How I'm trying to raise my sci fi/fantasy loving kids to be the decent fans of tomorrow, with a list of recommended diverse sci fi/fantasy for kids

I am currently putting together this Sunday's round-up of Middle Grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs...but have been sidetracked and agitated by a visit to one of the blogs on my list--at Radish Reviews, there's a regular collection of links pertaining to grown-up sci fi/fantasy, and this one contained links to conversations about diversity in sci fi/fantasy that have agitated me considerably.

I don't want my boys to grow up to be the white-privileged folks whose words distressed me so very much this morning.  I want them to become the fans of a better tomorrow (or some such sincere whatever).   So I talk to them, and with them (and yeah, they sometimes get pretty sick of it, because they're kids).  We talk about who's shown on covers, and how they are shown.   Anybody non-white?  If so, are they behind a white person, or obscured in some way?  If there's a girl, is she behind the boy?  Is she looking sidewise instead of straight on?  Who has what weapon? 

Deconstructing gender and race representations is a fun family activity, and I recommend it.  Do it often enough, and it becomes habit.  Or at least a habit for the grown-up.  If you show a kid the cover of, say, Rose, by Holly Webb,  they might well say "magic kitty!  magic kitty!" and pet the kitty, and not comment on the font color, but at least the seeds of critical thought are planted....Wild Born (Spirit Animals Book 1), by Brandon Mull, which your kid might well have picked up at a recent Scholastic book fair, is a great cover for conversations on diversity and gender!

We talk about how people are identified in the books.   Who's skin color is mentioned, and who's isn't?  What are the adjectives used?  Are there characters whose ethnicity you can't guess at?   Ask them if they are imagining people who don't look like them in their own writing.   This actually has had results--my younger son was very proud of himself for deliberately choosing to write a non-white character into the standardized testing writing sample he had to produce.  And sure, it was tokenism, but at least he's recognizing that fantasy worlds don't have to be all-white, so I patted him on the head and told him he was a good child.

And finally, I offer them books whose protagonists aren't white boys.  It's easy to find great books with girls to offer boys, but it's harder to find great sci fi/fantasy for kids with non-white protagonists.   Here is a quick list of some of my favorites, that I promise most white boy readers will love:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moonby Grace Lin (2009).  A beautifully illustrated Newbery Honor winner set in China.

Bansi O'Hara and the Bloodline Prophecy, by John Dougherty (2008)  An Irish fantasy starring an Indian/Irish girl.

Chronicles of the Red King:  The Secret Kingdom (2011) by Jenny Nimmo.  Magical fantasy whose hero is African.

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung (2012).  Fun superhero adventure with an Asian boy.

The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland (2013).  Readers might not pick up on the fact that the main character is an African American boy, because it is a non-issue, but you can point it out them.

I have many more in my list of diverse fantasy/sci fi for kids, but these are the ones that I feel most comfortable recommending.

Me over at Smugglivus

Ana and Thea asked me over for Smugglivus (thanks so much!) and my post is up today!

I wasn't actually able to share my top middle grade fantasy and sci fi books of the year, because those are the same ones that are in contention for the Cybils....so that will have to wait until after the Cybils shortlists are announced Jan. 1....

My Neighbor Totoro: the Novel, by Tsugiko Kubo from the original story by Hayao Miyazaki

What a pleasure it was to read My Neighbor Totoro, by Tsugiko Kubo (VIZ Media LLC, 192 pages, Oct. 2013).   It is just exactly the sort of book I like, and the fact that I have never seen the movie on which the book was based perhaps added to my enjoyment, because I didn't know what to expect.

Here's what it has, which is just about a check list of my favorite fictional things:

Sisters.   The two main characters are eleven-year-old Satsuki and her little sister Mei (four years old) who have  moved out to the country to be closer to the sanitarium where their mother is recovering from T.B.   Because their archaeologist father still has to work, a lot of the housekeeping, cooking, and looking after Mei falls on Satsuki's shoulders, and she has to try really hard to keep things going (which is sometimes difficult).

An emotionally moving plot.  The girls miss their mother something fierce, and of course vice versa, and love each other, and their father is loving too, and it is very poignant and I wanted to hug everybody.

The old house in the country.  It is a ramshackle old house, but charming, and it's set in a beautiful garden with a stream and old trees and a space to grow vegetables and it is lovely.  And, as mentioned above, there are many opportunities for house cleaning and cooking, so much more fun to read about than to actually do....

The magical element that makes it all enchanting.  This would be the titular neighbor, Totoro...and other denizens of the spirit world who live nearby.  The fantasy bits are magical as all get out without taking over the story, and it all works very well.   It's possible that a different reader might want more of the fantasy part....I would have been happy to see more of Totoro (and the cat bus)--Totoro only appears four times, if I remember correctly, but it was fine with me the way it was.

So the whole package is just lovely, and the illustrations by Miyazaki are charming, and the fact that it is set in Japan made all my favorite story elements fresh and new. 

Mostly I pass books I've gotten for review on to my public library.  Sometimes I put them on my boys' shelves.  This one I'm keeping for me.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher for Cybils purposes

Waiting on Wednesday-- The Truth Against the World, by Sarah Jamila Stevenson

Sarah Stevenson and I were room-mates at KidLitCon last month, and one of the things we talked about was Sarah's new book, which sounds wonderful, and very much like one I'll love:

The Truth Against the World, by Sarah Jamila Stevenson (Flux, June 2014)

"In her parents' San Francisco flat, Olwen Nia Evans, Wyn for short, has been having unsettling dreams about her family's past in Wales. But her dreams don't match up with what she's been told by her dying grandmother, Rhiannon. On the other side of the world, in London, a boy named Gareth Lewis is having disturbing dreams about a frightening encounter with a ghost. A ghost named Olwen Nia Evans.

When he looks for Olwen's name online, Gareth connects with Wyn in San Francisco as she is preparing to move with her family to fulfill Rhiannon's last wish to die in Wales. Once Wyn arrives in Wales, she and Gareth join forces to discover the truth of the lost soul that's haunting them both."

Since deciding when I was six or so that I wanted to be Welsh (with black hair and blue eyes--challenging for me) I have loved stories set there.  The first time I ever used a library card catalogue was to find children's books set in Wales...there weren't many! (Three, if memory serves me right). 

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

Back to Blackbrick, by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, for Timeslip Tuesday

Back to Blackbrick, by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2013) is a time travel story from Ireland that tugs at the heart and sticks in the mind in such a way as to make it hard to review.  Which is to say that part of the book was utterly impressive, and made me a tad teary at the end, in a good way, but part of did not work for me at all, and I can't stop thinking about how horrified I am with regard to a certain plot twist (there will be spoilers).

Cosmo is in a tough, sad place.  His brother has died.  His mother has left to go be a workaholic in Australia, and now Cosmo lives with just his grandparents.    Since he loves them, and has always been particularly close to his grandfather, this is not so horrible--except that his grandfather is loosing his mind to Alzheimer's.  And when kids at school see him talking to a lamp-post, they start taunting Cosmo.   Cosmo is desperately hoping to find some way of helping his grandfather hold on...but a social worker is starting to snoop around, threatening to send him off to a nursing home.  His uncle comes back to Ireland--Cosmo must go live with him.  And his beloved horse is sent away.

Then, in a rare lucid moment, Cosmo's grandfather gives him a key, and tells him to open the south gate of Blackbrick Abbey, a ruined manor house some ways away.  And the story shifts, as Cosmo travels back in time and meets his 16 year old grandfather, Kevin, the stable boy/general help at Blackbrick.   It is a sad and empty place--Kevin, the cook, the master, Lord Coporamore, and his spoiled little girl, Cordelia.  The cook is happy to give Cosmo some house space in exchange for help...and Kevin is happy he's there.  Almost at once, he embroils Cosmo in his plan to bring the young love of his life to Blackbrick; once she's there, he reckons, things will sort themselves out....

And Cosmo is glad to help bring his grandparents together.  Except this girl, Maggie, isn't his grandmother...and Cosmo becomes determined to keep her from marrying Kevin. 

Turns out, Cosmo doesn't have to do a thing.   Coporamore finds Maggie, and after  giving her permission to stay, he proceeds to rape her.  And Cosmo sees this beginning...and looking back on in it retrospect, he is appalled and angry...but at the time, he simply pretends it isn't happening.   And all through the next nine months that Cosmo is in the past, in a sort of happy daydream vacation from his reality, this goes on...until Maggie's child is about to be born, and Coporamore sends her off.   Cosmo and the kindly cook look after her, and the child lives, and they are happy, except for Kevin, who's gone off Maggie because of what's happened to her.

Now, maybe Cosmo didn't exactly realize what was happening at first (though he seems to have had a pretty good idea), and it is written in such a way that the reader who is not familiar with the rape of servants by their masters might not grasp what is happening.  But it's pretty clear that he's aware of what's happening to Maggie.  Maybe not quite the whole of it, but still....  And does he help Maggie? No.   No one does.   Nor does Maggie ask for help.  They are all too ashamed or afraid or in denial, and in mid 20th-century Ireland, maybe there wasn't much choice.  

So this is shelved in the kids' section of Barnes and Nobel, but it's not a book I'd want to give my ten year old; he has plenty of time to read about rape.  This one part of the book, secondary to the larger story, is more suited for older readers...but the lack of emotional effect it has on the characters within the story (Cosmo's narrative afterthoughts notwithstanding) makes it very much rape seen through the eyes of a kid.

But I, being grown-up, couldn't pretend it wasn't happening, and was upset and angry.  The fact of that Maggie was being sexually assaulted I could have lived with, sadly but accepting it as part of the story, but the lack of gravitas given it (School Library Journal was able to call the book "a rollicking ride") caused me not to like this time travel part of the story at all. 

I had a few other, less emotional, issues with the story.  For instance, Cosmo is there in the past for nine months (a heck of a long time, that passes in a very dreamlike, rather unsatisfactory time just passing way), in a pretty tight little community, yet the daughter of the house, little  Cordelia, remains almost entirely shunted off the side of the story, which just seemed totally implausible and a bit of a waste of a good character.  And it's never made clear why Blackbrick ended up a ruin in the present.

But in any event, Cosmo comes back to the present after Maggie's baby is born, expecting to find his brother alive in a new and improved present--he had told Kevin about what was going to happen, and trusted that all would be well....Though that didn't work out, Cosmo also came back armed with enough knowledge of his grandfather's past to coach him in answering questions from social workers, and Cosmo's mother comes back, and the past is put to rest and all is better.  And this was all actually very moving.

So basically this feels in my mind like two stories--modern Cosmo with family problems, which is a powerful and poignant story, very well told, convincing, moving as all get out, and Cosmo in the past, which is a heck of a lot more troubling, and much less convincing.   And I'm not sure what sort of reader I'd hand it too.  I think I am leaning toward grown-up fans of Roddy Doyle...

In any event, here's the review Back To Blackbrick got in The Guardian, which made me want to read the book very much!  And at Amazon UK, there's a whole string of accolades.  So though this didn't work perfectly for me, your mileage may vary.....

Disclaimer:  review copy gratefully received from the publisher for Cybils review purposes.

Mirage, by Jenn Reese

Mirage, by Jenn Reese (Candlewick 2013) is the second book in a pretty darn exciting sci-fi adventure series, set in a future world where humans have been genetically altered to survive in a variety of environments.  The first book, Above World, told how Aluna, one of the underwater folk, ventured out onto dry land to wage a battle against the enemy who was slowly killing her people.   But though she won the battle, the war against the maniacal scientist and his cloned minions that could destroy all the genetically-altered folk of the world is still going strong.

So Aluna and a group of diverse companions--Hoku, her friend from below the water, Dash, an exiled Equine, whose centaur-half never grew, and Calli, an Avian girl, venture into the desert to find Dash's people and make an alliance with them.  Unfortunately, their enemy has gotten there first.....but fortunately, there is hope--challenging the power of the Equines in the Thunder Trials that determine who leads the herds.  

And so, in a story that involves lots of warrior training, lots of investigating old technology, and lots of tests of friendship and courage, Aluna and her friends forge a new herd...and enter the Trials.

Amidst the excitements of political and physical wrangling, amidst all the figuring out just who their enemy is, and how to fight back, there is tons of good character building and relationships--the foursome are still young, and fumbling a tad in their journey to adulthood.  They must trust each other...but with so many external pressures being brought to bear, it's not always easy.

There a nicely idealistic theme to the series, too.  The different races of humanity must learn to put aside past differences--which, in the case of the war between the Equines and the Serpenti (snake people) bordered on genocide.   The few Serpenti who are left throw their lot in with Aluna, realizing that it is better to keep trying for a future than to sit and wait for death in the in the dark.

And finally, Alana is a most excellent heroine--brave and determined, without being unbelievable super-heroic.

I enjoyed this one more than the first book, perhaps because there is less traveling and more getting to know a particular people and place, and I'm looking forward to Book three with enthusiasm!

Here's another review from Brandy, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, who goes beyond simple enjoyment into Book Love.

Nominated for Cybils (Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction) by Stephanie Burgis; review copy gratefully received from the publisher for Cybils consideration.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy from around the blogs (12/1/13)

Happy December!  The first door of this year's Star Wars Advent Callender has been opened, revealling a droid (and I got to say "that's not the droid you're looking for.")  I have bought most of my Christmas presents (and if you want book ideas for a 10 or 13 year old boy, here's what they're getting), and last night, in a fit of Christmas Ambition, we made our own holiday gift tags.   There are reasons why I don't have an Etsy store (although I think it captures the hopeful spirit in which I give gifts).

And now, the round-up; please let me know if I missed your post.

The Reviews

The Atomic Weight of Secrets, by Eden Unger Bowditch, at My Precious

The Clockwork Three, by Matthew Kirby, at Next Best Book

The Contagious Colors of Mumply Middle School, by Fowler DeWitt,  at The Book Monsters

The Creature Department, by Robert Paul Weston, at Charlotte's Library

The Dark Secret (Wings of Fire Book 4), by Tui T. Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library

Dial-a-Ghost, by Eva Ibbotson, at Here There Be Books

Eldritch Manor, by Kim Thompson, at That's Another Story

Ever After High, by Shannon Hale, at Fantasy Book Critic

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo, at Kid Lit Geek

Frogged, by Vivian Vende Velde, at Sonderbooks

The Girl Who Soared Above Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Hidden in Pages

Ghost Hawk, by Susan Cooper, at Book Nut

Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke, at Lust and Coffee

The Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz, at Reads for Keeps

The Land of Stories series, by Chris Colfer, at CC Riley

The Locket of Dreams, by Belinda Murrell, at Charlotte's Library

The Name of this Book is Secret, by Pseudonymous Bosch, at Between These Pages

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at ACReads

Parched, by Melanie Crowder, at Views From the Tesseract

Rain of the Ghosts, by Greg Weisman, at Great Imaginations

The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu, at Kid's Books 101 and The Adventures of Cecelia Bedila

Rose, by Holly Webb, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Rules for Ghosting, by A.J. Paquette, at Michelle I. Mason

Rump, by Leisl Shurtliff, at The Book Monsters

The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Late Nights With Good Books

Skellig, by David Almond, at Library of Clean Reads

Why Kimba Saved the World, by Meg Welch Dendler, at This Kid Reviews Books

Wicked Cruel, by Rich Wallace, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Three short EMG SFF book notes at Book Nut--Lonely Lake Monster, The Ghost Prison, and Mickey Price: Journey to Oblivion

And another three at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia--Flora and Ulysses, The Adventures of a South Pole Pig, and Fortunatly the Milk

Other Good Stuff

If you enjoy buying books, check out the call for books for Ballou Sr High School in Washington DC at Guys Lit Wire.  And there's also Kidlit for the Philippines, and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression auction of beautiful picture book art at ebay.

The Creature Department, by Robert Paul Weston

The Creature Department, by Robert Paul Weston (Razorbill 2013) is a fun addition to the "magical creatures amongst us" sub-genre of children's fantasy.   In this particular case, a whole panoply of creatures of great strangeness are working alongside a human inventor, sharing their magical twists on the laws of possibility to bring fantastical inventions to reality.   The only problem--a rival company is staging a hostile takeover--more magically hostile than normal!  And two ordinary kids, Elliot von Doppler and Leslie Fang, find themselves right in the middle of all the shenanigans.  If they can't help the creatures come up with a new invention in time to keep the shareholders happy, the company will be destroyed...

This is one for those who love Creatures in all their fantastical fantastical-ness (think way past your ordinary griffins, gargoyles, dragons, etc. and more toward the creatures of Monsters, Inc.).  There's humor and adventure, with plenty of excitement--first the thrills of discovery, as the kids explore the world of the Creature Department, and secondly the zippy tension of battling the bad guys, human and creature, who want to take over.  The illustrations add to the fun of meeting all the myriad creatures and their marvelous world of inventions.

That beings said, The Creature Department doesn't push much past the fun of the set-up into any sort of emotionally powerful territory.  Though the beginning promises an interesting character-arc for Elliot and Leslie, two science-loving kids forced by cirumstance to become friends, once they make it to the Creature Department, the focus of the story becomes almost entirely external, and character development falls by the wayside.

So maybe not one for the adult fan of middle grade fantasy, but for monster-loving kids (aged 9 to 10ish) looking for a fun read, it's a good one that might well spark their own imaginations.   Here are some other reviews, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia and Cool Kids Read

(Since Leslie's family is Chinese, this one gets to go on my multicultural sci fi/fantasy list, which hasn't seen many middle grade additions so far this year....)

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Thankfully giving books--what my boys, and other sundry loved ones, are getting for Christmas

I am so thankful that I have a family for whom I can buy books!  Buying books is fun in general, but when you buy a book for yourself, there's always the nagging doubt about whether you will find time to read it or not (my mind always fills with visions of the shoes of Imelda Marcos).   Buying books for others, though, is shear pleasure.    There's the Careful Thought, the requests for wish lists, the scouring of the internet and local shops, new and used, and finally, the wrapping (actually the reason I give books is because I am Challenged by wrapping paper and books are just about the only think I can wrap decently and even then it is a struggle because sometimes I try to Save Paper and it all goes horribly wrong).

Here is what they are getting (just for the record, the books for the boys include ones I've asked other relatives to get for them).  You might notice that the books for the boys are rather graphic novel heavy.  I think graphic novels are safer bets as presents for the young than longer books that require more investment; the two novel length books younger son is getting are safe bets because of being series continuations.

Early present, for sharing on the plane ride to Grandma's:

Rat's Wars, a Pearls Before Swine Collection

For my 10-year-old son:

Warriors, Dawn of the Clans 2: Thunder Rising, by Erin Hunter

The Royal Ranger, by John Flanagan

Zed: a Cosmic Tale, by Michel Gagne

Mouseguard: The Black Axe, by David Petersen

The Saga of Rex, by Michel Gagne

How to Betray a Dragon's Hero, by Cressida Cowell

For my 13-year-old son:

Hyperbole and a Half, by Ally Brosh

Romeo and Juliet, by Gareth Hinds

The Lost Islands, by Kazu Kibuishi

The Onion Book of Known Knowledge

March, by John Lewis

Flight, Vol. 4, ed. by Kazu Kibuishi

For my 10 year old nephew:

Akissi: Feline Inviasion, by Marguerite Abouet 


For my little sister

Gypsy's Sowing and Reaping, by Elizabeth Stuart

Warts and All, by Rodie Sudbery


For my big sister:


Code Name Verity, by ElizabethWein


For my mother:

Fugue in Time, by Rumer Godden

The New Yorker Book of Cartoon Puzzles


For my husband:

Apples of North America:  Exceptional Varieties for Gardeners, Growers, and Cooks, by Tom Burford

World's Best Ciders: Taste, Tradition, and Terroir by Pete Brown

The New Cider Maker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers by Claude Jolicoeur

The Sense of an Ending, by Julien Barnes

For the kids at Ballou High School in Washington D.C. (more info. here at Guys Lit Wire)

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell

Aren't these nice books!  Which would you like?  I think of all of these I am most looking forward to reading Hyperbole and a Half (which of course I could read now, since I have it on hand, but it is more fun to read Christmas present books at Christmas).  

The only problem with having done all one's Christmas book shopping is that there are still 27 days left, and it is quite possible that I will find myself buying even more books even though this is Really Enough..

The Locket of Dreams, by Belinda Murrell, for Timeslip Tuesday

When I was offered a review copy of The Locket of Dreams, by Belinda Murrell (originally published in 2009 by Random House Australia, reissued there in 2013, and coming to the US in January of 2014, for ages 10-11ish), I was delighted to accept.  How could I say no to the story of a magical locket taking Sophie, a modern Australian girl, back in to the life of the 19th-century Scottish girl who was her ancestor, Charlotte?  I love a nice girl-centered historical Scottish time travel.

And indeed, The Locket of Dreams is one I would have loved as a child--I would have read it in a day, transported, along with Sophie, to what was, at first, the happy, privileged childhood Charlotte and her little sister enjoyed on her family's estate in Scotland...and my heart would have ached when Charlotte's parents tragically died, and the greedy uncle and aunt moved in.   And though, as an adult, this was somewhat familiar fictional ground, and did not thrill me as much as it would have back in the day, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of the two girls to Australia, and their exploration of their new home (not having read much set in 19th-century Australia, this was fresh ground for me, and I cannot in any way speak to the accuracy of its portrayal of time and place).

 I do think, though, that this is one best read by a younger reader who enjoys somewhat romanticized historical fiction (hard issues of class and race are glossed over, although the plight of the Scottish tenant farmers under the rule of the new uncle is a concern).   Sophie is primarily an observer, rarely doing anything of substance in the past, and so the most intellectually engaging part of time travelling, the intersections of past and present, aren't there.   It's never desperately clear that her experiences in the past are changing Sophie, and so she can't help but come across as a bit of a Device.  Because of this, it lacks any emotional punch in the gut--one feels sadness for Charlotte's situation, but the story as a whole is not desperately Powerful, the way the best time travel books are.

Still, it's a pleasantly written book, full of vivid description, and Charlotte's an appealing character with whom many girls (and possibly some boys) will empathize.   This a good one for the reader who doesn't like Dramatic Adventure; the few bits of Adventure seemed tacked on to the story, and not organic to it.   And there are lots of nice animal bits (horses, a dog, assorted Australian fauna), that will add to its appeal for those who love animals.

Short answer:  I was happy to read it, but would like to give it to ten-year-old me.  I realize this isn't neccessrily helpful, but I think the cover shown above is also useful--if a potential reader loves the cover, they'll love the book.

The Dark Secret (Wings of Fire, Book 4), by Tui T. Sutherland

The Wings of Fire series tells of five young dragonets, taken from their various clans of dragon kind while they were still unhatched, and raised to believe that they were the Dragonets of Destiny, who would bring piece to the war torn world.  Each book is told from the point of view of one of the dragonets, and now, in the fourth book, The Dark Secret (Scholastic 2013), it's Starflight's turn.

Starflight is a Nightwing--mysterious dragons with strange powers and suspicious secrets.  Starflight hasn't yet manifested any powers, and all his life he's hungered for knowledge, and worried that he's not brave enough to help his friends bring the prophesied peace to fruition.   As the book begins, he's been taken by the Nightwings to their island home.  But it's not the place of happy learning he'd hoped it would be.  Instead, the Nightwings are savagely plotting to conquer the land of the Rainwing dragons, to make a new home for themselves there.  And they want Starflight to help them, by betraying his friends, including Glory, his fellow Dragonet of Destiny and the new Rainwing queen.

This is a GREAT series to offer your handy nine or ten year old--it is immensely popular in my son's reading circle, which includes both boys and girls.  There is violence, and some gruesome deaths and maimings, but it is not gratuitous (parental discretion is advised, though, if you have a younger child who isn't ready for very vividly awful dragon deaths).   It has to be real, and bad, in order for the efforts of the Dragonets to be meaningful, and it succeeds with vengeance in this regard!  What I appreciate most is that although there is plenty of action and adventure, character is front and center.  In The Dark Secret, for instance, the focus is on the dilemmas and challenges faced by Starflight as he tries to be worthy of his friends, while trying to thwart the Nightwing plot.

To quote from my review of the first book, The Dragonet Prophecy: "what pleased even cynical me most was that there were themes here that I was happy to have my son think about--loyalty to friends transcending blind loyalty to tribe, the need to empathize with other points of view, the need to try your best to shape your own destiny, and not be someone's tool, and the senselessness of war."  These themes are still there, and still set in a truly exciting story.

The revelations of this book give fresh urgency to the waiting for the next book....me and my ten-year-old are both desperate for book five now!

In the meantime, there is a whole Wings of Fire wiki community to explore, with fan art, forums, etc.  This makes me smile, because when when I reviewed the first book, I wrote:  "this is a series that absolutely cries out for a website, with all the information about the different types of dragon expanded, and legends of the different dragon tribes, and little stories about the characters when they were babies, and printable pictures of the dragons etc."

disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher

This week's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy from around the blogs (11/24/2013)

Welcome to a rather chilly round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction; in the past hour, the woodstove has gotten the temperature in the living room up 9 degrees, but it's still not enough...

I just want to start by saying that there will be live Irish music streaming from my dining room tomorrow night (9pm EST)--my husband (the Irish Piper on Loreena McKennett's The Mask and the Mirror) and his fiddle playing comrade are playing rather nice tunes (promise) to benefit the Philippines recovery efforts (more details here).

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

The Reviews:

The Alchemist War, by John Seven, at Charlotte's Library

Blueberry Girl, by Jamila Gavin, at The Book Smugglers

Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Good Books and Good Wine (audiobook review) and at For Those About to Mock

The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens, at Blog of a Bookaholic

Eragon (10th Anniversary Edition), by Christopher Paolini, at Fantasy Book Critic

Ever After High: the Storybook of Legends, by Shannon Hale, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Nayu's Reading Corner

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo, at Mister K Reads

The Grimm Conclusion, by Adam Gidwitz, at The Book Monsters

Heirloom (Seed Savers 3) by S. Smith, at This Kid Reviews Books

The Hero's Guide to Saving the Kingdom, by  Christopher Healy, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healy, at Good Books and Good Wine (audiobook review)

Lara's Gift, by Annemarie O'Brien, at Middle Grade Mafioso

The Misadventrues of the Magician's Dog, by Frances Sackett, at The Book Monsters

The Northern Frights, by Derek the Ghost, at Once Upon a Twilight

The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachman, at books4yourkids

A Question of Magic, by E.D. Baker, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson, at Book Nut

Saving Thanehaven, by Catherine Jinks, at Charlotte's Library

Sleeping Beauty's Daughters, by Diane Zahler, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at Book Log

Westmark, by Lloyd Alexander, at Tor

The Whatnot, by Stefan Bachmann, at books4yourkids

Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at The Book Smugglers

The Year of Shadows, by Claire Legrand, at Book Monsters

Two of my Cybils colleagues have posts of mini-reviews of many books--at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and In Bed With Books


Authors and Interviews

Kit Grindstaff (The Flame In the Mist) at Kid Lit Frenzy

Dorine White (The Emerald Ring) at So I'm Fifty


Other Good Stuff

At Seven Miles of Steel Thistles, author Katherine Langrish shares her journey into Narnia

Katy at alibrarymama shares her top ten fantasy books for boys starring girls

And at A View From the Tesseract you can find 10 fantasy birthdays (as in, birthdays in fantasy books)

And finally, the gates of hell (as in the realm of Hades) have been found, so if you ever want to play Orpheus and Eurydice (not one in my own repertoire of imaginative play), you know where to go.  Apparently if you went there as a pilgrim you were given a sparrow to throw inside the cave; the poor birds died almost instantly, as it was full of poisonous gases, and the substantial number of little bird corpses was one reason the archaeologists knew they'd found it (Which makes me wonder how far the locals had to travel to keep finding sparrows.  An interesting little local economy).

Here is a digital illustration of what it might have looked like back in the day.  Notice the absence of living birds.

Benefit concert for the Philippines--Irish music streaming live from my dining room next Monday night

My husband and his fiddle-playing partner in music, whose family is from the Philippines, are putting on a benefit concert to raise money for Doctors Without Boarders live from my dining room next Monday, November 25th, 9pm EST, that you can watch/listen too from the comfort of your own computer!

 

Patrick Hutchinson (Irish pipes) and Armand Aromin  (fiddle): 

 

  

Photo by Niko Alexandrou
 

 

(harpist shown is not included)

Patrick and Armand have a tremendous groove and they are pretty much right up there in the top tier of traditional Irish music and I have heard them rehearsing (couldn't really help it since they were in my dining room) and they have picked nice tunes, so if you like Irish Traditional Music beautifully played to raise money for a Good Cause, take advantage of the technology and tune in!

It is being hosted by Concert Window (here is their facebook page, which introduces them a bit better) the only catch is that you have to sign up for an account (but there's a free three week trial period during which you can cancel; after that it's 8.99 a month which gives you access to all concerts).  Once you have logged in, you scroll down until you find Patrick and Armand on Monday night, and then donate whatever you wish.  (I really have no idea how it works, but this is what I've been told...)

You will also get to see my dining room (and if that isn't incentive enough, what is.).  There are several reasons why I haven't been posting very many reviews, most urgent of which is the need to get one of the dining room doors painted and re-hung, so that concert viewers don't have to see the cats' litter box in the laundry room...

Waiting on Wednesday--The Islands of Chaldea, by Diana Wynne Jones, with Ursula Jones

Thank you, Tanita, for alerting me to the fact that the new, and the last (meep) Diana Wynne Jones  book (completed by her sister Ursula) has a cover!  (actually 2 covers, UK and US)

It comes out February 27, 2014 in the UK, and April 22, 2014 in the US.  I will be ordering the UK edition, because of not being able to wait, and because I like the cover better.   (I have a vague feeling that UK fantasy books for kids are less gender marketed--in this case the purples and pinks of the US cover look to me like the book is being marketed more to girls...and the UK cover, what with the boy and his sword, looks more friendly to both genders).

From Amazon:   "Aileen was supposed to grow up magical - just like the other women in her family. Unfortunately, she's just found out that the magic seems to have skipped a generation...but that's not her biggest problem right now. In her world, there are four Islands of Chaldea. The largest and most magical island has been cut off from the other three for decades - and is slowly draining the magic from them. But now a prophecy has come to light. Someone from Aileen's island will gather a man from each of the three islands, bring down the magical barrier, and unite them with the fourth island again. And according to the king, that someone is Aileen's Aunt - who insists on dragging Aileen along. AND the boy Aileen is sure she'll marry (one day); AND the local boy with more brawn then brain. Someone seems to want to stop them too...someone with an interest in keeping the Islands apart. But still, with magic on their side, nothing can go wrong. Right?"

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

The Alchemist War (Time-Tripping Faradays), by John Seven, for Timeslip Tuesday

Back when I started reviewing a time travel book ever Tuesday, over four years ago now, I was afraid that by this point I would be scrounging for books.  Not so!  I have a list of over a hundred older books still to read, and new ones keep getting published (interesting fact--the Reagan years are pretty much a desert in terms of children's time travel books.  Why???)

But in any event, today I read a brand new one, nominated for the Cybils--The Alchemist War, by John Seven (Stone Arch Books, 2013), first in the Time-Tripping Faradays series. 

I want to start by commenting on how tremendously appealing I find the cover, with its combination of understated but appealing protagonists in a Mysterious Setting and its historically-sciencey background.  The marketing isn't skewed to either gender, which is nicely in keeping with the book itself, in which a brother/sister team share the limelight.  It's also a small book, which makes a pleasant change from the door-stoppers so common in Middle Grade fantasy, and which I think adds to it's kid appeal--it looks a bit like a geek notebook.

The Alchemist War tells of two kids (brother and sister Dawk and Hype) from a far future earth where time travel is part of the high tech way of life.  The Faradays are a time-travelling family, sent on various missions to fill in gaps in the history databases.  When Dawk decides to see if elephants really are afraid of mice, while observing Hannibal crossing the Alps, the unfortunate consequences result in the Faradays being given a much less prestigious assignment--studying footware in 17th-century Prague.

But Dawk and Hype, and their guard robot (there to keep them out of more mischief), stumble into a much more interesting time travel adventure when they become, almost without trying, the quasi-apprentices of a somewhat dodgy alchemist, and stumble upon hidden technology that has no place in the past.

This is a book that's best suited to the younger end of middle grade--the third and fourth graders who very much enjoyed the Magic Tree House books will feel themselves on firm ground, though with the new twist of futuristic technology.  Much older than that, and there won't be enough complexity of plot or character to hold the reader's interest.    The bulk of the world-building happens in a somewhat ungraceful info-dump, and the presence of the somewhat feeble parents doesn't add much, but once the Faradays head to Prague, the story becomes more cohesive and interesting. 

That being said, it never quite delivers regarding the titular promise of an "alchemist war," nor is the story developed  much beyond its bare bones (there's lots that not clearly explained or explored, which might disappoint the more experienced reader of fantasy).  And likewise, the past--its places, people, customs, etc.--is not described richly enough to make the reader truly feel that she's travelled back in time.  I kind of had to take it on faith.  (Although in fairness the food of the past was nicely contrasted the food of future).

In short, its a perfectly reasonable book to offer older elementary school kids, with a great cover!  But not so much one for the grown-ups.

disclaimer:  review copy gratefully received from the publisher for Cybils consideration.

Saving Thanehaven, by Catherine Jinks

Saving Thanehaven, by Catherine Jinks (Egmont, 20130, is a fun one tailor-made for the fantasy game loving ten to eleven year old. 

When we first meet the hero of the story, Nobel, he is whacking his through a morass of stereotypical fantasy challenges, with no thoughts in his head beyond a. staying alive b. saving Princess Lorellina, and the realm of Thanehaven  c.  more staying alive.   But then he meets a boy named Rufus, a boy that's not part of this normal pattern, who challenges him to think about what else he might want in life.  Sure, staying alive is good, but what if  Lorellina doesn't want to be rescued?  What if there were Choices outside of the script that seems to have been written for him?

So Nobel casts aside his nasty-piece-of-work weapon (when there's no slaying happening, it chews on Nobel instead), and instead of sneaking up to the castle where the princess is, goes to its front gate...and subverts the story.   But Rufus isn't stopping with changing Nobel's life....ever character he meets gets a passionate plea to challenge expectations (including the flock of guard gargoyles.  I liked them lots).  And everyone is much happier not to be fighting each other.

But then the white van comes, disgorging the keepers of what is Right, determined to restore order to the chaos Rufus has caused.   For Rufus is no character in a fantasy game--he is Malware!!!!

A desperate race is on, as Rufus leads the somewhat confused, but undaunted (mostly) Nobel and Lorellina deeper into the computer, into other games, gathering other comrades, and finally to the heart of the operating system, where desperate messages must be sent to the computer's owner, a boy named Mikey, and to the real Rufus, the genius behind the hack....Is malware Rufus hero or villain?  And will the computer characters retain their free will, or will they be deleted forever???

It is a wild and giddy ride of computer game fun.  The pace is fast, even dizzying at times, but kids who know the basics of computer operating systems will have a pretty good roadmap of what's happening, and enjoy seeing the internal workings of a laptop brought to life in a three-dimensional maze populated by strange personified programs. 

It's quite possibly a bit too one note for most adult readers, but one that I'm pretty sure will keep many kids entertained just fine.   The reader realizes Rufus is a virus long before the characters within the games, and it's fun to see them struggle to grasp just how different, and strange, their world really is.  And in the process, the reader gets a nice little message about challenging assumptions, as the characters are forced to ask if they are doing what they want, and what might be best, or if they are blindly following predetermined paths.

The cover of this one does a good job appealing to the audience I think would enjoy it most--the fantasy-game loving boy still on the younger edge of tweendom.   Lorellina, though brave and important to the story, comes nowhere near to challenging Nobel's position as primary hero, and I don't think she was ever quite enough Present in a non-supporting character way to be someone to whom a reader can truly relate.   That being said, if you are looking for a book for a girl who enjoys a good computer-generated smite, this would be a fine choice.    And it reads comfortably young--building bonds of trust between friends is the important relationship here.

Recommended for those who enjoyed Vivien Vande Velde's computer game fantasy series, and especially for those who refused to read Deadly Pink because it was pink, because then you can maybe offer them that after they read this.

Here's the detail I liked most--seeing one of Catherine Jinks' earlier books, Living Hell, in which a space ship comes alive and tries to digest its passengers, presented as a computer game.

Review copy gratefully received from the publisher for Cybils Award Consideration.

This week's round up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (11/17/13)

Welcome to another round-up, on the lighter side this week.  I myself only reviewed one book, and it was YA; although I came back from KidLitCon all enthusiastic about this blogging thing, I am although enthusiastic about getting the windows all back in before it gets really really cold.  In any event...

Reviews (do let me know if I missed yours!)

Book of Enchantments, by Patricia C. Wrede, at Reading is Fun Again

The Creature Department, by Robert Paul Weston, at Librarian of Snark and Geo Librarian

Chupacabra, by Roland Smith, at  Teen Librarian Tool Box

Dragonbreath: the Case of the Toxic Mutants, by Ursula Vernon, at Jean Little Library

Ever After High: The Story Book of Legends, by Shannon Hale, at Becky's Book Reviews

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamilo, at In Bed With Books and For Those About to Mock

Ghost Hawk, by Susan Cooper, at Book Nut

The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Fantasy Literature and Book Nut

Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, by Chris Riddell, at Wondrous Reads

Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, at alibrarymama

The House of Hades, by Rick Riordan, at Kid Lit Geek (and lots of other places you can find yourself)

Magic Marks the Spot, by Caroline Carson, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Magician's Tower, by Shawn Thomas Odyssey, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Mouse With the Question Mark Tail, by Richard Peck, at The Book Monsters

My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending, by Anna Staniszewski, at The Write Path

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

The Queen and the Nobody Boy, by Barbara Else, at Sharon the Librarian

Rose, by Holly Webb, at Fuse #8

Sky Jumpers, by Peggy Eddleman, at Karissa's Reading Review

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy and Book Log

The Wednesdays, by Julie Bourbeau, at Books and Other Thoughts

Plus an interesting foursome at alibrarymama:  Iris Brave (Soul Jumpers 1), by Ali B. Dewey, Song of the Quarkbeast, by Jasper Fforde, A Box of Gargoyles, by Anne Nesbet, and The Princess of Cortova, by Diane Stanley.

Authors and Interviews:

Anne Ursu (The Real Boy) talks character at Falling Leaflets

Matthew J. Kirby (The Lost Kingdom) at The Enchanted Inkpot

Jonathan Stroud (The Screaming Staircase) shares Top Tips for a Scary Story at Nerdy Book Club

Other Good Stuff:

Another fun top ten at Views from the Tesseract; this time it's little folk.

If you want great books for a great cause, visit the Authors for the Philippines auction.

It's A More Diverse Universe weekend; click through for links to spec fic books by writers of color (so far I myself have only read one and half books for this, but the day is young....which means you have a chance to join in too!).

And finally, I couldn't resist sharing this Alice in Wonderland/Doctor Who mash-up by artist Karen Hallion, found at Maria's Melange, which you can find as a print or notecard on Etsy or get as a shirt on The Shirt List:

Feral Nights, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (for this year's More Diverse Universe Blog Tour)

So at Austin last weekend, I turned out to be the audience member whose birthday was closest to that of Cynthia Leitich Smith, and so I won a copy of Feral Nights (Candlewick, Feb. 2013).  I had not sought out her four earlier books, that comprise the Tantalize series, because they did not sound quite my thing, but I had been meaning to find this one, because it stars a werepossum!  And not only a werepossum, but one who moves from sidekick status to hero of his own adventure- and being a reader with a fondness for the underdog, this also piqued my interest.

Feral Nights is a side story to the first four, taking place at the same time as Diabolical, and featuring characters who played secondary roles in those books.  There are many references to the events and places and people I wasn't familiar with, but although my conscious mind noted all this, my reading mind was able to ignore it all in much the same way that one unfamiliar word doesn't have to kill the sense of a sentence.  In short, Feral Nights reads just fine as a stand alone, and I think I actually enjoyed it more because of knowing that all the luxurious backstory was there (I like backstory, whether it's written down on the page in front of me or not).

But in any event, Feral Nights tells how Clyde, a werepossum, a human girl named Aimee, and Yoshi, a werecat, have to a.  figure out who killed Clyde's werearmadillo friend Travis  b. track down Yoshi's missing sister Ruby c.  escape alive (along with other werepeople) from an insane hunt on an island resort of murderous insanity ruled by a very strange species indeed who have a demon as their chef. 

Good times.   The plot is just close enough to the top to be delightful, without going over it into farce.  The characters care about each other, and have plausible relationships of meaningfulness.  And it's funny, full of zesty dialogue and lots of geek culture references.

The one thing I didn't care for was a bit of magical healing.  Clyde's transformation from injured possum teen to something quite different was  a bit disappointing to me--wounded possum boys can be heroes too, and be worthy objects of love/lust, just as much so as any flashy alpha predator.

That being said, just as soon as I finish the 250 books already in my house, I will go back and read the first four.  And regardless, I'll be looking for Feral Curse, coming this February from Candlewick.

Cynthia Leitich Smith is a tribal member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and so Feral Nights is the first of what I hope will be several links I offer to this year's More Diverse Universe Blog Tour, celebrating diverse authors of speculative fiction.

And werecat Yoshi counts as a non-white protagonist, so I'm adding this to my multicultural sci fi/fantasy book list as well.

In any event, thanks so much, Cyn, for the book!  I read it on the plane back from Austin, and enjoyed it lots!

Consternated about gender and middle grade books with reference to two sessions at this weekend's AASL meeting

I have been all in a mental turmoil for the past 24 hours or so about two sessions being presented this weekend at the American Association of School Librarians.

Here's the description of a panel entitled Boys Reading: a Focus on Fantasy: "A myth persists that boys don’t like reading, but most of the time engaging young male learners is only a matter of finding the right books to hook them. Exciting fantasy draws boys with its dramatic action, imaginative worlds, and adventure. Authors will talk about what drew them to fantasy and how they lure boys into reading."  ( list of the panelists (all male) here).

This was troubling (ie, made me swear) for several reasons.

For starters, if it's a myth, which I do think it is, that boys don't like reading, why perpetuate it with a panel that implies that boys are Special Snowflakes who will melt if they are not spoon-fed books that cater to a particular set of stereotypes regarding boy personalities?  I have also found in my own experience with a reluctant reader that it isn't necessarily a matter of finding one category of "right books" and all problems are solved, and lo, they are hooked.  Every time he loves a book, I think "now I can relax" but it doesn't work that way.  There is no universal magic formula that works for everyone.  And maybe some reluctant readers aren't hooked by the type of book described above because no matter how many of them you offer, they just aren't the type of book that kid likes (which is to say, kids are individuals).

I am tired of "dramatic action" equals "boy appeal."   How about this: "exciting fantasy draws in readers who enjoy exciting fantasy."  And I am tired of "exciting" being the only good thing. I am tired of the fact that there are lots of fantasy books in which girls subvert gender stereotypes of "girl-ness," and participate in dramatic action like crazy, but very very few books in which boys are allowed to be "un-boyish"--to be quiet, contemplative learners and thinkers, valuing and nurturing relationships, having inner lives, and other non-dramatic-action sorts of things.    (Which makes me think of how our culture values extroverts more than introverts).

Well-written fantasy, regardless of how "exciting" it may or may not be, draws boys in with its compelling characters and mind-blowing insights about what it is to be a person.    That is because boys are not all that different from girls, or anybody else who finds a book that works for them.
If boys are always given books full of dramatic action, sure, they might enjoy lots of them, but they will miss out on a lot. If boys are given books in which boys do things other than have Exciting Adventures, it will expand their concepts of what it is to be a boy.

Which leads to troubling Panel Number 2--"Overcoming Adversity:  Helping Real Kids Learn Resilience through Fictional Characters"

"This discussion will be framed around three main talking points that will provide teachers and librarians with tools to help students discuss adversity, to foster empathy, and to become advocates in the classroom. Authors will include Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Kimberly Newton Fusco, Cynthia Lord,  Karen Day, Jo Knowles, Nora Raleigh Baskin, Erin E. Moulton and Leslie Connor."

Note that in this session, the writers are all women.   Women, it seems, being the ones in our culture whose job it is to foster empathy.   Men, as in session one, are stuck writing adventures.

Noes.  Men, lots of men, write books that foster empathy.  Boys read them.  Girls read them.  I read them.

Here's a panel I would love to see:  "Fostering empathy in young readers through science fiction and fantasy books" with both male and female panelists.

And here's what I'm going to do as a book reviewer and a parent.

One:  I am going to question the choices I make in which books to offer my boys (10 and 13).

With regard to my 10 year old:   Do I offer my avid fantasy reader fast-paced, adventure-filled stories, that aren't that great at being thought provoking, just because I know he'll enjoy them?  Answer: yes.  Am I glad that last year his school reading pushed him outside his comfort zone, introducing him to Wonder and Out of My Mind, both of which he loved and talked about avidly?  Yes. 

With regard to my 13 year old, an incredibly picky reader who mostly enjoys graphic novels, I can't really question my choices much, because he only reads 1 in 20 of the books of all types that I offer him.   But I can make sure that those books include ones that will foster empathy.

Two:  I will be more explicit in my reviews about distinguishing those that have action and adventure stories that are simply fun and exciting, and those where there may well be action and adventure, but which also push against societal expectations of gendered behavior, and which have the potential to foster paradigm shifts in the mind of the reader.   As it is, I have a habit of briskly tossing off statements like "jam-packed with adventurous fun" which just means there was too much action for me to really like it myself.   I think I need to avoid falling into handy little self-referential shorthand like that, and think a bit more critically.

Three:  I will try harder to combat the whole "if you want a boy to read it there can never be a dull moment" idea.

With that in mind, here is a short list of  relatively recent fantasy books for ten to twelve year oldish readers, with boy protagonists, that many boys (not all, because not all boys are the same) will like that do have some excitement in them, but which give their boy protagonists something else to do and think about besides charging around  having adventures:

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood
The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu
Odd and the Frost Giants, and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Only Ones, by Aaron Strarmer
The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas
The Crowfield Curse, by Pat Walsh
The Shadow Hunt, by Katherine Langrish

And....uh... That's all I can think of right now, with apologies to the books I'm missing!

Here's Anne Ursu talking about the thoughts the first panel inspired in her, which takes a different angle--what disservice does this do to the girls?

Coming this weekend--A More Diverse Universe, with a list of the books I hope to read

If disaster should strike me, it would be immediately clear here on my blog, because only once in almost eight years have I scheduled a post in advance.   And it was more important, upon returning from Austin, to get the newly lead-free, beautifully re-glazed living room windows back in before the Cold came (whimper) than it was to write reviews- hence there was no Timeslip Tuesday post yesterday, and there will be no review today.

But I do have something worthwhile to share, that I wish I had remembered to bring up at Lee Wind's talk on diversity last Saturday--this weekend it's time for the More Diverse Universe blog tour, celebrating speculative fiction books written by people of color!

So, if you want to add a bit of diversity to your blog, join in here at Aarti's blog, BookLust!

Here are the books I'm hoping to read and review:

Feral Nights, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (which I won at KidLitCon from Cynthia herself because of having the closest birthday to hers.  One of the few times I've been glad to have been born right at the beginning of January, which is a pretty stinky time for a. presents b. parties)

Thorn, by Intisar Khanani, a Goose Girl reimagining that I started ages ago, and was enjoying, but then something must have Happened with life, because I put it down...(rolls eyes at self)

Chasing Shadows, by Swati Avasthi (which I picked up at KidLitCon but then when Sarah and I were packing I decided my bag was too heavy so I kind of encouraged Sarah to put it in her bag instead...since I knew I could get it from the library

And then, by strange coincidence, I have two books both called City of Death that count--one by Laurence Yep (City of Death), and one by Sarwat Chadda (The City of Death).  

And I just remembered to add Killer of Enemies, by Joseph Bruchac!

Look how easy it was to come up with more books than I can actually read and review!  Please consider joining in--every collection of links, like the one this weekend will generate, ends up being a great resource for future readers and fun for the compilers!