Ask Charlotte

Last week I started a new feature, one that demonstrates just how Caring I truly am. I derive great pleasure from reading the search terms that lead people here, and felt that I should try to answer the burning questions of those who seek me out. Some I will never answer (What happens in the first chapter of Roland Smith's Peak? What are the main themes of Peak? Where can I find a book report for Peak online? Just read the book, for crying out loud). But some of the questioners have more interesting problems, and are people that I feel I can Help.

Like this poor person, caught in a Kafka-esque nightmare, seemingly unable to confide in family or friends, and finally turning, in desperation, to the internet, with this pitiful cry for help:

"Am I a bunny?"

Answer: No.

Not even if your name is Nicholas and you live in a hollow tree.

Prada and Prejudice for Timeslip Tuesday

Prada and Prejudice, by Mandy Hubbard. Razorbill (Penguin), 2009, YA, 238 pp.

Poor Callie is most definitely not one of the crowd of cool girls with whom she is sharing a high-school trip to London. She listens, awkward and excluded, as the others make plans to sneak off to a nightclub. But she has with her an emergency credit card, and maybe, just maybe, all she needs is the right shoes--shinny red patent leather pumps, from Prada. The tall heels are too much for her, however, and she slams into the sidewalk, knocking herself out cold.

When she comes to, London has gone. Making her tortuously high-heeled way down a muddy road, she arrives at a mansion. There she is mistaken for the American cousin of the family, expected in a few weeks, and finds herself the guest of Alex, a young duke, in the year 1815.

Callie is not one to blend gracefully into her surroundings, and she stirs up the social order of the household with her modern American ways and opinions. Matters come to a head when she sets in motion a scheme to save Emily, Alex's cousin, from an arranged marriage--a plot that could ruin Emily forever. To set things right, she needs Alex's help, and her relationship with Alex has been one of flying sparks from the beginning...

"Alex escorts me to the carriage, and I'm hyperconscious of how close he is. He steps to the side of the door and offers me his arm to climb in. I notice how the cuff of his jacket is turned over his hand; his knuckles almost disappear into the sleeve, and there's another shiny brass button near his wrist. Yes, his jacket definitely costs more than anything I own--even my shoes.

He's standing there with his face turned upward and such an arrogant look in his eyes that I flirt with the idea of ignoring his hand and climbing in on my own, but I don't want to anger him. So I rest my gloved hand momentarily on his fingertips and pretend I don't feel the hot tingles shooting up my arm at his touch.

Why is he being nice? Is he doing this because that's who he is, or is this one of those required things for guys of his...rank?" (page 103)

It's a frivolously fun read, not deep or emotionally powerful, not wildly original, but certainly entertaining. I enjoyed the fluffiness of the descriptions of clothes and dances, and the thorny romance of Callie and Alex was diverting. But the characters never became truly real to me--they stayed set pieces, moving through their English country dance. And I was never entirely convinced that I was in 1815 (there were small things that bothered me--one older woman, for instance, is named Victoria, which was in use on the continent, but wasn't in general use in England until the queen of that name was born and her name chosen by her German mother).

Timeslip wise, there is absolutely no reason within the story why the Prada shoes sent Callie back to 1815. The dislocation of Callie in the past, however, is rather nicely done. Because she is American, she has an excuse for her strange behaviour and her modern attitudes...and at times this is funny, but at times she strains the credulity of both co-characters and me as reader.

This book got a rave review at Austenprose, where all things Jane are celebrated. Although I enjoyed it myself, Callie and Alex are no Elizabeth and Darcy...but then, who is?

Leaving the Bellweathers

Leaving the Bellweathers, by Kristin Clark Venuti (Egmont 2009, middle grade, 242pp)

In a lighthouse far away, a butler sits down to write in his diary, dreaming of the day when he can hand over his duties to another.

"One of the largest difficulties my would-be-successor will face is due to Dr. Bellweather himself. He is most indiscriminate in choosing targets for his blustering, ranting, and glass-beaker throwing. The villagers in Eel-Smack-by-the-Bay do not share his "sense of humor." In addition to seeing to the creature comforts of this family, the duties of my replacement will include occasionally convincing townsfolk not to riot on the Bellweathers' property. This is a task that anyone not subjected to a Wretched Oath of Fealty will unlikely be willing to perform. In fact, anyone not bound by such an oath may end up joining those rioting." (page 81)

Two hundred years ago (minus 8 weeks, 2 hours and 27 minutes) Nigel Benway pledged his life, and the lives of his descendants, to two centuries of service to Horatio Bellweather and his. Now Tristan Benway is counting down the minutes until he is free to walk out the door of the lighthouse that serves as chez Bellweather. He has been the perfect butler for years, coping with the children's little eccentricities (14 year-old Spider's dangerous animals, 13 year-old Nita's bagpipes and over-zealous Good Works, and the playfully destructive antics of the young triplets), not to mention the difficult peculiarities of the Bellweather parents (a mad scientist and an obsessive wall painter). Benway spends his last weeks penning a Tell All book about the tribulations he has endured at their hands, and dreams of his own peaceful cottage (7 weeks, 1 hour and 3 minutes to go...)

But as the weeks pass, filled with Spider's albino alligators, Ninda's imprisonment of a family of circus performers (an effort to free them from oppression), and the plans of the triplets to take over the local art show (move over, Mona Lisa), Benway's resolve begins to weaken. When the Bellweather children realize they might loose him, and focus the powerful force that is their collective will on convincing him to stay, will he be able to escape? (1 week, 8 hours, and 27 minutes to go...)

Interspersed with Benway's journal entries (diverting dry) are episodes showcasing the energies and enthusiasms of the various Bellweather children. I was concerned at first that the Bellweather family might be simply a collection of two-dimensional eccentrics, but by the end, along with Benway, I was able to appreciate them as people. A very fun read, one with quite a bit of heart inside an outer shell that manages to be both facile and engaging.

(I was nervous about the Mona Lisa sub-plot. I don't like it in books when things get broken. But nothing terrible happened, in the end...and I rather liked the tidying up of the albino alligator sub-plot. The imprisoned circus performers and their tame seal was a bit much, though...I was never quite able to Believe in them. But maybe that's my own cynical fault, and the younger, fresher reader will accept them with amused and uncritical interest).

As the passage I quoted above indicates, the vocabulary, particularly in Benway's journal entries, is rather advanced, so although this is most definitely middle-grade in tone and story, it might not be a good fit for the less confident reader.

A sequel, tentatively titled "The Butler Gets a Break," is apparently in the works, which is nice to know! And other reviews can be found at Steph Su Reads and Never Jam Today.

(arc received from the publisher)

Sylvie and the Songman

Sylvie and the Songman, by Tim Binding, illustrated by Angel Barrett (US edition 2009, Random House, 340 pp, middle grade).

There was a Book Blogger Appreciation meme last week that asked us to share a book that we read because of a fellow blogger's recommendation. Sylvie and the Songman is a book I read because not one, but two fellow bloggers recommended it--Kate at Book Aunt, and Doret at TheHappyNappyBookseller. So when we went to the bookstore as a treat, and everyone else was getting a book, which meant I had to get one too, this is what I chose.

I can see why Kate and Doret recommended it.

In some books, the magic hits you in the face on page one. On others, it comes creeping in on little cat feet...this book falls in the later category. Nothing magical happens at Sylvie's school, until the day George's kite almost flies off with their teacher, and even that could be explained by physics. There is nothing strange about Sylvie's dad, until we see the instruments that he's built, hidden in the locked shed--strange constructions that search for the notes between the notes, that might yield "the songs of the sea, the songs of the earth, and, the most precious of all, the songs of the animals" (page 16). But even these instruments--the Furroughla, the Shinglechord, the Featherblow--can be believed

And there is nothing too terribly strange about Sylvie's life in general, until her father disappears, and reality is left far behind. The terrible Woodpecker Man begins to hunt her, and two of the passengers she's shared her train ride with every day for years turn horribly wrong:

"The woman with kid gloves had thrown open her canvas bag and was beating out a violent rhythm with her wooden knitting needles on what looked like an egg-shaped drum. Rabbit-teeth was beside her, doing the same with his walking stick, now somehow broken in two. A savage beat seemed to be rising from the carriage floor, turning Sylvie's bones to jelly, her feet to lead. The woman turned towards her, her face alight with fury.

"Drum her fast," she cried. "Don't let her get away!" (page 94)

But Sylvie and her friend George escape from the train, and are taken under the paw of a friendly fox. From him they learn that they must somehow foil the Songman, the mastermind of all the evil pursuing them. It is he who has sent the Woodpecker Man and the Drummers to catch them, he who has taken Sylvie's father prisoner, and he who will stop at nothing to gather all the songs of all the animals to himself, so that his is the only voice heard throughout the world...

I was enthralled. I delighted in the imagination of the author, and even wept a bit.

The author sets up the Woodpecker Man and the two Drummers beautifully--they are scary, and wonderfully unique, and just all around excellent sinister villains.

But.

And this is a huge but, one that spoiled the book for me. About halfway through, once the story gets to the Songman, Binding seems to have decided these three excellent villains weren't necessary anymore and we never learn who they are, or why they are, or what happens to them in the end! Not even in a "I'm not saying because there might be more stories about these sinister villains" way. There's even a bit where it would have made perfect sense to have a barrage of crazed woodpeckers attack, and instead we are given a random encounter with a seemingly unmotivated seagull. The Drummers get to feed some imprisoned animals. And the Songman lacked the mythic dimensions that the other three had in spades, so he didn't make up for it. Sheesh. So disappointing....

So although this was in many ways a lovely book, I can't recommend it wholeheartedly. Sigh. But do go read Kate and Doret's reviews--they liked it lots!

Hannah's Winter, by Kierin Meehan

Hannah's Winter by Kierin Meehan (Kane/Miller, 2009, published in Australia, 2001, 205pp, middle grade).

"...this medicine is so powerful that it can warm cold stone and make dragons happy. Keep it safe, keep it with you. The time of the deep snow is coming and you may find it useful." (page 141)

The time of the deep snow is coming...and I read faster and faster, caught up in a haunted Japan where three children are following a trail of clues that will bring peace to the ghost of a restless boy. Cold winds are blowing, and a malevolent presence is fighting against them. But strengthened by delicious donuts, and guided by wonderful, magical signs and coincidences, they will prevail...

12 year-old Australian Hannah has been left to stay with a Japanese family while her eccentric mother searches for the secret gardens of Japan. When a surprise delivery arrives at the family's stationary shop (the father is a collector of antique paper and ephemera), Hannah and Miki, the daughter of the family, find an ancient message--a riddle that tells how they can help "the ocean boy." Following the clues the riddle gives them, the girls, along with Hiro, a boy with his own sad past, set out to bring the ocean boy (a slightly rascally, donut-throwing ghost) back to his family. From the temple of secrets to the place where the old mountain god waits, they travel through a magical, story-filled Japan, where the deep snows of winter are falling...

"We say western Japan lies in the east's shadow. Perhaps in our winter dark, the screens between past and present thin and weaken, and ghosts slip more easily between the two." (page 39)

This is an utterly wonderful book. If it doesn't make you want to go to Japan, nothing will. It has magic in spades, yet the fantasy elements are set in a funny, matter-of-fact story that even the non-fantasy reader should enjoy.

Here's one of my favorite bits:

"Granny," said Okaasan, "today I don't want to hear one word about souls or ghosts or small samurai boys. Not one more word. It's bad enough that the great suit of armor in the living room has been blowing out yellow smoke for the past hour. I don't mean I don't like the samurai, because I do. But why does his smoke have to smell? I'm not saying it's not a good smell, it's a little like freshly cut timber. I'm just saying that if he must blow smoke around, I'd prefer it was odorless." (p 153).

I love this book. Give it to your older middle school child who loves fantasy, who loves things Japanese, who loves stories of travel. Read it yourself. Appreciate the appendix, which gives a nice historical and cultural background to the story. Go to Japan and find a donut shop.

Note on the cover--this might appeal to kids already drawn to Japan, but it gives No Clue that this is a fantasy book. They should have put a dragon on it. I don't much care for the Australian cover either.

Other reviews: A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, A Fuse #8 Production, and at 3T News and Reviews, a blog where three library turtles share their thoughts...It's interesting to see how people pick up on different things in the same book. For Liz at Tea Cozy and Betsy at Fuse #8, the main strength of the book seems to be its portrayal of Japan. From Liz: "Japan and Hannah's Japanese family are never portrayed as the "exotic other." From Betsy: "Meehan has a dead keen talent for conjuring up the feel of different places, temperatures, colors, and sights. You don't just get a sense of Japan in this book. You live it." Atlas the Turtle, on the other hand, wrote that "The first part of the book begins to feel like a travel guide, trying to cram in as many Japanese words and cultural tidbits as possible."

But none of these reviews mention the haiku-loving dragon.

Silksinger, by Laini Taylor

"Whisper Silksinger knew two kinds of death. There was the peaceful kind, quiet as eyelids fluttering shut, and there was the kind with teeth, sudden as a spurt of blood, a devil pounce, a scream. She had seen both. Of her whole clan only three faeries remained, and now death had come for them too.

And it had come with teeth."

So begins Silksinger, the second book of the Dreamdark series (Penguin Young Readers, 2009, middle-grade, 441 pp), by Laini Taylor, with illustrations by Jim Di Bartolo (released today!). In Blackbringer, the first book, we met Magpie Windwitch, who is now the champion of the Djinn King. Having awakened him, and begun a new age of hope, Magpie now sets off to find the other djinn, the great magical beings who had made the world, but who withdrew from it long ago. Little does Magpie know that one of the djinn she seeks is inside a small kettle, clutched to the heart of a small fairy girl, Whisper Silksinger, who has just seen her grandparents incinerated in a battle with demons.

Whisper is now the last of her clan, the Silksingers, weavers of flying carpets and guardians of the djinn Azazel. Alone, with no shoes, no money, and no friends, she sets out to restore Azazel to his far-off home in the high mountains. It is a hopeless quest, until she meets a young caravan guard, Hirik, whose own secret mission runs parrellel to hers. Together they journey by fairy caravan, borne by dragonflys up into the mountains. But armies of demons pursue them, and dark treachery awaits. Even when Magpie finds them, all her powers as the Djinn's Champion might not be enough to defeat Ethla, the hideous enemy who has set the devils against them. So it's a good thing that there's more to Whisper and Hirik than meets the eye...and a good thing that a small, miserable, abused, and utterly poignant demon slave can be a hero too.

There are many things that make this book special. There are the characters, whose emotions, motivations, and interactions make them truly people to care about. Whisper, in particular, is a wonderful character--so helpless (at least to appearances), but so brave and with so much more to her than is apparent at first. There's the story--a great arc of story--with its desperate journey, its mysteries, and its tender friendships and fierce loyalties. And then there's the worldbuilding. In Silksinger, Laini does not quite recapture the feeling of being inside a truly fairy world that she did in Blackbringer (the trading settlements with their mercenary inhabitants that are the setting for much of the story are certainly colorful places of bustling, exotic, commerce, but didn't clearly convey "fairy" to me). But the magical details that she weaves into the story, that I think are particularly delightful for the visually-oriented reader, make up for this. Little things like this:

"But the real treasure was at Iceshimmer, where the local clan laid out a sparkling array of tiaras and jewelry that looked to be made of diamonds and crystal but were really ice, spelled not to melt. There were skeins of lace knit of real snowflakes too, and magical ice mirrors that disclosed visions to the gazer." (pp 154-155)

And things like this:

"And the skeins of death-polluted silk heard, and responded. Dozens of threads rose and danced, swaying with the tide of her voice, and merged, weaving themselves together to make the edge of a carpet. Color flushed into them as she sang, blues and reds mostly, the colors of bruising and dried blood, deepening at the edges to black." (p 330)

I first read Silksinger for a 48 hour reading challenge, and happily galloped through it. It was a great book for a fast and diverting read. I next read Silksinger over the past few days, peacefully and thoughtfully, and enjoyed it even more with time to savour the details, and to revisit the characters at a more leisurely place. It was a great book for a slow and contemplative read.

I enjoyed Blackbringer very much, and happily cheered Magpie on, confident that she would prevail (and it was a pleasure to meet her and Talon again, and to see their relationship developing). Silksinger, with its underdog characters, and its message that even the small and seemingly helpless can save the world, I enjoyed even more. It is a story complete unto itself, but I'd strongly suggest reading Blackbringer first!

Other reviews (lots of them!)
Book Nut
Bound Treasures
Fantasy Cafe
Finding Wonderland
Green Man Review
Jen Robinson's Book Page
Lessons From the Tortoise
Monsters & Critics
PRES Library
Reader Views
Sonder Books
Stop, Drop & Read
The Baryon Review
Wands and Worlds

(two disclaimers: Laini is a blogging friend, and I got an arc from the publisher)

Quick, go enter to win a signed copy of Blackbringer!

Tomorrow is the release day for Silksinger, the second volume of Dreamdark, by Laini Taylor (my review goes up tomorrow, barring catastrophe). The first, Blackbringer, introduced us to my favorite fairy ever, Magpie Windwitch. Head over to Grow Wings, Laini's blog, to see how you can win your own signed copy of Blackbringer--and enter by the close of today. You can also read the first chapter of Silksinger while you're there...


These are both lovely books. One could describe them as Cecily Mary Baker (Flower Fairies) meets Bosch
if one wanted to, which perhaps most people wouldn't. But Laini combines the delicacy and beauty of the one with the wild imagination and super-full canvases of the other, so it works for me...I think. Anyway, I mean this as a compliment.

Ask Charlotte

Many readers of Charlotte’s Library come here looking for advice, and I often feel that I should answer their questions for them. Some are sad: “How do you say sorry when a friend’s sister dies?” And some are silly. Knowing they probably won’t come back to read the answers, though, has kept me from spending any effort on this.

Until now.

Today I was asked:

“How to hook up with a random girl at school library.”

It seems easy enough—you go up to her when she is reading and say “What are you reading?” Or ask her for advice--"Do you know any good books about x y or z?" That sort of thing. Or sit next to her reading a funny book, and start laughing--maybe she'll ask what's so funny.

But my questioner has a more subtle problem—the need for randomness. How can you truly know if the girl you see in the corner is a random girl?

My suggestion here is to map the library on graph paper ala Dungeons and Dragons, number each square, and start rolling your twelve sided dice…until you get a square that has a girl in it. A girl who comes over to ask what you are doing would, de facto, not be random.

The House on Mayferry Street, for Timeslip Tuesday

I'm cheating a little bit with today's Timeslip Tuesday--it's a book I reviewed way back in 2007. But so few people were reading my blog back then, and I'm so very fond of this book, that I thought I'd re-post what I said then (with edits), so as to convince more people to read it. It's The House on Mayferry Street, by Scottish writer Eileen Dunlop (UK title A Flute in Mayferry Street, American edition 1977, recommended for 10-14 year olds, on up...).

There are some children's books that, if you read them for the first time as an adult, seem dull and insipid, yet you know that if you had read them when you were younger, they might have had magic to them. This is not the case for The House on Mayferry Street. I read it for the first time three years ago, and thought it one of the most magical (in the non-spells and fairies meaning of the word) books I've ever read.

The house on Mayferry Street, in Edinburgh, is the large, old, partly empty family home of the Ramseys, 11 year old Colin, his older sister, Marion, and their mother (as well as two tenants). Soon after their father died, a few years before the story begins, Marion was hit by a motor cycle, and now uses a wheelchair. But she won't go out in it, and sits at home, growing increasingly depressed, and giving up hope of ever walking again, despite what the doctors had (almost) promised her.

An old letter from 1914, found while dusting the family bookshelves, brings the first glimmer of interest to her mind for months. In it, a man named Alan asks Charles, a long forgotten Ramsey, to keep for him an old chest...Soon afterwards, an old picture of a young man in uniform is found in a crack in the floorboards, and Marion feels sure it is Alan.

Marion clings to thoughts of Alan and Charles to keep her unhappiness at bay. Colin is happy to go along with her quest for answers about the two young men, as a distraction from his own desperate unhappiness that he himself cannot have a flute of his own. As they unravel the story, clue by clue over the course of the year, the past and the present begin to merge. The music of a lost flute begins to haunt the house, and at last draws Marion and Colin back in time, for a brief glimpse of the boy who had once filled their house with its music.

And in the end, the two modern children find the lost chest, and gain a gloriously happy ending.

This is much more a family story than a timeslip story, although the supernatural elements are central to the plot. The past never overshadows the beautifully drawn characters of Colin and Marion. They are lovable, but allowed to be imperfect and become furious with each other, and to learn from their mistakes. Edinburgh, Mayferry Street, and the house itself are never "described" in a "here is the description" way, but they become real places in the reader's mind. The mystery (leaving out the slippery-ness of time), is perfectly believable. And there is a smidge of romance at the end, which is a nice treat for those like myself who are suckers for sentiment.

Here's another blog review of it, just to show that I'm not alone!

Libraries all over America seem to have bought this book when it came out, just when I would have been the right age for it. Why didn't I read it then???? I would have loved it so very much. But if you haven't read it, it is not too late--all those libraries have now discarded it (except my own, because I keep checking it out), and so you can pick it up on line for a few bucks. It was reprinted in the UK as a paperback in 2000, so is quite available over there.

Eileen Dunlop also wrote Elizabeth, Elizabeth (UK title Robinsheugh), a time slip story that scared me somewhat when I first read it at the age of 8, but which I appreciate more now, and which I will be reviewing at some point...

New Releases of Fantasy and Science Fiction for Children and Teenagers--the middle of September edition

Just in case anyone doesn't have enough books on their TBR pile, here are the new releases of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teens for the middle of the month (September 14-17th), taken, as ever, from the list at Teens Read Too, and please let me know if there are any I've missed!

There are three really exciting ones (to me at least), which you can try to guess if you want. Or you could, if you wanted to comment, share the ones you find most exciting!

9-12 year olds:

BANG GOES A TROLL: AWFULLY BEASTLY BUSINESS, by Dave Sinden, Matthew Morgan, & Guy Macdonald. "When a messenger bat arrives at the RSPCB, boy-werewolf Ulf receives a warning that beasts are in trouble in the wild. Unaware of the danger he is facing, Ulf soon uncovers foul play: A rare colony of trolls is being smoked out from their caves to be used as game in an evil beast-hunting preserve. It's up to Ulf to save the day!"



BE A GENIE IN SIX EASY STEPS by Linda Chapman & Steve Cole. "When new step-siblings Milly, Michael, Jason, and Jess move to a town in the middle of nowhere, the last thing they expect is to find a magic book. But when they stumble upon The Genie-s Handbook, their lives are changed forever. Each chapter in The Genie Handbook contains one of six stages of training to be mastered, and the kids are thrilled at the prospect of becoming genies. Then they discover Skribble, the crotchety, magical bookworm who lives inside the book. Unfortunately, he-s eaten a lot of the important bits, and seems to have a secret agenda of his own. Both helped and hindered by the bookworm, the four kids attempt to train to be genies-with results both comic and chaotic. Will it take a near-disaster for the family to realize that you have to be very careful what you wish for?"

THE BIG TALL WISH: THE TWILIGHT ZONE by Rod Serling, Adapted by Mark Kneece. "Washed up boxer Bolie Jackson is about to be knocked down and counted out when Henry, a young neighbor with magical powers, makes the biggest, tallest wish he could think of—for Bolie to win the match. But believing in magic doesn’t come easily to some people. Rejecting Henry’s wish could end Bolie’s career and ruin a young boy’s faith in magic. They each have to the count of ten to make their choice . . . in the Twilight Zone."

D.A.N.G.E.R. SPELLS THE HANGMAN!: HARDY BOYS GRAPHIC NOVEL by Scott Lobdell. "Frank and Joe go undercover at a national spelling bee where a mysterious madman known as the Hangman is determined to erase the competition! Teens from across the globe have been invited to attend, and A.T.A.C. and the Hardy Boys have to do everything they can to keep the Hangman from spelling disaster!"

DOOMRAGA'S REVENGE: MERLIN'S DRAGON by T.A. Barron. "Basil becomes Merlin's partner as they battle the mysterious shadows that threaten the new Avalon. A dark magic has been spreading across Avalon. Initially, the events seemed unrelated: a war in Fireroot between the dwarves and the fire dragons, blight in Stoneroot, and disputes throughout the realms. But as Merlin and Basil scour the realms, they begin to realize that looming behind the growing chaos is a single dark threat—an enemy that they’ve never encountered. One that must be stopped before all of Avalon is lost."

JASPER DASH AND THE FLAME-PITS OF DELAWARE by M.T. Anderson. "It is a land of wonders! It is a land of mystery. It is a land that time forgot (or chose specifically not to remember). Cut off from the civilized world for untold years, this land is called: DELAWARE. It is into the mist-shrouded heart of this forbidden, mountainous realm that our plucky and intrepid heroes, Jasper Dash: Boy Technonaut and his friends Lily Gefelty and Katie Mulligan, must journey to unravel a terrible mystery.Come along on a tale of grand adventure that includes in its pages: Lost cities! Tentacles! Monks! Dinosaurs! Gangsters! Cheap suits! Eye doctors! And, of course, the fabled CURSE OF THE JAGUAR!"

LONGITUDE: ZERO DEGREES by Dianne C. Stewart. The second book in the Quimbaya Trilogy, about a boy who travels through time. (sorry, couldn't find a picture)

A PEARL AMONG PRINCES by Coleen Murtagh Paratore. "Gracepearl Coal is the cook’s daughter on Miramore, the island all princes visit for their summer program in the Charming Arts. Each year, the princes-in-training arrive on gallant seacraft, guided by captains trained to navigate the island’s treacherous waters. Passage on one of these boats is the only method to leave the island—thus betrothal to a royal is the only way for Pearl to find her far-off destiny, the one thatÂ’s started haunting her dreams. Luckily, this year’s crop of princes include some promising prospects, but how will Pearl leave behind her ailing father or—hardest of all—marry a boy other than her long-time beloved, Mackree . . . who now finds it too painful to even speak to her?"

SILKSINGER: DREAMDARK by Laini Taylor. "One faerie, the last of her clan, must fight to complete her sacred duty. Whisper Silksinger is the last of the secret guardians of the Azazel, one of the powerful Djinn who dreamed the world into being. Relentlessly pursued by bloodthirsty devils, she flees to the city of Nazneen to restore the Azazel to his temple. At the same time, Hirik Mothmage is also on a secret quest, to find the Azazel and restore his disgraced clan’s ancient honor. And behind them all flies Magpie Windwitch, first champion of the new age of faeries, desperate to rescue Whisper and the Azazel alike before they fall in the clutches of a sinister hidden enemy."

SWORD OF FIRE AND ICE: THE CHRONICLES OF ARTHUR by John Matthews. A graphic novel about the teenaged years of King Arthur.

WILL THE REAL MARTIAN PLEASE STAND UP?: THE TWILIGHT ZONE by Rod Serling, Adapted by Mark Kneece. "On a cold, snowy evening state troopers track footprints from a mysterious crash site to a nearby diner. There, a group of bus passengers waits out the storm, but oddly, there is one more person in the eatery. Who is he, and what are his intentions for planet Earth?"



Young Adult:

BENEATH, by Roland Smith. (I can't find a picture or blurb for this one; sorry).

DEMON CHICK By Marilyn Kaye. "Jessica may not have the warmest relationship with her mother, aspiring presidential candidate Margaret Hunsucker, but it still comes as a shock when she discovers that her mother has sold her to the devil. Will she have to spend eternity in hell with one of Satan’s minions, a demon named Brad? Brad takes pains to explain that they live in one of hell’s better neighborhoods, and he seems like a nice enough guy—but still! And things only get worse when Jessica learns the full extent of her mother’s evil plans. Can she and Brad come up with a plan to save the world?"

FOREST BORN by Shannon Hale. "Rin is sure that something is wrong with her…something really bad. Something that is keeping her from feeling at home in the Forest homestead where she’s lived all her life. Something that is keeping her from trusting herself with anyone at all. When her brother Razo returns from the city for a visit, she accompanies him to the palace, hoping that she can find peace away from home. But war has come to Bayern again, and Rin is compelled to join the queen and her closest allies—magical girls Rin thinks of as the Fire Sisters—as they venture into the Forest toward Kel, the land where someone seems to want them all dead."

GIVE UP THE GHOST by Megan Crewe. "Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school. But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees. As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad—and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance…."

TIME OF THE WITCHES by Anna Myers. Possibly not fantasy. "An orphan named Drucilla has finally has a place to call home with the Putnam family in Salem. Although her adopted mother is strange—haunted by a troubled past—Dru feels drawn to her as the mother she never had. When a new reverend and his family move into town with their servant Tituba, life takes a strange turn as young girls begin to fall ill and accusations of witchcraft begin to swirl. Reluctant to turn her back on the Putnams or her peers and overwhelmed by the power of groupthink among the other girls in town, Dru becomes one of the accusers herself. But when her best friend Gabe is accused, she must find a way to end the hysteria, or risk losing him forever."

ONCE A WITCH by Carolyn MacCullough. "Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search—and the stranger—will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all."

THE OTHER SIDE: A TEEN'S GUIDE TO GHOST HUNTING AND THE PARANORMAL by Marley Gibson, Patrick Burns, & Dave Schrader. "It used to be you needed a crystal, a psychic, or a Oijia board to make contact with the spirit world. So who would think science would make it possible for just about anyone to experience a ghostly connection? Cameras, recorders, computers, magnetic field readers and other scientific means are now the tools of the trade. But there’s so much available, how does the average teen weed through it all to create the best possible ghost hunting team? Here to help sort it all out are three of today’s leading investigators of the field."

THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT AND OTHER TALES FROM THE CIRQUE DU FREAK by Darren Shan. "Darren Shan is just an ordinary schoolboy who loves to ride bikes and hang out with his three best friends. Then one day Darren and his friends stumble across an invitation to visit the Cirque Du Freak, a strange and mysterious freak show. Almost as if by destiny, Darren wins a ticket and what follows is his horrifying descent into the dark and bloody world of vampires."

THE SILVER BLADE by Sally Gardner. Sequel to The Red Necklace. "The year is 1794. With his beloved Sido safely in England and the Reign of Terror at its height, mysterious Yann returns to revolutionary France to smuggle out aristocratic refugees who will otherwise face the guillotine. But while the two are apart, Yann’s Gypsy origins prejudice Sido’s guardian against their marriage, thwarting their longed-for reunion. When Sido is kidnapped under strange circumstances, however, Yann must use all his strength and courage to outwit the evil Count Kalliovski, rescue Sido, and help save all of France."

In which I have the pleasure of chatting with Sandra from Musings of a Book Addict

Today is Interview Swap Day for Book Blogger Appreciation Week! I threw my name in the hat, and was paired with Sandra who blogs at Musings of a Book Addict. Sandra is my favorite kind of teacher--a teacher of reading. And excitingly, this post of Sandra's, a vent on the fate of reading, has just been mentioned in an article in the Examiner.

Here's a bit more about her and her blog!

1. What made you decide to start a book blog?

I began my blog as a writing site where I put up a question and my students answered. I teach reading and I teach ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages ) Unfortunately only my ESOL students were replying. So I started to review books and then I would place them in the chalk tray hoping my students would read them.

2. Has your blog's focus changed since you began? From my browsing through your blog, it seems you write about teaching reading and about books, both children's books and Christian adult books--is the balance shifting one way or another?

When I first started I was only reviewing Middle Grades/Young Adult Books for my students. At the end of the school year I entered my first challenge "Mother Reader's 48 hour Reading Challenge". It started the last day for teachers so I made sure my students could follow me. I agreed to read 10 books minimum for the challenge and then agreed to read 60 or more books from June 5th through August 17th. I hit both goals. It was through this I started getting books to review and branched out into reading adult books as well. I have always loved Christian fiction but didn't know too many authors or series beyond the Left Behind series. I have just become a very eclectic reader. Occasionally I "vent" about the path that reading in schools is taking and it isn't always flattering to the schools system.

3. The book blogosphere seems to be getting bigger every month, and it's hard to keep track of it all! I have my own little part of it, a group called the kidlitosphere (here's its website), but I try to branch out a bit beyond that. I'm curious about the blog world you write and read in. Were there any blogs in particular that inspired you to begin? That you turn to for book reviews? Other teachers blogs you love? Have you heard of the "kidlitosphere," because if you haven't, you might enjoy meeting some of the bloggers who are under that umbrella--there are, for instance lots of teachers. And have you heard of the Cybils Awards?

I actually started getting book ideas from Jen Robinson's Book Page. She introduced me to The Reading Tub, RIF and a few others. Up until that point I purchased books based on Scholastic book clubs, browsing Amazon.com or my local books store. I think I get better books because I read other blogs. I am slightly familiar with Kidlitosphere because of Jen Robinson. I read the book at her recommendation "The Book Whisperer" and things started turning from there. I have heard of the Cybils Awards but don't really know what this is all about. I would like to learn more.

The Cybils are awards given by the children's book blogging community in a variety of categories. The winners are picked based on both the quality of the writing and their appeal to kids--it looks to spotlight those books that will be passed most briskly from hand to hand. This criteria makes the Cybils shortlists a great resource for anyone looking for books for reluctant readers!

And here's the link to Kidlitosphere Central.

4. Do your colleagues at school read your blog? How do they feel about it?

I have two teachers who read my blog. Most of the reading teachers do not. As a matter of fact they think I am kind of strange for the number of books I read. I have several who have read it for a strange reason. I wrote a book and thought I had a publisher for it and my best friend blabbed it at a meeting. The deal fell through but this made several of the teachers check out what I was doing. I am still writing and still putting my manuscript out there.

I've read about that on other blogs--teachers of reading who don't read. I find that strange and sad...

And good luck with the writing!

5.How do you go about finding books for your students?

I go through about 20 different blogs reading reviews to find new books for my students. Until blogging I had never heard of an ARC. I also belong to Goodreads and LibraryThing now and find a lot of good books mentioned there.

6. Do you read children's books for fun yourself?

I have always read children's books for fun. I used to tell everyone it was because I had to keep up to date with books for my students. The real reason was because I just enjoyed it. I got my first adult book in 2 years for my birthday in a genre I seldom read and found I really enjoyed adult books as well as children's books.

7. Have you ever had a chance to meet blogging friends in person?

I have only met one and I worked with her last year. She had already had a blog when I started mine. I didn't know it until I invited her to view mine. I hope to get to some of the events I am finding out about where bloggers get together. Right now it is not real possible as my mother lives with us due to health reasons and travel is very limited. But I look forward to it.

Perhaps someday we'll meet in person then! Thanks so much, Sandra, for being my interview buddy, and thanks to all the organizers of BBAW for giving us participants a chance to make new blogging friends!

(and anyone who wants to know the real reason why I blog is welcome to head over to Sandra's place, where I Tell All...)

Book Blogger Appreciation Week, Day 1--the blogs that mean a lot to me

Book Blogger Appreciation Week is here! It's a chance to celebrate what we do, and those who do it with us.

For BBAW Day One, we're asked: "What book blogs mean something to you? Who are your most trusted sources for recommendations, your greatest help, the blogger you turn to for a laugh or to vent? Whose writing do you admire or who introduced you to a whole new genre you didn’t know about?"

There are many, many, blogs I enjoy very much (and if you are in the sidebar, or in my google reader, you are one of them), but here are four that are special to me for various reasons.

You know how there are some bloggers whose taste in books marches hand in hand with ones own? I realized this past year that if Aquafortis, who blogs at Finding Wonderland, loves a book, I will too. To Aquafortis: Thanks especially for Seeing Red.

I had a blast being on the Cybils last year with Laini Taylor, who blogs at Grow Wings, and I have become an avid follower of her blog--in a fan girl way I love her books, and I think it's so cool to be friends with an author, and in a real life way I love the pictures she gives of her incredibly colorful (literally) life. Lord knows I don't want to make banners of felt birds, or paint walls Tangerine, but it's very nice to know that someone is! Also, her taste in books is very similar to my own.

Another author I've "met" through blogging is Tanita Davis, one of the most faithful commentors here (thanks Tanita!). I remember the first year or so I was blogging, seeing her commenting at many blogs I followed, and wondering if she would ever like my blog too. (I was, and still am, a rather shy blogger--I have to forcibly remind myself that my comments are just as valid as anyone else's, so my first year especially I barely said a word on other blogs). So it was a pleasure when she began to visit me regularly, and I have truly enjoyed reading (and bravely commenting) on her blog in return. Tanita is one of only two bloggers that I have ever emailed with to continue conversations that started on line...(not counting my Cybils colleagues).*

The second being Jen Robinson. I bet Jen's name comes up a lot today, and with good reason--her generosity and enthusiasm make the kidlitosphere a better place. (Well actually, I edit this to add, I bet her name doesn't come up that much, because we are supposed to be recognizing people that didn't make the BBAW awards shortlists, which Jen did. Oh well.)

*Although maybe I should say three, because Jenny Davidson and I once had an email conversation about buying a communal theremin. And if there are other conversations that have vanished into the mists of my mind, that I'm not mentioning, I'm very sorry.

Cutter's Island: Ceasar in Captivity

In Suetonius' Life of Julius Ceasar, there is the following passage, describing an event that occurred when Ceasar was in his twenties: "While crossing to Rhodes, after the winter season had already begun, he was taken by pirates near the island of Pharmacussa and remained in their custody for nearly forty days in a state of intense vexation, attended only by a single physician and two body-servants; 2 for he had sent off his travelling companions and the rest of his attendants at the outset, to raise money for his ransom. Once he was set on shore on payment of fifty talents, he did not delay then and there to launch a fleet and pursue the departing pirates, and the moment they were in his power to inflict on them the punishment which he had often threatened when joking with them."

In Cutter's Island: Ceasar in Captivity, Vincent Panella took this passage and ran with it. Interspersing his account of Ceasar's time on the island with flashbacks to his life as a young man negotiating the political turmoil of Rome, he brings the future general face to face with those outside the laws, and with himself. This is Ceasar before he knows that he will be Ceasar, untried, on the outs with those who rule the empire that will one day be his. In his conversations with Cutter, his daily fear for his safety, and his enforced period of reflection about himself and his future, Ceasar moves toward his destiny as conqueror and ruler.

"We're not pirates, Lord. We constitute the Navy of King Mithridates, whose lands you've taken by force."

"The butcher king has ceded Asia."

"Forget all that, and think of this: there are two parts to any law, what is written, and what can be enforced. Stick to your medicines, young man, and to your books and papers. You'll live longer." (page 49)

Ceasar, of course, does not take this advice, and the reverberations of his time with the pirates contribute to making him an enforcer par excellence.

I thought, when I accepted this book for review, that this might well be a good crossover from historical fiction to fantasy, what with the plot concerning an isolated hero faced with a band of pirates, the hints of divine destiny and the rich background of fate, and gods, and detailed, alien world. All this is here, and might indeed appeal to the reader of fantasy who enjoys books that focus on the personal and introspective. That being said, there is also a generous amount of the blood that comes with piracy, civil war, gladiators, and the punishments decreed by the laws of Rome. There are also rather explicit descriptions of the relationship between Ceasar and his mistress (which I personally found a bit gratuitous, and which held me back a bit from wanting to understand his character).

This is a book that requires the reader to do a certain amount of thoughtful application to figure out the import of the characters' words. It was not quite my cup of tea, primarily because I was never quite convinced that I should care about young Julius, and partly because I am just not naturally that sort of reader (sigh). For the reader willing to make that investment, however, or the reader who has a taste for historically accurate fiction about the Romans, it might well prove a rewarding experience.

(Review copy received from the publisher, Academy Chicago. Cutter's Island was first published in 2000, and has just been released in paperback)

Five things (with links) of great interest, including not only fantasy books but deadly biscuits

Subject One: I am going to the Third Annual Kidlitosphere Conference; it will be my first one. I want as many other people to go as possible so that I get to meet them! The deadline to get your hotel room at the great group rate is September 16th. Even if you might not consider yourself an official member of the Kidlitosphere per se, please remember that the "kidlitosphere" is not a fixed and finite thing--it's not an exclusive club! It's (in my mind) just a catchall to cover anyone who likes talking about children's and YA books. It would be great to see some of this year's new YA bloggers, and some of the fantasy reviewing folks who love YA books, as well as the usual suspects....*

Subject Two: Speaking of fantasy--at Tor a few days ago was a great post by Mary Pearson (author of The Adoration of Jenna Fox), about What YA Lit is and isn't. My favorite bit: "I think sometimes there is still this basal reader mentality when it comes to teen books, like it is a stepping stone to the “grown-up stuff.” Basal Reader Year 10. Hm, no. It is simply its own unique type of literature that explores the teen experience." (Thanks to Liz for this).

This prejudice seems especially naturalized among readers of "grown up" speculative fiction. Here's an old post (May 2008) on the subject by John Scalzi that still seems relevant (and I was fascinated that in the week this post was written, "the top 50 YA SF/F bestsellers outsold the top 100 adult SF/F bestsellers (adult SF and F are separate lists) by two to one."

Interestingly, Scalzi also writes about what happens when an established writer of adult sci fi goes YA--his own book, Zoe's Tale (shortlisted for the Best Novel Hugo)--"The frustrating part is that one very large chunk of the book’s intended audience — teenagers and in particular teenage girls — have little if any awareness of the book." Oh gosh, Mr. Scalzi, I am guilty. Zoe's Tale is one I have been meaning to read for 11 months, and I have a copy, but I guess I have been reluctant to read it because I know it's part of a larger story (The Old Man's War) that I haven't read... I will try to get to it this weekend.

And in case by any chance you missed this third old post of Scalzi's, here's Really the Only Thing That Has to Be Said About the YA Thing.

Subject Three: two excellent lists

Stella Matuntina has a lovely list of LGBT characters in speculative fiction; check out the comments for more. (My suggestion was Door into Fire et seq., by Diane Duane. Hard to find these days, but rather gripping. Best fire elemental ever, but then, I haven't read Fire yet).

In her post, Where's Ramona Quimby, Black and Pretty? Elizabeth Bluemle of Shelftalker invited readers to suggest great books with kids of color, and put the resulting, fantastic, list together on Librarything.com. Here's her World Full of Color post, describing this. (thanks to Eva, where I saw this first).

Subject Four: bringing everything together beautifully, here's the call for papers for the 31st Annual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts

Theme: Race and the Fantastic

Division of Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Guest of Honor: Nalo Hopkinson
Guest of Honor: Laurence Yep
Guest Scholar: Takayuki Tatsumi
Special Guest Emeritis: Brian Aldiss

The 2010 ICFA welcomes paper proposals on all areas of the fantastic
(including high fantasy, allegory, science fiction, horror, folk tales and
other traditional literatures, magical realism, the supernatural, and the
gothic) in all media (novels, short stories, drama, television, comic books,
film, and others).

The division of children’s and young adult literature is especially
interested in paper proposals throughout the field, including picture books,
easy readers, novels, short stories, film, comic books, and other forms. We
embrace a wide variety of scholarly approaches and interests, including
genre, historical, theoretical, and textual, models. We encourage work from
institutionally-affiliated
scholars, independent scholars, international scholars who work in languages
other than English, graduate students, and undergraduate students.

The conference will run March 17-21, 2010, in Orlando, Florida.

Subject Five: "half of Britons injured by their biscuits on coffee break, survey reveals." Read more to find out which common biscuit is the most deadly (thanks to Jenny Davidson for the link, and, while I'm at it, for all the other incredibly diverting links she posts).

*Does anyone know why Blogger changes the line spacing like this? There's nothing obvious in the html. I hate it when Blogger decides to do things of its own volition, pretending it was my layout choice...

The Riddle-Master Trilogy, by Patricia McKillip

The Riddle Master of Hed (1976), Heir of Sea and Fire (1977), and Harpist in the Wind (1979), by Patricia McKillip .

Over at Angieville, you can find Retro Friday. I'm taking part today, writing about a trilogy of books that I have loved for 29 years...ever since Cathy Webster brought the first of the series to school one day in ninth grade. I was siting on her left, reading over her shoulder, this page:

"The wizard's thin mouth twisted. "I can give you nothing. Har should have known better than to send you for me. He has two good eyes; he should have seen."

"I don't understand." [Morgan] was beginning to feel cold. "You gave Har riddles; I need answers to them. Why did you leave Lungold? Why have you hidden even from Har?"

"Why would anyone hide from the tooth of his own heart?" The lean hands shook him a little. "Can you not see? Not even you? I am trapped. I am dead, speaking to you." (The Riddle Master of Hed, page 166).

And so on, for five glorious minutes until assembly began...

I didn't know who Har was, where Lungold was, or what questions Morgan had. But I knew I wanted to find out. And even though I have no idea whatever happened to Cathy Webster, I still have the (very battered) copies of three books of this trilogy that my mother bought me the next weekend.

The books tell of Morgan, Prince of Hed, who leaves his peaceful island to find answers to the riddles that surround him. Why is his forehead marked with three stars? What is it about them that has drawn him into a world where unanswered riddles have turned deadly? Travelling through strange and enchanted lands, he meets Riddle Masters who guard what has survived of the realm's history, Land Rulers who feel the pulse of their lands in their minds and hearts, and ghosts of a lost magic thought to have vanished long ago. Now that lost magic seems to be coming back to life, and the struggle will tear the realms apart. Unless Morgan can answer the riddles of his destiny...

Learning to play a harp with three stars, learning to shapeshift, and to throw his mind across the world, he runs one step ahead of those who want him dead. And journeying also, to find him, is Raederle, a beautiful young woman he had been friends with when his world made sense. Now she too is facing truths that will change her forever...

"She touched a flame then, let it lay in her hand like a flower. "Look," she said breathlessly, and closed her hand over it, extinguishing it, before the wonder in her broke the binding between them, separating them, and it hurt her. The night fell around her again, as the tine flame died. She saw Deth's face, motionless, unreadable, his lips parted.

"Another riddle," he whispered." (Heir of Sea and Fire, p 124)

The Riddle Master of Hed tells of Morgan's first journey, looking for answers. Heir of Sea and Fire is Raederle's story. Harpist in the Wind brings the two together, moving ever closer to the heart of the mystery and to the day when the riddles will all be answered, and the fate of their world determined.

Of all MacKillip's books, I think these are the most re-readable, in the sense of telling coherent, more or less linear stories, that one keeps coming back to because one loves the characters. The beautiful prose that I love in her writing is here, the deep sense of mystery and wonder in her imaginary lands is ever present, and every re-reading I find something new in her worldbuilding to delight me. But mostly I re-read these because Morgan and Raederle remain two of my best fantasy friends from when I was young...

Shark and Lobster's Amazing Undersea Adventure

I would like to thank Jennifer, of the Jean Little Library, for bringing to my attention Shark and Lobster's Amazing Undersea Adventure, by Viviane Schwarz, illustrated by Joel Stewart (2006). It arrived via interlibrary loan last week, and we were ever so pleased to find it is just the sort of beautifully wacky and wonderful fantasy picture book that fascinates the reading grown-up and enthralls the listening child.

Out in the middle of a sea, a shark says to his friend, "Lobster, I'm Scared!" Lobster has a hard time believing this, but when he hears what Shark has to say about TIGERS, he's scared too...so they decide to build a fortress. Three rocks, and a bored lobster later, a very small cuttlefish comes to investigate, and wants to help. So she brings her friends and relations, who bring their piano, and the fortress building moves on apace.

But will rock walls keep out TIGERS? Is more needed? Yes! They need a scarier monster, to scare the tigers away. So down into the abyss they all dive, and they find a monster to scare all monsters, and they haul it back up, and...

Gosh, I love this book! The expressions on the faces, the absurdity of the plot, the wonderful, fantastical over-the-topness.

So thanks, Jennifer! You made our reading week. And for more fun, check out the review at Bookie Woogie.

Prospero Lost

Prospero Lost is the debut novel of L. Jagi Lamplighter (Tor, 2009, 347pp, adult, but YA-ish, in a good way), and if you think that just about anything that can be done with fairy spirit-type beings has been done, this book will change your mind.

Miranda is the eldest of Prospero's brood of magical children. Centuries have passed since the events Shakespeare described in The Tempest, and Miranda has spent them doing her father's bidding, most recently holding together the family company of Prospero, Inc. The company's mission is to give the human world a chance to thrive unharmed by the conflicts and machinations of the spirits and demons, who, when unhappy, produce problematic things like tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

But things are going wrong. Her siblings have scattered, taking with them the magic that used to be used for the good of the Company. Now her father, Prospero, has vanished, leaving a disturbing note:

"I have unwittingly unleashed powers best kept bound. If I fail to constrain
them, they will destroy me an all I have wrought. If you have not seen me since
the writing of this message, assume the worst and warn the family. Counsel my
children to keep close the gifts I have bestowed. Beware the Three Shadowed
Ones!" (page 13, the first page of the book).

So Miranda, ever the dutiful daughter, sets off to find her siblings, following a demon-haunted trail of confused clues and tangled histories. Accompanying her is Mab, a wind spirit who has taken the corporeal form of a noir detective-type. He is bound to her by Prospero's gift to her of the ability to control the winds, and he is, incidentally, one of my favorite fictional spirits ever--smart and funny, keeping a notebook in true detective style, and bitter about being enslaved. Nothing is simple as they try to track down the scattered siblings, because, after all, the Three Shadowed Ones are trying to stop them...

It's a wonderfully complicated, busy, and engaging plot. There are great minor characters, fascinating spirits, demons, and elves, and gripping family history. On the down side, there's also a bit of repetition--we get told the same thoughts the characters are thinking a few too many times, and Miranda is too much The Good Daughter, and is too emotionally stunted and self-centered to be a truly likable, fully-developed character (although a sinister reason for this is suggested). But Mab, and the one sibling that joins them on their journey-- Miranda's insane, homeless, lute-playing, Chimera-hugging little brother--add brightness, as does the intelligent wit of Lamplighter's writing in general.

Here's something in particular I got a kick out off, that I hope illustrates this. Mab, a spirit, calls on humans when doing magical workings:

"To the south, where the penny sat, he said, "The earth of man is an orderly
earth. To enforce this order, I call upon the spirit of Newton.

To the west, where the sun sets, he said over the apple twig, "The fire of man is an
all-consuming fire. To enforce this, I call upon the spirit of Oppenheimer."
(page 99)

And among urban fantasy elements like demons in warehouses, there is an encounter with Santa Claus that made me shiver with its numinous power (I mean it).

For those who like mysteries mixed with their fantasy, tons of detail (magical, historical, familial), and a generous dollop of humor, this is an excellent book. All ends are left loose, and I am very much looking forward to book 2--Prospero In Hell.

I generally don't review adult books, but this one seems like a good YA crossover. Even though Miranda is centuries old, she is still in many respects a teenager, with a lot of growing up to do...and there's the romantic interest question, which floats tantalizingly around the story in proper YA fantasy form (although having written that, I am now wondering if it is more common in YA fantasy for the love interest to be obvious, ala Katsa and Po, Edward and Bella, etc., which is too big a topic to be a coda to a review, so I shall stop).

Here's another review, at Graeme's Fantasy Bookworld, and here's the review that made me read the book, at Fantasy Book Critic.

Graeme has three copies to give away...enter by the 13th of September.