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

Here are the new releases of fantasy and science fiction for kids and teens from the first half of Feb., 2012. My information comes, as always, from Teens Read Too, the blurbs from Amazon. I haven't read them all, so had to guess if some of these really are sff--I gave them the benefit of the doubt when it wasn't clear!

My most anticipated book on this list is The Crowfield Demon (it's been out in the UK for a while). I am pretty sure I am getting it as a Valentine's Day present...

Elementary/Middle Grade:

ABOVE WORLD by Jenn Reese "Thirteen-year-old Aluna has lived her entire life under the ocean with the Coral Kampii in the City of Shifting Tides. But after centuries spent hidden from the Above World, her colony's survival is at risk. The Kampii's breathing necklaces are failing, but the elders are unwilling to venture above water to seek answers. Only headstrong Aluna and her friend Hoku are stubborn and bold enough to face the terrors of land to search for way to save their people. But can Aluna's fierce determination and fighting skills and Hoku's tech-savvy keep them safe? Set in a world where overcrowding has led humans to adapt - growing tails to live under the ocean or wings to live on mountains - here is a ride through a future where greed and cruelty have gone unchecked, but the loyalty of friends remains true."

THE ADVENTURES OF BEANBOY by Lisa Harkrader "Never underestimate the power of the bean. Tucker MacBean has been drawing comic books almost as long as he’s been reading them. When his favorite comic has a contest for kids, he hopes he has finally found a way to fix his family—all he has to do is create the winning superhero sidekick . . . Introducing “Beanboy”—the first comic book character to truly harness the power of the bean for good. He is strong, he is relentless, he can double in size overnight (if given enough water).

With thoughtful characterizations and copious comic book illustrations, this laughout-loud novel will have readers rooting for a superhero with true heart."

THE BIG BEAST SALE: AN AWFULLY BEASTLY BUSINESS by The Beastly Boys "Ulf the werewolf is on his most dangerous adventure yet—to Capitol City, where the wicked Baron Marackai is plotting the return of the beast trade and the end of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Beasts (RSPCB). With the public calling for beasts to be banished from the city, or worse still, destroyed, it's up to Ulf to protect them and get to the bottom of the mysterious events. This time, the future of all beasts depends on it."

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER: YOU'RE INVITED TO A CREEPOVER by P.J. Night "Katie Walsh is majorly bummed when her BFF moves away. But her hopes soar when the new girl at school, Whitney, befriends her right away and invites her to spend the night at her house for a sleepover. Katie loved sleepovers with her old BFF, so she’s sure she will have a great time. But Katie doesn’t have a great time. Something is not quite right at Whitney’s house. Whitney seems really, really into her dolls…and later that night, Katie’s convinced that the dolls are threatening her.

The next morning, a freaked-out Katie decides that maybe she hasn’t found a new best friend, after all. Whitney, however, has made up her mind about Katie—they’re going to be best friends forever…no matter what. This too-close-for-comfort friendship tale is ranked a 5 on the Creep-o-Meter."

BLISS by Kathryn Littlewood "Rosemary Bliss’s family has a secret. It’s the Bliss Cookery Booke—an ancient, leather-bound volume of enchanted recipes like Stone Sleep Snickerdoodles and Singing Gingersnaps. Rose and her siblings are supposed to keep the Cookery Booke under lock and whisk-shaped key while their parents are out of town, but then a mysterious stranger shows up. “Aunt” Lily rides a motorcycle, wears purple sequins, and whips up exotic (but delicious) dishes for dinner. Soon boring, nonmagical recipes feel like life before Aunt Lily—a lot less fun.

So Rose and her siblings experi-ment with just a couple of recipes from the forbidden Cookery Booke. A few Love Muffins and a few dozen Cookies of Truth couldn’t cause too much trouble . . . could they?"

BONE: QUEST FOR THE SPARK BK. 2 by Tom Sniegoski "The Nacht, the evil dragon that threatens to destroy both the Dreaming and the Waking World, is growing stronger, and twelve-year-old Tom Elm is the champion the Dreaming has chosen to defeat it. Along with Roderick the raccoon, Percival Bone and his nephew and niece, Randolf, Lorimar, and the two stupid Rat Creatures, Tom must race to find the missing pieces of the Spark. This leg of the journey introduces him to a trio of scheming bears and takes him into the depths of a dangerous beehive. And, on top of everything else, a traitor might be among them. . . ."

COLD CEREAL by Adam Rex

"Cold Cereal Facts Serving size 1 chapter Number of servings 40
Primary human characters 3
Scottish Play Doe, aka Scottpossible changeling Erno Utz genius Emily Utz supergenius Magical creatures at least 3
Mick Leprechaun (or Clurichaun)
Harvey Pooka (rabbit-man)
Biggs indeterminate origin (hairy, large)
Evil organizations 1
Goodco Cereal CompanyPurveyor of breakfast foods aspiring to world domination Adventure 75%
Diabolical Schemes 40%
Danger 57%
Legend 20%
Magic 68%
Humor 93%
Puzzles 35%
Mystery 49%

Not a significant source of vampires. May contain nuts. Daily values based on individual interest. Reader's estimation of value may be higher or lower, depending on your tolerance for this sort of thing."

THE CROWFIELD DEMON by Pat Walsh "In THE CROWFIELD CURSE, young monks' apprentice Will learned he was gifted with the Sight: able to see beyond this mortal coil into the spirit realms of Old Magic. Protected by the warrior fay Shadlok -- and befriended by the wry, wary hobgoblin called Brother Walter -- the boy is just coming into his strange powers.

But now, from its very foundations, Crowfield Abbey has begun to crumble. As Will slaves to salvage the chapel, he discovers something truly terrifying. A heathen creature from a pagan past is creeping up through the rubble -- avowed to unleash havoc on holy ground!"

FAIRY LIES by E. D. Baker "In this delightful sequel to Fairy Wings (originally titled Wings) the fairy princess Tamisin has been kidnapped from her home in the human world by Oberon, king of the fairies, who thinks he’s her father. When Tamisin’s boyfriend Jak finds out, he sets off to rescue her. In this funny and heartwarming romp through a land of fairies, goblins, sphinxes, unicorns, and many more, Tamisin and Jak try to regain their romance even as they find their way back to the human world."

ELLIOT AND THE LAST UNDERWORLD WAR: THE UNDERWORLD CHRONICLES by Jennifer A. Nielsen "As King of the Brownies, Elliot has battled Goblins, tricked Pixies, and trapped a Demon. But now, that Demon has escaped and he's ready for revenge. Elliot will face a challenge unlike anything he's seen before. The Last Underworld War is about to begin. "

FIRST HERO: THE CHRONICLES OF AVANTIA by Adam Blade "At the age of seven, Tanner's father was killed in front of him by the evil warlord Derthsin. But his father's death was not in vain and Derthsin was carried away to his doom by a good Beast, Firepos the Flame Bird. Now, eight years later, another evil army is wreaking havoc across Avantia. But Tanner has been training with Firepos, waiting to avenge his father's death. There is something familiar about this new menace, who rides with a Beast of his own. The evil army is after the pieces of the Mask of Death--which allows whoever wears it to control all Beasts. Tanner sets off on a journey to stop them. Along the way, he encouters twins Gwen and Geffen, who hold the map to finding the remaining pieces."

GHOST PIRATE TREASURE: CREEPELLA VON CACKLEFUR by Geronimo Stilton "Breakout star Creepella von Cacklefur is back in another fur-raising adventure!

Oh, no! Billy Squeakspeare has a big problem, and he needs Creepella's help. Someone's been digging holes around Squeakspeare Mansion at night, and Billy wants to find out who it is. The dangerous, legendary pirate Morgan Darkwhisker is said to have buried his long-lost treasure near Squeakspeare Mansion years ago -- could he be hunting for his hidden riches? It's up to Billy and Creepella to find the treasure first!"

ISLAND OF SHADOWS: SEEKERS, RETURN TO THE WILD by Erin Hunter "Toklo, Kallik, and Lusa survived the perilous mission that brought them together, and now it’s time for them to find their way home. Kallik and Lusa are ready to be among their own kinds again, but Toklo, devastated by the loss of their companion Ujurak, feels hopeless and afraid of what’s to come.

When the group reaches a shadowy island covered in mountains and ice, Kallik is sure they’re almost back to the Frozen Sea. But a terrifying accident leads them into a maze of abandoned tunnels, unlike anything they’ve ever seen before—making them question their path once again.

The bears grow desperate for a sign to guide them, and when they meet a cub who has lost his whole family, Toklo believes the cub has been sent by Ujurak. But the others are unsure. Can they trust their new companion? Or could he be hiding something that will endanger them all?"

QUEST FOR THE SECRET KEEPER: ORACLES OF DELPHI KEEP by Victoria Laurie "Delphi Keep is awash in activity, and for Ian, Theo, and Carl, their safe haven might be nearing its end. The Royal Navy has taken the keep to use as a hospital and the tunnels running under the keep and the castle are ideal to set up a central communications outpost for the approaching war. The earl is happy to help the effort, but now the keep is no longer safe for the orphans and they must be evacuated to his winter residence.
Ian, Theo, and Carl know that if they're sent away, they'll no longer be protected. But more important than their safety is deciphering the third prophecy. All clues point to a quest. The orphans don't know where they must go, but they know they must rescue the Secret Keeper.
To do that, however, they need to work out who this Secret Keeper is. And what, exactly are the secrets he's keeping?"

RAPUNZEL, THE ONE WITH ALL THE HAIR: TWICE UPON A TIME by Wendy Mass "The girl's stuck in a tower. The boy's stuck in a castle. There are two sides to every story...
Rapunzel is having the ultimate bad day. She's been stolen by a witch, may have a ghost for a roommate, and doesn't even have a decent brush for her hair. Prince Benjamin's got it pretty tough, too. His father wants him to be more kingly, his mother wants him to never leave her sight, and his cousin wants to get him into as much trouble as possible (possibly with a troll).

Both Rapunzel and Prince Benjamin are trapped--in very different ways. Once their paths cross, well, that's when things get really strange. Journey back to the days when fairy tales were true with this fun and fresh spin on a timeless tale!"

THE SECRET OF ASHONA: EREC REX by Kaza Kingsley "Erec Rex might still become king—but the closer he gets, the more dangerous his tasks become. Given his romance brewing with Bethany, the discovery that his siblings are secretly king and queen of the Fairy world, and the knowledge that the Stain brothers are growing more and more underhanded, Erec Rex isn’t exactly in an ideal state of mind to face his next two tasks. He will need to lean on his friends more than ever to complete what could be the most terrifying challenge he has ever faced…."

THE VISITORS: CLONE CODES by The McKissacks "There is a wicked system of operation inside the Topas Corporation, where clones are produced. Only authorized Topas officials are allowed inside. Only they, along with the clones themselves, know what happens within the walls of the world’s largest and most powerful cloning company. This final book of The Clone Codes plunges readers into this strange reality. At the same time, The World Federation of Nations has issued an urgent decree to the masses--find Houston Ye, a cyborg, and Leanna Deberry, a clone, both fugitives! There is a $1 million bounty on each of their heads if captured alive. Once again, the McKissacks blend a futuristic world with events from world history to create a gripping sci-fi adventure."

THE WHISPER: THE ROAR by Emma Clayton "Telepathic twins Mika and Ellie at last are reunited. But if they're ever to free the brainwashed, microchipped child soldiers, they must pretend to play along with the tyrant Mal Gorman's maniacal plan, even as they mind-read his every evil thought. Members of an elite squadron of mutants, the brother and sister have specialized skills that will enable them to steal the top-secret formula for an age-reversing drug developed by rebel scientists on the wild side of The Wall. Juiced by these potent pills, the cadaver-like Gorman foresees a future in which he'll be forever young - released from the machinery that now supports him.

Unless, that is, Ellie and Mika have a master plan of their own: to bring the all-powerful Gorman to his knees, and face-to-face with his greatest fear."


Young Adult (these are covered fairly well on other blogs, which is why I don't include the blurbs)

ARCADIA AWAKENS by Kai Meyer
ALMOST EVERYTHING: A VAMPIRE PRINCESS NOVEL by Tate Hallaway
ANGELINA'S SECRET by Lisa J. Rogers
ARTICLE 5 by Kristen Simmons
BEWITCHING: THE KENDRA CHRONICLES by Alex Flinn
BORN WICKED: THE CAHILL WITCH CHRONICLES by Jessica Spotswood
DIABOLICAL: TANTALIZE by Cynthia Leitich Smith
THE GALAHAD LEGACY by Dom Testa
GREEN HEART by Alice Hoffman
HARBINGER by Sara Wilson Etienne
THE JADE NOTEBOOK by Laura Resau
THE MASKED WITCHES: BROTHERHOOD OF THE GRIFFON by Richard Lee Byers
THE NIGHTMARE GARDEN: THE IRON CODEX by Caitlin Kittredge
PURE by Julianna Baggott
SCARLET by A.C. Gaughen
SEKTION 20 by Paul Dowswell
SOMEONE ELSE'S LIFE by Katie Dale
THIEF'S COVENANT: A WIDDERSHINS ADVENTURE by Ari Marmell
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: THE LYING GAME by Sara Shepard
VAMPLAYERS by Rusty Fischer
THE VANISHING GAME by Kate Kae Myers
WINGS OF THE WICKED: AN ANGELFIRE NOVEL by Courtney Allison Moulton
THE WOOD QUEEN: AN IRON WITCH NOVEL by Karen Mahoney

In which I get, pehaps, a bit carried away in my discussion of the Murry parents for the Wrinkle in Time blog tour

It was an honor to be asked to take part in the 50 years/50 blogs tour for the new commemorative edition of A Wrinkle in Time. I still have my childhood copy of the book, and it is well read, and much loved (although I never wanted to be at all like Meg...), and it was a treat to read all the extras (see below) in the new edition.

This week, the participating blogs are featuring the characters. I ended up picking two—the Murry parents. Off-stage for most of the book, they are nevertheless, practically and metaphorically, integral to the story. And the more I thought about the Murry parents, the more I extended the whole idea of “parenting” to the other adults, and started thinking about the parent/child relationship as the driving force of the book as a whole. It's possible I got carried away...

First, the Murry parents.

The Murrys love their children. This is made clear right at the beginning of the book, when Calvin pays his first visit: "You don't know how lucky you are to be loved." And Meg is somewhat startled, and answers "I guess I never thought of that. I guess I took it for granted." (page 38). This is what children do--but as they get older, and more reflective, they (hopefully) learn to appreciate unconditional love.

Meg’s mother is brilliant and beautiful. She is kind and loving, and clearly appreciates her children as individuals. Even though when she’s heating up dinner for the kids in the lab (which L’Engle seems to find amusingly shocking… me, not so much) she’s in control, and rational.

She is also useless—never at any point does she actually do anything that helps anyone, whether in regard to saving the universe or helping her kids get along at school. "...I don't think I can do anything till you've managed to plow through some more time. Then things will be easier for you. But that isn't much help right now, is it?" (page 12).

To Meg, very much not together, very conscious of not being beautiful, a very hot person emotionally, the idea that she will somehow become the type of grown-up that her mother presents is ludicrous. And this, I think, is one of the great sources of tension in her life just before the events of W. in T.—how to reconcile the impossibility of growing up with the fact that it’s going to happen….

Meg’s father gets more page time to actually say and do things. He’s the one that actually started the whole mess, by putting his obligation to "the government" and the chance to try out a new scientific discovery ahead of his family (another harsh fact of growing-up--realizing your parents are people with lives of their own!). He ends up trapped; Meg has to save him. Likewise, when Meg sees her mother through the Medium's magic, she realizes that her mother is weak--Mrs. Murry thinks no one is watching her, and allows herself to give into the weakness of grief and loneliness....rousing in Meg a fierce protectiveness.

This is a reversal of the “natural” order of things. Parents are supposed to save their children! "Her father had not saved her" (page 163) and two pages later "She had found her father and he had not made everything all right" (page 165). And Mr. Murry drives this point even further home when he admits, flat out, that he cannot do a gosh darn thing to save his youngest son, Charles Wallace. Parents are fallible. They are not saviours. They don't have the power to make everything all right.

As I was re-reading, I found that the Murry parents play a much larger role than I expected in shaping the whole emotional arc of Meg's story. And the importance of parent/child relationships plays out in the roles of the other "adults" in the story.

Mrs. Whatsit – the playful, “relatable” (gosh I hate that word) parent, but the fun times don’t last long as she isn’t actually there when times are tough
Mrs. Who—the parent who is always telling you things and expecting you to work them out for yourself
Mrs. Which -- the authority figure. Does not communicate clearly, but must be obeyed, somehow gives the impression of safety.

Yet none of them can save the day.

"Mrs Whatsit, you have to save him!"
"Meg, this is not our way," Mrs Whatsit said sadly (page 186).

Then there's Aunt Beast—the parent who makes you want to be a child again, held safe in a warm embrace, and this relationship is made clear in the text: "As though Meg were a baby, Aunt Beast bathed and dressed her" (page 179). But Aunt Beast, by the monstrous strangeness of her form, evokes the jitteriness of adolescence makes you recoil from that infantile physicality. And she too cannot bear any of Meg's burdens.

The final “adult” who plays an important role in the series is IT: not a parent type, but rather representing all the pressures of conformity. Yet even IT is presented directly as a parental alternative--instead of the (desirable) messiness of love, and human emotion, IT offers the dubious comfort of being just like everyone else.

"Father? What is a father?" Charles Wallace intoned. "Merely another misconception. If you feel the need of a father, then I would suggest you turn to IT." page 132

Incidentally, when Charles Wallace is part of it, he plays the confrontation child very nicely--"You're not the boss around here" he says to his father (page 147).

Often in adventure stories for children the parents are absent. In fact, there are often no adults worth a fig exercising any kind of influence on the characters or the plot. A Wrinkle in Time, however, is strikingly full of adults. The amount of page time in which there are no adults present, and pretty actively involved, is relatively small. L’Engle doesn’t send Meg and co. out alone on a grand adventure—they are sent on an adventure that is orchestrated by those much older than they are. The whole book can be read as Meg reacting to grown-ups, and learning to think of herself not as a child, but as a puissant actor, moving from wanting grown-ups to save her, to realizing that "...it has to be me. It can't be anyone else" (page 188).

And so, thinking about this off and on for the past week, my conclusion is that the title “A Wrinkle In Time” can be taken as a reference to adolescence, a metaphor for the child’s experience of growing up (no time is as wrinkly as seventh grade). Every adult (human or otherwise) is a parent-type with whom Meg must play out the central conflict of adolescence--the need to be loved and protected child vs the need to grow up, to push parents away.

Meg and co. are not on a quest to defeat some Ancient Darkness by means of magic. They are there to save her father (not defeat IT), and the only weapon Meg has is her ability to Love. Which leads me to what I think is the central point L’Engle is making: that a huge part of growing up is learning unselfish love, leaving behind the needy, possessive love of the child.

I’ve seen a number of people comment on how surprisingly un-dated A Wrinkle in Time feels. Maybe this is because changing state from child to grown-up is just about as utterly timeless a part of the human condition as can be.

It was great fun exploring A Wrinkle in Time in such depth, and I hope the fiftieth anniversy commemorative edition finds new readers for it! As well as the story, it contains:

•Frontispiece photo*†
•Photo scrapbook with approximately 10 photos*†
•Manuscript pages*†
•Letter from 1963 Caldecott winner, Ezra Jack Keats*†
•New introduction by Katherine Paterson, US National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature †
•New afterword by Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughter Charlotte Voiklis including six never-before-seen photos †
•Murry-O’Keefe family tree with new artwork †
•Madeleine L’Engle’s Newbery acceptance speech

* Unique to this edition † never previously published

Here's The Wrinkle in Time Facebook page, and here are my fellow week three character bloggers:
Anna Reads
Bewitched Bookworms
Regular Rumination
Things Mean A Lot
Novel Novice
The Book Smugglers
Coffee and Cliffhangers
S. Krishna’s Books
Lisa the Nerd

Happy Blog Birthday to me!

Charlotte's Library is now five years old. I have posted 1725 times; I wish I knew how many books I reviewed, but that would take too much counting. My most searched for book review is Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (although about a third of the searchers think she's a Mrs., which possibly says something about our society's expectations for women, or not)--3822 searches. Second is The Green Book, aka Shine, by Jill Paton Walsh, which makes me happy, because it is the most perfect book going to introduce young kids to science fiction (2267 pages).

The blogisphere (sp? it looks weird) sure has changed from where it was when my blog began--there are so many, many more YA bloggers; when I started, it was possible to visit them all in a day! But the core group of children's book bloggers that were there when I began is, for the most part, still going strong, and I feel very lucky to have strengthened my friendships with these lovely comrades in book love.

I'm pretty happy about where my blog at the moment--I'm reading and reviewing books I love, and the number of visitors keeps going up (which I care about, because I want all the effort I put into this to be useful to people--it makes me awfully happy, for instance, when I look at my stats and see that someone has found one of my list, and opened 15 or so of the reviews), and I get just the right number of review copies in the mail--not so many as to overwhelm, but enough to feel validated (thanks publishers!).

I had one of my most thrilling book blogging moments just last month, when Ursula Le Guin linked to my review of Lavinia on her webpage (UKL read my review!!! And thought it worthy of linkage!!!! Swoon!!!)

I just wish I had more time to write more reviews--I only review about a third of what I read, and that gets a bit stressful. I also wish I made fewer typos. But since I have never been able to schedule posts, and often hit publish at the last possible minute before the kids have to be gotten up and taken to school (like now- argh it is 6:55 and we have to leave in 20 minutes and no one else is up), it is kind of inevitable. Sorry.

Thank you all who visit here--and thank you, other bloggers, for making it fun!

Waiting on Wednesday-Range of Ghosts, by Elizabeth Bear

Back in 2010, I read a slim little YA book that I adored--Bone and Jewel Creatures, by Elizabeth Bear. Here's what I said:

"I shall start by saying flat out that this is a book for fans of Patricia McKillip (like me). Which is to say--this is a book where language and description and things hinted at in the shadows and old histories hanging between characters are of paramount importance, and plot and character motivations aren't spelled out in obvious ways. I loved it."

It was a book full of untold backstory, and I wanted to stay in the world for pages and pages more....

Yesterday I saw a mention of 2 forthcoming books by Elizabeth Hand, and I had to check to see if this was the Elizabeth with Monosyllabic Surname whose book I had liked so much, and of course it wasn't.* But happily for me I found that E. Bear has a new book coming out, set in the same world as Bone and Jewel Creatures!

It is called Range of Ghosts (Tor, March 27) and here is its blurb:

"Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards. These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power."

But in the meantime, do try Bone and Jewel Creatures!

*There also Elizabeth Moon, and Elizabeth Wein (who I don't get confused with the others, because her last name isn't a noun in English). There is also Elizabeth Goudge, but she isn't a contemporary writer of sci fi/fantasy, so that's ok.

Waiting on Wednesday (which I always think of as Waiting, on Wednesday) is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

The Jewel and the Key, by Louise Spiegler, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Jewel and the Key, by Louise Spiegler (Clarion Books, 2011, YA, 464 pages)

When an earthquake hits Seattle, it sets in motion a chain of events that gives sixteen-year old Addie, stage struck but shut out of the high school drama clique, the theater experience of her dreams. But this comes at a price that Addie could never have expected. While helping her father fix the earthquake damage to his bookstore, she finds a silver mirror, tucked among vintage clothes in a hidden storage room. When she looks in the mirror, she finds herself transported back to 1917 Seattle...where the dilapidated old theater of her own time, the Jewel, still has all its glory.

There, in the company of the vibrant theater people of the past, Addie learns to love the Jewel, and one young actor, named Reg, in particular. But the mirror shuttles her back and forth between times, and the future, both for the people of 1917, and in her own time, is clouded by war. For Reg, it's WW I; for Addie's best friend, and kind-of foster-brother, Whaley, it's the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the present, the owner of the Jewel is hoping to restore it--if the preservationists, with their grant money, can be convinced that enough is known about its original appearance. Addie's mirror might be the key that is needed...but saving the theatre, and saving Whaley and Reg from being swallowed by war, might be too much for her to pull off.

The Jewel and the Key is a book that carefully builds its story--as the cover image suggests, there are no mad rushings into headlong action. Addie is given time to come to terms with her time-travelling, the reader is given time to get to know the supporting cast, and, most importantly, there is time for Siegler to build a beautifully convincing picture of Seattle on the brink of WW I. The social history of the time is crucial to the story, and Siegler does an excellent job making it meaningful.

Addie herself is equally convincing--her relationships, both in the past and the present, rang true. The romance element of the book gave it poignancy on an intimate scale; the reality of war gave it a more universal emotional power.

It was a book I read somewhat slowly, feeling no need to rush (yet feeling, just a tad, that things could move on a bit faster...). I savored, along with Addie, the life of the early 20th century theater, I fretted along with her as she hunted in the present for the information that could restore it to its former glory, and my heart ached for her as she tried to keep safe those she loved.

At its best (in my opinion), time travel books use the past in powerful ways to change the lives of the characters from the present, forcing them to grow up, and change; putting them, essentially, through an emotional wringer, while shinning light on what was never considered before (and not annoying the picky reader with anachronisms). The Jewel and the Key does all this very nicely--Addie isn't the same person at the end, and I, as the reader, wasn't quite either, in the small, but cumulatively important ways that a book can change and educate its reader.

That being said, it wasn't a book that I loved. I think the deliberate pacing of the book diluted the emotional intensity somewhat, but this could have been just me. I held back from investing myself in the relationships formed in the past, having learned, through bitter fictional experience, that WW I and happily ever don't always go hand in hand (which isn't a spoiler for this book in particular, just my perspective reading it). I did, however, enjoy it very much, and do heartily recommend it, to fans of historical fiction and the theatre in particular.

Note on the mechanics of the time travel--sure, the mirror serves as a connection between past and present, and it's a special mirror, but there's no reason why it should act as a time travel device. If lack of explanation bothers you, you might well be bothered.

Note on age: It's YA in theme and age of heroine, but not inappropriate for a younger reader. The romance is understated, and though there are disturbing depictions of the reality of war, and police brutality, the violence isn't as nearly as graphic as The Hunger Games, which all the 11 year olds I know have read....

Here's another review, at Jen Robinson's Book Page (who incidentally found it a fast read, leading me to wonder if my reaction would have been different if I had read it under more peaceful circumstances that those that transpired. Last night was not a shining star in the annals of my 11 year old's homework)

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

Hi. Here are the middle grade (ages 9-12) fantasy and science fiction focused posts that I found I found in my blog reading this past week. Please let me know if I missed yours, or anyone elses!

The Reviews:

The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine Richards, at Cracking the Cover

Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at My Favorite Books

The Dragon's Tooth, by N.D. Wilson, at Karissa's Reading Review

Elliot and the Goblin War, by Jennifer A. Nielsen, at The Introverted Reader

Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep, by Liz Kessler, at Nye Louwon-My Spirit

Fairy Tale Detectives: The Sisters Grimm, by Michael Buckley, at Mister K Reads

The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (a new, beautifully illustrated edition from Taschen) at Books of Wonder and Wisdom

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, at Bookie Woogie

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at RoeSpot--More Coffee, Please... and Book 'em Benj

Jellaby, by Kean Soo, at Back to Books (graphic novel)

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Adventures of a Book Wyrm and Bunbury in the Stacks

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia and Something Different Every Day

My Very UnFairy Tale Life, by Anna Staniszewski, at Geo Librarian

Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease, at Charlotte's Library

Peter and the Sword of Mercy by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson, at Fyrefly's Book Blog

Revenge of the Horned Bunnies (Dragonbreath book 6) by Ursula Vernon, at Charlotte's Library

Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck, at Reads for Keeps

Stealing Magic: a Sixty Eight Rooms Adventure, by Malorie Malone, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Good Books and Good Wine

Ms. Yingling looks at several fantasies in one post--Bigger Than a Breadbox, by Laurel Snyder, The Rock of Ivanore, by Laurisa White Reyes, and Replication: The Jason Experiment, by Jill Williamson.

Authors and Interviews:

Jasmine Richards (The Book of Wonders) at Cracking the Cover

Here's Neil Gaimen's Mythcon Guest of Honor Speech from 2004, which he's just put up on his website. It's a look back at his childhood reading of Lewis and Tolkien and Chesterton...

Other good stuff:

At SF Signal, many authors share the books that introduced them to fantasy and sci fi (of particular interest, perhaps, to those raising the next generation of fans!)

Here's an article from last week I forgot to put in--at the Guardian, Imogen Russell Williams talks Alternate history lessons for children's fiction (including, among other good things, Ellen Renner's Castle of Shadows which has been on my wants list for ages, so I was thrilled to find it's coming out here in the US in March!)

At Seven Miles of Steel Thistles, Lucy Coats reflects on Baba Yaga

Wrinkle In Time aniversery celebratory postings continue--Amy's Library of Rock takes a look at Meg Murry, and you can find this week's participants in the 50 years/50 blogs event (this weeks theme-Sharing A W in T) here at the event's facebook page
. And at the NY Times, there's "'A Wrinkle in Time' and its Sci Fi Heroine."

I have a post up about the Amelia Bloomer List, from a middle grade fantasy perspective

And finally, thanks to Queen's Thief Week, organized by Chachic, of Chachic's Book Nook, this past week has been one of my most favorite blog reading weeks ever! Wonderful interviews, guest posts, and tons of great comments (including lots from MWT herself! Chachic has also included links to posts elsewhere--lots of good reading there too.

My contribution to Queen's Thief week--MWT speaks

Chachic (of Chachic's Book Nook) had the brilliant idea of organizing a love fest of awesomeness to celebrate Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series, and I decided to make a small contribution, because I am a fan (in a passionately intense way). Megan Whalen Turner's books get the third best shelf space in my bedroom* and King of Attolia is in my top five favorite books of all time (I'm not sure which the others are, but they are probably good ones too).

I've had the happy fortune of meeting MWT in person twice now (here's a picture from the first meet-up in 2007, at the Niantic Book Barn--that's my husband, obviously thinking hard about whatever intelligent thing MWT is saying, along with a bit of a fellow Sounisian that I cropped because I wasn't sure she'd want to be on my blog):

As my Useful Contribution to Queen's Thief Week, I thought I'd gather all the bits of MWT talking I could find. Many of these links are on MWT's own website, but some aren't, so I thought it might be of interest to make a more complete list--let me know if I missed any!

2007 Shannon Hale interview MWT in three parts--here's the first

October, 2007 --Cheryl Rainfield was lucky enough to hear MWT at the Particles of Narrative Conference, and took detailed notes.

2009--a podcast interview in two parts at the Mount Kisco Library (here is the direct link--scroll down a tad, organized by Deirdre (of Deirdre's Blog, and found via The Serpentine Library)

Nov. 2009 "Plotting with Megan Whalen Turner" at HipWriterMama

March 201o The Enchanted Inkpot and Chersti Nieveen

April 2010 Q&A with MWT at Publishers Weekly and an interview at Shelf Awareness

April 2010 At Damsels in Regress

June, 2010 MWT is one of several authors discussing "morals and values and lessons" at Shannon Hale's blog, Squeetus

May, 2011 LA Times Festival of Books interview

January, 2012 At Chachic's Book Nook for Queen's Thief Week!


And, just as a coda, my proudest MWT fan moment ever:

MWT (over at Sounis, on 4/16/08): "Charlotte, YOU are my Buffalo Film Festival. You and no other"

How could any fan not swoon?

* Here are the books in my bedroom (it's two pictures adjacent to each other, which is why the chimney is cut off)--MWT is to the right of the chimney, third shelf up. Diana Wynne Jones gets the best slot--the entire bookshelf right by the bed, but that's just because she's written more books than MWT. If MWT were to write as many books as DWJ (a girl can dream), I'd put MWT there. Urusula Le Guin (second best shelf space--above MWT, fourth and fifth shelves) has to stay where she is, because those books are shared with my husband.

The Amelia Bloomer Project's 2012 list--a mg fantasy perspective on feminism

The mission of the Amelia Bloomer project is to "create an annual booklist of the best feminist books for young readers, ages birth through 18." They've just announced the 2012 list of books whose "women and girls reflect the complexities of the female experience and the increased awareness of strong women and girls throughout history and around the world." There are three age groups--Young Readers, Middle Readers, and Young Adult, and there is both fiction and non-fiction in each.

Here are the "middle reader" fantasy books (which goes from a low of second grade grade to a high of 10th, and is thus more flexible than my understanding of "middle grade," ie, ages 9-12):

Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke. Yay for Zita!

The Floating Islands, by Rachel Neumeier. Yay Floating Islands! This was a favorite of mine from last year.

I Shall Wear Midnight, by Terry Pratchett. Um, this was published in 2010, so it seems odd to see it here. But regardless, yay for I Shall Wear Midnight!

(I would have talked about the YA books too, but there were more of them, and more I hadn't read....)

And immediately upon reading the lists, I began to wonder what my own list would have looked like.

Here are the criteria:

1. Significant feminist content
2. Excellence in writing
3. Appealing format
4. Age appropriateness for young readers

Obviously criteria one is the trickiest, and because I'm interested, here's a big chunk of how this criteria is defined. I have enboldened the line I think is most telling.

"....feminist books show women solving problems, gaining personal power, and empowering others.... These books explain that there is a gender issue; they don’t leave the reader to guess. A book with a strong female character that does not demonstrate that an inequality exists may not be a feminist book. Strong female characters may be plucky, perseverant, courageous, feisty, intelligent, spirited, resourceful, capable, and independent–but the book’s presentation may still not be feminist."

I'm running into few problems. I can see why, for instance, the young heroine of Tuesdays at the Castle isn't "feminist": she's plucky, and an agent in shaping her destiny, but she's not a game-changer for the girls in her world. But Zita is troubling me. The text and illustrations don't, as far as I remember, explain that there is a gender issue. I can't remember gender being specifically an issue at all. It seems to be that Zita might be "feminist" just by the fact of her existence (?).

And I'm having a hard time deciding if gender is an issue for Hazel, the heroine of Breadcrumbs (this is a book I'd have put on the list)--I think it is, but again, I can't remember that being explained. I also don't recall any "others" in the book being empowered, but I'm not sure I like that criteria--when your journey is a solitary quest, like Hazel's, who is there to be empowered by it but yourself, and your readers?

But I've thought of one that meets the criteria, I think, rather well--Icefall, by Matthew Kirby. Gender is most definitely an issue, and the heroine refuses to let herself be confined by stereotypes. And I think The Floating Islands is an excellent choice.

What fantasy books from 2011 for "middle readers" would you have added to the list?

Update: Just wanted to say that I heard from Beth Olshewsky, the Amelia Bloomer Project C0-Chair from 2010-2012. She noted that the awards are given by consensus, so there's lots of debate and discussion about what books will make the list! (here's looking at you, Zita!)

She clarified the issue of which books are eligible: "books are eligible if they are published in the last six months of the preceding year (so the span is really 18 months), as you noted for I Shall Wear Midnight. The form for field nominations should be up by the end of February, so check back on the Amelia Bloomer blog http://ameliabloomer.wordpress.com/ to field nominate this and any other books that you think may qualify."

I'm rather thrilled to know that one can field nominate, because I do think highly of this list and am eager to play a small part in its formtion! You can bet I'll be putting Icefall forward, and Circus Galacticus, by Deva Fagan, and The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine Richards and The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman...and quite possibly others!

Revenge of the Horned Bunnies--Dragonbreath, book 6, by Ursula Vernon

Revenge of the Horned Bunnies--Dragonbreath, book 6, by Ursula Vernon

The Dragonbreath books are mind candy for the young reader, and rather fun for the grown-up, as well. Mixing text dominated pages with graphic novel-esque spreads, they are easy, friendly, and fast books to read. The stories about Danny, a young dragon with fire issues, and his pals, are strange and suspenseful (and often very funny), the illustrations are utterly brilliant in their simple humor and charm. And as an added bonus, there is now a central girl character--a lizard named Christina, who is smart and skeptical as all get out.

But when the gang (Danny, Christina, and Wendell) head off to cowboy camp, along with Danny's annoying little cousin, Spenser, not even Christina's skeptical mind can deny that the creature Spenser secretly befriends is a jackalope!!!!! Yes, horned bunnies are real...but this one seems to be the last of its kind. All its friends and family have disappeared....

And it's up to Danny and co. to solve the mystery, and foil the nefarious plot that threatens the survival of the jackalopes!

This book has one of my favorite Dragonbreath pictures ever--Danny grooming his horse. And the jackalope is cute as all get out (even cuter than the picture on the cover). The story has swing, and made me chuckle (poor smart Christina, stuck with a camp counselor determined to apply nail polish!), and a message about protecting endangered species from mankind's greed that I liked lots.

A fine addition to a truly stellar series with just tons and tons of kid appeal, one of the few series for which I will I will go to the bookstore on release day. Give these books to your reluctant elementary schooler, or, like me, to your confidently reading middle schooler, or, also like me, to young Dutch cousins....they won't disappoint.

Here are my posts about the other books:

Book 1: Dragonbreath
Book 2: Attack of the Ninja Frogs
Book 3: Curse of the Weir-Wiener
Book 4: Lair of the Bat Monster
Book 5: No Such Thing as Ghosts

Help the Lorax speak for the trees

UPDATE: thanks to commenter Katie DeKoster, I've learned that this petition seems to have worked! There's a Go Green button right on the front page, that takes you to "The Lorax Project."

Yay!

The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, is brilliant, and doubtless contributed to making me the tree-hugger and frenzied recyler that I am today. I dunno if the live action movie coming out in March will be brilliant or not, but I hope that it will reach some kid, and make them think twice about buying over packaged food, or littering, or all the other small yet helpful things all of us can do.

Since the movie has a website, don't you think that website would be a pretty good place to put some information about how we can try to stop messing up our planet? Mr. Wells' 4th Grade Class, in Brookline, MA, thinks so, and they've created a petition at change.org:

We were excited for The Lorax movie to come out in March, but when we went to the movie website, there was absolutely nothing about saving the Earth which is what Dr. Seuss wanted us to learn. The site is more about selling tickets. The trailer did not include much about the environment, either! We think Universal Pictures needs to “green up" this website.

Our world, like the Lorax’s, is facing major environmental problems like pollution, global warming, oil spills, littering, a Great Pacific Garbage Patch, deforestation, and loss of animal habitat. These problems will affect our future.

The Lorax movie, with its millions of dollars in advertising and massive audience has the potential to help heal the Earth. This movie can show the world we should not take our sky, water, trees, and animals for granted. It could inspire more and more people to treat Earth with the same respect you would give a child.

Please consider signing their petition, asking Universal to "green up" the Lorax website.

Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease, for Timeslip Tuesday

Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease (Walking Stick Books, 2011, upper middle grade, 320 pages).

Time travel that's solidly science fiction for young readers is thin on the ground. With his series about a boy named Noah Zarc, a time traveller from the future whose family's mission is to restore the damaged earth to a thriving ecosystem, Pease endeavors to fill that gap. The ethical/moral point raised concerning the needs of humanity vs the needs of the planet, is certainly an important one, and it's good to see it being addressed head on.

Twelve-year old Noah is the youngest of his family, born without the use of his legs, and happiest when piloting a spacecraft. Technology enables his chair to move over any surface, but still flight gives him more freedom than anything else. Still, with the help of his chair, Noah is a full participant in his family's mission--to fill the giant, timetravelling spacecraft that is their home with extinct animals from long gone eras.

When his parents fail to return from a routine mission back in time to the Ice Age, Noah heads down himself--only to find that his mother has been kidnapped by a powerful man who has no patience with Noah's family's dream of restoring the damaged earth. Along with a stowaway--a girl from the Ice Age, Noah sets of back to thirty-first century Mars, to save his mother, and all the esoteric scientific secrets that she holds. In the process, he discovers other secrets, about himself and his family, that will shake him to the core...

It's a fascinating premise, and a fast-paced adventure, that should please young readers who enjoy technological adventures, and who are fans of animals!

Unfortunately my own enjoyment was thrown somewhat by the introduction of the girl from the Ice Age, who adapted, it seemed to me, all to well and much to quickly to the wonders of the future. I wasn't able to suspend my disbelief, and my reservations regarding her were compounded by the fact that she does little to advance the story, as she is essentially shunted off stage for much of the action. I felt this was a pity, as the cultural dislocation of time travel fascinates me, and a lot more could have been done with this character's situation.

And there were, here and there, small details that bothered me--at one point, for instance, Noah is "walking" with the help of a special suit that responds to his thoughts, but still is out of breath after a "scramble" up a hill (pp 206-207)--if it was his thoughts moving the machine, there was no physical exertion. Small things like this, but they threw me out of the story.

On the other hand, there's lots of exciting action, cool technology, and the giant spacecraft filled with biomes is fascinating. Looking through the reviews on Goodreads, it seems that this book worked extremely well for many readers, although it wasn't quite a good fit for me personally.

Noah Zarc has been blog touring--here's a list of the stops. And here's the website for the book, where you can read excerpts and find other reviews.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the author)

Learning geography via Google Analytics, with bonus Hedgehog Fun!

There will be hedgehogs! But first....

My sons and I enjoy the map feature of google analytics lots. It allows you to zoom in on a particular country, and see every municipality where visitors have come from. We pick towns that sound interesting, find images of them, and then decide if we want to visit. Thank you, International Visitors, for helping us learn about where you live!

For instance, the coastline around Simferopol in the Ukraine (2 visitors in the last month) looks like it would be fun to explore:

As does the countryside around Guwahati, India (1 visitor):


The boys have decided that Elk, in Poland (1 visitor), would be a peaceful place to go:


And our trip to Romania will include a stop in Suceava (2 visitors) to see this castle:

(The hedgehogs are coming!)

In visiting Romania, I found something I'd like to see even more than the castle. While looking for pictures of Oradea, we came across these very very cute pictures of baby hedgehogs:Hedgehog lust!

Which in turn leads to this fun bit of hedgehog-ness found at Once Upon a Blog, a "Hans My Hedgehog" story poster by Yael Albert:

Although this hedgehog is not all that cute.Which finally leads to a book, making it all on topic:


Hans, My Hedgehog, by my blogging friend Kate Coombs, is released tomorrow! Congratulations, Kate! Here's Kate talking about how the book came to be at The Enchanged Inkpot.

My dark horse pick for the Newbery--Where Do You Stay, by Andrea Cheng

Edited to add: Nope! not even an honor....the full lists can be found here.

In just a little while, this year's Newbery winner will be announced, and I quickly want to go on record with the book I think should win today--Where Do You Stay, by Andrea Cheng (Boyds Mills Press, 2011, 136 pages). It's not the book I enjoyed most this past year, but it's the one that packed the most emotional punch per word of any book I read (with the possible exception of A Monster Calls), the one whose brilliant writing has stuck with me, so that now, months after reading it, I still think about it.

Where Do You Stay tells of Jerome, come to live at his aunt's house after his mother dies of cancer--it is not home. There is no piano, there is not even a bed for him yet--his aunt and uncle are doing the best they can, but money is tight. There wasn't enough money to pay the movers to bring his piano from his old home. Soon after his arrival, he becomes friends with Mr. Willie, who does odd jobs for people in exchange for food, and who lives as a squatter in the old carriage house of the big ramshackle house next-door.

Over the course of the summer, Jerome and Mr. Willie talk a bit, and become friends...both are pianists, and both, for very different reasons, want the old house to be saved from demolition. And both are asking themselves the question posed in the book's title--where do you stay? Where is home, when the person who made it so isn't there anymore, where is the center of yourself, when everything around you has collapsed....

Cheng creates a wealth of rich back-story with amazing subtlety, and creates three dimensional characters with the exquisite economy. This isn't one for readers who want to zip along from event to event--it's more a painting of its people....There are bits that are warm and moving, there are bits that are heartbreaking in how well they convey regret, and deep loss.

It's not a book with tremendous, in your face "kid appeal" (the cover, also, does little to sell the book to young readers, in my opinion). Many things (the concept of "white flight" for instance), aren't explained, and there's a lot of reading between the lines required (especially in Mr. Willie's backstory). But still, for the quality of the writing, for the memorable characters and the beautifully described, small but significant events of their lives, this is my Newbery pick.

Middle grade fantasy and science fiction--this week's round-up

Here's what I found in this week's blog reading! Enjoy, and let me know if I missed anything.

The Reviews:

Above World, by Jenn Reese, at Wandering Librarians, So I'm Fifty, and Amy's Book Den

The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell, at Literate Lives

Bigger Than a Breadbox, by Laurel Snyder, at Good Books and Good Wine and at Jean Little Library.

The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine Richards, at TheHappyNappyBookseller, Mundie Kids, Rex Robot Reviews, and Charlotte's Library

Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at Readatouille

Casper Candlewacks in the Claws of Crime, by Ivan Brett, at The Book Zone

The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at Charlotte's Library, Read Like Good Readers Do, Kindle-aholic's Book Pile, and twenty by jenny

Dragon Castle, by Joseph Bruchac, at Page In Training

The Fathomless Fire, by Thomas Wharton, at Back to Books

The Fire King (Invisible Order book 2), by Paul Crilley, at Beyond Books

Forbidden Sea, by Sheila A. Neilson, at Geo Librarian

The Girl Who Cicumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne Valente, at Adventures of a Book Wyrm

Ivy's Ever After, by Dawn Lairamore, at Library_Mama

Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Musings of a Book Addict

The Mysterious Howling, by Maryrose Wood, at Madigan Reads

Princess of the Wild Swans, by Diane Zahler, at Rebecca's Book Blog

Snow in Summer, by Jane Yolen, at Jean Little Library

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Literary Lunchbox

Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

A Two for One Time travel post at time travel times two--11,000 Years Lost, and Switching Well, both by Peni R. Griffin

And a Two for One graphic novel post at Guys Lit Wire -- Sidekicks by Dan Santat and Bad Island, by Doug TenNapel

Authors and Interviews:

Jasmine Richards (The Book of Wonders) at TheHappyNappyBookseller

Sarah Prineas (Winterling) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Laura Lond (My Sparkling Misfortune), with bonus giveaway, at Geo Librarian.

Lauren Oliver (Liesl and Po) at Jason's Bookstack

Sue Perkins (Reva's Quest) at Across the Shinning Plain of Books

More Good Stuff

It is Queen's Thief week over at Chachic's Book Nook this week! If you've never read The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, do!

Kate Coombs (aka Book Aunt) offers a lovely collection of Beauty and the Beast retellings.

And speaking of fairy tales, Mary Hoffman reflects on the Fisherman and His Wife, at Katherine Langrish's blog, Seven Miles of Steel Thistles.

Two mg fantasies that I like very much are in the running for the Edgar Awards for best juevenille mystery--Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby, and The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey. The other three are Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger, It Happened on a Train by Mac Barnett, and Vanished by Sheela Chari (which also has a slight touch of fantasy...)

At The Nerdy Book Club, Tom Angleberger proposes a new award, named for Lloyd Alexander, to be bestowed on a series after its last book is completed....lots of room for sci fi/fantasy there!

And speaking of awards, will a fantasy book be announced tomorrow as the winner of the Newbery? Here are those that did in the past:

2010 When You Reach Me
2009 The Graveyard Book
2004 The Tale of Desperaux
1999 Holes (do others consider this fantasy???)
1994 The Giver
1985 The Hero and the Crown
1976 The Grey King
1972 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
1969 The High King
1963 A Wrinkle in Time
1948 The 21 Balloons
1947 Miss Hickory
1945 Rabbit Hill
1938 The White Stag
1931 The Cat Who Went to Heaven
1930 Hitty, Her First Hundred Years
1925 Tales from Silver Lands (does this count? It's a collection of folk tales; I've never read it)
1923 The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

(I've read all but four)

And here are those I think stand the best chance tomorrow-Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright, and (if it's eligible/deemed age appropriate A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness).

And speaking of A Wrinkle in Time, don't forget to check out the latest posts in the 50 Years, 50 blogs celebration! The full list is here.