How to be a Genius: Your Brain and How to Train it, for Nonfiction Monday

There are some books that you know instantly will make marvelous presents for a curious child (no genius required). How to be a Genius: Your Brain and How to Train It, by John Woodward, illustrated by Serge Seidlitz and Andy Smith (DK, 2009) is such a book.

I'm imagining giving it to my children at the start of Christmas vacation at Grandma's house, imagining many happy hours poring together as a family over the information bits, challenging each other to the mind puzzle bits--mazes, memory challenges, logic problems--it will be a beautiful thing.

And this is a beautiful, wonder-filled book. There are the plenty of challenges for the reader (some of which I have excelled at, others not so much, although already being, of course, a genius, I am not worried about those). But there's also tons of information of the sort that fascinates the non-fiction loving child (or genius grown-up). There's a two page spread, for instance, on Mary Anning, the girl who found the ichthyosaur fossil. There's another on Leonardo da Vinci. I could go on and on.

There's also a lot of attention payed to how the brain works, like the section entitled "What is Creativity?" that talks about luck, building on what's already buzzing in your brain, imagination, brain waves, incubation, and, hardest of all, follow through.

Here's a little snippet on how we read, which explains why some of us can't proof read our own blog entries:

As lnog as you wrtie the frsit and lsat lttres of a wrod, you can sitll raed it (pgae 121)

The engaging illustrations add lots of lively, humorous, and informative detail. A lovely, fun book to share with your 8-9 year old child, even though he might think he is a genius already....and a great one for older kids (and grown ups) to read on their own.

Nonfiction Monday, a regular feature of the children's book blogosphere, is at Wrapped in Foil today!

Full disclosure: review copy received from the publisher.

readathoning -- final update!

Well, it's now 8:56, almost an hour since the readathon ended. I started The Forever Formula, by Frank Bonham, and read 54 more pages in the last hour (25 minute of reading). Only 1160 pages read, far short of my goal...I only managed to read 5 hours and 35 minutes altogether.

Here are my answers to the final meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? not really applicable, because of having to spend so much of the 24 hours being a mother...

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Gosh, we are all so different-- but I think short and snappy definitely works best in general.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? It was pretty good as it was!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The encouragement from all the organizers and cheerleaders was great!

5. How many books did you read? Only three and a bit... sigh...

6. What were the names of the books you read? The Dragons of Ordinary Farm, The Lightning Thief, The Museum of Mary Child, and part of The Forever Formula.

7. Which book did you enjoy most? Mary Child.
8. Which did you enjoy least? The Dragons of Ordinary Farm.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? na

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'd be happy to be a reader again, preferably with my husband at home!

Thank you all so much, Readathon Team! It was great fun!

Part 6: Slept until six, which was not the plan :( Finished The Museum of Mary Child, which turned out to be a book that drew me in utterly, the sort that makes you forget you are reading. 329pp/45 more minutes.

Part 5: Read for about another hour, half way through The Museum of Mary Child. It is not quite like any book I can think of. But although I am enjoying it very much, I am calling it quits for the night...I'll be back around 5 tomorrow morning!

Part 4: Half way through-8:11 pm. Read about an hour and half more-hard to tell how much, exactly, because it was so fractured. Finished The Lightning Thief (375 pp)--it was a very good challenge book, gripping without being dense.

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now? About to start either Toby Alone, or The Museum of Mary Child

2. How many books have you read so far? 2. Sigh.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Probably The Museum of Mary Child.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? It wasn't possible, what with my husband being away for the weekend.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Every time one of my boys asked for my attention, I gave it to them in a self-sacrificing, utterly patient and loving way. "Of course I will get more milk for you, my little angel," I said, "I know you will be happy to get it for yourself once you grow that last crucial bit of biceps muscle required for safe pouring from a gallon jug, but in the meantime, I don't mind in the least little bit putting down my book so that you feel Loved." Or something like that.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I am really enjoying all the mini challenges and efforts to encourage participants. More so, in fact, than the reading, because, after all, I do as much reading as I can almost every day....

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? no

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? try to not have a Halloween party to take the children to, but, if I do, to make the horned helmet the day before.

9. Are you getting tired yet? Sadly, I haven't had a chance to read enough yet today to become tired of it...

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Nope, sorry!

Part 3: 1:20pm. Only managed to read half an hour more (100 pages of The Lightning Thief). Am unable to concentrate. The sword-fighting down below is getting louder. The horns are not affixing themselves well to the helmet. In fifteen minutes we go to a Halloween party, with or without horns. Possibly without swords too. But I am taking my book.

Part 2: Three hours into the challenge, I have read for 2 hours and five minutes, and finished my first book, 412pp worth. And I just took part in the second mini-challenge, putting myself on the map! What fun!


Part 1:

My first reading hour of Dewey's 24 hour readathon is done--174 pages of The Dragons of Ordinary Farm. I started at 8 am, as per instructions, but lost twenty minutes to feeding and watering the children....

Here's my first mini challenge, in which I answer Questions:

3 facts about me: I am a poor planner, and am going to have to go to the grocery store today; I have a paper mache berserker helmet drying on my wood stove, and I have two chickens who also need to be feed and watered some time this morning....

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? I have about thirty books in my pile, but I'm not committing to any of them--instead, I'm treating it like an all you can read buffet.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? I'd say about 4000 pages would do me....and I'll try to comment on a fair number of blogs....hour wise, I can't commit to anything.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon--I'm in! (also wolf skins, library books, and Miss Suzy had a baby)

It's supposed to be a rainy day here in Rhode Island tomorrow, which means the pressing things that need to get done outside won't get done....so, since I'll probably be inside reading anyway, I decided to jump on board Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon! (I'm number 344--yoikes!)

I won't be reading for the full 24 hours--my husband is off teaching at a gathering of Irish pipers in the Catskills (I got to go to Kidlitcon last week, so it evens out), which means I will have my Darling Boys with me all day. And we have a Halloween party to go to, which means that I have to make a Berserker costume tonight, and sadly, we have no wolf skins kicking around the house...any one in Rhode Island have any spare pelts I can borrow?

Anyway. I sure have lots of books to read...and they are mostly library books that have multiple holds on them, so I feel guilty as heck about keeping them piled up here. My goal is to read at least five books tomorrow. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, as they say at my children's school. (We never said the lemon part when I was young, although I was at a British school in Portugal at their age, so what do I know. Veering further off topic, I find it interesting that in the Bahamas, where we lived next, "Miss Suzy" was popular, and almost identical to the US version).

Planet Narnia (a link to a review) and a slew of links for the fairy tale lover

Planet Narnia, by Michael Ward, sounds incredible (in, perhaps, all senses of the word). Anyone who is at all interested in the hidden depths of the Narnia books (or hidden depths of books in general)-- read this review at the Times Online, and see if you don't agree.

Thanks to Jenny Davidson, whose blog, Light Reading, is a constant source of linkish divertissement.

And from Monica at Educating Alice, I learned that the Guardian has been doing a whole series on fairy tales....she has all the links at her place.

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman (Harper Collins, 2009, 117 pages) is a gem of a book. It is smaller than average, and instead of a bright dust jacket, it is a plain dark blue, except for the color plate on the cover. It looks special--old and magical, yet friendly. The black and white illustrations, by Brett Helquist, add to the feeling that this might be a book from long ago, but are considerably less scary than the bulk of the fairy tale illustrations I can remember from the old books of my childhood. In short, this is the sort of book that makes you want to pick it up.

Odd and the Frost Giants had not been inside our house for more than a few minutes before my older boy had it in his hands. I didn't let him read it to himself, though-I wanted to read it to him. And for the next few nights, we were enchanted by the story.

In Norway, long ago, a boy named Odd leaves home very early one cold winter morning, when it was supposed to be spring, but wasn't. After his father had died while off being a Viking, a tree had crushed his leg, and his mother had married a man who did not want him. With nothing left to keep him in his village, he sets off to live alone, as best he can, in his father's old woodcutting hut.

There in the snowy woods he meets three animals--a fox, a bear, and an eagle--and learns that they are Norse gods, transformed by the curse of a Frost Giant. The giant has claimed Asgard, the realm of the gods, as his own, and, unless he is driven out, winter will last forever.

The gods (Loki, Thor, and Odin), trapped in their animal forms, think it's all pretty hopeless, but they have nothing to loose, and Odd doesn't either. So when Odd suggests that a visit to Asgard might be in order, off they go, with Odd riding on the bear's back, to find the rainbow bridge that leads away from Midgard, the middle earth where humans live.

And then Odd must face the Frost Giant. He can't outfight the giant, he can't think of a way to trick him, and he doesn't have any special magical powers or talismans. All he has is a carving his father had begun before he died, and his wits...

I am very fond of Odd. He is smart without being smart-aleky, unhappy without ever whining, brave partly because taking action beats doing nothing, and partly because of his delighted self-awareness that he is living a story:

"As the bear sped up, the cold went through Odd's clothes and chilled him to the bone.

The fox dashed ahead of them, the eagle flew above them and Odd thought, crazily, happily, I'm just like one of the brave lords in my mother's ballads. Only without the horse, the dog and the falcon." (page 21)

The gods don't come off as well as Odd does. This should not be a surprise to anyone familiar with Norse mythology, and the bickering back-talk between Thor and Loki is delightfully spot-on (Odin, the rather grumpy and aloof eagle, has much less to say).

My nine year-old loved this book. He knows his Norse mythology pretty well, however, and I wonder how much that contributed to his reaction, in as much as he was able to greet Thor and Loki as old friends. I am pretty sure, however, that Gaiman has created a solid enough enchantment to sustain even young readers meeting these gods for the first time. He doesn't try to fit "An Introduction to the Gods of the Vikings" into his story, but instead trusts his readers to find their own way in, with a minimal amount of overt explanation. As events unfold, some things are made clear, but other stories and mysteries and magics are only hinted at.

In short, this is a lovely book to buy a child, for winter time reading together under the covers or in front of a fire. It is a lovely book to have on one's shelf. It is a lovely book for those who delight in Norse Mythology. It's hard to predict if this will please "Gaiman fans," because his books are all so different from each other, but those who loved The Graveyard Book will, I think, like this one.

And now I am trying to decide in my own mind if Odd, from this book, and Bod, from The Graveyard Book, are pretty much the same boy in different circumstances....they both provoke a similar maternal response in me.

The end note of Odd and the Frost Giants implies that there may be more stories about Odd--I do so hope that is the case. The book was written for World Book Day in the UK--the cover for that edition (which kids could buy for just one pound) is at right.

Here are some other reviews, at Things Mean a Lot, Chasing Ray, and Shelf Elf, and, by way of interesting contrast, reviews by adults for adults at SF Signal and Graeme's Fantasy Book Review.

Odd has been nominated for the Cybils Awards in middle grade science fiction and fantasy, for which I am on the short list committee; the opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Airman, by Eoin Colfer, is being made into a movie

Last year I was one of a panel of bloggers who shortlisted Airman, by Eoin Colfer, for the Cybil's Shortlist in YA Sci Fi/Fantasy. And so even though I don't pay much attention to movie adaptations, this article at Fantasy Book Review caught my eye.

It's really easy to picture this book as a movie, what with the ballooning, the mines, the prison inmates, and the escape from prison all so vividly brought to life by the words....I might even go see it.

The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggott, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggott (Harper Collins, 2009, middle grade, 322 pp) is much more than a time slip story. But because the element of time travel is central to the resolution of the plot, I am happy to feature it as today's Time Slip Tuesday book.

It is 2004, and the Red Sox are cursed. Ever since they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees back in 1919, nothing has worked for them.

A 12 year old Red Sox fan named Oscar is pretty sure he is cursed too. Neither of his parents, who adopted him as a baby and who were since divorced, seems to want him anymore, and he can't help but wonder if it is because he isn't white.

When his mom takes off to Baltimore, leaving him with his father (a surprise to both of them), Oscar learns that there are reasons, good ones, why he never spent the night with him before. Turns out, his father lives under Fenway Park (home of the Red Sox), with a strange assortment of Cursed Creatures. These include his three fairy great-aunts, the Weasel Man, Smoker the organ player, and most mysteriously scary of all, the Pooka....

Now that Oscar has joined the Cursed Creatures, there's only one way out for all of them. Somehow, Oscar must break the Curse, unraveling its mystery one clue at a time. But meanwhile, some of the denizens of the under-park are dead set against any tampering with the Curse, and will do just about anything to stop Oscar and his supporters.

The best way to break a baseball curse is through a game of baseball. Oscar must use the magic of Fenway Park to travel back in time, so that he can field a team of baseball greats--not necessarily the greatest athletes, but the ones who had been wronged--"the players with some sorrow to heal, some sorrow that burrowed down into the dirt of Fenway Park." (page 256)

Oscar goes back to when each of these players was just a kid like himself, and invites them back to play the first great game of their lives. These encounters back in past are moving and poignant glimpses into the lives of the boys who would go on to change baseball--like Jackie Robinson, whose mother is trying to support her five kids, Ted Williams, whose mother is too busy helping "the poor" to look after her family, Pumpsie Green, too tired from his day of hard labor to sleep....and Babe Ruth himself, a young orphan working long hours in a tailor's shop.

Facing these kids--the orphaned, the poor, the dark skinned, the immigrants-- are a team of players who embody the worst of the sport, those who will do anything to win. And back in the present, the curse is still in force. The Red Sox have lost the first three games of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees.

The Prince of Fenway Park is two books in one. It's a fantastical quest story, with a lavishly imagined and very engaging alternate world. But it's also the story of the racial injustices that taint the history of baseball, and if sometimes Baggett presents this history in largish chunks, a tad removed from the fantasy story line, that's just fine with me, because it is so darn moving, and powerful, and so important.

I feel like I should confess, however, that there was one part of the book I didn't read all that closely--the play-by-play of the Final Game. I'm not, actually, a baseball fan...

But for the kid who is, who might be a reluctant-ish reader, I bet the entire book would be utterly enthralling. It would be absolutely perfect of the 10 or 11 year-old Red Sox fan who loves Harry Potter. Yankees fans, not so much.

Note: There has recently been some controversy about this book (as described in Baggott's September editorial in the Boston Globe). To quote from the author's note:

"Although The Prince of Fenway Park is a work of fiction, it relies on and intersects with history. The word nigger appears in this novel three times--on pages 177, 257, and 299. In each of these cases, I was relying on facts and real quotes.

"I believe that the word nigger is the most hateful word in the English language. Although it is morally wrong to use this word, censoring it would be an attempt to sanitize the past. I refuse to do so--for the sake of children or any readers, for that matter. When we try to alter history, we cannot truly understand and learn from our mistakes, and we are guilty of diminishing the truly great acts of heroism in the battle against racism."

The Prince of Fenway Park has been nominated for the Cybils, in the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy category.

The Unfinished Angel, by Sharon Creech

The Unfinished Angel, by Sharon Creech (Harper Collins, 2009, 164pp)

High in the Swiss Alps, in an old stone tower, lives an angel. At least, a being who is pretty sure she or he is, in fact, angelic. But this being feels confused, and unfinished--without an instruction manual, or other angels to give advice, it's pretty hard to be sure what exactly an angel is, or what an angel is supposed to do.

"Me, I am an angel. I am supposed to be having all the words in all the languages, but I am not. Many are missing. I am also not having a special assignment. I think I did not get all the training." (page 2)

The arrival of Zola, an American girl, which strong expectations about angels, changes things. Zola's father has come to set up a school, one that will bring children from around the world together in peace. Zola's goals are more immediate--to get the angel to do something about the orphaned children scavenging a living in hiding outside the village.

And so the angel tells its story in short chapters, as Zola's convictions compel it to act more directly in the world, and all becomes well in the little Italian village. Which sounds a bit cliched, but is, in fact, what happens.

This is the sort of children's book that I think adults who don't normally like children's books will love, and will give to their grandchildren. There may be many adult readers who will consider this a beautiful book, one that nicely expresses the rewards of right action (although it does not underline morals with a heavy hand, and although it is about an angel, it is not a directly religious book).

Many adult readers who are less high-minded, but who like stories with orphans (like me) might enjoy the 'saving the orphans" plot very much, as I did.

Other adults, and perhaps a large number of the putative grandchildren referred to above, may not like the book. They may well have trouble with the angel's voice, one that inexplicably mangles simple English (although there are jarring bits of grammatical correctness). They may well not have much patience with the angel's occasionally peevish introspection, and somewhat confusing abilities.

On the other hand, they may well cheer Zola on as she briskly encourages the angel to do more.
They might find the angel's idiosyncratic, wacky use of English delightful. And for a certain type of kid, the angel's circumstances might strike a chord. After all, middle school doesn't come with an instruction manual either, and goodness knows, the right words and the right actions are something that takes practicing.

I'd be real curious to know if any children, perhaps the sub-set of intuitive, patient children, fall for this book. I am not even sure if my uncynical child-self would have loved it, or if I would have disliked it very much. I think I might have loved it, what with the medievally set up of an angel in a stone tower (such as the random example shown at right), and my own self-identity as a Good Child. But it is hard, as an adult, to be sure (even though I am still a big fan of stone towers and good deeds) I would have liked it, and I am actually finding it rather hard to figure out my Final Opinion of it even now...

Here are other reviews, at Tweens Read, and 3T News and Reviews.

The Unfinished Angel has been nominated for the Cybils in middle grade science fiction and fantasy.

The Federal Trade Commission and Book Bloggers--update from Kidlitcon 09

Kidlitcon 09 was absolutely wonderful--it was so great to meet so many wonderful fellow bloggers! It is so cool to have three-dimensional people in my mental map of the bloggosphere, as opposed to two-dimensional names. Pam (of Mother Reader) did a superb job organizing everything--thanks so much, Pam!

One of the most important things that happened was that a representative of the Federal Trade Commission came to speak to us. Here's the gist:

Book bloggers who don't get paid by publishers to act as shills for their books are independent reviewers, regardless of how many books they might get from publishers. Therefore, there is no material connection between us general book-receiving bloggers and the publishers, that our readers need to be made aware of. Therefore, we are not required by any law or regulation to disclose where we get the books we review (although I still think it is a good idea).

The FTC is still, however, a tad uncertain about Amazon and other book store links--still figuring out whether the consumer who clicks through our links can reasonably expect us to get a small commission, or whether this should be disclosed on every post where such links occur. The FTC representative seemed to think this might, in fact, be a reasonable expectation, in which case such links would not require disclosure, but this hasn't been decided yet.

In any case, the FTC would focus their attention on Amazon or the other book stores about this and not the bloggers.

The guidelines that the FTC just issued about disclosing material connections do not have the force of law. Therefore, all the talk about the $11,000 fine is irrelevant.

So all is well, as far as book blogging and the FTC are concerned.

Here's what other bloggers heard the FTC say: A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, at GalleySmith, and WriterJenn.

We have met the bloggers, and they are us (as Pogo might have said, if he had been at Kidlitcon 09)

I did, in fact, get lost in the rain in Crystal City, as predicted, but when I got to the hotel lobby, I was quickly able to spot another blogger (Sarah, of Archimedes Forgets), so I never had to find a corner to read in.

More bloggers trickled in, until there were about 15 of us, standing in a loose circle...It was rather gratifying to see people's eyes spark with recognition when I said who I was, and it was very nice indeed to see in real life the folks whose blogs I know and love, and to meet new bloggers as well.

And then we trooped through the rain to our dinner venue, and more and more people arrived, and all was warmth and laughter etc etc. I had a lovely time sitting between Melissa of Book Nut and Tricia of The Miss Rumphius Effect. So today, preparing to set out once again, I feel nothing but happy anticipation...I will not get lost today, and I will remember my umbrella.

But I will take a book (Nine Pound Hammer today. It's not as heavy a book as its name might suggest). Being an introvert of the highest order, I dunno if I can make it till ten tonight without finding that little corner....

In just one hour...

...I will be meeting my first bloggers (except for Anamaria at Books Together, who I already got to practice on). Actually, in just one hour I will probably be lost in Crystal City (nice fantasy ring to it) and then I will find the hotel and there will be no one there and I will feel vaguely despairing but at least I will have a book with me (currently reading Darkwood, by M.E. Breen, and what has struck me most powerfully so far is my name appearing in the thank yous, but it isn't me, just someone using my name). So if anyone sees someone in the corner reading Darkwood, that would be me, and please say hi.

If you too would like to come to Kidlitcon 09, and met lots of people, and get to hear a representative from the Federal Trade Commission explain the new regulations for bloggers, please show up tomorrow in Arlington, VA! Here's Mother Reader's latest promotional post.

The Last Dragon (Dragon Speaker Book 1), by Cheryl Rainfield

The Last Dragon, by Cheryl Rainfield (H.I.P. Books, 2009, 111 pages) is exactly the sort of book that makes me happiest. You see, I have a nine-year old who enjoys reading, but is a picky reader, one who won't read anything that he finds at all intimidating. No Harry Potter for him, yet.

So when The Last Dragon arrived at our home, and he pounced on it, and sat and read it cover to cover, emerging at the end to enthuse about it, I was very, very pleased indeed.

It's a simple story, about 16-year old boy growing up in a medieval village in a land oppressed by an evil lord and an even more evil magician. But Jacob has a gift that could overthrow the tyrants--he is the Dragon Speaker, foretold by a prophecy. He's an unlikely hero, scrawny and lame from an old injury, but with the help of his friends Orson and Lia, he must set out to rescue the egg of the last dragon, before all hope for his country is lost....

This book, and volumes 2 and 3 of the series, are specifically written to be high interest, low vocabulary, and are marketed for older readers who need encouragement, rather than nine-year olds like my son. There is nothing here, however, that is unsuitably YA for a child my son's age--there's a bit of scary stuff, but nothing nightmarish. And consequently, I'm don't think this would hold the interest of anyone, say, over 14. So I'm putting a middle-grade label on this one. The publisher, strangely enough :) , agrees with me: Reading level: 3.2 (I dunno what that means) Interest level: grades 5-10.

Because I do know for certain sure that if you have a fourth grade boy who likes fantasy, and who needs encouragement to finish a book cover to cover, this one is a winner. Rainfield's crisp sentences and nicely (in the old fashioned sense of the word) honed story are spot on. And although the plot might seem not so fresh to a reader who has read thousands of fantasies, for a child like my son this is still new and magical territory.

Books 2 and 3 of the series are out now as well, but written by other authors. You can read more about the series at the Dragon Speaker website.(Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author)

In which I give up my rash quest to find the Undiscovered Gem of middle grade fantasy and nominate a book I love

The past 24 hours I have been (rather foolishly, I now know) trying to discover an Un-nominated Middle Grade Fantasy/Sci Fi Gem of Unsurpassable Child Appeal to nominate for the Cybils. Although I ended up reading some pretty good books, there was nothing that I simply had to nominate (except for Ghost Town, by Richard Jennings, which I ended up nominating in Middle Grade, because the fantasy-ish elements in that don't drive the plot particularly, and don't necessarily happen, in a happening in reality sense. I hope they like it over there in MG. I think it is one of the best books I've read all year).

But back to me, and my own category of mg sff. In the end, I decided just to nominate a book that I love--The Serial Garden, a collection of stories by Joan Aiken. So there it is.

There are, however, still a few hours during which Other Gems can be nominated.

And now that I've gotten that settled, and have found Inner Peace, I shall pack for the kidlitosphere conference in DC!!!! Actually, I have packed my books already (oh my gosh I am so looking forward to travelling without my children and actually being able to read on the airplane....). I am also looking forward, in a shy and cautiously optimistic way, to meeting my fellow bloggers....

Exciting Bartimaeus news, and more about the Cybils

Over at Fantasy Book Review (a UK site) I was pleased as punch to see that Jonathan Stroud is writing a prequel to the Bartimaeus trilogy--"The new and fourth Bartimaeus book will follow Bartimaeus’s adventures during his 5,000 year career as a djinni." For those of us for whom Bartimaeus made the series, this is wonderful news. Ptolemy's Gate, the third book in the trilogy, won the Cybils Sci Fi/Fantasy award in 2006.

Which leads nicely into this years Cybils--nominations close tomorrow! I have still not committed myself to a nomination in my own category--science fiction and fantasy. Indeed, I am still hoping to find the perfect book that hasn't been nominated yet, one that I can really stand behind. So tonight and tomorrow (unless someone nominates them before I get to them) I am reading:

The Unfinished Angel, by Sharon Creech (now read)
The Oracle of Delphi Keep, by Victoria Laurie (halfway done)
Ghost Town, by Richard W. Jennings (now read)
and Dormia, by Jake Halper and Peter Kujawinski (now read)

Poor Dormia got stuck with a cover I, at least, find utterly dreary. I know someone must have put a lot of love and effort into it, but the end result is just, well, un-exciting. But I am enjoying it...

Viola in Reel Life, by Adriana Trigiani

I am a fan of girls' boarding school stories. I love the girl community aspect of them--the enforced social bonds of the setting, in which the individual personalities of the girls play out. And so Viola in Reel Life, by Adriana Trigiani (HarperCollins, 2009, YA, 282pp), was right up my alley.

Fourteen-year old Viola had no interested in being plonked in a girls' boarding school in South Bend, Indiana while her parents went off to shoot a documentary in Afghanistan. She was quite happy as a city girl in Brooklyn. But now she's sharing a room with three other girls, and has to decide if she wants to be defiantly lonely, filming life obsessively without living it to the fullest, or part of the group. Fortunately for Viola, she picks the latter, and her three room-mates, all very different, become her friends. And when Viola enters a documentary competition, each offers her strengths to the project, making it the best movie Viola's ever made.

In the meantime, there's the cute boy at the nearby boy's boarding school to distract her. But back in New York, her old best friend, Andrew, seems to be changing....

And who is the woman in red, who appears mysteriously in Viola's videos? Are the grounds of the school haunted? (This turns out to be a rather slight sub-plot, adding a bit of mystery and metaphorical point without pushing the story into fantasy).

A very pleasant, diverting read--strong on girl friendship, and with the added interest of documentary film making. It's all a little too good to be true (in fact, I kept misreading the name of the boarding school, the Prefect Academy, as the Perfect Academy). But a very nice younger YA to read when one is tired of Heavy, Issue-filled books. Viola is an engaging heroine, backed up by a fine supporting cast.

(disclaimer: copy received from the publisher)

Reviews that made me want the Middle Grade Science Fiction Fantasy book to end up on the Cybils list Part 2

I want to start by apologizing for the clunky post title. It's supposed to be a riff on "reviews that made me want the book" which is a feature Jen does, but since my reading of them this fall is contingent on these books being nominated for the Cybils award (since I'm a panelist in mg sf/f) I tried to get all that into the title.

But anyway. I meant well.

So. Here are more reviews of middle grade science fiction/fantasy books that have made me want to read them (and in order for that to happen anytime soon, first they must be nominated by the end of October 15 (which you can do at the Cybils site, here)

The Midnight Charter. Back in August, Shiela Ruth, our very own Category Organizer, and the technology genius behind the Cybils, said "The Midnight Charter is one of the most original and creative books I've read in a long time. David Whitley has done an amazing job of world-building." And I said, "I'll add it to my list." And there it has stayed.... (now nominated, although the consensus is that it's YA)

Candle Man (The Society of Unrelenting Vigilence Book ) Bookworming in the 21st Century says "Full of thrilling adventures, Candle Man pulls you into the story and makes you crave more." It sounds awfully fun.

Last year I enjoyed Gods of Manhattan; this year, its sequel, Spirits in the Park, is eligible. Kiss the Book says: "The Trap around Central Park that is holding the spirits within is becoming more violent in its attempts to loosen. Rory must combine efforts with the Rattle Watch and trust his little sister, too, if he not only wants to lower The Trap safely, but also wants to ensure that the Park spirits and the City Spirits don’t kill each other on sight. The cast of spirit characters gets larger and the plot gets more complicated in this sequel. The danger and adventure are even greater..."

And speaking of sequels, there's the new Skulduggery Pleasant book--The Faceless Ones. Jennifer over at the Jean Little Library says: "There's betrayal at every corner and Skulduggery's trademark humor has a dark flavor. Valkyrie continues to ignore the grim hints and expostulations of Skulduggery's friends and refuse to return to her ordinary life, even when she knows she may not survive. Heart-stopping action peppered with grim humor lead up to a startling conclusion that's not altogether unexpected." (now nominated)

Continuing to speak of sequels, there's The Silver Door, which my co-panelist Eva recommended highly.

Then there's The Dark Planet, the third of the Atherton books, which I read about at Books for Sale? -- “Atherton - The Dark Planet” is truly amazing. Once again, Patrick Carman has created a rich world full of details that make it stand solid. The innovative thinking behind the Atherton series makes it unique when compared with many other science fiction and dystopian series."

I saw the description of The Feathered Cloak in a recent new releases post I did, and went looking for reviews. I found this one, at Jane On Books, that made me want to read it rather badly--"This is a lovely fantasy book that incorporates a somewhat old-fashioned style of writing with a mastery of the elements of great fantasy." Viking fantasy! Yes!

and please take a look at Part 1, the post below this one, for more books that sound excellent!

Reviews that made me want the middle grade sci fi/fantasy book to be nominated

I'm on the first-round panel for middle grade science fiction and fantasy for the Cybils, and so I'm keeping a very interested eye on what's been nominated. I thought today I'd share a list of reviews that made me want particular books to be nominated, because they look so darn good and I don't really have time to read anything that's not on the list.

So. Here is Part 1 of My List of Books that Haven't Been Nominated Yet that I Want to Read:

Be A Genie in Six Easy Steps, at Never Jam Today: "Be a Genie in Six Easy Steps is truly to Nesbit what Snyder's Any Which Wall is to Edward Eager: a lively continuation of a great author's legacy. One of my favorite books of 2009." Sold. I am so sold. I had no idea I wanted to read this book so badly.

The Undrowned Child, at Bookwitch "...for anyone who might feel the need for something Harry Potterish after HP himself; look no further. And if you’re not, I still recommend reading this mermaid war drama set in Venice." And then she adds "...don’t be put off by the mermaids. Anything less mermaidish I’ve not come across. It’s not cute; it’s exciting and different."

Back in July, Doret at TheHappyNappyBookseller wrote about The Poisons of Caux, and I left a comment saying I'd look for it, but I never did. I still want it, though. (EDITED: it's now been nominated).

The Unfinished Angel, at 3T News and Reviews.

City of Fire, reviewed at Good Books for Kids: Yep "...sets his story in an alternate universe where an alternate earth enjoys magic and magical creatures; and where certain historic events, such as World War II, never happened. [Hawaii remains an independent country!]"

I've never read The Runaway Princess, by Kate Coombs, but it's on my list, along with its sequel, The Runaway Dragon (eligible this year), mainly because of this interview with Kate at The Enchanted Inkpot. (EDITED: now nominated)

And finally, here's a book that I requested from the library ages ago mainly because of its title, The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker. Looking for reviews, I see it hasn't gotten much attention yet...here's a brief review, from someone who didn't know she was getting a children's books, at Disorganized, as Usual. (EDITED: it's now been nominated)

The nomination deadline for the Cybils is 11:59 pm, Pacific Time, October 15.

The intersection of fiction and anthropology--an interview with Laura Resau in celebration of The Indigo Notebook

Laura Resau is one of my favorite authors. I am very fond of What the Moon Saw, and love Red Glass, which I helped shortlist for the Cybils Awards two years ago. And I have just gone over to the Cybils to nominate her newest YA book, The Indigo Notebook, for this year's awards (with its October 13th release date, it just slips in under the wire). Here's why I picked it:

There is 15 year-old Zeeta, thoughtful and interesting, whose life is beautifully and believably entwined with a wide variety of fascinating secondary characters.

There's Resau's ability to write about places that are foreign and make them another normal, as opposed to an exotic other. In this case, it's the Ecuadoran Andes.

And finally, there's her writing, which is full of color and imagery, and which isn't afraid to step beyond Western ideas of reality. Like her earlier books, The Indigo Notebook has hints of magic--enough to carry it past the quotidian, though not so much as to make it fantasy.

So I am awfully pleased to celebrate the release of The Indigo Notebook by chatting with Laura about the intersection of fiction and anthropology--a field in which both of us have an academic background. Her answers are in bold.

I know you are an anthropologist by training. I'd love to know more about the intersection of your life as an anthropologist and your life as a writer.

I've always loved both anthropology and story-telling. As a kid, I was interested in biological anthropology (primates), and as a teen, I was into archaeology (Mesoamerican and historic American). Later in my undergraduate studies, I became drawn to cultural anthropology, especially the areas of indigenous rights issues, healing practices, and immigrants' and refugees' experiences. After graduating with a Bachelors in anthropology, I went to the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, Mexico to teach English for two years.

I approached this experience as both an anthropologist and writer. I was completely fascinated by my new home, and I filled many spiral notebooks with notes on conversations with my friends and their relatives, always asking tons of questions. Essentially, I did what anthropologists would call "participant-observation"— hanging out with people and helping them with everyday tasks-- making tortillas, gathering medicinal herbs, feeding chickens, harvesting squash, preparing coffee beans, etc. I approached language-learning from a linguistic anthropological perspective, and ended up speaking Spanish fluently and gaining a very basic vocabulary in the Mixtec and Mazatec languages. These experiences helped me get a scholarship to the University of Arizona, where I studied for a year, then went back to Oaxaca to do field research on healing practices, and later returned to the U.S. to finish my coursework and Masters thesis in cultural anthropology.

To be honest, during grad school, the dreamy, poetic part of me recoiled at academia's demand to turn sensual, emotional, and spiritual experiences into dry academic jargon-filled language, and to fit them into the latest hip anthropological theory. Although I got good grades and could appreciate the need for academic protocols, I didn't find joy in my coursework. My joy came from the hours I spent writing poems and stories and creative non-fiction… and ultimately, the manuscript for my first novel, What the Moon Saw. I loved infusing my writing with sounds, smells, tastes, music, soul, metaphor, imagery, dialogue-- all the things you find in good stories. After I got my Masters, I decided that instead of continuing with my PhD, I wanted to dedicate myself to creative writing… with an anthropological twist.

To what extent have you included the experiences and stories of actual people that you met doing fieldwork in your stories?

Most of my characters contain bits and pieces of real people and their stories- which hopefully makes them feel vivid and authentic. Although a certain spark or energy from someone I know might be the seed for a character, each character evolves into her or his own person. For example, in What the Moon Saw, the character of Helena began with the spark of an older woman healer who is like a grandmother to me. Helena's story (of growing up with a calling to heal in a society that was often racist and sexist toward indigenous women) contains pieces of many stories I heard from a number of older women friends of mine. Many women's stories were remarkably similar—dealing with arranged marriages as young teens or being exploited as young maids in the city—so it seemed natural to incorporate them into Helena's story.

Most of the people who inspired characters in my first two books were friends of mine before I was officially doing fieldwork—and before I was even thinking about publishing stories with their cultural setting. At that time, I was only writing for myself, and for my family and friends. It wasn't until years later that this writing evolved into published works. This most recent book, The Indigo Notebook, is my first in which I thought the people helping me with my research (mostly relatives of my friend Maria Virginia) might end up inspiring characters in a published novel.

Were there ethical issues that you wrestled with in regard to this?

I definitely have thought about the ethical issues of incorporating other people's stories into my novels. Whenever I can, I check with the people to make sure it's okay with them, and afterward, give them copies of my work and explain what it's about (since most of my indigenous friends can't read English). When I was paid for shorter essays and stories, I shared the money with friends who inspired them (wiring money to their relatives in nearby towns). With the books, I've found that there are just too many people who played some tiny part in inspiring characters and scenes, so I donate a portion of my royalties to indigenous organizations in Latin America as a form of gratitude and in hopes that it can help indigenous people have their voices heard. I also do workshops for immigrant adults and kids (a number of whom have indigenous heritage), to encourage them to tell their stories. I've found that after immigrant adults and kids read my books, they often feel inspired to write their own memoirs, stories, and essays… which thrills me!

What sort of reactions have you gotten from your friends in the field?

I'm grateful that I've gotten nothing but enthusiasm and excitement from people who have helped me with my books or inspired characters. Across the board, people have told me they're pleased I'm writing about their corner of the world— it makes them feel pride in their indigenous communities and culture, which have often been disparaged by the mainstream society of their countries. They've expressed delight that a wide audience is reading about their lives and struggles and triumphs. They've told me that they hope my books generate more of an interest in and respect for their culture, not only among Americans, but among people in their own communities as well.

I’m an archaeologist myself. Some of us are turning to story-telling to communicate our findings to the public, playing with fiction as a vehicle for describing what resulted from the fieldwork. Do you see your fiction as a vehicle to convey what you have learned as an anthropologist, or is it its own thing?

Interesting questions. My anthropological background definitely affects my writing, but not in a deliberate way, for the most part. It taught me to look at the big picture— to notice the social and economic and political circumstances that inform a situation. For example, my healer friends who inspired the curandero characters aren't part of an unchanging, timeless, mystical tradition. They are creative people who are always trying new things and novel methods, often incorporating modern ideas into what they learned from their grandparents.

For instance, some curanderos use spiritual cleansing rituals to ensure their patients will obtain visas to the U.S. Some take spiritual flights to visit their children who are working as undocumented immigrants in the U.S. The fluctuations in their coffee or corn prices might depend on greater economic forces like NAFTA. In The Indigo Notebook, the Quichua healer is dealing with alcoholism and child abuse in his community, and many of his "children" have gone on to emigrate abroad to play Andean music and sell crafts. The anthropologist in me makes sure I give a picture of these contemporary issues along with the more "mystical" elements of the culture.

That said, I don't approach my novels as vehicles to discuss the issues—for me, novels come from deep and mysterious places. In my experience, writing stories is more of an unconscious, dream-like process than a conscious or rational one. Ultimately, I feel that by writing fiction from a deep place with an anthropological perspective, I can reach tens of thousands more readers than I could reach through academic articles.

I completely agree! But do your anthropological colleagues support your fiction writing, or are they indifferent or outright dismissive?

While I was working on the manuscript for What the Moon Saw in grad school, I was very selective about which colleagues I told about my fiction writing. In my anthropology classes, we spent most of our time criticizing theories and journal articles, and the last thing I wanted was for my manuscript-in-progress-- this tender, precious little piece of my soul-- to be torn to shreds. When that book, and the next book, Red Glass, came out, I was delighted to find that my colleagues at the community college where I taught were extremely supportive and enthusiastic. (In fact, the department head writes YA fiction herself.) Since the publication of my first two books, I've been thrilled to get positive feedback from other people with anthropology backgrounds-- including people on awards committees.

Do you have to consciously fiddle with the level of ethnographic detail you include, to make it fit with fiction, or does your fieldwork/life/travel experience blend with your fiction in an organic, unforced way?

I don't deliberately inject my books with ethnographic detail. I think it comes naturally, since I'm writing what I've seen, felt, heard, smelled, tasted… and through these sensual details comes an organic sense of cultural setting. I can only think of a few spots in my books where I felt the need to give deliberate clarification of beliefs or practices. For me, the stories, characters, and relationships come first.

One of the things I love about your books is that they push the reader beyond the normative American view of what constitutes "reality." What sort of feedback, if any, have you gotten about this? Would you
ever consider leaving “reality” behind altogether to write some speculative fiction? That’s my favorite genre, and I pretty much love the books that happen when anthropologists (or daughters of anthropologists, as in Ursula Le Guin), write it.

I adore speculative fiction—it's one of my favorite genres too. (In fact, nearly all my favorite books this year have been speculative fiction and fantasy!) The first book I ever wrote (unpublished—it was my "practice book") was about dragons (this was 15 years ago, before dragons were all the rage). As a kid and teen, the stories I read and wrote explored the intersection between reality and magic. At this point, most of the "magical" elements in my books reflect the worldview of the characters; for them, these elements are part of their reality. Most readers like this magical realism, although a few readers do feel challenged to suspend their disbelief; they try to pin down whether the "magical" parts really happened.

I do have a feeling that one day soon I'll write a speculative fiction book … I've had some ideas churning around for decades, especially lately. Thanks for the gentle nudge, Charlotte!

You're very welcome, and I hope it works out! Turning a bit more specifically to the book in hand -- the ending of The Indigo Notebook hints that there are more stories to come—can you tell us more about this?

This is planned to be a three book series. The second book, The Ruby Notebook, is set in Aix-en-Provence, France (where I lived with a local family for a year). The third and final novel, The Jade Notebook, is set in a tiny town on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca.

Good news! Thanks!

Your books have such a strong sense of place, which seems based in large part on your own lived experiences. Did you do any traveling for The Indigo Notebook?

The Indigo Notebook began during a research trip I took for another book set in Ecuador (The Queen of Water-- a collaborative memoir with Maria Virginia Farinango about her indigenous girlhood in the Andes, Delacorte, Spring 2011 release date.) Before my first trip to Ecuador, I spent hundreds of hours-- over the course of a year—listening to Maria Virginia tell me her life story (and tape-recording it, transcribing, it interviewing her, etc). Through her life story, I felt I already had a vivid picture of Ecuadorian society, especially in the indigenous communities. Then I went to Ecuador to spend time in all the places that had some significance in her life story, so that I could make the descriptions in the book as sensual and vivid as possible. While I was with her extended family in Quichua communities, I grew fond of the setting, and heard stories that sparked the premise of a subplot of The Indigo Notebook. On my second trip to Ecuador a year later, I had both books in mind as I was talking with people and exploring the area.

I'm wondering if you are traveling, or planning to travel, to new parts of the world, to experience first-hand cultural immersion in future settings. Does it make you nervous to write, or to imagine writing, about a place you've never been?

Last year, I took a trip to the Oaxacan coast and Provence, France to do more focused research for the sequels, but since I'd already been to both places several times before, I already had an idea of the plots and what I was looking for.

At this point, I feel comfortable setting my novels in places where I've either lived or spent a significant amount of time. I can't imagine getting a contract to write a novel before I've spent time in the place where it's set. I think I would feel anxious about whether I would feel inspired there. Basically, I don't think I'd find joy in "forcing" a story from a place.

Ideally, I'll keep traveling to new places (southeast Asia is next on my list) and go back to places I know and love (Morocco) and live abroad again (probably somewhere in Latin America-- we're waiting until our toddler is a little older). And who knows, maybe another book will start brewing…

Thank you so much, Laura, for the fascinating discussion, and for taking the time to answer my questions in such satisfying detail! And I hope (in a not entirely unselfish way) that your writing is going well...

The Indigo Notebook officially enters the world October 13th!

(disclaimer: ARC received from Delacorte Press, the publisher)

New Releases of Science Fiction and Fantasy for Children and Teenagers--the middle of October Edition

Here are the new releases of science fiction and fantasy for children and teenagers from October 6-15th. This is a big list, but I wanted to get these all out in the open, because the cutoff for nominating any of these books for the Cybils is October 15th. Lots of them have been nominated already--I've put an asterisk next to those I know are already on the Cybils lists.

Middle Grade:

ALIENATED by Andrew Auseon. "Best friends Gene Brennick and Vince Haskell come across freaky aliens like Mold Man, Calamari Girl, and Crumble Bun all the time as reporters for their homemade weekly tabloid, the Globe, a newsletter featuring stories on the aliens living quietly among humans in Santa Rosa, California. Gene and Vince's classmates don't take their articles too seriously -- no one does, really. Gene's determined to find a way to end his outsider status for good, and when he and Vince discover a local teacher's deep, dark secret, Gene's convinced he's found the answer. But after taking it one step too far, Gene and Vince are suddenly at the center of an intergalactic conflict, one that could be the death of the boys' friendship, or of the boys themselves -- whichever comes first."

THE BIG BOOK OF BADDIES: HOW TO CATCH THE MOST WANTED VILLAINS OF ALL TIME! by John Townsend. "Felons, gangsters, outlaws, pirates: meet the bad guys! This dip-in delight has the lowdown on 100 infamous scoundrels from history, literature, mythology, film, and TV. Drawing from sources around the world, this unusual and eclectic collection makes its case against each evildoer through an imaginative range of incriminating evidence: police and psychiatric reports, diary entries, eyewitness statements, and school records.

The line-up includes some of the most notorious figures in villaindom (Vlad the Impaler, who inspired Dracula and Bonnie and Clyde), as well some newer—but equally wicked—faces"

THE BLUE SHOE: A TALE OF THIEVERY, VILLAINY, SORCERY, AND SHOES by Roderick Townley. "It was only one shoe. It fit no one. But everyone wanted it. Hap Barlo in a cell, wondering how it had all gone so wrong. The blue shoe was ruined, the girl he’d been trying to help was missing, and he’d been branded a thief—again! He would be banished to the far side of Mount Xexnax in the morning. On the bright side, now he might be able to rescue his father, who had been banished last year. No one has ever returned from Xexnax, so perhaps Hap is a tad optimistic to be dreaming of rescue. Then again, perhaps a dreamer, a doer, and a thief is just the kind of boy who could challenge this mountain—and win!"

THE CHRISTMAS GENIE by Dan Gutman. "It's the last day of school before Christmas vacation and Alex, Chase, and the rest of Mrs. Walter's fifth-grade class couldn't wish more for that final bell to ring. But the day takes a crazy turn when a mysterious meteorite crashes through their classroom window and a genie pops out. He will grant just one wish for the whole class to share. Be careful what you wish for!"

DWEEB: BURGERS, BEASTS, AND BRAINWASHED BULLIES by Aaron Starmer. "Strange things are happening at Ho-Ho-Kus Junior High. The cafeteria is covered in a sea of burger wrappers. Bullies aren’t bullying anymore. And there’s an eerie growling coming from the walls.
If anyone can get to the bottom of these mysteries, it’s Denton, Wendell, Eddie, Elijah, and Bijay. They may be misfits, but they’re also the smartest kids in the eighth grade."

FINN THE HALF-GREAT by Theo Caldwell. "Finn McCool, at fourteen feet, thinks he is the tallest thing in the Emerald Isle. That is, until he ventures outside his childhood valley. Finn soon discovers that ancient Britain is a land of giants, dragons, wizards, and men, in which he is only one little fellow. Despite treating those about him as decently as he can, Finn finds he has enemies all over. Even before he was born, cruel creatures known as the Frost Giants killed Finn’s father and tried to do away with his mother. When Finn learns what befell his parents, his first order of business is to seek out the Frost Giants and take revenge."

THE KNIGHT IN THE SHADOWS: HAUNTED by Chris Eboch. "When Jon and Tania attend a costume party at a museum full of ancient arms and armor -- relics that have been through bloody battles, or worse -- it doesn't surprise either of them to discover a ghost lurking in the shadows. But this particular ghost is on a mission, and if Jon and Tania don't help him, he just might become the warrior he was when he was alive, and that means trouble -- and danger -- for everyone involved!"

*THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY AND THE PRISONER'S DILEMMA by Trenton Lee Stewart. "Join the Mysterious Benedict Society as Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance embark on a daring new adventure that threatens to force them apart from their families, friends, and even each other. When an unexplained blackout engulfs Stonetown, the foursome must unravel clues relating to a nefarious new plot, while their search for answers brings them closer to danger than ever before."

THE NAMING OF TISHKIN SILK by Glenda Millard. "Griffin Silk is an uncommon boy, from an uncommon sort of family—but lately Griffin isn’t so sure that’s a good thing. If he were an ordinary boy, he wouldn’t have to worry about the secret in his heart and maybe he would understand why his mother and baby sister have gone away. When Griffin starts school and meets the spirited Princess Layla, a once-in-lifetime friend who can heal souls, the answers to his questions gently start to unfold. And just like the mythical beast whose name he bears, Griffin discovers that he has uncommon courage and the heart of a lion."

*THE NAVEL OF THE WORLD: THE FORGOTTEN WORLDS by P. J. Hoover. "At the end of summer school, Benjamin was given one task find his missing brothers. Should be easy right? But Benjamin can't locate a trace of them anywhere until he interns at his father's office over spring break. There he finds a mysterious file written in ancient Lemurian with his name on it. Could the answers that Benjamin seeks be in the past?"

PETER AND THE SWORD OF MERCY by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson."It's been twenty-three years since Peter and the Lost Boys returned from Rundoon. Since then, nobody on the island has grown a day older, and the Lost Boys continue their friendship with the Mollusk tribe, and their rivalry with Captain Hook. Meanwhile in London, Molly has married George Darling and is raising three children: Wendy, Michael, and John. One night a visitor appears at her door; it's James, one of Peter's original Lost Boys. He is now working for Scotland Yard and suspects that the heir to England's throne, Prince Albert Edward, is under the influence of shadow creatures. These shadow creatures are determined to find a secret cache of startstuff which fell to London many centuries ago. The starstuff is hidden in an underground vault which has only one key: the Sword of Mercy, a legendary weapon kept with the Crown Jewels. Molly is determined to help, but when she suddenly goes missing, it is up to her eleven-year-old daughter, Wendy, to keep the starstuff out of the Others' clutches. She has heard her mother's stories of a flying boy named Peter Pan, and he may be her only hope in saving the world from a shadowy doom..."

THE SHADOW OF MALABRON: THE PERILOUS REALM by Thomas Wharton. "When Will crashes his father’s motorcycle and stumbles into the Perilous Realm, all he wants is to find his way back to the world he knows. But he cannot get back the way he came, and as he soon discovers, his story is bound up with this mysterious land and with the very fabric of Story itself. Will is befriended by many strange people and creatures — including Rowen, a girl with a special destiny of her own, and Shade, an unusual wolf — but he is also pursued by dark forces under the control of Malabron, otherwise known as the Night King, the Master of Fetches, and the Storyeater. As Will’s path crosses those of the inhabitants — both innocent and malevolent — of this strange new world, his choices will determine not only his own fate, but that of his new friends in the Perilous Realm."

*THE SHIFTER: THE HEALING WARS by Janice Hardy. "Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker—with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body. But unlike her sister, Tali, and the other Takers who become Healers' League apprentices, Nya's skill is flawed: She can't push that pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it into another person, a dangerous skill that she must keep hidden from forces occupying her city. If discovered, she'd be used as a human weapon against her own people."

THE TIME QUAKE: THE GIDEON TRILOGY by Linda Buckley-Archer. "Abducted to 1763, Peter Schock and Kate Dyer begin to understand that history has reached a tipping point. The antigravity machine is in the hands of the cruel and ambitious Lord Luxon -- who has set his sights on the most valuable prize of all: America. He is determined to manipulate time to his advantage, no matter what the cost. And the cost is great indeed. As Lord Luxon changes more and more of the past for his own gain, terrible time quakes begin to sweep through all of history. Kate Dyer, adrift in time and suffering from an overexposure to time travel, knows that if Lord Luxon is not stopped, the time quakes will tear the universe apart."

THAT DOGGONE CALF by Bill & Carol Wallace. "What happens when an uppity calf who thinks he has a royal pedigree tries to take over the job of a no-nonsense guard dog? Dust flies and so do some pretty hilarious antics. Cookie, a black-and-white belted Galloway calf, thinks that he has come to the farm to be in charge of the herd of cows. Hoss, the German shepherd, figures that Cookie can barely keep track of his own tail. The only thing the two stubborn animals have in common is their loyalty to a young farm girl named Ann. So when Ann is in danger, the two rivals must figure out how to go from butting heads to putting their two heads together to save her from a pack of stray dogs."

WITCH ON THE WATER by Christine & Ethan Rose. "Witch on the Water" chronicles the continuing adventures of twelve-year-old Cullen and his friends, Maddy and April. Cullen thought he had enough trouble surviving school, dealing with his miserable home life, and being possessed by Rowan, a 1400-year-old wizard. But when Rowan's wife, the sadistic vampire Fiana, comes back seeking revenge, Cullen and his band of misfits must do what they can to stop her."

YOUNG ADULT

*ARCHENEMY: THE LOOKING GLASS WARS by Frank Beddor. "The Heart Crystal’s power has been depleted, and Imagination along with it. The people of Wonderland have all lost their creative drive, and most alarmingly, even Queen Alyss is without her powers. There is some comfort in the fact that the vicious Redd Heart seems to be similarly disabled. Amazingly, she is attempting to team up with her enemy, Alyss, in order to reclaim Wonderland from King Arch. Alyss might have no choice but to accept Redd’s overtures, especially when she begins to receive alarming advice from the caterpillar oracles."

THE DEMON KING: A SEVEN REALMS NOVEL by Cinda Williams Chima. "Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. "Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for himself, his mother, and his sister Mari. Ironically, the only thing of value he has is something he can't sell. For as long as Han can remember, he's worn thick silver cuffs engraved with runes. They're clearly magicked-as he grows, they grow, and he's never been able to get them off. .... Meanwhile, Raisa ana'Helena, Princess Heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She's just returned to court after three years of relative freedom with her father's family at Demonai camp - riding, hunting, and working the famous Clan markets. Although Raisa will become eligible for marriage after her sixteenth name-day, she isn't looking forward to trading in her common sense and new skills for etiquette tutors and stuffy parties."

DISCOVERING: LILY DALE by Wendy Corsi Staub. "After finally learning who was behind her mother’s death, Calla still doesn’t understand why it happened. Somewhere out there, someone seems to share the powerful psychic abilities that allow Calla to see not only into the past, but to the Other Side—someone who apparently doesn’t want to be found. Will Calla’s journey lead to the closure she's been searching for, or will it force her to accept yet another loss and forever wonder what might have been?"

GATEWAY by Sharon Shinn. "As a Chinese adoptee in St. Louis, teenage Daiyu often feels out of place. When an elderly Asian jewelry seller at a street fair shows her a black jade ring—and tells her that “black jade” translates to “Daiyu”—she buys it as a talisman of her heritage. But it’s more than that; it’s magic. It takes Daiyu through a gateway into a version of St. Louis much like 19th century China. Almost immediately she is recruited as a spy, which means hours of training in manners and niceties and sleight of hand. It also means stealing time to be with handsome Kalen, who is in on the plan. There’s only one problem. Once her task is done, she must go back to St. Louis and leave him behind forever. . . ."

THE GHOST AT WIDOWER'S POND: GHOST GIRLS by Karen Chilton. "Paige Parker is adjusting to life in Heather Hollow. She’s O.K. with the ghost-girl roommate, the Hounds of Hell, and the vampire buried around the corner. What’s really scary? The mean girls at Heather Hollow High. Queen bee Heather Duffy is using all her nastiest tricks to make the new girl in town feel very unwelcome."

*GIRL IN THE ARENA by Lise HainesLyn is a neo-gladiator’s daughter, through and through. Her mother has made a career out of marrying into the high-profile world of televised blood sport, and the rules of the Gladiator Sports Association are second nature to their family. Always lend ineffable confidence to the gladiator. Remind him constantly of his victories. And most importantly: Never leave the stadium when your father is dying. The rules help the family survive, but rules—and the GSA—can also turn against you. When a gifted young fighter kills Lyn’s seventh father, he also captures Lyn’s dowry bracelet, which means she must marry him...

HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW: GIFTED by Marilyn Kaye. "Shy, dreamy Emily Sanders is able to foresee future events with the gift of premonitions, but they aren’t always quite right. With frustration, Emily can not yet manage to control her visions, and the other students usually don’t take her seriously. As Emily works on controlling her gift and her premonitions become clearer, her classmates find themselves in a situation where they are forced to listen to her, but will it be too late?"

*HUSH, HUSH by Becca Ajoy Fitzpatrick. "With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to [Patch] against her better judgment. But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel. For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life."

*ICE by Sarah Beth Durst. "Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, is determined to become a scientist, and has no time for make-believe. Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face-to-face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned at the ends of the earth. And he can bring her back -- if Cassie will agree to be his bride.That is the beginning of Cassie's own real-life fairy tale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knows will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her -- until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of Ice."

LADY MACBETH'S DAUGHTER by Lisa Klein. "Albia has grown up with no knowledge of her mother of her father, the powerful Macbeth. Instead she knows the dark lure of the Wychelm Wood and the moors, where she’s been raised by three strange sisters. It’s only when the ambitious Macbeth seeks out the sisters to foretell his fate that Albia’s life becomes tangled with the man who leaves nothing but bloodshed in his wake. She even falls in love with Fleance, Macbeth’s rival for the throne. Yet when Albia learns that she has the second sight, she must decide whether to ignore the terrible future she foresees—or to change it. Will she be able to save the man she loves from her murderous father? And can she forgive her parents their wrongs, or must she destroy them to save Scotland from tyranny?"

LEGACY by Tom Sniegoski. "What if you found out your deadbeat father is a superhero? Would you leave your small-town life to take up the mantle of a father you never knew? For 18-year-old Lucas, the choice is an easy one: he’s not going to leave behind his mother and his comfortable life for a father who’s never shown any interest in him. But his father—known officially as billionaire Clayton Hartwell, and secretly as the vigilante superhero The Raptor—tells Lucas that as he is dying, evil is growing, and the world needs Lucas to become the new Raptor. When Lucas’s mother is killed by mysterious warriors, he realizes that his father is right. Once in Seraph City, Lucas is stunned by the amount of poverty and crime. But after observing his father’s “heroic” behavior up close, Lucas is left wondering about the line between good and evil. And eventually, he must decide whether to take a stand against the one man who loves him in order to defend a world that desperately needs him."

*LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld. "It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet. Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men. Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.With the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way...taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever."

MAD WITH WONDER: HATTER M VOL. 2 by Frank Beddor. "Hatter follows the Glow from London to the battlefields of America's Civil War in search of the Princess who must some day be Queen. The America that Hatter encounters is a sprawling, wounded, boiling landscape of innocence and energy run amok. The war is tearing the country apart, yet Hatter must maintain his sanity in this maelstrom of holy rollers, child healers, prophetic snake handlers, deranged outlaws, and passionate southern belles. As Hatter searches he learns he is not the only Wonderland presence that has found its way to the Promised Land. Queen Redd's black imagination is fueling the Civil War and threatening our world with her evil!"

*THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner. "When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift. Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers."

*MIRRORSCAPE by Mike Wilks

*THE VAN ALEN LEGACY: BLUE BLOODS by Melissa de la Cruz. "With the stunning revelation surrounding Bliss's true identity comes the growing threat of the sinister Silver Bloods. Once left to live the glamorous life in New York City, the Blue Bloods now find themselves in an epic battle for survival. Not to worry, love is still in the air for the young vampires of the Upper East Side. Or is it? Jack and Schuyler are over. Oliver's brokenhearted. And only the cunning Mimi seems to be happily engaged."

WHITE HEAT: THE PERFECT FIRE TRILOGY by K. M. Grant. "Picking up where Blue Flame left readers, Raimon has escaped the pyre and is hiding deep within the mountains of the Occitan. He longs to follow Yolanda to Paris, where she has been forced to marry Sir Hugh. However, he knows he must instead fulfill his duty of protecting the Blue Flame and save their beloved country from the advancing forces set on destroying it. In Paris, Yolanda believes Raimon is dead, she still resists her marriage, and as Sir Hugh’s war train—backed by the French king—heads for the Occitan, Yolanda must find new ways to fight."


And here's one I don't think is fantasy exactly, but it sounds like a good one for those of us who read it: A Brief History of Montmary, by Michelle Cooper. "On a remote island kingdom of Montmaray live the last of the FitzOsbornes, a royal family of scrappy (but dignified) orphans teetering on the edge of poverty in their crumbling castle. It’s 1936, and sixteen-year-old Sophie occupies her days with mundane household chores, half-hearted study in the family library, raising her unruly tomboy sister, and keeping a diary of distant hopes and longings. Her older cousin Veronica—a budding scholar—writes a history of the Montmaravians while keeping close tabs on the current political signs that point to another world war. One of those signs--in the form of a boat carrying Nazi "historians"--lands on their shores. The arrival of the Germans sets in motion a chain of events that rivals any of the high adventures of the princesses’ colorful ancestors."