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

Welcome to this week's round-up of the blog posts etc. I found in my reading that pertain to middle grade sci fi and fantasy. Please let me know if I missed yours!

The Reviews:

11,000 Years Lost, by Penni R. Griffin, at Charlotte's Library

The Aviary, by Kathleen O’Dell, at The Lupine Librarian

Bigger Than a Breadbox, by Laurel Snyder, at Finding Wonderland

Blitzed, by Robert Swindells, at The Children's War

The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine Richards, at Sprout's Bookshelf

E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core! by William Joyce. at Back to Books

Erak's Ransom, by John Flanagan, at Karissa's Reading Review

Eye of the Storm, by Kate Messner, at Page in Training

The Eyeball Collector, by F.E. Higgins, at Library Chicken

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Waking Brain Cells

The Familiars, by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, at GreenBeanTeenQueen

Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian, by Michael Rex, at Jean Little Library

Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre, at The HappyNappyBookseller

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Chistopher Healy, at Karrisa's Reading Review and Ms. Martin Teaches Media

The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan, at A Librarian's Library

Liesle & Po, by Lauren Oliver, at My Precious

Magic Below Stairs, by Caroline Stervermer, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, at There's a Book

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny--Detectives Extraordinaire! by Polly Hovarth, at That Blog Belongs to Emily Brown

Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale (audio book review), at Bunbury in the Stacks

Remarkable, by Lizzie K. Foley, at Presenting Lenore

Renegade Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Charlotte's Library

Scary School, by Derek the Ghost, at Muggle-Born.net

The Storm Makers, by Jennifer E. Smith, at Charlotte's Library

The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex, at The Accidental Novelist (Writes Again)

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Supratentorial

Authors and Interviews

Sue Cowing (You May Call Me Drog) at The O.W.L.

Sarvenaz Tash (The Mapmaker and the Ghost) at The O.W.L.

E.J. Patten (Return to Exile) at Project Mayhem

Christopher Healy (The Hero's Guide to Saving the Kingdom) at Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing

John Dickinson (the forthcoming Muddle and Win) at Scribble City Central

Todd Harris (illustrator of The Hero's Guide to Saving the Kingdom) at A Backwards Story

Philip Womack (The Other Book) at The Periscope Post


MG sff Giveaways (Please let me know of others!!)

The Magic Warble, by Victoria Simcox, at The Book Bag

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia


Other Good Stuff

Icefall by Matthew Kirby (my review) has won the Edgar Award for best juvenile mystery!

Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book to become a Disney Movie...

The deadline for vote casting in the Children's Choice Book Awards is May third; mg sff is represented (although not exactly the books and authors I would have picked!

And finally, in the sub department of good stuff I never did, check out these photographs Jason Lee created of his kids (found at io9). Here's my favorite:

Renegade Magic, by Stephanie Burgis

I enjoyed, in a mildly diverted way, A Most Improper Magick (US title--Kat, Incorrigible), in which Stephanie Burgis introduced young Kat--a Regency child whose titular abilities wreck havoc when she tries to use them to assist her sisters' with their romantic entanglements. It was one of those books, though, that Everyone was gushing about when it came out in the US, and I didn't feel I had anything compelling to add to the conversation.

However, I just had the pleasure of reading its sequel, Renegade Magic (Atheneum, April, 2012, UK title A Tangle of Magicks), enjoyed it very much, and haven't seen that many blog reviews of it (did I miss them?).

Short summary: The mean streets of regency Bath (mostly mean because of the vicious gossips) are honored with the presences of Kat, her older sister Angeline, dissolute brother Charlie, Stepmother, and Father. The point of the visit, orchestrated by Stepmama, is to get Angeline married off before the scandal of her magical abilities wrecks her chances.

What really happens is that Kat is plunged into a plot to awaken the old wild magic of Britain that lies at the source of Bath's healing springs. Except that the Guardians no longer want her as a member--her headstrong temper has not endeared her to those at the top--and they refuse to take her suspicions seriously. Even the possession of Kat's new accomplice, Lucy, by an Roman goddess spewing wild magic right and left is somehow attributed to Kat's wild ways...but unless the magic can be controlled, dreadful things will happen!

Even more so than the first book, it's full of zesty details and snappy dialogue. There's real danger to be faced within a larger plot canvas than the primarily familial concerns of the first book, so the stakes are higher and the suspense greater. Because of this, and also because of the particular social situation in which she finds herself, Kat, whose Incorrigibleness was a bit much for me in book one, has every right to every bit of the headstrong temper and willfulness she displays! I was able to cheer for her wholeheartedly. There's also more nuance to the familial relationships--Kat seems to be growing in her ability to understand other points of view, which is all to the good (she even, at one point, speaks up on behalf of her stepmother, and though she was lying through her teeth, I was still proud of her).

And I liked it more than the first because the stage is set from the get go (as is so often the case in second books). Kat is not longer in the process of being chosen to be part of a secret cabal of guardian magic users, so we can just accept the fact that she is special, and move on.

In short, I was very pleasantly diverted, and I have decided that it's currently my 2012 pick for the book I would give as a present to a nine or ten fantasy-reading girl for whom I had already bought Giants Beware!* It stands alone nicely (so no worries about the first book having been read or not), and it is zesty without being overwhelming.

*I think a lot about giving books as presents (I think a lot about getting books as presents too, but that happens less often. sigh). However, the only ten year old girl I buy books for is my niece in Holland, who doesn't really like to read long books in English...so she gets things likes the Dragonbreath books and Zita the Spacegirl, and, of course, Giants Beware!

The Immortal Rules, by Julie Kagawa (GIVEAWAY!)

The Immortal Rules, by Julie Kagawa (Harlequin Teen, 2012, YA) is a story set in a nightmarish future. The countryside is teeming with humans who have been infected with a horrible virus that turns them into savage zombie things, known as "rabids." The cities are, for the most part, enclaves of powerful vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. And the few humans who fall into neither of those two categories eek out desperate lives trying not to be killed or infected by the "rabids," and not having their blood drained on a regular (and sometimes fatal) basis by vampires.

17 year old Allison Sekemoto has managed to avoid both fates, scrapping together a hand to mouth existence in the fringe area of a vampire city, hating the bloodsuckers, and allowing herself to dream of a human renaissance. But all that changes when she's savagely attacked by rabids, and given a choice by the vampire who finds her. Either she can die, or she can be turned into a vampire herself.

She chooses the later. Now Allison must negotiate not only the logistics of life as a nocturnal, inhuman bloodsucker, but she must struggle not to turn into one of the monsters she has always despised. Chance leads her outside the city, where she meets a quixotic band of human travellers, searching for a fabled haven of humanity. But can she travel with them, without being driven by desperate hunger to prey on them? Can she keep from falling in love with the charismatic Zeke, when she knows that if he finds out who she truly is, he will hate her? And will she be able to keep him and his companions alive in a world of monsters?

I do not think I have reviewed a vampire romance YA novel before today. Heck, I think I have only read about two and a half in my whole life. So I approached The Immortal Rules somewhat uncertainly, and indeed, for a time I was awfully worried that it would turn into a romance between Allie and the aloofly brooding vampire (clearly with lots of Darkness in his Past) who turned her, and she would be super powerful and make everything ok. I was pleasantly surprised--the story was a heck of a lot more nuanced and tangled than I had expected!

For one thing, the practicalities of daily living, both as a human scavenger and as a vampire, are given lots of page time. And I, for what ever reason, like being excited along with the characters when tinned foods are discovered! I like reading about people's coping methods when trying to survive in disastrous situations.

For another thing, Allie's story is one of struggle--she does not want to be a monster, yet if she does not drink human blood, she'll become a ravaging death bringer. It's a paradox that haunts her, as she tries to make her undead vampire self a person she can live with. I sympathized with her regarding her feelings for Zeke--although nothing is hopeless, this romance is certainly not one where a happy outcome is guaranteed, and so it is more interesting than one that seems pre-destined.

And for a third, the journey that Allie embarks on gives a geographical spaciousness to the story, that lets this horrible new world emerge in rich detail.

In short, I found it an engrossing read, one that nicely blends the paranormal and the dystopian (though I did skim some of the violent fighty bits--vampire Allie has mad fighting skillz, which certainly come in useful, but which I didn't find quite as interesting to read about (and this probably is over sharing--sigh) as the smaller excitements of canned goods. Or the more substantial, but similar, appropriation of a working motorcycle.)

I am most certainly intrigued enough to be looking forward to the next book in the series! This one stops at a good stopping place, but there is certainly lots more to Allie's story that needs to be told.

However, the cover is yet another sad example of white-washing (portraying a non-white character as Caucasian). Allie is clearly of Asian extent (you can find the exact quotes that demonstrate this in Leila Roy's blog post at Kirkus, and Sekemoto seems, from cursory web searching, to be a variant of a not uncommon Japanese name, Sekimoto). You would not know this from the girl on the cover. Despite the cover, this counts as a multicultural fantasy, and I'm adding it to my list, hoping that the paperback will show Allie as the Asian girl she is.

note on reader age: This is most definitely Young Adult; not one I'd give to a middle school student. There's quite a bit of bad language, and lots of scary violence. No sex, though there is threatened rape.

GIVEAWAY! Thanks to the publisher, I have a hardcover of The Immortal Rules to give away--just leave a comment by midnight on Wednesday, May 2nd, with some way to contact you. (US and Canada only)

A re-reader's appreciation of Diana Wynne Jones

Like so many others, I am still mourning the loss of Diana Wynne Jones. But though there will be no new books to look forward to, I still take comfort from the sight of her books on the shelves next to my bed, because, more than almost any other author I know, Diana Wynne Jones rewards re-reading.


I've been re-reading The Spellcoats now for thirty years...9th grade, it was, when I first met it. That copy fell apart long ago. I still vividly remember reading it the first time--swept up by the story of a family's escape down a flooded river that took them into the heart of a horrible magic, I didn't mind that my understanding of just what the heck was happening was, at times, shaky. (I also tried not to look at the cover much. Mr. Cloud offended my aesthetic sensibilities). Hexwood took me three times through to figure out, and I still have hope that if I re-read Fire and Hemlock often enough, the ending will make sense to me!

Indeed, it seems to me as though Calcifer's words in Howl's Moving Castle apply perfectly to DWJ--"If I give you a hint, and tell you it's a hint, it will be information." Like all (?) re-readers, I take comfort in knowing where the hints are, so the second (or third, or fourth) time through her books is often more enjoyable than the first! I also am an end-reader, but, in general, reading the end of a DWJ first doesn't help (hint-wise) in the least.

I have the sense that the stories were so complicatedly vivid in Diana's imagination that words are barely enough to hold them. The reader is challenged to surrender herself to the flow, trusting that what is completely baffling will someday make sense. I remember having this same feeling with many books I read as a child--that I was going into new places, rich and strange, and that understanding in a logical way wasn't the point--the stories and their characters were, and I was privileged to go forth and meet them. To have that same feeling as a grown-up reader is rare indeed.

I'm re-reading The Merlin Conspiracy right now. When it came out in 2003, I had a new born baby, so wasn't, in general, thinking that clearly, and I never seem to have found the time to pick it up again. Though I have a sense of how things play out (or perhaps because of this), I'm finding it utterly satisfying to re-read. In the first forty pages, the reader is plunged into a strangely magical, alternate Britain (with at most two sentences of an explanatory sort), whisked to our world (where we get to meet Nick from Deep Secret), and then tossed into a totally unexpected cricket match in an alternate France, where Nick (among other things) meets a magical panther. It's not one I'd recommend as anyone's first Diana Wynne Jones (because it really helps to have read Deep Secret), but as a re-read, it is great! I'm sure I'll understand it much better this time around.

Even her most recent book, Earwig and the Witch (my review), written for younger children than me (!), give the sense of being a glimpse into a larger world of story beyond the book, one that the reader, along with Earwig, is only beginning to comprehend.

Obviously, some books are easier to understand first time through than others. For those who have never met Diana, I'd suggest starting with Howl's Moving Castle, or perhaps Charmed Life. Both are fun and complicated, but not dauntingly so. (I wouldn't recommend starting with Spellcoats, as I did, because when you find out it's the third of a series, and read the first two books, you might be crushed that they aren't about the same characters).

If you will excuse a tortured metaphor, and not even an original one, to me her books are like the stars--bright holes punched through the darkness, promising that there is more Story out there. I wish she'd had time to punch a few more holes for us, but I sure am happy with what I have. And they are going with me to the nursing home, if that fate befalls me--she will be just what I will need to keep my mind sharp, and forty years from now, I'll have re-read them all so many times that all the hints will be old friends.

It looks like I'll be adding to my shelf--Firebird has released reissues of Dogsbody (with intro. by Neil Gaiman, A Tale of Time City, with intro. by Ursula Le Guin, and Fire and Hemlock, with intro. by Garth Nix. The latter also features the essay "The Heroic Ideal," which DWJ wrote about the writing of F&H.

This post was written as part of a DWJ appreciation blog tour; here's the list of stops on the tour, and you can find all the appreciations here.

11,000 Years Lost, by Peni R. Griffin, for Timeslip Tuesday

11,000 Years Lost, by Peni R. Griffin (2006)

Esther's chance find of Paleoindian artifacts near her Texas school sets in motion events that culminate with her traveling back in time 11000 years, to the very end of the Ice Age. There she is taken in by a group of Native Americans, who, because Esther just happened to be in the right place at the right time, brought them good luck. She quickly learns enough of their language to communicate (a rather remarkable thing), and gradually learns some of the skills they use to survive in a landscape where rising temperatures are about to bring their old ways to an end. Throughout her months in the past, she's confronted by two major problems--most pressingly, how to get home, if she ever can, and secondly, how to cope with the belief of many of her new community that she possesses powerful good luck.

I don't recall that my archaeologist hackles were raised at any point (although I am by no means a Clovis expert). I felt that the author did a perfectly reasonable job with the details of the nomadic life led by these "Clovis people." She focuses on the physical world (hunting logistics, tool making, plants gathered), steering clear, for the most part, of efforts to portray their world view--which would, indeed, have been difficult to write without being possibly offensive, or overly imaginative/romanticizing. But the down side of this is that though there are some glimpses that these people have a rich culture of spirit, it doesn't quite come through enough to make them completely three-dimensional. Griggin also, again wisely, avoids discussion of where these people came from within the story itself -- its a controversial topic, as she mentiones in the author's note at the end.

On the other hand, the particular individuals she meets came across as very real, three-dimensional people, who loved, and fought, and had back-story that effected how they reacted to Esther. They weren't just cardboard cutouts of stereotypes. So that was good.

Esther is no Ayla--she doesn't revolutionize Paleoindian technology with her knowledge. She doesn't even seem to think about this, which I found a bit hard to believe (I would be so tempted to invent the wheel, or something....) She does, however, get into some hot water when she reveals that she knows the Ice Age megafauna will go extinct, which is obviously upsetting news to those who depend on them.*

But with a certain suspension of disbelief, it was a perfectly serviceable portrayal of a time and place that seems as strange to many of us modern folk as of course it does to Esther. It held my interest just fine, and although it didn't delight me in any deep way, I don't begrudge at all the time spent reading it.

*when I first heard as a child that there were giant beavers kicking around America, I pictured behemoths 20 feet tall. I later saw one in a museum, and they are more like "really big, but not giant, beavers," about the size of black bears. Ditto giant armadillos. Sigh.

Literary tarot decks--what books would make the best cards?

So Edward Gorey's Fantod tarot deck popped up in my blog reading here and there....which I own (I collect Gorey, in a mild way)



which then led me to dig out my husband's Alice in Wonderland deck (he collects Alice, also in a mild way),


and that in turn led to a conversation with my sister, who was the one who gave them to us (on separate occasions), about which other books would make good tarot decks.

Harry Potter is the obvious candidate (and I'm not the first to think so), so I set to work at once. Here's my first card, based on the classic Rider Waite picture, shown at left.:


The Lord of the Rings would also make a nice deck....and possibly Dragonriders of Pern....What do you think?

The Storm Makers, by Jennifer E. Smith

Those on the lookout for good American rural fantasy should immediately get their hands on The Storm Makers, by Jennifer E. Smith (Little, Brown, 2012, middle grade, 384 pages, illustrated by Brett Helquist). It's the story of two twelve year-old twins, Ruby and Simon, relocated from the suburbs to ten acres of midwest farm land by their idealistic (and quite possibly over-optimistic) parents. Ruby and Simon had always been very close, but in their new home, they began to go their separate ways, much to Ruby's regret, and she wonders if "maybe they'd never really been inseparable so much as they hadn't ever had room to separate" (page 10). For Ruby (from whose perspective the story is told), books, and science, and helping her dad with the invention that will bring the family some much needed money are most important; for Simon, its baseball and his new friends.

Now the first year of school has passed, and the long, hot summer stretches away from them--no rain has fallen, and the wheat is in danger. Ruby almost wants it to fail, so the family is forced to go back "home;" Simon is so moody that Ruby doesn't know if he feels the same.

But then the weather starts acting up--strange twists of wind, leading to a massive storm that seems linked to Simon's sudden fever. And a stranger, a tall lanky man named Otis, appears in the barn...bringing the news that Simon is a Storm Maker, one of an elite cabral that can actually control the weather.

Though the Storm Makers have traditionally been more along the lines of storm alleviators, working to help gentle severe weather, the new official leader, Rupert London, has a different agenda. According to Otis, London wants to let the weather take its toll on the people who are destroying the planet. Otis, however, isn't telling the kids the whole truth--one that is even darker and more destructive. A plan that involves setting up the long draught...setting the stage for an epic disaster.

If Simon can learn to control his powers, and if Otis can convince him to work against London, there might be chance to stop it. But Simon has no clue how to get the weather to obey him, and Ruby, though she can understand the weather intellectually, lacks his raw, magical talent.... I found this a nice twist--Ruby isn't the Special One, and so is in a rather complicated position that's unusual in middle grade fantasy.

The story builds slowly to faster and ever more gripping events, as Ruby and Simon struggle to decide who they should believe...and what, if anything, two twelve year old kids can do. The distance between them lessens as they realize that, when working in harmony, magic and science can work wonders.

This is a great one for the younger end of the middle grade set (the nine to ten year olds), and even upper elementary kids of eight or so. It has some powerful emotional weight to it (the back story between Otis and London has some darkness to it), but not of a profoundly disturbing nature. The kid who appreciates a good, powerful summer storm should, in particular, enjoy this one!

I myself appreciated the carefully-written changes happing in Ruby and Simon's relationship as the sometimes painful process of growing-up threatens their closeness. It was very pleasing that in the end, although they're still on different paths, they are once more a team. The workings of the Storm Makers, with their myriad intriguing gadgets and devices (mostly created from the love of creating small, not necessarily useful, weatherish contraptions) are fascinating.

I also appreciated that there is nuance to the story--London has clearly gone of the deep end, but he's not a one dimensional egomaniacal nutcase. Smith doesn't use her story as an opportunity to preach one way or the other about global warming, but she does leave the reader pondering the relationship between people and weather.

And the midwest setting--flat and beautiful and huge and kind of scary in the way that hope depends on the weather, is brought vividly to life.

In sort, it's a fine read for the grown-up--not one that will necessarily knock the socks of the adult reader, but still a good one, and a most excellent one for its target audience!

(It's also a very attractive book, with raised detailing on the cover, and black and white illustrations that enhance the story. At least, for those who chose to take time away from reading to look at illustrations, which, in a case like this one where I am engrossed in the story, isn't me).

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

Edited to add: A commenter asked if this book was similar to Savvy, by Ingrid Low--short answer, not so much. Savvy, and its sequel, Scumble, are very much books that take place within families. The threats and dangers are mostly inside those families, and to overcome them requires dealing with real world issues. They have a folksy, real-world feel to them. The Storm Makers is much more traditional in its enemy--the bad guy who threatens the world, and so it has a more epic fantasy flavor to it, with the children having to confront that external, magically powerful threat directly. Which isn't to say that The Storm Makers goes all out epic--it's firmly rooted in our world, which I appreciated.

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

Here's what I found in my blog reading this week. I've added a new Giveaways of mg sff section--please do let me know by email anytime if you are having one! And do feel free to let me know of any posts I've missed!

The Reviews:

Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel, at Nerdy Book Club

Bye For Now, by Kathleen Churchyard, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Changeling, by Delia Sherman, at The Book Smugglers

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, at Back to Books

Circle of Cranes, by Annette LeBox, at A Backwards Story

Eye of the Storm, by Kate Messner, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Bibliophilia-Maggie's Bookshelf

Giants Beware! by Rafael Rosado and Jorge Aguirre, at Slatebreakers

The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman (audio book review) at The Reading Date

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Poisoned Rationality

Into the Wild, by Sarah Beth Durst, at Books Beside My Bed

Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at Books & Other Thoughts

Medusa the Mean (Goddess Girls), by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at Somewhere in the Middle

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Anita Silvey's Book-a-Day Almanac

Peaceweaver, by Rebecca Barnhouse, at Charlotte's Library

The Prince Who Fell From the Sky, by John Claude Bemis, at The Intergalactic Academy

Quests and Kingdoms, by K.V. Johanson, at Carole Anne Carr (this is a non-fiction book for adults, from 2005. Have any of you all read it? Should I read it?)

Remarkable, by Lizzie K. Foley, at Waking Brain Cells

Renegde Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Sonderbooks

The Rock of Ivanore, by Laurisa White Reyes, at Project Mayhem

Seeds of Rebellion, by Brandon Mull, at Guys Lit Wire

Storybound, by Marissa Burt, at A Backwards Story

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, at Susan Dennard

Whisper, by Alyson Noel, at Urban Fantasy

Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at books4yourkids

Two time travel books at Time Travel Times Two--The Book of Story Beginnings, by Kristin Kladstrup, and Time for Andrew, by Mary Downing Hahn

Two from Ms. Yingling-- A Greyhound of a Girl, by Roddy Doyle, and Chronal Engines, by Greg Lietich Smith

And three from Kate (aka The Book Aunt)--Robbie Forester and the Outlaws of Sherwood St. by Peter Abrahams, The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy, and Storybound, by Marissa Burt.


Giveaways:

Return to Exile, by at Middle Grade Maffioso

Neversink, by Barry Wolverton, at A Thousand Wrongs

The Rock of Ivanore, by Laurisa White Reyes, at Project Mayhem

Scary School, by Derek the Ghost, at Young Readers

The Battle Begins, by Tony Abbott, at The Write Path

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, at Charlotte's Library

And I've extended my giveaway of The Time-Traveling Fashionista on Board the Titanic another day, till midnight tonight.

Authors and interviews

Sarvenaz Tash (The Mapmaker and the Ghost) at My Brain on Books

Sarwat Chadda (Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress), at The Book Zone

Barry Wolverton (Neversink) at A Thousand Wrongs

Jennifer Nielsen (The False Prince) at From the Mixed Up Files

Christopher Healy (The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom) at Muggle-born.net

Richard Ungar (Time Snatchers) at Cynsations

Stephanie Burgis (Renegade Magic) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Liz Kessler (A Year Without Autumn) at Cynsations

Other Good Stuff:

The winners of the E.B. White Read-aloud Award have been announced, and the winners in the middle grade category are two fantasies (by a sister and brother!):

• The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy, Ian Schoenherr (Illus.) (Putnam Juvenile)
• Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis (Illus.) (Balzer + Bray)

It's Fairy Tale Fortnight, and although I haven't been able to contribute myself, here's Joanne Harris talking about the Pied Piper at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Holly Black and Cassandra Clare have teamed up to write a 5 book middle grade series! The Iron Trial comes out in 2014, which seems a long way away...

Here's the blurb: "...twelve-year-old Callum Hunt has grown up knowing three rules by heart. Never trust a magician. Never pass a test a magician gives you. And never let a magician take you to the Magisterium. Callum is about to break all the rules. And when he does, his life will change in ways he can’t possibly imagine."

The movie rights have already been picked up.

Another collaboration of note--the grandchildren of Tolkien and Dickens are teaming up to write two fantasy books...

A miniature book from Queen Mary's dollhouse-- a story by cartoonist Fougasse about a fairy called Joe Smith--is to be published (in an edition large enough to read)

Don't forget to check out the stops on the Diane Wynne Jones blog tour! Here, at Greenwillow, for instance, is what Megan Whalen Turner has to say.

And finally, not exactly mg sff related, but important, Guys Lit Wire has organized another book fair for Ballou Sr. High School--these kids need books!

Giveaway reminder!

Just reminding you all that I have two give-aways going, both for excellent middle grade books of a fantastical sort

The Time-traveling Fashionista on Board the Titanic (ends Saturday night)

and

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (ends Monday night)

I wish I could stay home and read and blog and work in the garden today, but sadly, duty calls and I'll be at a work-related conference all day instead. It will be interesting (especially the question of whether or not I have prepared sufficiently for my own talk, in as much as my innate optimism gets me into trouble more than I would like), and perhaps it will even be enjoyable, but it's not the same, somehow, as a nice quiet day at home....

Peaceweaver, by Rebecca Barnhouse

Peaceweaver, by Rebecca Barnhouse (Random House, 2012, middle grade/YA, 336 pages)

At the end of The Coming of the Dragon, a retelling of the story of Beowulf, a new character was introduced --Hild, a high-ranking girl from a neighboring kingdom, sent to be the bride to the new king of the Geats, hopefully weaving peace as a consequence of her marriage. Even though Hild had very little page time indeed, she was an incredibly compelling character, and I know I'm not alone in putting down that book with a desperate need to find out more of her story.

Happily, the author obliged--Peaceweaver is Hild's story.

Hild was an honored member of her community. She was the new mead bearer the hall of her uncle, the King of Shylfings, secure in her position, and determined to use her influence to foster peace between all the various small kingdoms of her part of Dark Age northern Europe.

But then a few hours of playful sword practice with her younger cousin, the king's son, goes horribly wrong. Possessed by a supernatural force, Hild drives her sword into a visiting warrior from another kingdom--somehow she knew that he was about to murder her cousin. Now Hild is persona non grata, isolated in small cell, waiting for her fate to be decided by her uncle, and the poisonous, war-hungry bard who has his ear.

When emissaries of the Geats, Beowulf's people, come seeking peace, Hild is sent away with them, to be a Peaceweaver through marriage between the two kingdoms. But Hild knows that she is to become a living lie--her uncle has no intention of letting the peace last.

In the course of her journey to the kingdom of the Geats, Hild must decided who, and what, she will be. But she must also come to terms with the supernatural gift that seizes hold of her when there is danger...and there is danger aplenty on the road to her new home. For Grendal and his mother, of Beowulf fame, are not the only such monsters...

And then finally we get to see Rune (from The Coming of the Dragon). I, for one, loved him already....but will Hild????? And then after that, all too soon, the book ends....Now that we have the backstory for both Rune and Hild, please let there be a third book about the both of them!!!

Peaceweaver, like The Coming of the Dragon, is absolutely top notch historical fantasy. The fantastical elements (the monsters, the intervention of deities, Hild's strange gift) don't in the least make the book feel less plausible, less truly set in the dark ages of Europe; the world-building happens organically and convincingly, with lots of details woven into the story, and not just flat-out told. Rebecca Barnhouse has proven herself to be an author of historical fiction who I feel I can read with the relaxed confidence that comes from trusting that no nasty little anachronistic bits are going to kick me out of the story.

Hild is a most excellent character. From the beginning of the book, she is sympathetic, but she grows up during the course of events, become more thoughtful about her world and her place in it. For instance, she's forced to question somewhat her assumptions about the slavery that's part of her culture--and although she doesn't repudiate it on moral grounds, which would be ridiculously anachronistic, she does have a moment of truth in which she realizes that there is more to the lives of those who are enslaved than their service to their captors.

She's a strong character, in that she isn't afraid to act, but her abilities don't strain credulity--she knows how to use a sword (that scene on the cover really happens), but she's no Valkyrie. Likewise, she wants to do the right thing, but she's no holier than thou, unselfish martyr about it, and she also wants for things to work out nicely for herself!

Peaceweaver can perfectly well be read on its own, but since it includes spoilers for The Coming of the Dragon, that one really should be read first. That being said, I think Peaceweaver is the more statisfying of the two in its pacing and its plot...

Note on age of reader: Hild is 16, so "young adult," but there's nothing in her story that makes it unsuitable for young readers. I'd be happy to hand this to a ten year old (which I see the publisher thinks too!). There's a bit of violent death here and there, but not so violent as to be traumatic. The arc of the story--happy young person's life is disrupted, a journey must be made and a fate chosen--is more, to me, a "middle grade" story than a "young adult" one. But boy, do I ever want the young adult story of what happens next!

Here are other reviews, at The Book Smugglers, and at Random Musings of a Bilbiophile.

And here's an interview with Rebecca Barnhouse at The Enchanted Inkpot.

(disclaimer: review copy very gratefully (there might have been a squee) received from the publisher)

Waiting on Wednesday--THE KAIROS MECHANISM, an experiment by Kate Milford

Kate Milford is the author of The Boneshaker (2010)--a sort of historical fiction/vaguely steampunk real-world fantasy that pits a young girl named Natalie against dark supernatural forces.

Her second book, The Broken Lands, comes out this September from Clarion, and I'm looking forward to it, it's not about Natalie (who's a great character). And it's not what I'm waiting for today. Instead, I was very pleased to see that Kate has written a novella companion, The Kairos Mechanism, that's a self-contained Natalie story, which will be released in conjunction with TBL this fall.

Here's what Kate has to say about it:

"The novella, The Kairos Mechanism, will be a bridge between The Broken Lands and The Boneshaker. I'll be publishing it in three editions:

• Paperback, using McNally Jackson's self-publishing services and Espresso Book Machine. This edition will have a cover illustration by Andrea Offermann, the artist behind The Boneshaker and The Broken Lands.
• Digital, via Google Play.
• and Super-Special Reader-Illustrated Digital, via my website,www.clockworkfoundry.com. This edition will be enhanced by the work of ten to twelve tween and teen artists, each of whom will be given a chapter and commissioned to create an illustration of his/her choosing in the style of his/her choice. That edition will be priced "pay what you like."

The goals of the project are these:

• Experiment with self-publishing in support of traditional publishing.
• Use resources that are supportive of independent booksellers.
• Experiment with extra content that supports the "big story" as it is being told.

I'm funding this excitement through Kickstarter. Here's the link to my project:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/3548813/the-kairos-mechanism-arcana-1

You'll see that the goal is to raise $6500 to pay for printing and compensation of the contributors. If we raise more, the first thing we do is bump up the teen artists' paychecks. I'll also be keeping a blog journal about the project throughout the summer at my website,www.clockworkfoundry.com.

Any support you are moved to provide, including social media chatter and blog appearances and that sort of thing, would be tremendously appreciated. It's my hope that I'll discover there's enough enthusiasm for this project to repeat it alongside future books beyond The Broken Lands."

Sounds good to me!

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

In Darkness, by Nick Lake, for Timeslip Tuesday

I read In Darkness, by Nick Lake (Bloomsbury, 2012, YA), in short bits over the course of several months. My lack of absobtion came not from the quality of the writing, or the intensity of the story, because both were there; rather, the story itself is so dark that I couldn't bear to lose myself in it.

It tells of the harrowing days that "Shorty," a Haitian boy, spends trapped in the ruins of a hospital after the earthquake of 2010 sends his world crashing into ruins. Trapped in the darkness, with the constant torture of thirst and hunger and pain, he hopes against hope for rescue.  All the while he is haunted by memories of violence, and loss, and choices that went wrong.
But Shorty isn't entirely alone in his prison. Half of his spirit has travelled backwards to the past, to join with the spirit of one of the great heroes of his country--his ancestor, the slave Toussaint L'Ouverture, who became the leader of the revolution at the end of the 18th century that feed the slaves and drove out the invading British. Toussaint dreams of Shorty...and Shorty of Toussaint, as each relives their lives up to the point where the darkness came.

For Toussaint's story didn't end in light and hope, and Shorty fears that his, too, will end with in the darkness.
The stories of the two protagonists are clear and distinct, Shorty's told in the first person, and Toussaint's in the third. Their spirits may overlap, and Toussaint in particular has real glimpses of Shorty's present, and magically learns to read via their contact, but there's no time travel in tangible form. Toussaint might feel the presence of Shorty, but Shorty seems much less aware of him--I kept waiting for this awareness to happen, but it never quite reached that point. Still, the connection between the two is fundamental (in a somewhat vague way that I never quite grasped--I think I would have to read it straight through more clearly and coldly to fully comprehend it) to the struggle against the darkness that both face. At the end, however, it is the travel of Toussaint's spirit from the past that gives Shorty the strength to make a last effort.

Both stories are dark. Toussaint's is the less crushingly awful story--for a time, there is hope that he has managed to achieve his dream of a free country for free men. It reads like harrowing historical fiction. Shorty's story, on the other hand, is immediate and painful. For Shorty, a life of utter poverty, where squalor and hopelessness are unremarkable realities, has left little room for hope; his time as a violent member of a drug gang was not happy reading. Yet still he hopes to escape from the destruction of the earthquake.

But I am left not at all hopeful that anything has changed for the better, that this experience of souls meeting over the centuries will actually change anything enough for Shorty's life to materially improve. Yes, he learns to regret the path he took, and emerges with a rekindled love for this mother, but I don't know that that will be enough. Toussaint himself, after all, could not, in the end, fight the darkness that overcame his country and himself.

Still, it's a powerful book, and a memorable one. It doesn't flinch from graphic violence, and so it convinces in a way that sugar-coating reality would not have done.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (giveaway!)

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, by Trenton Lee Stewart (2012, Little Brown, middle grade, 480 pages).

Long before all the exciting events chronicled in The Mysterious Benedict Society and its sequels, Nicholas Benedict was a young orphan, friendless and plagued by narcolepsy (and cursed with an unfortunately large nose). At the age of nine, he was shuttled off to a new orphanage, in an old manor house off in the country. But it was no idyllic rural retreat--faced with vicious bullies, selfish and shortsighted adults, and haunted by nightmares, Nicholas is at first despondent. Fortunately for Nicholas, though, he's a genius....

And when he learns that there is a treasure hidden somewhere on the estate (one the master of the orphanage is also desperate to find), he bends all the powers of his intellect to finding it (except, of course, those powers of intellect he needs to stay one step ahead of the bullies). With the help of two new friends, a fellow orphan and the daughter of a local farmer (whom he meets in mysterious circumstances), Nicholas searches for clues to the treasure's whereabouts. He dreams that it will be a deus ex machina that will solve all his problems...and maybe it will be. Or not.

Far removed from the international high-jinks and dangers that await Nicholas in the future, this story is more domestic--the stage is smaller, the dangers less dramatic. Those, like me, who relish a good plucky orphan tale (that includes a basement stuffed with discarded odds and ends and a lovely library) will enjoy it even more than the later books! Those who enjoyed the puzzles and good hearted characters of those books will find those things here as well.

It is in large part a very satisfying character study of Nicholas--precocious, a tad selfish, and desperate for friends. Those looking for Action and Villains might be disappointed--the mystery here is a paper chase, involving understanding the characters from the people from past who were involved as much as anything else. I myself was not disappointed, enjoyed it immensely, and am looking forward to re-reading the previous books in the series with new insight into Nicholas.

Trenton Lee Stewart is currently on tour (although, sadly, not to New England). Here's the schedule.

Thanks to the publishers, I have three copies to offer as a giveaway! Just leave a comment (US only, no PO boxes) by the end of next Monday, April 23rd!

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

Here are the middle grade fantasy and sci fi related posts I found in my blog reading this week. Do let me know if I missed yours! This includes any authors or publishers out there--feel free to send me links if your mg sff book gets reviewed. What I'd really love is for people who don't know about my blog, and whose blogs I don't know about, to send me links to their mg sff posts, but this is tricky. So if you do read blogs I don't, feel free to send me those links too if it occurs to you. Thanks.

The Reviews:

The 13th Horseman, by Barry Hutchison, at Bart's Bookshelf

Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda, at The Book Smugglers and My Favorite Books

Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street, by Barry Dickins and Jenny Lee, at Read in a Single Sitting

Boom! by Mark Haddon, at Mister K Reads

Candlewax, by C. Bailey Sims, at Sharon the Librarian

Caterpillar Hall, by Anne Barrett, at Staircase Wit

Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia Wrede, at Book Nut

Eye of the Storm, by Kate Messner, at Fuse #8

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Kidsmomo and Misbehavin' Librarian

The Fire King, by Paul Crilley, at Books Beside My Bed

Floors, by Patrick Carman, at The Book Zone

Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguiree, at GreenBeanTeenQueen, Sharon the Librarian, and books4yourkids

Indigo Magic, by Victoria Hanley, at Nayu's Reading Corner

The Inquisitor's Apprentice, by Chris Moriarty, at Library Chicken

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny-- Detectives Extraordinaire, by Polly Horvath, at Book Nut

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at 100 Scope Notes

Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, at Page in Training and Chronicles of a Book Evangelist

Remarkable, by Lizzie K. Foley, at Book Nut

Renegade Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Small Review

Return to Exile, by E.J. Patten, at A Librarian's Library

Scary School, by Derek the Ghost, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia

The Search for WondLa, by Tony DiTerlizzi, at Parenthetical

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Library Chicken

You Will Call Me Drog, by Sue Cowing, at Middle Grade Ninja

Two Titanic time-travel books at Ms. Yingling Reads-Return to Titanic by Steve Brezenoff, and Ghosts of the Titanic, by Julie Lawson.


Authors and Interviews

Bianca Turetsky (The Time-Traveling Fashionista on Board the Titanic) at Charlotte's Library (giveaway)

Jennifer Nielsen (The False Prince) at Literary Rambles (giveaway)

Rebecca Barnhouse (Peaceweaver) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Lizzie K. Foley (Remarkable) at Cynsations


Other Good Stuff

Rumpelstiltskin and the power of names, a guest post by Inbali Iserles, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

I read in the Guardian that Pottermore is finally open to the public, and duly signed up; I'm now waiting for my registration confirmation to arrive in my email. I confess to being intrigued, but my expectations are comfortably low.

However, my expectations for The Hobbit movies are getting higher with every trailer I see (unlike a certain character in the Lord of the Rings movies, the dwarves appear to wash their hair). Speaking of the Hobbit, HarperCollins is going to be pubishing movie tie-ins and extras, including behind-the-scenes movie guides, "essential Visual Companions" (does anyone else get odd futuristic images from that phrase? like dog avatar accessories?), a location guide (I would like this), and "a range of children’s books in the form of annuals, movie storybooks and feature titles, as well as a new series of lavish hardbacks written and designed by the award-winning team at Weta, who are working closely with the production team to guarantee that these books will be bursting with insider information and stunning visual imagery." I am doubtful about the "feature titles," but will wait and see...

And just cause I like to close with a picture, here's a link to classic video games reimagined as children's books, and an example:

Giveaway of the Time-traveling Fashionista On Board the Titanic, and Interview with Bianca Turetsky

Giveway extended till midnight tonight (Sunday, April 22)!

100 years ago today (at 11:40 pm), the Titanic hit its famous iceburg. With unusually impeccable timing, I'm pleased to share with you today a giveaway of a Titanic book that is both beautiful and fun--The Time-Traveling Fashionista On Board the Titanic, and an interview with its author, Bianca Turetsky.

Here's a quick summary from my original review: Louise marches to her own drum when it comes to clothes--not for her the racks of the new and never worn. She's drawn to the vintage, and is fascinated by the name brands and designs of the past. So when a fancy invitation comes in the mail, inviting her to a vintage fashion show, she's thrilled to have a chance to do just the sort of shopping she loves, and maybe pick out a dress for the middle school dance while she's there.

And indeed, there is a dress waiting for her, a beautiful pink one (shown at left). But when she puts it on, she's not in Connecticut anymore. Instead, she's on board a luxurious ocean liner, on of the White Star line, a hundred years in the past. And she's not her plain old 12 year-old, braces-wearing self anymore; she's a glamorous young film star, with enough beautiful dresses to make glad the heart of any fashionista.

"The White Star Line" seems to offer all Louise could want...except for one small detail--she's on the Titanic. Which, of course, is about to hit an ice berg and sink.

It's an enjoyable story, made more so by the lovely illustrations. And today, not only do I get to give away five copies (just leave a comment to enter, perhaps sharing your own favorite vintage possession!), but I'm honored to have had the chance to interview Bianca Turetsky.

(my questions are in bold)

What I really loved was how Louise had set herself to the serious study of fashion; it isn't just a passing fad, but a real part of who she is, and I appreciated her interest and expertise. Were you a vintage fashionista yourself when you were Louise's age?

I was a lot like that when I was Louise’s age. Actually the “Shopping For Vintage: Definitive Guide to Fashion” book that Louise considers her vintage fashion bible is a book that I own and refer to all the time. When I was younger the shopping I did was definitely more “thrift store” than vintage, but I did love reading about and looking at pictures of all the great designers.

The paintings in the book are gorgeous--could you talk a bit about the illustrations, and how they became part of the book?

The illustrations are done by this amazingly talented fashion illustrator from Barcelona, Spain named Sandra Suy. It’s funny, I’ve never met her in person but after seeing her drawings and the way she interpreted my text I felt like she knew me so well, because they were just like I imagined and hoped they would be. I feel so lucky that she agreed to work on my book, and I am so excited that she will be illustrating the second one as well!

(to which I, Charlotte, say--"me too!")

Are there more dress pictures that didn't make it in?

No, we used everything. It was too hard to chose because they were all so beautiful. I didn’t want to leave anything out.

Which of Louise's dresses in the book is your favorite? Are any of the dresses ones you yourself actually own?

Good question, that changes all the time for me! Right now my favorite is the white silk evening gown embroidered with gold and jeweled dragons that Lucy Duff Gordon is wearing on page 141. It’s one of the more subtle illustrations, but I think it’s gorgeous.

As far as my personal wardrobe, I do own a long pink ball gown that I bought at the fashionista sale that inspired the story (Fashionista Vintage & Variety in New Haven CT). It isn’t from the early 20th century like the one in the book, it’s probably from the 50’s or 60’s. I would LOVE to own all of the dresses though.

I'm looking forward lots to Louise's next adventure at the palace of Marie Antoinette -- which I feel is probably a much more challenging era for time-traveling fashionista (do you think that's so?) . Were you able to dress up in actual 18th-century clothes to get a good feel for them?

I wish I was able to play dress up in some clothes from that era! Unfortunately, clothing that old is generally kept locked up in museums, so I’ve never personally been able to try on a 18th century dress. But I did do a ton of research on the clothing, and read a lot about what it would be and feel like to wear those gowns. As far as a more challenging era, I’d say it was definitely a fabulous moment for fashion if you were part of the aristocracy, but it was certainly a dangerous moment to be living in as well. Louise got to experience a bit of both sides of the coin there, and I’m not sure if she’d opt to go back!

And finally, if you were going on board the Titanic yourself (not knowing it was going to sink), what item from your own personal wardrobe would you take?

Well if I did know what we know now I would definitely take a wetsuit- that water was freezing! But otherwise, I suppose I would bring the one dress that I own from that era, so that I could at least try and fit in. It’s a long white linen dress with tiered scalloped trim. It’s from the early 20th century and really beautiful, and I haven’t quite found the right place to wear it in my real life.

Thank you so much, Bianca! I'll look forward to Louise's next adventure!

To enter the giveaway to win one of five copies, just leave a comment by 11:40 pm on April 21st! (no PO Boxes, US only)

A Little Bitty Man and Other Poems for the Very Young, by Halfdan Rasmussen

A Little Bitty Man and Other Poems for the Very Young, by Halfdan Rasmussen, translated by Marilyn Nelson and Pamela Espeland, and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes (Candlewick, 2011).

I don't review a huge number of poetry picture books (maybe one or two a year), but when I saw the cover of A Little Bitty Man I wanted to read it--I can never say no to snail riders.

Here's the first verse of the titular poem:

"A little bitty man
took a ride on a snail
down little bitty rod that was shady.
The little bitty man
came to Littlebittyland,
where he married a little bitty lady."

And now the snail is shown tethered to a hitching post outside a little bitty house!

The thirteen poems in this book are about half fantasy--there's the little bitty man, of course, and a cloud child, an elf with mice in his pockets, and a doll who runs away, and about half observations on real life--how the seasons change, how to end a fight, and the days of the week, for instance. They were translated from the Danish, and I can't, of course, evaluate how closely they capture the originals. I can say that they were pleasing poems, in rhyme and scansion, with just one jarring word ("partake," for instance, is pretty sophisticated vocabulary for the young, although it's easy to see what it means in context).

But what I can say with confidence is that these poems, especially the fantasy ones, are lovely little sparks for the imagination. The cloud child poem, for instance, tells of a little cloud that just couldn't hold it anymore, and, lacking a potty, let loose on the road...it runs home again, and is scolded by its mom. It seems to me that a cloud child is a lovely thing to have in one's imagination--what adventures will it have next? And what will the little bitty man do next? What might his house look like inside? How do you tame a wild snail? Why does a child have lion for his pet:

Kevin Hawke's illustrations are, for the most part, light in color, and high on detail. They aren't in your face, bright and lavish--rather, they let the reader come to them, balancing the poems nicely.

A Little Bitty Man picked up a starred review from the Horn Book: "Most of the selections aren't more than a few stanzas long, but each one hits you with a bright burst of humor that's like a sip of a fizzy drink on a hot day. . . . Hawkes's pencil and acrylic illustrations highlight the humor and the whimsy of the nonsense verses, but they also underscore the poems' innocence and childlike dignity when called for, and the artist gets the mix exactly right."

And another star from School Library Journal: "The quaint poems have liberal helpings of both wit and whimsy and an occasional sprinkling of mild potty humor. . . . The whole has an uncluttered and inviting effect. Likely to become a classic, this is a great addition to any picture-book collection."

I still think the snail is the best part, but I appreciated the potty humor too, and, more seriously, I found the book as a whole both attractive and interesting.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

For more poetry goodness, here's this week's Poetry Friday Round-up!

Vodnik, by Bryce Moore

Vodnik, by Bryce Moore (Tu Books, middle grade/YA, 359 pages), is an immensely enjoyable journey to a place where old, strange, crazy magic fills the streets of a medieval city. It's part mystery, part the story of a boy finding magical powers (while dealing with culture shock), part an exploration of ancient stories, and altogether engrossing.

When Tomas was an ordinary American teenager of 16, his house burned down around him. Miraculously, he survived unhurt--not like the time when he was a child in Slovakia, when someone (or some thing) almost drowned him, and another someone/thing badly burned him. After that first accident, his parents whisked him away from Slovakia to the United States, and tried to pretend it had just been normal bad luck. After this second brush with death, however, they decide to return to Slovakia, for purely practical reasons, even though they fear that the strange events of Tomas' childhood aren't safely buried in the past.

And they have very good reason to be afraid. The city of Trenčín is a rather busy place, malevolent supernatural being-wise. There's the titular Vodnik, whose home is in the old castle high above the city, who imprisons (or lovingly preserves, depending on who you ask) the souls of its victims in teacups (the city has an unusually high rate of deaths by drowning). There's a watery ghost girl, who haunts Tomas' dreams, a fire víla, and Death herself (a practical person, busily going about her work).

Real life isn't more peaceful. The residents of Trenčín despise Tomas's people, the Roma (aka gypsies), and aren't exactly subtle in expressing this, and with his dark skin, it's impossible to blend in. But their bullying prejudice pales in comparison to the threat that hangs over the head of Tomas' cousin Katka. Unless Tomas and Katka can make a deal with Death, and outwit the water víla, there will be no happy ending...

It's a wild trip for Tomas as he unravels the mystery of what happened to him long ago, anxiously peruses his handy supernatural self-help book for those in the business of Death, tries to stay alive, and slowly finds out what he's really capable of. It's funny, with flashes of dry wit that made chuckle. It's gripping, with some truly spooky moments. It was a treat, as well, to spend time with the magical beings of Slovakian folklore--it was refreshing to have a somewhat blank supernatural slate, and there was real uncertainty about which of the various beings were allies, and which enemies.

Tomas is a great character to spend time with--I found him to be completely convincing and very likable. He has a lot on his plate. Not only must he deal with the standard angst of teenage life (made more angsty, in his case, by his badly scarred arm from the childhood fire), and the standard middle grade/YA fantasy angst of facing down supernatural creatures, but he's also faced with culture shock and racial prejudice for the first time. Plus his family's return to Slovakia forces them to confront buried family history-- lots secrets that were never told. And then on top of that, there's the fate awaiting his cousin; it's harsh that the first time he gets to form a close relationship within his extended family, it's threatened more than a little. And so there's a lot of depth to Tomas' experience, making it much more than a smack down with bad elemental spirits.

I highly recommend it. Though it's labeled YA, the lack of a romance sub-plot (Tomas thinks about girls, and there's hinting about a future romance, but it's not happening yet here), makes it very friendly to upper middle grade readers, boys in particular. Adding to its boy friendliness are references to Star Wars and the Princess Bride, some jousting, and self-defence lessons from medieval knight reenactors, a desperate fight with a water dragon, a little cartoon death dude (shown on the cover) that keeps popping up, and Tomas' convincingly young-teen attitude. In short, I'd give this to an 11 or 12 year old boy in a heartbeat, even faster if said boy was a Princess Bride fan (I know several 11 year old boys who are). Which isn't to say that older readers wouldn't enjoy it lots too--I know I did!

I now want to a. read the sequel b. go to Trenčín and visit the castle, shown below.



Other thoughts:

Elitist Book Reviews: "VODNIK is a terrific YA novel. There's no doubt about it. It's uniqueness and characters overcome the shortcomings. You should buy it and read it. It's well worth your investment. Prospective authors should read it as an example of how to write a non-conformist Urban Fantasy. The best thing I can say about VODNIK is that it makes me want to read the sequel RIGHT NOW!"

Finding Wonderland "....full of The Crazy, and funny. This is a Tu-worthy book, indeed - another hit out of the ballpark for Lee & Low's amazing little imprint that could."

UMS Tigers Read: "....instead of Vodnik being a depressing read (I mean, Tomas does make friends with Death herself!), there is sarcasm, irony, and snarkyness that drew me in. The more I read the book the more I liked it and finally I decided that finishing the book was more important than doing laundry or going to bed at a decent time."

Beyond Dragons and Wizards: "I was truly impressed with Vodnik. If I were to explain it to someone (which I suppose I am, right at this moment), I would say it's a mix of middle-grade teen lit, crossed with Urban Fantasy, crossed with some kind of Societal Awareness piece. While magic is prominent in the book (and quite cool by the way), the story stands on its own as a really interesting tale of a kid who gets plopped down in a far off country, with strange people, weird food, and unfamiliar fairy tales."

Here's an interview with the author, Bryce Moore, at Kimberly Pauley's blog.

(comment on cover--at the publisher's blog, there's a two part (here and here) look at the evolution of the cover. I like the final version lots (I think Tomas' expression is spot on), and am so glad they got the little death dude in!)

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)