To say that Rachel Neumeier's Black Dog series, of which Pure Magic (out now in paperback!) is the second novel, is my favorite werewolf series isn't saying much, because I can't think of another werewolf series I like. But perhaps the fact that I now do have one I like shows that these are really good books, liable to be enjoyed by those that share my taste. In any event, I read Pure Magic in a sitting that was almost single, except for the bits when guilt drove me to do house and garden chores.
The basic premise is that some people are born Black Dogs, whose dark shadow aspects let them turn into wolves (perhaps more shapeshifterish than werewolfish, because of the moon not being a key ingredient). There are also some people who are Pure--who have the antithesis of the black shadow, and who can do magic, and who are prized by (the more civilized) Black Dog communities because of their calming, protective energies. There are also vampires (very bad) who have mostly been destroyed in a brutal war between them and the Black Dogs, and as a result of that war, ordinary people are now aware that Black Dogs exist.
Pure Magic continues the story of Dimilioc, a good community of Black Dogs, who don't hunt people, and who don't want stray lawless Black Dogs doing so either. A new person is being brought into this group--Justin, a teenaged boy who is Pure (mostly the Pure are women, so this is odd) who has No Clue whatsoever about what Black Dogs are until some savage renegades attack him. He also has no clue what Pure Magic is, and what it can do, and why he should bother, and he does not much like the idea that the master of Dimilioc is pretty determined that he should stay with them.
So he escapes to go back to the southwest where his grandmother is, and Natividad, the Pure girl who was the heroine of book 1, goes with him because she thinks that her Black Dog community needs to face a new threat that's popped up down there, and it will force their hand if she is in danger and the strongest of Dimilioc's Black Dogs will come to her rescue and the enemy will give way easily....
She was right about the danger part. The defeating the enemy fairly easily part...not so much.
So clearly there's lots of world-building, and it is good, solidly fascinating world-building that (most importantly) serves as a most interesting stage on which the characters can lead character-filled lives while constantly fighting for their lives/ learning magic/getting to know each other (includes very interesting romance!). Even if, like me, you aren't drawn to werewolves qua werewolves, especially fighting werewolves, do try this series! If I had a copy of book 3 at hand (it isn't out yet, so I don't) I would have moved right on into it, house and garden be hanged!
NB: Brandy at Random Musings of a Bibliophile (a fellow fan of the series) did a much more thorough job summing everything up, so if your interest is at all piqued, visit her post. And also Maureen's post, at By Singing Light. (and I feel that when me and Brandy and Maureen and also Chachic all like a book very much, it goes to show something).
Black Dog was published by the sadly short-lived Strange Chemistry imprint of Angry Robot, and Rachel has decided to self-publish the series, interspersing the novel length segments with short-story collections. My review copy of Pure Magic was sent by the author.
7/13/15
7/12/15
This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy is up (7/12/15)
Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Hidden in Pages
Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe, at Nerdy Book Club
The Chosen Prince, by Diane Stanley, at Redeemed Reader
Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at books4yourkids, Randomly Reading, and Charlotte's Library
The Copper Gauntlet, by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, at Hidden in Pages
Curse of the Thirteenth Fey, by Jane Yolen, at Read Till Dawn
Danger in Ancient Rome, by Kate Messner, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The D'Evil Diaries, by Tatum Flynn, at The Book Zone (For Boys)
Diego's Dragon: Dragons of the Dark, by Kevin Gerard, at Always in the Middle
Fly By Night and Fly Trap, by Frances Hardinge, at alibrarymama
Hook's Revenge, by Heidi Schulz, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
Hunt for the Hydra, by Jason Fry, at Fantasy Book Critic
Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff, at Geo Librarian
Octagon Magic, by Andre Norton, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Princes and the Goblin, by George MacDonald, at Views from the Tesseract
Return to Augie Hobble, by Lane Smith, at Mister K Reads
Secrets of Selkie Bay, by Shelley Moore Thomas, at Me On Books
Seraphina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty, at Falling Letters and Middle Grade Mafioso
Shadows of Sherwood, by Kekla Magoon, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Pages Unbound
Song for a Scarlet Runner, by Julie Hunt, at Charlotte's Library
Stolen Magic, by Gail Carson Levine, at Kid Lit Geek
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, at Leaf's Reviews
Time Square-UFO, by S.W. Lothian, at Always in the Middle
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Fantasy Literature
The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones, by Will Mabbitt, at The Reading Nook Reviews
Valiant, by Sarah McGuire, at In Bed With Books
Wish Girl, by Nikki Loftin, at Becky's Book Reviews
Zombie Baseball Beatdown, by Paolo Bacigalupi, at Teen Librarian Toolbox (audiobook)
Three at Ms.Yingling Reads--Battle Bugs #1, The Lizard Wars, and #2, The Spider Siege, by Jack Patton, and Seraphina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty
Authors and Interviews
Lou Anders (Thrones and Bones series) at Supernatural Snark
Karen Cushman at Fuse #8 talking about her forthcoming fantasy book (!)
Will Mabbitt (The Unlikely Advenutures of Mabel Jones) at The Reading Nook Reviews
Other Good Stuff
The Reviews
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Hidden in Pages
Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe, at Nerdy Book Club
The Chosen Prince, by Diane Stanley, at Redeemed Reader
Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at books4yourkids, Randomly Reading, and Charlotte's Library
The Copper Gauntlet, by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, at Hidden in Pages
Curse of the Thirteenth Fey, by Jane Yolen, at Read Till Dawn
Danger in Ancient Rome, by Kate Messner, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The D'Evil Diaries, by Tatum Flynn, at The Book Zone (For Boys)
Diego's Dragon: Dragons of the Dark, by Kevin Gerard, at Always in the Middle
Fly By Night and Fly Trap, by Frances Hardinge, at alibrarymama
Hook's Revenge, by Heidi Schulz, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
Hunt for the Hydra, by Jason Fry, at Fantasy Book Critic
Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff, at Geo Librarian
Octagon Magic, by Andre Norton, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Princes and the Goblin, by George MacDonald, at Views from the Tesseract
Return to Augie Hobble, by Lane Smith, at Mister K Reads
Secrets of Selkie Bay, by Shelley Moore Thomas, at Me On Books
Seraphina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty, at Falling Letters and Middle Grade Mafioso
Shadows of Sherwood, by Kekla Magoon, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, at Pages Unbound
Song for a Scarlet Runner, by Julie Hunt, at Charlotte's Library
Stolen Magic, by Gail Carson Levine, at Kid Lit Geek
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, at Leaf's Reviews
Time Square-UFO, by S.W. Lothian, at Always in the Middle
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Fantasy Literature
The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones, by Will Mabbitt, at The Reading Nook Reviews
Valiant, by Sarah McGuire, at In Bed With Books
Wish Girl, by Nikki Loftin, at Becky's Book Reviews
Zombie Baseball Beatdown, by Paolo Bacigalupi, at Teen Librarian Toolbox (audiobook)
Three at Ms.Yingling Reads--Battle Bugs #1, The Lizard Wars, and #2, The Spider Siege, by Jack Patton, and Seraphina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty
Authors and Interviews
Lou Anders (Thrones and Bones series) at Supernatural Snark
Karen Cushman at Fuse #8 talking about her forthcoming fantasy book (!)
Those of us who have been accused by our sensitive children for being "bad mothers" for exposing them to things too dark and disturbing will appreciate this pinterest board of "good fantasy, harmless bad guys" curated by books4yourkids
Bryan Konietzko (creator of The Last Airbender and Legends of Korra) announces Threadworlds, a new graphic novel, in which a young scientists sets out on adventures in galaxy where five planets share a single orbit.
And speaking of Graphic Novels, the Eisner Awards have been announced.
A Tuesday Ten of unorthodox princesses at Views from the Tesseract
The Amazing Acro-Cats are performing in Brooklyn....as if Brooklyn needed more reasons to be cool.
Bryan Konietzko (creator of The Last Airbender and Legends of Korra) announces Threadworlds, a new graphic novel, in which a young scientists sets out on adventures in galaxy where five planets share a single orbit.
And speaking of Graphic Novels, the Eisner Awards have been announced.
A Tuesday Ten of unorthodox princesses at Views from the Tesseract
The Amazing Acro-Cats are performing in Brooklyn....as if Brooklyn needed more reasons to be cool.
7/7/15
Song for a Scarlet Runner, by Julie Hunt, for Timeslip Tuesday
Song for a Scarlet Runner, by Julie Hunt (Allen & Unwin, May 2015), is an award-winning Australian import* published here in the US this spring. It's also the type of book that is the reason why I went with "Timeslip Tuesday" instead of "Time travel Tuesday"--characters slip out of and back into ordinary time, but don't actually time travel as it's normally done.
When the story begins, Peat has no idea that she's about to have adventures of any sort. Her life has been lived in isolation out in the middle--just her, her big sister, some cows, and an aunt who visits periodically to pick up the cheeses they've made and take them back to the hamlet at the end of a dead end canyon a longish walk away. But then a stranger arrives, and Peat tells him where the hamlet is, and when he unwittingly brings sickness there, Peat is blamed. Peat flees off into the badlands, and suddenly her world becomes a much larger, more interesting place than she had ever dreamed off.
And she doesn't travel alone--an extremely appealing animal companion that she calls a Sleek, but some call a scarlet runner (sort of a cross between fox and cat) joins her (intermittently), and I defy any animal loving reader not to want a sleek friend of their own!
Peat's path takes her into the marshlands, where Marsh Aunties, magic using women, vie to take her on as an apprentice. It is Marsh Auntie who's the storyteller and healer who finds her first, and Peat begins to learn stories...including one in which a warrior promised the life of his unborn son to the mysterious Siltsifter to ensure his own safety.....
And then, as the story twists, Peat herself is taken out of the real world and out of time by that very Siltsifter and finds the stories are true. In the Siltsifter's empty land, she meets a lonely boy and his ghost dog who were captured by the Siltsifter centuries ago. Unless they give in to an endless existence of sifting silt for their master, they must somehow manage to escape. Fortunately, her Sleek friend finds her (thanks to Siltboy), which helps, and other magical and human helpers come to the aid of the two children, bringing them to a happy ending in which Peat is reunited with her big sister, which was what she really wanted all along.
If you are tired of Spunky heroines who win through their magical adventures by being just as strong and courageous as stereotypical boy heroes, this one will make a very nice change! Peat is certainly a spunky 11 year old (I would have dissolved into tears a heck of a lot more than she does), and she never gives up hope, and she does have a sensitivity to possibility that lets her see things others don't, but she's still a young girl just trying to get through an adventure she never wanted or expected. The story is slow to become fully magical, though by the end there is magic aplenty, and so it's a kind of unfrentically peacefully progressing journey, rather than a gallopy questy type fantasy.
I do wish that there had been more explanation of the Siltsifter (if there was a reason given for his silt-sifting fetish, it escaped me). He seemed something of a cardboard villain, though a spooky and sinister one, and this disappointed me a bit.
But do try this one if you like middle grade fantasies that really transport you to another place, that let the story absorb you into that world and make crystal clear pictures in your mind. The sleek is a lovely snarky animal companion, and the book is almost worth reading just for his sake! The ghost dog is also a lovely animal companion, though not snarky....
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
*Shortlisted, Best Children’s Book category, Aurealis Awards, 2013
Shortlisted, Younger Readers category, Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards, 2014
Winner, Inaugural 2014 Readings Children’s Book Prize, 2014
When the story begins, Peat has no idea that she's about to have adventures of any sort. Her life has been lived in isolation out in the middle--just her, her big sister, some cows, and an aunt who visits periodically to pick up the cheeses they've made and take them back to the hamlet at the end of a dead end canyon a longish walk away. But then a stranger arrives, and Peat tells him where the hamlet is, and when he unwittingly brings sickness there, Peat is blamed. Peat flees off into the badlands, and suddenly her world becomes a much larger, more interesting place than she had ever dreamed off.
And she doesn't travel alone--an extremely appealing animal companion that she calls a Sleek, but some call a scarlet runner (sort of a cross between fox and cat) joins her (intermittently), and I defy any animal loving reader not to want a sleek friend of their own!
Peat's path takes her into the marshlands, where Marsh Aunties, magic using women, vie to take her on as an apprentice. It is Marsh Auntie who's the storyteller and healer who finds her first, and Peat begins to learn stories...including one in which a warrior promised the life of his unborn son to the mysterious Siltsifter to ensure his own safety.....
And then, as the story twists, Peat herself is taken out of the real world and out of time by that very Siltsifter and finds the stories are true. In the Siltsifter's empty land, she meets a lonely boy and his ghost dog who were captured by the Siltsifter centuries ago. Unless they give in to an endless existence of sifting silt for their master, they must somehow manage to escape. Fortunately, her Sleek friend finds her (thanks to Siltboy), which helps, and other magical and human helpers come to the aid of the two children, bringing them to a happy ending in which Peat is reunited with her big sister, which was what she really wanted all along.
If you are tired of Spunky heroines who win through their magical adventures by being just as strong and courageous as stereotypical boy heroes, this one will make a very nice change! Peat is certainly a spunky 11 year old (I would have dissolved into tears a heck of a lot more than she does), and she never gives up hope, and she does have a sensitivity to possibility that lets her see things others don't, but she's still a young girl just trying to get through an adventure she never wanted or expected. The story is slow to become fully magical, though by the end there is magic aplenty, and so it's a kind of unfrentically peacefully progressing journey, rather than a gallopy questy type fantasy.
I do wish that there had been more explanation of the Siltsifter (if there was a reason given for his silt-sifting fetish, it escaped me). He seemed something of a cardboard villain, though a spooky and sinister one, and this disappointed me a bit.
But do try this one if you like middle grade fantasies that really transport you to another place, that let the story absorb you into that world and make crystal clear pictures in your mind. The sleek is a lovely snarky animal companion, and the book is almost worth reading just for his sake! The ghost dog is also a lovely animal companion, though not snarky....
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
*Shortlisted, Best Children’s Book category, Aurealis Awards, 2013
Shortlisted, Younger Readers category, Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards, 2014
Winner, Inaugural 2014 Readings Children’s Book Prize, 2014
7/6/15
Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley
Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley (Dial, June 2015) has been getting tons of love from readers and reviewers, and is showing up on lots of Newbery prediction lists.....and indeed, it's a tremendously imaginative and moving book.
10-year-old Micah Tuttle's life has been pretty much shattered--his beloved Grandpa Ephraim is dying, and his utterly unsympathetic Great Aunt Gertie has moved in, bossing and nagging and keeping him away from his grandpa. Micah misses his grandpa something fierce; the two were very close, and Micah loved hearing all Grandpa Ephraim’s wild stories of the magical Circus Mirandus...never dreaming that the circus really was real.
But it was real, and Grandpa Ephraim was promised a miracle by the circus' mysterious Lightbender. And now he wants his miracle...
When Micah learns about his, he figures his grandpa wants to be all better again, and so he sets off to find the Lightbender and call in the miracle. With the help of a new friend, smart but very real-world oriented Jenny, he sets off to the Circus....
It is a place full of magic, real genuine beautiful magic. A place where Micah feels at home. Jenny, however, doesn't--she almost can't get into the circus at all, because she has such a hard time acknowledging that magic is real. Interspersed with Micah and Jenny's story in the present are flashbacks to Grandpa Ephraim's own discovery of the circus and its magic, and how his life was changed by it.
And in the end, there is a miracle, although it's not what Micah had expected. And there really is magic, as long as you can believe in it.
So on the plus side, this is a circus story for those who think they don't like circuses--there aren't any scary clowns, and it is really a magical enchanting place with flashes of humor. The development of the friendship between Micah and Jenny is a pleasure to watch, and Micah's love for his grandpa gives tender emotional weight to the story.
That beings said, I am really not at all sure if this book, enchanting and moving though it might be to grown-ups who want to believe in magic, and for whom the sadness of loss may well have been a lived thing already, has all that much kid appeal....perhaps there are lots of kids for whom running off to a magical circus will be wonderful, but I just couldn't help but feel a tad that this is one grown-ups will like more....I could well be wrong though!
My one specific complaint is that Aunt Gertie is perhaps too much of a negative caricature of the Bad Grownup who Lacks Sensitivity; I could have used more nuance in her character.
So I wouldn't be surprised to see it get a sticker in January, but it's not tops on the list of books I'm going to press on my own fantasy reading 12 year old, who likes magic more firmly separated from the quotidian world....
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
10-year-old Micah Tuttle's life has been pretty much shattered--his beloved Grandpa Ephraim is dying, and his utterly unsympathetic Great Aunt Gertie has moved in, bossing and nagging and keeping him away from his grandpa. Micah misses his grandpa something fierce; the two were very close, and Micah loved hearing all Grandpa Ephraim’s wild stories of the magical Circus Mirandus...never dreaming that the circus really was real.
But it was real, and Grandpa Ephraim was promised a miracle by the circus' mysterious Lightbender. And now he wants his miracle...
When Micah learns about his, he figures his grandpa wants to be all better again, and so he sets off to find the Lightbender and call in the miracle. With the help of a new friend, smart but very real-world oriented Jenny, he sets off to the Circus....
It is a place full of magic, real genuine beautiful magic. A place where Micah feels at home. Jenny, however, doesn't--she almost can't get into the circus at all, because she has such a hard time acknowledging that magic is real. Interspersed with Micah and Jenny's story in the present are flashbacks to Grandpa Ephraim's own discovery of the circus and its magic, and how his life was changed by it.
And in the end, there is a miracle, although it's not what Micah had expected. And there really is magic, as long as you can believe in it.
So on the plus side, this is a circus story for those who think they don't like circuses--there aren't any scary clowns, and it is really a magical enchanting place with flashes of humor. The development of the friendship between Micah and Jenny is a pleasure to watch, and Micah's love for his grandpa gives tender emotional weight to the story.
That beings said, I am really not at all sure if this book, enchanting and moving though it might be to grown-ups who want to believe in magic, and for whom the sadness of loss may well have been a lived thing already, has all that much kid appeal....perhaps there are lots of kids for whom running off to a magical circus will be wonderful, but I just couldn't help but feel a tad that this is one grown-ups will like more....I could well be wrong though!
My one specific complaint is that Aunt Gertie is perhaps too much of a negative caricature of the Bad Grownup who Lacks Sensitivity; I could have used more nuance in her character.
So I wouldn't be surprised to see it get a sticker in January, but it's not tops on the list of books I'm going to press on my own fantasy reading 12 year old, who likes magic more firmly separated from the quotidian world....
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
7/5/15
The week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (7/5/15)
Here's another week of middle grade sci fi/fantasy blog posts, rounded-up for your reading convinience! I myself have nothing to contribute, since I have been on vacation and not reviewing. Happily others wrote stuff; let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
Alistair Grim’s Odditorium, by Gregory Funaro, at This Kid Reviews Books
The Arctic Code, by Matthew Kirby, at Read Till Dawn
The Box and the Dragonfly, by Ted Sanders, at Middle Grade Strikes Back
The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbit, at books4yourkids.com
Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at Log Cabin Library
Dead Boy, by Laurel Gale, at Mom Read It
Echo, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, at Rosanne Parry
The Fog Diver, by Joel Ross, at The Book Smugglers, Redeemed Reader, and Ms. Yingling Reads
The Folk Keeper, by Franny Billingsley, at Wandering Librarians
Frogged, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Leaf's Reviews
Ghosts of Shanghai, by Julian Sedgwick, at In Bed With Books
Greenglass House, by Kate Milford, at School Library Journal
Grounded: the Adventures of Rapunzel, by Megan Morrison, at Views from the Tesseract
Hunters of Chaos, by Crystal Velzaquez, at The Write Path
Jinx's Fire, by Sage Blackwood, at Kid Lit Geek
Into the Land of the Unicorns, by Bruce Coville, at Read Till Dawn
The Iron Trial, by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, at Dark Faerie Tales
The Maloneys' Magical Weatherbox, by Nigel Quinlan, at Sharon the Librarian
Nightbird, by Alice Hoffman, at Middle Grade Mafioso
North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Time Travel Times Two
The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
The Riverman, by Aaron Starmer, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
Rump, and Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff, at A Year of Reading
Rump (on its own) by Liesl Shurtliff, at Hidden in Pages
Serafina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty at Fantasy Literature
Stonebird, by Mark Revell, at The Book Zone (For Boys)
The Unlikely Adventures of Mable Jones, by Will Mabbitt, at My Brain on Books
The Unmapped Sea, by Maryrose Wood, at Good Books and Good Wine
Valiant, by Sarah McGuire, at Cracking the Cover
The Whispering Trees, by J. A. White, at Big Hair and Books
Authors and Interviews
Patrick Samphire (Secrets of the Dragon Tomb) at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Lou Anders (Nightborn) at Winterhaven Books
Cassie Beasley (Circus Mirandus) at Nerdy Book Club
Emma Carroll (In Darkling Wood) at Middle Grade Strikes Back
Lynne Jonell (The Sign of the Cat) at Fuse #8
K.E. Ormsbee (The Water and the Wild) at Pop! Goes the Reader
Other Good Stuff
A nice list of books with librarians at Here There Be Books
The Reviews
Alistair Grim’s Odditorium, by Gregory Funaro, at This Kid Reviews Books
The Arctic Code, by Matthew Kirby, at Read Till Dawn
The Box and the Dragonfly, by Ted Sanders, at Middle Grade Strikes Back
The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbit, at books4yourkids.com
Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at Log Cabin Library
Dead Boy, by Laurel Gale, at Mom Read It
Echo, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, at Rosanne Parry
The Fog Diver, by Joel Ross, at The Book Smugglers, Redeemed Reader, and Ms. Yingling Reads
The Folk Keeper, by Franny Billingsley, at Wandering Librarians
Frogged, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Leaf's Reviews
Ghosts of Shanghai, by Julian Sedgwick, at In Bed With Books
Greenglass House, by Kate Milford, at School Library Journal
Grounded: the Adventures of Rapunzel, by Megan Morrison, at Views from the Tesseract
Hunters of Chaos, by Crystal Velzaquez, at The Write Path
Jinx's Fire, by Sage Blackwood, at Kid Lit Geek
Into the Land of the Unicorns, by Bruce Coville, at Read Till Dawn
The Iron Trial, by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, at Dark Faerie Tales
The Maloneys' Magical Weatherbox, by Nigel Quinlan, at Sharon the Librarian
Nightbird, by Alice Hoffman, at Middle Grade Mafioso
North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Time Travel Times Two
The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
The Riverman, by Aaron Starmer, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
Rump, and Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff, at A Year of Reading
Rump (on its own) by Liesl Shurtliff, at Hidden in Pages
Serafina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty at Fantasy Literature
Stonebird, by Mark Revell, at The Book Zone (For Boys)
The Unlikely Adventures of Mable Jones, by Will Mabbitt, at My Brain on Books
The Unmapped Sea, by Maryrose Wood, at Good Books and Good Wine
Valiant, by Sarah McGuire, at Cracking the Cover
The Whispering Trees, by J. A. White, at Big Hair and Books
Authors and Interviews
Patrick Samphire (Secrets of the Dragon Tomb) at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Lou Anders (Nightborn) at Winterhaven Books
Cassie Beasley (Circus Mirandus) at Nerdy Book Club
Emma Carroll (In Darkling Wood) at Middle Grade Strikes Back
Lynne Jonell (The Sign of the Cat) at Fuse #8
K.E. Ormsbee (The Water and the Wild) at Pop! Goes the Reader
Other Good Stuff
A nice list of books with librarians at Here There Be Books
7/1/15
Waiting on Wednesday--Kingfisher, by Patricia McKillip
I'm off travelling today (Colonial Williamsburg), so thought it would be a good day to just share a book I'm awfully excited about--a new one from one of my favorite authors, Patricia McKillip!
Kingfisher (coming in Feb. 2016, which is closer than one might think), is an Arthurian sounding story:
"Hidden away from the world by his mother, the powerful sorceress Heloise Oliver, Pierce has grown up working in her restaurant in Desolation Point. One day, unexpectedly, strangers pass through town on the way to the legendary capital city. “Look for us,” they tell Pierce, “if you come to Severluna. You might find a place for yourself in King Arden’s court.”
Lured by a future far away from the bleak northern coast, Pierce makes his choice. Heloise, bereft and furious, tells her son the truth: about his father, a knight in King Arden’s court, about an older brother he never knew existed, about his father’s destructive love for King Arden’s queen, and Heloise’s decision to raise her younger son alone.
As Pierce journeys to Severluna, his path twists and turns through other lives and mysteries: an inn where ancient rites are celebrated, though no one will speak of them; a legendary local chef whose delicacies leave diners slowly withering from hunger; his mysterious wife who steals Pierce’s heart; a young woman whose need to escape her life is even greater than Pierce’s. And finally, in Severluna, the youngest son of King Arden, who is urged by strange and lovely forces to sacrifice his father’s kingdom.
Things are changing in that kingdom. Ancient magic is on the rise. The immensely powerful artifact of an ancient god has come to light, and the king is gathering his knights to quest for this profound mystery, which may restore the kingdom to legendary glory—or destroy it..."
Yay!
Kingfisher (coming in Feb. 2016, which is closer than one might think), is an Arthurian sounding story:
"Hidden away from the world by his mother, the powerful sorceress Heloise Oliver, Pierce has grown up working in her restaurant in Desolation Point. One day, unexpectedly, strangers pass through town on the way to the legendary capital city. “Look for us,” they tell Pierce, “if you come to Severluna. You might find a place for yourself in King Arden’s court.”
Lured by a future far away from the bleak northern coast, Pierce makes his choice. Heloise, bereft and furious, tells her son the truth: about his father, a knight in King Arden’s court, about an older brother he never knew existed, about his father’s destructive love for King Arden’s queen, and Heloise’s decision to raise her younger son alone.
As Pierce journeys to Severluna, his path twists and turns through other lives and mysteries: an inn where ancient rites are celebrated, though no one will speak of them; a legendary local chef whose delicacies leave diners slowly withering from hunger; his mysterious wife who steals Pierce’s heart; a young woman whose need to escape her life is even greater than Pierce’s. And finally, in Severluna, the youngest son of King Arden, who is urged by strange and lovely forces to sacrifice his father’s kingdom.
Things are changing in that kingdom. Ancient magic is on the rise. The immensely powerful artifact of an ancient god has come to light, and the king is gathering his knights to quest for this profound mystery, which may restore the kingdom to legendary glory—or destroy it..."
Yay!
6/29/15
The Girl in the Torch, by Robert Sharenow
The Girl in the Torch, by Robert Sharenow (Balzer + Bray, mg, May 2015)
In the early 20th century, Sarah and her mother leave their home, where Sarah's father has just been killed, for the hope that is the United States. But then Sarah's mother falls ill, and dies in the immigration center, and Sarah is put on a boat headed back to Europe. She refuses to give up on her dream, though, and jumps overboard, swimming to the Statue of Liberty. For the next few days, she makes it her home, scrounging for food discarded by tourists and hiding from the night watchman.
Then the watchman discovers her...but Sarah is lucky, and he takes her off the island to a refuge in a household run by a Chinese woman. And though more troubles come her way (the life of poor orphaned immigrants in New York City not being all that fun), Sarah is lucky in that she finds people to befriend her (to the point of requiring strong suspension of disbelief), and so her story ends with hope.
The majority of the people whom Sarah meets are well intentioned, and lacking in ethnic prejudice (they were Russian, Irish, Chinese, African American, and Native American, and Sarah herself is Jewish). So although it might be hard for the cynic to swallow the fact that all these people worked together to look after Sarah, this niceness did much to compensate for the sadness of death and the hardness of poverty that are also part of Sarah's life. And though I myself am cynical much of the time, I frankly prefer my historical fiction not to dwell too much on dark realities. I am not drawn to grit. Which means I enjoyed this one just fine, and thought it pleasantly readable; I'd happily give it to any young historical fiction fan who likes nice character-centered stories of the past!
(Here's what I would really have liked more of--Sarah living in the Statue of Liberty for longer, and making a home for herself there ala the Borrowers. Oh well!)
Here's the Kirkus review.
disclaimer: review copy received fro the publisher
In the early 20th century, Sarah and her mother leave their home, where Sarah's father has just been killed, for the hope that is the United States. But then Sarah's mother falls ill, and dies in the immigration center, and Sarah is put on a boat headed back to Europe. She refuses to give up on her dream, though, and jumps overboard, swimming to the Statue of Liberty. For the next few days, she makes it her home, scrounging for food discarded by tourists and hiding from the night watchman.
Then the watchman discovers her...but Sarah is lucky, and he takes her off the island to a refuge in a household run by a Chinese woman. And though more troubles come her way (the life of poor orphaned immigrants in New York City not being all that fun), Sarah is lucky in that she finds people to befriend her (to the point of requiring strong suspension of disbelief), and so her story ends with hope.
The majority of the people whom Sarah meets are well intentioned, and lacking in ethnic prejudice (they were Russian, Irish, Chinese, African American, and Native American, and Sarah herself is Jewish). So although it might be hard for the cynic to swallow the fact that all these people worked together to look after Sarah, this niceness did much to compensate for the sadness of death and the hardness of poverty that are also part of Sarah's life. And though I myself am cynical much of the time, I frankly prefer my historical fiction not to dwell too much on dark realities. I am not drawn to grit. Which means I enjoyed this one just fine, and thought it pleasantly readable; I'd happily give it to any young historical fiction fan who likes nice character-centered stories of the past!
(Here's what I would really have liked more of--Sarah living in the Statue of Liberty for longer, and making a home for herself there ala the Borrowers. Oh well!)
Here's the Kirkus review.
disclaimer: review copy received fro the publisher
6/28/15
This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (6/28/15)
As ever, let me know if I missed your post!
Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at In Bed With Books
A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Children, by Laurence Yep and Joanne Ryder, at Fangirl Nation
Echo, by Pamela Munoz Ryan, at Literate Lives
Ferals, by Jacob Grey, at Charlotte's Library
Fires of Invention, by J. Scott Savage, at Views from the Tesseract
Flunked by Jen Calonita, at Pages Unbound
The IPhone that Saved George Washington, by David Potter, at Charlotte's Library
I Text Dead People, by Rose Cooper, at In Bed With Books
Into the Land of the Unicorns, by Bruce Coville, at Read Till Dawn
Lily, books 1-3, by Holly Webb, at alibrarymama
Loot, by Jude Watson, at Teen Librarian Toolbox
The Mad Apprentice, by Django Wexler, at Good Books and Good Wine
Nightbird, by Alice Hoffman, at KidLitGeek
Omega City, by Diana Peterfreund, at Dark Fairie Tales
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Hidden in Pages
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier, at Becky's Book Reviews
Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures, by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater, at Books Beside My Bed
The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Leaf's Reviews
The Sound of Life and Everything, by Krista Van Dolzer, at The Children's War
Valiant, by Sarah McGuire, at Writer of Wrongs
Vanishing Island, by Barry Wolverton, at This Kid Reviews Books
Villain Keeper, by Laurie McKay, at Istyria Book Blog
Winter Turning (Wings of Fire book 7) by Tui T. Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library
Witherwood Reform School, by Obert Skye, at On Starships and Dragonwings
Two at Ms. Yingling Reads--Atlantis in Peril, by T.A. Barron, and Attack of the Alien Hoards, by Robert Venditti and Dusty Higgins
Authors and Interviews
John David Anderson (The Dungeoneers) at Maria's Melange
Other Good Stuff
There's an exhibit opening at the Smithsonian in July that looks really cool--"Fantastic Worlds: Science and Fiction, 1780-1910."
A list of recentish scary/horror mg books at The Hiding Spot
Someone was looking for time travel books with diversity, so I pulled together a list of mg and ya titles.
Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley, at In Bed With Books
A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Children, by Laurence Yep and Joanne Ryder, at Fangirl Nation
Echo, by Pamela Munoz Ryan, at Literate Lives
Ferals, by Jacob Grey, at Charlotte's Library
Fires of Invention, by J. Scott Savage, at Views from the Tesseract
Flunked by Jen Calonita, at Pages Unbound
The IPhone that Saved George Washington, by David Potter, at Charlotte's Library
I Text Dead People, by Rose Cooper, at In Bed With Books
Into the Land of the Unicorns, by Bruce Coville, at Read Till Dawn
Lily, books 1-3, by Holly Webb, at alibrarymama
Loot, by Jude Watson, at Teen Librarian Toolbox
The Mad Apprentice, by Django Wexler, at Good Books and Good Wine
Nightbird, by Alice Hoffman, at KidLitGeek
Omega City, by Diana Peterfreund, at Dark Fairie Tales
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Hidden in Pages
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier, at Becky's Book Reviews
Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures, by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater, at Books Beside My Bed
The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Leaf's Reviews
The Sound of Life and Everything, by Krista Van Dolzer, at The Children's War
Valiant, by Sarah McGuire, at Writer of Wrongs
Vanishing Island, by Barry Wolverton, at This Kid Reviews Books
Villain Keeper, by Laurie McKay, at Istyria Book Blog
Winter Turning (Wings of Fire book 7) by Tui T. Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library
Witherwood Reform School, by Obert Skye, at On Starships and Dragonwings
Two at Ms. Yingling Reads--Atlantis in Peril, by T.A. Barron, and Attack of the Alien Hoards, by Robert Venditti and Dusty Higgins
Authors and Interviews
John David Anderson (The Dungeoneers) at Maria's Melange
Other Good Stuff
There's an exhibit opening at the Smithsonian in July that looks really cool--"Fantastic Worlds: Science and Fiction, 1780-1910."
A list of recentish scary/horror mg books at The Hiding Spot
Someone was looking for time travel books with diversity, so I pulled together a list of mg and ya titles.
6/27/15
A list of time travel books with diversity
The Twinjas asked on twitter for recommendations of diverse time travel books, and so here one is! I keep a list of time travel books, and a list of multicultural spec fic books, but the two aren't cross referenced, so I went into time travel and pulled out the relevant books. Here's what there's not a lot of--LGBT time travel or time travel of characters with disabilities. I have given my personal favorites stars, and I've given books I think of as "important reads in diverse time travel" double stars. The links go to my reviews.
I am always open to more recommendations, so sent them my way please.
Multicultural (arranged more or less by age of reader)
Bonjour, Lonnie, by Faith Ringgold
The Little Yokozuna, by Wayne Shorey
The Magic Mirror, by Zetta Elliott
*Cleopatra in Space--Target Practice, and The Thief and the Sword by Mike Maihack
The Book that Proves Time Travel Happens, by Henry Clark
Chronal Engine, by Greg Leitich Smith
Abracadabra Tut, by Page McBriar
Turning on a Dime, by Maggie Dana
Bridge of Time, by Lewis Buzbee
Jacob Wonderbar and the Intersellar Time Warp, by Nathan Bransford
Phyllis Wong and the Return of the Conjuror, by Geoffrey McSkimming
*The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman
Dragon Magic, by Andre Norton
Lavender-Green Magic, by Andre Norton
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time, by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Freedom Stone, by Jeffrey Kluger
Facing Fire, by kc dyer
Roberto and Me: a Baseball Card Adventure, by Dan Gutman
Black Powder, by Staton Rabin
The Snipesville Chronicles (three books) by Annette Laing
The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Archer's Quest, by Linda Sue Park
*The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggott
And The Infinity Ring series from Scholastic, by various authors
YA on up
Black Powder, by Staton Rabin
The Girl Who Lept Through Time, by Yasutaka Tsutsui
*The Black Canary, by Jane Louise Curry
Echo, by Alicia Wright Brewster
*The Tomorrow Code, by Brian Falkner
The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman
Transcendence, by C.J. Omololu
Along the River, by Adeline Yen Mah
**Kindred, by Octavia Butler
**A Wish After Midnight, by Zetta Elliott
(With reservations re whether it really counts as diversity as stated in my review) The River of No Return, by Bee Ridgeway
Disability--
Dreamer, Wisher, Liar, by Clarise Mericle Harper
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease
Non-Binary Gender--
*Several short stories by Ursula Le Guin, in The Winds Twelve Quarters and Fisherman of an Inland Sea
I am always open to more recommendations, so sent them my way please.
Multicultural (arranged more or less by age of reader)
Bonjour, Lonnie, by Faith Ringgold
The Little Yokozuna, by Wayne Shorey
The Magic Mirror, by Zetta Elliott
*Cleopatra in Space--Target Practice, and The Thief and the Sword by Mike Maihack
The Book that Proves Time Travel Happens, by Henry Clark
Chronal Engine, by Greg Leitich Smith
Abracadabra Tut, by Page McBriar
Turning on a Dime, by Maggie Dana
Bridge of Time, by Lewis Buzbee
Jacob Wonderbar and the Intersellar Time Warp, by Nathan Bransford
Phyllis Wong and the Return of the Conjuror, by Geoffrey McSkimming
*The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman
Dragon Magic, by Andre Norton
Lavender-Green Magic, by Andre Norton
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time, by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Freedom Stone, by Jeffrey Kluger
Facing Fire, by kc dyer
Roberto and Me: a Baseball Card Adventure, by Dan Gutman
Black Powder, by Staton Rabin
The Snipesville Chronicles (three books) by Annette Laing
The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Archer's Quest, by Linda Sue Park
*The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggott
And The Infinity Ring series from Scholastic, by various authors
YA on up
Black Powder, by Staton Rabin
The Girl Who Lept Through Time, by Yasutaka Tsutsui
*The Black Canary, by Jane Louise Curry
Echo, by Alicia Wright Brewster
*The Tomorrow Code, by Brian Falkner
The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman
Transcendence, by C.J. Omololu
Along the River, by Adeline Yen Mah
**Kindred, by Octavia Butler
**A Wish After Midnight, by Zetta Elliott
(With reservations re whether it really counts as diversity as stated in my review) The River of No Return, by Bee Ridgeway
Disability--
Dreamer, Wisher, Liar, by Clarise Mericle Harper
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease
Non-Binary Gender--
*Several short stories by Ursula Le Guin, in The Winds Twelve Quarters and Fisherman of an Inland Sea
6/25/15
The Eternal City, by Paula Morris--mythological mayhem in Rome for tweens
The Eternal City, by Paula Morris (Point, May 2015, upper middle grade/lower YA)
Laura is an ordinary American student visiting Rome, until war between the ancient Roman gods breaks out, and she's right in the middle of it. Things start going strange gradually--ancient works of art coming to brief life, crows behaving strangely, and a manhole cover trying to eat her. Then her classmates are almost all struck down with a mysterious illness, and a volcano erupts, showering Rome with Ash! Mercury appears, telling Laura that she's in possession of two stones that are the Eyes of Athena... but he doesn't really offer helpful advice on what the heck she's supposed to do with them before Rome is destroyed.
In a panic stricken city, Laura and a handful of other foreign teens who have escaped the sickness try to figure their way through an ancient Rome coming to life...
On the plus side, this is a very tween friendly book, especially for an 11 or 12 year old girl--there's enough of a nod toward teen romance to please a reader who hasn't really gotten into the heart of the YA section, but it stays very tame. It's also one that will appeal to those who insatiably devour stories of modern kids getting entangled with classical mythology, although they might be disappointed by the distance the gods themselves keep from the goings on the ground. The descriptions of Rome and the magic filling its streets are very nicely done (and the ideal reader would be a tween about to travel there), but unfortunately, the story itself never ended up making much sense to me. Laura seemed just a random happenstance to the larger mythological goings on, and on top of that, she didn't have much agency, sort of drifting from one excitement to the next (and in the book's favor, there were lots of these, nicely paced) without much reason behind it.
Not a bad read, but not as good as I'd hoped it would be based on the description.
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
Laura is an ordinary American student visiting Rome, until war between the ancient Roman gods breaks out, and she's right in the middle of it. Things start going strange gradually--ancient works of art coming to brief life, crows behaving strangely, and a manhole cover trying to eat her. Then her classmates are almost all struck down with a mysterious illness, and a volcano erupts, showering Rome with Ash! Mercury appears, telling Laura that she's in possession of two stones that are the Eyes of Athena... but he doesn't really offer helpful advice on what the heck she's supposed to do with them before Rome is destroyed.
In a panic stricken city, Laura and a handful of other foreign teens who have escaped the sickness try to figure their way through an ancient Rome coming to life...
On the plus side, this is a very tween friendly book, especially for an 11 or 12 year old girl--there's enough of a nod toward teen romance to please a reader who hasn't really gotten into the heart of the YA section, but it stays very tame. It's also one that will appeal to those who insatiably devour stories of modern kids getting entangled with classical mythology, although they might be disappointed by the distance the gods themselves keep from the goings on the ground. The descriptions of Rome and the magic filling its streets are very nicely done (and the ideal reader would be a tween about to travel there), but unfortunately, the story itself never ended up making much sense to me. Laura seemed just a random happenstance to the larger mythological goings on, and on top of that, she didn't have much agency, sort of drifting from one excitement to the next (and in the book's favor, there were lots of these, nicely paced) without much reason behind it.
Not a bad read, but not as good as I'd hoped it would be based on the description.
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
6/24/15
Winter Turning (Wings of Fire Book 7) by Tui T. Sutherland
Of all the books I got at BEA, the one I read first for my own personal pleasure was Winter Turning, the 7th book in a series about young dragons reshaping their war torn world (Scholastic, June 30). War between the dragon clans had been going on for years, and many dragons had died, horribly and unforgivably. Now the war is over, and young dragons are being asked to forgive the past and to work together to build peace. It is hard, almost unimaginably hard, when loved ones on all sides have died, many in horrible circumstances. But it is possible...because among the young dragons are some who are just really great people, who believe friendship is possible.
This particular book focuses on a young Ice Wing, Winter, who isn't at all convinced. His harsh upbringing (I don't want to be a young Ice Wing!) hasn't prepared him for peace in general, and his main concern is not the good of some abstract Dragonkind, but saving his older brother, still a prisoner of the war. But to save his brother, Winter might have to betray dragons from other clans who he is starting to care about, who might even be friends...the next book can't come soon enough!
This series is beautifully character driven, each book being from a different dragon's point of view. There's plenty of action and excitement, but what really makes this a Really Outstanding Full of Kid Appeal (and I don't Capitalize Lightly) set of books is that the dragons are so unique, so strong in some ways, so hurt in others, and the problems they are grappling with are so (sadly) germane to conflicts in our own world that the books are more than just entertainment (though they aren't preachy). All the various dragon cultures and idiosyncrasies are fully detailed too, making the world building something to enjoy lots!
If you have a fourth or fifth grader, start them on the series (and speaking as a parent, the fact that it's a nice long series is something to be happy about too, viz keeping one's children reading. They will be hooked and the books will take them through a good part of the summer). The first book is perhaps the most violent of the series (with dragon pitted against dragon in an arena of death) but there's so much more than violence going on that I would not hesitate to give it to any random 9 year old I happened to run into on the street.
For those who, like me, are already hooked--the next book, which comes out in January, is from Peril's point of view! I can't wait. (This is the sort of thing that makes me really glad I started a book blog. I will probably get a review copy, and give it to my son at Christmas, and he will be So Happy!)
Disclaimer: received from the publisher
This particular book focuses on a young Ice Wing, Winter, who isn't at all convinced. His harsh upbringing (I don't want to be a young Ice Wing!) hasn't prepared him for peace in general, and his main concern is not the good of some abstract Dragonkind, but saving his older brother, still a prisoner of the war. But to save his brother, Winter might have to betray dragons from other clans who he is starting to care about, who might even be friends...the next book can't come soon enough!
This series is beautifully character driven, each book being from a different dragon's point of view. There's plenty of action and excitement, but what really makes this a Really Outstanding Full of Kid Appeal (and I don't Capitalize Lightly) set of books is that the dragons are so unique, so strong in some ways, so hurt in others, and the problems they are grappling with are so (sadly) germane to conflicts in our own world that the books are more than just entertainment (though they aren't preachy). All the various dragon cultures and idiosyncrasies are fully detailed too, making the world building something to enjoy lots!
If you have a fourth or fifth grader, start them on the series (and speaking as a parent, the fact that it's a nice long series is something to be happy about too, viz keeping one's children reading. They will be hooked and the books will take them through a good part of the summer). The first book is perhaps the most violent of the series (with dragon pitted against dragon in an arena of death) but there's so much more than violence going on that I would not hesitate to give it to any random 9 year old I happened to run into on the street.
For those who, like me, are already hooked--the next book, which comes out in January, is from Peril's point of view! I can't wait. (This is the sort of thing that makes me really glad I started a book blog. I will probably get a review copy, and give it to my son at Christmas, and he will be So Happy!)
Disclaimer: received from the publisher
6/23/15
The Left Behinds: The iPhone that Saved George Washington, by David Potter, for Timeslip Tuesday
The Left Behinds: The iPhone that Saved George Washington, by David Potter (Crown Books for Young Readers, Jan. 2015).
For the Left Behind kids, stuck spending Christmas at their boarding school, going to see the re-enactment of Washington Crossing the Delaware was mostly something to be endured. (Except for Mel, the history geek of the three of them, who was at least a little interested),
But then Mel find General Washington dead (really truly dead) in a stable. And he realizes (in bits, as is only to be expected) that he's actually travelled back in time. Bev and Brandon come back in time too, and Mel convinces them that they have to come to the rescue of the colonies, or the United States will never exist.
Thanks to texts from his history teacher back in the present, Mel realizes that his iPhone was the time travel catalyst. But unless he can charge it, the kids won't get home again.
So there in the middle of colonial winter (with Washington dead in barn) the three set out, braving hostile Hessians and suspicious colonial kids to find Ben Franklin, the only iPhone charging hope going. But once that's done, there's the matter of George Washington...so Mel hops back in time again, to foil the killers...
And it's fine history adventure fun. I'm a smidge doubtful about the appeal of the American Revolution to modern kids (mine are tired of it), and I think the blurb at Amazon goes over board--"Percy Jackson fans will embrace this humorous time travel adventure..." (what? P.J. is totally utterly different, except that he, like Mel, is a boy thrown into adventure, but of a totally different sort). This is more along the lines of Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books for older readers, and it's done well, with bits of humor, and vivid descriptions. But it's not Percy Jackson.
Time travel via iPhone app is certainly an interesting premise, and there's a not uninteresting story about why it happened to the kids (there's a villain who wants to unleash temporal chaos on the world). There's certainly lots of room for more stories. Despite the premise, there wasn't much overt concern for the paradox that beset time travelers, which, since the characters were busy staying alive and keeping Washington alive, is understandable, but which may disappoint time travel fans. I'd classify this one as "time travel as a mechanism that allows modern kids to have adventures with historical figures" story, as opposed to "time travel as an opportunity to reflect on a different culture/time and see how it changes the protagonists." And I'm really more a fan of the later.
Something I found interesting was that although the three kids weren't friends at the beginning of the book, they did Not grow to appreciate each other much, and did not become inseparable comrades by the end of it. Points for realism! But on the other hand, because there wasn't much change or growth to the characters, even though we learn more about their lives, there wasn't much opportunity to care that much about them.
In short there wasn't anything I actively didn't like about the book, but things just didn't feel particularly magical to me, and so it was a book that I read perfectly happily, but didn't love.
For the Left Behind kids, stuck spending Christmas at their boarding school, going to see the re-enactment of Washington Crossing the Delaware was mostly something to be endured. (Except for Mel, the history geek of the three of them, who was at least a little interested),
But then Mel find General Washington dead (really truly dead) in a stable. And he realizes (in bits, as is only to be expected) that he's actually travelled back in time. Bev and Brandon come back in time too, and Mel convinces them that they have to come to the rescue of the colonies, or the United States will never exist.
Thanks to texts from his history teacher back in the present, Mel realizes that his iPhone was the time travel catalyst. But unless he can charge it, the kids won't get home again.
So there in the middle of colonial winter (with Washington dead in barn) the three set out, braving hostile Hessians and suspicious colonial kids to find Ben Franklin, the only iPhone charging hope going. But once that's done, there's the matter of George Washington...so Mel hops back in time again, to foil the killers...
And it's fine history adventure fun. I'm a smidge doubtful about the appeal of the American Revolution to modern kids (mine are tired of it), and I think the blurb at Amazon goes over board--"Percy Jackson fans will embrace this humorous time travel adventure..." (what? P.J. is totally utterly different, except that he, like Mel, is a boy thrown into adventure, but of a totally different sort). This is more along the lines of Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books for older readers, and it's done well, with bits of humor, and vivid descriptions. But it's not Percy Jackson.
Time travel via iPhone app is certainly an interesting premise, and there's a not uninteresting story about why it happened to the kids (there's a villain who wants to unleash temporal chaos on the world). There's certainly lots of room for more stories. Despite the premise, there wasn't much overt concern for the paradox that beset time travelers, which, since the characters were busy staying alive and keeping Washington alive, is understandable, but which may disappoint time travel fans. I'd classify this one as "time travel as a mechanism that allows modern kids to have adventures with historical figures" story, as opposed to "time travel as an opportunity to reflect on a different culture/time and see how it changes the protagonists." And I'm really more a fan of the later.
Something I found interesting was that although the three kids weren't friends at the beginning of the book, they did Not grow to appreciate each other much, and did not become inseparable comrades by the end of it. Points for realism! But on the other hand, because there wasn't much change or growth to the characters, even though we learn more about their lives, there wasn't much opportunity to care that much about them.
In short there wasn't anything I actively didn't like about the book, but things just didn't feel particularly magical to me, and so it was a book that I read perfectly happily, but didn't love.
6/22/15
Ferals, by Jacob Grey
If you are looking for shape-shifting urban fantasy verging on horror for an eleven or twelve year old, Ferals, by Jacob Grey (HarperCollins, April 2015), is a good pick!
Caw's parents literally pushed him out a window when he was a little kid (for good reason), and since that day he's been raised by crows, living in a tree top nest with them, scavenging for food. He can communicate with them, and does not think of his life as especially hard or unhappy (though he is sore, also with good reason, about the whole parents pushing him out of the house bit).
But when three dangerous criminals escape from the prison near his tree, Caw's life becomes rather more difficult, in as much as they want to kill him (also for reasons). Like him, each of these villains can communicate with a particular creature (dogs, cockroaches, and snakes), but unlike Caw, the villains want to bring back an even more villainous criminal, the Spinning Man (who controls spiders).
As Caw learns more about the danger he's in, he also learns more about who he is, and why he has the gift of communicating with crows. He meets other communicators who tell him about the Ferals, as the animal speakers are known, and he makes an ordinary friend as well--the prison warden's daughter, Lydia (the sort of middle grade archetypally good friend who doesn't take no for an answer viz friendship with prickly main character). Together Lydia and Caw, the ragtag band of crows, and their uncertain Feral allies, have to save the city and themselves from the Spinning Man...
What makes this one really verge on horror is not just the grossness of cockroach swarms (although those are very gross) but what happened to Caw's parents when they faced the Spinning Man. It is the most horrible death by spider I have ever read, and not for the arachnophobic.
But for those who can stand a bit of arachnid hell, there's a fast paced story that's part mystery to enjoy, and for those who love animals, there are furry and feathered friends (besides the crows) on the good guys' side. (The dogs are on the bad side, but once their master feral dude is out of they way, they are decent animals, so dog lovers shouldn't be bothered). Dark real world based fantasy isn't really my thing, but if that's what you like, give this one a try!
(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)
Caw's parents literally pushed him out a window when he was a little kid (for good reason), and since that day he's been raised by crows, living in a tree top nest with them, scavenging for food. He can communicate with them, and does not think of his life as especially hard or unhappy (though he is sore, also with good reason, about the whole parents pushing him out of the house bit).
But when three dangerous criminals escape from the prison near his tree, Caw's life becomes rather more difficult, in as much as they want to kill him (also for reasons). Like him, each of these villains can communicate with a particular creature (dogs, cockroaches, and snakes), but unlike Caw, the villains want to bring back an even more villainous criminal, the Spinning Man (who controls spiders).
As Caw learns more about the danger he's in, he also learns more about who he is, and why he has the gift of communicating with crows. He meets other communicators who tell him about the Ferals, as the animal speakers are known, and he makes an ordinary friend as well--the prison warden's daughter, Lydia (the sort of middle grade archetypally good friend who doesn't take no for an answer viz friendship with prickly main character). Together Lydia and Caw, the ragtag band of crows, and their uncertain Feral allies, have to save the city and themselves from the Spinning Man...
What makes this one really verge on horror is not just the grossness of cockroach swarms (although those are very gross) but what happened to Caw's parents when they faced the Spinning Man. It is the most horrible death by spider I have ever read, and not for the arachnophobic.
But for those who can stand a bit of arachnid hell, there's a fast paced story that's part mystery to enjoy, and for those who love animals, there are furry and feathered friends (besides the crows) on the good guys' side. (The dogs are on the bad side, but once their master feral dude is out of they way, they are decent animals, so dog lovers shouldn't be bothered). Dark real world based fantasy isn't really my thing, but if that's what you like, give this one a try!
(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)
6/21/15
My 48 Hour Reading Challenge Wrap-Up Post
So my final reading time, which ended at 6:18 pm was 19 hours and forty minutes...plus an hour of social media, pushing me to 20 hours, 40 minutes. I couldn't quite make it to 20 hours of reading. Oh well! I read lots of books though, which was good. I finished 11 books, all with pleasure (although I'm not sure I'll ever be moved to re-read any of them, so they weren't quite Top Books). Even though they were mostly middle grade, tilting toward spec. fic., there was enough variety to keep me interested.
Palace of Lies, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (368 pp)
Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes (228 pp)
Dragons at Crumbling Castle, by Terry Pratchett (339 pp)
Apple and Rain, by Sarah Crossan (330 pp)
The Girl in the Torch, by Robert Sharenow (304 pp)
The Unmapped Sea, by Maryrose Wood (404 pp)
The Black Reckoning, by John Stephens (421 pp)
The League of Unexceptional Children, by Gitty Daneshvari (240 pp)
Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley (304 pp)
The Inquisitor's Mark, by Dianne K. Salerni (352 pp)
Stormstruck, by John Macfarlane (144 pp)
plus 89 pages of The Well-Tuned Brain, by Peter Whybrow
and listened to the first four discs of Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff.
which is about 3,400 pages altogether.
Now, of course, I have reviews to write for many of these....but I think I might curl up and read a bit more! Thank you so much, Pam, for hosting this!
Palace of Lies, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (368 pp)
Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes (228 pp)
Dragons at Crumbling Castle, by Terry Pratchett (339 pp)
Apple and Rain, by Sarah Crossan (330 pp)
The Girl in the Torch, by Robert Sharenow (304 pp)
The Unmapped Sea, by Maryrose Wood (404 pp)
The Black Reckoning, by John Stephens (421 pp)
The League of Unexceptional Children, by Gitty Daneshvari (240 pp)
Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley (304 pp)
The Inquisitor's Mark, by Dianne K. Salerni (352 pp)
Stormstruck, by John Macfarlane (144 pp)
plus 89 pages of The Well-Tuned Brain, by Peter Whybrow
and listened to the first four discs of Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff.
which is about 3,400 pages altogether.
Now, of course, I have reviews to write for many of these....but I think I might curl up and read a bit more! Thank you so much, Pam, for hosting this!
This Week's Round-up of Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction (6/21/15)
Here's this week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi gathered from around the blogs; please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
All the Answers, by Kate Messner, at Semicolon
Bayou Magic, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, at Books of Wonder and Wisdom
Castle Hangnail, by Ursula Vernon, at Jean Little Library
Dan and the Sherd of Ice, by Thomas Taylor, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books
Eden's Wish, by M. Tara Crowl, at Nayu's Reading Corner
The Fog Diver, by Joel Ross, at Charlotte's Library
Goldilocks Breaks In, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams at Pages Unbound
Grounded: the Adventures of Rapunzel, by Megan Morrison, at Leaf's Reviews
Half a Creature from the Sea, by David Almond, at Falling Letters
Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones, at By Singing Light
Jinx's Fire, by Sage Blackwood, at Sonderbooks
The Jumbies, by Tracy Baptiste, at The Washington Post and Abby the Librarian
The Left Behinds: The iPhone that Saved George Washington, by David Potter, at Always in the Middle
Magical Charms for Breakfast, by Merriweather Hope, at Andi's Middle Grade and Chapter Books
The Magician's Dream, by Shawn Thomas Odyssey, at Fangirl Nation
Mothman's Curse, by Christine Hayes, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Nightborn, by Lou Anders, at Great Imaginations
Palace of Lies, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at Charlotte's Library
Pennyroyal Academy, by M.A. Larson, at Good Books and Good Wine
Raising Rufus, by David Fulk, at The Write Path
Ratscalibur, by Josh Lieb, at Librarian of Snark and Teen Librarian Toolbox
Return to Augie Hobble, by Lane Smith, at Fuse #8
Scare Scape, and The Midnight Door: Scare Scape #2, by Sam Fisher, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Stellarcadia, by Julie Anne Grasso, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Seraphina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
The Valley of Song, by Elizabeth Goudge, at The Emerald City
Worry Magic, by Dawn McNiff, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Authors and Interviews
Barry Wolverton (Vanishing Island) at Maria's Menage and The Hiding Spot
John David Anderson (The Dungeoneers) at Nerdy Book Club
David Fulk (Raising Rufus) at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
Tonke Dragt (The Secrets of the Wild Wood) at Playing By the Book
Other Good Stuff
A Tuesday 10 of Fantastical Pirates at Views From the Tesseract
At the Morgan Museum in New York, a new Alice exhibit opens on the 26th (found via Educating Alice)
The Reviews
All the Answers, by Kate Messner, at Semicolon
Bayou Magic, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, at Books of Wonder and Wisdom
Castle Hangnail, by Ursula Vernon, at Jean Little Library
Dan and the Sherd of Ice, by Thomas Taylor, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books
Eden's Wish, by M. Tara Crowl, at Nayu's Reading Corner
The Fog Diver, by Joel Ross, at Charlotte's Library
Goldilocks Breaks In, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams at Pages Unbound
Grounded: the Adventures of Rapunzel, by Megan Morrison, at Leaf's Reviews
Half a Creature from the Sea, by David Almond, at Falling Letters
Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones, at By Singing Light
Jinx's Fire, by Sage Blackwood, at Sonderbooks
The Jumbies, by Tracy Baptiste, at The Washington Post and Abby the Librarian
The Left Behinds: The iPhone that Saved George Washington, by David Potter, at Always in the Middle
Magical Charms for Breakfast, by Merriweather Hope, at Andi's Middle Grade and Chapter Books
The Magician's Dream, by Shawn Thomas Odyssey, at Fangirl Nation
Mothman's Curse, by Christine Hayes, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Nightborn, by Lou Anders, at Great Imaginations
Palace of Lies, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at Charlotte's Library
Pennyroyal Academy, by M.A. Larson, at Good Books and Good Wine
Raising Rufus, by David Fulk, at The Write Path
Ratscalibur, by Josh Lieb, at Librarian of Snark and Teen Librarian Toolbox
Return to Augie Hobble, by Lane Smith, at Fuse #8
Scare Scape, and The Midnight Door: Scare Scape #2, by Sam Fisher, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Stellarcadia, by Julie Anne Grasso, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Seraphina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
The Valley of Song, by Elizabeth Goudge, at The Emerald City
Worry Magic, by Dawn McNiff, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Authors and Interviews
Barry Wolverton (Vanishing Island) at Maria's Menage and The Hiding Spot
John David Anderson (The Dungeoneers) at Nerdy Book Club
David Fulk (Raising Rufus) at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
Tonke Dragt (The Secrets of the Wild Wood) at Playing By the Book
Other Good Stuff
A Tuesday 10 of Fantastical Pirates at Views From the Tesseract
At the Morgan Museum in New York, a new Alice exhibit opens on the 26th (found via Educating Alice)
6/20/15
26 hours gone of the 48 Hour Reading Challenge
Checking in on the 48 Hour Reading Challenge, with a little less than halfway to go--I have now hit 10 hours of reading, and a about 30 minutes of online challenge related time. I have read
Palace of Lies, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Dragons at Crumbling Castle, by Terry Pratchett
Apple and Rain, by Sarah Crossan
The Girl in the Torch, by Robert Sharenow
The Unmapped Sea, by Maryrose Wood
and have started two more....
This year I cunningly bought myself a boom box (does anyone call them that anymore?) so that I could listen to the audio version of Crumbling Castle while sorting books for the next library booksale, a matter of some urgency given the surprisingly large number of recent donations (one person who donated some 400 books wants four of them back, and counts on me to find them. I am loosing hope). I also listened while weeding, which was pleasant.
I think I can get at least ten more hours in before six tomorrow evening. The book I'm reading now, The Well-Tuned Brain, is going on and on about over-consumption and too much choice and not self restraint...which pretty much describes my book situation. Will I ever be book hungry again? I kind of miss those days...but not enough to change my ways.
Palace of Lies, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Dragons at Crumbling Castle, by Terry Pratchett
Apple and Rain, by Sarah Crossan
The Girl in the Torch, by Robert Sharenow
The Unmapped Sea, by Maryrose Wood
and have started two more....
This year I cunningly bought myself a boom box (does anyone call them that anymore?) so that I could listen to the audio version of Crumbling Castle while sorting books for the next library booksale, a matter of some urgency given the surprisingly large number of recent donations (one person who donated some 400 books wants four of them back, and counts on me to find them. I am loosing hope). I also listened while weeding, which was pleasant.
I think I can get at least ten more hours in before six tomorrow evening. The book I'm reading now, The Well-Tuned Brain, is going on and on about over-consumption and too much choice and not self restraint...which pretty much describes my book situation. Will I ever be book hungry again? I kind of miss those days...but not enough to change my ways.
6/19/15
Palace of Lies, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Palace of Lies, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster, April 2015, middle grade), is my first completed book for this year's 48 Hour Reading Challenge! It was a good one to kick off with--a fast and entertaining story of a princess in danger, both politically and physically....
The book picks up where Palace of Mirrors left off (though Haddix does an excellent job making this one that can stand alone), with the 12 girls who had all been raised separately, each believing she was the one true heir to the throne, having come together to agree to rule the kingdom jointly. Desmia is the only one who was actually raised in the palace, and so, having grown up in constant intrigue and danger, she is much more suspicious and wary than the other girls. But when fire sweeps through the palace, destroying it and possibly killing her sister-princess, and Desmia is captured by an old enemy, she has to learn that suspicion and familiarity with plots isn't going to be enough to get her to the neighboring kingdom for help.
Fortunatly there is help much closer to hand. A family of poor city folk has been looking out for her all along (for reasons), and though they have no money, and no clean clothes to offer, they do have the will to help, and the strength of purpose to get her out of the country. During their journey together, Desmia learns to set aside her snobbish preconceptions of peoples' intrinsic worth, and (provided she makes it back to her throne) has become determined to be much more concerned with issues of social justice.
Gradually mysteries are unfolded, twists in her enemies plots revealed, and in the court of Prince Charming (of Haddix's earlier book, Just Ella) the tension builds to a head, and then falls gently to a satisfying ending.
It was a good page turner, though not exactly subtle, and stretching credulity at times. But heck, these days any book that both entertains and promotes social justice is one I am all in favor of!!!
Note on age of reader--romance is a minor sub-plot here, but not enough to push it into true YA territory. It's spot on, I think, for an eleven or twelve year old. Desmia herself is 14, so not quite old enough to be a YA heroine...
Note on fantasy--there's no actual magic; it's your "set in other world, with a few vague fairy tale references" type fantasy. So don't expect spells and enchantments!
(challenge update: 1 hour and 35 minutes read, 15 minutes social media).
The book picks up where Palace of Mirrors left off (though Haddix does an excellent job making this one that can stand alone), with the 12 girls who had all been raised separately, each believing she was the one true heir to the throne, having come together to agree to rule the kingdom jointly. Desmia is the only one who was actually raised in the palace, and so, having grown up in constant intrigue and danger, she is much more suspicious and wary than the other girls. But when fire sweeps through the palace, destroying it and possibly killing her sister-princess, and Desmia is captured by an old enemy, she has to learn that suspicion and familiarity with plots isn't going to be enough to get her to the neighboring kingdom for help.
Fortunatly there is help much closer to hand. A family of poor city folk has been looking out for her all along (for reasons), and though they have no money, and no clean clothes to offer, they do have the will to help, and the strength of purpose to get her out of the country. During their journey together, Desmia learns to set aside her snobbish preconceptions of peoples' intrinsic worth, and (provided she makes it back to her throne) has become determined to be much more concerned with issues of social justice.
Gradually mysteries are unfolded, twists in her enemies plots revealed, and in the court of Prince Charming (of Haddix's earlier book, Just Ella) the tension builds to a head, and then falls gently to a satisfying ending.
It was a good page turner, though not exactly subtle, and stretching credulity at times. But heck, these days any book that both entertains and promotes social justice is one I am all in favor of!!!
Note on age of reader--romance is a minor sub-plot here, but not enough to push it into true YA territory. It's spot on, I think, for an eleven or twelve year old. Desmia herself is 14, so not quite old enough to be a YA heroine...
Note on fantasy--there's no actual magic; it's your "set in other world, with a few vague fairy tale references" type fantasy. So don't expect spells and enchantments!
(challenge update: 1 hour and 35 minutes read, 15 minutes social media).
My reading challenge begins!
I am all ready for Reading for Mother Reader's 48 Hour Reading Challenge! Here is my pile of books (displayed, as always, on the wood stove; so handy), including all my library books currently out (at right) and a smattering of review copies and tbr books elsewhere:
Here are my goals: I'd like to hit 30 hours of reading, hope to hit 25, and wouldn't cry it was 20. Admittedly I am a bit distracted by having reached level 1000 on Candy Crush, which is rather an exciting one....but I will do my best. And so, at 6:13 pm, I begin.
I am not very impressed by my past statistics, which I have compiled for my own amusement. My bar is set low.
2014
Reading: 18 hours and 15 minutes of reading
Social media: 1 hour and 58 minutes of social media
Total pages: 2091
2013
Reading: 23 hours and 32 minute
Social media: three ish hours
Total pages: 3086
2012
Reading: 18 hours
Social Media: three ish hours
Total pages: not counted; 8 and a half books
2011
Reading: 15 hours and ten minutes
Social media: 2 hours and 40 minutes
Total pages: 2963
2010
Reading: 22 hours
Social media: three
Total pages; 3118
2009 (the year I tried to read Twilight at 3:00 am...and just couldn't even.)
Reading: 35 hours
Total pages: 3706
Here are my goals: I'd like to hit 30 hours of reading, hope to hit 25, and wouldn't cry it was 20. Admittedly I am a bit distracted by having reached level 1000 on Candy Crush, which is rather an exciting one....but I will do my best. And so, at 6:13 pm, I begin.
I am not very impressed by my past statistics, which I have compiled for my own amusement. My bar is set low.
2014
Reading: 18 hours and 15 minutes of reading
Social media: 1 hour and 58 minutes of social media
Total pages: 2091
2013
Reading: 23 hours and 32 minute
Social media: three ish hours
Total pages: 3086
2012
Reading: 18 hours
Social Media: three ish hours
Total pages: not counted; 8 and a half books
2011
Reading: 15 hours and ten minutes
Social media: 2 hours and 40 minutes
Total pages: 2963
2010
Reading: 22 hours
Social media: three
Total pages; 3118
2009 (the year I tried to read Twilight at 3:00 am...and just couldn't even.)
Reading: 35 hours
Total pages: 3706
6/17/15
The Fog Diver, by Joel Ross
Post-apocalyptic disaster in middle grade science fiction almost invariably involves scavenging kids. Which is fine and makes sense; kids are good scavengers and it comes naturally to them. And happily there are enough twists available so that such books can be fresh and fun, and the scavenging just as interesting as ever!
Such a book is The Fog Diver, by Joel Ross (HarperCollins, May 2015). In this particular version of the future, a fog of nanobots, poisonous to people, but nothing else, has covered the surface of the earth. A few enclaves of people live above the fog, on mountaintops (if wealthy or powerful) or floating rafts (if they are not). 13 year old Chess and his friends fall into the latter category, making a hardscrabble living through scavenging. Though the fog is poisonous, it's not immediately toxic, so the surface of the earth can be visited briefly by those desperate enough to dive through the fog (although it's eventually fatal). And so Chess, who has a strange affinity with the fog, is lowered down by his friends from their ramshackle hired salvage vessel, and he explores...and if he finds food or useful scraps from the past, they will eat.
Hazel, Bea, and Swedish never know what Chess will bring back to them, but all four are hoping he finds something really good. Their beloved surrogate mother has fallen ill, and in the fabled city of Port Oro is there hope for a cure for her. But even though Chess makes the find of a lifetime, it might not be enough. Because Chess is being hunted by one of the ruling dictators, who will stop at nothing to get Chess' preternatural fog diving abilities under his control.
Persued by this enemy, and running afoul of piratical mercenaries, Chess and his friends desperately struggle to escape.
What makes this one such a solid read is not just the fantastical world of the fog and those who fly above it and dive down into it; it is the loyalty and bonds of friendship that hold the kids together. Each kid has his or her own strengths, and each one has an important part to play in the survival of the group. Middle school kids, who treasure deep friendships and who are working to figure out their own identities, will find this part of the book very appealing. It helps that these are a really good group of kids, the sort one would like to be part of! Many readers will also like the space pirates, the treasure hunting below the fog, and the dangers of escaping from the bad guys--it's solid adventure, with plenty of near disaster. Distorted pop culture references to the past add humor (many aphorisms and advertising slogans we take for granted haven't aged well in this future world!)
I myself would have liked just a tad more peaceful treasure hunting by Chess alone in the fog, and a bit less exciting action, but that's just me.
In short, it's a very good first "survival in a world almost ruined" science fiction adventure for kids 9 and up, and I'm looking forward to the sequel!
disclaimer: review copy received from the author.
Such a book is The Fog Diver, by Joel Ross (HarperCollins, May 2015). In this particular version of the future, a fog of nanobots, poisonous to people, but nothing else, has covered the surface of the earth. A few enclaves of people live above the fog, on mountaintops (if wealthy or powerful) or floating rafts (if they are not). 13 year old Chess and his friends fall into the latter category, making a hardscrabble living through scavenging. Though the fog is poisonous, it's not immediately toxic, so the surface of the earth can be visited briefly by those desperate enough to dive through the fog (although it's eventually fatal). And so Chess, who has a strange affinity with the fog, is lowered down by his friends from their ramshackle hired salvage vessel, and he explores...and if he finds food or useful scraps from the past, they will eat.
Hazel, Bea, and Swedish never know what Chess will bring back to them, but all four are hoping he finds something really good. Their beloved surrogate mother has fallen ill, and in the fabled city of Port Oro is there hope for a cure for her. But even though Chess makes the find of a lifetime, it might not be enough. Because Chess is being hunted by one of the ruling dictators, who will stop at nothing to get Chess' preternatural fog diving abilities under his control.
Persued by this enemy, and running afoul of piratical mercenaries, Chess and his friends desperately struggle to escape.
What makes this one such a solid read is not just the fantastical world of the fog and those who fly above it and dive down into it; it is the loyalty and bonds of friendship that hold the kids together. Each kid has his or her own strengths, and each one has an important part to play in the survival of the group. Middle school kids, who treasure deep friendships and who are working to figure out their own identities, will find this part of the book very appealing. It helps that these are a really good group of kids, the sort one would like to be part of! Many readers will also like the space pirates, the treasure hunting below the fog, and the dangers of escaping from the bad guys--it's solid adventure, with plenty of near disaster. Distorted pop culture references to the past add humor (many aphorisms and advertising slogans we take for granted haven't aged well in this future world!)
I myself would have liked just a tad more peaceful treasure hunting by Chess alone in the fog, and a bit less exciting action, but that's just me.
In short, it's a very good first "survival in a world almost ruined" science fiction adventure for kids 9 and up, and I'm looking forward to the sequel!
disclaimer: review copy received from the author.
6/16/15
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.
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.
6/15/15
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.)
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.)
6/14/15
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
(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
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