Three fun picture books in verse

Just for fun, and a change of pace, here are three rhyming picture books in honor of Poetry Friday (a weekly roundup of poetry related posts, hosted today by Wild Rose Reader). All three passed my fairly critical test for rhyming stories--reading them aloud, I didn't feel the need to change any of the words in order to make things scan better!

Cool Dog, School Dog, by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by Tim Bowers (Marshall Cavendish, 2009). "Tinka is a fun dog, a sun dog, a run-and-run-and-run dog." But when her boy goes off to school, leaving her behind, there is much sadness. There only one thing to do--head off for school herself! Now "Tinka is a cool dog, a school dog, a breaking-all-the-rules dog." Crash down the halls she runs, breaking into her boy's classroom. But even though she's going to have to go home soon, the kids have a great time reading to her, and want her to come back again! The verse gives energy and verve to the charming story--it's a lot of fun!

The Busy Tree, by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Lisa Falkenstern (Marshall Cavendish, 2009) is more peaceful. It is a gently instructive story, told by an old oak tree--"I'm a tree, a busy tree...come and see." And, indeed, in the world of the tree all manner of things are happening. For instance, "Here is my trunk, where busy ants scurry, searching for food as they march in a hurry." And another example--"Hear my green leaves as they shake in the wind, breathing out air for all to breathe in." The verse gives impetus and interest to the descriptions of the world of the tree. Highly recommended for the nature loving, squirrel-fond child (like my six-year old, who does not want me to pass this one on to the library).

And finally, Swamp Song, by Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Ponder Goembel (Marshall Cavendish, 2009). This is a swingingly fun, toe-tapping extravaganza of swamp critters letting loose.


Ibis stands
at the cattail hedge.
flappin' her wings
at the water's edge.

With a flip, flap, flippity-flap
FLIP, FLAP, FLAP.

Within the verses are nestled instructional nuggets, telling of life in the swamp:

Black Bear claws
at a cypress tree,
markin' his space
for all to see.

With a scritch, scratch, scritchity-scratch.
SCRITCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH.

And the dressed-up animals (so perhaps this does count as fantasy?) all join together at the end for a burst of swampy song. Fun, and educational to boot!

(disclosure: all three books were received as review copies from Marshall Cavendish)

A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner

A week ago tomorrow, an advance reader's copy of A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner (Harper Collins, 2009, YA, 312pp) entered my life. In keeping with the season, I was very thankful.

Here's how my reading went: "Sophos!" (huggles Sophos) "Magus!" (hugs Magus) "Eugenides!" (too shy to hug Gen) "Attolia!" (too shy to even call her by her real name, let alone hug her) etc etc.

Needless to say, I love the characters Turner created in her Queen's Thief series (The Thief, Queen of Attolia, and King of Attolia), and reading the fourth book about them was a pleasure, although not unmixed with anxiety about them.

In large part the anxiety comes from problems facing the three contiguous countries involved--Attolia, Eddis, and Sounis. Somehow these traditionally waring realms must join together to face the threat of the Medes, a nation more powerful than any of them separately, that has fixed its greedy eyes on them. In the meantime, the Queen of Eddis has been warned by the gods that a volcanic eruption will destroy her city.

And young Sophos, heir to the kingdom of Sounis, is in rather dire straits, and it is unclear just what will happen to his country (and to him).

And that's all I'm saying about the plot, because I don't want to spoil it.

I will say, though, that Turner has produced another masterfully intricate book, one that demands re-reading and discussing and careful analysis of just about every word. Her incredibly intelligent writing challenges the reader to exercise her* own intelligence, and that's a lovely thing. I need to re-read it a few more times so as to get it all fixed in my head!

I do want to share one non-spoilery quote from the Magus with you all, because it is something that he might have posted to Sounis, the livejournal fan community for these books. It is just the sort of detail we delight in noticing (generally in retrospect):

"That lying little monster complained about everything: the food, the horses, the blankets, the company. He even found fault with the stories I told by the fire, but I cannot recall that he ever once complained about the climbing." (page 117)

To which the next character replies: "So many things are obvious in retrospect, aren't they?"

*It strikes me that every passionate MWT fan I know is of the female persuasion. My own dear husband, currently reading the book, admires them a lot too, but can't be called passionate. He had forgotten who Sophos was (shock horror).

Important announcement:

I feel that it would be too greedy to keep my ARC when I know so many other people want it. I'll be buying the hardcover of course when it comes out in March (word on the street is that there will be a map!). So, please visit the next post down so as to find out how to enter to win my ARC.

(disclaimer: ARC received from the publisher, for which I say "Thank you so much!" And now I guess I will have to keep blogging another three or four years, so that Harper Collins will consider me worthy of an ARC of book 5....or, alternately, I could become a Harper Collins author ha ha)

Win an ARC of a Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner!

This contest is now closed--the winner is Free Narnian! (please contact me so I can send it off to you!)

I am giving away my ARC of A Conspiracy of Kings. To enter, please leave a recommendation for a book that us fans of Megan Whalen Turner would enjoy, and at the end, I'll compile them (unless I won't, because of their being too many), and we'll have a nicely tidy list of things to read while we wait for March, and to fill the empty years while we wait for Book Five...

I will leave this contest open until next Monday, December 7th (which should give my husband time to finish reading it, and me to read it again). The contest will close at the end of day, 11:59 pm.

And I will ship internationally.

Here's the list of books that resulted!

My seasonal header art: charmingly festive, or simply grotesque?

Does the alien snail look too weird with his little santa hat? I'm not sure I actually put it on his head, but with alien snails, it's hard to tell. (The snail, by the way, is really a genuine piece of super-nova, and not my own creation!)

A Gift Suggestion--pair the Graveyard Book with EAU DE GHOUL

Mother Reader just posted a lovely list of 105 Ways to Give a Book, matching books with sundry other gifts that go beautifully with them.

Now from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs come the perfect sundry items to give with a Neil Gaiman book. They have created a line of perfumes inspired by his stories.

With The Graveyard Book, perhaps you'd like to give GHÛLHEIM, inspired by this passage:

Ghouls do not build. They are parasites and scavengers, eaters of carrion. The
city they call Ghûlheim is something they found, long ago, but did not make. No
one they call knows (if anyone human ever knew) what kind of creatures it was
that made those buildings, who honeycombed the rock with tunnels and towers, but
it is certain that no-one but the ghoul-folk could have wanted to stay there, or
even to approach that place.

Even from the path below Ghûlheim, even from miles away, Bod could see that all of the angles were wrong -- that the walls sloped crazily, that it was every nightmare he had ever endured made into a place, like a huge mouth of jutting teeth. It was a city that had been built just to be abandoned, in which all the fears and madnesses and revulsions of the creatures who built it were made into stone. The ghoul folk had found it and delighted in it and called it home."

A dark and disjointed scent: smoke and black musk, bladderwrack, opopponax, galangal, and pepper.

New releases of fantasy and science fiction for children and teens--the beginning of December edition

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science books for children and teenagers from the beginning of December. A short list, but not without interest. As usual, my source is Teens Read Too, with help from Amazon. And, if you were, by any chance, to shop through the Amazon links, you'd be benefiting the Cybils!

9 to 12 Year Olds

The Midnight Masquerade with Princess Emma and Princess Jasmine (The Tiara Club), by Vivian French. "Princess Emma and Princess Jasmine are visiting the Tiara Club Academy to determine if they would like to become members. Together with the other princesses, they early await the Midnight Masquerade, a huge party complete with masks and ice skating! But will someone try to spoil the fun, and who will win the chance to be taken to the ball in style on a dog-driven sleigh?"


Raiders' Ransom, by Emily Diamand. "It's the 22nd century and, because of climate change, much of England is underwater. Poor Lilly is out fishing with her trusty sea-cat when greedy raiders pillage the town--and kidnap the prime minister's daughter. Her village blamed, Lilly decides to find the girl. Off she sails, in secret. And with a ransom: a mysterious talking jewel. "If I save his daughter," Lilly reasons, "the prime minister's sure to reward me." Little does Lilly know that it will take more than grit to outwit the tricky, treacherous piratical tribes!"


Young Adult

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl. "Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything."

Blood Ninja by Nick Lake. "Is Taro, a fisherman's son, destined for greatness? In the course of a day, Taro's entire life changes: His father is murdered before his eyes, and Taro is taken by a mysterious ninja on a perilous journey toward safety. Someone wants Taro dead, but who -- and why? With his best friend, Hiro, and their ninja guide Shusaku, Taro gets caught in the crossfire of a bitter conflict between rival lords for control of imperial Japan. As Taro trains to become a ninja himself, he's less and less sure that he wants to be one. But when his real identity is revealed, it becomes impossible for Taro to turn his back on his fate."

What I Wore to Save the World, by Maryrose Wood. "Senior year's coming up fast and Morgan still has no clue about college, or a career-the whole rest of-her-life thing is basically a blank. Maybe it's because she spent her junior year obsessing about Colin, the hot Irish guy she fell for last summer (that was right around the same time she discovered she's a half- goddess from the days of Irish lore... you had to be there). She even saved Colin from a nasty enchantment, but he doesn't know that. Colin doesn't believe in magic, not even a little. But then a mysterious message reunites her with Colin, who turns out to be caught up in the biggest faery-made disaster ever. We're talking the end of reality-not just reality TV. To save the world, she's going to have to tell Colin the truth about her half-goddess mojo. But if he doesn't believe in magic, how will he ever believe in her?"

The Green Bronze Mirror, by Lynne Ellison, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Green Bronze Mirror, by Lynne Ellison (CnPosner Books, 2009, younger YA, 117pp), was first published when the author was just 14, back in 1966. It has recently been republished in a new paperback edition, with new illustrations by Philip Smiley, and I was offered a review copy. Time travel back to Roman Britain and Rome itself--how could I say no?

What follows is a mixed review. But since I so almost liked this a lot (and I am certain I would have liked it more when I was 12, perhaps even loved it), and I think that others (in particular 12 year-old girls who love Rosemary Sutcliff) may enjoy it more than me, I decided to go ahead with it.

I was captivated by the story's beginning. Fifteen-year old Karen is on a sea-side holiday with her family, but spurning the dubious attractions of tourist shops, she makes her way alone along the beach, reveling in her solitude, pretending a little to herself.

Here's a bit I particularly liked, that I'm putting in because it made Karen come quite real to me:

"She went slowly down to the sea again, and finding a piece of wood brought in by the tide, she drew a horse in the firm wet sand; a good horse, because she'd been drawing them a long time, galloping along the ground with its legs in an interesting position. The position was correct, though; she had studied photographs and knew just how a horse's legs behaved when it galloped" (pp 6-7).

And when Karen finds a green bronze mirror, and looks into its polished surface, and travels back in time to Roman Britain, I was prepared to lose myself in the story.

Indeed, it was a tremendously interesting read, for the most part. Karen, now a slave, is taken to Rome to be sold, where she finds herself a nanny to two somewhat spoiled Roman children. She is appalled by the (graphically described) spectacle of the Roman games, joins a community of secret Christians, and falls in love with a handsome young man who is a slave like herself. But this is Nero's Rome, and it's not a safe place for anyone when it starts to burn. Particularly not safe for Christians....

There are parts of the story that sing, parts that enthrall and excite. Time travel-wise, it's good stuff--an excellent picture of Rome and the Romans seen through modern eyes.

But it's very much a fourteen year old's book. Things happen with a suddenness that is disconcerting--there's no skilled writerly build up to Karen's romance or her meeting with the Christians, and by the time she's ready to head back to England and find the mirror again, with the help of a magical druid a Roman witch has told her to find, I was no longer sure I cared that much.

The introverted, imaginative girl I had fallen for had become lost in a sea of events.

Karen accepts her lot as a slave with a disconcerting matter-of-factness. Surely it would be an introvert's nightmare to be in her position, but it doesn't seem to bother her. There are jarring awkwardness in the writing--as when suddenly, although we are told Karen was not particularly religious in the present, she is proclaiming things like "One day the whole world will be converted to our way of thinking" (p 68). Um. Not so, actually, and this spoiled, for me, the lovely bits about her experience with the small community of the faithful. Her relationship with her young man is also unevenly written. One moment they're in each others arms, and then, when she tells him she wants to go back to the present, his response "It's a pity, though" (p 94) lacks a certain emotional umph. This sort of choppiness spoils what could have been a swoon-worthy relationship. I could go on in this vein...

Then there is the copy editing, or, more accurately, the lack thereof. We all are guilty of typos (some of us more than others), but this book really exceeds the excusable with its misplaced and missing bits of punctuation, odd formatting, and whole words left out (although an errata note for the worst page is provided). The text, incidentally, is very small, which I thought would bother me, but didn't.

So I am disappointed--I wanted to like this book so much, and it could have been so very good, if, in the republishing, some of it had been tweaked a little by the author. Incidentally, Lynne Ellison never went on to write another book. This is a pity--I would love to read more by her, especially now that she's no longer fourteen!

At Historical Fiction, there's a guest post by Ellison and a giveaway of the book.

(disclosure: as mentioned above, I received a review copy of this book from its publisher).

The Year's Best Fantasy and Science Fiction for kids and teenagers, according to School Library Journal

School Library Journal has posted its Best Books 2009. Here are the fantasy and science fiction books they picked, to wit:

The Lost Conspiracy, by Frances Hardinge
The Secret of Zoom, by Lynne Joneel
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

Fire, by Kristin Cashore
The Carbon Diaries 2015, by Saci Lloyd
Creature of the Night, by Kate Thompson
Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield

There aren't any criteria given for what constitutes "bestness" but I'm sure that they are all fine books. Although I have only read three of them, and so don't know for sure.

And that annoys me a bit, because lord knows I have done nothing in the past year but read fantasy and science fiction for children and teenagers, and now I feel somehow that I should have read more more more....

On a happier note, I am rather pleased that The Secret of Zoom is getting some attention--I just finished it and enjoyed it (review to come), and I know from personal experience that this hasn't made it into many libraries yet and it really should. Although I think its title works against it.

All of these books, incidentally, have been nominated for the Cybils....the shortlists for which will appear at the beginning of January (I have 27 more books to read).

A phone box becomes a library

Just because, here's a rather nice story from the Guardian. The folk of Westbury-sub-Mendip faced a double loss. First, their local library closed. Second, their iconic red telephone box was threatened. The solution was beautifully simple--make the phone box into a free, honor-system, library!

Isn't it typical, though, that the children's books end up in a box on the floor....

Pick Me Up, a book of non-fiction goodness from DK

Kids these days have it so easy. When I was I child, I had to read the encyclopedia to learn non-fictiony interesting things, and the problem with that is that encyclopedias also have non-fictiony boring things, but everything is all mixed up so one losses interest sooner rather than later (which is why I know more about things that begin with A than, say, T).

But anyway. Kids these days get really cool books like Pick Me Up: Stuff You Need to Know (DK 2009, 333 pp, middle grade on up). The sort of book that is full of things anyone with the least bit of curiosity wants to learn about. Take sleep, for instance--a two page spread with little paragraphical fact-filled nuggets about reasons we sleep, sleepwalking, dreaming, working the night shift...told in the signature DK style of snappy writing with tid bits of humor. You read the two pages, and voila, you know more about sleep. Or dinosaurs. Or money. Or photo-retouching. Or feminism.

I would have loved it (she says, peevishly). And I bet that if, like me, you leave this book lying around your house, your nine year old will, in fact, pick it up.

The non-fiction Monday round-up is at The Book Nosher today!

(disclaimer--I received a review copy of this book from the publisher)

The Doofuzz Dudes and the Blood Tree, by Roslyn J. Motter

A year and a half ago, an Australian writer, Roslyn Motter, asked if I might be interested in reading a series of children's fantasy books that she'd written. And so the first four volumes of the Doofuzz Dudes arrived at our house, and my son loved them. Here's what I wrote about them back then.

Last month we received the most recent instalment in the series, The Doofuzz Dudes and the Blood Tree (2009, White Hawk Publishing, ages 7-9is, 121 pp). My son was thrilled...

In this adventure, the four dudes, two brothers and their friends, are once more called back to the magical kingdom of Moondor to face another emergency caused by a greedy creature who's determined to hold all of Moondor in his capitalist grasp. This time he wants to chop down the mysterious Moon Tree, a tree that serves as a portal to the past.

And this time, there's a girl joining forces with the Dudes...Will Hillary throw off the balance of the boys' teamwork, or will she (with the help of her ferret) be the one who knows how to solve the problem? And where will the Moon Tree take the Dudes (and Dudette) the journey they must make back in time?

It's lightly written fantasy, with infinitely much more kid appeal than adult appeal. Adults, for instance, might not find Motter's trick of distinguishing her characters from each other through reiterated expressions appealing, and, more generally, there's not a whole of emotional depth.

But for kids who are reading the book for over-the-top adventure, where wild things happen just for the fun of it, might well (like my son) enjoy the story lots. And it is hard for me to think too critically of a book that holds my son's attention from start to finish, keeping him lost in the world of happy reading...

(disclaimer: review copy for me, and signed copy for my son, received from the author)

New Releases of Science Fiction and Fantasy for Children and Teenagers--the end of November edition

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science fiction for children and teens from the end of this November. It's a rather short list, and December is not exactly full of books either...the beginning of January, on the other hand, will be a nice long one! My list comes from Teens Read Too; the blurbs are courtesy of Amazon.

THE FOURTH APPRENTICE: WARRIORS, OMEN OF THE STARS by Erin Hunter "Four warrior Clans have shared the land around the lake as equals for many moons. But a prophecy foretells that three ThunderClan cats will hold the power of the stars in their paws. Jayfeather and Lionblaze know that they are two of the cats in the prophecy. Now the brothers must wait for a sign from StarClan to discover the identity of the third cat. Meanwhile, Dovekit and Ivykit—kin of the great leader Firestar—are poised to become ThunderClan apprentices. Soon one sister will have an ominous dream—and will begin to realize that she possesses mystical skills unmatched by any other cat. In the midst of a cruel season that threatens the lives of all four warrior Clans, bonds will be forged, promises made, and three young cats will start to unravel the secrets that bind them together."

MINERVA'S VOYAGE by Lynne Kositsky. "Robin Starveling, aka Noah Vaile, is scooped off the streets of seventeenth-century Bristol, England, and dragged onboard a ship bound for Virginia by the murderous William Thatcher, who needs a servant with no past and no future to aid him in a nefarious plot to steal gold. Starveling fits the bill perfectly since he lives nowhere and has no parents. Aboard the ship, Starveling makes friends with a young cabin boy, Peter Fence. Together they suffer through a frightening hurricane and are shipwrecked on the mysterious Isle of Devils. They solve the ciphers embedded in emblems found in Thatcher's sea chest, which has washed up with the wreck. The two boys make their way through gloomy forests and tortuous labyrinths to a cave on the shore that houses a wizard-like old man. Beset by danger and villainy on every side, they finally discover the old man's identity and unearth a treasure that is much rarer and finer than gold."

THE SILVER ANKLET by Mahtab Narsimhan. Sequel to The Third Eye. "What if the only way to get rid of your worst enemy was to sacrifice your brother? When hyenas snatch Tara's brother, Suraj, and two other children from the local fair in Morni, Tara and her newfound companions decide to rescue them on their own. Tara soon discovers that Zarku, her nemesis with the third eye, is back and intent on revenge. A deadly game of hide and seek ensues, and Tara and her companions must work together to survive. But it is soon clear that Zarku is only after Tara; the others are dispensable. Should Tara risk the lives of her friends? Or can she once again defeat Zarku and save her brother, armed only with belief in herself and a silver anklet?"

Young Adult

HOW TO DATE A VAMPIRE by Sophie Collins "For any girl looking for a boy who's more Cullen than caveman, this book is your helping hand to a happy ending. A vampire boy is smart, he's sexy, and he's waiting to discover someone a little bit different; so use this little lifesaver to show him what's so special about you and set his pulse (if he had one) racing. Of course, if like Bella or Buffy, the man of your dreams is more than just a high school crush, you won't find help in the problem pages. Luckily for you, this book is packed full of quizzes, charts and failsafe advice, from finding out if the guy giving you sleepless nights is a real vamp or a fanged faker, to great date ideas that don't involve Type-O milkshakes. With space to write about your own close encounters, plus style advice and beauty tips that are sure to slay him on sight, this is the only guide you'll ever need to spotting a vampire and knocking him (un)dead."

A PRINCE AMONG KILLERS: OATHBREAKER by S.R. Vaught & J.B. Redmond. "The second half of the Oathbreaker story opens at the assassins’ stronghold, Triune, as Aron and his sworn comrades try to find peace in a world on the brink of war. Dari and Stormbreaker grow closer as they search for Dari’s missing twin; Nic and his captors find it harder to conceal their secrets; and Aron must decide whether the bond he keeps to his family will prove stronger than the oaths he has sworn to his closest friends."

THE SEVEN RAYS by Jessica Bendinger. "You are more than you think you are. That is the anonymous message that Beth Michaels receives right before she starts seeing things. Not just a slept-through my-alarm-clock, late-for-homeroom, haven't had-my-caffeine-fix kind of seeing things. It all starts with some dots, annoying pink dots that pop up on and over her mom and her best friend's face. But then things get out of control and Beth is seeing people's pasts, their fears, their secrets, their desires. The images are coming at Beth in hi-def streaming video and she can't stop it. Everyone thinks she's crazy and she's pretty sure she agrees with them. But crazy doesn't explain the gold envelopes that have started arriving, containing seeing keys and mysterious tarot cards. To Beth, it all seems too weird to be true. You are more than you think you are? But here's the thing: What if she is?"

This Sunday's Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction Roundup

Here are this week's reviews of middle grade (9-12 year olds) fantasy and science fiction books from around the blogosphere (click on the book title for the review).

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass, at Fantasy Book Critic.

The Blue Shoe: A Tale of Thievery, Villainy, Sorcery, and Shoes, by Roderick Townley, at Enchanting YA Reviews.

The Castle Corona, by Sharon Creech, at Owl in the Library.

City of Fire, by Laurence Yep, at the Jean Little Library.

G-Man: Learning to Fly, a story told in comics form, at Oz and Ends.

The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker, at Eva's Book Addiction.


Imagia and the Magic Pearls, by Monroe Tarver, at Dad of Divas.

Lost Worlds, by John Howe, at Shelf Elf.

The Mysterious Benedict Society, at One Librarian's Book Reviews.


Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments, by Emily Ection, at Charlotte's Library.

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, at Tor.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, at Tor.


The Revenge of the Itty-Bitty Brothers, by Lin Oliver, at Charlotte's Library.

Sent, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at Charlotte's Library.

The Shifter (the Healing Wars, Book 1), by Janice Hardy, at Charlotte's Library.

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, at Fantasy Literature...Frankly.

At Boys Rule Boys Read, you can find Norse Gods, King Arthur, and Kick-Butt Superheros!

Here's an interview with David Lubar (author of Cybils nominee Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie) at Cynsations.

And finally, here are the thoughts on middle grade fantasy from Brian, aka MrChompChomp, fellow mg sff Cybils panelist.

Did I miss anyone? Please let me know in the comments! And if you review or write about middle grade science fiction and fantasy during the week, feel free to drop me an email--charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com.

And come back in a week for more mg sff fun!

The Shifter (The Healing Wars Book 1), by Janice Hardy

The Shifter, by Janice Hardy (Balzer and Bray, HarperCollins, 2009, upper middle grade and beyond, 370 pp) is one of those books that just goes to show that fascinating ideas are still out there, waiting to be written about. That is to say that, I, at least, have never before encountered the magical idea at the center of this book.

In Nya's world, a place of conflict and conquest, Healers can shift pain, sickness, and injuries into a magical type of metal called pynvium. But there is a dark side to this seemingly benign process. Nya's city was conquered by a foreign people when she and her sister were young, in a war that killed her parents, and more war seems close at hand. And in this world pain can be used as weapon. Literally.

Nya's twelve-year old sister was accepted by the Healing Guild, and is safely housed in their headquarters. Fifteen-year old Nya, on the other hand, lives a hand to mouth life on the streets, scrounging for odd jobs, kicked at by the foreigners who are now in charge. Because although Nya can heal too, taking other people's injuries into herself, she can't transfer the pain into pynvium. But she can, however, push it into other people.

Now unscrupulous practitioners of pain and intrigue want to use Nya and her seemingly twisted gift. And dark and unpleasant things are happening back at the Healer's Guild, where the apprentices are falling "sick." Nya and her friends must figure out what's going on, and put a stop to it. In so doing she must find out how to use her gift for good, and, while saving her sister, maybe set in motion a way to save her city...

It's an exciting story, one that raises interesting ethical questions while entertaining the reader with interesting characters and situations. It starts a tad confusingly, but that feeling soon fades as the plot kicks into high gear. Nya is a stubborn and conflicted narrator, in pretty desperate circumstances, and it is a pleasure to cheer her on.

This book is marketed as a middle grade (9-12 year olds)--there are hints of possible future relationships, but no real "young adult" issues. There are some pretty heavy descriptions of injuries and pain, but nothing horribly disturbing, and I think it's fine for confident, older readers in this age group. It felt to me more like a young adult novel, though--Nya is older than most middle grade protagonists, and is engaged in a fairly complicated struggle--complicated ethically, politically, and in terms of day to day survival. And although romantic relationships are only hinted at as possible on the horizon in this book, it seems quite possible that the next book in the series will be moving YA-ward in that regard. At least, I hope it will...the young man in question is rather sweet, although maybe too good to be true.

The UK title of The Shifter is The Pain Merchants, and here's its cover over there. I like the UK title, but the US cover!

Finally, and somewhat tangentially, one thing that added to the book's appeal in my mind is that it is about two sisters. Being a sister myself, I am fond of books in which that relationship is a key motivating factor for the characters , as it is in The Hunger Games, Charlotte Sometimes, and, um, doubtless many other books...so if you have any other recommendations of fantasy books in which the relationship between a little sister and a big sister is important, let me know!

Here's an interview with Janice Hardy at The Enchanted Inkpot.

The Shifter is a Cybils nominee in the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy category, for which I am a panelist.

Of interest primarily to hard-core Megan Whalen Turner fans

Over at Sounis (the lj MWT community), there has been some discussion over the cover of Megan Whalen Turner's new book, A Conspiracy of Kings--does the character on the cover, who is presumably Sophos, have a moustache?

Today I held in my trembling hands an ARC of COK. I am not able to read it right now (alright, I read some of it. Only a few pages...)

But I did scan the cover and zoom in on the area in question. I think it's just the dark shadow cast by Sophos' still boyishly rounded but becoming more manly by the day cheeks.

Two randomly grabbed co-workers agree it's a shadow. But it's hard to be sure...anyone know the artist?

Two Whacky Middle Grade Fantasies--The Revenge of the Itty-Bitty Brothers and Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments

There's a sub-genre of middle-grade fantasy that embraces the over-the-top and runs with it. These are the sort of books where silliness rules, where characters are caught in situations that break all the rules, books that set out to entertain their intended audience and keep them turning the pages. They are the sort of book that you might give to the child who loved the Captain Underpants books back when they were learning to read, and who might still be re-reading them.

Here are two examples, from my recent Cybils reading--both of these have been nominated in the middle grade science fiction and fantasy category.

Revenge of the Itty-Bitty Brothers, by Lin Oliver, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin (Simon and Schuster, 2009, 159pp) is the third book of the Who Shrunk Daniel Funk? series. But it's not necessary to have read the first two to enjoy this one. A (moderately gross) encounter with a taco leads Daniel Funk to a breakthrough--through the explosive expulsion of digestive gasses he can control when he shrinks! This is great news for his tiny twin brother, Pablo, who lives a semi-secret life among the detritus of Daniel's room. Now the two can be tiny together, sharing the joys of marshmallow trampolining, soap surfing in the bathtub, and, as the grand finale, shooting into space in model rockets over the La Brea tar pits...

It's straight-forward, light-hearted fun, told in crisp, clear sentences. There are hints that future books in the series might explore some of the intriguing questions that aren't answered here--what happened to the Funk family dad, who disappeared while off on a scientific expedition? Will Pablo always be small? Will his mother and sisters ever get to meet him??? I'd love to know more about these aspects of the story, and less about what it is like to wallow in an ice-cream sundae...but the intended readers who aren't me (fourth and fifth grade boys, I'd say) might well disagree!

Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments, by Emily Ecton (Aladdin--Simon and Schuster, 2009, 229 pages), is a notch up age-wise (seventh grade-ish, I think), and not so much a Boy book--it's narrated by a girl, and there is less burping. That being said, there is a sheep-shaped pepper shaker who has come to life and who is having major digestive issues:

"Eunice patted me on the hand with her little hoof. "We'll be quiet. But if you get a chance?" She did a little hip swivel. There was no sound at all from her insides. "I'm very clumpy," she whispered.

I nodded. "I'll see what I can do." Nothing like adding "find a good sheep innard substitute" to your list of things to do." (p 139)

And the pepper shaker is not the only inanimate thing to come to life. When Arlie and her friend Ty find a mysterious dragonfly pendant, and playfully drape it over the necks of various lawn ornaments and sundry knick knacks, stuffed animals, and Mr. Boots' favorite toy (Mr. Boots being a neurotic Chihuahua), little do they know the mayhem they are about to unleash...

It is non-stop insanity--no quite moments of tranquil beauty and intricate character development here (although I like the "just friends for now" relationship between Ty and Arlie very much)! But Ecton has a way with words that makes the reading fun for all ages, even if it is all, perhaps, just a bit too crazy for my own taste.

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for supporting the Cybils by sending us panelists review copies!

Sent, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, for Timeslip Tuesday

Sent, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster, 2009, middle grade, 308pp), is the second book of The Missing. It's not entirely necessary to have read Found, the first book of the series, before reading Sent, but it will spoil Found considerably if you read this one first....so consider this whole review a spoiler for Found.

Jonah, Katherine, Chip and Alex were ordinary 21st century kids. It's true that three of them were orphans, found as babies on a mysterious airplane that appeared out of no where, but other than that, life was normal. But then they learn that all those babies were rescued from certain death back in various pasts, and that the time has come for them to be sent home again to meet their destinies and fix the wrinkles that have formed in time. If, like Chip and Alex, you are the Princes in the Tower, supposedly killed by your wicked uncle Richard III, the smooth course of history might be the last thing on your mind.

When Chip and Alex are sent back to 15th century, Jonah and Katherine travel with them, much to the dismay of JB and the other mysterious time guardians of the future, who are working to Fix things. Chip and Alex gradually take on their medieval identities, caught up in a perilous contest over the crown of England. But Jonah and Katherine are determined to bring them safely back to the present, even if it means donning medieval armor and joining in the Battle of Bosworth Field...

It's a fast, fun read. Haddix is an excellent story-teller, and keeps things swinging along.

Despite the engrossing action, however, there's not a whole lot of emotional wallop to the story. Partly this is because the mechanisms of plot are given more prominence than the subtleties of characterization and emotional response--although the kids have distinct personalities, they are painted with a rather wide brush.

In larger part this lack of emotional punch is due to the fact that these kids have it very easy, time-travel wise. They are in touch with JB for most of their time in the past, and can be pulled out at any moment, and, even in the final battle, there is no immediate sense that they will come to any harm. And they are never modern children forced to act convincingly in the past. Chip and Alex have ready made identities to slip into, and Jonah and Katherine are handily made invisible by a futuristic gizmo that translates for them. Even when they have to leave their translator in the present, after a brief break from the middle ages, they get an injection of linguistic elixir that solves the language problem...

But although this isn't the most powerful story I've ever read, it is a lovely history lesson packaged in adventure, one that (for the most part) steers clear of obvious didacticism. In this aspect of the book I give Haddix high marks. Her Richard III is not a monster, and the princes in the tower are clearly caught in a complex situation for which there is no easy answer. I loved the way she brought Shakespeare's version into the picture, raising the issue of literary propaganda!

In short, this is a good, kid-friendly read that's also a great introduction to the trickiness of the historian's craft. I'll be looking forward to the next books in the series...

Sent has been nominated for the Cybils in middle grade science fiction/fantasy, and its publisher, Simon and Schuster, very generously provided us panelists with review copies--thanks.

This week's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy reviews

Here's the second installment of my weekly roundup of middle-grade (ages 9-12) science fiction and fantasy reviews of books old and new from around the book blogs. Here's what I've found so far, but please leave me a comment if I've missed yours, and I will add it to the list! (and feel free to spread the word about this too).

At One Librarian's Book Reviews, you can find Found (ha ha), by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

Kate at Book Aunt looks at Spellbinder, by Helen Stringer (2009).

Fuse #8 reviews Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin (2009)

At A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, Liz has The Witch's Guide to Cooking With Children, by Kevin McGowan, a modern re-telling of Hansel and Gretel (2009).

Jennifer, at the Jean Little Library, talks about Violet Wings, by Victoria Hanley (2009). And at Children Come First, Olgy has another Victoria Hanley book, that's at the top end of my definition of middle grade-- The Light of the Oracle.

At Fantasy Book Review (UK) there's Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth, by Chris Priestley (2009).


The Curse of the Spider King, by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper (2009), is currently on a huge blog tour of Christian Science Fiction/Fantasy blogs--here's one of its first stops, at The Christian Fantasy Review, and there a long list of the other participating blogs.

At Emeraldfire's Bookmark there's a look at The Taker and the Keeper, by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin (2009), a Cybils nominee that I reviewed a few weeks back here. And it's also reviewed by Anastasia here at BirdBrain(ed) Book Blog.

Eva at Eva's Book Addiction is currently the middle-grade science fiction and fantasy book reviewing champion. Here she has Silksinger, by Laini Taylor (2009), here she has Ottoline Goes to School, by Chris Riddell (2009), and here she has The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan (2009), all Cybils nominees.

Critique de Mr. Chomp Chomp takes a look at When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (2009), another Cybils nominee.

I myself only reviewed one book this week (here), being rather busy with other things. It was Lost Worlds, by John Howe (2009), a lovely non-fiction book.

This past week saw the Winter Blog Blast Tour of author interviews organized by Colleen at Chasing Ray, where you can find the full schedule. Here are the interviews with mg sff authors:

Derek Landy, of Skulduggery Pleasant fame, at Finding Wonderland.
Frances Hardinge (The Lost Conspiracy and more) at Fuse #8
Patrick Carman (Skeleton Creek) at Miss Erin
Laini Taylor (the Dreamdark Books) at Shelf Elf
Jim De Bartolo (illustrator of the above) at Seven Impossible Things
R.L. LaFevers (the Theodosia books, and also Nathaniel Fludd, Beasteologist) at HipWriterMama
and, because The Thief is middle grade, even if the next two books more YA-ward, there's Megan Whalen Turner at HipWriterMama.

(did I miss anyone?????)

Notes from the world of the library book sale

Our sale is still ongoing....my sale, really, even though I have some helpers. I have moved 6,000 books at least 3 times each.

Library book sales are frustrating things. The preview night is horribly stressful, for small sales like ours--we need the dealers to come, since they are the biggest spenders, but they can be very hard to deal with, making nasty remarks about the quality of the books offered, leaving messy piles for us to put away, and generally being demanding. They weren't bad this time around, but, on the other hand, they weren't buying many books. Sigh.

And the local newspaper put in wrong information about the days the sale was open, just saying Monday, instead of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so business is way down. A couple of people have said to me that they think the newspaper did it on purpose, because (they say) the paper supports the other, bigger, library, which is located in the more affluent part of town, and, they say, that library wants our library to close so they can have the totality of the town library budget (which might well be true). I really, really, don't want to think that the newspaper would be so mean, but I am pretty sad.

On a lighter note, a copy of Twilight showed up in the donations for the First Time! Harry Potters showed up within months of their releases, so I guess the people of my town love Bella more, in that they are so unwilling to part with her...

And I did already get to spend $350 of the dollars buying legos for the library's new lego club, which was fun.

But still. I am thinking of making my oldest dress in a book costume and dance at the intersection tomorrow, to bring in more traffic. If only I had a book costume on hand...Ninja, yes, but that is not Useful...

Passing the buck to Laini Taylor over at Shelf Elf

Because I have a library booksale to run, starting tonight, and because it is mostly all being done by me, I am passing the buck (or book ha ha) to an interview with Laini Taylor over at Shelf Elf, which makes much better reading than anything I am capable of right now! And then I pass the buck some more, to an interview with Laini's husband, artist Jim Di Bartolo, at Seven Impossible Things, where there is much wondrous art of a fantastical sort to admire.

And even though Laini's book, Lips Touch, didn't win the National Book Award for Young People's Literature (the winner was Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Phillip Hoose , it is still incredibly cool that it made the short list!

And, speaking of awards, The Graveyard Book won another one--the prestigious UK Booktrust Teenage Prize, and you can read Gaiman's thoughts on all his winning-ness, and some loosing-ness, here at the Guardian. I think that the Cybils (hooray for us!) was the first major award he won, so that at least should have had its first fine freshness...