The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle, by Deva Fagan

The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle, by Deva Fagan (Henry Holt, 2010, middle grade, 263 pages in ARC form).

Poor Prunella is a failure. Though she was born into a powerful bogwitch family, her curses lack even the least bit of bogwitch-ery to them. And so she is consigned to watching her grandmother's garden. Although it's so warded already that watching is redundent, Prunella still manages to let a thief get through--an upland boy.

She has one last chance--if she can curse him, she can take her place in the bottom lands. But until then, her grandmother has cast her out.

So Prunella and the upland boy, Baranaby, find themselves fellow travellers. Baranby claims to be looking for the Mirable Chalice, stolen from the queen of the uplands...and Prunella just happens to know where it is--in the keeping of the fabled bad guy Lord Blackthorne. Lord Blackthorne also has the lost grimoire of Esmerelda, the most famous bog witch of them all. If she can get a hold of it, perhaps Prunella can go home.

First she has to take the chicken foot out of her hair before Baranaby agrees to be seen in public with her. And that's the least of her problems. Something strange and sinister is happening in the uplands. Since the chalic was stolen, people have been falling into a strange sickness, and even though the uplands was never as magical as the boglands, still, folks had once had enough magic to keep dark things at bay. But this isn't the case anymore...

Fagan has written a delightful story with all the requisite adventure, humor, and creative fun that makes for a good middle grade fantasy read. Prunella and Barnaby both became real to me as I read (Prunella especially, with her angst-ful longing to become a bogwitch). And, although I by no means want to imply that Fagan has written a preachy book, there's a rather nice message to it, about finding one's own path in the world--more specifically, just because your family curses people doesn't mean you have to yourself, and they may well end up appreciating you for who you are, even if you can't charm warts onto yourself.

It's the perfect sort of book to give to a nine or ten year old who isn't ready for the more densly fraught type books you find in the upper reaches of middle gradeness. And there's the added bonus, of course, that Prunella, with her "clear brown skin," is a character of color--a central character, a brave character, a character with whom anyone can relate.

I hope Deva Fagan gives us another Prunella adventure! I'd read it in a shot.

To which Deva responded: "I would very much like to write more books about Prunella and Barnaby, but that will probably depend on how well this one does. My fingers are crossed!"

Here's another review at The HappyNappyBookseller.

(review copy provided by the publisher).

Armchair BEA--The Kidlitosphere

Today Armchair BEA morphs gently into Armchair Book Blogger Convention--those of us not lucky to be in NY are sharing blogging conventionish posts today.

I thought that so many of the bloggers taking part in this event are new to me, they might also not be familiar with that part of the blogging world in which I make my mental home--the Kidlitosphere (whose logo is shown at left). In a nutshell, the Kidlitosphere is a conglomeration of bloggers whose passion is books for kids and teens. Here's the website, with news, links to members, and various resources. There is also a Yahoo kidlitosphere group, where bloggers frequently ask each other blogging questions, support each other in times of blogging crisis, share news, and celebrate. Information on joining this listserve can be found at the above website.

Lifted shamelessly from that website, here are some of the regular things that Kidlitosphere members do:

The KidLitosphere Conference

An annual gathering of the movers and shakers in the kidlit community

The Carnival of Children’s Literature

A monthly roundup of the best in kidlit blogging, organized around a central theme--here is this month's edition, at Homespun Light

Nonfiction Monday

Giving bloggers a chance to share nonfiction books for children and teens.

Poetry Friday

A weekly assortment of poetry-themed musings and original content

The Kidlitosphere is also the driving force behind the Cybils Awards. These awards, given in a variety of children's/YA categories each year, are chosen by panels of bloggers from long lists of books nominated by anyone who has books they feel passionately about. The first round panelists read fiercely during the fall to come up with short lists, which are then sent to judging panels. The criteria are excellence of writing (and illustration when applicable), and kid appeal.

If you are looking for succinct lists of excellent books in the various categories covered by the Cybils (like mg non-fiction, YA sff etc) there are no better lists than the Cybils shortlists.

The call for readers for the upcoming Cybils will probably go out in August--so if you are a blogger who talks about children's or YA books on a reasonably regular basis, do think of throwing your name in the hat! The Cybils organizers determine who goes on what panel (sadly, there's not room for everyone), balancing experience with freshness.

And I'd also like to put in a plug for the Kidlitosphere Conference--I attended last year's, in DC, ably organized by the fabulous Pam (aka Mother Reader) who is the driving force behind the Kidlitosphere. It was a fantastic event, and I'm going again (I hope) this fall!

Pam is also going to be hosting a 48 Hour Reading Challenge the first weekend in June--fun! prizes! reduction in size of tbr pile (never enough reduction, but every bit helps)!

Nieve, by Terry Griggs

Nieve, by Terry Griggs (2010, Biblioasis, older mg/younger YA, 250 pages)

Nieve lives in the ordinary, sunlight world of a small town in Canaa. True, there are some oddish things about her life--her parents, for instance, are professional weepers. But the signs of the trouble to come were subtle, and easy to overlook in daylight-- horror is entering Nieve's world.

Here is a bit from Nieve's meeting, quite early in the book, with the Weed Inspector, a strangely creepy man growing nasty black plants from larvae....

"Are you from the city?" Nieve asked ....

"The City," he agreed. "The Black City. You're not as stupid as you look."

"I'm not stupid!" Talk about rude.

He gazed down at her, green eyes burrowing into her head as if he were X-raying her brain. "You will be. Soon. Very soon." Dribbles of mist had begun ot leak out of the seams of his coat." (page 21 of ARC)

Soon a perpetual gloom covers the town, the normal shops are being replaced by grotesquelly unwholesome establishments, and, worst of all, people have begun to disappear. Those who are left, including Nieve's parents, seem possessed. Monsters and vile creatures, straight out of the darker Celtic myths and legends, prowl the dark streets. And Nieve and her grandmother seem to be among the few people immune to the curse that has fallen on their world.

Nieve has apparently inherited the gifts of magic that will help stand against the darkness. But she doesn't have a clue what her mysterious abilities might be, and she's not at all sure she should trust the fey boy, Lias, her grandmother has provided her as a companion. However, for lack of any other options, Nieve and Lias set off to find the heart of the nightmare, into the dark undercity itself, where the hideous imaginings of a dark spirit have been brought to life (or, more accurately, death).

It is a truly nightmarish story, with vividly lurid descriptions of both the evil creatures and the horrible things being done to their human victims. It's not gore all over the place sort of horrid--more subtle evil manipulation is at work--but it still horrendous. For the horror fan, probably great stuff, for the faint of heart, possibly a tad disturbing.

And it is nightmarish in another way, too--both Nieve, and the reader, have no clue what is going on or why, and Lias, who might know more, isn't telling. For the first half of the book, this growing mystery works well, slowly building up the tension...but then, the book becomes almost non-stop action, with the clues about what is happening somewhat lost in a welter of panic. In Lias' defense, regarding explaining things--he doesn't have much chance too, what with being chased by a bevy of horrors. A few too many horrors, for my taste--there weren't quite enough still spots, where characters could get a chance to breath and develop.

Even though there was Explication at the end, I still am not sure of the Why of it all. I'm still not sure of the extent, and limitations, of Nieve's magic. And I think that page 241 out of 250 is a tad late to introduce the fact that this surface world, which I assumed was an unmagical place, actually has paranormal police officers. Sequels are in the works...but this book stands complete in itself (apart from the bigger questions, there are no dangling bits of plot qua plot).

There was, however, a rather delightful quirkiness to Griggs' writing that surfaced pleasingly at odd moments, and the black and white illustrations (some of which can be seen here) help bring the nightmarish-ness into the realm of the fascinating--it's always less scary, I think, to see things, as opposed to imagining them.

Although it wasn't quite to my taste, the fan of fast-paced, horror-filled fantasy would probably enjoy this one lots.

other reviews-Parenthetical.net and One Librarian's Book Reviews.

(disclaimer: ARC received from the publisher)

Armchair BEA--a giveaway of three books!

One of the most delirium inducing parts of going to BEA would have to be the ARCs up for grabs--the thought is dizzying.

So in the spirit of Armchair BEA, I'm offering three ARCs of middle grade/YA books coming out in July and August from Bloomsbury. (Bloomsbury is kind enough to send me books en masse, which I appreciate, but these three aren't a good fit for my blog, so I'd like to send them off to people more likely to enjoy and review them!). I'll pick three winners, so let me know which one you want in the comments, and I'll enter you for that one! This is a special Armchair BEA giveaway, imitating the quick, um, snatching of books I imagine one would find at the real thing, so I'll close this at midnight (EST) tonight! (It's open to anyone, regardless of Armchair BEA participation)

They are:

What Momma Left Me, by Renee Watson (July 2010, Mg) --a young girl starting life over at her grandparents' house after her mother dies.




Good Behaviour, a Memoir, by Nathan L. Henry (July 2010, YA)-- "a year in jail and the life that led there."






No and Me, by Delphine De Vigan (August 2010, YA) --"How far would you go to turn a homeless person's life around?"







The random number generator has spoken--Darlyn is getting No and Me, Miss Attitude is getting What Momma Left Me, and Bianca is getting Good Behaviour. Thanks to all who entered!

Armchair BEA-- an interview with Emily, of Emily's Reading Room

Today is interview day at Armchair BEA, the next best thing to being in New York City, getting to meet each other in person. Today I'm honored to bring Emily of Emily's Reading Room to my blog!

Can you please tell my readers a little about your blog, and possibly a little about yourself? Does your non-blogging life have anything to do with books?

I have been a life-long reader. I learned to read before I was in Kindergarten and never stopped. I often got in trouble in school for hiding a book in my desk during Math and Science. I have very poor eyesight also due to the fact that I spent so much time reading at night under a blanket. Once I got to college my reading habits changed a little and I didn't have time for any other reading other than my required reading. But, once I finished college and got a job, I realized that I missed the escape that came from reading fiction. So, I got a library card and started reading again.

(me: that is exactly what happened with me too!)

My friends and family would ask me for book recommendations, and I found that I couldn't really remember a lot of the books that I had been reading. So, I started my blog in June 2009 as a way for me to remember what I had been reading, and also to give recommendations to my friends. But then I discovered that I loved the blogging community and got much more involved in that. We also have a wonderful community of book bloggers in Utah. I have met up with them several times, and I love it! My non-blogging life has very little to do with books. My full-time job is an office manager for a member of Congress. Now you see why I need the escape of fiction!

Truly you all are blessed to have such a great blogging community in Utah! I am envious--I live in spitting distance (a bit less than an hour) of Boston, but somehow it seems to far to travel there for book events. Also Utah looks lovely--some day I will go there, and meet bloggers and authors, and see mountains!

My next question--did becoming a blogger change your reading habits? For instance, do you pick books to read because they seem like they'd be fun to blog about? Have your reasons for blogging changed since you began?

Blogging has changed my reading habits immensely! When I started I had never heard of Advance Review Copies, and I had no clue about what new books were out. Now I know about all the newest and greatest books, and sometimes I even have a chance to read them before they come out. Getting review copies isn't a real motivator for me though, and most of my books I still get from the library.

Do you find yourself able to strike a nice balance between the life of work and home, and the life of books and blogging? If the sink were full of dirty dishes, and a new book came in the mail, which would you do first, read or wash?

I just had a baby girl in March of this year. (Me: Wow! Congratulations!) That really threw me for a loop at first. Because she's not going to wait for me to finish a chapter before I feed her. I'm fine with reading and book blogging taking a back seat to my family though. I wouldn't be able to do read and blog without the support of my husband, however. Together we tag team our chores and we both have time for our hobbies. (He does illustration and web/app design). I get most of my reading done in the evening after the baby goes to bed. (From about 7 pm to 10 pm)

I saw that a co-blogger is joining you--congratulations! Does it feel strange, to give up part of your blogging life to someone else? You say that your co-blogger is going to be bringing more contemporary fiction in, as opposed to your own tendency toward fantasy/science fiction... to quote your post about it: "This means that the reviews here are going to get a lot more diverse. Which is always a good thing." And I'm wondering if that plays out in your own blog reading habits-- do you, in fact, seek out blogs that have a tight focus, or do you like to be surprised by the books reviewed by your favorite bloggers....

Bringing on a co-blogger was really a natural transition. Julie is my neighbor (We actually live in different sections of the same house), and we both are advisers for a youth reading and writing group called the Literati. We discovered that we both love reading, but we have very different tastes in what we like. Julie also has the expertise of being an English teacher so she knows a lot about the mechanics of writing. As for my blog reading habits, I stay pretty focused on Young Adult book blogs. I like reading reviews of all types of books within that genre, even if they aren't science fiction/fantasy. But, some of my favorite blogs read a very wide variety of books. I have always envied their diverse reading taste.

Speaking of which, who are a couple of bloggers that are at the top of your reading list, who might not be getting the readers they should?

I'm going to plug our Utah Bloggers group. We have such a fantastic community of readers and writers here, and I love getting together with them. Some of my favorite blogs are Angie from Angieville (she has the best written reviews of any blogger I've ever read), Natasha Maw from Maw Books Blog (She has such diverse reading taste, I always find something new), and Suey from It's All About Books. A non-Utah blog I love is The Little Bookworm. Her reviews are great, and her blog design is so cute!

Those last two are new to me--thanks for the recommendations!

Emily is also a fan of science fiction/fantasy, and so it was especially fun for me to explore her blog! I noticed that she had just gotten The Demon's Lexicon...so of course I asked -- Did you like it? I just read The Demon's Covenant, and enjoyed it immensely! And while I'm at this level of specificity, have you read Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series yet?

I have not read The Demon's Lexicon yet. I just bought it last week, and it's on my list. Angie from Angieville recommended it very highly and I'm excited to get started on it in a week or two. I haven't read Megan Whalen Turner's Thief series yet either. I have it requested from the library though, and I'm on the list for it.

(both of us dislike the puffy lips in this incarnation of Nick...I strongly prefer the UK version, at right)

I read with great interest that Emily got to go to one of those exciting Utah-ian book events, so I asked--Did you have a great time meeting Shannon Hale and Mette Ivie Harrison a few weeks ago (is jealous)? Were there copies of Mette Ivie Harrison's new book (The Princess and the Snowbird)?

I had a wonderful time meeting some fantastically talented authors at the Children's Book Festival in Provo. Shannon Hale was so nice. She came out to do a signing even though she is pregnant with twins and feels pretty sick. She was so unbelievably nice. Even though there was a really long line, she spent a good 15 minutes talking to me about her books and tolerated my fan-girlness. I am so glad that I was finally able to meet her.

Mette Ivie Harrison was the same way. She asked me if I liked Princess and the Bear better than Princess in the Hound, and we discussed the different types of relationships found in Young Adult fiction. It's clear she is very educated and knows a lot about literature. And yes, I got a new copy of The Princess and the Snowbird signed. I haven't read it yet, but I can't wait to!
(you can see pictures at Emily's blog here!)


And lastly, have you ever been to BEA? Or one of the big ALA meetings, or a blogging conference? Would you like to?

I have not been to any of the big publishing or blogging conferences. I started blogging last year right as BEA ended, and I swore I would go the next year. But, this year funds were tight since I took some unpaid time off for maternity leave. So, I had my husband sign a paper saying that I could go in 2011. I did go to Life, The Universe and Everything which is a writing conference held at a university here in Utah. It has some really neat panels on science fiction and fantasy. That's where I first met Brandon Sanderson, who is awesome by the way!

Thank you so much, Emily! It was great getting to know you!

(and if anyone wants to know more about me, it was my great pleasure to be interviewed by Jennifer, aka The Introverted Reader).

Armchair BEA: The Value of a Book

At the real life BEA, publishing CEOs took part in a panel on "the Value of a Book."

From the Publisher's Weekly overview of the panel: "Getting back to the panel’s official subject—what the value of a book is in today’s market—Newberg [an ICM executive] mentioned a new Steve Martin novel that Grand Central is publishing this fall, An Object of Beauty. With its vellum pages and high-quality jacket, Newberg said the book must have cost Hachette a fortune to produce. Yet she was confident that “if you make a beautiful product, they will come.” Prichard [Ingram CEO] disagreed. “People around books care [about that sort of thing], but the vast majority of readers don’t.”

Um, Mr. Prichard, aren't the vast majority of readers "people around books" too? I dunno exactly who the "vast majority of readers" are, but I do know that, when I buy books for children and grown-ups for presents, I buy beautiful ones (unless I have specific instructions). Like the -ology books, for instance. They look like presents.

I have bought myself new books just because they are beautiful. Not very often, but sometimes. Last fall, for instance, I bought us a copy of Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, in large part because it was such a nice book qua book.

And I'm all in favour of the shinny bits and the embossed bits and the pretty bits on the covers of so many fantasy books for kids, and the nice thick paper being used--what better way to send the message that books are important and special?

Anyone else bought any books recently because they beautiful?

(for more Armchair BEA participant posts, visit A. BEA Central here!)

Welcome to Armchair BEA, and my take on blog branding

For those of us unable to attend Book Expo America this week, and the Book Bloggers Convention that follows it, all is not entirely lost. A brave band of bloggers has set up Armchair BEA, and for the next few days, those of us taking part will be creating a alternate experience online.

Here's the official schedule:

• Tues. May 25th - BEA Related Posts
  


• Wed. May 26th - Blogger Interviews
  


• Thurs. May 27th - BEA Related Posts & Giveaways on Participating Sites
  


• Friday May 28th - BBC Roundtables

For the BEA related posts, we were encouraged to discuss some of the topics to be addressed in real life. I chose "blog branding," because that's something I decided to focus on a year and a half ago. I'm defining "branding" as creating a unique blog with a distinctive feel to it, so that when the name of your blog comes up in conversation, people will know who you are, and nod wisely.

If you're just starting out in blogging, I'd suggest not fretting to much about branding. It's not until you've been doing this for a while, I think, that you know what sort of books you most enjoy talking about, and are able to relax into your own unique style (unless you are a remarkable person with Clear Goals from the get go).

But at some point, you might want to concentrate on making your blog distinct. Before the fateful day when I decided to brand myself, "Charlotte's Library" was a scattered collection of children's and YA books--whatever struck my fancy, without much rhyme or reason. There was a heavy concentration of sci fi/fantasy, because of me having taken part in the Cybils, but it wasn't something I was doing on Purpose. And my stats were not stellar--around 3000 a month, and only about 100 people following me on various readers.

So I decided to specialize, to make Charlotte's Library a unique place. I decided I wanted to be a reliable, well known blog where people automatically went to find fantasy and science fiction for younger readers, and I took three steps to move in that direction.

Step 1. I established a Target Audience. I wanted to be a Resource for three different (but overlapping) audiences--people like me who like reading sff for kids, people considering adding books in that genre to library collections, and parents looking for recommendations. I dunno if having a target audience materially effects the words I type, but it gives me people to write to, and I make an effort to say things they might find useful.

Step 2. I created a distinctive look. I (finally) put up header art (with a nebula orange space snail to serve, in my own mind at least, as a mascot), and tweaked the settings. I can't think of any blogs that look much like mine. Part of this was putting a tag line in my header art, so that it was clear immediately what my blog was about: "fantasy and science fiction books for children and teenagers."

Step 3. I blogged about the books I though would best serve my target audience. I put a lot of effort into making helpful posts about new releases of sff for kids and teenagers, and, more recently, started rounding up middle grade sff posts from around the blogs. I had been frustrated by how hard it was to reliably find such posts--reviews of mg sff tend to be very scattered. Every reviewer I found who every reviewed such a book got added to my google reader (more or less--I am not a systematic person), and my round-ups have reached a rather nice bulk.

So I now am Branded. I think my blog has become synonymous with sff fiction for younger readers (I review both middle grade and YA books, but not, in general, the darker, older books). And my readership has grown by leaps and bounds. I still have lots of progress to make--I'd like to do more thematic posts and create more thematic lists; I'd like more people to know about me, and I'd love more comments (thank you, dear hardcore band of commenters. You know who you are). But I feel much more certain of my own identity in the blogging world, and I find that is a great motivator.

That was my own path. Specialization was a large part of that for me, but it doesn't have to be for everyone--a joyous eclecticism can also make a blog a unique place (off the top of my head, Colleen at Chasing Ray, Melissa of Book Nut, and Becky of Becky's Book Reviews come to mind). And when I think of the blogs that stand out in my own mind, it's not the crisp categories of style and book selection that set them apart. It's the fuzzy, intuitive-ly realized, consistent feeling that each one gives me that makes each one clear to me (logical, rational thinking not being how my mind works). And those distinct feelings come, of course, from the distinct voices of bloggers just being themselves, which I can kind of hear in my mind, even if I've never met them in person.

Fire Will Fall, by Carol Plum-Ucci

Spoiler Warning: Fire Will Fall (Harcourt, 2010, 485 pp in Arc, YA) is the sequel to Streams of Babel, which most definitely should be read first. Streams of Babel is a real humdinger of a suspenseful page turner, which I highly recommend (a great one, for instance, for Mother Reader's 48 Hour Reading Challenge). So don't read this review if you don't want to know the ending to the first book! Once you've read that one, you are going to want to read Fire Will Fall.

At the end of Streams of Babel, the three high school kids and one young man who had survived the terrorist attempt to poison them via the public water system have been moved to a "safe" house to complete their recovery from the mutated virus with which they have been infected (or not). The two hacker genius kids who helped crack that particular plot are ostensibly safe as well in New York city, recovering from their own nasty terrorist inflicted virus.

But not all the scientists behind that first plot were captured. As Shazad and Tyler, quarantined in New York, continue to apply their computer skills to finding them, it becomes clear that an even more horrible plot is being being hatched, with a virus more vicious than before. And the "safe house" isn't looking quite so safe anymore.

Meanwhile, the other four young people, all falling in and out of sickness as their original takes its course, are marooned together. Tensions build, friendships are strained, and new feelings for each other emerge in a hothouse of emotional intensity. As the terrorists move closer and ready their new designer virus, the tension grows...until their ostensible victims find in themselves what it takes to confront their own demons, and those lurking outside.

It's gripping and exciting stuff; a real page turner. The story is told in chapters from the points of view of the six young characters, which I think enhances the sense of tension--the reader never relaxes into a particular character, but is instead shunted briskly through differing perspectives. The drawback to this approach is that I found some characters more interesting and more convincingly drawn than others, so to some extent I was never fully engaged. And because, unavoidably, there is less mystery to the plot than there was in Streams of Babel (the cast of characters are, for the most part, known quantities), it's not quite as enthralling a book as that was.

Despite those caveats, Streams of Fire is an engrossing read, both a coming-of-age story and a fast paced thriller. I'm labeling it science fiction, because the hideously bio engineered virus aren't, I sincerely hope, in existence yet...but it is all disturbingly possible.

Note on age appropriateness--sexual content and violence make this a book for older readers.

(review copy received from the publisher at ALA Midwinter)

Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy from around the blogs--this week's roundup

Welcome to yet another Sunday of middle grade fantasy and science fiction reviews and news from around the blogs. Although every day I toil for hours, neglecting all other commitments to scour the blogging world for mg sff goodness, I'm sure I am missing stuff, and would love to be given more links! (it's actually not really all that toilsome--and I like doing it). So anyway, here it is again.

Just one more note: I'm defining the upper limit of "middle grade" these days as anything I'd give to an eleven or twelve year old, which includes things labeled "YA."

Reviews, reflections, and remarks:

Athena the Brian (Godess Girls) by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams at Welcome to My Tweendom.

The Boneshaker, by Kate Milford (2010), at BoingBoing and BSC Kids.

Clair de Lune, by Cassandra Golds (2004/2006), at Charlotte's Library.

Dark Days (Skulduggery Pleasant), by Derek Landy (2010) at Books & Other Thoughts.

Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, at The Antick Musings of G.B.H.Hornswoggler, Gent., and at Eva's Book Addiction.

Middleworld, by J. & P. Voelkel (2010), at What to Read.

Night Fairy, by Laura Amy Schlitz (2010), at Great Kid Books

Plain Kate, by Erin Bow (September 2010), at Abby (the) Librarian.

The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan (2010), at Bellaonbooks Blog.

The Sixty Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone (2010), at Literate Lives.

The Time Bike, by Jane Langton (2000), at Charlotte's Library.

Vampirates: Tide of Terror, by Justin Somper (2009) at Nayu's Reading Corner.

Wiff and Dirty George: the Z.E.B.R.A. Incident, by Stephen Swinburne (2010) at Fuse #8.

Fantasy Literature is a site that aspires to review just about every children's fantasy book every--this week's new addition to their archives is a look at Eulalia, by Brian Jacques.

Ms. Yingling offered a smorgasboard of goodness this week, in these posts--Viking Aliens go Hunting, Horses and Unicorns, and Emperors, Queens, and Pharaohs!

Katherine Langresh (author of the The Shadow Hunt, aka Dark Angels in the UK, which is up next on my reading pile-yay!) is one of those bloggers who writes the sort of long and thoughtful topical posts I never seem moved to write, but wish I did :). Here's her take on Fairytale Heroines.

If you aren't familiar with Bookie Woogie, you are missing a fun and funny blog, where a dad talks with his kids about the books they read--here are Dad (Aaron Zenz) and Isaac (11 years old) talking about Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and other fantasy as well.

Here's Greg Van Eekhout talking about his new book, Kid Vs Squid, on John Scalzi's Whatever.

I also just wanted to mention a blog that's new to me--KinderScares, which features a wide variety of horror for the young, like yesterday's look at The Big Book of Horror.

Author Interviews:

Christine Brodien Jones, author of The Owl Keeper, at The Enchanted Inkpot.

Jennifer Cervantes, author of Tortilla Sun, at La Bloga.

Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror, at Fuse #8

Kate Milford, author of The Boneshaker, at Chasing Ray.

And finally, here are The Hazerdous Players, creators of Knightime, interviewed at Finding Wonderland.

One last thing. I don't generally talk about movies, but this involves a favorite author of mine (Ursula Le Guin):

Tales from Earthsea, a 2006 anime film directed by Gorō Miyazaki, will be released in the US this August. It is not to be confused with the Sci-Fi Channel's mini-series. For more on the horror that was, here is Ursula Le Guin's article at Slate, entitled "A Whitewashed Earthsea: How the Sci Fi Channel Wrecked My Books."

Formed by the pen of Michael Morpurgo from the last drops of steel of London's Olympic stadium....

And now for something completely different--here are the two mascots for London's 2012 Olympic games!

From the AP article --"London Unveils One-Eyed Mascots" --"We've talked to lots of children and they don't want cuddly toys," London 2012 organizing committee chairman Sebastian Coe said. "They want something they can interact with and something with a good story behind it." The two mascots are based on a story by Michael Morpurgo, "in which they are formed by a welder from the last drops of steel from the girders of the Olympic Stadium in east London" (from the AP article).

Um. I can't really think of any children of my acquaintance who would want to interact with either of these. Yet, the more I stare at them, the more they grow on me....and in their computer generated form they are less disturbing....(unless I have now been starting at them for Too Long, and have lost my mind).



More pictures can be found here, or you can watch the official video at the London 2012 site.

Clair de Lune, by Cassandra Golds

No, this isn't the werewolf Claire de Lune, by Christine Johnson, that's just been released. This Clair de Lune is by Cassandra Golds (2004, 2006 in the US, Random House, middle grade, 197 pages), who is the author of one of my favorite books last year (The Museum of Mary Child).

Clair de Lune is young girl living in an old apartment house that is home to a famous ballet school. Her mother was a ballet dancer, who died tragically young while dancing, and her stern, unloving grandmother is steering Clair de Lune toward becoming a ballerina too. Clair de Lune cannot speak, but her grandmother finds this rather pleasing than otherwise--without words, it will be harder, if not impossible, she thinks, for the grand-daughter to become ensnared by love, as happened to her mother.

In the same building lives a mouse who dreams of dancing. Bonaventure has set his heart on creating the first mouse ballet, setting up his own mouse size studio in the wainscoting. Clair de Lune becomes his friend and confidant, and he shows her that this strange old house contains other mysteries--there is a door, far down, that opens up onto a beautiful monastery set by the ocean. And there Clair de Lune meets a monk who has dedicated his live to listening...and for the first time, she thinks that it is possible that someday she might be heard.

So Clair de Lune confronts the reasons why she cannot speak, Bonaventure begins his mouse ballet classes, and all seems to be going well....but then the ballet company decides to honor her mother by performing the ballet in which her mother died. And Clair de Lune must play her mother's part...

Bonaventure is one of the most charming fictional mice of my acquaintance--I loved his mouse ballet endeavours to pieces! Rather than distracting from the central arc of Clair de Lune's journey to full personhood, it complemented that story with its concrete example of how to make a dream come true. Frankly, it was the mouse element that deterred me from reading this book when it first came out--I don't generally like my ballet stories peopled with animals. But, having read it, it would be a much poorer story with out Bonaventure and friends, so don't make the same assumption I did!

Clair de Lune herself is a child to whom my heart went out. The other girls in her class don't realize she cannot speak--they just think she's a snot. Her grandmother is so warped as to be cruel. I found her journey toward speech, and toward love, profoundly moving.

Clair de Lune is a magical fairy-tale of great charm. It requires the reader to accept the fantastical elements at face value, not so much "suspending disbelief" as simply "believing," because obviously if you think about it too much, a door to a sea side monastery in the basement can't be swallowed--it must be simply enjoyed. The dream-quality of the book worked for me beautifully, but I'm not sure it's everyone's cup of tea....

Here are some reviews, at Big A little a (we miss you, Kelly!), at Kidsreads, and at Laina Has too Much Spare Time, and here's an interview with Golds at Behind Ballet.

Rough Magic, by Caryl Cude Mullin

Rough Magic, by Caryl Cude Mullin (2009, Second Story Press, YA, 264 pages) is a powerful reimagining of the story of The Tempest. It is a story not just of characters from that play--the witch, Sycorax, and Caliban her son, Prospero and Miranda, Ariel the spirit--but also tells what happens next, when two young girls from the next generation meet on the same enchanted island where The Tempest takes place.

The story begins with Sycorax, the witch. At first she is a girl full of love and hope, with magical gifts greater than anyone has known. But Sycorax throws her life away for love, a terrible choice that will drive her into madness, and shadow the life of her son, Caliban. Banished by her prince to a barren island, Sycorax thirsts for revenge. The island has its own strong, rough magic, and Sycorax craves it. But in seizing its power, she seals her terrible fate....

Caliban, left alone when his mother dies, rejects the staff into which she had poured the island's magic, giving it to the next castaway to arrive--Prospero, with young Miranda in tow. But the twisted hatred of Sycorax lives on, and it falls to Miranda's daughter, Chiara, to find her own power, and bring peace and healing to the island, its restless spirits, and Caliban himself.

Rough Magic is told from several points of view, and spans decades--two things that make me wary. I'm never quite sure whether I'll loose interest or not when so much time passes, and characters come and go. But I found myself absorbed from beginning to end. There was thematic cohesion, and there was cohesion to the plot--it was necessary that time should pass, and new characters to emerge.

One the other hand, the long passage of time did mean that there was a certain amount of "time passing just because," where little story development happened...and periods, as well (like Prospero's time on the island) that seem somewhat perfunctorily told (in a sort of "it has to be there, but it's not the central story" way) and this does drag the book down somewhat. And the new characters introduced in the book's second half never got quite enough page time to become fully real to me.

But for me, the power of this book (and I did find it rather powerful) came from the character of Caliban. It is Caliban's voice, his life (twisted, but not without love) and his choices, that are at the heart of the book. Yes, Chiara's a strong character who finds her own magical powers (as is Sycorax, for that matter), but Caliban is a figure both pitiable and strong. (Prospero, on the other hand, is a jerk).

Here are some other reviews of Rough Magic, at Steph Su Reads, and Feminist Review. I'm curious now--I liked this one, and found it a gripping read; these two reviewers didn't like it. Anyone else read it and have an opinion?

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

Light Beneath Ferns, by Anne Spollen

Light Beneath Ferns, by Anne Spollen (Flux, 2010, YA, 206 pages) *more spoilerish than my reviews usually are*

Elizah, telling the story of what happened to her that fall, begins with finding a bone at the edge of a graveyard. The graveyard is Elizah's new home--her mother has taken her to New York, to the small town where she had lived when she was a girl. She is the new caretaker of a historical cemetery, looking desperately to make a New Start. And Elizah is the new girl in the local school, a girl who does not want to talk to anyone. A girl who is happiest left alone in silence...because what, really, is she supposed to say? Her father, a compulsive gambler wanted by the law, has skipped out on them, and now she's supposed to start a new life....

Then she finds a bone, coming out of the mud at the edge of a river. Fascinated by bones, she brings it home....and realizes that it is human, and keeps it, safely shut away in her room...

At home and at school, she is pressured to be Normal. To be friendly, and even encouraging, to the other girls and to a boy who fancies her. But exploring off by herself by the river, she meets someone she thinks could be a real friend--a boy named Nathaniel, who seems to live outside the everyday world. A charismatic boy more real to her than anyone else in her life, he takes her upriver with him, showing her the strange world in which he lives...and gradually unfolds to her, as fall changes to winter, the reason he has sought out her company.

It is not that hard (even for a reader as un-thinking when reading as myself) to guess pretty quickly that Nathaniel and the bone that Elizah is keeping are somehow connected....yet even though it is easy to see where the plot is going, Elizah's beautifully drawn life as a rather desperate introvert, trying to make sense of difficult things, carries the story to its moving conclusion.

As paranormal romances go, it is subtle and understated, as the title, Light Beneath Ferns, suggests--small glimpses of strange and magical things, filtered through reality. Recommended to those who like their ghosts magically other, rather than front and center, and to those in the mode for a romance more along the lines of things that dreams are made of, rather than the blatant wish fulfillment of Young Love.

Here's a review from some who loved it: Book Crazy, and here's a review from someone who didn't: Books at Midnight.

I myself really empathized with Elizah (she made the book for me), thought the supernatural elements of the plot included some random bits that weren't quite developed enough to make sense to me (which I found vexing), wished for a bit more of the romance (Nathaniel was cute, with lots of paranormal romance potential that was never quite realized....oh well), and ultimately found it rather haunting....

Personal postscript:

There was one issue that I personally had with this book that spoiled my enjoyment of it somewhat. As an archaeologist, I was very put off by Elizah's cavalier appropriation of human remains. In my own line of work, I get calls every so often from people who have unwittingly found human bones, and sometimes it's my job to be the one to pick them up, carefully and respectfully, to try to figure out what to do with them--reburial, preferably with the next-of-kin located, being the desired outcome. So the idea of a teenager keeping a human bone in her bedroom rubbed me the wrong way--this is just not right. If you should ever find human remains, you should call a. the police b. the state archaeologist (every state has one, as part of their state historic preservation office).

The Time Bike, by Jane Langton, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Time Bike (Harper Collins, 2000, middle grade, 176 pages) is the fifth book in Jane Langton's series about the Hall family of Concord, Massachusetts. The first is The Diamond in the Window, published way back in 1962, the eighth, and most recent, is The Dragon in the Tree, published in 2008.

The Hall family, brother and sister Eddy and Eleanor and a scatter of relations, are the sort of people to whom magical things happen. In the case of this book, the magical thing is a bicycle that arrives from India one day. A very old-fashioned, out-of-date bicycle, that no self-respecting boy would want to ride. But when hiding the bike out of sight in a nook next to the coat closet, Eddy notices that it is, in fact, rather extraordinary.

"It trembled slightly under his hands as he propped it upright, almost as if it were alive. Little sparkles flickered around the rims of the wheels. And there was a sound, a kind of whispering murmur." (page 29). But most extraordinary of all are the two dials, one labeled Days, the other Years. And then, just to make things completely clear, Eddy notices the label saying "TIME BIKE."

It is, indeed, a bicycle that allows its user to travel through time....and Eddy, and his sister Eleanor, use and misuse its magic in the traditional way of these things, very Edward Eager-esque. But despite misadventures and lost opportunities, it is thanks to the bicycle that the children are able to save their beloved family house.

Story-wise, it's lots of fun in an old fashioned feeling, summer-adventurish way. Timeslip-wise, it's disappointing, because the time the two kids spend in the past doesn't really seem of great interest to the author. She doesn't linger in it--it gives more a whisking feeling than a true immersion (if that makes any sense)--only 6 pages out of the first 95 are set in the past, and nothing much happens.

And the result is that the present, with the charming eccentricities of Aunt Alex and Uncle Freddy (obsessive devotees of Theroux) is much more engrossing. In a nutshell, this isn't one to read for Time Travelness, but rather for charming every-dayness spiced with magical fun.

It's not necessary to have read any other books in the series before reading this one, but it's not the most emotionally resonant or powerful of the series, and so isn't the best place to start, because you might not want to keep going. And there's also no good reason why you wouldn't want to treat yourself, if this sounds the sort of book you like, to the whole shebang, read chronologically. I myself prefer Eager, for the somewhat snappier dialogue, but there are many passionate devotees of Langton's books, in particular of The Diamond in the Window (I have linked to its Amazon page as proof of this!).

Forget-Her-Nots, by Amy Brecount White

Forget-Her-Nots, by Amy Brecount White (Greenwillow, 2010, YA, 365 pages).

One might say it began with the small cluster of flowers outside the door of Laurel's room at boarding school, on the very day she was to give a class presentation on the Victorian language of flowers. That was the first day on which fourteen-year old Laurel felt the first touches of her magical ability to send messages with flowers--messages that could really effect people's lives.

Or one might say it began years ago, with a long chain of flower lovers gathering knowledge, and passing it on to the children who inherited their gifts, teaching them as they came into their power. But Laurel's mother has died, and there is no-one, it seems, to teach her...and yet the flowers are calling to her. Armed with an antique handbook on the language of flowers, Laurel begins to work magic on the lives of her classmates and teachers.

But soon she finds herself in somewhat over her head. Still grieving for her mother, uncertain in the social realm of her new boarding school, falling in crush with a cute boy--there's a lot on Laurel's plate without being pressured by her classmates to produce with magically efficacious bouquets for every occassion. Fortunately, the gardens of Laural's school, and the woman who tends them, have a history entwined with that of Laurel's family...a history that will help Laurel recover from her grief, and claim her birthright of flowers.

The premise that the language of flowers is actually magical is a lovely, imaginative one, especially delightful to a flower lover such as myself. The language of flowers is an integral part of the text, and the meaning of each flower, and how those meaning played out their parts in the social melange of high school made for reading that was fun, a little zany, and occasionally poignant. The drawback of the heavy reliance on the flowers was that Laurel's growth as a character seemed to me somewhat occluded by the character traits induced by her botanical choices...

Forget-Her-Nots is not a fantasy in which where the magical powers of the heroine involve her in a matter of life and death. The stakes are the ordinary difficulties of high school (will prom be wrecked by floral magic gone awry?), the outcome sweet, rather than earthshaking. I'd recommend this to the 12 or 13 year old who isn't quite ready or willing to plunge into darker fantasies, who might well find it a lovely and satisfying journey.

Other reviews at Presenting Lenore, Unsearchable Riches, Green Bean Teen Queen.

And just in case anyone is looking for more books in which magic meets the language of flowers--one of E. Nesbit's lesser known books, The Wonderful Garden (1911) tells of two children who are convinced they are working magic with their floral undertakings....Not my favorite Nesbit, but quite fun.

(disclaimer: my copy of Forget-her-nots was sent by the author)

This Year's Andre Norton winner, nestled into this Sunday's Round-up of Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction from around the blogs

Welcome to yet another week's worth of gleanings--the reviews, interviews, news, etc. pertaining to middle grade science fiction and fantasy that I have hunted down. Please let me know if I missed yours!

That being said, here's a piece of news that isn't middle grade at all: the Andre Norton Award (the Nebula for childrens/YA books) has gone to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente. This book has a most interesting history. It started life as a children's book mentioned in another of Valente's books, Palimpsest. Then Valente actually wrote it, posting it a chapter at a time, inviting readers to pay her what they thought it was worth. Feiwel and Friends picked it up, and it's scheduled to be published as a book next spring (unless they move its publication date forward, what with it having already won a major award!) But in the meantime, here it is on-line. (and here's the full list of the 2010 Nebula winners).

Now for the Middle Grade Reviews:

Alien Encounter, by Pamela Service, at Jean Little Library.
The first two Alison Dare books at Books and Other Thoughts (I missed this last week, but since others might share my curiosity about this series, which looks more than a little cool, here it is today...)
Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer at Fantasy Literature.
Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies, by Andrea Beatty, at Jean Little Library.
The Billionaire's Curse, by Richard Newsome, at Book Aunt.
The Boneshaker, by Kate Milford, at Fantasy Literature.
Celia's Robot, by Margaret Chang, at The HappyNappyBookseller.
Dark Life, by Kat Falls, at The HappyNappyBookseller.
Dot Robot: Atomic Storm, by Jason Bradbury, at Nayu's Reading Corner.
Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Books and Other Thoughts
Foiled, by Jane Yolen, at Eva's Book Addiction.
The Forgotten Door, by Alexander Key, at Bellaonbook's Blog (a look back at an old favorite)
Hidden Boy, by Jon Berkeley, at Jean Little Library.
Little Sister, by Kara Dalkey, at Charlotte's Library.
Monster Slayers, by Lukas Ritter, at Star Shadow.
My Rotten Life (Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie Book 1), by David Lubar, at Zelda Del West.
Pyramid of Souls (Magic Keepers Book 2), by Erica Kirov, at Booking Mama.
The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan, at Becky's Book Reviews, Book Aunt, and My Reviews.
The Sixty-Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone, at Semicolon.
Stuck on Earth, by David Klass, at Charlotte's Library (labeled YA, but great, I think, for a 12 year old boy....)
Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris, by R.L. LaFevers, at Bookshelves of Doom.
Timekeeper's Moon, by Joni Sensel, at One Librarian's Book Reviews.
Troll Fell, by Katherine Langrish, at Charlotte's Library.
The Wide Awake Princess, by E. D. Baker, at Jean Little Library.

Massimiliano Frezzato's Keepers of the Maser comic, at Tor.

And there's also a look at the Shadow Children Series, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at The O.W.L.

Interviews:

An interview with Hilary Wagner, author of Nightshade City (coming in October) at Dreams Can be Reached.

An interview with Molly (a dog), who is one of the characters in Mary Cunningham's fantasy/mystery middle-grade novel, The Magician's Castle, at Pets and Their Authors.

And speaking of interviews, the Summer Blog Blast Tour kicks off tomorrow. The full schedule is here, and includes an interview with Kate Milford (The Boneshaker) tomorrow at Cashing Ray.

Other News:

Booklist Online has posted its 2010 Top 10 SF/Fantasy books for Youth ("2010" meaning the last 12 months...so Catching Fire, for instance, is there...)

Those of us unable to eat in a civilized fashioned at our dining room tables, because said tables are being used to store books, will welcome Mother Reader's 5th 48 Hour Reading Challenge! The weekend is June 4-6, the prizes awesome, the fun very fun.

Anything I missed?????? Let me know!

Stuck on Earth, by David Klass

As soon as I read the blurb for Stuck on Earth, by David Klass (2010, Farrar Straus Giroux, YA, 227 pages), I added it to my list. As the only blogger (as far as I know) who features an orange space snail (if you look at it just right) in her header art (edited to add: the snail is no more. I have moved on....), how could I pass on a book that was actually about a space snail?

Ketchvar, the space snail in question, has been sent to planet Earth to make a determination about the future of the human species--will humanity end up destroying their home, or is their hope for them? If the former, then it's bye bye homo sapiens, because another alien race is about to loose their own planet through no fault of their own, and they have their hearts set on moving to a (humanity free) Earth....

So Ketchvar carefully inserts himself into the brain of a randomly chosen 14 year old boy, Tom Filber, and begins to observe life on Earth. But his mission is less straightforward than he had hoped. From one of his transmissions back to mission control:

"Revered Elders, I fear we may have randomly selected a family that is not representative of the human condition. I suggest a team of GC analysts immediately go to work on the question of whether all human families are this miserable and dysfunctional, or if I had the bad luck to hop off our spaceship into a loony bin of a household." (page 117)

Truly Tom's life is terrible. His mother is volatile and abusive, his father is unemployed and drinking too much, his sister hates him, and (even before the arrival of the Space Snail) he was nicknamed Alien at school, and bullied something fierce. It wouldn't be surprising if a boy like Tom, imaginative, sensitive, and pushed over the edge, began to fantasize that he really was an alien...and gradually Ketchvar, lost in the unhappiness of Tom's life, begins to wonder if he himself is real, or simply a coping mechanism.

But, whether Ketchvar is real or not, he is a different person than the Tom of a few days before. He is a Boy/Space Snail who is able to take risks with the people around him (including the girl next door) and who may actually be able act heroically (with help from Ketchvar's alien abilities), taking on the mega-company that is poisoning his town's river.

Ketchvar's unique perspective on teenage life in America is by turns poignant and humorous, and the story is given further punch by the element of doubt that gradually creeps in. I generally prefer to know it if the narrator is a delusional figment or a real entity, but here the uncertainty worked beautifully, underlining the lack of hard and fast solutions to the problems of Tom's life. As Michelle (the girl next door) puts it: "I'm starting to like you," she confesses, "and I"m not sure whether I'd rather have you turn out to be a crazy boy or a perfectly sane snail creature." (page 175)

In the end, Ketchvar's gone, Tom's still stuck on Earth, and the reader is free to believe or not. But regardless Klass has managed to bring the misery of the Tom's life in the first part of the book to a satisfying place of hope.

Science-fiction fans may feel a bit betrayed that they can't quite believe in Ketchvar (or maybe they will choose to ignore the possibility that he is unreal). But I can't imagine this book not striking a chord with the young reader who feels like an alien navigating a hostile planet...and wondering if it is worthwhile to Try...

Little Sister, by Kara Dalkey

Little Sister, by Kara Dalkey (Penguin, 1996, upper mg/YA, 192 pages)

In Japan, around 900 years ago, 13 year old Mitsuko lived the life of a typical noble girl. Sheltered from all outside trouble, modestly hiding her face behind her sleeve, she joins her sisters in writing poems, and dreaming vague dreams. But when trouble comes, and her household is endangered, Mitsuko and her sisters flee to the family's mountain lodge. On the way, they are attacked by brigands, and the husband of Mitsuko's beloved older sister is slain.

Now her sister sits like a souless shadow facing death. When the local warlord threatens to take in her family by force, Mitsuko drags her sister off into the forest, desperately looking for a way to save her. Taking shelter in a shinto shrine, Mitsuko prays for help...and help comes, in the form of Goranu, a tengu--an immortal, shape-shifting demon.

Goranu takes pity on Mitsuko, and leads her off on an adventurous quest to find her sister's lost spirit. It is a quest that takes them into the realms of dragons, gods, and demons, to the land of the ancestors, and to the sheltering home of a poor family she had once looked down on. And as Mitsuko learns first-hand the wonders of this world and the worlds unseen, she comes to realize that, even if she saves her sister, she can never return to the life of stifled privilege she had once led. Nor can she give up her shapeshifting, tricksterish, loyal friend, Goranu...even if he is a demon.

Shinto and Buddhist folklore mingle to make a magical journey of a book, one with beautiful images and wondrous happenings to spare. It is a beautiful journey character-wise too, as Mitsuko learns and thinks and grows...she is a worthy heroine indeed, determined and thoughtful. And Goranu is a most intriguing character in his own right, and the relationship that develops between them is tremendously interesting, and not without lightly humours touches.

Their relationship is not entirely satisfying, though...there's a gap of several years between the end of the quest and the end of the book, before the last conversation between the two that we are given. I really would have liked some more of these missing years of their friendship--as it was, the ending came as something of an abrupt surprise that hadn't been foreshadowed.

(oh my gosh--I just found that there is a sequel--The Heavenward Path. I Must Read it Now! Pause while I go place library hold on it....Done)

Dalkey's prose seems, at first, somewhat stiff and measured (the book's School Library Journal reviewer called its rhythm "choppy and unnatural," with some justification), and I was somewhat doubtful initially, but soon I wasn't thinking about style at all--just about the story. In the end, I was entranced, and I'd recommend this to anyone with a fascination for historical Japan, brave girls on magical journeys, or shapeshifters.

Age wise--nothing happens that isn't upper middle grade appropriate (a bit of violent death, but not too much), but I think the somewhat off-putting formality of the narration might make this more accessible to a YA audience. Publishers Weekly put at 10-14, Amazon has it as 9-12, and it's catalogued in my library as YA....My own call is 11 on up. And it's one that grown up readers of juvenile fantasy, like me, might well enjoy lots.

Thanks, Heather, for the recommendation! Here's part of Heather's comment (on another shapeshifter review): "Not only the best shapeshifter book by far I've ever read (I haven't read Mistwood yet), but one of the best Asian fantasies as well." I'm not quite sure I'd go that far, but I did like it lots! (and I can't wait for the sequel!)

Voices of Dragons, by Carrie Vaughn

Voices of Dragons, by Carrie Vaughn (HarperCollins, 2010, YA, 309 pages), is a rather unusual fantasy, in that it combines contemporary YA-ness--the heroine's best girl friend who is putting the pressure on her to grow up, the developing relationship with the cute boy-- with Dragons. And the result is a rather fun, rather interesting, and more than somewhat memorable story.

The dragons had reappeared in the world just after WW II, setting fire to a couple of towns up in Alaska. War raged between dragons and humans, until at last a truce was established. A large chunk of Canada, some of northern Asia, and a bit of the American Rockies was carved out to be Dragon Territory, and no human was allowed past the border. Kay lives right up against the frontier, and has taken the law seriously all her life; after all, her mom works in border enforcement, and her dad's the sheriff. And Kay didn't mean to cross the line, that day she went rock climbing on the edge of dragon territory...

But when Kay falls into a deep, fast-flowing stream, she is rescued by a dragon. The first she has ever really seen, and the first dragon anyone has talked to for decades. Artegal is young and curious, just like Kay, and they agree to keep meeting secretly, to learn about each other. And they become friends.

There are those in the military, however, who are uncomfortable with potentially dangerous enemies controlling a large swath of former US territory. While Kay and Artegal are peacefully exploring dragon/human history, war is being planned. US planes, designed to mimic the superior maneuverability of dragon flying, have invaded dragon airspace. And the dragons are retaliating, setting Kay's town alight. Kay and Aregal realize that their friendship might be the only way to bring peace back...if they are willing to follow the clues in an ancient book of dragon lore and risk being seen as traitors to their own people.

And as this all is building up, Kay's worried about what to wear to the school dance, her best (boy) friend, Jon, is become more than a friend, and Kay's anxious and uncertain about that (although happy, too), and her best (girl) friend, Tam, is pushing her to go further and faster....

The alternate history is intriguing, with enough detail given about how things ended up this way to be satisfying, while allowing for unexplored mysteries to remain (it's a bit odd, for instance, that all human/dragon communication was cut off so aburptly). This is the first of a series, and although it ends at a good point (in a "the first chapter is over" type way), it also is clear that Kay and Artegal are about to plunge into a new adventure. Will Kay and Jon ever get a chance to actually go as far as Tam thinks they should??? Is peace possible??? And just who are these dragons, anyway???

Voices of Dragons might well appeal to steampunk fans, with its playful alternate history; it has definite appeal for dragon fans; and, in addition, has enough sort of chick-lit YA to it to (perhaps) reach even those who like their YA romances sans fantasy. It doesn't have tremendous depth of character, nor did it evoke tremendously strong feelings for me, but it was a fast, entertaining, read.

(note on age-appropriateness: it's very YA in the (minor) subplot about having sex (or not), but although there's chatter, nothing actually happens).

Here are some other reviews, at Fantasy Magazine, Steph Su Reads, and Book Crazy. And the first chapter's up at Carrie Vaughn's website, if you want to check it out for yourself....

New releases of fantasy and science fiction books for teenagers and kids--the middle of May, 2010 edition

Here are the new releases of science fiction and fantasy for kids and teens from the middle of May. As ever, the information comes from Teens Read Too, and the blurbs, unless otherwise noted, come from the publishers via Amazon.

THE ADVENTURES OF HOTSY TOTSY by Clive Cussler “Take a look at Casey and Lacey Nicefolk and you'll see two regular, all-American kids. But these brother-and-sister twins have a secret. Hidden in the family barn is the most magical-and coolest-gadget unknown to man: a mystical box that can turn any small object into a life-size replica. When the twins' parents go out of town, the two decide to put the box to use. Taking a model boat, they create a fully functioning powerboat and enter a race up the Sacramento River. But this is no ordinary boat, and this is no ordinary race. What follows is a nautical adventure where being the first to cross the finish line is not the only prize.”

ALISON DARE: THE HEART OF THE MAIDEN and ALISON DARE: LITTLE MISS ADVENTURE by J. Torres. "Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft in fabulous, graphic adventures.Alison Dare is not your typical twelve-year-old. She's the daughter of an archaeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab. To top it off, she's also the niece of an international super-spy; it's no surprise that a craving for danger is in her blood! Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan's Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more "normal" life for their daughter. But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals - Wendy and Dot - somehow manage to find themselves involved in adventures that rival those of Alison's globetrotting, planet-saving relatives. Whether it's magic genies, super-powered bank robbers, or a dastardly baron bent on world domination, Alison Dare delivers the best thrills since Indiana Jones and more action than Lara Croft!"

BLIMPO: THE THIRD CIRCLE OF HECK by Dale E. Basye. “With more clever, dark humor and zany silliness, Dale E. Basye sends Milton and Marlo Fauster back for thirds in another laugh-out-loud installment of the popular series Heck. Welcome to Blimpo, where the, um, plump kids go. After his second escape from Bea "Elsa" Bubb, the Principal of Darkness, Milton Fauster makes his way to Blimpo—the circle of the otherworldly reform school, Heck, where he's sure his friend Virgil is sentenced. What Milton finds in Blimpo horrifies him. The overweight dead kids spend most of their time running on giant human hamster wheels called DREADmills that detect and exploit their deepest fears. The rest they spend eating Hambone Hank's barbecue—mystery meat that is delicious, but suspiciously (to Milton, anyway) haunting. Every classroom has a huge TV screen showing happy thin people who taunt Blimpo residents with a perfection they will never attain. Meanwhile, at her new job in the devil's Infernship program, Milton's sister, Marlo, knows all about trying to achieve perfection. And failing miserably. Can Milton get himself and Virgil out of Blimpo in time to rescue Marlo, too? Or is Fauster the next delicacy on Bea "Elsa" Bubb's menu?”

FALCON QUINN AND THE BLACK MIRROR by Jennifer Finney Boylan. "Thirteen-year-old Falcon Quinn and his neighbors, Max and Megan, board bus number 13 for school on an ordinary day in Cold River, Maine. Only the bus doesn't take its ordinary route, and Falcon and his friends soon find themselves in an extraordinary place—on Shadow Island, at the Academy for Monsters. With a student body stranger than the cast of any monster movie Falcon has ever seen, the academy is home to creatures and oddities of all kinds. In the academy's atmosphere, Falcon's friends begin to unleash and enjoy their monster natures, from flying with Pearl, La Chupakabra, to decaying with the "Zombie Snap." Falcon has always felt different, with his one bright blue eye and one shadow-black eye, but is he really a monster? Will he discover the other thing that makes him different when he finds himself in the Black Mirror? And when he learns that the school's mission is to teach students to hide their aberrant natures, Falcon and his friends need to find a way to fight back for their monster selves."

FIRE IN THE SKY: SEEKERS by Erin Hunter. “The spirits dance like fire in the sky. . . . The three cubs—Kallik, Toklo, and Lusa—along with their shape-shifting companion, Ujurak, stand on the edge of the sea-ice under the blazing Northern Lights. The land has come to an end, but the bears' journey is far from over. Now they must put their trust in Kallik's paws, as she feels the ice pulling her out toward the ocean. Life on the ice is more difficult than the bears imagined. While Kallik struggles to remember her polar bear roots, Toklo bristles in the unfamiliar territory and Lusa gets weaker by the day; black and brown bears don't belong on the ice. Meanwhile, Ujurak learns firsthand what lurks beneath the whorls and bubbles of the ice, and what he discovers will change everything. Just when it seems like they'll never survive in the frozen wilderness, a mystical encounter with a bear spirit assures them that all will be well. But this strange vision leads to even more questions, and ultimately it might tear the bears apart—this time for good—as the next steps of their journey come into focus.

I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP by Barrie Summy. "What's better than a sleepover? A sleepover with makeovers! Sherry and her friends have an awesome time with eye shadow, glitter, and more hair products than a salon. But when the girls wake up the next morning with serious skin issues, Sherry is freaked. Someone must have tampered with her makeup! It turns out that the mall's cosmetics kiosk has had lots of products returned by upset customers. Sherry is determined to get to the bottom of things. After all, she's a bit of a crime-solving celebrity (well, at least in the spirit world). Ghost academies around the world are impressed by Sherry's and her ghost mom's skills. And if anyone can solve a mystery involving mascara, it's Sherry Holmes Baldwin."

IVY'S EVER AFTER by Dawn Lairamore. “Once upon a time in the kingdom of Ardendale there lived a spirited princess named Ivy, who had no interest in being rescued by Prince Charming, and an undersized dragon named Elridge, who was better at solving word puzzles than breathing fire. Sailing into this world on a ship made of whale bones came Romil, a handsome prince with dastardly designs on Princess Ivy and her kingdom. Ivy and Elridge, both disappointments to their families, join forces to try and thwart Romil's evil plot. In the process these traditional enemies become fast freinds, discover hidden strengths, and earn the respect of all who know them. Full of humor and high adventure--and plenty of slightly skewed fairy-tale motifs--this frothy fractured fairy tale is sure to delight young readers.”

KERKA'S BOOK: THE FAIRY GODMOTHER ACADEMY by Jan Bozarth. "In the second title in the Fairy Godmother Academy series, the narrative viewpoint switches to Kerka, the sidekick in Birdie’s Book (2009), who is now on a quest to her sister Biba’s voice, as well as her own destiny. Ever since their mother died, Biba has not talked, and as Kerka, 13, trains to become a fairy godmother, she reenters the dreamland of Aventurine and embarks on a perilous journey in which she confronts her own shortcomings. The blend of magical detail with family drama will hold fantasy fans, even those new to the series." (from Booklist)


KID VS. SQUID by Greg van Eekhout. "Thatcher Hill is bored stiff of his summer job dusting the fake mermaids and shrunken heads at his uncle's seaside Museum of Curiosities. But when a mysterious girl steals an artifact from the museum, Thatcher's summer becomes an adventure that takes him from the top of the ferris wheel to the depths of the sea. Following the thief, he learns that she is a princess of the lost Atlantis. Her people have been cursed by an evil witch to drift at sea all winter and wash up on shore each summer to an even more terrible fate—working the midway games and food stands on the boardwalk. Can Thatcher help save them before he, too, succumbs to the witch's curse?"


LEGENDS: BATTLES AND QUESTS by Anthony Horowitz, "Including King Arthur, The Minotaur, Inca legends and more! There was a time when monsters and dragons roamed the earth and the gods walked among us. A time of blood, swords and furious battles. A time of legends, heroes, darkness and death . . ."



MONSTER SLAYERS by Lukas Ritter. "When vicious, dog-headed gnolls kidnap everyone living in the small village of Hesiod, only Evin and his fighter friend Jorick manage to escape. With help from an ancient guidebook of magical beasts called A Practical Guide to Monsters, the two boys and a new friend--elf wizard Betilivatis--must trek through ancient ruins and face one menacing monster after another in order save their families. But Evin soon realizes that not everything is as it seems. Someone--or something--has taken leadership of the gnolls and has dangerous plans for the kidnapped villagers. Betilivatis often disappears mysteriously and has strange conversations with someone only she can see. And Evin is having unusual dreams of a place he's never been, a place that feels more and more real with each passing day."

PHANTOM OF BLOOD ALLEY: BARNABY GRIMES by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell. "Barnaby Grimes is a tick-tock lad, high-stacking his way across the rooftops of his city in search of adventure and mystery. In each tale, he encounters a supernatural force and must battle the horrors that await him. In this new adventure, Barnaby finds himself in the fiercely competitive world of early photography, where the rewards are immense but so are the risks. After an experiment goes disastrously wrong, Barnaby is on the trail of a mad chemist with a talent for disappearing into thin air. . . ."


THE RING OF FIVE by Eoin McNamee. "The Ring of Five, set at a school for spies, is full of surprises as well as fascinating questions about loyalty, destiny, and what it means to be a spy. Danny Caulfield doesn't know how he ended up at a mysterious academy called Wilsons. A few of the students are pretty scary. Someone tries to murder him. Even the ravens that haunt the school seem to be against him. Yet he also finds friends: Les, an exceptional thief; Dixie, who has an unsettling talent; and Vandra, a physick with special powers. It turns out that Danny is destined for a terrifying mission. As he embarks on his training, he is shocked and secretly thrilled to discover that he seems to have all the natural gifts of the perfect spy—most importantly, the ability to betray."

SUPER HUMAN by Michael Carroll. "Four thousand years ago the world’s first super human walked the earth. Possessing the strength of one hundred men, skin impervious to attack, and the ability to read minds, this immortal being used his power to conquer and enslave nations. Now plans are in motion that will transport this super human to the present, where he’ll usher in a new age of tyranny unlike anything the world has ever seen. Determined to stand against them, using powers they’ve only just begun to master, is a ragtag group of young heroes. For them this first test may be their greatest . . . and last."


THE WIDE-AWAKE PRINCESS by E. D. Baker. “In this new stand-alone fairy tale, Princess Annie is the younger sister to Gwen, the princess destined to be Sleeping Beauty. When Gwennie pricks her finger and the whole castle falls asleep, only Annie is awake, and only Annie—blessed (or cursed?) with being impervious to magic—can venture out beyond the rose-covered hedge for help. She must find Gwen's true love to kiss her awake. But who is her true love? The irritating Digby? The happy-go-lucky Prince Andreas, who is holding a contest to find his bride? The conniving Clarence, whose sinister motives couldn't possibly spell true love? Joined by one of her father's guards, Liam, who happened to be out of the castle when the sleeping spell struck, Annie travels through a fairy tale land populated with characters both familiar and new as she tries to fix her sister and her family . . . and perhaps even find a true love of her own."

YOUNG ADULT

THE FIRE OPAL by Regina McBride. "There was a time when Maeve O'Tullagh led a simple life; a time when she and her mother, Nuala, collected kelp on the foreshore near their cottage in Ard Macha; a time when she played among the Celtic ruins with her older brothers and daydreamed about the legendary Holy Isles, an enchanted land ruled in a past age by a beautiful goddess. But after Maeve's sister, Ishleen, is born, her mother sinks into a deep, impenetrable trance. For years, Maeve tries to help her mother "awaken," and then the unthinkable happens: Ishleen succumbs to the same mysterious ailment as Nuala. Heartbroken to think that her sister and her mother might be lost to her forever, Maeve sets off on an unimaginable quest to a world filled with fantastical creatures, a web of secrets, a handsome, devious villain who will stop at nothing to have her hand in marriage—braving them all to retrieve a powerful glowing stone that will help her recover the souls of her loved ones and bring them home to Ard Macha."

THE GOLDEN SPIRAL: THE HOURGLASS DOOR by Lisa Mangum. “His eyes. His touch. His kiss. Dante was unlike anyone Abby had ever met. Now he s gone, and Abby will do anything to get him back . . . The hourglass door has closed behind Dante, sending him back in time to hunt down Zo, Tony, and V. Abby knows that Dante, as a Master of Time, is the only one who can stop them from destroying time itself. She also knows that he will need her help. But almost immediately, things start to change, and Abby s worst fears are realized when Zo begins targeting her past specifically. As Abby s world fractures around her, she must face a terrible truth: either Dante didn t make it through the door, or he is lost forever. So with Dante s blueprints in hand, she begins construction on a new door, a new time machine that will either save Dante or doom him. With each new change that ripples into her present, Abby s life continues to spiral out of control. Her relationships with Jason, Natalie, and even her family are threatened to the breaking point and beyond. Zo s power is greater than Abby ever imagined, but as she struggles to free Dante, she receives help from an unexpected and unlikely ally. The bank is eroding. The barriers are thinning. And time is running out.”


HELL'S HEROES: THE DEMONATA by Darren Shan. "Beranabus and Dervish are gone. Bec has formed an unholy alliance with Lord Loss. Kernel is blind, held on Earth against his will. Grubbs is mad with grief and spinning out of control. The demons are crossing. The Disciples are falling. The Shadow is waiting. Welcome to the end."


ILLYRIA by Elizabeth Hand. “Madeleine and Rogan are first cousins, best friends, twinned souls, each other’s first love. Even within their large, disorderly family—all descendants of a famous actress—their intensity and passion for theater sets them apart. It makes them a little dangerous. When they are cast in their school’s production of Twelfth Night, they are forced to face their separate talents and futures, and their future together. This masterful short novel, winner of the World Fantasy Award, is magic on paper.”

INK BLOOM: DRAW AND PAINT A FANTASY ADVENTURE by Jim Pavelec & Chris Seaman. “Create an array of fantastic alien creatures, landscapes, ships and background elements while being entertained with the story of a strong female character and learning how illustration and story work hand in hand. Follow Hachi, a 17-year-old girl of Chinese-Japanese descent immediately following World War II, as she discovers herself and her innate powers while traveling to futuristic worlds, encountering new friends and terrible foes that will push her newfound powers to their limits.”

RESTORING HARMONY by Joelle Anthony. "The year is 2041, and sixteen-year-old Molly McClure has lived a relatively quiet life on an isolated farming island in Canada, but when her family fears the worst may have happened to her grandparents in the US, Molly must brave the dangerous, chaotic world left after global economic collapse—one of massive oil shortages, rampant crime, and abandoned cities. Molly is relieved to find her grandparents alive in their Portland suburb, but they’re financially ruined and practically starving. What should’ve been a quick trip turns into a full-fledged rescue mission. And when Molly witnesses something the local crime bosses wishes she hadn’t, Molly’s only way home may be to beat them at their own game. Luckily, there’s a handsome stranger who’s willing to help."

THE RISE OF RENEGADE X by Chelsea M. Campbell. "Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she's been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father's too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he's not a hero in any way, or else he's stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first.To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad's "flying lessons" that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city--despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights--thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she's his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero."

STILL SUCKS TO BE ME: THE ALL-TRUE CONFESSIONS OF MINA SMITH, TEEN VAMPIRE
by Kimberly Pauley. "With vampire boyfriend George and best friend Serena by her side, Mina thought she had her whole life—or rather afterlife—ahead of her. But then Mina’s parents drop a bomb. They’re moving. To Louisiana. And not somewhere cool like New Orleans, but some teeny, tiny town where cheerleaders and jocks rule the school. Mina has to fake her death, change her name, and leave everything behind, including George and Serena. Not even the Vampire Council’s shape-shifting classes can cheer her up. Then Serena shows up on Mina’s doorstep with some news that sends Mina reeling. Mina may look a lot better with fangs, but her afterlife isn’t any less complicated!"

THE WATER SEEKER by Kimberly Willis Holt. "Amos Kincaid is the son of a dowser – a person gifted in knowing how to “find” water deep in the ground. As a young person, Amos doesn’t reveal his gift to others; he’s not sure he wants the burden. But through his experiences growing up and crossing the Oregon Trail, Amos learns about life’s harsh realities, especially the pain in losing loved ones. As he cares for those around him, Amos comes to accept his dowsing fate. This epic novel is a fascinating period piece about the westward expansion and one man’s destiny as he searches for love and family."


WINTERCRAFT by Jenna Burtenshaw. “Ten years ago Kate Winters’ parents were taken by the High Council’s wardens to help with the country’s war effort. Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane – the High Council’s most feared man – recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council’s experiments into the veil, and he’s convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace. The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft – a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft.”