Mind Games, by Kiersten White

Mind Games, by Kiersten White (HarperTeen, Feb 2013, YA), is a book so gripping that it held my attention while I read almost all of it cover to cover while waiting for my car to be fixed--and given that I was in a hideously uncomfy plastic chair, in anxious circumstances viz the fate of the car, this says a lot, I think.

If I had to sum it up in one sentence, it would be "a psychological mystery/thriller, with a smart, fierce heroine,  similar in vibe to The Hunger Games but with a narrower focus viz world-building, cast of characters, and premise."

But since I generally allow myself three paragraphs, or so, here they are:

Two orphaned sisters, each with a psychic ability, are imprisoned in an institution masking as a magnificent school.   For Annie, the older sister, who is blind, the "school" offered all the educational opportunities she craved.  And so, though every preternaturally honed instinct in Fia's mind screamed that it was wrong, the sisters were enrolled.

Those who ran the school were at first only interested in Annie's ability to see the future.  But when they realized just what Fia's gifts entailed, and how easily she could be controlled by threats to her sister, they knew they could never let her go.  And so Fia is made into a tool of violence, sent out on criminal missions for her mysterious masters...and Annie is a hostage.

If it goes on much longer, Fia will break.  But Fia is about to find out who she can trust...and to finally chose her own path for the first time since her nightmare began.

So the story is told in the present, as Fia is beginning to follow a path that might lead to escape, but there are plentiful flashbacks that tell of violence and tension and really gripping psychological manipulation verging on horror, and some scenes from Annie's perspective as well.  By the time events come to a head, the reader knows both sisters pretty well, and I felt nicely invested in Fia and her situation, curious about the mystery behind the "school," and anxious to know how it all played out.

My one reservation is Annie.   She's the older sister, but her parents set up (with the best of intentions) a kind of nasty dynamic of Fia being the one to look after her, because of Annie being blind.  And Annie has lived her life accepting this, not fighting much against it.  She does have  spurt of being an Active Participant in events toward the end, but mostly she is "passive blind sister,"  and her journey to active participation isn't desperately well-developed.  (In plain English, Annie annoyed me).

Once sentence summary: Gripping, disturbing, and a good one for the YA reader who wants wants a thrilling read, starring a kick-ass heroine, that is neither a Dystopian with a capital D (although the particulars are far from Utopian) or a paranormal romance (although there is a whiff of love story).

Will I read it again?  Perhaps, though it isn't a book I'll keep assuming I will want to.  I can easily imagine, though, being happy to read it again if, in two or three years, I went back to the car repair shop and someone has left a copy of it there....

disclaimer:  ARC received from the publisher, left by accident in car repair shop (I think), finished with the help of a library copy.

Note on cover:  I do not think the young woman on the cover is a good representation of Fia.  Her eyes look a tad too limpid, and it is not clear that you are about to read a book about a teenage girl who is forced to kill.  However, the UK publishers of Mind Games decided to make sure there was no ambiguity:

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy from around the blogs (4/14/13)

Here's what I found this week; enjoy and let me know if I missed your post!

(Publishers, publicists, and writers--you are welcome to send me full schedules of blog tours, reviews I missed, etc. etc.)

The Reviews:

The Abandoned, (aka Jennie), by Paul Gallico, at In Bed With Books

Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith, at Maria's Melange 

The Beyonders: Chasing the Prophecy, by Brandon Mull, at SciFiChick

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles De Lint, at Mundie Kids

Cloneward Bound, by M.E. Castle, at Akossiwa Ketoglo

The Colossus Rises, by Peter Lerangis.  Ongoing joint review at Maria's Melange and The Brian Lair, and another review at the American Book Center blog

Fake Mustache, by Tom Angleberger, at Books & Other Thoughts 

The Flame in the Mist, by Kit Grindstaff, at YA Bibliophile (audiobook)

A Greyhound of a Girl, by Roddy Doyle, at Reads for Keeps

Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault, by Adam-Troy Castro, at Pass the Chiclets

Hammer of Witches, by Shana Mlawski, at Finding Wonderland

The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healy, at The Book Smugglers and Sonderbooks

Johnny and the Bomb, by Terry Pratchett, at Charlotte's Library

The Key and the Flame, by Claire Caterer, at From the Mixed Up Files

The Last Free Cat, by Jon Blake, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library

Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, at That's Another Story 

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, at Fantasy Literature

Rump, by Liesl Shurtliff, at Book Nut and books4yourkids

The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at Kid Lit Geek

Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at Abby the Librarian
and One Librarian's Book Reviews

Stolen Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile  and Sonderbooks

Undertown, by Melvin Jules Bukiet, at Sharon the Librarian

Whatever After: Fairest of All, by Sara Mlynowski, at Becky's Book Reviews

Authors, Interviews, and Artwork

Shana Mlawski's Hammer of Witches is this week's Big Idea at Whatever

Liesl Shurtliff (Rump) at All For One and OneFour Kid Lit  and I Like These Books

Kit Grindstaff (The Flame in the Mist) at Steph Su Reads and  Literary Rambles (giveaway) 

Claire M. Caterer (The Key and the Flame) at GreenBeanTeenQueen,
Nerdy Book Club. IceyBooks, The Hiding Spot, Fantasy Book Addict, and The Book Muncher (with giveaways)

Art work reveals (and giveaways) of The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healey, at Ms. Yingling Reads and The Book Smugglers

Marissa Moss (Mira's Diary series) at That's Another Story

Kate DiCamillo (talking about the metaphor matrix of Tiger Rising) at Cynsations

Other Good  Stuff

The Victorians were strange, or perhaps just very much like us.  They would have made great Peep Dioramas, in between creating headless portraits (from PetaPixel, where there are lots more, via io9).

Actually I think they were weirder than us.  (These are really taxidermied kittens, from the museum of Walter Potter, who didn't have Peeps to work with....).

Moving back to books, if you want to feast your eyes on award winning picture books of many lands (many of which are fantastical, and so relevant!), Tasha at Waking Brain Cells has a gallery of the nominees for the 2014 Hans Christian Anderson Award.  I can't decide if this one, published in English as Great Book of Animal Portraits, by Croatian illustrator Svjetlan Junaković, which is now stuck in my mind forever, is one I Must Have, or the stuff of nightmares (or possibly both, but at least these animals aren't taxidermied):

 I see on further perusal that many of the other illustrations (re-imaginings of Old Masters with animals) are less disturbing....so I am very tempted.  Here's "Vermeer's Study of a Young Frog:

Fearless, by Cornelia Funke

Yesterday's book (The Menagerie) was one I happily recommended to nine-year olds wanting fantasy fun; today book I can also recommend whole-heartedly, but it is very different...one I think that has as much cross-over appeal to adult readers as it does to the YA readers to whom it is marketed.

Fearless, by Cornelia Funke (Little, Brown, April 2, 2013, YA), is the sequel to Reckless (my review), which told how Jacob, a boy from our world who became a treasure-hunter in a mirrorworld where fairy tales are true, sacrificed himself to save his younger brother.   And now Jacob, waiting for the fairy curse to strike that will end his life, is on the greatest treasure hunt of his life, this time looking for the last thing he hopes can save him.  It is a weapon crafted by an evil witch king long ago, full of powerful (and potentially horrible) magic...and Jacob isn't the only one hunting for it.   Pitted against him every step of the way is another treasure hunter, one of the stone-skinned Goyl, and their race across an alternate Europe of magic come true might well kill them both.

Fortunately, and heart-rendingly, for Jacob, he is not alone--Fox, the shapeshifting girl who almost broke my heart in the first book, is with him, and here in this book they both have come to understand that their love for each other is the bedrock of their lives.  But Jacob is dying...and so desperate fear tempers their relationship.  They have saved each other countless times before, but now they are stretched so painfully thin by this most horrible quest that hope would seem impossible, if the alternative was not so unthinkable. 

Note:  The relationship between Jacob and Fox is so real, so immediate, so beautiful, and so rooted in their complex pasts that I can't think of any other romance that comes close (except that of Eugenides and Irene, in Megan Whalen Turner's books).  But it is not a physical romance (understandable, given the circumstances) so those looking for swoonish kisses should look elsewhere.

Unfortunately for Jacob's opponent, the Goyl Nerron, not all travelling companions are a good thing.  Nerron is saddled with a nasty teenaged prince, along with his ass of a tutor, and a bodyguard--an inhuman Waterman, with motivations of his own, and their internal power struggles add a somewhat grimly diverting second layer of conflict to the story.  Despite the handicaps who travel with him, Nerron pushes Jacob and Fox at every turn....but fascinatingly, though he seems at first to be the ostensible "bad guy" opponent of the piece, and though up to the last minute the suspense is killer, he is still nuanced, and even sympathetic....

So what we have, to summarize, is killer characters in a killer story.  Added to that are episodes of fairy tale-ness that made bright vivid pictures in my mind--for instance, the book includes one of the most memorable Bluebeard retellings ever.

That being said, this isn't a fast read of magical zipping-ness.   The pages turned slowly, not because I wasn't interested, but because I was so absorbed, even when I wasn't in places where I wanted to be.   Those place weren't the dark scary exciting bits, of which there were many, and which I did enjoy, but rather those times when the burning ache of Fox's and Jacob's desperation surfaces.  Though they must be fearless, they can't help but fear.

So no, not happy escapist fun.  Not a book that kids would necessarily appreciate, though many teens might.   I mysef found it a darn good book (mainly because I love Fox so very much!).  I think it has stuck in my mind so firmly that, although I can imagine re-reading it, I won't need to for a long while.

Here's another review, at In Bed With Books

disclaimer: ARC received from the publisher for review

The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland

Oh yeah.  You want a book that hits the sweet spot for the nine-year old mythical creature lover?  This is what you are looking for:

The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland (HarperCollins, March 2013, middle grade), is your basic ordinary boy meets a family who tends mythical creatures, and finds he has a knack for baby griffin wrangling.   It's your basic new kid in town finds a niche and makes friends, with a bit of family dynamic stuff thrown in.   And it's your basic scary government bad enforcement types and sinister sneakers off in the background threatening everything.

And the sum of these somewhat unremarkable plot points is an adventure with a generous dose of mystery that is eminently readable and very enjoyable, especially, I think, if you are nine years old.  Even more especially if you are my own nine-year old, who turned right around after reading it in one day to begin it over again, and who can't wait for the sequel.

Things I especially appreciated:

1.  Great baby griffins!  The main story revolves around the escape of six young siblings, and their escapades all over town, which vary depending on their personality (one ends up in the library, because books are her favorite sort of treasure, another makes a hoard for himself with the pirate coins in a toy shop, etc.).
Logan, our central character, has the remarkable ability to converse telepathically with griffins, and here he is talking to baby Flurp (her thoughts are in bold) in the library:

"Flurp ready to write fabulous tales of grand adventure.  Flurp ready to be most famous author of all time!  From nice warm safe cave with much fish.  She clacked her  beak. Nothing to eat in here but BOOKS.

"Did you actually--?" Logan glanced through the play-house window.  The floor was covered in Harry Potter books, as if Flurp had been been making a nest out of them.

Eat books?! Flurp would NEVER! Flurp would STARVE first!

The griffin cub let out a tiny burp that smelled of crayons."  (p 105)

Plus Logan knows about griffins because he's seen one on a Diana Wynne Jones book, which made me, DWJ fan that I am, smile!

2.  The fact that Logan is African American, and that this has nothing whatsoever to do with anything that happens.  It's just who he is.

3.  The nice balance of description (cool creatures!) with happenings, and an equally nice balance of the funny with the tense----it felt just right to my own internal nine-year old.  

4.  The fact that Logan has a cat named Purrsimmon.

And, as a small but worthwhile added bonus, "menagerie" is now in my son's vocabulary.

So give this to the kid who isn't ready for Fablehaven yet, who loves mythical creature fiction, and watch the pages turn...

One last thing regarding my own boy's experience with it--after taking it to school, and talking it up, he came home to report that at least ten kids, including ones he hadn't expected to be interested, all wanted to read it.  But he was a good child, and brought it back home to his mama...

Johnny and the Bomb, by Terry Pratchett, for Timeslip Tuesday

Terry Pratchett is, of course, best known for his Discworld books, but he also wrote (among other things) a three book sci fi/fantasy series for readers 9-12, about a boy named Johnny Maxwell and his friends.  Johnny and the Bomb, the third book (1996), takes Johnny and co. back in time to World War II, just as their town is about to be hit by German bombs....

Johnny knows the bombs are coming, and that people will be killed because the air raid siren isn't going to off and warn them.  If he can sound the alarm, he can save them...but caught in the temporal paradoxes of changing the past, and hampered more than he's helped by his companions in adventure, he might not be able to.

Johnny and his friends are a somewhat confusing bunch of mis-fits (three boys, and one girl)--they are all rather mad, in the British sense of the word.   The madness that they create just by existing is compounded when they encounter the shopping cart of a bag lady, who just happens (though they don't know it) to keep time (or something very like it) in the grotty plastic bags she wheels around.  When Johnny and the friend who is a girl (mostly named Kirsty though sometimes she chooses not to be) start poking at the cart (not that they really wanted to, but these things happen), it starts whisking them through time.

And eventually all five kids are back in 1941, not adding much to moral, and not, at first, realizing that if they don't do something, the bombs will kill the very people they are meeting.  It does not help that one friend has decided to travel through time wearing a German uniform.

I rather think that I had read the other two books first, I would have been altogether calmer and more receptive, happy to see Johnny and all instead of confused and unconvinced by them (although not un-entertained).    But I had not, and so I was.   Fortunately, I was curious enough to continue on (chuckling, it must be said, quite often), and was rewarded by a cracker-jack time-travel paradox gem when Johnny must slide around the linear path of time to sound the alarm.  That part was really good (or fully realized, if you want something fancier).

Short answer:  read the first book first.  Read this one first only if you are a. a passionate devotee of WW II juvenile fiction b.  reading every time travel book for kids you can.


Bonus:  interesting bit of grim humor regarding how the residents of WW II England might react to a black boy (one of Johnny's friends)

Final note:  it is never explained how or why the mysterious bag lady and her shopping cart travel through time, so don't expect to be any wiser by the end of the book.

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

Here's what I found this week in my search for middle grade fantasy and sci fi related blog posts--though I tried really hard to find as much as I could, I'm sure I missed lots, so do let me know!

The Reviews:

Bliss, by Kathryn Littlewood, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Book of Doom, by Barry Hutchison, at Bart's Bookshelf 

City of Ember, by Jeanne dePrau, at Madigan Reads

The Colossus Rises, by Peter Lerangis, at Maria's Melange and The Brain Lair (a joint, on-going project)

Dark Lord: The Early Years, by Jamie Thomson, at Emily's Reading Room 

A Dash of Magic, by Kathryn Littlewood, at Becky's Book Reviews 

Dragon Magic, by Andre Norton, at Charlotte's Library

The Fellowship for Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at For Those About to Mock

Fraser's Voices, by Jack Hastie, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, at Bunbury in the Stacks (audiobook)

Frogged, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Random Musings of a Bibliovore

Garden Princess, by  Kristin Kladstrup, at Charlotte's Library

The Goblin Gift, by Conrad Mason, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Hashbrown Winters and the Whiz-tastrophie, by Frank L. Cole, at The Write Path

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go, by Dale Basye, at Middle Grade Mafioso 

Hokey Pokey, by Jerry Spinelli, at Kid Lit Geek 

The Hollow Earth, by John Barrowman, at The Hiding Spot

The Incorrigible Childreon of Aston Place, by Maryrose Wood, at Hope is the Word (series review)

Keepers of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at The Hiding Spot and Deb A. Marshall

The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, at alibrarymama

Magic Zero, by Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski, at Little Willow

The Name of This Book is Secret, by Pseudonymous Bosch, at The Book Monsters

The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald, at Hope is the Word

Quest for the Spark, Book 3 (Bone), by Tom Sniegoski, at Back to Books

The Rope Trick, by Lloyd Alexander, at Fantasy Literature

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Bookshelves of Doom

The Silver Door, by Emily Rodda, at Charlotte's Library

Skellig, by David Almond, at Bibliophilic Monologues 

Stolen Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at The Book Smugglers and  Charlotte's Library

A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at A Foodie Bibliophile

The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, by Kate Saunders, at Becky's Book Reviews

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Mister K Reads 

Two by Diana Wynne Jones--Charmed Life, and Archer's Goon, at You Can Never Have Too Many Books

And finally, the Horn Book has a nice look at The Hero's Journey, incuding The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle, Jinx, The Cabinet of Earths, and Poison


Authors and Interviews

David Almond, at The Telegraph--"Children's books shouldn't sit still and behave"

Stephanie Burgis (Stolen Magic) at The Book Smugglers and Cari's Book Blog

Marissa Moss (Mira's Diary: Home Sweet Rome) at The Hiding Spot

Jennifer Nielsen (The Runaway King) at Book Nut 

Barry Hutchison (The Book of Doom) at Bart's Bookshelf

William Alexander (Goblin Secrets) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Kit Grindstaff (The Flame in the Mist) at Random Acts of Reading

Claire Caterer (The Key and the Flame) at All Four One and OneFour Kidlit


Other Good Stuff

The New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards have been announced, and include some interesting looking sff; the judges, however, decried the "'girl power' void in new books for Kiwi kids."  Huh. 

On the subject of girls, it is Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy Month at Fantasy Cafe, and this week The Book Smugglers swung by with a list of great YA and MG SFF books by women.

And for those, like me, who find the world of competitive rabbit jumping incredibly appealing, here are bunnies in action!  (thanks to Jenny at Light Reading)

Garden Princess, by Kristin Kladstrup

Weeding time has begun hereabouts, a time of mixed joy (I find weeding soothing) and despair (I can't weed fast enough).  But regardless, I am a weeder.  As well as a reader.

So of course I had to get hold of Garden Princess, by Kristin Kladstrup (Candlewick, March 2013), the first example I have ever come across of a juvenile fantasy whose heroine is a weeder!  (Weed fantasy--the next big thing? Probably not).

Adela is a princess--plain and somewhat awkward, but royal none the less, which conflicts with her gardening (I hear you, Adela--my job conflicts with my weeding something fierce too!).   And because of her love for plants, she gatecrashes a garden party to which she was not invited (though the handsome young castle gardener, and her vapidly beautiful young step-aunt both got invitations) simply because the thought of visiting the fabled garden of Lady Hortensia is irresistible.

Lady Hortensia has a way with plants.  An evil, twisted, magical way...let's just say, all the beautiful people who get invited to her parties are changed by the experience...and Adela is about to see her in action!  Adela's fortunate escape from the attentions of Lady Hortensia, and the brave efforts of a thief (in enchanted magpie form--he was the most interesting and entertaining character of the story), foil the evil Hortensia, and all is well.

It's a pleasant, fast read--light, fairy-tale fun.  There's not much in the way of deep substance to the plot or to the various romances (which were rather rushed), and the moral--that "a beautiful person was someone who was good and kind" (p 190) is underlined repeatedly.  But Adela's desire to do her own thing outside societies expectations of what a princess should be, and her growing determination to make those desires come true, are appealing. 

A nice one for younger middle grade readers, who don't require their princesses to be beautiful, or their romances more than fairy-tales.

Here's another review, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

And now I'm trying to think of other fantasies involving gardening--Petunia, in Princess of the Silver Wood, by Jessica Day George, and several of Robin McKinley's heroines, love gardening...anyone else?

Stolen Magic, by Stephanie Burgis

Stolen Magic (Atheneum, April 2, 2013, middle grade) by Stephanie Burgis, is the third book in a series about an incorrigible Regency girl, Kat, who just so happens to be a powerful magic user.  Unfortunately for Kat, any magic other than that of the Guardians (snooty upper class types) is tremendously looked down on.  Although Kat has inherited a place among the Guardians from, she's also inherited more than a little of her mother's distasteful, distrusted, witchcraft....as have her sisters.

In this third book, one of her sisters, Angeline, is about to marry a very high-breed young man, whose mother is a snobby harridan of the worst kind.   Kat, Angeline, their father and stepmother arrive at the finance's grand estate....and immediately mayhem ensues.

There are ordinary questions:

Will the schemes of the nasty mother keep Angeline from finding happiness?

Will Kat disgrace her family more than she usually does with her lack of regard for decorum? 

There are magical questions:

Will Kat ever get another portal that will allow her to be a true member of the Guardians?   She sacrificed hers in the previous book, and unfortunately all the spare portals have been stolen.

Will she and the woman tasked with working with her on finding them (a nasty piece of work from the previous books) come to blows?

Just what sort of spell does Angeline think she is doing?

And there are mysteries:

Who is stalking Kat with Malevolent Intent?

Who is the mysterious marquise who seems to know so much about Kat's family?

And then there is the Really Big Mystery:

Who is trying to kill Angeline?

And then there's a bonus kicker-- a plot by the scheming French that needs foiling (this being the Regency, and things not being too friendly between the French and the English).

So a very busy, entertainingly swirling plot that ends with the introduction of such a delightful appealing new twist that I hope rather a lot that there are more books to come!!!

I couldn't help but wish, as I read this one, that Kat would grow up just a bit more....she seems to have regressed somewhat in impetuosity and lack of empathy. Although that being said, there were times when I would not have blamed her for utterly loosing her temper, and she managed not to!   But of course, the fact that I was caring about this as I read shows that Kat was very real to me.

The second book, Renegade Magic, is still my favorite (it has a more mythologically rooted plot, and more sympathy for Kate's poor, put-upon, unappreciated stepmama), but this was a fun, rollicking read, and I highly recommend offering this series to any ten or eleven year olds you happen to have on hand.

Here's another review at The Book Smugglers

Disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher.

Waiting on Wednesday--Sunbolt, by Intisar Khanani

Thanks to this review by Tanita over at Finding Wonderland, I ordered myself a copy of Thorn, by Intisar Kahnani, and I am currently reading it, and enjoying it very much (in particular because it's in part a Goose Girl reimagining, and I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings).   So when I saw the beautiful cover for her forthcoming book, Sunbolt,  it was an obvious choice for a Waiting on Wednesday post.

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she conceals her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to bring down the powerful and corrupt Archmage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she has to escape with her life.

Magic orphan in captivity!  Win!

(It looks like it might only be an ebook; I just hope it is also available as a paper copy at some point, for those of us who are still Luddites....and a cover so pretty deserves to be on paper in an event!)

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

The things I was writting five years ago, or why indexing is hard, hard, hard

I am up to March of 2008 in my indexing, and it is a bit tricky, because I want an index of reviews, not an index of reviews along with responses/remarks/embarrassing dreck. 

I can't decide, for instance, if I should include what I wrote about The Missing Piece, by Shel Silverstein--the only post I've ever written that elicited a truly impassioned negative response from a general audience member!

Here's what I said:

"I was very happy yesterday to find that someone had donated a lovely copy of Shel Silverstein's book, The Missing Piece (1970, Scholastic 1995) [to the library booksale]. I was even happier when my seven year old seized it and started reading out loud to us. For the first two thirds of the book, I was day dreaming about the glowing blog entry I would write about it. Then, betrayal. Total betrayal.

The story is as follows- a happy-face (in profile) shaped piece is looking for his missing triangle. He rolls through the world, slowly because of the missing piece, smelling flowers, meeting various insects, and then encountering various triangles, one of whom doesn't want his identity subsumed by a larger shape, and many who just don't fit. At last he finds a triangle who fits beautifully, and is willing to enter into a relationship, and both shapes are happy. But not for long.

With the new triangle in place, the shape now rolls quickly, too fast for nature appreciation. So what does the original shape do? Does he say, "Let's stop for a while, and rest, and I'll explore a bit but come back to you?" NO! He leaves the poor triangle, who looks sad and stunned, in the dust, and totally abandons it! What a jerk. The message of the story becomes this--if your partner in a relationship holds you back from doing the things you liked pre-relationship, dump your partner without apology. I'm just glad they hadn't had any kids."

Gosh, I still am sore about the poor triangle.

Then I came to  this, more happy, book post, about I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean:

"It was just as good as I had hoped it would be. It is, in fact, the best picture book I’ve read since Scaredy Squirrel. The “biggest thing in the ocean” is a Giant Squid, who smugly says on the jacket flap, “I’m bigger than this book!” Encounters with other sea creatures bolster his conviction that he’s the biggest, until the much, much larger Humpback Whale appears—bye bye squiddy. This is a powerfully illustrated scene (in a bright and playful way), showing the squid’s tentacles dangling horrifically from the whale’s mouth. We were a bit taken aback. Was squiddy gone for good?

Spoiler

No! On the next page, there he was inside the whale, with all the other sea creatures, looking sad and bewildered, but then --- “I’m the biggest thing in the whale!”

And don’t neglect to look at the back of the book -- “I’m bigger than this bar code!” says Squid, gleefully.

In a nutshell, I might have to actually spend my own money on another copy of this book. My 4 year old does not want it to go to the library, and the fact that we are going to keep the complimentary bath clings with which it came does not mollify him. I don’t think that bath clings are really something that should circulate, somehow…"

Which no one commented on.  Sob.

I'd forgotten this cheerful (not) book, Mass Extinction: Examining the Current Crisis, by Tricia Andryszewski: "Leafing through it with my children, I had to close it quickly when we got to the picture of the seven legged frog."

And the whole reading through back posts becomes intolerable for the moment when I get to a post wherein I had an embarrassing brain freeze and the author of the book I was talking about was unhappy.

Life is so much better now that I am peacefully reading middle grade fantasy and science fiction.  Today's happy book--Stolen Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, whose publication day it is!

Dragon Magic, by Andre Norton, for Timeslip Tuesday

Well, you know, you win some, you lose some...and Dragon Magic, by Andre Norton (1972), sadly fell into the later category for me. 

The premise was interesting enough--four middle school boys of desperate backgrounds and interests all living in the same neighborhood in the early 1970s, but not interested in being friends.  Then one of them discovers the magic of the beautiful dragon puzzle he finds in an old abandoned house--a puzzle with four dragons.  Each boy in turn puts together a dragon, which whisks him on a journey back in time, and they become friends in the present when they share their experiences.

The boys whose interactions in the present make a framing device for the stories of the past are:

Sig--ordinary guy of Germanic heritage, who finds himself helping Sigurd take on Fafnir.

Ras, aka George--a black kid, whose big brother has embraced the Black Power movement, who finds himself a Nubian prince enslaved in Babylon along with Daniel.  He gets to watch Daniel overcome an African swamp dragonish creature.

Artie--would be cool boy, who goes back in time to King Arthur and learns a valuable lesson about meaningful relationships.

Kim--adopted from Hong Kong, he goes back to ancient China where there is a very confusing war going on, and comes back knowing he should try harder to make friends.

So a diverse cast of kids who don't get all that much page time, but who actually manage to be somewhat more than stereotypes, which is good, and four stories that varied a lot in interesting-ness, which wasn't so good.  The first two (Sigurd and Daniel) were very interesting, the last two I found tedious.

Which could have been just me.  But the particulars of the stories aside, the whole ensemble never felt enough like a cohesive story to rise above the fractures of its form and make me really care.  In large part this is because the time travel magic put the boys into characters in the past--they weren't themselves, so there was no ongoing metacommentary.  The stories were told straight up,with no ties back to the present, in much the same way as you might find stories anthologized in a book of "Dragon Stories of Many Lands."  And on top of that, the boys had almost no agency within their stories, which made them even less interesting.

So that's generally why I didn't care for it.  Here's a particular thing that vexed me--in Ras's story, Norton keeps referring to him as "the Nubian" and not by his name.  All the other boys were referred to by name, and it bothered me that he was depersonalized this way. 

But the dragon puzzle was beautifully described...best dragon puzzle ever.

The Silver Door, by Emily Rodda

In The Golden Door (my review), Emily Rodda introduced the walled city of Weld, beset every night by horrible, man-eating skimmers who fly over the wall from the lands beyond.  Three magical doors lead out of Weld, and in the first book, a boy named Rye and his chance companion, Sonia, head out through the Golden Door in search of Rye's oldest brother.   In the sequel, The Silver Door (Scholastic, 2013), Rye and Sonia, along with the rescued older brother, Dirk, journey through the Silver Door--searching not just for Rye's other brother, but for the answers to the mystery of the skimmers.  Where do they come from, and why?

In the blasted land behind the Silver Door, Rye finds answers...and terrible dangers.   It is a darkish book, dystopian in feel, as the characters move from one awful situation to another.  And Rodda does a great job making these perils vivid; there isn't gratuitously graphic violence, exactly, but there is death, slavery, and some really scary flesh eating snails (and though bad snails might sound silly, when you are in a hideous blasted landscape about to be consumed by them, they are not nice...).   But much worse than the snails is the dark entity behind the evilness of the skimmers.

Fortunately Rye has the magic talismans he was given in book one, and fortunately he has companions who are brave and smart.   Most fortunately of all, though, he finds his missing brother in just the right place to overcome the immediate threats, and make it home....where the third door awaits.

So for those who like a darkish middle grade fantasy adventure, with some interesting magic and world-building, it's good stuff.  Rye and Sonia are characters kids can relate too.  It was a bit too dark a journey from one danger to the next for my own taste, but that being said, although I have a lamentable tendency to skim the "exciting showdown" bits in general, I was utterly sucked in by the excitement at the end of this one!

And I really enjoyed Rye's science-loving middle brother's role in it all.   Yay for characters keenly interested in science, even when in mortal peril!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy from around the blogs, with bonus rabbits wearing egg costumes

Welcome to this week's round-up of middle grade (ages 9-12 ish) fantasy and science from around the blogs! Please let me know if I missed your link.

The Reviews

The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at alibrarymama 

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at Reading to Know

The Colossus Rises, by Peter Lerangis, at Bobs Books Blog

The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody, at Books for Boys 

Dragonsinger, by Anne McCaffrey, at alibrarymama (audiobook review)

Dust Girl, by Sarah Zettel, at Charlotte's Library (arguablyl more YA, but if I don't put it in I would have anything this week....)

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Writer of Wrongs 

The Frog Who Croaked (Platypus Police Squad) at Fuse #8 (more a sneak preview than a review, but still.)

Gabriel Stone and the Divinity of Valta, by Shannon Duffy, at So I'm Fifty 

The House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Fighting Dreamer

House of Secrets, by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini, at Scott Reads It

In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at The Book Monsters

Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at The Book Monsters

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at Book Nut, Random Musings of a Bibliophile, and Waking Brain Cells

Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at Writer's Alley

The Legend Thief, by E.J. Patten, at My Precious

Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb, by Ally Malinenko, at Middle Grade Ninja

The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at Good Books and Good Wine (audiobook review)

The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskell, at alibrarymama

Rat Runners, by Oisin McGann, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books 

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Jen Robinson's Book Page  and The Book Monsters 

Return to the Willows, by Jacqueline Kelly, at Reads for Keeps

The Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda, at Guys Lit Wire 

The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Bound by Words 

The Secret War, by Matt Myklusch, at BooksYALove
and Bookworm Blather

The Shadows (Books of Elsewhere 1), by Jacqueline West, at Akossiwa Ketoglo

The Silver Door, by Emily Rodda, at The Write Path

A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at Nerdy Book Club

"They Might Be Dangerous," a short story by Kate Messner, at Maria's Melange

The Treekeepers, by Susan McGee Britton,  at The Write Stuff

The Water Castle, by Megan Frazer, at Kid Lit Geek

The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, by Kate Saunders,  at Bookin' with Bingo 
 

Authors and Interviews

Stephanie Burgis (Stolen Magic) writes about being caught in the middle of the conflict between Simon and Schuster and Barnes and Noble.  (Dueling Magics, a short story set in the world of Kat, Incorrigible, is available for free at Smashworlds)

Luciano Storti (the music maestro from the trailer for The School of Good and Evil) at the website for the book

More Good Stuff

If you enjoy drooling over middle grade speculative fiction, here are two posts rounding up all the new and recent covers  at the Enchanted Inkpot:  one and two 

Lovely illustrations of the creatures and plants from the world of Tankborn, and its new sequel, Awakening, by Karen Sandler

A round-up of mg and ya books drawing on Greek mythology at books4yourkids

At Kirkus--"More Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Kids Should Be Reading In School."   I can't remember ever reading any sci fi or fantasy in school....

Not directly mg sff relevant, but I'm giving away a copy of Writing Children's Books For Dummies (very helpful) and it ends tomorrow.

Dust Girl, by Sarah Zettel

Yeah for reading books that have been sitting around the house, possibly crying in corners, for far too long! Finally I have read Sarah Zettel's Dust Girl (Random House, middle grade/YA, June 2012), and I found it good.  It is good because although the barest bones of the story are familiar--girl finds out she is half fairy,  the opposing sides of the fairy realm fight over her while she figures out how to use her magic--the particulars are very unique indeed.

Callie's mother won't let her go outside the Kansas hotel she runs, in case her skin gets dark and people suspect her father was black.   But then the dust comes (this is the 1930s) and there's almost no-one left in town to care.  Still her mother won't give up and leave, though the food and money are running out, and Callie is choking her life out on dust, because she's waiting for Callie's musician father to come back.

Then Callie plays the piano for the first time.  And her playing awakens the magic in her, and a dust storm like no other comes, blowing her mother away and bringing into town the first (and most truly horrible!) of the magical adversaries Callie must deal with.   (Just to give you a taste--they are grasshopper creatures in human guise, and they are very....hungry).

So Callie, and Jack, the boy she just rescued from the abandoned jail in town, hit the road, first running for their lives (grasshopper creatures sure are fast!), and then running less fast for their lives while searching for the people they have lost. On their journey they encounter madness and mayhem and magic...all the while moving through the blighted landscape of the dust bowl Midwest.

So yes, I liked it lots--although Callie was Special, she also managed to be nicely ordinary, and her motivations and actions all made sense to me.   Callie also had to think considerably about the fact that her father was black--in the racially charged world through which she moves, she can't forget it--yet this aspect of her story was well integrated with the whole, and though sometimes it was underlined, it never felt overly didactic.  And, on top of that, it was a swinging, exciting adventure, with (wait for it!) no Romance front and center, which was rather refreshing--it's nice to read a book in which people are running for their lives without getting distracted by their Feelings for each other.    Callie and Jack will probably hook up in the future, when they're a bit older, and that's fine.

But what I really loved was the historical part of this fantasy--I don't turn to Dust Bowl fiction for my reading pleasure, and so meeting that historical landscape in my favorite genre was a lovely treat.

Here's what I especially appreciated--America is not treated as a fantasy blank slate, just waiting for the immigrants to arrive with their magics.  Instead, the first magical Person Callie meets is Native American, almost certainly Coyote, and this is what he has to say about it:

"Stupid white people.  Stupid yellow people, or stupid brown people.  Bringing in all kinds of ghosts and little spirits.  Can't even tell who's in the game anymore." (p 31). 

And so even though Callie's magical journey doesn't directly involve the native magic of her place, at least there's this acknowledgement that there is an indigenous presence.  The only other fantasies for middle grade/YA readers set in North American that I can think of simply do not have this (The Prairie Thief, by Melissa Wiley, and Patricia Wrede's Frontier Magic series), and I think they are the weaker for it.

Note on cover:  that's the new paperback cover up at the top; it comes out in June.   Some people thought that the cover of the hardback (at right) didn't show Callie  accurately as half black (although since she's been passing as white, or at least, her mother thinks she has, all her life, she has to look at least somewhat ambiguous, and I think the paperback goes a bit too far in the other direction....).  But in any event, it's nice to have the paperback showing a Main Character of Color, and so good on ya, Random House. 

Note on age:  This one is a perfect tween book, great for 11-13 year olds.  As far as I can remember, there's nothing in it that would be Inappropriate for younger readers (which is to say there's no sex, but I'm not sure how well I do at registering curse words, since I am married to someone from Liverpool and have become hardened), but there are issues of racial and religious prejudice (Jack is Jewish), law-breaking and human unhappiness/human evilness that make it a bit strong for a younger kid.

A few other blog reviews, by people who were reading it ages ago:  Bunbury in the Stacks, Someday my Printz will Come, and alibrarymama

Poseidon, by George O'Connor

Poseidon: Earth Shaker (First Second, March, 2013) is the fifth of the Greek gods to get his own graphic novel, in the stellar series written and illustrated by George O'Connor.

The series as a whole is an extraordinarily kid-friendly introduction to the Greek pantheon, and although I wouldn't recommend starting with Poseidon, this latest volume is a fine addition to the series.

It's somewhat episodic, beginning with the division of the cosmos between the three main gods (Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon), with Poseidon revelling in his new dominion over the sea.  The stories of Odysseus and how he outwitted the Cyclopedian (Cyclopsian?) son of Poseidon, and Theseus, another son, come next, followed by the story of the contest between Poseidon and Athena over Athens.  The story concludes with a flashback back to the early struggles between the gods and the Titans, emphasizing the overall theme of the book--Poseidon's conflict between the joy he takes in his dominion of the sea, and his sense that somehow he has been wronged.

Though this is a kid-friendly series, it's not something I'd give to a kid younger than ten or so--there are "adult themes" as is so often the case when one deals with the Greek gods...But for the older, perhaps reluctant reader, this series is a spot-on introduction to the stories--the pictures are powerful and utterly memorable (true for all the books, but I think in this book they are particularly compelling, what with all the ocean action opportunities provided by the subject matter), swinging the events along very nicely indeed. Adding value for teachers, and written in a manner engaging enough for the curious young reader, there's interesting back-matter included as well.

(review copy received from the publisher)

Waiting on Wednesday--The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud

I count Jonathan Stroud as a favorite author, not because I love all the books he's ever written, but because he brought Bartimaeus into the world.   Bartimaeus is a demon, who first appeared in the trilogy that begins with The Amulet of Samarkand.   Those books were a tad to dark for me--I kept hoping that a certain central character would become more sympathetic, and was somewhat disappointed.  But then Stroud went back and gave Bartimaeus his very own book--The Ring of Soloman--a book I love (here's my review).   (Heroes of the Valley, an unrelated book, I never managed to finish...).

Stroud has started a new series--Lockwood and Co.--whose first book, The Screaming Staircase, comes out from Random House at the end of August.  Even though there's no Bartimaeus, it sounds great:

"A Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, and spirits are appearing throughout the city, and they aren't exactly friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see - and, hopefully, eradicate - the supernatural enemies. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business.

In THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE, the plucky and talented Lucy teams up with Anthony, the leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their wise-cracking colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of one of the most haunted houses in England: Combe Carey Hall. Will Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall's legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day? How did the Problem originate, and how can it be solved?"

(I especially like that it is about a Problem with a capital P). 

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

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, by Yasutaka Tsutsui, for Timeslip Tuesday

My hopes were high.  Yasutaka Tsutsui is one of the most highly regard Japanese writers of sci fi.  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (1967) is one of his most popular books in Japan.    I had never read any Japanese time travel before, and was tremendously eager to do so.

It's the story of a teenaged girl who acquires the ability to slip back in time.  Just a few days back, but still enough to ensnarl her in paradoxes, mysteries, and sci-fi intrigue.

It should have been great!   When my copy of the English translation (by David Karashima, 2011, Alma Books, 105 pages) arrived, and I saw the beautiful cover, I was even more eager to begin it.

Uh.  Total rats, darn, and whine. 

Sample extract:

"Morning!"  called Kazuo from behind her.
"Oh, morning!" replied Kazuko, considering whether she should tell him all about the incident.  Kazuo was a bright individual after all, and might be able to provide some sort of insight.  But she quickly decided that it might be better to wait for Goro to arrive so they could all talk about it together.
"Is everything okay?" said Kazuo.  "You look a little pale."
Kazuo was always rather attentive, so he often noticed little things like that.
"Oh it's nothing," said Kazuko, shaking her head.  "I couldn't sleep much.  First because of the earthquake.  Then because of the fire!  So I'm feeling pretty sleepy today."  (p 27)

Maybe most of the blame for the clunky writing and wooden characterization can be attributed to the translator.   But the final plot twist at the end, that strained all credulity, must be the author's own, and the way it's presented--future character explains everything at length--is really not sophisticated and sparkling.  Plus the future character turns out to be a. 11 years old  b. the love interest of this teenage girl, and that was just weird and c.  able to conduct mass hypnosis at the drop of a hat on every single person (probably hundreds) with whom he's come into contact in the last few months.

So it was a big disappointment.

The English translation also includes another novella, The Stuff that Nightmares are Made Of.  Not only did I find that story clunky as well, but it made me really dislike Tsutsui, because it is never funny when a mother threatens to cut off a five year old's penis with a pair of scissors so he'll be less girly.

My blog's wearing red today

My blog's wearing red today to show my support of marriage equality.  Just saying.

Writing Children's Books for Dummies, by Lisa Rojany Buccieri and Peter Economy -- with giveaway!

Writing Children's Books for Dummies, by Lisa Rojany Buccieri and Peter Economy (John Wiley and Sons, 2013).

(Thanks all who entered the giveaway--the winner is Anne.)

Someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, I hope to have written a children's book--non-fiction, drawing on the archaeology side of my life.   I've even taken the plunge and joined the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and will be going to the May New England Conference.  So when I was offered a review copy of  the newly released revised edition of  Writing Children's Books for Dummies, I said "yes, please."

And I found it good--knowledgeable, practical, and helpful.

It's divided into sections that pass from an introduction to the various genres of children's books, into the nuts and bolts of writing (characters, dialogue, setting, etc.), then moving on to editing, and finally tackling the mysteries of publishing and publicity.   Helpful icons in the margins identify especially useful tips and things to remember.

I started out bookmarking every page that had what seemed an especially useful tip, but soon the book had so many pieces of paper sticking out of it that I realized I couldn't share them all.    So you'll have to trust me--there are lots of useful tips!

For instance, there's a valuable section entitled  "Defend your prose--or let it go" (page 137).  If your words aren't moving the plot forward and making the story proceed at a nice pace, or developing a main character, chances are it should go.  The section on what makes good dialogue seemed especially spot on, and if I were a teacher of writing to even quite young kids, I might well share it with them!  The examples of good and bad dialogue, and why the former works and the later doesn't, are spot on.

I could go on.  Short answer--lots and lots of good advice on how to write and publish a children's book.

As an incidental bonus, I found the sections on the mechanics of good writing rather enlightening from my perspective as a reviewer.  Jean Kerr, a favorite author of mine was married to a drama critic, and often went to the theater with him--she has a pithy little line that resonates a lot for me:

"The critic says: this is an extremely bad play--why is that?  The audience says:  This is an extremely bad play--why was I born?" (Penny Candy, page 88)

I myself have trouble getting past the "why was I born" approach, and now feel more able to make informed judgements (look for "the dialogue does not advance either the plot or the characterization" (or, one can hope, the opposite) in future reviews).

It wasn't perfect.  For instance, the book examples used in the early section on genres of children's books seem somewhat cobbled together (one obscure book is shown twice, for instance), and the pictures of the books float in isolation with no little line why the books were chosen, or what they illustrate.   If I myself were giving a new author lists of books, I wouldn't just offer a list of my own; I'd refer readers to the lists of ALA award books--which, since they are updated every year, would keep current.  (I myself would also include the Cybils lists).  

The sections on publicity and social marketing are not desperately helpful for authors who wish to get their books reviewed on blogs--I think that a future edition could usefully expand that section, with more on what book review blogs are, and who they reach, with the does and don'ts of how to find bloggers who are a good fit for your book (contrary to the advice given here, the best blogs to approach are not necessarily the ones that get the most traffic), and how to request a blog review. 

But still--a very valuable book from which I think every new and aspiring writer of just about any age could learn lots.  

Courtesy of the authors, I'm hosting a giveaway of Writing Children's Books For Dummies.  (International entries welcome!).  Just leave a comment by midnight EST next Sunday (March 31), with some way to contact you. 

If I haven't convinced you that you might well want to enter to win this one, here's another blog review at Ms. Yingling Reads--she called it "an indispensable tool for writers."

Disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher at the authors' request.

How my bloggiesta goal--indexing my blog--went

So for Bloggiesta I decided to tackle a task I've been contemplating for a while--indexing my blog.  Though I don't think an index by title is desperately useful to either me or the larger world, I started with that, thinking I could build an index by author (which may actually be pointful) from that base.

Here's what happened.

1.  It's taking a lot longer than I thought, partly because I am going in and fixing any typos I see.  I have gotten through about 300 of my 2239 posts, which takes me to January of 2008, for a total of 57 indexed reviews

2.  It was hard to get through those 300 posts.  My first year of blogging was rather feeble, and I had no clue what I was doing.  A number of posts I wrote about particular books I couldn't count as reviews, and so I didn't index them.  Fortunately very few people read those posts.  (I can remember when 20 visitors a day was exciting!) Things got better when I served on the YA Cybils in 2007--there are some pretty decent reviews of some of those books.

3.  I wrote about some of my favorite books back then--books like The Little Broomstick, and Ludo and the Star Horse, by Mary Stewart.  I'd do a better job now (although those posts weren't as bad as some)!

4.  The first book I got from a publisher that I reviewed was Wiggle and Waggle, by Caroline Arnold, which I still think was a nice one.

Someday I'll get around to indexing the rest of them....