A Wish After Midnight, for this Wednesday's Timeslip Tuesday

To misquote Churchy LaFemme, Timeslip Tuesday falls on a Wednesday this week. I'm thinking that next Tuesday might not be any better than the past few Tuesdays have been, and the books are piling up...so here it is.

A Wish After Midnight, by Zetta Elliott (2008, YA, 230pp).

Genna's Brooklyn is a hellish place to live. In her world of drug deals, cramped living space, and grime, there are two places of refuge--the library, and a private garden (free to the public on Tuesdays). In the library, Genna works to make her dream of college come true. In the peace of the garden, she tosses pennies into the fountain, making as many wishes as she has coins.

There in the garden one wish comes true, when she becomes friends, then more than friends, with Judah. To him, she is beautiful and strong, and he values her sharp mind and passionate intensity. But one night, the garden becomes a places of ghosts, and Genna makes a desperate wish that sends her careening back in time, to Brooklyn during the Civil War, just weeks before the Emancipation Proclamation.

It is not a good time to be a young black girl in New York City.

Her wish has dragged Judah into the past as well, into the last gasp of slavery, and its long aftermath. And then the New York City Draft Riots send the flames of racial hatred sky high, and the city burns...

This is powerful stuff. I would love to discuss this book with someone, to argue about which of the characters are most convincing, and which fall short (somewhat ironically, I'm not sure that the white couple who hire Genna to care for their child are as well characterized as they might have been). Í want to think more about the colonization of Liberia, touched on here. I want to discuss why I cared more for Genna in the present than in the past--I felt so distracted by the setting, the drama, and the action that occurred in the past, over quite a long period of time, that the person within it, whom I had gotten to know so slowly and with so much love in the first part of the book, was somewhat obscured.

And especially I'd like to argue about the ways in which modern Genna, with her knowledge of ghetto life in the present of 2001 and her achingly realizable ambitions (it is hard not to believe she can make it to college, heartbreaking to see her and her family struggle), copes with the much more overt racism (and the sexism) she encounters back in the 19th century.

This last point--the plot line of a modern girl, facing a hostile past--is part of what makes the time slip genre so interesting. Time travel can be used by writers who want to the adventure the past provides, or the chance to educate readers about a particular period of history. It can do both, while focusing on the central character's dislocation--the degree to which the history is made a central interest is fairly flexible. Unlike historical fiction, whose writers must, I imagine, always be looking anxiously over their shoulders for anachronisms, time travel writers are free to have a modern point of view. They can ask, essentially, "what does the past look like to us? What, back then, is alien to our sensibilities, but is, at the same time, bound up in how we got to where we are?"

That is what Elliott does here, in her page turning and heart wrenching portrayal of a girl's struggle to survive in two dangerous worlds.

You won't find this book in your local bookstore (unless it is a very unusual bookstore), because A Wish After Midnight never found a home with a publisher, and the author brought it out herself. A sequel, Judah's Tale, is in the works--as of June 26, there were twenty chapters, and Elliott is airing some as the book progresses at her blog.

Here are other reviews, at A Striped Armchair, Wands and Worlds, The HappyNappyBookseller, and Bookslut. At Cynsations, you can read an interview with Elliott, and see trailers for both this book and her picture book, Bird.

Academy 7, by Anne Osterlund

Academy 7, by Anne Osterlund (Speak, 2009, 259 pp).

At an ultra prestigious and ultra exclusive boarding school (only 50 students admitted a year, of whom only half get to stay the next), two paths cross. Dane is the son of privilege and power, and for him entering Academy 7 is an act of defiance against his abusively controlling father. For Aerin, the Academy offers hope that, after a desperate escape from the miserable existence she endured after her father's death, she will have a future.

Aerin and Dean are the two brightest students at Academy 7, challenging each other, and the assumptions that underlie their lives. By the end of the year, a relationship that began in competition has turned into much more, and they discover the secrets held at the top of the dark tower that looms over the school....

....a tower that can only be reached by space ship. Because Academy 7 is not an ordinary school, nor are Dane and Aerin typical American teenagers. Although plotwise, there's not a lot here to set the book apart from a standard girl meets boy at school story, Academy 7 isn't on earth. It's set in an interplanetary future, with a back story, geographic details, and technical tidbits that make it science fiction.

However, because the science fiction elements are essentially extraneous to the plot, Academy 7 might have more appeal for fans of the teen romantic fiction, who might find it an enjoyable change of setting. This is perhaps a good thing, because it seems to be marketed toward that audience, as there's absolutely nothing on the cover (either in the picture, or, more surprisingly, in the blurb on the back) to let the browser know that this story does not take place on earth. It is easy to imagine readers being rather surprised when they find themselves, in the first paragraph, on board a crippled spacecraft struggling to survive.

On the other hand, now that the characters have been introduced and the stage is set, there is most definitely room for more books in this world, and lots of scope for Aerin and Caleb to adventure out in the vastness of space....I would like that. Although, being a sucker for boarding school stories, I would be sad to say goodbye to the Academy and its intriguing headmistress just yet. At least one more book should be set there!

Other reviews at YA Book Nerd and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

This week's new releases of science fiction and fantasy for kids and teenagers

Here's what's come out in the past few days (taken, as ever, from the handy list at Teens Read Too).

9-12 year olds:

Fairypedia, by DK Publishing. "From England to Iceland to your back yard, did you know that hidden fairies are everywhere? You just need to know where to look! They come in every shape, size, and temperament, from the common mischievous Pixie to the ugly, grumpy Orculli."



Night Wings, by Joseph Bruchac. "Paul has always believed in the power of dreams. He knows that they are often warnings. Warnings that should be taken very seriously. Now his nightmare visions of a predatory winged creature are becoming all too real. And though Paul has always depended on the wisdom of his Abenaki ancestors' stories to guide his footsteps, no monster tale could have prepared him for what he is about to encounter, alone, at the top of one of the most dangerous mountains in the world."

The Search for Truth: Erec Rex, Book 3, by Kaza Kingsley. "Not only does the latest contest to become king appear to be a suicide mission, but it means more than just winning the crown of Alypium; if Erec doesn't succeed, then Upper Earth could disappear forever. So Erec must set out to retrieve the five Awen from their mystical hiding places and unite them, a herculean undertaking that has laid waste to all those who have attempted it. Before this can be completed, Erec will have to put a great friend in mortal danger and decide if that friend's life is worth the survival of Upper Earth. To succeed, he must face inner battles, passions, friendships, deadly missions, and daring risks in this breathtaking adventure.

THREE'S A KROWD: MEET THE KREEPS, by Kiki Thorpe. "When Polly brags to her snooty classmate, Denise, that she and her new stepfamily live in a castle, she doesn't expect Denise to invite herself over--and she doesn't know how to hide the fact that the castle is more like a haunted mansion! If Denise discovers how strange the Kreeps are, Polly's life at school is sure to be ruined!"



Young Adult:

Damsel, by S.E. Connolly. "The dragon roared and the clearing filled with shining whiteness. The flames burned with the pure deadly brightness that can only come from dragon fire. Annie closed her eyes but the scene imprinted on her vision; The knight tall and proud with his sword raised high and the dragon on her haunches, wings spread wide above them. When she opened her eyes all that was left of him was red hot armor glowing on the ground and a skittish grey mare neighing in panic. Can a damsel ever be the one to do the rescuing? Annie Brave thinks so. Her father, one of the most famous heroes of them all, is missing, presumed eaten. With no heroes available to rescue him from the clutches of the evil wizard, Greenlott, Annie takes his book "How to Slay Dragons - and Other Advice for the Hero in Training" and sets off on a rescue mission.

Ghost Town by Richard W. Jennings. "Spencer Honesty and his mom are the last people left in Paisley, except for Chief Leopard Frog, Spence’s imaginary friend. One lonely day, Chief Leopard Frog’s carved rabbit talisman tells Spence to take his photo, so Spence digs up his late father’s camera and starts shooting photographs all around his ghost town. When the photos come back developed, he does not expect to see his old neighbor Maureen Balderson in her bedroom. Or Ma Puttering clearing weeds in her yard. They aren’t in Paisley anymore. Yet there they are."

Full Moon (Dark Guardian #2) by Rachel Hawthorne. "Lindsey is wild and reckless, a natural rebel—maybe because her entire life was laid out for her even before she was born. Her parents are among the most powerful members of the Dark Guardians, an ancient tribe of werewolves, and they arranged Lindsey's betrothal to Connor long ago. The next full moon is coming all too soon, and then her commitment to Connor will be final—no turning back. She should be happy . . . so why can't she stop thinking about gorgeous, brooding Rafe? When a dangerous threat on the pack escalates, so do tensions between Connor and Rafe. A fight over Lindsey is imminent, but will it be to the death?"

Homecoming--Ghostgirl, by Tonya Hurley. "Charlotte Usher discovers that the afterlife isn't quite what she pictured when she's forced to intern at a hotline for troubled teens. Before she can officially cross over, she'll have to be a source of guidance for one such teen. The problem is she doesn't have much advice to offer since dying hasn't exactly boosted her confidence level. But when Hawthorne High's leading, love-to-hate cheerleader Petula and her gothic little sis' Scarlet find themselves suddenly resting-in-peace in comas, Charlotte's opportunity to save them will prove to be the risk of a lifetime-for all of them."

Laughing Wolf, by Nicholas Maes. "It is the year 2213. Fifteen-year-old Felix Taylor is the last person on Earth who can speak and read Latin. In a world where technology has defeated war, crime, poverty, and famine, and time travel exists as a distinct possibility, Felix's language skills and knowledge seem out of place and irrelevant. But are they? A mysterious plague has broken out. Scientists can't stop its advance, and humanity is suddenly poised on the brink of eradication. The only possible cure is Lupus Ridens, or Laughing Wolf, a flower once common in ancient Rome but extinct for more than 2,000 years. Felix must project back to Roman times circa 71 BC and retrieve the flower. But Can he navigate through the dangers and challenges of the world of Spartacus, Pompey, Cicero? And will he find the Laughing Wolf in time to save his how family and everyone else from the Plague of Plagues?"

The Quest for the Lance: Spy Goddess, by Michael P. Spradlin. "Fresh from pounding the streets of Tokyo in her designer boots, spy goddess Rachel Buchanan is called to yet another corner of the world. When a Mithrian artifact is pinpointed deep in the thick, sticky, dark, and endangered Brazilian rainforest, Rachel packs a bikini and heads for Latin America with her spy-school friends. Of course, it being the season of Carnival in Rio, the rest of the team might have a tough time dragging her away from the greatest party ever . . . or at least long enough to beat her archrival, Simon Blankenship, to the prize."

Demigods and Monsters, edited and introduced by Rick Riordan

Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, edited and with an original introduction by Rick Riordan (Benbella Books, 2009, 196pp).

There's a sadness, a melancholy not unlike a vegetable garden in October, when a favorite series comes to an end. Such a sadness is doubtless being felt by the many fans of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series who have just read the last page of the recently released The Last Olympian.

In this anthology of entertaining essays, authors of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teenagers (including two favorites of mine, Elizabeth E. Wein and Sarah Beth Durst) give readers a chance to revisit the series in a friendly, thought-provoking way, and tackle the tough questions that so many of us (?) have been asking.

From the back of the book:

"How are the Greek gods like your middle school principal?
Would you want to be one of Artemis’s Hunters?
Why do so many monsters go into retail—and why are they never selling anything a demigod really wants?

Find out:

· The pros and cons of having a god as a parent
· Why Dionysus might actually be the best director Camp Half-Blood could have
· How to tell a monster when you see one
· Why even if we aren’t facing manticores and minotaurs, reading myths can still help us deal with the scary things in our own lives"

There's also a glossary that provides a handy guide to the people, places and things of Greek mythology.

Reading a book like this is a great way to assuage the pain of the end of the series, showing, as it does, that good books make for good conversations, long after the last page is read and the cover is closed.

Waiting on Wednesday--Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones

As Anne of Green Gables said, when she had become Anne of the House of Dreams, "Oh Gilbert, I can't wait for spring," or something like that (she was going to have a baby).

I, too, am looking forward to spring, for very different reasons. Not only is Megan Whalen Turner's new book coming out, but Diana Wynne Jones will also have a new one, and it sounds lovely.

Lifted from her agent's page:

When the magician Jocelyn Brandon Hope died he bequeathed Melstone House to his grandson Andrew. He also left his ‘field of care’: an area of strangeness surrounding the land around the house, whose boundary Andrew must walk in order to preserve its power.

Andrew had always loved the house, but he finds owning it a lot more complicated, aside from all the magic. There is Mrs Stock, the tyrannical housekeeper who won’t let him move the furniture and punishes him with her terrible cooking. Just as bad is the obsessive gardener who will only grow giant inedible vegetables. To add to his troubles, twelve year old orphan Aidan Cain suddenly arrives on the doorstep begging protection from magical stalkers, and Andrew’s sinister rich neighbour, Mr Brown, begins to encroach on the ‘field of care’. The one compensation is the gardener’s beautiful niece, Stashe. Things become stranger and stranger until all is made clear with the help of the enchanted glass itself.

Coming April of 2010 from Harper Collins/Greenwillow (as is the MWT book).

Nothing But Ghosts, by Beth Kephart

Nothing But Ghosts, by Beth Kephart (HarperTeen, YA, 288pp).

Behind the varnish of the painting Katie's father is restoring lies one man's vision of regret; alone, working late into the night, her father finds the figments of the painting, reading them through the shadows. In a beautiful garden, another man has hired a crew of diggers to chip through the rock hard earth, excavating a long ago story that Katie, one of the group working in the hot summer sun to make the hole deeper, doesn't yet know. And Katie is looking to the past herself, to the days when she had a mother who made each day a more beautiful thing.

Her mother died. The owner of the garden, Miss Martine, locked herself away in it years ago. The rainbow shadows of her mother's glass bottles dance on the walls of a closed-off bedroom, and Katie doesn't know how to find the line between darkness and sunlight, the line between the ghosts of the past and her lonely life in the present.

As the hole deepens, so does Katie's compulsion to find Miss Martine's story. If she can understand how a beautiful teenager, with everything to live for, chose to leave life, maybe she can understand her own mother's absence. Seven boxes of Local Lore, unsorted and unasked for, sit at the library, and give Katie her own path to solving the mystery that is haunting her summer.

So. That's the basic plot. But you have to read it in Beth Kephart's own writing; I can't do it justice. It is so deeply imbued with metaphor, so rich in imagery, that re-reading (which I just did, after a six month gap) is a great pleasure. It is so unconcerned with Things Happening that the characters have space to be themselves, so concerned with the small things happening (pancakes being made, rain falling, the hard squeeze of a child's hand) that they have a real place in which to live. And it is sad, and powerful, and hopeful. My one quibble is that the resolution to the mystery felt a bit hurried at the end, and the central figure in that part of the plot never quite, in my mind, became a real person.

Despite that (very small) reservation, Nothing But Ghosts is a lovely YA book to read if you are perhaps satiated with plot-driven teen romance, and want a book whose emotional power comes from the deeply-felt interior world of the central character. Although there is a cute boy thrown in for good measure...

House of Dance is still my favorite of Beth Kephart's books, but this is possibly because the story of that one--the loss of a grandfather--is one I have lived through myself.

Tonight (June 30) My Friend Amy is hosting a party to celebrate the release of Nothing But Ghosts: "We will have a reading from Beth and at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST Beth will be here live chatting on the blog! So you'll get a chance to talk to the woman herself and what a special woman she is. Additionally, you may have a chance to win an autographed copy of Nothing But Ghosts."

As part of the party, Amy has organized a book drive to promote the book, with a goal of 200 copies sold by 9:00 EST tonight (and prizes!) If you'd like to be one of the 200, head here to find more information, and the link through which to buy.

Here's another review and interview at Presenting Lenore, and more reviews at From My Bookshelf, Em's Bookshelf, and The Compulsive Reader.

(ARC received from the author)

"Then, the bunnies show up" -- Books within Books

Books within books have always fascinated me. Does anyone else remember Dorothy Gilman's The Maze in the Heart of the Castle? It was an important part of her earlier book, Tightrope Walker, that she then wrote on its own account a few years later. I don't remember either book that well, but I do remember how believable the unreal book was, and how disconcerting I found it later when I was actually reading it myself. I had no interest, however, in reading any of the Harry Potter books from the books made real.

There seems to be a trend-let at the moment in giving unreal books life on line. There's The Girl who Cirumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, and now, at Grasping For the Wind, you can read an extract from The World in the Walls, by Christopher Plover. This is the first book of the Fillory and Further series, with which the main character of Lev Grossman's The Magicians: A Novel (Viking Adult, August 11, 2009), is obsessed.

From the website of the Fillory series:

"Hi Everybody. This website is a place for fans of Fillory and Further to share their love of the books and the characters and the world they're set in. These books have meant a lot to me when I was growing up and they still do now. If you've ever wished you were one of the Chatwin kids, or that magic was real, or that you could go to Fillory, this site is for you.

This site is also to introduce people who have never read the books to what Fillory and Further is all about. The Fillory books were published in England in the 1930's by a man named Christopher Plover. They are about the five Chatwin children-Martin, Fiona, Rupert, Helen and Jane-and their adventres in a magical land called Fillory. Even though they are kids the Chatwins are treated like kings and queens, and they have many adventures there, and they keep the people and animals of Fillory safe from danger. Their main enemy is the Watcherwoman. This site is a guide to what Fillory is all about. "

And the non-existent author has a website, another place where you can read the first chapter, and also blurbs for the books....

I was right there, all bright eyed and believing, until I got to the synopsis of book 5, The Wandering Dune:

"The last in the series. Helen and Jane find a mysterious sand dune blowing through Fillory. It carries them out into the desert, where they discuss morality. Then, the bunnies show up."

Which in turn reminds me of a quote from Love Is Hell, by Matt Groening: "And at night, the ice-weasels come."

But still, I am rather eager to seek out The Magicians...

(I've closed the comments on this post--it was being spammed).

Win a piece of the moon

And in conjunction with this week's release of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (the subject of my previous post) you can win this very piece of the moon! (Although I notice that there is no scale provided, so it could be tensy).

NewScientist is having a competition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing (one of the very few reasons why I wish I was a few years older. I would love to be able to remember it...).

Here's what to do: "You will doubtless know the words relayed from Neil Armstrong when he stepped off Apollo 11's lunar module and onto the moon itself: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Can you think of something better for him to have said - something even more memorable, or perhaps something funnier?"

I can't (all that's coming into my head is the moon rock bit from The Princess Diaries), but if you can, head over there to enter by 5pm GMT on 29 June.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, written and illustrated by Grace Lin (Little Brown, July 1, 2009, ages 9-12, 288pp)

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a lovely middle-grade fantasy, set in an ancient China that never (quite) was. It tells of a young girl named Minli, living a frugal life on the slopes of Fruitless Mountain, listening to her father tell wondrous stories of Jade Dragon, the Old Man of the Moon, and the evil Magistrate Tiger, and watching her mother becoming increasingly bitter about their poverty. When Minli exchanges one of her two coins for a goldfish, only to realize that even a fish's mouth is one mouth to many for her family to feed, she sets in motion a journey that will take her deep into the realm of her father's stories.


"Oh, Minli!" Ma said impatiently. "Bringing fortune to our house! Making Fruitless Mountain bloom! You're always wishing to do impossible things! Stop believing stories and stop wasting your time."

"Stories are not a waste of time," Ba [Minli's father] said.

"Stories, " Ma said, slapping her hands against the table, making the water in the fishbowl sway as she stood up and left the table, "are what wasted money on this goldfish." (ARC, p 25).

Minli is a believer in stories, and so, when she sets her goldfish free, and it gives her instructions on how to find the Old Man of the Moon on Endless Mountain, she hardly thinks twice before setting out to ask him how her village can prosper. On the way, she befriends one of the nicest fictional dragons I can think of, and with him confronts the horrible Green Tiger created by the wicked Magistrate's desire for revenge. Throughout their travels, they are told stories, and these tales within the larger tale shape the world in which the story is set, giving it depth and magic.

At last dragon and girl reach the Endless Mountain, and Minli realized that she must travel the last steps of her journey alone...

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon has not yet been released (it comes out next week), but already it is garnering accolades. Deservedly so, because this is truly a lovely story. There's the adventurous journey part, to provide interesting forward momentum. There's the strong central character, and her dragon companion, to provide an anchor for the reader. Then, and this is what makes the book stand out in my mind, there is the sense of being in a place far removed from the here and now of 21st-century America. This is not just because it is "set in China" and features a non-white heroine, although these aspects of the book make it a welcome addition to middle-grade fantasy. Grace Lin has made her imagined China a very real and rich place, not simply through the inclusion of magical background in the embedded tales, but through her use of imagery and metaphor in her writing, combined with practical details of life, like how to plant and cook rice, and what you would pack if you were a peasant girl in ancient China setting off on a journey.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon has full-page, color illustrations (like the one at left), and although I read an ARC of the book, and so haven't seen them in their final setting, it's fairly clear that they will make the book even more magical. I delighted in those of my old fairy tale books that had full page color illustrations,* so kudos to Little Brown for this.

This is a great book for reading out loud--it is episodic not just in the stories within the story, but in terms of Minli's adventures, and so can be put down and picked up again the next night without young listeners feeling disengaged (based on my test of the book on my children).

It is also a lovely book for anyone to just curl up with and read (based on my own reading of the book).



I'm very pleased to be part of Grace Lin's blog tour (the other stops are listed below). Here are the questions I had for Grace:

Me: I think of you primarily as an artist, and I was struck by how easy it was to see the story in my own mind as I read (helped, of course, by the illustrations, which I am very much looking forward to seeing in their final form).

Grace: The character of Minli came to me from a painting. But the actual narrative, plot, and setting of “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” began as words. Even when I work on picture books, the writing or the stories come first. I think that is because in art school we were trained that way, we were given a story or words first and then had to illustrate them—never the reverse, creating an image and then writing a story around that. Perhaps, that is why after all this time I am starting to view myself as an author first, instead of an illustrator.

Me: Was the China you created already in your mind, or did you immerse yourself in Chinese stories prior to writing the book?

Grace: Both! I had an idea of China-like setting from the books I read from my childhood and the trips to Taiwan and Hong Kong I had taken. But when I decided that this was the story that I wanted to write, I began to research and read as many Chinese folktale and fairy tale books I could get my hands on (some of which I put in the bibliography in my author’s note). Then, I actually visited China.

Me: A frivolous question--I liked the talking goldfish very much (I was very fond of my own goldfish, Black Spot, who would eat out of my hand and do tricks). Do you have a fish in you own life?

Grace: I used to have a goldfish as a child, which I named “Sushi” (I thought that was hilarious) but it died long ago. I don’t have one now, but I want to in the near future (when I stop traveling so much). I think there is nothing more peaceful than a goldfish in a bowl. And hopefully, it will bring me good fortune too!

Me: I hope so too! (I'm not sure that Black Spot brought us good fortune, exactly, but certainly nothing bad happened while we had him...)

Here’s the full schedule for Grace's blog tour:

• Wednesday, June 24th: Bildungsroman
• Thursday, June 25th: Shelf Elf
• Friday, June 26th: Paper Tigers
• Saturday, June 27th: MotherReader
  
• Sunday, June 28th: Charlotte's Library
  
• Monday, June 29th: Write for a Reader
• Tuesday, June 30th: The Mommy Files
• Wednesday, July 1st: Thrifty Minnesota Mama
• Thursday, July 2nd: Creative Madness
• Friday, July 3rd: Abby the Librarian

*Except the really, really scary Hans Christian Anderson book that I wish I had never seen. I tried not to look at those pictures.

(ARC received from the publisher)

The Apple Stone, a book for fans of Edward Eager

Last month I read Any Which Wall, by Laurel Snyder, with great enjoyment. It is an homage to Edward Eager (of Half Magic fame), and succeeds brilliantly. Since then, I have been trying to find other Edward Eager read-alikes-- books where ordinary children find magic, and struggle to learn its rules and bend the will of the magic to their own, and get into many strange predicaments in the process. In this sort of book, there is no struggle between good and evil, no great epic quest that provides the plot. Instead, there are episodes of magic meeting real life, often leading to chaos that is always eventually resolved.

There aren't as many books like this as one might think, which is odd, given how widely read Eager continues to be (Half Magic is on my son's summer reading list).

In fact, even after search, I can only recommend one other, and I found it by happenstance, when a mention of an author, Nicholas Stuart Gray, caught my eye at Geranium Cat's Bookshelf. The Rhode Island library system had one of his books, The Apple Stone (1965), and in due course it arrived.

I was surprised and delighted to find it a perfectly Eager-ish book.

Three English children (1 brother, the narrator, and his 2 sisters), and their two Scottish cousins (both boys), are spending an idle afternoon in the apple orchard, when Missie, the youngest, finds a small, wrinkled apple.


“It’s magic, “ said Missie.
We all gaped at her. She was the last person you’d expect to turn whimsy on you. Then Douglas laughed, and she gave him a very cold look.
“What a kiddish thing to say,” he scoffed.
“A very sensible thing to say,” said the apple.
Missie dropped it as if it were red hot.
“Clumsy!” it squeaked. No one else said spoke at all. We sat with dropped jaws and bulging eyes. I thought if my mind was going to wander this far, I’d better get it inspected or something. But the apple went on talking, in a small, soft voice that sounded extremely irritable.
“First they shake me off my tree; then they fling me about as though I were a mere and useless trifle! And they dare to laugh, when one guesses at my quality. Rude, ignorant, and totally irresponsible infants!”
“We’re not infants,” said Douglas. But he didn’t sound any too sure of this. Missie went on hands and knees to where the apple lay.
“Don’t be cross,” said she, “we didn’t mean it.” (page 13)

And so the five children become acquainted with the magical and occasionally irascible apple stone, and learn its power--it can bring any inanimate thing to life. Some of the uses to which the children put the stone are benign and pleasant, more are fraught with difficulties, as is the way of these magical things, until you learn the rules...

There are funny encounters, like the old glove that dreads the lost and found, and longs for its lost Hand, and a few that are educational, like the tales told by a stone effigy from the church of life as a Crusader under King Richard. Some wishes go rather wrong, like the old rug that becomes a beast and takes off after the sheep, and a seemingly harmless attempt to save time rolling the lawn, by bringing a round gatepost stone to life, turns dire.

And some are scary, like a feather boa that becomes a deadly serpent.

"The snake went on circling, but its forked tongue flickered in its open mouth; a few drops of saliva fell, and the wooden planks of the attic floor turned white as though some frightful acid had soaked them.
"Ssssssacrifice..." whispered the serpent.
It was at the far end of the room, and suddenly it stayed still there, gaping fixedly into the open door of the toy cupboard, its red eyes level with the top shelf. It gave a long hiss. And something hissed back.
"Oh, no!" said Jo. "Not Mrs. Blossom!" (p 123)

As the children experiment with the stone, it becomes heavier and heavier with the weight of its new experiences. At last, it is too much for them to carry anymore, and they must decide if they will use its power on the last, most important wish of all, and give up the magic themselves.

I dunno if I have any readers in Rhode Island, but if I do, there is one library copy of The Apple Stone back on the shelf, and there seem to be a number of ex-library copies out in the world as well, from library systems that were not as wise as ours.

Neil Gaiman is a fan of Gray, calling him "one of those authors I loved as a boy who holds up even better on rereading as an adult." There are three more of his books in our library system, waiting for me to check them out, which is a rather nice feeling.

This past week's new releases of science fiction and fantasy for children and teenagers

Here are the middle grade and YA science fiction and fantasy books that came out this past week, taken from Teens Read Too.

Dodger for President (Dodger and Me), by Jordan Sonnenblick. From Booklist: "Picking up where Dodger and Me (2008) left off, Sonnenblick continues the story of friends Willie and Lizzie and the magical blue chimp, Dodger, that only they can see. The formula is much the same—dorky kid helped out by invisible ally—but here it’s applied to a school election that has Willie and Lizzie facing off against a superpopular jock and his tough-guy sidekick. And again, Dodger spends most of the book bouncing off the walls, espousing zany schemes that mostly serve to hamstring the kids’ campaign."

Grk Takes Revenge, by Joshua Doder. "Tim and Natascha realise to their horror that Max has gone to Paris to confront their first adversary, Colonel Zinfandel, the dictator of Stanislavia. They rush after him, with their intrepid dog Grk. Will Max overstep the mark and do something dangerous? Will Colonel Zinfandel be a ruthless and violent as he is has been before? And how can two children and a dog do any good? All will be revealed when they reach Paris!"


The Kingdom of Carbonel, by Barbara Sleigh. This is the second book of a series beloved by many that is being brought back into print by the New York Review Children's Collection (and if you haven't visited them to see the great list of books they are bringing out, do! "Night falls and Cat Country comes to life: town walls turn into roads, roof and treetop become mountain and field. The black cat Carbonel and his consort, Queen Blandamour, have long reigned over this magical place, where humans are scarce, cats roam freely, and the rivers flow with cream. But the wicked Grisana, a beautiful gray Persian who makes Lady Macbeth look like a lap cat, has plans of her own for Cat Country, and Carbonel and his children, Prince Calidor and Princess Pergamond, are all that stand between her and the throne. With the backing of Carbonel’s old foe, the witch Mrs. Cantrip, and her apprentice, Miss Dibdin, Grisana may be unstoppable. Luckily, Carbonel can count on Rosemary and John, his young friends from Carbonel: The King of the Cats, to come to his aid. Together with the good creatures of Cat Country—and with the help of a few magical spells—the children confront Grisana and her nasty crew. It is a battle for the future of Cat Country and only the strongest magic will prevail."

The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen, by Delia Sherman. "Neef, the official Changeling of Central Park, has survived a life-threatening quest, but that’s nothing compared to her first experiences at Changeling school. At Miss Van Loon’s, she meets her counterparts from all over Manhattan, learns the basics of diplomacy, and, of course, gets in trouble. This time Neef must recover the Magic Mirror, or else New York Harbor’s Mermaid Queen will turn all of the city’s fresh water to salt—and everything will die."

Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel, by K. A. Holt. "Things are not so stellar for Mike Stellar. He is stunned when his parents inform him that he has only eight hours to pack before they move to Mars. Despite the fact that he suspects his parents are involved in a major sabotage plot; that the only person who believes him is a girl who won’t shut up; and that his mother’s assistant seems to be spying on Mike’s every move, Mike is dealing with the same things that every eleven-year-old deals with: bad cafeteria food, a strict limitation on his electronic use, and a teacher who is so old-fashioned she must be from the year 2099."

Septimus Heap: The Magykal Papersby Angie Sage. A collection of miscellanies, including the private journals of Septimus, Jenna, and Marcia Overstrand, the best—and worst—places to eat as described in The Egg-on-Toast Restaurant Guide, Sirius Weazal's Speedy Guides to the Palace, the Wizard Tower, and Wizard Way, excerpts from the Pigeon Post Biography series and the Heaps of History series, and more.



Young Adult:

Alyzon Whitestarr, by Isobelle Carmody. "Alyzon Whitestarr doesn't take after her musically talented father or her nocturnal, artistic mother. In fact, she’s the most normal member of a very eccentric family . . . until the day that an accident leaves her more unique than she ever could have dreamed. Suddenly colors are more vibrant to Alyzon; her memory is flawless; but strangest of all is Alyzon’s sense of smell. Her best friend smells of a comforting sea breeze. She registers her father’s contentment as the sweet scent of caramelized sugar. But why does the cutest guy in school smell so rancid? With Alyzon’s extrasensory perception comes intrigue and danger, as she becomes aware of the dark secrets and hidden ambitions that threaten her family. In the end, being different might be less of a blessing than a curse. . . .

Fairy Tale, by Cyn Balog. "Morgan Sparks has always known that she and her boyfriend, Cam, are made for each other. But when Cam’s cousin Pip comes to stay with the family, Cam seems depressed. Finally Cam confesses to Morgan what’s going on: Cam is a fairy. The night he was born, fairies came down and switched him with a healthy human boy. Nobody expected Cam to live, and nobody expected his biological brother, heir to the fairy throne, to die. But both things happened, and now the fairies want Cam back to take his rightful place as Fairy King. Even as Cam physically changes, becoming more miserable each day, he and Morgan pledge to fool the fairies and stay together forever. But by the time Cam has to decide once and for all what to do, Morgan’s no longer sure what’s best for everyone, or whether her and Cam’s love can weather an uncertain future."

Prism, by Faye & Aliza Kellerman. Prism is set in "a slightly alternate universe in which medicine and health care do not exist, and in which sick people are allowed to die without any care. Set in New Mexico and California, the novel features three teens who fall through a cave at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico while on a field trip. They are plunged into a frightening parallel universe—seven weeks in the past, in which their "normal" worlds of family and high school remain the same…except for the fact that no medicine exists and when people die in the street they are picked up and disposed of.

Chaos - Graphic Novel (The Lost Books) and Renegade-Graphic Novel (The Lost Books), by Ted Dekker. From Publishers Weekly: "At the beginning of the series, four young people are given the mission of finding the seven missing Books of History to secure the continuity of reality. In Renegade, the hotheaded Bilios uses a forbidden book to transport himself to a small Colorado town, where a dark stranger convinces him that the people aren't real so that it's okay to kill them. In Chaos, young Johnis and Silvie are transported to Las Vegas, into the middle of a scheme by a monstrous Shataiki bat to unite the books and bring his mate into this world so they can spawn."

And finally, here's a book that (despite the title) isn't science fiction or fantasy, but that I enjoyed very much (review to come very soon):

Nothing but Ghosts, by Beth Kephart

Wings, by Aprilynne Pike

Wings, by Aprilynne Pike (Harper Collins, 2009, 290pp).

Homeschooling had suited Laurel just fine for the past ten years, and so had the tiny town up in the hills where she had grown up. Now her family's moved to a much larger town, and she's starting her sophomore year of high school. She's not surprised to find that the other kids dress differently and eat differently (Laurel is a vegan), but she does not initially realize just how different she is. Until she begins to blossom. Literally.

From her back, a winglike flower grows, and Laurel learns that she is a fairy. Soon she meets the incredibly attractive Tamani, a guardian of the boarder of the land beyond. And soon she and her new human friend David, whose calm, scientific mind helped her figure out what was happening to her, are embroiled in a battle to safeguard one of the last gates to fairyland, and the life of her human father.

This is one of the primeval plots-- a beautiful girl discovers she is someone magical and special, and that she has a true birthright beyond the realm of her mundane family. Add to this plot two cool and incredibly attractive boys vying for her attentions, and you end up with a book that has great appeal to many readers.

Pike brings enough unique elements and characters to the story to make it fresh--David, in particular, is a charmer (I'm rooting for him in the "who will Laurel end up with" sweepstakes), and I rather liked Laurel (although I think her emotional reaction to all the things that are happening could have been brought out a tad more). I enjoyed Pike's voice very much, most particularly when the story focused on small things of daily life, especially all the little things about Laurel that make her different, and I look forward to reading more of her books (this is her first).

But although I enjoyed Wings plenty as a light read, and I'll happily read the sequels (three more are planned), I'm not entirely hooked. I think this is because this first book only peripherally introduces us to the world of the fey, and the fairy element never became real enough to me to move it from plot device to embodiment of mystery and magic. I think I will also be more interested in the love triangle in future books--at the moment, one boy is "lust" and the other "like," and I hope that more nuance will come as the story progresses.

On the other hand, this would be an excellent book to give to girls who are asking for Twilight but are perhaps too young for it (it is very apt that the front jacket blurb--"A Remarkable Debut"--comes from Stephanie Meyer). Although Wings is being marketed as YA, it is clean as a whistle, and although there is violent conflict, it is not the rather disturbing conflict of many of the darker urban fantasies found in the YA section. If I were looking for books for an eleven or twelve year old girl, Wings would definitely be on my list.

Here's a smattering of other reviews: So Many Books, So Little Time, The Book Zombie, The Book Muncher, It's All About Books, Melissa's Bookshelf, The Story Siren, Green Bean Teen Queen.

And in the interest of full disclosure, my copy came from the publisher.

Fantasy books for a nine-year old girl, who likes a bit of scary stuff, and a giveaway

Today is Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day (well, why not?), and I would like to thank all the writers of science fiction and fantasy whose books I like for writing them. And I would like to thank the public library, the publishers and the writers who send me review copies, my friends and family (at least the ones who give me presents) and my employer, for making it possible for me to read them.

To celebrate today, I have a list to offer.

In my boy's third grade class, there is a girl who reminds me of my 9 year old self. She walks down the halls to class, late, her nose deep in a book (it was a Nancy Drew the day I saw her), and she exaggerates her weekly reading report (her mother had to point out to her that it was not possible for her to have read 15 hours in one day, even though it might have seemed like that much). I struck up a chat with the mother a little while ago, at Ocean/Cultures of the World museum day (after I had dutifully admiring my son's flour paste angler fish sculpture), and promised I would make a book list of fantasy books that are a bit scary for her.

This is part one of that list--books that I loved when I was that age (aka, the late 1970s). Part two, modern slightly scary fantasy books, that I wish I had had when I was young, will come soon (or whenever). When I was nine, we lived in the Bahamas, and so my list has some English books on it, that sadly never became popular over here in the US. So it is not an entirely useful list for my son's friend...but they are all such good, good books.

The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken.
Moominland Midwinter, by Tove Jansen (my favorite in the series, although my son suggests Comet in Moominland)
The Talking Parcel (aka The Battle For Castle Cockatrice), by Gerald Durrell.
The Phoenix and Carpet, The Enchanted Castle, and The Story of the Amulet, my favorite E. Nesbits
Seven Day Magic, by Edward Eager (Half Magic, says my son).
Fog Magic, by Julia Sauer
The Ghosts, by Antonia Barber
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, by Julie Edwards (I love this book. And I feel like I might be the only person who does).
101 Dalmations, and its sequel, The Starlight Barking, by Dodie Smith. (Forget Disney--these are great books).
The Cuckoo Clock, by Mrs. Molesworth
Marianne Dreams, by Catherine Storr (so beautifully scary....those terrifying stones....)
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle
Green Smoke, by Rosemary Manning

And finally,

The Little Broomstick, by Mary Stewart. If you haven't read this one yet, please do! It's about a lonely girl who finds herself with a magic broomstick, that takes her off to sinister school for magic. Here' s a review I wrote about it a while back.

I love The Little Broomstick. So much so, that I buy extra copies when I see them. So in honor of all the great science fiction and fantasy authors out there, I am giving one away--please leave a comment by Tuesday, June 30th, at midnight!



Does anyone else have recommendations for great fantasy books for a nine year old girl that would have been available in the late 1970s? (Like I said, I'll move forward in time with my next list...)

Here at Tor, you can find 100s of recommendations offered in response to the question “I’m thirteen, I’m a girl, and I like fantasy and some science fiction. What should I be reading?” I really am put out that I had to read the same books over and over, while kids today have so many great books to choose from.

And coincidentally, Anamaria at Books Together is looking for recommendations of "scary magical adventure books" for an almost nine-year old. I'd like to hear what people say too! I was writing my list with a girl that age in mind, but the only one that I wouldn't press on my son is The Little White Horse--I don't think he would appreciate all the lovely descriptions of clothes....

City in the Lake, I'm rooting for you!

I am very happy that in the on-going Nerds Heart YA tournament of books, The City in the Lake, by Rachel Neumeier, which I love, has advanced to the second round, winning over Pretty Monsters, by Kelly Link, which I liked very much.

However, neither Becky nor Kailana, the two judges for this bracket, share my enthusiasm for City, and it seemed like it was, to them, the lesser of two evils. And indeed, City is not a book that I would recommend to many people, especially if I didn't know them well. Basically, I would only recommend it to people who I know are fans of Patricia McKillip (and actually, I can't think of anyone I talk to in real life who is). So if you are a fan of McKillip, do go read this. Or if you think you have the time and patience to savour a book of beautiful and intricate imagery and plot, perhaps you might try it...

Here's the review I wrote last fall.

The Immortal Fire, by Anne Ursu

The Immortal Fire (Cronus Chronicles), by Anne Ursu (June 2009, Simon and Schuster, 528 pp).

Twice before Charlotte and her cousin Zee have thwarted the evil supreme-diety-wanna-be Philonecron--once in the gloomy realm of Hades, and once on the high seas, on Posiden's private yacht. But Philonecron is back--and now he has Posiden's almighty Trident to back up his quest for Olympion domination. He just needs one last thing...

Undaunted by the havoc wrecked by the mythological creatures unleashed by Posiden's fall from power and Philonecron's machinations (like the chimera that sets fire to their school and carries Charlotte off to its den), the two mortal children head to Greece, to Mount Olympus itself, where they must face Zeus in all his glory (such as it is) and power (considerable), to stop Philonecron once and for all....

In the past two months, I've read all three of the books in the Chronus Chronicles*, and find them very entertaining--exuberantly over the top, but always a few steps away from utter farce. The Greek gods, for instance, are not treated kindly (Apollo is let off lightly, simply making a cameo appearance on roller skates. Others are not so lucky). Ursu has taken all the characer flaws that were in the original myths (lots of material to work with here) and run with them; at times this felt stretched a bit thin, but the real-lifeness of Charlotte and Zee, by way of contrast, refreshed the story.

The Immortal Fire suceeds in being a very entertaining book, but it is not subtle about it--Ursu is an archly present narrator. In some books, I don't like this, but here it works well to highlight the absurdity of the plot premise-- mortal children take down Greek gods--and the ridiculousness of the divinities, who are powerful overlords of creation simply because they have power.

I liked Charlotte and Zee quite a bit, and found it refreshing that they were not Chosen Ones, with a Great Destiny and Magical Gifts etc. (although the Fates may have been pulling strings behind the scenes). They have no arcane powers, and although they have some intelligence, they mostly get by on determination and loyalty.

This series might be the answer for those who are grieving for Percy Jackson and want more of the Greek gods. Or just a good read for any somewhat older middle school kid looking for humor and adventure. The page count might appear daunting, but this is a book with generous font size and line spacing, and so is a faster read than it might seem at first.

Here's my favorite quote:

"Will the mortal who freed the sacrificial cows please report to floor thirty? Mortal to floor thirty, please."

*Book 1 of The Chronus Chronicles is The Shadow Thieves, book 2 is The Siren Song.

Note of for those interested in diversity:  Zee is half black, which the cover shows.

ARC received from the publisher.

Many miscellaneous things of great interest, including contests, utopias, and the circumnavigation of fairyland

At least I hope they are of interest. I have had little time for original content this week (library booksale, aka moving 5000 books two or three times each).

Item 1: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is a fantasy book that you can read online, paying the author what you think the book is worth (new installments every Monday. The author, Catherynne M. Valente, says here that this story "began as a book-within-a-book in my adult novel, Palimpsest, a part of the protagonist's childhood, a strange novel for children written in the 1920s, about a young girl spirited away to Fairyland by the Green Wind, and her adventures there, battling the wicked Marquess, befriending outlandish creatures, and growing up. As I traveled to promote the book, readers asked me one question more than any other:
Is it real?And I said no, no, it’s fiction, just part of the world of the novel. And then, every time, the next question would come:
Are you going to write it?And again, I said no. It’s impossible—a YA book hidden in a very much not-YA novel. No one would publish it. "

So she is offering it on line, trusting that readers who enjoy it will support her hard work.

Item two: here's a blog (that I'm adding to my list later today) which has been delighting me for several weeks with its offerings of illustrations from children's fantasy books.

Item three: I just learned (via Finding Wonderland) of a contest at Diamonds and Toads to retell "Sleeping Beauty" in 1,000 words or less. It starts July 1, 2009 and ends at midnight, July 31, 2009. The prize is a one-of-a-kind box featuring a fairy tale theme.

Item four: Imaginator Press (the imprint of my blogging friend Sheila of Wands and Words) is also having a writing competition. From their website:

"In celebration of the fifth anniversary of the award-winning fantasy The Dark Dreamweaver, Imaginator Press is sponsoring a creative writing contest for children and teens up to age 14. The Dark Dreamweaver is the first book of The Remin Chronicles, about a land literally powered by dreams. Imaginator Press invites children to write a creative story on the theme of “Dream Power,” for a chance to win an 8 GB iPod Touch. Four second prize winners will receive $25 iTunes gift cards, and five third prize winners will receive $10 iTunes gift cards. The winning stories will be published in a "Dream Power" anthology."

Item five: Carrie (of Carrie's YA bookshelf) has a great June giveaway going on for three books, one of which is one I covet (Eyes Like Stars). And at The Shady Glade, you can enter to win a contest for Catching Fire!

Item six: And don't forget to enter today for my own give away of an ARC of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon--the post below this one.

Item seven: Usula le Guin has offered up for public dissemination the following essay at her website:

Calling Utopia a Utopia
Ursula K. Le Guin

Writing about the death of J.G. Ballard for the New York Times (21 April 09), Bruce Weber spoke to Ballard’s American editor at Norton, Robert Weil. Mr Weil said of Ballard: “His fabulistic style led people to review his work as science fiction. But that’s like calling Brave New World science fiction, or 1984.”

Every time I read this sentence it suggests more parallels:
“But that’s like calling Don Quixote a novel.”
“But that’s like calling The Lord of the Rings a fantasy.”
“But that’s like calling Utopia a utopia... “

It is shocking to find that an editor at the publishing house that had the wits to publish J.G. Ballard (as well as the Norton Book of Science Fiction) can be so ignorant of what Ballard wrote, or so uninformed about the nature and history of the science-fiction genre, or so unaware of the nature of literature since the 1980’s, that he believes — now, in 2009! — that to say a writer wrote science fiction is to malign or degrade his work.

To define science fiction as a purely commercial category of fiction, inherently trashy, having nothing to do with literature, is a tall order. It involves both denying that any work of science fiction can have literary merit, and maintaining that any book of literary merit that uses the tropes of science fiction (such as Brave New World, or 1984, or The Handmaid’s Tale, or most of the works of J.G. Ballard) is not science fiction. This definition-by-negation leads to remarkable mental gymnastics. For instance, one must insist that certain works of dubious literary merit that use familiar science-fictional devices such as alternate history, or wellworn science-fiction plots such as Men-Crossing-the-Continent-After-the Holocaust, and are in every way definable as science fiction, are not science fiction — because their authors are known to be literary authors, and literary authors are incapable by definition of committing science fiction.

Now that takes some fancy thinking.

If Mr Weil allows H.G.Wells’s stories any literary quality or standing, he’d have to declare that “The First Men in the Moon” and “The Time Machine” are not science fiction — invoking, I suppose, their “fabulistic style”.

Knowing those stories differed in certain respects from other fiction, and having a scientific mind and training, H.G.Wells himself sought a classification for them. He called them “scientific romances.” The term “science fiction” hadn’t yet been invented and adopted.

When I read such nonsense as Mr Weil’s, I could wish it never had been.

But “science fiction” is the term we’re stuck with. And in any reasonable definition, it is an accepted literary category, usefully and adequately descriptive of such works of literature as Brave New World, 1984, The Man in the High Castle, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, and all J.G. Ballard’s major stories and novels.

Editors, critics, and others who use it not as a description but as a negative judgment are wrong to do so. And they do wrong. They are gravely unjust both to the science fiction of literary value that they refuse to admit is literature, and the science fiction of literary value they refuse to admit is science fiction. Mr Weil owes Aldous Huxley, and George Orwell, and his own author, J.G. Ballard, an apology beyond the grave.

Copyright © 2009 by Ursula K. Le Guin
Permission is granted to reproduce this essay, with attribution: by Ursula K. Le Guin http://www.ursulakleguin.com/


And finally, I've been asked to promote the Fresh Air Fund's current fundraising effort: until June 30th, any gift you make to The Fresh Air Fund will be matched dollar for dollar by a group of generous donors. If you can give $25, that means $50 for inner-city children. $50 becomes $100!


Getting this together took about as long as it would have to create original content. Oh well.

Win an ARC of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Next Wednesday, June 24, (at Little Willow's place) the blog tour of Grace Lin's lovely middle grade fantasy, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, kicks off. I'll be talking about the book on the 28th.


The book comes out July 1st, but if you'd like to read it right now, I have an ARC to give away--leave a comment by midnight tomorrow (Friday the 19th), and I'll send it out to you on Saturday!

And the winner is: Paradox!

Sideshow: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, llusionists and Other Matters Odd and Magical

Sideshow: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, Illusionists and Other Matters Odd and Magical, edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, coming July 14).

Here's an anthology for those who like their fantasy mixed with the odd, the curious, the peculiar--in this case, the sideshow persons at whom people have gawked for centuries. With stories by authors including Ceci Castellucci, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Margo Lanagan, and David Almond, and three stories in graphic form, there is much here to entertain and disturb. Sideshows are fundamentally disturbing--sticking a person in a sideshow, where their self becomes a source of entertainment to the masses, is about as objectifying as it can get. When the differences that lead to someone becoming a sideshow are combined with magic, mystery, and mayhem, there's a lot of room for great writers of fantastical fiction to make gripping and memorable stories.

Which is what happens here. Not all the stories are set in the circus setting I expected (although some are) but all explore the edge of reality, where freakishness becomes part of life. All the stories are well worth reading, but there were some that I will remember always. In particular, "Those Psychics on TV," by Vivian Vande Velde, hit me like a ton of bricks (but I shan't spoil it by saying anything more). And there's also the most disturbing fictional bread dough I've ever encountered (this story, Castelllucci's contribution, stretches the "sideshow" theme somewhat, but it was such a good, Joan Aikenish story that I'm glad it's here), a mummy who is both an antiquity and a mummy in the maternal sense, shapeshifting, a visit from "God," and more...

(disclosure: ARC received from the publisher)

Contest: Win paperbacks of Harry Potter #5, #6, and the soon to be released #7!

And the winners are.....Heather, Silverheart Girl, Katie, Social Ghost, and Robin Titan!!!!!! I'll email you all for your addresses, and then send them on to the publisher.

Remember how exciting it was when Book 7 of Harry Potter came out? I was rather sad that my children were too young to go to the bookstore at midnight to get the book and stay up all night reading it...and I remember how sad I was to have finished it, knowing that it was the Last Book.

Now Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is about to come out in paperback, and Scholastic is having a giveaway of the paperbacks of books 5, 6, and 7!

From the publisher: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a breathtaking finish to a remarkable series. The final chapter to Harry Potter’s adventures will be releases in paperback July 7th! It all comes down to this - a final face off between good and evil. You plan to pull out all the stops, but every time you solve one mystery, three more evolve."

(I myself didn't bother to try to solve any mysteries. I just read and enjoyed!)

Five Winners will receive a paperback prize pack:

* Book 5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
* Book 6 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
* Book 7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!

Please leave a comment by July 6th (making sure there's a way to reach you) to enter!