New releases of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teens--the second half of January, 2012 edition

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teens coming out in the second half of January, 2012! My information comes from Teens Read Too, with blurbs (for the middle grade books, because the YA books get more attention elsewhere) from Amazon.

Middle Grade (ages 9-12)

ANGEL OF THE BATTLEFIELD: THE TREASURE CHEST by Ann Hood "While exploring The Treasure Chest, Felix and Maisie are transported to a Massachusetts farm in 1836. Disappointed that they have not landed in their beloved New York City, they wonder why they were brought to Massachusetts to meet a young girl named Clara Barton. Perhaps Clara has a message for the twins? Or maybe they have one for her?"

THE BOOK OF WONDERS by Jasmine Richards "Sorcerers, Cyclops, Djinnis...Magic. Thirteen-year-old Zardi loves to hear stories about fantastical beings long banned from the kingdom of Arribitha. But anyone who is caught whispering of their powers will feel the rage of the sultan—a terrifying tyrant who, even with his eyes closed, can see all. When her own beloved sister is captured by the evil ruler, Zardi knows that she must risk everything to rescue her. Along with Rhidan, who is her best friend, and an unlikely crew of sailors led by the infamous Captain Sinbad, Zardi ventures forth into strange and wondrous territory with a seemingly impossible mission: to bring magic back to Arribitha and defeat the sultan once and for all."

CHASING THE WHITE WITCH by Marina Cohen "Teased by her older brother, bullied by the popular girls at school, and plagued by a blistering pimple that has surfaced on the tip of her nose, twelve-year-old Claire Murphy wishes she could shrivel up and die or spontaneously combust. But when a mysterious book appears at her feet in the checkout aisle of a grocery store, Claire is confident all her troubles are over. Following the instructions carefully, Claire dives nose-first into reeking remedies, rollicking rituals, and silly spells. It's only when she recklessly disregards the Law of Three that the line between good and evil blurs and Claire must race against time to undo all of the trouble she's caused."

HADES, LORD OF THE DEAD: OLYMPIANS by George O'Connor "Hades: Lord of the Dead tells the story of the great God of the Underworld and one of the most famous of all Greek myths: Hades’ abduction of Persephone and her mother’s revenge. Be prepared to see a new side of Persephone in this dynamic adaptation of the story of the creation of the seasons."

THE ISLAND HUNTERS: THE LEGEND OF BROWN EYED JAMES by N.E. Walford "The legend is real and the man was named James Baako, a merchant, a coppersmith, and voyager turned Treasure Hunter. The key to the Hunter family legacy has been found. But he s not where anyone would expect. And as the Hunter boys find this latest mystery revealed, little do they know who else is looking for him. Now, the journey of a lifetime has turned to chaos as all of their enemies converge in one place. And the knowledge of the past has already begun to bestow power upon the wrong people."

JOURNEY TO MARS: PHINEAS AND FERB by Ellie O'Ryan "Phineas and Ferb's friend Baljeet is working on an awesome project for the summer school science fair—he's building a giant portal to Mars! But when Phineas and Ferb's sister, Candace, accidentally goes through the portal and lands on the barren planet, it's Phineas and Ferb to the rescue! Readers will love this fun 112-page chapter book filled with exciting black and white screen grabs from the show."

LITTLE LION: THE TREASURE CHEST by Ann Hood "Now that the twins have begun to settle into their new lives at Elm Medona, they delve deeper into The Treasure Chest and uncover more about the Pickworth family, including the disappearance of their great-uncle Thorne and the theft of priceless family artifacts.

In this adventure, The Treasure Chest transports Felix and Maisie to tropical St. Croix in 1772. There they meet a young man named Alexander Hamilton who is about to embark on a journey to New York. Felix and Maisie aren't sure why The Treasure Chest has brought them to meet Alexander, but they are determined to not let him out of their sights . . .even if that means stowing away on the very ship he is sailing off on!"

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate "Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better."

POPULAR CLONE: THE CLONE CHRONICLES by M.E. Castle "Meet Fisher Bas: 12 years-old, growth-stunted, a geeky science genius, and son of the Nobel Prize-winning creators of the Bas-Hermaphrodite-Sea-Slug-Hypothesis. No surprise: Fisher isn't exactly the most popular kid in his middle-school, tormented daily by the beefy, overgrown goons he calls The Vikings. But he senses relief when he comes upon the idea of cloning himself--creating a second Fisher to go to school each day while he stays at home playing video games and eating cheetos with ketchup. It's an ingenious plan that works brilliantly, until Fisher's clone turns out to be more popular than him--and soon after gets clone-napped by the evil scientist Dr. Xander."

PRINCESS OF THE WILD SWANS by Diane Zahler "Princess Meriel's brothers have been cursed. A terrible enchantment--cast by their conniving new stepmother--has transformed the handsome princes into swans. They now swim forlornly on a beautiful heart-shaped lake that lies just beyond the castle walls.
Meriel will do whatever it takes to rescue her beloved brothers. But she must act quickly. If Heart Lake freezes, her brothers will be forced to fly south or perish.
With help from her newfound friends Riona and Liam--a pretty half-witch and her clever brother--Meriel vows to finish a seemingly impossible task. If she completes it, her brothers may be saved.
But if she fails . . . all will be lost."

STEALING MAGIC: A SIXTY-EIGHT ROOMS ADVENTURE by Marianne Malone "Ruthie and Jack thought that their adventures in the Thorne Rooms were over . . . until miniatures from the rooms start to disappear. Is it the work of the art thief who's on the loose in Chicago? Or has someone else discovered the secret of the Thorne Rooms' magic? Ruthie and Jack's quest to stop the thief takes them from modern day Chicago to 1937 Paris to antebellum South Carolina. But as more items disappear, including the key that allows them to shrink and access the past worlds, what was once just an adventure becomes a life and death race against the clock. Can Ruthie and Jack catch the thief and help the friends they meet on the way before the magic—and the rooms—are destroyed forever?"

The Young Adult books

ALBRECK'S TOMB: ADVENTURERS WANTED by M. L. Forman

THE ASYLUM: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, STEFAN'S DIARIES by Kevin Williamson & Julie Plec

DAUGHTER OF THE CENTAURS: CENTAURIAD by K.K. Ross

THE DEAD OF WINTER by Chris Priestley (new release in the US)

DESTINY AND DECEPTION: A 13 TO LIFE NOVEL by Shannon Delany

EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton

FORBIDDEN by Syrie & Ryan M. James
FRACTURE by Megan Miranda
HALFLINGS by Heather Burch
HALLOWED: AN UNEARTHLY NOVEL by Cynthia Hand
HAVOC: A DEVIANTS NOVEL by Jeff Sampson
IN DARKNESS by Nick Lake
INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows
LENOBIA'S VOW: A HOUSE OF NIGHT NOVELLA by P.C. & Kristin Cast
LIFE ETERNAL: A DEAD BEAUTIFUL NOVEL by Yvonne Woon
MESMERIZE: A MYSTYX NOVEL by Artist Arthur
STOLEN AWAY by Alyxandra Harvey
THE SURVIVORS by Will Weaver
TANGLED by Erica O'Rourke
TEMPEST by Julie Cross
THERE IS NO DOG by Meg Rosoff
THE WAY WE FALL by Megan Crewe

The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet

The Cabinet of Earths (HarperCollins, middle grade, 272 pages) is the debut novel of Anne Nesbet.

68 years ago, a little boy living in France was fed to the beautiful, terrible magic of the Cabinet of Earths his grandmother had built. A shimmering glass Cabinet that promises near eternal life to those who entrust their years to its glass bottles.

60 years ago, the children of a certain Paris neighborhood began to vanish. Or so it seemed. And the strange Society of Philosophical Chemistry, dedicated to combining magic with science, began to attract its clients.

In the present, the twisted genius who leads the Society hungers for control over the Cabinet of Earths. And a 12 year old girl, his distant relation, arrives unwillingly in Paris, and sees the salamander door handle of the Society's headquarters turn and look at her, flicking its little bronze tongue.

When her parents broke the news that the family was moving to Paris for a year, Maya tried to be brave (James, her cheerful little brother, didn't have to try). After all, when your mother has just come through cancer, and you are hoping she'll manage to stay alive, you want (if you are like Maya) to be a Good Sport about it, even if leaving friends and familiarity is a terrible prospect.

The salamander is the first sign that Maya's life is about to become a lot less familiar than she had ever dreamed. As she slowly uncovers the secrets of her family, and the beautiful, mysterious Cabinet of Earths, she comes to realize that her brother, so charismatic and full of force vital, is in terrible danger. And so is she.

This is no magical romp through enchanted Paris. Despite the youthful cheer of the cover, Maya's journey is a dark and rather creepy one, that builds slowly but inexorably to a final confrontation.

On the everyday level, not only does the hideous possibility of her mother's death loom large, but she's confronted with the unpleasant-ness of being the new, non-French speaking American girl at a school filled with beautiful snots. The painless adjustment of James, her little brother, charismatic and loved by all who meet him, casts her own unhappiness in an even harsher light.

Happily, Maya is befriended by a kind, intelligent, and interesting boy who also doesn't fit in (which is awfully nice for her, although perhaps a bit much, especially since he does little to further the plot). And her French improves, thanks to the diligent tutoring of Cousin Louise...who's pleasant enough, but so lacking in force vital that people truly have trouble seeing her.

The virtual invisibility of Cousin Louise is not natural, and it is, indeed, tied to the larger picture of magic gone wrong in the hands of Maya's French family. There are hard ethical and philosophical questions posed by the magic of the Cabinet, and Maya's loyalty and love for her family comes into harsh conflict with her principles of what is right. Fortunately, the reader is not left hanging too long in these suspenseful bits (the truly tenterhookish parts was short enough so that I didn't have to read the end of the book, which I appreciated).

Writing all this summarizing stuff, I'm realizing this is actually a horror story. It's atmospheric as all get out, there are terrible, nightmarish things afoot, and the fate of the lost children is truly disturbing....gripping stuff, and I wouldn't give this to a younger child who is easily haunted. That being said, it's certainly a more subtle horror than, say, the Goosebumps books, and a lot more measured in its pacing, enough so as to please those of us who do not seek out Goosebumps books, and dislike horror in general.

Other good things: I found Maya to be a very nicely real character, and Nesbet's writing made clear pictures in the mind--two things I value highly in books, which I was very pleased to find here. And it's also nice that it's a satisfactory stand-alone, though with room for a sequel.

Here's another review at The Book Aunt and an interview with Anne Nesbet at The Enchanted Inkpot.

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs

Welcome to this Sunday's round-up of what I found in my blog reading this past week of interest to us fans of middle grade (ages 9-12) science fiction and fantasy! Let me know if I missed your link.

The Reviews:

The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy, at Fuse #8

The Bassumtyte Treasure, by Jane Louise Curry, at Oz and Ends

Bigger Than a Breadbox, by Laurel Snyder, at The Intergalactic Academy

The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine at Rebecca's Book Blog and The Book Cellar

Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at Story Snoops

The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at Book Aunt

The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright. at Becky's Book Reviews and at Great Kid Books

Come Fall, by A.C.E. Bauer, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, at Book Love

The Death of Yorik Mortwell, by Stephen Messer, at Children's Books and Reviews

The Flint Heart, by Katherine and John Paterson, at Read in a Single Sitting

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, at Charlotte's Library

The Girl Who Cicumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne Valente, at Library Mama

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, at Read in a Single Sitting

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at Tripping Over Books

Ivy and the Meanstalk, by Dawn Lairamore, at Charlotte's Library

The Jewel of the Kalderash, by Marie Rutkoski, at Charlotte's Library

Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at Beyond Books

The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan, at Bookshelves of Doom

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at Read in a Single Sitting

The Memory Bank, by Carolyn Coman and Rob Shepperson, at Challenging the Bookworm

The Mouse Guard: Fall of 1152, at Karissa's Reading Review (graphic novel)

My Sparkeling Misfortune, by Laura Lond, at Geo Librarian

My Very Unfairy Tale Life, by Anna Staniszewski, at Cracking the Cover

The Mystic Phyles: Beasts, by Stephanie Brockway and Ralph Masiello, at Wandering Librarians

The Orphan of Awkward Falls, by Keith Graves, at Readtouille

The People of Sparks, by Jeanne DuPrau, at Read in a Single Sitting

Ravenwood, by Andrew Peters, at Book Aunt

The Skeleton's Knife, by Joni Sensel, at Charlotte's Library

Snow in Summer, by Jane Yolen, at Book Aunt

Stealing Magic: a Sixty-Eight Rooms Adventure, by Marianne Malone, at books4yourkids

Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk, by Curtis Jobling, at A Dream of Books

Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at Book Aunt

Who Cut the Cheese, by Jo Nesbo, at Back to Books

There's a two-for-one post at Fantastic Reads--Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children, by Jen Storer, contrasted with A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle.

At My Reading Frenzy, one of my fellow mg sff Cybils panelists looks back at some favorite.

Authors and Interviews

Anne Nesbit (Cabinet of Earths) at The Enchanted Inkpot

M.L. Welsh (Heart of Stone), at Nayu's Reading Corner,

Jasmine Richards (The Book of Wonders) shares her top ten fairy tail retelings at The Book Monsters (giveaway) and is interviewed on video at tall tales & short stories, and at Michelle and Leslie's Book Picks

Curtis Joblin (Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk) is on tour--here's a guest blog post/review at Nayu's Reading Corner, and another guest post at The Book Addicted Girl.

D. Robert Pease (Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble) is also on tour--here's an interview at Ritesh Kala's Book Reviews (and here's the list of tour stops).

More Good Stuff:

A Wrinkle in Time turns fifty this year, and a special commemorative edition is being published. I'm a proud participant in the multi-blog extravaganza--

A Wrinkle in Time: 50 Years, 50 Days, 50 Blogs Celebration!

For 50 days, starting Monday, January 16, 50 different bloggers will be celebrating with original content. On February 2, I'll be talking about the Murry parents...

Here's the full list of blogs taking part!

But in the meantime, Amy (of Amy's Library of Rock) explores the vexing question--"What the heck is a Tesseract, anyway?"

Ivy and the Meanstalk, by Dawn Lairamore

Ivy and the Meanstalk, by Dawn Lairamore (Holiday House, 2011, mg, 227 pages), was one of the books I received for Cybils review (I'm trying to get all these reviewed, or at least mentioned, before the end of January!). It's the sequel to Ivy's Every After, but I think it can be read just fine as a stand-alone.

Ivy is the princess, and heir, of a small kingdom of little international importance. She cares little for learning her responsibilities--she's much rather be off flying with her dragon friend, Elridge, or spending time with her other best friend, the stableboy Owen.

Then disaster strikes, in the form of an angry giantess whose magic harp was stolen long ago. The giantess holds Ivy's kingdom responsible (even though it was a guy named Jack who actually took it) and vows to rain giant boulders on it until she gets her harp back! It's up to Ivy to face her duty to her kingdom, and to go to the island nation Jack established after his adventures up the beanstalk, and get the harp....

So Ivey, Elridge, and Owen set off, in a hopeful spirit--surely Jack's heirs wouldn't mind returning stolen property? Turns out, they would, very much indeed. The cult of Jack, and the love of gold, are the only two important things to the king of the volcanic island nation Jack established. And although the king is bound to offer Ivy sanctuary (since her own kingdom is being destroyed by boulders), he's not about to give up the harp. It's up to Ivy and her friends to use their wits to make off with the harp themselves...breaking through all the layers of protection that have been placed around it.

It's a book that's fun on the surface--the high jinks of the mean-stalk and the giant's realm in the sky, the golden improbability of Jack's island, and such like--but there are also themes within it that make for interesting pondering. Who, for instance, gets to make history--is Jack a great hero or a selfish thief? Is it ethical to steal something, when by doing so you save lives? Why shouldn't a princess be friends with a stable-boy? And if you are a fun loving girl with a dragon friend, who is also the heir to a kingdom, when is it time to start growing up and become responsible?

Because of these questions, I enjoyed Ivy and the Meanstalk more than I did Ivy's Ever After (my review) although that is a perfectly fine, fun book. This one is more directly a fairy-tale reimagining, and so interested me more on that count as well--I had never really thought about what happened to Jack after the whole beanstalk business, and I enjoyed seeing where he ended up!

I probably won't be re-reading them for my own pleasure, but I'd happily recommend them to eight to ten year olds. There's nothing particularly violent or disturbing--just good fantasy fun.

The Skeleton's Knife, by Joni Sensel

Earlier this week I reviewed The Jewel of the Kalderash, third in a series whose first book I helped shortlist for the Cybils in 2008. By sheer coincidence, today's book, The Skeleton's Knife, by Joni Sensel ( Dream Factory Books, 2011, 270 pages) is also the third in a series whose first book, The Farwalker's Quest, was shortlisted in middle grade sci fi/fantasy back in 2009.

This series as a whole is excellent fantasy/science fiction that I don't hesitate to recommend to upper middle grade (and older) fans of adventure stories, especially ones who do not want anything medievally (ie, castles), or paranormal. It's both thought-provoking and entertaining. I'd recommend starting with the first one, not because this can't be read alone, but there is no particular reason to. Here's my review of The Farwalker's Quest, and my review of the second book, The Timekeeper's Moon.

When The Skeleton's Knife begins, 14 year old Ariel hopes to find peace after a series of adventures that helped bring the beginnings of civilization back to her post-apocalyptic world. But peace is not what she finds. Not only is she torn between her loyalty to old friend, Zeke, and the romantic tension that is building between her and her new friend, Nace (yes, a love triangle....), but the ghost of a man who kidnapped her and almost killed her is troubling her spirit. Gifted with the ability to travel to where she needs to go--she is a "farwalker--Ariel is led to the man's skeletal body, and finds his knife.

Instinctively she knows that she must return the knife to the place where it was made. And so, accompanied by her mentor Scarl, and by Zeke (but not by Nace), Ariel head out on another quest. This time her feet take her to the ocean, where, in a remnant fishing community, she meets new friends, who have dark secrets of their own. To free herself from the curse of the skeleton's knife, and to bring these new friends peace, Ariel must take her darkest journey yet, to a place from which no living person has ever returned.

It's always a lovely thing, to travel again with old friends! This journey did not disappoint. The fine characterization and interesting story made this just as compelling a read as the previous two books. I particularly liked the world-building in this one--the dying community where Ariel travels is a fascinating place. And, in as much as I consider Ariel, Scarl, and Zeke old friends, I was glad that they all got happy endings. True, there was the small issue of the love triangle, but it was handled well, and didn't become a nagging distraction! In fact, this one might be my favorite of the series--the story is smaller in scope, which allows for more concentration on character and slower ratcheting up of tension.

Note on age: there are dark elements in the series as a whole, and some violence, as well as the turn toward romantic entanglements (still fairly nascent, but well on their way to being more). I wouldn't rush to give these books to anyone younger than elevenish.

The first two books in the series were published by Bloomsbury, who (I'm guessing) declined to continue with this one. Thank goodness there are other options available to authors these days-- I'm awfully glad to have been given the opportunity to find out that Scarl, in particular, got a happy ending! I'm mentioning this because I don't want anyone to be deterred by worries that The Skeleton's Knife is anything less than polished and professional.

Over at The Write Path, you can find another review, and a giveaway!

(disclaimer: a copy was sent to me by the author--thanks!)

And final note--Joni Sensel is also the author of The Humming of Numbers, a historical fantasy set in early Medieval Ireland. It was think about this book last night that made me decide to create my historical fantasy list, because I wrote my review of it ages ago (here), and it's a book that many of you all who read my blog today might be glad to know about.

Waiting on Wednesday--Heart of Stone, by M.L. Welsh, and Legends of Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke

So just a few days ago I posted about my fondness for Mistress of the Storm, by M.L. Welsh, and lo! I then read this post at Nayu's Reading Corner about the sequel, just released over in the UK (from Random House)!
Here's the publisher's summery:

After a wonderful summer sailing, Verity Gallant just wants life to stay the same forever. But as she should know by now, not everything in life turns out as we would like.

The land is shifting beneath the ancient harbour town of Wellow, causing mysterious caves to appear in cliff faces, terrifying rock falls and dangerous landslides. And the earth isn't the only thing crumbling...Verity is thrilled that Jeb has returned, but their feelings for each other threaten her friendship with Henry and Martha.

Once again Verity and her friends are embroiled in a tale of evil, intrigue and lost love, as a powerful force works its way towards Wellow, hell-bent on putting an end to all happiness. The Heart of Stone is the key, and the race is on to find it.

And now I am waiting anxiously for such time as I feel the number of unread books in my house has diminished enough to go on a UK book buying spree courtesy of the Book Depository. I hate having my birthday right after Christmas--I have already, in the past week, amassed enough of a wants list for several birthdays between now and next December!

And I don't usually make my Waiting on Wednesday posts more than one book, but I can't resist--Ben Hatke has just published the wonderful cover of the second book about Zita the Spacegirl:You can see the full wrap around at his blog. My boys and I loved the first Zita book (which made the Cybils shortlist in graphic novels), and I am so looking forward to this one, which comes out September 4th from First Second.

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Historical Fantasy--a new list up at the top of my blog

I have a new list--all my "historical fantasy" reviews in one handy place.

It was trickier than I thought. As I went through all 1,700 blog posts I've ever written, looking for "historical fantasy," I tried to pull out the books that were "historical fiction set in our world with magical elements." Other things--alternate histories, fantasies that seem like they are set in the past of our world, but not definitively--crept on. I did firmly exclude a number of "medievalish" fantasies that don't specifically take place in real history, which was painful, but necessary. (For instance, although Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series reads like historical fantasy, it isn't because it's not our history).

Additionally, I ran into problems of geography and time periods. My education has a distinct European bias, and so there are several European categories, labeled nicely, there's one category for "historic Japan;" likewise, the one Mongolian book and several set in India are together under "historical India." This makes me feel as though I have fallen into an Orientalist trap. Perhaps as more historical fantasies set in these places come my way, I'll be able to give these places and histories a distinctness comparable to the European side of things.

Additionally, there are books that don't say, in a helpful spirit, "It was 1883, and little Lucy...." but are clearly "historic." Also, some of us seem to have been sloppy at times making it clear when the book we were reviewing was set. So I have had to use the 19th century as a reasonable default for some of these books.

Please let me know if you see problems or mistakes, and please feel free to send me recommendations for more historical fantasy!

Just to clarify--this list doesn't include the time travel books, which have their own page.

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman (Big Mouth House 2011, upper mg/YA, 258 pages)

Sophie is not happy at the thought of spending the summer with her aunt and old-fashioned, demanding, grandmother in the family home in Louisiana. It's 1960, her parents have gotten divorced, and her mother is going back to work--and thirteen year old Sophie is sure she will be bored and lonely. Even though she's brought some of her favorite books, like Edward Eager's The Time Garden, with her, there's only so much re-reading a girl can do...

But much to Sophie's wonder, she finds magic in her grandmother's garden when she meets a mysterious and mischievous creature. "I wish I wasn't me!" cries Sophie to this creature. "I want to travel through through time and have grand adventures and brothers and sisters and have everybody love me" (page 53). And so the creature sends Sophie back in time to 1860, when her family's plantation house is still standing, surrounded by sugar cane fields.

The last bit of Sophie's wish, however, doesn't come true quite so easily. Tanned and frizzyhaired, bedraggled and uncouth, with the family resemblance plain to see, Sophie is assumed to be a by-blow of the family's black sheep, and a slave. She is not exactly embraced with loving arms by her ancestors, but instead a place in the work of the plantation is found for her. For the next months, Sophie spends her days waiting on her great, great etc. grandmother, while living in the close community of the plantation's enslaved families. As one slave among many, Sophie must learn to keep her head down when necessary. But when Sophie must act to prevent a tragedy, passive resistance is not longer an option...

It's hard to read fiction about slavery. The injustices and cruelties, both the casual kind and the truly hateful, are not comfortable reading. Making this book even more uncomfortable is that Sophie arrives in the past with the prejudices of a girl from a 1960s racist family--this aspect of her character and upbringing was especially jarring, because I, as the reader, both identified with her, and had trouble remembering that she wasn't from the same present as me.

Fortunately, once Sophie is actually thrown into the community of the plantation, her prejudices are melted by human contact, and individual people became more important than skin color. And fortunately for me as a reader, these people, seen through Sophie's eyes, became people to care about myself, drawing me into the story despite this being a place I didn't particularly want to go.

Sherman has a pretty tight line to walk--she is making a clear statement about the evils of slavery, and must write about horrible things, but at the same time she is writing a book for younger readers. The general darkness--the violence, the cruelty, the evil of slavery--would probably not be too much for the upper middle school kid, and despite all this, it is not a depressing book. Sophie, although unhappy, knows she doesn't belong, and is confident (most of the time) that she won't have to stay, which makes it easier for her to endure her situation, and for the reader to feel a slight protective distancing from the characters of 1860. And it also makes the book more cheerful that the slaves with whom Sophie spends here time are not reduced to the sum of their oppressions, but are allowed to be living, laughing, angry, resisting people who are not depressing in and of themselves.

However, I did have one parental-guidance type concern. Rape is very much part of this world, not just in the casual assumption that this is why there are pale-skinned slaves, like Sophie, but in an actual attempted rape of one of Sophie's friends on the plantation (not graphically described, but quite clear as to what was happening). So some discretion is advised--I don't particularly want to chat with my own 11-year old about the Quadroon balls of New Orleans (mentioned in passing as a possible future for Sophie) and what happened to those women next, let alone have a discussion of what constitutes rape.

So there's a bit of a disjunction here. One the one hand, it's an excellent time travel adventure with a powerfully developed historical setting (lots of great detail, such that the time and places came fully alive) and great characters with whom both Sophie and the reader form powerful relationships. A young reader who loves Eager might feel, at first, that they were right at home, but reading something even more satisfying. Until they aren't--and they find themselves reading something that might shake them, might stretch them, might make make them think.

On the other hand, a reader ready for the darker side of things might feel put off by the "childish" beginning of the petulant girl escaping in children's books, and not ever get to the powerful stuff that will sweep them along into the troubling and moving reality of life as a slave.

That being said, I hope this book finds readers! I am very much in favor of books as pathways to learning--about history, about injustice, about the different forms power and gender relationships can take, about how people can change for the better...etc.! When you have a book, like this one, that is such a pathway, but is also a truly absorbing read in its own story, that's a great thing.

Here's one bit that made me stop and think:

"There ain't no such thing as a good mistress, on account of mistress ain't a good thing to be....Old Missy maybe taught you to read and write and speak as white as her own children. But she ain't set you free" (page 147).

Here's Delia Sherman talking about her book at Diversity in YA.

The Jewel of the Kalderash, by Marie Rutkoski

The Jewel of the Kalderash, by Marie Rutkoski, was one of my most anticipated books of 2011. It was one of the reasons I braved Book Expo America...(where I happily found an arc when the event was all over, left abandoned in a meeting room). I enthusiastically recommend this series to fans of historical fiction, and I helped shortlist the first book, The Cabinet of Wonders, to the Cybils. I gave the second book, The Celestial Globe, a glowing review. The quality of writing, the delightful detail of the world-building, and the engaging characters made these two books favorites of mine.

And yet I didn't read the third book till last week, despite the fact that it came out in October.

I blame the Cybils--there I was in October with 100 books to read in 10 weeks. But I also blame the psychosocial syndrome in which knowing you'll like a book makes you put off reading it, especially when it's the last of a beloved series, and you hold in abeyance because you don't want to stop having it to look forward too (if that makes sense?). But in any event, I have now read it.

The Jewel of the Kalderash is the third book in a series, and so I'm not going to attempt a summary, because it would take too long. Suffice to say, this book, set around 1600, pits young Petra and her steadfast companions, Tomick, Neel, and Astrophil, a mechanical spider, against the evil Prince whose machinations and power-hungry, bloodthirsty madness had plunged the four of them into adventures beyond their wildest dreams.

This isn't my favorite book of the series. The relationship between Petra and the two boys has become a love triangle (sigh), and the conflict with Prince Rudolpho and his army of monstrous Grey Men is, by the end of things, not one of sneakiness and wits, but all out battle; not my preferred state of things! And worst of all, at the end of the book, Petra, for whom I cheered, with whom I suffered and worried, finds herself in the position of having her future defined by her relationship to others, instead of a future where she, as a character of action and abilities, will shape her own way.

However, I did very much enjoy Neel's story arc (which runs parallel to Petra's), in which he finds himself confronted with an unexpected and unasked for position of power! I think it would not be going to far to say that in this book he is very reminiscent of Eugenides, of The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, and that is high praise indeed, coming from me.

So I continue to recommend this series for those who love magical wonders woven into their historical fiction, and for those who enjoy the adventures of brave girls defying the odds. Although I didn't love this third book, I still found much to enjoy in it, and I'm glad to have had the chance to complete my journey with Petra and co.

Middle grade read-a-thon wrap up

Deb (of Just Deb) was kind enough to host a middle grade read-a-thon this past week. I happen to read middle grade science fiction and fantasy in much the same way as I brush my teeth--ie, early and often, so I took this read-a-thon as a challenge to try to move off my list a few mg books that weren't for review.

Here's what I read:

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, by Jeanne Birdsall, which I had been eying hungrily over at my local library for ages. I enjoyed just fine. I especially liked the en passant mention of a book that's a favorite of mine--Bilgewater, by Jane Gardam (whose name was used for the Penderwick's home street)--and I agree that it is too old for Jane. But it is not too old for many of you all, and there are used copies on Amazon for 1 cent....It's about an ugly duckling of a girl growing up as the only girl at an English boy's boarding school, and her misadventures with life and love, and even though I do not like books that are straight misadventure, there is enough hopefulness here to make me love it. Plus she is a math genius, and I do very much like books where the main character is passionate about something.

I did enjoy the Penderwicks, too, but not so much.

Shakespeare's Secret, by Elise Broach. I picked up a used copy of this years ago, and it's been languishing in the downstairs bathtub of tbr shame for far too long (just as a reminder, in case anyone is worrying, the upstairs bathroom has all mod. cons.). I enjoyed it lots (as I suspected I might, when I got it....). A nice mystery with a historical twist, and engaging heroine, and an overgrown garden. Some weeding is done, but not enough to fully please me (I do enjoy books with gardening).

One of the problems I have with my tbr is library discards. The discards all get passed along to me for the Friend's booksale, and sometimes the older children's books don't make it until after they have spent a while in the aforementioned bathtub (I dunno what I'll do when we get around to bathroom renovation). Yesterday I read one of these discards--The Mystery of the Cuckoo's Call, by Gertrude Dowds (1963). It's an implausible mystery/suspense story involving kids in Ireland and a fortune in diamonds and I cannot recommend it....back to the book sale it goes. Possibly straight onto the Free Book Cart.

I did read some fantasy, including a book from the books-I-think-I-will keep tbr pile (which lives in the dinning room at present)--The Kingdom of Carbonel, by Barbara Sleigh, the second in a series about a magical, royal cat and the two children who become his friends. I enjoyed it just fine. I hate it when people say "I didn't like this book because it was for kids," but sometimes one does run into books that one would have loved back in the day, that aren't quite solid enough (or whatever) to suit a grownup. Sadly, I felt this way about this one. But if you have a young cat loving reader, get this series!!!!

And I read Earwig and the Witch, by Diana Wynne Jones (my review), and finished The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody (my review), finished The Jewel of the Kalderash, by Marie Rutkoski (review to come), read Fairy Lies, by E.D. Baker (review to come), and am about to start The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine Richards, for review next week.

Just to finish my weekly reading summary for the heck of it, I also read The Scorpio Races, but it was too depressing for me to like it all that much, and the first few chapters of A Papa Like Everyone Else, by Sydney Taylor, which I put down when the robbers came...too depressing (back to the library book sale for this one too!).

Thanks, Deb, for the fun read-a-thon!

Welcome to this week's edition of the middle grade sci fi/fantasy roundup, in which I find all the mg sff blog reviews, interviews, and etcs., I can, and share them! Please let me know if I missed your post, and please feel free to send me anything you think is of interest at any time!

The Reviews:

The Appothecary, by Maile Meloy, at Literary Lunchbox

Archer's Quest, by Linda Sue Park, at Book Nut

The Beast, by Barry Hutchison, at The Book Zone

The Borrowers, by Mary Norton, at Book-a-day Almanac

The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright at Literate Lives

The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody, at Fuse #8 and Charlotte's Library

Dragon Castle, by Joseph Bruchac, at Book Nut

Dragon Keeper, by Carole Wilkinson, at living peacefully with children

The Dragon's Tooth, by N.D. Wilson, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Earwig and the Witch, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Charlotte's Library

Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian, by Michael Rex, at Original Content

The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman, by Meg Wolitzer, at Readatouille

Floors, by Patrick Carman, at Good Books and Good Wine and The Book Swarm

The Invisible Tower, by Nils Johnson-Shelton, at More Than True

Janitors, by Tyler Whitesides, at Readingunky's Reading Roost

Juniper Berry, by M.P. Kozlowsky, at Good Books and Good Wine

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Story Snoops

Little Women and Me, by Lauren Baratz-Logstead, at Ms. Yingling Reads

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at Pass the Chicklets

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Karissa's Reading Review and Ms. Yingling Reads

The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskell, at Slatebreakers

Sir Gawain the True, by Gerald Morris, at Literate Lives

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Bloggin' 'bout Books

The Wide Awake Princes, by E.D. Baker, at Puss Reboots

Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at Charlotte's Library and Jen Robinson's Book Page

At Time Travel Times Two you'll find two elevator stories--Time at the Top, and A Year Without Autumn

Authors and Interviews:

Sarah Prineas talks Winterling in a Big Idea post at Whatever, and is interviewed at The Book Cellar and Read, Write, Repeat

Jasmine Richards (The Book of Wonders) at The Book Zone

Mark Griffiths (Space Lizards Stole My Brian!) at Wondrous Reads

The Horn Book has published an adapted edition of a keynote address Richard Peck (Secrets at Sea) gave at a colloquium this fall

Other things of interest:

Those looking for more books, and blogs, to read might want to check out the YA/MG fantasy challenge hosted by Erica at The Book Cellar.

At Once Upon a Blog, you can admire the illustrations to The Zen of Oz, by Cathy Pavia:

The ones that got away--four mg sff books that didn't make the shortlist

Although I'm very fond of the books on the middle grade fantasy/science fiction shortlist for the Cybils, there were (as is always the case) books that I myself loved that didn't (sniff) make it. Here are four that would have made my own personal best list of the (Oct-Oct) year.

The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud. I am a huge fan of the demon Baritmaeus, and loved this book to pieces. From my review:

"Oh my gosh I enjoyed this one so very much. Not, so much, the first hundred or so pages, which were mostly Bartimaeus annoying various beings and getting into trouble, because I found Bartimaeus is hard to like when he is just one demon among many. But once Bartimaeus and Asmira get together, the sparks begin to fly! With her to provide a foil for him, Bartimaeus pushes the boundaries of standard cold-hearted demon-ness, and Stroud does a beautifully teasingly tantalizing and oh so engrossing job of making Bartimaeus sympathetic (while still demonic). And he was just the companion Asmira needed to push her out of her box of blind duty and into independent thinking. From kick-ass knife thrower without much personality, she progresses to strong young woman one can really root for."

Season of Secrets, by Sally Nicholls, which tells of a grieving girl who finds herself caught up in the age old magical violence of the changing seasons of the year. Here's what I said about this one: "I think that this is one for those readers who would, if they had to pick either Character or Plot to be marooned with on a desert island, would go with Character.

That would be me, and I thought it was a lovely book. The writing, the characters, and mix of fantasy and reality, and the mix of sadness and hope make this one of my favorites of 2011."

The Ogre of Oglefort, by Eva Ibottson. This book, her last, is my favorite of all Ibottson's books. It all hangs together just ever so delightfully, and is basically the perfect, lightly-diverting younger middle grade fantasy for me in particular. Here's my review, where I explain this in more detail.

And finally, I'd like to give a nod to Mistress of the Storm, by M.L. Welsh. This one was on my anxious list of books that hadn't yet been nominated, along with Season of Secrets; I went with Season, and was very sad that this one didn't find a champion. From my review: "There's a lovely, old-fashioned feel to this book. It's set neither firmly in the past, or in the present--there's no technology, but Verity "feels" like a modern child. The setting has a lovely solidness to it--it's a slightly not quite real place, but real in the story sense, and many of the characters are likewise reminiscent of people one might have met in other stories long ago--in an evocative, rather than an imitative, way (if that makes sense?). Verity is a classic example of the bookish outsider making good, and as such many of us will empathize with her, and cheer her on."

Earwig and the Witch, by Diana Wynne Jones

It was rather bittersweet on my birthday to unwrap Earwig and the Witch, by Diana Wynne Jones (June 2011 in the UK, HarperCollins, 144 pages) as it the last book she published. But I bravely enjoyed it, nonetheless, despite the fact that it is very much a book for children younger than me, which is to say elementary school kids of eight or so.

Earwig was left on the doorstep of St. Morwald's Home for Children as an infant, with the following cryptic note:

"Got the other twelve witches all chasing me. I'll be back for her when I've shook them off. It may take years Her name is Earwig."

And although the matron of the home decided that Earwig was not a suitable name, and changed it to Erica Wigg, Earwig she remained. No one ever came back to claim her, and she grew up in great contentment amoung the other orphans, particularly enjoying the company of her best friend Custard (aka John Coster). Her preternatural powers of persuasion ensure that everything runs exactly as she plans it, and so, when grownups come to visit with an eye for taken children home with them, Earwig does her best to be unappealing.

But alas for Earwig, her fate is sealed one day when a very strange couple comes to the orphanage. A couple not in the least little bit nice or ordinary, who are not in the least deterred by her efforts to appear unloveable, and who take her away with them. The woman is Bella Yaga, a witch, and the "man," known as the Mandrake, is something even more scary and powerful, so much so that even Bella Yaga is careful not to disturb them.

Trapped in her new home, and forced to slave away for Bella Yaga, grinding bones into powder and such like, Earwig wonders if she will ever get her own way again. But thanks to her indomitable spirit, and her gift for reshaping circumstances to suit herself, along with the help of Bella Yaga's familiar (a rather nice talking cat), Earwig manages to pick up just enough magic to change things for the better.

It's diverting and appealing and engaging as all get out, once one recovers from the disappointment of the largeness of the font and the generous spacing of the lines. It is classic DWJ, and I enjoyed it. In particular the character of the Mandrake was a delight--I didn't know what to make of him at all, and found him quite as frightening as Earwig did, but by the end I liked him almost best of all (though I do so wish we got to find out more about him!).

Here's a typical supper at Earwig's new home:

"And what have the demons brought us today?" Bella Yaga asked in the bright, wheedling voice she always seemed to use to the Mandrake.

"Pie and chips from Stoke-on-Trent Station Buffet," the Mandrake growled without looking up.

"I hate Station pie," said Bella Yaga.

The Mandrake looked up. His eyes were like dark pits. A spark of red fire glowed, deep down in each pit. "It's my favorite food," he said. The sparks in his eyes flickered and grew.

Earwig quite understood then why she was not to disturb the Mandrake. She was glad that he did not seem to notice she was there." (pp 47-49, with a full page illustration in between).

Whether you are a DWJ fan or not, this is a great one for any young readers, with enough zest and fun in the storytelling to make it diverting for us older fans (even though I did want more....there are many unanswered questions).

Viz the illustrations--there are lots of black and white drawings by Marion Lindsay in the UK version, which is what I read; they are fine, I guess, but I tend not to notice them when I read, and then when I go back to them, I've already made my own pictures in my mind. The U.S. version, which comes out Jan. 31, 2012, will be illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, and I'm curious to see what he makes of it all! Based on the US cover, shown at right, I'm thinking I made the right choice (for me at least) in getting the UK edition. Zelinsky's Earwig looks kind of scary herself....and she's not. I liked her lots!

My life as a reader--a birthday retrospective, with never before seen pictures!

Today is my birthday, and I will be getting books, as I have for every birthday. To celebrate, here's a look back at my life as a Reader.

I have suffered all my life from people bothering me when I was trying to peacefully read. This is me at the age of two, being rudely interupted while reading Fox in Socks.

I was lucky to have grown-ups in my life who read to me (my grandfather, my mother, my father), although my father liked reading us scary books just to tease us. (I am the thumbsucker on the left).


Soon I was an inveterate bookworm, reading desperately whatever was at hand. This is me, age seven, in Portugal, reading a Ladybird biography of Lord Nelson. Why did no one buy this poor child more non-fiction? I had to re-read Lord Nelson about twenty times, and am bitter to think of all the knowledge I could have painlessly absorbed. The cat is named Mitzi.

Here's another picture from Portugal, to give Satchel, the dog, a place here too, even though it looks like my big sister is the one reading.

Then we moved to the Bahamas...where I bravely ignored the garish fabrics of the 1970s and managed to get in quite a bit of peaceful reading. Mostly Enid Blyton. I am ten in this picture, and I so badly would have loved an enormous box of the middle grade fiction of today.... there was no good library, and the one bookstore had a limited selection.

We spent our summers at my grandparent's house, and I looked forward lots to going to Arlington Central Library, where I would immediately pick out my favorite re-reads. Here I am, in the top bunk, during one of those summers.

And then we moved back to Arlington ourselves, and I became a sullen adolescent reader. This is me at the age of 13 celebrating Christmas with my family, clearly throwing myself enthusiastically into the fun of it all (not). It was the early eighties by then, but textiles hadn't improved much.



I spent much of the next few years reading to escape the trauma of growing up. The book I am reading here is Nobody's Garden, by Cordelia Jones ("Two very different girls become friends and share their secrets in a deserted garden that they discover among the blitzed houses of post-war London."). I have my own copy now, and still quite like it.

Then I went to college, and read as much I could to escape having to do the work. Here I am reading Gerald Durrell's How to Shoot an Amateur Naturalist.

No one bothered to take any pictures of me reading when I was in my twenties, although I did do lots of it....mostly re-reading. I would wander into bookstores, and nothing new would appeal...very sad.

In my thirties, I began to read aloud to my two boys (note: that's just a curl, not a dead rodent, on my cheek in the picture on the left, and we know longer have Thomas stickers on our living room wall, as shown at right).

But I have still managed to find time to read lots to myself (despite someone, naming no names, saying things like "I guess, Mama, you love that book more than you do your own little child....")


Here is a picture of me last night, reading The Jewel of the Kalderash, by Marie Rutkoski, well wrapped up in blankets and woolly sweater (our house is cold) with our current cat (Kitty) on my lap:

And that is my life with books. Thank you to anyone who has ever read me a book, given me a book (with a particular nod of thanks to my dear husband, for the books of this birthday!), sat with me peacefully to read a book, or, perhaps best of all, left me all alone to read in peace....

The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody (Knopf, 2011, mg, 288 pages)

In 1901, an eleven year old New York street urchin named Tommy Learner steals an unexpected prize--a mechanical bird. The bird was about to fall in the hands of the Dead Gentleman, an undying villain bent of the destruction of all living beings...but when Tommy makes off with it, the Gentleman's plans are (for the moment) foiled. And Tommy attracts the attention of the Explorers Guild, a secret society dedicated to the explorations of portals between a myriad of worlds, and begins a life of monster hunting, steampunk-esque submarine excursions, and mystery.

But one day, in the basement of an old hotel, a simple monster hunting mission goes horribly wrong. And Tommy is trapped....until, over a hundred years later, Jezebel, a bored and lonely modern-day girl living in the hotel, decides to explore the basement of the hotel, and sets in motion a chain of events that frees him. Now the two children, traveling through time and space, must keep the bird from the Dead Gentleman and his minions of Grave Walkers. No members of the Explorers Guild survive to help them. Fortunately, time is on their side (along with some nifty gadgets!).

I was sold on the premise--steampunk science-fiction time-travel adventure with kids! And I was not disappointed.

At first Tommy and Jezebel have separate stories (they are, after all, in different time periods), and it's not at all clear how Tommy's life as street urchin turned explorer's apprentice, and Jezebel's life as vaguely unhappy modern child, made infinitely more unhappy when her closet becomes a portal that disgorges monsters, are going to intersect. But I had no objection to this separation--I enjoyed getting to know each of them individually before the Big Adventure really got going. And Cody does a nice job with them--their personalities are nicely developed, and their struggles with friendship, loyalty, and escaping terrible death are convincing!

The science fiction elements (cool gadgets, travel to other worlds, supernatural undead villains) are certainly front and center, but not in a pushy way; not so much as to put off the kids who think they like their adventure stories science fiction free (edited to add: although certainly the ideal reader has to have a tolerance for the wildy fantastical!). The villain is, perhaps, a tad too utterly horrible to be swallowed without a pinch of salt, but he's not out of place in a book that clearly sets out to enjoy the impossible (although I must say legions of undead minions aren't really my thing).

The cover does a really nice job of capturing this spirit--note in particular the skulls in the goggles. If the cover appeals, you'll probably enjoy this lots. I'd give it to fans of Artemis Fowl, and Matthew Kirby's The Clockwork Three, but am not entirely satisfied that those are the best read-alikes--strangely (sarcasm font) I am not coming up with anything else in the way of middle grade steampunk sci fi adventure involving travel through both time and space!

It's a satisfactory stand-alone, but there's an opening left for a sequel, absolute evil being tricky to defeat absolutely. Although this isn't my own personal favorite type of book (what with aforementioned legions of undead minions), I myself wouldn't say no to more adventures for Tommy and Jez!

Winterling, by Sarah Prineas

In Winterling, which comes out tomorrow (Jan 3, 2012) from Harper Collins, Sarah Prineas has done something very nice indeed. She's taken a story whose elements might seem old hat to many of us adults, and made it into one that I can imagine will be a touchstone for young readers beginning their own enchanted journeys.

Fer, short for Jennifer, is happiest out in the woods beyond the snug safety of her grandmother's house...at school, with its taunting classmates and the muzzy-headedness that overwhelms her, she is an outsider, and even the coziness of the small house where she lives, with its beehives and herbal workroom, is confining.

And then one day, wandering into the dark woods just as winter seems to be giving way to spring, Fer rescues a strange boy from the savage attack of three wolves...and magic enters her life. Her grandmother had been keeping secrets from her; secrets that will change everything.

“We live here, my girl, because it is close to the Way, and echoes of its magic are felt in our world. The Way is a path leading to another place, where the people are governed by different rules. Magic runs through them and their land.”

But that land is cursed by the dark power of the Mor, who promises to bring an end to a winter that has lasted too long...with blood of those pursued by her wild hunt. Fer, all unwitting, has opened a way into this land, and when she learns that her parents were lost there long ago, she sets out to find them. In a land of magical creatures (not least of whom is the "boy" Fer had rescued, whose fate becomes tangled with hers), Fer must confront the evil beguilement's of the Mor, and find her true self...or doom the land to never ending winter.

Basically, here's an orphan girl with a magical destiny, aided and thwarted by magical creatures, pitted against a dark queen of a fairy-esque realm where the natural order of things has gone badly awry. As I said, it isn't all that "new" a story, on the face of it.

There were moments where the pictures made in my mind--of Fer riding through the winter sky, the "wilding" of the land's people, slipping unwilling into animal shape as the blight grows stronger, of the blood shed by the wild hunt, when I forgot I wasn't the target audience, and simply enjoyed it for my own sake. Questions thrice asked and oaths thrice sworn, a seeing stone that reveals truth when you look through it, and the shapeshifterish magic of the land's inhabitants were a great pleasure to read about. Being me, I especially liked the herbal healing elements! And I liked Fer as a central character just fine, with her hair that keeps getting untidy and her pluckiness and her willingness to do the right thing.

That being said, there were also moments when I found Fer and her magical destiny almost too much to swallow, probably because I could guess where things were headed....

But oh, to be ten and to read this! To be given such an escape from the stifling confines of school and growing up, to lose oneself in the story and become Fer, magical and meaningful and able to stand up for what is right against dark powers (with the added bonus of a cool horse friend)...that would be something wonderful indeed.

I think ten is just the right age for this (or even a tad younger)--there's a reader-friendly, companionable feel to the writing, the darkness is enough to thrill and chill without being too disturbing, and the magic should delight.