This week's middle grade sci fi/fantasy roundup

Here's this week's round-up of what I found in my blog reading.  Let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews:

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass, at Mister K Reads

The Big Beast Sale, by David Sinden, at Back to Books

The Claws of Evil (The Battles of Ben Kingdom), by Andrew Beasley, at The Book Zone 

Curse of the Thirteenth Fey, by Jane Yolen, at Charlotte's Library and The Book Brownie

Escape To Witch Mountain, by Alexander Key, at This Blog Belongs to Emily Brown

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Ms. Yingling Reads
and a joint review in three parts at The Brain Lair, Maria's Melange and Library Fantatic

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Sonderbooks

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Book Angel Booktopia and Sonderbooks 

Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Island of Silence (The Unwanteds, Book 2) by Lisa McMann, at Akossiwa Ketoglo

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at In Bed With Books and Karissa's Reading Review 

Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at The Write Stuff 

The Ninnies, by Paul Magrs, at Strange and Random Happenstance

On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave, by Candace Fleming, at books4yourkids

The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at alibrarymama

The Prairie Thief, by Melissa Wiley, at Bookie Woogie and Sonderbooks

Signed by Zelda, by Kate Feiffer, at books4yourkids

Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy, at Read in a Single Sitting

Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy, at Annie McMahon

A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeline L'Engle, at Secrets & Sharing Soda

The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Barb Middleton, at Nerdy Book Club 

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, at Time Travel Times Two

When You Wish Upon a Rat, by Maureen McCarthy, at Charlotte's Library

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom, and Poseidon and the Sea of Fury (Heroes in Training books 1 and 2), by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams at Small Review

Two by Eva Ibbotson at Read in a Single Sitting-- Not Just a Witch, and Dial a Ghost

The 100 Cupboards series, by N.D. Wilson, at Mister K Reads 

Authors and Interviews

Catherynne M. Valente at Wondrous Reads

Other Good Stuff:

Wondering if a mg sff might win the Newbery, I made a list of all the mg sff books that got stars (shamelessly plucking them from Elizabeth Bluemle's comprehensive list at Shelftalker)

My sister and I had fun making up our own tunes for Menolly's songs, but these guys almost certainly a. did a better job b. took it seriously (found at  Tales of the Marvellous, where you can read more about them).  I just want to add that the cover of Dragonsong used for the second cd is just about my favorite book cover illustration ever, and it works exquisitely as a cd cover!

Lolcats of the Middle Ages (found via Light Reading):

And finally, speaking of book covers, though not mg sff covers, here is a new book called Doomed:

 

Here is what I saw....

....a rather cute cyclopedian (cyclopsian? one-eyed?) animal (my son saw a "really weird tube worm"...)  It has taken me a lot of effort to see it as the hand it is supposed to be.

Curse of the Thirteenth Fey, by Jane Yolen

Curse of the Thirteenth Fey: the True Tale of Sleeping Beauty, by Jane Yolen (Philomel, middle grade, Nov. 2012), has a somewhat misleading title.  It is actually the tale of the family of fairies who came to the christining, and how the princess ended up falling into her enchanted sleep.  And more particularly, it's the tale of the youngest daughter of this family, young Gorse. 

Gorse was left home sick when the rest of her family--aunts, siblings, and parents (no uncles--they were humans and didn't stick around long, but Gorse's father is an elf, and stayed), troop off to the castle to fulfil their part in a bargain made with the human king long ago.  The fairies swore an oath to do the bidding of the royal family, and bestowing Christening magic on the baby princess is part of the bargain. 

But Gorse--thoughtful, brave, impetuous, and somewhat sickly--is horrified when she realizes she's been left home alone.  Will she (and perhaps all her family) explode into light if the family oath isn't fulfilled because she isn't there?  So off she goes by herself to the castle....only to fall into an underground maze.  There a prince of the Unseely fairy court (Orybon),  along with his sworn companion (Grey),  and a clan of cave trolls (called "the McGargles" by the two fairy dudes) are were trapped underground by an imprisoning spell cast long ago (the trolls were innocent, unlucky, bystanders).  Orybon could be free any time--all he has to do is truly repent the wickedness that he's being punished for, and then Grey and the McGargles would be free too.  But repentance isn't actually on Orybon's agenda--he'd rather coerce Gorse into using her family's gift of magical shouting to batter a way through the locked gate to the upper world....

Not surprisingly, Gorse manages to save those who deserve saving, and makes it to the Christening, in time to see her mother cunningly work magic that will free her own family from their bondage to the human royals.  

Surprisingly, Grey, once restored to the upper world, reverts to the age he was when he was first imprisoned--now he's a boy again, just a bit older than Gorse.  And so, with this rather squicky implication that love will blossom despite the age weirdness, we leave them to their magic...

A few quick pluses--An imaginative look at a part of the Sleeping Beauty story that I've never seen looked at before.  Plucky, intelligent, well-read heroine.  Really cool magical book delivery system in which Gorse's father can reach into a magical book delivery slot and pull out random books, allowing Gorse to quote Through the Looking Glass. 

My less plus-like thoughts:  I just never do truly fall for Jane Yolen's books--they just never seem to me to fully deliver numinous enchantment, characters I can take to my heart, and truly gripping stories (and I do recognize that this is my issue--plenty of readers seem to love her just fine).  In this case I was put off by how long it took for the story to actually start--there are seventy six pages of backstory in which Gorse is born, grows older, hears family stories, and tells things to the reader.  Then she falls into the pit, and the pace picks up, albeit in a somewhat choppy fashion.

However, though the story now becomes genuinely interesting reading, the pit has its own problems.   Although the relationship between Orybon and Grey was fraught with all sorts of dynamics (which is the sort of thing I appreciate), I can't really call it a masterpiece of subtle character building.  And I know that I might be over-reacting, but I really didn't care for the patronizing, almost neo-Imperialist way the cave trolls are presented, both with the ridiculous name and the whole sense that I got of them as an exploited indigenous people, in an --isn't it nice that they can care about their families even though they are less than human-- way.

And finally, I was squicked out by Grey suddenly getting younger and loosing memories of what happened underground (which basically erases all of the character development that had happened in his life) and becoming a potential love interest for a girl who started things young enough to be his daughter.

I didn't mind reading it once, but I won't be reading it again.

Other reviews:

The Book Brownie
Kirkus
and the Upper Hudson Library system has gathered the School Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, and Booklist reviews here

The Friday Society, by Adrienne Kress

Sometimes even picky readers of historical fiction (ie, me) are allowed to just enjoy the ride, especially when the ride in question is to a steampunk 19th-century London that never was.  The Friday Society, by Adrienne Kress (Dial, YA, Dec. 2012), is a playful mystery/thriller in which three teenage girls--an inventor's assistant, a magician's assistant, and a would-be samurai warrior from Japan find their paths (littered with dead bodies) crossing....and they end up working together, in a sisterhood of mad talent, to foil your basic megalomaniac evil genius plot to destroy London.

(Yay!  A one sentence summary!)

So sure, it isn't historical fiction at its most un-anachronistic, but a lot of the fun comes from the author's relaxed and playful use of modern turns of phrase.  As in the first two sentences, which made me feel all happy to read the book:

"And then there was an explosion.
It was loud.  It was bright.  It was very explosion-y."

I liked all three girls--Cora, the serious inventor, Nellie, the beautiful girl who's an ace escape artist, and Michiko, formidable swordswoman confronted by barriers of language and culture.  They were each strongly individual, with nicely doled out back-story and motivations and opinions.  The point of view shifts between the three girls, which was good, in large part because it gave the reader a chance to get to know Michiko, and hear her thoughts.  I liked how Cora and Nellie, even though they couldn't exactly have complicated conversations with Michiko, never treated her as an exotic other--she was a person and an equal.  The one real reservation I had, regarding Cora being swept off her feet by feelings of physical attraction to a jerk, proved to be a reservation that the author shared, and not something she thought was ok, which was a relief.  

I liked the story--it was enough of a steampunk thriller to be interesting, without the thriller-ness using up too many pages with violent chases etc, which I often find tedious.  (nb--people who actually like tightly plotted thrillers that exercise their brains might find it untightly plotted, and might put in some critical thinking type comments here, but I am not that reader).

In short, I liked reading the book! It was just the sort of escapist fun that makes for excellent bus ride reading.  This came as a very pleasant surprise, because I did not much care for the author's two middle grade fantasy books.  I think her writing has improved lots--I felt here that she was in control of her story, which was not quite the feeling I had gotten in the past.

Will a fantasy book win the Newbery? A look at the stars (literally)

The winner of the Newbery Award will be announced Monday--and I have been spending much thought on the chances of a fantasy book winning.

Obvious contenders that have been mentioned many times in many places are Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz,  Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, and The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate.   Of these, Starry River is my favorite, and I'd be happy to see it win.

But what of the other fine fantasy books published this past year?

Elizabeth at Shelftalker posted her masterful list of all the books that got stars from the professional reviewers last year.   And I, in turn, have gone through and extracted the sci fi/fantasy titles.   Here they are, with my commentary in italics:

SEVEN STARS --none.

SIX STARS-- none.
 
FIVE STARS--
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver (Harper)

Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz. (Candlewick)

Starry River of the Sky. Grace Lin. (Little, Brown)

There's two of the three mentioned above; I'm surprised that The Spindlers got so many--I found it a perfectly fine book, but not at all outstanding.

FOUR STARS
Who Could That Be at This Hour? Lemony Snicket, illus. by Seth. (Little, Brown)

It would be fun to see this with a shiny sticker on it, but unless this year's committee was very quirky, I can't see it happening.

THREE STARS

The Fire Chronicle (Books of Beginning #2). John Stephens. Knopf,

Greyhound of a Girl, A. Roddy Doyle. Abrams/Amulet

In a Glass Grimmly. Adam Gidwitz. Dutton

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny—Detectives Extraordinaire! Polly Horvath, illus. by
Sophie Blackall. Random/Schwartz & Wade

The One and Only Ivan,  Katherine Applegate, illus. by Patricia
Castelao. HarperCollins

The Seven Tales of Trinket, Shelley Moore Thomas, illus. by Dan
Craig. Farrar, Straus and Giroux

My own favorite of these is Greyhound of a Girl, but it's not eligible.   The Seven Tales of Trinket might be a dark horse in the race--I can imagine people agreeing to agree on it.  And there Ivan...which I didn't care for much myself, but those who love it seem to do so with a passion.   The people handing out stars this year seem to have appreciated humorous books--lots show up in the two star list too.

TWO STARS

The Brixen Witch,  Stacy DeKeyser, illus. by John Nickle. S & S, McElderry

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again. Frank Cottrell Boyce, illus. by
Joe Berger. Candlewick

Cold Cereal. Adam Rex. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There,
Catherynne M. Valente, illus. by Ana Juan. Feiwel and Friends

Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, The. Christopher Healy, illus. by
Todd Harris. HarperCollins/Walden Pond

Last Dragonslayer, The. Jasper Fforde. Harcourt

Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan. R.A. Spratt, illus. by Dan Santat.
Little, Brown

Oh No! Not Again! (Or How I Built a Time Machine to Save History) (Or
At Least My History Grade). Mac Barnett, illus. by Dan Santat.
Disney-Hyperion

On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave. Candace Fleming.
Random/Schwartz & Wade

Remarkable. Lizzie K. Foley. Dial

Summer and Bird. Katherine Catmull. Dutton

What Came from the Stars. Gary D. Schmidt. Clarion

Lots more humor--and The Last Dragonslayer, which I love but which isn't eligible.   I could easily see The Girl Who....coming home with something.   

ONE STAR

Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated. Gerald Morris, illus. by Aaron
Renier. Houghton Mifflin

Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent (The Father of Lies Chronicles).
Alan Early. Mercier Press

Bartholomew Biddle and the Very Big Wind. Gary Ross; illus. by Matthew
Myers. Candlewick

Castle of Shadows. Ellen Renner, illus. by Wilson Swain. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls. Claire LeGrand, illus. by
Sarah Watts. Simon & Schuster

Deadly Pink. Vivian Vande Velde. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Deadweather and Sunrise. Geoff Rodkey. Putnam

Dragonborn. Toby Forward. Bloomsbury

Earwig and the Witch. Diana Wynne Jones, illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky.
Greenwillow

The Empty City,  Erin Hunter. HarperCollins

The False Prince, Jennifer A. Nielsen. Scholastic Press

Five Nights to the Crimson Moon. Walter Renfrey. Walter Renfrey

Goblin Secrets. William Alexander. Margaret McElderry/S&S

Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange
Adventure. Lissa Evans. Sterling

Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book III: The Unseen Guest. Maryrose Wood. HarperCollins/Balzer and Bray

The Lost King, by Ursula Jones. Inside Pocket Publishing

Palace of Stone (Princess Academy). Shannon Hale. Bloomsbury

The Peculiar, Stefan Bachmann. Greenwillow

The Secret Prophecy, Herbie Brennan. Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins,

Ship of Souls. Zetta Elliott. AmazonEncore

Time Snatchers. Richard Ungar. Putnam.

The Traveling Restaurant: Jasper’s Voyage in Three Parts. Barbara
Else. Gecko Press

The Vengekeep Prophecies, Brian Farrey, illus. by Brett Helquist.
Harper

There are quite a few here I haven't read, mostly the ones that came out after October and so weren't part of my Cybils reading.   Of those I read, the two I like best that are eligible (Earwig and Horten aren't) are The Peculiar and The False Prince.  But I can't quite see them winning anything.   Betsy Bird really liked The Vengekeep Prophecies--"this is a standalone first novel that fulfills its promises and yet leaves you wanting more. In other words, the best kind of fantasy there is."  I will try to read it by Monday, so I can, if moved to do so, predict that it will win...

All of the 2012 books that I helped shortlist for the Cybils are on here--Ivan, The Peculiar, The False Prince, The Last Dragonslayer (Beswitched is 2011)-except for two.  Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, didn't get a star, which I think is too bad.  I'm not saying I think it should get anything on Monday, but it should have gotten a star, so I'm glad we shortlisted it and showed it some love.  Likewise, The Cabinet of Earths is a really rich and tasty fantasy that should have been starred.  Much more interesting and better written (in my opinion) than some that did get stars....I could see this one with an honor, perhaps, maybe....

Conclusion:  My money is currently on Starry River to represent for mg sff.  What do you think?

When You Wish Upon a Rat, by Maureen McCarthy, for Timeslip Tuesday

When You Wish Upon a Rat, by Maureen McCarthy (Amulet Books, Sept. 2012 in the US, middle grade) is the first book I can remember reading in which a sentient stuffed animal magically transports the main character back in time....

Months have gone by since eleven-year-old Ruth's older brother threw her stuffed rat into the river (a special, antique sort of stuffed rat, not taxidermy, that was a gift from her favorite aunt).  Months in which Ruth's aunt died, and Ruth grieved...months spent despising life in a family consisting of absentminded, overly relaxed parents and distasteful brothers.  Indeed Ruth has it rather hard--as the only one who cares about organization, and clean dishes, and Standards, she does more than her share of the housework.  Her parents really do pay more attention to her brothers than they do to her, and on top of that, the cool girls who were her friends are now hostile.

The rat episode was pretty much the last straw that cemented Ruth's dislike of her family, and she's been furious with her brother ever since.  But when she strikes up the beginnings of a friendship with Howard, a boy who's even more an outsider than she is, things change.  Howard suggests that she might go back, long trip via public transportation though it is, to the spot where she last saw her rat....

And she finds it again.   And it is alive, in a magical, still a stuffed rat kind of a way.   Not only that, but it can grant wishes--wishes that can change her life.

So, in classic be careful what you wish for style, Ruth experiments with three different lives.   One makes her an only child, the center of attention of dotting, well-off parents, who smother her.  One wish, for an "ordered, quiet life.  No family," fulfils her request nicely--the catch with that is that she's an orphan in a strict convent boarding school.   And the final wish has Ruth about to win a kids television quiz show--but there's  a nasty twist to that too.

You can probably guess the end, but I couldn't help but continue to feel sorry for Ruth and to wish her parents tried harder with the dishes and with her birthday presents. They really are somewhat neglectful, and the fact that I thought Ruth's original life was pretty awful made me a little disappointed that, after all was said and done, her house was still a mess.

So the story as a whole is fairly predictable in the general way things play out, but the ways in which Ruth's various lives play out makes for interesting reading.  The time travel sub-story, which did come as a surprise, was especially nice for me, fan of orphan and school stories that I am. 

Ruth's reactions to the strictures of Catholic school life, which comes complete with despotic nuns, are spot on, and the friendship she makes with another student is a genuinely real relationship with reverberations into the present that cause Ruth to change for the better.  Those who are left hand might find this section of the book particularly interesting--her new friend is left-handed, and is being pretty much tortured into using her right hand.

In short, a fun contemporary addition to the "kid who tries on other lives through magic" sub-genre.

This was originally published in Australia in 2010, as Careful What You Wish For; here's that cover.  I much prefer the US version--the Australian cover looks like the girl wished for a boyfriend and it ended badly.

Other blog reviews:  Tsana's Reads and Reviews, Sharon the Librarian, and Teen Book Reviews

Disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher for Cybils consideration.

The Bird King--an artist's notebook, by Shaun Tan

If you want to be inspired to start keeping sketchbooks of your own, or if you want a child in your life to do the same, or if you want to peek into the creative processes of one of the greatest creators of graphic novels around (and a fine artist in general), or if you simply want to spend a little while delighting in whimsy and magical possibility, look for The Bird King--an artist's notebook, by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine Books, 128 pages, technically out Feb. 1, but in stock at Amazon now....)

It is just what the title promises--a notebook of drawings and paintings, culled from twelve years of scribbles, works in progress, and practice pictures.  Some are just for fun, some were the start of stories, and some are images from stories or illustrations in progress.    In the author's note, Tan says that each piece was done in a single sitting of less than two hours, and so they have a spontaneity and joy to them--and this is what makes me want to break out the colored pencils and play too.

Many of the pictures in the book, although things of joy in themselves, would also work very nicely as story prompts, something that Tan finds holds true for himself as well:  "While there is no set meaning in any of these drawings, there is an invitation to seek one..." (page 3), and this in part how The Lost Thing and The Arrival came to be.   I think many of the pictures may be too dark or creepy to share with younger kids--some are a little nightmarish, what with tentacles and such, but for those who have, say, a 12 year old on hand (as I just happen to do), it's awfully fun to look at them together, wondering what is going on and what on earth will happen next.....

In short, this notebooks if full of little mechanical marvels and strange creatures and sketches and paintings from life that are quite lovely.  The book itself, qua book, has a lovely solidity to it's binding--it's one of those very pleasing type of books that makes one want to give it as a gift.

Here is the picture that tickled me most, entitled Summoning:

This post is my contribution to today's Nonfiction Monday round-up, hosted at LibrariYAn.

(disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher)

Me reading adult fantasy--The Magicians, by Lev Grossman

I have vowed to make 2013 the year in which I bravely read fantasy books for grown-ups, and thanks to many of you, I have a lovely long list of recommendations.  After a false start with City of Dark Magic, I moved on to one I've been meaning to read for years--The Magicians, by Lev Grossman.  And once I got over the shock of the main character peeing in the shower, I enjoyed it...pretty much.

(this post contains spoilers)

What I liked:

1. The college of magic which the main character, Quentin Coldwater, attends is lovely and fascinating and very nicely described.   Quentin's sojourn at the antarctic campus is also good reading.

2.  The epic, post-graduation adventure of Quentin and his circle of college chums in the magical land of Fillory was also fascinating.  It's a riff on Narnia, asking what it would be like if adults were the ones crossing over to save a fantasy realm--an interesting premise, and rather gripping.

3.  The whole beautiful, charming, lovely, and ultimately sinister story of Fillory--there's a series of books about them that were the favorite childhood reading of the main characters.  (I especially love the fact that the Fillory books have their own website).

What I didn't like:

1.  Quentin is not appealing.  I can understand, and even empathize, with many of his feelings, but gee, the dude is self-centered.   Many years pass, and few meaningful words are exchanged between the characters.

2.   I found very off-putting indeed (though my rational brain admits it was important to the plot) the bit after Quentin graduates and he is doing nothing useful in New York and spending his time drinking too much, and Alice, his girlfriend who had all sorts of plans and potential is stuck there too (beats me why, except for reasons of plot).

What annoyed me:

1.  The author assuming I didn't know what the word "vixen" meant.  Please. 

2.  One of the central young student magician characters, Eliot, is gay, and I was not happy with his portrayal.  Early in the book we see him in a very off-kilter sexual encounter, and he's in great emotional pain, and trying to douse it with alcohol and forced sophistication.  And why did Eliot have to be the one who hooks up with a sex partner the moment they start meeting the Fillorians?

 I had the feeling the author was making some sort of point about how open and adult he (the author) was going to be about gay sexuality or something, and though it could be argued that sexuality and the emotional reverberations thereof are a huge part of Eliot's character, and the author was just being true to the character he was creating, but it felt gay unfriendly.

 There is another gay character, the author of the Fillory books, who turns out to have been a pedophile.   Great (sarcasm font).

(Just as a general observation, there was lots of sex in the book that didn't bother me; it didn't much interest me either, since it was mostly of an "and then they had sex" variety, and even the development of the relationship between Quentin and Alice, which took ages,  and was tremendously important, didn't make rainbow sparkles in my mind the way a good lusty fictional romance should).

3.  The whole business about Quentin cheating on Alice, and she is justifiably hurt and angry and he is all sad and wants her forgiveness, and then when she sleeps with someone else he gets his little knickers in a twist and is all Angry and How Could You and I had no sympathy for him at all.

What I am not sure about:

I am pretty sure that if I were attacked by a naked demon who happened to have enormous genitals I would indeed notice them, and perhaps even remark on them, as the characters do.  But were these enormous genitals really a detail that needed to be there?  Possibly, in that it underlines the point that this Fillory adventure isn't kids in fairyland, but I had gathered that already.  I'm not sure I wanted this particular image seared into my young, impressionable mind.

Did I like it?  Well, I read it with absorption and found it a pleasingly immersive experience, but I don't think I'll ever re-read it.  I will, however, add the sequel, The Magician King, to my list.

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

Welcome to this week's listing of what I found in my blog reading of interest to fans of middle grade fantasy and sci fi!  Please let me know if I missed your post! (n.b.--authors and publicists, you are welcome to send me links too!)  Caveat--I do exercise a modicum of judgement as to what I include; if something is too short and vague, or too much just an ad for a book, I probably won't include it.

The Reviews:

Benjamin Franklinstein Meets the Fright Brothers, by Larry David Tuxbury and Matthew McElligott, at  KimberlyLynKane

Chase Tinker and the House of Magic, by Malia Ann Haberman, at Helene's World of Books

Divide and Conquer (Infinity Ring, Book 2), by Carrie Ryan, at Charlotte's Library

Dragonsong, by Anne McCaffery, at Kid Lit Geek

Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Random Musings of a Bilbliophile

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, by Suzanne Collins, at Fyrefly's Book Blog 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling, at Random Musings of a Bilbliophile

Horten's Incredible Illustions, by Lissa Evans, at Semicolon

In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at Abby the Librarian

Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Barbara Ann Watson

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood at the NY Times and Charlotte's Library

The Merman and the Moon Forgotten, by Kevin McGill, at Candace's Book Blog 

Museum of Thieves, by Lian Tanner, at Fantasy Literature

The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Teen Reader's Diary and The Book Zone 

The Secret Room, by Antonia Michaelis, at Project Mayhem and Charlotte's Library

The Shadow Mask (Sound Bender 2), by Lin Oliver & Theo Baker, at Jen Robinson's Book Page

Spirit Fighter, by Jerel Law, at Semicolon

Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at Geo Librarian and Fantasy Literature

The Sword of Six Worlds, by Matt Mikalatos, at A Christian Worldview of Fiction

Tales from Lovecraft Middle School:  Professor Gargoyle, and The Slither Sister, by Charles Gilman, at Good Books and Good Wine and The Slither Sisters, at A Bookish Way of Life and Ms. Yingling Reads

The Thirteenth Princess, by Diane Zahler, at One Librarian's Book Reviews

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Geo Librarian

Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldren, edited by Jonathan Strahan, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia 

The Volcano Disaster, by Peg Kehret, at Time Travel Times Two

The White Mountains, by John Christopher, at That Blog Belongs to Emily Brown

Authors and Interviews:

Diane Zahler's guest post for the fabulous Retell Me a Story series at One Librarian's Book Reviews  (anyone interested in retellings should definitely check out all the week's posts!)

Mike Young (Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities) at Book Nut

Charles Gilman (Lovecraft Middle School) at Good Books and Good Wine

W.H. Beck (Malcolm at Midnight) at From the Mixed Up Files

Other Good Stuff

The Edgar Shortlists (honoring mysteries) have been announced, and the juvenille books include two fantasies--Fake Mustache and 13 Hangmen.

Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O'Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind by Tom Angleberger (Abrams - Amulet Books)
13 Hangmen by Art Corriveau (Abrams - Amulet Books)
The Quick Fix by Jack D. Ferraiolo (Abrams - Amulet Books)
Spy School by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage (Penguin Young Readers Group - Dial Books for Young Readers)

Sheila Ruth, who blogs at Wands and Worlds, and who is in large part responsible for the success of the Cybils (she's the one who contacts publishers asking for review copies of books the panelists can't get themselves), is embarking on an effort to publish a graphic novel version of Ratha's Creature--the story of a brave and charismatic prehistoric cat.   She's turned to kickstarter to help fund it--more info here.

Paper Valentine, by Brenna Yovanoff

Yesterday I woke up early, and in the dark peacefulness of the morning I began to read Paper Valentine, by Brenna Yovanoff (Razorbill, YA, Jan, 2013).  It is always hard to wake everyone else up and go to work...but when that time came, after a solid hour of reading, I was so deeply immersed in this story that it was almost torture.   Sigh.  Happily my son had a half day, so 11:30 saw me back on the sofa, zipping through the last sixty pages....

No, this was not the escapist middle grade fantasy fun that I so often enjoy.  It was a dark YA, whose main character, Hannah, is haunted (pretty much 24/7) by the ghost of her best friend Lillian who died from anorexia six months before--it is an unwholesome relationship, but Hannah cannot end it (nb--there is no pussy-footing around the terribleness of Lillian's death by anorexia).

As if that were not dark enough, Hannah's town is now home to a serial murderer--girl after girl is being found bashed to death, each with a paper valentine left by the killer.   Hannah, already ghost-haunted, finds that she and the dead girls are drawn to each other...and (with constant interruptions, comments, and advice from ghostly Lillian, who's tormented in her own way) Hannah tries to unravel the mystery of their deaths.

(Although Hannah actually finds the killer by coincidence, not by supernaturally-assisted sleuthing  skills (the ghosts never do communicate anything all that useful), and the resolution of the murders is something of an anti-climax.  Just saying, in case mystery lovers end up feeling disappointed, which is very possible).

And in the meantime,  Hannah falls in love--with a boy who's been labeled bad and dangerous all his life, but who actually turns out to be one of the sweetest boys in YA literature (I can't think of any other teenage boys shown affectionately looking after the baby their aunt's fostering),  and it's not a love triangle situation, or too much of a Big Deal Plot Element, but rather it's a looking past years of stereotyping into the real person situation, and all very genuine and nicely done (once the sight improbability of them hooking up in the first place is over with.  And why did he have to be wearing a wife-beater the first time we meet him?)

Not only did I appreciate the warm fuzziness of this relationship, and the tension of whether it would work out or not, but Hannah has a great 12 year old little sister who I liked very much. 

So in short--a dark ghost filled mystery story, that is not just the unravelling of what the serial killer is up to, but the unravelling of what went wrong for Lillian, and a close examination of her years of friendship with Hannah.   It is very much a character development book--the murders give Hannah a chance to move forward.   What with Lillian's ghostly presence, she's been in a position of forced passivity for months, and the murders serve as a catalyst for her to define herself as a person, and get out from under the skeletal shadow of Lillian.

I was rather pleased with how much I enjoyed it.  I have not been enjoying much YA sff lately, and was afraid I was getting stuck in a MG rut, so I'm glad to know that I can still love reading a dark, edgy YA!

 (At least, I think it's edgy?  Maybe real readers of dark edgy YA would find it a unicorn kitten book????)

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood

When I went to Kidlitcon last fall, I was treated to an afternoon at Harper Collins, wherein the editor of Jinx, by Sage Blackwood (January 8) sold me on that one by saying it was reminiscent of Diana Wynne Jones....And now I have read it (with great enjoyment), and look forward to re-reading it (which I don't say about all that many books).

Jinx is only six or so when his stepfather takes him out of the safety of the mingy clearing where he's lived all his life out into the Urwold--the dangerous forest where monsters lurk..  The stepfather plans to abandon him out there...but instead, it's the stepfather who doesn't make it out alive.   There in the forest they meet Simon, a mysterious magician, who saves Jinx from a viscous troll attack...the stepfather isn't so lucky.

Simon takes Jinx home with him, to his mysterious house full of magic....but Simon is no loving surrogate parent, nor does he immediately start introducing Jinx to magic.  Instead, Jinx spends the next few years mostly left to his own devices, with only occasional visits by Simon's wife Sophie (who has secrets of his own), and the odd visiting witch, arriving by bouncing butter churn, to break the monotony.  

But outside there is the great forest, and Jinx learns over the years that he can hear the thoughts of the trees.   Not only that, but he can sense the emotions of others, taking visible form around them.   And then Simon betrays him (perhaps), by somehow sucking that part of himself away in a magical spell.  Jinx, devastated by his lose, and furious at Simon, heads off by himself in the woods...

And the tone of the story shifts, when Jinx is joined by two young companions, a boy and a girl each suffering from a curse of their own, and they all set out to confront the Bonemaster, the dark wizard who might be able to set them free.   From a contemplative story of a boy growing up in mystery, the reader is plunged into Adventure and Danger!

Because the Bonemaster isn't helpful.  Instead he imprisons the three kids...and unless they escape, they are toast.  And so is Simon, who had his own reasons for doing what he did, and his own backstory with the Bonemaster...

Like I said, I enjoyed it lots! I can, to some extent, see similarities with DWJ, most particularly in the character of Simon-- charismatic guy with secrets, ala Chrestomanci and Howl, and in the character of Jinx--sympathetic boy with magical potential, and indeed this is one I'd be happy to recommend to her fans, though it's not....quite.  But what is.

My main hesitation with regard to this book is that it is two different types of story.  From the somewhat slow and peaceful pace of Jinx's life with Simon, which are very "home" focused, Jinx and the reader are plunged into a brisk adventure with very high stakes indeed.  I liked both very much, but I think the reader who will most truly enjoy the second half of the book might have trouble staying interested in the first.  I myself had the opposite problem--I was initially very doubtful about the adventure part, mainly because I was suspicious of the two new characters thrown into my reading, and wanted to stay quietly at home with Simon and Sophie and Simon's multitude of cats and books, but I was pleasantly surprised by how gripping I found it, and how avidly I turned the pages.

And indeed, between writing the summary part and the Deep Thoughts part of this post, I did just go back and re-read it.  And enjoyed it again the second time through.

Note on cover--tons of kid appeal for the nine year old boy who finds elves appealing (probably for other nine-year olds too, but I don't have any others on hand).

Edited to add on June 21--I'm now counting Jinx as a diverse mg fantasy, thanks to Sage Blackwood alerting me to his description, which I totally missed:  "He saw himself reflected in the glass, a thin boy with black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin" (page 23 of the ARC, which is what I have), and indeed, Jinx as shown on the cover is several shades darker of skin than me (not that this is hard...).   And given the fact that he lives in a dense forest, the tan part isn't from time in the sun...

My pet peeves, viz books...

At Reads for Keeps, you can see some of my pet peeves with regard to books....at least, the peeves that were foremost in my mind when I was asked last week!

One pet peeve (that I go into in more detail over there) is a dislike of intrusive narrators--which, thinking about it more, is not just knee-jerk hostility on my part, but hostility arising from a very good reason--I don't want to be reminded that I am reading.  I want to be dead to the world.  And someone coyly sticking their head around the page and saying "isn't this a wonderful journey we're having together, dear reader?"  is almost as bad, viz achieving total immersion, as one of my children needing help pouring the milk but not asking me for it in time.

Pictures of my house, starring my new econobookshelf and dining room wallpaper

I imagine that I am Not Alone in always needing more shelf space, and so I offer a tip to those reluctant to spend the money it takes to get a decent bookshelf--the shoe rack!  Below is my new shoe rack, bought at a thrift store for $4.99 (click to embiggen).  Light-weight (Will not damage anyone if it falls over on them! Easily tied to door handles with strong rope to keep falling from happening!) and easy to move, it can be stored in a closet once you've caught up on your reading, and brought out again when you come back from ALA or Book Expo America.

Here are all my current review copies, books waiting to be reviewed, and some miscellaneous tbr pile over flow.  So much better than keeping your books in the bathtub, which is what I was doing before the renovation of the dining room:

This is no longer an option, as the dining room renovation required that the bathtub go (since it had been installed sticking out into the dining room), so I appreciate my shoe rack lots.

Speaking of new bookshelves, and the dining room renovation, we did treat ourselves to a real new bookshelf...

and you can see our new color scheme and wallpaper nicely too (though the African bird might go--it's perhaps too ominous where it is...., and a picture must be hung in that empty space...)

And here is another dining room picture, just cause we like our new mirror so much:

And finally, here's the dining room, before:

Except that the floral loveliness was hidden behind 1970s fake paneling, and it all looked even worse!  Someday when we finish wallpapering (we've had to order more sigh sigh), I'll have a picture showing where the bathtub used to be....

Divide and Conquer: Infinity Ring, book 2, by Carrie Ryan, for Timeslip Tuesday

 Infinity Ring:  Divide and Conquer, by Carrie Ryan (Scholastic, November 2012)

In an alternate reality, history played out very differently.   Deliberate interventions were made with the course of events by an evil (in a power-mad, ruthless sort of way) organization that dominates the present of three kids--Dak, Sera, and Riq.   But the Hystorians are fighting back, and their hopes rest on these kids, who are able to travel back in time to fix the mistakes with the help of the powerful Infinity Ring.  (This is all explained in Book 1-- A Mutiny in Time, and if you really want to understand what's happening, you have to read that first).

But how to fix mistakes when you don't know what really should have happened?  In Paris of 885, are the kids supposed to be keeping the Viking raiders from sacking Paris?  That's the puzzle that Dak, Sera, and Riq have to solve in this episode of their ongoing saga, all the while somehow managing to stay alive as Beserkers attack.  The whole survival thing becomes particularly challenging for history obsessed Dak--he just can't resist going out to get a closer look at a real Viking longship.  Unfortunately, he gets a closer look at the Vikings than he bargained for....

So, there's lots of historical mayhem, puzzles to solve, Vikings to outwit, etc., with a dash of the three kids growing up a tad for good measure.  Raq is still somewhat unlikable (though he's improving), Dak too impetuous, and Sera, always the most sympathetic of the bunch, is falling in love---with a dude from the 9th century (no future in that).  

It's a fun, fast, read--time travel made relatively easy with the help of technology, with an emphasis on excitement rather than deep thoughts.   A fine addition to a series that many older elementary/younger middle school kids should enjoy, and dog fans in particular should appreciate this instalment--there's a great Viking dog.

My only complaint is that few concessions are made for the reader who doesn't know her history all that well.  In book one, any school kid would know that it was Columbus who was supposed to have discovered America.  But who knows all that much about the Viking invasion of France? I now know a lot more than I did, for which I am grateful.  But though a little historical background, detailing what actually happened, would have given things away if put at the beginning, would have driven the history lesson home if placed at the end....

added bonus:  the adventures of the three kids play out on-line, with the code given in this book opening the way to a new episode....

added bonus 2:  the kids are multicultural, as shown on the back cover. 

The Secret Room, by Antonia Michaelis

Antonia Michaelis is the author of three YA books translated from the original German into English--Tiger Moon, Dragons of Darkness, and 2012's The Storyteller.   The Secret Room (Sky Pony Press, October, 2012) is, as far as I know, her first middle grade book to be translated.  

Achim has lived all his life in an orphanage, and he's pretty sure that, because of his asthma,  he'll never be adopted. But then Paul and Inez come, and want him to be their son.  Their own little boy died years ago.  If he had lived, he would be the same age as Achim.

In the house of Paul and Inze there is a secret room, where no room could really exist, a prison tower with strange paintings on the walls.  And in that secret room, Achim meets Arnim, his lost brother.

Arnim is trapped, unable to move beyond the tower room to fly free into what lies beyond.   To free him, Achim must become a bird, and fly to the palace of the dark and terrible Nameless One, built of stones of longing and sadness, stolen by Nameless One, and it is surrounded by trees full of caged birds, who had themselves tried and failed to free their own loved ones.

To succeed where they failed, Achim  must solve a series of riddles and conquer his fears, while navigating the dangers of the Nameless One.  Day after day, he slips through the paintings in the secret room, journeying ever closer to the answer he needs.  

But it is in the real world where Achim will find what he needs to free his brother, because what is really imprisoning Arnim is grief and loss, both that of Paul and Ines, and Achim's own, barely recognized sadness that he himself lost his own parents.  As Achim, Paul, and Inez become a new family, ready to love each other, the chances that Achim can free his ghost brother grow....

So in part this book is a fantasy quest, a hero's journey through a magical realm, where he is armed only with bravery, compassion, and his wits, and the help of magical birds.  In the larger story arc, though, the fantasy elements are an extended metaphor, highlighting and complementing the truly moving poignancy of Achim's journey into a new family.

This real world side of things was tremendously worthwhile reading--my heart ached for Achim, breaking a plate and hiding it under his mattress in stress and shame, and  trying to keep his asthma a secret, in case Paul and Inez didn't want a child they had to worry about.   And my heart ached for the grown-ups, too, as they carefully try not to think too hard about the son they lost, and try to make a family with their new son.

The fantasy side of things is, up till the great confrontation at the end, somewhat dreamlike and unhurried--it might not appeal to every young reader.   Indeed, it's the sort of book that will be just right for just the right child--the introspective one, the one who loves metaphorical stories, may well love this book, find it incredibly powerful, and appreciate the rich descriptions immensely.

I don't think its for everyone, though--kids who are avid consumers of modern American fantasy might find it lacking in zippy immediacy and too surreal, and they might find Achim's very mater-of-fact narrative voice distancing.  These kids, however, might well find their interest picking up toward the end, when things start to really get going, and a knife turns into a flying horse (!) and the Nameless One attacks...

On the other hand, I'm happy to recommend it to adult readers of fantasy who enjoy Fun with Metaphor.   As an adult, it was the real world side that gripped me most, and so I'd primarily recommend it to those who love stories of orphaned children trying to find a loving place in the world....And I'd also suggest keeping this one in mind to give to kids who might themselves have loss and grief in their lives, who might find comfort here.  That being said, it's not a book with a message of "helping kids deal with death" front and center, but rather a story in which letting go, with love, those who have died, is the central theme.

I sure hope, though, that The Secret Room does well enough here in the US that its sequel gets published in English too (so please do go seek it out).  This particular fantasy adventure has ended, but I care very much about Achim and Paul and Inez and want more of them.

The German title of the book is Das Adoptivzimmer, which translates as The Adopted Room, and the German blurb on Goodreads underlines this metaphorical connection that I missed.  The secret room is not part of the real house, but is there on sufferance---adopted, like Achim himself.

I'm not sure which cover I like better--the American one, which emphasises the emotional weight of the story, but is kind of depressing, or the German one, which I think has more overt kid-appeal, but which might be misleading....this not being a bubbly fantasy fun type book.

Here's another review, at Kid Lit Reviews

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

This week's round-up of middle grade speculative fiction from around the blogs (1/13/13)

Here's this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy from around the blogs; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

13 Hangmen, by Art Corriveau, at Time Travel Times Two

The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at Sonderbooks 

The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Good Books and Good Wine

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Sonderbooks

The Girl Who Cirumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Fantasy Literature

Gobin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Night Writer

In a Blink, by Kiki Thorpe, at Sharon the Librarian

The Lost Heir, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library

Lovecraft Middle School--Professor Gargoyle, and The Slither Sisters, by Charles Gilman, at Mr. Ripleys Enchanted Books

Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, by William Joyce, at Wondrous Reads

Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, at The Book Smugglers

The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Reads for Keeps

The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at Fantasy Literature and Good Books and Good Wine

Spirit Fighter, and Fire Prophet, by Jerel Law, at Bookworm Dreams

The Tell-Tale Start, by Gordon McAlpine, at The Book Cellar

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket, by John Boyne, at Bunbury in the Stacks

Z-Apocalypse, by Steve Cole, at Ms. Yingling Reads


Other Good Stuff:

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, is being made into a movie.

The People (at least34, 435 of them) have petitioned the Obama administration to build a Death Star.  Here's the Official Response, from Paul Shawcross, Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget

The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:

"The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.

The Administration does not support blowing up planets.

Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?"

Thanks to the Fourth Annual Blog Comment Challenge I found myself visiting Sarah Albee's blog, where I found a lovely post on WW II carrier pigeons that includes this extraordinarily helpful piece of information.  Being unable to wrap anything neatly, I shudder to think how bad I would be at this (although I think I could cope with Item 8, which appears to be "open box").

Recommendations of adult fantasy books for adult fans of middle grade fantasy

I make a sincere effort to look at the grown-up science fiction and fantasy section of the bookstore.  And then I go off an buy a middle grade or YA book.  But I am trying, this year, to crossover into the adult realm a little more, and it is hard for me because I have never liked a single book in which the female character is shown on the cover wearing a tank top and holding a weapon (although, on reflection, I don't think I've never actually read such a book).

Earlier this week I wrote about the reason why I put down, unfinished, my first adult book of the year- City of Dark Magic.   Lots of folks kindly left recommendations, and I thought it would be fun (and maybe useful, to others who share my reading tastes) to make a list of relatively current fantasy books published for adults that are the sort of thing that adults who turn to kids' fantasy for their own reading pleasure (I know for a fact there are at least ten of us) would enjoy.

In my mind, these sorts of book are strong on character, and the characters are smart, often witty, and (if they are central characters) likable.  They are welcome to have hot and steamy romances, although subtle smoldering is preferred.  These books are strong on setting, with lots of lovely details about place, and/or fascinating twists of world building (such as alternate histories) that really make the territory of the book an undiscovered country.

I'll start with some recommendations of my own, with the "relatively current" caveat meaning I'm not going to mention Diana Wynne Jones.  I'm not going to mention Ursula Le Guin either, although Lavinia is, as was noted in the comments, fairly recent and utterly worth reading (note cunning mention of both of them).  If anyone wants a list of older books, Rachel Neumier has a nice one here.

Contemporary books I'd Recommend:

House of Shadows, by Rachel Neumier

Anything by Patricia McKillip, perhaps The Alphabet of Thorn, or Ombria in Shadow, to start with.

Resenting the Hero, by Moira J. Moore (I have Angie to thank for introducing me to this lovely series!)

Among Others by Jo Walton (though I found it too depressing for my personal taste) (recommended also by Jessmonster)

Cold Magic, by Kate Elliott, is almost one I can recommend, but it didn't quite work for me personally--my review)

Pause.

Ok.  This is why I need help if I am ever going to read any current adult fantasy.   That is all I can think of that's on my own shelves.

The recommendations I got on my first post:

From Tanita:

Wearing the Cape, by Marion G. Harmon
The Iron Butterfly, Chandra Hahn
Dignity,  and Fealty, by Eva Caye
The Demon's Librarian, Lillith Saintcrow
The Ladies of Mandrigyn, Barbara Hambly

From Jennifer:

 Deborah Harkness' Discovery of Witches

Patricia C. Wrede's adult fantasy novels, the Lyra books, with particular mention of  The Raven Ring.

From Cecelia:

The Silvered, by Tanya Huff (and here's her review of it)

From Jessica:

 Naomi Novik's Temeraire books

From Sondy:

Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear  (agreed--these are good ones)

Coronet of Steel, by Sherwood Smith

Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series

New Recommendations from the comments to this post (thank you all very much!)

From Ana: Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (and I can second this from my own experience-I started reading these last year, with great enjoyment)

From Melissa:  Neil Gaiman--Neverwhere and Stardust.  (I have not read these.  Yet.  But I did read Anansi Boys, and enjoyed it).

From Monica:  Good Omens, which nicely combines the two authors above!  (another that's on my tbr pile already....)

Maureen suggests several authors--
Sharon Shinn (agreed)
Leona Wisoker (a new one for me)
Ellen Kusthner (Swordspoint in particular)
Midnight Riot and sequels, by Ben Aaronovitch
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
Martha Wells, in particular the Wheel of the Infinite
 Sylvia Kelso's Amberlight
 Theodora Goss's short fiction, also Catherynne Valente's

Aurora Celeste suggests Jacqueline Carey

Deva Fagan suggests The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold,  the Sevenwaters series, by Juliet Marillier, and Kristen Britain's Green Rider series, and brings up Brandon Sanderson...

who is seconded by KT, who also recommends the Riyria Revelations by Michael Sullivan

Maria recommends Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana, and his subsequent books would also count as well, which reminds me I am behind on him too.  Plus The Wheel of Time series, but I think that ship may have sailed without me (though Becky recommends it too...).

Maria's just reviewed and recommends Wool, by Hugh Howey (her review), also that seems more sci fi, and she also suggests Sherri Tepper, an author I love (except when I don't), although she's more sci fi than fantasy, which segues neatly into....

Suggestions beyond fantasy, qua fantasy--

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline
Redshirts, and Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan
James Schmitz' collections and his novel, Witches of Karres.
 Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series

And more recommendations--

Small Review-- Jane Lindskold's Wolf series, and James Clemens' Banned and the Banished series

Kristen Evey--  Maria V. Snyder's Poison Study series

Anamaria --  The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Beth--Wen Spencer: A Brother's Price for a stand alone, and two series- Alien Taste and  her Tinker books.

And on my own tbr pile, I have The Magicians, by Lev Grossman (which I've started), Norse Code, by Greg van Eekhout, and The Accidental Sorcerer, by K.E. Mills.   And A Game of Thrones.  I am curious, though trepidatious, about that one.

(If I do end up reading Norse Code, it will be my first ever book whose cover shows a woman wearing a tank top and holding a weapon!)

And speaking of which, Rachel also suggests  the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, with the caveat that Mercy more often is holding a wrench....

There are more recommendations in the comments for older books, which is nice too, but having decided to read Contemporary, I'm not putting those in this list.  Once I've read all of these, I can go back and make a list of the older ones....

SO--THANK YOU all for stopping by (so very nice to see so many blog friends!) Thanks to your recommendations, I have now become determined to read, or at least make a good faith try to read, 1 contemporary adult speculative fiction novel a week during 2013.   Starting with the ones already in the house.

Stick Dog, by Tom Watson

If you want to get your elementary school reader (age 7ish to 8ish, say) to read a book, look for Stick Dog, by Tom Watson (HarperCollins, January 2013) . I pretty much promise they will pick it up, attracted by the very funny cover and premise--dogs (drawn stick dog style) on an epic fantasy quest for...hamburgers.

When my review copy of this arrived home,  it was pounced on by both my nephew and my son, who both read it in a single sitting with great enjoyment. My son then pressed me to read it--"tell me when you get to the funny bits," he said.

And there were many funny bits, too many to list, of the sort that a young reader who likes silly fun will enjoy lots.   More than just the adventures of Stick Dog and his friends, it's a conversation between the author/illustrator and his reader, and I think that many kids appreciate this sort of acknowledgement of their existence, and the sense of being in on the joke, lots! 

In short, fun for its intended audience, and a good one to offer the hesitant reader, what with its friendly inclusion of lots of drawings and its easy to read story.

(I myself don't care for intrusive narrators, nor am I an eight year old.  And also, not being a dog person I would have preferred Stick Cat.   This is, of course, totally irrelevant).

The story of how Stick Dog came to be a book is one that gives hope to everyone who writes a book for their kids, self-publishes it, and then signs on with a major publisher, because this is what Tom Watson did.  You can read more about it in this interview at The BookBaby Blog--the BookBaby being the digital distributor who first sent Stick Dog into the world.

(disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher)

Thoughts on trying to read a book for grown-ups, City of Dark Magic

I like reading fantasy books written for middle school girls (and boys, to a lesser extent).  This does not mean that I don't also enjoy books for grown-ups, and I am willing to try those that sound good.  Such as  City of Dark Magic, by Magnus Flyte, which promised Prauge, and alchemy, and music, and academia, and dangerous magic.

If I had read its blurb on Amazon more closely, I might also have realized that it promised "tantric sex in a public fountain."  I might, at that point, have passed on it.

I have no particular issue with sex in fiction, especially when it comes after spine-tingling build-up of tension between two characters I care about.  Sadly, that wasn't the case here.

Sarah, the main character, is a musicology grad student who loves her physical frolics, and this is fine, although I don't see why I had to read details about past frolics that aren't relevant to the plot at hand (yes, it tells me a lot about Sarah, but not subtly).   More off-putting was that her main worry when meeting her new colleagues is that, because of clogged airplane sinuses, her preternatural pheromone sensitivity is not going to be in evidence.   Off-putting as well was the unsubtle introduction of a lesbian character (an expert on antique weaponry) who, like so many people, is attracted to Sarah for no clear reason other than to bring sex into everyone's mind again and demonstrate the marvellous health of Sarah's libido.

But what I really never wanted to read were the details of how Sarah found masturbation incredibly helpful when studying for her SATs so many years ago.  Distasteful, and irrelevant.

I could not help but feel that the author was finding his sexy babe character incredibly titillating, and this made me feel squicky.  So that was the end of me reading City of Dark Magic, before I really got to the dark magic part.  Sigh.

Undeterred, I've started another fantasy grown up book--The Magicians, by Lev Grossman.   And I've realized that I don't like it when I'm compelled to visualize the main character peeing in the shower.

This doesn't happen in middle grade fiction.

Waiting on Wednesday--The Watcher in the Shadows, by Chris Moriarty

Way back in October of 2011, I reviewed The Inquititor's Apprentice, by Chris Moriarty (that's the more kid-friendly paperback cover shown at right).  It's a mystery set in a late 19th century New York in which there is magic, and tells of how two kids are recruited by the branch of the NYPD whose job is to solve magical crimes.
 
I adored Inspector Wolf, the inquisitor of the title.  As I said in my review,. he "reminded me a bit of Lord Peter Whimsey, crossed with Howl, with a dash of Eugenides, mainly because he is very, very good at not revealing all that is going on inside his brilliant mind."  I cannot wait to meet him again in the forthcoming sequel!

The Watcher in the Shadows comes out from Harcourt Children's Books on May 28, 2013.
 
"At the turn of the twentieth century, New York’s Bowery District becomes the scene of a terrible murder when the Klezmer King gets fried to a crisp by his Electric Tuxedo—on stage! The Inquisitor’s apprentice, thirteen-year-old Sacha Kessler, tries to help find the killer, but the closer he gets to solving the crime, the more it sounds as if the creature that haunted him in his first adventure is back. Worse still, his own Jewish family is in danger. Sacha has avoided learning magic until now, but as his world falls apart around him, he changes his mind."

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

Crow Country, by Kate Constable, for Timeslip Tuesday

In Crow Country (Allen & Unwin, 2012), Australian author Kate Constable has written a brave and heartfelt story that draws on the Aboriginal heritage of Place and Story, and that addresses racism (past and present) head on.  It is only partly successful.

White, city-girl Sadie had no desire to move to the country town where her mother grew up, and, once there, has no desire to make connections to the land and the people living there.  But beneath the mud of a dried-out reservoir, she finds carved stones--part of a story as old as the land, Crow Country, place of the Dja Dja Wurrung.  Crow comes to her, leading her back in time, making her part of a tragedy in which her own family was complicit.   In brief passages of time, Sadie takes the place of another girl, unwilling party to the cover up of the brutal murder of Jimmy Raven, an Aboriginal man.  The secret burial of Jimmy Raven involved a wrong done not just to him, but to his kin. 

Meanwhile, in the present, Sadie finds herself stuck being companionable with Walter, nephew of her mother's old flame David, himself Aboriginal.  And Walter's toughness (he's the one who advocates trespassing, who uses violence) gives Sadie both the impetus she needs to solve the mystery of Jimmy Raven in the present, and the connection to the Aboriginal elder who will set things right.

On the plus side, the time travel part of the book is extremely gripping.  Because Sadie already has a place that's she's filling back in the past, the difficult bits of being in another time aren't the point--she's there to observe three men who fought together in World War I, and how the bond they formed then is overwhelmed by the racism and economic disparities back in Australia.  I found this fascinating. And although it didn't break any new ground, I also was reasonably happy to read about Sadie's life ordinary life in the present--trying to fit in to a new a community, dealing her mother's rekindled relationship with David,  and her own attraction to privileged boy Lachie.

I'm always in favor of books that address racism head on, as Kate Constable does, and I appreciated that she is careful and respectful in her presentation of Aboriginal beliefs, acknowledged in the forward written by Elder Gary Murray of the Dja Dja Wurrung Yung Balug Clan.

But unfortunately, I was never able to be entirely comfortable with Sadie in her role of  Crow's chosen one.  She is a white girl setting right a past wrong done to Aboriginal people, assisted by an Aboriginal boy who brings danger and violence to the quest.   In fairness, Sadie's family had a large part in things going wrong, and so, at one level, I'm fine with her having to take steps to set things right.  But I'm not comfortable with the white girl having so much more positive a role than the Aboriginal boy.  All this came to a head for me when Sadie says to an Aboriginal Elder--"you can trust me" (page 179).

This is a flash point phrase for me, because I used it myself once, in a very well meaning but utterly naive way, when I was new to my job as an archaeologist working with the federally recognized tribe of my state.  I will never forget the well-deserved dressing down I got from the Tribal Preservation Officer to whom I said it.  The gist of it was that "trust" is an incredibly loaded word, fraught with colonialist oppression and power dynamics, and that the Tribe is able to make decisions about its own cultural patrimony without having to place any trust whatsoever in a naive white girl.

As long as I was able to keep my mind in sync with Sadie's self-centered adolescent persona, I was able to turn the pages briskly, finding the mystery and the mythology and (to a lesser extent) the personal dynamics gripping, as a thinker I was troubled...and it's one of those books where the more you start thinking, the harder it is stop.  It was particularly troubling that the wrong being set right wasn't about bringing justice to Jimmy Raven as an individual who was murdered and secretly buried.  If you want to know more about the troubling-ness of this story, I can't say it any better than Ana does over at The Book Smugglers

However, many have found merit in the book--Crow Country was the  2012 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Award – Younger Readers, and was shortlisted for the 2012 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Children’s literature award as well as the 2012 WA Premier’s Literary Award.