When You Trap a Tiger, by Tae Keller

When You Trap a Tiger, by Tae Keller (Random House, middle grade, January 2020), is a lovely story of family, and love, and loss, and how kids try to make sense of things that are beyond their control.  It is poised right at the tipping point between fantasy and realistic fiction; it's one of the few middle grade books I would call "magical realism," about which more later.

Lily's mom has uprooted her and her big sister, Sam, from California to move in with their halmoni (Korean for grandmother) up in Washington state.   Nothing has been explained to Lily, and she and Sam are confused and unhappy.  Their uncertainty grows when it becomes clear that all is not well with Halmoni.  And Lily has a worry of her own when she starts catching glimpses of a tiger.

The tiger is tied to the Korean stories Halmoni told the girls when they were little, of two sisters who were transformed into the sun and moon to escape from the fierce tiger threatening them. When Lily tells Halmoni what she's been seeing, instead of offering reassurance, her grandmother makes her even more anxious--long ago she stole stories from the tiger, and stashed them away in her collection of jars, to keep the sadness sealed away.  And when the tiger begins to speak to Lily, it tells her he's there to reclaim what was stolen.  

Lily thinks that if she can trap the tiger, she'll keep her grandmother safe.  But how do you trap a tiger that might or might not be real?  She's always been shy and quite, but her hunt for tiger trapping information leads her to friendship with a quirky boy she meets in the library, who's happy to help her.  Before the tiger is trapped, it offers her a deal--if she releases the stories, Halmoni will feel better.  And so Lily hears again from her grandmother all the bits of the story of the two sisters, but now she realizes there's more to the stories than little Lily had understood.

And her grandmother does feel better, with the release of the sadness of her past.  But it is not a cure.  Alongside the sadness, though, is a family coming together, and finding better understanding of themselves.  Lily moves past her image of herself as a stereotypical "quiet Asian girl," Sam moves past her prickliness back into a more loving pattern with her family, their mother unclenches from her tight tension.  They find community too, and so though the ending isn't happy, it isn't devastating.

It's a lovely paean to the power of stories, with Lily, an utterably loveable and relatable character, at the heart of it.  The tiger, clearly real to her, appearing and speaking to her throughout the book, becomes believable to the reader as well, even readers who "know" that tigers from stories don't just show up in real life.  Sam, her big sister, can't believe in the tiger, until its magic briefly, but clearly, impacts reality.  

I bristle when people call any fantasy or magic in the real world "magical realism."* In almost all real world fantasy, the characters clearly recognize what is magic and what isn't.  The tiger is real to Lily, though, and to label it fantasy seems like a denial of Lily's beliefs.  It's something that can't be explained that never-the-less is true.

If you love stories about stories, and family, and love, and grief, and tigers, read this beautiful book!

Ps:  unable to work it into my review, but wanting to mention it since positive LGBTQ representation isn't overly common in mg books: Sam, the big sister, has a lovely relationship beginning with another girl at the end of the book.

*for instance, I remember someone describing Laurel Snyder's book, Bigger Than a Breadbox, as magical realism.  I think that a breadbox that is a time travel portal isn't any sort of realism, but a straight up magical breadbox.  As I understand magical realism, which might or might not be what it really is, the un-real has to be seamlessly woven into the actual, and accepted as simply what is.  On the other hand, I would have to call this fantasy, because spirit tigers from stories don't talk to people in real life as I understand it. Along the same lines, if Christian saints appeared and started chatting, I'd call it fantasy, but since the characters might disagree, with this just being part of the world as they understood it, I'd label it magical realism.

The Secret of White Stone Gate, by Julia Nobel

The Secret of White Stone Gate, by Julia Nobel (Sourcebooks Young Readers, March 3 2020) is just as exciting a read as the first book in the series, The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane.  If the prospect of  mystery, attempted murder, and friendship drama at an English boarding school appeals, look no further than these books!

Emmy can't wait to get back to Wellsworth, the boarding school where she made the first best friends of her life, was plunged into an environment of academic rigor, and was almost murdered by the school's head of security, a man named Jonas.  She's hoping the last bit is over and done with.  Jonas, saw her throw the medallions her father, another order member, had entrusted her with, that would unlock the treasure trove of the order, into the ocean, and he no longer works at the school.  So she's glad to catch up with Lola and Jack, and glad to get to know Jack's very appealing new room-mate...

She doesn't get much chance to be a happy, ordinary student.  Lola is framed for theft after the money raised by the school fundraiser disappears, and she's expelled from school.  Emmy and Jack are  determined to clear her name. They suspect the snooty Latin Club, the feeder group for the order, and with Jack's room-mate enlisted to help (he has excellent hacker skills and also the social credentials to be accepted by the club), they set to work.

But then Jonas re-emerges, and begins to threaten Emmy again.  He wants to find out where Emmy's father is, something Emmy herself doesn't know, and he's not quite convinced she doesn't still have the medallions.  And he makes it clear that he will hurt the people she cares about if she doesn't cooperate....

It's an exciting mystery, with a pleasantly middle grade gothic feel to it at times, ending up in a big showdown at a map exhibit at the British Library (I do love it when old maps are involved!), and although the immediate dangers of this installment are resolved, there's clearly room for more (I say hopefully....).  The characters are relatable to anyone in middle school, yet the British boarding school is a strange and fascinating setting for (most) American kids, and it will feel almost like a fantasy setting, what with the mysterious sinister Order and the medallions that can unlock lost passageways (nb: it is not fantasy).  The danger picks up at a nice tempo, building toward an exciting rush at the end.  Emmy is a great main character--she is not particularly gifted (she's no Nancy Drew character of ridiculous competence), but she is a loyal, determined friend, a good soccer player, and smart enough to figure out important clues.

Particularly recommended to young Anglophile fans of school stories who love fantasy for its adventures and escape from real life, who might be looking for a break from magical gifts and spells.  I enjoyed it lots as a grown-up, and would have loved it as a young reader.

disclaimer: review copy (gratefully, and with pleased excitement) received from the publisher.

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (3/8/20)

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

The Reviews

Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book, by Jennifer Donnelly, at Sci-Fi Fantasy Lit Chick

Begone the Raggedy Witches, by Celine Kiernan, at Big Bearded Bookseller

The Chaos Curse, by Sayantani Dasgupta, at Charlotte's Library

The Girl Who Speaks Bear, by Sophie Anderson, at Waking Brain Cells

Hollow Dolls, by Marcykate Connolly, at Mom Read It

The House on Hoarder Hill, by Mikki Lish and Kelly Ngai, at ReadItDaddy

The Kid Who Came From Space, by Ross Wells, at Book Craic

Lightning Girl, and Lightning Girl: Superhero Squad, by Alesha Dixon, at Charlotte's Library

The Lost Tide Warriors, by Catherine Doyle, at Charlotte's Library

The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street, by Lauren Oliver, at Waking Brain Cells

The Midnight Hour, by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder, at Log Cabin Library

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, by Andrew Peterson, at Simply a Book Drunkard

The Order of Time, by Scott P. Southall, at Kid Lit Reviews

The Princess Who Flew with Dragons, by Stephanie Burgis, at Locus

The Restless Girls, by Angela Barrett, at Fantasy Literature

The Republic of Birds, by Jessica Miller, at Falling Letters

Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan, at Charlotte's Library (with Giveaway!)

When You Trap a Tiger, by Tae Keller, at Randomly Reading

A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat, at Snow White Hates Apples

Three at Ms. Yingling Reads--The Dragon Egg Princess, by Ellen Oh, The Chaos Curse, by Sayantani Dasgupta, and The Return of the Temujai, by John Flanagan

Authors and Interviews

Sayantani Dasgupta (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond series) at From the Mixed Up Files and Middle Grade Ninja (podcast)


Other Good Stuff

What's new in the UK, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

A Wings of Fire animated television series is in the works!

Lightning Girl, and its sequel, Lightning Girl: Superhero Squad, by Alesha Dixon

Alesha Dixon, a celebrity in the UK, has brought a new middle grade superhero to town--Lightning Girl!  (whose adventures continue in Superhero Squad).  Aurora is an ordinary kid, perhaps a bit more klutzy than most 10-year-olds, but still within the parameters of "normal." Until she looses her temper when she sees her little sister being bullied, and beams of light start flying out of hands. She tries to write it off to herself as just part of growing up, but a little later, in her own back yard brooding at being laughed at at school for her failure as gymnast, the same thing happens.  And this time, her parents know about it.

And Aurora's life is up-ended.  Turns out, her mom's a superhero, with the same power, using it to foil bad guys around the world.  Not just that, but she comes from a long line of superheroes, and apparently, once she gets her own powers under control, she'll be one of them.

But life is a bit more complicated than that.  Her aunt Lucinda, for instance, shows up with her ostrich companion...Lucinda has the family knack, and an extra gift of her own, and instead of fighting crime, she's committing it.  But when Aurora gets wind of a plot to steal precious gems from the major exhibit her father's curating, she knows she wants to be one of the good guys.

Fortuantly, she doesn't have to foil the theft by herself; other kids at school, including some who never gave her the time of day before, have banded around her, making themselves into her support staff.   From fashion help, that bolsters her confidence, to help with logistics and detective work, the kids save the day, and Aurora is on her path toward super-heroism.

The second book sees Aurora and her squad involved in another plot that needs foiling.  The world was watching when Aurora used her lightning gifts to foil the robbery,and now she's besieged by the media.  After a break at her grandmother's house in the south of England, she's off to a conference of superheros, exited to belong to the group, and nervous about it too.  Turns out there's a lot to be nervous about--a plot is underway to undermine the society.  The grown-ups are pretty clueless about what's going on, and so it ends up being Aurora, with the help of her squad, who show up just in time, to save the day.

These are fun, fast reads, with a bi-racial, big-haired heroine who is still very much a kid.  Sure she has powers, but she doesn't have a lot of confidence in herself.  Although not everyone has problems controlling their lightning powers, many of us can relate to her worries about her parents' marriage (they separate in the first book), and though not all of us have criminal aunts with flamboyant ostrich sidekicks undermining our parents, we all have to committee, or not, to our family's values and traditions. And the friend drama that's so much a part of the middle school experience is here too, with Aurora having to accept that girls who didn't have time for her before will now be on her side, not just because she's a superhero, although that was the catalyst, but because they like being her friend.

What I liked best though was the matrilineal line of black superheros, and the revelations about Aurora's grandmother in the second book!  If you are looking for a tech savvy, lightning-wielding, smart as all get out granny, look no further.

In short, these should go down very easily indeed for younger middle school readers.  Two more books in the series are out in the UK, for those who can't wait for more.

disclaimer: review copies received from the publisher.

The Chaos Curse, by Sayantani DasGupta

The Chaos Curse, by Sayantani Dasgupta (middle grade, Scholastic, March 3 2020) is the third book of Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond, and it's just as wild and exciting a ride as its predecessors!

Kiran doesn't get a chance to stop and catch a breath after her last adventures, but must rush home to Parsippany New Jersey to save Prince Lal, who is imprisoned in a tree in the back yard of her sworn enemy from middle school.  There are a few other things on her mind, too, most notably the fact that her evil serpent king father and Prince Neel's mother, the demonic queen of the Rakkhosh, are about to get married, and the odd appearance of stories that don't belong in the Kingdom Beyond.  Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet are the harbingers of a larger unraveling, one that's being ironically being caused by the Serpent King's determination to make everything part of a single story.

But chaos is an essential part of all the universes, and Kiranmala finds herself one of its chief defenders.  With an enigmatic prophecy from her moon mother, and the occasional appearance of Albert Einstein, to guide her, she whirls through a maze of dangers and stories (including a dragon from Norse mythology....) that untimely takes her and Neel on a visit into the past.  And in her travels she realizes at the heart of her mother's prophecy, and the best weapon against the dangers of a single story, is love.

Wow.  This book is so fast-paced, and so full of sensory heft (extraordinarily vivid images, tastes, sounds), that after reading it I felt like I'd been at a party lit by flashing lights with music playing that you can't help but dance to.  Readers who love this sort of story will not be disappointed!  The Bangladeshi stories from which Sayantani DasGupta draws inspiration make it fresh and wonderful to those not familiar with them, and I imagine make it warm and delightful to those who are.

There's lots of humor, lots of magic, and there's even a nice bit of pro-tolerance message presented through the angle of the Rakkhosh/human divide being lessened by friendship, and the whole business all the stories of the world being crammed into one master story.  On a lighter note, there's even a bit of middle school friendship drama, and a bit of age appropriate crushing and angsting for those who are fond of those real-world elements in their fantasy.

Not my own personal cup of tea (I'm not a bright lights, lots of action person), but the warm and moving ending closed the story with a blanket of peace that let me take a breath and appreciate the whole thing.  It's.an excellent ending point (for now? I'm not sure) to this great series!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

The Lost Tide Warriors (Storm Keeper #2), by Catherine Doyle for Timeslip Tuesday

The Lost Tide Warriors, by Catherine Doyle (middle grade, Bloomsbury, January 2020) continues the battle against ancient evil begun in The Storm Keeper's Island, and I enjoyed it even more I did the first book.

The battle against ancient evil had actually begun eons the past of the island of Arranmore (hence the ancient part), when the evil sorceress Morrigan tried to take over the world, and was foiled by the magic of the good and wise Dagda.  Dagda's magic has given the island magical protectors--the Storm Keepers.  Only now, just as Morrigan is rising again, the Storm Keeper is a kid, Fionn, who's only had the job for a few months, who can't reliably tap into his magic.

It's no surprise that many of the islanders aren't convinced Fionn will save them when boatloads of horrifying Soulstalkers start arriving on the island, a creepy nuisance at first, but clearly ready to attack when Morrigan's power is strongest.  

Fionn isn't convinced either.  But he has the magic of the bottled memories his grandfather, the previous Storm Keeper, has safeguarded, and he has a plan. If he can get a hold of a legendary shell, he can blow it to sound a call that will summon the lost tide warriors of the title--the fearsome merrows who live in the ocean around the island.  Finding the shell means travelling back into the past of the island....and putting himself and his two best friends in grave danger. And all the while, to his great sadness and frustration, his grandfather is slipping away...

The things I liked best in the first book--the bottles full of memories, that transport the one who opens them through time to the moment the memories were made, the vivid sense of place, and the warm relationship between Fionn and his grandfather--are all here.  The time travel isn't the point of the book, but certainly plays an important role in helping Fionn figure out what he has to do, and his experiences as a spectator of past events gives depth to the events in the present.

I enjoyed this book more than the first.  I felt in that the first book was in large measure the set-up for great danger to come, and now it has, and it was touch and go to thwart it (there's still plenty of thwarting  left for the next book). In the first book, Fionn's sister was a total pill; here she's still not at all supportive, but a lot less grimly hostile, and is more firmly committed to protecting the island.  And Fionn's relationship with his grandfather is even more tender than it was in book 1.  His mother, also, starts to come into her own as a strong character, and since "mother" is what I myself am, I appreciated this.

So I was gripped, and left satisfied, and can now say with conviction that this is a series I whole-heartedly recommend to young readers who want to read action packed stories about kids finding magical powers and saving the world!

Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan (with giveaway!)

Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan (Atheneum, April 2020), is a tremendously fun middle grade fantasy, and though it doesn't come out till April 21st, I'm reviewing it now so that I can offer you a chance to win an ARC of your own from the author!

It's the story of two girls, both apprenticed to the same master, who have to put aside their competition to best each other. Even more challengingly, they must put aside their very different views of the world, and their family's expectations for them, which are rooted in the political turmoil that's threatening to bring chaos to Medasia, their island home.

Though Antonia diligently memorizes all the words to the spells, her ability to make them work isn't the strongest, and she's constantly worried that she's disappointing both her teacher, the famous sorcerer Betrys, and her mother, a powerful and privileged woman who expects great things of her.  When Moppe, the scullery maid, manifests powerful magic and is taken on by Master Betrys as a second apprentice, her doubts grow.  Antonia is happiest pouring through tomes of spells; Moppe finds reading a challenge.  Only one of the girls can move onward toward mastery...but will it be book-learned Antonia, or brilliant, uncontrolled Moppe?

But their rivalry has to take a back-seat to more pressing concerns.  Magical killer statues are on the loose, there's a rebellion growing against the rulers of their island, and Master Betrys is arrested for treason.  Antonia and Moppe are determined to follow her final instruction to them, to find the lost crown of Medasia.  The crown gives its wearer control of a magical weapon (not your average weapon, but a fun mg fantasy sort of thing) that confers pretty much absolute power to its wearer.  Which is just what each girls' family wants, but for diametrically opposed reasons.

Not only must Antonia and Moppe face a number of challenges to get the crown (ancient spells, dangerous mermaids, and their worst fears, magically magnified), they must figure out how to work magic together, with their gifts complementing each other.  Together, they can bring the crown home....but who will wear it?

This is a fine example of the sort of middle grade fantasy that one reads in just about a single-sitting, with interesting, likeable main characters, lots of delightfully magical twists and turns, and twists in the plot as well.  The story moves along briskly, with the stakes gradually rising from a rather ordinary rivalry to thought-provoking questions about political power and who gets to have it.  Really really enjoyable! I read it almost two months ago, and it is still fresh and bright in my mind's eye.

Though Moppe is described as having darker skin than Antonia, I didn't think it was quite enough to count this as diverse fantasy, but I love how Master Betrys is shown on the cover, making her a rare (in middle grade fantasy) woman of color with authority and knowledge!

Leave a comment below by the end of the day (midnight, EST) on March 8, that has some way to reach you (I can find you if your name leads back somewhere that has your email), and Deva will send you your own arc!

my dramatic (not) tbr reading progress

At the left is the pile as of Jan 1, at right March 1. Although I read 16 tbr pile books (owned books, not review copies) out of the 73 books I've read so far this year,  it did not make an appreciable dent, thanks to birthday present books, finding more tbr books around my house, and bringing some up from my mother's house that I'd stashed there, and a book sale whose timing and location were to convinient to pass up.  Onward.

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (3/1/20)

Welcome to the first mg sff round-up of March!  Please let me now if I missed your post.

The Reviews

The Adventurers Guild, by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos, at Say What?

Calling All Witchs!  The Girls Who Left Their Mark on the Wizarding World, by Laurie Calkhoven, at The Children's Book Review

Coo, by Kaela Noel, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Crater Lake, by Jennifer Killick, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Charlotte's Library

The Girl Who Speaks Bear, by Sophie Anderson, at Charlotte's Library

The High King, by Lloyd Alexander, at Say What?

Hollow Dolls, by Marcykate Connolly, at Geo Librarian

Homerooms and Hall Passes, by Tom O'Donnell, at Rosi Hollinbeck

A Mixture of Mischief, by Anna Meriano, at Puss Reboots

Rewritten, by Tara Gilboy, at Books Teacup and Reviews

The Shadow of the Witchfinder, by Wendy Leighton-Porter, at Readers' Favorite

Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House, by Michael Poore, at Charlotte's Library

Where the World Turns Wild, by Nicola Penfold, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Winterbourne Home for Vengeance and Valour, by Ally Carter, at Sharon the Librarian

The Wonder of Wildflowers, by Anna Staniszewski, at Ms. Yingling Reads and  Kid Lit Reviews

The Word-Keeper, by Veronica del Valle, at Book Craic

Xander and the Lost Island of the Monsters, by Margaret Dilloway, at Say What?

Three at A little but a lot--Otto Tattercoat and the Forest of Lost Things, by Matilda Woods, Dragon Detective: Catnapped, by Gareth P. Jones, and The Land of Roar, by Jenny McLachlin

Three at bookloverjo--The Boy Who Fooled the World, by Lisa Thompson, Shadowsea, by Peter Bunzl, Orion Lost, by Alastair Chisholm


Authors and Interviews

Christopher Swiedler (In the Red), at Middle Grade Book Village

Anna Staniszewski (The Wonder of Wildflowers) at Middle Grade Book Village


Other Good Stuff

"Add More Goats" and Other Artistic Advice from  Ursula Le Guin, at Tor

The first trailer from A Letter for the King, the foundational middle grade fantasy of the Netherlands, now being adapted by Netflix, at Tor

The Girl Who Speaks Bear, by Sophie Anderson

The Girl Who Speaks Bear, by Sophie Anderson (Scholastic, March 3 2020, 2019 in the UK), is a lovey fairytale-full story of a girl trying to figure out who she is, and how she fits into the world.  There's lots of emphasis on the power of stories, found family, and a bonus dragon!

When Yanka was little, a wise, kind woman found her playing in the snow outside a bear's den, and brought her back to her village, raising her as her own child.  Now Yanka is 12, she's forgotten her wild life out in the woods, though she still wonders who her real parents were. She's not sure of her place in the village; she's much bigger and stronger than the other kids, and though she has one good friend, a boy called Sasha, she feels different inside as well.  And then one day, when she wakes to find her human legs have turned to bear legs, she knows she must listen to the call of the forest she's heard for years, and head out into the winter woods to find out just who she is.

She doesn't go alone.  The (utterly loveable) house weasel, Mousetrap (one of those loyal and fierce small sidekicks that middle grade fantasy does so well), goes with her, and to her wonder she can understand him.  Her journey is guided by the maps drawn by the storyteller who visits her and her mother every so often, and by the stories he's told over the years, of people transformed into bears, of flying ships, of a magical tree, and of a fiery dragon.

As she travels, she gathers other friends, an elk, an owl, and a wolf, and (in a great treat for those of us who enjoyed Anderson's earlier book, The House with Chicken Legs) two "yagas" in their magical house.  The younger yaga is a girl about her own age, who quickly offers Yanka her freindship.  The chicken-legged house takes a liking to her too, and makes Yanka's travels much easier.

The stories threaded through Yanka's journey all hold some bit of truth, no matter how fantastic they seem, and lead her to the root of her of her own story, explaining why she is both bear and girl.  These stories also lead to a quest--in order to save a magical tree, she must defeat a dragon.  Fortunately she doesn't have to do it alone; all of her companions met on the way are there to help her, all with a part to play, all aware they are stronger together.  And in the end, she's home again, much more comfortable in her own skin, still a girl who speaks bear, but a girl  knows she's loved and valued

Give this one to any reader who loves fairly tales!  I'm not generally a huge fan of stories inserted into the central narrative, but it works here, giving readers (and Yanka) information important to the central journey.  Readers who loved Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (which does the same thing with nested stories) will probably love this one too.

I enjoyed it lots; it makes lovely pictures in the mind, and the characters are great fun (although the owl is not developed as a character at all, which I felt was a loss....). Though few of us have bear legs, anyone who is, or has been, or is about to be 12 will recognize and empathize with Yanka's feelings.   The emphasis on found family is very comforting!

My own favorite bits were the house weasel, and the yaga house, which is a young and impulsive house, and a lovely character in its own right, worthy of Diana Wynne Jones.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House, by Michael Poore, for Timeslip Tuesday

Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House, by Michael Poore (Random House, middle grade, September 2019) my time travel read for the week, was one that I enjoyed, while simultaneously giving it side-eye....

It starts with the main character, a girl named Amy, scientifically testing to see how easy it would be to steal a butterfly hoodie (it has antennae).  With the help of fake vomit, she finds it's very easy indeed.   She tells herself she'll return it tomorrow, but by the time tomorrow comes, the hoodie has been through much too much to be returnable. I have strong residual side-eye feelings about the store never getting paid for it, and her parents being more appreciative of her scientific mind than appalled by her theft....

But her parents aren't exactly focused on parenting, because they are camping out in a field with a big x on it, awaiting the arrival of the Big Duke, the largest mining machine in the world.  It is on its way to mine "hyperzantiummetachondrite (a green substance used to make tennis balls."  Amy's parents are scientists, who know the digging is going to poison the groundwater.  But since no one is paying attention to what they say, they are going to block the digger with their bodies....

Much side-eye from me (not about the ground-water, but about the tennis ball stuff).  I remember when I read this thinking "this book must have been written by someone who usually writes for grown-ups [I was right], who is trying too hard to be whimsical."  And writing this after reading the whole book, I am thinking "I bet the kids who'd enjoy this book would have liked it better if it had just been regular old mining."

So that's the first ten or so pages.

Amy, in her stolen butterfly hoodie, next goes off on a walk through the countryside to visit her friend, Moo.  Moo sits on the porch of her house, wearing a cow hoodie, watching the herd of wild cows (escapees from an overturned cattle truck years ago), and occasionally saying "moo." Though we are told she has intelligent brown eyes (which made mine roll), "moo" is the only word she can say, and she cannot move independently (if lead, she can follow), due to a brain injury inflicted by her father (who is now out of the picture).  Amy calls her Moo, never having asked the girl's mother her real name, but is otherwise a good friend, talking to her and bringing her interesting rocks.  So points for Amy.

Clearly this will take forever if I keep on like this.  I will try to be brisker.

Then Amy gets struck by lightning, which enables her to hear Moo's cogent, articulate thoughts, and thrilled by this chance for real friendship, she takes Moo for a walk into the woods, despite having been told by her parents to avoid the woods because of the witch living in them who kidnaps children (in whom Amy believes, because her parents are scientists and wouldn't try to frighten her with stories).  The girls find a house with a clock in it and Amy sees green streamers of time magic around it and they travel about thirty years back in time.  Moo is now able to move independently, thanks to Amy's residual lightning strike magic (or something).  But she still can't talk, except in Amy's mind.

There in the 1980s they meet the witch, who isn't a witch but is in fact a brilliant scientist, who helps them get home again.  Other things happen, some of them eliciting more eye rolls, but enough synopsis is enough.  And  then the two girls arrive back in time to confront the mining machine, and thwart it.

So lots of eye rolling at little things, and bigger things, like the magical alleviation of Moo's disability.  I can't speak for most young readers, but I myself don't like whimsical playfulness of this sort in disability representation, and I'm not entirely sure, thinking about it, if Moo's disability was intrinsically necessary for the plot, which then seems to be making me wonder if the time travel really was necessary for the plot, and what exactly this plot might have been.....though of course I know that it's "two brave girls who travel back in time, and become close friends thanks to magical communication, must find a way to travel forward in time again to stop some bad mining."

In any event, despite all this, I enjoyed reading the book. Amy and Moo's friendship and banter is very entertaining, and managed to make it all worthwhile.

Having written this, I go to Goodreads for the link and picture, and find myself side eyeing other reviews on Goodreads.  One says this book is "a mash-up of A Wrinkle in Time and the Wizard of Oz." It is not.  Just Not. Here's another mash-up from the official blurb-"Combine the thought-provoking time travel of When You Reach Me with the humorous storytelling of Lemony Snicket, and you get a wholly original journey through time, space, and the depths of the human heart."  I have many thoughts about this too.  For one thing, Lemony Snicket isn't a book, so ditch the italics.  For another, the time travel doesn't come close to the emotional tension of When You Reach Me, and is only mildly thought-provoking.

But do remember, I enjoyed reading this book, and did so in almost a single sitting.  And I chuckled more than once, and will remember one of those chuckles fondly for a long while....

The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao

For those looking for mythology infused adventure, ala Rick Riordan, there's more out there than just the Rick Riordan Presents books!  One excellent pick is The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao (Bloomsbury, October 2019).

It starts out with a familiar story--a girl who finds herself the Chosen One.  12-year-old Faryn Liu and her little brother Alex have been trained by their grandfather (their father's missing, and their mother is dead) in the warrior tradition of the Jade Society, fighters who protect humans from attacking demons.  But there have been no demon attacks for ages, and Faryn's family is despised by the elite of the society--her mother was not Chinese.  Then one night Faryn finds herself confronting an actual demon, and with the help of  a celestial being, she defeats it.  Maybe she's destined to be a warrior in the Jade Society after all.

Turns out she's more than just a warrior.  She (very unexpectedly) finds that she's been chosen by the gods to be the next Heaven Breaker, fighting demons for the Jade Emperor with a weapon only she can use.  But to assume that mantel, she must overcome a series of challenges and make it to the island of the gods bfore the Lunar New Year. Setting off in a chariot drawn by flying horses, with her brother at her side to put his intellect to work deciphering the riddles of the challenges, and with her former best friend, who had turned against her like all the other Jade Society kids, Faryn takes on demons, and other challenges, to prove herself a hero.

And then there's a twist....because gods (and there are many divinities in the Chinese pantheon, moving in and out of Faryn's story) are tricky, and don't necessarily have the best interests of ordinary people in their hearts, and the story kicks up a gear, leaving readers longing to find out what happens next!

So if you like brave girls, lots of mythological magic, dragons and wonderful weapons, and some solid demon whacking, you'll enjoy this lots! It might not seem like it's breaking new ground at first, but even the "old" ground of questing is made fascinating and fresh by the Chinese immortals and their interventions.   There's perhaps a tad too much stress on how mean the former friend turned, and her change back to an ally is more convenient than convincing, but it furthered the plot just fine.  Many young readers appreciate friend drama more than I do, and it allowed readers to understand where Faryn is coming from in her journey toward self-confidence.

In short, a fun introduction to Chinese mythology (there's a nice guide to demons and deities at the end of the book) that will leave readers hungry for more!

disclaimer: review copy gratefully received for my reading as a Cybils Awards panelist last year, read when I got, and now happily reviewed so  I can pass it on to my local library!

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/23/2020)

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

The Reviews

The Alchemist's Shadow (Watch Hollow #2), by Gregory Funaro, at J.R.'s Book Reviews

Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden, at Twirling Book Princess

Demelza and the Spectre Detectors, by Holly Rivers, at bookloverjo

Dragons in a Bag, by Zetta Elliott, at Books4YourKids

Ghost and Bone, by Andrew Prentice, at A Garden of Books

The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper, at Cover2CoverBlog

The House of One Hundred Clocks, by A.M. Howell, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

In the Cirle of Time, by Margaret J. Anderson, at Charlotte's Library

Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at Book Craic (nb--the series has just been released in the UK)

The Last Last-Day-of-Sumer, by Lamar Giles, at Rosi Hollinbeck

Lightning Girl, by Alesha Dixon, at Always in the Middle

The Mad Hacker (Escape Game #1), by Remi Prieur and Melanie Vives, at Pick a Good Book

Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan, at Latinxs in Kid Lit

Master of the Phantom Isles (Dragonwatch #3), by Brandon Mull, at Say What?

The Mystwick School of Musicraft, by Jessica Khoury, at Charlotte's Library

A Path Begins (The Thickety #1), by J.A. White, at Here There Be Books

Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidiker, at Sonderbooks

A Sprinkle of Sorcery, by Michelle Harrison, at Book Murmuration

Superhero Squad (Lightning Girl #2), by Alesha Dixon, at Always in the Middle

The Windreader, by Dorothy A. Winsor, at A Dance with Books

Authors and Interviews

Kevin Emerson (Lost in Space: Return to Yesterday) at From the Mixed Up Files

Tara Gilboy (Unwritten, and its sequel, Rewritten) at Mrs. Book Dragon

Other Good Stuff

Oprah's magazine offers a book list for those who enjoyed Harry Potter--some of the recommendations are middle grade, but others are for adults.  I disagreed with some, but it's a reasonable, if not exciting or tremendously diverse, list.

What's new in the UK, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

A list of recent (ish) diverse girl-centered mg fantasy at From the Mixed Up Files

All but one of this year's Andre Norton Award finalists are middle grade! Congratulations to Cog
by Greg van Eekhout, Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee, Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions by Henry Lien, Riverlandby Fran Wilde, and Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez (congratulations also to Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer)

This is the last round-up post of February.  What's your favorite MG sff book of the year so far? (or multiple favorites).  My own two so far are Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan (April 2020) and The Mulberry Tree, by Alison Rushby (July 2020 in the US).

The Mystwick School of Musicraft, by Jessica Khoury

The Mystwick School of Musicraft, by Jessica Khoury, is a fun read for those who like magical school stories with determined kids finding their true gifts.

Amelia Jones is the best in her village at musicraft-the art of mixing music and magic-and she's determined to gain admittance to the Mystwick School, one of the most prestigious in the world.  It's where her mother, who died when she was little, went, and it's all Amelia wants.  When she botches her audition, she's sure she hasn't gotten in, but to her great surprise, she gets an acceptance letter.  And so she's off on a magical trip around the world, in a dirigible powered by magic organ music, that gathers her classmates and takes them to the school off in the Colorado mountains.

But once she's there, it's discovered that she is the wrong Amelia Jones.  Another Amelia, brilliant at both piano playing and spell crafting, was supposed to have gotten the letter, but she has just tragically died.  The staff at the school are very doubtful about giving the wrong Amelia her place, but decide to take her on a trial basis.   She's determined to work harder than everyone to prove her worth, but her flute playing isn't nearly as good as everyone else's music, and her magic doesn't always work out right...and on top of that, her new roommate was best friends with the other Amelia, and of course resents her tremendously, and to make things even worse, she realizes she's being haunted...possibly by the other Amelia.

But eventually her roommate, and a friendly boy in her class, start helping her figure out what's happening.  In order to try to set things right, they break school rules and experiment with a forbidden dark spell, which doesn't go well.  And in the end, the whole school is in danger and Amelia realizes that she has a special, valuable gift after all and deserves a place in the world of magical music.

It doesn't break tremendously new ground, but it's a pleasant read with enough new interest provided by the music.  The growing threat posed by the ghost and the dark magic add nice tension, while remaining a problem the kids can solve by working together.  There's nothing really to find fault with, but it never quite became a book I found myself loving, though I can imagine many 9-11 year olds enjoying it more than I did.  Amelia isn't a brilliant instrumentalist, and so there was never the passion for the music in and of itself taking over the pages, which I would have liked.  Apparently the audiobook, where you get to listen to all the music powering the magic, is wonderful, and in fact sounds so appealing I want to check it out.

In the Circle of Time, by Margaret J. Anderson, for Timeslip Tuesday

Margaret Anderson is perhaps best known for Searching for Shona, but she also wrote several time travel books that many people remember fondly. Back in 2014, I talked about one of these, In the Keep of Time, and I enjoyed it enough that I mentioned I wanted to seek out her other books....but only now in 2020 did I actually check to see if the library had any of them.  Happily, the Rhode Island library system is not, in general, known of its vigorous weeding, and so In the Circle of Time (1979) came home with me last month.  It's not a direct sequel to Keep of Time, but is a companion to it, beginning a few years after it, with two different main characters.

Robert lives on a lonely Scottish farm with a father who has no time for his interest in art, and who wants him to work harder on the farm, despite his having a weak leg from polio.  Jennifer's an American girl whose family has just moved to the area.  They'd seen each other at school, but it's not until they both decide to visit the stone circle out on the moors on the same morning that they start to really know each other.  When you share an experience of mist coming down and time starting to go off kilter, it brings you together....

The first time they don't actually travel in time, though Jennifer does see people who aren't there in our time.  They pay a second visit to the stones, though, not because they want the strange experience to happen again, but to test it, to see if it was real.

It was, and this time they are transported to the year 2179. The stones are still there, and there's a boy about their age who is willing to befriend them.  But the stones are much closer to the ocean than they were back in the 1970s.   Sea level rise and global warming caused by fossil fuels has caused mass extinctions, and human migrations. (so prescient of Anderson to predict this; I remember in 1977 reading a newspaper article about the coming ice age....).  This part of Scotland is now home to a community whose ancestors came from India, and they are living in low tech harmony, eschewing violence.  Sadly, this isn't true for another group, who still cling to technology, using slave labor to mine the coal they need.  These "Barbaric Ones" are, on the day Robert and Jennifer arrive from the past, in the middle of a mass kidnapping of their new friend's peaceful people.

Robert and Jennifer understandably don't want to be kidnapped, and don't understand why these people aren't fighting back.  They do manage to thwart the Barbaric Ones for long enough that Robert and Jennifer can see what their peaceful, idyllic life is like--full of crafts, gardens, and communal child rearing, with visits to the library of the abandoned, collapsing city nearby at intervals.  But though Robert almost prefers it to his own harsher life, they must return to their own time....and here their story overlaps a smidge with the four kids from Keep of Time.

I really really liked the introductory part of the story, introducing the kids and the circle of stones and setting everything up beautifully and atmospherically!  And in general, Anderson is an excellent describer.  I had trouble, though, with the future peaceful society because being jaded and cynical it seemed to me more like a hippie commune (sans pot) and less like a believable future community.  It gave a fantasy feel to the story, that was at odds with the tangible bits of the past, like the abandoned robots in the old city.  And the emphasis on the power of love and good will made me twitchy.

Basically I'd have loved it if I'd read it the year it came out...I was 11.  And quite possibly my library (Arlington VA Central Library) had it, though maybe not, because it seems like the sort of thing I'd have found appealing, and I browsed and browsed those shelves lots.

Still, it was a fast and enjoyable read!  I have just now requested another of her time travel books, The Ghost Inside the Monitor....Several of her books, including Keep and Circle, are available as ebooks, for those with more ruthless libraries.  And looking at her website, I found myself intrigued by her memoir, From a Place Far Away  (Lychgate Press, June, 2017) covering her Scottish childhood before and during World War II.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (2/16/20)

Here's what I found in my on-line reading this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

All the Impossible Things, by Lindsay Lackey, at Redeemed Reader

Beneath the Weeping Clouds (Riders of the Realm #3), by Jennifer Lynn Alverez, at Childen's Books Heal

A Dash of Trouble (Love Sugar Magic #3), by Anna Meriano, at Sonderbooks

Gloom Town, by Ronald L. Smith, at BooksForKidsBlog

The Good Hawk, by Joseph Elliott, at Whispering Stories

Hamstersaurus Rex vs. The Cutepocalypse, by Tom O'Donnell, and Tim Miller, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Ice Bear Miracle, by Cerrie Burnell, at bookloverjo

The Library of Ever, by Zeno Alexander, at Susan Uhlig

The Lifters, by Dave Eggers, at a Garden of Books (audiobook review)

A Mixture of Mischief (Love Sugar Magic #3), by Anna Meriano, at Always in the Middle

Race to the Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse, at Charlotte's Library

The Silver Tree, by Ruth L. Williams, at Charlotte's Library

Skycircus (Cogheart #3), by Peter Bunzl, at Log Cabin Library

A Sprinkle of Spirits (Love Sugar Magic #3), by Anna Meriano, at Sonderbooks

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, at Sonderbooks

Authors and Interviews

Peter Bunzl (Cogheart) at From the Mixed Up Files

Sarah Cannon (Twist) at Spooky MG


Other Good Stuff

The program for this year's Kidlitcon, in Ann Arbor March 27-28, is up!  And includes many MG Sci/fi fantasy authors!  There's no charge for registration, but if you want your free lunch courtesy of the Ann Arbor library, register by the end of the week!

And finally, congratulations to Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, winner of this year's Cybils Award for Elementary/MG Speculative Fiction!  Here are the winners in all categories.

The Silver Tree, by Ruth L. Williams, for Timeslip Tuesday

This week's timeslip story is an older one--The Silver Tree, by Ruth L. Williams (1992), and in fact I was surprised to find it was a recent as it was; I would have thought it was a few decades older....

When we meet Micki Silver, she's a sulking, unpleasant sort of girl, making no effort to behave pleasantly to her parents or her little sister.  When she sulkily goes off by herself in a rather strange toy museum, and goes into a room marked "private," she finds a most remarkable dollhouse.  The child dolls inhabiting it are alive....

She travels back to the time of the original house and its inhabitants, the 19th century, where she's accepted as the orphaned cousin the family had been expecting.  It's a largish family of five siblings, one of whom is a girl her own age.  But tragedy strikes right at the beginning of her time with them, when the oldest boy has a bad fall from a tree, and his life hangs from a thread.  A strange old woman appears and disappears sporadically, giving warnings and enigmatic utterances involving branches and trees, and as Micki mulls over her words, she realizes that her own angry and pointless impulse in her own time caused the accident.

She'd wished she'd never been born, and to her horror, it seems like her wish might be granted....because the 19th century boy in danger of dying is her own ancestor (hence the branches and trees in the warnings--it's family trees....)

So the dollhouse and enigmatic old women are strange and have to be swallowed with many gains of salt, but the actual time travel part is good time travel reading, with Micki learning to be a 19th century girl, and becoming friends with her cousin in the past, and travelling back and forth between her own time and the past.  This is the sort of book that I think if you read it young, and it was one of your first time travel stories, would make a huge and very favorable impression.  Indeed, this is what the Goodreads reviews indicate.  

And even for a veteran reader of time travel it's soothingly familiar and yet still interesting, though it would have been tidier if there'd been some explaining about just who or what the old woman was....and also the dollhouse aka ancestral home in the toy store is not explained at all.  That being said, the toy museum's manager seems to be the same old woman, so I guess it's all a set up to teach Micki a lesson, although why is the old woman bothering? Fortunately it's not overly didactic in its message that Micki has a lot of growing up to do with regard to recognizing that actions have consequences, but it's certainly one she need to learn! 

Short answer--a fine choice to give to a 9 or 10 year old who you think might enjoy time travel, but no particularly compelling reason to read it if you are older than that, unless you like quick reads about modern girls in Victorian families (that lack any grappling with difficult history, or social and economic issues, except for Micki's aggravation about clothing and embroidery lessons....).  

Here's its Kirkus review, which pretty much agrees with me....This seems to be the author's only book, which is a bit disappointing, because despite being somewhat lukewarm about it, I'd have read more by her....

Race to the Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse

Race to the Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse (January 2020), is the latest offering from Rick Riordan Presents.  It's an exciting story of a Navaho girl facing a heroic destiny as a monster hunter.

Nizhoni Begay has dreams of greatness, that aren't working out real well for her.  Being a star baseketball player, for instance, is pretty much of the table when she takes a ball to the face.  It's not entirely her fault, though--sitting in the bleachers is a monster.  To everyone else, he's just a man in a nice suit, but Nizhoni knows a monster when she sees one.  This monster is Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at an oil and gas company, but he seems more interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, 10 months younger than her.

The next day, her dad disappears, leaving a note that says "run!"  Fortunately, Nizhoni has help and guidance from a most unexpected source--her stuffed horned toad, Mr. Yazzi, is alive, and very knowledgeable about monsters.  So Nizhoni, Mac, and Mr. Yazzi, along with her best friend, Davery, set off on a rescue mission.

Their journey takes them deep in to the world of Diné Holy People and old stories, like those of the Hero Twins, coming true before their eyes, as they race to the Sun to find the weapons they need to take on the monsters hunting them.  It's a journey full of trails and danger, in which Nizhoni and Mac discover a heritage of magic.  (Davery, though not destined to be part of the magical world, is nevertheless a crucial player in the adventure; he contributes knowledge, smarts, and level-headedness  to the mix).

The ending is very satisfying, with Nizhoni a hero, and her family together.  But there are still monsters out there...and one can hope for more adventures!

I enjoyed it; it's always fun to see the stories of cultures you aren't tremendously familiar with come to life.  There was one thing, though, I didn't like at all...Mac, the little brother, is supposed to be almost Nizhoni's twin--he's only 10 months younger than her.  But boy, he is incredibly immature!  I think his immaturity is meant in many instance to provide comic relief, but I expected him to grow up and shoulder more responsibility as his sister's partner and step into his role as the other manifestation of the Hero Twins, and he never does.  He is never a full team member.

That being said, this is a solid page-turner of a story with a great heroine, a great friendship (Davery's a treasure of a best friend!), and a great horned toad person.