Scorched, by Mari Mancusi, for Timeslip Tuesday

It's kind of late in the day, and this book kind of didn't work for me, but Timeslip Tuesday has a powerful pull on my spirit, so here are my tired and somewhat rambling thoughts on Scorched, by Mari Mancusi (Sourcebooks Fire Sept. 2013)-- time travel from an appolyptic future with dragons, which is a pretty great hook.  In my mind, however, the book doesn't quite do it justice.

The future is a scorched wasteland, because once dragons were rediscovered they were genetically manipulated to be weapons, and they got loose and burned with savage ferocity and were pretty impossible to kill, unless you were a really good dragon killer.   And in this burny future, one young woman from our time was pretty much blamed for bringing dragons back into the world, even though she wasn't the bad dragon gene manipulator.

In the present, this young woman, Trinity, has no idea that the dragon's egg her grandpa just paid all their last money for really is a dragon's egg, or that she and the baby dragon are destined to be psycically bonded soul-mates.   So it's something of a surprise to her when a strange dude from the future, Connor, shows up to stop the egg from becoming a dragon (saving the future from its scorching).  Adding to the surprise is the arrival of a homeland security type swat team (though how they knew to come wasn't clear to me) who want her to surrender the egg to them. 

Connor wants Trinity to trust him, and to agree that her unhatched dragon should be destroyed.  But Connor has a twin brother, Caleb, who has also traveled back through time who wants Trinity to trust him instead, and to save the dragon to breed a race of unkiller dragons who will be good for humanity.  What ensues is a lot of the two guys telling her to trust them, her being uncertain about who to trust, and insta love with both of them (complicated by trust issues).

The book has an exciting beginning, a rather long middle of trust issues and explication that didn't explicate much, and an ending of sudden excitement that was almost enough to make me want to read the next book (Shattered).  But Sorched wasn't to my taste.  I was uninterested by the middle, and grew sick of Caleb calling Trinity "Princesses" (which he did every time he opened his mouth just about), and unconvinced by the world building (like the existence of a Nether world that can be accessed by people with psychic gifts such as the twins and Trinity where there's lots of wish fulfilment), and the whole business of loving bonds with dragons wasn't fresh and new and fascinating to me (though Trinity's dragon is rather charming) and the whole issue of events in the present changing the future was murky at the beginning, and became much more so.  Connor, for instance, is bent on changing the future even if the hellish one he's come from full of killer dragons will continue on in one version of reality, but at least humanity will be spared in an another, if he can change things, which seems odd, but even more complicating was the fact that folks from Caleb's faction were bouncing back into Trinity's time right and left so there doesn't actually seem to be any sort of uncontaminated present left to change.  And where on earth did the mutated dragons in the secret lab come from if Trinity's dragon was the only one left???? 

Mancusi's writing didn't gel for me;  too often, I found myself reading it with an eye for how it wasn't working for me, rather than as a story I was interested in.  And that, along with too many questions, too much time on trust issues (though goodness knows, they were required by the set up), double the usual insta love, and too many princess references makes me not able to actually recommend this one with anything but a rather tepid "it is an interesting idea and if you love baby dragons and double insta love sounds fun and you are cool with psychic powers having popped up in humanity with our heroine just happening to have her fair share along with dragon bonding you might want to read it."

Book number two, Shattered, which came out Sept 2014, sounds better because instead of bad guys from the future manipulating not just the characters but time itself (with no explanation of How they do it) it sounds like straightforward girl and the two guys in love with her on the run from government agents who want her baby dragon.  Which seems like it make for a tighter, more holding together sort of story.

Penguins With People Problems, by Mary Laura Philpott

So at one point while at BEA I found myself in a random line by the Penguin bookmobile, and although I didn't mean to be lining up for another book, it was an enticing one--Penguins With People Problems (Perigee Books, June 2 2015)by Mary Laura Philpott.  Those of you who like to give books as presents-- this is a Great Book to give to those grownups in your life who are difficult to buy books for (as long as they are the sort of people who enjoy a chuckle, and if they aren't, why bother to get them anything?).  The recipient will pick it up soon after getting it, and enjoy flipping through the pages of penguins suffering various vicissitudes of daily life.

Although the simple yet expressive penguins make the book look cute and child friendly, the problems these penguins are having are rather grown up ones.  Some of them might well need a bit of awkward explaining to a person not yet at least a teenager, and some are pitched directly at adults, like this one  "Well, that didn't turn out at all like those bitches on Pinterest said it would."  And some spoke directly to my own life experiences:  "Halfway through changing clothes, Patty became trapped half-in and half-out of her dress, and now she fears she will die and be found this way."  That being said, my 12 year old son and I enjoyed looking at it together, and my mother also got several laughs out of it.   So like I said, a good one for quick and easy present giving!

Mary Laura Philpott is the creator of The RandomPenguins.com, where you can see lots of penguins, some with problems!  And she was kind enough to take the time to draw penguins for everyone in line.  Here is the penguin she drew for me: 

(Thank you, Ms. Philpott!  It is a lovely penguin.)

This week's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy from around the blogs (6/14/15)

First, a news item--Registration for Kidlitcon 2015 is now open!  If the thought of a not overwhelmingly large gathering of people passionate about reading and talking about children's and YA books appeals, full of blogging introverts (and occasional extroverts to add spice), full of authors that's you'll actually have a chance to talk to, appeals (and how could it not?)  come to Baltimore this October!  And if there is a topic you would just love to talk to other kidlit bloggers about, submit a session proposal or an idea for one!

(nb: helpful travel tip-- Southwest Airlines flies into Baltimore, but doesn't show up in Travelocity)

Of special interest to us mg spec fic fans--Tracy Babtiste (The Jumbies) will be a keynote speaker!

In any event, here's this week's round-up; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

All the Answers, by Kate Messner, at Mister K Reads

The Arctic Code, by Matthew Kirby, at Fantasy Literature

Back to the Day Lincoln Was Shot, by Beatrice Gormley, at Time Travel Times Two

Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at Great Kid Books and Waking Brain Cells

The Disappearance of Emily H., by Barrie Summy, at Small Review and Cracking the Cover

A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Children, by Laurence Yep, at Kid Lit Geek

The Dungeoneers, by John David Anderson, at The Hiding Spot, This Kid Reviews Books, Charlotte's Library, and Ms. Yingling Reads,

Enchantress from the Stars, by Sylvia Louise Engdahl, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer Holm, at Mister K Reads

The Half-A-Moon Inn, by Paul Fleischman, at Views From the Tesseract

The Island of Dr. Libris, by Chris Grabenstein, at For Those About to Mock

Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff, at Becky's Book Reviews

The Jumbies, by Tracy Babtiste, at 1330V:Thoughts of an Eclectic Reader

The League of Beastly Dreadfuls, by Holly Grant, at The Reading Nook Reviews

Ms. Rapscott's Girls, by Elise Primavera , at For Those About to Mock

Nooks and Crannies, by Jessica Lawson, at Middle Grade Ninja

Peter and the Starchatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, at Books Take You Places  (with bonus look at other Peter Pan imaginings)

Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures, by Jackson Pearce & Maggie Stiefvater, at Mugglenet

The Search for Wond-La and A Hero for Wond-la, by Tony DiTerlizzi, at alibarymama (audiobook reviews)

A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, at GreenBean TeenQueen

The Thickety: a Path Begins, by J.A. White, at Big Hair and Books

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Mister K Reads

The Unmapped Sea (Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Book 5) by Maryrose Wood, at Stray Thoughts

The Whisperer, by Fiona McIntosh, at Semicolon

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads- Into the Dorkness, by John Kloepfer, and Cosmoe's Wiener Getaway by Max Brallier and Rachel Maguire

And a second two at Ms. Yingling Reads-- Raising Rufus, by David Fulk, and Circus Mirandus, by Cassie  Beasley

Authors and Interviews

Cassie Beasley (Cirus Mirandus) at The Reading Nook Reviews, Fuse #8, and Word Spelunking

Stephanie Burgis (Kat, Incorrigible) at Middle Grade Strikes Back

John David Anderson (The Dungeoneers) at Ms. Yingling Reads and Charlotte's Library (with giveaway)

Sarah McGuire (Valiant) at Literary Rambles (giveaway)

Other Good Stuff

A Tuesday Ten of Prisoners of the Fantastic at Views from the Tesseract

Zoe at Playing by the Book makes a game out of science fiction for 8-12 year olds

The Dungeoneers, by John David Anderson, with Interview and Giveaway!

It's  my pleasure today to be a stop on the blog tour for The Dungeoneers, by John David Anderson (Walden Pond Press, MG, June 23, 2015).  This fun and exciting story is one to add to the summer reading pile of any kid who dreams of treasure seeking and goblin bashing!

Colm's family is struggling; his father can't make and sell enough shoes to keep him and his eight sisters comfortably feed.  So Colm decides to take things into his own hands; literally--it turns out that he has a natural gift for pickpocketing.  When things go wrong, he's in danger of having one hand cut off by the law, but he's saved by a mysterious stranger, Finn, a smooth talking master rouge who takes Colm on as his protégée.  Finn is a member of the most famous league of Dungeoneers in the land--adventurers who routinely go into danger below ground in search of treasure. 

Colm becomes a student at the league's headquarters, partnered with three other kids who have their own roles to play in their future dungeon diving adventures.  There's Serene, a druid in training, who can commune with nature (as long as it's not nature in the form of giant spiders), Quinn, whose magical abilities are hampered by a nervous stutter when he's trying to use them, and Lena, determined to be the best barbarian warrior ever.

So basically it's the story of a school that trains Dungeon and Dragons-esque parties of adventurers....but as Colm's abilities as a rogue and a thief grow, he has to learn the hard way who he can really trust.  And when he and his cohort find themselves in an a real dungeon adventure far above their pay-grade, they have to learn the hard way how to stay alive.....

Give this one to any kid who enjoys stories about kids at magical schools, and definitely give it to any young fantasy game players you might happen to have on hand!  I myself enjoyed it lots--the adventure part is combined with pleasing character interaction parts, and the action is gracefully introduced into the story, without overwhelming the less frenetic school and friendship side of things.

And now it's my pleasure to welcome John David Anderson here today!  My questions for him are in blue.

1. I'm going to pitch The Dungeoneers to my own boys as a perfect read for Dungeons and Dragons characters, and I'm wondering if you yourself were/are a D. and D. person?  If so, were you by any chance a rogue or a thief yourself?  If not, have you played similar games?

I’ve never actually played hard-core, full-on, roll-for-crit D&D, but I’ve played plenty of less-involved versions (dungeon-diving board games, Pathfinders Adventure Card Game and the like). I’ve also played plenty of computer role-playing games, so I’ve had the chance to vicariously goblin bash using a variety of personas. Usually I go for the kick-butt Amazon warrior princess or the dark sorcerer type who summons undead things to do his bidding. I’m usually not a rogue or thief because, frankly, I can’t imagine myself ever being that crafty (though I can imagine myself as an Amazon princess—go figure).

2.  There's a certain moral ambiguity (not that ambiguous) about several of the character in this book, and in your earlier books as well....is this something that just happens, or that is part of your grand plan from the get go?   Have you gotten any pushback from gatekeepers about this?

Moral ambiguity is at the heart of what makes fiction interesting. If I knew from the very start how my characters were going to behave at every possible moral crossroads I’m afraid I would get bored with them myself. I enjoy writing characters who struggle with right and wrong, who are questioning the ideologies around them and trying to find one that they can work with and stand behind, because that’s what adolescents are just starting to do (and what some adults continue to struggle with). I think both readers and gatekeepers appreciate a little moral complexity. Yes—we want our protagonists to do the right thing in the end, but if we can play with the definition of “right” along the way, it not only provides a more intriguing journey, but also gives us more to talk about when it’s over.

3.  lt interesting to me also that your books place kids in the difficult position of having grown-ups trying to make their moral decisions for them, and then having to trust, or not, their own feelings.  It this something that draws you to writing for middle grade kids, as opposed to YA, where the protagonists strike out on their own more blatantly from the get go?

Dang, that’s astute. Yes, that’s both a boon and a bane of middle grade fiction, that your characters are granted limited agency due to their age (it would be so much easier if they could just drive places!), but are often thrown into a world where their decisions suddenly matter. They still need guidance, but they are just starting to recognize the power they have to change their environment, impact other people, even rebel against their parents’ teachings. Maybe that’s why I like to write about twelve-year-olds who cast spells, pick locks, or have super senses, because it empowers them to trust in their own autonomy. That moment when you realize that your actions matter—and just as importantly—that your parents/guardians/Obi Wan Kenobis won’t be able to swoop in and clean up the mess you’ve made—it’s frightening, but it also makes for a compelling story and some much-needed evolution.

3.  Will there be more books continuing Colm and co.'s adventures?  Will the quality of the food improve?  Will we get to meet any of his sisters in any great depth?

I have yet to write a book where the food is good. I realize that. It’s a running theme. One day, I hope to, though it might require me learning how to cook first.

As for sequels to The Dungeoneers, I certainly hope so. I am quite fond of all of the characters and would love to discover what they do next. I never write a book with a sequel in mind, but as soon as I finished this one I began dreaming up further adventures. Hopefully The Dungeoneers will find its audience and leave them hungry for more. If not, I suppose I can at least write a little pamphlet called “The Candolry Sisters’ Guide to Tormenting Your Brother.”   

4.  My kids' school offers a lock picking class (although they call it "introduction to lock mechanics" to avoid Legal Issues).  Did you learn any lock picking yourself in preparation for this story?  Or practice in any other way (I, for instance, could practice walking through the lego minefield of my kids' playroom as "trap-avoidance.")

Your kids’ school is awesome! Do they offer classes in safe cracking and computer hacking? What about trap making? Fireball flinging? I have jimmied a few locks before (all my own, due to an inability to remember where I’ve put keys). I did book-research, but I refrained from buying an actual lock-pick set and breaking into my neighbor’s house (“I’m researching for my next novel, officer, really!”). I think my entire childhood was spent practicing to be a dungeoneer though. My favorite activity was covering the floor with throw pillows and pretending the carpet was lava, jumping from safe spot to safe spot to get at the treasure buried under the couch cushions (usually about thirteen cents, a gum wrapper, and a stale potato chip). Ah, those were the days.

Thanks for interviewing me, Charlotte. Hope you enjoyed the book!

Dave
John David Anderson is the author of Sidekicked and Minion (both very good!  The links go to my reviews). A dedicated root beer connoisseur in his spare time, he lives with his wife, two kids, and perpetually whiny cat in Indianapolis. You can visit him online at www.johndavidanderson.org,
or you can find him on twitter-- @anderson_author and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnDavidAndersonAuthor?ref=hl

Thanks very much, Dave! 

And now the giveaway--thanks to Walden Pond Press, I can offer a signed finished hardcover of The Dungeoneers!  Just leave a comment between now and midnight next Wednesday June 17, making sure there's some way to contact you!  (US and Canada only).

Here are the other stops on the Dungeoneers Blog Tour:

6/2/2015 Maria's Melange                                    ​                             
6/5/2015 Unleashing Readers                                              
6/6/2015 The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia            

6/7/2015 Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers         
6/8/2015 This Kid Reviews Books                                   
6/8/2015 Ms Yingling Reads                             ​         
6/9/2015 Read Now Sleep Later                         
6/11/2015   Nerdy Book Club                     

6/12/2015 The Hiding Spot                         

A Kiss in Time, by Alex Flinn, for Timeslip Tuesday

A Kiss in Time, by Alex Flinn  (2009), is a sleeping beauty reimagining, in which a modern boy, Jack, kisses awake a European princess, Talia, who's been sleeping for three hundred years.  Although Talia hasn't actually travelled through time, it is as if she has--everything in the present is of course strange to her.   And the whole castle, and it's inhabitants, were all asleep in true fairy tale fashion, so it is as if a whole late 17th/early 18th community were whisked to the present.

When Jack goes AWOL from the European Tour his parents had sent him on, he did not expect to end up crashing through briars and finding a sleeping castle.  Nor did he expect that kissing the sleeping princess would wake her up (obviously he is not a fairy tale reader).  But Talia, who had pricked herself on a spindle 300 years earlier, knows that the kiss was destined to happen.  But is Jack really the true love destined for her by the terms of the enchantment?  Jack certainly doesn't think he is--his first impressions of Talia are not at all favorable.   But when she travels back to Florida with him, and he gets to know her (and she gets to know herself better too, outside the constraints of her protected princess life) he begins to think otherwise.  And when the evil fairy interferes again, Jack embraces his role and set out to make happily ever after come true....

At first both Jack and Talia are unpleasant company; both are kind of spoiled and needy and unappealing.  It doesn't help that it is really icky to kiss a strange girl you just happen to find sleeping in her home.   Happily they grow up (remarkable and unbelievably quickly in just one week; little flashbacks showing Talia being decent to the Poor while being a princesses are more awkward than convincing), and happily the circumstances of their meeting are enough to keep things interesting until they become more pleasant company!  It is not a particularly realistic romance, but when fairy magic and destiny are involved, realism isn't really something one can expect.  

Disbelief has to be suspended pretty actively in just about every other aspect of the story as well.  Talia's adaptation to the 21st century is also a lot less fraught than I imagine would really be the case.  Her observations of American teen life are mildly amusing, but not tremendously insightful or thought-provoking.   Don't go reading it for a convincing look at the late 17th century, because the past as presented here is an odd medieval enlightenment mash-up that doesn't convince at all.  And don't be expecting that Jack's fraught relationship with his parents will be convincingly resolved--it is a pretty magical happy ever after on that front too. 

However, it you enjoy fairy tell retellings that add interesting twists, this is worth reading as long as you don't have expectations of greatness with regard to plot or character and are in the mood to accept an unbelievable story somewhat uncritically; I read it in a single sitting, with my mind peacefully turned off, and as a result was able to enjoy the premise just fine. 

Laura Ingalls Wilder Pioneer Girl: the Annotated Autobiography, edited by Pamela Smith Hill

When I was in graduate school, rapidly becoming disillusioned with the idea of a career in academia, and rather lonely, two of my favorite comfort reads were the last two (since these were the ones in which Laura and her family settle down, have a decent, pleasant home, nothing horrible happens to the crops, Laura gets nice clothes, and also gets Almanzo and a home of her own).  Sometimes I re-read The Long Winter, but I can't remember ever being moved to read the first four...

In any event, it was with great interest that I read (in just about a single sitting) Pioneer Girl, the memoir that was Laura's first stab at chronicling her life.  It is her true autobiography (the Little House books are fiction heavily based on the memories that Laura gathered here) and so there are many places where the published books and this previously unpublished account diverge.   Not only was Laura's own original story interesting (both in its own right, and as a different view of the events in the published books), but the extensive footnotes add lovely historical context and clarification, and made for good reading as well.

I felt I knew Laura pretty well from the Little House books, but feel I know her even better now--I didn't realize, for instance, that she really was insecure about not being thin.  I also appreciated learning that Laura snapped a bit at her daughter Rose over Rose's editing!  Laura's account of the Little House on the Prairie time is still troubling for its portrayal of Native Americans, but slightly less so than  it is in the final book, because of being briefer and because of Ma not spewing hateful prejudice as she does in the final version.

Short answer--the original Pioneer Girl is well worth reading in its own right, and is a must read for fans of the Little House series!

(It was also nice to see Helen Dore Boylston, author of the Sue Barton nursing books, which I love, mentioned in passing...she lived with Rose Wilder Lane for a time in Laura and Almanzo's old house).

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (6/7/15)

I am (I hope) almost recovered from a lot of book moving in the past two weeks--first at BEA, and then while setting up my library's book sale (it still has to be put away, so the book moving is not over yet......).    But what with one thing and another, I just zoomed through about 1000 blog posts in the past 24 hours, extracting the middle grade sci fi/fantasy posts as best I could.  Please let me know if I missed yours! (or anyone elses, for that matter...)
The Reviews

The Artemis Fowl series, by Eoin Colfer, at The Book Wars

Banneker Bones and the Giant Robot Bees, by Robert Kent, at Charlotte's Library

Beastkeeper, by Cat Hellison, at Falling Letters

The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander, at Becky's Book Reviews

Castle Merlin, by Ursula Moray Williams, at Charlotte's Library

Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at Librarin of Snark

Darkmouth, by Shane Hegarty, at Nerdophiles

Dark Life, and RipTide, by Kat Falls, at Librarian of Snark

The Disappearance of Emily H. by Barrie Summy, at The Reading Nook Reviews and proseandkahn

Dragons at Crumbling Castle, by Terry Pratchett, at Redeemed Reader

The Dungeoneers, by John David Anderson, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Echo, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)

A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge, at Charlotte's Library

The Fairy-Tale Detectives, by Michael Buckley, at Leaf's Reviews

Fork-Tongue Charmers, by Paul Durham, at Geo Librarian

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, at A Fantastical Librarian

Greetings from the Graveyard, by Kate Klise, at Geo Librarian

The Imaginary, by A.F. Harrold, at Cracking the Cover

Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at Leaf's Reviews

The Lie Tree, by Frances Hardinge, at The Book Wars

Lucky Strike, by Bobbie Pyron, at Read Till Dawn

The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay, at Becky's Book Reviews

Monstrous, by MarcyKate Connolly, at Dee's Reads

Nightbird, by Alice Hoffman, at books4yourkids and Through Raspberry Colored Glasses

North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Cindy Reads A Lot

Ratscaliber, by Josh Lieb, at books4yourkids

The Unmapped Sea, by Maryrose Woods, at Sonderbooks

Valiant, by Sarah McGuire, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Water and the Wild, by K.E. Ormsbee, at This Kid Reviews Books

Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson, at Leaf's Reviews


Authors and Interviews

Stacy DeKeyser (One Witch at a Time) at Nerdy Book Club

Cassie Beasley (Circus Mirandus) at Project Mayhem

John David Anderson (The Dungeoneers) shares the essential components of being a Rogue at Maria's Melange

Dan Davis (White Wind Rising), at Carpinello's Writing Pages

Rebecca Stead on "Why Writers Write" at the SCBWI Blog

P.S. Mokha (The Last Sanctuary) at Capinello's Writing Pages



Other Good Stuff

The movie version of When Marnie Was There, a classic English time slip book, is out now from Studio Ghibli; here's my review of the original book.

At Middle Grade Strikes Back, a fun quiz--can you identify these ten MG spec fic books by their first few lines?

Banneker Bones and the Giant Robot Bees, by Robert Kent

Banneker Bones and the Giant Robot Bees, by Robert Kent (CreateSpace, 2014)

Ellicott is a smart kid, and he's just been accepted to a program for brilliant ones at Latimer University.   The only problem--he has to go live with his cousin, Banneker Bones, who is even more brilliant.  Banneker is the world famous inventor of robots, fabulously wealthy, and extraordinarily full of himself...and he doesn't want a room-mate one single bit.  Just his robots, who are convenient tools with which to tease and torment Ellicott.

But then gigantic robot bees attack, and carry off Reggie, Elicott's best friend from his new school and gifted comic book illustrator.  Banneker is determined to save Reggie, and add to his fame.  Ellicott is determined to help as best he can, for the sake of friendship.  And the two boys are off on a mad robot filled adventure, in which the robots prove to be the least of their problems....

It's a good one for readers who like smart kids using really cool technology to save the day!  Banneker is a borderline sociopath and an utter snot, but the utterness of his snot-ness is so great as to be amusing.   Ellicott, on the other hand, is a nice kid, easy to relate too.  And the technology (jet packs and holographic games, as well as the giant robot bees) will delight the young technophile.

It's slowish to get going, but once the bees attack, it's a fun page turner that should appeal lots to any kid fascinated by robots!  Do not be off put by the fact that this is a self-published book--I was never once bothered by editing infelicities.

disclaimer: review copy received from the author, aka Middle Grade Ninja.

(Banneker's mother is African American, so I'm adding this one to my list of diverse spec. fic.)

Castle Merlin, by Ursula Moray Williams, for Timeslip Tuesday

This week's Timeslip Tuesday is an older English one-- Castle Merlin, by Ursula Moray Williams (1971).

Susie  had her heart set on an organized holiday for kids at Castle Merlin, up near Hadrian's Wall (aside--I myself wouldn't necessarily want to go on holiday to the north of England in January with a bunch of strange kids, but Susie does).  Flu threatens to derail her plans, but she feels recovered enough to go, and whines and frets her parent's resistance down (aside-she knows she's been an unsympathetic character, and so does the reader...although all of us who have been 11 ourselves can relate to wanting something so very very badly).   So she sets off on a train from London to Castle Merlin; she'll be a day late, but that's no big matter.  On the train she meets Bryan, also making his way to Castle Merlin; he's not deeply sympathetic either, but the two form a bond of shared experience.

And then they arrive, and find that the Holiday at Castle Merlin has a falconry theme, in honor of its long ago chatelaine, Dame Alys, famous as an expert on merlins.  Though somewhat taken aback (it's all falcons all the time, even though there's only one real falcon around, Guinevere,who belongs to a visiting author of children's books), Susie gets into the falconry spirit, and is very glad she came.

But the past at Castle Merlin has left strong impressions that color the present, and Susie can't for the first few days distinguish what is past from what is present.  Bryan takes her down to the dungeon, where a prisoner is being held in miserable conditions (starved and shackled to the wall), and both of them believe he is real....a strange girl shows up in her room, and then is never seen again, and hawks from the past, and Dame Alys herself, still inhabit the castle and its grounds.  When Guin the (modern) hawk, Bryon, and Dame Alys valuable book about merlins all go missing on the same day, Susie must figure out how to separate past from present, and figure out how to help Bryan, whose experience with the ghost prison in the dungeons has forced him to confront his own troubles....

Castle Merlin is one of those time slip books that teeters between ghost story and time travel.   Mostly it's ghosts, but there are a few moments when Susie sees physical manifestations of the past that aren't dead people (like entering a building that's a chicken house in the present and finding it full of hawks, or wandering in the woods and finding a loose merlin from the past).  So I'm going with time slip. 

This is a book that will delight anyone who thinks it would be great to spend a week in a castle in winter with a bunch of strangers engaging in group activities related to falcons.  I feel I would have been lots more keen on the idea when I was Susie's age, but that ship has kind of sailed for me now.  Still I managed to channel my 11 year old self enough to enjoy the book (some of the ghost/timeslipping was really nicely done, with the exception perhaps of the miserable prisoner, which required considerable suspension of disbelief), though I couldn't quite love it.

In which I look forward to Cicus Mirandus, and offer entry to a great giveaway

 Today I'm celebrating the release of CIRCUS MIRANDUS by  Cassie Beasley (Dial).  I haven't yet read it, but I want to, which is why I am taking part in this blog blast!

More details about the book are below, as well as a Rafflecopter giveaway for a bunch of swag items, courtesy of Penguin Young Readers! Enter for a chance to win at the bottom of this post.

Here's the blurb:

"Micah Tuttle believes in magic, even though his awful Great-Aunt Gertrudis doesn’t approve. Micah believes in the stories his dying Grandpa Ephraim tells him of the magical Circus Mirandus: the invisible tiger guarding the gates, the beautiful flying birdwoman, and the magician more powerful than any other—the Man Who Bends Light. Finally, Grandpa Ephraim offers proof. The Circus is real—and the Lightbender owes Ephraim a miracle. With his friend Jenny Mendoza in tow, Micah sets out to find the Circus and the man he believes will save his grandfather. The only problem is, the Lightbender doesn't want to keep his promise. And now it's up to Micah to get the miracle he came for. Readers will fall in love with CIRCUS MIRANDUS, which celebrates the power of seeing magic in the world."

About Cassie Beasley:

CASSIE BEASLEY is from rural Georgia, where, when she's not writing, she helps out on the family pecan farm. She earned her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. CIRCUS MIRANDUS is her first novel.

Here's a letter from her:
 

Dear Readers,

Ages ago I hung a poster in my room with the words “The Circus Opens Summer 2015” in bold letters across the top. At the time, it seemed that Summer 2015 would never come. Now, miraculously, June 2 is here, and Circus Mirandus is springing up in bookshops all over the country.

In the story, those called to Circus Mirandus feel a change in the wind. They hear music on the air, pipes and drums leading them toward magic and hope and heart’s desires. Eventually they find themselves before the gates, standing, as I am now, on the threshold of somewhere both wonderful and unknowable.

As people read the pages into which I’ve poured so much time and self, I wonder what they’ll think of the world I’ve created. I wonder if they will love it as much as I do. It’s an exciting moment, stepping through these gates into a place I’ve imagined but never seen.

Thank you so much for making this journey with me. Thank you for supporting the book. Thank you, most of all, for believing.

Cassie Beasley

Twitter: https://twitter.com/beasleywrites

Website: http://cassiebeasley.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8016035.Cassie_Beasley

Giveaway information

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There will be 5 winners, and the Giveaway will run from June 2nd until June 16th. Winners will receive:

• Signed hardcover of CIRCUS MIRANDUS
• Audio sampler
• Animal crackers
• Bookmarks (pack of 10)
• Poster

 Circus Mriandus is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indibound,
 

A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge

In order to get to Book Expo America, I had to take a train, and then lots of subway rides of some length, and so obviously I needed to take a book with me, one that would be strong enough so that even after I was distracted by the shinny and the new I would see it through to the end and be glad to have read it.

I chose well, and A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan, 2013 in the UK, ages 11-15ish) was my "what I am reading while at BEA" book (literally read at BEA, in snatched introverted down time, as well as in transit).  It was actually Brandy of Random Musings of a Bibliophile who chose well for me, because my copy was a gift from her, received long ago and put in the "clearly I will like this book lots so there is no hurry to read it" pile; a pile I find really obnoxious but hard to do anything about, other than to travel.....

A Face Like Glass take place inside a mountain burrowed through with caverns and tunnels and chambers providing enough space for a whole strange society to live in.   There is magic to the craft work of  those in power, that brings wealth to the world of Caverna; cheese that explodes, mind-manipulative perfumes and wines, and other wonders,  and there's also magic in Caverna herself; the tunnels don't all obey natural laws, and her cartographers all go mad....And the people of Caverna are strange as well, with faces that are still and expressionless as dolls.  Smiles and frowns must be taught, and cost money.

Into the world of Caverna, where the craft families have excessive wealth and claw at each other for power, and the drudges in the deep chambers starve, comes a little girl who is different.  Neverfell has no memory of her life before she's brought to the tunnels of a master cheesemaker.  She has no idea why her face shows what she thinks and feels, making her not just a freak and oddity, but a potential pawn in various political machinations.  She has no idea there are people who want to kill her...

But gradually the threads of her past and present untangle into a purpose, one she can't let show on her face...

It is both simple and complicated, and a really nice one to give to the smart older middle grade reader who wants more from their fantasy than straight up adventure.  It is a twisty one, with a lovely, fascinating, horrible setting, and a satisfying mystery (although I feel I could have guessed).   Sometimes Hardinge seems to appreciate her descriptions a smidge too much (which is to say, more than I did), but apart from that I can't in honesty say it should be any tighter or more compressed. 

I myself have appreciated, but not personally loved, the other books I've read by Hardinge, but this one was truly enjoyable.  Possibly because Neverfell is a very likeable character, and since everything is seen through her eyes, the experience of it all was likable by association....

Here is Brandy's own review; she loved it (which is why she was kind enough to send a copy my way--thank you Brandy!)

It doesn't seem to be out in the US yet...but it is well worth ordering from the UK! 

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (5/31/15)

Here's this weeks round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs.  Please let me know if I missed your post (I came back from BEA to find almost a thousand posts in my feed reader, so things got a bit blurry......)

The Reviews

The Black Reckoning, by John Stephens, at Jen Robinson's Book Page

The Book that Proves Time Travel Happens, by Henry Clark, at Fan Girl Nation

The Case of the Cursed Dodo, by Jake G. Panda, at This Kid Reviews Books

Castle Hangnail, by Ursula Vernon, at books4yourkids and Finding Wonderland

Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at Book Nut and Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Dr. Critchlore's School For Minions, by Sheila Grau, at Log Cabin Library

The Forgotten Sisters, by Shannon Hale, at Becky's Book Reviews

Fork-Tongue Charmers (Luck Uglies Book 2), by Paul Durham, at Bibliobrit and Charlotte's Library

Graceful, by Wendy Mass, at Not Acting My Age

How I Became a Ghost, by Tim Tingle, at @HomeLibrarian 

Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff, at The Reading Nook Reviews

The Museum of Thieves, by Lian Tanner, at The Bookworm Blog

The Neverending Story, by Michael Endes, at Tor

Nightbird, by Alice Hoffman, at For Those About to Mock

Nightborn, by Lou Anders, at Winter Haven Books

Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Becky's Book Reviews

Philippa Fisher and the Fairy's Promise, by Liz Kessler, at Fantasy Literature 

Space Case, by Stuart Gibbs, at That's Another Story

Thornspell, by Helen Lowe, at Leaf's Reviews

The Whisperer, by Fiona McIntosh, at Redeemed Reader

Two at Tales of the Marvelous--The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, and The Sleeper and the Spindle, by Neil Gaiman

Two at Falling Letters--Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, and The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads--Rebels of the Lamp, by Peter Speakman, and Michael Galvin, and The Demon Curse, by Simon Nicholson


Authors and Interviews

Tracey Babtiste (The Jumbies) talks Paper at Nerdy Book Club 

Dianne K. Salerni (The Eighth Day) talks Reading Choices at Project Mayhem

D.D. Everest (Archie Greene and the Magician's Secret) at Playing by the Book

At From the Mixed Up Files, chats with authors who have bounced from YA to MG


Other Good Stuff

The 52 Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths, a fantasy book for kids, is Australia's Book of the Year.

A list of older mg books about kids in space I made for Barnes & Noble Reads (Mars Evacuees, by Sophia McDougal, was my go to MG Sci Fi recommendation at BEA)

Found via Tor--wonderful griffins made from unexpected cat/bird mashups.

And finally, I hope you all have marked your calendars for Kidlitcon 2015! (Oct 9th and 10th, Baltimore).  The call for session proposals is up--please feel free to get in touch with me (in my role as program coordinator) if there's a topic you'd like to speak about, but you feel uncertain about getting a whole panel organized!

And see all these books I brought back from BEA?  Lots of them are going to travel back down the East Coast with me again in October for the Kidlitcon ARC swap.....because carrying impossibly heavy suitcases is a Good Hobby.