A list of fantasy books with which I disagree, and a better list of my own

So this guy who writes for the New Yorker online sneers at the fantasy he's read to date (written at a fourth-grade level, he says), but for unknown reasons he wants a list of what he should read next ("I doubted whether the genre had more to offer adults—literary adults, adults who enjoy reading bonafide novels"), and his friend makes such a list for him, and you know what? It's not the list I would have made. There are good books here, but in general, the choices are too close to stereotypes, that probably will not sway the sneering reader of "real" books.

My own list (edited to add: of books that I would suggest to someone who reads bonafide adult novels, and sneers at fantasy; all though I like many of these, this is by no means a list of my own favorites, which are doubtless at a fourth-grade reading level).

I'm not exactly sure what a reader of bonafide novels likes (since clearly I'm not one), so I have created sub categories of possible readers.

1. For the reader who wants to be made vaguely unhappy by the reading experience, distrusts clear prose, and wants ambiguous complexity, here's a list of very well-respected, even beloved, fantasy novels that I would recommend:

Red Shift, by Alan Garner Miserable as all get out, but those who love it rave about the beauty and power of it. I found it not dissimilar to what I imagine being flayed by scorpions would be like.
Little, Big, by John Crowely. It's been a while since I read this, but I remember it being rather long, and me being not at all sure that I really cared. Many bonafide novels make me feel this way.
Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones. I have read it four times, and still am not clear what happened and why.
Tender Morsels, by Margo Lanagan. It's a beautiful book, and I enjoyed it lots (and so thought hard before including it in this list), but the violence, faint sense of detachment, and "feel" (she said articulately) give it a "bonafide novel- ness."

2. The reader who really likes beautiful prose and doesn't mind being confused

Ombria in Shadow, by Patricia Mckillip

3. The reader of bonafide novels who is a simply looking for another good book, regardless of genre, to read (these are the books I'd recommend to my mother):

Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanely Robinson, The Yiddish Policeman's Union, by Michael Chabon, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss (the one book I have in common with the original list).

I haven't put any Ursula Le Guin on the list because the books of hers that I most recommend I would call Science Fiction.

And finally, I'd also like to defend the fourth-grade reading level. For pure enjoyable story-- magical, wonderful, stories that stay in the mind forever--fourth-grade reading is about as good as it gets.

David and the Phoenix, by Edward Ormondroyd

A mention by Jennifer, over at the Jean Little Library, lead me to seek out David and the Phoenix, by Edward Ormondroyd (1957). This is one of those books that I wish I'd found as a child.*

When David and his family move to a new house, David is drawn to the "mountain" that rises above it. As soon as he can escape from the unpacking, he is climbing it. There he meets the Phoenix, a somewhat elderly bird with a great sense of his own wonderfulness. The two become friends, and the Phoenix promises to take David under his wing, and further his education in matters mythological. First, however, the Phoenix must get his wing muscles back in shape.

But while David and the Phoenix visit griffins, race a witch, and call on a retired banshee, danger is coming closer. A Scientist is hot on the trail of the Phoenix, fiercely determined to shot and stuff him to further the cause of science....

This is one of those gentle, engrossing, magical books that a 9 year old might fall for hard. I will boldly go so far as to say it is timeless. The Phoenix is funny, it is easy to imagine oneself in David's shoes, and the points the book makes--that fantasy is worth caring about, and that some things are more important than science, are ones that it is hard for me to argue against. And as is the case with many older fantasy books, there's an episodic structure to the plot that makes it a great one for reading aloud.

I'd especially recommend this one to fans of Rosemary Manning's Green Smoke, which probably won't mean a thing to American readers, but those in the UK will know what I mean. It's about a girl who becomes friends with an elderly dragon, and coincidentally was also published in 1957.

It can be downloaded for free, but was reprinted recently and is readily available.

So now I know of two books in the phoenix sub-genre of children's fantasy--this one, and E. Nexbit's The Phoenix and the Carpet. Any others?


*(mainly these seem to be by authors in the middle of the alphabet, because I would start every summer at the As and the Zs in my quest to read every book in the children's section).

Completely Dark Cover of Meaninglessness and more: the chart of 2008 fantasy cover art

At Bookshelves of Doom, I found a link to a chart at The Publisher Files of all the elements used in fantasy cover art in 2008. Unicorns had a bad year.

It's an amusing chart, but sadly doesn't seem to include YA...let alone children's fantasy. If I happen to find ten free hours this weekend (ha ha ha) I might make a stab at it.

Dragonbreath, by Ursula Vernon

Dragonbreath, by Ursula Vernon (Dial, 147 generously fonted and illustrated pages, young middle grade)

Danny's a lot like any other grade school kid--trying to live up to his parents' expectations, trying to defend his lunch from the school bully, trying to write a report on "the ocean" on his fifteen minute bus ride. But, since Danny is a dragon, attending a school for reptiles and amphibians, things are a little different. Mom and Dad breathe fire, Danny can only produce ashy belches. The bully is a vicious komodo dragon. And when he has to re-write his report, he turns to Cousin Edward for help. Cousin Edward is a sea serpent.

So Edward takes Danny and his best friend, a charmingly nerdy iguana named Wendell, down into the ocean. Provided with "breath mints," the two friends don't have to worry about breathing underwater as they explore a coral reef, a shipwreck, and descend into the dark depths--where danger (!) awaits...

Told with copious illustrations (in shades of green and black), with interludes of comic book style sections, this is a great independent read for a seven or eight year old, and a great read aloud for a younger child. It's extremely entertaining for the adult whose reading it out loud, too, although this example perhaps resonated more with me than with my children:

"Mrs. Dragonbreath looked up from her coffee, focused her eyes with some difficulty, and hissed like a cobra. (Cobras are also traditionally not morning people)." (p 12).

I was somewhat surprised that, after some time following Danny through the travails of school life, the book took an educational twist--although the undersea adventures are exciting, they have a more than somewhat "let's all learn about the ocean" feel. Which is fine, and gives added value, although it seems to me that most children these days know all the species of shark before they give up sippy cups. I don't think my kids noticed this aspect of the book at all. They were too busy being engrossed in Danny and Wendell's adventures.

The point of view shifts midway from Danny--eager and overconfident--to Wendell, anxious and overthinking. I love Wendell.

"Wendell pawed the last of the sea cucumber's guts out of he ears. "What? You want even weirder fish? It wasn't enough getting nearly eaten by a shark and barfed on by a- sea - slug- thing-"

"Actually, sea slugs are something else again," said Edward helpfully. "That was a sea cucumber, which is an invertebrate--"

"I don't care!" Wendell tried to throw his hands in the air, realized too late that he was underwater, and flailed rather aimlessly instead. Danny had to grab his tail to haul him back down to the reef. "There could be all kinds of monsters down there!"

"Well, of course there could be," said Danny. "What's wrong with that?" (p 62)

I am very much looking forward to the next Dragonbreath adventure--Attack of the Ninja Frogs. So are my boys. (Coming February, 2010. Sigh. I want it now! Not so much for myself, but because it makes me so happy to see my boys so enthralled by a book...)

Other reviews can be found at The HappyNappyBookseller, Pink Me, 100 Scope Notes, A Year of Reading, and Kid's Lit.

Timeslip Tuesday: Ravine, by Janet Hickman

Ravine, by Janet Hickman* (2002, Greenwillow, 215 pp). In the Dark Ages in northern Europe, Ulf toils for an evil queen, a foreign slave without hope in a harsh world. In present day America, Jeremy and his best friend Quinn play with their model warriors, still enjoying childhood. Jeremy's mother is engrossed in her work--translating an early medieval tale, and has little time to keep an eye on him, warning him to stay out of trouble.

But trouble comes. Jeremy's collie, Duchess, disappears down a forbidden ravine...and wanders into Ulf's time. Ulf is delighted to have the companionship, however brief, of the beautiful dog, but his need of her widens the path between past and future. Soon Jeremy and Quinn, with Quinn's unwilling big sister following, climb down the ravine themselves, looking for Duchess. In the dark and violent world where Ulf lives, where he is living through the very tale that Jeremy's mother is retelling, survival is a sometime thing, and getting home might prove more dangerous, and heartbreaking, than Jeremy had ever imagined.

This is a rather charming adventure story. It's not tremendously complicated, it's not a very good history lesson (I found it a bit vexing that I wasn't sure where in Europe I was, and if everyone was Germanic, or possibly some were Viking), and the magic isn't explored to any sort of conclusion. Yet the characters are real and worthy of the reader's care, and the story moves along an exciting and engrossing path. I wouldn't rush to recommend this one to adults, but I will be giving it to my boys in a year or two.

*best known for her 1994 book, Jericho.

Summer holiday quiz from the Guardian

Summer is here with a vengeance in Rhode Island, and, coincidentally, yesterday The Guardian ran a quiz on the best summer holidays in books.

Here's the one I missed--I'd never heard of the book before:

7. Why are the children in Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garden left unsupervised over the course of one long, hot summer?
They run away
Their mother dies
They kill their parents
They are shipwrecked on a desert island where they find buried treasure

I have just looked it up on Wikipedia (edited to add: and was very taken aback by the adult content in the description. Not jolly school children on holiday). I do not think I shall be seeking it out any time soon. However, fans of Flowers in the Attic might be interested...

On a more wholesome note, my favorite summer holiday book is Return to Gone Away, by Elizabeth Enright.

The Princess and the Bear, by Mette Ivie Harrison

The Princess and the Bear, by Mette Ivie Harrison (HarperCollins, 2009, YA, 327 pp) picks up exactly where The Princess and the Hound left off. Prince George and Princess Merit are happily married, and the hound who had once been a princess and the bear who had once been a king have found each other in the forest, and are slowly forming a bond of great affection and mutual need. But all is not well--the forest they love is under threat from a horrible Unmagic, that drains the life and goodness out of whatever it touches.

The Wild Man, who had lead the animals against the Bear when he had been a foolish and selfish young king, is the only being powerful enough to stand against this evil force, so Hound and Bear set off to seek him. When they do, they find that their path will take them back in time--the Bear can become the King again, and the Hound can become a human woman, fighting at his side.

Together they must understand their own magic, and the magic of the land in which they live. Without the magic, they cannot stand against the Unmagic force, and defend the kingdom from the human greed and hunger for power that is tearing it apart. And in the processes, they must also learn to understand each other...

The Princess and the Bear does not have the strongest beginning. George and Merit are pushed abruptly and drastically off stage in order to get the plot going, and that jarred a bit. It seemed to me to take Harrison a while to demonstrate that she was in writerly control of her two animal/human characters, and there was quite a bit of telling what they were feeling that didn't quite fit smoothly into the story. However, as the story progress, frequent flashbacks to the previous lives of the main characters work well to add depth to characters and to explain how they (especially the Bear) ended up where they are.

When this unlikely couple travels back in time, setting forth as human companions to reclaim the kingdom, the story gets cracking nicely, and becomes an exciting, page-turning, magic-filled adventure. Chela, as the hound now calls herself (it's houndish for woman), is a particularly fascinating character, and Harrison does an excellent job making her dual nature present and convincing. She is a pretty darn fierce and loyal fighter, a worthy addition to the gallery of kick-ass heroines.

This is one that will be much enjoyed by animal loving readers--not only are the two main characters animals themselves for much of the book, but the magic of this land intricately binds humans with the animal kingdom. Although it's YA, there is nothing blush worthy or terribly disturbing violence-wise, so it's suitable for voraciously reading middle-school kids (that is, girls. It is a rather lovely dress on the cover, isn't it? But since half the story is told from the male lead's point of view, and there's lots of swordfighting and hunting, boys might like it too...)

What I am now wondering is what effect the actions of these two in the past will have had on George and Merit's time. Perhaps there will be a third book...

There is a third book! I just visited Harrison's webpage to get the link, and found:

"The Princess and the Snowbird , the sequel to The Princess and the Bear will be available in 2010. It is the story of Liva, the daughter of the hound and the bear, and Jens, an ordinary boy with no magic at all who does extraordinary things, and of course, a mythical creature called a snowbird who returns to help save magic at the end of the world."

I'm looking forward to it!

Other reviews can be found at Books Your Mother Would Approve Of, and One Librarian's Book Reviews.

The Graveyard Book has Won the Hugo

The Hugo Awards were announced last night, and The Graveyard Book won the best novel category! For goodness sakes. I liked it lots, I helped it win the Cybils Award, I was pleased when it won the Newbery, but was it really the best of all best science fiction/fantasy books of last year???

Here's the slate of finalists:

* Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK)
* The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK) (Winner)
* Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen; HarperVoyager UK)
* Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)
* Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)

Shadowed Summer, by Saundra Mitchell

Shadowed Summer, by Saundra Mitchell (2009, Delacorte, 180pp, middle grade/young YA), is an excellent book for reading in August, when summer has gotten old.* Hot, and brown, and nothing much happens...And two fourteen-year old girls in Ondine, Louisiana, a tiny dot on the map, are kicking their heels in a cemetery. Iris and her best friend Collette are trying to make their own excitement by pretending to contact the dead.

"The air felt hot and wet but far away, like the warmth thrown off a campfire. Laid out on Cecily's slab, I should have been sweating and ready for some lemonade, but all I had in me was cold.

***

I managed to turn my head, but Collette didn't seem me. She looked peaceful, floating on a stone that was as still as her body. For a moment, I was sure she was dead. My chest ached, bound with a scream I couldn't get out, and that was when someone touched my hair.

A creamy flash flash passed in front of me, leaving the shadow of a face made up mostly of dark eyes. Wind kissed my ear, cool and soft, and I heard a voice. It sounded like clover tastes, green and new and sweet.

"Where y'at, Iris?" (page 6)

The game has become real. Years ago, back when Iris' parents were teenagers**, Elijah Landry disappeared. His body was never found, and most folks assumed he just had run off. Now Iris knows different. The ghost of Elijah is stalking her, his friendly greeting gradually giving way to frightening violence.

What happened to Elijah, and why is he haunting Iris?

This is a delightful creepy story. The supernatural and everyday elements are beautifully balanced. Iris, Collette, and Collette's maybe/kind off new boyfriend Ben come to life engagingly as they work out their relationships (in a spot-on 14 year old kid way), and try to solve the mystery. They are never overshadowed by the ghost of Elijah, although the spookiness of the haunting, and the ghost's escalating violence as they come closer to solving the mystery, keep the plot going at a brisk pace. There's a strong sense of place, and the long, hot summer becomes very real. This perhaps makes this a better book for winter reading...but regardless, it is a fine one to give at any time to a 6th-9th grader who likes a good mystery.

Other reviews can be found at In Search of Giants, Malinda Lo, and Juiciliciousss Reviews.

*I am pretending, for the sake of my review's introduction, that this was a normal summer where I live, as opposed to a cold and wet imitation.

**way back in the eighties, when I was a teenager too...

Spell Hunter (Faery Rebels 1), by R.J. Anderson

Spell Hunter (Faery Rebels 1), by R.J. Anderson (HarperCollins, 2009, middle grade/ YA, 327pp).

In an ancient oak tree, shut off from the human world around them, lives a beleaguered bastion of the faery realm. Their magic has faded, and their numbers dwindling. But one young fairy rejects that possibility that they have no future. No floral faery name for her--she is Knife, fighting in the outside world, facing down the animals that prey on her people.

"Knife plunged through the hedge and leaped into the air, wings whirring. She drew her knife, wishing fervently that she had brought her bow and quiver instead.

The crow raised its head, and she recognized the limp form dangling form its beak: Linden. A soft-spoken faery, whose shyness and drab coloring made her easy to overlook--but she could carry twice her own weight in chestnuts, and the Gatherers could ill afford to loose her.

At first Knife feared she might already be too late to save her, but as she flew closer Linden roused and began to struggle. The crow's grip on her was cruel, but he had not killed her yet. Gathering her strength, Knife put on a final burst of speed, flashed up to him, and hacked wildly at his tail." (page 89).

Knife is determined to journey as far as she must in order to discover how to regain the magic her people have lost. She has no instructions, only a few clues to add to her instincts.

When instincts lead her to a forbidden friendship, the deepest she has ever known, Knife must weigh the feelings in her heart against the fate of her people. Her friend, her more than friend, is a human, a teenager named Paul who is slowly recovering from a terrible accident that has left him dependent on a wheelchair. She can help him, just by being who she is, but will he, in turn, help or hurt Knife?

It's a great story. All other aspects of the book aside, the relationship between Knife and Paul is nuanced and heartfelt (one of the most interesting love stories I've read for a while). It is a dangerous, moving, and tender journey that they take together, with a cliffhanger at the end. It definitely overshadowed, in my mind, the other half of the plot--the unravelling of what has gone wrong with the magic. This is ostensibly a middle-grade book (adventures of a young faery girl), but, what with the relationship being so front and center (although there's nothing blushworthy), it seems more young YA to me. Like, 12 and 10 months on up.

Before reading this book, I was worried that it might be a bit "fairies at the bottom of the gardenish" --twee, in other words, and I was very glad to find myself in a place that was not twee at all. The world of faery that Anderson creates is one that reminded me of the detailed ethnography of the Gnomes book*, rather than the Celtic-ish faery realms. These are small faeries, magical yet with mundane concerns, and Anderson has made them a solid fictional place to live.

And Knife is a kick-ass heroine, a point made much more clearly in the UK edition, the artwork of famed fairy illustrator Brian Froud. The American faery is wearing too much lip gloss for my taste.

Other reviews and comments can be found at Grow Wings (Laini Taylor's blog), Reader Rabbit, and My Favorite Author.


The sequel to Spell Hunter comes out in the UK in the January of 2010 as Rebel. I found on Goodreads that the North American edition, titled Wayfarer (Faery Rebels 2), will be coming (in Canada, at least), in the spring of 2010. This one Goodreads entry was from R.J. Anderson herself, so she should know...(she gave herself five stars, because of being rather fond of her book).







*This Gnomes book, and I mean the comparison in a complementary way--small magical denizens of the woodland risking their lives to gather things from outside. But it's really completely different.

Bookstore bingo, the best hotel ever, and a book and hotel related announcement

We are back from our holiday journey, with a little less money and quite a few more books. Our itineraries are strongly influenced by the locations of used bookstores, and today our path through Connecticut passed through two that were new to us. It's always so exciting to enter a new used bookstore, with hope-filled heart and eager eyes, although it's often a disappointment (like today was)--same old, same old. My sister and I once came up with "bookstore bingo," where each player's card features books to be found in almost any New England used bookstore (although I was surprised to see no copies of Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch today).

Since our children came on the scene, used bookstore visiting became a heck of a lot more stressful. The worst public tantrum my eldest ever threw was on a sad day when he was two and became convinced that life would not be worth living without "Practice Your Way to SAT Success." I wasn't spending $10 on it, and we had to leave the bookstore before I finished browsing. Today my husband found himself forking over $5 for Blitz, by Hetty Burlingame Beatty, an oldish book (1961) about a mistreated horse that won the heart of my six year old. He will probably never read it, but at least it might hold its value.

Continuing the travel line of thought, here is a hotel that we did not stay in, but which sounds like a dream come true (although they probably don't have as many children's books as they should).



The next hotel I shall be visiting might not have an immense library of antiquarian books that can be taken back to your room, but it will be filled with kidlitosphere bloggers, which will probably be much more fun. It will be the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, site of the Third Annual Kidlitosphere Conference!!!!!

From the official announcement (where everything was much more nicely formated--sometimes blogger really peeves me):

The Kidlitosphere Conference is an annual gathering of the Society of Bloggers in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. The 2009 conference will take place in Washington, DC, on Saturday, October 17th. While sessions are not scheduled for Friday, a Library of Congress visit is currently in the planning stages. An informal outing in DC will be scheduled for Sunday as well.

The sessions go from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and will cover:

1. The Blog Within: An Interview With Your Inner Blogger
2. Building a Better Blog: Best Practices, Ideas, and Tips
3. Split Reviewer/Author Sessions:
It’s All About the Book: Better Book Reviews
It’s Not About Your Book: Writing Ideas for Blogging Authors
4. Split Reviewer/Author Sessions:
Social Networking for Fun (and Profit?)
5. Authors, Publishers, Reviewers (and ARCs): A Panel Conversation
6. Coming Together, Giving Back: Building Community, Literacy and the Reading Message (KidLitosphere Central/PBS/RIF/Literacy)
7. Meet the Authors

A pre-session meet-and-greet breakfast is offered from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. A fun dinner to mix and mingle is scheduled for 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. The registration fee for the conference — including the breakfast and dinner — is $100. The fee for dinner only (for spouses or guests) is $50.

I hope (a tad selfishly) that lots of people come! I was rather jealous the past two years, reading on everyone else's blog how much fun it all was.

Mother Reader has selflessly taken the lead on this (thanks Pam!), and you can read more about it here at her blog, and see who is committed to being there so far...

Pride and Prometheus--Mary Bennet meets Dr. Frankenstein

Forget Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. In "Pride and Prometheus", by John Kessel (a nominee for this year's best novelette Hugo Award) Elizabeth's younger sister, the bookish and socially inept Mary, meets Dr. Victor Frankenstein...

"HAD BOTH HER MOTHER AND her sister Kitty not insisted upon it, Miss Mary Bennet, whose interest in Nature did not extend to the Nature of Society, would not have attended the ball in Grosvenor Square."

You can read the rest here at Fantasy and Science Fiction. You can also download (for free!)John Kessel's The Baum Plan For Financial Independence and Other Stories (including "Pride and Prometheus") at Small Beer Press.

(thanks to Biology in Science Fiction for the heads up!)

So, Frankenstein, Zombies, Vampires have now been done. A while ago I suggested Pride and Prejudice and Unicorns, in which Lydia gets gored. Or Mr. Darcy could be a Faïryieee (original spelling to add "freshness" to the plot) King. Or Wickham a werewolf...

New Releases of Science Fiction and Fantasy for children and teenagers, the 1st week of August edition

Here are the new fantasy and science fiction books for kids and teens released the first week of August, taken from Teens Read Too, with help from Amazon. (Actually, none of them are science fiction, but had there been any, they would have been put on this list).

For 9 to 12 year olds:

Billy Bones: The Road to Nevermore by Christopher Lincoln. Sequel to Billy Bones: Tales from the Secrets Closet. "Billy Bones and his cousin Millicent are ready to explore the world beyond the Biglum mansion. When Uncle Grim and Millicent are captured and taken to the hidden world of Nevermore, Billy begins an adventure bigger than even he could have asked for. As Billy searches for his loved ones, Millicent discovers that some secrets are too big for any Secrets Closet to hold-and may be too dark for any skeleton to overcome.""

The Extra-Ordinary Princess by Carolyn Q. Ebbitt. "Amelia, the fourth sister in a line of princesses, is sure her red hair and non-princessy ways–not to mention being the last-born–will mean an easy life of never being queen. But when an ancient curse comes to life, an evil uncle tries to take over their peaceful kingdom, and her three sisters are turned into a tree and two swans, Amelia and her best friend Henry must gather the forces of her magically blessed family, and save Gosling from complete destruction."

A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons by Cressida Cowell. "It's Hiccup's birthday, but that's not going to keep him from getting into trouble. To save his dragon, Toothless, from being banished, Hiccup must sneak into the Meathead Public Library and steal the Viking's most sacred book. But the Vikings see books as a dangerous influence, and keep them locked up and under heavy guard. To save his friend, Hiccup must brave the Hairy Scary Librarian and his dreadful army of Meathead Warriors and face off against the formidable Driller-Dragons. Will he make it out and live to see his next birthday? "

My Rotten Life: Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie by David Lubar. "Ten-year-old Nathan Abercrombie is having a really bad day. First, Shawna Lanchester, the prettiest girl in his class, doesn’t invite him to her party. Then he gets picked last in gym class. Things couldn’t get any worse…until he gets doused with an experimental serum that turns him into a half-dead zombie! Nathan soon discovers that being half dead isn’t all bad. He doesn’t need any sleep, so he can stay up all night and play games online. He doesn’t feel any pain, so there’s no need to worry about Rodney the bully anymore. Still, Nathan would rather be human. Will he find a cure? Or will Nathan be half-dead forever?"

The Riverboat Phantom: Haunted by Chris Eboch. "Jon and Tania are back and tracking down more ghosts, this time on the Mississippi River on an antique river-boat. With them are their mother and stepfather, producers of a hit TV show about "real-life" ghosts -- a topic no one on the crew seems to take all that seriously. But Tania has a gift -- she can see and communicate with ghosts, and this time she's in touch with the spirit of a riverboat captain who accidentally caused the boat to catch fire, and he's making trouble for everyone. Will Tania be able to help this troubled spirit find peace before disaster strikes again?"

The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate by Donna St. Cyr. "Robert Montasio did not think his day could get any worse until his sister drinks a bizarre soda that causes her to start shrinking. Robert's only hope is a mysterious organization known as the Secret Cheese Syndicate. Unfortunately, they cannot help without a special cheese that has been lost for years. Now, with a tiny little sister in his pocket, Robert has to travel the world to find the Mystic Cheese of Eliki and, perhaps, discover secrets from his family's past."

The Siege of Macindaw: Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. "...Will is now the protector of his first fief. Not long into his service, everything that can go wrong does: Keren, a renegade knight, has taken over Castle Macindaw, a strategic gateway to the North—poisoning the royal family in the process—and is holding Will’s friend Alyss captive. The situation grows direr when Will uncovers Keren’s secret alliance with the Scotti, who have plans to plunder Araluen. Time is of the essence, and Will must recruit a motley crew to rescue Alyss and reclaim Castle Macindaw—before the Scotti can make it their own."

The Ghost on the Stairs: Haunted by Chris Eboch. "Thirteen-year-old Jon and his eleven-year-old sister, Tania, are typical kids -- except for the fact that Tania can communicate with ghosts. Their mom and stepdad are producers of a ghost-hunter reality television show, but they have no idea that Tania possesses this ability -- and Tania wants to keep it that way.
While filming at an old hotel in Colorado, Jon and Tania find themselves trapped in a ghostly love story that happened more than a century ago. Local legend has it that a ghost bride still wanders the hotel, waiting for her lost husband. Can this fearless brother-sister duo reunite a newlywed couple -- and put these ghosts to rest at last?"


Young Adult:

Cirque Du Freak: The Manga, Vol. 2 by Darren Shan. "In The Vampire's Assistant, Darren returns to the old-fashioned freak show where, thanks to Mr. Crespley, he became a "half-vampire." Darren once again struggles against the urge to feed upon the human blood his health requires."




Dead Girl in Love by Linda Joy Singleton. Third in the "Dead Girl"series. "Oh, wow—I'm my own best friend. Or at least, I'm in her body! Okay, this assignment will be quick and easy. Thanks, Grammy! See, my dead grandmother keeps finding people who have big problems and then I have the freaky experience of stepping into their life—and their body!—to provide help. This time, I'm in the body of my BFF, Alyce. Since Alyce and I know everything about each other, I won't have to do a lot of detective work, which is a definite plus. But, as Alyce, I've got some really pressing questions to answer—starting with, What am I doing in this coffin?

Evil by Timothy Carter. (my review)."Book of Stuart, Chapter 1:10: 10 And, yea verily, Stuart did commit the Sin of Onan in the shower. And this was witnessed by his own brother who did cry out unto their mother. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. 11 And the townspeople rose up against him and all Onaners, calling upon one another to tear the youthful sinners limb from unclean limb. And there was much pants wetting.12 And lo, Stuart did join forces with the demon, Fon Pyre, and together they did set forth to discover the cause of the town's trouble. 13 And, hark! A pair of fallen angels would plant seeds of hatred unto the townspeople. And on the seventh day, Stuart did vow to rip the fallen angels a new one and layeth upon them an epic smacketh-down."

Ghost Mysteries: Unraveling the World's Most Mysterious Hauntings by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. A "trip though the history of ghosts and their place in literature, movies, and television."





Immortal by Gillian Shields. "Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies, housed in a Gothic mansion on the bleak northern moors, is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn away from her home by the sea to become the newest scholarship student, she is more isolated than she could have dreamed. Strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave Evie drowning in loneliness. Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a rebellious, mocking, dangerously attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian grow with each secret meeting, she starts to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie, she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. And as the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate."

Immortal: Love Stories with Bite edited by P.C. Cast. ''In Immortal: Love Stories With Bite, edited by New York Times bestselling author of the House of Night series P.C. Cast, seven of today's most popular YA vampire and contemporary fantasy authors offer new short stories that prove that when you're immortal, true love really is forever."

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent. "She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally. Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next… "

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink. "Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets. Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust. They just know they can't trust each other."

Ruined by Paula Morris. "Rebecca couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She's staying in a creepy old house with her aunt. And at the snooty prep school, the filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city. There's just one catch: Lisette is a ghost. A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle. As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend - and as she slowly learns to trust Anton Grey-she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?"

Sacred Scars: A Resurrection of Magic by Kathleen Duey. The eagerly awaited sequel to Skin Hunger. My copy is waiting for me back at home...

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. "For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. "Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever."

Timelock: The Caretaker Trilogy, Book 3. by David Klass. "Jack Danielson has spent the last year saving the oceans and the Amazon, attempting to fulfill a prophecy that was written before his birth. Now he’s more than ready to get back to life as a typical teenager and spend some quality time with his girlfriend, P.J. Too bad the world has other plans. Wrenched away once more from those he knows and loves, Jack is thrust through time to the fiery deserts of the future and the frozen tundra of the Arctic, battling cyborgs, zombie warlocks, and scorpions the size of tanks. At least he has Gisco—everyone’s favorite surly telepathic canine—to keep him company, not to mention the Ninja Babe, Eko. And he will finally be reunited with the parents who abandoned him so long ago, in order that he might save their dying planet. But it isn’t only a race to save Earth. As the clock ticks down before the final confrontation with the dreaded Dark Lord, Jack must decide once and for all who he really is—prince of the future or humble human of the present—and choose between the two women who love him."

Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run for Timeslip Tuesday

This Wednesday's Timeslip Tuesday (I don't quite know why Tuesdays seem to have less time in them than other days) is Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run, by Michael Hemphill and Sam Riddleburger (Dial, 2009, 168pp, middle grade), an engrossing time travel adventure that takes its main character back to the Civil War.

Stonewall is a reluctant bugle boy. His parents are Civil War fanatics (hence his rather awkward first name), and all his life he's been dragged to re-enactments of famous Civil War battles, forced to bugle as soon as he's old enough, sleep in a tent, wear a scratchy uniform, and pretend to care about his great great etc uncle Cyrus, a Confederate soldier who got shot in the butt at the first battle of Bull Run. Not how he wants to spend his weekends.

It's Bull Run time again when this book opens, and Stonewall's parents are furious that he left his bugle at home. But at least there's a spot of brightness--a cute girl named Ashby Dupree has come with her father this weekend. Thing is, Mr. Dupree is a fanatic believer that the south should have won the war, and he'll do anything to make that happened. Including travelling back in time, to change the course of history.

It's up to Stonewall to stop him. The loan of a dented and dull old bugle has sent him back in time as well, and now he is living the battle of Bull Run. It's a far cry from the tidy re-enactments he grew up with--the reality, of course, is death and chaos. Stonewall, spending the day with his uncle Cyrus, must fight not just to save himself (and perhaps save his uncle's butt), but to stop Mr. Dupree. And they are not the only time travellers--Ashby has come back too.

The focus of the book is on the battle, so there's plenty of well-written battle action. Although lots of people get shot, and it's rather horrible, and not exactly my cup of tea, but my interest was sustained by the nice balance of human interest the authors incorporate into their description of the battle. Stonewall not only learns what the battle was like, but about the people who were fighting in it, and the people on the periphery, like a young slave named Jacob, whose lives were being changed by it. I read it briskly, eager to see how the story would play out.

This is the sort of timeslip that is a superb history lesson--fact-filled without overt didacticism. It seems to me that most books for middle grade and YA readers about the Civil War are girl books--Two Girls of Gettysburg, by Lisa Klein, Red Moon at Sharpsburg, by Rosemary Wells, In My Father's House, by Ann Rinaldi. Stonewall Hinkleman is an infinitely more boy-friendly book (although not particularly girl-friendly per se. I would have liked to have seen more of Ashby, who seemed a bit of a token female).

Timeslip-wise, I give the authors high marks. Stonewall's reactions to the past are spot on, neither too confused or too facile. The time travel device is, perhaps, a tad forced (I tend not to like devices, myself), but it does leave the way open for a sequel, which I would welcome.

Here you can find a list of the stops on Stonewall's blog tour of last spring, for other reviews and comments.

2009 World Fantasy Awards finalists

Here are the finalists for the 2009 World Fantasy Awards, with a smattering of younger books--nothing surprising in the novel category, but it's rather nice to see Pretty Monsters, by Kelly Link, and Tales from Outer Suburbia, by Shaun Tan, in the Collections Category. I'm also rather pleased to see Kinuko Y. Craft got a nod in the artists' category--here's her cover for Alphabet of Thorn, by Patricia McKillip (a lovely library/time-travel adventure/girl finds identity book):


Novel
The House of the Stag, Kage Baker (Tor)
The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow)
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury)
Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory (Del Rey)
Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin; Knopf)

Novella
“Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel,” Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads)
“If Angels Fight,” Richard Bowes (F&SF 2/08)
“The Overseer,” Albert Cowdrey (F&SF 3/08)
“Odd and the Frost Giants,” Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury; HarperCollins)
“Good Boy,” Nisi Shawl (Filter House)

Short Story
“Caverns of Mystery,” Kage Baker (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy)
“26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss,” Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 7/08)
“Pride and Prometheus,” John Kessel (F&SF 1/08)
“Our Man in the Sudan,” Sarah Pinborough (The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories)
“A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica,” Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 5/08)

Anthology
The Living Dead, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Night Shade Books)
The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Del Rey)
The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: Twenty-First Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, & Gavin J. Grant, eds. (St. Martin’s)
Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, Ekaterina Sedia, ed. (Senses Five Press)Steampunk, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)

Collection
Strange Roads, Peter S. Beagle (DreamHaven Books)
The Drowned Life, Jeffrey Ford (HarperPerennial)
Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link (Viking)
Filter House, Nisi Shawl (Aqueduct Press)
Tales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin; Scholastic ‘09)


Artist
Kinuko Y. Craft
Janet Chui
Stephan Martinière
John Picacio
Shaun Tan

Special Award—Professional
Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant (for Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House)
Farah Mendlesohn (for The Rhetorics of Fantasy)
Stephen H. Segal & Ann VanderMeer (for Weird Tales)
Jerad Walters (for A Lovecraft Retrospective: Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft)
Jacob Weisman (for Tachyon Publications)

Special Award—Non-professional
Edith L. Crowe (for her work with The Mythopoeic Society)
John Klima (for Electric Velocipede)
Elise Matthesen (for setting out to inspire and for serving as inspiration for works of poetry, fantasy, and SF over the last decade through her jewelry-making and her “artist’s challenges.”)Sean Wallace, Neil Clarke, & Nick Mamatas (for Clarkesworld)
Michael Walsh (for Howard Waldrop collections from Old Earth Books)

"Celtic" music in fantasy

I am back on-line after a weekend spent with friends in a small, small town in western Virginia, where Irish music was played 12 hours (at least) every day, and there was much hilarity and consumption of beverages. But I missed not having a computer...sad.

Irish music has shown up recently in two fantasy books--The New Policeman, by Kate Thompson, and Lament, by Maggie Stiefvater. In both books the music adds a depth to the story; a sort of thick description (ala Geertz, an anthropologist who coined the term to describe the sort of ethnography he advocated) that makes a fantastic story real (or another culture come to life in the reader's mind. Ethnography and fantasy have lots in common).

Two older books by R.A. MacAvoy (a name that is doubtless familiar to others who read lots of fantasy in the 1980s--the Damiano books were the best known) feature an Irish fiddle player--Tea With the Black Dragon(1983) and Twisting the Rope (1986). I haven't read them for ages, but I remember them as enjoyable (but obviously not eminently re-readable) mystery/music/dragon magic combinations.

Northumbrian small pipes have shown up in fantasy as well, in The Little Country (1991), by Charles de Lint, and it is the piping, I think, that makes this one memorable, although the cover shows a fiddle. Irish pipes, I know from living with my husband's set, look like strange squids when lying in grassy fields like this fiddle is, and perhaps Northumbrian pipes do too, and this wasn't the effect they wanted. Or perhaps there was important fiddle playing too, that I just don't remember...

As far as I know, that's it for "Celtic" music in fantasy. I'd be curious to see any examples anyone else knows...or any examples of YA or middle grade regular fiction.

Wizards

At the Guardian Book Blog today, there's a debate about who is the greater wizard, Gandalf or Dumbledore. I am not convinced by any of the arguments. Sure, Gandalf's "magical powers" are pretty unimpressive, but, if I am remembering correctly, he himself never claims himself to be a "wizard," and Tolkien never thought of him as a magic user, so it's a bit apples and oranges-ish.

My own favorite "wizard" is Ogion the Silent, from Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books. Or possibly Howl from Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones, simply because I like him. And after coming up with these two, I think that my favorite wizards are those that have the most personality, whether of the flamboyant sort or its complete opposite.

A wizard who I find somewhat pointless is Dalben, from Lloyd Alexander's Prydain books. All he does is read bits of a book, and throw sticks in front of his pig.

There's a list of wizards in fantasy here on wikipedia, but it seems awfully short...not that I had time to actually study it.



Edited to add: I just saw this picture, concept art from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie, over at Fantasy Book Review, and it reminded me of how much I liked that particular wizard! And his ability to mix food and magic.

For some reason, though, I always think of his house as very light and airy, not nearly as dark as this movie version...

And speaking of Howl's Moving Castle, isn't this paper model, from the studio that did the anime version, marvellous? Those who are not as paper challenged as I am might enjoy making their own with the instructions provided.

New Releases of Science Fiction and Fantasy for Children and Teens--end of July edition

Here are a few books that came out in the last days.

Exciting note: The sequel to Skin Hunger, by Kathleen Duey (an utterly riveting fantasy that was on the Cybils short list a year before last) --Sacred Scars--was due to come out August 4, but is actually being sold on Amazon right now! I have just placed my order, and now must quickly go read Skin Hunger again. If you haven't read it at all yet, do. It won't disappoint (well, I liked it lots, at any rate), especially now that you will be able to start right in on the second book...


Middle Grade:

The Book of Ghosts, by Michael Hague. A collection of ghost stories.

Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck, by Dale E. Basye. Sequel to Heck: Where the Bad Kids Are, a wacky take on the underworld.

Watch the Skies: Daniel X,by James Paterson. The latest adventure of Daniel X, a superpowered alien.

YA

After Dark, by Nancy A. Collins. Vamps, Book 3.

Bite Me! by Melissa Francis. Seventeen-year old vampire girl has to save humankind.

The Eternal Kiss: 12 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire, edited by Trisha Telep.

Evil? by Timothy Carter

I want to say right at the beginning that Evil?, by Timothy Carter (Flux, 2009, 256pp, YA, coming Aug. 1st), is a very funny book, and I enjoyed it lots. The description that follows mightn't make it clear, but it's important to keep in mind that this is an over-the-top story bordering on farce.

Stuart was surprised by the attitude of his small and intensely religious community when he came out. Instead of hatred and contempt, the news that he was gay was taken in stride.

But then came Masturbation.

Overnight, the Sin of Onan (biblical spiller of seed) became a big deal. And Stuart had just been caught by his little brother committing it in the shower. Now a self confessed "spiller," Stuart is facing an intensity of loathing he'd never expected. The new obsession means that every kid has to keep their hands on their desks, in plain sight, but only Stuart is required to have a teacher go into the toilet stall with him.

The fanatical hatred of the townsfolk grows exponentially, until Stuart and a few other kids who've come under suspicion must flee from the church, where they've taken refugee, as the angry mob outside howls for their blood with fearsome cries for the "spillers" to come forth.

Why the insanity? A fallen angel is to blame, one that grew so obsessed with this particular sin that he could no longer function angelically, and now has taken up a crusade against it in Stuart's town.

A fallen angel can be pretty convincing, putting thoughts in the heads of otherwise normal people that drive them to great excess of zeal. But Stuart has a little bit of supernatural help of his own. His hobby happens to be raising demons, with all the proper safety mechanisms in place. Fon Pyre, his demonic acquaintance, might have what it takes to rid the town of the masturbation hating angel. The only problem with this is that Fen Pyre also has rending and other nastiness in mind when he looks at Stuart....

Carter has taken fanaticism to ridiculous extremes. Stuart's lightly delivered narrative ("There are few things I hate more than tomatoes, but burning to death is one of them." p 153), and the fast-paced and tense story, make Evil? hands down (pun intended) an enthralling read. The demonic Fen Pyre is a fine addition to the cast of characters, nicely removing the story from the real world and adding comic relief. I don't usually pass the YA books I read on to my husband, but I gave him this one to read, and he too enjoyed it very much.

Yet, without ever betraying the farcical elements of the book, Carter makes thought-provoking points about tolerance and the dangers of over literal, de-contextualized, biblical interpretation. It is most emphatically not an antireligious book, but it is one that might well make the reader question the definition of "sin."

Here's another review, at Boy With Books.

(Disclosure: copy received from the publisher)

Why Shel Silverstein's mother thinks I'm absurd

At The American Scene, there's a short post about the two worst children's books ever, The Giving Tree being one of them. Shel Silverstein's mom (or someone pretending to be his mom) left a vigorous defense of the book in the comments, which included this statement: "It would be absurd if a fully grown and completely developed adult human being loved a plant." As one who speaks to precious plants in baby talk, and has been known to snivel when they "pass" to the compost heap, I know where that puts me. But if that's the attitude to plants his mother taught him, it's no wonder he wrote the book he did.

So, what children's books are there where plants are loved? The Secret Garden is the only one that comes to my mind-my favorite part of the book is the bit where Mary clears the encouraging vegetation away from the shoots of the bulbs. And An Episode of Sparrows, by Rumer Godden. Oh, and The Little Prince.