This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs

Hi, and welcome to this compilation of what I found in my blog read of interest to fellow fans of middle grade sci fi/fantasy. Please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews:

Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith, at Good Books and Good Wine

The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell, at King County Library System Book Talk

Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor, at Misfit Salon

The Boy at the End of the World, by Greg van Eekhout, at Intergalactic Academy

Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Slatebreakers

The Cheerleaders of Doom, by Michael Buckley, at Charlotte's Library

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburger et al., at The Compulsive Reader

Dark Eden, by Patrick Carmen, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Dragon's Tooth, by N.D. Wilson, at Shannon Whitney Messenger

The End of Time, by P.W. Catanese, at Diary of a Text Addict

The Fiend and the Forge, by Henry Neff, at J. Keller Ford

Liesl & Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Book Nut and My Books. My Life. (audio book review)

The Mostly True Story of Jack, by Kelly Barnhill, at Good Books and Good Wine

The Ogre of Oglefort, by Eva Ibbotson, at Cracking the Cover

Princess of Glass, by Jessica Day George, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George, at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

The Quest for the Scorpion's Jewel and its sequel, Escape from Riddler's Pass, by Amy Green, at Geo Librarian

A String in the Harp, by Nancy Bond, at Things Mean a Lot

The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex, at Abby the Librarian (audio book review) and Books & Other Thoughts

The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at Challenging the Bookworm
Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Girls in the Stacks (audio book review) and Dreaming in Books

Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at Karissa's Reading Review

The Animorphs re-read continues at Intergalactic Academy
Authors and Interviews:

Suzanne Williams and Joan Holub (Godess Girls: Artemis the Loyal) at Reading Tween

Kai Srand (The Weaver) at Mayra's Secret Bookcase

And a moving account of author Edward Ormondroyd's (David and the Phoenix) surprise school visit.

Other Good Stuff:

At io9, you can find a handy chart detailing the Rules of Magic according to the greatest fantasy sagas of all time. Although "greatest" is subjective, and I would have included Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books.

And also from io9 comes the ultimate futuristic gift guide for 2011, with many not to be missed things you didn't know you wanted (or not). Like this:

Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins

Sometimes, even though one has overdue library books and a pile of Cybils books and a (small but substantial) pile of ARCs, not to mention books received as Christmas presents last year, waiting to be read....one finds oneself in the bookstore buying a new book. A book that promises to be utterly untaxing, different in genre and subject from one's usual fare.

This happened to me on Wednesday, and so tonight, with a sigh of relief that a difficult week was over (thank goodness older son's two week study of sheep and wool, which required extensive essay writing and journal keeping, which in turn required substantial parental enforcing, is over), I settled down in front of the fire and read Anna and the French Kiss cover to cover.

And though Anna's nervousness at starting her senior year at a boarding school in Paris made for a gripping beginning (I'm being sincere--I'm a fan of boarding school stories), it was, not unexpectedly, it was the growing romantic tension and sweetly taut frisson of her relationship with her hot classmate Etienne that kept the pages turning rapidly. I could, though, have done without all the part in the final third of the book when things not going smoothly, and skimmed many bits of unhappiness. A book entirely comprised of sweet frisson might not be quite substantial enough in the long run, but it would have been more soothing.

My own particular mental state aside, it was good reading, but it wasn't a perfect book. It requires a certain suspension of disbelief, not just in regard to the relationship between Anna and Etienne. The Mean Girl, for instance, was an almost ridiculous stereotype--I couldn't believe in her. And on a very minor note, how could Anna, film aficionado that she was, have arrived in Paris ignorant of its cinema scene? Wouldn't she, as I just did, have googled it before getting on the plane? (in three seconds ,I found this: "With over 300 films playing per week around the city, Paris is the place to be for film lovers. You'll find everything from arty retrospectives in intimate old theaters to blockbusters with surround-sound in ultramodern multiplexes. Here's a guide to the city's best spots for the seventh art.")

Still. Anna and the French Kiss kept me nicely occupied, and I am sure I'll be impulse buying its companion novel, Lola and the Boy Next Door, next time I find myself in a similar mood! (I could, of course, order it from the library....but the problem with that is that then it would be Demanding Attention. Not the same feel at all).

The Cheerleaders of Doom, by Michael Buckley

N.E.R.D.S: The Cheerleaders of Doom, by Michael Buckley (Amulet Books, 2011, upper elementary/middle grade, 288 pages)

The N.E.R.D.S are a band of technologically enhanced kids, agents of a secret organization that has taken each members nerdy weakness, and made it into a super super power. In this third installment of the NERDS series, asthmatic Matilda, aka Wheezer, gets a chance to shine when a new disaster threatens to destroy not just the earth, but the whole multiverse. But Matilda isn't being asked to put her mad fighting skills and arsenal of super inhalers to work. Something much worse is in store for her--she has to become a cheerleader, infiltrate a crack cheering squad, and find the rouge NERDS agent responsible for the impending disaster...a girl named Gertie, once known as "Mathlete."

Gertie, desperate for the money she needs to create a new, beautiful, cheerleading self, has invented a device that allows her to travel to alternate versions of earth, and pilfer them at will. Now she is no longer a homely nerd; she is that wonderful, beautiful, bubbly thing--a top notch cheerleader. For Matilda to infiltrate the cheerleading squad, and crack Gertie's disguise, she's going to have to do the hardest thing she's ever done in her live--shuck her tough, grungy persona to become a smiling, perky, pompomed girl who whoops.

But in the meantime, there's another young mastermind at work--a criminal one. Former NERD Heathcliff "Choppers" Hodges doesn't really want to live the rest of his life in a mental institution for the criminally insane. He wants to take over the world (in an evil way)...and Gertie's invention might be just what he needs.

This is the first NERD adventure I've read, and I found myself nodding in agreement as I remembered all the reviews of the series recommending the books highly for the 8-10 crowd. There's humor, action, suspense, delivered in snappy style; there are cool gadgets and neat technology, such as would delight even young readers who aren't nerds themselves, and best of all, there are actually interesting characters giving weight to the somewhat goofy story.

In this case, Matilda is forced to confront questions of identity--the process of becoming a cheerleader requires her to consider why she had created her own tough girl identity, and challenges her preconceptions of cheerleaders. The result is a more tolerant, self-aware (but still tough) Matilda! It's a subtle enough message so that it doesn't grate on the reader's nerves, but it's enough to make this more than just fun fluff.

As an added bonus, the kids who comprise the N.E.R.D.S are, as you can see from the cover, a diverse bunch. Matilda, for instance, is Korean-American.

Here's what I'm wondering--the first two books were told from the point of view of boy team members, and seem to be popular with boys. Now we have a girl central character, and Cheerleaders, no less! The (very doubtful) assumption that boys are reluctant to read about girls is all too prevalent...but I think the wacky zest of the series will have successfully captured it's young male readers, making that issue irrelevant in this case.

Here's another review at TheHappyNappyBookseller.

Thanks very much to the publisher, Abrams, for sending me a review copy for my Cybils middle grade fantasy/sci fi reading! There were so many holds on this one at my library that it might have proved difficult for me to get my own hands on it otherwise!

The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler (Razorbill, 2011, YA, 356 pages).

Back in 1996, Emma gets her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM. She goes on-line...and finds her Facebook account from fifteen years in the future. Suddenly she has a window on what life has in store for her--who her friends will be, where she'll live, and who she'll marry. And her first reaction is to share this strange and mysterious phenomenon with her childhood best friend, Josh.

But a while back, Josh had shown Emma that he wanted to be more than friends, and things grew strange between them. His facebook page is right there online too--showing him an alternative to Emma he'd never considered.

Now Josh and Emma find themselves in a dance with their futures. Every small choice they make in the present changes their facebook lives...and Emma, in particular, is determined to try to improve what she sees on the screen. And their choices not only effect their future selves, but their relationship in the present.

It's a fascinating premise! Facebook, as Emma finds, is a strange thing, with its members' lives shown in short sentences, full of subtext; with old friends appearing to comment, or, sometimes, not being on your list of friends at all. Flipping between the viewpoints of Josh and Emma, the reader watches the ripple effects of decisions the protaganists make in the present...and the ramifications of how all of this effects their real lives in the here and now.

It was gripping reading, full of food for thought for the modern user of social media (perhaps especially the historical fiction of it all, in as much as it takes the reader back to the time when the brave new world of the Internet was still young....).

The premise, and the rather voyeuristic pleasure I took in exploring Emma's future selves along with her, were the best part of the of the book. The present day story line was less engrossing for me because I never found Emma all that likeable. She is certainly a believable character, busily experimenting with relationships, and learning, the hard way, the difference between attraction and friendship, but she has a lot of growing up to do! Which is one of the points of the book, but still, I wanted to shake her on at least one occasion. Josh, on the other hand, is a sweetheart, and I hope Emma keeps growing up enough to be worthy of him....

I found it interesting to see the paradox of time travel played out in this way--generally, people in time travel books worry about traveling backwards, and effecting the present in unintended ways. Because their futures haven't, of course, happened, Emma and Josh can play with tweaking future events to their hearts content, without worrying about creating circumstances in which they were never born!

I myself have no desire to take a look at my facebook page fifteen years hence. I found it rather poignant, in a somewhat disturbing way, to see the future children of Josh and Emma drifting in and out of existence, and I wouldn't want to see that happen to my unborn grandchildren (Gah. A scary thought).

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs

Welcome to another Sunday round-up of all the blog posts I managed to find of interest to us fans of middle grade fantasy and science fiction! Please do let me know if I missed your post.

The Reviews:

The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell, at Charlotte's Library

Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at pipedreaming

The Evil Elves, by Bruce Coville, at Fantasy Literature

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, at Watercolor Moods

Guys Read: Thriller, by Jon Scieszka et al., at Project Mayhem (plus giveaway ending tomorrow)

The Hollow Beetle (Poisons of Caux), by Susannah Appelbaum, at Okbo Lover

Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow, by James Rollins, at Fiction Addict

The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper FForde, at The Written World

The Lost Farm, by Jane Louise Curry, at Oz and Ends

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at books4yourkids and Great Kid Books

The Orphan of Awkward Falls, by Keith Graves, at Once Upon a Bookshelf

The Quest of the Warrior Sheep, by Christine and Christopher Russell, at Reads For Keeps

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at Good Books and Good Wine

The Time Travellers, by Linda Buckley-Archer, at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

The Time-Traveling Cat and the Great Victorian Stink by Julia Jarmon, plus Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander, at Time Travel Times Two

The Time-Traveling Fashionista, by Bianca Turetsky, at Good Books and Good Wine

A True Princess, by Diane Zahler, at Good Books and Good Wine

Tom's Midnight Garden, by Phillipa Pierce, with bonus looks at The History Keepers, by Damian Dibben, and City of Masks, by Mary Hoffman, at Fantastic Reads

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at A Patchwork of Books

The Unicorn's Tale, by R.L. LaFevers, at Good Books and Good Wine

Authors and Illustrators:

Joseph Bruchac is interviewed on Dragon Castle, his Slovakian fantasy, at Kirkus.

Kai Strand (The Weaver) at TheWriteGame

Other Good Stuff:

Adam Gopnick shares his thoughts on high fantasy for young adults at The New Yorker

Monica Edinger, at Educating Alice, writes about third person omniscient narration and the opinionated narrator (who shows up in a number of this years mg sff books!)

The Storm in the Barn, a graphic novel by Matt Phelan, has begun its journey to the silver screen (the picture at right shows the Storm...).

NPR has picked Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, for its December Kids' Book Club! Click through to read their description of the book.

At Kidliterate, you'll find a lovely list of mg sff books that make great presents.

School Library Journal has its best of 2011 list up, with a smattering of mg sff included.

And finally, just a random bit of Life Experience I have recently acquired:

If you buy the Lego Star Wars Advent Calender for your kids (the picture shown below taken from this review), they really will get out of bed in the morning in a more prompt and vigorous fashion than usual. However, they will still be late for school, because in opening the little plastic bags, invariably a piece will fly across the room, resulting in desperate, time-consuming scrambling.

Welcome to my stop on the 2011 Virtual Advent Tour

I'm taking part in this year's Virtual Advent Tour, a community sharing of holiday goodness-es of various kinds, including traditions. So today I'm sharing one of the things I do every December that makes me wonder if I am in fact sane.

My house is generally rather full of projects and stacks of things and little clusters of disaster, but this time of year even more so than usual. For five years now, the boys and I have been assembling holiday mugs and baskets, to sell as a library fundraiser. So this is what the upstairs hall looks like:

And here are some of the finished products:

The mugs sell for $5, the baskets for $10, and the profit margin is pitifully small....we'll maybe raise $100, if we're lucky. But we don't do much holiday decorating, since we spend the Christmas at my mother's, so it's nice to have something festive to do, and it's nice to know we are doing it to help our dear library!

I suggested not doing it this year, but my older son in particular was appalled by the thought of losing such an important tradition. They both help--gathering pine cones out in the wild, to fill the baskets with, and filling the mugs with candy (most of which is carefully chosen varieties they don't like).

(This year someone donated about 30 soy candles that smell of apple pie. Strongly of apple pie. Horribly so, even through their packaging. I had to zip them in a plastic blanket bag and stick it in the clothes hamper, removing each one as needed as quickly as possible. Mess is one thing, but I draw the line at smells....)

So here we are again, surrendering part of the house to chaos for a good cause! I think, as soon as I have used up all the plastic mug bags I have on hand, I'll call it quits though--I hate to add to the world's trash burden. I am wondering how my husband would feel if I went into African violet breeding....they would make holiday fundraising items, if attractively potted. Any other ideas for earth friendly holiday items we could whip up at home would be much appreciated!

Here are today's other stops:

Chris @ Chrisbookarama

Alex @ The Sleepless Reader

Amy @ Amy Reads

Angel Cruz @ Mermaid Vision Books

Enjoy!

New releases of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teens--the first half of December, 2011 edition

Here are the new releases of science fiction and fantasy for kids and teenagers from the first half of December. There are a number of bloggers these days who feature the new YA releases, so those are just listed. My information, as ever, comes from Teens Read Too, and the blurbs are all from Amazon this time around.

Elementary/Middle Grade

ARTEMIS THE LOYAL: GODDESS GIRLS by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams It's time for the annual Olympic Games, and the four goddessgirls are not happy--especially Artemis. Even though she's better at sports than most of the godboys, she can't compete because rules say the Games are boys-only. No fair!

Led by Artemis, Athena, Persphone and Aphrodite, the ladies of Mount Olympus hatch a plan to get Zeus to open up the games to everyone. Will they succeed--or end up watching from the sidelines again?

These classic myths from the Greek pantheon are given a modern twist that contemporary tweens can relate to, from dealing with bullies like Medusa to a first crush on an unlikely boy. Goddess Girls follows four goddesses-in-training - Athena, Persephone, Aphrodite, and Artemis - as they navigate the ins and outs of divine social life at Mount Olympus Academy, where the most priviledged gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon hone their mythical skills.

BATTLE FOR EARTH: JOHNNY MACKINTOSH by Keith Mansfield People in London are being taken away in unmarked police vans, never to be seen again. While trying to keep up with his school studies and ensuring his football team stays top of the league, it's Johnny's job to safeguard planet Earth. Suspicious of the strange occurrences, Johnny investigates to find that alien enemies are feeding humans to their Queen on a nearby planet. He then discovers a more terrifying secret: the aliens are planning a devastating invasion of Earth. The battle for Earth will take all of Johnny's and his friends' strength and resolve. Can they win, and if they do, what price will they pay to save the world?

THE BATTLE OF RIPTIDE: A SHARK WARS NOVEL by EJ Altbacker Ever since Gray, Barkley, and their friends defeated Goblin, an infamous great white, at Tuna Run, life in the Big Blue has become murkier than ever for this young shiver of sharks. Food is scarce. Enemies lurk in every shadow. And Gray still doesn't know what has become of his family - of his mother, Sandy, and the rest of his Coral Reef shiver. Everywhere they swim, currents seem to whisper of a growing threat . . . of a shark who will stop at nothing until he has seized control of the entire ocean.

Now Gray must train with Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Boom, a wise and mysterious fighting fish who has promised to teach his young apprentice the ways of the ocean and the secret of what it means to be a great warrior. That is, if Gray can learn to believe in himself, find the courage to trust his heart, and grow big enough to fight back!

BEFORE CARD-JITSU - THE NINJA QUEST: CLUB PENGUIN by Tracey West In a time when ninjas were still a myth on Club Penguin, Sensei chose the top penguins to go on a journey with him through the mountains. You have the power to discover the Dojo. This 80-page book features Sensei, one of the most popular characters on Club Penguin, and how he developed the ninja experience.




BESWITCHED by Kate Saunders A magic spell has spun Flora into the past. She's mysteriously swapped lives with a schoolgirl in 1935! No iPod? No cell phone? No hair products? How will she survive?
Now Flora's a new girl at St. Winifred's, where she has to speak French at breakfast, wear hideous baggy bloomers, and sleep in a freezing dormitory.
But lots of adventures in the past are amazing even if they are not forever. How will she find her way back to the 21st century?



THE FUTURE DOOR: NO PLACE LIKE HOLMES by Jason Lethcoe A mystery is afoot at 221 Baker Street, but will Griffin Sharpe be able to figure out the clues before the future catches up with the past?

When Sherlock Holmes moves out of Baker Street, a new tenant moves in-a mysterious woman named Elizabeth who has long been a fan of Holmes. When she discovers that Griffin and his uncle are also detectives, she becomes very friendly. So when Elizabeth goes missing along with a special invention, Griffin sets out to rescue her. But finding Elizabeth will take them on a race against the clock that bends time itself!

A KING'S RANSOM: THE 39 CLUES, CAHILLS VS. VESPERS by Jude Watson Amy and Dan are in a race for their lives . . . and the enemy may be even closer than they think.

When seven members of their family were kidnapped by a sinister organization known as the Vespers, thirteen-year-old Dan Cahill and his older sister, Amy, vowed they'd stop at nothing to bring the hostages home. But then the ransom comes in and the Vespers demand the impossible. Amy and Dan have just days to track down and steal an ancient map. The only catch? No one has seen the map for half a century.

Now Amy and Dan are on a desperate search that will lead them to the Nazis, spies, a mad king and some of history's dirtiest secrets. It's the race of their lives . . . and one misstep will mean certain death for the hostages.

PRIZE PROBLEMS: THE PONY WHISPERER by Janet Rising Being able to talk to ponies isn't all that it's cracked up to be!

Pia never thought anyone actually one magazine contests. So when her friend Beans wins a riding vacation for two, she's totally excited to go with her. A whole wonderful week riding new ponies and making fabulous new friends. But when things start to go missing around the ranch, Pia turns to the ponies to see what they have to say-and is shocked at what she hears!

Can Pia and her new pony pals solve the mystery before their vacation gallops to an end?

STORM WARNING: DOG WHISPERER by Nicholas Edwards Emily and her dog, Zack, have a special bond. But it’s more than that—they can read each other’s minds. Even more surprising, Zack knows when people are in trouble. Now, Emily and Zack are able to use their powers to save lives, though Emily is endangering hers in the process and making her parents worry. When a hurricane warning is issued, everyone in town starts preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. What are the odds of a hurricane actually hitting a small town in Maine? Emily and Zack can’t see into the future, so they don’t know what’s going to happen, but if the hurricane does come and the worst does happen, are a girl and her dog enough to save a town from the destructive power of Mother Nature?


Young Adult

CLOCKWORK PRINCE: THE INFERNAL DEVICES by Cassandra Clare
CRY OF THE GHOST WOLF: A FORGOTTEN REALMS NOVEL by Mark Sehestedt
DEADLY LITTLE VOICES: A TOUCH NOVEL by Laurie Faria Stolarz
THE FIRE: WITCH & WIZARD by James Patterson & Jill Dembowski
ILLUMINATED by Erica Orloff
MELODY BURNING by Whitley Strieber
PLANESRUNNER: EVERNESS by Ian McDonald
SHATTERED DREAMS: A MIDNIGHT DRAGONFLY NOVEL by Ellie James
SHATTERED SOULS by Mary Lindsey
SISTERS OF ISIS VOL. 1 by Lynne Ewing
SURRENDER: HAUNTING EMMA by Lee Nichols
TRIPLE RIPPLE: A FABULOUS FAIRYTALE by Brigid Lowry
THE WATCH KEEPER by Reese Haller
WINDFALL: PHANTOM ISLAND by Krissi Dallas
WINGING IT: THE DRAGON DIARIES by Deborah Cooke

"I'm busy reading"

I was tickled just now to see that the most recent google search that led to my blog was someone typing in: "I'm busy reading." I'm the fourth result that comes up.

And it's true--I am busy reading. I have almost finished reading all the books I can get a hold of that have been nominated for the Cybils in my category of middle grade science fiction/fantasy (131 of them), but the problem with having read lots of them starting way back last October means I have to go back and read a number of them again--we are about to enter the difficult Winnowing of the Shortlists period, when the (many) books beloved to various of the seven of us panelists have to be shaken down to seven....

And then there's the small issue of Christmas presents. Not this year's, but the books I got for Christmas last year that I still haven't read. The sadness of this is a Heavy Weight on my spirit; however, since these are books that I'm still looking forward to very much, it's not as bad as it could be....

And then there's the small issue of wanting to use the down stairs bathtub (not salubrious enough to be used for bathing, at this point in our home restoration) for the storage of kindling. At the moment, it's storage for unread books.

And then there's the problem with the round table in the window of the living room, whereon many unread books are (naturally--it's a flat surface) piled. Our Christmas tree goes on that table, and soon the books, like mice in a hay field being mown, must scatter, and find new homes....preferably after being read.

So yes, indeed, I'm busy reading!

The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell

The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell (Knopf 2011, middle grade, 352 pages), takes place in that best of settings (as far as I'm concerned)--a mysterious old house, full of old treasures...The Glenodoveer mansion was once a happy family home, but now eleven year old Clara is the only child wandering its rooms. She is the daughter of the housekeeper, who keeps a close and loving eye on her, making sure that Clara never over exerts her weak heart, never allowing her to have friends, or go beyond the grounds of the old house. And this being the late 19th century (or possibly the early 20th), social services never comes calling to check on this odd situation....

Old Mrs. Glendoveer has been Clara's friend and teacher, but now she is dying. Her thoughts are fixed on the five birds who have lived in the aviary outside ever since her husband, a famous stage magician, passed away thirty years before--and Clara, though she finds the birds frightening, honors her friend's wishes that the birds be cared for after her death.

These are not just any birds. As Clara is forced to become more familiar with them, she begins to uncover the dark mystery of the Glendoveer family. What happened to the six Glendoveer children, lost many, many years ago? Why does Clara's mother keep her so closely confined to the house? And is it possible that old Mr. Glendoveer's magic was actually....real?

With the help of a new friend, a new girl in town, whom Clara must sneak past her mother to met, the mystery is gradually unravelled...but in solving the mystery, Clara brings new danger both to the Glendoveer house, and to the strange, mysterious birds.

The mystery is fairly straightforward--I guessed all the key points, which is rare for me! But that doesn't mean it wasn't engrossing. Tons of atmosphere, a touch of horror, and the slow realization on Clara's part that magic is at work combine for a great read. The birds are fantastic characters in their own right, and their story is a gripping one, with a twist of magic of a sort I've never encountered before.

Clara's gradually awakening to the fact that she is being kept a virtual prisoner is very nicely done--although she feels compelled to deceive her mother, their loving relationship is not destroyed. Her actions force her mother to become more truthful with her, and in return Clara becomes more honest with her mother (although still keeping secrets!). It would have been easy to make the mother an unsympathetic character, but O'Dell thankfully avoids this.

The Aviary has a classic, old-fashioned feel to it, and I think it will appeal lots to the young reader who has no interest yet in paranormal romance (and to adult readers of children's fantasy like myself!). The reader who finds the cover intriguing will almost certainly enjoy it. My only reservation with the book is nothing to do with the plot, but rather one of mechanics--there are several letters in cursive sprinkled through the story. These might prove stumbling blocks to today's cursively-challenged child (I'm pretty sure my own 11 year old would have a hard time reading a few of them). So this is definitely one to give to the young reader confident enough to tackle a bit of difficult reading, or at least confident enough to pick up the key bits of information and more on!

(read for the Cybils Awards)

Waiting on Wednesday--Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein

I've only read two books by Elizabeth Wein (The Sunbird and The Empty Kingdom), but they impressed me very much with the quality of their writing and the details of their historical setting, and I fully intend to go back and read the other books of her Arthurian/Aksumite series (the first one being The Winter Prince). So when I heard that she has a book forthcoming about World War II, I was most pleased (WW II is one of my favorite settings), and added it to my list forthwith.

It is called Code Name Verity, and comes out in February in the UK, May in the US. Here's the blurb:

"When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. They'll get the truth out of her. But it won’t be what they expect.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from a merciless and ruthless enemy?"

It sounds fascinating and harrowing!

Waiting on Wednesdy is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Dark Passage, by M.J. Putney, for Timeslip Tuesday

If it's Tuesday, it's time travel in these parts (mostly). Today's book is a sequel to Dark Mirror, by M.J. Putney, which I reviewed back in August. In that book we met "the Irregulars," a group of young aristocrats from an alternate early 19th-century England in which magical talents are real, but considered an abominable taint in those of noble blood. Such young people are sent to a special institution for the eduction of the tainted...and there, despite the efforts of those in charge to squelch their magic, a group of students has banded together to practice their gifts, and, what is more, to use them to travel through through time to help Britain win World War II!!!!!

In Dark Passage (St. Martin's Griffin, 2011, YA, 320 pages) Troy, Cynthia, Justin and Jack head off again from the 19th century into war-torn France. Their mission--to rescue a scientist whose work Jack's premonitions have indicated will somehow avert a disater. But when Troy et al. arrive in the future, they are faced with an impregnable fortress, heavily guarded. Will their magical powers be enough to free not only one scientist, but all the prisoners held there?

And what will become of the forbidden love between Justin and Troy? Will he have to choose between the dukedom he loves, and stands to inherit, or his beloved? And what of Cynthia, proud and acid-tongued? Will she be able to set aside her bitterness and snobbish mindset, and acknowledge her feelings for Jack?

Romance, time travel, magical abilities, and World War II adventure combine to make this a fun read. I was especially pleased by the parts of the book that involved Cynthia--it's more fun (for me at any rate) to watch a difficult personality changing then it is to watch two people obsessed with their forbidden, passionate love. The adventure was just fine; it moved a nice pace and was plausible enough (allowing for the magic brought to bare on the situation) for it to convince, more or less. It was never all that tense, because it was pretty clear they would all rescue each other, but it gave the characters something to do.

I continued to be bothered by the anachronistic choice of names (Troy and Justin sound so 1980s to me), but it can't be helped, and since I knew I'd be bothered by it, I was able to ignore it. We don't get much sense of WW II France, or England, here, so the time travel falls into the "impetus for adventure" category, rather than the "chance to describe character's reactions to a different time" one.

I preferred the first book, simply because I enjoy learning about things for the first time more than revisiting them, and because I liked the school setting that was more prominently featured there. This is another reason why I liked Cynthia's story line best in Dark Passage- it had a nice thread of unpleasant school-girl becoming reformed character to it, that I, a fan of the British school girl genre, appreciated lots.

The third book, Dark Destiny, comes out next August--I'll most definitely be reading it!

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs

Welcome to mg sff roundup post #105 in which I have compiled all the mg sff related things I found in this week's blog reading! This being mg sff roundup #105 means I have been spending my early Sundays in this fashion for over two years, which stuns me more than somewhat. Thank you, bloggers, for writing about mg sff, thank you blog readers for stopping by, and thank you writers and publishers for making it all possible!

You may have noticed that I don't have a logo for these round-ups. I have tried to come up with one, but all my troubled brain offers me is a picture of a rainbow unicorn kitten clinging to the back of a rocket, and I don't think we want that. If anyone feels like taking a stab at creating a single image that embodies all the goodness of mg sff, please do!

Anyway. Please let me know if I missed your link (I've been known to miss my own posts). And (she says shyly) if you like these round-ups, any mention on your own blog would be appreciated!

The Reviews:

The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True, at the excelsior file

Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor, at Slatebreakers and Good Books and Good Wine

The Annotated Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie with notes by Maria Tatar, at The Children's Book-A-Day Almanac

The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy (audiobook review) at The Nocturnal Library

Between Two Ends, by David Ward, at Books Beside My Bed

Bless This Mouse, by Lois Lowry, at Books Beside My Bed

The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright, at Literate Lives

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg et al., at books4yourkids

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, by L. Frank Baum, at Strange and Random Happenstance

Fly Trap, by Frances Hardinge, at Good Books and Good Wine

The Last Musketeer, by Stuart Gibbs, at The Fourth Musketeer

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, at Book View Cafe

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Book Nut and Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Hades: Lord of the Dead, by George O'Connor, at Madigan Reads

The Hidden Gallery, by Maryrose Wood, at Good Books and Good Wine

The History Keepers: the Storm Begins, by Damian Dibben, at Charlotte's Library

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at The Book Smugglers

The Inquisitor's Apprentice, by Chris Moriarty, at Kirkus

Janitors, by Tyler Whitesides, at Geo Librarian

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Waking Brain Cells

Midnight Blue, by Pauline Fisk, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at Stacked

The Only Ones, by Aaron Starmer, at Parenthetical

Princess of the Wild Swans, by Diane Zahler, at Small Review, continuing at Ruby's Reads

Reckless, by Cornelia Funke, at Library Chicken

A School for Villians, by Ardyth De Bruyn, at Nayu's Reading Corner

The Secret of the Magic Ring, by Karen McQuestion, at Karissa's Reading Review

Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck, at Jennifer Rumberger

The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere 1), by Jacqueline West, at Library Mama

Son of Neptune, by Rick Riordan, at Good Books and Good Wine

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Scattered Pages and LDS Women's Book Review

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Guys Lit Wire

Three Norse fantasies (Troll Blood, Bracelet of Bones (YA), and Runemarks) at Fantastic Reads

Authors and Interviews

Delia Sherman (The Freedom Maze) is this week's Big Idea-er at Whatever

Merrie Haskell (The Princess Curse) at Small Review

Other Good Stuff:

Sherwood Smith on the "zing" of the Harry Potter books at The Book View Cafe

The New York Times Notable Children's Books of 2011 list is not one to delight the fan of fantasy for kids; there are only two "middle grade" books that might count--Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck, and The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman, by Meg Wolitzer, and in one of these (Duncan Dorfman) the fantastical element is so small a part of the plot that it's being considered for the Cybils Awards as a straight middle grade. However, A Monster Calls (which is as much middle grade as it is anything else) is there in the YA section.

Kirkus was more fantasy friendly; here's what they picked:



















Deb Marshall will be hosting a Middle Grade Readathon January 2-8. More info. here!

And Erica at the Book Cellar is hosting a YA/MG Fantasy Book Challenge--here's the list of 2012 books she's gathered so far, and here's the sign up page.

Mary at Kidlit.com writes about books with animal characters, from the point of view of an agent. Very timely, given that this is the Year of the Middle Grade Mouse.

Boys Read is recommending two fantastic books by the late, much lamented Ben Boos--Swords, and Fantasy: An Artist's Realm

This coming Saturday will find me in Boston, at The Exquisite Conversation The Exquisite Conversation: An Adventure in Creating Books! with Katherine Paterson, MT Anderson, Natalie Babbitt, Susan Cooper, Timothy Basil Ering, Steven Kellogg, Patricia MacLachlan and James Ransome at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium, Dec 3, at 1 p.m. I'll also be attending the wine and cheese event after the presentations, a fundraiser for The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance. It sure would be comforting to know if any of you all are going, and might want to talk to me....

The Beachcomber spoofs the poems of A.A. Milne, for Poetry Friday

So there I was, peacefully reading my little one the poems of A.A. Milne, from When We Were Very Young and Now We are Six, and we were enjoying them very much. Of course I was only reading my favorites, such as "Once upon a time there were three little foxes, who didn't wear stockings and they didn't wear sockses..." (full poem here) and the incomparable "James James Morrison Morrison" (full poem here) and the soon to be seasonably appropriate King John's Christmas (full poem here) and we were having a happy time.

But all innocently happy times (in my family at any rate) end up tarred with the brush of cynical wit, and this was no exception. My husband pulled out his copy of The Best of Beachcomber, by J.B. Morton, and read us the following (found on page 57 of our 1963 copy):

John Percy
Said to his nursy,
Nursy," he said, said he.
"Tell father
I'd much rather
He didn't write books about me."
"Lawkamercy!"
Shouted nursy,
"John Percy," said she,
"If dad stopped it,
If dad dropped it,
We shouldn't have honey for tea!"

And then the even more mood-destroying "Now We Are Sick" (page 60)

"Hush, hush,
Nobody cares!
Christopher Robin
Has
Fallen
Down-
Stairs."

(which of course dear, dear Blogger won't let me format correctly. Grrr.)

These are poems from a volume J.B. Morton was working on, about which he says (on pages 51-52):

"There is a great vogue for what is called the Woogie-Poogie-Boo kind of children's book, and I am doing my best to get one ready. I don't know what it will be called, but I rather fancy Songs Through My Hat, or perhaps When We Were Very Silly. Here is a poem called "Theobald James".

I've got a silk-worm
A teeny-tiny silk-worm;
I call my silk-worm
Theobald James.
But nursie says it's cruel
Nursie says it's wicked
To call a teeny-tiny little
Silk-
Worm
NAMES

I said to my silk-worm
"Oh, Mr Silk-worm,
I'd rather be a silk-worm
Than anything far!"
And nursie says he answered,
Nursie says he shouted,
"You wish you were a silk-worm?
You little
Prig,
You
ARE!"

(once again, no thanks to Blogger viz formatting.)

At any event, I shall continue to enjoy those poems of Milne which I already enjoy. And if you are looking for a book to give to someone who appreciates English humor, you could do worst than The Best of Beachcomber. J.B. Morton wrote a witty column every day for nearly forty years for the Daily Express, and this book is a compilation of the best of his work. Here is how Chapter 1 begins:

"Mr Justice Cocklecarrot began the hearing of a very curious case yesterday. A Mrs Tasker is accused of continually ringing the doorbell of a Mrs Renton, and then, when the door is opened, pushing a dozen red-bearded dwarfs into the hall and leaving them there."

And now I go to work, to rest from the weary toils and vexations of life at home. Have a lovely Friday!

(The Poetry Friday round-up is at my juicy little universe today!)

More to be thankful (????) for

Although I have finished my glazing for the year (196 panes of glass in two years, and more to do when the weather gets warm again), I do not have a sense of peaceful accomplishment.

I am, instead, trying hard to be grateful to the woodpecker who pecked so many holes in part of the house that my husband had to take an entire board off, and, in so doing, found that we have termites (which might explain the woodpecker's interest).

Nothing like destructive pests to make any holiday a merry one.

A (somewhat) bookisly thankful post

I am hoping that I will feel more thankful after a day of hard work has mirculously transformed my home into something in which people can leave pleasantly (or at least made good progress in that regard). It is painfully slow to renovate a house while living in it, when both grown-ups work full time and the children are too young to weild power tools successfully. Set backs (the wrong hardware arriving with the two new storm doors, resulting in said doors decidedly Not helping with gracious living; tension regarding whether or not to polish the old light fixtures in the sunroom; the one remaining chicken deciding it wants to live in the boot room, and sneaking in every chance it gets, with distastful results, etc.) are not being offset by Remarkable Progress. But perhaps today will be the day to change all this, and I can be truly thankful ere the sun sets (which actually, this being winter, doesn't give me a heck of a lot of time).

I am trying very hard to be thankful that I am in no danger of running out of books to read. I hope to be even more thankful about this after the weekend is over, and there are fewer books piled up around the house waiting to be read, and that those books are the ones that make me feel all happly anticipatory (like the toothsome little arc of Sarah Prineas' new book, Winterling that made my day when it arrived at work some time ago. What a great cover!)

Viz the books read last year that made me thankful, the one that stands out most is The Demon's Surrender, by Sarah Rees Brennan, because I didn't have to feel sad for my beloved Alan any more.

And I feel very thankful for Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, not only for filling my mind with castle-ish wonderful-ness, but for reassuring me that my 11 year old, when given the right book, can be just an avid a reader as anyone else.

I'm thankful for the pleasure of having read many other great books this past year, but those are the two that stand out in my mind! (What books are you most thankful for?)

In short, I am somewhat less thankful than I was this time last year. But I am sincerly grateful that I don't have to go to work (and that I have a job), and I can go downstairs and have a second cup of coffee and then, oh joy, glaze the final six panes of glass that need glazing!

Finally, and very importantly, many thanks to all of you who read my blog, and those of you whose blogs give me so much happy reading! I hope you have lovely thank filled days of your own!

Waiting on Wednesday--Runelight, by Joanne Harris

I am somewhat surprised to find that I have never written a review of Runemarks, by Joanne Harris. Here's the crackerjack first line: 'Seven o’clock on a Monday morning, five hundred years after the End of the World, and goblins had been at the cellar again." And young Maddy Smith, marked by the runemark on her palm with magic, is off on a fantastic adventure in which the Norse gods play no small part.

I'll be going back to it for a re-read soon, because I just learned over at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles that its sequel, Runelight, is out in the world! Here's the blurb, from Amazon UK:

"The squabbling Norse gods and goddesses of Runemarks are back! And there's a feisty new heroine on the scene: Maggie, a girl the same age as Maddy but brought up a world apart - literally, in World's End, the focus of the Order in which Maddy was raised. Now the Order is destroyed, Chaos is filling the vacuum left behind... and is breaching the everyday world.

A chilling prophecy from the Oracle. A conflict between two girls. And with just twelve days to stave off the Apocalypse, carnage is about to be unleashed . . ."

I just might have to add it to my Christmas present list.

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Goodbye, Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey has died, at the age of 85. I am teary eyed.

Menolly and the Harper Crafthall played a huge role in shaping my young mind, and to this day, whenever I sing I remember this bit from Dragonsinger:

"She had a brief notion of showing him that he wasn't the only one who cold fill the hall with resounding tones, but some fragment of advice from Petiron came to mind, and she concentrated on singing intensely, rather than loudly."

And whenever my sister and I play our four hand piano duets, almost inevitably one of us will invoke Menolly, who doubtless never forgot to check the key signature...unlike some of us.

When Anne McCaffery was at her best, as she was with Dragonsinger, she wrote books to treasure for a lifetime, or at least to treasure until they fell apart from constant re-reading....

Sniff.