Welcome to this week's round-up; please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
The Thousand Year Old Boy, by Ross Welford, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander, at Say What?
The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup, at Say What?
Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden, at Abby the Librarian
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at A Garden of Books (audiobook review)
The Double Helix (Explorer Academy #3), by Trudy Truit, at Always in the Middle
The Dragon Thief, by Zetta Elliott, at Middle Grade Book Village and Charlotte's Library
The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Hit or Miss Books
Dragons in a Bag, by Zetta Elliott, at Middle Grade Book Village
The Fire Keeper, by J.C. Cervantes, at Feed Your Fiction Additiction
The Ghouls of Howlfair, by Nick Tomlinson, at Book Craic
Grimworld, by Avery Moray, at Jazzy Book Reviews
The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper, at Mom Read It
The Impossible Boy, by Ben Brooks, at Book Craic
Music Boxes, by Tonja Drecker, at Defining Ways
The Mystwick School of Musicaft, by Jessica Khoury, at The Write Path
The Other Side of the Wall, by Amy Ephron, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
The Princess Who Flew With Dragons, by Stephanie Burgis, at Foreward Book Reviews
Rose Coffin, by M.P. Kozlowsky, at Charlotte's Library
Saving Fable (Talespinners), by Scott Reintgen, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Titans, by Kate O'Hearn, at The Never Ending TBR
The Tunnel of Bones, by Victoria Schwab, at Twirling Book Princess, The Zen Leaf and Imaginary Friends
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, at Laughing Place
also seven new ones with blurbs by me at the B and N Kids Blog
Authors and Interviews
Thomas Taylor (Malamander) at Nerdy Book Club
Kara LaRue (Rise of the Zombert) at Middle Grade Book Village
K.G. Campbell (A Small Zombie Problem) and Laura Ellen Anderson (Amerlia Fang and the Barbaric Ball) at B and N Kids Blog
Other Good Stuff
A children's author and her son share their favorite middle grade fantasy fiction that features children of color, at embracerace blog
This year's Witch Week is off and running!
Publishers Weekly has announced its list of best kids books of 2019; not as much mg sff as I'd like, but still some good ones!
11/3/19
11/2/19
Rose Coffin, by M.P. Kozlowsky
Rose Coffin, by M.P. Kozlowsky (Scholastic October 2019), is a fun middle grade portal fantasy with a very interesting twist!
Rose is going through a tough patch. An accident has left her twin brother is in a coma, and her parents have little time and energy to spend on her. At school she's teased for her too-small clothes, and for blushing all the time, and so when the popular SallyAnn encourages her to audition as a singer for her band, Rose is thrilled. But the "audition" is simply an excuse to get Rose off alone in the woods, to humiliate her utterly and record it all to share in school.
Rose can't make herself get on the school bus the next day. Instead she takes off into the same woods, and her life is upended. A walking tree person and a golden boy kidnap her, and take her into the magical realm of Eppersett, where she is hailed as the chosen one. But don't role your eyes at this seeming cliché--in Rose's case, her bad luck continues, and being chosen one means she'll be the one who gets to be sacrificed to the Abomination, swapping her life for 10 abomination-free years for Eppersett. (We readers find this out almost immediately, so it's not too severe a spoiler).
Rose, naturally, doesn't find this appealing, but she's not given a choice. The only thing the Eppersettians are worried about is getting her into the maw of the Abomination alive. So the golden boy, the tree person, two fierce dog-like beings and a fairy with no wings agree to try to get her there alive.
Dangers beset the travelers, and Rose discovers that she is not, in fact, helpless; she has an actual magical talent of her own (that makes her even more valuable as a sacrifice). Fighting alongside her captors, and seeing the horror that the Abomination is bringing to Eppersett makes Rose feel some sympathy for them....and if it weren't for the fact that they were bent on sacrificing her, they would be her first true friends outside her family....
And then in the end, Rose has to decide what she will do to save not Eppersett so much as her own self.
So as a standard story of child from our world find a magic gift and a destiny in a magical land it is fine; the magical world and its characters and their backstories and motivations are interesting, the challenges formidable and inventive, with nicely high stakes , and the Abomination unquestionably abominable. But the whole twist of Rose being a sacrifice gives it a most enjoyable edge of ethical dilemma, that is brought to a satisfying conclusion that makes Rose a victim neither of fate, or of Stockholm Syndrome, but still requires a satisfactorily high level of threat/sacrifice on her part.
It's a journey in which Rose moves from being isolated to being a member of a community, and though she didn't start the journey willingly, in the end she's glad she did (and so is the reader!)
Here's the Kirkus review, if you want another opinion that is basically the same as my opinion...
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
10/30/19
The Dragon Thief, by Zetta Elliott
In Dragons in a Bag (link to my review), Zetta Elliott introduced a young boy named Jaxon, who was given a job to do by a magical old woman, Ma. He had to return three baby dragons to the world of magic. It didn't go as planned, not that Jaxon knew enough about what was going on to really "plan" anything, but he did his best. It wasn't enough. One of the babies was stolen by Kavita, the little sister of his best friend, Vik.
The Dragon Thief (Random House, Oct 22 1019) picks up the story right where we left it. Jaxon is worried about Ma, who has fallen into a strange sleep, and he's desperate to get the baby dragon to the magical world. Kavita is worried about the baby dragon, which grows at an alarming rate when it gets fed. When she realizes she can't keep it safe, her old aunty who lives with her family decides to help her get it home.
So on the one hand we have Jaxon and Vik, racing to find Kavita while figuring out how they can manage to open a door to the other realm, and on the other we have Kavita, an increasingly large dragonet, and her aunty on a journey to the same goal....
Jaxon's well aware he needs help, so when a mysterious man named Blue, covered with tattoos, offers assistance, Jaxon things this might be what he needs. But the man is a trickster, with an agenda of his own...and the fate of the little dragon hangs (very tensly) in the balance! (Blue's motivations and actions are ambiguous; I love a nice ambiguous "bad" guy, and I hope we meet him again in a future book so we can see if his point of view is in fact at all valid....)
It's a great story for younger middle grade readers (8-10 year olds). There's a nice serving of ordinary story, including Jaxon and Vic becoming friends with a boy they'd steered clear of because of being intimidated by his large size, and Kavita finding out about her auntie's past in India (which offers an eye-opening bit of history). The kids are very real characters, and one can easily imagine hanging out with them. But the ordinary doesn't stay that way for long, as the boundaries between the magical and the real world collide, with the kids right smack in the middle of it!
disclaimer: the publisher sent review copies for Kidlitcon Providence 2019 last March, which came to my house, so of course I treated myself to one of the copies...and though I didn't get it read in time to pass on to another Kidlitcon attendee, I did find it a good home with a kid who loved it.
The Dragon Thief (Random House, Oct 22 1019) picks up the story right where we left it. Jaxon is worried about Ma, who has fallen into a strange sleep, and he's desperate to get the baby dragon to the magical world. Kavita is worried about the baby dragon, which grows at an alarming rate when it gets fed. When she realizes she can't keep it safe, her old aunty who lives with her family decides to help her get it home.
So on the one hand we have Jaxon and Vik, racing to find Kavita while figuring out how they can manage to open a door to the other realm, and on the other we have Kavita, an increasingly large dragonet, and her aunty on a journey to the same goal....
Jaxon's well aware he needs help, so when a mysterious man named Blue, covered with tattoos, offers assistance, Jaxon things this might be what he needs. But the man is a trickster, with an agenda of his own...and the fate of the little dragon hangs (very tensly) in the balance! (Blue's motivations and actions are ambiguous; I love a nice ambiguous "bad" guy, and I hope we meet him again in a future book so we can see if his point of view is in fact at all valid....)
It's a great story for younger middle grade readers (8-10 year olds). There's a nice serving of ordinary story, including Jaxon and Vic becoming friends with a boy they'd steered clear of because of being intimidated by his large size, and Kavita finding out about her auntie's past in India (which offers an eye-opening bit of history). The kids are very real characters, and one can easily imagine hanging out with them. But the ordinary doesn't stay that way for long, as the boundaries between the magical and the real world collide, with the kids right smack in the middle of it!
It's lots of fun, and I enjoyed it even more than I did book 1. The only thing I can think of that would have made it even better would have been more dragon page time!
disclaimer: the publisher sent review copies for Kidlitcon Providence 2019 last March, which came to my house, so of course I treated myself to one of the copies...and though I didn't get it read in time to pass on to another Kidlitcon attendee, I did find it a good home with a kid who loved it.
10/27/19
This weeks round up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (10/27/19)
Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post (or a post about your book....)
The Reviews
The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander, at Say What?
The Bookwanderers, by Anna James, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Book Nut
Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden, at Geo Librarian and Books4YourKids
The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Read Love
Ember and the Ice Dragons, by Heather Fawcett, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Iggy and Oz: the Plastic Dinos of Doom, by J.J. Johnson, at Reading, Writing, and Stitch Metric
Knock Three Times (Wizards of Once #3), by Cressida Cowell, at Twirling Book Princess
Lalani of the Distant Sea, by Erin Entrada Kelly, at Puss Reboots
Lintang and the Pirate Queen, by Tamara Moss, at Read Love
The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at Not Acting My Age
Malamander, by Thomas Taylor, at Milliebot Reads
The Poison Jungle, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Hidden in Pages
Rise of the Dragons, by Angie Sage, at Say What?
The Rubicus Prophecy, by Alane Adams, at Always in the Middle
The Runaway Princes, by Kate Coombs, at Leaf's Reviews
Sam Saves the Night, by Shari Simpson, at Nerdophiles
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, at The New York Times
We're Not From Here, by Geoff Rodkey, at Imaginary Friends
Two at The Book Search--The Spinner of Dreams, by K.A. Reynolds, and A Wolf Called Wander, by Rosanne Perry
Authors and Interviews
Jacqueline West (A Storm of Wishes) at Spooky Middle Grade
Katie Zhao (The Dragon Warrior) at Nerdy Book Club and Literary Rambles
Anna James (The Bookwanderers) at Nerdy Book Club
Other good stuff
Middle grade ghosts of 2019, compiled by me at the B and N Kids Blog
The Reviews
The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander, at Say What?
The Bookwanderers, by Anna James, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Book Nut
Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden, at Geo Librarian and Books4YourKids
The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Read Love
Ember and the Ice Dragons, by Heather Fawcett, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Iggy and Oz: the Plastic Dinos of Doom, by J.J. Johnson, at Reading, Writing, and Stitch Metric
Knock Three Times (Wizards of Once #3), by Cressida Cowell, at Twirling Book Princess
Lalani of the Distant Sea, by Erin Entrada Kelly, at Puss Reboots
Lintang and the Pirate Queen, by Tamara Moss, at Read Love
The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at Not Acting My Age
Malamander, by Thomas Taylor, at Milliebot Reads
The Poison Jungle, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Hidden in Pages
Rise of the Dragons, by Angie Sage, at Say What?
The Rubicus Prophecy, by Alane Adams, at Always in the Middle
The Runaway Princes, by Kate Coombs, at Leaf's Reviews
Sam Saves the Night, by Shari Simpson, at Nerdophiles
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, at The New York Times
We're Not From Here, by Geoff Rodkey, at Imaginary Friends
Two at The Book Search--The Spinner of Dreams, by K.A. Reynolds, and A Wolf Called Wander, by Rosanne Perry
Authors and Interviews
Jacqueline West (A Storm of Wishes) at Spooky Middle Grade
Katie Zhao (The Dragon Warrior) at Nerdy Book Club and Literary Rambles
Anna James (The Bookwanderers) at Nerdy Book Club
Other good stuff
Middle grade ghosts of 2019, compiled by me at the B and N Kids Blog
10/25/19
What I've been up to at the B. and N. Kids Blog
blogging here has been slow (just as soon as I finish painting the outside of my house, which I hope to do tomorrow, because goodness knows if there will ever be any nice warm days this fall), but I have been reading lots, and have written several nice posts for the Barnes and Noble Kids Blog!
My posts from the last month are:
10 Middle Grade Island Adventures to Thrill and Delight Young Readers
8 Great New Middle Grade Action and Adventure Stories!
Get On the Case with 5 Brand New Middle Grade Mysteries
From Slightly Spooky to Downright Frightening: 8 Haunting New Middle Grade Ghost Stories
Two were assignments, for which I didn't pick the books myself, two were ideas I pitched to the blog editor. At the moment I'm finishing off a list post of books with bullying....surprisingly not as depressing to read as I'd feared!
My posts from the last month are:
10 Middle Grade Island Adventures to Thrill and Delight Young Readers
8 Great New Middle Grade Action and Adventure Stories!
Get On the Case with 5 Brand New Middle Grade Mysteries
From Slightly Spooky to Downright Frightening: 8 Haunting New Middle Grade Ghost Stories
Two were assignments, for which I didn't pick the books myself, two were ideas I pitched to the blog editor. At the moment I'm finishing off a list post of books with bullying....surprisingly not as depressing to read as I'd feared!
10/22/19
Stolen Time, by Danielle Rollins, for Timeslip Tuesday
It begins in Seattle, in 1913, when Dorothy runs away from the marriage her con-artist mother has inveigled her into. Her flight leads her to a time traveler, from New Seattle, 2077. Ash is on a mission to find his mentor, the professor who figured out time travel technology, and who disappeared. leaving his team of young people gathered from different times without guidance and purpose. Dorothy stows away in his ship, and Ash inadvertently takes her back to his own time, to a city devastated by earthquakes and inundated by tidal waves.
It's a city living in fear of a vicious gang, whose co-leader, Roman, was once one of the professor's brightest students. But Roman wanted time travel to be used to save his city and its people before it was destroyed, and the professor refused to believe this was possible (for good reasons).
When Dorothy goes exploring by herself, and is kidnapped by Roman, she's caught in the greatest long-con of her life. But who is its mastermind, Roman, or someone else entirely? And why did the professor disappear, and where has he gone? And can Dorothy find a place for herself with Ash and the other members of the professor's team, earning their respect for her skills, and not just being admired for her pretty face? A trip back to a military base in the 1980s gives her the chance to do just that; but whose hands is she playing into? Will she be on the side of the destroyers, or the saviors (and is saving anything she cares about actually possible?)
Dorothy is a fascinating character. She's badly damaged by her horrible mother, who's used her as a beautiful pawn in various scams her whole life. Even though Dorothy is a point of view character, I was never sure I liked or trusted her, but it's clear that it's not her fault she's the way she is. She's been taught never to trust anyone, and no one has given her any reason to trust them...until she meets Ash. Ash, a young World War II pilot, is less complicated, but still appealing in his loyalty to his comrades.
And then everything goes bang at the end, leaving one tremendously anxious for the next book. Don't be me, and look at the end of the first book half way through to make sure it comes out all right in the end, because it isn't the end! Fortunately book two, Twisted Fates, comes out reasonably soon, in February of 2020 (but don't read the blurb for that yet, because spoilers).
It's good fun time travel through technology, with lots of different jumps through time and tangled timelines, that manages not to be too confusing. An interesting twist is that time travelers start to get glimpses of their future lives...used to good effect to ratchet up the tensions of their present lives....
10/20/19
this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the web (10/20/19)
Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post!
(I changed my post title from "around the blogs" to "around the web" but do cool kids these days actually say "the web"? Would "on-line" be more au currant?)
Book Reviews
Archimancy, by J.A. White, at Puss Reboots
The Battle, by Karuna Riazi, at Randomly Reading
The Beast (Darkdeep #2), by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Dark Lord Clementine, by Sarah Jean Horwitz, at Cracking the Cover and A Garden of Books
The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Endless Chapters, For Ever and Everly, and The Quiet Pond
Dual at Araluen (Royal Ranger #3), by John Flanagan, at Say What?
The Evil Wizard Smallbone, by Delia Sherman, at Kid Lit Geek
The Fire Keeper, by J.C. Cervantes, at Pamela Kramer
Guardians of Magic, by Chris Riddell, at Book Craic
The Jumbie God's Revenge, by Tracey Baptiste, at Sally's Bookshelf
The Key of Lost Things (Hotel Between #2), by Sean Easley, at Kid Lit Reviews
The Land of Roar, by Jenny McLachlan, at Thoughts by Tash
The Last Dragon (Revenge of Magic #2), by James Riley, at GeoLibrarian and Good Reads with Rona
The Little Grey Girl, by Celine Kiernan, at Pages Unbound
Malamander, by Thomas Taylor, at PidginPea's Book Nook
Master of the Phantom Isle (Dragonwatch #3) by Brandon Mull, at Read Love
The Missing Barbegazi, by H.S. Norup, at Log Cabin Library
Rebels with a Cause (Max Einstein #2), by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein, at Say What?
The Revenge of Magic, by James Riley, at Boys and Literacy
The Shores Beyond Time, by Kevin Emerson, at Charlotte's Library
Skeleton Keys: the Unimaginary Friend, by Gus Bass, at Book Craic
Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden, at Imaginary Friends
Spark, by Sarah Beth Durst, at Dead Houseplants
Trace, by Pat Cummings, at Locus
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, at Paul's Picks, YA Books Central, Feed Your Fiction Addiction, Broadway World, Ashley and Company, and Charlotte's Library
Weird Little Robots, by Carolyn Crimi, at Always in the Middle
A Wolf Called Wander, by Roseanne Parry, at Redeemed Reader
Two at The Book Search--The Bootlace Magician, by Cassie Beasley, and The Revenge of Magic, by James Riley
Authors and Interviews
Katie Zhao (The Dragon Warrior) at the Barnes and Noble Kids Blog
Kwame Mbalia (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky) at the News & Observer
Adrianna Cuevas (The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez) at Middle Grade Book Village
Nicole Valentine (A Time-Traveller's Theory of Relativity) at the Lerner Podcast
Nick Tomlinson (The Ghouls of Howlfair) at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
Sarah Jean Horwitz (The Dark Lord Clementine) at Middle Grade Book Village
Paul Mason (The International Yeti Collective) at Alittlebutalot
J. de laVega (Peter Tulliver and the City of Monster) at Reading With Your Kids Podcast
Other Good Stuff
"Historical Fiction With a Touch of Fantasy" at Lyn Miller-Lachmann
at Tor--"The messy beautiful worldbuilding of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"
Not exactly good stuff, but I'm looking for new middle grade dystopia, and would welcome suggestions! Here's what I have so far.
(I changed my post title from "around the blogs" to "around the web" but do cool kids these days actually say "the web"? Would "on-line" be more au currant?)
Book Reviews
Archimancy, by J.A. White, at Puss Reboots
The Battle, by Karuna Riazi, at Randomly Reading
The Beast (Darkdeep #2), by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Dark Lord Clementine, by Sarah Jean Horwitz, at Cracking the Cover and A Garden of Books
The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Endless Chapters, For Ever and Everly, and The Quiet Pond
Dual at Araluen (Royal Ranger #3), by John Flanagan, at Say What?
The Evil Wizard Smallbone, by Delia Sherman, at Kid Lit Geek
The Fire Keeper, by J.C. Cervantes, at Pamela Kramer
Guardians of Magic, by Chris Riddell, at Book Craic
The Jumbie God's Revenge, by Tracey Baptiste, at Sally's Bookshelf
The Key of Lost Things (Hotel Between #2), by Sean Easley, at Kid Lit Reviews
The Land of Roar, by Jenny McLachlan, at Thoughts by Tash
The Last Dragon (Revenge of Magic #2), by James Riley, at GeoLibrarian and Good Reads with Rona
The Little Grey Girl, by Celine Kiernan, at Pages Unbound
Malamander, by Thomas Taylor, at PidginPea's Book Nook
Master of the Phantom Isle (Dragonwatch #3) by Brandon Mull, at Read Love
The Missing Barbegazi, by H.S. Norup, at Log Cabin Library
Rebels with a Cause (Max Einstein #2), by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein, at Say What?
The Revenge of Magic, by James Riley, at Boys and Literacy
The Shores Beyond Time, by Kevin Emerson, at Charlotte's Library
Skeleton Keys: the Unimaginary Friend, by Gus Bass, at Book Craic
Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden, at Imaginary Friends
Spark, by Sarah Beth Durst, at Dead Houseplants
Trace, by Pat Cummings, at Locus
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, at Paul's Picks, YA Books Central, Feed Your Fiction Addiction, Broadway World, Ashley and Company, and Charlotte's Library
Weird Little Robots, by Carolyn Crimi, at Always in the Middle
A Wolf Called Wander, by Roseanne Parry, at Redeemed Reader
Two at The Book Search--The Bootlace Magician, by Cassie Beasley, and The Revenge of Magic, by James Riley
Authors and Interviews
Katie Zhao (The Dragon Warrior) at the Barnes and Noble Kids Blog
Kwame Mbalia (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky) at the News & Observer
Adrianna Cuevas (The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez) at Middle Grade Book Village
Nicole Valentine (A Time-Traveller's Theory of Relativity) at the Lerner Podcast
Nick Tomlinson (The Ghouls of Howlfair) at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
Sarah Jean Horwitz (The Dark Lord Clementine) at Middle Grade Book Village
Paul Mason (The International Yeti Collective) at Alittlebutalot
J. de laVega (Peter Tulliver and the City of Monster) at Reading With Your Kids Podcast
Other Good Stuff
"Historical Fiction With a Touch of Fantasy" at Lyn Miller-Lachmann
at Tor--"The messy beautiful worldbuilding of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"
Not exactly good stuff, but I'm looking for new middle grade dystopia, and would welcome suggestions! Here's what I have so far.
10/19/19
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia
Wow! This is so powerful, and sad, and important, and funny (in places), and the sort of book one wants to give to kids Right Now.
Tristan's grief over his best friend's death, and the way he blames himself for it, and his sense of failure for loosing his first boxing match (I was cross at his dad and grandfather for being so clearly disappointed in him) set the stage for his journey into a world of magic and mayhem. He's carrying a lot of emotional weight with him when he punches the titular hole in the sky, and once he goes through, a whole heap more is piled on him.
And it's not just personal weight, but the weight of sad and terrible history. There's the fact that the primary attacking monsters are iron fetterlings, and the land is called Midpass, evoking the Middle Passage, and more along the same lines as the story continues.
But also there are African American god heroes, West African gods, and lots and lots of story holding everything together. And it's Tristan's affinity for stories and storytelling, learned from his grandmother, that is his own greatest power (although the magical boxing gloves he gets are pretty darn cool too!).
Looked at more dispassionately, it's a very solid story, with a familiar sort of Riorden-esque feel to it--the hero struggling to figure out just what he's supposed to do, with help, and hindrance, from lots of new characters met along the way. It moves along at a good pace, and the writing makes everything come vividly to life.
So basically, it lives up to its gorgeous cover!
looking for recent dystopian middle grade books
Back in 2017 I wrote a post for the Barnes and Noble Kids Blog about dystopian middle grade books, and I've been asked to refresh it. Problem is, there haven't been a whole lot of mg dystopian books published in the US since then, and it has to be something available at B and N! I think of dystopian primarily as a systemic loss of civil liberties, although environmental collapse with concomitant social collapse works for me too.
Here's what I've found so far, with help from twitter. It isn't much, though I have combed through Goodreads and Kirkus, and have myself read about 500 mg books in the past two years. I am wondering if the fact that we are actually living in an increasingly dystopian world is making US publishers less interested in dystopian mg.....
I would love love love more suggestions of books available in the US, especially books by diverse authors! and feel free to disagree with my classification of any of these as "dystopian."
Suggested, but problematic for my purposes:
FloodWorld, by Tom Huddlestone (Nosy Crow October 2019) only available on Nook right now, so not sure I can use it
The Middler, by Kristy Applebaum (Nosy Crow March 2019) not at B and N
Where the River Runs Gold, by Sita Brahmachari (Hachette Australia July 2019) not at B and N.
Rise of the Dragons, by Angie Sage (Scholastic, February 2019), is dystopian in many ways.
Wings of Fire books 11-13, by Tui T. Sutherland
Possibilities from 2018
The Turnaway Girls, by Hayley Chewins (Candlewick October 2018)
Blue Window, by Adina Rishe Gewirtz (Candlewick April 2018)
Here's what I've found so far, with help from twitter. It isn't much, though I have combed through Goodreads and Kirkus, and have myself read about 500 mg books in the past two years. I am wondering if the fact that we are actually living in an increasingly dystopian world is making US publishers less interested in dystopian mg.....
I would love love love more suggestions of books available in the US, especially books by diverse authors! and feel free to disagree with my classification of any of these as "dystopian."
Suggested, but problematic for my purposes:
FloodWorld, by Tom Huddlestone (Nosy Crow October 2019) only available on Nook right now, so not sure I can use it
The Middler, by Kristy Applebaum (Nosy Crow March 2019) not at B and N
Where the River Runs Gold, by Sita Brahmachari (Hachette Australia July 2019) not at B and N.
2019 Books I haven't Read, which look possibly dystopian:
Darren Simpson, Scavengers (Usbourne, March 2019)
Darren Simpson, Scavengers (Usbourne, March 2019)
The Rise of Winter, by Alex Lyttle (Central Ave. Publishing, May 2019) looks like it has environmental and societal collapse, but is it "dystopian?"
Books from 2019 that I've read:
Metl: the Angel Weapon, by Scott Wilson (Month9books, March 2019)Rise of the Dragons, by Angie Sage (Scholastic, February 2019), is dystopian in many ways.
Wings of Fire books 11-13, by Tui T. Sutherland
Possibilities from 2018
The Turnaway Girls, by Hayley Chewins (Candlewick October 2018)
Blue Window, by Adina Rishe Gewirtz (Candlewick April 2018)
10/15/19
The Shores Beyond Time, by Kevin Emerson
In this third book, Liam and Phoebe find themselves at the heart of the mystery of the supernovas and the time traveling Liam's been doing. Is the Dark Star, with its miraculous ability to create new universe, the answer to humanity's problems?
This took me right back to the days back in the 1980s when I first discovered science fiction--the sense of mysteries upon mysteries out in space, strange alien technology of unbelievable power, whose makers aren't necessarily friends, and the aliens and humans maybe about to kill each other, or not. But without the sexism and imbedded racism and imperialism of much mid 20th century sci fi.
And so I recommend this series to today's middle grade readers with strong conviction. It is a great story of friendship, action and adventure, and marvelous science fiction.
This being my time travel book of the week, I should mention that it is just full of Liam, and to a lesser extent, Phoebe, bouncing up and down timelines. It is confusing at times, but not so much as to vex the easily confused reader (me). The past on Mars is where Liam goes to retreat, the futures he sees are part of his path to questioning the present. So it's good and useful time travel, and it allows for an especial bitter sweetness to the epilogue....
10/13/19
This week's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy from around the blogs (10/13/19)
Here's what I found in my blog reading this week; please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
The Bootlace Magician (Cicus Mirandus #2), by Cassie Beasley, at Randomly Reading
The Boy Who Was Fire, by Marcus Kahle McCann, at The Children's Book Review
City of Bones, by Victoria Schwab, at Pages Unbound
The Dark Lord Clementine, by Sarah Jean Howitz, at Sally's Bookshelf
Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden, at Charlotte's Library
Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Imaginary Friends
The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Log Cabin Library, Forever and Everly, and Lost In Storyland
Ember: the Secret Book, by Jamie Smart, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper, at Charlotte's Library
Homerooms and Hall Passes, by Tom O'Donnell, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The International Yeti Collective, by Paul Mason, at Book Craic
The Little Broomstick, by Mary Stewart, at Fantasy Literature
Mightier than the Sword, by Drew Callander and Alana Harrison, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Race to the Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse, at Imaginary Friends
The Red Fox Clan (Royal Ranger #2), by John Flanagan, at Say What?
Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidicker, at Books4YourKids
The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, a review revisited at Twirling Book Princess
Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden, at Geo Librarian
The Tyrant's Tomb, by Rick Riordan, at Say What?
The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster (Polly and Buster #1), by Sally Ripen, at Always in the Middle
Two at alibrarymama--Freedom Fire. Dactyl Hill Squad 2, by Daniel José Older, and Spark, by Sarah Beth Durst
Two at Falling Letters-- Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, and The Stone Girl's Story, by Sarah Beth Durst
Two at The Book Search--We're Not From Here, by Geoff Rodkey, and Twinchantement, by Elise Allen
Authors and Interviews
Nick Tomlinson (The Ghouls of Howlfair) at A Little But a Lot
Daniel Kraus (The Teddies Saga) at Fuse#8
Paul Mason (The International Yeti Collective), at Thereaderteacher.com (also with review)
Liesl Shurtliff (The Obsidian Compass: Time Castaways series #2), at A Year of Reading.
Other Good Stuff
"Imagining Other Worlds in Diana Wynne Jones' Witch Week" at Tor
"25 Scary (and not-so-scary) books to get you in the Halloween spirit" at Pop Goes the Reader
And if you haven't nominated a book for the Cybils Awards in Elementary/middle grade speculative fiction, here is a list I made of books that haven't been nominated yet!
The Reviews
The Bootlace Magician (Cicus Mirandus #2), by Cassie Beasley, at Randomly Reading
The Boy Who Was Fire, by Marcus Kahle McCann, at The Children's Book Review
City of Bones, by Victoria Schwab, at Pages Unbound
The Dark Lord Clementine, by Sarah Jean Howitz, at Sally's Bookshelf
Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden, at Charlotte's Library
Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Imaginary Friends
The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Log Cabin Library, Forever and Everly, and Lost In Storyland
Ember: the Secret Book, by Jamie Smart, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper, at Charlotte's Library
Homerooms and Hall Passes, by Tom O'Donnell, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The International Yeti Collective, by Paul Mason, at Book Craic
The Little Broomstick, by Mary Stewart, at Fantasy Literature
Mightier than the Sword, by Drew Callander and Alana Harrison, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Race to the Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse, at Imaginary Friends
The Red Fox Clan (Royal Ranger #2), by John Flanagan, at Say What?
Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidicker, at Books4YourKids
The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, a review revisited at Twirling Book Princess
Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden, at Geo Librarian
The Tyrant's Tomb, by Rick Riordan, at Say What?
The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster (Polly and Buster #1), by Sally Ripen, at Always in the Middle
Two at alibrarymama--Freedom Fire. Dactyl Hill Squad 2, by Daniel José Older, and Spark, by Sarah Beth Durst
Two at Falling Letters-- Sweep, by Jonathan Auxier, and The Stone Girl's Story, by Sarah Beth Durst
Two at The Book Search--We're Not From Here, by Geoff Rodkey, and Twinchantement, by Elise Allen
Authors and Interviews
Nick Tomlinson (The Ghouls of Howlfair) at A Little But a Lot
Daniel Kraus (The Teddies Saga) at Fuse#8
Paul Mason (The International Yeti Collective), at Thereaderteacher.com (also with review)
Liesl Shurtliff (The Obsidian Compass: Time Castaways series #2), at A Year of Reading.
Other Good Stuff
"Imagining Other Worlds in Diana Wynne Jones' Witch Week" at Tor
"25 Scary (and not-so-scary) books to get you in the Halloween spirit" at Pop Goes the Reader
And if you haven't nominated a book for the Cybils Awards in Elementary/middle grade speculative fiction, here is a list I made of books that haven't been nominated yet!
Elementary/Middle Grade speculative fiction books that haven't been nominated for the Cybils yet
Thanks everyone who nominated books during the public nomination period! Now we give publishers and authors a chance to fill in the gaps (from today through October 25th). So I'll leave this list up for now to show them I was thinking about their books.....
So here, in no particular order, is a list of some books that need nominators (and it's not all the eligible books, and I'm sure I'm missing some great ones...for which I apologize. I haven't read all of these, so this isn't a list of personal endorsements (though I did love all the ones I did read!).
And here is where you go to start the nomination process.
Tin, by Padraig Kenny
Cogheart, by Peter Bunzl
Ghost and Bone, by Andrew Prentice
The Haunting of Henry Davis, by Kathryn Siebel
Legends of the Sky, by Liz Flannagan
The Twelve, by Cindy Lin
The Flight of the Bluebird, by Kara LaReau
The Fire Keeper, by J.C. Cervantes
The Bookwanderers (Pages and Co. #1) by Anna James
Nikki Tesla and the Ferret-Proof Death Ray, by Jess Keating
Ember and the Ice Dragons, by Heather Fawcett
Freedom Fire, by Daniel Jose Older
Anya and the Dragon, by Sofia Pasternack
Archimancy, by J.A. White
The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper
The Library of Ever, by Zeno Alexander
The Afterwards, by A.F. Harrold
Max and the Midknights, by Lincoln Peirce
Eventown, by Corey Ann Haydu
Daughters of Steel, by Naomi Cyprus
The Star Shepherd, by Dan Haring and Marcykate Connolly
The Little Grey Girl, by Celine Kiernan
Thisby Thestoop and the Wretched Scrattle, by Zac Gorman
Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions, by Henry Lien
So here, in no particular order, is a list of some books that need nominators (and it's not all the eligible books, and I'm sure I'm missing some great ones...for which I apologize. I haven't read all of these, so this isn't a list of personal endorsements (though I did love all the ones I did read!).
And here is where you go to start the nomination process.
Tin, by Padraig Kenny
Cogheart, by Peter Bunzl
Ghost and Bone, by Andrew Prentice
The Haunting of Henry Davis, by Kathryn Siebel
Legends of the Sky, by Liz Flannagan
The Twelve, by Cindy Lin
The Flight of the Bluebird, by Kara LaReau
The Fire Keeper, by J.C. Cervantes
The Bookwanderers (Pages and Co. #1) by Anna James
Nikki Tesla and the Ferret-Proof Death Ray, by Jess Keating
Ember and the Ice Dragons, by Heather Fawcett
Freedom Fire, by Daniel Jose Older
Anya and the Dragon, by Sofia Pasternack
Archimancy, by J.A. White
The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper
The Library of Ever, by Zeno Alexander
The Afterwards, by A.F. Harrold
Max and the Midknights, by Lincoln Peirce
Eventown, by Corey Ann Haydu
Daughters of Steel, by Naomi Cyprus
The Star Shepherd, by Dan Haring and Marcykate Connolly
The Little Grey Girl, by Celine Kiernan
Thisby Thestoop and the Wretched Scrattle, by Zac Gorman
Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions, by Henry Lien
10/12/19
Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden
Ollie, Coco, and Brian became close friends under somewhat trying circumstances last fall--the evil Smiling Man trying to turn them into scarecrows--and now winter has come, they're on their way to a fun weekend at a new ski lodge with Ollie's dad and Coco's mom. They almost don't make it through the intense snowstorm, and when they arrive, they find themselves the only visitors. The snow keeps falling, trapping them inside, and the power goes out. And there are ghosts.
The day after they arrive another visiter makes it through the snow, a young reporter for a ghost hunting magazine. The owners of the hotel aren't sure that publicity about the hotel's previous incarnation of an orphanage with a dark, sad, history is what they want, but the young man is keen to get ghost hunting, and can't leave in any event because of the snow.
Which keeps falling, as things inside the hotel get scarier and scarier, with the ghost of a frostbitten girl begging Ollie for help, and the reporter urging the kids to join in his hunt. And there is a lot of matieral for him to work with. There are forces of evil at play inside the hotel that might trap the kids forever with the dead orphans and their cruel caretaker, but the most deadly danger comes from outside....
It's a story full of lots and lots of details that add beautifully to the growing tension, from the many taxidermied animals that great the kids when they arrive to the claustrophobia of being snowbound. There are multiple plot twists too, that I didn't see coming, but which make sense. The kids rise to he occasion beautifully, working together really well, and Ollie's own reflections about the loss of her mother are a strong counterpoint to the tragedies of the hotel's past.
Apparently there will be two more books in the series, one in spring, and one in summer, and then I hope the kids get a rest from hair-raising horrible-ness!
10/7/19
The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper
Ben's invitation to the Gee Museum was delivered by bees. He'd never heard of the place before, but despite his mother's reservations about letting him go there on his own (reservations which seem, for reasons, to be a bit much, even taking into account the fact that Ben's only ten) he went...There, in its rooms full of taxidermidied creatures, other natural history collections, a glass bee hive, and clocks and other treasures collected by the Gee family from around the world years ago, he found magic, and the truth about his father, who died many years ago while off on an expedition of his own.
Ben also found danger, one of my personal least favorite types of danger--the unscrupulous developer, in this case paired with the unscrupulous director of a larger, splashier museum.
With help from the creatures who make the Gee museum their home (including the titular hippo), Ben is determined to find a way to save the museum. But not all the magic in the museum is necessarily friendly.....
The museum and its magic are lovely, and the danger is real and gripping, without making me squirmisly check the ending, Ben is a great character to cheer for, and even the grown-ups (his mother and the elderly director of the museum) have useful parts to play in saving the day. Generously sprinkled with illustrations by the author, this is one of the best museum visits I've had in ages! A delightful read, that reminds me lots of the classic middle grade British fantasy I loved as a child back in the 20th century.....
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.
(nb: The Hippo at the End of the Hall is eligible for this year's Cybils Awards, but hasn't yet been nominated....so if you haven't made your elementary/middle grade speculative fiction pick yet, do keep it in mind!)
10/6/19
This week's round up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blog (10/6/19)
Bloglovin utterly failed me this week, so I doubtless missed many posts. So let me know if I missed yours, and I'll add it!
The Reviews
Cog, by Greg Van Eekhout, at Charlotte's Library
Creep, by Eireann Corrigan, at Not Acting My Age
The Double Helix (Explorer Academy #3), by Trudi Truit, at Mom Read It
The Fairfield Curse, by Kaleb Nation, at Say What?
The Last Dragon (The Revenge of Magic #2), by James Riley, at The Write Path
Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament, by Kim Long, at A Garden of Books
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages, by Trenton Lee Stewart, at Puss Reboots
A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying, by Kelley Armstrong, at Geo Librarian
Scourge: A Grim Doyle Adeventure, by David H. Burton, at Say What?
Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden, at A Dance with Books
The Storm Runner, by J. C. Cervantes, at A Backwards Story
A Tale of Magic, by Chris Colfer, at Ms. Yingling Reads
A Time Traveller's Theory of Relativity, by Nicole Valentine, at Charlotte's Library and Always in the Middle
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, at Brain Mill Press Voices
Zombies are People Too, by Tom Greenwald, at Say What?
Other Good Stuff
Seven series recommendations, with an Australian slant, at Emma Louise Hughes
A gathering of spooky middle grade at Some the Wiser
The nominations for this year's Cybils Awards are open! Here's what's been nominated in Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction so far, and here are a few eligible titles that are new this October that haven't ben nominated yet (this isn't a comprehensive list by any means, but a quick off the top of my head; I'll almost certainly be mentioning more eligible titles between now and when nominations close on Oct 15). Anyone can nominate books first published between Oct 16 2018 and Oct 15 2019; you don't have to be in the US, or have a blog, or be a grown up (so get your kids to send love to their favorite books of the past year!)
Here's where you go to nominate.
Alien Superstar, by Lin Oliver and Henry Winkler
Cog, by Greg Van Eekhout
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalai
The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao
Throwback, by Peter Lerangis
Ember and the Ice Dragons, by Heather Fawcett
The Reviews
Cog, by Greg Van Eekhout, at Charlotte's Library
Creep, by Eireann Corrigan, at Not Acting My Age
The Double Helix (Explorer Academy #3), by Trudi Truit, at Mom Read It
The Fairfield Curse, by Kaleb Nation, at Say What?
The Last Dragon (The Revenge of Magic #2), by James Riley, at The Write Path
Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament, by Kim Long, at A Garden of Books
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages, by Trenton Lee Stewart, at Puss Reboots
A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying, by Kelley Armstrong, at Geo Librarian
Scourge: A Grim Doyle Adeventure, by David H. Burton, at Say What?
Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden, at A Dance with Books
The Storm Runner, by J. C. Cervantes, at A Backwards Story
A Tale of Magic, by Chris Colfer, at Ms. Yingling Reads
A Time Traveller's Theory of Relativity, by Nicole Valentine, at Charlotte's Library and Always in the Middle
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, at Brain Mill Press Voices
Zombies are People Too, by Tom Greenwald, at Say What?
Other Good Stuff
Seven series recommendations, with an Australian slant, at Emma Louise Hughes
A gathering of spooky middle grade at Some the Wiser
The nominations for this year's Cybils Awards are open! Here's what's been nominated in Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction so far, and here are a few eligible titles that are new this October that haven't ben nominated yet (this isn't a comprehensive list by any means, but a quick off the top of my head; I'll almost certainly be mentioning more eligible titles between now and when nominations close on Oct 15). Anyone can nominate books first published between Oct 16 2018 and Oct 15 2019; you don't have to be in the US, or have a blog, or be a grown up (so get your kids to send love to their favorite books of the past year!)
Here's where you go to nominate.
Alien Superstar, by Lin Oliver and Henry Winkler
Cog, by Greg Van Eekhout
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalai
The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao
Throwback, by Peter Lerangis
Ember and the Ice Dragons, by Heather Fawcett
10/5/19
Cog, by Greg Van Eekhout
Cog looks like an average 12-year-old boy. He reminds me of one of my own boys at that age--driven to accumulate information and eager to share tidbits of learning to others, without stopping to gauge the recipient's interest in facts about the platypus, for instance (who I am I kidding--it's reminding me of me). Still with a lot of practical life-lessons to learn, and with a loving adult on hand to help steer him toward independent thinking. Cog, however, isn't an ordinary boy. He is a robot, and the loving adult is Gina, his programmer; his brown skin matches hers. She works for uniMIND, a big corporation of robot designers, but she's gone slightly rogue, and added programing to Cog that gives him control over his own choices (and more, but that's a spoiler). She and Cog live alone, and the corporation doesn't know what she's up to.
But when Cog takes to heart Gina's lesson that making mistakes can lead to learning, and leaves home one morning on his own to learn in this way, his choice to save a dog from being runover lands him in the uniMIND labs, in the hands a roboticist who believes devoutly that robots are tools, and the financial bottom line is what's important. And when Cog realizes, through observation and experience, the danger he's in, he knows he must escape and find Gina again.
So he does, with a trashbot, a robot dog, a robotic car, and ADA, Gina's previous robot child, designed to be tool for war. A desperate, often funny, often terribly tense road trip ensues, with uniMIND and the police on the hunt for the fugitives. (Car is my favorite fictional car ever, btw, though it's possible the first sentient fictional car I've ever actually felt fond of). Happily, it ends well (though around page 120 I cracked and had to read the end to make sure).
This is more than just boy/robot adventure/coming of age/found family story with lots of danger and humor, though. It has a thought-provoking punch about the choices we make, and the dangers we face if we loose our freedom to think for ourselves. "I may be a weapon," [ADA] says, "but I will decide for myself how I'm used."
short answer: I loved it. It made me grin a lot, and even chuckle out loud, I was riveted (except for having to put it down a couple of times when things got too tense),and I appreciated that it was a relatively short, compact package of goodness, making it one to recommend to younger mg readers.
If you have a super curious, quirky kid of 9 or so who needs a book to read, offer this one. Then, if you are a smart, quirky grown-up, read it yourself.
(NB: Cog is eligible for this year's Cybils Awards (in Speculative Fiction: elementary/middle grade, but still needs someone to nominate it! Click the link above to find out how to nominate this and an other great kids and YA books in lots of different categories).
10/2/19
A Time Traveler's Theory of Relativity, by Nicole Valentine for (this Wednesday's) Timeslip Tuesday
Sometimes time gets slippy, and even with the best intentions in the world, Tuesdays come to an end before one's post is written. So here's the (very good) time travel book that was supposed to be up yesterday!
A Time Traveler's Theory of Relativity, by Nicole Valentine (Carolrhoda, middle grade, Oct 1 2019) is indeed about time travel, but mostly it's about a boy, Finn. Finn's twin sister drowned when they were three, and the hole in his family is still there, though Finn only remembers fragments of her. Now Finn's mother has left home, with no message or explanation, leaving him with his absent-minded historian dad, who won't talk about it, and who then heads off on a research trip, leaving Finn with his grandmother. Happily, his best friend Gabi lives nearby, and she has his back, and his grandma is loving, warm, and caring. She also knows where his mother is, although she doesn't come out and tell him immediately...and when she does, it's hard to believe.
Finn comes from a family of time-travelling women, and his mother is trying to reshape the past. But things have gone wrong. In order to bring her home, and perhaps even bring Faith home to, Finn is going to have to trust his grandmother's cryptic instructions and travel through time himself. Gabi refuses to let him go alone, and so they head off to find a portal up in the mountains....But there are those who want a different version of the past, who are determined to stop Finn and his mother. And everything almost goes horrible wrong.....
That was me trying to avoid giving too much away. There are lots and lots of twists and alternate timelines and lots of questionable actions and motives....but like I said at the beginning, it's mostly about Finn. About 100 pages into the book (it's 339 pages long), I thought to myself something like "I am really enjoying the measured way in which the world of this book and its characters are being built up, and how it's been done so skillfully that my interest just keeps getting more and more piqued" And indeed, the "action and adventure" part where the time travel goes wild doesn't really start until more than halfway through. But that part of the book wouldn't have been nearly as interesting if I didn't already know Finn, and Gabi (she is great!), so well, and the chance to get used to the time travelling rather gradually made it easier to go with the flow when the flow got going.
The pacing also gave Finn and Gabi a chance to think about and discuss what they were doing, adding thought-provoking-ness to the story that I appreciated. Sometimes rushing around like kittens sort of books are fun, but I really appreciated reading one that felt more like a grown-up lap cat.
In short a really interesting, thoughtful, very likeable time travel/friendship/family secrets story that I highly recommend!
disclaimer: review copy.
9/30/19
The Disaster Days, by Rebecca Behrens
If Hannah had known what was going to happen, she would have told her dad, off on a business trip, that she loved him.
If she had known, she wouldn't have gotten into a fight with her best friend.
And if she had known, maybe she wouldn't have grumped at her mom's advise.
But she didn't. And now a devastating earthquake has stranded her and the two younger kids she's babysitting on an island. There are no grown-ups. No power. No water. No phone service. Will they make it?
The Disaster Days, by Rebecca Behrens, is a gripping story of kids surviving on their own after an earthquake that will set your mind racing!
It's only Hannah's second time babysitting the neighbor's kids; she's not all that much older than them (she in 7th, Zoe's in 4th and Oscar is in 3rd Her mother has fussed at her for not being responsible enough to look after anyone, but Hannah feels fairly confident, even if her mother won't be on the island where they live that evening either. Both moms will be back in just a few hours.
But then an earthquake strikes the Northwest coast, and the hours turn into days. Hannah does her best to keep a level head, but she's only a kid herself, and desperately worried. There's an emergency radio at Zoe and Oscar's house, and the news is terrible. The immediate situation is too. The house is a wreck, and is being rocked by aftershocks, but outside is cold and wet. Food and water runs out, and a gas leak forces the kids outside. Both Zoe and Oscar injure themselves badly, and Hannah blames herself (with some reason). But though she herself is almost incapacitated by asthma, she carries on, even when things keep getting worse...
It's my favorite sort of survival book, with tons of room for second guessing the characters! Hannah did pretty well for a 7th grader, but would I have done better? (not that I'm competitive with fictional characters or anything, but I've read more survival books....). It's tense enough that it really seems possible one of the kids is going to die, if not all three of them, or at the very least the guinea pig (this is a middle grade book, so they don't all die), but it gets to this point so realistically and gradually that it doesn't seem contrived at all.
Very much recommended to anyone who loves kids surviving on their own stories!
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.
9/29/19
This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science-fiction from around the blogs (9/29/19)
Welcome to this week's round-up of mg sci fi and fantasy blog postings! Please let me know if I missed anything (anyone is welcome to send me posts during the week for the following Sunday's round-up, including authors and publiscists etc.).
The Reviews
Anya and the Dragon, by Sofiya Pasternack, at Read Love
The Battle, by Karuna Riazi, at Charlotte's Library
City of Ghosts, by Victoria Schwab, at Fantasy Literature and Treestand Book Reviews
The Dark Lord Clementine, by Sarah Jean Horwitz, at Log Cabin Library
Dragonfell, by Sarah Prineas, at Puss Reboots
The Green Children of Woolpit, by J. Anderson Coats, at Charlotte's Library
The Library of Ever, by Zeno Alexander, at Cover2CoverBlog
The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at Imaginary Friends
Malamander, by Thomas Taylor, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Marigold Star, by Elise Primavera, at Nayu's Reading Corner
The Red Rover: Origins, by C.E. Whitaker III, at The Write Path
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, by Carlos Hernandez, at Imaginary Friends
Small Spaces, by Katherine Young, at Puss Reboots
The Specter Key, by Kaleb Nation, at Say What?
The Switching Hour, by Damaris Young, at Book Craic
Tin, by Pádraig Kenny, at Book Craic
Trace, by Pat Cummings, at RaiseThemRighteous
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia,at Ms. Yingling Reads
Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House, by Michael Poole, at Cracking the Cover
Authors and Interviews
Carolyn Crimi (Weird Little Robots) at The Children's Book Review
Other Good Stuff
For the B. and N. Kids Blog, I made a list of great middle grade island books, including lots of fantasy!
And don't forget to head over to the Cybils Awards to nominate your favorite middle grade speculative fiction book from the past year (the year being Oct 16, 2018-Oct 15, 2019). And you can also nominate books in each of the other categories as well....
The Reviews
Anya and the Dragon, by Sofiya Pasternack, at Read Love
The Battle, by Karuna Riazi, at Charlotte's Library
City of Ghosts, by Victoria Schwab, at Fantasy Literature and Treestand Book Reviews
The Dark Lord Clementine, by Sarah Jean Horwitz, at Log Cabin Library
Dragonfell, by Sarah Prineas, at Puss Reboots
The Green Children of Woolpit, by J. Anderson Coats, at Charlotte's Library
The Library of Ever, by Zeno Alexander, at Cover2CoverBlog
The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at Imaginary Friends
Malamander, by Thomas Taylor, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Marigold Star, by Elise Primavera, at Nayu's Reading Corner
The Red Rover: Origins, by C.E. Whitaker III, at The Write Path
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, by Carlos Hernandez, at Imaginary Friends
Small Spaces, by Katherine Young, at Puss Reboots
The Specter Key, by Kaleb Nation, at Say What?
The Switching Hour, by Damaris Young, at Book Craic
Tin, by Pádraig Kenny, at Book Craic
Trace, by Pat Cummings, at RaiseThemRighteous
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia,at Ms. Yingling Reads
Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House, by Michael Poole, at Cracking the Cover
Authors and Interviews
Carolyn Crimi (Weird Little Robots) at The Children's Book Review
Other Good Stuff
For the B. and N. Kids Blog, I made a list of great middle grade island books, including lots of fantasy!
And don't forget to head over to the Cybils Awards to nominate your favorite middle grade speculative fiction book from the past year (the year being Oct 16, 2018-Oct 15, 2019). And you can also nominate books in each of the other categories as well....
9/26/19
The Green Children of Woolpit, by J. Anderson Coats
Except that the center of her story is not actually the two green children, but Agnes, the peasant girl who finds them. Agnes, whose mind wanders, who can see the wind, who isn't rushing toward growing up like her former best friend, Glory. Agnes was the only one to hear the green children calling for help. And because she went to their aid, her own life becomes a nightmare.
While the green girl tries to take her place in her family with guile and fairy glamor, Agnes is trapped in the underground halls of the malevolent and sadistic Good People. To make things right, she must undo the bargain she became ensnared by, but it is a very tricky business to try to outsmart the fairies....
It's top notch historical fantasy, with lots of shuddery horror and magic. It's not a swords and sorcery sort of fantasy, but a more personal journey, though one full of magical dangers. Agnes, and the green girl too, both become very real for the reader, and I found their struggle to take back their lives from the Good People totally engrossing.
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