10/26/17

Rebel Seoul, by Axie Oh

If you  like near-future-earth science fiction (if not quite 200 years counts as near future), with military robots and conflicting visions of  what the government should be, and teens caught up in the push of forces (maybe) beyond their control and struggling to find peace to love each other and come to terms with both past and present, and want a page-turner of a book that will keep you engrossed and absorbed even if those things aren't tops on your reading list, do go get your hands on Rebel Seoul, by Axie Oh (Tu Books, YA, September 2017).

I really enjoyed the book, and I don't, in fact, like futuristic urban grit and inequality, such as this future Seoul offers, and which the main character, Lee Jaewon, deals with on a daily basis (economic inequality, gangs).  My want to read list includes almost no books featuring robots of war, or high tech war in general, yet I was gripped and fascinated by Jaewon's military training, and his relationship with a girl his own age, Tera, who is herself a crafted weapon of war.  I don't particularly like totalitarian governments suffering massive casualties while suppressing Nationalist rebellions, but here the war did not drive the plot, but rather gave the main characters a stage on which to change, and grow, and become real to me. It was also interesting that Totalitarian did not equal Nationalist, as it so often does.

Basically, this is a book that, in clear and vivid prose, asks interesting questions of interesting people caught in an interesting setting and plot.  And really, who could ask for more?  (well, I guess I could have asked for a peaceful bit where Jaewon and Tara spend several weeks exploring an abandoned temple in the mountains, appreciating the antiques, foraging for food, and perhaps taming a small woodland creature, but I enjoyed it lots without this.  They did get a day in the ruined temple, but they were too beat up/and about to be attacked again to enjoy it....).

So the Kirkus review calls this a "plot-heavy" story as if that's a bad thing, and I'm not sure what they mean.  I was certainly aware that there was a plot, but I thought I was reading a book about two lonely teenagers caught in a war they didn't want to fight, trying to make peace with their lives and their ghosts and keep from getting killed while falling in love with other, so heavier on the character side of things than the Big Plot side of things.  I think of "plot-heavy" books as being ones I start to skim because too much is Happening and I Don't Care, but I did not skim any of Rebel Seoul.  Kirkus also says some of the dialogue was stilted; I did not notice this, and it's pretty easy to throw me out of a story with clunky dialogue. I am also willing in general to let characters talk in stiff, even awkward, language if they are expressing difficult emotional thoughts while people are trying to kill them or such like.

Short answer--I read it with great pleasure in a few hours that flew by, and can see why it won the 2014 New Visions Award from Tu Books.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

10/23/17

The Princess Imposter, by Vivian Vande Velde

The Princess Imposter, by Vivian Vande Velde (Scholastic, middle grade, 2017), is another fun book from an author I can count on to entertain in a slightly provocative, twistily entertaining way!

This story is a standard swap scenario--a fairy girl nicknamed Phleg uses magic to take the place of perfect princess Gabriella.  Gabriella, not having been warned of the coming swap, is stunned to find herself waking up in Phleg's rustic home, surrounded by a passel of eleven rough and tumble siblings, and expected to do Phelg's chores.  It takes all her princessly training to keep her polite. Phleg, of course, has no princessly training at all, and causes a certain amount of consternation back  in the palace as a result.

Gabriella acquires a bit of Phleg's toughness to add to her polish and politeness, and Phleg softens a bit away from the hurly burly of her home.  She also falls in love with the young prince who is supposed to marry Gabriella....and Gabriella might or might not become, in the future, more than just friends with Phleg's oldest brother....Both the two main characters are interesting personality stories, and their efforts to cope with their altered identities make for good reading!

So in short it's a fun and interesting cross-cultural exchange in which that, although not desperately deep, has heroines with enough intelligence and introspection to be very companionable guides to their swapped lives.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

10/22/17

The Myers Briggs personality test, adapted for book blogs

Ever wondered what your blogs personality type was?  Now you can find out, with this special adaptation of the "Myers Briggs personality test for book blogs"! (not affiliated or endorsed by the Myers & Briggs Foundation."

At Kidlitcon 2017, in Hershey PA Nov. 3 and 4, I'll be running a session on using this adaptation of the Myers Briggs personality test to springboard a discussion on participants' blogging strengths and weakness, and how to use it as a starting point to think about what makes you happy as a blogger and a book reviewer, and things you might like to change.  I don't actually Believe that it is all true, necessarily, but I find MB an interesting take on preferences for ways of being in the world that has lots of applicability to the ways in which we review books.

Please take the personality test below (I might tweek it a bit in the next two weeks) and let me know your blog's personality type in the comments.  I'm still working on the descriptions of each book blog personality, and I'll be putting those up probably next weekend.

In the interests of simplicity, the test is divided into four sections, labeled according to the MB categories.  When you score it, you will be one of the two types for each section, and you'll end up with four letters, one from each section.

Note: “You” conflates your blog and yourself; it's not the actual you.  When appropriate, you (the blogger) should answer the questions as if it was your blog answering them.

Extrovert vs Introvert (E or I)

1. do you
(a) comment on blogs that are new to you, and try to reply to most, if not all, comments you get on your blog?
(b) wait for other bloggers to find you; when someone comments on your blog, mostly you just wish for blogging platforms to come with “like” buttons.

2. do you
(a) seek out new blogs to read; it’s always good to make new blog friends!
(b) feel comfortable staying in touch with the few blogs familiar to you that you’ve been following from the very beginning; those are enough to make you feel connected.

3. Would you rather
(a) participate in all manner of blog social activities (hops, readathons, challenges, blog tours, using other types of social media to promote your blog posts, etc.)
(b) stay quietly in your own corner of the blogosphere

 4.  In your blogging circle, are you
(a) pretty well caught up on blog reading and blogger news
(b) not caught up either of the above

5. Do you
(a) actively seek out connections to publishers and authors to expand your social network?
(b) feel pleased when such a connection comes your way, and try hard to remember to foster it.

 If you have more "a"s than "b"s, your blog is an extrovert, if not, it's an introvert
Intuition vs Sensation (if you are new to MB personalities, read the description here, after you take the test!)
1. In writing a book review are you more likely to

(a) do it in what seems to you “the usual” way (either your own usual way or an external idea of normative book blogging format)
(b) do it your own way, and not always the same “own way”
2.  Writers of blogs should

(a) “say what they mean and mean what they say.” Clarity of communication is important.  No one has the time to spend much effort trying to figure out what you are getting at and then maybe get it wrong. 
(b) enjoy the pleasure of communicating more elliptically through analogy and metaphor, not coming to the table with interpretations and critiques already set in stone but exploring your way to conclusions in the process of thinking about the book while writing about it.
3. Is it worse to

(a) skip from topic to topic from post to post without any concern for coherence or continuity of the ensemble, so that people ask “what is even the point of the blog? Is it books or garden pests?  If the former, childrens or adult?  If the latter, slugs or starlings?”
(b) be in a rut, so that people ask “didn’t I read this same post here last week?”

4.  Are you more likely to give a positive review to a book that is 
(a) sensible—realistic people and scenarios, played out in a believable way?
(b) imaginative—requires some suspension of disbelief

Nb:  This is not a question about taste in genres.  Obviously, fantasy books require more suspension of disbelief.  But there are plenty of fantasy books that make sense, and others that don’t feel as much need for sense.  The point of the question is – how quickly or how often do you reach a point of saying “I can no longer suspend my disbelief, this is not a book for me.”
5. Are you more interested in

(a) reading and reviewing the many (all too many) very fine and excellent books that you have on hand, all of which you want to read

(b) getting all the beautiful books because they exist and are beautiful and you need them

6. In picking your next read, do you
a. think calmly  about past experiences with the author, publisher and genre, and how much you really think along the same lines as that one reviewer who gushed about it.
b. instantly know in your heart based on chance book review reading/word of mouth that you and book x are destined for each other. 

7.  Would you rather
a. discuss how a book can be useful
b. discuss how a book  can spark readers' imagiations

If you are mostly a, mark yourself as Sensory, if b, mark yourself as N (Intuition)

Thinking vs Feeling

1. Are you more drawn to praising the
(a) convincing, really “well written.”
(b) touching (“this book gave me all the feels.”)

2.  would you ever give a book you didn’t personally like a more positive review than you really think it merits as a piece of writing because of circumstances extraneous to the words on the page?  (for instance, the author is in a desperate situation and a positive review might lead to a few more book sales so the children don’t go hungry, or maybe you think a particular publisher or author deserves support for publishing/writing this particular book)
(a) no
(b) yes
3. When making a critical statement, are you

(a) firm; no one would miss the point of the statement (ie, this book is [x not good thing].  I did not like this book.  This book is bad. Etc.)
(b) so gentle that when you write a review that you think clearly lays out why you didn’t like a book, people refer to it as a positive review.  (ie, “although there are doubtless many readers who will appreciate the extraordinarily detailed delicacy of the world building, I was not one of them of them.” ]

Select b if people have left comments saying “so glad you liked this one!” when in fact you didn’t.
4.  Which affects your reviewing choices (both what books to review and what to say about them) more?

(a) consistency of thought—holding all books to a certain standard

(b) harmonious human relationships – not wanting to hurt feelings (this doesn’t have to mean praising what you don’t like.  It could just mean bumping up a book you have a personal connection with in your review queue, and putting more effort into writing about it. Or not mentioning a picky small thing that doesn’t make or break the book (like an author saying “plush vegetation” instead of “lush vegetation.”  Or not reviewing a particular book at all.)

5.  When reviewing a book, are you more comfortable making
(a) critical statements based on the internal logic of the book and how well it is doing what it set out to do
(b) value judgements that might not make sense to anyone but yourself, or that might be the result of ideologies that you are bringing to the book

6.  In making decisions about what to read and how positive to be about it, do you feel more comfortable
(a) relying on standards that you apply more or less consistently
(b) spilling the feelings of the moment onto the screen

If you are more a, give yourself a T, if b, then give yourself an F.

Judging vs Perceiving (again, if you don't know what this means, refer to the website after answering...)
1. Do you prefer to

(a) schedule posts in advance, and stick to those deadlines
(b) put posts up whenever
2. which do you enjoy more?

(a) the joyous sense of completion and accomplishment you get from hitting post

(b) that period after reading a book when you daydream about what you’ll say about it, and you haven’t yet embarrassed yourself with hideous typos.

3.  Do you have blog posts
(a) Scheduled days, weeks, or even months in advance
(b) in mind as possibilities for some vague future time that may or may not ever happen and you probably will forget you meant to do it.

4.  Do you pick the books to review
(a) with careful thought and some degree of planning (either for coherence or for variety of genre or some such)
(b) randomly (even if you thought you might have some string of reviews in the works that had thematic coherence, it’s liable to go out the window)

5.  Which makes you happier:
(a) to have finished reading and reviewing a book
(b) looking at all the wonderful books to come

6.  which ability do you value more?
(a) being organized and methodical, so that the posting doesn’t become a vexing, possibly emotionally negative, chore
(b) being able to sit down and let a review pour out whenever you are so moved.

If more a, give yourself a J, if b, give yourself a P.  Tiebreaker--if you've ever said "I'm all caught up" you are J all the way...


You should now have 4 letters (which you should please leave in the comments,or send me privately if you are self-conscious?), and you can read about your blog personality type on line, or wait a week or so for me to write book blog personality descriptions....

thanks for playing!

This week's round-up of middle grade sic fi/fantsy from around the blogs (10/22/17)

Welcome to this week's gathering of middle grade fanstasy and science fiction posts from around the blogs; it's a bit light today, so I probably missed stuff--let me know!  I myself had little to contribute because I was setting up and running my library's booksale, so today I am sore both in body (books being heavy) and spirit (customers being scarce).  Sigh.

The Reviews

Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor, at books4yourkids.com and  The Book Wars

Bubbles by Abby Cooper, at The O.W.L.

The Empty Grave, by Jonathan Stroud, at A Reader of Fictions

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi, at Jean Little Library

Liesel and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Say What?

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend, at The Book Wars

The Night Garden, by Polly Horvath, at Mom Read It

The Nutcracker Mice by Kristin Kladstrup, at Read Till Dawn

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street by Lindsay Currie, at Log Cabin Library

Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eagar, at Charlotte's Library and  Read Till Dawn

The Shadow Cipher (York Book 1), by Laura Ruby, at alibrarymama

Threads of Blue by Suzanne LaFleur, at The Children's War

The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy, at Log Cabin Library

Three at The Book Search--Last Day on Mars, Brave Red Smart Frog, and Masterminds-Payback

Authors and Interviews

Jonathan Rosen (Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies) at Cynsations

Philip Pullman at The Guardian

Other Good Stuff

An introduction to the books of Diana Wynne Jones from a Christian perspective, at Redeemed Reader

Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard, by Jonathan Auxier, is this year's "young adult" winner of the Sunburst Award for excellence in Canadian iterature of the Fantasic

A look at the Akata Witch series at Tor

and finally, here's one to look forward to in 2018--a new mg fantasy from Sarah Prineas!

10/19/17

Cover Reveal for The Lost Books: The Scroll of Kings, a new middle grade fantasy from Sarah Prineas!

I am a huge fan of Sarah Prineas; in particular I love her middle grade Magic Thief series!  And so I am just thrilled as all get out that she has a new middle grade fantasy coming next year, and honored to host its cover reveal!

The Lost Books: The Scroll of Kings (HarperCollins Children's) will hit shelves June 26.

Here's the blurb:

For years, all the libraries in the kingdom have been locked up. 

Is it to keep the books safe from readers?

Or...is it to keep readers safe from books?

Alex is an apprentice librarian, and he is certain that books have a secret, powerful history.  Unfortunately, his elderly master is a lot more interested in bug poop than in teaching Alex anything useful.  When the old man dies under extremely suspicious circumstances, Alex travels to the palace and impersonates his master so he can take up the position of royal librarian—a job that is far more dangerous than he ever imagined. 

The young queen, Kenneret, is pretty sure this scruffy, obnoxious boy is not who he claims to be, and she doubts he’s really a librarian, either.  But she has other things to worry about, so she agrees to give Alex fifteen days to prove himself.  That’s enough time for him to discover that he was only partly right—books aren’t just powerful, they’re alive.  Even worse, some of the books possess an ancient, evil magic that kills librarians, and now they are coming after Alex.  A book about the weather attacks him with lightning bolts; a book about vines tries to strangle him; a book about explosives is ready to blow up, and the book about swords...

...well, you know.  It’s a good thing Alex knows how to fight. 

With the help of the queen and her illiterate brother, Alex has to figure out who, or what, is controlling the books and their power.  If they can’t, the entire kingdom could be at risk. 

Doesn't it sound great!  And it the description weren't enough to entice you, here's the gorgeous cover:



(This could be me, trying to cope with all the books plotting world domination in my own home)

Thank you, Sarah!  I can't wait.

10/16/17

Race to the Bottom of the Sea, by Lindsay Eagar

I am not drawn to pirate books.  So I almost said no when offered a review copy of Race to the Bottom of the Sea, by Lindsay Eagar (Candlewick, middle grade, October 2017), which as you can see from the cover illustration has pirates.  But I could not resist a book about a girl who is a brilliant young marine biologist with steampunkish overtones (I like girl scientist books and a touch of the mechanical).  And so I said "yes please" and the book arrived, and I read it with  enjoyment, though not without some doubts (about which more below).

11 year old Fidelia Quail has grown up assisting her marine biologist parents in their endeavors, devising ingenious devices including a small submarine.  When her parents leave her on the deck of their boat to keep an eye on the weather while they use the sub to go below, Fidelia lets the appearance of a shark (a species she's never seen before!) push the safety envelope; the fierce weather of the Undertow arrives faster than she thought it would, and her parents never resurface.

Life on dry land with her librarian aunt doesn't inspire Fidelia, but wracked by guilt and grief, she copes with the dull days as best she can.  But then she is kidnapped by pirates!

There's actually a good reason why the pirates have come to kidnap her--one of Fidelia's prototypes (not yet actually functional) is a way to breath underwater.  And the leader of the gang of pirates needs this device to recover a lost treasure that sank long ago....So Fidelia goes to sea again, on a once grand pirate ship that's now practically a wreck, with a tiny crew and a notoriously wicked, and utterly obsessed, pirate captain--Merrick the Monstrous-- driving them on.

It is a good distraction for her, helping her work through her depression, and Eagar does a nice job making the voyage, in which not much Adventure actually happens, interesting.  The dynamics of the pirate crew (all two of them), the Captain, and Fidelia are interesting,  Fidelia's marine biological thoughts and her work on her water-breathing system likewise.  There are lots of touches of humor,  and for those who really do like things to Happen, there are flashbacks to several years back that provide the (more adventurous) context for the current situation.

But though I enjoyed reading it, and the pages turned briskly, there were two things that bothered me, one big and one small.

First, the reader, and Fidelia, fall prey to something that felt like Stockholm Syndrome.  Merrick is really quite monstrous, and has done terrible things (including kidnapping and threatening Fidelia) but he is limned in such a way that he becomes more and more a romantic figure with whom Fidelia and the reader must sympathize than the manipulative killer he actually is. This needs to happen for the story's emotional arc to be satisfying, but it felt distasteful to me.  Likewise, the way he controlled the physical circumstances of the woman at the heart of Merrick's romantic past story was not something that made him anyone I'd want to be involved with, and so I resented ultimately feeling sorry for him.

Second, the crew of two plus a captain is not sufficient to sail such a large sailing ship and it is tricky if not impossible to sail around inside a cave (because most caves aren't windy).  This ship behaves more like it's motorized.

Do, however, read this if you love smart sciencey girls inventing things that both save the day and add to the world's knowledge of marine biology!  Here's the Kirkus review, that notes the same positive things I do.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

10/15/17

This week's round up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (10/15/17)

Another week, another round up.  Please let me know if I missed your post!

First--today is the last day for public nominations for the Cybils Awards!  Show a favorite author some love!  Here's a collection of links to lists of the as yet unnominated, including one for Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction.  I've put stars next to books reviewed this week that are eligible and haven't been nominated yet....Nominate here today!

The Reviews

Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor,  at alibrarymama

Clash of the Worlds by Chris Columbus, Ned Vizzini, and Chris Rylander, at Say What?

*Code Name Flood, by Laura Martin, at Jen Robinson's Book Page

A Crack in the Sea, by H.M. Bouwman, at alibrarymama

The Creeping Shadow, by Jonathan Stroud, at Say What?

Elizabeth and Zenobia, by Jessica Miller, at Falling Letters

The Farwalker’s Quest (Farwalker’s Quest, Book 1) by Joni Sensel, at Hidden in Pages

*Guardians of the Gryphon's Claw, by Todd Calgi Gallicano, at Charlotte's Library

Impyrium, by Henry Neff, at The Write Path

Last Day on Mars, by Kevin Emerson, at Fuse #8

The List, by Patricia Forde, at B and N Kids Blog

Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power, by Mariko Tamaki, at Book Nut

*The Many Worlds of Albie Bright by Christopher Edge, at Proseandkahn

Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eagar, at Puss Reboots and Log Cabin Library

The Taster's Guild, by Susannah Applebaum, at Leaf's Reviews

*Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic by Armand Baltazar, at From My Bookshelf

*Tumble and Blue, by Cassie Beasley, at Semicolon

The Seventh Wish, by Kate Messner, at That's Another Story

*A Single Stone, by Meg McKinlay, at Semicolon

Spirit Hunters, by Ellen Oh, at This Kid Reviews Books

The Wolf Hour, by Sara Lewis Holmes, at By Singing Light

The World's Greatest Adventure Machine, by Frank Cole, at Always in the Middle and The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Authors and Interviews

Sara Lewis Holmes (The Wolf Hour), at Charlotte's Library

Frances Hardinge (Face Like Glass) at The Guardian

Garret Weyr (The Language of Spells) at Fuse #8

Other Good Stuff

"Fantasy is the Realm of Idealism": Tamora Pierce in Converaation with the Female Fantasy Authors She Inspired" at  Torl

Two great book lists of scary stories, at SLJ and Book Riot


10/12/17

The Doughnut Kingdom (Cucumber Quest #1), by Gigi D.G.

The Doughnut Kingdom (Cucumber Quest #1), by Gigi D.G. (FirstSecond October 2017), is a cute and fun graphic novel for young readers.

My younger son, now 14, has been a fan of Cucumber Quest webcomic for years, and he and I were both very exited to get the book in our hands--he because books are more fun to read, and me because books are all I read, and I was very curious to see what this Cucumber Quest thing was all about.  It's the story of a young rabbit person, Cucumber, whose plans to spend peaceful years at magic school are derailed when a mysterious oracle tells him he has to go save the kingdom.  He knows he's not up to the task of overthrowing the evil queen, and so does his little sister, Almond.  Fortunately Almond sets off after him, determined to be an epic hero in her own right, and her sword skills save him from almost immediate defeat.

She's thrilled to be off on a quest for the fabled Dream Sword; Cucumber less so.  And Carrot, the really rather pathetic excuse for a knight who's joined them, doesn't add much to Cucumber's  confidence.  As for the oracle, she turns out to be much more interested in keeping up with her tv shows than she is in helping quests along, and in fact has carelessly handed the Dream Sword over to an infamous young thief, Saturday.  Can the brave (and less brave) bunnies really succeed against the powerful enemies who are threatening world domination?  Almond thinks yes, Cucumber not so much.

The bright pictures and zippy story carry readers along very nicely indeed.  It's funny, and a tad subversive (Almond's heroic potential is dismissed at first, but she's not going to let anyone keep her from the fun!).  This first volume is something of a stage-setter, and apparently things will get even more exciting in future adventures.  Enthusiastically recommend to fantasy loving eight to ten year olds, who will, if they are like my own child, eat up the zesty sweetness of Cucumber's adventures!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher


10/11/17

Guardians of the Gryphon's Claw, by Todd Calgi Gallicano

Guardians of the Gryphon's Claw, by Todd Calgi Gallicano (Delacorte, middle grade, Aug. 29 2017), is a fun start to a new adventure series that will have fans of magical creatures clamoring for more!

Sam London is an ordinary sort of boy who wants very much to have his own special Thing.  None of the usual things (sports, arts, music) have done it. But then, a series of dreams leads him to an encounter that will truly make him extraordinary.  On a rock outcrop in the south west, he comes face to beak with the awesome majesty of Phylassos, Lord of the Gryphons.  And Phylassos needs his help.

Long ago, the great gryphon bound all mythical creatures in an enchantment that renders them (mostly) invisible to humans, and (mostly) powerless to act directly in the human world.  He sacrificed one of his own claws to serve as a talisman to hold that magic in place.  But there are those among the non-human peoples who chaff at the restrictions imposed on them, and they are rising up against Phylossos.

Sam, to his amazement, becomes part of a strangely assorted group (including an agent from a top secret government department) racing around the world to find and secure the claw before it is captured.  He's not just extra baggage, but a useful and important member of the team.  Many of the mythical creatures are on the gryphon's side, but many others are not, and so there is magical creature mayhem and danger aplenty as the pages turn quickly.

It's not deeply subtle, and some of the good guys are just too talented for me to swallow, so I don't think I'll ever feel the need to re-read it.  But I was perfectly happy to read it this first time, and will be happy as well to read the sequel.  There are plenty of amusing bits, and it's an excellent pick for readers who like the wind in their hair as they rush with the story from one danger to the next, and of course it's especially good for devoted fans of magical creatures!  And the stakes are made high enough, both for the world and for individual characters, not all of whom make it to the end of the book, that it's a bit more than lightweight fun.

Short answer--if your kids' ears prick up when you say "gryphon," "yeti," "tanuki," or "cynecephalus" (especially the last one, because that kid is a die hard magical creature fan!) offer this book.

NB:  Guardians of the Gryphon's Claw is eligible for this year's Cybils Awards, and has not yet been nominated!  Click here to nominate this or any other fine book in a variety of categories.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

10/9/17

The Wolf Hour, by Sara Lewis Holmes, with a rather different sort of interview

The Wolf Hour, by Sara Lewis Holmes (Arthur A. Levine, middle grade, Sept. 2017), is a lovely book for those who like to venture into the dark woods of stories made horribly real (and who don't mind spiders, because there are lots of spiders....)



Magia has lived all life at the edge of a vast Polish forest, the Puszcza, a dark and magical place.  Her father is a woodcutter, and Magia wants to follow in his footsteps, though he warns her against this because those steps lead into the heart of the forest.   And in the Puszcza stories have become real, played out over and over again, with deadly consequences.  When Magia is forced to follow into the forest, she finds herself caught in the web of an evil enchantment that threatens not just her own future but that of her whole family.  With young girls vanishing into the forest, and her father lost there as well,  accusations of witchcraft leveled at her, and her mother and siblings fallen into a magical sleep, Magia must find the strength to confront the woman controlling the threads of the stories and break those threads once and for all.  Her only ally is a wolf, Martin, who fell afoul of his own story when he failed to grasp that he was supposed to be eating the three little pigs (he'd rather be snug in a good library reading, as is the case with so many of us....). But Magia, with her red hood, is bound by her own story to be a wolf-killer....

It is a haunting story, that leads the reader along with Magia into a web of alternate realities.  It not a fairy tell retelling, but more a twisting and re-use of familiar stories, used to excellent effect to create the challenges that lie within the Puszcza.  The occasionally intrusion of the narrator (which I sometimes find annoying, but didn't here) worked to great effect, keeping readers thinking and aware of Stories and Storytelling.  

Magia is one of the most lonely heroines I've read this year, and it was easy to sympathize and mentally encourage her as she pressed onward.  Not only does she have fight an evil, magical antagonist, she has to resist the expectations of ordinary human folk, making her very relatable.  Martin the wolf, with his penchant for a good book, and failed efforts to break the story of the three little pigs (not because he knew that's what he was doing, but because he simply was not interested in being a vicious killer), is one of my favorite wolf characters ever, and possibly even more relatable!  His efforts to communicate with the pigs never work; he never found the right words to get them to listen (which was, within the framework of the story they're trapped in, not possible in any event, but I felt for him as he tried his best).

The Wolf Hour doesn't fit neatly into standard "this is a middle grade" book categorization (for ages 9-12) , though that's where I'd put it.  It really is an all ages book, one that encourages and rewards thoughtful reading. When I enjoy a book, I generally don't think about it much, but I found myself doing so here, and it enhanced my pleasure and let me relate in a deeper way to Magia as we both tried to unravel the enchantments of the forest.  In fact, I was thinking so much that I actually underlined bits of the book that struck me as breadcrumbs on the trail into the story and dogeared the pages to come back to.  (I was reading an ARC.  I would never do this to a finished copy).

I then offered some of these passages to Sara Lewis Holmes for her thoughts on them!


And so, a rather different sort of interview:

"You must learn the paths of the forest, and how to find the direction of the sun when there's no light overhead.  You must be so certain of your true story that you always end up where you want to be."

Tata gives Magia this advice early in the novel, and I know he believes it, and is trying to pass on his wisdom to her.  Ironically, though, it’s Tata who ends up where he doesn’t want to be and Magia who has to straighten out the “true story.” 

In writing The Wolf Hour, I was interested in how stories both fool and guide us. Other people love to plug us into their narratives, and assign us roles to play. That’s why Magia’s path to her “true story” is so twisty and difficult—-because she’s fighting against the world’s notion of who she should be… or not be. And I wanted readers to know that twisty and difficult is okay.

"Better she'd not come back, then," Pani Wolburska said, her voice breathless.  "Some lost things should stay lost.”

Oh, this is a hard one.  I had to include this awful line because this is what some people believe about some human beings.  That you can lose your way so badly that you can never come home.  But I don’t believe that. (Even my wolves can be heroes.) 

Of course, it helps to have friends who will believe the best of you, instead of the worst, as Pani Wolburska does. And to have wise books and kind teachers, too—-and yet, those things are often “lost” in budgets. Honestly, I think the only thing that deserves to stay lost is that sixth grade picture of me in a Bay City Rollers costume. 

"A wolf is everything we give it to swallow.  We kill it and it comes back. We fight it and it never dies.  We humans write stories to kill it, to defeat it. to boil it alive, to slice open its bell, but none of that works."
Her voice grew teeth.
"Because you can't truly kill a wolf.  He's the wildness without which the world would be a pale shadow of itself.  He makes us feel alive.  He reminds us of the magic in our tame and failing human bones!"

One of the irritating things about my antagonist, Miss Grand, is that she often tells the truth about the world: that it is hard; that people will take things from you; that Story is the way to fight back.  And here, too, she is right about Wolves—-that we invest them with wily power, and then try with all our might to kill them so that we can be safe. 

And yet—-is being safe the only thing to strive for? What about being fully alive? What about finding the magic in our own bones? What about being brave and finding our own way? 
I believe wildness is necessary in my own life—-I love being outdoors whenever I can—- and I know it’s necessary in my creative life, too—-for I can’t write true story without being somewhat uncivilized. By that, I mean:  I don’t always get out of my pajamas when I should.  I don’t always write drafts that make sense the first time, or the third time, or the fifth. (Ask my editor!)  And I don’t always let my antagonists lie. Even if I wish a wolf would just gobble her up. 

(Back to me, Charlotte)

Thank you Sara, both for expanding on the quotations and for writing this lovely, magical book!

This post is part of a blog tour for The Wolf Hour, the first stop is here at Finding Wonderland, where you'll find an interview and a review, and here's another review at By Singing Light.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

10/8/17

This week's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy from around the blogs (10/8/17)

Welcome to this week's gathering of middle grade sci fi/fantasy goodness!  Please let me know if I missed your post.

First--nominations for the Cybils Awards are open.  Any kids book published in the US or Canada between Oct 16 2016 and October 15 2017 is eligible, and anyone can nominate. There are lots of great mg sci fi/fantasy books that haven't found their champions yet! I've made two lists-a long list here, and one that specifically lists diverse books here.  I've also starred the books reviewed this week that are eligible and haven't been nominated yet.

The Reviews

*The Adventurers Guild by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos, at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers and Book Briefs

Brave Red, Smart Frog, by Emily Jenkins, at  Sharon the Librarian and Waking Brain Cells

The Case of the Cursed Dodo, by Jake G. Panda, at Log Cabin Library (audiobook review)

Cry of the Icemark, by Stuart Hill, at Sydne Marie Gernaat

The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, by Stephanie Burgis, at alibrarymama

Elizabeth and Zenobia by Jessica Miller, at Waking Brain Cells

The Empty Grave, by Jonathan Stroud, at Hidden in Pages

*A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge, at Semicolon

Fortune Falls, by Jenny Goebel, at The Shannon Messenger Fan Club

*Ghosts of Greenglass House by Kate Milford, at Charlotte's Library and BooksForKidsBlog

The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill, at Alexa Loves Books

A Handful of Time, by Kit Pearson, at Time Travel Times Two

*Into the Shadowlands (book 2 of Monsters or Die) by Cynthia Reeg, at Always in the Middle

*The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street, by Lindsay Currie, at Ms. Yingling Reads

*The Ship of the Dead, by Rick Riordan, at B. and N. Kids Blog

Sorcery for Beginners, by Matt Harry, at Geek Mom

Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, at Redeemed Reader

*Thornhill, by Pam Smy at proseandkahn and The NY Times  

 *Toto-The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz, by Michael Morpurgo, at Always in the Middle

The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor book 1) by Jessica Townsend, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books and divabooknerd

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Leaf's Reviews

Wishtree, by Katherine Applegate, at Lu and Bean Read

*The Wizards of Once, by Cressida Cowell, at B.and N. Kids Blog

*The Wonderling by Mira Bartok, at Mrsreadsbooks

*The World's Greatest Adventure Machine by Frank L. Cole, at The Write Path

Three at Ms Yingling reads-- Sven Carter and the Trashmouth Effect, by Rob Vlock, The Empty Grave, by Jonathan Stroud, Ship of the Dead, by Rick Riordan


Authors and Interviews

Nnedi Okorafor (*Akata Warrior) at the NY Times 

Laurie McKay (Villain Keeper series, most recently *Realm Breaker) at Boys Rule, Boys Read

Other Good Stuff

A great list of spooky MG for Halloween at Batch of Books

A look at some new fantasy in the UK at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

The Terror of Trees, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

"A Wrinkle in Time star: 'It means everything to be a girl of color' and play lead role" at EW

"Giant straw animals invade Japan" via Bored Panda

10/7/17

Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869, by Alex Alice

Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869, by Alex Alice (First Second, September 2017) is the most beautiful graphic novel I've read so far this year, and on top of that, it is one of the most interesting stories I've read this year of any genre. It is an oversized book, so the pages have plenty of room for both the detailed illustrations and the detailed plot!

Claire Dulac knew that she was taking a risk when she flew her hot air balloon to the very edge of the stratosphere.  But she judged it one worth taking--if she could find the aether, a mysterious element, air travel, and possibly even space exploration, would be possible. She promised her husband that she would return to him and their son...but she didn't.

The boy Sarphin, won't give up hope that somehow she survived.  And when, a year after she disappeared, a mysterious letter arrives from someone claiming to have found her logbook from that last journey, his hope is renewed.  The letter summons them to the castle of King Ludwig of Bavaria, a "mad" king who dreams of flying ships powered by aether.  The king hopes Claire's husband and son can continue his work, but in the meantime, Bismark dreams of a united Germany given power on the world stage by controlling aether themselves.  His spies are everywhere, and Seraphin and his father are in danger....

So this is part steampunk, part historical fiction, part a celebration of the fabulous creativity of the Victorian age, when scientists were making incredible discoveries and writers were exploding with romantic creativity.  It is a book that screams "give me as a present!" and so, if you need a gift for:

--a young graphic novel fan in general (teenaged rather than a young kid, because the story is a bit complicated and some knowledge of history is helpful.  But there's nothing particularly "young adult" about the plot, so if you have the right sort of 9-12 year old, who likes detail, and history, and machines, offer it up!)
--a fan (of any age) of steampunk, Jules Verne, or late 19th century European history,

this is the one!

I was in fact tempted to keep my review copy hidden from my own teenaged graphic novel reading son, but he is a judge for the Cybils Awards in the graphic novel category, and would be reading this before Christmas in any event.  Here are his thoughts, at his own blog, A Goblin Reviews Graphic Novels.  He would have liked getting it as a Christmas present.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

10/6/17

We need diverse books nominated for the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category of the Cybils!

Diversity isn't a criteria we use to evaluate books for the Cybils Awards, but we do like having diverse books on the shortlists.  This is hard to do, though, when books by diverse authors and books with diverse characters aren't nominated.   Here are a few that are eligible for the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category (for which I am the team leader).

It is very depressing, how short this list is.  I think this is the slimmist year since I've been paying attention for diversity in middle grade sci fi and fantasy.  And this list is not short because lots of diverse books have already been nominated (they haven't-I think we have two so far--The Gauntlet, and Rise of the Jumbies).  So I hope I've  missed lots, because of not knowing every author and not having read every book.  Please put more in the comments, and I'll add them!  And please also nominate them, and lots of other diverse books in all the other categories!  Here's where you go to nominate (by October 15).  Even it they don't end up being shortlisted, it's a way to show the authors you appreciate them, and to give them a bit of publicity.

Books by diverse authors:
Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor (now nominated)
The Ghosts in the Castle, by Zetta Elliott
Spirit Hunters, by Ellen Oh  (now nominated)
The Mesmerist, by Ronald L. Smith  (now nominated)
Rebellion of Thieves, by Kekla Magoon
The Crystal Ribbon, by Celeste Lim
Voyage to Avalon (Mice of the Round Table, #2) by Julie Leung
Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic, by Armand Baltazar
A Properly Unhaunted Place, by William Alexander (now nominated)

Books with diverse characters who are central to the story:
A Crack in the Sea, by H.M. Bouwman  (now nominated)
Ghosts of Greenglass House, by Kate Milford  (now nominated)
Journey Across the Hidden Islands, by Sarah Beth Durst  (now nominated)
The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix, by Kate Saunders
One Way or Another, by Annette Laing

Here's a longer list of books I made that not yet nominated; perhaps some of these are also diverse (?)

10/5/17

Ghosts of Greenglass House, by Kate Milford

Ghosts of Greenglass House, by Kate Milford (2017, middle grade, Clarion Books), was my most anticipated book of 2017 (I loved the first book, Greenglass House, very much, and if you haven't read it first, do so before reading this because spoilers).  It was released 2 days ago, so I'm later than I wanted to be getting a review up, but it was for a good reason--my 9th grade made friends this year with an 8th grade girl who also loved Greenglass House, and so I passed on my ARC to him to lend to her, which made me (and her) both happy--it has always been my dream that my boys' friends would be happy recipients of my ARCs and this hasn't happened as much as I had anticipated....

So Ghosts of Greenglass house takes place a year after the last book.  Once again it is Christmas, and it has been a year since Meddy, the ghost girl who once lived there has turned up.  It is slowish to start; Milo, whose parents run Greenglass House as a hotel, is disgruntled and cranky (partly because he is a Chinese adoptee, and has just had to deal with an insensitive teacher), and there's no snow yet.  There's only one guest in residence--a young art student in love with the stained glass windows.  But then guests arrive.  The first to come are dear characters from the first book--Clem and Georgie, professional thieves.  Their most recent job, liberating an extraordinary map, went sour, and they need to lie low.  Then the Waits ( mummers and carol singers) arrive, and the peace of Greenglass House is shattered when one of them is poisoned, and the treasures that Clem and Georgie have brought with them are stolen.

Milo is of course eager to solve this mystery, and happily Meddie turns up to assist, and once more they fall into the role-playing game that helped them out last time.  And once more storytelling brings clarity to the puzzle, and lots of hot chocolate is drunk, and more of the strange history of Nagspeake is revealed. And there's another ghost involved...  So of course I loved reading all this!

Because the oddball collection of individuals who make up the Waits are not actual guests, the story takes place in basically a day and a half, which made it somewhat more frantic than book 1; there was less time for Christmassy peace, and things felt a tad squashed. I was also slightly disappointed that Meddie didn't do more; Milo has to do almost all the figuring out himself.  But still it was a great read!   I look forward to reading it again, out loud closer to December, to the 9th grader referenced above, who has already asked me to do so.  Knowing how things unfold, and the slower pace of reading out loud, will let me enjoy it even more!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

10/4/17

Some elementary/middle grade books that haven't been nominated for the Cybils yet

Updated!

I know that nominations for the 2017 Cybils Awards  don't close till the 15th, and I also know that we have lots of good books nominated.  But I am twitchy about the books that haven't been nominated, especially the ones I haven't read yet; what if one of those is The One for me to champion?  And not that I am competitive, but ordinary Middle Grade Fiction is ahead by about 28 nominations.....

So here's a list of books that haven't been nominated yet; it's still an incomplete list, but I will be adding to it when I have time and updating it as books get nominated.   I'm not personally endorsing any of these, though several I did like lots, and though I'm pretty sure they are all eligible, I won't be doing Deep Checking until they get nominated...

Feel free of course to nominate a book that isn't on this list!

This is where you go to nominate.  You'll need to create a Cybils identity, but then you'll see all the different categories where you can nominate books (you get a nomination in each category).

The Ghosts in the Castle, by Zetta Elliott
Rebellion of Thieves, by Kekla Magoon
The Crystal Ribbon, by Celeste Lim
Voyage to Avalon (Mice of the Round Table, #2) by Julie Leung
Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic, by Armand Baltazar
The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix, by Kate Saunders
One Way or Another, by Annette Laing
Thornhill, by Pam Smy
The Daybreak Bond, by Megan Frazer Blakemore
The Last Panther, by Todd Mitchell
The Secrets of Hexbridge Castle, by Gabrielle Kent
The Journey to Dragon Island by Claire Fayers
The Many Worlds of Albie Bright
If the Magic Fits, by Susan Schmid
Horizon, Scott Westerfeld
The Griffin of Darkwood, by Becky Citra
The Star Thief, by Lindsey Becker
Edgeland, by Jake Halpern 
Jed and the Junkyard War, by Steven Bohls
Silo and the Rebel Raiders by V. Peyton
The Emerald Tablet by Dan Jolley
Hatched, by Bruce Coville
The Dog Ray by Linda Coggin
The Goblin Crown, by Robert Hewitt Wolfe
The Beginners Guide to Curses by Lari Don
Stormwalker by Mike Revell
Race the Night, by Kirsten Hubbard
Defender of the Realm, by Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler
The Painting, by Charis Cotter
Maggie and the Flying Horse, by E.D. Baker
Dragon's Green, by Scarlett Thomas
The Doll's Eye, by Marina Cohen
The House of Months and Years, by Emma Trevayne
The Night Garden, by Polly Horvath
The Girl with the Ghost Machine, by Lauren DeStefano
Wormwood Mire, by Judith Rossell
The Silver Gate, by Kristin Bailey
The Mage (Foxcraft #3), by Inabalie Iserles
The Wizard's Dog, by Eric Kahn Gale
Gold, by Geraldine Mills
Tumble and Blue, by Cassie Beasley
Monsterland, by James Crowley
The Bone Snatcher, by Charlotte Salter
Wonderling, by Mira Bartok
The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre, by Gail Carson Levine
Joplin, Wishing, by Diane Stanley
Emily and the Spellstone, by Mike Rubens
The Princess and the Page by Christina Farley
Rules for Thieves, by Alexandra Ott
Holly Farb and the Princess of the Galaxy, by Gareth Wronski
Realm Breaker, by Laurie McKay


10/1/17

this week's roundup of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (10/1/17)

Welcome to this week's round up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs!  Please let me know if I missed your post.

First--Cybils nominations are now open!  Anyone can nominate books (one book for each category), and so I hope you all go nominate (at a minimum) your favorite Elementary and Middle Grade speculative fiction book!  I'm the category organizer, and I'm also a proud mother, because for the second year, my own teenaged son (his blog is A Goblin Reviews Graphic Novels) is a panelist in the graphic novel category.

The Reviews

Battle of the Beasts, by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini, at Say What?

Beast and Crown, by Joel Ross, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Curtain of Mist, by M. Pardoe, at Charlotte's Library

The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart, by Stephanie Burgis, at That's Another Story and  Semicolon

 Everything You Need to Know about Nightmares! And How to Defeat Them, by Jason Segal and Kirsten Miller, at The Reading Nook Reviews

Ghosts of Greenglass House, by Kate Milford, at Log Cabin Library

The King's Ransom (Young Knights of the Round Table) by Cheryl Carpinello, at Mythical Books

Orphan Island, by Laurel Snyder, at Bibliobrit and Semicolon

The Neddiad, by Daniel Pinkwater, at Puss Reboots

The Royal Ranger, by John Flanagan, at Leaf's Reviews

The Silver Mask (Magisterium #4) by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, at Jen Robinson's Book Page

Serafina and the Splintered Heart (Serafina #3) by Robert Beatty, at Sharon the Librarian

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Completely Full Bookshelf

The Tiny Hero of Ferny Creek Library, by Linda Bailey, at Redeemed Reader

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, by Kelly Jones, at Finding Wonderland

The White Tower, by Cathryn Constable, at Cracking the Cover

Wishtree, by Katherine Applegate, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Wizards of Once, by Cressida Cowell, at Minerva Reads

The Wonderling, by Mira Bartok, at Charlotte's Library and  Say What?

The World’s Greatest Adventure Machine, by Frank L. Cole, at Mom Read It

York: The Shadow Cipher, by Laura Ruby, at Sonderbooks

Authors and Interviews

Sara Lewis Holmes (The Wolf Hour) at Finding Wonderland

Mira Bartok (The Wonderling) at Cracking the Cover  and Great Kid Books

James Ponti (Dead City triology) at From the Mixed Up Files

Other Good Stuff

"Exploring Miyazaki's Fantasy World" at Tor

Witch Week is coming to the Emerald City Book Review at the end of October

Ten creepy Middle Grade books for Halloween, at Batch of Books

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