Thinking ahead to St. Patrick's Day--Irish Fantasy for Kids

St. Patrick's Day is, of course, this weekend.  My Irish piper husband has four gigs,  but the boys and I are staying quietly at home, because one of the things that often happens after gigs is that the music just goes to someone's house and goes on playing, and some people, who don't play, get restless sitting around till two in the morning and whine at their mother.

So for those, like me, who are home for the weekend, I thought it might be fun to pull together a book list of Irish Fantasy for Kids (which is to say, books by Irish writers set in Ireland).   I also thought it would be easy.  It wasn't.  There don't seem to be many of them (and wikipedia was no help).  I feel I must be missing something obvious. (And thinking further ahead to St. Andrew's Day, I find to my surprise that I can only think of one set-in-Scotland fantasy book for kids by a Scottish author)....

Here's what I have for Ireland:



Eoin Colfer is the author of the Artemis Fowl series, eight books in all, that are great fun for kids--they're stories of a teenage criminal mastermind, having adventures that blend sci fi and fantasy. He also wrote an excellent, and somewhat underlooked, historical/speculative fiction book for teenagers, Airman (shortlisted for the Cybils in 2008).

Another great series is Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy, involving the adventures of a skeletal detective/magician and his partner/apprentice, a girl who goes by the name of Valkyrie Cain.

Roddy Doyle is perhaps best known for his grown-up books, but his latest book for younger readers, A Greyhound of a Girl, has just been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, so maybe that will change.  He's also the author of The Giggler Treatment and its sequels,which are utterly wonderful books to read out loud to your seven (or so) year old.

The Hounds of the Morrigan, by Pat O'Shea, was published back in 1985...and I read it then, and only dimly recollect it (maybe I'll try it again this weekend!).   It's an adventure involving two kids confronted by Irish mythology come to life.

My favorite contemporary Irish fantasy book is Bansi O'Hara and the Bloodline Prophecy, by John Dougherty, which is tons of fun, and tells of an Irish-Indian girl confronted by ancient prophecies and Fair Folk being difficult.  The sequel, Bansi O'Hara and the Edges of Halloween, went right on my wish list...and I continue to look forward to it!  These aren't published in the US, sadly.

The Secret of The Ruby Ring, by Yvonne MacGrory, a time travel story in which a young girl finds herself working as a servant 100 years in the past.  I read it ages ago, and don't remember it one or the other myself, but lots of people seem to like it...I must find my copy and try it again for Timeslip Tuesday!  There are a number of sequels to this, which I have never read.

For older kids/teenagers, there's Kate Thompson (born in England, but an Irish resident since the early 1980s), whose series of books, beginning with The New Policeman, blend music and mythology.

A new children's fantasy has just come out from Alex Barcaly, a crime writer-- Curse of Kings: The Trials of Oland Born, which I haven't read yet--seems to be a fairly standard quest in alternate medieval world, so perhaps doesn't meet my criteria of being set in Ireland.

Edited to add:  I had forgotten the book I reviewed on Tuesday--Timecatcher, by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, which is sad, because reading it was what got me thinking about Irish fantasy.  It is very good, and worth making the effort to get a hold off.

And also edited to add:

Here are two Irish myth retellings suggested by CLM (thanks!) (and I am bending my own rule of Irish authorship by including Rosemary Sutcliff, but there it is).

The High Deeds of Finn MacCool, by Rosemary Sutcliff, which was my own introduction to Irish mythology back when I was in sixth grade.

Deirdre, by Madeleine Pollard, sounds like it might be the sort of book marketed as YA if it were published today, instead of 1967.  Here's the Kirkus review.

Further edited to add:

Because of spammers, I had made it harder to comment, so Abigail sent these great additions via email:

"Regarding Michael Scott: no, his Nicholas Flamel series is not set in Ireland, but "The De Danann Tales" trilogy - Windlord / Earthlord / Firelord - is (at least, it's set in a mythical Ireland anyway)

Another series by an Irish author to consider would be Cormac MacRaois' "Giltspur Trilogy" - The Battle Below Giltspur / Dance of the Midnight Fire / Lightning Over Giltspur.

If you're including animal fantasy, Don Conroy's "Wings" trilogy is worth a look: On Silent Wings / Wild Wings, Sky Wing.

Tom McCaughrean is another Irish author who has explored the world of animal fantasy, in his "Run Wild" series about foxes: Run With the Wind / Run to Earth / Run Swift, Run Free / Run to the Ark / Run to the Wild Wood / Run for Cover.

Carlo Gebler's The Bull Raid is a children's novelized retelling of the classic epic of The Tain.

For a children's novel based on the Fionn Cycle, try the recent Old Friends: The Lost Tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill, by Tom O'Neill

Other titles to consider:

The Silver Stag of Bunratty, by Eithne Massey
Colm & the Lazarus Key, by Kieran Mark Crowley (and sequel)
Gyrfalcon, by Grace Wells
Rosie's Quest, by Ann Carroll (and sequels)"

Thank you so much, Abigail!  I had not heard of any of these!

And now back to me:

Even though it's not for kids, I just want to plug in a mention of my favorite Irish fantasy of all--The Grey Horse, by R.A. MacAvoy (my review).   Lovely historical fiction, plus a  paranormal romance back before that was the in thing and way before the girls on the cover wore pretty dresses (although her blouse is shown as fancier than I think she'd wear...).  I note with some rolling of eyes that they did put sparkles on the horse, but there are no sparkles inside the book. Nor is there an epic struggle between paranormal good and evil. 


Other authors of note:

CS Lewis was born in Belfast, but I don't count him as Irish, though he shows up on some lists.   Oscar Wilde was from Dublin, and wrote fantasy...but I'm having a really hard time calling him "a writer of Irish fantasy for children" which probably just goes to show how meaningless labels are.....So go ahead and read The Happy Prince for St. Patrick's Day if you want to.

Michael Scott (the Nicholas Flamel series) is Irish, as is (the brilliant) Sarah Rees Brennan, but their books aren't set in Ireland.  (Although, as noted above, Scott has a another series set in a mythical Ireland).

So anyway, I have little to offer by way of Irish children's fantasy.  Surely there must be more out there?  Not many people from Ireland read my blog (why?), but if you are one of the ten or so Irish people who do, please let me know what's in your local bookstores!

And finally, if nothing here strikes your fancy for a good St. Patrick's Day read, you could try this list of fantasy set in Ireland that I was happy to find--a bit out of date, but full of lots of books I'd never heard of that sound very interesting.

As for me, I have in my tbr pile a copy of The King of Ireland's Son, by Padraic Colum, and now is just as good a time, if not better than most, to read it... and then I will know whether to count it as a children's book or not.

(edited to add: As of Friday evening, no one from Ireland has looked at this post yet.  I wish they would, so they could recommend all the great Irish middle grade fantasy that I don't know about!  Do other bloggers get visitors from Ireland?)

Orleans, by Sherri L. Smith

The field of YA dystopia may be crowded these days, but Orleans, by Sherri L. Smith (Putnam, March 2013), goes to show that new and powerful stories of young people surviving in the face of disaster can still be told.   It is a heart-twisting story of riveting intensity.

Rita and Katrina were only the beginning.  Storm after storm followed, and the number of survivors in the flood-wrecked delta shrank each time.  Then came the Fever--deadly, and incurable, and a threat to the whole country.  So then came the quarantine--a wall was built around the Gulf Coast area, just until the Fever ran its course, or a cure was found.  Surely, the government reasoned, that wouldn't take long.  Then the survivors could be part of the United States again. 

But the Fever has held its own, and everyone still living behind the wall is a carrier.  Because the Fever affects different blood types differently, some are healthier than others (the O types are less affect).  Tribes, based on blood, have formed, and blood is a commodity.

And a fifteen year old girl, Fen de la Guerre, has just promised a dying woman who was the leader of Fen's tribe of O positives, and who was the only person left to her in the world she truly loves, to save the new born infant her friend died giving birth too.   For a short while, the baby will be free of the taint of the fever, so if Fen can keep herself and the baby alive long enough to get to the wall, the baby has a chance of being smuggled out to safety.

But Fen knows to her cost how hard it is to survive in the Delta.   Her parents are dead, and she herself endured horrors (including rape) before finding a place in the O positive tribe.   War between the tribes is flaring up to an even more deadly level than before, blood slavery, sickness, and human predation are rampant, and Fen has little more than hard won survival skills to keep herself and Baby Girl safe.   But she has hope....

Then a new wrinkle enters the picture.  Daniel, a young scientist from up north illegally enters the delta, obsessed with finding a cure to the fever.   He has no clue what he will find behind the wall...but amidst all the horror and violence, there he meets Fen.   And Fen, because she can't just leave him to die, and because there's a chance he can help her, saves his life....and they journey together, until they reach the wall.

This all too believable future world might sound tremendously dark, and Fen's life on her own has been full of horror.  The story as a whole is gut-wrenching, page-clenching, and not for the faint of heart.  Yet it is not depressing.    Because Fen never lets herself sink at all into any self-pity, because she never gives up, because she never considers any choice other than survival, and keeping true to her promises, I couldn't pity her either, though my heart certainly ached something fierce.   The brutality is not rendered less brutal by the fact that Fen has kept her integrity, but because she has, and because the reader right in there with her,  there's no sense of  emotional manipulation by the author.  There are bad things.  Terrible things.  But there is always hope.

There are still decent people in this world--like the Ursuline sisters, still keeping faith and tending to the dead, hope that the ravaged world of the Delta will heal, and, even when I turned the last page, I still had hope for Fen.

And there is one scene in particular, the All Souls' Day parade, that is a tremendous bit of heart-stopping, numinous-filled testimony to the power of the human spirit.

Don't go looking for Daniel to come in and romantically make things all better for Fen.   He's a tourist, a babe in the woods, a complication in Fen's mission, and though he does end up with a huge part to play, it's not the part of Fen's lover and protector.  Instead, read this one if you want to get to know a girl who is damaged, strong, brave, and sad, who keeps going because there is nothing else to do.

This is one for those looking for multi-cultural sci fi/fantasy--race, but not because it is a story where "race" is important.  In this world, people are defined by blood type, so race isn't something we hear much about.  It is mentioned, and indeed, there's a sociological twist involving race, blood-type, and tribal identity.    Based on the few bits of description of Fen, I pictured her in my mind as black, but skin color is the least of people's worries in this world.

Personal note--Fen narrates her story in the English of the tribes, which doesn't include many verb forms; I was worried that it would bother me, but it didn't.

Read more about Orleans and its creator, Sherri L. Smith, at these other stops on its blog tour:

 Monday, March 4 – The Compulsive Reader
Tuesday, March 5 – The Story Siren
Wednesday, March 6 – The OWL for YA
Thursday, March 7** – GreenBeanTeenQueen
Friday, March 8 – I Read Banned Books
Monday, March 11 – Poisoned Rationality
Tuesday, March 12 – The Book Smugglers
Thursday, March 14 – Literary Escapism
Friday, March 15 – Cari’s Book Blog
Friday, March 29 – A.L. Davroe

(disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher.)

Timecatcher, by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, for Timeslip Tuesday

Timecatcher, by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick (Orion Childrens, May 2010, UK), is a time slip book like no other I have ever reviewed, in that it involves ghosts time travelling back into the past through a magical portal! I do not know of any other books with actively time-travelling ghosts.

G. is a ghost boy, haunting the old Dublin Button Factory where he died in a freak accident several years ago-- lonely, bored, and at loose ends in death.   Jessie is a girl new to the city, whose attention he attracts, leading her into the old factory, which has now been refurbished as miscellaneous business spaces/artists studios.   There Jessie meets two private detectives who have a secret--the stairs in their office that lead nowhere actually lead to a time portal that opens every seven years.  And there in the old factory is the ghost of the man, Master Greenwood, who inadvertently opened this Timecatcher back in the thirteenth century, and who has been guarding it ever since, hoping to find some way to close it.  No living person has ever used it, but ghosts can come and go...

Then there's a third ghost, a bad one, who wants to use the magic of the time portal for the most selfish of ends.   He has powers the good guys don't know about....and he's on his way to the Button Factory.  The Timecatcher is about to open again...

(and the bad guy has told every ghost in Dublin about this opportunity to be ghostly travellers in time, so that they will mob the Button Factory and distract the good guys--this ghostly tourist episode, though just a side note, was lots of fun!)

As well as the central story plot--the bad ghost trying to take over the Timecatcher and team of ghosts and living people trying to find the secret of how to close it--there's a substantial character-driven plot.  G. the ghost boy only the wispiest memory of his life before he became a ghost, and has spent his death years aimlessly working small mischiefs, and watching the artists at work in their studios.   G. is not particularly fond of Master Greenwood (who indeed is much too preoccupied with his weighty concerns to be a good friend to a kid), and Master Greenwood does not regard G. in a particularly favorable light.    And so G. is faced with a character-growing situation--does he work to become trustworthy, and a good friend to Jessie and the rest, sharing his own particular ghost skill (a useful one) with the team?   Or will he let his resentment and care-less attitude to life and death win?  And will the others trust him, or not?  I liked this aspect of the book.

Jessie is there primarily to be the reader's entree into the story, and for her it is more an adventure than a character-changing experience.  But still, she is a likable girl, with a bit of backstory (the missing father, lonely mother, new girl in strange place, etc.) and enough initiative to be a valuable member of the team.  Master Greenwood's backstory, on the other hand, though perhaps a bit contrived, is extraordinary.....

There is also a very nice ghost cat who's travelled through time.    Jessie's terrier also gets lots of page time, and those who like small dogs will appreciate him.

Short answer: A ghost-filled  time-slip story with a nice dash of character development that entertained me lots.

In the mail to me--Binny for Short, by Hilary McKay

I am glad I have a sister who asks me to buy her books for her birthday that I want to read,* in this case a new Hilary McKay book (!!!!)  that sounds lovely as all get out, Binny for Short.

From Goodreads:

"When she was eight, Binny’s life was perfect: She had her father’s wonderful stories and Max, the best dog ever. But after her father’s sudden death, money is tight, and Aunty Violet decides to give Max away—he is just too big for their cramped new life. Binny knows she can’t get her dad back, but she never stops missing Max, or trying to find him. Then, when she’s eleven, everything changes again.

Aunty Violet has died, and left Binny and her family an old house in a seaside town. Binny is faced with a new crush, a new frenemy, and…a ghost? It seems Aunty Violet may not have completely departed. It’s odd being haunted by her aunt, but there is also the warmth of a busy and loving mother, a musical older sister, and a hilarious little brother, who is busy with his experiments. And his wetsuit. And his chickens."

I love love love McKay's books, both the Exiles series and the Casson family books, and this sounds like more of the same sort of goodness!  

It's out already in the UK, and that cover is nicer than the forthcoming US one, shown at right, which puts me in mind of a record album from the 1970s), so I just ordered it through The Book Depository (and if you order it through that link, I get a commission, and buy my sister a birthday present again next year.  I am always thinking of others.......)

*I am also glad I have my other sister too, and I have been known to buy her books as well.  Just not ones that make me squee.

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, illustrated by Charles Vess

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, written by Charles de Lint, and illustrated by Charles Vess (Little Brown, March, 2013), was not quite what I expected.   I knew that it told the story of a girl who was bitten by a snake out in the woods, and saved from death when a community of cats turned her into a kitten.   And so I thought that she would be a kitten for most of the book, learning kitten-ways and such, until she was transformed back at the end (like Jennie, by Paul Gallico, only in the woods).

Nope.

Turns out the girl, Lillian, has a much more tangled path to follow--a fairy-tale journey, full of talking animal people, obstacles, forks in the road, and more than a bit of the "be careful what you wish for" motif.  And for most of the story, she journeys in human form.


Lillian lives with her aunt on the edge of Tanglewood forest, a place she knows is full of magic, though she's never seen any in all of her exploring.  One day her path takes her to the very heart of the old woods, and there, sleeping in the shade of an ancient tree, she is fatally poisoned by a snake bite.  But the wild cats of the forest save her, transforming her from dying girl to living kitten; the spell, though, is something they can't undo.  Though Lillian is not unappreciative, she wants to be a girl again, and so, guided by first a crow and then a fox, she makes her way to the home of Old Mother Possum, a bottle-witch who's part human, part possum.  And Old Mother Possum's magic lets her follow a different path, one in which the snake doesn't bite her.

Much to Lillian's horror, when she goes back home in girl form, she finds that in this reality, it is her aunt who has been killed by a snake.  Now she has another tangle to undo, one that will take her to the wise-woman of the Creek Indians who live near by, and then on to the incredible, and dark, world of the bear people, and on...

From one magical encounter to the next, Lillian travels in search of an answer, and at last she returns to the heart of Tanglewood Forest, where all is resolved.

It's very folk-lore-ish fantasy, with bits of magic and story taken from the desperate cultures (African, Native American, and European) that have converged in this forest.   The story is given some coherence by Lillian's determined quest, but is primarily episodic, in good fairy-tale like fashion.   The illustrations add to the dream-like feel of events, conveying the magic of the forest and its peoples rather nicely.

In short, I think this is a fine book to share as a read aloud with a child--some bits are scary, and darkly magical, so the younger reader might welcome the comforting presence of a grown-up.  American fantasy, exploring the convergence of different, is thin on the ground, so this is a welcome book in that regard.

Though I found it memorable, and interesting, and powerful in places, it wasn't quite one that worked for me.  I tend not to like episodic stories, and though it is good to have a variety of cultures represented, the jumps from bottle magic and mojo to stories of the Creek Indians were a tad abrupt, and I never felt quite grounded in the story.   This feeling was compounded by the fact that the story isn't set firmly in time (a feeling that came more from the illustrations than the story).

Lillian's dress, sleeveless and short (shown on the cover), looks modern (except that if it were really modern, wouldn't she be exploring the woods in jeans, and there's a reference to the Creek Indian "rez," which makes me think its contemporary.  The two Creek boys who help Lilian on her way could be contemporary kids, shown wearing denim overalls, but other members of the tribe are shown wearing traditional regalia.  There's one illustration that I found particularly jarring, in which members of the Creek community are shown looking like they're back in the 18th-century (reminding me unpleasantly of stereotypes of the timeless, romanticized Indian).    And yes, it is a fairy-tale sort of story, so firm time and place aren't necessary, but I would have preferred not having to be bothered wondering about it.....



That being said, most readers seem to have loved this one considerably more than I did--it got a starred review from Publishers Weekly, for instance.  

One last postscript about expectations--I kept waiting for the cats to get more page time than they did (which wasn't all that much), so be a tad wary of buying this for a kid simply because they love cats.  It's not at all like the Warriors books, for instance.  However, if you buy books simply because they have excellent fantasy foxes, this is one for you!

disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher

The Bards of Bone Plain, by Patricia McKillip (me reading grown-up fantasy)

I haven't been meeting my goal of one adult fantasy book a week--turns out, no surprise, it takes longer to read something written for grown-ups than something written for an eleven-year old.  But I have been enjoying the variety of reading more of it.  Especially when, as has been the case these last few days, I have been lost in beautiful, magical imagery, and ancient secrets, following avidly along as intelligent, deeply likable people find their way through stories that have come from the past to twist the present into something rich and strange.

In short, I read a Patricia McKillip novel, and a rather fine one at that--The Bards of Bone Plain.   It is perhaps one of her best books ever.  And oh the shame of it, it was a Christmas present back in 2011, and it languished all this time, because (and I don't think I am alone in this), it is often easier to put off reading books you know you'll love, that will wait there patiently for you to come to them.....


Things I liked:

--what I said above.  McKillip is an author I read in much the same way as I approach a box of really expensive assorted truffles.   You don't gobble the whole box down, delicious though they are--instead, you make the most of the immersive experience of each bite, and are rewarded with great richness.  Except that only holds true for the first time reading one of her books, when I really don't know what is happening and how things are going to tie together. On re-reading I  proceed with a more relaxed, comfy, briskness....

--you know that whole if its fantasy it must be quasi medieval thing? To heck with that!  McKillip has two stories going at once, one in the past, and one in the present; the past one, with legitimate reason, is quasi-medieval, but then centuries have past, so we get a quasi Edwardian, steam-powered present!  With a princess who's an archaeologist by vocation, who drives a steam-powered vehicle.

--lots of music, and story, and legend  (if you like fantasy books with music, this is a must-read.  If you want to buy a fantasy book for a folklorist or an archaeologist, this is an excellent one).

--a rather sweet and unexpected romance.   I wish that McKillip would maybe be just a tad more forthcoming in the romance department, but she is parsimonious with details (really too parsimonious, in this case).   Happily, her characters have so much independent life to them that is easy to fill in the blanks (swoon!) for oneself.  

I do not think it is to everyone's taste, especially all the underlining of how the stories from the past, and from the land itself, are coming up into the light of day to disturb the order the things.  I can imaging some people feeling that they want less of being told how this is happening, and more of being told what the heck is really going on.   On top of that, everyone is running around with questions they are keeping to themselves, and feelings about things they never quite get a chance to articulate, and even I felt that maybe a bit of dictatorial explanation would have been not unwelcome.

That's the sort of thing, of course, that gets cleared up when you re-read it.  And truly, the best books are those that demand re-reading, and that offer new things every time one does.   I haven't re-read The Bards of Bone Plain, of course, but I already look forward to it...

Huh.  I just went and read the Amazon reviews, and the people who didn't care for it said they had it all figured out early on.   This is not something I myself have a problem with (the whole having figured things out bit).  I think it happened once (The False Prince).

I toy with the idea of someday organizing a Patricia McKillip appreciation week.  She seems to be finding more readers these days (at least, in the blog circles I frequent), but she deserves to be known and loved more widely!

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy goodness (3/10/13)

Happy Spring Forward Day, if you can muster any enthusiasm for it, and welcome to this week's round-up of middle grade (ages 9-12 ish) fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs.  I have a nagging feeling that somewhere bloggers are blogging prolifically about mg sff and I'm not finding them, so do please let me know if a.  you have a post I missed  or b. you saw someone else's post that you think is worth sharing.

(I have been thinking for a while about creating a mgsff round-up icon; this is my first attempt.  I think the nose cone/tower roof needs to be more defined).

The Reviews:

The Battles of Ben Kingdom:  The Claws of Evil, by Andrew Beasley,  at Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books

Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at alibrarymama

The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at Kristen Evey

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at Tor, Fantasy Literature, and BooksYALove

The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper, at Sonderbooks

Dark Lord: The Early Years, by Jamie Thomson, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Dead Kid Detective Agency, by Evan Munday, at That's Another Story

Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg), by Geoff Rodkey, at GreenBeanTeenQueen and Akossiwa Ketoglo

Dragonsong, by Anne McCaffrey, at alibrarymama

Emily Knight I am..., by A. Bello, at Fantastic Reads 

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Fellowship For Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at Candace's Book Blog 

Freaks, by Keiran Larwood, at Charlotte's Library

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Finding Wonderland 

George's Secret Key to the Universe, by Stephen and Lucy Hawking, at Maria's Melange 

Icefall, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Mister K Reads

The Little Secret, by Kate Saunders, at Beyond Books

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Ms.. Yingling Reads, Finding Wonderland, Book Nut, Small Review, Charlotte's Library, and In Bed With Books

A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia (giveaway)

Unlocking the Spell, by E.D. Baker, at Charlotte's Library

W.A.R.P.:  The Reluctant Assassin, by Eoin Colfer, at Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at Postcards From La-La Land 

and at Tales of the Marvelous, at look at the first three Oz books


Authors and Illustrators

Illustrator Erin McGuire on creating the cover art for Anne Ursu's new book (The Real Boy) at Nerdy Book Club

Frances Hardinge (A Face Like Glass) at Tor

Anna Staniewski (My Epic Fairy Tale Fail) at Literary Rambles 

Robin LaFevers (Nathaniel Flood--Beastologist series, Theodosia series)--
"The Play's The Thing," at Writer Unboxed

The Chronicles of Egg is on tour--here are the stops

Kit Grindstaff (The Flame in the Mist) at Corsets, Cutlesses, and Candlesticks


Other Things of Interest

Not middle grade, but of interest (especially for those of us looking to expand our age ranges, reading-wise)--the James Tiptree Jr. Award winners have been announced!

The SLJ's Battle of the Kids Book's is about to begin, with three mg sff contenders--Starry River of the Sky, Splendors and Glooms, and The One and Only Ivan.  Of these three, my favorite is Starry River....The Undead Poll (where readers can vote for a book that was eliminated early to rise from the dead and fight in the final round) closes tomorrow.

Freaks, by Kieran Larwood

Freaks, by Kieran Larwood (Scholastic, middle grade, March 2013)

Kept in cage in a dingy sea-side town, and exhibited to the gawking, jeering, 19th-century English public, Sheba knows there's no place for her in the real world.   She is a "wolf-girl"--more than just being covered with fur, strong emotion causes wolfish changes to her body.

When she is nine or so, her world expands.  She is bought by a travelling freak-show proprietor, a bloated, unpleasant tyrant, as a nice addition to his collection of human oddities.  Although her new life is still that of a freak, dependent on a harsh master, at least she is not so alone.   Plumpscuttle's Peculiars--the rat tamer (Mama Rat), the exotic young Japanese woman fighter (Sister Moon), the giant, the monkey boy may all be strange (and, in the case of Monkey boy, rather revolting, viz personal hygiene and disgusting pastimes involving poo and snot), but they are her first friends.

And when the freak show arrives in London, Till, a poor urchin girl, sneaks in to see the show.  She and Sheba form an instant bond.  When Till never returns from a stint of trash picking in the tidal cess-swamps of the Thames, the Peculiars take on the case.

Turns out a steam-punk robotic octopus is rising from the mud to grab hapless children....and the master-mind behind its operations wants the children for Darkly Sinister Purposes (!).  Gradually the Peculiars piece together the clues that lead them to Prince Albert's Crystal Palace at midnight to confront the villain head on--but can they foil the evil plot in time to save the children?

I found it a lot more engaging than I thought I might--I don't like 19th-century London, freak shows, or stereotypes of the Exotic (the broken of English of the lovely but deadly Sister Moon got on my nerves tremendously).   And in this particular case, the plot seemed somewhat flimsy--the bad guys didn't seem competent or sensible enough to be worthy antagonists.  However,  I did like the story arc of the lonely girl finding an unexpected type of family, the steam-punk octopus grabbing children scenes were creepy, and the trained rats of Mama Rat were most excellent.

I also appreciated the way in which Sheba grows to realize that the other Peculiars are actual people too, with names, and histories, and possible futures, and that she herself had a mother who loved her.  Though the story ends with the crew preparing to put on another show, I couldn't help but feel hopeful that life might have more in store for them.

Just as an aside--it's rather interesting to read a speculative fiction book in which the central child character is not actually the person who saves the day.  Sheba, though appropriately plucky, actually does little that is useful--the adult Peculiars are the ones who come up with plans, take down bad guys, track people down, etc.    This is another thing I appreciated!

But what will kids think?  I really don't know.  I have a vague sense that 19th-century is a hard sell to ten- and eleven-year olds, but the cool cover, promising action and adventure, and the appeal of the bizarre, might draw in kids both genders....and then, having met Sheba, they might well be happy to see how her adventures play out.  The first chapter can be read at the author's website, if you want to try it out....

Final thought:  I really could have done without Monkey Boy being so constantly gross. 

Final-er thought:  trying to label this, I can't decide on sci fi (the mechanical octopus and the reliance of the nefarious plot on Faraday's electrical fun) or fantasy (Sheba is a wolf girl in more than fur, and rats are preternaturally talented).   So I will put both.

Freaks won The Times/Chicken House Publishing Children’s Fiction Competition 2010, and was published in the UK in 2011.  Here's the UK cover, which, as Tanita points out in her discussion of this one at Finding Wonderland, is more than a bit misleading:

Disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher.

International Women's Day, book reviewing, and raising the next generation of male book reviewers

So in this post, written in honor or International Women's Day,  I do two things--look at the gender of the authors I read and review, and reflect on raising boy readers today who might grow up to be the male reviewers of tomorrow.

I have Ana at Things Mean a Lot to thank for this post, as it was inspired by her link to the VIDA Count for 2012.   This project basically tallies up the stats for gender in book reviewing, broken down by publication--the number of book reviewers who are male or female, and the number of authors reviewed who are female or male.   The heavy, heavy tilt of the scales to men on both counts is depressing.

Part 1:  My own stats from 2012, for the genre I read and review most often--middle grade (ie, for readers 9-12) science fiction and fantasy (give or take a few counting errors):

27% of the mg sff fantasy books I read were written by men.

In 2012, I read 312 books in their entirety. 173 were mg sc fi/fantasy, and 47 of these were written by men (two more were co-authored by a man and a woman), which is about 27%.   I think this particular tilt toward me reading female authors is mostly because more women than men write mg sci fi/fantasy, and partly because I am not drawn as much to some of the more popular male authors (like John Flanagan).

But then I ask-- do my percentages of male authored and female authored books actually reviewed reflect this same gender imbalance?

25% of the mg sff fantasy books I reviewed were written by men.

I reviewed 105 mg sff books in 2012.  26 were written by men, which is about a quarter.  So it's more or less the same--I am not guilty of privileging one gender over another when it comes to reviewing, given the pool of books from which I chose to read.

Conclusion:  I will continue to think about gender with regard to my own reading, but not sweat it. 

Part 2:  Looking at my nine year old voracious reader as a future book reviewer, and thoughts on raising the male book reviewer of tomorrow

I have been enjoying doing my best to raise my two boys to be aware of disparities and injustices.   I'm not exactly sure how well I'm doing, but both my boys, for instance, are now aware of white washing (characters shown on the cover as white, when they aren't).

They are not aware of any gender disparities when it comes to books, except to acknowledge that some books are aggressively marketed to girls, and some to boys.  To them, the gender of the author, and (I'm pretty sure) the gender of the main character on the cover (as long as it doesn't have a sparkly dress on) are immaterial.  Which I think is the way it should be.

For instance, my nine-year old has done five major book report projects so far this year. The books he chose were:

The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prinesas
Eldest, by Christopher Paolini
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George
Jinx, by Sage Blackwood
The Lost Heir, by Tui T. Sutherland

4 out of 5 of the authors are women, 2 of the 5 had central female characters.

It seems to be perfectly natural for him to read books by and about girls/women.  My hope is that it will always seem so.

 It's really easy for me as a parent to raise a mg sff-loving boy to read in this way; I simply have piles and piles of good mg sff that fits the bill.  Which leads too....

Thoughts on how, as a blogger, I can encourage boys who aren't my own boys to read books by and about girls

--I am going to stop talking about girl books and boy books in my reviews; however, noting the book is being marketed to one or the other is different and perfectly acceptable.  Observing that a book might have limited appeal to one gender in general is also acceptable;  for instance, I think books featuring potty humor have more boy appeal than they do girl appeal.

--A lot of parents or other gatekeepers use google to search for lists of books for kids of various ages.  And just about every one of these searches specifies the gender of the kid.  For instance, I get lots of people looking for "good fantasy for a nine year old girl" and almost no-one looking for "good fantasy for a nine year old."  Recognizing that this is the case, I will (at some point) create lists of books for boys of various ages, that will include books by women, starring girls, and showing girls.

Edited to add:  I feel rather silly for not remembering that just a few months ago, not thinking at all about the gender of authors, I compiled a list of fantasy books for a nine-year old boy.  Of the 13 authors I mention, 12 of them were women.  I am rather taken aback by this....

Any other suggestions on how to raise boy readers today to become balanced book reviewers of tomorrow?

And finally, the Amelia Bloomer project (a fine resource for those looking for feminist fantasy for the young) is currently accepting nominations from the general public.   As soon as I have a minute, I'll be nominating these fine mg sff books.

Unlocking the Spell, by E.D. Baker

Unlocking the Spell, by E.D. Baker (Bloomsbury, October 2012, ages 8-11), is the sequel to The Wide-Awake Princess, in which the titular princess, Annie, is the only one who doesn't fall asleep when her big sister falls under the magic curse ala Sleeping Beauty.   It's up to Annie, the only person in all the kingdoms who magic has no effect on, to find a prince to come kiss her sister...which she does, with all sorts of fairy-tale mash-up adventures along the way.

However, the prince that Annie comes up with has one little issue--he's a bear.  A prince enchanted into bear form, true, but still a bear.

So Annie, her sister, the bear, and Liam (Annie's friend from her first adventure) set out to find the dwarf who worked this malicious magic.  And what follows is a pretty entertaining, though somewhat dizzying, whirl of a journey through fairy tale snippet after snippet--from Puss in Boots to the Three Little Pigs, to the Bremen Town musicians to Snow White and many, many, more....and in all these encounters, Annie's gift (?) of magic-suppression plays a part.

So basically it's a show-case of fractured-fairy tale set pieces, amusingly woven into a pretty coherent whole, but it's somewhat light on the character development (although Annie does wonder about the relationship between Liam and herself....).  Annie's spoiled and ultra-beautiful sister, for instance, never becomes much more interesting or agreeable than she was at the beginning, despite all the shared adventures and dangers.   So for younger readers who want fairy tale fun, it's great; for older readers, it might not have quite enough depth.

disclaimer:  this one was received from the publisher ages ago, and has been languishing in my home far too long...

Waiting on Wednesday--The Whatnot, by Stefan Bachmann

One of my favorite books of last year was The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann--alternate history with fairy war and a cliffhanger ending of great cliffishness.  So I was very pleased to find that the sequel is on its way--The Whatnot will be published September 24, by which time I will of course have read all c. 300 books currently in my tbr piles/shelves and will be able to comfortably enjoy it hot off the press!

I couldn't find a blurb at this point in time. but here's the cover:

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

Sapphire Blue, by Kerstin Gier, for Timeslip Tuesday

Sapphire Blue, by Kerstin Gier ( Henry Holt and Co, 2012, YA), is the sequel to Ruby Red (my review), and you absolutely have to read the first one first, or you won't have much clue what's going on.  However, Ruby Red is lots of fun, so there's no reason not to read it!

The basics of the plot:  There's a secret cabal of time travellers whose genes whisk them back in time--to prevent surprise temporal whisking, they have to "elapse" in controlled time travel quite often.   Gwen thought that her snotty cousin Charlotte (one of the most objectionable fictional Charlottes going) was destined to be the one who got the gene in her family...an assumption shared by all the other members of the society.  So when it turns out to be Gwen instead, it comes as a shock....

There are lots of secrets to this mysterious organization that Gwen isn't being told, and a backstory of betrayals and intrigues that she's becoming ever more involved with (rather relevant backstory, because the thing with time travel is that the characters can go back themselves and become part of it).   Gwen is supposedly destined to bring about some sort of milestone viz the secret cabal, and there are, apparently, rouge time travellers who left the cabal who don't want this to happen.

And then there's the complication of Gwen falling hard for Gideon, a young time traveller who might, or might not, have been involved with vile cousin Charlotte--incredibly handsome, full of secrets, and kind of a jerk, what with all his blowing hot and cold.

Keeping Gwen sane as she come to terms with all of this, and travels to the 18th century to meet with the sinister head of the cabal, is her good friend Lesley--sharp as a tack, an ace at  Internet searches, and less preoccupied than Gwen (whose mind is full of her Gideon dilemma, she takes on the Mystery Solving aspects of the story.   There's also James, the 18th century ghost lurking around Gwen's school, whose good for a few quick lessons in 18th-century life skills.  And in this book, Gwen is adopted by the demonic spirit of an ex-gargoyle that only she can see-- a useful, though tricksy, companion....

So all this takes place in just a few days, with the result that the books are full of detail and conversation and many happenings, and a tad short on overall plot advancement.  Fortunately, I found it all very enjoyable, so the lack of progress toward actually getting any clear answers to much of anything didn't bother me in the least! 

The time travel, in terms of experiencing the past, is not actually a central element in the book--yes, Gwen travels back to the past, most memorably getting so tipsy at an 18th-century soiree that she entertains the guests with a song from Cats, but the time travel mostly serves to introduce Gwen (and the reader) to various characters and plot elements.   So this is one to read for the entertainment value of its central character struggling to solve the mystery of a. her destiny, and the whole secret society thing and  b. her relationship with Gideon, and not one to read for educational visits to the past....which, of course, is just fine.

(Just as an aside--Sapphire Blue was originally published in German, and translated by Anthea Bell, the go-to girl for German to English YA fantasy translation. I have read a number of her translations, and I think she must be very good, because each different book she's worked on has a different feel....)

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen

So last night I re-read The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, and enjoyed it as much, if not more, this time around.  And then this morning I started its sequel, The Runaway King.  I wanted to like it just as much, but was anxious--the first book depended on a plot twist that couldn't carry over into this one, a twist that tugged on my maternal heart something fierce, and I loved the quasi-school setting, and the fact that the plot was mostly small happenings woven into something bigger than the sum of the parts.

None of those things were in The Runaway King, a book whose plot goes galloping madly from one danger and excitement to the next, with bandits, pirates, assassins, daring escapes, twisted loyalties, friendships sorely tested, and improbable sword duels..... And in the end, it was a book I enjoyed, but didn't love.

In this book, Sage is now King Jaron, king of a country on the brink of war, with a piratical empire of the sea allied with a hostile neighboring country.  But the kingdom's council don't agree, don't thing Jaron is ready to be king in anything but name, and refuse to take his perception of the threat seriously.   So rather than becoming a puppet, protected for his own safety, he decides to meet the threat head on.

Step number one--bring down the pirates.

Cunning, well-thought out plan with which to do so--non-existent.

Jaron is used to relying on his wits, instincts, and abilities as a thief and a swordsman.   But can one boy (for he is still young) really have any hope of destroying a ruthless pirate king and his powerful piratical conglomerate of murderers?  Or even escaping alive once he's reached them?

There were many, many times when I had to suspend disbelief in this story.   Many things just seemed too improbable, both physically and in terms of character reactions (and, more specifically, the whole pirate society set up, which seemed as unlikely and impractical as all get out), and as these piled up, my ability to peacefully accept and enjoy the story diminished.    And then once that happened, I started to read the words qua words more critically, and noticed a few places where the writing kind of disappointed me.  Sigh.

I do still care a lot about Jaron, and the cast of supporting characters (with specific reference to Mott, who is totally awesome and who isn't implicated in any way shape or form with any of the improbable stuff that grated on me), and I'll be anxiously awaiting book III.  But this book just felt a messier, and not as fully thought out, as the first, and I just couldn't quite warm to it.

But then again, I almost never like any book that has pirates in it, so it might be just me! 

Here are two reviews from people who did like it lots--Random Musings of a Bibliophile, and The Book Smugglers, and another review at Ms. Yingling Reads

disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy, and yes science fiction too!

Welcome to the 168th round-up of what I found in my blog reading/hunting this week of interest to readers of middle grade fantasy and science fiction.  I hunted harder than usual, because early on I had book title for some of the harder letters (Q, I'm looking at you) and I thought that maybe this would be the week where I had a full alphabet of mg sff goodness! (I even got a trial subscription to Booklist to find more titles to search for).  Alas, it was not to be.

And it was a little depressing to find so few reviews of mg sff books after so much looking.  Conclusion:  mg sff doesn't get reviewed all that much.  Or else bloggers are really good at disguising their mg sff book reviews as something else.

In any event, let me know if I missed your post!

(And perhaps think about reviewing books that begin with difficult letters of the alphabet next week--it would make me so happy to have a complete set all in one week.)

The Reviews

Bliss, by Kathryn Littlewood, at Barbara Ann Watson

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at Bibliophilic Monologues

The Colossus Rises (Seven Wonders, Book 1) by Peter Lerangis, at Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books and I Have Lived a Thousand Lives

Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, at Mister K Reads

Dark Days, by Derek Landy, at Original Content

Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Fuse #8

Dragon Run, by Patrick Matthews, at Whatchamacallit Reviews and Charlotte's Library

The Fellowship For Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at Ms. Yingling Reads
and A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at alibrarymama

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at Middle Grade Mafioso

Jump Boys: SOS, by Alex Banks, at Heather McCorkle

My Very UnFairy Tale Life, by Anna Staniszewski, at Akossiwa Ketoglo 

The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskell, at The Book Smugglers

The Queen at War, by K.A.S. Quinn,  at Nayu's Reading Corner

The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Nerdy Book Club, Justin's Book Blog, Random Musings of a Bibliophile, Book Sake, Bookishness, and The Book Smugglers

The School For Good and Evil, by Soman Chianani, at Books and Writers JNR

A Tale of Two Castles, by Gail Carson Levine, at 300 Pages

A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at Candace's Book Blog, Bookends, Becky's Book Reviews, and For Those About to Mock, and as an audio book at Good Books and Good Wine

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at alibrarymama 

Whatever After: Fairest of All, by Sarah Mlynowski, at Kid Lit Geek

You Only Die Twice (The Genius Files), by Dan Gutman, at The Write Path

Zombie Kid (Case File 13), by J. Scott Savage, at Geo Librarian


Authors and Interviews

Kevin Emerson (The Fellowship For Alien Detection) at From the Mixed Up Files

K.A.S. Quinn (The Queen at War)  at Nayu's Reading Corner

Ally Malineko (Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb) at A Thousand Wrongs  (giveaway)

Greg Fishbone (Galaxy Games) at Authors for Earth Day

Anna Staniszewski (My Epic Fairy Tale Fail) at Ghenet Myrthil

Patrick Matthews (Dragon Run) at Left-handed Spoons


Other Good Stuff

Tunnels, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, is to become a movie 

The second annual DWJ March has begun at We Be Reading

And, finally, these cool socks! Which I like mostly because of the name.  Like sporks, but better.

The Demon Catchers of Milan, by Kat Beyer

I enjoyed The Demon Catchers of Milan, by Kat Beyer (Egmont, August 2012, YA) lots.  I don't remember why I decided to request it from the library, and when I saw the cover, and began reading, I was afraid I was in familiar paranormal romance territory--beautiful girl threatened by demonic possession thinks she isn't pretty and admires the prettiness of the boy she's just met.

But I kept going, and was rewarded by a really entertaining story--Mia, now in Milan, is being protected from the demon who had possessed her by her demon-hunting Italian family (demon hunters of Milan since Milan got going).   And the story is mostly:

--lots of Italian food
--a generous cast of Italian family members, with Histories
--some interesting family interactions with demons, etc.
--a bit of conflict between church and demon hunters

with considerable elements of Mia (who seems like she might be kind of special, but who, at this point, isn't all Special in the reader's face) trying to figure out how to:

a. speak Italian
b. go outside without the demon pouncing on her
c. find out more about demon hunting (her family isn't telling her much, because, you know, the demon might succeed in possessing her again and then learn all their secrets).

and a small element of Mia thinking about boys, but not getting entangled in any real romance (she isn't the sultry vixen shown on the cover)

Bonus reference to ancient history (Greeks vs. Persians) which will probably be important in the next book.

So there isn't all that much Action, Adventure, or Excitement (apart from a few possessions of Mia and a few other people), and it's not a Romance, but there is a most enjoyable sense of place and people and family history with enough of the supernatural to keep things very interesting indeed.

And the food is great.  Lots of wine is drunk too.  I want to go stay with Mia's grandparents and eat and drink.

Short answer:  I truly liked it, read in a single sitting (it's only 288 pages, which I appreciated), and am looking forward to the sequel (and though this stops at a good stopping point, many many many things are unresolved, because, you know, five months isn't really enough time to learn how to vanquish a real bad-ass demon once and for all).

The Lost Girl, by Sangu Mandanna

The Lost Girl, by Sangu Mandanna (Balzer + Bray; August, 2012, YA, 432 pages)

Eva has lived in cozy cottage in northern England all the sixteen years of her life, with her beloved foster mother, and caring guardians dropping in to visit lots.  She looks on the outside like a normal, attractive, Anglo-Indian girl.

Eva has been in danger all her life.  There are people who think she is an abomination, a monster who must be killed.

Because Eva doesn't just look like an Indian girl--she is a direct copy of one.   She was made by a sinister organization of genetic tinkerers to be the exact echo of a girl named Amarra,  a girl growing up in far-away Bangalore.  If Amarra should die, Eva will be sent to take her place, and perhaps, even to serve as a vessel for Amarra's very essence.  Every week the letters from Amarra, full of the details of her life, arrive.  When Amarra gets a tattoo, Eva must get one also, so their bodies match.

Eva doesn't want to be an echo.  She wants to be "Eva," a name she chose for herself.  But those that created her will kill her if she tries to live a life of her own.

Then Amarra dies.

Eva does her best to be Amarra....but there are things that Amarra never told her.  And even the best echo cannot truly take the place of a lost child, and Eva is much more than a good little shadow....

At which point, things surge from being a fascinating speculative fiction character study to a life or death drama with stakes just as high as they can get! (with bonus  forbidden romance).

Yes, this is one for the lover of character (me).    And the lover of Themes being Explored (identity, and the rights we have to our own lives, and whether the created life is inherently monstrous (with many references in the book to Frankenstein) and how grief and love plays out for different people).  There was action, too, especially toward the end (our girl Eva and her love fighting the Powerful Bad Guys).

And it was a really darn good read.   An all in one evening, great gulping glass of water on a hot day read.   Three and a half hours of all absorbing prose.  Oh yeah.

It wasn't all rainbows and happy reading, though.  For instance, I would have liked more richness to the Indian part of the setting, when Eva is living Amarra's life--I never felt as though I was there. 

More critically, the actual premise--that echoes can take the place of a real person--is rather ridiculous; I can't imagine an echo ever successfully filling the void of the dead person.  Nor does the whole set-up of the echo creators seem reasonable (even for speculative fiction).  Much salt is required to swallow the central point of the story.  If that's the sort of thing that bothers you, this might not be the right book for you.

(thanks to Margo Berendsen, whose review of the book inspired me to get a hold of it!)

Waiting on Wednesday--Hammer of Witches, by Shana Mlawski

I didn't think I had a particular book for this week's edition of Waiting on Wednesday, but doing a quick blog browse before supper I came across this post at Lee and Low's blog on the cover of one of their forthcoming Tu titles, Hammer of Witches, by Shana Mlawski.  And wham, onto my tbr list it sprang.

Via Amazon:

"Baltasar Infante can weasel out of any problem with a good story.

But when he encounters a monster straight out of stories one night, Baltasar faces trouble even he can't talk his way out of. Captured by the Malleus Maleficarum, a mysterious witch-hunting arm of the Spanish Inquisition, Baltasar is put to the question. The Inquisitor demands he reveal the whereabouts of Amir al-Katib, a legendary Moorish sorcerer who can bring myths and the creatures within them to life.

Now Baltasar must escape, find al-Katib, and defeat a dreadful power that may destroy the world.

As Baltasar's journey takes him into uncharted lands on Columbus's voyage westward, he learns that stories are more powerful than he once believed them to be--and much more dangerous."

What the blurb doesn't say is that one of Baltasar's primary companions is a girl who's half genie....

Coming April, 2013.

The Hero of Little Street, by Gregory Rogers, for Timeslip Tuesday

Did you ever read The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, The Bard, by Gregory Rogers?  It's a  wonderful wordless picture book, involving time travel back to the age of Shakespeare, that I really must review as a Timeslip Tuesday book someday, because it is truly excellent.   In any event, the titular Boy returns in The Hero of Little Street (Roaring Brook Press, March, 2012).  This time around, the boy inadvertently provokes a gang of boys, and must flee.   A handy art museum offers a refugee,  and there magic again enters his life when the little dog from this famous painting --

 -- comes out to play with him.

The little dog jumps into another picture, the boy follows... and finds himself, via Vermeer--

 --back in 17th century Holland.   More than a little mayhem ensues, as boy and dog hurtle through Delft, until at last the boy saves a pack of caged dogs from become sausage meat.  He then heads home to the present, with the grateful dogs close at hand to save him from the bullies.

Told with no words whatsoever, it's a story to savour with a child at hand, enjoying the details, and laughing at the humor of the various situations in which the boy finds himself.   And as well as being utterly engaging as a graphic story, it's a nice introduction to the world of 17th-century Holland!

I myself can't help but prefer The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard, because I do like the bear awfully much, but dog lovers and Vermeer lovers might like this one more!

Dragon Run, by Patrick Matthews

Dragon Run, by Patrick Matthews (Scholastic, March 1, 2013, but on shelves now, middle grade) is a just fine fantasy adventure for the 9-11 year-old set.  It's an "if they like the cover they'll like the book" book -- boy, sword, dragon, with a title that promises action.

In an alternate, quasi-medieval world, all twelve year-olds are tested to determine their rank in life.  Al dreams of getting the highest rank mark--a seven--tattooed on his neck...but instead, he is found wanting.  All his ambitions go up in smoke when he is pronounced a zero, something virtually unheard of.   Ones are beyond the pale, but absolutely no-one wants anything to do with a zero...except the Cullers, who want to kill them for eugenics purposes. 

Fortunately Al gets some help escaping from the castle keep where he's been tested...but how will he survive, despised and alone, pursued by the ruthless killers who want to cull him?

But there is more to his story than that.   For Al's world is one ruled by dragons, though they pay little attention to the humans crawling beneath them.   As Al flees from the Cullers, he begins to learn that his world is a much more complex and scary place than he had imagined.   The dragons are much more than they seem...and Al is forced to confront their power, head on, to save not only himself, but his people...

It's a great story, with a great premise--I give it very high marks for Plot.  Seeing how the whole eugenics bit played out was particularly interesting.   Though Al and his two good friends (boy and girl) don't rise to memorable heights of characterization, they're just fine, and it's nice to read about a hero who's special because he has nothing going for him but his own pluck and stubborn-ness.  Interest is added by several not-quite-human races that co-exist with regular people.  The writing isn't exceptional, being your standard, occasionally stilted, quasi-medieval fantasy writing, but I'm so used to that that it didn't bother me.

However, world-builidng-wise this fell short for me.  It's not till around page 194 that the reader learns what the whole point of the cast system is, how magic is important to this world, and why the dragons care, and it's not till page 223 that I realized that "Lord Archovar," who had been mentioned several times, was in fact a dragon.  It seems to me that if you are going to have overlord dragons and a world with magic, you should make it patently obvious from the beginning.

Just to show that it wasn't (at least, not entirely, my dimness as a reader), here's where we hear of Lord Archovar for the first time:

"A tall man stood in the opening.  His black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and his tabard bore the purple and yellow flower of Lord Archovar.  He raised a long brass horn to his lips and blew three short bursts.  A hush rippled through the crowed, and the man dropped gracefully to one knee, bowing his head.  On either side of him, the men at the gates echoed his gesture, as did the guards on the wall above.

The people in the field dropped to their knees as fast as they could, bowing their heads and closing  their eyes.  Al went to one knee, but kept his eyes open, staring at the dead leaves on the ground.

Glancing sideways , he noticed that Wisp also had his eyes open.  The boys shared a look, then watched the dragon's shadow soar across the field and disappear behind the castle." (page 5)

It totally went over my head that Lord Archovar and the dragon were one and the same; when I got to page 233, and his dragon-ness was made clear, I flipped back through to see if I had missed anything, and didn't find any statements of obvious dragon-ness I had overlooked.  (However, on page 9 it's clear that another lord is a dragon, so perhaps I should have made the connection....).

And I think that if you have a variety of not quite human races, you shouldn't keep introducing them abruptly, but mention early on that they might be expected.  It's less jarring that way, when suddenly you meet people with webbed hands, or white fur.

So though I did appreciate the story, the book as a whole didn't quite work for me because the world wasn't solidly built enough for me, and the characterization and writing weren't quite enough to compensate.   It's not one I'd urge grown-up readers to seek out, but kids in the market for a rather exciting "boy becomes hero" story, for whom plot is most important, may well enjoy it lots.

Here's the Kirkus review, which provides details I didn't.   I do not agree the ending was predictable, as the Kirkus reviewer opined--I liked the ending, and found it very interesting and surprising (maybe because the Kirkus reader figured out long, long before me who was a dragon, and what the dragons were up to....).  I do agree, however, that it "went down pretty easy."

(disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher)