This week's round up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (5/31/20)

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

The Reviews

Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi, at The Nerd Daily

The Barren Grounds, by David A. Robertson, at Butler's Pantry

The Bone Garden, by Heather Kassner, at Book Swoon

 The Boogeyman: a Monstrous Fairytale, by Shane Berryhill, at Kid Lit Reviews

The Book of Mysteries, by J.R. Wallis, at bookloverjo

Changling, by William Ritter, at Rajiv's Reviews

Dragonsinger, by Anne McCaffery, at Book Nut

The Library of Ever, by Zeno Alexander, at Not Acting My Age

Malamander, by Thomas Taylor, at Pages Unbound

The Middler, by Kirsty Applebaum, at Book Craic

Sal & Gabi Break the Universe, by Carlos Hernandez, at Latinx in Kid Lit

Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley, at Say What?

Seasons of War (Skulduggery Pleasant) at Always in the Middle

Snared: Voyage on the Eversteel Sea by Adam Jay Epstein, at Log Cabin Library

The Stolen Lake, by Joan Aiken, at Semicolon

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at A Garden of Books

A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat, at Randomly Reading



Authors and Interviews

Wendy Leighton Porter (Max's Royal Adventure) at Carpinello's Writing Pages

Liesl Shurtliff (The Forbidden Lock) at Middle Grade Book Village

Dorothy A. Winsor (The Windreader) at No Wasted Ink

Katharine Orton (Nevertell) at Middle Grade Book Village

Other Good Stuff

The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book goes to a middle grade fantasy-- Riverland, by Fran Wilde (Amulet)  (Here's the full list of winners)

The School for Good and Evil will be a Netflix Movie

This Sunday's Middle Grade Sci fi/Fantasy round-up

A little late today, because of house guests come not just to visit but to help us repair various elements of our home and garden (it will never be finished. Never. But the house did just get listed on the National Register of Historic places, which is cool), here is today's round-up of middle grade science fiction/fantasy stuff from around the blogs. Middle grade being books for 9-12, kind of fuzzy at the top end....

Please let me know if I missed your post, or the posts of your loved ones!

The reviews:

Candleman, by Glen Dakin, at Nayu's Reading Corner.

Hunter Brown and the Consuming Fire, by Christopher and Allen Miller, at Clive Staples Award for Christian Speculative Fiction.

Ivy's Ever After, by Dawn Lairamore, at Welcome to my Tweendom.

Knights of the Sea, by Paul Marlowe, at Fantasy Literature.

Magic Below Stairs, by Caroline Stevermer, at Kids Lit.

Many Waters, by Madeline L'Engle, at Guys Lit Wire.

Middleworld, by J. and P. Voelkel, at GreenBeanTeenQueen.

Peter and the Sword of Mercy, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, at Becky's Book Reviews.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeline L'Engle, at Charlotte's Library.

Seven Spells to Sunday, by Andre Norton and Phyllis Miller, at Randomize ME.

Smells Like Dog, by Suzanne Selfors, at Jean Little Library.

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, by R.L. LaFevres, at Becky's Book Reviews; Becky also reviews Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris here.

The things that aren't reviews:

M. T. Anderson has created a tourist guide to deepest, darkest Delaware, the setting for the third book in his Pals in Peril series, Jasper Dash and the Flame Pits of Delaware (the series begins with Whales on Stilts).

It's Steamboyz Week at vvb32 reads, and although "SteamBoyz = YA steampunk stories with YA male protagonists," there's some middle grade crossover in the books included.

Katherine Langrish continues her series on Other Worlds at her blog, Seven Miles of Steel Thistles.

And here's one I missed when it came out--an article from Daily Finance about the publishing history of the Percy Jackson books.

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)

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (3/13/22)

Good morning fellow US time travelers.  I hate springing foreword, but here we are.  And here's what I found this week.  Let me know if I missed your post please!

The Reviews

The Boy in the Post, by Holly Rivers, at Book Craic

Girl Giant and the Monkey King by Van Hoang, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction

Kingston & the Magician’s Lost and Found, by Rucker Moses & Theo Gangi, at Valinora Troy

The Last Firefox, by Lee Newbery, at alexsfictionaddiction

The Legend of the Dream Giants, by Dustin Hansen, at Cracking the Cover and She Just Loves Books

Secret Beneath the Sand (Unicorn Island #2), by Donna Galanti, at Charlotte's Library

Thirteens, by Kate Alice Marshall, at The Wandering Wordsmith

Tristan Strong Keeps Punching (Tristan Strong #3) by Kwame Mbalia, at Eye-Rolling Demigod's Book Blog

Three at The Guardian- Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good, by Louie Stowell,  Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms, by Jamar J Perry,  and Into the Sideways World, by Ross Welford.

Authors and Interviews

Kelly Barnhill (The Ogress and the Orphans) at Publishers Weekly

Dhonielle Clayton (The Marvellers) at Publishers Weekly

Donna Galanti (Unicorn Island 2: Secret Beneath the Sand) at From the Mixed Up Files

Shakirah Bourne (Josephine Against the Sea), at Sarah Nicolas

Other Good Stuff

New in the UK, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

8 books for mg D and D fans at Book Riot

Here are the finalists for the Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction, glad to see two mg books I loved!  (Thornwood and Root Magic)

• Victories Greater Than Death, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen; Titan)
• Thornwood, Leah Cypess (Delacorte)
• Redemptor, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet; Hot Key)
• A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
• Root Magic, Eden Royce (Walden Pond)
• Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen; Rock the Boat)

This Week's Round-Up of Middle Grade Sci Fi and Fantasy (Dec. 9, 2012)

I found a rather nice bunch of reviews and other good stuff this week--please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews:

Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident, by Eoin Colfer, at So Many Books, So Little Time

The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell,  at Good Books and Good Wine

The Burning Bridge, by John Flanagan, at Sonderbooks

The Castle in the Attic, by Elizabeth Winthrop, at Time Travel Times Two 

Chase Tinker and the House of Magic, by Malia Ann Haberman, at YA Book Season

The Cloak Society, by Jeramey Kraatz, at Maria's Melange

Deadly Pink, by Vivien Vande Velde, at Semicolon

Deadweather and Sunrise, by Geoff Rodkey, at Sonderbooks

Divide and Conquer (Infinity Ring 2), by Carrie Ryan, at Cracking the Cover

Eye of the Storm, by Kate Messner, at That's Another Story

The Fire Chronicle, by John Stephens, at Jen Robinson's Book Page

Freakling, by Lara Krumwiede, at Semicolon

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

Ivy and the Meanstalk, by Dawn Lairamore, at 300 Pages

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Challenging the Bookworm

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire, by Polly Horvath, at Crunchings and Munchings

Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan, by R. A. Spratt, at Book Nut 

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Heavy Medal

The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan, at Fyrefly's Book Blog

The Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda, at Semicolon

Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy, at Book Nut

The Tale of Timewarp Tuesday, by Leslie A. Susskind, at Nayu's Reading Corner

The Time-Travelling Fashionista at the Palace of Marie Antoinette, by Bianca Turetsky, at Charlotte's Library

Under My Hat, edited by Jonathan Strahan, at Book Nut 

Under Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Guys Lit Wire 

Unlocking the Spell, by E.D. Baker, at Geo Librarian

The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons, by Barbara Mariconda, at Semicolon

Who Could That Be At This Hour? by Lemony Snicket, at Charlotte's Library,  Kid Lit Geek and Crunchings and Munchings

Wings of Fire-The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Book Nut and Challenging the Bookworm

Winter of Enchantment, by Victoria Walker, at Tor  

A look at the Tunnels series, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams,  at Guys Lit Wire

Authors and Inverviews:

Rick Riordan talks about myths at The Guardian

Other Good Stuff:

If you want to try Diana Wynne Jones, here's a great guide from Andrea K. Höst at The Book Smugglers

I did not know that Harrison Ford has a major role in the Ender's Game movie!  My already considerable interest now much greater.

For those tired of stew, other foods in children's fantasy, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Overlapping onto YA territory, the Andre Norton Award (which includes middle grade books) is being promoted in a blog tour during which great authors talk about their favorite boos of the year (and other good stuff)

 At The Mary Sue, the cast of the Hobbit meet their lego selves:

and in the random but almost sci fi category--catfish = pigeon killers

This Sunday's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction (5/20/2012)

Welcome to this Sunday's round-up of the middle grade fantasy/sci fi related blog postings (at least, those that I, in my week of blog reading, found and remembered to save the links to after finding). Please send me links I missed! And also, since the point of this whole round-up business is to make it easier for us mg sff fans to find reviews (I myself started doing this because I wanted someone else to have already started doing it), feel free to spread the word that these round-ups exist (thank you those who already have!)

Biggest news of the week: The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, has won the Andre Norton Award! (Nebula for YA sci fi/fantasy), and the novel winner is Among Others, by Jo Walton. (Here's the whole list). And City of Lies, by Lian Tanner, has won the Aurealis Award for Children's Fiction (Australian sci fi/fantasy)

The Reviews

Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor, at Bibliofile

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, at Wondrous Reads

Beware the Ninja Weenies, by David Lubar, at Intergalactic Academy

The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Cold Cereal, by Adam Rex, at Book Nut

The Dragon's Eye, by Kaza Kingsley, at Fantasy Literature

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes, edited by Kazu Kibuishi, at Book Aunt

A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge, at Fantastic Reads

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at My Brain on Books

Flora's Fury, by Ysabeau S. Wilce, at TheHappyNappyBookseller

Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rodaso, at Book Aunt

Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins, at Wandering Librarians

Grimalkin the Witch Assassin, by Joseph Delaney, at Karrissa's Reading Review

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Chris Healy, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia

Into the Dream, by William Sleator, at Back to Books

The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan, at Fyrefly's Book Blog

Medusa the Mean (Goddess Girls 8) by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at Small Review

Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, at Popcorn Reads, Known to Read, and Steph Su Reads

Project Jackalope, by Emily Ecton, at BooksYALove

Return to Exile, by E.J. Patten, at Gamila's Review

The Rock of Ivanore, by Laurisa White Reyes, at The Book Cellar and The Write Path

The Saga of Rex, by Michel Gagne, at Karissa's Reading Review

Seeing Cinderella, by Jenny Lundquist, at Shannon Messenger

The Serpent's Shadow, by Rick Riordan, at The Brain Lair

Swipe, by Evan Angler, at artsy musings of a bibliophile

Talee and the Fallen Object, by Jacquitta A. McManus, at The Children's Book Review

The War at Ellsmere, by Faith Erin Hicks, at Book Aunt

A Well-Timed Enchantment, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Charlotte's Library

The Whisper, by Emma Clayton, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Witch Week, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Small Review

A three for one post at Ms. Yingling Reads-- 13 Hangmen, by Art Corriveau, Sir Seth Thislethwaite Seeks the Truth of Betty the Yeti, by Richard Thake, and Bridge of Time, by Lewis Buzbee,

Authors and Interviews

Jasmine Richards (The Book of Wonders) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Danika Dinsmore (The Ruins of Noe) at Just Deb

Stephanie Burgis (Renegade Magic) at Smack Dab in the Middle and distraction no. 99

Laurisa White Reyes (The Rock of Ivanore) at Cynsations and The Children's Book Review

Barry Wolverton (Neversink) at Jean BookNerd

Other Good Stuff:

A celebration of dragons at Scribble City Central

From Flavorwire (via 100 Scope Notes) comes 10 of the Weirdest Children's Book Authors of All Time

Neil Gaiman gives the commencement address at Univeristy of the Arts

And finally, for those of us who miss our dollhouses, the most beautiful miniature food I've ever seen (more pictures here, at Jules; found via Light Reading)

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi (2/24/2013)

Welcome to this week's (wet and cold) round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction book reviews, author interviews, and interesting (d.v.) miscellanea from around the blogs!

In case you wonder how I find the links, here's how.   I follow about 500 blogs on google reader (which doesn't mean I read them.  Just the post titles, mostly.  So it doesn't actually take too long).  On Sunday morning, I do a blog search on "middle grade fantasy."  I have been known to go through the books recently reviewed on Kirkus, so I can do some specific title searches, and I search for books I myself know about.  Occasionally people send me links.

Which leads gracefully to my next point--more people are welcome to send links directly! (charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com). This includes authors and publicists.  That being said, I do reserve the right to decline to link to posts I don't find valuable.  People are also welcome to leave links in the comments. 

Onward.

The Reviews:

The Alchemyst, by Michael Scott, at books4yourkids

The Book of Doom, by Barry Hutchison, at The Book Zone

Case File 13: Zombie Kid, by J. Scott Savage, at Book Nut 

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, by Claire Legrand, at Lust for Stories

Demonkeeper, by Royce Buckingham, at Known to Read

Down the Mysterly River, by Bill Willingham, at BooksYALove 

Drizzle, by Kathleen Van Cleve, at GreenBeanTeenQueen 

Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun, by Liz Kessler, at theawseomeadventuresoflulu

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Kristen Evey

The Fellowship for Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at Charlotte's Library

Freaks, by Kieran Larwood, at Finding Wonderland

Herbert's Wormhole, by Peter Nelson, at Maria's Melange

In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at Karissa's Reading Review 

The Lost Heir (Wings of Fire) by Tui T. Sutherland, at Ms. Yingling Reads 

On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave, by Candace Fleming, at Log Cabin Books

The Runnaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Stacked and Bookshelvers Anonymous

The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere), by Jacqueline West, at Middle Grade Ninja

The Space Between, by Kiki Thorpe, at Sharon the Librarian

Spirit's Princess, by Esther Friesner, at Charlotte's Library

The Strangers (Books of Elsewhere 4), by Jacqueline West, at Log Cabin Library 

A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at Bookalicious and Literacious, and as an audiobook, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

The Time Paradox, by Eoin Colfer, at Fyrefly's Book Blog

The Time-Travelling Fashionista, by Bianca Turetsky, at Time Travel Times Two

Authors and Interviews

Jennifer Nielsen (The Runaway King) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Mike Yung (Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Anna Staniszewski (My Very UnFairy Tale Life) at Readatouille

Jasmine Richards (The Book of Wonders) at The Brown Bookshelf (as part of the wonderful 28 Days Later series)

The middle grade members of the Lucky 13s (debut authors of 2013), many of whom have written sff books, share their thoughts on why they write middle grade fiction.

Other Good Stuff

Shortlists!  The Andre Norton Award, the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, and the Diagram Prize (for quirkiest book title).  Here are this year's contestants for that one:

Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop by Reginald Bakeley
God's Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis by Tom Hickman
How Tea Cosies Changed the World by Loani Prior
How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees
Lofts of North America: Pigeon Lofts by Jerry Gagne
Was Hitler Ill? by Hans-Joachim Neumann and Henrik Eberle

I think I like the peaceful simplicity of "How to Sharpen Pencils" the best.  What I'd really like, though, is a book on how to keep pencil erasers fresh, or at least, how to restore them to eraserability.

Children's Book Week (May 13-19, 2013) is on its way, and this year's bookmark is nicely mg sff!  Plus it has a hidden letters challenge.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (5/18/14)

 I'm starting this week's round-up with two announcements of things near and dear to me.

First-- The Eight Annual Kidlitcon has been announced!  If there is any way you can make it, I urge you to come--it is so lovely to be surrounded by kindred spirits talking books and blogs.   I am going- I found a good deal on my outward bound ticket and bought it already, so I hope I find a good return ticket or else I'll have to start life anew in California....

Second--  The Ninth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge, hosted by MotherReader, has been announced, and this year the focus is on diversity.

Please let me know, as always, if I missed your post! (authors and publicists--you are welcome to let me know of reviews too!)

The Reviews:

Boys of Blur, by N.D. Wilson, at Nerdy Book Club

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, by Claire Legrand, at Log Cabin Library

Dealing With Dragons, and Searching for Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede, at  Reading is Fun Again (audiobook reviews)

Elsbeth and the Pirate's Treasure, by J. Bean Palmer, at Life's Simple Pleasures

The Fairy Doll & Other Tales from the Doll's House, by Rumer Godden, at Charlotte's Library

The Forbidden Library, by Django Wexler, at The Bibliomaniac

The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, at Waking Brain Cells

The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw, by Christopher Healy, at Charlotte's Library

The Islands of Chaldea, by Diana Wynne Jones, at The Emerald City Book Review

Millhouse, by Natale Ghent, at In Bed With Books

Mouseheart, by Lisa Fiedler, at Hidden in Pages,  Kid Lit Frenzy (with giveaway), and Charlotte's Library (also giveaway)

The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Nightingale's Nest, by Nikki Loftin, at Semicolon

Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease, at Mother Daughter Book Reviews

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, by Karen Foxlee, at Good Books and Good Wine (audiobook) and Becky's Book Reviews

The Phoenix and the Carpet, by E. Nesbit, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Riverman, by Aaron Starmer, at Semicolon

Rose and the Lost Princess, by Holly Webb, at Wands and Worlds 

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Challenging the Bookworm

Saving Lucas Biggs, by Maria de los Santos and David Teague, at Inspiring Insomnia

The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, at I Heart Reading

Sky Raiders, by Brandon Mull, at Hidden In Pages

Taran Wanderer, by Lloyd Alexander, at Hope is the Word 

Tesla's Attic, by Neil Shusterman and Eric Elfman, at Semicolon

The Unicorn Thief, by R.R. Russell, at The Book Monsters  and Nayu's Reading Corner

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, by Eleanor Cameron, at Tor 

Two super hero books at Ms. Yingling Reads--  Bacon, Lee. The Dominion Key (Joshua Dread #3) and  Jensen, Marion. Almost Super

Author and Interviews

Django Wexler (The Forbidden Library) at Fanboynation

N.D. Wilson (The Boys of Blur) at Nerdy Book Club

Jerry A. White (The Thickety) at Odyssey Workshop

MarcyKate Connolly (Monstrous) at The Book Cellar

Other Good Stuff

Oh my gosh this looks so lovely and it is so timely viz diversity discussions and I want it for my children right now!!!! -- Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa)—"a beautifully illustrated puzzle-adventure game depicting a young Iñupiaq protagonist and her arctic fox companion" created by game designers working with Native storytellers and elders, by a tribally-owned company called Upper One Games. (Found via Once Upon a Blog). 

The Nebula Awards have been announced.  From Tor:

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

• Winner: Sister Mine, Nalo Hopkinson (Grand Central)
• The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black (Little, Brown; Indigo)
• When We Wake, Karen Healey (Allen & Unwin; Little, Brown)
• The Summer Prince, Alaya Dawn Johnson (Levine)
• Hero, Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
• September Girls, Bennett Madison (Harper Teen)
• A Corner of White, Jaclyn Moriarty (Levine)

Winged equines, at Views From the Tesseract and Middle Grade Steampunk, at Bookends

Not strictly middle grade, but just a reminder there's a Sci Fi/Fantasy round-up every week at On Starships and Dragon Wings

And also not strictly middle grade, but still of interest--onn Sunday, May 25th at 2pm,  fantasy authors Leah Cypess, Erin Cashman, AC Gaughen, and Adi Rule will be talking about the challenges of creating historical and fantastical settings and sharing their world-building tips at The Writers' Loft in Sherborn, MA. 

"Alice, Creator and Destroyer" (as in Alice In Wonderland), at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Rush Limbaugh won the Children's Book Choice Award for author of the year for Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims; here are some reactions rounded-up at 100 Scope Notes
and another look at it at Educating Alice, where Pilgrim alternatives are offered.

 And having gotten that out of the way, let's have  more pictures from Never Alone:

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/23/2020)

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

The Reviews

The Alchemist's Shadow (Watch Hollow #2), by Gregory Funaro, at J.R.'s Book Reviews

Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden, at Twirling Book Princess

Demelza and the Spectre Detectors, by Holly Rivers, at bookloverjo

Dragons in a Bag, by Zetta Elliott, at Books4YourKids

Ghost and Bone, by Andrew Prentice, at A Garden of Books

The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper, at Cover2CoverBlog

The House of One Hundred Clocks, by A.M. Howell, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

In the Cirle of Time, by Margaret J. Anderson, at Charlotte's Library

Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at Book Craic (nb--the series has just been released in the UK)

The Last Last-Day-of-Sumer, by Lamar Giles, at Rosi Hollinbeck

Lightning Girl, by Alesha Dixon, at Always in the Middle

The Mad Hacker (Escape Game #1), by Remi Prieur and Melanie Vives, at Pick a Good Book

Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan, at Latinxs in Kid Lit

Master of the Phantom Isles (Dragonwatch #3), by Brandon Mull, at Say What?

The Mystwick School of Musicraft, by Jessica Khoury, at Charlotte's Library

A Path Begins (The Thickety #1), by J.A. White, at Here There Be Books

Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidiker, at Sonderbooks

A Sprinkle of Sorcery, by Michelle Harrison, at Book Murmuration

Superhero Squad (Lightning Girl #2), by Alesha Dixon, at Always in the Middle

The Windreader, by Dorothy A. Winsor, at A Dance with Books

Authors and Interviews

Kevin Emerson (Lost in Space: Return to Yesterday) at From the Mixed Up Files

Tara Gilboy (Unwritten, and its sequel, Rewritten) at Mrs. Book Dragon

Other Good Stuff

Oprah's magazine offers a book list for those who enjoyed Harry Potter--some of the recommendations are middle grade, but others are for adults.  I disagreed with some, but it's a reasonable, if not exciting or tremendously diverse, list.

What's new in the UK, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

A list of recent (ish) diverse girl-centered mg fantasy at From the Mixed Up Files

All but one of this year's Andre Norton Award finalists are middle grade! Congratulations to Cog
by Greg van Eekhout, Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee, Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions by Henry Lien, Riverlandby Fran Wilde, and Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez (congratulations also to Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer)

This is the last round-up post of February.  What's your favorite MG sff book of the year so far? (or multiple favorites).  My own two so far are Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan (April 2020) and The Mulberry Tree, by Alison Rushby (July 2020 in the US).

Gender bias, my blog, and sci fi/fantasy books for kids

So I was reading an article about gender bias in book journalism over at The Guardian today, and shaking my head sadly about the fact that the the bulk of the book reviewers are men, and the majority of the books reviewed are by men.

And then I quite naturally wondered about the gender balance here on my blog. Obviously, 100% of the reviews are written by a female. But it turns out that I have a strong bias towards books by women. In the past year (Feb 2011-2012) I reviewed 131 books by women, 64 books by men, and 4 books jointly authored by one of each. Hmm. This is actually an improvement from the state of things when I asked myself the same question back in this post from June of 2010, when I concluded that I reviewed one male author for every four female ones.

Just as was the case in 2010, in 2011 almost all my reading has been science fiction and fantasy for kids. In that 2010 post, I tried to get a sense of whether my female bias was a result simply of the abundance of women writers in this genre, and I found some support for this in looking over a sample of my lists of new releases.

However, 2012 is a different story! It is the year in which men achieve publishing equity in mg sff! In my past five lists, 34 new middle grade sci fi/fantasy books by women, 40 by men. (maybe...I like my data, but am not wedded to it, and sometimes it's hard to know the gender of initials, and sometimes I count wrong. However, anyone who wants to count for themselves, please do! Let me know what numbers you get! I am almost tempted to do more counting, but will resist).

So I'm currently working on the assumption that I read more books by women because women tend to write more books that appeal to me. And since I do, after all, want to read books I like, the gender imbalance on my blog will probably continue. But I maybe will try to make it a little bit less unbalanced by this time next year...because I want my lists and such to be useful resources to all readers, not just Charlotte-reader-alikes.

Postscript:
7 of the 8 authors shortlisted for this year's Andre Norton Award are women. Last year was the first in which there was gender equity (4 and 4), and I am very glad that Terry Pratchett won. If it hadn't been for that year, I would be wondering if those whose votes result in the shortlist are guilty of unconsciously equating women's writing with children/younger readers, which is an awful thought.

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (2/22/15)

Another week, another snowfall, another round-up!  Please let me know if I missed your post.

The Reviews

Alistair Grim's Odditorium, by Gregory Funaro, at My Precious

Beast Keeper, by Lucy Coats, at Charlotte's Library

Beastkeeper, by Cat Hellisen, at The Quite Concert

Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand, by R.S. Mellette, at Log Cabin Library

The Blackhope Enigma, by Teresa Flavin, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

The Boundless, by Kenneth Oppel, at Challenging the Bookworm

The Boy Who Lost Fairyland, by Catherynne M. Valente, at The Book Monsters (with giveaway)

The Boys of Blur, by N.D. Wilson, at Book Nut

The Bravest Princess, by E.D. Baker, at Leaf's Reviews

The Castle Behind Thorns, by Merrie Haskell, at Librarian of Snark

The Chosen Prince, by Diane Stanley, at Shae Has Left the Room

Copper Magic, by Julia Mary Gibson, at The Book Wars

The Dreamsnatcher, by Abi Elphinstone, at So Little Time For Books 

Echo, by Pam Munoz Ryan, at The Social Potato and Waking Brain Cells

Finding Serendipity, by Angelica Banks, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Greenglass House, by Kate Milford, at Librarian of Snark

Hunt for the Hydra, by Jason Fry, at Librarian of Snark

The Imaginary, by A.F. Harrold, at Fan Girl Nation 

The Inquisitor's Mark, by Dianne K. Salerni, at This Kid Reviews Books

The Iron Trial, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, at The Flashlight Reader

The Last Wild, and its sequel, The Dark Wild, by Piers Torday, at Wands and Worlds

The Lost City, by J. and P. Voekel, at Charlotte's Library (with giveaway)

The Lost Heir (Wings of Fire book 2), by Tui T. Sutherland, at Hidden In Pages

The Luck Uglies, by Paul Durham, at Bibliobrit, Librarian of Snark, and Book Nut

Nuts to You, by Lynne Rae Perkins, at Book Nut

One Witch at a Time, by Stacy DeKeyser, at Small Review and Word Spelunking

The Orphan and the Mouse, by Martha Freeman, at Hope Is the Word

The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, at Bart's Bookshelf 

A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

Space Case, by Stuart Gibbs, at The Bookworm Blog

The Squire's Tale, by Gerald Morris, at Story Time Secrets

The Swallow, by Charis Cotter, at Librarian of Snark

The Witch's Boy, by Kelly Barnhill, at 3 Boys and a Novel

The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence, by Stan Lee et al., at The Story Goes...


Authors and Interviews

Nikki Loftin (Wish Girl) at Nerdy Book Club

Natalie Lloyd (A Snicker of Magic) at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

Shannon Hale (The Forgotten Sisters) at Publishers Weekly

P. Voekel (The Lost City--Jaguar Stones 4) at Charlotte's Library (with giveaway)


Other Good Stuff

Ten classical elements that sci fi/fantasy is built on, at Tor

The graphic novel version of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass comes out in the US this September!  (via Educating Alice)

At The Guardian:   "It’s been 50 years since Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang spluttered into the world. Now Ian’s nephew Fergus gives us a potted version of the original book – gloriously illustrated by John Burningham."

And for more graphic goodness, here's a look at Gabriel Pacheco's illustrations for a new edition of The Jungle Book at Once Upon a Blog.

The Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy shortlisted books are:

Unmade, Sarah Rees Brennan (Random House)
Salvage, Alexandra Duncan (Greenwillow)
Love Is the Drug, Alaya Dawn Johnson (Levine)
Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future, A.S. King (Little, Brown)
Dirty Wings, Sarah McCarry (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Greenglass House, Kate Milford (Clarion)
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, Leslye Walton (Candlewick)

all the other lists can be seen here