Sylvie, by Sylvie Kantorovitz

Sylvie, by Sylvie Kantorovitz (February, 2021, Walker Books US), is an autobiographical graphic novel for kids that I really loved. Sylvie's an artistic kid growing up in France in the 1960s/70s. She lives at the school (a teacher training college) where her father's the principle. The campus is a great place for a kid to grow up (and I loved the map!). She and her little brother and a few other kids who also live there know all the best places to play, and all the ins and outs of the buildings, and when she's a teenager, she gets a tucked away, unused room in the school for her own domain.  

Being an intelligent, sensitive child, there are lots of things on Sylvie's mind--being the only Jewish kid in her school, the state of her parent's marriage, and the complexities of childhood and adolescent friendships.  And as she gets older, she starts wondering what she will do with her own life--is art, which she loves, something that an adult can make a living from? And how could she follow such a path when her parents won't support that choice?

It's a peaceful, though not facile, journey toward growing up, with (what for me) was just the right mix of happiness and worry. (The bit I found most worrisome was how her parents basically washed their hands of her little brother and packed him off to boarding school--sad).   Even though I read an ARC of the book, in which the illustrations are not as final as the finished edition, I found the art charming and the mix of pictures and words friendly and easy to follow.  It was perfect single sitting bedtime read for me, and since Sylvie's concerns are fairly universal, I bet lots of readers will relate lots, and find this look at a childhood different, but still similar, to their own an absorbing read.

Those looking for Action and Adventure will not find it here, but those who like reading about small bits of ordinary life will be satisfied.  Although Sylvie is a teenager by the end of the book, with a young romance in the works, it's appropriate for kids as young as 8 or 9.

disclaimer-review copy received from the publisher

The Window, by Dave Cole, for Timeslip Tuesday

The Window, by Dave Cole (Dancing Lemur, February 2021), is a story of time magic mixed with a slice in the life of a young teen. Brian starts the book as an ordinary 14 year old, who spends his days goofing around with his best friend, J.K., crushing on Charlotte (and then, miraculously, going out with her), worried about his parents' disintegrating marriage, annoyed by his little sister. But there's one part of his life that's far from ordinary--there's a window in his attic that only he can see. And it shows him the future. (It also, helpfully, provides him with copies of upcoming tests).

Most of what he sees is unremarkable. But then it shows him J.K. dying horribly under the wheels of a neighbor's car. Brian wants desperately to keep this from happening, but he doesn't know when it will be, and he can't keep J.K. off his bike and away from his street every day for months. And so the accident happens almost exactly as he saw it....(content warning--it is a horribly graphic death).

And now the window is showing him ominous hints of something bad about to happen to Charlotte....and so Brian becomes determined to destroy it, or at least break its power, almost dying himself in the process.

It's a fine, creepy premise, but somewhat disappointing--the window, though central to the plot, takes second stage to ordinary drama, and I didn't find Brian a particularly convincing or interesting character. He seemed a lot younger than 14 to start with, and also seemed a bit retro (I don't think any contemporary 14 year old boy would give a friend a Harry Potter wand as a Christmas present...and there was a striking amount of middle class suburban adult smoking, which seemed a bit dated). Brian's focus is mostly on the real world, where not much interesting (to me) happens (he and Charlotte have their first kiss, his parents split up), and lots of time goes by without the window doing much that's interesting either (it's also odd that the window, which seems a malevolent force, helps him with the blank tests). Brian does very little to try to keep J.K. alive; the one action he takes is rather lame, and totally ineffectual. He never warns J.K., and sure he wouldn't have been believed, but maybe J.K. would have been more careful. 

If it were just visions of the future, I wouldn't have counted this as a time slip story (clairvoyance isn't time travel), but the physical copies of the blank tests made it through the window from the future.  I wish more had been done with the window, and the time travel potential of it.  Obviously magical windows have a certain inexplicableness to them, but in this case there's no context or linkages to anything that would explain why the window is in the attic and only Brian can see it.  I like my time slipping to have some sort of explaining point to it, rather than being just one of those things that happens.

One the plus side, the horror mounts towards the end of the book, making the last thirty or so pages turn really quickly...

It's fine if you're in the mood for a quick read of time slipping horror mixed with an ordinary slice of life,  but it just didn't work well for me.  The age of the characters (14 to start, and than almost two years passing) makes this look like it's YA, but I think that kids of 11-12 are a much better audience for it.

disclaimer-review copy received from the publisher.

The Ash House, by Angharad Walker

The Ash House, by Angharad Walker (Chicken House, February 2, 2021), is a disturbing, gripping middle grade story of kids in a sanctuary, a sanctuary that is also a place of mortal peril. I'm not sure I "liked" it, but I did find it utterly absorbing, especially once I stopped trying to make sense of everything. This is impossible because many central questions, like "is this real?" aren't definitely answered. But, the strangeness aside, it is essentially a story of children surviving on their own trying to be good, and brave, and faithful to one another, and as such I found it profoundly moving.

It begins with an eleven year old kid, hospitalized for chronic, debilitating pain in his back, abruptly deposited at what he thinks must be some kind of convalescent home out in the country. There he's greeted by a resident boy, Dom (short for Freedom), who takes him under his wing and introduces him to the Ash House and its residents, all of whom are kids. He also gives the new kid a name--Solitude (Sol for short), a name as Nice as everyone else's. The concept of Niceness is the central precept of the Headmaster who founded the Ash House and brought the kids to live there.

But the beloved Headmaster has been gone for three years, and the kids are on their own, trying to keep things going the way he would have wanted, trying hard to live up to their names....

Sol is confused. It is a strange, strange place, with many peculiarities, like magical (?) drifting ash, and savage, unnatural beasts (?) prowling (to keep the children safe, or to keep them from leaving?). The other children can't remember anywhere else, and the longer Sol stays at Ash House, the more his old life fades.


I don't know if the Ash House is real, or some supernatural place, or what. But the kids who call it home love their Headmaster, who has taught them the precepts of Niceness, and loved and cared for them. They do not want to leave, although as they can't conceive of an outside world, this is something of a moot point. This is in itself pretty screwed up. But it gets worse.

Ash House isn't a convalescent home where Sol will be cured. Being sick there is the worst thing that could happen. Because then the Doctor comes, and no one is safe.

(the next bit is spoiler; I have to reveal a central fact about the story in order to talk about it).

The Doctor, who has no medical training or skill, basically plunges in to fix the sick kids and screws up. One kid has died. One is badly scarred. And now it's Sol's turn. But the real awfulness is that the Doctor is the same person as the Headmaster, ala Jeckel and Hyde. The kids have trained themselves to hide sickness and to never let the Doctor get them alone, trying to stay away from his interest until the Headmaster is back.

(end spoiler)

And so, whether or not the unbelievable bits are real, or real with a veneer of traumatized kid metaphor making them seem impossible, or utterly unreal, if is a fact that this is a group of kids in a abusive situation, and there has been so much gaslighting/brainwashing that they are trapped. But Sol, who was not raised there, is able to see that staying and hoping for the Headmaster to return isn't the answer.

It's an incredibly vivid story, the sort with lots and lots of description that is so well integrated into the story that you don't really register why your mind is making such clear pictures. It's a suspenseful mystery, as the reader, along with Sol, tries to figure out what's happening. It requires considerable suspension of disbelief, and readers who get cross if there's no closure of explanation will get very cross (there's a letter from the publisher at the beginning, in which she says she doesn't herself know what really happened). It's also the story of a group of children taking their survival into their own hands, and desperately trying to keep their community together, and I cared about them lots by the end of the story!

I can't think of any middle grade book much like it. I can, however, say that it is great for the 11-12 year old readers who are going to love Nova Ren Suma's books when they are teenagers! (which should give those who have read A Room Away from the Wolves and The Walls Around Us an idea of what The Ash House feels like, only middle grade...)

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (2/7/21)

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

The Reviews

City of the Plague God, by Sarwat Chadda, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction

Crystal Keepers by Brandon Mull, at Fantasy Literature

The Doldrums, and The Helmsley Curse, by Nicholas Gannon, at Leaf's Reviews 

Double Helix (Explorer Academy #3), by Trudi Truit, at Say What?

Dragon Fury (Unwanteds Quest) by Lisa McMann, at Plaid Reader Reviews

Flood City, by Daniel José Older, at Charlotte's Library

The In-Between, by Rebecca K.S. Ansari, at alibrarymama, Iowa Amber Reads, Storymamas, and Charlotte's Library

The Lost Wonderland Diaries, by J. Scott Savage, at Geo Librarian 

Maya and the Rising Dark, by Rena Barron, at Pages Unbound

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S., by David Levithan, at Ms. Yingling Reads (nb-the second in a two book post, so scroll down)

 Rome Reframed. (Wish & Wander #2), by Amy Bearce, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Root Magic by Eden Royce, at Locus

The Shark Caller, by Zillah Bethell, at Book Craic

Small Persons with Wings, by Ellen Booraem, at Jean Little Library

The Star Dunes (Explorer Academy #4),  by Trudi Trueit, at Say What?

The Storm Keeper’s Island, by Catherine Doyle, at The Book Muse

Thirteens, Kate Alice Marshall, at Book Den 

Unicorn Island, by Donna Galanti, at Charlotte's Library

The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown, at Never Not Reading

Authors and Interviews

Jessica Vitalis (The Wolf's Curse) at Watch. Connect. Read.

Ben Gartner (Sol Invictus) at Log Cabin Library 

Other Good Stuff

"Finding Paradise in The Magician’s Nephew" at Tor

At Seven Miles of Steel Thistles, an exploration of portals continues...

John Scalzi shares his thought on Wolfwalkers, the newest and final addition to Moore’s “Irish Folklore Trilogy” of animated films.

and happy SuperbOwl Sunday to you all!  Here are some mg fantasy owl (ish), or at least Owl titled, books--

The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away, by Ronald L. Smith (my review) 

The Owl Keeper, by Christine Brodien-Jones

The Owl Service, by Alan Garner

and for younger readers there's of course Owl in Winnie the Pooh, and The Gaurdians of Ga'hoole series...

I am surprised I can't think of more owls....I feel I must be missing lots! 

Flood City, by Daniel José Older

Flood City, by Daniel José Older (Scholastic, middle grade, February 2, 2021), is a wild, and (I say this after much careful consideration) rambunctious science fi fantasy that entertained me greatly!

Flood City is the last bastion of humanity on Earth.  Epic floods have covered all of the planet except for this raggedy conglomeration mostly made up of old buildings.  Off in space are the Chemical Barons, a powerful force (responsible for the floods in the first place) that wants to return to Earth by taking over Flood City.  The intergalactic Star Guard is protecting, and feeding, the Flood City folk, but it's the sort of protection that's essentially a totalitarian government (and the food tastes like wet towels).  The Chemical Barons are white, the Flood City folk various shades of brown.

Max's Mom was a kid when the floods hit, on a school trip in space.  But the flooded ruins are all Max has ever known.  He and his big sister know all its nooks and cranies, except for the parts where no one ventures (the electric ghost graveyard, and the ocean liner that's home to the mysterious Vapors).  Ato, a young Chemical Baron who's part of what's ostensibly an information gathering mission to Flood City, has only known life in space.

When Ato finds there's a nuclear warhead on board his ship, ready to be dropped on Flood City, he can't stand the thought of the resulting death and destruction, and sabotages the mission.  Surviving the crash landing, he's found by Max, and the two boys form an alliance to keep the other surviving Chemical Barons and their increasingly crazed leader from recovering, and using, the warhead.  Joining them is the daughter of the city's holographer, Djinna, who's mad drumming skills are matched by her technical abilities.  Yala, meanwhile, has joined the Star Gaurd, and is off in space, struggling to survive the hostile environment of her training (human recruits are not treated well at all).

And, skipping to the end,  the four kids (with some help from grownups and a friendly alien) save the day after much action and adventure and tension! The reign of the Star Guard is ended, the Chemical Barons are foiled (for the moment....)

I must confess I was confused as heck at first.  And I will further confess that there are lots of things that aren't explained (like the one magical bird that can carry messages from Earth to Space).  But when I realized that this wasn't a straight up sci fi future environmental apocalypse story, but rather a zesty mix of sci fi and fantasy of the rollicking sort, I relaxed and went along for the ride.  There are magical things alongside jet propulsion boots and space travel, and the reader must just nod in agreement.  I was nodding my head off by the end of the book, because of enjoying it so much!  (Although when I reached the end, I wanted very much to have someone else on hand who had also reached the end to talk too; I still have several "but what about xyz" sort of questions.....).

So there's a lot that's strange, but also a lot that's relatable even for kids living mundane lives, such as Max's crush on Djinna and his desire to break free of the boring sameness of music as proscribed by Star Guard (he's a trumpet player).  Seeing Ato and Max being able to work together after being on different sides, and Ato being able to rethink the stories he's grown up with, is also applicable to our own lives.

My personal favorite part of the book was the regular inclusion of the daily Flood City Gazette.  Though this Star Guard publication annoys the citizens (one of the first things they do when Star Guard pulls out, leaving them (maybe) to starve to death, is figure out how to get rid of the caps lock in which it is printed), I loved it, and always looked forward to the "Iguangull Ahoy!" section in particular. It amused me very much. (Yes there are iguana/gull hybrids with savage beaks and claws that can cut through metal flying around... ).

Strongly recommended to readers who have a tolerance for the somewhat complicated peculiar! (Star Wars fans, for instance, might well enjoy it lots).  That being said, this isn't how I think of myself, and yet I enjoyed it lots....so who knows?

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

Unicorn Island, by Donna Galanti

It's a Tuesday today, which generally means I review a time travel book, but since yesterday's review was book that had a time travel twist (The In-Between, by Rebecca Ansari), I'm letting myself review another review copy I recently read and enjoyed.  Unicorn Island, by Donna Galanti, illustrated by Bethany Stancliffe (Simon and Schuster, Feb 9 2021), is a good pick for elementary/young middle grade kids (8-10 year olds) who are fans of the "caring for magical creatures" subgenre of fantasy.

When Sam's musician mom has the chance to go on tour in Europe, Sam is devastated. They had managed to live in Brooklyn for almost a  whole year, and she finally feels like she's put down roots. But now she's being sent to stay in South Carolina with an uncle she doesn't know. When she arrives at the tiny town of Foggy Harbor, where he lives, her spirits sink even lower--Uncle Mitch wasn't actually expecting her, and is grumpy and unwelcoming. But since her mother is now out of reach, Sam is stuck there.

But Foggy Harbor does have a friend to offer her-- Tuck, a boy her own age who's the son of the local vet. Together they explore Uncle Mitch's house, and what they find hidden in the basement leads them on a magical journey.

Uncle Mitch, it turns out, is the caretaker of an island hidden in the perpetual fog bank just off shore. And so Sam and Tuck set off in an old rowboat to see if they can find it. When they reach it, they are greeted by a flying creature who looks like a dragon! Instead of blasting the kids, it leads them to Uncle Mitch.  He is no longer grumpy, but terribly worried--a baby unicorn (!) is desperately ill. Tuck's mother, the vet, might be its only hope...but involving her would open the island to the possibility of danger from the outside work. And this book ends with that threat beginning to materialize, just as Sam becomes determined to follow in her uncle's footsteps as a protector of the island and its magical residents.

This is very much "book 1," introducing the characters and setting the stage for the series. It's more than just an introduction--the new friendship, the discoveries, and the baby unicorn are a solid story--but readers might feel when then finish it that they were just getting started, and will want the next book right away! All five books are available in ebook form, and so I assume the next four will also be published in hardcopy, so this is not an insurmountable obstacle.

Sam is a convincing and relatable character, and the foggy island (with unicorns and more!) and her uncle's role as its guardian are just the sort of set up a certain type of reader will love. The font is larger than your average middle grade, more an early chapter book size, meaning this is a great series to offer the kid who's reading hasn't reached the level of full on middle grade door stopper, but wants books that don't look like books for little kids, that offer stories of interest to 9-10 year olds. There aren't that many of this sort of book, so it's good to have a solid series, like this looks to be based on book 1, to offer!

The In-Between, by Rebecca K. S. Ansari

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The In-Between (Walden Pond, January 26, 2021), by Rebecca K. S. Ansari, a deeply moving fantasy about being seen when you feel abandoned.

Cooper's father left his family three years ago, essentially abandoning them. And Cooper has felt lost ever since, distancing himself from his friends, doing only the minimum of what his mother asks, and interacting with his little sister, Jess, only when annoyed by her.  The creepy girl who's moved in next door, who won't stop staring at him as she sits on her swing for hours, is just the newest annoyance in his life.  

But when Jess shares a mystery with him, the creepy girl, Elena, becomes much more interesting.  The insignia on her private school uniform matches that worn by a boy killed in a train accident a hundred years ago, who was never identified.  And as the two of them search for the insignia online, they find it was worn by another unidentified child, lost to the tragedy of a more recent supermarket collapse in Korea. 

Cooper breaks from his pattern of distancing himself to befriend a new boy, Gus, who he and Jess introduce to their mystery.  Gus has family problems similar to Coopers; he's been sent to stay with his grandmother while his parents sort things out.  He is just the friend Cooper needs, providing an outlet for all the hurt Cooper has been keeping to himself.  And so for the first half or so of the book, the focus is on Cooper's real world life, with the creepy girl a background thread.

But then the kids find that they are the only ones to see the girl and her shiny rehabbed house.  Their mother sees only a dilapidated ruin.  And as they press forward into the increasingly disturbing mystery, Cooper and Jess begin to wonder why they can see Elena, and why she is now their neighbor, and more disturbingly, if she is a harbinger of a tragedy that's going to hit them.

Elena provides no answers, barely speaking them, but when Cooper follows her through her house, he finds himself in a place that makes no sense, the In-Between, and finds out the truth about the mysterious girl, and how her own life ended in a tragedy that no one cared about.  Now the In-Between now has her trapped, sending her from one disaster to the next. 

Will the same thing happen to him, Gus, and Jess?

By the end of the book, Cooper has laid out more clearly the hurt he feels about being unwanted by his father, and Gus has being just the friend he needed to bringing him out of the perfectly natural self-absorption of his unhappiness to a more outward facing understanding of those around him.  This part of the book is by far the strongest, and though I was sorry for Cooper, I do appreciate that we get in him a fictional boy to whom the author gives the chance to share his worst feelings, and to cry about them, with his friend.  I hope this is something that might give other boys in similar circumstances the validation that being sad isn't the same as being weak.  

I also appreciated that Jess has diabetes; this seemed to me, from admittedly second hand knowledge, well done.  Cooper was supportive of her at first, but this had turned to impatience and annoyance.  It was good to see him realize that Jess is even more fed up about it but is stuck with it, and he's able to turn back to being on her side.

The fantasy part of the book was a slightly more mixed bag for me.  On the plus side, the premise of the lost girl travelling from one disaster to the next was brilliant, and set up a tangible sense of impending doom.   I'm going to count this as my time slip book for this week, because Elena is sent by the In-Between from one mission to the next; as well as the tragedies Cooper and Jess discover, we are directly shown her mission to the Triangle Shirt Waist factory, and it is gut wrenching.   As is then ending of the book, as the kids realize just what Elena's missions entail.  It is a humdinger of the ending, that reverberates back through all that has come before it just beautifully!  It was an ending that required Cooper to act, which was good--it gave his character growth during the story a really solid point.

I was a bit disappointed that there's no push to explain the In-Between more directly; there are many unanswered questions.  Are there other lost kids on similar missions?  Is the In-Between a self-aware entity?  Kids who come to this for Fantasy might find it takes too long for anything truly fantastical to happen, and might feel a bit of let down that the fantasy stays somewhat dreamlike in its inexplicable unreality.  

But kids who like realistic family tension, slow build up of suspense and mystery solving, and heart-wrenching endings, will doubtless love it all.

Here's some of the praise this book has gotten (I agree with it all!)

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (1/31/21)

Welcome to this week's round-up!  Two new ones for my tbr list, so that's a win for me! Please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Clockwork Crow, by Catherine Fisher, at Redeemed Reader

Dragon Assassin, by Arthur Slade, at Bit About Books

The Dragon Thief (Dragons in a Bag 2), by Zetta Elliott, at The Bookwyrm's Den

Dragons in a Bag (Dragons in a Bag 1), by Zetta Elliott, at A Dance With Books

Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts, by Dianne K. Salerni, at Charlotte's Library

The Falcon's Feather (Explorer Academy #2), by Trudi Trueit, at Say What?

Featherlight by Peter Bunzl, at Scope for Imagination

The Girl Who Speaks Bear, by Sophie Anderson, at Book Craic

The Hatmakers, by Tamzin Merchant, at Pages Unbound

Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at Say What?

The House at the Edge of Magic, by Amy Sparkes, at The Book Muse

The In-Between, by Rebecca K. S. Ansari, at Maria's Melange

The Last Kids on Earth and the Cosmic Beyond, by Max Brallier, at Twirling Book Princess

The Lion of Mars, by Jennifer L. Holm, at Geo Librarian 

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother), by David Levithan, at books4yourkids

The Nightmare Thief, by Nicole Lesperance,  at Cracking the Cover

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, by Andrew Peterson, at Jenni Enzor

Scritch Scratch, by Lindsay Currie, at Book Den 

Shuri: a Black Panther Novel, by Nic Stone, at prosenadkahn 

A Tangle of Spells, by Michelle Harrison, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Authors and Interviews

Jenn Reese (A Game of Fox and Squirrels) at Sara Beth West

Josh Roberts (The Witches Of Willow Cove) at From the Mixed Up Files

Lee Edward Födi (Spell Sweeper) at MG Book Village

MG Book Village

B.B. Alston (Amari and the Night Brothers) at Fictitious (you tube)

Christina Soontornvat (A Wish in the Dark) at Publishers Weekly

Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts, by Dianne K. Salerni

The good thing about being a Cybils panelist is reading lots and lot of great new books; the bad thing (if you are me, which I am) is not having enough time to review as you go because you are reading! So there are a bunch of books I'd like to review at some point....and for one I liked very much indeed, that time is now.

Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts, by Dianne K. Salerni (Holiday House, 2020), is a truly delightful historical fantasy, about young Eleanor Roosevelt, her cousin Alice, and some assorted ghosts. Young Eleanor is a lonely child, whose strict grandmother is giving her no chance to flower into the strong, smart woman she's destined to be. Alice isn't lonely, but she's ticked off that her father, Teddy Roosevelt, has sent her to New York to stay with an aunt and uncle.

This isn't quite our own New York--in the world of the book, ghosts are very real, and there are lots of them, with concomitant established ways of dealing with them. Some are harmless, and considered Friendly, but some are deadly. Eleanor's grandmother doesn't like her associating with the Roosevelts, but Eleanor and Alice, uncertain of their friendship at first, and very different in character, manage to become allies when a ghost pops up in the aunt and uncle's house. It seems friendly....but when the girls start investigating it, they find more than they bargained for. There are dark secrets in Alice's family; the house her parents lived in is now closed up because it is infested by the most dangerous type of ghost there is, a Vengeful. But both girls are curious and brave, and for Alice, in particular, danger means little.

What starts as a lighthearted investigation becomes something more dreadful and serious, and it almost all ends up going horribly wrong in a really heart wrenching way.

If you liked the Lockwood and Co. series by Jonathan Stroud, do give this a try! Lockwood is perhaps grimmer in details, and this is a story more focused on the two girls and their feelings, but there's a similar ghost hunting vibe (although it's slightly more scientific here--Tesla, for instance, has come up with a ghost hunting invention). The characters are great; not just the two main girls but a large supporting cast of Roosevelt cousins. Though it's a fantastic late 19th century New York, the social details are accurate, and it might well get young readers interest in the real history of Eleanor and Alice and co.


It is lots of fun, with considerable suspense and emotional wrenching towards the end, and I am so glad it got its Cybils nomination so that I ended up reading it!

A Stitch in Time, by Kelley Armstrong, for Timeslip Tuesday

This week's Timeslip Tuesday book, A Stitch in Time, by Kelley Armstrong (October 2020, Subterranean Press), is one for grown-ups--along with time travel, there's a pretty hot romance (at least, I guess it's hot, but I don't know what the standard for these things is these days...), ghost story, and murder mystery.

When Bronwyn, a widowed history professor in her late 30s, inherits the old family house in Yorkshire, she is happy to leave Toronto for the summer to revisit this place she loved as a child but never visited after she was 15.  That year, there was a tragedy, and Bronwyn never went back.  But she never forgot her visits there, visits in which she played with her best friend William, and later, began to think of him as more than just a friend.

There was one small snag about this friendship--William lived in the 19th century, and no one believed that Bronwyn was traveling back in time to visit him.

So there she is, in this big old house, with memories both horrible and happy, still missing her husband something fierce....and she travels back to William's time again.  And their relationship, now one between two consenting adults, heads up pretty briskly.

The ghostly hauntings of the house also heat up.  Soon Bronwyn has become aware of four different ghosts in the house...and has to figure out what happened to them so she can lay them to rest (fortunately there's a wise woman in the local village who helps her figure out that this is what she needs to do...).  It's a lovely creepy mystery that's connected to William and his family, brining these two parts of the story nicely together.  

William and Bronwyn's romance was a bit much for my taste (it seemed too easy, but that could be explained by their shared past), but it made them happy, so good for them.  It was fun, from a time travel point of view, to see a historian of the 19th century appreciating the past directly, and interesting to see the two of them working out the complication of living in different times...neither assumes that Bronwyn would want to leave the 21st century to live in the 19th full time, so points to William for that!  And the ghosts really were nicely spooky.  There was also a time travelling kitten, which was a nice bonus. 

The house never became real to my mind's eye though, which was disappointing. because I love thick description of old houses and gardens.  I quickly rejected the Victorian house on the cover; I do not think there is anything remotely like that in rural Yorkshire (or even urban, where I lived for a year).  And I'm not convinced that Kelley Armstrong has ever stripped really old wood; like the romance, and even like the mystery solving, it all seems a tad too easy-- "There are few things in home renovation as satisfying as removing paint, watching long strips slough off in ribbons, revealing the gorgeous wood beneath." (p. 222).  Latex paint over varnished wood does this to a certain extent, but lead based paint (which I bet is what she's dealing with) does not, and the wood looks like crap until you put lots more work into it, and page 222 was a ways into her summer vacation and there's no way she's going to get it done before she goes back to Toronto....I have been stripping paint in my own house for 20 years now, and am perhaps bitter. Am also not convinced that the small Yorkshire village would sell paint stripper.

But it's pretty clear Armstrong enjoyed writing the book, and it's an enjoyable read, though not one I fell hard for.

this week's roundup of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs

Bloglovin, which is how I find most of the links in these round-up posts, isn't cooperating today.  I'll check back in a few hours so see if it's back up....

But in the meantime, this is all I have this week (not as many from me as I'd hoped; after a strong two day streak of reviews to start the week off, getting one child back to college and the other through his midterms, crying happy tears during the inauguration, and exploring the big Stardew Valley update took all my time and energy....)

The Reviews

Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston, at Forever Lost in Literature and Charlotte's Library

The Mutant Mushroom Takeover, by Summer Rachel Short, at The Bookwyrm's Den

Noah McNichol and the Backstage Ghost, by Martha Freeman, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Nordy Bank, by Sheena Porter, at Charlotte's Library

Root Magic, by Eden Royce, at Writers' Rumpus

Summer of L.U.C.K. by Laura Stegman, at The Story Sanctuary

Whispering Pines, by Heidi Lang and Kati Bartkowski, at Sci Fi Chick

A Wolf for a Spell, by Karah Sutton, at Books Teacup and Reviews

Other Good Stuff

A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat, has won this year's Jane Addams Award for older children.

Nordy Bank, by Sheena Porter, for Timeslip Tuesday

This week's timeslip story, Nordy Bank, by Sheena Porter, won the UK's Carnegie Medal in 1964, and a US edition was published a few years afterwards, but it doesn't seem to have become well known and loved.  This is a pity, because it's a haunting book....

It's the story of six kids, boys and girls, ages ranging from 10-15, who plan a camping trip together in the hills of Shropshire.  The hill they choose for their camp is home to Nordy Bank, an Iron Age hill fort.  They aren't a close group of friends; three are siblings, one is their cousin.  Margaret picks shy Bronwen as the friend  she wants to come, and Peter picks Joe, a farmer's son who actually has experience with camping.  

It starts with a lot of bustle getting ready to set off, and getting the camp set up.  But gradually a dreamy strangeness, almost creepiness enters the picture.  Also out in the hills is a lost Alsatian, a police dog who has been retired, still muzzled.  Bronwen's personality begins to change, and she knows things about the fort as if she'd lived there.  And when the dog tries to enter the camp, she, a girl who loves dogs passionately, leads the charge to drive it away as it was a wolf.  And Margaret realizes that Bronwen has slipped in time, or possibly been possessed by the past.  

Bronwen knows, in a somewhat foggy way, that something is happening to her, but we never see much from her own point of view, so it's never entirely clear how much of her has fallen into the past.  It's certainly enough to make her words and actions eerie and disturbing!  Fortunately, this is a temporary thing, and once she's away from the fort again, she becomes her own dog loving self, and is able to help the poor starving Alsatian (the last section of the book goes off in a different direction from camping and time slipping, and becomes police dog rehabilitation focused...which is a bit jarring).

Not surprisingly, given the plot, this is a book that centers on this one particular place and it's history of war after war.  Nordy Bank is real, and though I've been close to it, I've always been driving through Shropshire, and never done any walking there.  I would very much like to visit it!

A bit of the book I particularly liked is that Bronwen brought along Warrior Scarlet, by Rosemary Sutcliff, and reads it to both herself and bits out loud to the others.  It ties beautifully in with both the dog plot and the ancient Britons part!

In any event, although the time travel part isn't quite as crisp as I'd have like, staying in the realm of strange dream seen mainly from the viewpoint of other characters, I can say with conviction that if you like vintage children's books, dogs, and ancient Britain, you may well enjoy this one, at least in mild sort of way..  I did, though I wanted more--more of the camping, more of the relationships between the kids as they got to know each other better, more of the past infringing on the present.  Not more of police dog rehabilitation though; that was covered in plenty of detail....Whoever reviewed it for Kirkus, however, did not like it at all--"A flip, untidy plot, totally unconvincing during its fantasy stage and conducive to in-difference throughout."  The full review is worth a read!

Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston

Happy release day eve to Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston (Jan 19, 2020)! It's the start of a middle grade fantasy series that might well become the childhood defining magical reading for current 9 -12 year olds (there's already a movie in development).

When we meet Amari, her scholarship at a snooty private school is about to be taken away, after she snapped when, not for the first time, a classmate was an elitist, racist piece of work. Amari and her mom live in subsidized housing, but Amari knows that doesn't define her. After all, her big brother Quinton was wildly successful in school, and could have gone to an Ivy League college. He didn't though; instead he got a mysterious job and then disappeared without a trace. Amari refuses to believe he won't come home again. And so she's grounded, depressed, and sad about letting her hardworking mother down, and angry about it all.

Then there's a mysterious delivery of a message from Quinton himself, of the best fantasy sort, that sends Amari off to the same "leadership camp" Quinton went to a few years back. And again it is the best fantasy sort of summer camp--a training ground for magical youth, who will as adults be tasked with keeping ordinary humans safe from magical entities, working for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Quinton ended up being one of the most famous agent of them all, and Amari is sure that the Bureau knows a lot more than they are telling her about what happened to him. But in order to stay at the Bureau's school long enough to find the truth, she'll have to prove her magical worth.

Most of the other kids are legacies, raised with privilege by families associated with the Bureau, so Amari's at a disadvantage. And many of the kids are just as nastily elitist as her old antagonists. Fortunately, her room-mate, a technologically brilliant were-dragon girl (nice STEM focused girl rep!), is a lovely and loyal friend, and one of the most golden boys of them all extends his friendship and support.

Amari needs all the support she can get when it turns out that she is one of the rare people born with a forbidden level of magic. She knows she's not a threat, but many in power at the Bureau, and many of the kids, aren't convinced. Especially since there is a real threat, one that is growing dangerously close to toppling the Bureau and destroying the détente between humans and magical beings....And since Quinton's disappearance is linked to this threat, Amari's search for answers puts her very deep in harms way....

There's obviously a familiar pattern here--kid with difficulties in the real world turns out to be magically special, goes to a magic school that is flamboyantly full of wonders, is faced with a series of trials that have to be passed, makes friends and enemies with the other kids and confronts evil in a way that leaves room for more books.   It's a type of story I like, and B. B. Alston does a great job making this version of it entertaining and amusing and fascinating, with lots of the small quirky details. And so just at this level it was a book I enjoyed very much.

Three things make this rise to the top of this particular sub-genre in my mind. The first is that Amari's primary motivation isn't to be best or most heroic (having grown up in the shadow of a brilliant older sibling, she's in the habit of selling herself short). Instead, she is focused on finding her brother, which gives the story a nice touch of emotional weight, while also adding mystery to the mix. 

The second is that the book includes contemporary social issues of racism and discrimination, and how these effect kids.  Not in a preachy way, but as a matter of fact. For instance, Amari is frustrated by how little effort has been made by law enforcement to find Quinton--because he's a young black man who sends home money but has no documented job, the authorities are comfortable assuming the worst about him and writing him off.

But of course, on a happier note, the main thing that sets this apart is black girl magic, plain and simple--a black girl being the best and most magical of them all for the first time (I'm pretty sure it's the first time) in this sort of middle grade fantasy. I can't wait for the next book!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

This week's round-up of mg sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (1/17/21)

Welcome to this week's gathering of mg spec fic postings!  Please let me know if I missed yours. (I added three to my tbr list from this rounding-up, so a win for me, and I really have read Alone soon to see if it is in fact speculative fiction, which I have been counting it as....)

The Reviews

The Accidental Apprentice (Wilderlore, Book 1), by Amanda Foody at Kid Lit Reviews

Alone, by Megan E. Freeman, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction

Amari and the Night Brothers, by B. B. Alston, at The Quiet Pond, rosegold reports,  Read Love, Ms. Yingling Reads, and Always in the Middle

City of the Plague God, by Sarwat Chadda, at Laughing Place, But Why Tho?, and Leah's Books

Delivery to the Lost City, by P.G. Bell, at Book Craic

The Girl Who Lost her Shadow, by Emily Illett, at Charlotte's Library

The Girl Who Speaks Bear, by Sophie Anderson, at Geo Librarian

Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at Sophie's Corner

The House At The Edge of Magic, by Amy Sparkes, at My Book Corner

The In-Between, by Rebecca Ansari, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Karma Moon, Ghost Hunter, by Melissa Savage, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak, at Rosi Hollinbeck.

Nevertell, by Katharine Orton, at Not Acting My Age

Root Magic, by Eden Royce, at Book Den

Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidicker, at Fantasy Literature

Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake, illustrated by Jon Klassen, at Redeemed Reader

Unleashed (Jinxed #2) by Amy McCulloch, at Sharon the Librarian

When You Trap a Tiger, by Tae Keller, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)

Two at The Book Search--Root Magic, by Eden Royce, and The Retake by Jen Calonita

Authors and Interviews

Megan E. Freeman (Alone) at Geo Librarian and Beagles and Books

Giulietta M Spudich (Clarissa) at A Wonderful World of Words

Other Good Stuff

"Ben Affleck to Direct Keeper of the Lost Cities for Disney" at Tor

Check out the debut mg books of 2021 by The 21ders!

and of course the new Ursula Le Guin stamp!

The Girl Who Lost Her Shadow, by Emily Ilett

I have been trying to write my review of  The Girl Who Lost her Shadow, by Emily Illett (Kelpies, February 2020 in the US), for the past week, and have found it daunting.  It won the Kelpies Prize, Scotland's award for children’s fiction in 2017, and when it was nominated for the Cybils Awards this fall, I read it with great interest.  It is haunting, moving, and complicated, and I'm still not sure how much I personally liked it. 

Three things are taking place.  First and foremost, a girl named Gail watches her shadow leave her, slipping under the kitchen door.  Her father left a while ago, and her big sister Kay, who had been Gail's beloved partner and fellow explorer of their Scottish island, has been leaving too, disappearing into depression. Her shadow is also gone.  Gail feels that if she can find her own shadow, maybe she can find Kay's too, and bring her back from her depression.  So she sets off to do so.

Her quest leads her to a boy struggling with his own sadness. His parents were killed in a storm, and he has become obsessed with trying to find their shadows, to bring them back.  The storms that hit their island are entities in their own right, with the shadows of all those they killed, people and animals, bound to them, and this boy has found a way to take the shadows for himself.  His little sister, Mhirran, is opposed to her brother's plan, and when Gail meets her, Mhirran joins her journey, and tries to help her find her lost shadow.

And another boy is on a quest of his own, trying to trap a group of boys who are bent on growing rich by killing the endangered shellfish of the island for their pearls. Kay was once passionate about marine life, and was supposed to be helping him....

To find her shadow, Gail must find herself, and the strange journey she takes is lyrical and moving.

I found it the sort of book I had to let myself flow along with.  All the disparate stories came together in the end, but I wasn't at all sure what was happening as I read along and it got stranger and stranger.  I would have liked to have been more grounded from the beginning, with a clearer indication that I was, for instance, on a Scottish island, and quite a large one (Gail doesn't know the other kids, which I though was odd, and it was much more forested than my mental image of Scottish islands....).  But my primary reaction was appreciation for the build-up of the fantastic, and the moving and powerful representation of depression and sadness.

Gail realizes that she isn't just trying to save Kay, but is also finding herself.  And she does so by helping and caring about things beyond her own particular life.  Kay's depression is beautifully described, and my heart ached for her, and for Gail, left unable to reach her sister.

It's a book that I wasn't always sure I was enjoying when I was reading it, because of all the strange things that happen, but it's one I'll never forget.  One of the storms, for instance, personified as a boy, and weighed down with the shadows of those he'd killed, will stick in my mind forever. Mhirran, coping with both the lost of her parents and her brother's destructive approach to bringing them back, which has taken him too away from her, is a character I'll always love.  And Gail herself is deeply relatable, as she figures out who she is, both with and without her sister.

If you're looking for a book to offer a sensitive, introspective kid who cares about the environment, who has the imagination required to fall into a story full of fantastical twists, this is a great pick. I am most of these things, though I think not quite enough of the last to have fully appreciated it.  As I have gotten older, I find I have become more pragmatic in what I look for in a story....

postscript--"Lyrical" is an adjective applied to this book by many others, and I'm now wondering just what it means when book reviews use it as shorthand for a particular sort of book, and if I'm just spewing a buzzword or if I actually am using it meaningfully. From dictionary.com-- lyrical means "expressing deep personal emotion or observations," which is fine as far as it goes, which isn't far enough.  It's also a descriptor of a particular prose style, in which events are described with a poetic attention to mood and metaphor and language, as discussed, for instance, in this how-to post about lyrical writing.  "Good at making mind pictures with strong emotions tied to them" (and not much explained in matter of fact, down to earth terms). is, I think, what I mean when I call a story lyrical.....and this is certainly true of The Girl Who Lost Her Shadow!

This week's roundup of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (1/10/21)

Good morning, all.  For your reading pleasure, here's what I found online of interest to us mg sci fi/fantasy fans.  I count it as a good one, because I've added three books to my tbr list! Please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Accidental Apprentice, by Amanda Foody, at Bookworm for Kids

Alone, by Megan Freeman, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston, at Pages and Plots, The Nerd Manor, Log Cabin Library  and Wandering Wordsmith

Anya and the Dragon, by Sofiya Pasternack, at Charlotte's Library

The Castle Boy, by Catherine Storr, at Charlotte's Library

City of the Plague God, by Sarwat Chadda, at Seven Acre Books

Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts by Dianne K. Salerni, at Geo Librarian

The Gatekeeper of Pericael, by Hayley Reese Chow, at Say What?

Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend, at Pages Unbound

The House at the Edge of Magic, by Amy Sparkes, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads and My Book Corner

Magic's Most Wanted, by Tyler Whitesides, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Maya and the Rising Dark, by Rena Barron, at Magic in the Middle

Morrigan Crow series review, at Falling Letters

The Last Kids on Earth Survival Guide, by Max Brallier, at Twirling Book Princess

Otto P. Nudd, by Emily Butler, at Always in the Middle

Over the Woodward Wall, by A. Deborah Baker, at Fantasy Literature

Sky Island, by L. Frank Baum, at Puss Reboots

A Tangle of Spells, by Michelle Harrison, at Scope for Imagination

Unleashed (Jinxed #2), by Amy McCulloch , at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Weather Weaver, by Tamsin Mori, at Scope for Imagination

Zero G (The Zero Chronicles, Book 1) by Dan Wells, at Hidden in Pages (audiobook review)

Authors and Interivews

Eden Royce (Root Magic) at Nerdy Book Club and Fuse #8

Tamzin Merchant (The Hat Merchant) at MG Book Village

Other Good Stuff

Portals: entrances to other worlds (1), at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Here's Kirkus' list of best mg fantasy and sci fi

Anya and the Nightingale, by Sofiya Pasternack

In Anya and the Dragon, by Sofiya Pasternack (2019), we were introduced to an alternate medieval Russia where magic is real, and saw young Anya befriend and protect Hakon, the last dragon, from a vicious agent of the Tsar who was determined to kill him.

In her second story, Anya and the Nightingale (November 2020, Versify) Anya, traumatized by the horrific confrontation in her first adventure, is still keeping Hakon a secret from her family and the townsfolk, aided and abetted by her friend Ivan. She has been expecting her father to return from the war in which he was unlawfully conscripted--as a Jew, he should not have been sent to join the army. 

At last she decides she can wait no longer, and so sets off to find him and bring him back. Ivan and Hakon insist on joining her. Fortunately, this somewhat foolish endeavor is given a chance of success when a friendly, magic-using ghost comes to their aid. She transforms Hakon into human form, gives Anya and Ivan each a gift in true fairy-tale style, and magically transports the three of them to the outskirts of Kiev, landing them on a forbidden road.

Anyone who travels that road is attacked by the mysterious Nightingale, whose sonic magic has foiled all attempts of the Tsar's forces to capture him.  And Anya and her friends are powerless against him as well.  They are rescued by the Princess Vasilisa and her cohort, and make a deal with her--if they can capture the Nightingale alive, she will recall Anya's father.  But of course they have no idea how they can do this, and the court of the Tsar is not a safe space, especially for Hakon, awkwardly adjusting to his human form--the Tsar would love to capture the last dragon.  And when Anya is sets out to meet the Nightingale face to face, she learns that though he is strange and magical, he is also a boy named Alfhercht trying to save his brother, imprisoned in the caves below the Tsar's castle, guarded by a tremendously evil and powerful monster.

Anya is faced with a choice--sacrifice the Nightingale to save her father, or help him save his brother. Guided by her father's moral precepts, she chooses the later, and she and her friends plunge into danger.

It takes a while for the story to reach that point of excitement, but the journey is worth it.  Along the way, Hakon struggles with his human shape, and with the loneliness of being the last dragon, living a life of hiding.  Anya meets a Jewish boy in the court of the Tsar, the first Jew outside her family she's ever met, and though the stress of her situation never is forgotten, the chance to visit with his family and experience their richly religious life is a joy and comfort (though somewhat awkward as well, what with the matchmaking pestering of little sisters...).  A sweet bit of lightness comes also from Ivan's romantic heart--he and Alfhercht fall hard in crush with each other. Alfhercht is deaf; this is matter-of-factly portrayed, and no obstacle to young love... 

Russian folklore, Jewish life lived under the shadow of persecution, as it was in history, magical beings, and faithful friends, and a heroine with a strong moral compass make this a lovely book. Though this story reaches a happy ending point, there's the clear possibility of a third adventure, and at this point I look forward to that possibility evenmore than I looked forward to this current book after reading the first!

The Castle Boy, by Catherine Storr, for Timeslip Tuesday

When I was nine or so, living in the Bahamas in the late 1970s, I got to read lots of English children's books which gave me a taste for them that has lasted to this day.  One of these, Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr, remains one of my favorite books (it is one of the most deliciously creepy books I know). Once internet book shopping became a thing, I gradually acquired her other books, and this year for Christmas I was given The Castle Boy (1983, so not even published when we left the Bahamas...). Sadly, Marianne Dreams seems to be Storr's best work, but The Castle Boy is a solid time travel story, even if I didn't fall hard for it.

Robert has an ordinary family (parents and a big sister, Coral) and the ordinary English childhood of a not well off kid in the mid 20th century. His father was a hero in WWII, but never adjusted well to civilian life, and the relationship between him and his family is strained. Then Robert's well-off uncle offers them a 2 week stay in a castle in the north of England. Robert's imagination is set on fire...only to be squashed by the Victorian reality of the "castle" hotel.

But there was once a real castle there, and Robert finds that there are still bits of it here and there. And when he touches these bits, he slips into the past--a place of medieval strangeness where he feel surprisingly at home. But he seems almost invisible to the people there, and, tired of the strain between his parents and his big sister's romantic yearnings, and tired too of the shadow of his epilepsy, and of a life lived with his mother's constant worrying, he longs to somehow belong more fully.

When he realizes that this is impossible, and that because he has epilepsy he is distrusted and avoided by the castle folk, his heart almost breaks. And then real world tragedy strikes, rather conveniently removing the problem of the unsympathetic father from the picture, and the family, sans father, all go home again. Possibly Robert has grown up a bit, but not much.

Robert's desire to belong to a place and a life not his own is not without emotional resonance, and his exploration of the way the time travel work is likewise not without interest, and there's a bit of plot happening in the past that almost makes the castle time come alive to the reader. But there wasn't quite enough of any of these things to make the book sing for me; I felt a bit teased by what I got and wanted more. And I didn't care much for the big sister and her romantic entanglement with one of the hotel staff, and the father's sudden death was a rather drastic way to resolve the family's tensions. 

More troubling was the believable but unfortunate reaction of Robert when he meets someone in the past with a cleft palate--he is horrified and repulsed. When he realizes that medieval attitudes toward disabilities, like his own, dehumanized people, he tries intellectually to see this woman as a person, but doesn't quite succeed. It was odd--like he was given this big character growth opportunity by the author, tying it in to his own realizations that he was being shunned in the past, and wouldn't be able to be a pilot like he wanted to in the present, and then not making much progress growth-wise at all. 

So though I liked many things about the book, it's not one I'd actively recommend to anyone whose not a 20th-century British time-travel for kids completist.