9/1/09

Catching Fire, and other New Releases of Science Fiction and Fantasy for Children and Young Adults--the beginning of Sept. edition

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins, is of course the big release news of today, but there are lots of other books coming out this week (this list goes to Sept. 4). So many, in fact, that it is overwhelming. But picking up on the fire theme, Laurence Yep's new book, City of Fire, looks awfully good, and Ash, by Malinda Lo, is delightful. As usual, my information comes from Teens Read Too, with help from Amazon. I'm happy to add anything I left out, so do let me know!

THE ALCHEMASTER'S APPRENTICE by Walter Moers. "Fourth book in the Zamonia series. "When Echo the Crat’s mistress dies, he is compelled to sign a contract with Ghoolion the Alchemaster. This fateful document gives Ghoolion the right to kill Echo at the next full moon and render his fat, which he hopes to brew into an immortality potion. But Ghoolion has not reckoned with Echo’s talent for survival and his vast ability to make new friends."


CAT BURGLAR BLACK by Richard Sala. Perhaps not fantasy, per se, but it sounds close. "When K. Westree arrivse at Bellsong Academy, she thinks she's left her cat-burgling past behind her. But K. soon discovers the school has a mystery of its own, a hidden treasure left behind by its founder, and she's the only one who has a hope of finding it. As she resumes her cat-burgling in an attempt to discover the school's secrets, K. begins to question if a normal life is really what she wants."


CITY OF FIRE by Laurence Yep. "...this action-packed tale takes readers on an unforgettable journey through an alternate version of our world in 1941—a world filled with magical beings such as dragons in human form, tiny “lap griffins,” reincarnations of legendary Chinese warriors, Japanese folk creatures, and goddesses in disguise. When her older sister dies trying to prevent the theft of one of her people’s great treasures, twelve-year-old Scirye sets out to avenge her and recover the precious item. Helping her are Bayang, a dragon disguised as a Pinkerton agent; Leech, a boy with powers he has not yet discovered; and Leech’s loyal companion Koko, who has a secret of his own. All have a grudge against the thieves who stole the treasure: the evil dragon Badik and the mysterious Mr. Roland. Scirye and her companions pursue the thieves to Houlani, a new Hawaiian island being created by magic. There, they befriend Pele, the volatile and mercurial goddess of volcanoes. But even with Pele on their side, they may not be able to stop Mr. Roland from gaining what he seeks: the Five Lost Treasures of Emperor Yu. Together, the treasures will give him the power to alter the very fabric of the universe."

THE DRAGON PLAYERS: KNIGHTS OF THE LUNCH TABLEby Frank Cammuso
Artie King, the uncrowned good guy of Camelot Middle School, is back with his pals Percy and Wayne in tow as he tries to evade evil Principal Dagger, avoid the school bully Joe and his Horde, and unravel the secret of a pack of mysterious magic cards he finds in his locker.


DRAGON KISS: TALES OF THE FROG PRINCESS by E.D. Baker. "Audun is a teenage ice dragon in love...with a human princess. Can he become human and win Millie's heart? Audun is on a quest to find Princess Millie, and to become human in order to win her heart. But The Dragon King has set out a number of tasks Audun must perform before he is permitted to even try to woo Millie...and each one is filled with E. D. Baker's signature adventure and hilarity as this dragon-turned-human-turned dragon and back again battles sea witches and warlocks both familiar to readers of the series, and altogether new."


THE GHOST ROAD: THE HAUNTING OF DEREK STONE by Tony Abbott. Book Four of the series. "Derek can't claim to be a normal fourteen-year-old anymore. Not after what he discovered at the Red House. His role in the war against the dead is more pivotal --- and more terrifying --- than he could have imagined...The Rift between the worlds of the living and the dead has to be closed . . . forever. It seems like an impossible task. And it rests squarely on the shoulders of a slightly overweight, not especially brave kid named Derek Stone."

HEART OF AVALON: AVALON, WEB OF MAGIC by Rachel Roberts. "The seadragons of Aldenmor are afflicted by a mysterious illness. Searching for a cure, Emily and Ozzie the ferret discover that the seadragons are being affected by twisted elemental magic. To save them, Emily must befriend mermaids and pirates and recover two missing power crystals."



THE LOST CASTLE: THE CHRONICLES OF KRANGOR by Michael Pryor. "When Queen Tayesha threatens to conquer all seven kingdoms of Krangor and break the ancient bond between the saur and the land, a young noble named Adalon vows to stop her. He and his loyal friends Targesh and Simangee must find a safe haven, far from the queen's bloodthirsty soldiers. Beyond a river of fire, a lost castle beckons them. Mysteries and magical wonders await the three friends at the castle, but awakening ancient magic brings its own dangers."

LETTERS TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE by Toon Tellegen. "...an enchanting collection of short stories, all centered on a series of poetic letters written by his animal protagonists. These fantastic, dreamlike, and even philosophical tales conjure up a world where the creatures of the earth can send mail to the sun (and get an answer); where you can actually write a letter to a letter; and where just writing something down can make it come true."

THE LOST CONSPIRACY
by Frances Hardinge. "On an island of sandy beaches, dense jungles, and slumbering volcanoes, colonists seek to apply archaic laws to a new land, bounty hunters stalk the living for the ashes of their funerary pyres, and a smiling tribe is despised by all as traitorous murderers. It is here, in the midst of ancient tensions and new calamity, that two sisters are caught in a deadly web of deceits. Arilou is proclaimed a beautiful prophetess—one of the island's precious oracles: a Lost. Hathin, her junior, is her nearly invisible attendant. But neither Arilou nor Hathin is exactly what she seems, and they live a lie that is carefully constructed and jealously guarded. When the sisters are unknowingly drawn into a sinister, island-wide conspiracy, quiet, unobtrusive Hathin must journey beyond all she has ever known of her world—and of herself—in a desperate attempt to save them both. As the stakes mount and falsehoods unravel, she discovers that the only thing more dangerous than the secret she hides is the truth she must uncover."

THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER by David Whitley. "In a society based on trade, where everything can be bought and sold, the future rests on the secrets of a single document-and the lives of two children whose destiny it is to discover its secrets. In this spellbinding novel, newcomer David Whitley has imagined a nation at a crossroads: misshaped by materialism and facing a choice about its future. He has brought to life two children who will test the nation's values-and crafted a spellbinding adventure story that will keep readers turning the pages until the very end."

MURDER AT MIDNIGHT by Avi. " A plot to overthrow King Claudio is brewing in the Kingdom of Pergamontio. Scholarly Mangus the magician -- along with his street-smart and faithful new servant boy, Fabrizio -- have been marked as easy scapegoats for the traitor lurking within the king's court. Together, these two unlikely partners must gather clues to solve the mystery and prove their innocence before the stroke of midnight. . . or face death!"


NERDS: NATIONAL ESPIONAGE, RESCUE, AND DEFENSE SOCIETY by Michael Buckley. "Combining all the excitement of international espionage and all the awkwardness of elementary school, NERDS, featuring a group of unpopular students who run a spy network from inside their school, hits the mark. With the help of cutting-edge science, their nerdy qualities are enhanced and transformed into incredible abilities! They battle the Hyena, a former junior beauty pageant contestant turned assassin, and an array of James Bond–style villains, each with an evil plan more diabolical and more ridiculous than the last."

PRINCESS HANNAH AND THE LITTLE BLACK KITTEN: THE TIARA CLUB by Vivian French. "Princess Hannah is so pleased to be at Pearl Palace with her friends from Lily Room! But when she finds a little black kitten the nasty twins are determined to get her into trouble."




PRINCESS ISABELLA AND THE SNOW-WHITE UNICORN: THE TIARA CLUB by Vivian French. "A trip to Lord Henry’s castle in the Magical Mountains sounds so exciting! Princess Isabella hopes she will be lucky enough to see a unicorn. Will her wish come true?"




SCHOOL OF FEAR by Gitty Daneshvari. "Everyone is afraid of something...Madeleine Masterson is deathly afraid of bugs, especially spiders. Theodore Bartholomew is petrified of dying. Lulu Punchalower is scared of confined spaces. Garrison Feldman is terrified of deep water. With very few options left, the parents of these four twelve year-olds send them to the highly elusive and exclusive School of Fear to help them overcome their phobias. But when their peculiar teacher, Mrs. Wellington, and her unconventional teaching methods turn out to be more frightening than even their fears, the foursome realize that this just may be the scariest summer of their lives."

THE SECRET OF ZOOM by Lynne Jonell. "Christina lives in an old stone mansion on the edge of a forest surrounded by barbed wire and signs that read TRESPASSERS WILL BE BOILED. Deep within the forest is the laboratory where her father works—and where her mother was blown to bits years ago. Christina is not supposed to talk to the orphans down the road. But when an orphan boy named Taft tells her of a secret tunnel, she finds it and helps him escape. Soon she and Taft discover there is far more to the orphanage and the mystery of her mother’s supposed death than they ever suspected."

THE SECRET SCIENCE ALLIANCE AND THE COPYCAT CROOK by Eleanor Davis
"Super-smart Julian Calendar thinks starting junior high at a new school will mean he can shed his nerdy image–but then he meets Ben and Greta, two secret scientists like himself! The three form a secret club, complete with a high-tech lair. There, they can work to their hearts content on projects like the Stink-O-Meter, the Kablovsky Copter, and the Nightsneak Goggles. All that tinkering comes in handy when the trio discovers an evil scientist's dastardly plan to rob a museum. Can three inventors, armed with their wacky creations, hope to defeat this criminal mastermind?"

THE STONEKEEPER'S CURSE: AMULET by Kazu Kibuishi. "Emily and Navin's mother is still in a coma from the arachnopod's poison, and there's only one place to find help: Kanalis, the bustling, beautiful city of waterfalls. But when Em, her brother, and Miskit and the rest of the robotic crew aboard the walking house reach the city, they quickly realize that seeking help is looking for trouble, dangerous trouble. The Elf King's son, Trellis, is still after them, but this time he's accompanied by a mysterious and dangerous guard, Luger. Then an equally mysterious fox, Leon Redbeard, steps in to help. This new fox friend offers to take Em on the perilous trip up Demon's Head Mountain to find the antidote she needs. Miskit is suspicious, Navin is worried about being left behind, and Emily is in the toughest spot of all. She's got to let loose the power of the amulet—without losing herself!"

SIGNAL by Cynthia DeFelice. "One day while running on the trail near his house in upstate New York, Owen McGuire meets a girl with startling green eyes and bloody cuts all over her body who seems to be utterly alone. Her name is Campion, after the wildflower that is an alien species in the area—alien meaning “from someplace else”—and Campion claims to come from someplace else entirely, a planet called Home. She plans to signal her parents to come pick her up in their spaceship. Owen agrees to help, and as he does, he feels happier than he has in a long time: his mother died a year and a half ago, and now he and his workaholic father live together like two planets on separate orbits, in a new house far from his friends. What will he do when Campion asks him to come with her into outer space, away from his lonely life on Earth?"

THIS BOOK IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU by Pseudonymous Bosch. "In this tooth-rotting adventure, Cass's mom has been kidnapped by the evil dessert chef and chocolatier, Señor Hugo! The ransom...the legendary tuning fork. Can Cass and Max-Ernest find the magical instrument before it's too late? Will they discover the evil secret ingredient to Señor Hugo's chocolate success?"

FREEZE FRAMED: TIME RUNNERSby Justin Richards. "At first, Jamie Grant thinks people are just ignoring him. His teacher, his classmates, even his own mother! Everyone—apart from his little sister, Ellie—is suddenly acting as if he's not around. He's fallen off the register at school, people don't reply to his questions, and he's not even showing up in old family photos. Creepy or what? Eventually, with the help of the friendly but mysterious Anna, he comes to realize that he doesn't exist—and he never has. He's fallen through a time break and is living in a parallel world in which he was never born. What's more, Jamie discovers that although he is outside time, he has the power to control it—and so he and Anna are employed as Time Runners to fix the rips in time. But they must work against the sinister Darkling Midnight, who is intent on causing chaos throughout history, to prevent time from falling apart."

TORRIE AND THE DRAGONSLAYERS by K.V. Johansen. "Once there was a prince who set off on a quest for a magic sword. He ran into a bit of trouble with a sorcerer -- who didn't like trespassers -- and the sorcerer's wolf-headed guards.... Once there was a young woman who decided to run away from home.... Luckily for the prince, who was in her father's dungeon by then, she decided to rescue him first. Luckily for both of them, Torrie came along as well. Cossypha's father, a reclusive sorcerer, seems to have gone mad. He's done something truly horrible to the servants and, since becoming obsessed with a mysterious Great Spell, hardly even notices Cossy's existence. She's had enough of being treated like a child and forbidden to study sorcery, so when she discovers Prince Rufik in the dungeon, she decides to steal him. Rufik, though he doesn't like being forced to believe in magic, is on a quest for a legendary, dragon-slaying sword. His father's kingdom is being laid waste by a dragon and the Sword Wormbane may be their last hope."

V IS FOR...VAMPIRE: A VAMPIRE ISLAND STORY by Adele Griffin. "Lexie might be the first vampire ever to run for ninth-grade class president, but sheÂ’s determined to make dreamy Dylan notice her, even if it means running against perfect, popular Mina. And things would be going pretty well, if it werenÂ’t for those annoying pixie houseguests! Blix and Mitzi are wreaking backwards-speaking, house-pinkifying havoc, and now they want Lexie to run a smear campaign against Mina. But how will all this dirty campaigning affect Lexie, when sheÂ’s trying to shed her evil vampire nature and become human?"


YOUNG ADULT

ASH by Malinda Lo. "In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted. The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love."

BEYOND THE STATION LIES THE SEA by Jutta Richter. "Cosmos and Niner have adapted to their life on the street, but they decide to set out on a journey to the beach where they can enjoy the summer weather year-round. Their plan has one hitch: they need money to make the trip. When a potential patron asks what the pair might be willing to sell, Niner and Cosmos offer their only item of value — Niner’s guardian angel. Once they’ve set out, Niner takes a turn for the worse, and Cosmos realizes he needs that guardian angel back to save his friend."


BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS by Laurie Faria Stolarz. "Prophetic dreams. Near-brushes with death. Killers pursuing her and her friends. Stacey Brown knows that being a hereditary witch isn't all it's cracked up to be. Stacey's nightmares are back. And all she wants to do is go to Colorado and work things out with Jacob. But before Stacey and Jacob can have a future, they must face their pasts—and the secrets they've kept from each other."

CATCHING FIRE: THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins . "Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge."

THE CIRCLE OF GOLD: THE BOOK OF TIME by Guillaume Prevost. "Sam rescued his father from Dracula's castle, but that doesn't mean their troubles are over. Now Allan Faulkner lies in a coma in the Sainte-Mary hospital, tossing about and muttering aloud about saving Sam's late mother. Sam has no choice but to go back in Time to see her. His inability to control his destination, however, means he journeys to ancient China, Renaissance Rome, and even 2025 -- where he sees his own grave! Can Sam prevent this grisly ending and save his mother once and for all?"

DEVIL'S KISS by Sarwat Chadda. "As the youngest and only female member of the Knights Templar, Bilquis SanGreal grew up knowing she wasn't normal. Instead of hanging out at the mall or going on dates, she spends her time training as a soldier in her order's ancient battle against the Unholy. Billi's cloistered life is blasted apart when her childhood friend, Kay, returns from Jerusalem, gorgeous and with a dangerous chip on his shoulder. He's ready to reclaim his place in Billi's life, but she's met someone new: amber-eyed Michael, who seems to understand her like no one else, effortlessly claiming a stake in her heart. But the Templars are called to duty before Billi can enjoy the pleasant new twist to her life. One of the order's ancient enemies has resurfaced, searching for a treasure that the Templars have protected for hundreds of years -- a cursed mirror powerful enough to kill all of London's firstborn. To save her city from catastrophe, Billi will have to put her heart aside and make sacrifices greater than any of the Templars could have imagined."


DREAMING ANASTASIA: A NOVEL OF LOVE, MAGIC, AND THE POWER OF DREAMS by Joy Preble. "Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead. In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college—until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams…"

THE EYEBALL COLLECTOR by F.E.Higgins. "Although Hector Fitzbaudly has always lived a plush life on the posh side of the River Foedus, he’s yearned to slip away from his comfortable home and see the seedy side of Urbs Umida. Unfortunately, he gets his chance when a blackmail artist confronts his father with a terrible secret from his past, and Hector finds himself penniless and on the streets. He is determined to get his revenge against the man responsible, who has been a pauper, a gentleman, and an Eyeball Collector—stealing jewels from the wealthy to make false eyes to replace his missing one. He is a master of disguise, and a swindler who moves from place to place. Hector trails the Eyeball Collector to the small village of Pagus Parvus and the foreboding Withypitts Hall, run by the eccentric Lady Mandible who has a strange taste for the macabre. He takes a job incubating butterflies for Lady Mandible, and places himself in the perfect position to take revenge. Hector is so close to the Eyeball Collector, but will he be able to go through with his plan?"

FALLING by Sharon Dogar. "Neesha is haunted by violent visions of the past; of another Southeast Asian girl, far away and forever ago. Just when the echoes in her head threaten to overwhelm her, to rob her of her fragile sanity, rescue comes in the form of Sam--a white boy she's known since childhood. Neesha finds herself falling--falling in love. Can Sam catch her? Can the two of them find a way to live their own story? Or are they fated to replay the tragedy of a centuries-old love affair?" NB: Amazon has this as nine to twelve, but I don't believe it.


HANNAH: DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA by Kathryn Lasky. "Daughters of the Sea tells the story of 3 mermaid sisters who are separated at birth by a storm and go on to lead three very different lives. Book 1 is about Hannah, who spent her early days in an orphanage and is now a scullery maid in the house of rich, powerful family. She is irresistibly drawn to the sea and through a series of accidents and encounters discovers her true identity. Hannah relizes that she must keep the truth a secret but she also knows that soon she will have to make the choice - to be a creature of the land or the sea."

THE HOLLOW by Jessica Verday. "When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special. Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend."

HUNTER'S MOON: AVALON HIGH CORONATION by Meg Cabot. "Ellie has only one day left to get her boyfriend Will to truly believe he's the reincarnation of King Arthur, or the world will plunge into eternal darkness. But Will refuses to believe her! Meanwhile, the upcoming Homecoming game and dance have everyone distracted, especially Ellie. Some people aren't too happy about her Homecoming Queen nomination and are determined to cause trouble. Ellie's got to save her reputation and the world before the new moon on the night of Homecoming brings them all to a dangerous crossroad. If Ellie can't convince Will of his destiny, the world may never recover. . . ."

INTERTWINED by Gena Showalter. "Most sixteen-year-olds have friends. Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him: One can time-travel. One can raise the dead One can tell the future. And one can possess another human. With no other family and a life spent in and out of institutions, Aden and the souls have become friends. But now they're causing him all kinds of trouble. Like, he'll blink and suddenly he's a younger Aden, reliving the past. One wrong move, and he'll change the future. Or he'll walk past a total stranger and know how and when she's going to die."

NEVER CRY WEREWOLF by Heather Davis. "Okay, so maybe Shelby has made a few mistakes with boys lately (how was she supposed to know Wes had "borrowed" that Porsche?). But her stepmother totally overreacts when she catches Shelby in a post-curfew kiss with a hot senior: Suddenly Shelby's summer plans are on the shelf, and she's being packed off to brat camp. It's good-bye, prom dress; hello, hiking boots. Things start looking up, though, when Shelby meets fellow camper (and son of a rock star) Austin Bridges III. But soon she realizes there's more to Austin than crush material—his family has a dark secret, and he wants Shelby's help guarding it. Shelby knows that she really shouldn't be getting tangled up with another bad boy . . . but who is she to turn her back on a guy in need, especially such a good-looking one? One thing's for sure: That pesky full moon is about to get her into trouble all over again."

NIGHT RUNNER by Max Turner. "For Zack Thomson, living in the Nicholls Ward isn't so bad. After his parents died, he developed strange and severe allergies, and the mental institution was the only place where he could be properly looked after. As strange as it was, it was home. He could watch as much television as he wanted; his best friend Charlie visited him often enough; and Nurse Ophelia--the prettiest no-nonsense nurse ever--sometimes took him bowling. Of course, that didn't mean he had it easy. His allergies restricted his diet to strawberry smoothies, and being the only kid at the hospital could get lonely. But it never once crossed Zack's mind to leave...until the night someone crashed through the front doors and told him to run. Now he's on a race for answers--about his past, his parents, and his strange sickness--even as every step takes him closer to the darkest of truths."

POSSESSIONS by Nancy Holder. "New-girl Lindsay discovers all is not right at the prestigious Marlwood Academy for Girls. Ethereal, popular Mandy and her clique are plotting something dangerous. Lindsay overhears them performing strange rituals, and sees their eyes turn black. It doesn’t help that the school itself is totally eerie, with ancient, dilapidated buildings tucked into the Northern California woods, a thick white fog swirling through campus. There are hidden passageways, odd reflections in the windows at night, and scariest of all is the vast lake rumored to have captured the ghost of a girl who drowned many years ago. What Lindsay doesn’t yet realize is that Mandy and her cohorts are becoming possessed by spirits who have haunted the school for two hundred years. Spirits who want someone dead... And that someone is Lindsay."

SOMETHING WICCAN THIS WAY COMES: A RHIANNON GODFREY STORY by Traci Hall. "What's a girl to do when trouble finds her at every turn? Being different is nothing new for Rhiannon Godfrey. Neither is hiding who she really is to all but a select few. So far shes managed to walk that line, but now someone is spreading rumors that the Godfreys New Age store is really a front for witchcraft, complete with cauldrons and eyes of newt. The whole town is turning against them even Rhees boyfriend is suspicious. Then theres her ex-crush Matthew, who just showed up uninvited on her doorstep carrying a single suitcase and a heavy secret. Rhiannon tries to be good, she really does. But it's hard when trouble pounces at every turn, and her unsuccessful spells seem to prove that science is the only path to enlightenment. Hiding her gifts and running from confrontation is easier than standing up for what she believes in. But this time, there's more at stake."

SOULSTICE: THE DEVOURING by Simon Holt. "It's been six months since Reggie first discovered and fought against the Vours, malicious and demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on the eve of the Winter Solstice. The Vours still haunt Reggie, but only in her dreams-until one night, when an unexpected visitor turns her nightmares into reality. The battle against evil continues in Soulstice, the second book in the thrilling The Devouring series..."



THE TEAR COLLECTOR by Patrick Jones. "...a new kind of vampire–one that feeds off of tears instead of blood. Descended from an ancient line of creatures that gain their energy from human tears, Cassandra Gray depends on human sorrow to live. Only Cass has grown tired of living this life and wants to live like a human, especially now that she's met someone worth fighting for."


TENTACLES by Roland Smith. "Marty and Grace O'Hara's globe-trotting parents disappeared while on assignment for a nature magazine, and now they're living with their Uncle Wolfe, a scientist fascinated by cryptids--creatures that appear in myths but haven't been proven to exist, such as the Loch Ness Monster. Wolfe is planning an expedition to New Zealand to track a giant squid, and he's rented a huge (and possibly haunted) freighter for the trip. But someone on board is determined to sabotage their mission--and if Marty and Grace keeping poking their noses into things, they might end up the saboteur's next victims!"

8/31/09

The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate, by Donna St. Cyr

The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate, by Donna St. Cyr (CBAY Books, 2009, middle grade, 161 pp), required of me a leap of faith combined with an extreme suspension of disbelief (more so than is the case with many other middle-grade fantasies). The reader must accept the existence of the secret order the Cheese Syndicate, some of whom appear to be living cheeses (!!), and who rely on the magical properties of various cheeses (!?!) to bring their goal to fruition--the lofty goal of "restoring peace, harmony, and good taste to our world!"

But Robert Montasio, age 13, has more immediate goals--to restore his obnoxious little sister Janine to her full height (an unfortunate potion gulping incident shrank her more than a little), and to find his lost father. When he learns that his father was an honored member of the Syndicate, who disappeared while on a quest to find the legendary cheese that is the only thing that will save Janine, these two goals combine nicely.

And Robert, bringing along Janine in a waterproof dollhouse, is off on an adventure that has him fighting monsters, bartering with mythical creatures (how much is a wheel of cheese really worth?), and learning the true power of Muenster.

For instance, when riding on the back of a dolphin, being pursued by a very nasty ozaena:

"As we sped closer to the mouth, I hoped all my free throw shooting would pay off. I lobbed the cheese in from about twenty feet away. A perfect shot.

The effect was spectacular. The ozaena shrieked and groaned the instant the Muenster hit. It crashed from side to side across the ocean surface, like a fish flopping on the floor. I guess it was trying to get rid of the cheese. Finally, it vomited out its guts and lay still." (pages 70-71).

It's a fun book, once the cheese is swallowed, as it were. It's not one I'd necessarily be quick to press into the hands of an adult reader, but for a nine or ten-year old (especially one who has an interest in Greek mythological creatures), it might very well strike a chord. The language is straightforward, the adventure episodic (which I think is helpful for readers that age who still don't have tons of confidence), and the monster encounters are exciting.

(review copy received from the author)

Ursula Le Guin's review of Margaret Atwood's new book

I'm not sure I want to read the book (sounds like it might upset me) , but the review is thought-provoking as all get out!

Two books from The Fantasy Chronicles for Non-Fiction Monday

Lerner has a handsome new middle-grade non-fiction series in their Fall list--the Fantasy Chronicles. I've read two--Fairies and Elves, and Fantastical Creatures and Magical Beasts, both by Shannon Knudsen (both on sale now, but published as 2010).

Fairies and Elves (48pp, with index, bibliography, and suggestions for further reading/watching) is a history of European fairies, from the middle ages to the present day (there's just one paragraph on fairies around the world), exploring their dual nature as helpful friend and tricksy foe. This history of the Good Neighbors is liberally leavened with fairy tales-- both classics, like The Elves and the Shoemaker, and more obscure stories (primarily from the British Isles), that illustrate the wide variety of fairies that have populated the pre-mental landscape. Knudsen, in a chatty, companionable way, discusses how beliefs in creatures like this might have helped explain the unexplainable, and how this way of thinking faded:

"A funny thing happened to fairies and elves during the late 1800s. The stories that people had told and believed in for hundreds of years no longer seemed true to most folks. Science and technology had changed the way they lived and viewed the world. Before, for example, parents might have blamed a child's sickness on fairy magic. But in this new era, they were more likely to listen to a doctor's medical explanation" (pages 28-29).

The book brings the history of fairies and elves right up to the present, with the final chapter ("Entertaining Elves") discussing their modern incarnations in icons of popular culture such as the Lord of the Rings movie, Harry Potter, and World of Warcraft. I think this is one of the great strengths of the book--kids who are familiar with these fairies/elves may well find their back story very relevant (so it's almost a pity this chapter wasn't put at the beginning, as a hook!).

Fantastical Creatures and Magical Beasts (48 pages, also with back matter), is also dominated by European monsters (10 pages all about Greece, 10 pages on all the rest of the world), which is a pity, because there's not that much out there on, say, the mythological creatures of Oceania (maybe, Lerner, you could do a whole region by region series on magical beasts? I promise I'd read them to my children...). But the monster stories in this book are told with zest, and, as is the case with Fairies and Elves, Knudsen adds interest, and food for further thought, in her discussion of the function stories of fantastical creatures might play in ways of making sense of the world. Being an anthropologist, I found the functionalist approach a bit of an over-simplification, but it was great to see the subject pushed beyond a simple cataloguing of the fantastical. This book also brings its topic into the present--the last picture shows two boys showing off their Pokemon cards.

Both books are written in a friendly, story-telling fashion (my nine-year old, who serves as my benchmark, read them both with ease and enjoyment), and both are copiously illustrated with (primarily) original material (such as Greek vases, Indian sculpture, and Disney's Tinkerbell).

The other books in the series are Giants, Trolls, and Ogres, Mermaids and Mermen, and Wizards and Witches, and later today I shall ask the children's librarian at our library if the Friends could perhaps buy them...*

Non-fiction Monday is at Simply Science today.

(review copies received from the publisher)

* random aside on fundraising: the Decorative Gourd Fundraiser, in which I sell decorative gourds that I have grown, will not bring in much this year, due to rotten weather, likewise the Zucchini Fundraiser (one zucchini to date, and how sad is that), but perhaps I will have enough corn for a Corn Fundraiser (the corn is almost ripe, and has done very well), unless my children decide they really like corn. Pity no-one wants to pay for crab grass.

8/30/09

The Color Me Brown Challenge is ending soon...link now!

Susan, who blogs at Color on Line, has organized a "Color Me Brown" Challenge for the month of August--to date, it's garnered links to 110 books by or about people of color. Tomorrow is the last day to add links. So if you might have an unlinked-to review that fits those simple criteria, or a book you'd like to review but haven't yet, head over before tomorrow ends to leave your link! (there are prizes...)

The Elsewhere Chronicles

The Elsewhere Chronicles: Book One: The Shadow Door, Book Two: The Shadow Spies, Book Three: The Master of Shadows. Story by Nykko, translation from the French by Carol Klio Burrell, art by Bannister. Published by Graphic Universe (Lerner), middle-grade on up.

When we went to the library last week, there they were, front and center on the new books table--The Elsewhere Chronicles, three volumes of a fantasy graphic novel series (with color pictures) for middle-grade kids. Our librarian, who knows my nine-year old son's reading tastes as well as I do, pressed them into his hands before we had even finished saying hello. He has now read them three times.

The Elsewhere Chronicles tells of a journey that begins in a graveyard, where a mysterious old man is being buried. Three boys, with nothing better to do, watch from the cemetery wall. When the old man's grand-daughter, Rebecca, heads over to check out his spooky house, they decide to go with her. Little do they know that Grandpa Gabe had opened a passageway into another place, and that the door will soon be opened again, trapping the kids in a land haunted by the Shadow Spies. Danger is everywhere (including some really nasty fruits with teeth). But there are friends who give help, and there's a cool dragon, and as long as the kids can keep the Shadows away each night, until sunrise drives them off, there's a chance they might make it home again.

Unfortunately, the first book is the weakest (mainly because it's the most confusing in terms of following the plot, partly because things don't get fantastic until a ways into it), but once the kids actually make it to Elsewhere, things pick up dramatically, and it becomes a fun and gripping adventure. It's made memorable not just by the story, but by the distinct personalities of the characters (which likewise become clearer in books 2 and 3). There are details in the vivid color pictures that make the fantasy world come to life (these are beautiful books), and details in the story that make it interesting even for an older reader.

It's great to see an African girl front and center, and the first book has a rather nicly frank discussion of race. When the kids meet, Rebecca tells the boys that she's the old man's granddaughter. To paraphrase (because the first book is back at the library, already checked out again, and the draft post where I'd copied the quote disappeared):

"But, you're..." says one of the boys.

"Black?" she answers. "Yes, I'd noticed."

However, the books do include the stereotype of "red haired child with glasses" (ala Arnold from the Magic School Bus) being the hapless one. Why couldn't the bad insect have bitten one of the two cooler, dark-haired boys? (and this is just one example of the misfortunes that befall poor Theo).

Although at the end of the third book this particular thread of plot comes to a conclusion, not one of the larger questions is answered, leaving so much room for a sequel you could drive a truck through it. I rather hope there is more to come, not just because I'm curious, but because I became emotionally invested in one of the characters in particular (a boy with an abusive mother), and am anxious to see what happens to him...

Here are reviews of the first book at Buffyverse Comic Reviews, and Comics Worth Reading, and a review of the series at Comics in the Classroom.



My six-year old, who liked looking at the pictures, asked that I also show the second book, because that is the one that has the dragon.

8/29/09

New releases of science fiction and fantasy for children and teens--the end of August edition

August is going out with a bit of a bang--there are several books on this list of new releases that I'm anxious to read. Especially the new Skulduggery Pleasant! And the sequel to The Sky Inside, and the sequel to Found, and The Dream Stealer sounds great, and As You Wish and Rampant have been on my list for ages... etc. Vampire lovers should be very happy too. Zombie lovers, not so much (which is too bad, because today is the start of Zombie Appreciation Week). As ever, I got my information from Teens Read Too, and the blurbs come from Amazon.

BLOOD OF THE WITCH: SCREAM STREET by Tommy Donbavand. "What better way to feed the neighborhood vampires than to pipe blood from residents’ cuts and nosebleeds straight into kitchen taps? And how better to foil Luke’s mission to free his folks than to cut off this vital (if icky) blood supply to Luke’s best vampire friend? What’s more, the local sewer rats have been accidentally turned into raging vampire rodents. Now Luke and his pals must keep the critters at bay while searching for the second crucial relic — a vial of witch’s blood — while avoiding being turned into vampires themselves.

CHANTEL'S QUEST FOR THE ENCHANTED MEDALLION by Oliver Neubert. Chantel "...must brave evil-doers and muster her courage to retrieve four ancient relics — the only way to defeat an evil power that's killing nature and corrupting minds. On the way, Chantel encounters different parts of her fantastical world, faces nail-biting challenges, and meets new friends — and enemies. Once she's gathered the four relics, she'll finally have enough power to defeat the sinister spirit."

CLASH OF THE DEMONS: THE LAST APPRENTICE by Joseph Delaney. "As the Spook's apprentice, Thomas Ward's first duty is to protect the County from ghosts, boggarts, and other dangerous creatures. But now his mother has come back from her homeland to seek his help. One of the most dangerous of the old witches, Ordeen, is about to return to earth, bringing with her suffering and devastation. Tom's mother has mustered a powerful army—including Tom's friend Alice, the Pendle witches, and the assassin Grimalkin—to confront Ordeen. If Tom joins them, the Spook will refuse to take Tom back as his apprentice. What sacrifices will be made in the battle against the dark?"

THE DREAM STEALER by Sid Fleischman. "There is a bandit who comes in the night. He does not want pretty silver earrings or dangly gold necklaces, not diamonds or rubies...He wants dreams. He is supposed to take only nightmares—the dreams of monsters and phantoms—but he's grown scared. He's been taking the good dreams instead. But one night he steals from the wrong girl. Susana is clever. She is wily. She is brave. And she wants her dream back."


THE DREAMER, THE SCHEMER, & THE ROBE: THE AMAZING TALES OF MAX & LIZ by Jenny L. Cote. "After saving Noah and family from the evil stowaway Charlatan aboard the ark in The Ark, the Reed, & the Fire Cloud, heroes Max and Liz, along with faithful mates Kate and Al, earn immortality and a directive from God to serve as His envoys for pivotal points in human history. They have waited for centuries for a word from the Maker; now they learn they are to work behind the scenes in the life of Joseph. In The Dreamer, The Schemer, & The Robe the fate of an entire nation rests in their paws."

THE FACELESS ONES: SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT by Derek Landy. "Valkyrie screamed, sprinting toward Skulduggery. He looked up and reached out to her, but it was too late. If you've read the other Skulduggery books by Derek Landy (and you really should have read them by now), you've seen it all before: Some bad guy wants to bring about the end of the world, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie fight valiantly to stop it from happening. A few people get hurt, sure, but everything's all right in the end. Well, not this time."

HALF-MINUTE HORRORS by Various Authors, "How scared can you get in only 30 seconds? Dare to find out with Half-Minute Horrors, a collection of deliciously terrifying short short tales and creepy illustrations by an exceptional selection of writers and illustrators, including bestselling talents Lemony Snicket, James Patterson, Neil Gaiman, R.L.Stine, Faye Kellerman, Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Margaret Atwood, Jon Scieszka, Brett Helquist, and many more. With royalties benefiting First Book, a not-for-profit organization that brings books to children in need, this is an anthology worth devouring."

MORE BONES: SCARY STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD by Arielle North Olson & Howard Schwartz. "Have you heard about the man who marries . . . a corpse? Or what about the magic school where one student in every class is never allowed to leave? Many of these tales go back hundreds of years and to the farthest corners of the earth, but as diverse as they are, they also reveal one important truth: everyone loves a scary story. The authors have dug deeply—from Egypt to Iceland—to find the spookiest stories that are perfect to share around a campfire or at a sleepover."

THE NINE POUND HAMMER: THE CLOCKWORK DARK by John Claude Bemis. "Twelve-year-old Ray is haunted by the strangest memories of his father, whom Ray swears could speak to animals. Now an orphan, Ray jumps from a train going through the American South and falls in with a medicine show train and its stable of sideshow performers. The performers turn out to be heroes, defenders of the wild, including the son of John Henry. They are hiding the last of the mythical Swamp Sirens from an ancient evil known as the Gog. Why the Gog wants the Siren, they can’t be sure, but they know it has something to do with rebuilding a monstrous machine that John Henry gave his life destroying years before, a machine that will allow the Gog to control the will of men and spread darkness throughout the world."

Young Adult (sorry there are no pictures; I just didn't have time...)

ANDROMEDA KLEIN by Frank Portman. "Andromeda Klein has a few problems. Her hair is kind of horrible. Her partner-in-occultism, Daisy, is dead. Her secret, estranged, much older and forbidden boyfriend-in-theory, has gone AWOL. And her mother has learned how to text. In short, things couldn't get much worse. Until they do. Daisy seems to be attempting to make contact from beyond, books are starting to disappear from the library, and then, strangely and suddenly, Andromeda's tarot readings are beginning to predict events with bizarrely literal accuracy. Omens are everywhere. Dreams; swords; fires; hidden cards; lost, broken, and dead cell phones . . . and what is Daisy trying to tell her?"

ANOTHER FAUST by Daniel & Dina Nayeri. "One night, in cities all across Europe, five children vanish — only to appear, years later, at an exclusive New York party with a strange and elegant governess. Rumor and mystery follow the Faust teenagers to the city’s most prestigious high school, where they soar to suspicious heights with the help of their benefactor’s extraordinary "gifts." But as the students claw their way up — reading minds, erasing scenes, stopping time, stealing power, seducing with artificial beauty — they start to suffer the sideeffects of their own addictions. And as they make further deals with the devil, they uncover secrets more shocking than their most unforgivable sins. At once chilling and wickedly satirical, this contemporary reimagining of the Faustian bargain is a compelling tale of ambition, consequences, and ultimate redemption."

AS YOU WISH by Jackson Pearce. "Ever since Viola's boyfriend broke up with her, she has spent her days silently wishing—to have someone love her again and, more importantly, to belong again—until one day she inadvertently summons a young genie out of his world and into her own. He will remain until she makes three wishes. Jinn is anxious to return home, but Viola is terrified of wishing, afraid she will not wish for the right thing, the thing that will make her truly happy. As the two spend time together, the lines between master and servant begin to blur, and soon Jinn can't deny that he's falling for Viola. But it's only after Viola makes her first wish that she realizes she's in love with Jinn as well . . . and that if she wishes twice more, he will disappear from her life—and her world—forever."

THE AWAKENING: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES by L. J. Smith. The latest in the series...(sorry, no blurb on Amazon, and I don't have time to hunt)

BLOOD PROMISE: VAMPIRE ACADEMY by Richelle Mead. "The recent Strigoi attack at St. Vladimir’s Academy was the deadliest ever in the school’s history, claiming the lives of Moroi students, teachers, and guardians alike. Even worse, the Strigoi took some of their victims with them. . . including Dimitri. He’d rather die than be one of them, and now Rose must abandon her best friend, Lissa—the one she has sworn to protect no matter what—and keep the promise Dimitri begged her to make long ago. But with everything at stake, how can she possibly destroy the person she loves most?"

DARK OF THE MOON: DARK GUARDIAN by Rachel Hawthorn. "Brittany is determined to prove herself to the Dark Guardians. And yet she's been keeping a devastating secret: She hasn't experienced any of the intense, early signs of change that mark a Dark Guardian's transformation. The only intense feelings she has are for Connor—and she's kept that a secret, too. But she knows she'll never truly have Connor's love if she's not a Shifter like him.At the first full moon after her birthday, her greatest fear is realized: She doesn't transform. Brittany is so desperate to become a wolf that she'll go to extremes she never thought possible... and put all the Dark Guardians in incredible danger."

RAMPANT by Diana Peterfreund. "Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. Fortunately, they've been extinct for a hundred and fifty years. Or not. Astrid had always scoffed at her eccentric mother's stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend—thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to the prom—Astrid finds herself headed to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries."

SENT: THE MISSING by Margaret Peterson Haddix. "Thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip are reeling from the news that they're both missing children from history, kidnapped from their proper time period. Before they can fully absorb this revelation, a time purist named JB zaps Chip and another boy, Alex, back to the fifteenth century, where they supposedly belong. Determined not to lose their friends, Jonah and his sister, Katherine, grab Chip's arms just as he's being sent away. The result? Jonah and Katherine also end up in the fifteenth century, where they decidedly do not belong. Chip's true identity is Edward V, king of England, and Alex is his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York. But Chip is convinced that his uncle, Richard of Gloucester, plans to kill them and seize the throne for himself. JB promises that if the kids can "fix time," he will allow them to return to the present day. But how can they possibly return home safely when history claims that Chip and Alex were murdered?"

SNAP by Carol Snow. "Madison Sabatini thought she knew who she was: an almost-sophomore with a bright future. The newest photographer on her school paper. A shopaholic with great hair and a fabulous wardrobe. Then, in a flash, everything changed. Now she's stuck in Sandyland, a gloomy beach town in the middle of nowhere, living with her parents in a crappy hotel "suite." Instead of spending the summer with her friends at home, she's hanging out with pink-haired Delilah, an artist who works in a shop called Psychic Photo, and a skater boy named Duncan who's totally not her type. Except, maybe he is . . . Determined to make the best of things, Madison throws herself into her one passion: photography. But when strange figures start appearing in her pictures—people who weren't there when she snapped the shots, people who are later reported dead—she begins to question everything about who she is . . . and who she wishes she could be."

THE STONE CHILD by Dan Poblocki. "Eddie Fennicks has always been a loner, content to lose himself in a mystery novel by his favorite author, Nathaniel Olmstead. That’s why moving to the small town of Gatesweed becomes a dream come true when Eddie discovers that Olmstead lived there before mysteriously disappearing thirteen years ago. Even better, Eddie finds a handwritten, never-before-seen Nathaniel Olmstead book printed in code and befriends Harris, who’s as much an Olmsteady as he is. But then the frightening creatures of Olmstead’s books begin to show up in real life, and Eddie’s dream turns into a nightmare. Eddie, Harris, and their new friend, Maggie, must break Olmstead’s code, banish all gremlins and monster lake-dogs from the town of Gatesweed, and solve the mystery of the missing author, all before Eddie’s mom finishes writing her own tale of terror and brings to life the scariest creature of all."

THE STRUGGLE: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES by L. J. Smith (sorry, no blurb on Amazon)

TOMBSTONE TEA by Joanne Dahme. "In order to be accepted by the “in crowd” at her new high school, Jamie accepts a dare to spend one night in a local cemetery collecting rubbings from ten gravestones. Once inside the gate of the dark and frightening burial ground, Jamie meets Paul, a handsome boy who works as a caretaker at the cemetery. Paul explains to Jamie about Tombstone Tea: a fund-raising performance in which actors impersonate the people buried in the cemetery. The actors are supposedly rehearsing on this particular evening, but Jamie quickly discovers that they aren’t actors at all but the ghosts of men and women buried in the cemetery. When one woman decides to adopt Jamie to replace her lost daughter, our heroine fears she may never escape the cemetery."

VIOLET WINGS by Victoria Hanley. "For Zaria Tourmaline, the three years without her mother and brother have been lonely ones, living with a cold and distant guardian while she completes her education. Just as she is ready to join the world of adult fairies and genies, she finds a spellbook written entirely in her mother’s hand. But this treasured object is not safe from a new enemy, a fairy with more power than Zaria ever dreamed existed. Only among the humans–who must never know fairies and genies exist–can Zaria hide the spellbook; but hidden magic, it turns out, can expose a fairy in ways she never thought possible."

THE WALLS HAVE EYES by Clare B. Dunkle. "Martin Glass may have seen his baby sister, Cassie, to safety at the end of The Sky Inside, but his problems are far from over. There's a totalitarian regime in place, murderous game shows on the air, and a host of government agents on Martin's tail. And Martin and his Alldog, Chip, get more than they bargained for when they have to go back to Martin's old suburb to rescue Martin's parents. But spending time in the wilderness with Mom and Dad isn't the worst of it. Because Martin learns that Cassie is still in danger, and to keep her and the other Wonder Babies safe, he's going to have to risk the thing he loves most."

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