Saving Thanehaven, by Catherine Jinks

Saving Thanehaven, by Catherine Jinks (Egmont, 20130, is a fun one tailor-made for the fantasy game loving ten to eleven year old. 

When we first meet the hero of the story, Nobel, he is whacking his through a morass of stereotypical fantasy challenges, with no thoughts in his head beyond a. staying alive b. saving Princess Lorellina, and the realm of Thanehaven  c.  more staying alive.   But then he meets a boy named Rufus, a boy that's not part of this normal pattern, who challenges him to think about what else he might want in life.  Sure, staying alive is good, but what if  Lorellina doesn't want to be rescued?  What if there were Choices outside of the script that seems to have been written for him?

So Nobel casts aside his nasty-piece-of-work weapon (when there's no slaying happening, it chews on Nobel instead), and instead of sneaking up to the castle where the princess is, goes to its front gate...and subverts the story.   But Rufus isn't stopping with changing Nobel's life....ever character he meets gets a passionate plea to challenge expectations (including the flock of guard gargoyles.  I liked them lots).  And everyone is much happier not to be fighting each other.

But then the white van comes, disgorging the keepers of what is Right, determined to restore order to the chaos Rufus has caused.   For Rufus is no character in a fantasy game--he is Malware!!!!

A desperate race is on, as Rufus leads the somewhat confused, but undaunted (mostly) Nobel and Lorellina deeper into the computer, into other games, gathering other comrades, and finally to the heart of the operating system, where desperate messages must be sent to the computer's owner, a boy named Mikey, and to the real Rufus, the genius behind the hack....Is malware Rufus hero or villain?  And will the computer characters retain their free will, or will they be deleted forever???

It is a wild and giddy ride of computer game fun.  The pace is fast, even dizzying at times, but kids who know the basics of computer operating systems will have a pretty good roadmap of what's happening, and enjoy seeing the internal workings of a laptop brought to life in a three-dimensional maze populated by strange personified programs. 

It's quite possibly a bit too one note for most adult readers, but one that I'm pretty sure will keep many kids entertained just fine.   The reader realizes Rufus is a virus long before the characters within the games, and it's fun to see them struggle to grasp just how different, and strange, their world really is.  And in the process, the reader gets a nice little message about challenging assumptions, as the characters are forced to ask if they are doing what they want, and what might be best, or if they are blindly following predetermined paths.

The cover of this one does a good job appealing to the audience I think would enjoy it most--the fantasy-game loving boy still on the younger edge of tweendom.   Lorellina, though brave and important to the story, comes nowhere near to challenging Nobel's position as primary hero, and I don't think she was ever quite enough Present in a non-supporting character way to be someone to whom a reader can truly relate.   That being said, if you are looking for a book for a girl who enjoys a good computer-generated smite, this would be a fine choice.    And it reads comfortably young--building bonds of trust between friends is the important relationship here.

Recommended for those who enjoyed Vivien Vande Velde's computer game fantasy series, and especially for those who refused to read Deadly Pink because it was pink, because then you can maybe offer them that after they read this.

Here's the detail I liked most--seeing one of Catherine Jinks' earlier books, Living Hell, in which a space ship comes alive and tries to digest its passengers, presented as a computer game.

Review copy gratefully received from the publisher for Cybils Award Consideration.

This week's round up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (11/17/13)

Welcome to another round-up, on the lighter side this week.  I myself only reviewed one book, and it was YA; although I came back from KidLitCon all enthusiastic about this blogging thing, I am although enthusiastic about getting the windows all back in before it gets really really cold.  In any event...

Reviews (do let me know if I missed yours!)

Book of Enchantments, by Patricia C. Wrede, at Reading is Fun Again

The Creature Department, by Robert Paul Weston, at Librarian of Snark and Geo Librarian

Chupacabra, by Roland Smith, at  Teen Librarian Tool Box

Dragonbreath: the Case of the Toxic Mutants, by Ursula Vernon, at Jean Little Library

Ever After High: The Story Book of Legends, by Shannon Hale, at Becky's Book Reviews

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamilo, at In Bed With Books and For Those About to Mock

Ghost Hawk, by Susan Cooper, at Book Nut

The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Fantasy Literature and Book Nut

Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, by Chris Riddell, at Wondrous Reads

Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, at alibrarymama

The House of Hades, by Rick Riordan, at Kid Lit Geek (and lots of other places you can find yourself)

Magic Marks the Spot, by Caroline Carson, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Magician's Tower, by Shawn Thomas Odyssey, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Mouse With the Question Mark Tail, by Richard Peck, at The Book Monsters

My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending, by Anna Staniszewski, at The Write Path

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

The Queen and the Nobody Boy, by Barbara Else, at Sharon the Librarian

Rose, by Holly Webb, at Fuse #8

Sky Jumpers, by Peggy Eddleman, at Karissa's Reading Review

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy and Book Log

The Wednesdays, by Julie Bourbeau, at Books and Other Thoughts

Plus an interesting foursome at alibrarymama:  Iris Brave (Soul Jumpers 1), by Ali B. Dewey, Song of the Quarkbeast, by Jasper Fforde, A Box of Gargoyles, by Anne Nesbet, and The Princess of Cortova, by Diane Stanley.

Authors and Interviews:

Anne Ursu (The Real Boy) talks character at Falling Leaflets

Matthew J. Kirby (The Lost Kingdom) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Jonathan Stroud (The Screaming Staircase) shares Top Tips for a Scary Story at Nerdy Book Club

Other Good Stuff:

Another fun top ten at Views from the Tesseract; this time it's little folk.

If you want great books for a great cause, visit the Authors for the Philippines auction.

It's A More Diverse Universe weekend; click through for links to spec fic books by writers of color (so far I myself have only read one and half books for this, but the day is young....which means you have a chance to join in too!).

And finally, I couldn't resist sharing this Alice in Wonderland/Doctor Who mash-up by artist Karen Hallion, found at Maria's Melange, which you can find as a print or notecard on Etsy or get as a shirt on The Shirt List:

Feral Nights, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (for this year's More Diverse Universe Blog Tour)

So at Austin last weekend, I turned out to be the audience member whose birthday was closest to that of Cynthia Leitich Smith, and so I won a copy of Feral Nights (Candlewick, Feb. 2013).  I had not sought out her four earlier books, that comprise the Tantalize series, because they did not sound quite my thing, but I had been meaning to find this one, because it stars a werepossum!  And not only a werepossum, but one who moves from sidekick status to hero of his own adventure- and being a reader with a fondness for the underdog, this also piqued my interest.

Feral Nights is a side story to the first four, taking place at the same time as Diabolical, and featuring characters who played secondary roles in those books.  There are many references to the events and places and people I wasn't familiar with, but although my conscious mind noted all this, my reading mind was able to ignore it all in much the same way that one unfamiliar word doesn't have to kill the sense of a sentence.  In short, Feral Nights reads just fine as a stand alone, and I think I actually enjoyed it more because of knowing that all the luxurious backstory was there (I like backstory, whether it's written down on the page in front of me or not).

But in any event, Feral Nights tells how Clyde, a werepossum, a human girl named Aimee, and Yoshi, a werecat, have to a.  figure out who killed Clyde's werearmadillo friend Travis  b. track down Yoshi's missing sister Ruby c.  escape alive (along with other werepeople) from an insane hunt on an island resort of murderous insanity ruled by a very strange species indeed who have a demon as their chef. 

Good times.   The plot is just close enough to the top to be delightful, without going over it into farce.  The characters care about each other, and have plausible relationships of meaningfulness.  And it's funny, full of zesty dialogue and lots of geek culture references.

The one thing I didn't care for was a bit of magical healing.  Clyde's transformation from injured possum teen to something quite different was  a bit disappointing to me--wounded possum boys can be heroes too, and be worthy objects of love/lust, just as much so as any flashy alpha predator.

That being said, just as soon as I finish the 250 books already in my house, I will go back and read the first four.  And regardless, I'll be looking for Feral Curse, coming this February from Candlewick.

Cynthia Leitich Smith is a tribal member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and so Feral Nights is the first of what I hope will be several links I offer to this year's More Diverse Universe Blog Tour, celebrating diverse authors of speculative fiction.

And werecat Yoshi counts as a non-white protagonist, so I'm adding this to my multicultural sci fi/fantasy book list as well.

In any event, thanks so much, Cyn, for the book!  I read it on the plane back from Austin, and enjoyed it lots!

Consternated about gender and middle grade books with reference to two sessions at this weekend's AASL meeting

I have been all in a mental turmoil for the past 24 hours or so about two sessions being presented this weekend at the American Association of School Librarians.

Here's the description of a panel entitled Boys Reading: a Focus on Fantasy: "A myth persists that boys don’t like reading, but most of the time engaging young male learners is only a matter of finding the right books to hook them. Exciting fantasy draws boys with its dramatic action, imaginative worlds, and adventure. Authors will talk about what drew them to fantasy and how they lure boys into reading."  ( list of the panelists (all male) here).

This was troubling (ie, made me swear) for several reasons.

For starters, if it's a myth, which I do think it is, that boys don't like reading, why perpetuate it with a panel that implies that boys are Special Snowflakes who will melt if they are not spoon-fed books that cater to a particular set of stereotypes regarding boy personalities?  I have also found in my own experience with a reluctant reader that it isn't necessarily a matter of finding one category of "right books" and all problems are solved, and lo, they are hooked.  Every time he loves a book, I think "now I can relax" but it doesn't work that way.  There is no universal magic formula that works for everyone.  And maybe some reluctant readers aren't hooked by the type of book described above because no matter how many of them you offer, they just aren't the type of book that kid likes (which is to say, kids are individuals).

I am tired of "dramatic action" equals "boy appeal."   How about this: "exciting fantasy draws in readers who enjoy exciting fantasy."  And I am tired of "exciting" being the only good thing. I am tired of the fact that there are lots of fantasy books in which girls subvert gender stereotypes of "girl-ness," and participate in dramatic action like crazy, but very very few books in which boys are allowed to be "un-boyish"--to be quiet, contemplative learners and thinkers, valuing and nurturing relationships, having inner lives, and other non-dramatic-action sorts of things.    (Which makes me think of how our culture values extroverts more than introverts).

Well-written fantasy, regardless of how "exciting" it may or may not be, draws boys in with its compelling characters and mind-blowing insights about what it is to be a person.    That is because boys are not all that different from girls, or anybody else who finds a book that works for them.
If boys are always given books full of dramatic action, sure, they might enjoy lots of them, but they will miss out on a lot. If boys are given books in which boys do things other than have Exciting Adventures, it will expand their concepts of what it is to be a boy.

Which leads to troubling Panel Number 2--"Overcoming Adversity:  Helping Real Kids Learn Resilience through Fictional Characters"

"This discussion will be framed around three main talking points that will provide teachers and librarians with tools to help students discuss adversity, to foster empathy, and to become advocates in the classroom. Authors will include Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Kimberly Newton Fusco, Cynthia Lord,  Karen Day, Jo Knowles, Nora Raleigh Baskin, Erin E. Moulton and Leslie Connor."

Note that in this session, the writers are all women.   Women, it seems, being the ones in our culture whose job it is to foster empathy.   Men, as in session one, are stuck writing adventures.

Noes.  Men, lots of men, write books that foster empathy.  Boys read them.  Girls read them.  I read them.

Here's a panel I would love to see:  "Fostering empathy in young readers through science fiction and fantasy books" with both male and female panelists.

And here's what I'm going to do as a book reviewer and a parent.

One:  I am going to question the choices I make in which books to offer my boys (10 and 13).

With regard to my 10 year old:   Do I offer my avid fantasy reader fast-paced, adventure-filled stories, that aren't that great at being thought provoking, just because I know he'll enjoy them?  Answer: yes.  Am I glad that last year his school reading pushed him outside his comfort zone, introducing him to Wonder and Out of My Mind, both of which he loved and talked about avidly?  Yes. 

With regard to my 13 year old, an incredibly picky reader who mostly enjoys graphic novels, I can't really question my choices much, because he only reads 1 in 20 of the books of all types that I offer him.   But I can make sure that those books include ones that will foster empathy.

Two:  I will be more explicit in my reviews about distinguishing those that have action and adventure stories that are simply fun and exciting, and those where there may well be action and adventure, but which also push against societal expectations of gendered behavior, and which have the potential to foster paradigm shifts in the mind of the reader.   As it is, I have a habit of briskly tossing off statements like "jam-packed with adventurous fun" which just means there was too much action for me to really like it myself.   I think I need to avoid falling into handy little self-referential shorthand like that, and think a bit more critically.

Three:  I will try harder to combat the whole "if you want a boy to read it there can never be a dull moment" idea.

With that in mind, here is a short list of  relatively recent fantasy books for ten to twelve year oldish readers, with boy protagonists, that many boys (not all, because not all boys are the same) will like that do have some excitement in them, but which give their boy protagonists something else to do and think about besides charging around  having adventures:

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood
The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu
Odd and the Frost Giants, and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Only Ones, by Aaron Strarmer
The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas
The Crowfield Curse, by Pat Walsh
The Shadow Hunt, by Katherine Langrish

And....uh... That's all I can think of right now, with apologies to the books I'm missing!

Here's Anne Ursu talking about the thoughts the first panel inspired in her, which takes a different angle--what disservice does this do to the girls?

Coming this weekend--A More Diverse Universe, with a list of the books I hope to read

If disaster should strike me, it would be immediately clear here on my blog, because only once in almost eight years have I scheduled a post in advance.   And it was more important, upon returning from Austin, to get the newly lead-free, beautifully re-glazed living room windows back in before the Cold came (whimper) than it was to write reviews- hence there was no Timeslip Tuesday post yesterday, and there will be no review today.

But I do have something worthwhile to share, that I wish I had remembered to bring up at Lee Wind's talk on diversity last Saturday--this weekend it's time for the More Diverse Universe blog tour, celebrating speculative fiction books written by people of color!

So, if you want to add a bit of diversity to your blog, join in here at Aarti's blog, BookLust!

Here are the books I'm hoping to read and review:

Feral Nights, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (which I won at KidLitCon from Cynthia herself because of having the closest birthday to hers.  One of the few times I've been glad to have been born right at the beginning of January, which is a pretty stinky time for a. presents b. parties)

Thorn, by Intisar Khanani, a Goose Girl reimagining that I started ages ago, and was enjoying, but then something must have Happened with life, because I put it down...(rolls eyes at self)

Chasing Shadows, by Swati Avasthi (which I picked up at KidLitCon but then when Sarah and I were packing I decided my bag was too heavy so I kind of encouraged Sarah to put it in her bag instead...since I knew I could get it from the library

And then, by strange coincidence, I have two books both called City of Death that count--one by Laurence Yep (City of Death), and one by Sarwat Chadda (The City of Death).  

And I just remembered to add Killer of Enemies, by Joseph Bruchac!

Look how easy it was to come up with more books than I can actually read and review!  Please consider joining in--every collection of links, like the one this weekend will generate, ends up being a great resource for future readers and fun for the compilers!

2 Cute Pictures of My Cat, or what I learned at Kidlitcon (with recap of Blogging the Middle Grade Books)

Here is my official Kidlitcon 2013 recap post!

A thing I learned from Cynthia Leitich Smith's Keynote talk (which was great)-- having a number in your blog post title and having pictures of cats are both good ways to get visitors....


(I know.  They are awful pictures.  Not cute at all.  But I don't particularly like taking pictures of my cats.  This might not be a good idea).










So. The main thing I learn every time I go to Kidlitcon is how much fun it can be to talk to people. Sure, I talk to my family and co-workers and friends in real life, but rarely do I talk to them with passionate interest about really interesting things like children's books and blogging and candy crush. And on top of that, when you know people on line in the book world, but then meet them in real life, you have so much background information that you've never shared with each other, and so you can chat chat chat about that too. In short, I love being reminded that I can be social and enjoy it (and I managed to beat six more levels of Candy Crush during those times when I had to take Restorative Breaks).

Working my way chronologically through my time in Austin:

On Thursday I learned that I enjoy hanging out with Sarah Stevenson lots, and that it is sad to see dead tortoises by the side of the road (both of which I actually could have guessed).

On Friday, I learned that when put in front of hundreds of free books, as happened at the meet and greet that kicked off the con, I loose what little rational thought I start with and want far too many.   First Second sent a lovely box of finished copies, and Bloomsbury sent a lovely box that included such gems as Shannon Hale's forthcoming Dangerous (thanks to the both of you--we were very appreciative!), and the local bookstore (I think it was them) brought boxes and boxes of books, and lots of us brought books, and my luggage wasn't any lighter going home.

I learned Nikki Loftin (Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy) has a new book, Nightingale's Nest, coming out in February that sounds great--it is a reimagining of Hans Christian Anderson's The Nightingale, and she let me have her second-to-very-last ARC.  And look at the cover.  Win!

I learned (while on break from socializing) that 12th Street Antiquarian books has no children books at all, but a nice lady (people were so friendly!) offered to drive me to the next closest used bookstore.  Sadly, I had to pass.

Friday summary:  I met lots of new people, and re-met lots of less new people, and it was lovely.

On Saturday I learned that it was not possible to get coffee at our hotel at 5 am.  I learned that Austin goes in heavily for vanilla flavoured creemer [sic] product, and if you want milk with your gas station coffee, you have to buy it yourself.  On the way back to the hotel, I learned the life story of a nice homeless man, and was rather glad he was, in fact, nice, because the neighborhood was somewhat dicier in the dark of the early morning than was comfy.  (On Saturday I bumped into the hotel manager at 5:30, and he got me my coffee. Phew.)

And then Kidlitcon kicked of, with Cynthia Leitch Smith's great keynote talk.  And all the sessions I went to (Jen and Sarah on fighting blog burnout, Kim and Kelly on critical review, and Lee Wind on diversity) were inspiring and thoughtful book and blog-wise, and Lee's session went even further and inspired me, in my dutiful child-like way, to try to be a better person in general (in all sincerity).

Then it was my turn-Katy and I and  Melissa  ran a discussion on Blogging the Middle Grade (thanks to Rosamund for the picture):

We came into it with a pageful of topics, but the conversation got going in just the sort of beautiful audience-participatory way I had hoped it would, so we have enough topics left over for several more kidlitcons.

We agreed that it is important to remember that readers, even if they can be lumped with other readers (11 year old boys who like sports) are still individuals, still in the process of learning who they are, and so, when you write a review, the more you can make clear just what what very particular sort of book it is, and what very particular sort of reader will like the book, the better.   Mentioning other similar titles is really helpful for the parent, or teacher, or other person actually getting the book, and might even bring genuine kids to your blog.

Likewise, middle grade books have tons of variety in theme, content, style of writing, etc, and every blog reviewer is going to pick up on different things.  Linking to other blog reviews of the same book will help clarify a book's appeal, or lack thereof.    And in a similar vein, the point was made that (in general) bookshelves and libraries only put the book in one slot, but a blog review can place a book in many possible categories, helping it find readers.

There are lots of gatekeepers looking for books to offer precocious readers who are still too young for many of the books at their "reading level," and so making it clear when a book marketed for 10-12 year olds actually would be  good read for a second grader too is useful; my co-panelist Katy suggested that such posts could be labeled these specifically in some way  as "Careful Content" (not to be confused with the warning Careful!!!! Content!!!).  

There was more, but that's all I wrote down.

[edited to add:  It occurs to me that I should mention there were concurrent sessions as well, that were also of great interest--I wish I could have gone to everything.  I think this was the best Kidlitcon programing ever.  And the final talk was a round-table moderated by Sarah, in which veteran bloggers discussed how the whole blog thing has changed over the years, and that was great too.]

And after that it was just more lovely socializing, that kept on going right up until Sheila and I parted ways at the Baltimore airport....

Thank you, Kidlitcon Organizers!   Next year is a West Coast year, which is hard for me, but typing this post has made me smile all over again (except for remembering the poor dead tortoise), so I may well go anyway.  Cause it is so nice to have peeps.

Pam is going to round-up recaps at the Kidlitosphere website, so check there for more.  And if you would like to sign up for the Kidlitosphere listserv, here's the link for that:

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Kidlitosphere/info

And here's another round-up from Kelly at Stacked that is considerably more substantive.

And so Kidlitcon 2013 comes to an end....

I type this siting in the lobby of Kidlitcon's Austin hotel...so very happy that I was able to come here for Kidlitcon. Sure, I have loved ones in Rhode Island, but gee, there is so wonderful to be with all the great Kidlit blogger peeps. People that I had never met before in real life (like Sherry and Katy and Jennifer and Liviania and Lee Wind) are now Friends, and people I had met before are now even more Friends than they were before. Because it was small this year, it was easy to spend time with just about everyone I wanted to. So thank you, Kidlitcon 2013 organizers, for pulling it together! It was utterly lovely. And one of the things we talked about was giving yourself permission not to blog if it felt like work, and pulling my regular MG SFF round-up together feels awfully like it would be work, so it isn't going to happen today. But I will be back later today with a recap of the Blogging the Middle Grade session I organized....

Seraphina's Promise, by Ann E. Burg

Seraphina's Promise, by Ann E. Burg (Scholastic, 2013), travelled down to Austin with me today.  I brought far too many books with me, with the idea that I would read them today and tomorrow morning, write notes for reviews, and then swap them.  I am less rational than I would like to be.  But I did manage to read Seraphina's Promise (which, since it was a book for younger readers told in free verse, is not saying much) and ended up in tears on the airplane (which, since I cry readily, also is not saying a tremendous amount).

In any event, Seraphina is a girl who wants desperately to go to school, and someday to be a doctor.   It's a dream she shares with her best friend, Julie Marie,  but it's a pretty tricky dream for two kids growing up in poverty in Haiti to make real.  There is so much work to for Seraphina to do, helping her family...and with a new baby on the way, it just doesn't seem possible to save the money to pay for her school expenses.  When a flood washes away their house, it ends up changing Seraphina's life for the better.  Their new ramshackle house, built of bits of salvaged remnants her father finds, actually has room for a garden, and Seraphina's hard work coaxing the seeds along makes it possible for her to go to school for the first time.

But though Seraphina's brother is born safely, he's failing to thrive, and Seraphina is put into a heart- breaking predicament.  Her first little brother died of starvation when he was infant, and she blames herself, for eating too much of the family's food.  If this brother dies, would her school money have been enough to save them?

So she sets out to find help...and instead finds herself at the heart of the deadly Haitian earthquake of 2010. 

Though the story might seem to be a litany of disaster, pathos and woe aren't the point.  Sure, Seraphina and her family know inequity and injustice and plain old disaster and tragedy well, but Burg manages to make the pity of their situation real to the reader without making them pitiable as people.   They don't spend time pitying themselves--they find joy in life and each other, and are determined to keep going as best they can, and to make what dreams they can (a baby who lives, a garden that grows, school...) come true.

I loved Seraphina, the character, and the only thing keeping me from loving the book wholeheartedly is a regret that Burg didn't make her geographical and historical context clearer.   I went into the book cold, and it took me quite a few pages to realize I was in Haiti of three years ago, and I am reasonable well-informed.  I recognized from the Creole and French that was somewhere that wasn't, as it were, Kansas, but it took a while for the shoe to drop.   And though I am tempted to give this to my ten-year-old,  I worry that without him knowing it is Real he won't be interested and moved the way I think he should be....

In short, I think it's a very powerful book, that might require adult guidance and teaching to make it reach its full potential.   Although, that being said, I bet there are kids who would get the point even without ever having hear of Haiti.  And maybe, by avoiding a statement of "This is book is set in Haiti," Seraphina's story gets to dodge all the preconceptions of that place that so many of us have...and we get to meet her without any built-in pity.

Are You Experienced? by Jordan Sonnenblick, for Timeslip Tuesday

I don't think I would liked to have been at Woodstock (don't like crowds, though I would have liked to hear some of the music live), so it is a good thing that I am not the main character of Are You Experienced? by Jordan Sonnenblick (Feiwel & Friends, 2013).   Rich, who is the main character, is a 15-year-old guitar playing boy of today who loves the music of Woodstock, isn't getting very far with his girlfriend (she says he's too inexperienced), and who is starting to rebel against the oppressive smothering of his over protective, distant father.  A much better candidate.   When Rich finds Jimi Hendrix's guitar in his dad's basement retreat, disregards the enigmatic note of warning fastened to it, and starts to play, he is catapulted back 44 years just in time to be hit by a car on its way to Woodstock--a car that is being driven by his uncle Michael, with Michael's hippy teen girlfriend and his own dad--himself 15 years old.

So Woodstock happens, and Rich is there, with the strange and wonderful opportunity to get to know his dad before his life went wrong.   Rich knows what's going to happen--in just a few weeks, Michael will be dead of a heroin overdose.   But there's nothing he can do, there at Woodstock, but listen...to the music, and to the people there sharing blanket in the mud with him, doing all the wild and crazy things teenagers did back then....

What with all the details throwing up and drugs and lack of privacy when people were displaying affection, as well as more ordinary details of what they were eating, it felt very much like actually being there in the rain with them all.   I was surprised, therefore, by how gripping and even enjoyable I found the book-enjoyable not because it was happy good times, but because it was actually the opposite.  The book is quite a serious, character-driven story about what led Michael down the deadly path he took, and the reverberations of that choice.

Short answer--it worked.  And the time travel part, though somewhat zany with regard to its cause (magic guitar), framed the story nicely.  Sonnenblick did a nice job of letting the 21st century reader see Woodstock through 21st century eyes, while at the same time showing what it meant to the people who were there.  

Here are other reviews at Ms. Yingling Reads and proseandkahn

"When Did You See Her Last?" by Lemony Snicket

"When Did You See Her Last?" by Lemony Snicket (Little Brown, October 2013, middle grade) is the second Wrong Question (there were other, minor wrong questions, but this was the Important One) asked by young Snicket as he ventures ever deeper into the dark mysteries of Stain'd-by-the-Sea.  The "her" in the titular question is Cleo Knight, daughter of the family once made rich from the town's octopi, but now, with the ocean gone and the octopi endangered, facing financial ruin (and other worse things).  One of the worse things is the disappearance of Cleo, and that is the central mystery of this book.

I have a low tolerance for wackiness used to no good point, and I do not like to be confused.  Happily for me, and for like-minded readers, though there is much that is truly bizarre to be found on the seaweed flats and deserted streets of Stain'd-by-the-sea, there is (I'm pretty sure) a Point to it all, and slowly the tangling threads of myriad stories come together to hint at some future resolution when all confusion becomes less confused.   Which is to say--no-one is telling each other all they know, and Snicket sure isn't telling the reader, but it manages to work very nicely indeed as a gripping mystery.

And I like young Lemony and his equally young companions in confusion very much indeed.   They are putting effort into staving off disaster,  care about their loved ones, and are full of grit and intelligence. 

The pace of the story is slowed by disquisitions and distractions, but much as fog lends noir-ness to the urban streetscape (or something), pauses to enjoy fun with vocabulary building obscured the story less than one might have expected.  Here's what I'd like--a list of all the literary allusions, of which there were many.   Some I recognized (Harriet the Spy, for instance, was easy), but others made me want to put down the book and find answers.  But I was enjoying it too much to do so....

Not for the reader who likes a clear path through the trees, but an excellent one for the young reader who doesn't.

"When Did You See Her Last?" is the second in a four volume series of All the Wrong Questions, and needs to be read second.  I liked it more than book one, because I knew what not to expect.

Disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher

(I'm going with fantasy in my label section because it sure isn't realistic, and there might, or might not, be a monster, and because of the implausibility of a. the octopi and b. Cleo Knight's car.)

This week's round-up of Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy from around the blogs (11/3/13)

I myself read less than usual this week, what with beak-making and obsessive Candy Crush playing (it is so sad that one of the things that causes me to rise lark-like from my bed each morning is the five new lives), but in event, here's what I found this week (and please let me know if I missed anything!).

The Reviews

Aesop's Secret, by Claudia White, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Alanna: the First Adventure, by Tamora Pierce, at Librarian of Snark

Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea, by Lisa and Valerie Martin, at Jean Little Library

Blue Moon, by James Ponti, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at That's Another Story

City of Death, by Sarwat Chadda, at In Bed With Books

City of Fire, by Laurence Yep, at Here There Be Books

Constable and Toop, by Gareth P. Jones, at Jean Little Library

Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at The Writer's Nest and Kid Lit Geek

Ever After High, by Shannon Hale, at Sonderbooks

Fallout, by Todd Strasser, at A Patchwork of Books

A Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz, at Book Nut

The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore, by Kate Maddison, at Bookyurt

Johnny and the Dead, by Terry Pratchett, at Views from the Tesseract

The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, at Leaf's Reviews

The Last Enchanter, by Laurisa White Reyes, at Sharon the Librarian (giveaway)

Mickey Price-Journey to Oblivion, by John P. Stanley, at The Write Path

The Mysterious Howling, by Maryrose Wood, at A Reader of Fictions and Bunbury in the Stacks (audiobook reviews)

The Mysterious Woods of Whistle Root, by Christopher Pennell, at The Book Monsters

Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Not Acting My Age

Rules For Ghosting, by A.J. Paquette, at Random Musings of  Bibliophile

The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Into the Hall of Books

The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, at Ms. Yingling Reads and From the Writer's Nest

Seed Savers: Treasure, by S. Smith, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews

The String Quartet, by Dan Hupalo, at Becky's Book Reviews

Villains Rising, by Jeramey Kraatz, at Charlotte's Library

The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman, at Dead Houseplants and Ex Libris

Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket, at The Novel Hermit

The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer, at Sharon the Librarian (audiobook review)

The Year of Shadows, by Claire LeGrand, at Slatebreakers

At Reading is Fun Again, a look at Adam Gidwitz's Grimm series

I also reviewed Sorrow's Knot, by Erin Bow, here, and Brandy reviewed it this week too at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, and though I'm not going to try to call it a middle grade book, I think there are many upper middle grade readers (11 and 12 ish) who would love it.


Authors and Interviews

Greg Van Eekhout (The Boy at the End of the World) at Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Kids

Charles Gilman (Tales from Lovecraft Middle School) at Alternative Magazine Online


Other Good Stuff

At Rinn Reads, it is science fiction month, and here is the jam-packed schedule of contributors, including a post at Maria's Melange on how sci fi benefits young minds.

A brilliant list of books to read if you want something Percy Jackson-esque, at Fat Girl Reading

And a list of ten creepy stories at Views from the Tesseract

At Stacked I found a link to pictures of literary Halloween costumes for pets; this Scarlet O'Hara pug was my favorite:

Sorrow's Knot, by Erin Bow-- a thing of beauty

Sorrow's Knot, by Erin Bow (Scholastic 2013), is one of the best books I've read this year.  While I was reading it I was lost to the world in that best of bookish ways, and indeed during the last half of the book there was really no other world than that of the story, and I was no longer reading, but simply being there, and how can one say better than that?

Three children are growing up in safety at the westernmost edge of the world, in the lodges of the free women of the forest--Otter, Kestrel, and Cricket, two girls and a boy, sharing their last summer of sunlight before adulthood.  Three children who know that safety can be found only behind the bound knots of the cords that keep the restless dead outside their village.  

Kestrel will be a Ranger, one of the women who risk the dangers of the dead and travel beyond the bindings.  Cricket will be a storyteller, and already he has the teller's gift of tying words.  Otter, child of the binder's apprentice, already has the power of that magic strong within her, wanting only her mother's teaching before she, too, can tie the knots that bind the dead.

But the dead are bound to the living, tied too tight, and horror comes.  And the sunlight summer ends, bringing a dark winter.   And Otter must listen to the stories, and to her heart, and to the words her mother speaks as she falls into madness, or else there will be no place for the living at the edge of the western world.

Having gotten the somewhat self-consciously written synopsis out of the way, here's what the book really is about, and why I liked it so very much:

--There are three kids who love each other, who live in a world really truly at the edge of horror.  Two love each other romantically, and the third loves both as dear friends.  Their love, and respect, and need for each other makes a triangle of the best possible sort--they are stronger together than they are apart, and they make each other laugh.   It made me happy to be with them.

--There is a really creepy magic that feels convincing and original without being gimmicky.  It is so easy to see how things went wrong with the binding (and the reader realizes it long before the characters, which is perhaps the only weakness of the plot).

--The power of story is at the heart of the book.   This is one I'd enthusiastically recommend to fans of Patricia McKillip--the hidden things in the stories become more and more real in a complicated dance with the daylight world.

--The world turns out to be larger, with more stories in it, than the three kids realize.  The story moves from the claustrophobically bound tightness of the community at the beginning to the wide world outside, which gives plot and character room to expand in interesting ways.

--It is really sad, but not so sad as to break my heart.  

--There's lots of opportunity for fun with metaphor. 

--And finally, there is fantasy world building that takes its inspiration from Native North America, but without being on a mission to create a fantasy version of Native American tribes.  In the same way as so many fantasies borrow from European history and culture, Erin Bow brings details of place and how people lived from North America, and pulls it off to make a world that isn't real, but which convinces.  Not since Ursula Le Guin's books (like Always Coming Home) have I read a North American inspired fantasy that I truly could accept (because I am an archaeologist, working with the Tribes of New England, and think a lot about place and people and how power plays out in representations of both, I am easily bothered). 

One reason why it worked is that Bow manages to avoid the clichés that signpost "Indians" in fiction.  The technological details are there--the projectile points made of stone, the travois of the nomadic people who visit the village, the drums, the clothing--but Bow uses these to craft a world that actually isn't supposed to be an accurate representation--it is a fantasy, in which the reader is allowed to realize and reshape her understanding of who these people are as she goes along.    It is not until page 175 that skin color is mentioned, and I thought it was so nicely done--it is a sad and tense moment, and under the winter pine trees Otter sees "long, fallen, needles the color of a dead woman's skin," and it stopped me in my tracks because my default is cold, white dead skin, and I thought of the dark golden brown of pine needles, and Otter, Cricket, and Kestrel grew a few shades darker in my mind.

But really, what it all comes down to was that it was a book whose writing was so good that I lived it.

Of course, not every book is for everybody.  I loved it, and Brandy loved it, and Maureen loved it, and Kirkus gave it a star, but if you are impatient with subtle, story-filled buildup, and want people to move briskly and decisively to do what clearly needs to be done, and want things explained rather than felt, you might not be happy with it.

And on top of that, the arch of the character's journey is from childhood into their teenage years--it is, thematically, more middle grade than Young Adult.  They are realizing who they might be, journeying away from childhood, rather than moving into true adulthood.   And so though two of them pair up romantically in a profound relationship, and there is the beginning of love toward the end, it read "young" to me.   So--if you are expecting angst-filled introspection and sex, you might be let down.

Here's the first reader who comes to my mind--the 12 year old girl (who isn't put off by nightmares) who wants a book that will make her cry her eyes out because she relates so closely to the characters and what they are going through.  And she will love it, and read it again, and move through its metaphors toward growing up, even if she doesn't want to.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

My first beak

My older boy wanted to be a Venetian plague doctor for Halloween (basically a 17th/18th century hazmat suite, in which the beak was full of herbs etc):

So I spent several hours this past week beak making.  I feel that if I were to make two or three more beaks, I'd master beak-making, but at least I produced something adequate, though not nearly as finely wrought as I would have liked: 

Unfortunately there seems to be a cartoon show about spies in which there's a character who looks a lot like this,

and that's what quite a few kids at school thought he was.

Oh well. 

All Our Yesterdays, by Cristin Terrill, for Timeslip Tuesday

All Our Yesterdays, by Cristin Terrill (Disney-Hyperion, September 2013, YA) is a very good book that is best read without any spoilers.   I considered just using the fairly spoiler-free publishers blurb, and adding to it, but I don't think it captures the story all that well.  So.  You can go read the book now, if you want to. 

Or not.

How far would you go to make sure that the present you are living in would never happen?  What would happen if you used a time machine to fix mistakes in the past...and the power that you felt swept you onward, until you changed so much that those who once loved you no longer could?   Would you kill someone, if you knew that doing so would save your future self (and other people)?

Em and Finn have tried 14 different ways to make sure the present they are living (tortured and imprisoned in a brutal police state) won't happen.  14 times they have gone back 4 years into the past...and each time the changes they made weren't enough to keep them from ending up in the same old prison cell, reading the notes hidden in the cell drain from their past attempts.  And now they are going back again, this time knowing that killing the inventor of the time machine is the only thing they haven't tried.

But of course, four years back in the past, there are their young selves, still trusting and all unaware.  There is also James, brilliant, damaged, and best friend to each of them, and maybe more to young Em--he is the sun around which she revolves.  And there is the person who will become their enemy, snarled inexorably into the fabric of their lives....

In a series of alternating narrations, from the points of view of Finn and Em in the present, and the time-travelling Finn and Em, the reader learns how all the snarling came to be.  And in the process, all four characters, and James, become real and human and hurt...and on top of that, there are personal and political machinations, and tension-filled reveals, dolled out with heavy inevitability,  about what happened in the four gap years that led to the point of no return.  Gripping as all get out.

My only substantive complaint  is that I wish it had been made clearer when the arrival of the time travelers began to change things.   I didn't pick up on when that had started, and so I was confused for 25 or so pages.    My only complaint with the story is that Finn and Em have to assume that the choice they are making is better than the alternative...and certainly it is to them, and who knows what other evils the time machine and its master would be capable of.    But they also know, having watched time ebb and flow as things were "fixed," that some of the things that might happen without the time machine are pretty darn awful.   They don't allow themselves to think to much about that, and I guess it's good to have ambiguity and tension, and no happy ever after, but I wasn't sure this was an Addition, as opposed to a distraction.  (This is a long paragraph, and I thought about editing it, but am leaving it in as an example of how the book thought-provoked me).

Just to say--as well as all the exiting and complex and beautifully tricksy time travelling, there is also a very nice and cheer-worthy romance, which lightened the mood in a much needed way. 

I can imagine wanting to re-read it at some point, which is pretty high praise given how many un-read books I have kicking around.

Final thought:  Cristin Terrill has psychically seen the inside of my house, and uses it the model for Finn's:  "None of the furniture matches, and practically every surface has something on it that shouldn't be there: a stack of old newspapers, a half-full coffee cup, a discarded sweater. There's a pile of dishes in a sink and a stack of folded laundry on the sofa, like someone hit the pause button on life."  Except of course that instead of stacks of newspapers, there are stacks of books.  (I do try to tidy up before company comes, but there's not much one can do about the furniture. Or the books).

Villains Rising (The Cloak Society 2), by Jeramey Kraatz

In The Cloak Society (2012), readers were introduced to two warring leagues of super-powered combatants (good vs evil), and saw how Alex, brought up by the villains of the Cloak Society, chose to throw his lot in with the kids of the Rangers of Justice (after the adult Rangers were defeated and Justice Tower came tumbling down in ruins).   Alex was not alone in his defection--a handful of other Cloak kids went with him.  Villains Rising (HarperCollins, October 2013, middle grade) tells how this rag-tag cluster of variously gifted teenagers struggle to a. figure out how to save the adult Rangers from the Gloom where they are trapped b.  work together as a team, putting aside the years of enmity between the two societies c.  stay safe.  And this last is perhaps the most difficult, because they are being hunted by members of the Cloak--three individuals whose powers are truly extraordinary.

I enjoyed the premise of this second volume very much--it's very much a kids on their own in difficult circumstances story (a sub-genre I like lots), with tons of added interest from the various superpowers of the characters.  They are still figuring out just what they can do, and how best to use their abilities, and this, plus the introduction of two new characters with powers of their own, makes for a nice, detail-rich time.  It's pleasantly (for me as reader; much less for the characters themselves) fraught with interpersonal tension as loyalties are questioned, and, even more so, fraught with the crushing weight of fear...the bad guys are almost so powerful that it is hard to imagine them ever being defeated.

For those who prefer the dynamic action side of superhero stories, there is plenty of super-powered mayhem.   The plot as a whole is not advanced all that much (the villains of this particular piece are new introductions, so little progress is made in terms of the Big Confrontation), but it is all pleasantly exciting.

And no-one actually gets killed, making it a suitable choice for younger readers not quite ready for the no-holds-barred level of violence in, say, The Hunger Games, who still want a thrill-filled read.

disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher.

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

Middle grade sci fi/fantasy was somewhat thin on the ground this week...but for what it's worth, here's what I found when I poked at the internets.

The Reviews

The Carpet People, by Terry Pratchett, at Wandering Librarians

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, by Claire Legrand, at Great Imaginations

Circle of Cranes, by Annette LeBox, at That's Another Story

Constable and Toop, by Gareth P. Jones, at Librarian of Snark

Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Things Mean a Lot , Books For Boys, Jean Little Library, and Parenthetical

Empire of Bones, by N.D. Wilson, at Readeemed reader

Exile, by Shannon Messenger, at Michelle I. Mason

The Girl Who Cirumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Leaf's Reviews

Goblins, by Philip Reeve, at Sharon the Librarian

Ghost Hawk, by Susan Cooper, at Fuse #8

The Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz, at Hidden in Pages

House of Hades, by Rick Riordan, at Book Nut

The Last Enchanter, by Laurisa White Reyes, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsyithia (review follows the excerpt) and alibrarymama

The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian, by Lloyd Alexander, at Tor

Odessa Again, by Dana Reinhardt, at Candace's Book Blog

Pi in the Sky, by Wendy Mass, at Book Nut

The Rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson, at Fyrefly's Book Blog

Rose, by Holly Webb, at In Bed With Books

The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, at books4yourkids

Substitute Creature, by Charles Gilman, at Mini Book Bytes

Time Trapped, by Richard Ungar, at Charlotte's Library

The Twistrose Key, by Tone Almhjell, at Librarian of Snark


Authors and Interviews

Rick Riordan interview Jonathan Stroud at Myth & Mystery

Laurisa White Reyes (The Last Enchanter) at Akossiwa Ketoglo and alibrarymama

Battling Boy, by Paul Pope

Battling Boy, by Paul Pope (First Second, October 2013, ten and up)

In an alternate Earth, the giant city of Acropolis is infested with monsters, who wreck havoc on its people.   Right at the beginning of Battling Boy, the one hero, Haggard West, who stood against them with his high tech inventions, is defeated.

But Earth is about to get a new superhero--a boy from a clan of god-like beings who are dedicated to fighting the monsters of the universe.   This boy is sent to Earth to prove himself--defeating its monsters will be his rite of passage.  But Battling Boy, as he is known, is young and uncertain, and though he has magical powers at his disposal (in the form of 12 tee-shirts depicting various animals, who can share their strengths with him), he really has no clue how he's going to do his job.  For his first monster face off, he cracks, and calls in his supremely powerful dad for help.  His dad obliges with an incinerating lightning bolt, and so the people of the city assume Battling Boy will have no problem blasting away.  But he himself knows it's not going to be so easy.

In the meantime, Haggard West's daughter, Aurora, is planning to take on her father's role.  And maybe, together, they can become the team who save Earth....

This is one for those who love classic cartoons of heroes fighting against impossible odds.  It is full of brightly illustrated panels of mayhem, and the story moves briskly on from one frenetic confrontation with truly fantastical bad guys to the next.  It was the bits in between the confrontations, though, that held my interest the most--Aurora, desperately working to fill her father's place, and Battling Boy, trying to cope with the adulation of the city's leaders while frantically wondering just what the heck he's going to do...This human element makes all the violence much more meaningful, and is what's going to make me come back for the sequel! 

Battling Boy has gotten stars from Kirkus and Booklist, and should appeal lots to those who enjoy life or death struggles in which young heroes are pitted against formidable, and rather scary, opponents.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Time Trapped, by Richard Ungar

Time Trapped, by Richard Ungar (Putnam, Sept. 2013, upper middle grade), is the sequel to Time Snatchers (my review), and continues the story of Caleb, a boy taken from his family and trained to travel through time to snatch treasures at the behest of a sadistic and megalomaniac boss, known as Uncle.  The central story is set about 50 years in the future, to allow for the technology that makes the time travel happen, but there is much bouncing between other time periods.  And in fact, when Time Trapped opens, Caleb has found a home back in the late sixties, and hopes he has escaped Uncle once and for all...

He hasn't.  He is dragged back into Uncle's clutches, and forced to prove his loyalty, along with the other more experienced minions, kidnapping more children from various pasts and places and training them to become time thieves themselves.   But Uncle's vicious little empire is not quite the watertight dictatorship it once was.  Uncle himself is become less interested in the business of buying and selling the past, and more interested in his own dreams of insane personal power, and isn't there to personally quell resistance among the new recruits; instead, one of the more sadistic kids is claiming power.  And Caleb, having tasted freedom, doesn't want to give it up.  On top of that, there are hints that the past is more unstable than Uncle had realized, adding a nice dollop of tension to it all (although I felt this problem was introduced, and than left hanging more than I would have liked.  Perhaps in book 3....)

And in short, it is a gripping adventure in which the suspense relies not just on completing heists and keeping Uncle happy, but on the efforts of Caleb and his cohort to resist their fate as pawns. Though the ending relies on something of a deus ex machina, it required considerable effort, luck, and cunning on the part of the various kids to get to that point.   Because of this more character-centered story, and because there seemed to be more lighter moments (thanks in large part to the introduction of a young recruit who doesn't take nothing from nobody), I enjoyed this one more than the first (which didn't work all that well for me).

The various technologies, and the imperatives of the plot, mean that the cultural complexities of time travel are glossed over, so it's not one I'd necessarily give to someone who enjoys time travel for the sake of the strangeness of it.   It's more a series I'd give to kids (ten and up) who enjoy brave young protagonists taking down big bad enemies who are trying to control their lives, with plenty of struggle and desperate action.

I myself still had a few problems with the internal logic of it all, but was able to ignore those doubts and go along for the ride happily enough.

A Spark Unseen, by Sharon Cameron

A Spark Unseen, by Sharon Cameron (Scholastic, 2013), is the sequel to The Dark Unwinding, and continues the adventures of young Katharine Tulman as she struggles to keep her mentally fragile uncle and his brilliant inventions safe, and away from England's enemies (and its government).  It is the age of Napoleon III, and the balance of power between the European nations is precarious--mechanical devices that could sink ironclads would easily tip the balance, and that is just one of Uncle Tully's fantastical creations. 

When The Dark Unwinding ended, Lane, the love of Katharine's life, had left her on a mission to France...and when this book opens, so long a time has passed with no word from him that he is presumed dead.  Katharine, though, refuses to believe this is so, and when she is caught between armed men, working from the French, attempting to kidnap her uncle, and her own government attempting to co-opt him, she boldly smuggles him out of the country to a dangerous refugee--the old family house in Paris.

There Katharine, searching for Lane while trying to keep her uncle happily sequestered and secret, finds herself caught in a web of political intrigue and danger, where neither she (nor the reader) knows who can be trusted, and just what the heck is really going on....The pages sure do turn fast, but this is definitely one for the reader who is stronger of heart then me-there was absolutely no respite from distress and danger and tension.  So if you like those things, you will probably like this one lots.

Although I appreciated the suspense of it all (even though it wasn't quite my cup of tea), I most definitely prefer the first book, which was full of Gothic mystery and magically surreal bits, as well as all the lovely smoldering tension between Katharine and Lane.  And that fist book had a lovely sense of place; in this one, Paris, as seen through the desperate eyes of Katharine as just about everything goes wrong around her, doesn't get a chance to shine.

That being said, the sweet relationship between Katharine and Uncle Tully is still as pleasing as ever, and many interesting minor characters added to the interest.

Things are wrapped up more or less at the end of the book (although as long as Uncle Tully is alive, governments will want to exploit him).  Though there are hints of more story to come, I just hope poor Katharine will finally get a chance to catch her breath before new danger comes to find her!

(A peevish aside, of no bearing on the book--I find it annoying to see 21st century hair on a 19th century young woman.  She looks like she's solving a murder mystery on prom night).

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Talking about Middle Grade blogging (in general and at Kidlitcon)

So I'm going down to Austin soon (!) for Kidlitcon (yay!), and the official Flyer can be found below.  Note that registration has been extend till Nov. 1 (registration is encouraged because numbers are need for the catering side of things).  Please do come, if you can--it is so wonderful to meet other people passionate about children's and Young Adult books and blogging!  Even if you don't at the moment have an active blog, but are still part of this world (authors, teachers, publishers, etc.), you are welcome to come. 

 This year I was Brave and submitted a session proposal, and lo, I will be running a panel/workshop/forum on blogging the Middle Grade books with Melissa Fox (Book Nut) and Katy Manck (BooksYALove).

I decided to do this not because I am full to bursting of things I want to say, but because I really want to talk to other bloggers who focus on Middle Grade books--I want to share ideas, hopes, anxieties, tips, etc. in a moderated, semi-structured chat. The thought is that there will be particular Topics that we can go through, to keep the conversation going, but that if the conversation wants to go off on its own, that can happen too. 

So if you are at all interested, whether you'll be at Austin or not, we'd would love to hear what topics you would find discussion-worthy!   Here are some that we have in mind:

--who are the various audiences for middle grade blogs, and how we can keep our blogs growing, extending their reach and their depth
--how can we keep the effort of blogging interesting and fun, and work at it without Working --(assuming we want to--some of  blogs may be introverts) how do we connect with each other and form supportive relationships
--blogging with a conscious awareness of race and gender (and other issues of diversity)
--what adults might gain from reading Middle Grade

And other things, like how do you evaluate illustrations in Middle Grade books (I have no idea how to do this beyond visceral reaction--pretty! ugly!  distracting! "there were illustrations?")?  What's an effective book cover?  What useful and supportive memes/round-ups etc are there?  What makes for a good Middle Grade author interview?  Boy books vs girl books?    Why do some blogs get more comments than others, and does it matter? 

That sort of thing.

So if you were coming to such a panel, what would you want to talk about? Please share any thoughts you might have!

And as promised, the Official Kidlitcon Announcement in Glorious Technicolor: