Ghost Squad, by Claribel A. Ortega

Happy Book Birthday to Ghost Squad, by Claribel A. Ortega, an exciting story about two girls racing to set to rest a plague of evil spirits (that they might have helped awaken).

On paper, 12-year-old Dominican-American Lucely and her father, who makes a living running ghosts tours, live alone.  In actuality, their home is full of the family ghosts, living on as fireflies, but to her eyes appearing as the people they once were.  But something bad is happening to her ghost family...they are starting to fade.  So she and her best friend, Syd, try to find a magical solution to the problem in the old, forbidden spell book owned by Syd's witchy grandmother.

But maybe their spell casting attempt has made things worse.  Now dark magic is afoot in her town, and the mayor himself is spearheading an attempt to wake angry ghosts.  On a class field trip to the town hall, Lucely overhears the mayor and his henchmen are planning a ritual to take absolute control over the town by overrunning it with spirits.  The firefly tree of Lucely's family is a defender of the town, but with her family spirits weakening, how much longer will it be able stand against the new supernatural enemies?

So Syd and Lucely set to work to thwart the mayor's plan.  When their home made attempts at ghostcatchers fail, they set out to find the missing pages from the spellbook they used before...pages that were intered with the dead....who are now waking up!

It's a fun, spook filled race to settle the dead.  The pages, many filled with ghosts, some malignant and creepy, others warm and loving, turn quickly!  Lucely and Syd make a great team; their different strengths complement each other nicely.  And Lucely's extended family adds warmth and interest, although also a sadness, because many died too soon.

There are quite a few ghost hunting books out there (like Victoria Schwab's City of Ghosts series), but this one stands out because of its roots in Dominican culture, and because many of the ghost are family, which  makes the contact between the living and the dead more immediate and personal.

Polly and Buster, books 1 and 2, by Sally Rippin

Polly and Buster are the main characters in a series of early chapter books written and illustrated by Sally Rippen (Australia's highest selling female author).  The first two books about the pals, Polly the Witch and Buster the Monster, are The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster, and The Mystery of the Magic Stones (published in the US by Kane Miller Fall 2019).

Polly and Buster are next-door neighbors, and they have been best friends practically all their nine years.  But theirs is a world in which witches and monsters are not encouraged to be friends.  Monsters go to a different school, and have to sit in the back of the bus.  But Polly knows Buster is the kindest, mostly loyal friend she could ever want....which can't be said of Polly.

When smart and popular fellow witch student Marjorie seems to be willing to be friends with her, Polly goes along with badmouthing monsters, and hurts Buster pretty badly.  Still, when she sees Buster being bullied by other monsters, she comes to his rescue with a burst of magic more powerful than she's ever been able to pull off before.  

This gets twisted by the media into a story of Polly using magic to save Marjorie from a monster attack...and an anti-monster movement springs up, feeding on the already existing distrust and dislike of the witches for the monsters.

In the second book of their adventures, Polly and Buster are on the run.  The leader of the anti-monster movement (Marjorie's mother) is hunting them, the monsters are organizing a movement of their own, and Polly is being summoned by the magical stones her dead father left her on a dangerous quest to the haunted mines where he died.    With Buster at her side, Polly sends an ancient evil back to sleep, and then with Polly at his side, Buster saves Marjorie when her life is in danger.  The anti-monster mania dies down, but when book two ends, it's clear there will be more... 

Though there's magical adventures, these books are first and foremost a story about prejudice and a friendship that shows how stupid prejudice is.  Polly and Buster really are best friends, and that's great.  But although I appreciated their adventures, and found their world interesting, these books made me uncomfortable.  Buster is the more child-like of the two, the one who stuffs his face with sweets, plays games with ghosts instead of defying ancient evil, and provides comic relief.  He's also more animal-like, what with having fur and claws and stinky armpits.  Yes, he's a monster, and these attributes wouldn't have raised my eyebrows in a different sort of story.  But here, the parallels to real-world systemic racism are so clear that I felt it was going into harmful stereotype territory (Buster's not the only monster we meet, but the others troubled me too....).   

So basically, I think these books are well-intentioned, and not without charm, and I liked the stories and was interested in the magic, but I don't feel comfortable with the victims of racism being allegorically portrayed as monsters, no matter how good-hearted the monsters are.

disclaimer: review copies received from the publisher

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (4/5/20)

I sure do hope that April passes by more quickly than March, and that you all are safe and well!  In the meantime, fill your tbr with middle grade fantasy and science fiction!  (and please let me know if I missed your post).

The Reviews

Cog, by Greg Van Eekhout, at Tanya Turek on Instagram

Crater Lake, by Jennifer Killick, at Book Craic and bookloverjo

The Cut-Throat Café, by Nicki Thornton, at Read It, Daddy

The Deceivers (Greystone Secrets #2), by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at The Children's Book Review

The Dragon Egg Princess, by Ellen Oh, at Charlotte's Library

The Fang of Bonfire Crossing (Legends of the Lost Causes #2) by Brad McLelland & Louis
Sylvester, at Log Cabin Library

Homerooms and Hall Passes, by Tom O'Donnell, at Falling Letters

The House of Hidden Wonders, by Sharon Gosling, at Book Craic

In the Red, by Christopher Swiedler, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Feed Your Fiction Addiction

Magic Required (Wizard for Hire #3), by Obert Skye, at Cracking the Cover

Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan, at Randomly Reading

Milton the Megastar, by Emma Read, at Book Murmuration

The Mirror Image Ghost, by Catherine Storr, at Charlotte's Library

Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champtions, by Henry Lien, at Fantasy Literature

Pests, by Emer Stamp, at Library Girl and Book Boy

The Star Dunes (Explorer Academy #4) by Trudi Trueit, at Word Spelunking

Sticky Pines: the Bigwoof Conspiracy, by Dashe Roberts, at My Book Corner

The Thief Knot, by Kate Milford, at Locus

Tilly and the Lost Fairytales (Pages and Co. #2), by Anna James, at A Dance with Books

Tom's Midnight Garden, by Philippa Pearce, at Fuse #8 (guest post by Tom Guida)

TrooFriend, by Kirsty Applebaum, at Book Lover Jo

Viper's Daughter, by Michelle Paver, at Whispering Stories, A little but a lot, and Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis, at Tor

Warren the 13th and the Thirteen-Year Curse (Warren the 13th, Book 3) by Tania del Rio, Will Staehle, at Hidden In Pages

The Wizenard Series-Season One, by Wesley King, at Always in the Middle and The Children's Book Review

Authors and Interviews

Christina Soontornvat (A Wish in the Dark) at The Quiet Pond

Alex Aster (Emblem Island: Curse of the Night Witch) at Middle Grade Book Village

Lia London (Be Careful Where You Wish) at Author June MaCrary Jacobs

Emer Stamp (Pests), at Book Murmuration

Wesley King (Wizenard Series), at The Children's Book Review

Alistair Chisholm (Orion Lost) at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books


Other Good Stuff

What's new in the UK, from Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books, here, and here

Ten great fantasy audiobook series on Hoopla, at alibrarymama

The Dragon Egg Princes, by Ellen Oh

The Dragon Egg Princess, by Ellen Oh, is a magical middle grade fantasy about kids who must save a kingdom and its magic from a greedy usurper to the throne.

It starts with Princess Koko, still a very little girl, disappearing into a magical wood...a tragic loss for her parents that leaves the kingdom of Joson without an heir.  For Jiho Park, the story of the princess seems at first irrelevant.  He's the only son, and oldest child, of a family touched by tragedy--the mother died, and the father, a ranger in the magical Kidahara forest, disappeared into it years ago.  Their uncle and aunt took htem in, and Jiho has worked hard to ease the burden on them, a burden made worse by Jiho's legacy from his father--he nullifies magic.  Because of this, no magical helpfulness is possible on the family farm.

When outsiders arrive from various neighboring kingdoms, part of a new push to bring modernity to Kidhara region (putting a railway through it, and clearing it for industrial development), Jiho's gift, and his own intimate knowledge of the Kidhara and its many magical denizens (many of them , is a gift indeed to the would-be developers.  But though Jiho can help to a certain extent, he's not committed the project, and is pretty certain it is doomed to fail.  The Kidhara is prepared to fight back....

And so Jiho and a group of young people working on the project find themselves lost in Kidhara, with dangers on on sides. Help comes,unexpecdedly, from Princess Koko, who has been living in a magical enclave within hte Kidhara.  But though Jiho and his companions are safe for the moment, they soon learn that there is more to worry about than the planned clearing of the forest, and the usurption of the throne by Kiko's greedy uncle.  An ancient danger is awakening, and only Kiko can stand against it.  But in order to do so, she must embrace who she really is--not just a girl, but a dragon.

There are other plot threads happening, that add further to an exciting story....and the monsters, magic, and ancient evil to be thwarted by by kids is just the sort of excitement that young fans of middle grade fantasy will love!  Joson is a place inspired by Korean culture and mythology, and the neighboring countries have real world echos as well (which makes it extra fun to meet characters from these countries...).

The part of the book that I think will resonate most powerful for young readers is the internal journey Koko must take to accepting that she is the last of the dragons (all the others will killed in the first battle against the ancient evil).  She loves her human parents, and doesn't want to not be their human daughter anymore, and though she realizes intellectually that become a dragon as well is necessary, it's hard for her to actually do it.  Yes, the dragons were beautiful and powerful, but it's not how she sees herself.  I don't think it's too much of a psychological stretch to see this as a metaphor for adolescence, and a pretty on point one at that, and it's this bit of emotional tension that lifted the book from fun adventure to memorable story in my mind.

There's more I liked too; Jiho has his own character arc that's also a good one, the bandits I mention above also have an interesting plot line, the mix of 19th and even 20th century technology from other lands with the magic of Joson was cool, and I'm also all in favor of greedy exploitation of the magical world being thwarted by magic (although this bit of the plot fell by the wayside, once the ancient evil started re-emerging).  So all in all, another strong addition to this spring's remarkably excellent crop of middle grade fantasy!

The Mirror Image Ghost, by Catherine Storr, for Timeslip Tuesday

Do not believe the title; The Mirror Image Ghost, by Catherine Storr (1994)  actually has no ghosts in it.  It does, though, start with the main character, a girl named Lisa, pestering her grandparents about a ghost boy her grandfather saw when he was  kid himself.  They are reluctant to tell her much, but she does learn from her grandfather that the ghost boy told him of terrible things....but that's all he's willing to say.  So Lisa goes back to her own home, still curious...

Her own home is not a happy place for her.  Her widowed mother has remarried, and Lisa is very unhappy sharing her home, and her mother, with her new French step-father and his two children, an boy and girl.  She makes no effort to be welcoming at all, and just holds her bitterness and resentment as tightly around herself as she can.

Her mother gives her a bit more context about the ghost boy and the grandfather's childhood--he was from Jewish family, in Austria, who was visiting England when Hitler invaded, and stayed there while his parents and sister were killed.  Lisa hadn't really thought about this part of WW II before, and it takes a while for her to grasp what actually happened (longer than I though believable.  But the Holocaust was still too real to her grandparents for them to ever have talked about with Lisa or her mother, and maybe it wasn't being taught in school because of being still too recent?  She does finally pick up Anne Frank to read...which is good for her and broadens her understanding....).

But in any event.

There was just one material thing her grandfather brought back from Vienna, when he went there after the war to try to find his family--his own mother's large mirror, all that was left of his family's possessions.  And Lisa, looking into the mirror, slips through time, and meets her grandfather's little sister.  She tries to tell her about the horrors to come, but the little girl thinks she's crazy...

Interspersed with other trips back through the mirror is the constant tension between Lisa and her step-siblings.  Gradually it resolves, but Lisa is not closer to getting her great-aunt to believe her.  When she meets her own Grandfather, she realizes that she is the "ghost boy" he met (she was wearing jeans, and had short hair), and he of course heeds her warning.....She wants to save the little sister too, but as her understanding of the danger to come deepens, she begins to fear for her own life if she is caught in Vienna when she realizes that she too, being one quarter Jewish, would be in danger if caught there by the Nazis.

 Lisa's experiences time-travelling, and thinking about the past, indirectly help crack her out of her pit of denial, but I think the book would have been stronger if the past and present pushed harder at each other...it's almost two stories side by side, instead of the pulling in tandem.  Still, it's moving and memorable, and really sensitive and thoughtful in its portrayal of the Holocaust.  Though the worst horror takes place off the page, Lisa's final mirror visit to the past is chilling.

However,  for me the most memorable thing about it was wanting to shake Lisa!  She is the epitome of self-absorbed adolescent (though one can't help be sympathetic when, for instance, she must share her room with a step-sister whose very existence is loathsome to her.  And Storr manages to make her just sympathetic enough to not spoil the whole book....)

If you are looking for time travel in which the past is explored, this isn't what you are looking for--Lisa's visits are basically quick in and outs, in which she stays where she lands.  If you are looking for blended family books and/or books with sensitive and thoughtful treatment of the Holocust and its lasting impact on those who survived, it's a good one!

(books sure were shorter even as recently as the 1990s--this one only has 143 pages in paperback!)

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from aroung the blogs (3/29/20)

Welcome to this week's round-up!  I hope you all are safe and well.  Please let me know if I missed your post.

The Reviews

The Bigwoof Conspiracy, by Dashe Roberts, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

The Book of Boy, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, at Leaf's Reviews

Children of Exile, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at The O.W.L. (audiobook review)

A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Children, by Laurence Yep and Joanne Ryder, at Dramas with a Side of Kimchi

The Eye of Zeus, by Alane Adams, at Cover2CoverBlog

The House of Hidden Wonders, by Sharon Gosling, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Jungle Drop (Unmapped Chronicles #2), by Abi Elphinstone, at A little but a lot

Kid Normal and the Loudest Library, by Greg James and Chris Smith, at Twirling Book Princess

Knights vs Dinosaurs, by Matt Phelan, at Sonderbooks

Mañanaland, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, at Puss Reboots

Max and the Midknights,by Lincoln Peirce, at Book Murmuration

Night of Dangers (Adventurers Guild #3), by  Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos, at Say What?

RA The Mighty! The Great Tomb Robbery, by A. B. Greenfield, at BooksForKidsBlog

The Search for the Silver Witch (Polly and Buster #3), by Sally Rippin, at Log Cabin Library

The Serpent's Secret, by Sayantani DasGupta, at A Dance with Books

Silverworld, by Diana Abu-Jaber, at Charlotte's Library

Troofriend, by Kirsty Applebaum, at Book Murmuration

Twighlight of the Elves (Adventures Guild #2) by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos, at Say What?

Two Gold Dolphins, by Elisabeth Beresford, at Charlotte's Library

Warren the 13th and the Whispering Wood (Warren the 13th #2), by Tania del Rio and Will Staehle, at Hidden in Pages

Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom, by Louis Sacher, at A Kids Book a Day

Weird Little Robots, by Carolyn Crimi, at Children's Books Heal

Willow Moss and the Forgotten Tale (Starfell #2), by Dominque Valente, at Book Craic

A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat, at Falling Letters and Utopia State of Mind

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads--Blowback '94, by Brian Meehl, and Silverworld, by Diana Abu-Jaber

Authors and Interviews

Kenneth Oppel (Bloom) at Middle Grade Book Village

Ben Gartner (The Eye of Ra) at Middle Grade Book Village

Christina Soontornvat (A Wish in the Dark) at Nerdy Book Club

Ronald L. Smith (Gloom Town) at From the Mixed Up Files

S.O. Thomas (The Slug Queen Chronicles) at Word Spelunking

Joan Haig (Tiger Skin Rug) at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books


Other Good Stuff

The shortlists for the Aurealis Awards have been announced; here's the MG list:

        Elementals: Scorch Dragons, Amie Kaufman (HarperCollins)

• Race for the Red Dragon, Rebecca Lim (Allen & Unwin)
• The Dog Runner, Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin)
• Jinxed!: The Curious Curse of Cora Bell, Rebecca McRitchie, illustrated by Sharon O’Connor (HarperCollins)
• The Glimme, Emily Rodda & Marc McBride (Omnibus)
• The Lost Stone of SkyCity, HM Waugh (Fremantle)

Silverworld, by Diana Abu-Jaber

Silverwood, by Diana Abu-Jaber (Crown Books, March 17, 2020), is an engaging portal fantasy given extra richness by the Lebanese heritage of the main character.

After apruptly being moved to Florida, Sami is on edge; spending time talking to her beloved grandmother, who lives with her family, has become her bedrock. But Sami is the only one in the family who can hear her grandmother talk; to everyone else, Teta sounds like she's speaking gibberish, and so her mother thinks it would be best to find a nursing home for her.

Sami is distraught, and in a desperate effort to find a way to keep Teta home, she opens the old book with a cracked cover Teta had brought with her from Lebanon, a forbidden book she's been told has great and magical powers.  At first the pages and the words are slippery, but at last the book lets her read a spell- for the Opening of thee Silversinn'd.  On the same page is a picture of a mirror identical to the one in Sami's room, another treasure from Teta's old life.  When Sami reads the spell, she passes through the mirror, into Silverworld, a land full of marvels.

There she meets Dorsom, a strange but friendly Flicker, who looks like a human boy except for his skin, which is green.  From Dorsom, she begins to learn how to communicate without words, and about this strange land where the Flickers, beings of color and light, once lived in balance with the Shadows, their opposite.  Now things are falling into chaos and danger.  A powerful being, Nixie, is trying to seize control of the land, imprisoning all those who resist her, and threatening the balance between Flickers and Shadows.

Sami, with her inborn power of Silverskin magic, might be able to thwart Nixie's plans.  And so a dangerous journey to Nixie's castle begins, and in good portal fantasy fashion, there are dangers and strange new allies, a graceful inclusion of a message that different (in this case, Flickers and Shadows) doesn't equal enemy, and an ultimate victory that requires all the courage and strength that Sami can give.  Yes, she's "special," but at the same time she's unsure--plunged into a world of magic she doesnt' understand, she has no clue what she can do to stop Nixie, but accepts the fact that it's up to her to try, because there is no one else. Which ultimately, of course, makes her very special indeed in the best possible way!

Interspersed with the fantasy are Sami's real world memories, both of her own life and her grandmother's stories of growing up in the desert, and her life in Lebannon.  And in healing Silverworld, Sami also frees her grandmother, who had locked herself away in her mind so that her own link to Silverworld was safe from Nixie's manipulation.

It's a vivid fantasy world, drawing on elements of Near Eastern magic, that emphasizes description of the physical over the nuts and bolts of worldbuilding, with memorable characters and a realistic (in fantasy terms) final showdown with the villain.  The switches between fantasy and the real world are perhaps a bit abrupt, but ultimate they make the whole story stronger.  Kids hungry for magical lands, who enjoy stories about special, chosen ones finding their powers and having the strength to use them when it really counts, will love Sami's story!

nb: Silverworld is Diana Abu-Jaber's first book for young readers, but you might recognize her name from her adult books; I myself am now wanting to read her memoir, The Language of Baklava....

Two Gold Dolphins, by Elisabeth Beresford, for Timeslip Tuesday

This week's timeslip book is an older, somewhat obscure one from England--Two Gold Dolphins, by Elisabeth Beresford (1961).

A brother and sister are packed off to stay with their grandfather in the family's old country home while the parents go off to the US.  They figure out pretty quickly that the grandfather is becoming unable to cope, and might have to sell the house because he can no longer afford the upkeep (why the parents aren't involved in this decision making is beyond me; you'd think they'd have some interest in the old family house, but no.).  So the kids set out to find the family treasure that's supposed to be hidden somewhere around the place, that no other generation of searching kids has ever found.

Help comes their way in the form of a magical clock found in a junk store.  The gold dolphin ornamenting the clock comes to life, and the kids learn that the dolphin and clock can send them back in time.  So they visit the past of their family at various points in time, including a surprising visit to Australia to see their many times great uncle who immigrated there.  They must prove that they have the qualities of character that the dolphin demands of them before they can find the Great Gold Dolphin, on whom the clock dolphin is modeled, and then their wishes will be granted.  They are joined in their quest by another boy, who's father is a lost explorer, who they meet in the village who becomes their new very good friend in about five minutes.

Of course they eventually do find the Great Gold Dolphin, and save the family house, bring their parents home (although this would have happened at some point in any event, so it seems a bit of a waste), and bring the lost explorer father home too.

Basically this is a Nesbit homage; the pattern of how the story unfolds is much like that of the Psammead and House of Arden stories, and the clock dolphin is very much the same sort of grouchy guide that the Psammead and the Mouldiwarp are.  It  lacks the zest of Nesbit's writing, and the characterization and interactions of the children are less interesting.  But though it is a slighter story, it is still a pleasant, if somewhat superficial, time travel.

I don't regret the five dollars I spent on it, and though I won't be actively looking for Beresford' s other books (especially not the Womble books, for which she is best known), I'd happily read them if the came my way (except Wombles.  I just have no interest in Wombles....)

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (3/22/20)

Here's this week's round-up of what I found in my blog reading this week.  Please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Alfie Fleet's Guide to the Universe, by Martin Howard, illustrated by Chris Mold, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Amelia Fang and the Bookworm Gang, by Laura Ellen Anderson, at Twirling Book Princess

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, by M.T. Anderson and Eugine Yelchin, at Sonderbooks

Evie and the Animals, by Matt Haig, at Alittlebutalot

The Ghost Garden, by Emma Carroll, at Alittlebutalot

Gloom Town, by Ronald L. Smith, at Charlotte's Library

The Last Dragon (Revenge of Magic #2), by James Riley, at Say What?

Legends of Lost Causes, by Brad McLelland and Louis Sylvester, at Log Cabin Library

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, by Carlos Hernandez, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidicker, at Geo Librarian and Redeemed Reader

Scribble Witch: Notes in Class, by Inky Willis, at Library Girl and Book Boy and Alittlebutalot

The Spinner of Dreams, by K.A. Reynolds, at Log Cabin Library

The Unicorn Quest, books 1 and 2, by Kamilla Benko, at Ms.Yingling Reads

A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat, at Cover2CoverBlog and Charlotte's Library

Two at The Book Search--The Thieves of Wierdood, by Christian McKay Heidicker, and A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontronvat

Authors and Interviews

Anna Meriano (Love Sugar Magic series) at Middle Grade Ninja

Martin Howard (Alfie Fleet's Guide to the Universe) at Book Murmuration 

Jim Zub (The Young Adventurers Guide series) at Nerdophiles

Loriel Ryon (Into the Tall, Tall Grass), at Middle Grade Book Village

Other Good Stuff

The shortlists for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards have been announced; at Waking Brain Cells there are covers and links, which is very useful.

"Why it is fine to read middle grade as an adult" at A Dance with Books

At Readings, "Our favorite worlds in middle grade fantasy"

Gloom Town, by Ronald L. Smith

Gloom Town, by Ronald L. Smith, is perfect for readers who are just getting into solid middle grade fantasy--it's a great "first mortal peril from deeply creepy monstrous beings who are about to sacrifice you to a Great Evil of mythical proportions" story.

12-year-old Rory lives with his mother in the seaside town of Gloom, a place that is accurately named; miserable weather, little in the way of vibrant culture, and in the case of Rory and his mother, financial hardship.  When Rory sees that the mysterious Lord Foxglove needs a valet, he applies for the job.  Foxglove Manor is weird, in an off sort of way, and the job interview is very peculiar, but Rory can't  afford to be picky.  So he signs the contract, and only then sees that's he's now committed "on penalty of death."

Foxglove Manor and it's master have dark secrets, and though Rory didn't set out to deliberately find them, his curiosity and fear lead him to terrifying discoveries.  His sleep is full of a nightmares, and it becomes clear that his employer isn't quite human.... Fortunately, outside the manor he has a good friend, Izzy, a young fortune teller with tons of spunk, and she takes the disturbing things he describes seriously, and helps him seek for information within the town.

As the nature of the threat (ultimate evil taking over the world) becomes clearer to the kids, they realize that there's no hero around to step in and save the day, and that they'll have to do it themselves.   Fortunately Rory, though he doesn't know it, has just the thing he needs to help him do the job....

And that's where the book kind of falters, here at the ending.  The spooky buildup and revelations of the menacing evil are great--vivid and creepy as all get out, including little details like Rory finding the heart of the previous boy who had his job, buried in a metal box out behind the house.  There were plenty of twists and turns as Rory and Izzy figured things out.   Both kids are smart and brave, though their bravery is greater than their ability to figure out how to take down ancient evil.  And in fact in the ultimate face-off, Rory wins through simply because he happens to have an external object that saves the day.  And it's a bit of a let down.

That being said, if you are used to reading more complex books (YA and Adult) about defeating ancient evil, you'll be expecting more.  You'll also be excepting more detail to the worldbuilding and the origin of the ancient evil than you'll find here. But if, as I suggested above, you're a first time Ancient Evil reader, this won't be a problem.  And the vivid setting and descriptions are perfect for gripping the reader's imagine, and Rory and Izzy are great companions in adventure.

The door is left open for a sequel, and I would be more than happy to see what happens to these two kids next!

(one for my list of diverse fantasy--Rory, as shown on the cover, is a brown-skinned kid)

A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat

A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat (Candlewick, March 24, 2020, just named a Junior Library Guild selection), is a truly lovely fantasy in which the strong theme of social justice is given shape by the story of a boy trying to escape his past and make a better future for himself, and for all the poor and cast-off and downtrodden people in his city.  It's a twist on Les Misérables set in a Thai inspired world, with magic, but this being a middle grade novel, it is full of love and hope and ends with a promise of better things ahead.

Pong did not set off to save anyone but himself.  Born in a women's prison, and with a few more years to go before he's released from it to make his own way in a world that doesn't want him, he has come to believe what he's been told, that "light shines only on the worthy," which doesn't include him.  His dream that one day he and his best friend Somkit can be part of Chattana, the beautiful city whose rainbow light is magically made by the city's governor, starts to seem impossible.  So one day, when a smelly and awful chance to escape presents itself, Pong impulsively takes it.  Now he's outside the prison, but still marked by a tattoo in his wrist.  If he's caught, he will never taste freedom again.

Fortunatly, he is taken in by a remote monestary, whose wise old leader teaches him, and blesses him.  Less fortunately, or so it seems at first, he's recognized by Nok, the daughter of the former prison wardon.  Nok  thinks that if she can capture him, she'll help restore her family's fraying status, and she's sure that her prowess at the magical martial art of spire-fighting will make taking down one small boy easy.  Pong escapes, and ends up in Chattana again.  It is not the city of beautiful light he'd dreamt of, but a place with deeply rooted inequality, where  the rich live in the shine of golden globes, and the poor must make do with dim purple.  But there, in a wonderful coincidence, he's reunited by Somkit, who himself has been taken in by a caring mentor...one who wants to lead a revolution.

Pong, and Nok too, must decide if they are willing to throw away all they've been taught about who is worthy and join the revolution to bring light to everyone...

Of course they do, but it's a deeply moving journey to get to that point, full of danger and intrigue, and also magic.  All three kids have gifts they bring to the cause--Somkit has the technological skills that  give the revolution a chance to succeed, Nok's spire-fighting can make the very ground tremble, and Pong has preternatural skill of observation, and the blessings of the old monk wrapped in threads around his wrist.  And his blessings have always come true.

I loved the characters. The old monk, with his deep well of compassion, is simply wonderfully loveable, and teaches Pong beautifully by letting him figure out things for himself.  He also finds homes for abandoned babies, giving each a blessing of their own (I pause here to mentally hug the kind old monk...)   Pong's journey, though he slays no literal monsters and his fiercest struggle is within himself, is truly that of a hero.  Somkit's engineering skills and tinkering with the light globes make him a mirror for kids who loves to figure out how things work, and he is the very model of a loyal friend.  Nok has more than her brillance at marshal arts going for her; she's a character who must question the privilege in which she's been raised, and decide whether or not to reject the laws that's she's accepted without question all her life.

Add to this lovely cast of characters a vivid setting, full of sensory details that make it all real, and a strong message of social justice that drives the story without beating readers to death, and you have a real winner of a book!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Malice, by Pintip Dunn, for Timeslip Tuesday

Malice, by Pintip Dunn (Entangled Teen, February 2020), is an unusual time slip story.  Instead of bodies travelling through time, in this case only a person's consciousness can, and only into the mind of their own past or future self.  It's a sci-fi sort of time travel, though without much hard science backing it up.

Alice knows nothing of this time travel at first.  Her life is kind of ordinary (high school, friends, photography), though harder than some, because her mother abandoned the family, leaving Alice to be the one to look after her genius older brother, Archie.  Her father seems only interested in Archie's academic successes, and neglects the day to day parenting, leaving it on Alice's shoulders. 

But then she is invaded by a mysterious voice, that clamps her mind in agony in order to do something she'd never dream of doing ordinarily--go up to one of the most popular, smartest, best looking boys at school, a Thai kid named Bandit, and tell him she loves him.  This is just the first challenge.  They don't get easier.

 In fact, they become heartbreakinlyg horrible, when Alice learns the whole point of the voice's plan is to use Alice to kill someone.  A boy she knows is going to unleash a virus that wipes out much of humanity, and leaves the rest struggling to survive.  She's told she has to kill him, but must figure out who he is herself.....

The voice in her head is her older self, ten years from now.  Alice believes this, and when she is taken into the future, she sees the devastation the virus has wrought.  But she's not given the full picture of what's happening, and struggles to choose the best path--best for the future, and best for her own heart.

It's an exciting page turner, and trying to figure out who the virus maker is makes for gripping reading!  Alice is believably tormented by her impossible mission, and is a believable character, with a sweet, though fraught, blossoming love story (with Bandit; it was lots of fun watching their relationship develop!).

The only thing that kept me from really loving it was that torward the end there was a rush of new information, that made me feel like the plot could have been tricksier, with the reader getting to see a more fully realized antagonist...The read, and Alice, see only a little bit of the larger chess game that's playing out, and it was disappointing not have been made aware of it earlier.  On the other hand, it would make re-reading it, which I might well do at some point, more interesting....)

As it is, the bulk of the tension comes from future Alice, growing increasingly desperate to figure out what her past self needs to do to stop the virus.  Thirty jumps is all that are possible before mental breakdown, and future Alice is running out of chances....This meddling in the past rasies all sorts of lovely ethical grey areas, that give much good food for thought!

short answer--I enjoyed it lots, though it wasn't quite a five star read for me.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (3/15/20)

Here's what I found this week of interest to us fans of mg sci fi and fantasy; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett, at A Dance With Books

Brightstorm, by Vashti Hardy, at Fantasy Literature

Britfield and the Lost Crown, by C.R. Stewart, at Book Reviews by Jasmine

Crater Lake, by Jennifer Kllick, at Library Girl and Book Boy

Darkwhispers, by Vashti Hardy, at Book Murumuration

The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Say What?

Esme's Wish, by Elizabeth Foster, at Book Reviews by Jasmine

The Girl Who Speaks Bear, by Sophie Anderson, at Read Love

The Healing Stone (Starchild #3), by Vacen Taylor, at Book Craic

Jinxed, by Amy McCulloch, at Read Love

Knife (Faery Rebels #1), by R. J. Anderson, at J.R.'s Book Reviews

Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8), by Shannon Messenger, at Childrens Books Heal

The Legend of Podkin One-ear, by Kieran Larwood, at Big Bearded Bookseller

Quest for the Nautilus (Young Captain Nemo #2), by Jason Henderson, at Ms. Yingling Reads

One Wish, by Michelle Harrison, at Readaraptor

The Revenge of Magic, by James Riley, at Say What?

The Sixty Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone, at Say What?

Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye, by Tania del Rio and Will Staehle, at Hidden In Pages and Kid Lit Reviews

When You Trap a Tiger, by Tae Keller, at Charlotte's Library

A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat, at Log Cabin Library

Authors and Interviews

Christian McKay Heidicker (Scary Stories for Young Foxes, and the forthcoming Theives of Weirdwood), at Fuse #8

Kim Ventrella (The Secret Life of Sam) at Middle Grade Book Village

Speaking of authors, there's a calendar of mg release dates at Middle Grade Book Village; lots of folks have books coming out right in the middle of the current crisis, which is hard on them,, so do consider their books in your emergency book buying (if applicable).  Several enticing MG fantasy books (two I'm looking at myself that I hadn't heard of elsewhere are Silverworld, by Diana Abu-Jaber and On These Magic Shores, by Yamile S. Mendez, but do check out the whole list of great books!).  If you see any that are missing, let the MG Book Village folks know (I just emailed them about adding The Wolf of Cape Fen, by Julianna Brandt, coming April 7th, which I'm looking forward to lots!)

Also Gail Gauthier is spotlighting authors who weren't able to publicly lunch their books in an ongoing series (that includes other book event cancelations) at her website, Original Content

Other Good Stuff


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

"Reepicheep and the Dual Nature of Chivalry" at Tor

If you are looking for good reading, check out the blog discussion post challenge at Feed Your Fiction Addiction!

And here's one of the coolest libraries ever, that you can visit from the safety of your own home-the Uncensored Library at Minecraft!

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!