose boundary Andrew must walk in order to preserve its power.

Andrew had always loved the house, but he finds owning it a lot more complicated, aside from all the magic. There is Mrs Stock, the tyrannical housekeeper who won’t let him move the furniture and punishes him with her terrible cooking. Just as bad is the obsessive gardener who will only grow giant inedible vegetables. To add to his troubles, twelve year old orphan Aidan Cain suddenly arrives on the doorstep begging protection from magical stalkers, and Andrew’s sinister rich neighbour, Mr Brown, begins to encroach on the ‘field of care’. The one compensation is the gardener’s beautiful niece, Stashe. Things become stranger and stranger until all is made clear with the help of the enchanted glass itself.

Coming April of 2010 from Harper Collins/Greenwillow (as is the MWT book).

Nothing But Ghosts, by Beth Kephart

Nothing But Ghosts, by Beth Kephart (HarperTeen, YA, 288pp).

Behind the varnish of the painting Katie's father is restoring lies one man's vision of regret; alone, working late into the night, her father finds the figments of the painting, reading them through the shadows. In a beautiful garden, another man has hired a crew of diggers to chip through the rock hard earth, excavating a long ago story that Katie, one of the group working in the hot summer sun to make the hole deeper, doesn't yet know. And Katie is looking to the past herself, to the days when she had a mother who made each day a more beautiful thing.

Her mother died. The owner of the garden, Miss Martine, locked herself away in it years ago. The rainbow shadows of her mother's glass bottles dance on the walls of a closed-off bedroom, and Katie doesn't know how to find the line between darkness and sunlight, the line between the ghosts of the past and her lonely life in the present.

As the hole deepens, so does Katie's compulsion to find Miss Martine's story. If she can understand how a beautiful teenager, with everything to live for, chose to leave life, maybe she can understand her own mother's absence. Seven boxes of Local Lore, unsorted and unasked for, sit at the library, and give Katie her own path to solving the mystery that is haunting her summer.

So. That's the basic plot. But you have to read it in Beth Kephart's own writing; I can't do it justice. It is so deeply imbued with metaphor, so rich in imagery, that re-reading (which I just did, after a six month gap) is a great pleasure. It is so unconcerned with Things Happening that the characters have space to be themselves, so concerned with the small things happening (pancakes being made, rain falling, the hard squeeze of a child's hand) that they have a real place in which to live. And it is sad, and powerful, and hopeful. My one quibble is that the resolution to the mystery felt a bit hurried at the end, and the central figure in that part of the plot never quite, in my mind, became a real person.

Despite that (very small) reservation, Nothing But Ghosts is a lovely YA book to read if you are perhaps satiated with plot-driven teen romance, and want a book whose emotional power comes from the deeply-felt interior world of the central character. Although there is a cute boy thrown in for good measure...

House of Dance is still my favorite of Beth Kephart's books, but this is possibly because the story of that one--the loss of a grandfather--is one I have lived through myself.

Tonight (June 30) My Friend Amy is hosting a party to celebrate the release of Nothing But Ghosts: "We will have a reading from Beth and at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST Beth will be here live chatting on the blog! So you'll get a chance to talk to the woman herself and what a special woman she is. Additionally, you may have a chance to win an autographed copy of Nothing But Ghosts."

As part of the party, Amy has organized a book drive to promote the book, with a goal of 200 copies sold by 9:00 EST tonight (and prizes!) If you'd like to be one of the 200, head here to find more information, and the link through which to buy.

Here's another review and interview at Presenting Lenore, and more reviews at From My Bookshelf, Em's Bookshelf, and The Compulsive Reader.

(ARC received from the author)

"Then, the bunnies show up" -- Books within Books

Books within books have always fascinated me. Does anyone else remember Dorothy Gilman's The Maze in the Heart of the Castle? It was an important part of her earlier book, Tightrope Walker, that she then wrote on its own account a few years later. I don't remember either book that well, but I do remember how believable the unreal book was, and how disconcerting I found it later when I was actually reading it myself. I had no interest, however, in reading any of the Harry Potter books from the books made real.

There seems to be a trend-let at the moment in giving unreal books life on line. There's The Girl who Cirumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, and now, at Grasping For the Wind, you can read an extract from The World in the Walls, by Christopher Plover. This is the first book of the Fillory and Further series, with which the main character of Lev Grossman's The Magicians: A Novel (Viking Adult, August 11, 2009), is obsessed.

From the website of the Fillory series:

"Hi Everybody. This website is a place for fans of Fillory and Further to share their love of the books and the characters and the world they're set in. These books have meant a lot to me when I was growing up and they still do now. If you've ever wished you were one of the Chatwin kids, or that magic was real, or that you could go to Fillory, this site is for you.

This site is also to introduce people who have never read the books to what Fillory and Further is all about. The Fillory books were published in England in the 1930's by a man named Christopher Plover. They are about the five Chatwin children-Martin, Fiona, Rupert, Helen and Jane-and their adventres in a magical land called Fillory. Even though they are kids the Chatwins are treated like kings and queens, and they have many adventures there, and they keep the people and animals of Fillory safe from danger. Their main enemy is the Watcherwoman. This site is a guide to what Fillory is all about. "

And the non-existent author has a website, another place where you can read the first chapter, and also blurbs for the books....

I was right there, all bright eyed and believing, until I got to the synopsis of book 5, The Wandering Dune:

"The last in the series. Helen and Jane find a mysterious sand dune blowing through Fillory. It carries them out into the desert, where they discuss morality. Then, the bunnies show up."

Which in turn reminds me of a quote from Love Is Hell, by Matt Groening: "And at night, the ice-weasels come."

But still, I am rather eager to seek out The Magicians...

(I've closed the comments on this post--it was being spammed).

Win a piece of the moon

And in conjunction with this week's release of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (the subject of my previous post) you can win this very piece of the moon! (Although I notice that there is no scale provided, so it could be tensy).

NewScientist is having a competition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing (one of the very few reasons why I wish I was a few years older. I would love to be able to remember it...).

Here's what to do: "You will doubtless know the words relayed from Neil Armstrong when he stepped off Apollo 11's lunar module and onto the moon itself: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Can you think of something better for him to have said - something even more memorable, or perhaps something funnier?"

I can't (all that's coming into my head is the moon rock bit from The Princess Diaries), but if you can, head over there to enter by 5pm GMT on 29 June.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, written and illustrated by Grace Lin (Little Brown, July 1, 2009, ages 9-12, 288pp)

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a lovely middle-grade fantasy, set in an ancient China that never (quite) was. It tells of a young girl named Minli, living a frugal life on the slopes of Fruitless Mountain, listening to her father tell wondrous stories of Jade Dragon, the Old Man of the Moon, and the evil Magistrate Tiger, and watching her mother becoming increasingly bitter about their poverty. When Minli exchanges one of her two coins for a goldfish, only to realize that even a fish's mouth is one mouth to many for her family to feed, she sets in motion a journey that will take her deep into the realm of her father's stories.


"Oh, Minli!" Ma said impatiently. "Bringing fortune to our house! Making Fruitless Mountain bloom! You're always wishing to do impossible things! Stop believing stories and stop wasting your time."

"Stories are not a waste of time," Ba [Minli's father] said.

"Stories, " Ma said, slapping her hands against the table, making the water in the fishbowl sway as she stood up and left the table, "are what wasted money on this goldfish." (ARC, p 25).

Minli is a believer in stories, and so, when she sets her goldfish free, and it gives her instructions on how to find the Old Man of the Moon on Endless Mountain, she hardly thinks twice before setting out to ask him how her village can prosper. On the way, she befriends one of the nicest fictional dragons I can think of, and with him confronts the horrible Green Tiger created by the wicked Magistrate's desire for revenge. Throughout their travels, they are told stories, and these tales within the larger tale shape the world in which the story is set, giving it depth and magic.

At last dragon and girl reach the Endless Mountain, and Minli realized that she must travel the last steps of her journey alone...

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon has not yet been released (it comes out next week), but already it is garnering accolades. Deservedly so, because this is truly a lovely story. There's the adventurous journey part, to provide interesting forward momentum. There's the strong central character, and her dragon companion, to provide an anchor for the reader. Then, and this is what makes the book stand out in my mind, there is the sense of being in a place far removed from the here and now of 21st-century America. This is not just because it is "set in China" and features a non-white heroine, although these aspects of the book make it a welcome addition to middle-grade fantasy. Grace Lin has made her imagined China a very real and rich place, not simply through the inclusion of magical background in the embedded tales, but through her use of imagery and metaphor in her writing, combined with practical details of life, like how to plant and cook rice, and what you would pack if you were a peasant girl in ancient China setting off on a journey.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon has full-page, color illustrations (like the one at left), and although I read an ARC of the book, and so haven't seen them in their final setting, it's fairly clear that they will make the book even more magical. I delighted in those of my old fairy tale books that had full page color illustrations,* so kudos to Little Brown for this.

This is a great book for reading out loud--it is episodic not just in the stories within the story, but in terms of Minli's adventures, and so can be put down and picked up again the next night without young listeners feeling disengaged (based on my test of the book on my children).

It is also a lovely book for anyone to just curl up with and read (based on my own reading of the book).



I'm very pleased to be part of Grace Lin's blog tour (the other stops are listed below). Here are the questions I had for Grace:

Me: I think of you primarily as an artist, and I was struck by how easy it was to see the story in my own mind as I read (helped, of course, by the illustrations, which I am very much looking forward to seeing in their final form).

Grace: The character of Minli came to me from a painting. But the actual narrative, plot, and setting of “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” began as words. Even when I work on picture books, the writing or the stories come first. I think that is because in art school we were trained that way, we were given a story or words first and then had to illustrate them—never the reverse, creating an image and then writing a story around that. Perhaps, that is why after all this time I am starting to view myself as an author first, instead of an illustrator.

Me: Was the China you created already in your mind, or did you immerse yourself in Chinese stories prior to writing the book?

Grace: Both! I had an idea of China-like setting from the books I read from my childhood and the trips to Taiwan and Hong Kong I had taken. But when I decided that this was the story that I wanted to write, I began to research and read as many Chinese folktale and fairy tale books I could get my hands on (some of which I put in the bibliography in my author’s note). Then, I actually visited China.

Me: A frivolous question--I liked the talking goldfish very much (I was very fond of my own goldfish, Black Spot, who would eat out of my hand and do tricks). Do you have a fish in you own life?

Grace: I used to have a goldfish as a child, which I named “Sushi” (I thought that was hilarious) but it died long ago. I don’t have one now, but I want to in the near future (when I stop traveling so much). I think there is nothing more peaceful than a goldfish in a bowl. And hopefully, it will bring me good fortune too!

Me: I hope so too! (I'm not sure that Black Spot brought us good fortune, exactly, but certainly nothing bad happened while we had him...)

Here’s the full schedule for Grace's blog tour:

• Wednesday, June 24th: Bildungsroman
• Thursday, June 25th: Shelf Elf
• Friday, June 26th: Paper Tigers
• Saturday, June 27th: MotherReader
  
• Sunday, June 28th: Charlotte's Library
  
• Monday, June 29th: Write for a Reader
• Tuesday, June 30th: The Mommy Files
• Wednesday, July 1st: Thrifty Minnesota Mama
• Thursday, July 2nd: Creative Madness
• Friday, July 3rd: Abby the Librarian

*Except the really, really scary Hans Christian Anderson book that I wish I had never seen. I tried not to look at those pictures.

(ARC received from the publisher)

The Apple Stone, a book for fans of Edward Eager

Last month I read Any Which Wall, by Laurel Snyder, with great enjoyment. It is an homage to Edward Eager (of Half Magic fame), and succeeds brilliantly. Since then, I have been trying to find other Edward Eager read-alikes-- books where ordinary children find magic, and struggle to learn its rules and bend the will of the magic to their own, and get into many strange predicaments in the process. In this sort of book, there is no struggle between good and evil, no great epic quest that provides the plot. Instead, there are episodes of magic meeting real life, often leading to chaos that is always eventually resolved.

There aren't as many books like this as one might think, which is odd, given how widely read Eager continues to be (Half Magic is on my son's summer reading list).

In fact, even after search, I can only recommend one other, and I found it by happenstance, when a mention of an author, Nicholas Stuart Gray, caught my eye at Geranium Cat's Bookshelf. The Rhode Island library system had one of his books, The Apple Stone (1965), and in due course it arrived.

I was surprised and delighted to find it a perfectly Eager-ish book.

Three English children (1 brother, the narrator, and his 2 sisters), and their two Scottish cousins (both boys), are spending an idle afternoon in the apple orchard, when Missie, the youngest, finds a small, wrinkled apple.


“It’s magic, “ said Missie.
We all gaped at her. She was the last person you’d expect to turn whimsy on you. Then Douglas laughed, and she gave him a very cold look.
“What a kiddish thing to say,” he scoffed.
“A very sensible thing to say,” said the apple.
Missie dropped it as if it were red hot.
“Clumsy!” it squeaked. No one else said spoke at all. We sat with dropped jaws and bulging eyes. I thought if my mind was going to wander this far, I’d better get it inspected or something. But the apple went on talking, in a small, soft voice that sounded extremely irritable.
“First they shake me off my tree; then they fling me about as though I were a mere and useless trifle! And they dare to laugh, when one guesses at my quality. Rude, ignorant, and totally irresponsible infants!”
“We’re not infants,” said Douglas. But he didn’t sound any too sure of this. Missie went on hands and knees to where the apple lay.
“Don’t be cross,” said she, “we didn’t mean it.” (page 13)

And so the five children become acquainted with the magical and occasionally irascible apple stone, and learn its power--it can bring any inanimate thing to life. Some of the uses to which the children put the stone are benign and pleasant, more are fraught with difficulties, as is the way of these magical things, until you learn the rules...

There are funny encounters, like the old glove that dreads the lost and found, and longs for its lost Hand, and a few that are educational, like the tales told by a stone effigy from the church of life as a Crusader under King Richard. Some wishes go rather wrong, like the old rug that becomes a beast and takes off after the sheep, and a seemingly harmless attempt to save time rolling the lawn, by bringing a round gatepost stone to life, turns dire.

And some are scary, like a feather boa that becomes a deadly serpent.

"The snake went on circling, but its forked tongue flickered in its open mouth; a few drops of saliva fell, and the wooden planks of the attic floor turned white as though some frightful acid had soaked them.
"Ssssssacrifice..." whispered the serpent.
It was at the far end of the room, and suddenly it stayed still there, gaping fixedly into the open door of the toy cupboard, its red eyes level with the top shelf. It gave a long hiss. And something hissed back.
"Oh, no!" said Jo. "Not Mrs. Blossom!" (p 123)

As the children experiment with the stone, it becomes heavier and heavier with the weight of its new experiences. At last, it is too much for them to carry anymore, and they must decide if they will use its power on the last, most important wish of all, and give up the magic themselves.

I dunno if I have any readers in Rhode Island, but if I do, there is one library copy of The Apple Stone back on the shelf, and there seem to be a number of ex-library copies out in the world as well, from library systems that were not as wise as ours.

Neil Gaiman is a fan of Gray, calling him "one of those authors I loved as a boy who holds up even better on rereading as an adult." There are three more of his books in our library system, waiting for me to check them out, which is a rather nice feeling.

This past week's new releases of science fiction and fantasy for children and teenagers

Here are the middle grade and YA science fiction and fantasy books that came out this past week, taken from Teens Read Too.

Dodger for President (Dodger and Me), by Jordan Sonnenblick. From Booklist: "Picking up where Dodger and Me (2008) left off, Sonnenblick continues the story of friends Willie and Lizzie and the magical blue chimp, Dodger, that only they can see. The formula is much the same—dorky kid helped out by invisible ally—but here it’s applied to a school election that has Willie and Lizzie facing off against a superpopular jock and his tough-guy sidekick. And again, Dodger spends most of the book bouncing off the walls, espousing zany schemes that mostly serve to hamstring the kids’ campaign."

Grk Takes Revenge, by Joshua Doder. "Tim and Natascha realise to their horror that Max has gone to Paris to confront their first adversary, Colonel Zinfandel, the dictator of Stanislavia. They rush after him, with their intrepid dog Grk. Will Max overstep the mark and do something dangerous? Will Colonel Zinfandel be a ruthless and violent as he is has been before? And how can two children and a dog do any good? All will be revealed when they reach Paris!"


The Kingdom of Carbonel, by Barbara Sleigh. This is the second book of a series beloved by many that is being brought back into print by the New York Review Children's Collection (and if you haven't visited them to see the great list of books they are bringing out, do! "Night falls and Cat Country comes to life: town walls turn into roads, roof and treetop become mountain and field. The black cat Carbonel and his consort, Queen Blandamour, have long reigned over this magical place, where humans are scarce, cats roam freely, and the rivers flow with cream. But the wicked Grisana, a beautiful gray Persian who makes Lady Macbeth look like a lap cat, has plans of her own for Cat Country, and Carbonel and his children, Prince Calidor and Princess Pergamond, are all that stand between her and the throne. With the backing of Carbonel’s old foe, the witch Mrs. Cantrip, and her apprentice, Miss Dibdin, Grisana may be unstoppable. Luckily, Carbonel can count on Rosemary and John, his young friends from Carbonel: The King of the Cats, to come to his aid. Together with the good creatures of Cat Country—and with the help of a few magical spells—the children confront Grisana and her nasty crew. It is a battle for the future of Cat Country and only the strongest magic will prevail."

The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen, by Delia Sherman. "Neef, the official Changeling of Central Park, has survived a life-threatening quest, but that’s nothing compared to her first experiences at Changeling school. At Miss Van Loon’s, she meets her counterparts from all over Manhattan, learns the basics of diplomacy, and, of course, gets in trouble. This time Neef must recover the Magic Mirror, or else New York Harbor’s Mermaid Queen will turn all of the city’s fresh water to salt—and everything will die."

Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel, by K. A. Holt. "Things are not so stellar for Mike Stellar. He is stunned when his parents inform him that he has only eight hours to pack before they move to Mars. Despite the fact that he suspects his parents are involved in a major sabotage plot; that the only person who believes him is a girl who won’t shut up; and that his mother’s assistant seems to be spying on Mike’s every move, Mike is dealing with the same things that every eleven-year-old deals with: bad cafeteria food, a strict limitation on his electronic use, and a teacher who is so old-fashioned she must be from the year 2099."

Septimus Heap: The Magykal Papersby Angie Sage. A collection of miscellanies, including the private journals of Septimus, Jenna, and Marcia Overstrand, the best—and worst—places to eat as described in The Egg-on-Toast Restaurant Guide, Sirius Weazal's Speedy Guides to the Palace, the Wizard Tower, and Wizard Way, excerpts from the Pigeon Post Biography series and the Heaps of History series, and more.



Young Adult:

Alyzon Whitestarr, by Isobelle Carmody. "Alyzon Whitestarr doesn't take after her musically talented father or her nocturnal, artistic mother. In fact, she’s the most normal member of a very eccentric family . . . until the day that an accident leaves her more unique than she ever could have dreamed. Suddenly colors are more vibrant to Alyzon; her memory is flawless; but strangest of all is Alyzon’s sense of smell. Her best friend smells of a comforting sea breeze. She registers her father’s contentment as the sweet scent of caramelized sugar. But why does the cutest guy in school smell so rancid? With Alyzon’s extrasensory perception comes intrigue and danger, as she becomes aware of the dark secrets and hidden ambitions that threaten her family. In the end, being different might be less of a blessing than a curse. . . .

Fairy Tale, by Cyn Balog. "Morgan Sparks has always known that she and her boyfriend, Cam, are made for each other. But when Cam’s cousin Pip comes to stay with the family, Cam seems depressed. Finally Cam confesses to Morgan what’s going on: Cam is a fairy. The night he was born, fairies came down and switched him with a healthy human boy. Nobody expected Cam to live, and nobody expected his biological brother, heir to the fairy throne, to die. But both things happened, and now the fairies want Cam back to take his rightful place as Fairy King. Even as Cam physically changes, becoming more miserable each day, he and Morgan pledge to fool the fairies and stay together forever. But by the time Cam has to decide once and for all what to do, Morgan’s no longer sure what’s best for everyone, or whether her and Cam’s love can weather an uncertain future."

Prism, by Faye & Aliza Kellerman. Prism is set in "a slightly alternate universe in which medicine and health care do not exist, and in which sick people are allowed to die without any care. Set in New Mexico and California, the novel features three teens who fall through a cave at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico while on a field trip. They are plunged into a frightening parallel universe—seven weeks in the past, in which their "normal" worlds of family and high school remain the same…except for the fact that no medicine exists and when people die in the street they are picked up and disposed of.

Chaos - Graphic Novel (The Lost Books) and Renegade-Graphic Novel (The Lost Books), by Ted Dekker. From Publishers Weekly: "At the beginning of the series, four young people are given the mission of finding the seven missing Books of History to secure the continuity of reality. In Renegade, the hotheaded Bilios uses a forbidden book to transport himself to a small Colorado town, where a dark stranger convinces him that the people aren't real so that it's okay to kill them. In Chaos, young Johnis and Silvie are transported to Las Vegas, into the middle of a scheme by a monstrous Shataiki bat to unite the books and bring his mate into this world so they can spawn."

And finally, here's a book that (despite the title) isn't science fiction or fantasy, but that I enjoyed very much (review to come very soon):

Nothing but Ghosts, by Beth Kephart