New Releases of science fiction and fantasy for kids and teens--the first half of November, 2010 edition

Here are the middle grade and young adult sci fi/fantasy books that are appearing this first half of November, according to my source, Teens Read Too. The blurbs are the publishers, lifted mostly from Amazon.

Middle Grade (aka 9-12 year olds)

THE FIVE FAKIRS OF FAIZABAD: CHILDREN OF THE LAMP by P.B. Kerr. "John and Philippa Gaunt are all ready for their lives to return to normal now that their mother has given up her djinn powers. But the siblings are quickly drawn into yet another mystery when the world's luck tips wildly out of balance (to the world's detriment). The key to the world's fate lies with five fakirs who were buried alive, each of whom guards a secret that can answer a great question of the universe. But there's an evil djinn desperate to dig up the secrets. Without their mother's powerful magic, John and Philippa must face this djinn alone.
Traveling around the globe, from London, to Morocco, to Yellowstone National Park, to snowy Himalayan peaks of Shangri-La, can the twins harness their own powers to defeat a new evil?"

FOLLOWING MAGIC: THE FAERIES' PROMISE by Kathleen Duey. "A continuation of National Book Award finalist Kathleen Duey's chapter book series, The Faeries' Promise, a companion to her popular Unicorn's Secret."

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S SPY: A TIME TRAVEL ADVENTURE by Elvira Woodruff "When Katie and her twin cousins step into a mysterious rowboat, Matt and his three buddies run to their rescue. But they are too late--and soon the seven are swept back in time--to Boston in 1775. The British have occupied the city, and George Washington and his troops are planning an attack. While the boys are trying to find their way to the girls after being separated, the boys become entangled with patriot spies.
Meanwhile, the girls have been taken in by the wealthy Hewson family, whom they soon discover are "redcoats"! Now, on opposite sides of the war, they are confronted firsthand with realities that tore friends and families apart during the American Revolution."

HOW MIRKA GOT HER SWORD: HEREVILLE by Barry Deutsch. "Spunky, strong-willed eleven-year-old Mirka Herschberg isn’t interested in knitting lessons from her stepmother, or how-to-find-a-husband advice from her sister, or you-better-not warnings from her brother. There’s only one thing she does want: to fight dragons!
Granted, no dragons have been breathing fire around Hereville, the Orthodox Jewish community where Mirka lives, but that doesn’t stop the plucky girl from honing her skills. She fearlessly stands up to local bullies. She battles a very large, very menacing pig. And she boldly accepts a challenge from a mysterious witch, a challenge that could bring Mirka her heart’s desire: a dragon-slaying sword! All she has to do is find—and outwit—the giant troll who’s got it!"

HERO by Mike Lupica. "Fourteen-year-old Zach Harriman can feel the changes. The sharpening of his senses. The incredible strength. The speed, as though he can text message himself across miles. The confidence and the strange need to patrol Central Park at night. His dad had been a hero, a savior to America and a confidante of the president. Then he died, and the changes began in Zach. What Zach never knew was that his father was no ordinary man--he was a superhero, battling the world's evil. This is a battle that has been waged for generations and that knows no boundaries. And now it's Zach's turn to take on the fight. It's Zach's turn to become a hero."

THE HOLE IN THE WALL by Lisa Rowe Fraustino. "Eleven-year-old Sebby has found the perfect escape from his crummy house and bickering family: The Hole in the Wall. It’s a pristine, beautiful glen in the midst of a devastated mining area behind Sebby’s home. But not long after he finds it his world starts falling apart: his family’s chickens disappear, colors start jumping off the wall and coming to life, and after sneaking a taste of raw cookie dough he finds himself with the mother of all stomachaches. When Sebby sets out to solve these mysteries, he and his twin sister, Barbie, get caught in a wild chase through the tunnels and caverns around The Hole in the Wall — all leading them to the mining activities of one Stanley Odum, the hometown astrophysicist who’s buying up all the land behind Sebby’s home. Exactly what is Mr. Odum mining in his secret facility, and does it have anything to do with the mystery of the lost chickens and Sebby’s stomachache? The answers to these questions go much further than the twins expect."

MAKE IT FAIR!: CANADIAN FLYER ADVENTURES by Frieda Wishinsk. "Friends Emily Bing and Matt Martinez have discovered that the Canadian Flyer, an antique red sled they found in the attic of Emily’s new house, holds amazing powers. So far, their adventures to the past have brought them face to face with pirates, Vikings, and even Alexander Graham Bell. In Make It Fair!, Emily and Matt land in Premier Rodmond Roblin's office in Winnipeg in 1914 and discover Nellie McClung confronting the Manitoban politician on the issue of women's rights. Women want the right to vote and this time stuffy politicians like Premier Roblin will not stop them. Can Emily and Matt help Nellie stand up to all the people who want to stop her fight for equal rights?"

LUCY AND THE GREEN MAN by Linda Newbery. "Lucy knew Lob was there, from the way she felt inside. There was a sparking of mischief in her head, a tingle of energy in her arms and legs. She wanted to run, jump, climb, be everywhere at once. You have to be a special person to see Lob, that’s what Lucy’s Grandpa Will says. Lucy’s parents don’t believe in him. But Lucy does. And then she finally catches sight of the Green Man in Grandpa’s garden. And then she knows. Lob is here, and he is real—now and forever and ever!"

NOW YOU SEE ME... by Jane B. Mason & Sarah Hines Stephens. "Best friends Lena and Abby love searching through thrift stores for lost treasures. When they find an old Polaroid camera, they can't wait to try it out. But the photos that develop are troubling -- things that weren't really there appear in the pictures.

Creepiest of all is the image of a boy, dark and angry looking. He shows up, over and over, clearer each time. Can the girls discover what the ghost boy wants -- before it's too late?"

PRIME EVIL: CYBERIA by Chris Lynch. "Zane and his animal comrades have foiled Dr. Gristle's terrible plots twice--he can't talk to animals, and he can't get at the heart of what makes them wild. Zane can talk to them. He can understand them. He almost is one. Almost. Zane keeps getting in Dr. Gristle's way though - and he's being sent as far out of the way as Gristle can get him. In fact, he's being sent right into the middle of a new plot of the bad doctor's--and in his new, utterly foreign surroundings, he's entirely too human. Just what has Gristle done to make these new animals so angry? Can't they see that Zane is their Friend? In order to get home, Zane must figure out a way to stop Gristle's new plan and make some new friends before he becomes animal feed--or worse. It's time to defeat the evil Dr. Gristle once and for all! In the not-too-distant future, a boy must be all animals' best friend, in a final laugh-out-loud adventure sure to please middle-grade readers with all types of pets."

SARASWATI'S WAY by Monika Schroder. "If the gods wanted Akash to have an education, he is told, they would give him one. But Akash has spent his entire twelve years poor and hungry. So he decides to take control of his own life and try for a scholarship to the city school where he can pursue his beloved math. But will challenging destiny prove to be more than he has bargained for? In this raw and powerful novel, fate and self-determination come together in unexpected ways, offering an unsentimental look at the realities of India."

THE SENTINELS: STONE OF TYMORA by R.A. & Geno Salvatore. "After dueling with a dragon and a demon, Maimun knows he must destroy the stone that has kept him on the run for most of his life. The question now is how. With Joen by his side, Maimun journeys to the Tower of Twilight to beg famed wizard Malchor Harpell for answers. But Harpell's help comes at a steep price. Friends become enemies. Lost secrets come to light. And deep in the shadows, the sentinels are watching, scheming to save the stone--even if it means someone must die."

THE SOCIETY OF DREAD: CANDLE MAN by Glenn Dakin. "Dr. Saint is no more, Lord Dove has disappeared, and the Dodo has slipped back into seclusion. But for Theo Wickland, descendent of the Victorian crime fighter of legend, The Candle Man, the adventure is just beginning. Now head of the Society of Good Works, Theo is determined to turn the activities of the order toward the betterment of humanity, starting with bringing the Network, the fascinating, secret underground maze of tunnels, back to its former glory. But dark forces still lurk below the London streets - mysterious creatures, and enemies of the Candle Man, long thought dead - who continue to plot the downfall of the world. Old enemies become new allies as Theo cobbles together a group to stop the sinister plans of these evil beings before they prove deadly. It is up to the new Candle Man and his Society of Dread to snuff out these nefarious plans, before it's too late."

WORLD'S END: DORMIA by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski. "Ever since returning from Dormia, Alfonso has enjoyed sleeping in a bed like a normal person. No more waking up at the top of a tree or the edge of a cliff. In fact, no sleepwalking at all. But then, while visiting France on a class trip, Alfonso feels that strange and familiar pull of sleep. Upon waking, he finds himself in the belly of a ship headed to Egypt. In his backpack are a few old books and a vial of medicine he stole while asleep. Something is calling Alfonso back to Dormia. Perhaps it’s the Founding Tree? Or perhaps it's the man he sees in his dreams—the one who looks just like his deceased father? Whatever it is, Alfonso is powerless to resist."

Young Adult

BLAZE OF GLORY: THE LAWS OF MAGIC by Michael Pryor. "Best friends Aubrey and George begin their magical high jinks in this first book of the Laws of Magic series. At a weekend shooting party at Prince Albert's country estate, Aubrey and George find themselves in a hotbed of intrigue and politics. Together they discover a golem, a magical creature built to perform one task—to kill Prince Albert. Aubrey and George are hailed as heroes for foiling the attempt on the prince's life—but who sent the golem, and why? Aubrey is far too curious to let the authorities handle this one, and he and George start an investigation of their own to get to the bottom of the royal assassination attempt."

THE BOY FROM ILYSIES: LIBYRINTH by Pearl North. "On a world light-years away, Earth is long forgotten, except for the knowledge protected in the vast libyrinth. But that knowledge was threatened by the Singers, who for generations beyond remembering have relied on oral storytelling. They sought to destroy the books in the libyrinth, which they thought would—if read—kill the words they sing, and the knowledge in their songs.

Now a Song has created peace between the Singers and the Libyrarians who work in the libyrinth. However, the libyrinth is quickly running out of food, and the survival of the ancient edifice and those who serve it may depend on Po, a young Ilysian who has had trouble adjusting to life at the libyrinth. Caught between his longings for acceptance and the Machiavellian tactics of his queen, Po is tricked into a crime that causes him to be cast out. He may return only if he retrieves a legendary artifact that may be the answer to all of the libyrinth’s problems…or could turn the world into a barren, lifeless ruin. For Po, life has finally become exciting…but the cost may be his life, and the lives of those he loves."

THE CASSINI CODE: A GALAHAD BOOK by Dom Testa. "Dom Testa's Galahad series has already claimed multiple awards, including a Writer's Digest Grand Prize, selected from over 1500 international titles. Now, in this thrilling third volume, the teenage explorers confront their biggest challenge yet, as they plunge through the edge of the solar system. The Council must face a hostile crew, a medical crisis, and a treacherous storm of space debris. Their only hope for survival might come from the most unlikely - and frightening - source."

THE DARK by Marianne Curley. "Isabel and Ethan are joined by Isabel's brother Matt, who is still getting accustomed to life in the Guard. This time, they must find Arkarian, their ageless mentor, who has been kidnapped and sent to the underworld. Although Isabel and Ethan have been forbidden to rescue him, an ever-increasing connection to Arkarian drives Isabel to convince Ethan and Matt that they must risk everything to find him despite the potential consequences."

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA by Nagaru Tanigawa. "It's one week before Christmas Eve, and Haruhi and the S.O.S. Brigade (a club for her high school's strangest and most extraordinary students) are gearing up for holiday festivities. But just before the fun kicks off, Kyon, the only "normal" member, wakes up in a weird alternate dimension, one where Haruhi attends another school entirely, Nagato the time traveling robot is just an ordinary human, and Mikuru (the cute girl of Kyon's dreams) doesn't even recognize him-in other words, S.O.S. Brigade never existed.

The only clue Kyon can find is a bookmark left by the robot version of Nagato, which leads him on a quest back in time, where he interacts with the storyline from "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody", a short story from the previous Haruhi book, The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya."

FACTOTUM: THE FOUNDLING'S TALE by D. M. Cornish. "Rossamund Bookchild stands accused of not truly being a human at all, but of being a monster. Even the protection of Europe, the Branden Rose--the most feared and renowned monster-hunter in all the Half-Continent--might not be enough to save him. Powerful forces move against them both, intent on capturing Rossamund--whose existence some believe may hold the secret to perpetual youth."

HOUSE OF THE STAR by Caitlin Brennan. "Elen is a princess of the kingdom of Ymbria. Her greatest wish is to become a rider of worldrunners: the magical horses that are the only safe way to travel the roads through the worlds of Faerie. Now Elen has the chance to fulfill her dream at last, but the price is much too high.

To become a worldrider, Elen must journey to the House of the Star on Earth, the Arizona ranch where the worldrunners live and breed. There, she must try to forge a peace with her people’s worst enemy—a traitor from the world of Caledon—and end the war that has been tearing their worlds apart for centuries. If Elen doesn’t succeed, the Master of the House of the Star will close both Ymbria and Caledon off from the worldroads forever. Can the wisdom of a worldrunner named Blanca help Elen in her quest to save her world?"

KIND: THE GOOD NEIGHBORS by Holly Black. "The faerie world has been unleashed on Rue's city. The big question is: Will she stop it and save the world she's always known? Or will she take her place as the rightful faerie heir?

Another fantastic concoction of fantasy and suspense from Eisner-award nominees Holly Black and Ted Naifeh."

THE MARBURY LENS by Andrew Smith. "Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury. There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he’s trying to kill them. Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he’s losing his mind. Conner tells Jack it’s going to be okay. But it’s not."

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT LUNAR BOY by Stephen Tunney. "Two thousand years in the future, the Moon has become a run-down experiment in terraforming and colonization with a dusty patina and a bright red sky. To sixteen-year-old Hieronymus Rexaphin, it is the only world he has ever known until he meets a girl from Earth called Windows Falling on Sparrows, who is inexplicably drawn to him because of his special--some say dangerous--condition. Hieronymus is a One Hundred Percent Lunar Boy who can see the fourth primary color, which gives him the ability to see the future path of time and matter. To look into his eyes will cause madness or even death, authorities say, so he is forced to wear goggles at all times. The color of his eyes is against Lunar law, and some say against nature. After breaking the Moon s most serious law and exposing his eyes to the curious young Earth girl, Hieronymus embarks on a tremendous misadventure to protect his friends and save his family, and to escape exile and imprisonment on the far side of the moon."

THE PAINTED BOY by Charles de Lint. "Jay Li should be in Chicago, finishing high school and working at his family's restaurant. Instead, as a born member of the Yellow Dragon Clan--part human, part dragon, like his grandmother--he is on a quest even he does not understand. His journey takes him to Santo del Vado Viejo in the Arizona desert, a town overrun by gangs, haunted by members of other animal clans, perfumed by delicious food, and set to the beat of Malo Malo, a barrio rock band whose female lead guitarist captures Jay's heart. He must face a series of dangerous, otherworldly--and very human--challenges to become the man, and dragon, he is meant to be."

PEGASUS by Robin McKinley. "Because of a thousand-year-old alliance between humans and pagasi, Princess Sylviianel is ceremonially bound to Ebon, her own Pegasus, on her twelfth birthday. The two species coexist peacefully, despite the language barriers separating them. Humans and pegasi both rely on specially-trained Speaker magicians as the only means of real communication.

But its different for Sylvi and Ebon. They can understand each other. They quickly grow close-so close that their bond becomes a threat to the status quo-and possibly to the future safety of their two nations."

THE RING OF SOLOMON: A BARTIMAEUS NOVEL by Jonathan Stroud. "Bartimaeus, everyone’s favorite (wise-cracking) djinni, is back in book four of this best-selling series. As alluded to in the footnotes throughout the series, Bartimaeus has served hundreds of magicians during his 5,010 year career. Now, for the first time, fans will go back in time with the djinni, to Jerusalem and the court of King Solomon in 950s BC. Only in this adventure, it seems the great Bartimaeus has finally met his match. He’ll have to contend with an unpleasant master and his sinister servant, and runs into just a “spot” of trouble with King Solomon’s magic ring...."

THROUGH THE WARDROBE: YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS ON C.S. LEWIS' CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
edited by Herbie Brennan. "Step through the wardrobe and into the imaginations of these friends of Aslan as they explore Narnia—from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to The Last Battle, from the heart of Caspian’s kingdom to the Eastern Seas. Find out:

• Why Edmund Pevensie is totally crush-worthy
• What tea and Turkish Delight have to do with World War II
• Why The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be the best movie of the series
• What Susan really did to get herself booted out of Narnia (it wasn’t the pantyhose or the lipstick)

The series’ roots in C.S. Lewis’ Christianity are important, but there’s more to Narnia than just the religious symbolism. Through the Wardrobe, edited by internationally bestselling British fantasy author Herbie Brennan, reveals new levels of richness and delight the other Narnia books overlook."

TYGER TYGER: A GOBLIN WARS BOOK by Kersten Hamilton. "Teagan Wylltson's best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures--goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty--are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems.
Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too . . . and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right. The goblins are coming."

VIRALS by Kathy Reichs. "Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever.

As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent.

Fortunately, they are now more than friends they're a pack. They are Virals.

WHISPER OF VENOM: BROTHERHOOD OF THE GRIFFON by Richard Lee Byers. "The Mad King Returns! Aoth and the Brotherhood of the Griffon succeeded in rescuing Tchazzar, the lost king of Chessenta and a formidable red dragon. Upon his return Tchazzar rewards them greatly, sends them back to the frontlines--and names himself a god. Increasingly erratic in the war against the powerful dracolich, Tchazzar begins to move in ways that make Aoth suspicious that the Brotherhood may be just a pawn in a cutthroat draconic game that puts whole kingdoms at risk--a game played for a stakes of gold and blood."

Sabotaged, by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Sabotaged, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster, 2010, middle grade, 360 pages)

It's impossible to say much about this book, the third of a series, without spoiling the first book, Found (my review), and the second, Sent (my review). So if you haven't read those yet, you might want to...

That being said, Sabotaged continues the efforts of time travel oversight personnel to clean up a nasty mess. Famous children in danger of dying had been plucked from their original times, to be sold off as collectors items in the future. That plan ended with a plane load of infants landing in the late 20th century, and now efforts are underway to return these kids, grown up a bit, to their own times.

One of the kids, Jonah, and his modern adopted sister, Katherine, have been tapped to serve as guides back to the past during these return missions. In Sabotaged, they are accompanying a girl named Andrea back into her past as Virginia Dare, the first known English child born in America. But on the way back into the late 16th century, things go terribly wrong, and the helpful device that would tell them what to do is lost.

All is mystery and confusion as the three kids try to figure out where they are and what they are supposed to be doing, in a place and time overshadowed by the ghosts of failed Roanoke colony, and the disastrous impact those colonists had on the native people of the region. Things are complicated by the arrival of a shipwrecked old man, who turns out to be John White, Virginia Dare's grandfather, returning to try to find out the fate of his family. And when two other kids kidnapped from the future appear as well, boys who had been cast away back in time and adopted by the local people (before being kidnapped by the folks plucking kids from the past), things become even more complicated. What, Jonah and Katherine wonder, are they supposed to be doing? (The reader wonders this as well).

And then there is the master puppeteer--the one who instigated the loss of the mechanical device, the one who drops enigmatic notes to the kids. Is this person, who goes by the name "Second," trying to change time for unknown, possible sinister, reasons??!?

It's a fascinating account of what might have happened to the failed Roanoke colony. Haddix does well, I thought, at presenting a balanced view of the encounter between the Algonquins and the English. She manages to convey something of the Algonquian perspective, through the world view of the two boys adopted by local people, ancestors of the Lumbee, without making blanket generalizations about "the Indian side of things." And her lengthy author's note further expands and explains the history embedded in her story.

The snarls of time are rather complicated in this book, and I'm not sure I successfully unraveled them. It doesn't help that the book ends without actually resolving the situation--some things are made clear, but many are not. My confusion, which mirrored that of the characters, kept me from loosing myself in the story.

So, in short, the book as a whole didn't quite work for me. I think I would have felt more tolerant of the confusion of time twisted plot if I had connected more to the characters. The story is told from Jonah's perspective, and I found him unsympathetic (for most of the book, he's busy being confused and put out in a not tremendously intelligent way). And the other characters never quite became sufficiently alive to me to compensate for the deficits I found in Jonah's character.

A thing that tickled me immensly

I recently realized (doubtless long after most other people) that one could read Ansible (a magazine of sf news and gossip from across the pond) on line.

Here is November's edition.

Here is my favorite bit, from a section entitled "Thog's Masterclass"

"Long Patient Vigil Dept. 'From the depths of the grotto came the sound of water, a single drop blepping into a pool. A week later, another blep. Then a month passed before three drops fell in as many seconds.' (Troy Denning, Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Abyss, 2009) [AR]"

I am incredibly tickled by the word "blep."

(you can read more examples of fine writing at the Ansible site by following the link above).

Zahrah the Windseeker, by Nnedi Ocorafor-Mbachu

Zahrah the Windseeker, by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu (Houghton Mifflin, 2005, middle grade, 320 pages)

Here's how the book begins:

"When I was born, my mother took one look at me and laughed.

"She's dada," said the doctor, looking surprised.

"I can see that," my mother replied with a smile. She took me in her arms and gently touched one of the thick clumps of hair growing from my little head. I had dadalocks and woven inside each one of those clumps was a skinny, light green vine. Contrary to what a lot of people think, these vines didn't sprout directly from my head. Instead, they were more like plants that had attached themselves to my hair as I grew inside my mother's womb. Imagine that! To be born with vines growing in your hair! But that's the nature of dada people, like myself.

"Look, she's smiling," my father said. "As if she already knows she's dada."

To many, to be dada meant you were born with strange powers. That you could walk into a room and a mysterious wind would knock things over or clocks would automatically stop; that your mere presence would cause flowers to grow underneath the soil instead of above. That you caused things to rebel or that you would grow up to be rebellious yourself! And what made things even worse was that I was a girl, and only boys and men were supposed to be rebellious. Girls were supposed to be soft, quiet, and pleasant."

Zahrah's dada hair has always set her apart from the other children...that, and her her quiet, contemplative nature. But when she is thirteen, her difference manifests itself in a new form--she discovers that she can fly. Unfortunately, she’s afraid of heights, unsure how to control her new found ability, and afraid of being thought even stranger…so she only levitates just a bit, in her room, where no-one can see her.

The one person she tells is her best friend Dari, a boy who’s always accepted her for who she is. Dari is fascinated by the forbidden jungle that surrounds their town, and when he decides to begin exploring it, Zahrah reluctantly goes with him. And when their exploration goes horrible wrong, and Dari lies at death’s door, Zahrah goes back alone, to find the one thing that will save him.

Inside the forbidden jungle, each day brings Zahrah new challenges and terrors. Gradually, thanks in large part to a stay in the utopia of a sentient gorillas community, Zahrah learns to trust her gifts and herself, and is able to save her friend….and truly fly.

By far the most compelling part of the book is Zahrah’s world. It is a magical jungle planet, with mysterious ties to earth-- a fascinatingly West African inspired place. There are many tantalizing hints that the author knows much more backstory than she tells, giving depth to her world building…I wanted more! And, especially in the beginning, there was something of an info-dump approach to world building, that I found a bit disappointing.

At times, Okorafor-Mbachu’s descriptions of people and places enchanted me—her Dark Market, for instance, is a wonderfully rich place. The plant-based technology of her planet, however, never quite convinced me (it never felt essential to the story, but more like an added bonus feature), and Zahrah’s jungle journey was a straightforward series of encounters with strange creatures, whose strangeness never quite became magical for me. (I wasn’t able to suspend my disbelief enough to allow for the gorilla utopia. I found that part of the book very odd, but that might be just me).

Zahrah’s story is a fine example of “the girl becoming a hero” genre. Her character arc, from somewhat diffident outsider to intrepid confronter of the worst the jungle has to offer, was easy for me to accept – she is brave and likable, without being exaggerated. Unfortunately for me, however, I never connected with Zahrah’s first person narrative voice. The author uses exclamation marks which great frequency, and this gave Zahrah a breathless, over-excited tone in my mind that I didn’t much care for. It’s possible that this choice is meant to evoke oral story telling traditions, and to make Zahrah come alive as a narrator—but it didn’t work for me.

Obviously, I have mixed feelings about this one. I wanted to like it lots more than I did. It’s not at all a bad choice for any middle grade reader looking for fantasy about brave girls, and certainly a fine book to give the reader looking for a brave girl of color. But it was not quite a book for me.

This Sunday's Round-Up of Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction

Happy Halloween, and welcome to another Sunday of what I found around the blogs that pertains to middle grade science fiction and fantasy. For those who might wonder just how these posts work, I wrote up a Full Disclosure statement yesterday. But in short, I find posts while browsing, and assemble them here! Please let me know if I missed yours.

The Boneshaker, by Kate Milford, at Never Jam Today.

Brains for Lunch: a Zombie Novel in Haiku, by K.A. Holt, at Green Bean Teen Queen.

The Brimstone Key, by Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis, at Ms. Yingling Reads.

Come Fall, by A.C.E. Bauer, at TheHappyNappyBookseller

The Coming of the Dragon, by Rebecca Barnhouse, at Manga Maniac Cafe.

Curse of the Were Wiener (Dragonbreath), by Ursula Vernon, at Charlotte's Library and Coffee for the Brain.

Dark Life, by Kat Falls, at Bart's Bookshelf.

The Fairy's Mistake, by Gail Carson Levine, at Manga Maniac Cafe.

The Familiars, by Adam Jay Epstein & Andrew Jacobson, at The Slowest Bookworm and The Lost Entwife.

Flight of the Outcast, by Brad Strickland, at Ms. Yingling Reads.

Frozen in Time, by Ali Sparks, at Ms. Yingling Reads.

The Handcuff Kid, by Laura Quimby, at I Capture the Rowhouse.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch, at TheHappyNappyBookseller.

The Homeward Bounders, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Stella Matutina.

Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation, by Matt Myklusch, at Coffee for the Brain.

Knightly Academy, by Violet Haberdasher, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

The Lost Conspiracy, by Frances Hardinge, at Chachic's Book Nook.

The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan, at Books Are Like People, For the Love of Reading, Books in the Spotlight, and Fairrosa Cyber Library.

Magic Trixie, by at Great Kid Books.

The Magnificent 12: The Call, by Michael Grant, at Booked Up.

The Memory Bank, by Carolyn Coman, at Becky's Book Reviews.

Mythil's Secret, by Prashani Rambukwella, at Sri Lankan Books (I would love to read this, but can't find a way to order a copy...any help gladly appreciated! edited to add--Kate Coombs found out how --here's the link. Thanks Kate!)

Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, at Booked Up.

The Phantom of Blood Alley, by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, at Ms. Yingling Reads.

Reckless, by Cornelia Funke, at Charlotte's Library.

Rise of the Darklings (Invisible Order Book 1) by Paul Crilley, at Book Aunt.

Saraswati's Way, by Monika Schroder, at Words World and Wings. (I'm not sure if this is really fantasy qua fantasy, but there seems to be a godess involved--and it sounds great!)

Scarlett Dead, by Cathy Brett, at Nayu's Reading Corner.

The Search for WondLa, by Tony DiTerlizzi, at Books4yourkids

The Shadows, by Jacqueline West, at Ms. Yingling Reads.

The Sisters Grimm: The Inside Story, by Michael Buckley, at Booked Up.

The Steps Across the Water, by Adam Gopnik, at Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books.

Tamsin, by Peter S. Beagle, at Books & Other Thoughts (technically YA, but good for older mg readers. But it's been a long time since I read it...)

Thomas and the Dragon Queen, by Shutta Crum, at Ms. Yingling Reads (with bonus dragon book list)

The Witches, by Roald Dahl, at Middle Grade Ninja.


There's a three for one post (The Dead Boys, by Royce Buckingham, The Snowbird, by Mette Ivie Harrison, and The Search for WondLa, by Tony DiTerlizzi) at Ms. Yingling Reads.

Spooky Stuff:

And this being Halloween, here are some posts containing spooky favorites, at Vulpes Libris, The Book Zone (for boys),

And in a similarly festive vein, visit "how to make a monster," a post in which various Enchanted Inkpot authors share their most monstrous thoughts.

But if you really want something scary, go to Comics Alliance for "The Terrifying Children's Illustrations of Stephen Gammel" from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.


Interviews:

Laura Sullivan (Under the Green Hill) at The Spectacle.

Julie Berry (Second Hand Charm, which sounds like a good YA for upper mg readers, and a more specifically mg series- The Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys) at Gamila's Book Review.

Clare Dunkle (House of Dead Maids--another YA older mg readers might like) at Cynsations.

Michael Spradlin (The Youngest Templar) at The Enchanted Inkpot.

Rick Riordan at Oh No They Didn't

And another lovely post in Katherine Langrish's Fairytale Reflections series--this week the featured guest is Lucy Coats, author of Hootcat Hill...which I am seriously wanting to read....

Other things of interest:

At The Gaurdian, Naomi Alderman and Frank Cottrell Boyce depate a question of great interest--Should J.K. Rowling write another Harry Potter book?

Two museum exhibits of interest:

If you've read The Red Pyramid, head on over to the British Museum's new exhibit centering on the Book of the Dead.

If you live anywhere near Worcester, MA, you should make a point of visiting the Higgins Armory Museum. Not only do they have an absolutly fascinating collection of arms and armor, and a gift shop that is a perfect place to shop for a young fantasy lover, but, through 2011, they have a gem of an exhibit that should delight any fan of fantastical creatures: Beyond Belief: The Curious Collection of Professor Rufus Excalibur Bell. It's a Victorian Cabinet of Curiousities, with mythological creatures in place of zoological specimens. Here's the gargoyle skeleton:

In which I disclose all regarding my middle grade fantasy and science fiction roundup posts

In the interests of transparency I've decided to explain how I construct my weekly Sunday roundups of middle grade fantasy and science fiction (mg sff) posts from around the blogging world.

I started these roundups of blog posts because I wanted them to exist! I wanted to read reviews of the sub-genre I enjoy most, and mg sff reviews tend to be scattered all over the place--every week it seems I find them at blogs I'd never heard of before. And I wanted to help shine a spotlight on mg sff in general--YA and adult sci fi/fantasy get much more blog coverage, and my hope is to balance things a bit. I'm awfully pleased that people are enjoying the roundups; I enjoy doing them.

I want to make it clear that this isn't a list of reviews I think are the best, or a list of the books that I think are the best. It's simply what I've found. Initially I had envisioned people sending links to me that I would list à la Poetry Friday or Nonfiction Monday, and I thought someday I would send the meme on its way to other hosts. But this didn't happen (although one person does send me links regularly--thanks). Maybe it will someday.

What has happened instead is that I compile every mg sff related post I find during my daily blog reading, and on Sunday morning I also do google blog searches on "middle grade fantasy," "middle grade science fiction," and "children fantasy book" or a variant of the same. If you put one of the first two in your post, I should find it. If I'm feeling ambitious, I might blog search titles of new releases that I haven't seen reviews for yet. Every week I miss things, and I'm happy (in a very rueful way) to be told that I have, so that I can put them in. I post these roundups in the morning...so Sunday afternoon posts will (mostly) appear in next week's version.

I don't include every blog post I find. I don't, for instance, include short posts that are simply mentions, reiterations of the publisher's blurb, and/or two sentence reactions--I want the links I include to have some substance. This is, of course, a judgement call. I also chose not to link to posts that seem to me to be essentially advertisements for a book, other products, or particular websites.

I also find myself making judgement calls every week about what constitutes "middle grade," (which is technically ages 9-12). Sometimes I include reviews of books that are labeled YA that seem to me, or to the reviewer, or to some other reviewer altogether, the sort of thing an eleven or twelve year old might really enjoy. Some weeks, I seem to adhere to stricter parameters. The fact that I haven't read every book myself adds randomness to what I include, which can't be helped.

Sometimes I link to graphic novels that are mg fantasy, and sometimes I don't. I've never made an effort to find them, but if I do come across them, I might put them in...

Whether I agree or not with the worldviews of other bloggers isn't a factor when I decide to link to them. A variety of perspectives adds interest; that being said, the blogs I tend to read are the ones I tend to like, so I'm more likely to find their posts. I do most emphatically reserve the right not to link to any post that I find abhorrent.

And finally, I won't, in general, link to reviews of Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, or, indeed, early books of other popular series...unless they say something new and special (there are only so many reviews of the same book that one wants to read).

Please free to contact me with suggestions as to how to make the round-ups better, or if you'd like to try your own hand at a week's worth of rounding up! Please let me know if I've misspelled a name or a title! And please feel free to send me links at any time, if you've written a post, read a post, had your book written about in a post, or done an interview -- charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com.

And thank you, all you nice people who have mentioned these roundups on your own blogs! It is much appreciated.

(question--which do you prefer, round-up or roundup? I've just been told the latter is more correct (and took all the hyphens out), but the former looks nicer to me...)

Dragonbreath: Curse of the Were-Wiener!

This afternoon the boys and I walked up the steep flank of Wolf Hill, kicking acorns and rustling leaves with our feet, and climbed the treacherous granite ledge that lets one sneak through a fence into the back parking lot of our local Barnes and Noble. Anticlimax, perhaps, but we left with the book we wanted--the exquisitely seasonally-appropriate Curse of the Were-Wiener, by Ursula Vernon (2010, Dial, upper elementary/younger middle grade, 208 pages, although there are lots of pictures).

This is the third of Vernon's books about a young dragon, Danny Dragonbreath, and his best friend, an iguana named Wendell. And this adventure is perhaps their darkest yet. The titular were-wiener is a Dark Creature of Horror, and it bites poor Wendell, setting in motion a hideous transformation. The two young reptiles have little hope of defeating the evil alpha wurst. Unless...they can find the living potato salad that we last saw, in book 1, disappearing down a storm drain.

But forget my summary--just watch the book trailer (and I almost never ever (this is only the second time) put up book trailers, but I love this one. And it shows you what the artwork looks like. And it's Spooky....).




Me and my boys love Dragonbreath. With dry humor coupled with whatever the opposite of dry humor is*, oodles of charm in the drawings of the reptile lads, just the right amount of grossness (that is, enough to amuse them while not disgusting me), and an exciting story (will the potato salad remember them, or will it attack???), this is a lovely book to put into the hands of the young reader, and to enjoy oneself.

*here's an example--Wendell's mother buys him Periodic Table of Elements bandaids. "We put the pain back in learning!" says the box. Hee hee hee. I would totally buy them.

Reckless, by Cornelia Funke

Reckless, by Cornelia Funke (2010, Little Brown, upper middle grade onwards, 394 pages, illustrated by the author)

"Once upon a time, there was boy who set out to learn the meaning of fear..."

After his father's disappearance, Jacob Reckless made a habit of creeping into his study, searching for answers. One night, when he was twelve, he found a piece of paper: "The mirror will open only for he who cannot see himself." And with that cryptic clue to guide him, Jacob passes through his father's mirror into another realm. A place where fairy tales are real.

Fast forward twelve years, during which Jacob has explored the mirror world obsessively, neglecting his mother and little brother, Will. The mirror world has become enmired in a war between humans and the Goyl, stone-skinned subterranean people who are bent on claiming the upper lands as their dominion. For the first time, Will has followed Jacob through the mirror, and disaster has struck. Will has been injured by a Goyl, and is slowly turning into one of them himself, the stone spreading through his skin.

Now Jacob must desperately quest through all the dangers of the twisted tales of the mirror world, looking for a way to save his little brother. Accompanying the two brothers are Fox, a shapeshifting girl who has been Jacob's companion for years (who is waiting for him to notice that she is more than just his friend, the fox, but also a girl who loves him), and Will's girlfriend Clara, who made her way through the mirror to find him. Together they face a frightening panoply of magic and mayhem in a world where death is no fairy tale at all.

"I know why you're here." Clara's voice sounded distant, as though she were speaking not about him but about herself. "This world doesn't frighten you half as much as the other one. You have nothing and nobody to lose here. Except Fox, and she clearly worries more about you than you do about her. You've left all that could frighten you in the other world. But then Will came here and brought it all with him." (page 208).

Despite the ostensibly already grown-up age of the central characters, this is a book about growing-up, about how the relationships of brothers and friends, and perceptions of oneself, change in terrifying ways as adulthood is entered. Jacob might be 24 on paper, but the young man in the mirror world is more an avatar of oldness exploring a fantasy world than a convincing adult--his character is still very much that of the reckless adolescent, confused by his emotional responses to the questions posed by growing up. Although sex lurks in the background (it's never explicitly or centrally part of the story), for Jacob it is still the hormonally charged lust of the adolescent--he has yet to learn love (oh poor Fox. I felt for her so very much).

And the lands behind the mirror, built of fractured fairy tales, are full of metaphors that reflect this. The younger brother, turning into unloving stone, who his older brother can no longer protect. The tomboy girl (Fox), who now wants to be seen as someone else. The fairy tales share this theme--there was no instant true love that could save the sleeping beauty here in this place, and the gingerbread houses lie empty. The way to the Red Fairy, with all her magically irresistible sex appeal, lies through the lands of the unicorns, who gore and trample anyone who looks at them. The mirror world itself is rushing away from its own childhood--new inventions and technology (many of them introduced by Jacob's father) are changing things rapidly.

This reliance on metaphor is fascinating, and had a profound effect on the way I read the book. Mostly I gallop through books I'm enjoying, hardly aware that there is an author at all. When reading this book, however, I was always conscious of the Funke's presence, deliberately introducing scenes and set pieces to further the creation of the edifice of the story. This feeling was heightened by the occasional insertion of explicit fairy tale references, like the quote I used to begin this review (which comes right at the end of the book, on page 389--I hope it's not too much of a spoiler). She is a lot like a dungeon master, putting challenges in the way of her characters, rolling her narrative dice to determine if they will live or not.

And indeed I think the most perfect audience for this book would be the roll playing 12 or 13 year old boy, caught (metaphorically) in the same place as Jacob...So although this is one that will be enjoyed very much by many adults, this is a middle grade book (I had wondered). But it's not a middle grade book for younger kids--there are terrifying things here. The cover is rather brilliant in this regard--it is fierce and scary and magical, just like the mirror world, but it is disturbing enough to deter those looking for happy endings who won't be comfortable inside this world (it's another one I had to keep face down so my seven year old didn't have to look at it).

I'm not quite the right reader for this one--I enjoyed it lots intellectually, but the flip side of that is that I never lost myself in the world of the story, which happens with the books I love best. That being said, my only real complaint is with the ending; as the jacket flap says: "If you've come for happily ever after, you've come to the wrong place." But I wouldn't have minded just a bit more reason to think that Jacob is finally going to grow up....(oh, Fox, I feel for you so), and I think the story needed that hope.

Other thoughts at Squeaky Books, IMCPL Kids, and A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy.

Help wanted (but not actually expected) with deciphering a title on my t.b.r. list....(sigh)

It is time again for me to transcribe my main to be read list, shown here:



As you can see, it is getting messy.

But I have hit a problem. There is a title that I cannot decipher:

It looks like The Cumlity to me, but that can't be right, and it's driving me nuts.

There's a chance it could be C....dity. But the "ity" part I'm pretty sure of. Unless--could this be the breakthrough I need? it' s C....lits. The Cromlits? The Cronelits?

This particular list is mostly books mentioned on other blogs, so if you by any chance reviewed a book beginning with C and ending (possibly) with -lity, could you let me know? Thanks.

Changing Times, by Tim Kennemore, for Timeslip Tuesday

Changing Times, by Tim Kennemore (1984, YA, 144 pages, but the type was smaller and denser back then). It isn't much of an autobiographical link, but Kennemore doesn't seem to have her own website, or wikipedia entry. And vexingly, I wasn't able to find a picture online--I'll have to scan the cover at some point.

It is Victoria's fifteenth birthday, and her parents have bestowed lavish presents upon her. Presents that she barely acknowledges--why give them any emotional response, when they have neglected her emotionally for years? Caught up in their own bitter relationship, and in their obsessive bridge playing, neither has any time or real interest in their daughter. One present she does appreciate is the chance to pick anything she wants from her uncle's antique store. And the thing that appeals most is a strange and seemingly non-functional clock....

Turns out the clock can take its owner back, or forward, to any part of their life. Victoria is about to find out what happened in her childhood that made her parents the miserable people they became...and she'll find out what might happen to herself and her boyfriend, Daniel, as well.

Victoria's travels through her own life form the bulk of the book, as she relives days from her past--days that flit away again, once she sleeps, so that there are no consequences. Unfortunately, there wasn't as much depth to Victoria's journey as I had hoped for, in large part because Victoria is a prickly character. She's been warped, rather, by her unloving parents, and in consequence has become unlovably cold and distant. Although she learns about her life in a rational way, she doesn't grow that much emotionally, and so the book, while interesting and well-written (nice and crisp prose-wise, although a tad archaic--I haven't come across "clad" for years), isn't one I took to my heart.

Changing Times is a British book, and I've found the same very smart but emotionally distant feel to quite a few of the (admittedly small number) of 1960s to 1980s UK YA books that I've read. And it's a funny thing in general, reading a YA book from way back in the early eighties. The marital relationships of the various grown-ups seem dated in their somewhat sordid unhappiness, or, in the case of Daniel's parents, old-fashioned ideas about the woman's role in the family. It's strange, too, to read a YA book in which girl friend and boy friend don't even kiss (although partly this is because Daniel has been so warped by his domineering father).

However, at the time of its publication it was lavished with praise--- "Quite extraordinary skill and originality," said the Guardian. "A powerful exposition of family relationships marred and scarred," The Junior Bookshelf opined. "A distinctive sharp witty style...refreshing and exhilarating," commented British Book News.

So maybe it's just me. And indeed, this one might well appeal to fans of Honor Arundal and Jane Gardam (two other UK authors writing YA in the 196os and 1970s), although it doesn't come close to the utter brilliance of Gardam's Bilgewater. In looking up these three authors just now, I was rather interested to see that although Jane Gardam began writing books for adults, Tim Kennemore moved from this type of somewhat acerbic YA drama to lighter stories for younger children (like Circle of Doom, from 2006, which sounds like a lovely fun book).

Timeslip-wise--the clock is never explained, the consequences of time travel negligible (except for the effect on Victoria's understanding of her life). It's much more a family dynamics/growing up story than an adventure through time.

Blogging the Backlist --a recap of what I said at Kidlit Con

At Kidlit Con I found myself on a panel about blogging the backlist, with two Holiday Inn post it notes clutched in my hot little hand. Fortunately, I was flanked by three other eloquent speakers (Melissa, Jen, and Carol), and it’s hard to be nervous when talking about books to kidlit bloggers (because you know they care too). My two post it notes are long gone, but here’s my effort to recapture my scattered thoughts.

Our panel’s structure was based on a framework developed by Jen, who posed the following questions about why one might blog about out of print or backlisted books.

1. What’s in it for me?
2. What’s in it for my blog?
3. What’s in it for my readers?
4. What’s in it for the greater good?

And so these are the points that I address, starting, as comes so naturally, with Me.

Sometimes, I think I want mine to be a cutting edge blog--one of the beautiful blogs whose template is never wrinkled, who talk about the latest new releases, and who always seem to know what is New and Hot. But I have decided that is simply not who I am. Sure, I like getting ARCs in general, and Love getting ARCs of Megan Whalen Turner books, in particular, and it’s lots of fun to write excitedly about new books. I will never not want to review new books. In fact, I just wrote to HarperCollins requesting one today (Invisible Things, the sequel to The Explosionist, by Jenny Davidson, which I loved).

But there’s a downside to blogging about what’s current and accepting lots of review copies—it’s stressful. The beady eyes of all the review copies accumulating on every flat surface of your house, watching as you read a library book, or, heaven forbid, a book off your own shelves, make for nervous pleasure reading. And there’s no time for re-reading at all. It's considerably more relaxing to write about an old favorite that one loves--there are no deadlines for sharing old favorites, and there they all are, in my own case, on the shelves closest to my bed, just peacefully waiting.

Another reason there's less stress is that when one writes about a backlist or out of print book, the audience is simply people who love books. When posting about a new book I received for review, I'm writing for the gatekeepers. I feel that I should be thinking Critically, making clear arguments about the book's strengths and weaknesses. I enjoy doing that (otherwise I would do it), but it still takes a bit of effort. When writing about a book I just happen to love, I don't feel compelled to do that as much (which is good, because it's hard to think critically about a book you've practically memorized). If I want to write about the loveliness of the heroine's room, or her charming boots, I can gush at will. And boy, is it gratifying when some one reads a review of a childhood favorite, and shares their own love for it! Or rushes out to hunt for a copy of their own.

I've done both of those things when reading reviews of out of print books at other blogs. And one reason I like such posts is not just for the books, but because of the insight they give me into the character of the blogger. For one thing, the choice of which books to talk about is much wider--not just what is new, but what is loved--so you can learn about the blogger. When some one posts a review of a D.E. Stevenson book, for instance, I think "This person could be a friend," and I want to keep reading their blog. It's not just the choices that express a blogger's character, it's the writing as well-- when I posted my review of Valley of Song, by Elizabeth Goudge, for instance, I was writing much more as me, Charlotte, than is the case when I review a new book, with the gatekeepers in my mind. And so maybe my readers know me a bit better.

It doesn't hurt one's blog stats, either, to include older books. My look at The Green Book, by Jill Patton Walsh, is my fourth most googled post. If you want comments, write about an old favorite.

There are some blogs whose have made a clear choice to focus on backlist or out of print books, or at least to include lots of them. This gives them a lovely clear point, that greatly benefits readers. The Children's War, for instance, is a place where you'll find exclusively books about kids in WW II; lots of them are old, but that doesn't make them less wonderful, and it is a great resource. I include a lot of backlist/out of print titles in my two thematic lists--Time Travel Books and Multicultural sci fi/fantasy, and I think this makes them a much more useful place for people to come. (And, as an INFP, I am apparently focused on making the world a better place, seeking to serve humanity as best I can (pats self on back). I don't think I'd want to blog if my blog wasn't Useful to someone).

Finally, thinking now of the greater good--blogging the backlist gives historical depth to issues still very contentious today. It puts things in context. It brings to readers books that might not be on bookstore shelves, that still have the power to wake people up, shattering bubbles of naivete. And I think it's incredibly important to go back, as Debbie Reese does at Native Americans in Children's Literature, to re-examine old books with insights that expose their weaknesses, so that we don't just blindly accept the printed pages of yester year, with all their ignorance and prejudice. I'm looking forward lots to participating in Mitali's upcoming feature--community re-reads of children's classics, looking at them with fresh eyes (up first, on November 1-5, Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace).

And those are the reasons why, amongst my of new books, there are lots of reviews of old ones! So join Angie for her Retro Friday feature, if you want some structure to your backlist blogging, or simply share an old favorite...Rediscovering what lurks on your own shelves, or in the public library, can be just as rewarding as a full mailbox of new books. (But I really hope HarperCollins sends me Invisible Things).

I wish I could remember the insightful things my co-panelists said, but sadly I can't remember much. I'm pretty sure that the comments I've just made above were shaped very much by what they said too (if not lifted directly from something they said first)--so thanks to Jen and Melissa and Carol!

I do remember one specific point-that blogging the backlist can be instrumental in bringing beloved books back into print--with the Betsy-Tacy books being a shining example (although this hasn't helped Betsy Bird's Winged Girl of Knossos yet...every year she mentions it, to no avail). And I'm sure the others said many more wonderful things--I do remember nodding lots and lots in agreement...

Ursula Le Guin is blogging!

I am back from Kidlit Con 2010, which was great fun, and there are lots of things I want to post about, which are going to require Time and Thought, but, since at this moment I have neither, I just wanted to share the exciting news that Ursula Le Guin has started blogging, here at Book View Cafe! I am so pleased, because I admire her so much, and I welcome the chance to sit at her (virtual) feet...

This Sunday's Round-Up of Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction

This week's round-up was compiled last Friday, just before I headed out to Kidlitcon 2010 in Minneapolis...I'll update it on Sunday night (or, more likely, Monday morning....)

Here's what's new since I posted this on Friday:

Kate Coombs has a fascinating, utterly fascinating, post about trends in mg sff using the Cybils Nominees as a data set--check it out here at Book Aunt.

Reviews:

Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising, by Jason Henderson, at Booked Up.

Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, at Booked Up.

The Guardians of Ga'Hoole: The Capture, by Kathryn Lasky, at The O.W.L.

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall, by Mary Downing Hahn at Lucy Was Robbed.

Halt's Peril, by John Flanagan, at Ms. Yingling Reads.

Heart of Glass, by Vivian French, at Back to Books.

The Lost Children, by Carolyn Cohagan, at Charlotte's Library.

The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan, at Ms. Yingling Reads, Essa Pamandanan, and The Book Zone

The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan, at One Librarian's Book Reviews.

On the Blue Comet, by Rosemary Wells, at Charlotte's Library

Takeshita Demons, by Cristy Burne, at Great Kid Books.

The Thirteenth Princess, by Diane Zahler, at Biblio File and Booked Up.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, by Alan Garner, at Bart's Bookshelf.

Zombiekins, by Kevin Bolger, at Cloudy With a Chance of Books.

A three for one at Ms. Yingling reads--Princesses, Fairies, and Basilisks...and do spend some time browsing Ms. Yingling's other posts from this past week--lots of good mg fantasy sprinkled among them!

Interviews:

Panama Oxridge (Justin Thyme) at The Book Zone
Penny Noyce (Lost in Lexicon) at Author.
Rick Riordan (The Lost Hero etc) at Wired

And an interview with Stacy Whitman, editor of Tu Books (an imprint of Lee & Low dedicated to publishing multicultural fantasy/sci fi for kids and teens) at Cynsations.

Katherine Roberts is this week's contributor to Katherine Langrish's Fairytale Reflections series.

There's a guest post J.S. Lewis (Grey Griffins books) at Reading Vacation

News:

J.K. Rowling is the first winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Prize, which comes with a prize of slightly over $93,000. This prize is given to an author comparable to Anderson, and is not the same award as the Hans Christian Andersen medal, which was first awarded in 1956). I am still mulling over ways in which Rowling is comparable to Andersen...and not quite coming up with much that satisfies me, apart from "famous" and "memorable." In Andersen's case (for me at least) too many horrific details are all too memorable....

And other, sad, news:

Eva Ibbotson, great creator of magical stories, has died...here's an interview from the Guardian with her from earlier this month, where she talks about her life as a writer, and her most recent book, The Ogre of Ogglefort-- "When I get stuck in a book now, I usually try putting an aunt in," says Eva Ibbotson, matter-of-factly. "I find it difficult to write a book without aunts. With The Ogre I had to put in three aunts, if I remember rightly." Ogre was shortlisted for the 2010 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and will be released in the U.S. by Dutton in summer 2011.

New Releases of sci fi/fantasy for kids and teens--the second half of October, 2010, edition

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teens for the second half of October. My information comes straight from Teens Read Too--please let me know of any new releases I've missed!!! The blurbs are lifted from Amazon/Goodreads/etc.

Middle Grade:

AGENT Q, OR THE SMELL OF DANGER!: A PALS IN PERIL TALE by M. T. Anderson. "It's time for Lily, Katie, and Jasper to head home from their exciting Delaware adventure, but the Awful Autarch's spies and goons are everywhere, and it's clear that *they* have other plans for our three intrepid heroes.

Chock full of ups, downs, twists, turns, and even a band of sentient lobsters fighting on the side of Good, this fourth installment of the Pals in Peril series is every bit as wild, wacky, and wonderfully outrageous as the first three."

THE BOOK OF MAPS: SACRED BOOKS by David Michael Slater. "It's been nearly a year, but Dex and Daphna are still not over what happened in Turkey. What they gained and what they lost there is almost too much to conceive. They've done their best to put the whole nightmare behind them, to start a new life with their new mother--but their dreams won't let them move on: dreams of falling into the void through that noxious wind; dreams of wings, millions of black wings, flapping in the dark; dreams of that awful, bone-chilling laughter. And now, the night before they were to officially open a new chapter in their lives, they find their fears are not only in their heads. They find that when they came back from those dreadful caves, something came with them."

THE BOY WHO HOWLED by Timothy Power. "As far back as Callum can really remember, he's been living in the Wild as the furless mascot of a wolf pack. But when his pack sends him back to live with his own kind—humans—fitting in is quite a challenge. He doesn't remember English very well, so he accidentally says his name is "Clam." He's spent most of his life eating fresh-killed elk, so dining with vegetarians is tricky. And when he tries to impress the Alpha student in the school cafeteria by stealing food, people seem offended!

A mix of wildness and humor, Timothy Power's inventive writing makes him a debut author to watch. And Callum's quest to find his place in a strange world will have readers rooting for him—when they're not howling with laughter."

THE COMING OF THE DRAGON by Rebecca Barnhouse. "Rebecca Barnhouse weaves Norse gods, blood feuds, and a terrifying dragon into this spectacular retelling of the end of the Old English poem Beowulf.

When he was a baby, Rune washed up onshore in a boat, along with a sword and a pendant bearing the runes that gave him his nickname. Some people thought he was a sacrifice to the gods and wanted to send him right back to the sea. Luckily for Rune, King Beowulf disagreed. He lifted the boy from the boat and gave him to Amma, a wisewoman living on a farm far removed from the king’s hall, to raise as she saw fit.

Sixteen years later, Rune spends his summers laboring on the farm. And at King Beowulf’s request, he comes to the hall each winter for weapons training. But somehow he never quite fits in. Many people still fear he will bring a curse on the kingdom. Then a terrible thing happens. On a lonely crag on a mountain that belongs to the giants, someone awakens a dragon. It is time for Rune to find the warrior inside himself and prove to the doubters once and for all that he is a true hero."

THE NECROPOLIS: THE FORGOTTEN WORLDS by PJ Hoover. "The situation in Lemuria is rapidly deteriorating. In fact teleportation between the hidden continent and the outside world has become so dangerous, all agents and their families have been recalled. Although Benjamin is pleased to be living in Lemuria full time, he knows he needs to find his last sibling soon. However, between classes, a murderous half-brother, and complications with his friend Heidi, Benjamin can barely focus. Besides, there's only one place left they haven't searched - the hidden continent of Atlantis."

UNDER THE GREEN HILL by Laura L. Sullivan. "Rowan, Meg, Silly and James Morgan are sent to the home of a distant relative in rural England. They are joined by their brilliant, bashful friend Dickie Rhys, and the despised Finn Fachan.

First they scoff at the country traditions – never give your real name to strangers, don’t step on the ants – but soon realize those silly superstitions are deadly serious. They help protect people from fairy influence. Their great-great aunt Phyllida Ash is the Guardian of the Green Hill, the last bastion of fairies in England.

Rowan, the eldest, is chosen to be one of the champions in the Midsummer War. His options are grim: kill his opponent, a beloved friend, or die himself as sacrifice. His sister Meg thinks she sees a way out, but will she risk her life and the fate of the earth itself to change a ritual that has gone on for thousands of years?"


Young Adult:

CRESCENDO by Becca Fitzpatrick. "Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?"

THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE: THE CHRONICLES OF THE IMAGINARIUM GEOGRAPHICA by James A. Owen. "Seven years after the events of The Shadow Dragons, John, Jack and Charles are finally able to return to their beloved Archipelago of Dreams. But even as their return is celebrated by old friends, new concerns shadow the reunion: the threat of Ecthroi, primordial Shadow. And perhaps even worse, the apparent splintering of Time itself.

Now, the Caretakers must fight against their most fearsome enemy ever and attempt to restore Time. They must journey through a forgotten Door from the destroyed Keep of Time in order to seek out the Dragon's Apprentice. If they fail, it will mean the end of both of the worlds. But success will carry its own price--a price that may be too high even for the Caretakers to bear."

HUNGER by Jackie Morse Kessler. "Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home—her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to fight her own inner demons?
A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, Hunger is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens."

NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer. "Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?"

THE EMERALD FLAME: WARRIOR PRINCESS by Frewin Jones. " Branwen has finally accepted that the Shining Ones have chosen her to save her country from the Saxon invaders. But the next stage in her journey includes a seemingly impossible mission, and the path before her is filled with darkness and danger. Branwen is pushed to the brink of disaster, and with each step she takes, she is being pulled farther from the life she once knew—the life she still desperately misses.

Guided by the spirits, with both her fearless friend Rhodri and the dashing, sometimes maddening Iwan by her side, Branwen must overcome terrifying odds if she is to succeed in her quest. But a true Warrior Princess won't back down . . . even when an old enemy returns."

FANTASY: AN ARTIST'S REALM by Ben Boos. "Imaginative people have always longed to experience a world more magical, more adventurous, more enchanted than our own. In this lavish volume, Ben Boos welcomes us to a land of his own creation, a land replete with beings of fantasy and folklore, including elves, dwarves, minotaurs, hobgoblins, and undead horrors. From the windy forests where elves and healers dwell to the misty coastal fortresses of Paladins and the towering libraries of Mages, each mysterious region comes alive in Ben Boos’s extraordinary art and descriptive text. Filled with exquisite detail on every page, this is an absorbing and inspiring fantasy experience not to be missed."

THE FLEDGLING HANDBOOK 101: HOUSE OF NIGHT by P.C. Cast & Kim Doner. "This might seem like a scary time, Fledgling, but never fear! As you start your journey through the ancient halls of the House of Night, this indispensable handbook will aid you in your transition from human to fledgling. Within these pages you will find invaluable information about the history of vampyres. You will also come to a better understanding of your body’s transformation, as well as read words of hope from great vampyres of the past and learn essential foundations of rituals and lore. Now, Fledgling, read on. A new life awaits you; your path to that magickal future begins here!"

GHOST TOWN: THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES by Rachel Caine. "While developing a new system to maintain Morganville's defenses, student Claire Danvers discovers a way to amplify vampire mental powers. Through this, she's able to re-establish the field around this vampire-infested Texas college town that protects it from outsiders.

But the new upgrades have an unexpected consequence: people inside the town begin to slowly forget who they are-even the vampires. Soon, the town's little memory problem has turned into a full-on epidemic. Now Claire needs to figure out a way to pull the plug on her experiment- before she forgets how to save Morganville..."

THE HAUNTING OF CHARLES DICKENS by Lewis Buzbee. "Meg Pickel’s older brother, Orion, has disappeared. One night, she steals out to look for him, and makes two surprising discoveries: She stumbles upon a séance that she suspects involves Orion, and she meets the author Charles Dickens, also unable to sleep, and roaming the London streets. He is a customer of Meg’s father, who owns a print shop, and a family friend. Mr. Dickens fears that the children of London aren’t safe, and is trying to solve the mystery of so many disappearances. If he can, then perhaps he’ll be able to write once again."

MISGUIDED ANGEL: BLUE BLOODS by Melissa de la Cruz. "After inheriting the dark Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler fled to Florence with her forbidden love, Jack. Now the two of them must embark on the mission Schuyler was destined to complete: to find and protect the five remaining gates that guard the earth from Lucifer, lord of the Silver Bloods.

Back in New York, Mimi has been elected Regent of a crumbling coven. Struggling with her heartache over the loss of Kingsley and with her overwhelming desire to destroy Jack, she must focus all of her energy on a perilous new threat. Vampires are being abducted and their captors are planning to burn them alive online…for all the world to see. Help arrives in the form of Deming Chen, a Venator from Shanghai, who must untangle the web of deceptions before the killers strike again.

As the young vampires struggle for the survival of the coven, they uncover a deadly secret, a truth first discovered by Schuyler’s mother during the Renaissance but kept buried for centuries. And as the Blue Blood enclave weakens yet further, fate leads Schuyler to a terrible choice that will ultimately map the destiny of her heart."

WICKED WOODS by Kailin Gow. "Briony had to move to Wicked Woods, Massachusetts to live with her Great Aunt Sophie after her family disappears on vacation. The woods at the edge of Aunt Sophie s inn is filled with secrets and inhabitants both seductive and deadly. Among them is a beautiful boy name Fallon who saves her one night in the woods. As Briony gets closer to Fallon, she learns he has a secret, as do most of the residents of Wicked Wood. Book 1 of 5 in the Wicked Woods Series."

ORPHAN OF DESTINY: THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR by Michael P. Spradlin

"Tristan and his companions-the fiery archer Robard Hode and the assassin maid Maryam-have escaped to England. But tragedy has occurred to Tristan's beloved abbey while they were on the Third Crusade, and Robard's home in Sherwood Forest suffers under the rule of the Sheriff of Nottingham. Many obstacles still prevent them from delivering the Holy Grail into safe hands. Tristan must defeat the evil Sir Hugh in one final battle. And he must learn the secret of his birth, a secret Richard the Lionheart and Eleanor of Aquitaine are willing to kill to protect!"

Blogging the back list

I am off to Minneapolis today, to join in the book blogger fun at Kidlitcon 2010.

Tomorrow I'll be part of a panel talking about "Blogging the Backlist;" for which I am, as yet, not quite prepared....(why change my life's modus operendum at this late date?)

But, just in case I get to check my email later today--what do you thing about old/out-of-print/backlisted books? I like them, myself--partly because I only skim a lot of the reviews of just released books, because of not having read them. But a review of an out of print book, even if it's new to me, I'm more likely to read slowly...especially if it's a review of a children's/YA fantasy book published in the 1990s, when (for many reasons, like playing way too much pool/being in grad school) I didn't read many new-to-me books....

The Lost Children, by Carolyn Cohagan

The Lost Children, by Carolyn Cohagan (Aladdin, 2010, middle grade, 320 pages)

"Plucky Orphans/Neglected Children in Deadly Danger" is one of my favorite sub-genres of fantasy for children, especially (and this is important) when they aren't Chosen Ones. This isn't to say that Chosen One stories can't be good, too--there's just a certain fresh piquancy (or something like that) that ordinary children can have that adds to my reading enjoyment!

The Lost Children delivers plucky children in spades. Young Josephine, neglected by her father, passes through a portal in a shed and finds herself in another world--a world where children are hunted by terrible beasts, known as the Brothers, who serve a sinister and powerful Master. Josephine has landed at the Higgins Institute for Wayward Children and Forsake Youth, but there are only two Wayward Children left (the others having been thrown to the Brothers)--a girl named Ida and a boy named Fargus. Together the plucky youngsters escape (as one might expect), and eventually (again, as expected) overthrow the bad Master.

Their journey to that happy conclusion is dotted with mystery and adventure, and the three central kids are nicely individual. The point of view shifts between them, and other minor characters, which further fleshes out the story. The strong characters of the kids, coupled with the particular circumstances of Cohagan's world-building, are more than distinct enough to keep the story fresh and fun, even though the bones of the plot aren't wildly original, and it never quite delivered all that much emotional power.

In short, a fine fantasy for the plucky-child-loving reader who doesn't require magical pyrotechnics.

Manifest, by Artist Arthur

Manifest, by Artist Arthur (2010, Harlequin Enterprises, YA, 256 pages)

Krystal is angry and hurting. She didn't want to leave New York to go live with her mom and her mom's new husband Gerald in a small town in Connecticut, and she misses her old life, and her dad, something fierce. But one thing has followed her to her new hometown--the dead.

She's seen them before. But now she's being haunted out of her mind by the ghost of a rather cute boy who wants her help figuring out who killed him, and why...And Ricky's just the most persistent of the ghosts who are making contact with her.

Krystal isn't the only freak in her high school--two other kids have mysterious powers as well, and the same birthmark that Krystal does. These three kids join forces, calling themselves the Mystyx. They don't know why they can do what they do, or how it happened, but they do know that something dark is heading their way...and solving they mystery of Ricky's death might be just the tip of the iceberg.

Krystal is an angry and annoying character for a large chunk of the book. It was incredibly hard to sympathize with her; I wanted to shake her instead. Fortunately, once the book hits its stride, and the supernatural mystery gets going, Krystal stops being quite so self-absorbed, and I was able to enjoy the ghostly intrigue. And it was a rather gripping mystery, although Arthur stops short of actually bringing all the pieces together, presumably keeping that for future books, which was a tad frustrating. Most of the really interesting paranormal aspects are still utterly unexplained....

What makes this book stand out is that Krystal and her friends are normal African-American teenagers (apart, of course, from their supernatural abilities); their ethnicity wasn't a plot point, just a fact of their lives (and isn't it a beautiful cover!).

In short, although this first book of the series was somewhat uneven, the second book promises more -- Krystal's grown up somewhat, and I no longer want to shake her, and the paranormal plot is about to really get going!

Other reviews at The Brain Lair, Girls in the Stacks, On a Pale Star, YA Addict, and Marie Loves Books.

My blog's wearing purple today...

...because of this.

In the words of Brittany McMillan, who organized this event:

"It’s been decided. On October 20th, 2010, we will wear purple in memory of the recent gay suicides. Many of them suffered from homophobic abuse in their schools or in their homes. We want to take a stand to say that we will not tolerate this. Purple represents Spirit on the LGBTQ flag and that’s exactly what we’d like all of you to have with you: spirit. Please know that times will get better and that you will meet people who will love you and respect you for who you are, no matter your sexuality. Please wear purple on October 20th to remember all the lives of LGBTQ youth that have been lost due to homophobia. Tell your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and schools."

(I'd be wearing purple too, if I had any, but at any event, more people will see my blog than see me...)

On the Blue Comet, by Rosemary Wells, for Timeslip Tuesday

On the Blue Comet, by Rosemary Wells (2010, Candlewick, middle grade, 329 pages)

Oscar and his dad, a John Deere tractor salesman, have a comfortable life together back in the late 1920s in Cairo, Illinois. Together they've filled the basement of their home with a model train layout that both of them love--Oscar especially enjoys squinching down to peer inside the trains, imagining himself on board.

Then the stock market crashes, and no-one's buying tractors anymore. Oscar's dad heads west to look for work, and their house, and (heartbreakingly for Oscar) all the trains, must be sold. Living with his aunt, and having to eat her casseroles, is very hard for Oscar, but some comfort comes in the regular visits of an out-of-work history teacher, who drops by when the aunt is off in the afternoons giving music and elocution lessons. This gentleman just happens to have been a theoretical math whizz--not only does he help Oscar with his math homework, but (among other conversations, including the best way to memorize poetry) he explains that time travel is theoretically possible.

Eventually the teacher gets a job as a night watchman in the biggest bank in town, which just happens to have a superb model train layout on display for the holidays....and so it's natural that Oscar should drop by to visit his friend, and the trains. But one night, armed bank robbers break in. Oscar's friend is shot, and to save himself, Oscar jumps...into the model train layout. And so a fantastical rail journey through time begins.

Oscar finds himself on a train headed out to his dad in California. But when he arrives, he somehow pushes through a barrier in time, and finds himself ten years older. WW II has broken out, and Oscar's in danger of being drafted--even though he still is eleven inside. Fortunately he made friends, back on the train when he was eleven, with a young man who's destined to become a movie star; ten years later, that friendship gets him inside Joan Collins (!) house (she has a lovely train layout), where he escapes army recruits by diving into trains again...back into the past.

He's still not home, though, and his last adventure, in the company of another magically train jumping girl in 1925, is his strangest yet....

This is a beautiful book, both physically--there are full color illustrations that are beautifully retro--and content-wise. It's the sort of story that combines lots of feeling--the emotions that tug on the heart--with an exciting adventure. Oscar's reactions rang true for me throughout, without being overdone, and the historical aspects of the book were fascinating (I love learning history through historical fiction, and if I were teaching a class on the Great Depression, I'd assign this book). And I never once had any quibbles with the writing--in particular, I thought Wells did a lovely job with Oscar's narration of the story--the short, simple sentences are spot on. In short, it's a great book.

I think, though, that this might be one that appeals even more to the grown-up fan of children's fantasy then to kids themselves, mainly because it takes a while for the Adventure to get going, and because adults, with their (presumably) greater knowledge of history and the culture of the 1920s-40s, might more easily appreciate the details of Oscar's life. If I were giving this as a Christmas present, I'd look in particular for the parent who plays trains with his or her son! The train obsessed kid is, of course, another fine target audience.

Timeslip-wise, the possibility of time travel is sketched early in the book, at a theoretical level, and then Wells leaves it just to happen, without trying to Explain. This is perhaps a wise decision, as it allows the story to flow without potentially awkward attempts to make it Reasonable, but, on the other hand, when a second child is able to magically jump the rails, it becomes possibly too inexplicable for the more logically oriented reader.

Other reviews at Ms. Yingling Reads, and at You Know, for Kids

Supernatural, from DK, for Non-Fiction Monday

Supernatural: Explore the Unknown, from Atlantis to Zombies, from DK Publishing (2010, middle grade, 96 pages) Ghosts. Mediums. Telepathy. Bigfoot. UFOs. These are just a few of the strange and scary topics are covered in DK’s Supernatural, which combines Seasonal Appropriateness, genuinely interesting content and lovely presentation.

The book is a thing of beauty, with silver boarder design and lettering, and a holographic image on the cover. It has much the same appeal, object-wise, as the –ology books (Dragonology, Monstorology, etc). It is given heft (enough so that it is a “tome’), by the thickness and sturdiness of the pages (almost board book thick). And inside is the usual combination that characterizes DK—the subject bites arranged in paragraphs, and accompanied by copious illustrations.

Many and various are the DK books that I have enjoyed reading with my children, but Supernatural is the first that I read cover to cover all by myself in one sitting! It relies heavily on authentic historical images, so that the reader sees the same photographs of ghosts that convinced the masses 100 years ago. There’s a picture of a medium with ectoplasm, a picture of a victim of spontaneous combustion (lying inside a fire place), and a picture of what a poltergeist did to an office back in the 1980s.. These historically-oriented topics I found tremendously engaging, and even more shop-worn topics (zombies and vampires) were not without interest.

This book is not intended to scare the reader, but to inform and educate. The creators of this book to side firmly on the side of disbelief, with “Dr. Doubt” (the self-proclaimed spokesman for “sanity and sense”) introducing the book and showing up to cast aspersions the reality of each topic covered. The book closes with a look at the two opposing sides of Spooked and Skeptic—fringe “scientists” vs. rational thinker and the reader is invited to choose their side. In my mind, at least, the perfectly rational explanations offered for some (but not all) of the supernatural mysteries presented, the gallery of famous hoaxes, and my own natural cynicism make the choice easy!

The Non-Fiction Monday Roundup is hosted by Mother Reader today!

(review copy received from the publisher)