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.

Mare's War, by Tanita Davis

It rained again this morning, so no weeding. The children and house guests slept late, and the house was tidy. So I got a lovely two hours in which to read a book I've been saving for just such a window of opportunity--Mare's War, by Tanita Davis (2009, Alfred A. Knopf, 343pp). And the two hours flew by in happy, deeply satisfied reading...

Mare's War tells of two journeys. In a car speeding (or not, depending on the driver) across America to a mysterious reunion are two teenage girls (who had their own, more teenagerishly appropriate plans for the summer) and their grandmother, Marey Lee (known as Mare), who planned the trip. On the way, their grandmother tells them the story of her own great journey, seventy or so years before, when she escaped from her home in Bay Slough, Alabama and went to war.

The two sister, Octavia and Talitha, squabble, fret, drag their feet, and send occasional postcards of complaint to friends and family (shown in the book, in a nicely light touch), but as the miles pass, and their grandmother's story unfolds, the tone of the postcard messages changes. Their grandmother's life as Marey Lee, an African American teenager in the Women's Army Corps has them fascinated. The friendships she made, the prejudice she encountered, and the historical pageant of which she was a part are spellbinding stuff. This is an eye-openingly powerful narrative that educates without being didactic, filling a blank space in the history of World War II without ever loosing sight of Marey Lee, the girl.

It was a story that sure kept me enthralled (although I'm glad I didn't have to drive 2,340 miles from California to Alabama in summer with my sisters and grandmother to hear it).

Davis manages to make her teenagers in the present interesting people in their own right, and not just vessels created to receive Mare's story, but their sibling relationship and 21st century teenage angsts pall in comparison to what their grandmother went through (to give them credit, they realize this). In essence, Mare's War is first rate historical fiction, set in a modern narrative that, I think, makes it much more accessible and appealing to teenagers than Marey Lee's story, served straight up, might have been.

So today I moved my Madeline L'Engle books down to the playroom, and shelved Mare's War in the section I think of as "British Girls Books," even though they aren't by any means all British. They are, though, all books that put girls front and central--books about girls doing things, and communities of girls, and career stories. And that, in my mind, is where Mare's War belongs. I'll be recommending this book at a yahoo group I belong to (Girls Own), that focuses on British girls' boarding school books--the relationships between young women, their education, the career choices they made, and the windows they often offer on life as a girl many years ago are all here in Marey Lee's story.

I'm also more than happy to recommend this to fans of World War II historical fiction--it's a great addition to that genre. And while I'm at it, it's a great road trip story too!

Anyway. I hope Mare's War will be happy shelved next to Hester Burton's books (more great historical fiction), and one shelf up from Helen Doyle Boylston...who is best known for intrepid nurse Sue Barton, but who also wrote a rather interesting memoir of her World War I experiences--Sister: The War Diary of a Nurse.

Other reviews of Mare's War can be found at Reading in Color, Reading Rants, The HappyNappyBookseller, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and Colleen Mondor.

Disclosure: Tanita Davis is a blog friend of mine, and I was lucky enough to win a copy of the book from one of her giveaways. So, although I was very glad to write what I think is a glowing review (at least, it's meant to be) of her book, I just want to make it clear that I would have written this even if I had never met her (in an online sense).

Someone else's list of more books I should have read already, after a self-pitying preamble, followed by thoughts on keeping books

I didn't read anything yesterday, and I haven't yet today. Instead, I was running a yard sale at my library. Another member of the Friends of the Library really really wanted to have one, and was going to organize it all, and then let me know a few weeks ago that she'd actually be out of town today. la la la. So it became my yard sale. The world was peaceful at four this morning, washed clean by (yet another) heavy rain, that had soaked the tarps lovingly draped last night over the piles of yard salage (like silage, only junkier). Oh well. We made enough money to pay for 2 summer reading programs, 2 books I want to read, and some left over for the savings account (my dream is to have the hard cash on hand to buy the library solar panels some day. Think of all the money currently spent on air conditioning that could be used for books instead...).

So there was no time to read yesterday or today, which was sad.

And then I find lists like this, taken from Fantasy Book Reviews, over in the UK:

Must-reads

The following reviews are of books that begin the very best fantasy series available.

• The Curse of the Glomeglozer
• The Spook's Apprentice
• Gardens of the Moon
• A Game of Thrones
• A Wizard of Earthsea
• Ship of Magic
• Assassin's Apprentice
• The Colour of Magic
• Duncton Wood
• Legend

I have read two (Wizard of Earthsea and Ship of Magic). If I must read the others, so be it. I will try.

Speaking of reading, does anyone else pick what to read on the basis of what is going to happen to the book next? I am currently trying to read "books that will leave the house." Second choice: "books that will be neatly put on shelves." This sounds good, but unfortunately there is no shelf space left in the "recent books that have personal meaning to me," "British girls' books" and "general science fiction and fantasy." There is some space left in "early 20th-century English poetry," but that is not useful.

I had hoped to create more shelf space by disposing of sundry toys, puzzles, and videos at the library yard sale, but while I was away, time and space collapsed in the playroom, and the little clearings I had made are gone....perhaps to pay me back for not making space by getting rid of my own books. Once I've decided to keep a book, I keep it. This is why, even though I have little desire to read it again (although I might re-read its sequel), I still have my copy of Nancy Springer's The White Hart, and it will probably end up in the nursing home with me someday (if I have enough shelf space). But I can't get rid of it, because I do want to keep the next book in the series, The Silver Sun, simply because I loved it so much when I was a freshman in high school....


(Here, by the way, is the one line I remember from The White Hart (last read c. 1981): "My loins long for you." This took my innocent twelve-year old self somewhat aback. Still does).

Paris Pan Takes the Dare, by Cynthia Liu

Paris Pan Takes the Dare, by Cynthea Liu (Putnam, 2009, 246pp, middle grade), balances on a razor's edge (well, perhaps not quite) between supernatural chills and the angst of being the new kid at a very small rural middle school in Sugar Lake, OK. It's so small that every girl has to play on the basketball team. From my point of view, that is the true horror of the book, but for Paris Pan, that unpleasantness palls beside the fact that, if she wants to keep her two new friends, she will have to take THE DARE.

Not to long ago, the girl who lived in Paris' new house disappeared on her thirteenth birthday. Her body was later found, or at least, most of it was found. Her killer, if killer there was, was not. Ever since, according to Mayo, the alpha girl in Paris' tiny class, it has been a rite of passage to follow that girl's footsteps into the dark woods, and spend the night where she died.

Now Paris is hearing spooky noises outside, strange artifacts of the dead girl's life are turning up in the garden, and Mayo is pressuring her to commune with the spirit world...All Paris wants is to have friends after a life of shunting briskly between schools, but she really, really, doesn't want to take The Dare.

Great characterization, especially with regard to the relationship between Paris and her Chinese-American family, a snappy plot, and a creepy atmosphere combine to make this a very enjoyable book, that girls, in particular, from fourth grade or so on up, should enjoy. I've labeled it fantasy, because there is a supernatural plot line, although, of course, there is no such thing as ghosts. Or so Paris tries hard to believe...

Other reviews can be found at BookDragon and Practically Paradise, and here's a chat with Liu at Cynsations.

Kudos to Liu for using the launch of her book to raise money in not inconsiderable quantities to support a needy Title I school in Oklahoma. It was this fundraiser that prompted me to buy the book--Liu donated all her royalties during the fundraising period to this effort.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

The second Book Blogger Appreciation Week (brainchild of My Friend Amy) runs September 14th through the 18th. Here's how to take part.

Head over to the Book Bloggers Appreciation Week Directory, register your blog, and visit some of the many other book blogs that, if you are like me, you haven't heard of. Or you can fill out the registration form here.

Next, nominate favorite book blogs for awards by August 15. There are lots of different categories, some of which may not apply to everyone--I, for instance, have no favorite mystery/suspense blog. The hardest part will be picking my entry for Best Kidlit blog....

As part of the celebration, many of us will be having giveaways, which you can sign up to do here.

Thanks, Amy, for organizing all of this!

Twilight of Avalon, a Novel of Trystan and Isolde, by Anna Elliott

Here's a book for those who love dark historical fiction with a touch of fantasy, and who are fascinated by the legends of King Arthur--Twilight of Avalon, a Novel of Trystan and Isolde, by Anna Elliott (Simon and Schuster, 2009, 426pp, technically a book for adults, but one with YA appeal as well).

"if you know who I am," [Isolde] said after a moment, "then you known, also, who my father was. Modred-the traitor. Cause of King Arthur's death and seven years of land-bleeding civil war."

Isolde is still young, widowed after the death of her young husband, Constantine, who became king when the civil war ended. From her grandmother, Morgan, she inherited the gift of sight, but she cannot see her own future. Caught in the struggle for power that has followed Constantine's death, trapped inside Tintagel Castle, and suspected of witchcraft, Isolde struggles to save what is left of Britain from the Saxons, and from those who would betray it. At last she escapes into Cornwall, and finds that her fate is tied inexorably with that of Trystan, a former prisoner with a dark past of his own. But will they be able to secure a future for themselves and their kingdom?

This is dark, atmospheric, and heavy stuff. Slowly Elliott makes clear the walls of intrigue and hatred that surround Isolde inside Tintagel, and she is not sparring in her details of the harm men and women do to each other. It is not until page 206 that she escapes Tintagel, and so well has Elliott created a claustrophobic setting of incredible tension that it comes as a great relief to the reader, as well as Isolde, to have left it behind. But then her visions return to her, and draw her back to the violence that continues within its walls...

The romance aspect of the book comes slowly. I imagine that it will be more front and central in the next book of the series, The Dark Moon of Avalon, coming in Spring 2010. The magical element of Isolde's visions gives color and interest to the plot, but does not take the story so far into fantasy as to be a turn-off to those who like straight historical fiction. Despite the link between Isolde and the old magic and beliefs of Celtic Britain, Elliott presents the tensions between older beliefs and the relatively new Christian religion even-handedly.

Although the pace of the book is slow and strongly focused on Isolde's minute by minute experiences, which might not appeal to all readers, Elliott has done a fine job bringing a relatively unexplored story of the Arthur legend to life, creating an Isolde who is believable and brave--an actor in her own right.

Tintagel Castle is a truly stunning place, by the way. I've been a few times, and am always impressed. I'm curious to know if Elliott has ever been--one of my few specific quibbles with the historical accuracy of the book (and this is actually high praise, as I read books about periods I know something about somewhat suspiciously) was with her descriptions of the castle.

Longer reviews can be found at Carla Nayland Historical Fiction and Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff.

Note: copy received from the author.

The Tomorrow Code, by Brian Falkner, for Timeslip Tuesday

Most timeslip stories are fantasy--the travel through time is left a mystery that science can not explain. Sometimes, though, scientific principles drive the passage of people, things, or messages from one time to another, and sometimes very good books are the result. One such book is The Tomorrow Code, by Brian Falkner (2008, Random House, 347 pp, upper middle grade/YA, an import from New Zealand).

"The end of the world started quietly enough for Tane Williams and Rebecca Richards, lying on their backs on a wooden platform on Lake Sunnyvale. Which wasn't really a lake at all." (page 3)

Tane and Rebecca have been friends forever, the sort of friends who spend an evening on the flooded playing field of their old elementary school, looking up at the night sky and arguing about time travel. Rebecca's super smart, logical mind rejects the idea, but Tane, thinking outside the box, wonders if it might not be possible to send messages back into the past....

It is possible. Soon, the two of them have received, as a gift from the future, winning lottery numbers. But there are strings attached--the messages they are getting (encoded in gamma ray bursts) are an SOS from their future selves. The Chimera project, whatever that is, must be stopped, and Tane and Rebecca must race to decode the instructions they are getting before humanity is destroyed.

The first step is to buy a state of the art submarine. The second, to break into a top secret biolab. The third, to stop the mysterious fog enshrouded horrors that were unleashed despite their plans, horrors that are steadily depopulating New Zealand.

And finally, Tane, Rebecca, and Tane's big brother ("Fatboy"), have to set up the device that will let their future selves change the past. Not easy to do, when death delivering fog surrounds the site where the machine must go...

This is a tremendously exciting story (as well as submarine fun and decoding mysterious messages, there is a great battle scene that made me sniff a little bit), and it hangs together very nicely plot-wise. A criticism I sometimes have of fast packed adventures is that charging around saving the world leaves little room for character development, but that is most emphatically not the case here. Even though they are involved in a desperate struggle, the three teenagers are still strongly individual, working out their relationships with each other and their thoughts about themselves, their families, and their world.

Added bonus features: diversity--Tane and his brother are Maori, and this is important to the story; environmentalism--the question of human impact on the world is central to the plot; gender balance--both girl and boys are important and have their own strengths to give to the group effort; and finally, good solid writing, without run-on sentences (I would never be caught dead writing run on sentences, she says ironically) or unnecessary latinate words.

In short, I think this is a pretty darn good book.

viz age range--it's perfectly suitable for middle grade readers in that there is no sex (although there are emotional attachments swirling around), drugs, 0r bad language, but people do die in large numbers (although not disgustingly), and there are pretty weighty issues addressed. I'll be giving this to my son when he's around 11, I think. It's even suitable for adult readers of science fiction (I'm feeling a tad sore, even after weeks have passed, about some very condescending reviews of YA science fiction/fantasy I happened to read).

I pretty much read whatever AFortis and Tanita over at Finding Wonderland tell me to, and, as usual, this one didn't disapoint--here's the review that added this one to my list.

Other reviews at Create Readers, where I found the New Zealand cover at right, which is described by Readplus (an Australian review site) as "bland." Although the book got a great review there too.

The book has a great website, where you can learn more about the science behind the book, Morse code, the geography and culture of New Zealand.

The winner of the Mythopoeic Award for best children's book is...

The winners of the Mythopoeic Awards have been announced! Here were the finalists in the Children's Category:

Graceling, Kristin Cashore (Harcourt Children's)
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
House of Many Ways, Diana Wynne Jones (HarperCollins)
Savvy, Ingrid Law (Dial)
Nation, Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins)


And the winner is:



GRACELING! (which makes a nice change from The Graveyard Book*).

All five of these are excellent books, but it seems to me that the award committee would have had a fairly easy time picking the winner. They have very specific criteria, after all--from the awards' website: "The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature honors books for younger readers (from “Young Adults” to picture books for beginning readers), in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia." I think Graceling falls much more squarely into that tradition than the other four.

Charles Butler's book, Four British Fantasists, won in the Myth and Fantasy Studies category. It is an excellent look at Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, Penelope Lively, and Diana Wynne Jones, and therefore of great interest, I assume, to
anyone who reads my blog (except all the people that come here wanting to know
when the next Ricky Ricotta book comes out, for whom I have no help. If I knew, I'd share).






*And Gaiman already won in the adult category in 2006 for Anansi Boys. Jones, btw, won in 1999 for Dark Lord of Derkholm, a book I love (it is funny).

New releases of science fiction and fantasy for children and teenagers

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science fiction for children and teenagers, from July 14 to July 21 (although actually none of them look like science fiction...). I pretty much want to read them all. Such a good thing I have unlimited time and money and no other books at home waiting to be read (ha ha).

9-12 year olds:

The Bag of Bones: The Second Tale from the Five Kingdoms by Vivian French. I loved The Robe of Skulls, so I'm very happy to see this! "The Tales from the Five Kingdoms series returns with the story of Trueheart (that is, very good person) Gracie Gillypot, identical twin princes, talking bats, and a slow but brave troll. The witches who tried to wreak havoc in the first tale (The Robe of Skulls, 2008) are back, and readers will also be introduced to a nasty orphanage overseer and a pack of friendly rats. Collins’ spidery black-and-white illustrations amplify characters’ inner traits as well as the tall-tale nature of the story."

The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker. This sounds very intriguing. "Nine-year-old Emma loses everything she has in a fearsome storm and finds herself alone in the wilderness of the Dunes—an area desolate since the mysterious disappearance of a resort known as the Grand Wenlocke. Finding a friend in Winston, the ghostly bellboy who wanders the Dunes, Emma learns that it has been more than 100 years since the hotel with an unsavory reputation vanished; but, unbeknownst to either of them, the long slumbering resort has just begun to stir. Allying herself with a motley crew of companions—the ghost bellboy, a kindhearted cook, a pirate with a heart of gold, and the imperious young heir to the Wenlocke fortune—Emma soon learns that things are not always as lost as they seem..."

Sea of the Dead, by Julia Durango. "Kehl has always known certain things about the world. First and foremost is the certainty that the Teshic Empire is its center, and that everything -- and everyone -- beyond the empire's borders has been created ultimately to be brought under Teshic dominion. Furthermore, because Kehl is being trained to follow in his father's warrior footsteps, he is all too aware of the expectations placed upon him to never show weakness or fear, to instead show an unwavering loyalty to the Teshic Empire and its often severe beliefs and demands. But when Kehl is abducted by a seafaring band of rebels and taken beyond the borders to the enigmatic Sea of the Dead, a whole new world begins to open up before him. A new world filled with challenging beliefs and dangerous ideas. A world where Kehl's future -- as well as his past -- may be linked to the renegade crew of a ship named Carillon's Revenge and the Fallen King who captains her."

Timescape (book four of the Dreamhouse Kings series) by Robert Liparulo. A mysterious house with time portals, and two boys trying to put a stop to an evil villain.

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. "Shortly after sixth-grader Miranda and her best friend Sal part ways, for some inexplicable reason her once familiar world turns upside down. Maybe it's because she's caught up in reading A Wrinkle in Time and trying to understand time travel, or perhaps it's because she's been receiving mysterious notes which accurately predict the future."

YA:

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors. "When Katrina spots a homeless guy sleeping in the alley behind her grandmother’s coffee shop, she decides to leave him a cup of coffee, a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans, and some pastries to tide him over. Little does she know that this random act of kindness is about to turn her life upside down. Because this adorable vagrant, Malcolm, is really a guardian angel on a break between missions. And he won’t leave until he can reward Katrina’s selflessness by fulfilling her deepest desire. Now if only she could decide what that might be..."

The Hundred-Towered City, by Garry Kilworth. "When a stranger from the past arrives in the middle of the night with shocking news, Jack, Annie, and Davey are catapulted into the wildest adventure they've ever had. Their parents have been arrested on suspicion of being spies. Not only in a different country but in a different time—Prague, 1903. The children travel back in time and find themselves face to face with danger, mystery, and the magic of a strange place. Where are their parents and who has stolen the key to the time machine? Will our young heroes be in time to save their parents from siniser Karlstein Castle? And even if they do, how will they return to the present day without the key? Alchemists, mythical creatures, and a man with a hook for a hand hold the answers they’re looking for."

Second Skin, by Jessica Wollman. "Appearances can be deceiving. Sam Klein’s found that out firsthand. All she wanted was to be popular. But sometimes what we want is the absolute worst thing for us. Sam discovers that Kylie, It-girl of Woodlawn High, owes her popular status not to her expensive clothes, highlighted hair, and spot on the cheerleading squad but to a magical second skin. Nobody can actually see it—but they can feel it. And if you’re wearing the skin, you feel incredible. Invincible. Popularity is yours. So Sam stole the skin from Kylie. Now she’s the most popular girl at school, while Kylie’s social life takes a serious hit. Sam can barely recognize herself. Her old geek clique is history—but are her new friends really people she can count on? The skin is clinging tighter to her each day . . . can Sam get it off before it’s too late?

Sideshow, edited by Deborah Noyes. Ten stories of oddities and magic--my review.

Three Witches. by Paula Jolin. "Three seemingly ordinary girls, studying together in the same ordinary high school. All have their own reasons to summon Trevor Saunders after his car goes over a cliff. Aliya brings the mystical seances of Syria. Gillian contributes the voodoo arts from her native Trinidad. Miya shares the secret magic of ancient Japan. Will they be able use their powers to bring him back one more time? Should they?"

This Side of Magic, Keyholders Volume 1, in honor of my boy's ninth birthday

My boy turned nine today. This past year he has become a true reader--falling so hard into books that he is deaf to his mother's voice, reading in the car to the point of car sickness, walking to the library by himself and coming home with more books than he can comfortably carry (and not necessarily ones I'd have picked for him--James Watson and the Double Helix, for instance, is probably not going to get read, but if checking it out helps him define himself, more power to him). I was anxious for a while about his reading--he didn't read early, he didn't read books that challenged him, he was essentially unwilling to spread his wings. He still doesn't read long books, although he has the skills to do so, but I've decided to just let him go at his own pace, and to keep lots of easier books on hand for him--the sort of books that I think of as non-quite-middle grade, like Encyclopedia Brown and the A-Z mysteries.

My most recent spectacular book offering success was This Side of Magic, the first volume of a new fantasy series aimed at this reading bracket (May 2009, Tom Doherty Associates (Tor), 133 generously fonted pages). It's written by the same team that brought us the Bailey School Kids (which don't interest my son for reasons unknown to me)--Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones. I brought it home from the bookstore, and a little more than an hour later he had finished it and was clamoring for the next volume (which his grandma got him for an early birthday present a few days later).

I've read it now too, and I was pleasantly surprised by how readable it is for an adult. I'd go as far as to say that I enjoyed it a lot myself. It tells of two ordinary kids, Penny and Luke, who find themselves charged with the awesome responsibility of guarding the border between our realm and the lands of magic. Dark forces are impinging on the border, and only one old man remains of the three former guardians, the Keyholders. Now Penny and Luke are this man's apprentices, with companion fantastical creatures to link them to the magic (a unicorn and a dragon, respectively). Then the third member of their trio is chosen--and much to their dismay, she is a spoiled and unpleasant child they have loathed all their lives. But boggarts are already making themselves felt around the town, and there are worse things to come....

This is similar in feel to the Spiderwick Chronicles, but a few degrees easier (I tried those on my son too, but he only got to halfway through book 3, again for reasons unknown to me). The writing is pleasant, and the story is interesting. I can imagine it being read to bits pretty quickly in a second or third grade classroom. And now I have to go read volume two, The Other Side of Magic. I want to know what happens next (or, of course, I could curl up with James Watson, and learn about DNA...).

Here's my son's very own review, from his blog, Pickled Bananas.

Diversity in speculative fiction-- three covers

Bi-weekly Ali at Worducopia and the folks at Color Online host a meme designed to encourage readers to broaden their reading habits--to add color and diversity. Today's assignment, posted at Color Online-- "Spotlight science fiction and fantasy titles where people of color are the leads, works by people of color in these genres or discuss your thoughts about race in these genres."

Mr. Linky is collecting people's responses. Here is mine.

One of Shannon Hale's most beloved stories is Book of a Thousand Days, a fantasy set in an alternate Mongolia, featuring a strong, loving, intelligent heroine by the name of Dashti. The original cover was gorgeous, but did nothing to convey that the heroine was non-European.

Over at her blog, Shannon has just unveiled the cover of the paperback edition. Viz adding diversity to the shelves of speculative fiction, I think it speaks for itself:



This is a book that will be face-out at the bookshelves, a book that many people are eager to buy. Much as I love the hardback cover, I am glad to see Dashti's face.

Next up is a book that came out this may that I predict will be read by thousands and thousands and thousands of 3rd grade kids--This Side of Magic, by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones, authors of the Bailey School Kids. I am in the middle of reading this myself, to review tonight for a (planned but not guaranteed)wrap-up post of the reading year of my just-turned-nine-today year old son. So I have it next to me as I type. There's no physical description of the kids, but the illustrator of the cover and interior has given us a girl who looks Hispanic. Good for them! I recently tried to walk into bookstore and buy books for a boy this age that had people of color on the covers, and found it virtually impossible. I find it ironic that I then bought this book last week without even registering that the girl on the cover was not white.

And my final cover is not from a new book, but it's a favorite of mine, and it's one of the most direct discussions that I know of in the speculative fiction genre--Four Ways to Forgiveness, by Ursula Le Guin (1995). It is four related novellas, set on twin planets where the light-skinned people were enslaved by the dark-skinned people, and the road to revolution and freedom, and its aftermath.

Le Guin has created many characters of color, but this book is her most overt fictional discussion of relationships variously forced, nuanced, and given depths of meaning by the skin color of the people involved. I don't much like the cover, though. Where are the relationships? What's with wind?

(Non-diversity in speculative fiction related postscript: I am especially fond of this book because I was reading it when I met my husband to be, and so was he. The next time I read it was just after my son was born--not good timing, because there is a sad, sad baby story and I was useless all day from sniffing. That being nine years ago, I am overdue for a re-read...)

And in an on-topic second postscript, I would like to recommend what Tanita at Finding Wonderland has to say about Malorie Blackman.

(I would also like, in a third postscript, off topic, to complain about blogger's strange ideas about spacing, which I fight with every time I have more than one picture).