Guess which of the three tbr piles is mine! (hint-- I'll be reading from it for tomorrow's Middle Grade Readathon)

I do so enjoy empiling books, and this evening I gathered a nice little stack together for the Middle Grade March Readathon, which is tomorrow. 

One of these piles in mine. One is my husbands. One is my ten year old's. Can you guess which is which?

If you guessed the top pile, you are A Winner!  If you had to pick one of these three piles, which would you like?  (which is not that interesting a question, really, because given that you are reading this, you would probably like mine best).

Observations: 

1.  Clearly, instead of reading I should be dusting my chess board. 
2.  I was frantically looking for the third Spirit Animals book to add to my pile, and finally thought to ask Ten Year Old.  It was in his backpack (now in his pile).
3.  There is no way in heck I can read all the books in my pile this weekend, but there in no fun at all in making a realistic pile.

Sherlock, Lupin, and Me: the Dark Lady, by "Irene Adler"

Sherlock, Lupin, and Me: the Dark Lady, by "Irene Adler" (Capstone, 2014, first published in Italy in 2011) is the story of three kids--Sherlock Holmes, Arsène Lupin, and Irene Adler--who become friends in a coastal French town in 1870.  Sherlock and Arsène are already best friends, and when Irene arrives in town for vacation she is delighted to become a partner in their adventurous lives--she is the sort of 19th-century girl who chaffs against societal restrictions, and gives her Mama conniption fits.  But when a dead body washes up on shore, Irene and the boys find themselves with a mystery to solve that leads them into the dark underworld of the not-so-peaceful town.... They must use their wits to solve the case of the dead man, and it's only when they realize why he had a single playing card in his pocket--the Queen of Spades, the titular Dark Lady of the title-- that the reason for his death becomes clear.

In one important respect, I feel well qualified this book from the point of view of the target audience.  Like many 10-13 year olds, I have never read a single Sherlock Holmes story; not an original one by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, nor any Sherlockian re-imaginings.   So here I was, meeting him for the first time (though I had, of course, acquired a general sense of his personality from cultural osmosis), and could take what I was given at more or less face value. 

In essence, this is a fine "plucky kids solving mystery" story, that fans of that genre should enjoy just fine.   The characters are engaging, challenging each other both mentally and in feats of physical daring (like rooftop jumping) during the course of their adventure.   It's the sort of book that I'd happily recommend to the kind of quirky kid who might well become interested in all things Steampunk in a few years--partly because of the cover, and the lovely endpapers with their illustrations of historical ephemera and the neat full page black and white illustrations that start each chapter, and partly just because it's a fun historical adventure.

That being said, there's a certain amount of serendipity involved in the solving, and considerably less preternatural powers of deduction being exhibited than I had expected (which I found disappointing).  On top of that, there's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief required to accept that these kids are poking their noses into an ongoing investigation around the town without much adult response.  Those who like really zesty mysteries that allow for intense reader engagement in solving the case might be a tad disappointed.   The target audience is also going to be more willing to take young Sherlock at face value as he is presented here-- a relatively normal kid, showing few signs of the brilliant detective he is going to become--and will also more readily accept young Irene as a person, rather than something of a stock character (plucky girl anachronistically defining parents and joining boys in adventure).

Throughout the book there are hints of what the future will bring, that I think are more nudges to grown-up readers than information that adds value for the young reader.  I myself had never heard of  Arsène Lupin, and so was disconcerted to be told point blank that he was going to grow up to become a thief--it kicked me out of the story at hand.  I had never heard of Irene Adler, presented as the author--she is an actual character in some Sherlockian adventures to come, and based on what I've just read, her relationship with young Sherlock might contradict what is "supposed" to happen in the original stories.    But I'm willing to grant that it's a neat premise.

My own maddeningly picky reader 13-year old who's interested in Steampunk and the 19th century is showing encouraging signs of interest--I shall continue to leave the book lying around the house in various positions of noticability in hopes that he might actually read it, because I think he would enjoy it!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Going stir crazy, but wondering if anyone wants to meet up in Brookline on March 9 for the Death Sworn release party

Yes, it's nice to have a warm wood burning stove in the living room, but it sure does result in a maddening cluster of family, drawn, not un-naturally, to its warmth.  As a result, I (drawn likewise to the warmth) find myself unable to concentrate on reading and reviewing, and kind of wish they would all go away for a weekend...much as I love them. 

But in any event, I am planning to get out of the house myself on Sunday, March 9, bravely driving north to Brookline (a Boston-ish place) where the Children's Book Shop will be hosting the release party for Leah Cypess' new book, Death Sworn, from 2-4.   It would be a lovely added bonus if any of you other Boston area bloggers came too....Here's the facebook announcement.

Always a Witch, by Carolyn MacCullough

With some time travel books, there's just no point in worrying about the historical accuracy of it all--the time travel serves nicely (if the book is good) to advance a plot that isn't really dependent on taking place in an alternate time at all.  Such is the case with Always A Witch, by Carolyn MacCullough (sequel to Once a Witch, Clarion Books 2011).

Teenaged witch Tamsin must travel back to the 19th-century to do some serious foiling with her newly realized magical powers-  if her foiling is not successful, the bad magical family might destroy her own, much nicer, magical ancestors.    A pause ensues while the reader (at least, me) works hard to suspend disbelief as Tamsin, after wandering around for a while, not exactly fitting in with the locals, finds employment at the home of her enemies.   After this point, there's no need to suspend disbelief with regard to time travel, as the book turns into a zippy magical power struggle.   Tamsin's beau Gabriel joins her back in the past (good thing, too, because he's very helpful), and the bad family does nasty things with the blood of innocent victims.  They are so busy, in fact, doing bad things that the complete inadequacy of their household staff (Tamisin, though a weak reed, is not the only problem) bothers them not a whit.

Some time travelish interest is added by way of Gabriel's gift--he can Find things, and one of the things he starts having trouble Finding is all the family that should still be safe in the present.   The past needs fixing, and this adds a dash of tension that's a nice contrast to blood-letting manipulations. 

So in short, Always a Witch is very fast, fun (though not for the victims) magical excitement, though not one to read for thoughtful reflections on the differing cultural mores of past and present!  The good guys (Tamsin and Gabriel) are likable and their romance is romantic, the bad guys are nasty, the writing is just fine, and the magical powers being wielded against each other are nicely imaginative. 

Don't try reading this one without reading the first, and since the first is also zesty entertainment, there's no reason to skip it.  I'm glad I remembered enjoying the first; this one made a nice change from my standard middle grade fare.

Nightingale's Nest, by Nikki Loftin-- with interview, link to giveaway, and excerpt!

Way back in November I went to Kidlitcon in Austen, and had the pleasure of meeting Nikki Loftin.  This was lovely in and of itself, in part because I had enjoyed her first book, The Sinister Sweetness Of Splendid Academy, but as an added bonus she gave me an ARC of her new book, Nightingale's Nest (Razorbill, Feb. 2014). Nightingale's Nest is a reimagining of Hans Christian Anderson's story, "The Nightingale," but though there are clear parallels and echoes enough to please those who enjoy reimaginings for their own sake, this new story stands alone just fine.  

It tells of two hurting children, and the unforgettable summer when their lives intersect.  12 year old "Little John," as he is known, is working side by side with his father for the first time, on a massive landscaping project for the rich old "emperor" Mr. King, owner of a chain of Texas stores.  Money for John's family is tight as all get out, but deeper than that worry is the grief they are living with--John's little sister falling from a tree, and his mother has been driven almost mad with sorrow.

At the edge of the emperor's property, he meets Gayle, perched high in a tree--a foster child with sadness of her own.   She has lost her parents, but can't stop hoping they will find her again.  Just as they told her too, she has made a nest for herself, up in the tree with her small treasures, and she waits for them to hear her singing and come find her again.

And the magic of Gayle's singing, and just her own sweet self, start to bring some measure of healing to John and his father.  But Mr. King has heard Gayle's song too, and wants it for his collection of recordings.  And he will pay John for it, money that John needs to save his family, and John must decide whether or not to betray Gayle's trust....and the sadness of it all gets ratcheted up and up.

I had to put it down here and there, and go off and do other things, and I wondered if it was maybe too sad for the target audience of 10-12 year olds.  But I think it is a sadness that will be harder for grown-ups than for kids to read about--the child reader might well feel sorry, and be truly moved, but the grown-up reader (judging by my own personal reaction) will want to fix things, which of course is impossible.  That being said, it might be too much for younger children who are either strongly empathetic and/or vulnerable themselves, and though the ending resolves things in a hopeful way, it might not offer quite enough security and comfort to off-set the sadness (but again, this might be just my personal reaction!).

But in any event, it is a lovely book, moving and powerful.  Fans of fairy tale re-imaginings should definitely seek it out, and so should fans of magic mixing with the real world, and so also should those who love books that hit the heart full-on (but not so much those who want light fluffy escapist fun!).  And though the cover shows a girl, and though girls will like this book just fine, I hope it finds its way to boys too--it does, after all, have a boy as the central character...

And now, the interview!

Hi Nikki!  So Nightingale's Nest started out as a picture book, called The Treasure Nest.  What made it grow into a full-fledged novel? Did you keep coming back to it over the years, or was there a sudden surge? And how did the writing of The Sinister Sweetness Of Splendid Academy fit into it?

It took years, long painful ones! I think maybe every author has a story or two they must tell no matter what, and this was one of those for me. I could not stop thinking about that picture book, even after agents, editors, and critique partners had all gently let me know it wasn’t going to fly. I revised it as a picture book again and again. Then I tried writing it as a novel, but without any fairy tale connection. That didn’t work either.

All the while, I was doing school and library visits, talking about my debut novel, The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, and my favorite fairy tales. Hansel and Gretel was at the top of the list, but The Nightingale was a close second. When I was messing around with the failed novel draft one day, I wondered if I could do something like I’d done with Sinister Sweetness, reworking a fairy tale in contemporary America. The Nightingale seemed a natural fit. I began to weave Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale loosely in with my initial story of a girl who climbed a tree and built a nest, and a boy who was afraid to climb up to join her… and once I realized it was the boy’s story to tell, it worked! I wrote the draft of Nightingale’s Nest in less than three months, and that draft is remarkable similar to the one that will be published.

Is The Nightingale a story that had particular meaning for you, as a child or an adult?

I was raised in a family of musicians. Our house was filled with instrumental and vocal music, and like reading, I don’t remember a day when I didn’t sing or play. (I played violin, cello, ukulele, and piano, all with varying degrees of skill.) So the idea in The Nightingale that the most beautiful thing in the whole of China was a song? I liked that as a child.

As an adult, I had a career for a decade or so as a Director of Family Ministries in the Presbyterian Church. One of my jobs every Sunday was to interpret the week’s scripture for the children, and present it in the children’s sermon. The act of thinking deeply about concepts like grace, forgiveness, and redemption, and distilling them for kids, left its mark on my brain. As an author, I found myself drawn to the selfless act of the nightingale in Andersen’s story, and in the way I saw grace at work there. I wanted to explore it further, and the form of a novel gave me the space to do that.

And did you ever have your own treasure nest? 

I still do, sort of! The desk I write at has these little shelves where I keep things that are significant to me: a picture of my grandma when she was young, my favorite childhood toys (two Weebles and a Raggedy Ann doll), a rock from a beach in Normandy, and love notes from my sons, among other things. I’ve always collected small items that meant something to me, little talismans against forgetting what really matters.

Was it hard writing a book in which the main characters were hurting so badly? (I imagine that you must have had to hug your loved ones more than usual....)

Yes, it was ridiculously hard, emotionally. I cried buckets of tears writing it, many of them sitting at various lunch tables in Austin with my mom! (She lives close by, and I figured she was about the only person in the world who would listen to me blubber on about how horrible Little John’s life had been. I have the best mom in the world - she listened without complaint for all three of those months!)

and finally---what's next? 

Wish Girl! I just turned in my editorial revision for my third book, another middle grade with Razorbill. This one is also magical realism, with a bit more magic and humor, and less tragedy (although it has some of that, too). It’s about a boy who runs away to a valley to be away from people – and bumps into a girl who seems to think her wishes come true, and who may need the boy to save her life if they don’t.

I will look forward to it--congratulations!  Thank you so much for stopping by, Nikki!


Here's the scene from Nightingale's Nest when John first meets Gayle:

She just started humming under her breath, the same tune she’d been singing, but this time, it was softer. It still brought tears to my eyes.

At least I thought that’s what was happening. It must have been, because as I watched her, and listened to the music, the singing that got louder and louder, clearer and higher and purer, she got… fuzzy around the edges. Her outline was against the sun, I thought, that’s why she seemed to blur. It was awful hot; maybe it was just the flickering mirage of heat lines.

I wiped my eyes again, and squinted up at her. The more she sang, the more she seemed to shimmer against the sky, her edges feathering into the background blue.

Her voice was loud now, so loud I couldn’t have stopped the sound even by plugging my ears. Through the melody, though, I heard something squeal and slam behind me, on the other side of the fence.  A door.

Someone else was listening.

I turned and saw the Emperor, a hundred yards back, standing outside his back door, a deep purple, velvety robe flapping around his bony legs. He was staring at the tree, mouth wide open, watching the girl. The sunlight glinted on his wrinkled, wet cheeks. I wondered, for a moment, at the sight of a grown man crying. But her voice… it was the kind that could bring tears to anyone, I figured.

Cra-ack! I knew the sound of a branch cracking. I whirled back around.
That’s when I realized the girl had to be touched. She hadn’t started to come down at all—she’d started to climb out on the branch, toward me. She was perching, hopping like a wren, further and further out on one of the limbs that wouldn’t hold her.

I knew what was going to happen next. She was going to go out too far on the branch, and it would snap under her. She would fall, screaming, in a shower of small branches, leaves, and bark.

It was the nightmare I had every night.

I wouldn’t be there to catch her. I never made it to the base of the tree in time, my legs too small, too short, my hands reaching out at the ends of arms too weak to hold her anyway.

And I would have to watch her snap like a bough herself, on the ground, the blood as red as a cardinal’s wing.

It was the nightmare I’d lived once before. 

And the reason I had devoted my life to cutting down every tree in the world.

Every last murderous tree.

The girl screamed as she fell, and I raced to catch her, knowing I would be too late.

You can enter to win a copy of Nightingale's Nest, and a paperback of Sinister Sweetness at this blog tour giveaway.


Final note--uttermost kudos to Razorbill for the beautiful cover--there's nothing I noticed in the text that signifies Gayle's ethnicity, so it's a lovely thing they chose to show her as a shining, lovely, black girl.  More covers like this and no-one will bat an eyelash because  Rue in the Hunger Games is black (I hope).

So because I think it would be a good thing just for that reason (and not just because it's a good book) if lots of people bought Nightingale's Nest, here are all the on-line places you can get it:

Amazon

B&N

Books-a-Million

Indiebound

Google Play

Itunes

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/23/14)

Welcome to this week's round-up--I didn't have time to do much scrounging, so may well have missed things--please let me know!
The Reviews:

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Things Mean a Lot

The Blue Lady, by Eleanor  Hawken, at Nayu's Reading Corner (giveaway)

The Children Next Door, by Jean Ure, at Charlotte's Library

Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at alibrarymama

The Eighth Day, by Diane K. Salerni, at Middle Grade Mafioso

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo, at Candace's Book Blog and GreenBeanTeenQueen

The Gargoyle in my Yard, by Philippa Dowding, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Geranium Cat's Bookshelf

The Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz, at Becky's Book Reviews

The House on Parchment Street, by Patricia McKillip, at Finding Wonderland

How to Catch a Bogle, by Catherine Jinx, at alibrarymama

How To Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell, at Mister K Reads

The Interrupted Tale, by Maryrose Wood, at Kid Lit Geek

The Lotus Caves, by John Christopher, at Views From the Tesseract

Magic Marks the Spot, by Caroline Carlson, at Mister K Reads

Operation Bunny: The Fairy Detective Agency's First Case, by Sally Gardner, at Bibliophilic Monologues

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, at The Book Monsters

The Quantum League: Spell Robbers, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Charlotte's Library and The Englishist

The Rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson, at Sonderbooks

Rose, by Holly Webb, at Sonderbooks

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Neilsen, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

The Secret Box, by Whitaker Ringwald, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Shadow Throne, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, The A P Book Club, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and Stacked

Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Guys Lit Wire

A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, at Literate Lives

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at My Precious

Theodosia and the Last Pharoah, by R.A. LaFevers, at Jean Little Library

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Sonderbooks

The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey, at The Book Monsters

Zoe and Zack and the Yogi's Curse, by Lars Guignard, at Candace's Book Blog


Three at Views from the Tesseract:  Tesla's Attic, by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman, Spider Stampede by Ali Sparks, Sasquatch Escape, by Suzanne Selfors

Two at Redeemed Reader-- The Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, and The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick

And two at Ms. Yingling Reads:  Handbook for Dragon Slayers and The Shadow Throne

Authors and Interviews:

Jennifer Nielsen (The Shadow Throne) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Nikki Loftin (Nightingale's Nest) at The Book Cellar (giveaway)

Neil Shusterman and Eric Elfman (Tesla's Attic) at Project Mayhem

F.T. Bradley (Double Vision: Code Name 711) at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

A weeks' worth at Susan K. Quinn:

Monday: Warrior Faeries and Math Magick: How Susan Kaye Quinn is using a Virtual Author Visit video and Teacher's Guide to reach readers with her MG novel, Faery Swap.

 

Tuesday: Faery, Fairy, Sweet and Scary: a discussion with MG author Kim Batchelor on writing about Faeries in kidlit.

 

Wednesday: Sci Fi for the Middle Grade Set: a discussion with MG author Dale Pease about writing SF for kids.

 

Thursday: Writing Indie MG: a roundup of indie MG authors (Michelle Isenhoff, Elise Stokes, Lois Brown, Mikey Brooks, Ansha Kotyk) about why they write MG and how to reach readers, including their indie MG author Emblazoner's group catalog.

 

Friday: Marketing Indie Middle Grade - The Hardest Sell - about reaching MG readers as an MG author.

Other Good Stuff:

A Tuesday Ten of music at Views from the Tesseract

Lee and Low is giving away a copy of Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today's Youth, by Gregory J. Reed, signed by Rosa Parks herself!  Head on over to Lee and Low's Facebook page to enter; ends Feb. 26

Looking ahead to next weekend--Middle Grade March kicks off with a day long read-a-thon--more info. here

And looking even further ahead, here's the Fall 2014 Children's Sneak Preview from Publisher's Weekly --lots of good mf sff!

The Quantum League: Spell Robbers, by Matthew J. Kirby

Spell Robbers, by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic 2014) is about a boy, Ben, who discovers he has preternatural powers (in this case, the ability to alter reality through the mental manipulation of matter and energy), and who is whisked off to the headquarters of the good guys so that his preternatural powers of actuation can be honed and used against the bad guys.   He then is the chief player in an adventurous ploy that foils the bad guys.

This is not, in and of itself, an original plot, and I was doubtful. But as the story unfolded, more complexity of plot and character were added to the mix, and by the end of it, I'd found it enjoyable, and am happy to recommend it to ten (or so) year olds who love to cheer for outstanding kids in extraordinary circumstances.

Here's what made it hard for me to become invested:

The bad guys are called the Dread Cloaks, and the good guys are the League.  This is not subtle, and it makes it hard to take the Dread Cloaks seriously.   The Dread Cloaks, in general, never rise above the level of cartoonish villains--they too have powers of actuation, and it's pointed out to the reader that even small manipulations of reality can have cataclysmically evil results.  The Dread Cloaks, however, seem more concerned with turf wars and petty heists than true evil, making them less dreadful than they might have been. 

The reader is required to carry out a huge suspension of disbelief--once Ben (and other kids) are taken into the League, all trace of them is wiped from the minds of everyone outside the League.  Which is a pretty stupendously difficult thing to do, but we have to accept that it happened, only  I kept wondering how on earth you could find everyone who ever knew a kid, and erase their memories.   Thoughts of material remnants (what happened to all his possessions?) kept drifting through my mind, which was distracting.

On the other hand, there was enough I found interesting to balance out these reservations:

Ben is the bestest actuator of all (no surprise) but he actually has to learn things and it doesn't all come (totally) naturally.

More importantly, Ben really, really hates that his mother's mind has been wiped.  He loves his mom, and wants to be reunited with her, in large part because he thinks she needs him.   And this makes him rather hostile toward the League, adding interesting internal conflict.  Both Ben and the reader don't know who to trust, and the reader strongly sympathizes with Ben's reluctance to become a pawn in a game that he doesn't comprehend.  Clearly, the Dread Cloaks are bad (or they would have picked a different name), but is the League actually good?  With the addition of a character with a questionable path and questionable motives, the ambiguity increases, and this is what kept me turning the pages.

And finally, I found it interesting to read about a kid who's primary motivation is to be reunited with his mother.   It made a really nice change for a book to address a kid's separation from his parents as something that actually is meaningful for the kid, and which effects his actions and choices.   Middle grade kids are beginning to toy with the idea of separation themselves (some more enthusiastically than my own), and I think this is a theme that might well resonate with many of them. 

So in the end, despite my initial reservations, I found myself looking forward to the sequel.

Here's another review at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, The Englishist, and Ms. Yingling Reads

Note on label:  though the people in the book maintain that actuation is science, not magic, I just cannot believe it is possible enough to lable this book science fiction!  It is more like superpower fantasy.

Disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Why Candy Crush has been a force for good in my life

Round about the end of last September, I happened to read a tweet from Liz in which she shared the happy news that she beat a level of Candy Crush.   I had not heard of it before, and assuming that if a game was good enough for Liz, it was good enough for me, I started playing.....I have just now beaten level 400, and have sent out a call to my Candy Crush friends on Facebook to help me advance to the next level.

It would be easy to say I was addicted to the game, and to say that I had wasted hours of my precious life on something pointless.  But this would not be fair--Candy Crush has actually added lots of point to my life.

For one thing, I have been perforce been on Facebook a lot more.  I had been dismissive of it, and not bothered, but I have truly enjoyed reading the things my friends are sharing!  I feel Connected and Warmed.   And because my Candy Crush friends and I help each other out, I feel a sense of kinship with them, a sense of friendly camaraderie that brightens my day.  When a friend I haven't seen in real life for decades sends me a game life, I smile; when I friend I've seen more often does, I'm reminded of happy times together.   It is because of Candy Crush that I finally uploaded a picture of myself into my Facebook profile...

Candy Crush is also encouraging my children to Think of Others.  If you are one of my game friends, and wonder why I send lives so profligately, know that it is not me, it is my boys, sitting by my side as I play and bound and determined to generously spew forth lives at every opportunity.  And they do sit by my side/breathe down my neck lots, making it Quality Bonding Time as we sharpen our minds together on the challenges of making the stripped/wrapped combos.

And the fact that I play Candy Crush makes me unlikely to resent my husband's preoccupation with his own on-line games, thus strengthening our marriage.  After all, we are playing in the same room.

Still, I am rather glad you only get five lives at a time.  I will never forget the summer I lost to Civilization....

The Children Next Door, by Jean Ure, for Timeslip Tuesday

Sometimes it's easy to tell when a ghost is a ghost, and to say "not time travel."  Some hauntings are trickier, though...and such is the case of The Children Next Door, by Jean Ure (1994), and in explaining why I think it's timeslip than ghost, I'll spoil it a little, but it can't be helped.

In any event, 11 year old Laura moves into a new house, and soon after, while lying in the garden reading a book (she gets character points from me for this, which is about the only time she does), she hears the voices of children next door.  They are a brother and his older sister, Tommy and Em, having an argument, which results in Em throwing Tommy's toy over the fence into Laura's yard, and coming to look for it.  Laura, being shy, instinctively hides, mentally kicking herself for being so pathetic (and though it's understandable, and necessary for the plot, it's rather wet of her) and so doesn't meet Em.

And though Laura hears Em and Tommy, and their friend Kate, and peaks at them over the fence, no one else believes they are real, and her parents think Laura is much to imaginative.  So everyone is happy when Laura makes friends with the girl who really is living next door, Zilla, a live wire who is a tad obnoxious, but it's nice for Laura to be livened up.  And Laura doesn't mention Em and co. to Zilla, though she's still seeing and hearing them on occasion, because she's now trying to convince herself that they aren't real.

These shadowy children next door fit most of the criteria for ghosts, except for one crucial fact--two of them are still alive.  What Laura is experiencing are sort of memory imprints of their past, and so though she isn't exactly traveling back in time, nor are they travelling forward; instead, past and present are overlapping.  This is exactly the sort of book where "timeslip" becomes a more useful word than "time travel."

I would have liked it just fine as a child, and doubtless re-read it; as a grown-up, it was rather slight and I never saw much in Laura or Zilla, and I thought Em was one of the meanest sisters I've met in ages.  It's by  no means a bad book; I didn't mind reading it at all, and do consider offering it to any 10 year old you have on hand who enjoys quieter mysteries in which one never leaves the house and garden....and how appreciates books that finish with a nice dollop of tragedy.

Palace of Spies, by Sarah Zettel

There are not many fun YA novels of intrigue and conspiracy (with a smidge of romance) set in the reign of George I.  In fact,  Palace of Spies, by Sarah Zettel (HMH Books for Young Readers, Nov. 2013), set in 1716, is the only one I can think of, and it sets a nicely high standard for this particular little sub-genre.  This is a good period for intrigue and plotting--the newly installed Hanoverian king is not universally loved and the Jacobites (who want the Stuarts back) are plotting and seething.  So basically, the palace of the Prince and Princess of Wales is a hotbed of somewhat more than your run-of-the-mill political and social tensions.

And young Peggy Fitzroy is right in the middle of it.

Peggy didn't have a choice.  The mysterious friend of her deceased mother, who took her in when she was booted out of her previous guardian's house, plans for Peggy to take the place of Francesca, a young lady in waiting who left the court and died (mysteriously?) some time ago...and as no one at court knows she died, and Peggy looks somewhat like her (the fashions of this period--heavy makeup and powdered hair help viz disguise), Peggy can go to court and report back to her new guardian and his associates--a gentleman (?) of uncertain status who's a whiz at cards, and unfriendly woman who will be Peggy's maid.

And Peggy has no better alternative to offer herself.  But no one has told her just what she's reporting on, and so Peggy, step by intricate step, finds herself ensnared in a dance of intrigue that is more complex than she had imagined.  Francesca had secrets--a lover, a dream, a twisted past of her own--and Peggy gradually discovers that these secrets could be deadly.......

So it was rather fun, to see things getting more complicated, and trying to spot clues and figure things out!  My only reservation is that the whole business of not actually giving Peggy any meaningful instructions--I never quite understood why her new guardian went to all the work to get Peggy installed as a lady-in-waiting if he wasn't going to use her in any useful capacity, and this felt like a pretty substantial plot hole to me.  Some of his other actions made little sense to me either.  But it's possible he was just making sure she was safely installed first, and didn't realize what a trap she was going to find herself in, and maybe the sequel will make things clearer-or even more murky and dangerous!

If you enjoy historical intrigue and mystery, give this one a try. 

Something I liked: One of the characters is an artist's apprentice, so there are a few (not lots, but some) bonus bits about Georgian art thrown in.

This week's (very substantial) round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy postings from around the blogs (2/16/14)

I found lots of posts this week!  But if I missed yours, I'm sorry--please send me the link!

The Reviews

The 9 Lives of Alexander Baddenfield, by John Bemelmans Marciano, at Magic Words

The Abominables, by Eva Ibbotson, at The Book Monsters

The Accidental Time Traveller, by Janis Mackay, at Time Travel Times Two

Aesop's Secret, by Claudia White, at A Woman's Wisdom

Back to Blackbrick, by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, at Barbara Ann Watson

The Cabinet of Wonders, by Marie Rutkoski, at Dead Houseplants

The Cloud Forest, by Joan North, at a pile of leaves

Fairest of All (Whatever After 1), by Sarah Mlynowski, at Carstairs Considers

Finally, by Wendy Mass, at book4yourkids

The Forbidden Library, by Django Wexler, at Views from the Tesseract

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at That's Another Story

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at Semicolon, and Rachel Neumeier (also Jinx's Magic)

Jinx's Magic, by Sage Blackwood, at Kid Lit Geek

Knightley and Son: Cracking the Code, by Rohan Gavin, at Jen Robinson’s Book Page

The Luck Uglies, by Paul Durham, at Views from the Tesseract

Magic Marks the Spot, by Caroline Carlson, at alibrarymama

Magic Trix: Secrets and Spies, by Sara Grant, at Nayu’s Reading Corner

The Mesmer Menace, by Kersten Hamilton, at Sharon the Librarian

The Monster in the Mudball, by S.P. Gates, at Boys and Literacy

No Returns (The Battleband Saga book 1), by Gail Giles and Deb Vanasse, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, at Jen Robinson's Book Page, Ms. Yingling Reads, and books4yourkids

Pillage, by Obert Skye, at Leaf's Reviews

Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale, at The Ninja Librarian

The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskell, at Booked til Tuesday

The  Quirks--Welcome to Normal, and Circus Quirkus, by Erin Soderberg, at A Year of Reading

The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu, at Ex Libris

The Rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson, at Semicolon

Rump, by Liesl Shurtliff, at Pages Unbound

The Sasquatch Escape, by Suzanne Selfors, at Literate Lives

The Secret Box, by Whitaker Ringwald, at The Write Path

Secrets of the Book, by Erin Fry, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Seven Wild Sisters, by Charles de Lint, at Charlotte's Library

Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Sonderbooks

The Sleeping Army, by Francesca Simon, at Charlotte's Library

A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, at Nerdy Book Club

A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at Not Acting My Age

Tesla's Attic, by Neil Shusterman and Eric Elfman, at Ms.Yingling Reads

The Twistrose Key, by Tone Almhjell, at The Book Smugglers

The Water Mirror, by Kai Meyer, at Blog of Erised

The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman, at The Book Monsters

The Wolf Princess, by Cathryn Constable, at Ex Libris

Yesterday's Doll, by Cora Taylor, at Charlotte's Library

Zoe and Zaq and the Tiger Temple, by Lars Guignard, at Pragmatic Mom and Geo Librarian

Two at Redeemed Reader--The Twistsrose Key, by Tone Almhjell, and Jinx's Magic, by Sage Blackwood

Two of the Cybils shortlisted books, The Water Castle and Sidekicked, at alibrarymama

Three short reviews at Views from the Tesseact-- The Magician's Tower, by Shawn Thomas Odyssey, A Question of Magic, by E.D. Baker, and Song of the Quarkbeast, by Jasper Fforde.

Authors and Interviews

Anne Ursu (The Real Boy) at MINNPOST

Vivian Vande Velde (Deadly Pink, and many more) at Awake at Midnight

Karen Foxlee (Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy) at Nerdy Book Club


Other Good Stuff

The 2013 Cybils Winners have been announced--particular congratulations to Jonathan Stroud and The Screaming Staircase!

Con or Bust is currently holding its on-line auction to help fans of color attend SFF cons; the auction ends Sunday, February 23.

The Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlists have been announced; there are several middle grade fantasy books not yet published here in the US that sound rather good.

A nice long post about PL Travers at Reveries Under the Sign of Austin, Two

Laurel Snyder--"Boys Will be Boys, and Girls Will Be Accommodating"

In the realm of the utterly adorable, which you have probably seen but regardless, Kids Read to Shelter Cats

And finally, I was awfully proud this week to reveal the cover of the fourth book in Sarah Prineas' marvelous middle grade fantasy series--the Magic Thief: Home; here's the cover again, and at the actual post there's a sneak peak at some of the interior art.

The Sleeping Army, by Francesca Simon

As soon as I saw the cover of The Sleeping Army, by Fancesca Simon (2011 in the UK), and read the blurb, I added it to my wish list:

"Freya is an ordinary girl living in modern Britain, but with a twist: people still worship the Viking gods. One evening, stuck with her dad on his night shift at the British Museum, she is drawn to the Lewis Chessmen and Heimdall's Horn. Unable to resist, she blows the horn, waking three chess pieces from their enchantment; the slaves Roskva and Alfi, and Snot the Berserk. They are all summoned to Asgard, land of the Viking gods, and told they must go on a perilous journey to restore the gods to youth.If Freya refuses she will be turned into an ivory chess piece but, if she accepts her destiny and fails, the same terrible fate awaits her. Brilliantly funny, original and a wholly new take on the Norse myths - and the travails of contemporary family life."

And I was very happy to get it for Christmas, and happy to start reading it last night...except that perhaps my expectations were too high.

I loved the set-up, with its premise that Christianity was simply a minor Roman cult, and the chessmen coming to life, and the journey to Asgard...and though Freya did not embrace her magical adventure with any enthusiasm, I was willing to make allowances.  It is true, after all, that the Norse gods and goddesses are never very pleasant, especially when they are, as is the case here, suffering from senile dementia, and no-one in their right mind would want to go traipsing off on a perilous mission to Jotunheim in the middle of winter.  And it is true that Snot the Berserker is smelly and strange, and although Alfi is pleasant enough, his sister Roskva makes it clear that she thinks Freya is useless...and it's true that riding through winter on Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse, would probably be uncomfortable, so there's nothing for Freya to be all that cheerful about in terms of companionship and creature-comforts...

So I made allowances, with the expectation that at some point Freya would step up to the plate and show usefulness, spirit, spunk....something more than just being a bit stoical about wet socks...but still on page 171 of 221, there's "I can't do this!" wailed Freya.  "Any of this!" and although I saw little reason to argue with her, it sure made it hard to be deeply engaged in her story.   Maybe I have been brainwashed into thinking that a sense of wonder, excitement, and daring-do is required of fantasy heroines, and I am just to set in my ways to appreciate a (quite-possibly more realistic) deviation from this norm.

But in any event, the story manages to go on with little help from Freya, or the Norse gods, and in the end Freya makes a new friend with the help of her lip gloss and does what she has to do.

The story was interesting, and even amusing, and I quite liked Alfi and Roskva, and even Snot grew on me, and this was certainly the most interesting fictional Hel (as in Loki's daughter) I've ever met, and so I don't want to make it seem as though the book was a huge disappointment to me.   It was just Freya who was disappointing.   

(Also I think it is misleading to suggest, as the blurb does, that the reader is going to get "travails of contemporary family life.  Freya's parents are divorced and there are concomitant issues that take up maybe two pages in total and the rest of the book is all mythological questing).

All my reservations aside, I want to read the sequel, The Lost Gods (Sept. 2013 in the UK); I do like the conceit of a Norse England.

"In The Sleeping Army, Freya went to Hel and back. She fought dragons, fled fire and outwitted giants - all to restore eternal youth to the Norse Gods. But now they're back, does anyone care?

Up in Asgard, it doesn't really feel like it. The Gods' popularity on earth is waning, and without regular worship, their powers are fading fast. Meanwhile, their ancient enemies, the Frost Giants, are stirring. So the Gods hatch a plan - they'll come back down to earth, and they'll pursue a very different kind of popularity. They're going to become celebrities. A rollicking, thrilling and hilarious ride, The Lost Gods takes up where the Sleeping Army left off and takes us back to Simon's brilliantly-imagined modern Norse England."

The Cybils winners have been announced!

And the winner in Elementary/Middle Grade Spec. fic. is:

The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud!   YAY!  I think it's an especially good winner, because it cuts right across any issues of boy vs girl book and is just a great book in general.

Here's the full list.

Thank you, EMG SF panelists--you all did a great job!  And it's never to soon to start thinking about next year--look for the call for 2014 panelists sometime in August......

Seven Wild Sisters, by Charles de Lint, illustrated by Charles Vess

Seven Wild Sisters, by Charles de Lint, illustrated by Charles Vess (Little, Brown 2014) is a lovely book qua book, and a lovely story qua story.

12-year-old Sarah Jane is the middle of six sisters, moved from pillar to post all around the country before coming to rest in the Appalachian hills.   There Sarah Jane makes friends with "Aunt" Lillian, a reclusive old woman who lives even further up in the woods...who is rumored to be a witch.  But Sarah Jane doesn't see any signs of that, and she comes to enjoy spending time working alongside Aunt Lillian on all the many tasks that need doing, and listing to the stories--so many magical stories--that Aunt Lillian tells.

And then one day Sarah Jane learns that the magic is real, and she finds herself right in the middle of the story of two feuding factions of fairy folk (not your typical Celtic sort of fairies, but more nature-based).   It's not a comfortable place to be, especially when your sisters are kidnapped and held hostage.   The stakes are high...but Aunt Lillian has friends in strange places, and brave hearts and sharp wits are powerful weapons on their own account.

It's a really satisfying story of Sisters in Danger.  The girls are different enough to be memorable, and they clearly care about each other.   And the danger is real enough to be exciting, and the adventures are vividly told.   It's young reader friendly, yet even grown-readers able to accept this fairy world of warring nature fairies may well find it as appealing as I did.

And on top of my enjoyment of the words, I was very taken with the loveliness of the book-- both the full page illustrations and the smaller pictures at the beginnings of the chapters, and sprinkled throughout, enhance the story beautifully.

Seven Wild Sisters is a companion to Cats of Tanglewood Forest, set many years after that book--you don't need to read Cats first.   Though that one didn't quite work for me (mainly because it was told in episodic style), but this one I thoroughly enjoyed--nice straight narrative where bit by bit (as more and more sisters get kidnapped) the tension grows!  My one slight reservation is that it begins with a prologue from Aunt Lillian's point of view, setting the stage by telling of the fantastical characters we're going to meet, so those who like to jump right in to things may need to exercise a bit of patience (I'm thinking of younger readers here; I trust most grown-ups to be able to read prologues without twitching....).

Here are a few personal reasons I liked this one:  Weeding is portrayed as worthwhile and rewarding.  And older woman gets to play an important part in the story.  The happy ending involves the contents of an old chest.

Seven Wild Sisters was first published by Subterranean Press back in 2002; I am glad it has been republished--there is nothing else quite like it in contemporary middle grade fantasy, and it made a lovely change.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

THE MAGIC THIEF BOOK 4: HOME IS COMING THIS FALL AND HERE IS THE COVER!!!!!

It is a great honor to present the cover of The Magic Thief: Home!

 

Isn't it a lovely cover!  Isn't it lovely that the fourth books is really truly on its way, coming out this September 16th.  Isn't Pip (the dragon) the cutest thing!

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading the Magic Thief series, by Sarah Prineas (from HarperCollins), you are in for a treat!  And if you have, you are doubtless joining me in squee-ness, because this is a truly lovely middle grade fantasy series.

A bit of background:

The Magic Thief  was one of my favorite books of 2008. It was one of the first books I read for the Cybils that year, and it stayed firmly in the small group of books I was determined to push onto our final shortlist. Happily, no pushing was required.

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

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

Then came The Magic Thief: Lost in 2009, and The Magic Thief: Found in 2010.....and then Sarah Prineas wrote a whole different trilogy (Winterling, Summerkin, and Moonkind), which was lovely too, but it resulted in a long and anxious wait for those of us who love Conn and co. to pieces!

Hence the truly joyous joy of knowing that this book is really coming.

The descriptive blurb isn't quite ready yet, but back in 2012 Sarah posted this on her blog:

"Here’s what the fourth Magic Thief book is about:
It’s called Chimney Swifts (that’s my title for it; my publisher might change it), and it’s about what happens when a gang of chimney sweeps are going down chimneys in Wellmet to steal locus magicalicus stones.  Everybody suspects Conn, of course, because he is a thief, so he (and the little dragon Pip!) has to join the sweeps to figure out what’s really going on.  What he discovers is that his biggest enemy has returned to Wellmet and is up to no good…"


And not only do I get to reveal the cover, but here are preliminary sketches of some of the characters for the interior art by illustrator Antonio Javier Caparo:

Embre:

 

Pip the dragon, in cat form (he'll be more dragonish in the final version:
And finally, Rowan:

Thank you so much, Sarah and HarperCollins!

Yesterday's Doll, by Cora Taylor, for Timeslip Tuesday

Yesterday's Doll, by Cora Taylor (1987), is a perfectly fine and uncomplicated time-travel story from Canada (where it's just The Doll).   Meg is recovering from rheumatic fever at her grandmother's house, and is given "the invalid doll" for company--Jessie, the heirloom china doll brought out only when children are sick.   Every time Meg sleeps, Jessie takes her back in time, and Meg becomes Morag, traveling west across Canada in a covered-wagon.  Jessie seems to want something from her (fixing her with creepy porcelain doll stares), and Meg is compelled to follow where the doll leads....

Meg, once she gets used to the idea, enjoys being Morag--being an only child herself, she enjoys the siblings, and even the prosaic tasks of covered wagon life are interesting (it's very uncomplicated covered-wagon travel--not that challenging for either the participants or the reader).  And she likes having two parents who love each other.  Though Meg's parents haven't told her, she is pretty certain they are splitting up.

So it's all just fine as we go across the prairie and a calf is born and some berries are picked.  But why is the doll so intent on dragging Meg back to the past?  Why do Meg's grandma and mother feel the doll wanted something from them when they were little, that they never managed to deliver???

The back cover says:  "And then she discovers why Jessie is helping.  Meg has to make a choice, one that could change her life forever!"

I read this on the back cover after finishing the book, and was taken aback.  This is not the book I read.  Sure, as Morag, Meg saves the life of her little sister (very excitingly-an excellent rescue), and dies as a result.  This is what really happened; it does not seem as though Meg did anything to change the course of history, although maybe that was what the author had in mind?  This is a plot you see lots in time travel, but mostly the author makes it clear that X would have died had not Y travelled back in time and saved her.  This author doesn't seem to be suggesting this was the case, though.

Nor is Meg particularly changed as a person, though she does decide to be stoical about the divorce (because she's realized the importance of family?).   But she's not particularly sad that Morag has died (she's laughing a few paragraphs after learning about it), so the emotional punch is utterly diluted.

And to make matters more deflating, conclusion-wise, the last time we see Jessie the doll show any signs of life she looks sad and defeated, before the glow of her eyes fades and dies.  I have no clue what Jessie's agenda was, but it seems like she failed to achieve it.

Either I am missing something, or the book is missing something....

That being said, Meg's time as Morag is perfectly pleasant time-travelling, and it's a perfectly fine "my parents are getting divorced and I have to cope" story.   So if you are an eight or nine year old (especially one who likes the idea of lying around in bed while recovering from illness), you might well love it to bits (lots of Goodreads reviews support me on this), but I  don't think I'd give it to anyone much older.

The more things change, the more things stay the same--an indie bookseller in 1912 laments the arrvial of the big department store

Back in the early 20th century, a big department store arrived in Providence, RI--here's one small bookseller's lament about what it did to his business!  The department store was truly mean--ostensibly offering a costly book for a rock bottom price, and "It was the beginning of my financial ruin...."

There's also a dig at Harper & Brothers-- who "then published far above the "tone" of the literature published by somebody now under the same name...."

The author is Sidney Rider; the original, from his "Book Notes," Vol. 29, page 2, can be read in its entirety here at Google Books.

This week's middle grade fantasy and sci fi round-up (2/9/2014)

Here's this week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs; please let me know if I missed your post!
Reviews

Behind the Bookcase, by Mark Steensland, at Jean Little Library

Clifton Chase and the Arrow of Light, by Jaimie M. Engle, at Kid Lit Reviews

Curse of the Dream Witch, by Allan Stratton, at That's Another Story

Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Fantasy Book Critic

Emily Feather and the Enchanted Door, by Holly Webb, at Jean Little Library

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo,  at Alison's Book Marks

The Forbidden Stone, by Tony Abbott, at The Hopeful Heroine

Fyre, by Angie Sage, at Leaf's Reviews

Ghost Hawk, by Susan Cooper, at Children's Book-a-day Almanac

Goblins, by Philip Reeve, at The Book Monsters

How I Became a Ghost, by Tim Tingle, at The Book Monsters

Jinx's Magic, by Sage Blackwood, at Book Nut and One Great Book

The Legend of Frog, by Guy Bass, at Wondrous Reads

Listening for Lucca, by Suzanne LaFleur, at Ciao Bella

The Lost Planet, by Rachel Searles, at The Book Monsters

The Magic Grandfather, by Jay Williams, at Views from the Tesseract

Mark of the Dragonfly, by Jaleigh Johnson, at Lit Chat

OMG...Am I a Witch?  by Talia Aikens-Nunez, at Project Mayhem (also interview and giveaway)

Operation Bunny, by Sally Gardner, at Books Beside My Bed

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by at In Bed With Books and Akossiwa Ketoglo

The Orphan of Ellis Island, by Elvira Woodruff, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

Playing Beatie Bow, by Ruth Park, at Adventures of a Subversive Reader

Project X-Caliber, by Greg Pace, at Charlotte's Library

The Riverman, by Aaron Starmer, at Fuse #8

Root Bound, by Tanya Karen Gough, at Buried in Books and Bibliophilia, Please

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at The Hopeful Heroine

Sabotaged, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

Seven Stories Up, by Laurel Snyder, at Secrets & Sharing Soda and Story Time Secrets

The Shadow Throne, by Jennifer Neilsen, at Karissa's Reading Review

Texting the Underworld, by Ellen Booraem, at The Book Monsters

A Twist In Time, by Jean Ure, at Tales of the Marvelous (audiobook review)

Zoe and Zach and the Ghost Leopard, by Lars Guignard, at swlothian

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads-- Relativity, by Cristin Bishara, and A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd


Authors and Interviews

George O'Connor (Aphrodite) talking about myth and fantasy at Charlotte's Library (giveaway)

D.X. Dunn (The Distania Chronicles) at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Alicia Rivoli (The Enchantment Series) at Carpinello's Writing Pages


Other Good Stuff

The Morgan Library and Museum in New York is running an exhibit about The Little Prince through April 27th.  Read more at SLJ.

Know a young writer of spec. fic?  Maybe they'd be interested in Alpha, a ten day workshop held this summer in Pittsburgh.  More at Tor.

Anne Ursu talks about gender representation at middle grade author panels.

And speaking of gender, here's an article that every one should share with any boy they have on hand--science fiction writer J.M. Frey on why she uses just her initials, at Geek Girls have #NothingToProve.  (found via the always thought-provoking link round up at Radish Reviews)

And finally, just because, a search for "sad snowflake" (poor Olympic snowflake who couldn't) led me to this:

No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
- Voltaire