The Thirteenth Princess, by Diane Zahler

The Thirteenth Princess, by Diane Zahler (Harper Collins 2010, middle grade, 256 pp)

What if, instead of only twelve princesses, there was a thirteenth sister born to a king who desperately wanted a son? What if her mother, adored by the king, died giving birth to her?

In Zahler's revisiting of the familiar tale of the Twelve Dancing Princess, Zeta is that child, pushed from the royal family into life below stairs with the servants. Brought up by the cook, Zeta watches her royal sisters from afar...until she finds out that she is a princess too, and a clandestine affection grows between the 13 of them.

But then the twelve princesses fall mysteriously ill, until they are too weak to leave their beds. They never leave their room, and yet their slippers are worn to shreds each morning. Zeta is the only sister unaffected, and it's up to her, with the help of a stable boy, a soldier, and a friendly witch, to foil the dark magic that is draining her sisters' lives away...

This is a lively retelling of the familiar story that sticks closely to the original while making it very middle-grade girl friendly. Zeta is an engaging young scullery maid/princess, and her strange situation makes for fun reading. The enchantment doesn't kick in until about half-way through the story, giving the reader time to get to know her before she must follow her sisters on the path to their midnight revels. (Separating Zeta from her sisters also lets the author avoid, to some extent, the problem of having so many girls to characterize--we mostly see the princesses from a distance).

I enjoyed Zahler's story telling--she has brought an old chestnut of a story to fresh and vigorous life. Her take on it is mysterious enough to be interesting, without being so dark as to disturb younger readers. I'd strongly recommend this one to young readers who loved Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine, The Runaway Princess, by Kate Coombs, or Fortune's Folly, by Deva Fagan -- all fairy-talish stories of resourceful girls beating the odds (both magic-wise and society-wise) against them.

For the older reader (ie, me), there's some disbelief to suspend. At the specific level, I wondered, for instance, how Zeta, let alone her stable boy friend, learned to read and write. At a more general level, the relationship between Zeta and her father the king was on the one hand complex and interesting, and, on the other, not entirely convincing.

That aside, this is a book that I think will be loved by fourth and fifth grade girls (who are, after all, the target audience)--there's mystery, magic, a bit of romance, and quite a few beautiful dresses...

Here are some other reviews (all glowing) at Rebecca's Book Blog, Bloody Bad, and A Sea of Pages.

(disclosure: I received an ARC from the publisher)

In a Heartbeat, by Loretta Ellsworth

In a Heartbeat, by Loretta Ellsworth (2010, Bloomsbury, YA, 208 pp)

One heartbeat is all it takes for sixteen-year old Eagan to make a mistake while performing a difficult jump in an ice skating competition. A mistake that ends her life.

Each painful heartbeat might be the last for fourteen-year old Amanda, waiting for someone to die and give her the gift of a new chance at life.

Amanda receives Eagan's heart. But Eagan is not gone. She lingers in limbo, reflecting on her life--her intense focus on skating, her difficult relationship with her mother, and the growing love she had for her first boyfriend. And Amanda finds that she has changed--more than just her new found strength, she feels that the heart inside her has given her part of another personality. She dreams of figure skating, snaps at her own mother, and becomes convinced that she must find out more about the girl whose heart now beats inside of her.

The story alternates between the viewpoints of the two girls, one living, one dead. Eagan's story is the more detailed of the two, told in a series of lengthy, detailed flashbacks (it's almost enough to be its own YA book). In contrast, Amanda's past is essentially left out of the story--we meet her just as she is heading to the hospital. This works rather nicely, because it is Eagan's past that is going into creating the new Amanda. Eagan is older than Amanda, in attitude as well as age, and so, in several senses, Amanda's coming of age is a legacy from Eagan.

The intersection of their two lives makes for a fascinating book--how much of Eagan is in fact still alive in Amanda, and how will this change Amanda's life? Yet the fantasy element, although very essential to the story, doesn't overshadow their individual situations; it drives the plot, but doesn't distract from the familiar YA themes of growing up, separating from parents, and deciding who you want to be that are at the center of the book. Which means that this is one that will probably appeal more to readers of YA who like fantasy on the side than it will to readers of Fantasy who like YA, if you know what I mean. I am almost tempted not to label this fantasy at all, in fact (and the cover is totally YA), but feel I can't not, in as much as it is....kind of.

This is a rather young YA--even though I think Eagan gets more page time, it is the younger girl, Amanda, whose point of view dominates. And the romance aspect of the plot is Suitable for Younger Readers.

You can read an interview with Ellsworth here at Elizabeth Dulemba's blog, where you can also see the trailer for the book, and find the links to the other bloggers taking part in her book tour.

(note: ARC received from the publisher)

A more anthropologically minded post than I usually write, inspired by Diana Wynne Jones' new book

Diana Wynne Jones' new book, Enchanted Glass, arrived yesterday. From the jacket: "When Andre Hope's magician grandfather dies, he leaves his house and field-of-care to his grandson..."

I haven't read more than a few chapters, and I'll be writing a real review later. But I just wanted to share how tickled I was to find that Jones and I have both been thinking about the same thing. My own work as an archaeologist is very much concerned with the concept of "fields-of-care," as discussed in the brilliant, and very readable, Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, by Yi-Fu Tuan (1977).

“A house is a relatively simple building. It is a place, however, for many reasons. It provides shelter; its hierarchy of spaces answers social needs; it is a field of care, a repository of memories and dreams" (Tuan: 1977: 164).

It's harder to pin down the memories and dreams held by an archaeological site than it is to dig up the post holes that show where the houses stood. But if you want to tell a story that matters, I think you have to try.

Here's another favorite quote of mine from Tuan that should appeal to writers and readers of fantasy: “Countries have their factual and their mythical geographies. It is not always easy to tell them apart, nor even to say which is more important, because the way people act depends on their comprehension of reality, and that comprehension, since it can never be complete, is necessarily imbued with myths.” (Tuan 1977: 98).

And now I am toying with the idea of the book blogosphere as a field of care, where the lived experiences (aka the blog posts) of the inhabitants change and shape the geographies of the book reading worlds in which they live. An example of such a post is Colleen's recent column on diversity at Book Slut.

The Navel of the World, by P.J. Hoover, for Time Slip Tuesday

When I started my Time Slip Tuesday series, the books I had in mind were fantasy time travel stories, the sort where there is no real explanation of how and the time travel actually works. But my choice today-- The Navel of the World, by P.J. Hoover (Children's Brains are Yummy Books, 2009, upper middle grade, 284 pages)--is a science-fiction story, in which the mechanisms of time travel and its concomitant paradoxes are rather more central than is the case with books of the fantasy sub-genre.

In The Navel of the World, Book 2 of The Forgotten Worlds (book 1 being The Emerald Tablet), a tightly-knit group of friends returns to the summer school where they had met the year before--a summer school where they had learned that they belonged to a race of telegens, whose civilization was almost a million year old. And the kids had learned that this civilization was locked in a struggle with the false gods (telegens gone bad) who were kept imprisoned in Atlantis.

That summer, Benjamin had discovered that he was implicated in an ancient prophecy. He was one of triplets, and he had to find his lost brothers, or risk the escape of the Atlantians, would-masters of humanity. So now, with the help of devices that augment the innate skills of telegens, Benjamin and his friends are off travelling from time to time to find his brothers...before too much time passes. And in the meantime there are classes to go to, typical middle-school feelings of rivalry and hormonal type stuff to deal with, and some really bad cafeteria food.

Book-wise: Having got the backstory out of the way in The Emerald Tablet, Hoover is free to give her characters more room. They come alive in this book, and the exploration of their various mental powers is more integrated into the actual story line than was the case in Book 1. And the jostlings of middle-school life that Benjamin and his friends endure are a refreshing counterpart to the extraordinary side of things, which includes a fascinating melange of places real and imagined, although the story is weighted toward the Greek mythology end of things (adding to its cross-over appeal with the Percy Jackson books).*

Time Travel-wise: Hoover uses time travel to further a plot that remains firmly fixed in the present, as opposed to it being the end in and of itself. So there is no richly immersive experience of the past here--more a five minutes at the Trojan War, meet Achilles briefly, and off they go again sort of time travelling. So I would recommend this to kids who are looking for the science fantasy adventure side of things, rather than to readers who enjoy loosing themselves in the strange differences of the past.

*although I do think that Percy Jackson fans might enjoy this series, I'd like to point out, just so as to avoid possible disappointment, that these books are, so far, devoid of bloodthirsty monsters that require heroic slaying. The adventures here are much more cerebral, involving mental, rather than physical, prowess.

Other reviews: Lori Calabrese Writes, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and The Book Muncher.

Note: I received copies of both The Emerald Tablet and The Navel of the World from the publisher to read for the Cybils Awards--thanks, Children's Brains are Yummy Books!

New releases of science fiction and fantasy for teenagers and kids, the beginning of February, 2010 edition

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science fiction books for kids and teenagers for the beginning of February. My information comes from Teens Read Too, and the blurbs are lifted from Amazon.

The Teens Read Too list includes the links from Amazon, so I have been using those to make life simpler for myself. But because Amazon is still not playing nice with Macmillan, I have gone through all the books to link any Macmillan titles to Powells instead.

ATTACK OF THE NINJA FROGS: DRAGONBREATH by Ursula Vernon. "Danny Dragonbreath knew girls were trouble. But the new foreign exchange student, Suki the Salamander, is beyond trouble. Not only has she reduced his best friend, Wendell, to a blithering, lovesick tadpole, but she’s apparently the object of an elaborate ninja frog kidnapping plot. Danny is never one to pass up an adventure (especially one involving ninja frogs), and so he and Wendell and Suki set out on a dangerous quest through the mythical Japanese bamboo forests to find out what these fearsome frogs want. Danny may not be able to breathe fire like a normal dragon, but he and Wendell have watched lots of kung fu movies and can totally take on a bunch of ninja frogs. Or, um, so he hopes..."

BETTER THAN OK: THE OK TEAM by Nick Place. "Focus and his team are Level D, Third Grade Heroeswho are finding their feet. But the bad guys have a new secret weapon—the Serum That Overly Magnifies Powers. And Focus has agreed to a Knighthood Pact without checking the fine print. Can the OK Team overcome the effect of S.T.O.M.P and survive the Knighthood Pact? Or has Hazy lost his focus for good?"

BONE HANDBOOK by Jeff Smith. "This is the ultimate handbook for every BONE fan! Includes character profiles, a timeline of events, interviews with creator Jeff Smith and colorist Steve Hamaker, a showcase of cover art from the original BONE editions, a behind-the-scenes look at how the Scholastic editions were colorized, and other fun stuff!"

DARKSOLSTICE: LYONESSE by Sam Llewellyn. "Not long ago twelve year old Idris Limpet was just an ordinary schoolboy. That was until he was taken from his home and taught to tame monsters from another world. Then he pulled a sword out of a stone. Now, he is Idris House Draco, Rightful King of the Land of Lyonesse. Rightful kings have their problems, however, and Idris has his fair share. He is an exile - hunted from his country by the evil regent Fisheagle and her wicked son Murther. Moreover, Idris's dear friend and sister Morgan has been carried off as a slave to the distant land of Aegypt.And before he can return to fight for his throne and his people, Idris must make the treacherous journey to rescue Morgan. . . . But Idris is never on his own, for as he travels, he meets a company of friends. Friends who shall become Idris's faithful Knights of the Round Table, who will raise armies and return with Idris and Morgan to challenge Fisheagle's monstrous armies and reclaim his Kingdom of Lyonesse unless it is already too late."

EXPLORER X - ALPHA by LM Preston. "For most kids, a trip to space camp is the trip of a lifetime for Aadi it was life altering. After receiving a camp immunization needed for travel to Mars, Aadi finds that the immunization is the catalyst of an insidious experiment. He realizes what is happening too late for a change of fate. The full experiment is set in motion when he and his co-pilot, Eirena, crash in a distant galaxy called Shrenas, where they change and realize the full extent of their power. This turn of events forces him to grow up quickly, accept his change, and to decide to save a world, or to do what he was trained to do dominate it. His power is coveted by the warring leaders of Shrenas, and he is forced to choose sides a decision that may prove just how much humanity he has left."

FREEFALL: TUNNELS by Brian Williams & Roderick Gordon. "DEEPER sent Will and Chester into FREEFALL-- tumbling through the subterranean Pore with the evil Rebecca twins in hot pursuit, both toting phials of the lethal Dominion virus. When, where, will they ever land?! Just when the drop seems infinite, the boys hit bottom, and find themselves in a realm of near-zero gravity atop a giant spongy fungus stuffed with artifacts from some lost golden age. But they are not alone. And above ground, black-clad Styx are sprouting like poison mushrooms, dead-set on spreading their plague!"

HAMSTER MAGIC by Holly Webb. "Eleven-year-old Lottie's magical adventures continue! She's still enchanted with her uncle's magical pet shop and loves chatting with all of the animals that live there. Her own magical abilities are growing as well. A new neighbor is in town, with magic stronger than Lottie's and a mind to make trouble. Fortunately, the pet shop's newest resident, Giles the hamster, is ready to help. Lucky for Lottie, he's bold, bossy, and incredibly brave!"

THE HIDDEN BOY: BELL HOOT FABLES by Jon Berkeley "When the Flints win the trip to Bell Hoot, they board Captain Bontoc’s Blue Moon Mobile with the expectation of a grand holiday. Then something terrible happens: Bea Flint’s little brother, Theo, disappears on the journey, and the peculiar Ledbetter clan of Bell Hoot, who call Theo the Hidden Boy, is more desperate than even Bea and her family to find him. Bea will have to trust herself and the weird and wise words of an old man called Arkadi in order to find Theo. In her search, she’ll discover that Bell Hoot is more than a vacation destination, a wish is no good unless you give it legs, and Mumbo Jumbo is much more than nonsense—it’s hidden potential that she can find within herself."

JACK: SECRET CIRCLES by F. Paul Wilson. "When his five-year-old neighbor goes missing, Jack can’t help feeling responsible. He should have taken Cody home when he found him riding his bicycle near the Pine Barrens. And then a lost man wanders out of the woods after being chased all night by...something. Jack knows, better than anyone, that the Barrens are dangerous—a true wilderness filled with people, creatures, and objects lost from sight and memory. Like the ancient, fifteen-foot-tall stone pyramid he, Weezy, and Eddie discover. Jack thinks it might have been a cage of some sort, but for what kind of animal, he can’t say. Eddie jokes that it could have been used for the Jersey Devil. Jack doesn't believe in that old folk tale, but something is roaming the Pines. Could it have Cody? And what about the strange circus that set up outside town? Could they be involved?."

THE KING IN RESERVE: THE CHRONICLES OF KRANGOR by Michael Pryor. "Queen Tayesha's plan to rule all the saur is tormenting the land itself. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and vast crevasses are threatening to tear Krangor apart. To halt the queen's plans, Adalon and his friends must rescue a young king in exile. Their mission is thrown into turmoil, however, when the mysterious and terrible A'ak redouble their efforts to return from their magical banishment. Adalon, Targesh, and Simangee must rise to challenge after challenge as their lives hang in the balance and the fate of the world rests in their claws."

KNIGHTS OF THE RUBY WAND: SECRETS OF DROON by Tony Abbott. "Oh no! The secret of Droon is a secret no longer. Eric's mother knows about the rainbow staircase . . . and what's worse, so does Gethwing. The Moon Dragon has sent his minions to the Upper World to search for a magical object that could give him power over all of Droon. Now no place is safe from Gethwing's dark magic. . . "

THE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS by Diane Zahler. "Zita is not an ordinary servant girl—she's the thirteenth daughter of a king who wanted only sons. When she was born, Zita's father banished her to the servants' quarters to work in the kitchens, where she can only communicate with her royal sisters in secret. Then, after Zita's twelfth birthday, the princesses all fall mysteriously ill. The only clue is their strangely worn and tattered shoes. With the help of her friends—Breckin the stable boy, Babette the witch, and Milek the soldier—Zita follows her bewitched sisters into a magical world of endless dancing and dreams. But something more sinister is afoot—and unless Zita and her friends can break the curse, the twelve princesses will surely dance to their deaths."

Young Adult:

CITY OF CANNIBALS by Ricki Thompson (ETA--straight historical fiction, although it's not clear from the description, but it sounds like a good one for readers of fantasy...). "It’s 1536, and Dell lives on an isolated hillside with her bitter auntie and drunken father. Father has warned Dell never to venture past her mother’s grave to the City of Cannibals. But unanswered questions plague Dell. Why did her parents leave the court of Henry VIII? Was her mother’s death really an accident? And what about the mysterious Brown Boy who leaves sacks of supplies for her family? Dell risks traveling to the City of Cannibals. Once inside London, she is not eaten alive but is confronted with a different horror—the Oath of Allegiance. If she and the Brown Boy don’t sign, they could be executed. Dell has good reason not to sign. But who can defy King Henry VIII and live?"


THE CLONE CODES by Patricia C. & Fredrick McKissack. "The Cyborg Wars are over and Earth has peacefully prospered for more than one hundred years. Yet sometimes history must repeat itself until humanity learns from its mistakes. In the year 2170, despite technological and political advances, cyborgs and clones are treated no better than slaves, and an underground abolitionist movement is fighting for freedom. Thirteen-year-old Leanna's entire life is thrown into chaos when The World Federation of Nations discovers her mom is part of the radical Liberty Bell Movement. After her mother's arrest for treason, Leanna must escape as she is chased by a ruthless bounty hunter. Soon Leanna finds herself living among the Firsts, and nothing will ever be the same again. But what does The World Federation want with the daughter of a traitor? So much is uncertain. Danger hides everywhere. Fear takes over. With help from unlikely sources, Leanna learns the origin of The Liberty Bell Movement and how its members may have answers about her past-and her new reality. As family secrets are revealed, Leanna must face startling truths about self-identity and freedom. Through time travel, advanced technologies, and artificial intelligence, this exhilarating adventure asks what it means to be human and explores the sacrifices an entire society will make to find out."



IN A HEARTBEAT by Loretta Ellsworth. "When a small mistake costs sixteen-year-old Eagan her life during a figure-skating competition, she leaves many things unreconciled, including her troubled relationship with her mother. From her vantage point in the afterlife, Eagan reflects back on her memories, and what she could have done differently, through her still-beating heart. When fourteen-year-old Amelia learns she will be getting a heart transplant, her fear and guilt battle with her joy at this new chance at life. And afterwards when she starts to feel different—dreaming about figure skating, craving grape candy—her need to learn about her donor leads her to discover and explore Eagan’s life, meeting her grieving loved ones and trying to bring the closure they all need to move on."

THE IRON KING: THE IRON FEY by Julie Kagawa. "Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart."

LEX TRENT VERSUS THE GODS by Alex Bell. "Law student Lex Trent’s world is inhabited by fearsome magicians, ageing crones and a menagerie of Gods and Goddesses. And while Lex is seemingly dedicated to his legal studies he’s always enjoyed a challenge – which is why he leads a double life as the notorious cat burglar ‘The Shadowman’ who has been (luckily) evading capture for years. But Lex’s luck is about to run out because the Goddess of Fortune has selected him to be her player in the highly dangerous Games. Losing is not an option for Lex (particularly as it so often involves dying) but can he really win each of the perilous rounds? Given that the reward for doing so is money, fame and glory – all things that Lex is quite keen on – he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure he will... and he’s certainly got good experience of cheating."

LIGHT BENEATH FERNS by Anne Spollen. "Elizah Rayne is nothing like other fourteen-year-old girls. More interested in bird bones than people, she wraps herself in silence. Trying to escape the shadow of her gambler father, Elizah and her mother move into an old house that borders a cemetery. All her mother wants is for them to have "normal" lives. But that becomes impossible for Elizah when she finds a human jawbone by the river and meets Nathaniel, a strangely hypnotic boy who draws Elizah into his dreamlike and mysterious world.Only by forgetting everything she knows can Elizah understand the truth about Nathaniel—and discover an unimaginable secret."

NUMBERS by Rachel Ward. "Ever since she was child, Jem has kept a secret: Whenever she meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. The two plan a trip to the city. But while waiting to ride the Eye ferris wheel, Jem is terrified to see that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today's number. Today's date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem's world is about to explode!"

THE POISON EATERS AND OTHER STORIES by Holly Black. "In her debut collection, New York Times best-selling author Holly Black returns to the world of Tithe in two darkly exquisite new tales. Then Black takes readers on a tour of a faerie market and introduces a girl poisonous to the touch and another who challenges the devil to a competitive eating match. These stories have been published in anthologies such as 21 Proms, The Faery Reel, and The Restless Dead, and have been reprinted in many “Best of” anthologies. The Poison Eaters is Holly Black’s much-anticipated first collection of stories, and her ability to stare into the void—and to find humanity and humor there—will speak to young adult and adult readers alike."

POSSESSED by Kate Cann. "Rayne can't wait to start her summer job at a remote country mansion, far from the crowded, noisy London she so desperately wants to escape. But the retreat soon turns into a nightmare -- the mansion is creepy, the legends of ghosts keep Rayne up at night, and she doesn't feel safe anywhere. Can Rayne figure out why she's so freaked -- before she becomes a ghost story herself?"

RENEGADE: HELL'S UNDERGROUND by Alan Gibbons. "Paul has met his most audacious - and powerful - ancestor yet, Samuel Rector, who seemingly has the entire East End in thrall to him in the 1830s. His legion of 'rat boys' use terror and menace ordinarily, but with the demon seed inside them, their powers know no end. Their only match is Paul, the renegade, the one member of the Rector clan determined to strike each poisoned generation from the family history. But nobody is stronger than Lud, the King of London, struggling against imprisonment in his cell where the city's five gates meet."

SAVANNAH GREY: A HORROR STORY by Cliff McNish. "It's a difficult time for fifteen-year-old Savannah Grey - she's settled into her latest foster placement, but her body is acting strangely. Then other strange things begin to happen: nature, it seems, is exerting an overpowering force on the world. Birds behave erratically; gusts of wind blow leaves so fiercely they seem to lure people away. And Savannah discovers she has supernatural powers. Meanwhile, she feels drawn to the new boy Reece whose life is even stranger than hers. Quickly Savannah and Reece realise that nature has a purpose for them both. For they are on course to meet the vile and evil Ocrassa, who wants to destroy the world by corrupting nature. And it wants Savannah Grey to help realise its savage intent."

SECRETS OF THE DRAGON RIDERS: YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS ON CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI'S INHERITANCE CYCLE

The Book of the Maidservant, by Rebecca Barnhouse

The Book of the Maidservant, by Rebecca Barnhouse (Random House, 2009, middle grade/young adult, 224 pp), is a tale of a pilgrimage from England to Rome in the fifteenth-century, and the girl who had to scrub the pots all the way there.

Johanna is the serving girl of Dame Margery Kempe, a woman of extraordinarily vocal and incessant piety. Dame Margery's tender feelings for the sufferings of Christ, which move her to tears at every turn, don't translate into tenderness for Johanna, who never gets so much as a kind word.

So when Dame Margery sets off on a pilgrimage to Rome, taking Johanna along to wait on her, Johanna doesn't expect it to be fun. But it is worse than she had imagined--not only does she have to tend to her ungrateful mistress, but the entire company with whom she is journeying expect her to work for all of them. So her days are spend trudging through Europe, her evenings cooking and washing and mending...

The only bright spark is the young student, John Mouse, who fills her mind like no-one she has ever met before. But abandoned outside Rome by Dame Margery and separated from the rest of the rag tag band of travellers, she's not at all sure she'll ever see him again. Let alone get back to England.

It's a good story, although Johanna's tribulations become, perhaps, a bit repetitive. It's the sort of historical fiction for kids that nicely shows what life would have been like "back then," without attempting archaism of language or shining too glaring a spotlight on the unfamiliar. And it's a sub-genre of historical fiction that I like lots--the sort that takes a real person, who is only briefly mentioned in history, and brings her to life.

Dame Margery Kempe, incidentally, was real, as was her servant Johanna, and although Barnhouse tinkered a bit with the sequence of events, she sticks closely to the story that Dame Margery actually told of her pilgrimage (the Book of Margery Kempe is the first autobiography written in English).

Some kids might ask for more Action than this book provides--it focuses on the interactions of the travellers, and Johanna's particular situation, so there aren't any Epic Medievally bits (although there are some tense moments). But for kids who like historical fiction that's character driven (such as The Midwife's Apprentice, by Karen Cushman), this one would be a good choice.

A note on the age level--this is marketed as Young Adult, but I would argue that it is much better for older middle grade kids. There is no explicit YA type content, and Johanna reads young in my mind--more like an eighth grader than a tenth grader. I think I would have enjoyed this lots at around 11, the age I was when I started on Rosemary Sutcliff.

Here's a great interview with Barnhouse at The Paper Wait.

Macmillan books are back on Amazon, wait, no they're not...what are they doing?

The struggle between Amazon and Macmillan continues. I checked my chosen Macmillan book (The Runaway Dragon) on Amazon at 7:05 ish this morning, and all looked to be as it was before, with a buy button and everything...but I just checked it again (8:35 am), and the buy button is no longer there! WHAT?????

And author John Scalzi reports that although he had a buy button for a while on Old Man's War, when clicked on, it offered used copies of the books. And there's no buy button there at his book at all now--I just checked.

Powells is looking better and better.

Amazon has caved, but hasn't put Macmillan's books back yet

Upstaging my own introspective blog birthday post--Amazon has caved to Macmillian's price demands viz eBooks (from John Scalzi's blog, here's a Washington Post article).

But Amazon hasn't put links back to Macmillan's books (I just checked The Runaway Dragon, by fellow blogger Kate Coombs--not there).

As Scalzi says, "The longer you wait, the more I’ll have to think you’re just being petulant and foot-stompy about it."

In the meantime, anything bought through the Powell's link to the right and down a ways benefits a small but worthy New England library...

An introspective post on the occasion of my blog's third birthday

As of today, I have been blogging for three years, and I am beginning to think I almost know what I am doing.

Here's what I did this past year:

I decided to focus on my favorite genre---fantasy and science fiction, with a particular emphasis on middle grade books. Having this focus made blogging seem more pointful; it gave me an identity in my own mind, a little niche that I could fill. I've enjoyed blogging more than I ever had before. And my blog hits doubled.

This past May I made a choice to look for more books that featured characters of color--this is an ongoing process.

This year I added two new regular features--announcements of new releases of science fiction and fantasy (sff), and weekly roundups of blog posts about middle-grade sff. These are huge time sinks, but I like doing them 1. because I like to feel helpful 2. because they are interesting to me. Thanks to everyone who has left me comments saying that these are, in fact, interesting and helpful posts!

I added header art, featuring a nebula in the shape of a mysterious orange space snail, which helped give me a Distinct Brand, at least in my own mind....I think I am the only blogger with a mysterious orange space snail in their header art.

But despite my new focus, I still feel a tad schizophrenic, because I write for three audiences.

There is the audience of people who like the same books that I do, for whom I write posts that essentially say "go read this book right now because it is really good." Those posts are the most fun to write, because I don't have to think much at all, and because it is so very satisfying to urge others to read beloved books. I'm also thinking of this audience when I write reviews that say why a book I thought I'd love didn't work for me, which is not quite so fun...

Then there is the audience of adults who might be buying the books, or putting them into the hands of kids. This is a harder group to write for, because I have to justify to a greater extent why I think a book works, or doesn't work. This is the audience I am thinking of when I review books I've gotten from publishers, and so the stakes are higher and I try (with mixed results) to be more professional.

The third audience I have in mind is parents of nine year-old boys who are picky readers. I don't write for this audience all that often, but it sure is satisfying when I am able to type: "and my son sat down and read this cover to cover."

But in the end, I'm writing for myself. As much as I want to be a Useful Resource, of a Source of Good Books (and I do want to be these things, very, very much indeed), I also want to enjoy the process of blogging. Which means trying to stifle the voices in my head with their messages of what I Should be doing (ala Liz's post today at Tea Cozy), and just doing the best that I can.

And part of that includes continuing to work on my spelling and proof-reading, which is very hard for me. Here is the comment I got on my very first college paper: "There are so many typographical errors that it is difficult to assess the severity of your spelling disorder." This, very sadly, continues to be the case. Even with Spellcheck, bad things happen, and I quite often hang my head in shame....It is especially sad that post titles live forever with their mistakes in them (and I can't believe I just did it again with this post. SIGH). It is also very sad indeed that Technorati doesn't let people edit the descriptions of their blogs, and so I am stuck blogging forever about fantasty and sciene fiction :) - that is a brave smile.

But thank you everyone who reads the blog despite everything--readers and bloggers and publisher and writers and all, and thank you especially to those of you who have left encouraging comments, the sort that lets me know that there is a point!

And if anyone has any Useful Thoughts about things I could do to make my blog a better place, I'd be happy to hear them (if they are tactfully phrased....).

Goodbye, Kage Baker

Kage Baker, fantasy/science fiction writer extraordinaire, died early this morning. There are details here at The Green Man Review.

One of the most memorable books I read this past year was her first foray into writing for children. The Hotel Under the Sand is a strangely marvellous story about a girl washed ashore on an abandoned beach, and the old hotel that rises up out of the dunes and shelters her.

I hope that Kage Baker has come to a safe haven of her own.

This Week's Middle-Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction Roundup

Welcome to another week's worth of middle-grade fantasy and science fiction reviews and comments from around the blogosphere. Please let me know if I missed your post!

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass, at Dwelling in Possibility.

The Blue Shoe, a tale of Thievery, Villainy, Sorcery, and Shoes, by Roderick Townley, at Green Bean Teen Queen.

The Chestnut King, by N.D. Wilson, at Where the Best Books Are.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, by Ian Fleming, at Becky's Book Reviews.

Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs, by Ursula Vernon, at Charlotte's Library.

Erak's Ransom (Ranger's Apprentice) at Bookends

Everwild, by Neil Shusterman, at Ink and Paper (Amazon says this is for 7th-9th graders, so I count it as the upper limit of middle grade)

The Farwalker's Quest, by Joni Sensel, at Brenda Loves Books.

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaimen, at The Book on the Hill.

Green, by Laura Peyton Roberts, at Charlotte's Library.

Grim Hill: The Secret Deepens, by Linda DeMeulemeester, at Doodle Reads.

Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon, by Melissa Anellie, at Once Upon a Bookshelf.

How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell, at Young Adult Literature Review.

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, at Stella Matutina

The Prometheus Project: Trapped and its sequel, Captured, by Douglas E. Richards, at Charlotte's Library.

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, at Jen Robinson's Book Review.

The Wish Stealers, by Tracy Trivas, at Blogging Mama and Five Minutes for Mom.

The Wizard of Rhondo, by Emily Rodda, at Eva's Book Addiction.

At The Christian Fantasy Review are reviews of Book 1 of the Wingfeather Saga, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, and Book 2 North! Or be Eaten, by Andrew Peterson.

At Scrub A Dub Tub, Terry looks at Dragon Wishes, by Stacy Nyikos, and The Last Dragon, by Cheryl Rainfield (the later is straight fantasy, the former more ambiguous).

And finally, at Ink Spells, Susan asks Where are the Science Fiction books for kids?

The Prometheus Project: Trapped, and its sequel, Captured

The Prometheus Project Books 1 and 2--Trapped and Captured, by Douglas E. Richards (DNA Press, 2006 and 2007, 135 and 160 pp, middle grade).

Ryan and his little sister Regan are not at all happy that their parents have moved to the middle of nowhere to take new jobs. But then they find out, with the help of some unintentional eavesdropping, how to break through the security systems that guard the top secret Prometheus Project their parents are working on. Soon they are plunged into an adventure involving a hidden alien city, other worlds, and a bit of computer-engineered time travel on the side....

The second book of the series finds the Prometheus Project under threat from an alien criminal mastermind. Their parents and all the other scientists inside the city are being held hostage, and Ryan and Regan are the only two good guys who haven't been captured. It will take all their intelligence and scientific knowledge to figure out how to foil the evil alien's plan.

Trapped is a book I'm happy to recommend to any geeky type kid, who loves cool machines and science facts and figuring things out (perhaps the kid who really enjoyed the Magic School Bus chapter books). There's lots of science present in the conversations that the two kids have as they try to make sense of of things, as in this example:

"So imagine the force-field surrounding the city is like our skin-- our first line of defense against invaders. The best way to avoid an infection is to not let it enter the body in the first place. Our skin helps prevent an invasion by bacteria, maybe the force-field is there to prevent invasion by...well, maybe invasion by...us."

Regan frowned. "Maybe. But if that's true, it has failed. we did get in. We cut the city's shield." (page 76)

To the adult reader, this sort of almost pedantic discussion might be an impediment to reading enjoyment, but I bet the aforementioned science-minded kid would be more appreciative.

Edited to add: my older boy has now read these, and thought they were fabulous (here's what he said over at his blog, Pickled Bananas). So my recommendation (perfect for technology minded, non-fiction-loving kid) has been vindicated!

Trapped is a well-constructed, very interesting story, qua story, and I enjoyed it. Captured did less for me, primarily because the basic plot (clever kids foil bad guy) is not exactly fresh, and the wonderful mystery of the alien city that enlivened the first book is, by the second, not news anymore. But Captured might well appeal to kids less jaded than me who are looking for an exciting adventure story.

These two books are published by a small press (DNA) that specializes in things scientific. The "small press" part shows a bit, I think, in the cover designs, but these books happily don't suffer from any inadequacies of copy editing. Edited to add again: they now have new covers--the one for Trapped is shown at right.

Here's what The Children's Book Review has to say about these, and another review from The Super Mom (with her look at the second book here).

(note: my review copies supplied by the author)

Amazon takes Macmillan books off its shelves

I think it's stinky that Amazon has stopped selling Macmillan books directly, in protest over Macmillan's request that Amazon raise the prices of ebooks (from 9.99 to around 15).

I'm rather fond of many Macmillan books--I just reviewed two I liked very much, in fact-The Crow Girl and Eidi, published under their Farrar Straus Giroux imprint. Macmillan is also Henry Holt, St. Martin's Press, and Tor.

The China Garden, by Liz Berry

The China Garden, by Liz Berry (1996, Harper Collins, YA, 284pp), is a book that I would have utterly adored if I had read it as a teenager. I went looking for it after I read about it in one of the "What a Girl Wants" posts at Chasing Ray, where Melissa Wyatt said "For girls who are looking for more supernatural romance, I highly recommend The China Garden by Liz Berry. A strong female protagonist who finds her own way to accept a seemingly inescapable destiny, a real live human boy for her to love, an intricate and beautiful mystery based in British folklore and enough steam to set off plenty of palpitations."

17 year-old Claire is appalled when she finds out that her mother proposes to abandon London for the remote country village where she was from, which Claire has never visited. But almost against her will, Claire finds herself saying, "I'm coming to Ravensmere with you."

Claire's mother, a nurse, is going to be looking after the old man who owns the vast Ravensmere estate, a most marvellous place of gardens and treasures. When they arrive, Claire becomes more and more disturbed by the way all the villagers seem to recognize her. As she explores Ravensemere, she begins to realize that she is part of an old and magical story of an ancient Benison guarded by two families for millenia.

Claire is the descendant of one of these families, and Mark, arrogant, dangerous, and troubled, is the descendant of the other...and now the power of Ravensmere has tied their fates together.

I would have loved this book so much back when I was young for its wonderful gardens (the China Garden that gives the book its title is particularly magical--it's been locked for years, and Claire must bring it back to life), its weaving of old legends into the present, and all the treasures of the past that are described in loving detail.

And I probably would have found young Mark incredibly attractive. I bet a lot of young teenage girls would find Mark incredibly attractive.

But sadly, as an adult, I wasn't able to tolerate Mark at all. The first time we meet him, he essentially kidnaps Claire, when he and his gang of toughs force her onto the back of his motorcycle...and although Claire, who is filled with Young Love/Lust, gets over this, I never did.

Oh well. The gardens, though, are utterly to die for.

Green, by Laura Peyton Roberts

Green, by Laura Peyton Roberts (Delacorte, 2009, middle grade, 261pp).

When Lily was 12, she was an unremarkable, uncoordinated, socially uncertain middle-school kid, but when she turned 13, things changed with a bang. An exploding birthday present left on her front steps introduces her to the world of the leprechauns, and a trio of the little fellows whisks her off to the land of the Green Clan before she has a chance even to see how much of her hair she has left (it was a rather dramatic bang).

There in the Green she finds that she is expected to take the place of her beloved grandmother, who had died the year before--turns out her grandmother was the Keeper of the gold of Clan Green. But before Lily can become the Keeper herself, she must pass three tests...and she's not given any choice about the matter.

I have to confess, I was pretty skeptical about the whole leprechaun side of things. But that soon faded--Green is a fun and fast read that I enjoyed very much. Lily is not some specially gifted Chosen One; instead, she's smart, but only moderately determined, and not overly brave. The leprechauns also managed to avoid the pitfalls of Magical Creature Cliche, and were instead an interesting collection of individuals.

In short, this is a great one for middle school lover of fantasy who isn't ready for the dark complexity often found in books for older kids. I'd even go so far as to say, based on my own experience, that the grownup looking for something light and pleasant to read for themselves might well find this nicely diverting.

Here's another review at My Pile of Books.

(disclaimer: I received an ARC to review from the publishers at ALA)

New releases of fantasy and science fiction for children and teenagers--the end of January, 2010 list

Here they are! My information comes, as usual, from Teens Read Too, with help from Amazon.


THE CHESTNUT KING: BOOK 3 OF THE 100 CUPBOARDS by N. D. Wilson
The third book of the 100 Cupboards. "Twelve-year-old Henry York, finally reunited with his family, works with them and the Chestnut King, the long-deposed and mythic leader of the faeren people, to destroy Nimiane and her forces of evil."



DRAGON GAMES: THE BOOKS OF UMBERby P. W. Catanese. Sequel to Happentance Found. "Happenstance would like nothing more than to stay in the comfort of the Aerie, Lord Umber's spectacular cliffside home, without having to worry about the secrets of his past -- or the undetermined role he must play in Umber's desperate mission. But adventure beckons when Umber receives two mysterious messages. One is a desperate plea for help from Caspar, the man who stole precious documents from Umber's archives that could unlock the mysteries of Hap's powers. Caspar is trapped on a forbidden island, the victim of a nightmarish curse. He is willing to reveal his secrets to Umber and Hap -- but what he demands in return may be impossible to achieve. The second message is from an oppressed kingdom ruled by a brutish monarch, where an old rival of Umber's has stolen a cache of dragon eggs. The eggs have begun to hatch, and the question is, what do they plan to do with those infant dragons?"


THE MEMORY OF WINGS: THE FAERIE PATH, LAMIA'S REVENGE by Frewin Jones

Sorry there's not description here--I looked online for a while, but gave up...





THE WISH STEALERS by Tracy Trivas. "Griffin Penshine is always making wishes. But when a sinister old woman tricks her into accepting a box of eleven shiny Indian Head pennies from 1897, Griffin soon learns these are no ordinary pennies, but stolen wishes. This box of labeled pennies comes with a horrible curse: People in possession of the stolen coins are Wish Stealers, who will never have their wishes granted.... In fact, the opposite of what they've wished for will happen. Griffin must find a way to return these stolen wishes and undo the curse if her own wishes are to come true."

Young Adult:

THE ENCHANTED QUEST: THE FAERIE PATH by Frewin Jones. "Far from the Realm of Faerie, a quest to save immortality . . .A deadly plague is sweeping through Faerie, and no one is immune to its bite. Now, with the guidance of the Dream Weaver, Tania, Rathina, and a mortal ally, Connor, must head off to find the Divine Harper—the only one who can help Tania renew the Faerie Covenant of Immortality. Their quest will soon take them outside the borders of Faerie, to hostile and unwelcoming lands beyond. On their travels, Tania and her companions encounter danger at every turn as they battle pirates, contend with mysterious and mystical beings, and try to outwit those under the sinister grip of the Dark Arts. But when Tania's beloved Edric appears, it looks as if they have help at last. Or do they? As tensions and dangers rise, Tania is forced to question everything and everyone around her in order to decide if she is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her loved ones."

I KISSED A ZOMIE, AND I LIKED IT by Adam Selzer. "Algonquin “Ali” Rhodes, the high school newspaper’s music critic, meets an intriguing singer, Doug, while reviewing a gig. He’s a weird-looking guy—goth, but he seems sincere about it, like maybe he was into it back before it was cool. She introduces herself after the set, asking if he lives in Cornersville, and he replies, in his slow, quiet murmur, “Well, I don’t really live there, exactly. . . .” When Ali and Doug start dating, Ali is falling so hard she doesn’t notice a few odd signs: he never changes clothes, his head is a funny shape, and he says practically nothing out loud. Finally Marie, the school paper’s fashion editor, points out the obvious: Doug isn’t just a really sincere goth. He’s a zombie. Horrified that her feelings could have allowed her to overlook such a flaw, Ali breaks up with Doug, but learns that zombies are awfully hard to get rid of—at the same time she learns that vampires, a group as tightly-knit as the mafia, don’t think much of music critics who make fun of vampires in reviews. . . ."

INCARCERON by Catherine Fisher. "Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible. And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know."

UNDEAD MUCH by Stacey Jay

Everyone thinks Megan's at fault for the new uber-zombie uprising. Looks like she'll need the help of both Cliff and Ethan if she's going to prove her innocence before it's too late...



Comic books/graphic novels

TRUE BELIEVERS: RUNAWAYS by Brian K. Vaughan A collection of comics. "When a group of teenagers discovers that their parents are actually super-villains, they run away from home...but that's only step one! Now that the evil Pride is gone, nearly every bad guy in the Marvel Universe is trying to fill the power vacuum in Los Angeles, and the Runaways are the only heroes who can stop them! Plus: What does a mysterious new team of young heroes want with the Runaways, and which fan-favorite Marvel characters are part of this group? Collects Runaways (2005) #1-6."


LOLA: A GHOST STORY by J. Torres A graphic novel. "Jesse sees dead people, monsters, demons, and lots of other things that go bump in the night that no one else can see. No one except his ailing grandmother - a woman who used her visions to help those living in her small town... the same rural community in all the scary stories Jesse's heard as a child. Man-eating ogres in trees. Farmhouses haunted by wraiths. Even pigs possessed by the devil. Upon his grandmother's passing, Jesse has no choice but to face his demons and whatever else might be awaiting him at grandma's house."

The Crow Girl and Eidi, by Bodil Bredsdorff

The Crow Girl and Eidi, by Bodil Bredsdorff (US editions 2004 and 2009, respectively, Farrar Straus Giroux, middle grade)

The Crow Girl beings at the edge of an ocean, long ago and far away. A girl and her grandmother are the last two people left in a tiny village, barely managing to stay alive with what can be scavenged from the sea. When her grandmother dies, the girl leaves home to find work, following the direction taken by two crows. In the world beyond her home, she encounters people of all sorts...and some, brought together by their loneliness and need, become her family. The little band of children, and one young man and one young woman, go back to Crow Cove together, to live in the haven it offers.

When the sequel, Eidi, begins, a new baby is being born in Crow Cove. And Eidi, the oldest girl in the little clan, feels like her home is too small to share with him. So she sets off to find work, weaving wool for a kind shepherd who was introduced in the first book. An accident on the way to market means that Eidi and the shepherd will have to stay in town much longer than expected. There she finds work weaving for the richest man in town, and there she finds herself falling into the role of protector for the abused and underfed boy whom he hates.

These books are beautifully subtle, told in a calm and understate voice, but full of all the emotions that lie just below the surface of daily life. What I loved most about these books, though, was the way in which Bredsdorff's clear prose brings the far off and unfamiliar to life. I don't know if this is the best example, but it stuck in my mind:

"She took her knife from her belt and dug into a clump of seaweed, and there, at the very bottom, some small pale shoots of sea kale stuck up from the sand like birds' bones." (page 13)

Some credit for this is obviously due to the excellent translations, and in fact Eidi was just awarded a Batchelder Honor (an award that recognizes books translated into English).

I think the covers do a rather fine job showing just what sort of books these are--there aren't any bright colors or flashy action bits. Instead, they are rather dreamy and introspective, and I think that's the sort of middle-grade kid who will love these books most. When Tasha at Kid Lit reviewed Eidi, she said that "reading this second book was like returning to a place you never knew you had been missing." I agree. Crow Cove a place I feel I imagined as a child, when I played my pretend games of being poor and alone...and then went inside, glad to see my family again.