The Queen of Water, by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to meet a book that is my personal ideal of what a novel is supposed to be. Riveting and utterly engaging, well-written (no little awkwardness-es prose-wise throwing you out of the story), and, most importantly, tilting your framework of the world so that suddenly you see and think about things differently, and you are (you hope) a little bit wiser. These books aren't necessarily the books I love in a cuddly way, but they are the books that I put down thinking how very glad I am to have read them.

The Queen of Water, by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango (Delacorte, 368 pages, YA) was such a book for me. It is a novel based on the true story of Maria Virginia Farinango's life, that tells how she was taken at the age of seven from her home, in one of the poorest indigenous communities in Ecuador, into de facto enslavement working for a mestizo family (the ruling class, descended from the Spaniards). But the harsh words and harsh beatings that came her way, and the unbearable hurt of thinking her parents did not want her, were not enough to quench her spirit and her determination.

She managed to cobble together an education for herself, while still a child caring for two other children, and doing all the manual labor of the household. But as the years roll on, the reader, along with Virginia, wonders what sort of future she will have--will she be able to escape slavery? and if so, where will she go? and who will she be? She is no longer at home in the world of her family (she has forgotten how to speak her first language), but because of who she is, she cannot be fully part of the mestizo world.

Knowing that Virginia is one of the authors of this story strongly implies from the get-go that the ending will not be heartbreaking! But there are no guarantees about the journey....and the tension of not knowing what was going to happen to this little girl I found myself caring so much about kept me glued to the story. I was uncertain about whether I wanted to read this or not--I do not like depressing books in which children suffer. But Virginia was never beaten in spirit. She is stubborn, she is smart, and she refuses to submit passively to fate. In consequence, although there were heartbreaking moments, and things that made me furious, there was no despair.

Laura Resau, who shaped Maria Virginia Farinango's story into a novel, has done a superb job here--Virginia comes through the pages as one of the most vivid people I've met in ages, and her story is full of metaphor, and detail, and emotional intensity balanced with relative calm. And when I put it down, not only was I really, really happy for Virginia, but I knew a heck of a lot more than I did last week about race and class in late 20th-century Ecuador.

My world is now a little bit bigger, and I feel more determined to make the most of the opportunities afforded to me in my own life. It was a privilege to have shared Virginia's journey with her, and a pleasure to have had the chance to cheer her on. And that's why I'm most awfully glad to have read this book!

The Queen of Water is marketed as older YA, which is natural-- it take Virginia's story into her teenage years, and then ends as she is on the cusp of adulthood. But I hope this story finds adult readers too.

The cover, by the way, shows Maria Virginia herself (although I didn't find anything in the book that said so, which I think it too bad), and is a lovely picture....but I think this one, which wasn't used, is more in keeping with the image of her I have taken from the book!

Lots more pictures, including a painting they didn't end up using, can be found at this page on Laura Resau's blog, where Laura also explains, down at the end of the post, why her name is first when it is Maria Virginia's story.

Here are some other reviews, at A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, Crazy Quilts, and Not Acting My Age

The Haunting of Charity Delafield, by Ian Beck (Waiting on Wednesday)

Over at Breaking the Spine, Jill hosts a meme called "Waiting on Wednesday," where bloggers share the books that they are looking forward to. Here's my pick for this week, a book that comes out in the UK in November, and which might well end up on my Christmas list (even though the Book Depository offers free shipping from the UK, does anyone else have a residual feeling that it is somehow decedant to order new books from overseas just for one's own reading pleasure?)

The Haunting of Charity Delafield, by Ian Beck. I have en-bolded the things that made me want it!

"A magical, enchanting tale, with stunning illustrations that will transport you into another world.

Flame-haired Charity Delafield has grown up in a vast, isolated house - most of which she is forbidden to explore - with her fiercely strict father. With only her kindly nurse, Rose, and her cat Mr Tompkins for company, she knows very little of the outside world - or of her own family's shadowy past. What she does know is that she is NEVER to go outside unsupervised. And she is NEVER to over-excite herself, because of the mysterious 'condition' that she has been told she suffers from.

But Charity has a secret. All her life, she has had the same strange dream - a dream of a dark corridor, hidden somewhere in the house. Then, one day, Charity stumbles across the corridor. It leads to a door . . . and suddenly she realises things are not quite what they seem."

Sounds good, yes? I realize that wanting a book because it has a "flame-haired" main character is a bit shallow, but there it is. Especially after reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books, I have wanted to be flame-haired myself....or at least burnished chestnut...

A Long, Long Sleep, by Anna Sheehan, for Timeslip Tuesday

A Long, Long Sleep, by Anna Sheehan (Candlewick, YA, August 2011, 352 pages)

Rose has slept in stasis for sixty-two years. When she is woken by a boy who has found her lying in a forgotten basement, she finds that the world has been shaken by the cataclysms of the Dark Times, her parents are dead, and she is heir to their interplanetary corporate empire, Unicorp. She is still sixteen, but the boy she loved when she went to sleep is long gone.

Now Rose, set apart by her strange ghost-like state and by her inheritance, must struggle to make sense of this future world. She clings to Bran, the boy who woke her, and gradually builds a friendship with another boy, Otto, the product of an experiment with exo-planetary DNA, who knows what is to be a freak, like Rose is. And all the while Rose must struggle to make sense of the dark shadows her childhood...

Before the assassin who is hunting her can kill her.

Although there are many sci fi touches, such as the stas tubes and other futuristic technology, and the colonization of other planets and moons, these elements don't dominate the story. It is, instead, a character-driven novel. Rose's dislocation, her struggle to make sense of the future world and to find a place for herself, are the heart of the matter, and, since her story is told in the first person, the reader shares her confusion and gradual understanding intimately. And although there are nail-biting moments where the action proceeds rapidly, it is Rose as a person, a troubled, unhappy, and lonely stranger in a strange land, who is always at the story's center. The bitter poignancy of her situation is moving (although I did, I must confess, want to shake a bit more gumption into Rose from time to time), and Sheehan doesn't make the mistake of rushing to resolution with unsatisfying solutions.

I myself like character driven stories, and enjoyed this one just fine. Those who want all their world-building T's crossed and I's dotted might not find what they are looking for here, but, since we are seeing things through Rose's sleep-befuddled eyes, I had no problem with this, and indeed, think it leaves things nice and open for a sequel....

I'm not counting this one as a fairy tale retelling, although the parallels to Sleeping Beauty are obvious, and noticed by the characters themselves--I didn't get the sense that the author intended these parallels to be any more than a metaphoric evocation, rather than a reimagining.

Time-travel through stasis occurs most often aboard space-ships (as in Across The Universe), but in my own mental checklist of what makes something truly a "time travel" book, I don't count those--these travellers don't experience the emotional discongruity, even wrongness, of being strangers in another time. Another example of stasis as time travel that meets my fuzzy definition is Frozen In Time, by Ali Sparks (my review). What do you think? Should Across the Universe count as time travel?????

Here's are two nicely contrasting reviews of A Long, Long Sleep at The Book Smugglers and at Book Monkey.

Note on age: although the characters are teenagers falling in love, there's nothing that should bring a blush to a young YA reader's checks.

(review copy received from the publisher)

Feel the Force! A physics pop-up book by Tom Adams

Feel the Force! is a physics pop-up book by Tom Adams, illustrated by Thomas Flintham (Templar, Sept. 13, 2011, 20 pages), that explains the basic concepts of physics (friction, gravity, light, sound, magnetism, movement, and electricity) in clear language that a 6-9 year old can follow. It's brightly illustrated (with pop-up elements and pull tabs), it applies the principles discussed to everyday life (well, race cars aren't an every day occurrence in my life, but you know what I mean), and it includes experiments kids can try at home to drive home the information.

Here's an example of what I think is spot-on science writing for a young kid:

"A cube of gold weighs more than a cube of steel, even though they are the same size, so gold is denser. If something is more dense than water, it'll sink. If it's less dense, it'll float. Gold is more than twice as dense as steel and almost twenty times denser than water (which is why pirate treasure always sinks)."

Here's why I particularly like it-- the contractions. So friendly.

The information is presented in your basic little text and picture clusters, making this not a book to read cover to cover, but one where you stop at each two page spread, and read the bits, and pull the tabs (they seem to be tough tabs, which is good) and talk them over, and then if you wish you can do the experiment for that section. It's a book that would work very well paired with Magic School bus, reinforcing the science behind the fiction.

In short, a very fine introduction the principles of physics, and how these principles are at work in the world around us.

If I were homeschooling, I'd build on this foundation with Physics: Why Matter Matters, one of the lovely non-fiction books by Basher, which goes into more of the sub-atomic details in a very kid friendly way (my review).

I've said it before, but sheesh. The kids of today are so lucky! When I started high school physics I had little understanding of what "physics" actually was--except that it involved math and I would probably be bad at it (I was brainwashed into thinking I was bad at math. I blame my mother (who doesn't read my blog, so that's ok)).

On the other hand, my boys (now 8 and 11) have been known to have arguments about Newtonian motion and Einstein's troubled relationship with gravity. And this is not because they are little savants, which they aren't. Nope, they simply have had access to books and non-fiction dvds (The Elegant Universe is surprisingly accessibly to the young, probably because they can suspend their disbelief).

If your kids have already watched The Elegant Universe ten times, Feel the Force! will be much too basic for them. But if they haven't....it's an excellent place to begin the exciting journey into the wonder of the universe that physics can be (if your mother doesn't tell you it is mostly math and you will be bad at it).

Note on age: the publisher recommends this one to kids 7-11, Amazon has 4-8, I say 6-9. It all depends on the kid...

For more non-fiction for kids, visit the Non-Fiction Monday round-up, hosted today by Capstone Kids.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

The Call for Cybils Panelists has gone out!!!!

Over at the Cybils Website, the call for panelists has gone out! Here's the information on what the panelists do, and how you can put in your name to become one of them!

The Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers for the year's best children's and young adult titles. Nominations open to the public on October 1st. Panels of bloggers engage in two rounds of judging--in the first round, a group of bloggers selects a short list from all the books nominated, in the second, a different group of bloggers chooses the winner from the short list.

If you have any question about what it's like to be a first-round middle grade science fiction/fantasy panelist, feel free to email me! It is a great experience, and a lot of books to read (anyone can nominated a book in each category, so some will be excellent, some not so much).

Don't be daunted at the thought of a list of 150 or so books (the number from mg sff last year) to read, though! Chances are that if you are interested enough in a category to put your name forward, you've already read a number of the books that are going to be nominated. The organizers also seem to make sure that each category has a few fast readers in it....not everyone has to read every book, so if you are a slow (but committed) reader, don't let that stop you. If you are daunted, you can also just put in your name for consideration as a second round panelist!

Another important aspect of being a panelist is that it helps to be willing to talk about the books as you are reading them! The process is MUCH more fun and effective when panelists email each other lots, getting to know each other and making it clear which books they think are in contention (or not).

There are more people wanting to be panelists than there are slots (especially in some categories--I have a sense that YA and picture books are always popular, but I wonder how many people want to do mg sff). So don't forget to make a case for why you should be a panelist in the space provided on the application form! (The deadline to apply is September 15).

Past winners in mg sff (which split off from YA sff in 2008)

From 2010:
And from 2009, 2007, and 2008 (respectively):

This Sunday's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy from around the blogs

Welcome to the rainiest and windiest round-up to date of all the blog posts and news I could find of interest to us fans of middle grade (for kids 9-12) fantasy and science fiction. If you are reading these words, it means that I have not yet lost power...here's hoping we never will, and I hope all of you are safe and dry (which if you are reading this I assume you are....)

First thing of interest: Every year around this time, I start eagerly checking the Cybils website to see if it is coming to life again (I take my excitement where I can, in as much as I rarely fly off to Paris for the weekend)-- and it is! Another Cybils season is beginning! For those of you who aren't familiar with the Cybils--these are awards given each year by bloggers for the year's best children's and young adult titles (anyone can nominate a title). There are many different categories (including mg sff), and a panel of bloggers reads all the nominated books and creates a short list, from which a second group of bloggers determines the winner for that category.

The official call for panelists is not out yet, but this is a good time to consider whether you want to throw your name in the hat for consideration as a panelist--all of you whose blogs appear regularly in the reviews section of these round-ups should most definitely think about it! It's a lot of reading, and a lot of fun. If anyone wants to know more about what my experiences have been, feel free to shoot me an email!

Now, on to the reviews I found this week (please let me know if I missed yours).

The Reviews:

13 Curses, by Michelle Harrison, at Bunny Cates

Alex Van Helsing: Voice of the Undead, by Jason Henderson, at Charlotte's Library

Alexander Drake's Extraordinary Persuit, by Elizabeth Parkinson-Bellows, at The Book Faery Reviews

Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith, at Charlotte's Library

Amulet: The Stonekeeper, by Kazu Kibuishi, at Wandering Librarians

Aphrodite the Diva, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at Reading Vacation

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, at Bookish Blog

The Dragon's Tooth, by N.D. Wilson, at Ms. Martin Teaches Media, Cookies, Books, and Bikes, and The Rabbit Room

Dragonbreath: No Such Thing as Ghosts, by Ursula Vernon, at TheHappyNappyBookseller

Elidor, by Alan Garner, at Fantasy Literature

Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull, at Bookie Woogie

Ghost Messages, by Jaqueline Guest, at Cracking the Cover

Liesl & Po, by Lauren Oliver, at GreenBeanTeenQueen

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier, at Beyond Books

The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskel, at Book Yurt

Sally's Bones, by MacKenzie Cadenhead, at There's a Book

Sidekicks, by Jack D. Ferraiolo, at Original Content

Space Race, by C.E.L. Welsh, at Back to Books

Swordbird, by Nancy Yi Fan, at Fantasy Literature

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at BC Books

The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at Reading Vacation, Shut Up! I'm Reading Candace's Book Blog, An Abundance of Books, Alison's Book Marks, and Shannon Whitney Messenger

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Book Dreaming

Wisdom's Kiss, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, at Madigan Reads

A Year Without Autumn, by Liz Kessler, at Charlotte's Library

And finally, Kate at Book Aunt has five books in one post! (you'll have to click through to see what they are....)

Interviews and Authors:

Aphrodite and Isis (of the Goddess Girls series by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams) at Reading Vacation

Kerry Sparks (The Baby Inside Mrs. Maze) at Cindy's Love of Books

Other things of interest:

At Salon, there an interesting interview with Jack Zipes (fairy tale expert extraordinaire) about dark fairy tales coming soon to a theatre near you (link found at Educating Alice):

"You know, all they're doing [with these films] is trying to stir your prurient interest. Really. They're trying to titillate you, to say that this is going to be the film that will expose the deep darkness, the profound darkness of these tales."

And at The Mary Sue, a spot on response to the recent NY Times article “Boys and Reading: Is There Any Hope?” by Robert Lipsyte, which is very relevant to mg sff!

At Educating Alice, Monica offers a list of recent upper middle-grade-ish fantasy books she and her students enjoyed.

Ursula Vernon (of Dragonbreath fame) offers The Wolf and the Woodsman (a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood) in two parts at her blog. (Thanks to The (Hopeful) Librarian for the link!)

And here's a fun post from Ms. Yingling's Elder Daughter at Ms. Yingling Reads that addresses the question "what book would you memorize?" (as in Fahrenheit 451)

The Enchanted Inkpot showcases the lovely covers of late summer/fall releases of mg fantasy, which then prompted me to take a look at the state of publishing viz showing kids of color on mg sff book covers here.

Yay! I got everything in and now I don't care so much if the power goes off! And I remembered to close the dining room window in time to keep the books piled beneath it from getting more than a bit damp! yay! (or possibly, sigh.)

Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith

Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith (Hyperion, 2011, middle grade, 251 pages).

Poor David (known as Scrub) is exiled from a sunny Florida summer of basketball, swimming, and (maybe) girls to spend the summer with the grandmother he's never met. She's the proprietor of Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast in the middle of just about the nowhere-est part of Washington state. And it takes Scrub just one quick look at the kooky Star Trek meets 1960s summer of love set-up to want to stay in his nice, safe taxi cab until he can go home again...

But the decor is the least of it. The guests are, in fact, aliens. And Scrub's grandma needs his help, because intergalactic tourism is booming, and she just doesn't have time to cope with all her mundane chores, and get all her guests adequately disguised (a necessity for many aliens visiting earth).

Thing is, even the best disguise isn't that great when it comes to the more outlandish alien shapes and sizes. Even the dimmest observer might wonder why a small bed and breakfast needs so much tinfoil (nutritional requirements vary by species). If you have to pull a wagon loaded with a giant alien squid stuffed into a fish tank down to the river, you might, like Scrub, not quite fit in with other young people.

The sheriff is suspicious and hostile--just waiting for a reason to shut down the Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast. His daughter Amy is curious, and friendly--she'll do anything to get inside its doors (but she does seem to like Scrub for his own sake, too).

And then Scrub's camping trip with three young aliens goes horribly wrong...

Now, I generally don't like books in which the main character is in desperate circumstances and things go horribly wrong. But Aliens on Vacation was an exception, and I found it, even the bit with the angry mob, lightly funny. It successfully avoids the twin traps of slapstick and farce that beset books of this kind while keeping up a cheerful tone. A bit of pre-teen angst about conformity and girls, a bit of Growing Up, and a message concerning the value of appreciating difference add a touch of depth.

A fine one for the 10-12 year old who wants a book that will make them laugh, squirm uncomfortably (there is a kiss) and possibly even gag (not the aliens so much, but Grandma's over-the-top organic cooking). Or if you want light reading that will divert you while waiting for a hurricane to arrive, it works just fine for that too. It's nice that Book 2, Alien on a Rampage, should be out in time for next year's Storm of the Century....

Other thoughts at TheHappyNappyBookseller, Abby the Librarian, and the excelsior file

Looking for kids of color in current middle-grade fantasy books

All of you who come here regularly know that I am rather keen on finding and reviewing mg sff with kids of color. So when The Enchanted Inkpot (a great group blog of mg and YA fantasy writers) ran a feature showing many of the late summer/fall covers of mg fantasy books, I scanned them closely (aka squinched my eyes up and pressed my nose to the computer screen), looking for non-white kids. Out of the 53 covers featured, 2 new releases, Starfields, by Carolyn Marsden, and Fox and Phoenix, by Beth Bernobich, showed kids of color, as did one older release (not sure why this is included), The Immortal Fire, by Anne Ursu. (Oddly, and somewhat botheringly, two of these showed the characters from behind).


In fairness, once the covers that don't show anyone are gone, that's 3 books out of 34, one of which isn't a new release. Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, coming out this fall, isn't shown--that makes it 3 new releases of fantasy books showing kids of color.

The Enchanted Inkpot was looking at fantasy books, but, since there is almost no middle grade sci fi, it is not difficult to add it in. There's one I know of coming out in early fall--Galaxy Games, by Greg R. Fishbone, from Tu Books, an imprint which guarantees diversity.

Please note--this doesn't mean that kids of color aren't inside other books featured at The Enchanted Inkpot; since I haven't read most of them, I don't know the numbers for that. I'll get back to you once I've read them.

I have no other new middle grade fantasy/sci fi books on my tbr/reviewed pile. I have reviewed a grand total of 2 new mg fantasy books with kids of color this summer, and not because I wasn't trying--The Boy at the End of the World, by Greg van Eekhout, City of Ice, by Laurence Yep. Neither clearly showed a kid of color.

The only new book for middle grade kids I reviewed that did was Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity, by Dave Roman, a sci fi graphic novel, and since I read very few graphic novels, I should probably exclude it from consideration in this particular post, because I have no idea what else is out there--for all I know, the world of fantasy/sci fi graphic novels for 9-12 year olds is absolutely teeming with children of many diverse heritages (any thoughts?).

Two books from this summer that I missed are Moonshadow: The Nightmare Ninja, by Simon Higgens, and Shaolin Tiger (Samurai Kids #3), by Sandy Fussell (would you say this later series is fantasy? or unrealistic historical fiction?). Both show their respective Japanese and Chinese central characters. One could make the arguement that Vanished, by Sheela Chari, with its age-old curse, is fantasy, but is the (very small) girl on the cover clearly a "kid of color?"



The results of my math: 6 new relases of mg sff books (not including graphic novels) with kids on the cover who clearly aren't white in the summer and fall of 2011. Please let me know if I missed any!!!!! I have no illusions that I've found them all, especially the small press books.

Edited to add: at Back to Books I just found a review of Space Race, by C.E.L. Welsh, a graphic novel for younger mg kids that combines fact with sci fi--

The upshot of my investigation is that this was an even worse summer than usual for anyone wanting to walk into a bookstore and leave with a newly published fantasy book for their kid that showed someone who wasn't white. If you wanted one showing a girl, it would have been impossible (Vanished being the one possible exception), unless you were in a very special bookstore that stocked small press/independent titles. Fall will be only marginally better--how much so will depend in large part on whether bookstores stock the four fall releases included in my tally.

I rather passionately feel (as I said in this post from last spring) that this is an issue important to all of us who buy books for kids, and so I find the dismal tally rather discouraging.

(However, on the encouraging side--here's an update on Anne Urus's Chronus Chronicles, of which the third, The Immortal Fire, was shown above. Anne just let me know in the comments that the series is being repackaged. Here's the new cover for the second book (cool!):

Two favorite books about angels in churches in honor of the National Cathedral

This poor broken angel on the roof of the National Cathedral, damaged by this week's earthquake, makes me awfully sad. The cathedral is one of my favorite places in the world--I watched it grow when I was a child (the stone carving workshop, where old skills were taught, was a fascinating place) and still visit it often, rejoicing in its peaceful beauty.

So in honor of the fallen angel, here are two favorite books of mine, both of which are centered around angels in churches.

Marion's Angels, by K.M. Peyton (1979, later republished as Falling Angels). This is the final book in Peyton's series of books about Patrick Pennington (bad boy classical pianist extraordinaire, and Ruth Hollis, the horse-crazy girl who married him.

More than almost anything else, motherless Marion loves the carved wooden angels of her village's medieval church, but the church and its angels are in danger of falling into the sea. And so Marion prays for a miracle...and gets Pennington and his music.

The relationship that develops between Marion, Pennington, and Ruth is beautifully written and very moving. Not only is this book (which stands on its own) satisfying for its own sake (Marion's love for her angels, and the growing-up she has to do, is very moving), but it brings the Pennnington series to a hopeful close--after all the anxieties of the first books, it is awfully nice to think Pat and Ruth (and baby) can have a happy life together!

Waterslain Angels, by Kevin Crossley-Holland (2009) (This is a truncated version of my full review from Feb, 2010)

When Oliver Cromwell's men rampaged through England, smashing to pieces the works of art that decorated the countries churches, the angels of the small Norfolk village of Waterslain were lost. Now, in the 1950s, the fate of the angels has faded from local memory. Then a carved wing is found during a clear-out of the vestry attic. Two children, Annie (10) and Sandy (11), become convinced the angels weren't destroyed, and set out to find them. But someone else wants the angels. The shady tough guy of the village is hunting them down too, to sell them...

As Annie searches, her dreams are full of the rough voices of Cromwell's men, and visions of the angels, urging her to find them where they lie waiting. For Sandy, whose father, in the American air force, was recently killed in a flying accident, the quest for the angels brings comfort. And the angels bring the two lonely children together in the strong bonds of a friendship forged by the mystery they are unravelling (and a satisfyingly believable mystery it is, too).

Waterslain Angels is an utterly lovely mix of the detail of everyday life and the power and beauty of dreams. It is a fascinating mystery, a historical treasure hunt, a story of friendship, a lovely evocation of place, and a little bit a fantasy (Annie's dreams).

Both of these are UK books, and not so easy to find over here. Marion's Angels is long out of print, but check your local library (my system has two copies); Waterslain Angels is still in print, and can be acquired from the Book Depository at a reasonable price. If you want to order it, please do so from the link in my sidebar, and I'll pass my commission on to the National Cathedral!


(here's the direct link to the National Cathedral's donation site. It's going to cost millions to repair the earthquake damage.)

books aren't much use when you need to brush your teeth

I'm in D.C. for a quick work related trip (just one night and one day). I brought six carefully chosen books, but forgot my toothbrush. Sigh.

Alex Van Helsing: Voice of the Undead, by Jason Henderson

Those of you looking for books for the 7th - 10th grade boy who likes adventurous fantasy set in our world should most definitely try the Alex Van Helsing series. In this second book, Voices of the Undead (HarperTeen, 2011, 304 pages), 14 year-old Alex continues along the path he began in book one (Vampire Rising), as a new (and unusually gifted) member of a global anti-vampire organization.

Alex can sense vampires. These are not pink rainbow sparkly vampires, but vicious, immoral killers. Unfortunately for Alex, the Swiss boarding school he attends is practically on top of an ancient vampire school, so there is no shortage of potentially deadly encounters. Especially since he is in the cross-hairs of the vampire's leaders--he is not entirely sure himself of the scope of his abilities (neither is the organization that has taken him in), but it's no mystery that the vampires see him as a significant threat.

But Alex is not the target of the current plot being hatched...one that involves a mysterious vampire from the past, a vampire with the ability to mesmerize his victims and use them as players in his deadly games.

When Alex's school is burned down in a mysterious fire, the boys are moved into their sister school. Alex and his room-mates are pleased to have the chance with their pal, Minhi, and her room-mate, the mysterious Vienna (budding, or possibly even pre-budding, teen romance time), but what with murderous vampires planning mayhem, there's little time to socialize....

The action and adventure aspect of the story is front and center, as it was in book 1. Book 2 kicks off with a car chase in which Alex, on his cool motorcycle, must outmaneuver two car loads of would-be killers, one of whom then attacks him with horrible leech worm things, which ultimately leads to his school catching fire, destroying Alex's room-mate's irreplaceable collection of vampire books, as well as the building, which is less emotionally wrenching for us bibliophiles (and that's just the first two chapters!).

But I found that in Book 2 the story is more nicely balanced with mundane details concerning Alex's family and friends, and life as a boy in a girl's boarding school. The tension and danger are still there in spades, but Alex felt more three-dimensional in this book, and I appreciated that (I hope the target audience does too!).

Other reviews at Girl in the Stacks, Bibliojunkies, Ms. Yingling Reads (scroll down), and Sci Fi Chick (where both books are being given away here)

And here's a link to Alex Van Helsing: The Blog, where vampire fans will find much to interest them....

Disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

A Year Without Autumn, by Liz Kessler

Welcome to another Timeslip Tuesday, where today I review my 116th time travel book (the full list is up at the top of the blog). If you were ever to review a time travel book on a Tuesday, feel free to send me a link and I'll stick it on!

Book #116 is A Year Without Autumn, by Liz Kessler (published April, 2011 in the UK, in the US from Candlewick in October, 2011, ages 9-12, 304 pages).

Every year, 12-year old Jenni Green and her family (father, very pregnant mother, and little brother) have spend a week at their time-share at Riverside Village--and the best part, for Jenni, is that her best friend Autumn does the same. For a week, the girls can spend practically every waking moment together, Jenni falling in behind Autumn's adventurous schemes, as she always has done.

But then Jenni takes a trip up in the old elevator of the main building...and finds a stranger living in Autumn's condo. Travelling back down restores her to her own time...But when she takes a second trip up, she realizes that she's travelled a year into the future.

When she does track Autumn down, she's horrified. Gone is her bright, brave friend with her carefree family and plenty of money. Autumn's family has been hit by tragedy, and Autumn can't understand why Jenni is acting like she doesn't know what happened.

At her own home, she has a baby sister she's never met before, and her parent's marriage is beginning to unravel. And worst of all, she learns that the terrible accident that destroyed Autumn's family, and reverberated into her own, would never have happened if she hadn't taken that elevator ride....

When she returns to her own time, it is after the accident had already happened. So Jenni goes back to the elevator--to find out more about the future waiting for Autumn, and herself, and to try to fix things, so that that future will never happen.

The book, told in Jenni's first person present voice, begins in a chatty style, as the reader is filled in with the back story of the friendship between the two girls. Pleasant enough, but not immediately gripping. But when Jenni begins to travel in time, the suspense, the mystery, and the emotional intensity are ratcheted up a thousand-fold. The first-person present voice, which at first made this seem a light read, comes into its own beautifully as Jenni struggles with the dislocation of time travel, her horribly changed relationship with Autumn, and the terrible events that have transpired. It becomes a gripping page-turner, right to the very end.

This is a book for those interested in character, rather than action-packed adventure. Although there is a great deal of tension viz the time-travel side of things, and the excitement builds at the end (will Jenni be able to avert the tragedy she knows is about to happen????) the focus of the story is on the relationship between the two girls, and so there is a considerable amount of conversation and reflection (which is fine withe me!)

Highly recommended to middle school girls--Jenni's experiences, although magnified tremendously by her travels into the future and by the tragedy that hit Autumn's family, echo the common anxieties about maintaining the friendships and security of childhood while growing up and becoming an independent person. And it's a just plain old exciting story, well-imagined and well-told.

The copy I read was the advance readers copy of the US edition (thanks Anamaria for lending it to me!)--and I intended to read it with an eagle-eye to see if I could spot any Americanizations. Then I got caught up in the story, and stopped trying. So apart from an explicit statement that the book is set in America right at the end of the story (which I thought was unnecessary, and which made the brief mention of a thatched cottage odd), and, of course, the changes from "lift" to "elevator" and "Mum" to "Mom" that I assume were made) I didn't see any.

But still, I wish they had kept it the way it was in the UK edition. When I was a girl, way back when, I quite liked reading books set in England...I don't see why kids of today would be any different!

Other Timeslip Tuesday posts: Ms. Yingling looks at Alice in Time, by Penelope Bush (I want this one!)

Earth to Clunk, by Pam Smallcomb--a science fiction picture book

Even though my boys have now reached the lofty ages of 8 and 11, with the concomitant expectation that they can read "real" books, we still delight in discovering new picture books. A picture book book can give a nice fast burst of reading fun, and Earth to Clunk, by Pam Smallcomb, illustrated by Joe Berger (Dial, 2011, 40 pages), is just such a book.

The story begins with the illustration on the inside of the cover--a small boy being whacked by his big sister's backpack (and boy, does she have a mean look on her face!). The boy's day does not get better once he gets to school.

"Today Mr. Zookian said I have to write to my pen pal. His name is Clunk.

"He lives on the planet Quazar," said Mr. Zookian. "Write him a letter and send him something from Earth."

Our young hero does not want Anything At All to do with this whole pen pal business. So he decides to send Clunk his sister. "THAT will teach him to have a pen pal from Earth."

And Clunk sends back a Zoid, a friendly floating fluff ball creature.

Then Clunk gets dirty socks.

So the exchanges go, horrible things sent to Clunk, and interesting (although some scary) things arriving in return. But then Mom wants her daughter back, and, along with gross old lasagna from the back of the fridge, her request is passed on to Clunk...

Then nothing comes from Clunk. For ages. And the boy misses the alien packages he'd been getting...

Fast forward a bit to the ending--Clunk comes for a sleepover! The friendly Zoid (now shown with little hearts all around itself) falls hard for the big sister and follows her everywhere (she's not pleased)!

It is a pleasure to see the grumpy protagonist gradually warming to his alien pen pal (and to the ever present Zoid). And although the fun of it all takes center stage, behind the somewhat subversive framework of a kid being completely uncooperative (and mailing off his big sister to an alien planet) there's a positive message. Things that you don't want to do can actually work out well--in this case, with new friends are made and new experiences appreciated (mostly!).

The writing is simple, but gets right to the point--good, I think, for the early independent reader (and, as I said at the beginning, fun for older kids too!). The illustrations add whimsical life to the somewhat matter-of-fact tone of the narration (especially all the expressions of the Zoid--I loved the Zoid!), making this book one to enjoy lots.

Fantasy picture books seem much more common than science fiction, but the science fiction ones are generally more amusing (Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude excepted). Here's a post where I list a few other examples; if you have a favorite sci fi picture book of your own, funny or not, do let me know!

Other reviews of Earth to Clunk can be found at Waking Brain Cells, and You Know, For Kids

This Week's Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy Round-up

Welcome to another week's worth of the mg sff posts I found in my blog reading this week! Please let me know if I missed yours.

The Reviews:

13 Curses, by Michelle Harrison, at Donna St. Cyr's blog

Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith, at TheHappyNappyBookseller

The Boy at the End of the World, by Greg van Eekhout, at Jen Robinson's Book Page and Manga Maniac Cafe

The Cabinet of Wonders, by Marie Rutkoski, at Anita Silvey's Book-a-Day Almanac

Candleman: The Society of Dread, by Glenn Dakin, at The Book Zone (for Boys)

Cart and Cwidder, by Diana Wynne Jones,at Just Booking Around (reviewed last week by this blog's other reviewer as well)

Dragon Castle, by Joseph Bruchac, at Charlotte's Library

Dragonbreath: No Such Thing as Ghosts, by Ursula Vernon, at Charlotte's Library

The Elsewhere Chronicles: The Shadow Door, by Art Bannister and Nykko, at Wandering Librarians

The Fires Beneath the Sea (Sykes Children Book 1), by Lydia Millet, at The Ranting Dragon

Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit, at Becky's Book Reviews

Fly Trap, by Frances Hardinge, at Book Nut

Hera: the Goddess and Her Glory, by George O'Conner, at Fuse #8

It's the First Day of School...Forever! by R.L. Stine, at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

The Magnificent 12: The Trap, by Michael Grant, at The O.W.L.

The Mostly True Story of Jack, by Kelly Barnhill, at Eva's Book Addiction

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier, at Back to Books

Phillipa Fisher's Fairy Godsister, by Liz Kessler, at Fantasy Literature

The Phoenix and the Carpet, by E. Nesbit, at Becky's Book Reviews

Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale, at Candace's Book Blog (audio review)

Ravenwood, by Andrew Peters, at Geo Librarian

The Search for Wond-la, by Tony Diterlizzi, at Great Books for Kids and Teens

Thresholds, by Nina Kiriki, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Time at the Top, by Edward Ormondroyd, at Charlotte's Library

The Time Spell (Friends Forever) by Judi Curtin, at Nayu's Reading Corner

The Trouble With Being a Horse, by Emily Edwards, at Manga Maniac Cafe

A True Princess, by Diane Zahler, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Wierdstone of Brisingamen, by Alan Garner, at Fantasy Book Review

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Candace's Book Blog

Zita the Space Girl, by Ben Hatke, at Madigan Reads


Authors and Interviews:

Mark Jeffery (Max Quick: The Pocket and the Pendent) at Cynsations

Jennifer Nielsen (Elliot and the Pixie Plot) at From the Mixed Up Files...of Middle Grade Authors

Candy Gourlay (Tall Story) is this week's guest at Katherine Langrish Fairy Tale Reflections series

Frances Hardinge (Fly Trap) at Playing by the Book


Other good stuff:

At Sci Fi Signal, a number of authors answer this question: "what other genre books [besides Ender's Game and Harry Potter] would you recommend for a 9 year old to help encourage a love of reading and of the genre?" A variety of fascinating answers ensue. (me: Ender's Game for a nine year old? uh...not so much). For sci fi I myself would pick The Green Book, by Jill Paton Walsh, and for fantasy, Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman. Both these books pack a wonderful punch, the sort that makes your eyes go big as you read, and both are short and written simply.

The Magnificent 12: the Trap is on tour; I was stop 3, where you can find links to stops 1,2, and 4 (coming next week).

Here's a post on the books that influenced Frances Hardinge (Fly Trap, etc.) at Playing by the Book

And here's a post on the books that influenced JRR Tolkien at The Book Lady's Blog; most interesting to us mg sff fans is the fourth of these:

"The Marvelous Land of the Snergs, by A. E. Wyke-Smith

Tolkien called this 1927 collection of tales about a Hobbit-like character (a Snerg) named Gorbo (who is “only slightly taller than the average table”) a “Sourcebook” for The Hobbit and read the book to his children. Read more about the similarity between Snergs and Hobbits here."

And in other news:

the Hugo Award winners have been announced

Lenore has a recap of Week 3 of her wonderful Dystopian August

And for those of us who might want to live in a fairy tale cottage, here are some of the best around. I don't think I could stand this one:

But I do rather like the low exterior maintenance of this one:

Notes from the Blog Stats--summer reading deadlines approach

I like to look at my blog stats--among other things, it's interesting to see how the google searches that bring readers here change with the seasons. At the end of summer, for instance, it becomes clear which books I've reviewed are required summer reading somewhere out there...and it's interesting, as well, to see the hysteria of the procrastinators growing. From simple, calm, searches on titles this week it will move to desperate scrambling for "10 page book report on [book x]" and "detailed plot summary for [book x]" next week...

This week two books in particular are getting a lot of attention. The first is Red Glass, by Laura Resau. It's a lovely book. Here's my review, written years and years ago, which might actually be useful to someone writing an essay about Resau's Use of Metaphor in Red Glass.

Stuck on Earth, by David Klass ( my review) is the second book. If you haven't read this one yet, do, and then come back if you think the snail creature from space is real! Here's what I said back in the day: "I generally prefer to know it if the narrator is a delusional figment or a real entity, but here the uncertainty worked beautifully, underlining the lack of hard and fast solutions to the problems of Tom's life. As Michelle (the girl next door) puts it: "I'm starting to like you," she confesses, "and I"m not sure whether I'd rather have you turn out to be a crazy boy or a perfectly sane snail creature" (page 175). I am still wondering which I prefer myself.

Both lovely books, so I'm glad they're being read (giving the google searchers the benefit of the doubt).

For those who check their stats as much as I do--can you tell what books from your reviews have been required?

The Magnificent 12: The Trap, Blog Tour Stop 3!

Welcome to Stop #3 on the blog tour of THE MAGNIFICENT 12: THE TRAP!

The Trap (on-sale August 23, 2011) is the second volume of The Magnificent 12, a most excellent fantasy adventure series for young readers by Michael Grant. The first book, The Call, was one of my favorites of 2010--fast paced and laugh-out loud funny-- utterly spot on for its target audience (my review). It was a pleasure to help short list it for the Cybils Awards.

And so I have been awaiting The Trap with keen anticipation, as has my 11 year old son, and now we've read it! Yay!

Here's the blurb: "Mack MacAvoy already answered The Call. Now he must assemble the Magnificent Twelve and avoid The Trap if he’s to save the world from the wicked Pale Queen. But time is short--the Pale Queen’s banishment ends in 35 days and she will be free to destroy the world! Can Mack assemble the Twelve and avoid The Trap?"

The Trap continues the excitement of The Call in fine form--I can guarantee it is a page turner, not only because I have read it myself, but because I have watched my son devouring it before I had a chance to--"It's even better than the first one!" he says. Here's the browse inside widget, if you want to preview it for yourself.

And now, on to the details of the Blog Tour:

To join the adventure, read along as Michael Grant introduces characters new and old from the world of The Magnificent 12 and gives sneak peeks at their adventures in THE TRAP. Each post will also reveal a clue about a worldly location the Magnificent Twelve visit in THE TRAP. Follow Michael Grant and the characters to each blog until you’ve discovered all eight locations. At the final stop on the blog tour, enter all eight locations to win a signed copy of both MAGNIFICENT 12 books!

And so, without further ado, it is an honor and privilege (although a dangerous one, given the sort of girl she is) to bring you Risky!!!!

"Princess Ereskigal, known as Risky to her friends, if she had any, is drop-dead gorgeous. She’s got red hair, green eyes, and an eerie, unworldly beauty that just draws you to her. Unfortunately, she’s also evil. Totally evil. Completely, ruthlessly evil. In THE TRAP, she’s out to stop Mack and the Magnificent Twelve, who are out to stop the return of her mother, the wicked Pale Queen, after a three-thousand-year banishment that will end in 35 days, when she will be free to destroy the world. Got that? Risky = Bad. She sure is nice to look at though, just ask Paddy “Nine Iron” Trout."

Clue: THE TRAP location #3: People say you can see this Chinese monument from space. We’ve never been to space, so we can’t say for sure if that’s true, but it’s definitely HUGE. For a bonus point, build a model of this monument out of 1 million Popsicle sticks. (Note: We lied again. No bonus points. But we’ll help you eat Popsicles if you want.)

Find the next clue Monday at Reading Nook.

And just in case you missed the first two clues, here they are!

Clue: THE TRAP location #1: If you’re in Beijing, China and craving deep-fried crickets, centipedes, and lizards for dinner, this is the place to go. Hint: it’s not McDonald’s!

(At The O.W.L.--visit with Grimluk)

Clue: THE TRAP location #2: With 9,999 rooms, this is the world’s largest surviving palace complex. For 9,999 bonus points, memorize a map of this place. (Note: We lied--there aren’t any bonus points. But if you still want to memorize a map of 9,999 rooms . . . you’re crazy.)

(At Mundie Moms--featuring Mack himself!)

An added bonus--The Magnificent 12 has a fun (my son says so) online community: Play free games, create an avatar, enter sweepstakes, and earn points at www.themag12.com

And finally, here's the trailer for Book 1: The Call

Dragon Castle, by Joseph Bruchac

Joseph Bruchac has made a name for himself as a writer of novels, poetry, and short stories drawing on his Abenaki heritage. In Dragon Castle (Dial, 2011, middle grade, 352 pages), he turns to the other side of his family, with a book that draws on the folktales of long ago Slovakia.

In Hladka Hvorka, a castle that legend says was raised from the earth in a single day, there is a huge tapestry depicting the legend of Pavol, who conquered a dragon and defeated the oppressive evil that had overrun his small ancestral homeland. Young Prince Rashko has always been fascinated by the tapestry, whose scenes seem to change in subtle ways every time he stares at it. But little does Rashko know that the darkness that Pavol drove back is about to take over his land once more...and that he himself might be called upon to meet the dragon again....

Rashko knows that his parents and older brother are profoundly lacking in intelligence. So when the evil Baron Temny arrives while his parents are away on a journey down the mysterious fifth direction, to the fairy land that lies just beyond, and his brother becomes besotted by the enchantments of Temny's mysterious daughter, Rashko knows that it's up to him to somehow save his land and its people.

But, as was the case with Pavol before him, Rashko won't be fighting alone. Because many of the old stories are still true...and the castle holds many secrets.

I enjoyed this one lots--it has a beautiful mythic resonance to it, and lots of twists! Not everything, or everyone, is as they seem. Rashko's journey into legend takes the reader there too, and that is a lovely thing. It even has touches of humor, that liven things up nicely, and the dragon is a fascinating being. And it is very character-rich. Action doesn't dominate, although it's there--Rashko has to think, and observe, and even revise his opinion of others in order to succeed.

For the first half (give or take) of the book, Rashko's story alternates with Pavol's, and although both are interesting, it contributed to a somewhat leisurely build-up of story. But once things get going, they get going with a vengeance! Bruchac avoids something that irks me in a number of fantasy adventures--the too-brisk dispatching of the bad guy(s). Instead, his dispatching is a long episode full of the details of the confrontation, and although the introduction of two more-or-less new characters (both girls with phenomenal knife skills) right there at the end seemed a tad surprising/forced, it was still a satisfying way to bring the book to a close.

I'm surprised that this book hasn't gotten more attention around the blogs! Do read it, if you like the sort of books I like--it's not one I'd say is "a must read because I loved it so very much" but one that I liked lots (very much so indeed in places) and ignored my children (poor neglected darlings) in order to finish.

Note on age: it's perfectly fine as a middle grade read, but the complexity and twisty-ness of past and present (and a small bit of threatened violence by the bad guys toward one of the castle girls) might make it better for the older end of that age group, moving YA-ward. So not for nine year olds, but for ten year olds (and up), if that is a meaningful distinction!