Here are the new releases of science fiction and fantasy for children and teenagers from the beginning of June. This time, just to be fair, I started at the bottom and worked up with the pictures, getting as far as I could stand before giving up....(and I have given up trying to tease blogger into letting me format the blurbs with pictures into neat rows. I was so hopeful when I discovered the html for paragraph breaks, but it didn't help appreciably).
Blurbs from the publishers, list from Teens Read Too.
I have a couple of these on hand in the waiting-to-be-reviewed pile...and I've just added some to my Amazon shopping cart, like the new Nathaniel Fludd book (for my oldest), and House of Dolls (for me, because I like doll house books). And YA-wise, Everlasting looks great, and The Sorcerer of Sainte Felice sounds very nice also...Which ones do you want?
MIDDLE GRADE:
ADVENTURES OF A CAT-WHISKERED GIRL by Daniel Pinkwater. Big Audrey is a girl . . .with cat’s whiskers . . .and sort of cat’s eyes. But, is there an other cat-whiskered, sort of cat-eyed girl? Big Audrey waves goodbye to her friends Iggy and Neddie, Seamus, and Crazy Wig, in Los Angeles and hitches a ride with bongo-playing-while-driving Marlon Brando across the country to Poughkeepsie, New York, city of mystery. She finds she has questions needing answers—and a bit of inter-plane-of-existence traveling to do. Big Audrey and her telepathic friend Molly zigzag off on an incredibly strange and kooky adventure, and solve the mystery of the cat-whiskered doppleganger.
AURORA FEE by Megan Barnes With her pale white skin, long black hair, and unnaturally large eyes, sixteen-year-old Aurora Fee stands out in a crowd. But there’s something different about this seemingly ordinary high school student. She’s wise beyond her years. And she’s keeping a centuries-old secret, one that threatens to hurt the people she loves: Aurora Fee may have been human once, but she s not anymore.
THE BASILISK'S LAIR: NATHANIEL FLUDD, BEASTOLOGIST by R. L. LaFevers. Nate Fludd, Beastologist, is back in the camel saddle in hot pursuit of a missing, deadly Basilisk--the King of Serpents. As if saving an entire Dhughani village from the Basilisk's poisonous gaze isn't difficult enough, Nate and Aunt Phil must begin to piece together the mystery of his parents' disappearance and protect the lone copy of the
Fludd Book of Beasts from a sinister man who always seem to be one step ahead of them. Pack your goggles, rue, and an extra pair of gloves and join Nate on another unbelievable adventure--there's no rest for the world's youngest beastologist-in-training!
BATTLES OF THE CLANS: WARRIORS by Erin Hunter. An inside look at each Clan's fighting secrets:
- ShadowClan's night ambush technique
- ThunderClan's surprise Lightning Strike tactic
- WindClan's secret underground tunneling
- RiverClan's water maneuvers
- SkyClan's fearsome "skydrop" move
Plus never-before-told stories behind the most significant battles in Clan history!
THE BRIMSTONE KEY: GREY GRIFFINS, THE CLOCKWORK CHRONICLES by Derek Benz & J. S. Lewis A year ago, the Grey Griffins were just regular kids from Avalon, Minnesota. That was before they learned about the existence of evil fairies, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night. Now they are monster-hunters, celebrated heroes, and allies to the legendary Templar knights---but even heroes have to go to school.When the Griffins enroll at Iron Bridge Academy, a school to train young recruits in the fight against the forces of evil, they find themselves at the center of a whole new adventure. The Clockwork King, a Templar foe from days past, has returned to finish the plan he set in motion decades ago. A plot to steal the souls of changelings---humans infused with fairy blood and supernatural abilities---in order to power his army of clockwork war machines.
BUDDY ZOOKA IN THE FRENCH QUARTER & BEYOND by Tracey Tangerine Buddy Zooka brings the French Quarter to life like no one since Ignatius Reilly. In fact, if A Confederacy of Dunces were written by Lewis Carroll, Buddy would appear. Buddy is a happy-go-lucky musician in the French Quarter until one day he goes fishing and catches an alligator, Mardi Gator, who quickly decides to take up residence in Buddy’s hat. Thrown off his usual carefree routine, Buddy loses his smile and starts to contemplate his world. Buddy’s journey turns spiritual as faith healers show him how man has been degrading his environment and how the secret to our salvation resides within each one of us. Buddy’s story is at turns zany and contemplative, and the lesson learned is a profound one that resonates in New Orleans like nowhere else.
CHOKE: PILLAGE by Obert Skye. Pillage was the first of three books in the fantasy adventure that Obert Skye calls a Pillogy. Choke, the second, continues the eccentric adventures of Beck Phillips, who seems to have a knack for causing mischief in the secluded village of Kingsplot. In book one, Beck used his unique gift to unexpectedly hatch several dragon eggs. Thankfully, the dragons were destroyed . . . or were they? In Choke, a stranger has discovered that Beck Phillips is the key to finding and hatching a lost dragon s egg a task that will bring the riches and fortune that Beck s family was destined to have. Beck learns that outward appearances can be deceiving and that grown-ups really do have valuable lessons to offer. Readers will laugh out loud at Beck s antics and sit on the edge of their seats while Beck and his friends confront Liz, the largest, most ferocious dragon Beck has ever seen!
FAIRIES AND THE QUEST FOR NEVER LAND by Gail Carson Levine. Gwendolyn Carlisle loves fairies, perhaps too much. On her birthday, she receives the precious “kiss” necklace, which has been passed down from mother to daughter ever since Peter Pan gave it to Wendy Darling. That night, Gwendolyn has her first tantalizing vision of Fairy Haven. More than anything, Gwendolyn wishes she could be there. At last, Peter Pan comes for her. The instant they reach Never Land, she sets out to find fairies. But the fairies are not eager to meet her. Then the evil Kyto, a dragon the fairies once helped to capture, escapes. He intends to destroy Never Land, starting with Fairy Haven. The fairies have but one choice: they must stop Kyto. As they begin their desperate quest—a quest that could be their very last—the fairies must decide if Gwendolyn can help or hinder. . . .
THE GENIE KING: SECRETS OF DROON by Tony Abbott. Neal, Julie, and Keeah are on a quest to find the wizard Galen and his all-powerful Moon Medallion. But this is no ordinary mission, for the Moon Medallion is hidden in no ordinary place. It's somewhere in Ut, a magical city in a bottle that only appears once every one hundred years. Fortunately, as a genie, Neal can travel through time. But he'll need a little help from his fellow genies to find the Medallion. To prove himself, he must complete seven difficult trials. Will he pass the genies' test in time to save Galen?
GHOST HUNTER: CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT DARKNESS by Michelle Paver. Her cry rips the souls from your marrow. With her spear she snares them. She devours them. Eostra truly is an eater of souls. Winter is coming. Souls' Night draws near. Eostra, the Eagle Owl Mage, holds the clans in the grip of terror. Torak must leave the Forest and seek her lair in the Mountain of Ghosts, while Renn faces an agonizing decision. Wolf, their faithful pack-brother, must overcome wrenching grief. And in the final battle against the forces of darkness, Torak will make the most shattering choice of all.
Ghost Hunter, the final book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, draws the reader for the last time into the shadowy world of the deep past and brings Torak to the end of his incredible journey.
GHOST STORIES: SHADES SHORTSby Dennis Hamley, Gillian Philip, Anne Rooney, & Alex Stewart. Four terrifying ghost stories are packed into this haunting collection. A girl has a strange encounter on a misty road in Gillian Philip's "Misty;" a boy at war finds himself stepping into the past in Dennis Hamley's "Tunnel;" an ancient wrong needs to be righted in Anne Rooney's "The Hanging Tree;" and a stay in the country isn't quite what it seems in Alex Stewart's "The Waiting Room."
HOUSE OF DOLLS by Francesca Lia Block. In a little house from another time, with lace curtains in every window and paintings hung in gold doily frames, Wildflower, Rockstar, and Miss Selene live a warm and cozy life. They wear fancy dresses, bake play-dough cakes, and spend their days enjoying one another's company. For the three dolls, life is small but good. But life is not good for Madison Blackberry, the owner of the dollhouse. Her grandmother pays more attention to the dolls than to her. The dolls have one another, but she is lonely in her big, empty apartment. Then one day, as things always do—even for dolls—everything changes...
THE LAST HUNT: THE UNICORN CHRONICLES by Bruce Coville. In the center if Luster stands an enormous tree called the Axis Mundi, the Heart of the World. But now that tree is wounded, pierced through by magic. And through that wound marches an army of Hunters, led by the sinister and vengeful Beloved. And they are all determined to destroy each and every unicorn. As the unicorns gather to defend their lives, the human girl, Cara, is sent on a mission to meet a ferocious and mysterious dragon. Faced with perilous danger, Cara must make a desperate decision that will change her life forever.
THE POWER POTION: THE GECKO & STICKY by Wendelin Van Draanen. Thirteen-year-old Dave Sanchez is a daytime student, an after-school courier . . . and a secret superhero! So far Dave's been able to juggle his different roles. But in Dave's hands is the scariest package he's ever been asked to deliver. It's a tube, sealed on each end with wax, and addressed to . . . Damien Black. Holy tacarole! He can't just hand over a package to the most devious criminal in the city! Who knows what's in there? So Dave breaks a cardinal rule of mail carriers everywhere—he opens the package. Inside is a small bottle that's labeled: one drop, two at most, tested, works. The potion in this bottle is blue and sparkly and oozy and smelly—but what does it do? Ah, poor Dave. He has opened a Pandora's box of trouble. Your classic can of worms. And as a result, he'll find himself facing off with six-horned goats, terrifying tarantulas, a java-junkie monkey—and, of course, Damien Black.
RAIJU: A KAIJU HUNTER NOVEL by K. H. Koehler. His home destroyed by a rampaging kaiju, or giant monster, Kevin Takahashi and his father relocate to New York City where Kevin believes the nightmare is over and the only battleground left to face from now on is high school.
But soon after his arrival in the Big Apple, a new kaiju emerges. Qilin is so powerful that even the U.S. Military may be unable to contain or destroy the monster. And if that isn't bad enough, Kevin is falling in love with Aimi Mura, the resident "bad girl," and the girlfriend of the toughest bully in school. But will Aimi still want him when she discovers his darkest secret? Because Kevin is more than a ragged refugee from the now defunct city of San Francisco. He's also a Keeper -- a teen wizard who can summon ancient, demonic god-beasts to do battle for him, and his creature to call is Raiju, the oldest of the ancient Kami. Kevin has only a short time to win Aimi over and save the city of New York. Because Raiju and Qilin are about to clash, and after the dust settles, there may be no home left for either one of them!
RISE OF THE NINJA: MOONSHADOW by Simon Higgins.
In the moonlight, the explosive fast draw became a horizontal streak of silver, flashing momentarily from the cover of the shadow. The tip of Moonshadow's sword ambushed the lurking foe, who stood, still drawing his own weapon.It's the dawn of an age of peace in medieval Japan, and a power hungry warlord is plotting to plunge the nation into a deadly civil war using a secret weapon from the West. Enter Moonshadow, the newest and youngest agent for the Grey Light Order, a covert brotherhood of shinobi (ninja spy warriors) who work for the shogun. For his first mission, Moonshadow is sent on a perilous journey to capture the plans for the secret weapon. Can Moonshadow defeat the evil warlord, rogue samurai, professional killers, and another ninja spy to save his country from violent chaos? Or will his first mission also be his last?
SCI-FI STORIES: SHADES SHORTS by Mary Chapman, Alan Durant, David Orme, & Gillian Philip. An enthralling collection of four intriguing science fiction stories. A strange creature kept in a science lab isn't quite what it seems in Gillian Philip's "The Changeling;" two space garbage men pick up a bit more than they bargained for in David Orme's "Space Junk;" a young girl has an unsettling encounter with identical strangers in Mary Chapman's "Strangers;" and a space war comes to an end, but at what cost in Alan Durant's "The Neronian Box."
THE SECRET ZOO by Bryan Chick. Something strange is happening at the Clarksville City Zoo. Late at night, monkeys are scaling the walls and searching the neighborhood— but what are they looking for? Noah, his sister Megan, and their best friends, Richie and Ella, live next door to the zoo. Megan is the first to notice the puzzling behavior of some of the animals. One day Megan disappears, and her brother and their friends realize it's up to them to find her. Their only choice is to follow a series of clues and sneak into the zoo. But once inside, will they discover there's much more to the Clarksville City Zoo than they could ever have guessed?
SHADOW DEMON OF OZ, by James C. Wallace II. It was in the early month of Spring when the old humpback trunk of O.Z. Diggs, the original Wizard of Oz was opened by his great grandson, Jamie Diggs, revealing a magical heritage lurking within. Following in the footsteps of his great grandfather, a young boy named Jamie pursued the ways of magic and soon found himself transported to the magical Land of Oz where, alongside Dorothy, he faced his greatest fears and the fearsome Army of Trees in defense of the Tin Woodman. Now the young magician is called to return to the Land of Oz to take his place as the new Royal Magician of Princess Ozma; Ruler and Sovereign of Oz.
THE SHADOW HUNT by Katherine Langrish. Wolf is on the run—from the oppressive monastery where he was raised, from the ghosts and demons that haunt the windswept moors of Devil's Edge, and from the shadows in the landscape that resemble the Devil himself. When Wolf rescues a strange child on Devil's Edge, he takes her to a grand castle hoping to win the favor of its ruler. There he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a girl named Nest, and he thinks he's finally found a place to call home. Wolf is determined to fit in, but not everything is as it seems at the castle. Dark forces are conspiring against Wolf and Nest, and a sinister enemy is looming closer than they could ever realize. With lies masquerading as reality, will Wolf and Nest learn who they can trust . . . before it's too late?
SPACE COWBOY by Justin Stanchfield. On the remote planet of Aletha Three, a genetically engineered creature with the unstoppable killing instinct of earth’s most ancient predators has begun stalking the struggling population. Armed only with his dad’s old rifle, cowboy Travis must find out where the predator came from and how he can stop it – before it gets a taste for people, instead of cattle.
THE SUBURB BEYOND THE STARS. by M. T. Anderson Something very strange is happening in Vermont. It's not The Game of Sunken Places - Brian and Gregory have been through that before, and there's not supposed to be another Game until they say there's a Game. But still . . . when they go to visit a relative in the Vermont woods, they find many things are . . . off. Like, people aren't where they're supposed to be. And houses are everywhere. In fact, the houses seem to be taking over. If anyone in the universe can make high adventure out of supernatural urban sprawl . . . well, it's M. T. Anderson.
THE TILTING HOUSE by Tom Llewelyn. Brothers Josh and Aaron Peshik are about to discover that their new home with the tilting floors hides many mysteries. When the boys and their neighbor Lola discover the hidden diary of F.T. Tilton, the brilliant but deranged inventor who built the house, they learn a dark secret that may mean disaster for the Peshik family. Can the kids solve the riddles of the tilting house before time runs out?
WOLVEN by Di Toft. With his big snaggly teeth, patchy black fur, and glowing golden eyes, Woody is far from the cutest of dogs, yet Nat is strangely drawn to the rough mutt that howls at the moon. And before long Nat discovers that Woody's not a dog at all--he's a wolven: a shape-shifter who changes from wolf to boy without much warning. A secret government agency knows about Woody's mutant status, too, and wants to trap him and turn him into a hairy new breed of bioweapon. To escape capture, and to make sense of Woody's strange identity, the two friends--boy and werewolf--set off on a great adventure.
THE WORLD ABOVE: ONCE UPON A TIME by Cameron Dokey. A retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk.
THE ZOMBIE CHASERS by John Kloepfer. Zombie Attack! When brain-gobbling zombies invade, a sleepover at Zack Clarke's house quickly turns into a Level-3 creep-over. The undead have infested the streets, filling the air with deathly moans and the stench of rotting flesh. Meet the Zombie Chasers: Zack: His house is a wreck, his sister's a zombie, and he's stolen his mom's Volvo. He's totally going to be grounded if he survives the night. . . .Rice: He's studied
The Zombie Survival Guide, but is he prepared to fight the living dead? Madison: She seriously cannot believe her best friend has become a zombie and left her alone with these dweebs!They're on a mission to save the world, but first they have to survive their flesh-eating, half-dead neighbors—and one another. Can the Zombie Chasers make it out alive?
YOUNG ADULTDECEPTION: HAUNTING EMMA by Lee Nichols. When Emma Vaile's parents leave on mysterious business trip, it gives her the perfect excuse to be a rebellious teen. Throw some parties, get a tattoo (or maybe just a piercing), and enjoy the first few weeks of her junior year. Then her best friend stops talking to her, the cops crash her party, and Emma finds herself in the hands of a new guardian—her college-age "knight in J.Crew armor," Bennett Stern—and on a plane to his museum-like mansion in New England. After enrolling at Thatcher Academy, Emma settles in by making friends with the popular legacy crowd. But she can't shake the strange visions that are haunting her. She has memories of Thatcher she can't explain, as if she's returning home to a place she's never been. Emma doesn't trust anyone anymore—except maybe Bennett. But he's about to reveal a ghostly secret to Emma. One that will explain the visions . . . and make Emma fear for her life.
EVERLASTING by Angie Frazier. Sailing aboard her father's ship is all seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen has ever wanted. But as a lady in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn't love in order to preseve her social standing. On her last voyage before the wedding, Camille learns the mother she has always believed dead is in fact alive and in Australia. When their Sydney-bound ship goes down in a gale, and her father dies, Camille sets out to find her mother and a map in her possession - a map believed to lead to a stone that once belonged to the legendary civilization of the immortals. The stone can do exactly what Camille wants most: bring someone back from the dead. Unfortunately, her father's adversary is also on the hunt for the stone, and she must race him to it. The only person Camille can depend on is Oscar - a handsome young sailor and her father's first mate - who is in love with Camille and whom she is inexplicably drawn to despite his low social standing and her pending wedding vows. With an Australian card shark acting as their guide, Camille eludes murderous bushrangers, traverses dangerous highlands, evades a curse placed on the stone, and unravels the mystery behind her mother's disappearance sixteen years earlier. But when another death shakes her conviction to resurrect her father, Camille must choose what - and who - matters most.
FORGIVE MY FINS by Tera Lynn Childs. Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it's not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you're a normal teenage girl, but when you're half human, half mermaid, like Lily, there's no such thing as a simple crush. Lily's mermaid identity is a secret that can't get out, since she's not just any mermaid—she's a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn't feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she's been living on land and going to Seaview High School ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems—like her obnoxious biker-boy neighbor, Quince Fletcher—but it has that one major perk: Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren't really the casual dating type—the instant they "bond," it's for life. When Lily's attempt to win Brody's love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily ever after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.
MY SOUL TO KEEP: SOUL SCREAMERS by Rachel Vincent. Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them. Until something does.
Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind. The kind that really
can kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends—one of whom is already hooked. And so is someone else…
NOCTURNE by L.D. Harkrader Flanders Lane is tired of being protected by her Uncle Anatole. After years of studying magic in the back of his bookshop, she's ready for an adventure of her own. Then one day, strange things start happening. A burglar breaks into the butcher's shop, stealing nothing, but leaving the floors sparkling clean. Soon the seamstress's apprentice vanishes on her way home, leaving behind only a shoe still laced at the top. And then worst of all, Uncle Anatole disappears. That night, a young vampire hunter named Pascoe knocks urgently on the bookshop door. Pascoe insists there is a vampire lurking in nearby Blakely Hall. Flanders looks deep into Pascoe's gorgeous eyes and finds herself agreeing to help him. As Flanders tracks the vampire, her feelings for Pascoe grow until she stumbles upon a secret that turns everything she thought she knew about Pascoe--and herself--upside down.
PASSING STRANGE: GENERATION DEAD by Daniel Waters. Karen DeSonne always passed as a normal teenager; with her friends, with her family, and at school. Passing cost her the love of her life. And now that Karen’s dead, she’s still passing—this time, as alive. Meanwhile, Karen’s dead friends have been fingered in a high-profile murder, causing a new round of antizombie regulations that have forced them into hiding. Karen soon learns that the “murder” was a hoax, staged by Pete Martinsburg and his bioist zealots. Obtaining enough evidence to expose the fraud and prove her friends’ innocence means doing the unthinkable: becoming Pete’s girlfriend. Karen’s only hope is that the enemy never realizes who she really is—because the consequences would be worse than death.
RAISED BY WOLVES by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn't mean that she's averse to breaking a rule or two. But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian's basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents' murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs.But in her drive to find the truth, will Bryn push too far beyond the constraints of the pack, forcing her to leave behind her friends, her family, and the identity that she's shaped?
THE SECRET TO LYING by Todd Mitchell James was the guy no one noticed — just another fifteen-year-old in a small town. So when he gets into an academy for gifted students, he decides to leave his boring past behind. In a boarding school full of nerds and geeks, being cool is easy. All it takes is a few harmless pranks to invent a new James: fighter, rebel, punk. Everyone’s impressed, except for the beautiful "Ice Queen" Ellie Frost and the mysterious ghost44, an IM presence who sees through his new identity. But James is riding high, playing pranks and hooking up with luscious Jessica Keen. There’s just one thing awry: he’s starting to have vivid dreams of being a demon-hunting warrior, a thrill that is spilling over into dangerous and self-destructive acts while he’s awake. As he’s drawn deeper into his real-life lies and his dream-world conquests, James begins to wonder: What’s the price for being the coolest guy around?
SHADOWS OF THE REDWOOD: THE SCIONS OF SHADOW by Gillian Summers When the Redwood Forest tree shepherd disappears under mysterious circumstances, Keelie Heartwood and her elven grandmother arrive at the local Renaissance festival to investigate. Then her grandmother vanishes—and Keelie finds herself ensnared in a life-or-death battle against an ancient curse, a goblin prophecy, and a diabolical alliance.
THE SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREE TANNER: AN ECLIPSE NOVELLA by Stephenie Meyer. Fans of The Twilight Saga will be enthralled by this riveting story of Bree Tanner, a character first introduced in Eclipse, and the darker side of the newborn vampire world she inhabits. In another irresistible combination of danger, mystery, and romance, Stephenie Meyer tells the devastating story of Bree and the newborn army as they prepare to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullens, following their encounter to its unforgettable conclusion.
SISTERS RED by Jackson Pearce. Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris-- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead. Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax-- but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they've worked for.
THE SORCERER OF SAINTE FELICE by Ann Finnin Condemned to death by the Holy Office for sorcery, fifteen-year-old Michael de Lorraine is rescued from the flames by Abbot Francis and granted refuge at Sainte Felice, a Benedictine monastery in fifteenth-century France. Michael learns that this strange and wonderful place, famous for its healing wine, harbors renegade monk-sorcerers, enchanted gargoyles, and a closely guarded secret that could spell violent death for the Abbot. As the church intensifies its cruel pursuit of Michael, Abbot Francis and the wizard monks find themselves in grave danger. Michael will do anything to protect his mentor, but are his own magical powers great enough to save the monastery from the merciless, bloodthirsty Inquisition?
A Nest for Celeste, by Henry Cole, is one I fell in love with the first day it arrived at my house, when my nine year old son picked it up and began to read it....and read it...and read it till the end. I love any book that can achieve that magic. Here are his thoughts about it, at his own blog, Pickled Bananas. I found this story of a mouse looking for a home an enjoyable read myself--it's a charmingly illustrated meditation on friendship, and, with a wildlife conservation under-message that I liked very much. Great for a child; not quite enough to the text, I think, to be quite successful as a cross-over book to grown-ups, but why should it be, after all. (342 pages, but lots of them were illustrations...so I think I'll only give myself 150 pages for this one)
The Heart is Not a Size, by Beth Kephart. Two girls, friends since they were small children, journey together to Mexico, to work at a humanitarian building project. Very Beth Kephartian, in its lyrical introspection. It's not my favorite of her books though (that would be House of Dance--a lovely book). In this one, the story never moved as powerfully as I felt it was going to a grand finale. (243 pages)
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