Outwalkers, by Fiona Shaw

Outwalkers, by Fiona Shaw (David Fickling Books, Middle Grade, Feb 26, 2019), is set in a future England that closed its boarders after the Faith Bombings.  To keep people "safe", they are chipped, and warned not to venture into the countryside for fear of the virus that lurks there.  When Jake's parents die, he's sent to one of the government homes, which are basically prisons for unclaimed kids.  Jake escapes, and returns to his old home, where he's reunited with his beloved dog, Jet.  But then he's faced with an impossible journey--escape from England to his grandparents in Scotland, on the other side of a heavily militarized boarder.

Fortunately for Jake, he's found by a band of Outwalkers, kids in circumstances similar to his own, who are also trying to head to the free north.  The Outwalker kids have been on their own long enough to learn how to survive...but even once they remove their chips, the journey north is fraught with danger.  When a security guard accidently dies while trying to catch them in London, the danger gets even more intense.  Escaping into an abandoned Underground station, they are safe for the moment, but it is a trap.  And when a new girl joins their band, wanted by one of the highest government officials in the country, a safe way north seems even harder to believe in.

But they make it in the end, thanks to remarkable luck and a series of helpful grownups appearing like dei ex machina to risk their own lives to get the kids to safety.

It's certainly an exciting story, with lots of peril and uncertainty and close shaves.  If  you like survival stories, you'll find lots to enjoy in that regard;  hunger is a constant in these kids' lives (aside--I appreciate that one of the things the kids steal is tampons; nice bit of realism!). If you are looking for strong friendships, you'll find them here too, to a certain extent.  The reader is expected to believe in the strong bonds that form amongst the kids as they look out for each other (and I did), but the stress of their journey, and the traumas that each one carries with them, means that there's little time for bonds stemming from sharing and talking.   Fiona Shaw's choice to indicate dialogue with beginning dashes, -like this, she said, is jarring, and didn't work well for me, and what will young readers think of it?

So my reaction was somewhat mixed, but if you like kids on the run from the evil government, and it is a very evil government, terrifyingly plausible, you might well enjoy it lots!

In case you were wondering/worrying-- Jet, Jake's dog, has a role in the story, and (spoiler warning) he doesn't die.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

The Ice Garden, by Guy Jones

The Ice Garden, by Guy Jones (Chicken House, January 2019 in the US), is the story of a lonely girl who finds her way through magic to a frozen garden, a friend, and a terrible choice.

Jess is allergic to the sun, and so her mother keeps her safely, vigilantly working to protect her daughter, which means keeping her inside almost all the time, and letting her go outside only when shrouded against all possible touch of the sun.  So Jess has no friends, and her only escape is in writing stories.  One night she rebels, and walks out of the house unprotected...and finds herself entering a night-time garden all made of ice.  It is a beautiful, magical place, and there Jess finds a friend, a strange boy named Owen.

Owen is not communicative about the garden, though he does hint that there's a dark side to it's beauty.  And Jess is so delighted both to be outside and to have a friend that the whispers of darkness are irrelevant.  In the meantime, her hospital visits become more interesting when she starts sneaking into the room of a boy in a coma to tell him stories.

Then both worlds collide when Owen tests the limits of the ice-gardens magic to give Jess her heart's desire--to stand in the sun, unafraid.  And Jess is faced with undoing the result of that gift, and a terrible choice that will determine the fate not just of herself, but both boys...

One thing bothered me about the book, Jess's mother seems almost pathological in her protectiveness....it seems like she could have given her daughter more semblance of a normal life, but instead infantilizes her, calling her "little one" all the time.   So Jess has almost no agency, which is why sneaking out of the house at night is so important to her.  In the last conversation between Jess and her mother in the book, though, the mother makes Jess promise never ever to do such a thing again, and it's like she wants to trap her daughter forever (quite possibly I'm reading too much into it...but that's how I felt).

The ice-garden is a lovely, magical bit of wonder, such as will delight the young reader who loves beautifully described impossible places.   Jess's friendship with Owen also makes for good reading, and I didn't actually mind the magical healing/unhealing part of the end.  I also wasn't bothered by the complete lack of explanation for the magic; I went as far as to ask myself if I should be, but decided not to be.   Sometimes ice gardens happen.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/3/18)

Here's this week's round-up; let me know if I missed your post!  thanks.

The Reviews

The Alchymist, by Michael Scott, at proseandkahn

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin, at Books4yourkids

Cogheart, by Peter Bunzl, at Geek Reads Kids

The Collectors, by Jacqueline West, at Lindsay Maeve Schubert

A Dash of Trouble (Love Sugar Magic #1), by Anna Meriano, at Fafa's Book Corner

The Darkdeep, by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs, at Cracking the Cover

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Charlotte's Library

Eleanor Roosevelt's in my Garage, by Candace Fleming, at Charlotte's Library

Eternal Seas, by Lexi Rees, at Chrikaru Reads

The Extremely High Tide, by Kir Fox and M. Shelley Coats, at Crossroad Reviews

Lenny's Book of Everything, by Karen Foxlee, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at For Those About to Mock and Teach Mentor Texts

Mabel Jones and the Doomsday Book, by Will Mabbitt and Ross Collins, at Puss Reboots

The Midnight HOur, by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder, at The Book Activist

The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier, at Suzanne Goulden

The Ropemaker, by Peter Dickinson, at Puss Reboots

Steel Magic, by Andre Norton, at Tor

Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows, by J.M. Bergen, at Always in the Middle, Bookworm for Kids, and Smitten for Fiction

Authors and Interviews

Anne Ursu (The Lost Girl) at Publishers Weekly

Author Kim Ventrella (The Skeleton Tree, Bone Hollow) talks about Magical Realism in Middle Grade at MG Book Village

Other Good Stuff

Congratulations to The Book of Boy, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Newbery Honor) and The Collectors, by Jacqueline West (Schneider Family Book Award MG honor) representing MG fantasy in the ALA awards! And congratulations to Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award.

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee

The most recent book from Rick Riordan Presents, Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee (January 2019), takes Korean mythology on a wild ride into space, and it's lots of fun! Actually I take that back, it isn't really "fun" because mostly things are going wrong for the young heroine, Min, a shapeshifting fox girl from a backwater planet.


The book starts by things going very wrong indeed, with a government agent coming to Min's family farm to ask about her older brother, a cadet in the space corps. who apparently deserted to go find the legendary Dragon Pearl, a device of terraforming magic, Min ends up knocking him out with a sauce pan.


Recognizing that staying peacefully at home isn't a great option for her, Min decides to set out on her own to find her brother. Finding the Dragon Pearl would be great too--her planet's terraforming never was completed. Her journey eventually takes her to the very war ship her brother served on. A newly dead cadet lets her assume his form (something fox magic lets her do), and she, a thirteen-year old girl, has to use all her magic and cunning to pass as a 16 year old boy. And now she has the ghost's agenda (solving the mystery behind his death) to take care of as well as her own quest for her brother and the Dragon Pearl.

The warship, captained by a shapeshifting tiger, is full of secrets and lies, and there is danger both without and within its hull, both to Min and to the thousand planets...

So there are lots and lots of times when everything is very tense indeed, making it hard for me to relax. Happily, there are less fraught elements as well, such as Min's experiences as a cadet, trying desperately to figure out what she's supposed to be doing, and making friends with the friends of the dead boy (which is a little disturbing, but which is all sorted out in the end). The friends are a female dragon and a non-binary goblin with a snack-conjuring fork among other magics, and I loved the parts of the story in which they and Min are together.

The plot is intricate without being confusing, the world-building is superb, and the characters are well-developed, and Min, in particular, with her mix of cunning and naivete, is fascinating. Min's magic, and the magic of other supernatural types of persons encountered along the way, add wonder to the sci fi elements. I now wonder why there aren't more hybrid sci fi/fantasy space stories, because when well done, as it is here, it's great reading!

Eleanor Roosevelt's In My Garage, by Candace Fleming, for Timeslip Tuesday

Eleanor Roosevelt's In My Garage, by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Mark Fearing (Schwartz & Wade, September 2018) , is just the sort of entertaining time travel story the title suggests.  Nolan and his little sister Olive have had experience with time travel--they just hosted Ben Franklin for a visit (Ben Franklin's in my Bathroom).  Now the strange device that brought Ben forward in time, and took him home again, has done it again, and Eleanor Roosevelt shows up in their suburban Illinois home.  And just a little while later, she's joined by her family dog, little Fala.

Eleanor is, of course, a strong minded, level-headed sort of person, and she believes the kids when they assure her she'll get home safely.  But the device doesn't work automatically--some positive change has to be made by the time travelling visitor.  When Eleanor finds the local park is going to be made into a parking lot, she rallies the kids to the cause of saving it.  And though the locals aren't easily swayed to oppose the mayor's plan, Nolan and Olive rise to the occasion.

Saving the park isn't enough, though, to get Eleanor and Fala home.  Something more personal is required, just a small thing to change Nolan's life....

I loved the portrayal of Eleanor--she is just the determined, smart, brave sort of person that I imagine she would be if she found her self in the 21st century (although she's not all that curious about modern times, which is perhaps a wise choice).  Nolan isn't a particularly heroic or interesting kid, but his good-hearted and does his best.  Olive is a total brat, and I couldn't stand her efforts to be winsomely cute and get her own way all the time.  Fala is lots of fun.

It's not a preachy book--it's point is not life lessons, but rather to entertain while perhaps instructing a little.  Short graphic stories flash back to Eleanor's own time, from her girlhood trauma of being constantly put down by her mother, to the time she and her husband entertained the King and Queen of England in true American style.  The author's note at the end expends on the bits of history offered in the story.  So it's not at all necessary to know anything about her to enjoy the story, but by the end of it it's hard to imagine readers not admiring her!

Kids will enjoy the generously-fonted text and the humorous illustrations, and pick up a bit of history in the process!  A good pick for 7-10 year olds.  And I might well go get my hands on the first book....even though Olive is awful.  And probably the next book as well....

This week's round up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy from around the blogs (1/27/19)

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Axe of Sundering (Adventurers Wanted #5), by M.L. Forman, at Say What?

Bob, by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead, at Not Acting My Age

Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows, by Ryan Calejo, at Ice Fairy's Treasure Chest

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Fantasy Book Café and This Kid Reviews Books and The Book Smugglers at Kirkus

City of Ghosts, by Victoria Schwab, at Ex Libris

Echo North, by Joanna Ruth Meyer, at Pages Unbound

Frederik Sandwich and the Mayor Who Lost Her Marbles (Frederick Sandwich 2) by Kevin John Scott, at Sharon the Librarian

The Golden Specific, by S.E. Grove at Pages Unbound

Island of Monsters (Spirit Hunters #2) by Ellen Oh, at Jean Little Library

The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende, at proseandkahn

Ollie Oxley and the Ghost: the Search for Lost Gold, by Lisa Schimd, at Say What?

Otherwood, by Pete Hautman, at bibliobrit

The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods, by Samuel J. Halpin, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

Smoke and Mirrors, by K.D. Halbrook, at Rajiv's Reviews

Sands of Nezza (Adventures Wanted #4), by M.L. Forman, at Say What?

Sorcery for Beginners, by Matt Harry, at Log Cabin Library

A Sprinkle of Spirits, by Anna Meriano, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Star-Spun Web, by Sinéad O’Hart, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books and Fallen Star Stories

Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at Hidden in Pages

Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, at Literacious

Thomas Wildus and The Book of Sorrows by J.M. Bergen, at Log Cabin Library

The Transparacy Tonic (Potion Masters #2) by Frank L. Cole, at Cracking the Cover

Wundersmith: the Calling of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at Say What?

Two at Alexa Loves Books--The Darkdeep, by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs, and Savage, by Nicole Conway

Authors and Interviews

Catherine Doyle (The Storm Keeper's Island) at Nerdy Book Club

Other Good Stuff

Kidlitcon 2019 is just around the corner--March 22 and 23.  There will be lots of mg fantasy goodness, including this session:

Diverse Fantasy in the Real World

Middle grade fantasy set in the real world can be a great escape for young readers, but just as importantly, it can offer new ways of seeing what is “real,” bringing attention to critical issues and making visible histories that maybe aren’t part of the standard curriculum. And of course it’s important that we have books with diverse protagonists to reflect the diversity of the real world; every kid should have the chance at magic! As well as addressing diversity gaps in fantasy, and how to fill them, this panel considers what makes good real world fantasy—how much magic do kids want? What stories resonate, and with whom? And how do gatekeepers know when the fantastical elements in a story warrant putting the little unicorn sticker on the spine, or when the magical realism of a particular culture falls on the side of realistic fiction?

With Zetta Elliott, Rajani LaRocca, Anna Meriano, S.R. Toliver (moderator) 

Rajani LaRocca's debut, Midsummer's Mayhem, comes out in June, and Simon and Schuster has generously sent all these lovely arcs for those who come to this session!  (aren't they pretty!)

A Curse so Dark and Lonely, by Brigid Kemmerer

I love reimaginings of Beauty and the Beast; it's always so fun to see what different twists each author brings to the story!  And so it was with great pleasure that I devoured A Curse so Dark and Lonely, by Brigid Kemmerer (Bloomsbury YA, January 29, 2019), because her twists are great fun and add considerably to the basic story.

"Beauty" is Harper, a girl from our world, with a family in trouble, cerebral palsy, and a very strong will.  "Beast" is Rhen,, who lives in a castle haunted by the curse of a nasty enchantress, with his faithful Commander of Guards, Grey, his only companion.  The breaking of the curse requires the usual love between Beauty and Beast, but in this retelling, Rhen is only a beast for part of each season of the curse, and reverts to human back at the beginning of a new season, over and over again.  Grey can pass into our world, from whence he has brought many young women, hoping one will break the curse.  Harper wasn't a girl he intended to bring back, but when she witnessed what looked to her like a girl being kidnapped, she intervened...and got taken instead.

Harper is determined get home....and smart enough to realize how impossible that is pretty quickly.  Rhen (still human) and Grey and Harper, alone in the castle with Harper gradually picking up the clues that things are terribly awry, makes for good reading all by itself (they are all interesting characters, hiding things from each other and themselves), but this is just the introduction.

Where this retelling really broke the mold, and I loved it for doing so, was acknowledging that there's a world outside the cursed castle.  Rhen is the prince of his country, and his people have been suffering, and though he took action at the beginning to try to ameliorate things by closing the boarder, an enemy invasion is imminent.  The closed boarders and lack of cohesive government have caused more mundane problems as well, and Rhen has thought there was nothing he could do about any of it and so he didn't bother trying.

Harper blazes through this misconception like a meteor.  For instance, if your castle produces magic food every day, you feed it to the starving masses.  And her fresh perspective works wonders in Rhen.  His brain, frozen by the bloody horror of his situation, starts to think of the bigger political picture, and what he can and cannot do, and the story become one not just of fairy tale romance, but of Political Machinations/Desperate Schemes, during which romance may (or may not) be happening.
Viz the romance--this isn't actually a love story, though there's enough tension and maybe love in the future not do disappoint the romantic.   I appreciated that Harper, who is in fact a kidnapping victim, doesn't start swooning right and left over either of the two handsome men she is stuck with.  Instead, she thinks about them, finding things to question, and things to admire, in both. And she brings hope to both that there might be an end to the curse....as all three of them do some hard thinking about what they are responsible for, and what they aren't, and what they can do with the choices they have been given.

So lots of interesting twisting of the parent story (there are more that I didn't mention) make this a fabulous read for fairy tale fans, fans of desperate political/military maneuvering, and fans of slow burning trust into (?) love in the future.  Harper is perhaps a bit too good to be true, but her strengths and smarts allow her to play her role convincingly.  The author worked hard to make this a realistic portrayal of someone with CP, and there are things that are hard for her to do as a result (dancing, for instance), but her CP doesn't define her, or keep her from accomplishing what she sets out to do.  Thinking about this, I'm very glad that she struggled with knife throwing (one way to pass the time in an enchanted castle where you are being held against your will), because it kept her from being too perfect (she never does get really good at knife throwing).

If Harper is maybe too good to be true, the evil fairy character is too one-dimensionally bad to be true.  Her motivations are petty (at least, that is how they are presented to the reader) and she's sadistic with no clear point to it all (she reminded me of the evil computer overlord in "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream").  Maybe there is more to her that we didn't get to see here, but it may also be that she's just a really villainous person because that's how she rolls.  I like my villains to have, if not possible redemption arcs, at least a backstory that's not petty....so I'll hope for the former.

It's a long book, almost 500 pages, but the twists keep adding interest, and keep coming, so it didn't feel dragged out.  Most of the story is set in the magic world, but toward the end Washington D.C., and new characters, come into it, bringing fresh energy to the story (and a sweet gay couple). Give yourself a nice long weekend to read it in, and then join me in waiting for the next book (at least one sequel has been promised).

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

On the Wasteland, by Ruth M. Arthur, for Timeslip Tuesday

I was so sure that On the Wasteland, by Ruth M. Arthur, illustrated by Margery Gill, would finally be the book of hers that I truly loved.  The plot hits all the right notes for me.  The heroine, Betony, is a smart, orphaned girl drawn to the lonely wasteland at the edge of the Suffolk coast, and happily for her the orphanage gives her freedom to wander around in it alone (nice orphanage!).   She makes friends with the old couple whose house is an overturned boat (this isn't something I actually look for in books, but it is a nice touch).   This friendship leads her to working part time in the manor house (for which I give it bonus points) where she's given the run of the library (lots of bonus points).  And there's the handsome teenaged grandson of the lady of the manor, with romance to come hinted at (this would have gotten more bonus points back when I was a young teen myself.  Hardened cynical me rolls eyes, but in a kind way).

And on top of all that, there's a time slip plotline--in the Wasteland, Betony is sometimes swept into the past, when Vikings were settling in Suffolk (not exactly invading, but not invited by the Saxons either, so not peaceful).  At first she is just an observing shadow, but as she grows from child to teen, her immersion in the past becomes deeper, and the Vikings start to see her, and she steps into the role of Estrith, a girl her own age.  Her Viking family starts to matter more and more to her, though the past is sometimes disturbing.  

It is also disturbing that there have been quite a number of people before Betony who were found drowned in the Wasteland.  

So I should have loved this book to pieces, but once again Ruth M. Arthur failed to deliver that for me, and I ended up simply enjoying it quite a bit.   In this case, it is because Betony is narrating the story from a future point of view (for instance, she checks her journal to make sure she's remembering things the way they happened).  So it's clear that we, the reader, aren't living it with Betony; she's telling us a story that she already lived through, with lots of flashbacks.  And this lack of immediacy and lack of closeness made me not care as deeply about her and her world as I might otherwise.  

The other issue is that, except for the threat of drowning hanging over the time travel, the time travel doesn't do anything much to advance the story or Betony's character arc.  The only noticeable result is that she decides to be an archaeologist/early medieval historian.  I like a nice bit of "time travel as tourism" but to be really good time travel, it needs to accomplish something other than provide a bit of family time and some career counseling.  And when it is floaty magic sort of time travel like this, I really like it  to have some emotional hook to the present  that gives a reason for it be happening over and over again beyond "there were Vikings here once."  The only hook here was that Betony was a Suffolk native yearning for family connections, which doesn't much explain why it was Vikings and not 18th century farmers.  Oh well.

Like I said, though, I did enjoy it; it was a pleasant read.  And there was one part I found especially cool--I myself have family who came from Suffolk to Virginia in the 17th century; they were Knotts, and one of the characters in the book is surnamed Nott, and they talk about how that is one of the local Viking lineages.  However, I spent a summer in Suffolk (on an archaeological dig at Sutton Hoo), and didn't time travel one single bit, even when lying on top of a burial mound floating like an island in the night mist, so Betony wins, even though I am just as much Viking as her.

I stuck both middle grade and YA on it as lables for this post; it's suitable for both ages, although they'll get different things out of it--starry eyed wonder of time travel and romance vs. story of a lonely cranky teenager.

The cover at the top of the post is from the Goodreads edition it doesn't really fit the book much at all.  Why have Margery Gill as an illustrator if she doesn't do a cover with people? Having typed that, I checked the cover of my edition--rather unappealing 1970s teenage love--turns out to be in fact by M.G., which just goes to show.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (/20/19)

Here's what I found this week; let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)

Albrek's Tomb (Adventurers Wanted #3), by M.L. Forman, at Say What?

Begone the Raggedy Witches, by Celine Kiernan, at By Singing Light

The Boy Who Flew, by Fleur Hitchcock, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

The Buried Crown, by Ally Sherrick, at Staircase Wit

Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows, by Ryan Calejo, at Saving in Seconds

A Dash of Trouble (Love Sugar Magic 1), by Anna Meriano, at Sirens Book Club

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Tor

Dragons in a Bag, by Zetta Elliott, at Puss Reboots

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow (Crowns of Croswald #2), by D.E. Night, at The Children's Book Review

The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, at Pages Unbound

Midnight Reynolds and the Agency of Spectral Protection, by Catherine Holt, at Sharon the Librarian 

Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot, by Adam Gidwitz and Joseph Bruchac, at Geo Librarian

Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy, at Jean Little Library

The Stone Girl's Story, by Sarah Beth Durst, at alibrarymama

The Storm Keeper's Island, by Catherine Doyle, at Word Spelunking and Inside a Dog

Storm Hound, by Claire Fayers, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Stuck in the Stone Age, by Geoff Rodkey, at Charlotte's Library

Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, at alibrarymama

We're Not From Here, by Geoff Rodkey, at Book Nut

Winterhouse, by Ben Guterson, at Leaf's Reviews

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at Pamelakramer.com


Authors and Interviews

Greg Howard (The Whispers) at Pages Unbound

Anna Meriano (A Dash of Trouble) at Kirkus Best Books of 2018

Kara LaReau (Flight of the Bluebird --Bland Sisters #3) at Charlotte's Library

Gregory Funaro (Watch Hallow) at The Children's Book Review

Jacqueline West (The Collectors) at Middle Grade Ninja TV

Christopher Paolini (The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm) at Entertainment Weekly

Flight of the Bluebird (Bland Sisters #3)--review and interview with Kara LaReau

Flight of the Bluebird, by Kara LaReau, illustrated with great charm by Jen Hill, is the third and final book of The unintentional Adventures of the Bland sisters (Abrams, January 8, 2019).  Kale and Jaundice, abandoned by their parents, lived a life of utmost blandness and boringness until adventure shattered their staid lives.  First they are kidnapped by pirates, in The Jolly Regina.  Next they whisked off by an unexpected aunt who's a famous magician, on a train ride full of mystery and excitement in The Uncanny Express (my review).  And now, in Flight of the Bluebird, they fly off to Egypt to face an unscrupulous illegal trader in antiquities (not a nice persona at all!) and, maybe, find their parents....

The titular Bluebird is the small airplane, piloted by daring aviatrix, Beatrix, sent by their parents to save them from some unknown danger.  But instead of taking them to safety, the Bluebird flies to Egypt, where they might solve the mystery surrounding the magical scarab Jaundice acquired in their previous adventure, and perhaps even find their long-lost parents...if danger doesn't find them first!  And there is plenty of danger, involving an evil archaeologist selling antiquities, kidnappings, and sundry other threats.  The sisters don't have the chance to peacefully be dull.

It makes for a fun read, and it's lovely to see Jaundice and Kale continue to emerge as three dimensional characters!  The magic of the scarab, and the wild adventures in Egypt, add a fantastical excitement to the story.  It's a fine conclusion to a saga that manages to be both wildly silly (for both grown ups and kids, with cleverness to delight the former and high jinks to delight the later), and at the same time thought-provoking.

And speaking of thought-provoking, it was a great pleasure to get to ask Kara LaReau some of the thoughts provoked in me!

By the time I read the end of Flight of the Bluebird, I realized that the Bland sisters were not Bland at all, and probably never had been; in this third book, when we finally learn why their parents left them, we get (or at least I got) a shock—they were incredibly brave and resilient from the get go (and though their lives and food were boring, this may well have been a coping mechanism rather than a reflection of their characters). So my question is—did the development of Jaundice and Kale into three dimensional characters, distinct from each other, and not at all bland, surprise you, or had you been realizing all along as you wrote them that this was going to happen?

Yes, I think their adherence to routine was a coping mechanism in their parents’ absence; their Blandness is a bit more inherent, though I think it became more extreme when they were left to their own devices.

In some ways, I wish Jaundice and Kale could have just stayed the same throughout the series, but I knew there had to be some character development in order to keep their story interesting. So I knew it was something I had to do, maybe not from the get-go, but gradually. In The Uncanny Express (Book 2), they do start using their brains and realize how much they can accomplish when they work together and apply themselves. So that kind of sets them up for Book 3.

And following from that, to make them over the top interesting and daring etc. wouldn’t have worked; did you have to work hard to keep the girls as bland as you could?

Making them bland was actually the easy part! I’m so in their heads that I just knew, for instance, that Kale’s first reaction to landing in Egypt was to note how much sand there was. (Her favorite color is brown, after all.)

There’s a point when they’re imprisoned in the tomb of Seti I where Jaundice and Kale get really angry, probably for the first time in their lives. That was a harder scene to write, because it was such a departure from their baseline, deadpan emotional state. 

This third book is also the most fantasy-ish of the trilogy, yet it the only one in a real place (and the one in which the girls are the most real, with real parents on hand….).   What made you decide to put in this actual fantasy twist of magical scarabs?

I knew that I wanted the final book to be an homage to Indiana Jones adventures, and there’s always a bit of magic in those stories, whether it’s the Ark or the Grail (let’s not talk about Temple of Doom or Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, ahem). Since Jaundice is always pocketing random objects, it seemed natural that she would take something truly valuable at some point—and I thought that would be a nice twist to leave at the end of Book 2 and carry into Book 3. 

The Bland books don’t overtly offer kids ethical lessons (except the obvious one in this third book of don’t illegally sell antiquities!), but when you were writing them, were there any big issue things you wanted kids to pick up on? (other than “you can be an interesting person even if you wear “boring” colors” which is my main take away!).

There are “lessons,” however subtle, in the books. Book 1, The Jolly Regina, has a little subplot about standing up for yourself, as Jaundice and Kale help one of the pirates who’s being bullied by her shipmates. In The Uncanny Express, the Bland Sisters learn about the importance of using their eyes and ears and being present in the world, and that you can’t take anything (or anyone!) at face value. Flight of the Bluebird is about being brave and getting out of your comfort zone. But these aren’t “issues” books, of course. They’re meant to be romps, maybe with a little message peppered in.

Do you think you’ll ever write for older “middle grade” kids—the 11 to 13 year olds--yourself? (which isn’t of course to say that kids that age wouldn’t like the Bland sisters….) 

I don’t think about age range when I’m writing; I just let the story unfold and figure out who it’s for later. So you never know!

Final question—did you ever regret giving them such awful names (euphonious, but awful), or do you stand by that choice?  If you had to pick being named either Kale or Jaundice, which would it be?  

No regrets. I stand by my naming choices!

Of the two, I’d probably want to be named Kale; it’s the closest to my actual name, and it’s evidently gaining in popularity these days!

Thank you, Kara, both for the interview and for writing the very entertaining books!

The Mysterious World of Cosentino, books 1 and 2--great for emerging readers

Here's  the start of a book series for kids 7-10 (ish) about a stage magician (with some real magic as well as some great illusions!) co-written by a real magician!  The Missing Ace (book 1) and Rabbit Rescue, by Cosentino with Jack Heath (Kane Miller, 2018 in the US) are fun adventures full of danger and excitement in a surreal world where many inanimate objects are actually alive and magic is everyhwere, although the practice of magic is forbidden to common folk.

Cosentino, a young stage magician, is a deft illusionist.  He has a secret book of real magical spells, and a kind heart, so when an Ace of Spaces (a living card) seeks sanctuary from the kings soldiers in his theatre, Cosentino tries to help him, but in so doing attracts the attention of the king's henchmen, and he's imprisoned in the royal dungeon!  Will his magic, both real and illusory, be enough to get him out again?

He butts heads with the king again in the second book, in which he and his friends set off to free the magical rabbits of the kingdom, who are about to be served up for the king's eating pleasure.  With help from the young princess, who's not fond of the king's policies, and other, odder friends, Cosentino bends reality to save the rabbits' day, putting his own livelihood at risk.

These are great easy reads for the elementary school aged kid still finding their reading feet.  The font is large, there are illustrations on every page (grey tones, with read highlights), and there is almost always something Happening, on stage or off..

There's no attempt at formal world building, so readers are simply plunged into craziness (which I found a tad off-putting, but I'm not the target audience, and perhaps many emerging readers are put off by explicit world building because it slows things down???).

It's an especially great series for kids who are fascinated by stage magic-- some of Cosentino's tricks are explained to the reader, and there are detailed instructions for a  magic trick at the end of each book.

disclaimer: review copies received from the publisher

Stuck in the Stone Age, by Geoff Rodkey, for Timeslip Tuesday

Stuck in the Stone Age, by Geoff Rodkey (Rodale Kids March 2018), is the sort of romp of a book, generously fonted, with lots of humor (sometimes slapstick) and some poop (not the stuff of jokes, but actually adding value to the story, about which more later) that many elementary/younger middle grade kids love!  In case that isn't clear, the cover art is a good indication of the type of book it is.

It's the story of two adults, the brilliant but social awkward young scientist, Marissa Morice, and the socially brilliant Tom Edison, who stinks at science, but loves it so much he becomes the janitor at the big think tank where Marissa works.  When one of her colleagues invents a working time machine, Marissa and Tom accidently use it, and find themselves stuck in the past, c. 10000 B.C.  Cave men are throwing rocks at them, and a saber tooth tiger is eating them, and the time machine has taken itself home again....

The two have very different takes on being trapped back in time.  Tom feels rescue will arrive, and invents the game of rock ball, which proves hugely popular.  Marissa is less sanguine, and applies herself to inventing agriculture (less popular), ,and using poop as fertilizer (and trying to introduce the concept of hygienic living in the process (also not popular).   Poop also comes in handy when the need for explosive devices arises…. She also single-handedly kills a sabre tooth tiger.

And the two do eventually get home again!  Marissa (shown on the cover as a black woman--so yay for an example of fictional brilliant black woman in a kid's book!)  finds success in science due to her brilliance, and she has learned to appreciate Tom's people skills, and he finds a role in which he can succeed as well.

So it's a fun, and funny, story, that should appeal to the target audience lots (despite the fact that the protagonists are grownups in age, they read a lot like kids, so that's not a problem), and is fine reading for a grownup in need of something light and undemanding!  It is not a book that will teach you anything about Neolithic culture; that part is primarily stereotype, but it's an entertaining example of struggling to survive in a very different culture....if you aren't looking for much nuanced detail about that culture.

What makes this of interest to educators is that it is the first in a series designed to inspirer young writers. Indeed, the premise of the book came from a real kid.  Pages 194 to 267 are a "Story Creation Zone," with lots of tips and helpful guidance for young writers, and in the actually story there are interjections (unobtrusive) that take readers to the section of the Story Creation Zone that deals with a particular topic (like setting) when relevant.  I think the presentation of amusing story and friendly story writing guidance is the sort of thing teachers and their students might well have success with!  

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (1/13/19)

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Book of Boy, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, at Redeemed Reader

The Boy Who Went Magic, by A.P. Winter, at Portland Book Review

Danger Tastes Dreadful, by Ben Langhinrichs, at Always in the Middle 

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Fashback, by Shannon Messenger, at Carstairs Considers

The Girl with the Dragon, by Stephanie Burgis, at Sharon the Librarian

The Horn of Moran (Adventurers Wanted #2) by M.L. Forman, at Say What?

Knights vs. Dinosaurs, by Matt Phelan, at Jean Little Library 

The Language of Spells, by Garret Weyr, at Geo Librarian 

The Midnight Hour, by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Potkin and Stubbs, by Sophie Green, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Shadow of the Hawk, by Curtis Jobling, at Say What?

Strxia: The Odds are Against Us, by Maggie Daniels and Matt Michel, at The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, at Redeemed Reader

Trapped in Room 217, by Thomas Kingsley Troupe, at Booksforkidsblog

The Voting Tree, by Gareth Griffith, at Log Cabin Library

Watch Hallow, by Gregory Funaro, at Falling Letters and Always in the Middle

At Reading Rumpus, 1st round panelist Cheryl shares some first round nominees for the Cybils in Elementary Middle Grade speculative fiction that she loved that didn't advance to the next round.

Authors and Interviews

Samantha M. Clark (The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast) at ReadingWithYourKids.com

A slew of spooky MG authors at From the Mixed Up Files

Bland sisters interview (Kara LaReau--Flight of the Bluebird) at Mrs. Knott's Book Nook, and Kara herself at Middle Grade Book Village

Other Good Stuff

The top ten middle grade fantasy/sci fi books of 2018, picked by Barnes and Noble

A list of Mg Spec fic books from 2018 that are "weird, creepy, and occultic" at Semicolon

New books in the UK, Part 1 and Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books, part 2 also at Mr Ripleys

The Children of Castle Rock, by Natasha Farrant

My most formative reading years (8-10 years old) were a blend of Elizabeth Goudge, Joan Aiken, and Enid Blyton, which primed me just beautifully to enjoy The Children of Castle Rock, by Natasha Farrant (middle grade, out in the UK last spring from Faber and Faber)!

Alice's mother died several years before the book begins, and her aunt has become her primary caregiver (her father being a somewhat feckless actor).  Alice has withdrawn into writing stories, and her aunt, while recognizing and respecting her gift, is concerned that she is not actually living any stories of her own.  So the aunt arranges to sell the family home, and sends Alice off to boarding school.

Fortunately, that aunt, having Alice's best interests of heart, has picked an unusual boarding school in an old, once majestic estate in the wilds of Scotland, whose headmaster specializes in waifs and strays.  And happily she's given a room of her own.  Slowly she begins to make friends, and appreciate the externals of life.  Then her father, whose communication and dependability have both been lacking, asks her to rendezvous with him at a castle on a remote island. Alice takes advantage of the school's three day orienteering challenge to meet him there.

The two boys who are her team-mates in the challenge rise to the occasion to help her get to the island, and all three face their own personal issues in making it happen.  They also face a bad storm that blows their tent away, forcing them to break into an empty house, and they face other believable outdoor sort of challenges, and more unbelievably, a  dangerous international thief and her lackeys (there are reasons why the kids are in the crosshairs of this villain...).  But the three kids survive, and make it back to school in one piece, their friendships strengthened and their spirits on track for being soothed.

A very good story, mostly because of the friendship part; there were too many authorial intrusions for my taste (I loathe them in general), but very satisfying all in all.  Thinking of the three authors I mention above, I see echoes of what I liked in their books:

For Elizabeth Goudge--the vivid descriptions and sense of place, and the times the characters live deeply in moments of wonder.
For Joan Aiken--the over-the-top international thieves sub-plot (although this is much less remarkable than Aiken's plots!)
Enid Blyton--the plucky school kids on adventures (though with less emphasis on food....)

But in this book, the main point is more the internal lives of the characters--their hurts and their growth, which isn't what any of the three above were primarily concerned with!  More could have been made of the headmaster's six kittens, which none of the kids sufficiently appreciated, but you can't have everything.

The 48, by Donna Hosie

The 48, by Donna Hosie (Holiday House, October 2018) is a fun time-travel story that will especially appeal to fans of Tudor England!  I was pleased to see it nominated for the YA Speculative Fiction Cybils, for which I was a panelist, because I very much enjoyed her Devil's Intern series, and though I didn't like this quite as much, it was still a good read.

Some time in the future, twin brothers Charlie and Alex are young members of the 48, a secretive, almost paramilitary group that uses time travel to shape events in such a way that the influence of religion on the course of history is pruned back.  The twins are thrilled to get their first assignment--travelling back to the court of Henry VIII to make sure he doesn't marry Jane Seymour (I'm not exactly sure what difference this would have made, and Charlie and Alex don't seem to be sure either, not that they give it much thought.  But I was willing to play along).

The 48 (the organization, not the book) doesn't pull its punches--if the marriage can't be avoided by a deft social and political manipulation, they are expected to eliminate Jane directly.  But they aren't killers.  Nor are they well prepared for the cut-throat  machinations of Henry's court.  They scramble to find their feet, though their feet, once found, keep getting swept out from under them.  The court is not the only place where backstabbing and treachery is rampant.  Alice, a fellow trainee and ex of one of the twins has travelled back in time too, an event that makes no sense at first, but which is tied to a rebellion to the organization.

Charlie and Alex are pretty much failures at their mission. And since they finding themselves liking Jane lots, the thought of killing her doesn't appeal.  Will they survive threats against their lives from the Tudor court, and the anger of their superiors if they fail at their task? Are their careers as time-travelling manipulators over before they can complete even one mission?

The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Charlie, Alex, and young Lady Margaret, one of Queen Anne's ladies-in-waiting.  Margaret's is the first voice, and I was a little disappointed to see her fading to somewhat peripheral, one-note character, and I would have liked Alice's point of view too! She struck me as being much smarter than the boys! That being said, the boys were engaging narrators, and I found it interesting to watch them grow up and start thinking about what they were being asked to do (and there is a sweet gay romance for one of them, which was fun).

The details of the past are vivid, and lavishly applied, and in good time travel style, there's a lot of observation of all the things that are different, but there's not so much of this that it slows down the story.  The plot relies on social tensions (like treachery and attempted murder) more than on major events (until close to the end), so if you like sweeping Happenings, you might find it a bit slow (I don't have this problem).

If you like the Tudors, you'll probably enjoy this (unless you are a Tudor expert, which I am not, in which case you might disagree with the minutiae of the history...although Hosie seems to have done her research pretty thoroughly!)

disclaimer: review copy received for Cybils consideration.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs

Not many reviews this week, but I wanted to get back in the swing of things!  Let me know if I missed your post.

The Reviews

The Book of Boy, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, at Waking Brain Cells

Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows, by Ryan Calejo, at Charlotte's Library

Clash of Beasts (Going Wild 3), by Lisa McMann, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Dragons in a Bag, by Zetta Elliot, at Raise Them Righteous

Etty Steele: Vampire Hunter, by Grayson Grave, at Sci Fi and Scary

Max and the Midnights, by Lincoln Peirce, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Rage of Lions, by Curtis Jobling, at Say What?

Two Cybils EMG Spec. Fic. panelists, Sherry and Katy, share middle grade spec. fic books they loved

Authors and Interviews

Gregory Funaro (Watch Hallow) at Always in the Middle

Other Good Stuff

The shortlists for the Cybils Awards have been announced, and here are the seven Elementary/Middle grade speculative fiction books the first round panelists picked!  (if you think the Cybils sound fun, look for the call for panelists next August and join us!)

Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows, by Ryan Calejo

Now that my work as a Round 1 judge for the Cybils Awards in YA Speculative Fiction is done, I'm catching up on all the middle grade I missed!  Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows, by Ryan Calejo, for instance, came out last October....but better late than never!

Charlie is not an ordinary middle school kid.  His house burned down and his parents disappeared, he hasn't given up on finding them again.  But's what really weird is the horns and feathers he grew for no apparent reason.  This magical manifestation is the start of a wild ride that throws Charlie into the middle of an ancient battle between mythological beings fighting for the fate of the world.  The horns and feathers could mean he is the chosen one who will tip the balance in favor of the side who wants to protect the land of the living....but unfortunately for Charlie, he doesn't have an instruction manual for possible chosen ones.

On the plus side, however, Charlie's grandmother filled his childhood with stories of Hispanic mythology from both the old world and the new, so he's able identify both the beings trying to kill him, and the smaller number of non-murderous beings on his side.  And he also has the help of the smartest, coolest girl in school, Violet Ray, investigative journalist in training, who brings both a cool head and great research skills to Charlie's problems.

It's a fun and exciting ride as Charlie and Violet search for answers, and try to stay alive!  It's perhaps a cliché to say that fans of Rick Riordan will enjoy this lots, but it's the same sort of story, although Charlie isn't a demigod, and has yet to have cool powers under his control (although this seems like it will happen in the next book....).  The conversations are peppered with lots of Spanish, making this especially friendly for Spanish speaking kids, but not so much as to be problematic for non-Spanish speakers.

My 2018 reading

Happy New Year!  2018 didn't leave me with much to show for it (alhough Mia Wengen and I put together an awesome program for Kidlitcon 2019 in Providence RI this March, so do come!).  But I read 458 books, and enjoyed many of them.

I set my goal pretty high (it was 501 for 2018), not because I want another source of stress in my life but because I would really like a smaller tbr pile.  It's not working well.  Of my 458 books, 163 were neither review copies nor library books, but this didn't make a dent.  So for 2019 I've set my goal for 502, and I will meet it and I will start 2020 without the albatross of book guilt/chaos draped around my neck.  (My other resolution for 2019 is to start 2020 with a clean and tidy house and no ongoing renovation projects making life a burden....in the spirit of the day, I have already started working on this).

But I made some good book friends in 2018!

The highlight of my reading year was meeting Murderbot (a series of four novellas by Martha Wells).  Great is my love for Murderbot, fueled not just by my own enjoyment but by watching and listening to my 15 year read them.  (my review of the first, All Systems Red).  I had not read any Martha Wells before this, and will read more in 2019.

The close second highlight of my reading year was reading all the Penric and Desdemona books by Lois Macmaster Bujold; Penric is such a decent person and his relationship with Desdemona is fascinating.

As a result of these two series, I think I will look for more novellas in 2019;  there's lots to be said in books that can easily be read in (literally) a single sitting (a Murderbot takes me about an hour).

Weirdest book I liked--The Adventures of Madalene and Louisa, by L. Pasley.  If you like Victorian girl scientists, check it out!

Weirdest book that I didn't like-- Snowflake, by Paul Gallico (the biography of a snowflake, and her marriage to a raindrop, with lots of religion and little acknowledgement of the fact that rain etc. melt snow...)

Book I really enjoyed that surprised me most-- Not Even Bones, by Rebecca Schaeffer.  Who would have thought that a heroine with a penchant for dissecting corpses that is basically a thriller would have gripped me as much as it did?

Book I really enjoyed that didn't surprise me at all (once I realized I didn't have to worry about the author getting everything wrong) The Key to Flambards, by Linda Newbery.  I have reread K.M. Peyton's Flambards books multiple times, and loved the tv show back in the early 1980s, and it was lovely, just lovely, to visit modern day Flambards.

Books that I really enjoyed and didn't have to worry about enjoying them because of trusting the authors:

Beyond the Dreams We Know, by Rachel Neumeier
The Girl With the Dragon Heart, by Stephanie Burgis
The Lost Books: the Scroll of Kings, by Sarah Prineas
Bluecrowne, by Kate Milford

and also three (!) new books from a favorite author, Sarah Beth Durst -- The Stone Girl's Story, Fire and Heist, and The Queen of Sorrow


And finally, it was lots of fun to be part of the YA Speculative Fiction first round panel for the Cybils Awads this year!  Here are the books our panel selected.  My personal favorites were Tess of the Road, by Rachel Hartman, and Summer of Salt, by Katrina Leno.  (You too can be a Cybils judge!  Look for the call for panelists in mid August!)