New releases of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teenagers--the end of April, 2010, edition

Here are the new releases of science fiction and fantasy for kids and teenagers from the end of April. My list is taken from Teens Read Too, and the publisher's blurbs are lifted from Amazon.

Of special note, in my mind, at least, this list contains Mistwood, by Leah Cypess, which I bet makes it to my top ten list for 2010. (That being said, Mistwood is the only book on this list I've actually read yet...although several are waiting for me).

For Kids:

ABBY CARNELIA'S ONE AND ONLY MAGICAL POWER by David Pogue. "One day, Abby Carnelia, ordinary sixth grader, realizes she has a magical power. Okay, it’s not a fancy one (she can make a hard-boiled egg spin by tugging on her ears). But it’s the only one she has, and it’s enough to launch her into an adventure where she meets a host of kids with similarly silly powers, becomes a potential guinea pig for a drug company, and hatches a daring plan for escape."


BURNING SKY: LOST SOULS by Mel Odom. "In this first book in a new trilogy created by new media genius Jordan Weisman, Nathan Richards is your typical teen, one of the smartest at his school and the son of two famous archeologists, but he fails at everything because he refuses to apply himself. Never knowing his mother, who died on an archeological dig in a Mayan tomb while giving birth to him, Nathan is shocked, when on his thirteenth birthday he receives his birthright from the Mayan god Kukulkan. He is granted the ability to travel the frequencies and interact with the dead—including his mother! Now the fate of the human race rests with Nathan, who must play a game for the world’s survival—all culminating with the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012. Now it is time for Nathan to use his newfound gifts, fulfill his potential, and save the world!" (Amazon has this as middle grade, and I couldn't find anything to contradict this, but it might not be. 13 is getting old...)

THE CASE THAT TIME FORGOT: THE SHERLOCK FILES by Tracy Barrett. (possibly not, strictly speaking, fantasy) "Xander’s classmate gives a report at school about a famous amulet of the Egyptian god of time, Thoth. It was thought to be so powerful that it could turn back time one day every hundred years. And that day will come in a week! The amulet disappeared from a museum in London years ago. Xena and Xander’s celebrated ancestor, Sherlock Holmes, tried to find it, but with no luck. The twins are on the case—but so are some mysterious foes who are trying to thwart and perhaps even harm them! Can Xander and Xena track down what Sherlock Holmes could not?"

A COVEN OF WITCHES: THE LAST APPRENTICEby Joseph Delaney. "Beware a girl in pointy shoes! A girl wearing pointy shoes might be a witch. And the first thing a spook's apprentice learns is never, ever to trust a witch. In this bone-chilling collection of tales, you will learn exactly why that is, as you encounter:
* a fair and beautiful woman with green scales running down her spine . . .
* a dead witch who lurks under rotting leaves and hunts for blood . . .
* Alice, Tom Ward's best friend, who once lived with one of the darkest witches of all...
* and a witch whose cry of revenge can kill.
The dark is all around. Who will survive?"

EMILY WINDSNAP AND THE SIREN'S SECRETby Liz Kessler. "Emily Windsnap is finally enjoying a swimmingly peaceful life on Allpoints Island, hanging out with her mermaid BFF, Shona, and her new friend Aaron (half-merperson like herself ). But their idyll is cut short when Emily learns that the Windsnaps and friends must return to their old home in Brightport, where construction projects are threatening a secret mermaid community under the sea. Neptune’s mandate? No less than an interspecies intervention to bring merpeople and humans together, a task the imperious god feels the mixed Windsnap family is well suited for. There are just a few snags for Emily, however, like dealing with old nemeses Mandy and Mr. Beeston, figuring out her feelings toward Aaron, and untangling a high-suspense mystery related to a group of legendary lost sirens."

GOOP SOUP: NATHAN ABERCROMBIE, ACCIDENTAL ZOMBIE by David Lubar. "Nathan is just getting started with his training for secret organization BUM when greasy green globs of goop start oozing from every faucet in town. Gross! When BUM asks Nathan to investigate, he and his friends Abigail and Mookie follow the trail to the smelliest place they can imagine—deep in the heart of the sewers of East Craven. And what they encounter there may end Nathan’s career as a zombie spy before it has even begun…."

For Teenagers:

BURNED: HOUSE OF NIGHT by P.C. & Kristin Cast. "Things have turned black at the House of Night. Zoey Redbird’s soul has shattered. With everything she’s ever stood for falling apart, and a broken heart making her want to stay in the Otherworld forever, Zoey’s fading fast. It’s seeming more and more doubtful that she will be able pull herself back together in time to rejoin her friends and set the world to rights. As the only living person who can reach her, Stark must find a way to get to her. But how? He will have to die to do so, the Vampyre High Council stipulates. And then Zoey will give up for sure. There are only 7 days left…Enter BFF Stevie Rae. She wants to help Z but she has massive problems of her own. The rogue Red Fledglings are acting up, and this time not even Stevie Rae can protect them from the consequences. Her kinda boyfriend, Dallas, is sweet but too nosy for his own good. The truth is, Stevie Rae’s hiding a secret that might be the key to getting Zoey home but also threatens to explode her whole world. In the middle of the whole mess is Aphrodite: ex-Fledgling, trust-fund baby, total hag from Hell (and proud of it). She’s always been blessed (if you could call it that) with visions that can reveal the future, but now it seems Nyx has decided to speak through her with the goddess’s own voice, whether she wants it or not. Aphrodite’s loyalty can swing a lot of different ways, but right now Zoey’s fate hangs in the balance."

THE CURSE OF SNAKES: HELLION by Christopher Fowler. "Something had been released into the night streets. It moved unnoticed and sucked the life from people. It caused slow painful death, but even those who could sense its presence were too scared to admit it was there. And now, with quiet deliberation, it was heading for the street where I lived'. Red Hellion lives opposite the creepy, tightly locked Torrington Park, or 'Viper's Green'. Walking home from school one day, he meets Max, who is trying to break in. Before he knows it, Red finds himself sucked into Max's plans to discover the whereabouts of his father, who disappeared weeks before under sinister circumstances connected with the park. But neither Max nor Red realize just how much their lives are at risk for their investigations into the park, are linked to the terrible the legend of Medusa, and are about to lead them into horrific danger..."

KISS OF DEATH: THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES by Rachel Caine. "Vampire musician Michael Glass has attracted the attention of a big- time producer who wants to cut a demo and play some gigs-which means Michael will have to enter the human world. For this, he's been assigned escorts that include both a dangerous immortal as well as Michael's all-too-human friends. And with that mix of personalities, this is going to be a road trip from hell..."




MIDDDLEWORLD: THE JAGUAR STONES by J&P Voelkel. "Fourteen-year-old Max Murphy is looking forward to a family vacation. But his parents, both archaeologists and Maya experts, announce a change in plan. They must leave immediately for a dig in the tiny Central American country of San Xavier. Max will go to summer camp. Max is furious. When he's mysteriously summoned to San Xavier, he thinks they've had a change of heart. Upon his arrival, Max's wild adventure in the tropical rainforests of San Xavier begins. During his journey, he will unlock ancient secrets and meet strangers who are connected to him in ways he could never have imagined. For fate has delivered a challenge of epic proportions to this pampered teenager. Can Max rescue his parents from the Maya Underworld and save the world from the Lords of Death, who now control the power of the Jaguar Stones in their villainous hands? The scene is set for a roller-coaster ride of suspense and terror, as the good guys and the bad guys face off against a background of haunted temples, zombie armies, and even human sacrifice!"

MISTWOOD by Leah Cypess. "Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have. Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat. Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them. Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew."

PENITENCE by Jennifer Laurens Book Two. "Seeing good and evil spirits is a gift Zoe guards with her life. Despite her guardian angel's disappearance, Zoe forces herself to accept that she still has a purpose-but how does she carry the weight of her brother's drug abuse, the hardship of living with an autistic sister, and a best friend who's obsessed with a guy who only wants Zoe? She's never felt more alone. When a mysterious spirit appears, Zoe thinks she has a new guardian angel. Instead, her brother's addiction worsens, her parents are on the brink of separation, and her best friend tries to kill her. The spirit she thinks is her new guardian isn't there to protect her: he's out to destroy her family and seize Zoe's soul. . . for Hell. Will Matthias' return mean that he is Zoe's guardian angel again? Or is their love the reason the jaws of Hell now gape open?"

REMEMBERING GREEN by Lesley Beake. "It is the year 2250. The polar ice has melted and sea levels have risen. With Cape Town gone and Table Mountain an island, the Tekkies cling to a lifestyle long gone and carefully guard their island from outsiders. But their resources are running out. They look to the land that once was Africa — now known as "Out" — where a few remaining people have managed to survive the massive drought by turning their back on 23rd-century technology and following a simple lifestyle based on ancient knowledge. They are the River People. One day, Rain, their princess, and her lion cub, Saa, are seized by the Tekkies in order to gain the River Peoples' secret of harvesting the rain. To do that, they plan to make Rain part of a terrible ceremony to restore the balance of the world. This chilling, thought-provoking science fiction, featuring the fresh setting of a futuristic South Africa, is beautifully told for young teenagers."

THIEF EYES by Janni Lee Simner. "After her mother mysteriously disappears, sixteen-year-old Haley convinces her father to take her to Iceland, where her mother was last seen. There, amidst the ancient fissures and crevices of that volcanic island, Haley meets gorgeous Ari, a boy with a dangerous side who appoints himself her protector. When Haley picks up a silver coin that entangles her in a spell cast by her ancestor Hallgerd, she discovers that Hallgerd's spell and her mother's disappearance are connected to a chain of events that could unleash terrifying powers and consume the world. Haley must find a way to contain the growing fires of the spell—and her growing attraction to Ari."

UNFAMILIAR MAGIC by R. C. Alexander. "Desi is a witch. And she knows she could be a great witch—if only her mom would teach her any spells. Unfortunately, Desi’s mom is more concerned with keeping them safe and their abilities hidden. When her mom leaves town under mysterious circumstances, it should be Desi’s perfect opportunity to explore magic on her own. But Desi has been left in the care of the most unusual babysitter of all time: her pet cat—also her mom’s familiar—now transformed into a teenage girl named Cat. And Cat has only three goals: Learn how to eat sushi with her new hairless monkey paws, get the awkward boy next door to pay for her sushi, and keep Desi out of trouble. And that means no magic."

THE WAGER by Donna Jo Napoli. "Don Giovanni was once the wealthiest and handsomest young man in Messina. Then a tidal wave changed everything. When a well-dressed stranger offers him a magical purse, he knows he shouldn’t take it. Only the devil would offer a deal like this, and only a fool would accept. Don Giovanni is no fool, but he is desperate. He takes the bet: he will not bathe for 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days. Beauty is a small price to pay for worldly wealth, isn’t it? Unless he loses the wager—and with it his soul."



WERELING by Steve Feasey. "Fourteen-year-old Trey Laporte is not a kid anymore. Not after the day he wakes up in agony—retina-splitting, vomit-inducing agony. His clothes are torn. His room is trashed. Enter Lucien Charron, the mysterious, long-lost “uncle” with freakish fire-flecked eyes and skin that blisters in the sun. Suddenly, Trey finds himself living in a luxury penthouse at the heart of a strange and sinister empire built on the powers of the Netherworld—vampires, demons, sorcerers, and djinn. And there is a girl—Alexa Charron—who is half vampire, half human, and insanely pretty, with powers all of her own. Trey is falling for her. Trey is training night and day to control the newly discovered power lurking inside him. Now, demons are closing in on every side, and the most psychopathic bloodsucker to rock the Netherworld wants to destroy him. Above all, he must face one terrifying question:Is he a boy . . . or is he a beast?"

WHISPER by Phoebe Kitanidis. "Joy is used to Hearing Whispers. She's used to walking down the street and instantly knowing people's deepest, darkest desires. She uses this talent for good—to make people happy and give them what they want. But for her older sister, Jessica, the family gift is a curse, and she uses it to make people's lives—especially Joy's—miserable. Still, when Joy Hears Jessica Whisper I want to kill my Hearing dead, and kill me too if that's what it takes, she knows she has to save her sister, even if it means deserting her friends, stealing a car, and running away with a boy she barely knows—a boy who may have a dark secret of his own."

Zig and Wikki, in Something Ate My Homework, and Benny & Penny, in The Toy Breaker

Toon Books are among the loveliest early readers I know off. These graphic novels for the very young reader are, in general, smart, funny, and engaging, and I just had the pleasure of reading two recent titles.

Zig and Wikki, in Something Ate My Homework (by Nadja Spigleman and Trade Loeffler) tells of two alien kids who take a wrong turn in their space ship, and find themselves on earth. Zig had been hoping to arrive at his grandmother's house, where he planned to snag on of her puffle pups (his homework assignment, which is already late, was to find a class pet). Perhaps, think Zig and Wikki, Earth will have something to offer...but can two small aliens capture a fly? or a dragonfly? or a toad? Definitely Not a raccoon...

Interspersed with tidbits of nature lore (I didn't know that toads ate their own skins) it's a fun alien adventure that ends happily...(sample pages here)

Benny and Penny in The Toy Breaker (by Geoffrey Hayes) brings back the engaging mouse siblings for another backyard tale. When Cousin Bo comes over, Benny and Penny hurry to hide their toys, and, even more importantly, their treasure map. Because Cousin Bo is a Toy Breaker! But with Bo around, how can Benny and Penny find the loot? And will Penny's poor Monkey, ripped by the careless paws of Bo, recover?

When Bo gets into trouble of his own, he (somewhat miraculously) becomes a nicer mouse, and all ends well. A pleasant story of the perils of group play. (sample pages here)

But, although these are both books that I enthusiastically placed in the eager hands of my six year old, and he enjoyed them a lot, neither of these knocked Stinky, by Eleanor Davis, off its place as my family's favorite Toon Book of all...

(review copies received from the publisher)

The Adventures of Benny, by Steve Shreve

The Adventures of Benny, by Steve Shreve (Marshall Cavendish, 2009, 159 pages, ages 7-10)

First, the description. In the five stories that make up this book, a boy named Benny has various fantastical adventures, encountering Big Foot, a mummy named King Butt, a giant squid, the Booger-man, and some nervous monkeys. The stories are relaxed, over-the-top, and occasionally gross; they also are very easy to read, with relatively few words per page and lots of illustrations (you can get an idea of the book here at its website).

"They started back toward the door, but it was too late--they heard a noise outside.

"Now what?" asked Benny, "King Butt has caught up to us!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that," said Uncle Howard. "The snakes will probably finish us off long before he gets in." (page 55)

Second, the personal experience part.

Is your emergent boy reader uninterested in the Magic Treehouse books? Obsessed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid (but too young for it, really)? The Adventures of Benny is an easy to read, copiously illustrated, kind of gross, chuckle producing, alternative. The short chapters, each of which stands on its on, make the book particularly friendly for the young reader.

Is your nine year old boy reader driving you absolutely mad by refusing to read any of the books you carefully find for him, after hours of blog reading to find possibilities, chats with the librarian, etc etc? Leave The Adventures of Benny casually draped on the sofa, and he will read it eagerly. In about ten minutes flat too, proving that he can read after all, which you might have been wondering.

If you are an adult reader, reading The Adventures of Benny with an eye toward a blog review, you might not find it a life-changing experience, and you might find smelly socks, farts, eating snakes, etc . don't in fact make you chuckle. But you might also acknowledge that the stories and pictures are not without amusing charm, and the reactions of your children will dispose you fondly toward the book. And it was a nice touch to name the Egyptologist uncle "Howard" (as in Howard Carter, of King Tut fame).

The Adventures of Benny is on the short-list of the Children's Choice Book Awards (chosen by kids), in the 5th and 6th category.

Here's the full list for those grades:
The Adventures of Benny by Steve Shreve (Marshall Cavendish)
Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster)
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca (Atheneum/Richard Jackson/Simon & Schuster)
Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood by Tony Lee, Sam Hart, and Artur Fujita (Candlewick)
Zoobreak by Gordon Korman (Scholastic Press)

The link above shows all the lists. Kids can vote for their favorite until May 3, at libraries, book stores, schools, and at BookWeekOnline.com.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

The Sixty-Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Sixty-Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone (Random House, 2010, middle grade, 265 pages)

Ruthie had never been to see the Thorne Rooms before the field trip that took her class to the Art Institute of Chicago. They entrance her--sixty-eight tiny rooms filled with the most exquisitely detailed miniatures imaginable, depicting settings from a medieval castle to a Puritan home in New England. Her best friend Jack is not quite so interested, until the discovery of a tiny key in the service passageway behind the exhibit (where the two children were not, technically, allowed to be). Because when Ruthie holds the key, she shrinks to the scale of the miniatures, and sixty-eight rooms of enchantment await...

When she is holding onto both Jack and the key, Jack shrinks too. Together they explore the rooms, while coping with the difficulties small size entails--giant cockroaches, perilous exhibit ascents, and the like. But the true magic lies within the Rooms themselves, which are not just static boxes. Each one actually opens up into its time period, and so Ruthie and Jack find themselves in France just before the Revolution, and visit Massachusetts just as the witch trial are gaining steam. To add to that magic, it seems like they are not the first children to have found the secret of the Thorne Rooms--there are clues that another girl has been there, and they lead to the unravelling of a modern mystery.

The premise of this book is utterly delightful. I was entranced by the miniature rooms, and envious of Jack and Ruthie as they explored them. Malone doesn't skimp on her description of the miniatures, and I was grateful to her for this--she did an excellent job bringing them to life. Their expeditions to the museum--fraught with logistical challenges--were magical journeys reminiscent, almost, of Edward Eager's stories of magic meeting everyday life (although Malone doesn't quite match the snappiness of Eager's characterization. But then, who does?).

The time-travel element promised, I thought, a bit more than it delivered. Although I very much enjoyed the two ventures into the past, they didn't tie into any larger Plot, and so lacked a certain emotional umph. The actual elements of the plot that needed resolution were both in the present, and one of these had nothing to do with the Thorne Rooms at all. I am hoping that in future books (and room is, happily, left open for these) that the magical ability of the rooms to open into the past will be explored more fully.

I myself hope there are more books to come, because I do so love these rooms, with all these beautiful things, and I want to see more of them!

Time Travel Wise: The experiences of Jack and Ruthie in the past are very interesting vignettes, but are of brief duration, and didn't strike me as being essential to the plot or to the characters' development. But I am hopeful that in future books, we might get more time in the past--the premise is so beautifully laid out for many future adventures....

Other reviews at Book Aunt, Fantasy Literature, and Read Now, Sleep Later.

And here's one of the Thorne Rooms:



More pictures here. Longing sigh on my part. I never particularly wanted to go to Chicago before now...

Global Warming, by Seymour Simon, for non-fiction Monday

I am a rather ardent environmentalist, busily bringing home other people's discarded recyclables etc. And rising sea levels are something I worry about in my professional life--many significant archaeological sites are on the coast, and are under threat. Not to mention the huge human cost.

I've told my children the story of Global Warming as I see it...but still I welcomed a new picture book on the subject, that I hoped would interest them, and educate them further-- Global Warming, by Seymour Simon (Harper Collins, 2010, for ages 5-9 with full-color photographs).

This is a very handsome book--it's something of a coffee table book for children, in that it has lots of large full page pictures, and none of the sidebars and little fact boxes that appear in so much non-fiction for the young. And, as far as the main points go, I thought it a fine introduction to the causes and effects of global warming.

I was in full agreement with Simon's points, which touch on such topics as the retreat of the glaciers, the melting of the polar ice, the risks of flooding, etc., but I had a hard time with his prose style, which seemed a bit stiff. Of the polar bears, for instance, Simon writes: "If the ice melts, their food supply will be cut off and this will impact their survival" (page 15); I myself think "impact" should be used this way only in bureaucratic writing (I use it all the time at work), and that in a kid's book, the bears should simply be allowed to "go hungry," or possibly even "starve to death."

And I know that the effects of human actions on global warming are still hotly debated, so I don't expect Simon to make every sentence a statement of fact, but there was some uncertainty where none was needed. Simon, for instance, writes "Atmospheric warming can cause a rise in ocean temperatures and place coral reefs in jeopardy" (page 20). I don't think, myself, that that "can" is necessary.

So although I applaud the existence of this book, with its helpful list of "things we can do" at the end, it's not all I had hoped it would be. Still, I think it would be a good one for parent and child to read together, with the parent explaining and elaborating, and making clear the connections between the text and the (mostly caption-less) photographs.

Other reviews at Eco-Libris and A Patchwork of Books

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

The Non-Fiction Monday round-up is at Check It Out today!

This week's middle-grade fantasy and science-fiction round-up

Here's this week's round-up of reviews and sundry other things relevant to middle-grade science fiction and fantasy ("middle grade" being books for 9-12 year olds).

The Reviews:

Calamity Jack, by Shannon and Dean Hale (2010), at Fantasy Book Critic.

The Celestial Globe (The Chronus Chronicles Book 2), by Marie Rutkoski, at The HappyNappyBookseller, Fantasy Book Critic, and Charlotte's Library.

Amulet, Vol. 1: The Stonekeeper, and Vol. 2: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi, at Book Nut.

The Boy who Climbed into the Moon, by David Almond (2010) at Madhouse Family Reviews.

Brigitta of the White Forest, by Danika Dinsmore (2010), at Lori Calabrese

Crossing Over (Suddenly Supernatural Book 4), by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (2010), at Beyond Books

Foiled, by Jane Yolen (2010), at Book Dragon and Book Aunt.

The Halfmen of O, by Maurice Gee (1982) at Once, oh marvellous once

The Midnight Curse, by L.M. Falcone (2010) and The Magic Hat of Mortimer Wintergreen, by Myron Levoy (2000), at Suite 101.

The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay(1918, reprinted 1985) at Giraffe Days.

The Owl-Keeper, by Christine Brodien-Jones (2010), at Typing with My Toes, and Searching for a Good Read.

Princess of Glass, by Jessica Day George (2010, a YA/Mg cross-over) at Becky's Book Reviews.

The Sixty-eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone (2010), at Fantasy Literature.

Tollins, by Conn Iggulden (2009), at Pickled Bananas.

Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, by R.L. LaFevers (2010), at Book Aunt.

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, at Becky's Book Reviews (and Becky goes on to talk about the next two books in the series, which are more YA, in subsequent posts)

Thomas and the Dragon Queen, by Shutta Crum (coming this summer), a Galley Talk at Publisher's Weekly.

A Wizard of Mars, by Diane Duane, at Charlotte's Library.

N.D. Wilson's trilogy (The 100 Cupboards, Dandelion Fire, and The Chestnut King), at Book Aunt.

Interviews:

Megan Whalen Turner, author of The Thief et al., at Publisher's Weekly.
Danika Dinsmore, author of Brigitta of the White Forest, at Lori Calabrese.

Misc. Cool Stuff:

Nymeth answers "A fantasy reader's frequently asked questions" at Things Mean a Lot, and The Spectacle poses the question "Why are scary books popular?"

Book Scout has an interesting post on the thoughts of a Percy Jackson fan considering The Goddess Girls.

The short list for the Carnegie Awards includes a few fantasy books (I myself am very eager indeed to read Fever Crumb):
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
The Ask and the Answer, by Patrick Ness
Nation, by Terry Pratchett
Fever Crumb, by Philip Reeve

And finally, the folks at The Enchanted Inkpot are having a fabulous Birthday Giveaway! And so is Cleverly Inked (it's a realy WOW of a giveaway!!!)

And I think that's it for today...let me know, please, if I missed your post, or if you saw something in your own blog reading that I should include!

A Wizard of Mars, by Diane Duane

A Wizard of Mars, by Diane Duane (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010, upper middle grade/YA, 546 pages in ARC form), is the ninth book of The Young Wizards series. And it's most better read after the earlier books; indeed, much of the first 100 or so pages is essentially a reunion of characters met in previous books. Which is fun in its own way...but then things get really exciting.

Because up on Mars, the Young Wizards--Kit, Nita, and co.--are part of a team investigating a Martian "message in a bottle." In this case, it's a mysterious egg-like object, that may hold the clues to the mysteries of Mars' past. Because once upon a time, there were Martians...

Kit heads off to Mars on his own, and sets off the opening of the egg. All Martian magical hell breaks loose, in a chain reaction that brings the Young Wizards face to face with imagined versions of Mars for the boys of the group, and a revelation of the history of Mars for the girls. This gender division doesn't happen by chance. Both groups are being set up as part of a plan hatched thousands of years in the past, when Mars was truly a planet of war. And if Kit and Nita aren't clever and determined enough to figure out what's going on, the Martians might come to life again, and set their sights on Earth.

Kit and Nita are growing older, with all the concomitant baggage that entails. This shapes their encounters with the ancient inhabitants of Mars in a much more YA ish way than was the case with their previous adventures in the series (which is to say, the question of their feelings for each other is part of the plot). Even though the story qua story was fascinating (once it really got going), I was most particularly interested in the relationship of these two characters whose story I have been following since So You Want to Be a Wizard, the first book, was published way back in 1983 (yoiks!), and I wasn't disappointed in this regard (and now I really want the next book to come soon!).

Duane delivers her trademark plenitude of fun detail, with heaping servings of wizardry, folks with various special talents, a fascinating alien race, and considerable humor. Although I was put off a tad by the slow start, once things got going, I was deeply absorbed. One of my favorite books, I think, in the series.

Here's a fun and detailed recap at araine's writings and stuff.

(arc recieved from the publisher at ALA midwinter)

The 2010 Carnegie Medal Shortlist, or Someday there will be lists that don't include The Graveyard Book

The Carnegie Medal is essentially the UK equivalent of the Newbery here in the US--prestigious as all get out, and awarded by library professionals. One difference is that the Carnegie announces a shortlist in advance of the final selection:

Chaines, by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, by Helen Grant
Rowan the Strange, by Julie Hearn
The Ask and the Answer, by Patrick Ness
Nation, by Terry Pratchett
Fever Crumb, by Philip Reeve
Revolver, by Marcus Sedgwick

(for the UK cover pictures and brief blurbs, click here)

In case anyone else wonders why "older" books like The Graveyard Book are on this list, here's the eligibility requirement: "To be eligible for the 2010 Awards titles must have been first published in the UK between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009 or co-published elsewhere within three months."

The Kate Greenaway shortlist has also been announced.

Shapeshifter's Quest, by Dena Landon

After reading Mistwood, by Leah Cypess, and loving it, I vaguely set out to read other shapeshiter books. And happily, Shapeshifter's Quest, by Dena Landon (Penguin, 2005, older middle grade/younger YA, 182 pages) was close at hand in my local library.

Syanthe has grown up imprisoned in a forest, where all her shapeshifting kind have been trapped by the king and the powerful, magic wielding, priesthood that serves him. But for Syanthe, the imprisonment is illusory. She alone was hidden before she could be tattooed with the magical mark that kills any shapeshifter who tries to escape. Now the forest is dying, and her own mother is deathly ill. And Syanthe is the only one who can venture into the world beyond, to find a cure.

It is a dangerous journey. The priesthood is powerful, evil, and determined that the only magics in the realm should be under their control--death, or worse, awaits if she is caught. But fate is kind to her, and soon her path crosses with that of Jerel, a young man who is much more than he seems. He, too, has a mission--and a magic--of his own.

Shapeshifter's Quest is a lovely fast read, and I enjoyed the characters and their magics considerably. Syanthe is a nicely brave and compassionate heroine, and the story flows briskly and coherently. It's only main flaw is that it rather lacks subtlety--a huge suspension of disbelief is required to swallow Jerel's appearance in Syanthe's life. It's a tremendous coincidence that he should be the one to find her curled up by the side of the road--not only is he the perfect person to help her achieve her own goals, he is also soon to become more than just a helpful acquaintance...It made it a bit hard for me to really believe this story.

That being said, this is one I'd give in a sec to my 12 year-old self. I would have loved it to pieces. My adult self, however, loves Mistwood more--more tricksy, and more emotional punch. Like Mistwood, this was a debut novel; I went looking to see if Landon had any more books, because I enjoyed this one, but she doesn't seem too...

(The cover makes Shapeshifter's Quest look a lot older (reader-wise) than it is--there's some violence, but nothing dire, and the romance is understated).

Anyone have any favorite shapeshifter books to recommend for me to read next?

I love these books, and said so--a look back on 1001 posts

In honor of having written 1001 blog posts, I did a little bit of searching here, to see which books I loved so much that I couldn't restrain myself when writing about them. Here are the results of my searches on various permutations of "I loved this book."

The Night Fairy, by Laura Amy Schlitz
The Museum of Mary Childe, by Cassandra Golds
What Darwin Saw: The Voyage that Changed the World, by Rosalyn Schanzer
Blackbringer by Laine Taylor
Glass Slipper, Golden Sandal, by Paul Fleishman
Ludo and the Star Horse, by Mary Stewart
The Spell Coats, by Diana Wynne Jones
The Ghosts, by Antonia Barber
Hannah's Winter, by Kierin Meehan
Shark and Lobster's Amazing Undersea Adventure, by Viviane Schwarz
Mail Harry to the Moon, by Robie H. Harris
The Happy Hockey Family, by Lane Smith

But now I am having a very hard time playing fair, because I know I reviewed lots of other books that I loved. And it was hard not to go back and find their reviews, and sneak that phrase into them....sigh. I shall have to be more mindful of this in future, and when I love a book, I will say so openly and proudly, casting aside the shackles of dispassionate reviewer mindset etc etc.

I myself like it when people I know and trust say they love a book, and will not even take the time to read their review too closely if the L word is in it--I'll just add it to my list. How do other people feel? And how many books have you told the world you loved?

Rules of Attraction, by Simone Elkeles

And now for something completely different, a YA romance! Rules of Attraction, by Simone Elkeles (Bloomsbury, 2010, YA, 304 pages), is a companion book to Perfect Chemistry, a lovely little confection of teen love that I enjoyed very much last year (my review).

Rules of Attraction tells of Carlos, a Mexican teenager with a big attitude and a past tied to drugs and gangs, who moves to Colorado to live under the watchful eye of his big brother Alex (the hero of Perfect Chemistry). Alex arranges for Carlos to live with one of his professors...and there Carlos finds himself under the same roof as the professor's daughter, Kiara.

Kiara is a mountain climbing, car fixing, independent girl. Carlos is determined not to fall for her, but to keep his a***** persona firmly in place. But behind that facade, he's actually a caring, loving person.

And the two of them fall hard for each other. But can Carlos put his past behind him? And can he finally believe in love? Yes, well, it all sounds a bit stereotypical romancy. But it is pleasantly diverting as all get out, with Elkeles creating characters that one can care about, and I found it an enjoyable read, even though I couldn't exactly believe in the story qua story...Added interest comes from Kiara's best friend, who's gay, and some reflection on what it means to be a Mexican teen aged boy in America.

It is not at all necessary to have read Perfect Chemistry before reading this book, but I'd recommend it, simply because that is a stronger book. With that one, I had to check the ending multiple times to make sure it was happy; with this one, there was never much doubt....

(Rules of Attraction gets rather hot and heavy, so although younger teens might well enjoy reading it (it's not quite as explicit, say, as Forever, but there is sex), it might not be quite "suitable").

At Green Bean Teen Queen, you can enter to win (through April 28th) a copy of Perfect Chemistry, a copy of Rules of Attraction and a Perfect Chemistry/Rules of Attraction bookmark!


(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

The 2010 Locus YA finalists

Here are the Young Adult novels under consideration for this year's Locus Award (a list that is the result of a poll of Locus readers)

The Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon)
Going Bovine, Libba Bray (Delacorte)
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic; Scholastic UK)
Liar, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury; Allen & Unwin Australia)
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK)

Winners will be presented during the Science Fiction Awards Weekend in Seattle WA, June 25-27, 2010

I wonder if this is the first time a married pair (Larbalestier and Westerfeld) have been nominated in the same category. Looking for more information on this award, I learned that in this case, it's the publisher who gets a certificate, not the author. So perhaps it won't effect their marriage...and I bet it goes to Catching Fire anyway.

And I guess I really do have to read Liar now. I'm surprised that it is sff enough to be on this list...I had the impression that it was pretty straight YA.

Blackout, by Connie Willis, for Timeslip Tuesday

Blackout, by Connie Willis(Ballantine Books, 2010, 491 pages)

In previous novels --Doomesday Book (1993), and To Say Nothing of the Dog (1999), Connie Willis sent history students travelling back in time from a future Oxford. Blackout is set in this same universe, a few years down the line. Things are getting a little harried at the time travel control center, what with people popping in and out of time and space, demanding accents and golf lessons and era-appropriate clothing and props. Schedules are being changed with little notice, there are temporal slippages, and one theorist is warning that there might be issues, as it were, with time travel...

Three students of history are busily studying aspects of World War II. Merope is embedded as a maid at a country house full of evacuees, Polly is off to London to work as a shop girl during the blitz, and Michael is studying "heroism," and plans to interview a sample of Dunkirk rescue participants. All are pretty confident that the boss of time travel operations, Mr. Dunworthy, won't let anything bad happen to them. After all, he's been very particular in his insistence that they not stay in particular places that are going to be bombed, and that sort of thing.

But then things go wrong. The war seems to be progressing as it should. But Michael shouldn't have been able to actually take part in the evacuation of Dunkirk. Merope shouldn't have been trapped by a measles epidemic. And Polly's way home has been bombed... Surrounded by the chaos and death of WW II, the three young time travellers being to wonder if there is a glitch in time...one that might result in a more in-depth experience of the past then anyone would ever want.

This is a book that demands the attention of the reader, and then rewards it tremendously. In many ways, it is like being part of a series of nightmares--the chaos and the confusion experienced by the protagonists (not just in WW II, but in Oxford of 2060, as they try to prepare for their missions) was almost too much for me. The short chapters that jumped between the character's point of view added to my difficulties.

As the book progressed, however, and I got more of a handle on the three main stories I was being told (and the protagonists got more of a handle on their own circumstances), I became fully absorbed in Willis' utterly gripping portrayal of the fall of 1940. During the last two hundred pages or so I might not have blinked, I was so lost to the real world. Willis manages to combine emotional depth with bright surface detail, making for very good reading indeed.

But then came the cliffhanger of an ending. The second book, All Clear (coming this fall) really is, it seems, a continuation, not a sequel. There is NO closure to this book, and nothing is explained. And in consequence, I think I might have read Blackout too carelessly in my riveted state, and missed Important Clues. For instance (not a spoiler), on page 454 a character thinks: "Unless...oh, God, she hadn't even thought of that possibility. She'd assumed...but that was even worse..." And I have no idea at all what this person is thinking....and then the book ended soon after. Argh. I wonder if I am now assuming worse-er things than the character is, or if there are Horrors that haven't crossed my mind.

Blackout is a fine example of the sort of time travel story in which the immersion of the characters in the past is central--it is almost more historical fiction than sci fi/fantasy. But because the characters are from the future, and know what happens, their perceptions of the past that they are living have a certain type of poignancy to them that straight historical fiction doesn't. To be friends with someone you know is dead, to see a cathedral you know will be bombed, is to see the world in a whole different light, and Willis conveys this beautifully.

But you might want to wait a few months more before reading this, until All Clear is out and ready to hand!

The Celestial Globe, by Marie Rutkoski

The Celesital Globe, by Marie Rutkoski (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 304 pages, YA/Upper Middle Grade).

Back in 2008, I enjoyed Marie Rutkoski's first book, The Cabinet of Wonders, very much; so much so that I helped shortlist it for the Cybils that year. So I opened its sequel, The Celestial Globe, with much hopeful anticipation....and was very pleased indeed to find it even more enthralling than the first book. It includes attacking monsters, imprisoned elemental spirits, treachery, nautical adventuring, friendship, fencing lessons, a murder mystery, and my favorite fictional mechanical spider, all in a well-written package.

In The Cabinet of Wonders, Petra and her gypsy friend Neel, with help from a mechanical spider friend, had thwarted the plans of the twisted Prince Rudolfo of Bohemia to take over the world. Neel rejoined his Gypsy kin, Petra returned to her village, and for a brief span it seemed that all was well again.

But as The Celestial Globe begins, the prince has sent monsters to attack Petra and her father. Her father is captured, but Petra escapes, saved by John Dee, the Elizabethan magician with whom she had forged a mind link in the first book. Trying to save her, her village friend Tomick plunges through a hole in space, and finds himself a prisoner of the same gypsies that Neel had joined...

Petra in London chaffs against her virtual imprisonment by the powerful and enigmatic Dee. She is caught up in a web of murder and intrigue, developing her own magical skills under Dee's tutelage. Meanwhile, Tomick's fate hangs in the balance--will he be sold into slavery by the Sea Gypsies, or will he be able to continue his search for Petra? The Gypsies are searching themselves for the Celestial Globe, a magical artifact that would give them the ultimate freedom of travel, and an escape from persecution. And all signs point toward London...where Petra is already at work solving the mystery.

The Celestial Globe is simultaneously epically sweeping and pleasingly detailed. Magics large and small fill the adventures of both Petra and the boys, but do not dominate the plot. Rather, it is the mystery in which the characters are caught that drives the book, a mystery the characters are figuring out along with the reader. And it's a beautifully complex, satisfying tricky story, that doesn't make anything too obvious (although that being said, sometimes I can be rather dense).

I don't think it absolutely necessary to have read The Cabinet of Wonders before reading this one, but, since that is a fine book itself, there's no reason why you wouldn't want to read it first anyway.

(note on age: I was surprised to see this one described as YA over at Amazon; the publisher has it as Grades 5-9, ages 10-14, which I'd say was spot on--there's no sex, although romance might be coming, some growing up but that's not the main point, some violence but not tremendously so).

Another week's worth of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs

Here are the reviews, interviews, and a few etcs of interest to fans of middle grade science fiction and fantasy that I've found during my blog reading this past week. Please let me know if I've missed your post, or if you've seen something that I've missed!

13 Treasures, by Michelle Harrison, at Fantasy Book Critic and Jean Little Library

The Birthday Ball, by Lois Lowry, at Everyday Reading and Abby (the) Librarian.

The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper, a joint review at The Written World and Book Nut.

Gold Dragon Codex, by R.D. Henham, at Jean Little Library.

Gregor the Overlander (et seq.) by Suzanne Collins at Bibliophilia-Maggie's Bookshelf.

Knightly Academy, by Violet Haberdasher, at Ms. Yingling Reads.

Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, at Charlotte's Library (labeled YA, but I think it's a good upper mg read too)

Lord Sunday, by Garth Nix, at A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy.

The New Brighton Archaeological Society, at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy.

Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes (August, 2010), at Welcome to My Tweendom

The Owl Keeper, by Christine Brodien-Jones at Wicked Awesome Books and at Cleverly Inked (where there's also a fabulous birthday giveaway in progress)

The Robe of Skulls and The Bag of Bones, by Vivian French, at Jean Little Library.

The Shifter, by Janice Hardy, at Eva's Book Addiction.

The Stones of Green Knowe, by Lucy M. Boston, at Fantasy Literature (the concluding review of a look at the whole series)

Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, by R.L. LaFevers, at Jean Little Library, Strange and Random Musings, and Wicked Awesome Books.

Wings (The Mysterious Mr. Spines Book 1) at Better with Books.

Other interesting things:

At Book Aunt, there's a lovely long post about Trickster Fiction, that looks at a variety of books, including some mg fantasy.

Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter by R. J. Anderson, was selected as one of two Honour Books for the Canadian Library Association's 2010 Children's Book of the Year Award.

The ninth book of Diane Duane's Young Wizards Series, A Wizard on Mars, was just released; here's a letter from Duane about it over at Amazon.

A bunch of Interviews:

R.L. LaFevers at The Enchanted Inkpot, whose new book, Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, was just released (which is a lovely thing, but I'm waiting for her next Nathaniel Flood-Beastologist book....). And head over to her Live Journal site to win for your library a copy of The Eyes of Horus, and the second book as well! (here's Theodosia's own site, btw)

Megan Whalen Turner, author of the Queen's Thief series, at Shelf Awarness.

At Headdesk, there's an interview (and giveaway) with Christine Brodien-Jones, author of The Owl Keeper.

At Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind, there's an interview with Grace Lin, author and illustrator of Where the Mountain meets the Moon

At Boy Lit.com, there's a rather teasing interview with Rebecca Barnhouse, author of The Book of the Maidservant, about her forthcoming book The Coming of the Dragon (a teaser because it doesn't come out till October!)


and finally, Greenwillow has a fun little post about what would happen if some of their favorite characters (including Eugenidies and Howl) took up tweeting...

(even more finally--don't forget that there are still fantasy books that can be bought for the kids at two schools on the Navajo Nation and the White Mountain Apache Reservation. Go to Powells, click on wish lists, and enter the email address guyslitwire at gmail dot com to see what books are still wanted....the shipping addresses (and more info) can be found here).

To-Be-Read/To-Be-Bought challenge update!

Yesterday I posted a challenge--read the names of the books on my tbr list, and I'll buy books for some kids who need them badly!

Thanks to your deciphering efforts, the following are on their way to the Ojo Encino Day School, located twenty-five miles west of Cuba, New Mexico on the Navajo Nation:

Jason and the Golden Fleece
Flying With the Eagle Racing the Great Bear
Hollow Kingdom Trilogy #02: Close Kin
Hollow Kingdom Trilogy #03: In the Coils of the Snake
A Wolf at the Door: And Other Retold Fairy Tales

And I've added this last one to my own (freshly re-copied) list!

There's more deciphering still to come...I'm standing by to place my next order on behalf of the kids at Alchesay High School, in the White Mountain Apache Reservation, Arizona.

Thanks for playing!

Looking for Luna, by Tim Myers, a picture book in verse

Looking for Luna, by Tim Myers, illustrated by Mike Reed (Marshall Cavendish 2009)

"We're after a cat,
a soft-stepping cat,
I'm walking with dad and we're after a cat.
With me out in front and Dad close behind,
there's a wandering kitty we need to find."

And so the hunt for Luna beings...all over the neighborhood, a little girl and her father search and search for the lost kitty. There are many places for a cat to explore here, and many cats busy (or not so busy) going about their feline days.

"We pass a rickety wooden house,
where a yellow cat's just caught a mouse
a cat we rarely see, who creeps
through canna lilies, pauses, leaps
up to the top of the garden wall,
then shadows away like mist in fall."

As the search goes on, and girl and Dad great more and more familiar cats, it becomes clear that they have done this many times before...but at last, there is Luna! Not far away, and happy to be held again. So there's little anxiety here-looking for Luna is more a familiar adventure of daily life then a dreadful worry.

And in fact, the book ends with another hunt "for a soft-stepping, shining-eyed, milk-lapping cat" beginning...giving a reason for father and child to set off on a quest together, on a warm sunny day.

A lovely one, both picture-wise and word-wise, for the cat loving child.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

For more poetry, please visit the Poetry Friday Roundup at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast!

My to-be-read list, a to-be-bought list of much more importance, and a challenge that beautifully combines the two

Thanks, everyone, who took part in this challenge! I bought seven books, which is more than I would have bought otherwise, and that was the point....

Before Blogging, I was a peaceful re-reader. Sure, I'd try new books occasionally, but I wasn't adventuresome in the least.

After Blogging, I am an overwhelmed reader, with more books I want to read than I know what to do with! It is still awfully exciting to open new books, but, really, it's verging on madness....

My working to-be-read list (which doesn't include the four pages in my Amazon shopping cart) has outgrown its page, and is about to be neatly recopied. Here it is (and I'm sorry it runs of the side of the page--the scanner couldn't cope):

I'm lucky--I live in a state with a brilliant, and free, interlibrary loan service, and my library is four doors down from my house. The hard part is not getting greedy, and requesting too many at once...and even if a book isn't in the library system, I'm able to buy books I want...or even gratefully receive them from the publishers.

I'm lucky.

So, with my own list in front of me, waiting to be re-written, I'm thinking of two other wish lists of books, for kids who don't have the wild and crazy book access that I do. Guys Lit Wire is spearheading a book drive for two reservation schools, where each book received will be incredibly welcomed and valued. (read more here at Chasing Ray).

I am going to be heading over to Powells, and entering "guyslitwire@gmail.com" in the wish list slot...but I don't know how many books I'll buy yet. (btw--I have a link to Powells here on my blog, and anything I make from it helps my own public library)

So, anyone reading this, here's a challenge--for every ten books that can be deciphered on my to-be-read list, I'll buy a book from the wish list! I don't actually expect a lot of people to play this little game with me (which is fine :) and my feelings won't be hurt, much :)), so if you can recognize any book titles, just leave them in the comments, and I'll add them all up at the end.

Here's what's been found so far, now nicely alphabetized:

13 Days to Midnight,After Ever After,Bad Girls Don't Die,The Anubis Gate,Before I Fall, Before the storm, Betraying Season, Between Two Seas, The Bone Doll's Twin, Botany of Desire,The Boys Are Back in Town, The Chestnut King, The Comet's Curse, Dark Isle, The dragon keeper, The Dreamer, The Einstein Girl, Evermore, Falling Up, Fever crumb, Geektastic, The Golden Age, Heart's Blood, The Hunter's Moon, Inside Out, The Legend of the Wandering King, Living Hell, The Lost Children, The Lost Garden, The Magicians, The Mapmaker's Monsters, The Margarets, Mira, Mirror, Mockingbird, A Most Improper Magic (sic- should be "Magick"), Off World, The Owl Keeper, Prime Baby, The Prince of Mist, The Princes of the Golden Cage, Raven's Gate, The Red Pyramid, River boy, Sorcerer's Letter Box, Stardust, Save the Best for Last, Shapeshifter, Still She Wished for Company, Stuck on Earth, The Summer I Got A Life, Sunset Valley, Toads and Diamonds, Troll Fell, The Vinter's Luck, Voices of Dragons, Warriors in the Crossfire, When the Hip Chicks Went to War, Wild Things, Will Grayson Will Grayson, Wolf Hall, World Shaker, Year of the bomb.

For my own interest, a year later these are the books I still haven't read:
13 Days to Midnight,Bad Girls Don't Die,The Anubis Gate, Before the storm, Between Two Seas, The Bone Doll's Twin, Botany of Desire,The Boys Are Back in Town, Dark Isle [should be Darkisle], The dragon keeper, The Dreamer, The Einstein Girl, Evermore, The Golden Age, Inside Out, The Legend of the Wandering King, The Lost Garden, The Magicians, The Mapmaker's Monsters, The Margarets, Mira, Mirror, A Most Improper Magic (sic- should be "Magick"), Off World, The Princes of the Golden Cage, Raven's Gate, Sorcerer's Letter Box, Stardust, Save the Best for Last, Still She Wished for Company, Sunset Valley, The Vinter's Luck, Voices of Dragons, Warriors in the Crossfire, When the Hip Chicks Went to War, Wolf Hall, World Shaker.

36 still unread...

Update: Eyes like Stars is not actually on the list! I was recopying it this morning (so as to catch mistakes on my part such as this) and realized it is a different book, and indeed, I was wondering why Eyes like Stars was still on it when I had read it a while ago....

Thank you all so much for playing! We are up to 61 (out of about 84)! It is strange typing them-I don't remember why I wanted about a third of them. What, for instance, is Before the Storm about?????

I am surprised that no-one got this one yet--even though it was cut off by the Bad Scanner, the Clues are there.

(btw, this book buying project ends Wednesday, April 21, so I'll close this on Tuesday)