This week's roundup of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs

So I didn't get a single review written this week (too hot to concentrate in my old non-airconditioned house), but happily many of you did!  Bloglovin was once again no help this week, snarl, so do let me now if I missed your post; I had to rely on googling this week....

The Reviews

All The Queen’s Sons, by Elizabeth Kipps, at Hailey Huntington

Amira and Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds, by Samira Ahmed, at AMB 

Cavern of Secrets (Wing and Claw #2), by Linda Sue Park, at Colorful Book Reviews

Etta Invincible, by Reese Eschmann, at Jenjenreviews and The Bookwyrm's Den

Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation, by Sylvia Liu, at Semicolon

J.R. Silver Writes Her World, by Melissa Dassori, at Bit About Books

Jimmy Chartron and the Lost Keystone, by J.T. Michaels, at J.R.'s Book Reviews

The Journey Begins: Magic Hunters #1 by Jill and Brad Williamson, at Say What?

Last Gate of the Emperor, by Kwame Mbalia and Joel Makonnen, at The Bookwyrm's Den

Let the Monster Out, by Chad Lucas, at A Kids Book A Day

The Myriad Mysteries of Eartha Quicksmith (BK2), by Loris Owen, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Nightingale, by Deva Fagan, at A Blog of Books and Musicals

Nura and the Immortal Palace, by M.T. Kahn, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Problem With Prophecies ((The Celia Cleary Series #1) by Scott Reintgen, at Say What?

Solimar: The sword of Monarchs, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, at Our Sunday Project

The Umbrella Mouse, by Anna Fargher, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Two at alibrarymama--It's the End of the World and I’m in My Bathing Suit, by Justin A. Reynolds, and Valentina Salazar is NOT a Monster Hunter, by Zoraida Cordova

Authors and Interviews

M.T. Khan (Nura and the Immortal Palace) with agent Melanie Figueroa, at Literary Rambles

 Reese Eschmann (Etta Invincible) at Nine Bookish Lives

Frank L. Cole (The Die of Destiny), at Journey to Zenobia

Francesca May (Wild and Wicked Things), at Geeks Out

Gemma Fowler  (City of Rust) at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Other Good Stuff

"Fun, Feel-Good, & Empowering Middle Grade and YA Science Fiction and Fantasy" at bookriot

"The best creepy dollhouse books for middle grade readers" picked by Katheryn Reiss at Shepherd

and it's just a few weeks now till the call for judges for this year's Cybils Awards will go out!  Do consider appling to be a panelist this year, and spend your fall reading and chatting about whatever kids/YA book genre you like best (perhaps elementary/middle grade speculative fiction!)  Here are my thoughts on why being a Cybils judge is a wonderful thing. Anyone can nominate in September, and in the meantime there are idea boards over at the Cybils website. It takes a bit of focus to add a book to the idea boards, but it's a great way to show love to your favorite books/authors! Of course, I could add 100 emg spec fic books I think should be nominated off the top of my head, but that's not really the point....

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (7/17/22)

Bloglovin was not accessible this weekend, so I'm probably missing lots of posts this week; please let me know if I missed yours!

The Reviews

The Button Box, by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani-Williams, at Charlotte's Library

The Diamond in the Window, by Jane Langton, at Semicolon

Festergrimm, by Thomas Taylor, at Scope for Imagination

A Flash of Fireflies, by Aisha Bushby, at Rosie Amber

Freddie vs the Family Curse, by Tracy Badua, at Eye-Rolling Demigod's Book Blog

J.R. Silver Writes Her World, by Melissa Dassori, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Last Beekeeper, by Pablo Cartaya, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Lost in the Mushroom Maze (Dungeoneer Adventures #1) by Ben Costa & James Parks, at Say What?

The Mermaid Call, by Alex Cotter, at Book Craic

The Myriad Mysteries of Eartha Quicksmith, by Loris Owen, at Valinora Troy

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, by Tolá Okogwu, at Geo Librarian

Orla and the Wild Hunt, by Anna Hoghton, at Scope for Imagination and Book Craic

Quintessence, by Jess Redman, at Colorful Book Reviews

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, by Xiran Jay Zhao, at InkandplasmaReviews

Two at The Virginia Pilot--Healer and Witch, by Nancy Werlin, and The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat

Two at Feed Your Fiction Addiction--Lia Park and the Missing Jewel by Jenna Yoon, and Spineless by Samantha San Miguel

MG Readathon Time!

 Ms. Yingling Reads is hosting a 48 MG readathon this weekend, and having completed my tasks for the day, I'm ready to plunge in!

I won't be reading for 48 hours, but I do hope to enjoy these books.

The ones I bought:

The ones I picked up at ALA and some review copies:

And two from the library:

This will make no appreciable dent in my tbr pile of course, but some progress is better than no progress...

The Button Box, by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani-Williams for Timeslip Tuesday

The Button Box, by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani-Williams (April 2022, Kar-Ben Publishing), is a lovely time travel story for upper elementary/younger middle grade readers (which is to say 8-10 year olds).  It entertains, it educates, it offers wisdom and promotes tolerance, and it has a cat...

Fifth grade is turning sour for Ava, who's Jewish, and her cousin Nadeem, who's Muslim, when a classmate starts bulling them about their religions.  When they tell their Grandma, instead of picking up the phone to talk to the principle, she tells a story about one of their Sephardic ancestors in 8th century North Africa, a girl named Ester whose family are spice merchants.  And she brings out a crystal button box, full of buttons cherished for generations.  Granny's cat, Sheba, somehow triggers its magic, and one of the buttons takes Ava and Nadeem back to Ester's time....

The two modern kids are recognized as the cousins whose visit was expected, and the time-travel magic provides them with appropriate clothes and language skills, so although they are a bit anxious about getting home again, it's not traumatic.  They are pretty sure that there's going to be something they have to do in the past, and sure enough, there is.

The Umayyad dynasty who ruled Syria has been overthrown, and one of the only surviving princes, Abdur Rhaman, aka Abd al-Rahman, is running for his life.  He's desperately trying to get to Spain, just a few miles across the water.  Ava and Nadeem know that he is responsible for a Golden Age where science and art flourishes, and Muslims, Jews, and Christians live peacefully together.  But from where they are standing in North Africa, with an mob trying to capture the prince to claim the bounty on his life, this future seems like it might never happen, which would mean that Ava and Nadeem were never born.

But Ester has a plan to save him, and Ava and Nadeem are in the right place at the right time to help her....

And as an added bonus for the two kids, Abdur Rhaman is able to share wisdom with them that will help them with their modern bully, and they in turn are able to give him the assurance he will need to lead his kingdom.

The past is vividly described, and I very pleasurably learned an important bit of history I was never taught (I have now done a lot of  further online reading and have quickly planned a trip to Andalusia, Spain).   It very thoughtfully offers a view of Islam and Judaism that's respectful and heartfelt, and holds wisdom for the receptive reader without being dogmatic or preachy. And it does all this in only 129 pages.

Please give this to the kid who has just outgrown the Magic Tree House books after reading them all, whose mind is ready to be stretched a bit! Or any other 8 or 9 year old you happen to have around.  Or if you are an adult willing to appreciate a book that might at first seem to young for you but actually isn't, give it a try!  

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This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (7/10/22)

Good morning from a lovely day here in Rhode Island, where I have far too much yard work to do and far too many books to read!  Here's what I found this week; let me know about anything I missed.

The Reviews

Alliana, Girl of Dragons, by Julie Abe, at Pages Unbound

Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava #3) by Roshani Chokshi, at Colorful Book Reviews

The Dragon Flyers Book 1, by Cynthia Star, at Say What?

The Dragon in the Bookshop, by Ewa Jozefkowicz, at Book Craic and Sifa Elizabeth Reads

The Double Trouble Society, by Carrie Hope Fletcher, at splashesintobooks

Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation, by Sylvia Liu, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle, by Shawn K. Stout, at Log Cabin Library

Into the Vortex (Dylan Dover #1), by Lynne Howard, at Say What?

The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat, at alibrarymama

Mars Evacuees, by Sophia McDougall, at The Fabric of Words

The Mermaid Call, by Alex Cotter, at Scope for Imagination

The Midnighters by Hana Tooke, at Book Craic, Readaraptor, and Magic Fiction Since Potter

The Mirrorwood, by Deva Fagan, at No Genre Left Behind

The Notorious Scarlett and Brown, by Jonathan Stroud, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Nura and the Immortal Palace, by M.T. Khan, at Utopia State of Mind

Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, by Payal Doshi, at Valinora Troy 

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud, at Proseandkahn

The Train to Impossible Places, by P.G. Bell, at Leaf's Reviews

Valentina Salazar is Not a Monster Hunter, by Zoraida Córdova, at Charlotte's Library

Authors and Interviews

Kerelyn Smith (Mulrox and the Malcognitos) at The Fabric of Words

Ewa Jozefkowiez (The Dragon in the Bookshop) at Scope for Imagination

Other Good Stuff

"Middle Grade Fantasy Series Your Kids Need Now!" at Happily Ever Elephants

Valentina Salazar is Not a Monster Hunter, by Zoraida Córdova

Valentina Salazar is Not a Monster Hunter, by Zoraida Córdova (June 28, 2022, Scholastic) is a fun new middle grade fantasy perfect, just perfect, for kids who have outgrown the elementary magical creature befriending books.  Here we have magical creatures galore, and even rainbow unicorn poop, but there are serious family issues driving the plot, and serious questions about ethical choices.  There's also a wild car trip in a very wild vehicle, a visit to an alternate world where magical creatures live, an evil powerful organization that must be infiltrated, and a kick-ass mom who gets to help (which I appreciated).

Val has grown up in a family of monster protectors, dashing across the country with her parents and three older siblings whenever they hear of a sighting.  Her father was raised to be a monster hunter, dealing with incursions by killing the monsters, but rejected that. Instead, he has taught his family to trap the creatures and send them back to their home world.  But when he's killed by an ora puma (a mountain lion with wings and a scorpion tail), her mother takes the family to a small town where they can have a normal life.  Andie, the oldest sister, leaves home almost immediately to join the monster hunters in a betrayal Val can't wrap her head around.  Lola and Rome seem to be cool with going to school.  But Val is a frustrated, miserable mess, and gets herself into heaps of trouble when she tries to deal with monsters she thinks she sees at school.

But on the last day of school, there really is a fire breathing lizardish chipmunk up a tree...and the situation that ensues not only gets Val one last detention, but it brings her and her siblings a little bit closer.  Then Val sees an online clip of a kid showing off his "dragon" egg, and recognizes it as an ora puma egg.  Determined to live up to her family's creed, she decides, in good middle grade fashion, that she will drive the family monster hunting van cross country to get hold of the egg, and send it back where it belongs.

Fortunately, Lola and Rome aren't going to let her go alone.  

And this is really where the book gets going!  Lots of adventures, new friends, narrow escapes, magical creatures, and more, and it is all most satisfactory. Val's determination and zeal might get her into trouble at school, but it is just what is needed to not only bring her family back together and hold them to the ethical standards by which they were raised, but also to take down a nasty organization that wants to profit from monsters, and will stop at nothing to do so.

Sweetening the pot for the target audience is Val's guilty secret.  She has befriended a cute little sugar loving monster instead of sending it home, and it is rather adorable.  

In short, lots of magical creatures and lots of heart! I enjoyed the whole ensemble lots, especially once the road trip started.

disclaimer: review copy received (aka snatched by my greedy little paws) at ALA for review.

 

This week's roundup of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (7/3/22)

 Good morning all!  Here's what I found this week; let me know if I missed your post!

Here's a reminder that being a Cybils judge is a wonderful thing with which to fill your idle hours this fall! Look for the call for panelists in mid August.

The Reviews

The Child of Fire and Earth, by Barry Ryers, at Books are 42

Dragon on Trial, by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland, at No Genre Left Behind

Epic Zero, by R. L. Ullman, at Valinora Troy

Forest of Wonders (Wing & Claw #1), by Linda Sue Park, at Colorful Book Reviews

Freckles: The Dark Wizard, by Jerry Harwood, at Fabulous and Brunette

 Gabe in the After, by Shannon Doleski, at Cracking the Cover

Lark and the Wild Hunt, by Jennifer Adam, at Say What?

The Last Cuentista, by Donna Barba Higuera, at Leaf's Reviews

The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat, at Children's Books Heal

The Lonely Ghost, by Mike Ford, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Mapmakers and the Lost Magic by Cameron Chittock & Amanda Castillo, at Pages Unbound 

The Marvellers, by Dhonielle Clayton, at alibrarymama

The Midnighters, by Hana Tooke, at Cracking the Cover

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told by his brother) by David Levithan, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)

The Prince of Nowhere, by Rochelle Hassan, at Charlotte's Library

Ravenous Things, by Derrick Chow, at Say What?

Revenge of Queen Rose by Valinora Troy, at  Iseult Murphy

Secret of the Shadow Beasts, by Diane Magras, at The Bookwyrm's Den

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, by A. F. Steadman, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Spineless, by Samantha San Miguel, at GeoLibrarian

Tamarind and the Star of Ishtar, by Jasbinder Bilan, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Twin Stars (The Coseema Saga #1), by Bridgette Dutta Portman, at Bookworm for Kids

Willa of Dark Hollow, by Robert Beatty, at The Children's Book Review

Wretched Waterpark, by Kiersten White, at Always in the Middle 

Two at The Book Search -- Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting by Roseanne A. Brown, and Fenris and Mott, by Greg van Eekhout

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads -- The Dollhouse, by Charis Cotter, and The Clackity, by Lora Senf

Authors and Interviews

Shawn Peters (The Unforgettable Logan Foster and the Shadow of Doubt), at MG Book Village

Shirley Vernick (Ripped Away), at Mom Read It

Shivaun Plozza (A Reluctant Witch’s Guide to Magic) at Better Reading

Other Good Stuff

Ten Science Fiction Books for Elementary Kids, at  Nerdy Book Club 

 

The Prince of Nowhere, by Rochelle Hassan, for Timeslip Tuesday

I feel a little bad that by making it clear that The Prince of Nowhere, by Rochelle Hassan (May 2022, HarperCollins), is a time slip book, I've spoiled it a little. But it can't be helped, and so I will bravely move on and try to explain what the book is about and why I liked it lots (in a nutshell, great world-building, great characters, a chilling moral dilemma) without spoiling it too much more!

Roda has lived a safe, snug life with her mother in a small town that's protected by an curtain of enchanted, freezing cold mist.  Her adventurous aunt Dora has ventured beyond the mist, travelling through monster-filled lands to other towns, each likewise engirdled, and even to other lands, and Roda dreams of maybe someday following in her footsteps. But adventure finds her first.

Anonymous riddling notes begin to arrive, each with a small prediction about the future that always comes true. So when a note comes instructing her to venture almost inside the mist to find a crow, she does...and brings the almost frozen crow home. It isn't an ordinary crow, but a shapeshifting boy named Ignis, whose clan has just been destroyed by monsters.

Ignis has no home anymore, and doesn't know what he was doing before he crashed in the mist. The anonymous note writer does, though, and has just set a plan in motion that will take Roda and Ignis on an impossible, irrational journey through the mist, through the monsters, to a place called Nowhere.

Nowhere is a pocket universe place, created by the same long-gone magician that set the protective mist in place, that can only be entered, and left, during the three days a great comet passes by. It also is a time portal, where Anonymous is waiting. When Ignis realizes this, he desperately wants to go back in time to save his clan, but Roda is convinced this is a mistake. The trust they've built up in their travels is threatened, as is the course of their lives, and the clock is ticking as the comet passes by...Will they be trapped in Nowhere before it comes around again? Will they be caught in a looping time slip for decades? And what does Anonymous, who (in the words of the Goodreads blurb) "threatens their past, present, and future," want from them?

It is a cracking good read--lots of good build up to the adventure, an exciting journey, a truly magical and wonderous and disturbing destination (I cannot stress enough how fascinating Nowhere is), and a really intriguing high-stakes puzzle. The author tried really hard to make the time travel elements understandable, but it still required careful thought and I'm not quite sure I firmly grasped all that preceded this episode of a story that had been playing out for years. This did not trouble me overmuch, though, because I was happily reading, and cheering for Ignis and Roda to come out of their adventure with their friendship, and futures, intact.  

Recommended to all who like middle grade fantasy (there is also a pinch of dragon, if that sweetens the pot of my recommendation), and to time travel fans who particularly enjoy one of the central conundrums of the genre--if you could go back in time to set things right, would you go?

The ending is self-contained, but there's lots of room for more, and I hope we get it!

Two great dog picture books

 I was lucky enough to be at ALA this past weekend in D.C., and enjoyed not only seeing friends, but filling tote bags with (mostly) kids books. Now that me and my books are home again, I'm determined to get on top of reviewing the finished books in particular, so that they can get on the library shelves and into the hands of their target audience!

So here are two fun dog picture books that even a cat person can appreciate (although cats won't; my cat, needy after my ALA absence, didn't like how much room they took up in my lap....)

I'm Not Missing, by Kashelle Gourley, illustrated by Skylar Hogan (May 2022 by little bee books)

I'll start by saying how much I adore the side-eye of this book's fictional dog narrator!  He's a dog who grew tired of being a pet--the costumes he was forced to wear, the tricks he had to perform, the lack of toilet privacy, etc.  And so he snapped one day, and took off on his own, looking askance at the missing dog posters adorned with his image, scrounging for food, and finally pooping without an audience.  But then he sees his little girl loving a new dog.  Though he tries to just nonchalantly accept that she's moved on to another relationship, when he realizes she was just pet-sitting, and when he sees her weeping while looking at his missing dog picture, he gives being a pet again another chance.  Fun and adorable, and thought-provoking too with regards to relationships, with illustrations that made me grin.

Woof! The Truth about Dogs, by Annette Whipple, illustrated by Juanbjuan Oliver (June 2021 by Reycraft Books)

This non-fiction book is perfect for young dog-lovers wanting to learn more about their beloveds, but also great for kids who aren't familiar with dogs. Information about all sorts of dog topics is presented in a kid-friendly question and answer format, such as "How do dogs help people?" with lots of pictures of dogs doing their various jobs (helping, guarding, herding, and loving) as well as basic information in the text focusing on service jobs.


There are questions I'd never thought to ask, like "do dogs sweat?" (yes, from nose and paws), questions whose answers are nicely science-y, like "why are puppies born with closed eyes?" and "why do dogs smell everything?" and one that (many) kids might have wondered, and will find transgressively delightful --"why do dogs smell butts?" (which is answered with lovely matter-of-factness). I think two of the most important questions, though, are "how do dogs communicate?" and "how to meet and great a dog." Lots of good information here that might well keep enthusiastic but un-dog- smart kids from harm!

Plus there are lots of cute dog pictures, both illustrations and photographs, and instructions for a tug toy kids can make.

this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (6/26/22)

 A somewhat hasty roundup, as I am here in Washington D.C. to simultaneously visit my mother adn go to ALA!  so let me know if I missed your post.

The Reviews

Aru Sha and the Nectar of Immortality, by Roshani Chokshi, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Freddie vs the Family Curse, by Tracy Badua, at Always in the Middle 

Kiki Kallira Conquers a Curse, by Sangu Mandanna, at Valinora Troy

The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat, at Cracking the Cover

Onykeka and the Academy of the Sun, by Tọlá Okogwu, at The Bookwyrm's Den

Rise of the Jumbies, by Tracey Baptiste, at Puss Reboots

Secret of the Shadow Beasts, by Diane Magras, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Sisters of the Neversea, by Cynthia Leitich Smith, at From the Mixed Up Files

The Shelterlings, by Sarah Beth Durst, at Charlotte's Library

The Strangers, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at  Leaf's Reviews 

Authors and Interviews

Zetta Elliott (Dragons in a Bag series) at Middle Grade Ninja

Julie Abe (Alliana Girl of Dragons) at Just another teen reading books

The Shelterlings, by Sarah Beth Durst

Sarah Beth Durst is one of my favorite middle grade fantasy authors, and her new book, The Shelterlings (June 21, 2022, Clarion Books) is one of her best!  I loved it.

The Shelterlings of the title are rejected familiars, creatures that made the trek to the mountain pool that awakens magic in those who bath in it.  Wizards evaluate the magic that's sparked in each aspirant, keeping those whose new gifts are deemed useful, and dismissing the others to a home for the useless.  Holly, a squirrel, is one of the later animals.  The wizards laughed at her when she conjured pastries, and though the sting and disappointment (she longed to go on useful and exciting magical quests with a wizard partner) are still fresh in her mind, the Shelter for Rejected Familiars has become home, and it's misfit mélange of creatures, with strange and wonky powers, are her family.

Then Charlie, a rejected beaver who conjures flowers, shares his plan to redo the magic spell that gave the pool its magic, so that this time around it would give them proper gifts such as familiars should have.  He needs help from the other creatures to collect the various ingredients, and so Holly and the other animals set out on genuine quests.  Not only do their quirky magical talents turn out to be essential for the success of the various missions, but Holly starts to realize that there was nothing keeping them from venturing out any time they wanted to; quests can happen without wizards (and, it turns out, talking animals can hop on trains no questions asked to travel in search of adventure....the world is their oyster!)

After a very satisfying recounting of questing adventures and the powers deemed useless being used to great effect (I loved this part of the book especially!), things become darker.  There is betrayal, and grave danger to the Shelterlings...but then a happy ending.  

Obviously there's a message at the heart of the book, that you don't have to believe it if you are told you aren't valuable and that your gifts are worthless, and that "useless" gifts can be precious.  I also appreciated that the down side of being used by those in power, as the wizard familiars are, is presented (one of the chosen familiars quits and comes to live with the rejected).  I saw this message coming almost immediately, but that's because I'm an old and experienced reader, who loves stories in which minor magic is creatively used to save the day.  The target audience might not see the message coming.  It was all very nicely done, and I didn't find it belabored (it's also a nice message to hear, even if you aren't the target audience...self-doubt is an enemy at any age!).

Adventure, friendship/found-family, and magical fun, all described with lovely clarity meant that I read this in just about a single sitting with my mind's eye busily making it all real with no effort at all on my part!  Especially (with just tons of conviction!) recommended for the younger MG set, the 9-10 year olds.

The Magical Cupboard, by Jane Louise Curry, for Timeslip Tuesday

I was tremendously pleased when my sister came to visit me this past weekend, bringing with her a copy of The Magical Cupboard, by Jane Louise Curry (1976), which she had cleverly bought for me in a used bookstore along the way.  It's the sequel to Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Time, a classic time travel book that I enjoyed.

Rosemary, the main character of the first book, has only a walk on part here--in the present day of the book, she's anxious to find a magical cupboard that played a part in her first time slipping adventure in 18th century America (at least, I guess the cupboard did, but I don't actually remember it....).  In any event, we soon leave Rosemary to see what's happening in 18th century New England.  

The cupboard, a beautiful thing, with intricate carvings, has been stolen by a nasty preacher and his wife, who have made a living profiting from witch trials and embezzled orphans.  One of these orphans is Felicity, who crawls inside the cupboard one cold night when she's supposed to be keeping watch over the preacher's belongings as they travel west in search of new money making schemes.

Wonderfully, Felicity finds herself in a warm and comfortable room, with strange "dragons" whizzing outside...she doesn't know it, but she's in Rosemary's time.  It is all to brief a visit for my taste, but it does set up events for the cupboard to be returned in the present to the family from which it was stolen.

Much of the book involves the evil schemes of the parson and his wife, and the journey west.  Felicity is a fine orphan, making good and finding love and prosperity after much adversity.  

I enjoyed it, but wish we'd seen more time travel, and more of Rosemary!  

This week's round up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (6/19/22)

Bloglovin has been down for a bit, so it's entirely possible that I missed your post this week; let me know if that's the case!   Here's what I did find.

The Reviews

The Doomfire Secret, by Annaliese Avery, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Escape, by K.R. Alexander, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Goblin Market, by Diane Zahler, at cannonballread

The Legend of the Dream Giants, by Dustin Hansen, at Puss Reboots

Lia Park and the Missing Jewel, by Jenna Yoon, at YA Book Central

The Lost Ryū, by Emi Watanabe Cohen, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Map of Leaves, by Yarrow Townsend, at Bellis Does Books

The Monster in the Lake, by Louie Stowell, at Children's Books Heal

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, by Tolá Okogwu, at Mom Read It

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, by A.F. Steadman, at Pages Unbound and Glam Adelaide

Small! by  Hannah Moffatt, at Book Craic

The Thief Queen’s Daughter, by Elizabeth Haydon, at The Obsessive Bookseller

The Titanic Tunnel, by Glen Blackwell, at Scope for Imagination

Authors and Interviews

Sangu Mandanna (Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom) at Valinora Troy

Xiran Zhao (Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor) at Publishers Weekly (scroll down)

Diane Magras (Secret of the Shadow Beasts), at MG Book Village

C.W. Allen (The Secret Benefits of Invisibility) at Andi's Middle Grade and Chapter Books

Other Good Stuff

Here's a blogroll of MG book bloggers, compiled by Ms. Yingling. Do add yourself if you aren't there already!

and your weekly reminder to think about joining in the Cybils Awards fun this coming fall! Here's my post on why you might want to take the plunge. I'm the category organizer for the Elementary/Middle Grade speculative fiction, and I love welcoming new folks!  There are other categories too--YA spec fic, graphic novels, early chapter books, and more.   I'll be announcing when the application period opens in mid-August.

Halfway Down Paddy Lane, by Jean Marzollo, for Timeslip Tuesday

Halfway Down Paddy Lane, by Jean Marzollo (1981), is the story of 15-year-old Kate, a girl from the early 1980s, who travels back in time to 1850--same Massachusetts town, same house even, but now she's the oldest girl in a family of Irish immigrant mill workers.  Fortunately she's able to do a convincing Irish accent, and she quickly picks up the ability to work in a textile factory.  Even more quickly, she falls in love with Patrick, who is the oldest son in her new family, and the focus of Kate's thoughts shift from "how do I survive this?" (which is very interesting and well done)  to "how can I marry Patrick?"  (less interesting).

But fate has other plans for Patrick, and Kate finds her self back in the 1980s, broken hearted.

I know this is a favorite time travel story for many, and I would have loved this if I'd read it the year it was published (I was a high school freshman then).  The romance (with enough explicit details about nipples and manly bulges to push this to YA)  would have been just right for young me, and I'd have learned a lot of history (the No-Nothing Party, the Yankee prejudice against the Irish, and what life was like as a mill worker).  

As a much older reader, I appreciated the history (though it wasn't new to me) but found the romance kind of icky and not believable. What bothered me more is that Kate didn't do much with her time in the past, but just passively went with the flow of it all, too obsessed with Patrick to be a real part of her new family, and more and more convinced that she'll just stay in the past forever (she does miss her parents, but Patrick is her bright shinning sun).  Right at the end, she does decide to become involved in the struggles of the mill workers, but doesn't get a chance to do anything before going back to her own time.  

The time travel is never explained directly, but it turns out that Patrick is her great-great-grandfather, and the house Kate's mother has just bought in the present is the same one that Patrick and his family lived in.  So kinship and over-lapping in the same house converged into time travel, which is as good a reason for time travel as any, I guess....though not pushed by the author into anything truly magical.  It felt kind of pointless.  Kate didn't change anything in the past (except souring Patrick's relationship with the girl he ended up marrying), and her return to the present is so brief there's no sense of Kate having changed (she just cries about Patrick).

All in all, a bit disappointing; I felt no particular sense of numinous magic or stirring of emotion, which is what I read timeslip stories for. But at 14, my take on it may well have been very different indeed.  I might even have ended up crushing on Patrick myself....

Here's what I found this week; as always, let me know if I missed your post!

But first--As will be the case until the application period for being a Cybils Awards judge closes at the end of August, I want to encourage anybody reading this, who writes or talks about mg fantasy and sci fi somewhere on line, to consider applying to be a panelist for the upcoming Cybils Awards-here's my post on why you might want to take the plunge. I'm the category organizer for the Elementary/Middle Grade speculative fiction, and I love welcoming new folks! (seeing old friends is nice too, but new folks is even better! I'll be announcing when the application period opens in mid-August.

The Reviews

The Bookwanderers (Pages and Co.),  by Anna James, at Silver Button Books

The Callers, by Kiah Thomas, at Buzz Words Books

The Circus at the End of the Sea, by Lori R. Snyder, at Bookworm for Kids

A Dragon in the Library, by Louie Stowell, at Valinora Troy

A Flash of Fireflies, by Aisha Bushby, at Scope for Imagination

Kiki Kallira Conquers a Curse, by Sangu Mandanna, at Book Craic

The Last Cuentista, by Donna Barba Higuera, at Sonderbooks

The Last Fallen Moon, by Graci Kim, at The Bookwyrm's Den 

The Lost Girl King, by Catherine Doyle, at Scope for Imagination

Lucia’s Fantasy World, by Donan Berg, at Literary Titan

Molly and the Machine, by Erik Jon Slangerup,  at Ms. Yingling Reads

Noah’s Gold, by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, at Bellis Does Books

Nora and the Sacred Stones, by Laura Hatch Rupper, at Say What?

Nura and the Immortal Palace, by M.T. Khan, at Islamic School Librarian

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, by Tọlá Okogwu , at Sifa Elizabeth Reads 

The Patron Thief of Bread, by Lindsay Eagar, at The Children's Book Review

Pizazz, by Sophy Henn, at Say What?

The Raven Heir, by Stephanie Burgis, at Pages Unbound

The Sea of Always (Thirteen Witches #2), by Jodi Lynn Anderson, at Charlotte's Library

Secret of the Shadow Beasts, by Diane Magras, at The Story Sanctuary

Shadowghast (Eerie-on-Sea #3), by Thomas Taylor, at Puss Reboots

The Sisters of Luna Island, by Stacy Hackney, at Always in the Middle

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, by A. F. Steadman, at booktrailers4kidsandYA 

The Whisperer’s Warning (Secrets of Oscuros #2), by Danielle Y. C. McClean, at Crossroads of Imagination

Witchlings, by Claribel Ortega, at alibrarymama

Wretched Waterpark (The Sinister Summer Series #1), by Kiersten White, at Cracking the Cover and Meg's Book Rack

Zo and the Forest of Secrets, by Alake Pilgrim, at Library Girl and Book Boy

Authors and Interviews

Dhonielle Clayton (The Marvellers) at Kansas Public Radio  

Julie Abe (Alliana, Girl of Dragons) at Her Campus

Sylvia Liu (Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation) at Kidlit411

Other Good Stuff

"Netflix’s School for Good and Evil Opens Its Doors With a First Teaser" at Tor

The Sea of Always (Thirteen Witches #2), by Jodi Lynn Anderson, for Timeslip Tuesday

 

Yay me!  I have my Timeslip Tuesday book read--The Sea of Always (Thirteen Witches #2), by Jodi Lynn Anderson.   It's the second book in the series, and though it does a decent job standing alone, it  works better if you've read the first, and there's no reason why you wouldn't want to start at the beginning!  It has a totally unique time travel premise, as one of the characters points out:

"There have got to be lots of possible futures.  The time-travelling whales make that possible." (p 215). 

 Yes, here we have a time-travelling whale, who's graciously conveying our heroine, the young witch hunter Rosie, her best friend Germ, the ghost of a young boy, and another young witch hunter from the future, on an impossible quest through time and space.  The kids are desperately trying to save Rosie's twin brother, stolen at birth by the Time Witch, and, while they're at it, it would be really nice if they could foil the evil plot of the Time Witch and the other witches to destroy all that is good in the world.

Rosie's witch-hunting skills are still a work in progress, the witches are incredibly powerful, and the whale unpredictable.  And the Time Witch has set a clock ticking that will end Rosie's life if she doesn't win her brother back.  She can't directly confront the witches all at once, so she set off, with her companions, to steal their hearts, one by one, to destroy en masse when time runs out.

It's a desperate game of chance against horrible odds, but with determination and love, there's hope....

So the journey hunting witches, via the magical whale that transports them through the Sea of Always, is full of fun/disturbing time travel.  Fun because it's time travel, disturbing because the witches are really horrible.  The whale is perhaps the most entertaining part of the story though--it provides the characters with all the comforts and distractions it can, producing party decorations, snacks, music, and the like.  

The main strengths of the book are the vivid pictures it creates in the mind's eye, and in Rosie's inner journey--I really liked her character development.  In particular, it's great to see her, encouraged by her friends, embracing the weirdness of her imagination that makes her magic powerful.   

On the downside, with twelve witches to hunt down (the 13th was dispatched in the first book), there's a lot of travelling through time and place, during which the kids are primarily spectators of the past, and though I found it interesting, there may well be readers who will find it frustrating that there are no Big Happenings and Wild Excitement.  And I found the ending something of a let down--there's a bit of deus ex machina involved that saves the day, without which the kids would have been doomed, and all the hard work of heart stealing didn't, in the end, seem as worthwhile as I was assuming it would be.  

There's a third book coming, so of course not everything is resolved at the end of this one....I will look forward to it, even though it will probably not have time travelling whales!

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs and a few other places (6/5/22)

Nothing from me this week (family, work, garden, and house all consumed my energy), but plenty of other people posted!  let me know if I missed your post.

But before that, now that it is June I want to encourage anybody reading this, who writes or talks about mg fantasy and sci fi somewhere on line, to consider applying to be a panelist for the upcoming Cybils Awards-here's my post on why you might want to take the plunge.  I'm the category organizer for the Elementary/Middle Grade speculative fiction, and I love welcoming new folks!  (seeing old friends is nice too, but new folks is even better!)

The Reviews

Adam-2, by Alastair Chisholm, at Library Girl and Book Boy

The Alchemyst. by Michael Scott, at proseandkahn

Crazy in Poughkeepsie, by Daniel Pinkwater, at Rosi Hollinbeck

The Dragon and the Stone (Dreamkeeper Saga #1), by Kathryn Butler, at Shine Global Network, Reading, Writing, and Pondering, and Redeemed Reader

The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle, by Shawn K. Stout, at The Bossy Bookworm

The Insiders, by Mark Oshiro, at YA Book Central

Legendarium, by Jennifer Bell, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Lightning Girl, and Lightning Girl: Superhero Squad, by Alesha Dixon & Katy Birchall, at Mom Read It

The Map of Leaves, by Yarrow Townsend, at Book Craic

The Midnight Guardians, by Ross Montgomery, at Silver Button Books

The Mirrorwood by Deva Fagan, at Say What?

The Ogress and the Orphans, by Kelly Barnhill, at Sonderbooks

The Problem with Prophecies, by Scott Reintgen, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Raven Heir, by Stephanie Burgis, at The Children's Book Review

Rise of the Sidekicks, by Charity Tober, at Valinora Troy

Secret of the Shadow Beasts, by Diane Magras, at Log Cabin Library

Seed, by Caryl Lewis, at Book Craic

Skander and the Unicorn Thief, by A.F. Steadman, at Geo Librarian

Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit, by Jesse Q Sutanto, at Dear Author

Zo and the Forest of Secrets, by Alake Pilgrim, at Scope for Imagination

Three at Goodreads with Rona--The Ghost of Midnight Lake, by Lucy Strange, Secret of the Storm, by Beth McMullen, and The Mirrorwood, by Deva Fagan

Authors and Interviews

Sylvia Liu (Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation), at MG Book Village

Alex Foulkes (Rules for Vampires series), at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

David Solomons (A Beginner's Guide to Ruling the Galaxy) at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Emi Watanabe Cohen and her agent Mary Moore (The Lost Ryū), at Literary Rambles

Kiah Thomas (The Callers) at Booktopia

Other Good Stuff

"Beyond Harry Potter: 50 Fantasy Adventure Series Starring Mighty Girls" at A Mighty Girl

"Why Is Middle Grade Fantasy So Violent?" at Book Explorer (YouTube)

"Samoan teacher and First Nations student come together to write fantasy middle grade series" at National Indigenous Times

"The best new mythology-inspired middle grade fantasy—for kids who loved Percy Jackson" a list compiled by Gabrielle K. Byrne at Shepherd

this week's round-up of mg sci fi/fantasy reviews and more (5/29/22)

Hi all!  here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass, at Puss Reboots

Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston, at Nerdy Book Club

The Call of the Silver Wibbler (Kate on the Case #2) by Hannah Peck, at Twirling Book Princess

Da Vinci's Cat, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, at Not Acting My Age

Dragon Skin. by Karen Foxlee. at Magic Fiction Since Potter

Drifters, by Kevin Emerson, at A Library Mama

Firesong, by Vashti Hardy, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads  

Freddie vs. the Family Curse, by Tracy Badua, at Charlotte's Library

Let the Monster Out, by Chad Lucas, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Midnight Orchestra (The Mystwick School of Musicraft) by Jessica Khoury, at Sharon the Librarian

The New Enchantress (Alyssa McCarthy's Magical Missions Book 3) by Sunayna Prasad, at Andi's Middle Grade & Chapter Books

The Spitfang Lizard (Leo's Map of Monsters, #2) by Kris Humphrey, at Twirling Book Princess

Straw into Gold: Fairy Tales Re-Spun, by Hilary McKay, at Books YA Love

Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend (Winnie Zheng #1) by Katie Zhao, at Charlotte's Library

Zo and the Forest of Secrets, by Alake Pilgrim, at Just Imagine

Authors and Interviews

Juliana Brandt (Monsters in the Mist), at Geo Librarian

Lindsay Eager (The Patron Thief of Bread), at Middle Grade Ninja

Tracy Badua and Natalie Lakosil, her agent (Freddie vs the Family Curse) at Literary Rambles 

Other Good Stuff

"The Teaser for Willow, the Sequel to Willow, Goes Into the Unknown" at Tor

"Peter S. Beagle Returns to the World of The Last Unicorn With The Way Home" at Tor

Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend, by Katie Zhao

Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend (Winnie Zheng #1) by Katie Zhao is an excellent one for the young reader who loves their mythology and demon fighting mixed with tasty cooking!  

Winnie is anxious about starting middle school, and is dismayed when her nemesis, David, shows up in her class.  Nemesis is perhaps too strong a word; David is just utterly obnoxious, has beaten her in recent piano competitions, and is her arch rival at Chinese school.  Winnie's also dealing with a lot of pressure to succeed from her parents, and is sad that her big sister has pulled away from her.  She feels that she's never good enough, and it's eating at her. At least she still has her mother's tasty Chinese food (although the other kids at school don't react kindly to her lunches...).  

When Winnie finds her grandmother's old cook book and follows the recipe for mooncakes, all her other problems fade when her grandmother's spirit shows up and possesses her pet rabbit.  Her grandmother is a spirit hunter, and is about to take Winnie on as an apprentice shaman.  The first malevolent spirit that shows up is easily vanquished with the mooncakes she unwittingly made with magic baked in, but mooncakes aren't a match for more powerful demons.  And then it turns out that David is also a shaman in training too, and is (of course) more advanced than she is, and utterly obnoxious about it all.  But teaming up with him is the only way to keep her town safe.

Of course it's cool to be part of a magical organization, with legends coming to life around you.  Winnie isn't at all sure, though, that this is what she wants her life to be....

It is super fun!  The real world and the magical world balance each other beautifully, and Winnie is such a believable, relatable heroine!  (Especially the part where she questions whether "heroine" is what she really wants to be...).  I liked how the sister relationship played out--communication between the two girls improves, and helps them tighten their bond again. The food was great too--I now want to try red bean paste brownies, which I've never had (Winnie makes them for the class bake sale, and it's touch and go for a while before suspicious kids realize how tasty they are!).

A great "kid discovering she's part of a line of mythological heroes" story that's more firmly tied to the real world and  the day to day challenges of being a middle school kid than the Rick Riordan Presents line of books.  Also weaponized mooncakes ftw!

I'm looking forward to seeing what Winnie (and David) do next!

Freddie vs. the Family Curse, by Tracy Badua

Freddie vs. the Family Curse, by Tracy Badua (middle grade, May 3, 2022, Clarion Books) is a great one for readers who relish the intrusion of fantasy into the real world! Freddie, the titular hero of the story, does not relish this intrusion at all, with good reason.

It was bad enough when he just had to endure the family curse of bad luck; not for nothing is he nicknamed "faceplant Freddie." But when he finds an amulet in the garage that comes with the trapped ghost of his great-great-uncle, Ramon, things get much worse than hideous embarrassment! Ramon "borrowed" the good luck amulet from his best friend, Ingo Agustin, back when they were teenagers fighting in the Philippine army in World War II. Instead of good luck, Ramon got cursed and died, and now that Freddie has the amulet, its angry spirits have turned their attention to him. He has only a few days to get the amulet back to Ingo, and get Ingo's forgiveness for Ramon, or he too will die...

Freddie is in a dreadful pickle. His great grandmother believes him (and enjoys getting the chance to hang out with her brother again), but his parents are deeply opposed to believing any Filipino folklore, and so won't help him find Ingo and get the amulet to him. Fortunately, he has his cousin Sharkey to help; she's related on the maternal side of the family, so isn't cursed with bad luck. And also fortunately, they find that Ingo's in a nursing home near Las Vegas, where Sharkey will be headed with her break dancing team for a competition. When Freddie's luck spills over and Sharkey sprains her angle, the cousins decide that Freddie (whose original audition for the team ended badly) will take her place.

Now Freddie has to overcome his penchant for disaster and learn the dance...and get across town to Ingo with just minutes to spare....

It's a great read, blending Filipino folklore and a nicely integrated bit of history that many kids will be unfamiliar with (I don't recall any mention of the Philippines in my WW II lessons) with real world struggles, making your own luck, and the cultural balancing act of multigenerational immigrant families. It's simultaneously a moving story and a funny, cring-ish one. Freddie is a character to cheer for, and Ingo's forgiveness of what Ramon did, and Freddie's ultimate success in the dance competition, bring the story to a very satisfying close!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs, and a few other places (5/22/22)

As ever, let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Bella Santini in the Land of Everlasting Change, by Angela Legh, at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers and J.R.'s Book Reviews

Cave in the Rock (Folktellers Excerpts from an Unknown Guidebook #2), by Josef Bastian, at Say What?

Cuckoo Song, by Frances Hardinge, at Pages Unbound

Dread Wood, by Jennifer Killick, at Bellis Does Books

Drifters, by Kevin Emerson, at Teachers Who Read

Furthermoor, by Darren Simpson, at fanna for books

The Grave Thief, by Dee Hahn, at Say What?

Hedgewitch, by Skye McKenna, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

The House with Chicken Legs, by Sophie Anderson, at Kiss the Book

The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat, at Redeemed Reader and Fuse #8

Lia Park and the Missing Jewel, by Jenna Yoon, at Cracking the Cover

Let the Monster Out, by Chad Lucas at Teen Librarian Toolbox

The Marvellers, by Dhonielle Clayton, at The Washington Post

The Nightsilver Promise, by Annaliese Avery, at Page Unbound

The Patron Thief of Bread, by Linday Eager, at Cracking the Cover and Charlotte's Library

The Pennymores & the Curse of the Invisible Quill, by Eric Koester, at The Book Review Crew

Rebel Skies, by Ann Sei Lin, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

The Serpent Slayer and the Scroll of Riddles, by Champ Thornton and Andrew Naselli, at Redeemed Reader

The Shadow Prince (Shadow Prince #1), by David Anthony, at Say What?

The Shattered Castle, by Jennifer A. Nielsen, at Of Maria Antonia

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, by Annabel Steadman, at Bellis Does Books and Crafty Moms Share

The Unfinished Corner, by Dani Colman, at Bookishly Jewish

A Wilder Magic, by Juliana Brandt, at Valinora Troy

Wildseed Witch (Wildseed Witch #1), by Marti Dumas, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Two by Vashti Hardy--The Griffin Gate and The Puffin Portal, at  Sifa Elizabeth Reads 

Authors and Interviews

Dhonielle Clayton (The Marvellers) at Locus

Xiran Jay Zhao (Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor), at From the Mixed Up Files and Middle Grade Ninja

Sunayna Prasad (The New Enchantress) at Lisa Haselton

Donna Galanti (Unicorn Island: Secret Beneath the Sand), at Literary Rambles

Other Good Stuff

"Five Life Lessons From Ella Enchanted on the Novel’s 25th Anniversary," at Tor

A nice roundup of dragon books at Mama Bookworm

The Patron Thief of Bread, by Lindsay Eager

The Patron Thief of Bread, by Lindsay Eager (May 17th 2022, Candlewick) is a heart-warming and heart-wrenching story of a orphan girl's journey towards a safe place in the world.

Atop the unfinished cathedral of the town of Odierne sit its gargoyles, themselves unfinished.  All but one spend the days gossiping about what they see below; the outlier stares out like the others, but has no patience for ideal chatter.  He is full of frustration; gargoyles are supposed to protect, but he is a lump of stone who was unable to save a woman who jumped from his perch long ago to escape arrest.  She and the baby she carried were swept away, leaving the gargoyle to bitter musings.

The baby was fished from the river by a gang of kid thieves, lead by a fiercely intelligent and fiercely lawless boy named Gnat. Little Duck, as they called her, is the youngest of the group, and it's not till the gang's roamings bring them to Odierne, making the cathedral ruins their home, that she's trusted to take on a direct heist on her own.  She must pass a false coin at the baker's, and if she fails to bring back bread, she's sure she'll be cast out.  

And she is successful, winning a more secure place in her young family of thieves.  But then Gnat comes up with his most cunning plan yet--if Duck is apprenticed to the baker, she'll be in a lovely position to syphon off bread and coin to her family....But when Duck is welcomed by the baker, Griselde, and given a room of her own, and given trust as well, she starts down of a path of divided loyalties that almost breaks her.  Over the next year, the pulling on her heart intensifies, and at last she is forced to chose who she will betray...the family of kids who raised her, or the woman who is willing to give her love and safety and a living doing what she loves.  All the while the gargoyle watches, and finally is able to fulfil his destiny as a protector.

I loved all the details of being apprenticed to a baker (I am a big fan of books in which there is lots of making and crafting), and such a lovely baker too! Griselde is really the one of the best mother figures in any middle grade book I've read for ages, and I really liked that she needs Duck in her life to love just as much as Duck needs her. But the overall situation was so tense and discomfiting this was not at all a comfort read...the tension is strung out from beginning to end, tightening to a breaking point where I had to start skimming a bit (reading the end didn't help, because I knew, it being middle grade, things would almost certainly work out, but the process of things working out was very stressful for me the reader!)

It's not action-packed, but more character driven, so don't go into it expecting lots of middle grade fantasy high jinx! It is fantasy, in as much as it's an alternate world, with the sentient gargoyle providing a depressed gargoyle's point of view (in alternate perspectives with Duck's story), but it's not full of magic. Just found family and bread, and worry....lots of love, and, indeed, the happy ending I was hoping for (although it comes with some interesting twists, and a high cost).

Short answer--one I can easily imaging wanting to re-read in a year or so, and I'll enjoy it even more the second time around (this is why I like re-reading....)

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.