The Lost Ryū, by Emi Watanabe Cohen

What with the hectic rush of family Christmas at my mother's house, and the frantic rush to deal with all the piles of paper that accumulated at work while I was gone, it's been hard to actually sit at the computer and write a review (this is my first review since mid-December...).  But the books aren't going to review themselves, and I have a couple I got review copies of for the Cybils Awards that I liked lots, so here I am.

The Lost Ryū by Emi Watanabe Cohen (middle grade, June 2022,  Levine Querido) is about dragons-the ryū of the title.  There were once massive dragons flying over Japan, but after WWII those dragons vanished and only little companion dragons remain. Ten year old Kohei has a little dragon, Yuharu, whom he loves; the new neighbor girl, half Japanese, half Russian Isolde, who has just moved from the US, has a Yiddish speaking dragon named Cheshire.  These dragons are charming. 

It is about much more than charming dragons, though, and more also than the story of the friendship that develops between the two kids (though Isolde's uncomfortable life experience of never belonging and how she deals with it was a great part of the book).  At its heart is a story of intergenerational trauma, tied to dragon magic and the challenges of belonging, to make for very moving reading.

Kohei's family (him, his mother, and his maternal grandfather) has secrets.  He barely remembers his father, who died when he was three, but he does have a memory of seeing one of the last of the great dragons.  Following a trail of snippets of information and considerable intuition, he sets out with Isolde to find the ryū his grandfather loved and lost, to dispel the miasma of past trauma hanging over his family. 

It is a magical journey of impossible wonder--the realism (with small dragons) of the first part of the book becomes lovely, full-blown fantasy.  For Kohei the quest is a bright flare of refusal to accept his mother's creed of  ‘shikata ga nai’ (“there’s nothing to be done --just keep existing without fighting) and his grandfather's drinking and anger.  It is his father's words, words that he treasures, that keep him going--

‘Do not quit. You must keep trying to make things better, Kohei, because there are always good things you can do.’

And gee but that is a message that so many of us need to remember, and if we can be reminded while reading about lovely ryū in Japan, adventuring with two brave kids, so much the better.

short answer--come for the smart, funny, loyal little dragons, stay for big dragons and big heart!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher for Cybils Award consideration

Congratualations to the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Cybils Awards Finalists!

 After a fall of intense reading and discussion, us 1st round panelists for the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Cybils Awards had to pick just 7 books to move forward as finalists.  It was painful to leave books we loved behind, but we were able to agree on our 7 choices that embodied the Cybils Awards cirteria of literary excellence and audience appeal (aka really well-written books kids will love!).  And here they are--

See the full suite of shortslists here at the Cybils Awards, and before you launch into reading the new releases of 2023, check out these great books!

The books my loved ones are getting for Christmas

Here are the books my loved ones are getting for Christas this year!  (my sister no longer reads my blog, as mg fantasy/sci fi isn't her thing which  is fine, so I can include her.  My other sister and her family are in the Netherlands, and not coming this year, so no books for them).

For my oldest (now 22)

Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson (a request--this was much loved required reading in high school that I didn't buy at time, and I have been urged to read it too)

Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler (a lucky booksale find--I need to read it too!)

Babel, by R.F. Kuang (also one I want to read)

For my youngest (now 19)

Elric of Melniboné: The Elric Saga Part 1 (1) by Michael Moorcock (a request, and the book I was most reluctant to spend my money on.  I tried really hard to read it myself back in the 1980s, and just could not.)

History in 100 Numbers, by Joel Levy (he likes learning things, and it was a booksale find)

The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English, by Hana Videen (the one book I got for him that I want to read too!)

For my sister

A Picnic in the Shade, by Rosemary Edisford (a lovely copy of a scarce mid 20th century book that sounded good; she will also get the pleasure of adding it to goodreads)

Janet, Her Winter in Quebec, and Janet at Odds, by  Anna Chapin Ray (early 20th century girls books there were on her wish list)

For my sister (and me too)

Once Upon a Tome, by Oliver Darkshire (we like books about bookselling)

Run Sheep Run, by Bob and Jan Young (we like vintage books and saw the cover of this one and made fun of it just two weeks ago and then I found it in a used bookstore this past weekend, so it will make her laugh when she opens it and we might well enjoy it too.  I will let her be the one to add it to goodreads)

For my nephew (also 19)

Shuna's Journey, by Miyazaki (beautiful graphic novels by favorite film makers seem a safe pick for the less committed reader....)

For my mother

Beartown, by Fredrik Backman (with reservations--she loves his earlier books, but this one apparently is darker, so maybe she won't like it, but I snagged it like new from a little free library, leaving something in its place of course, so it is no loss if she doesn't want to read it and I have other presents for her)

Here, mostly of interest to me but in case you need ideas for younger kids, are 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018

The Jewish middle grade fantasy books of 2022

Happy Hanukkah! Jewish middle grade fantasy is pretty thin on the ground, but this year was the best ever, with four books (that I know of).

The one that is getting the most buzz is Black Bird, Blue Road, by Sofiya Pasternack (September 2022, Versify/Harper Collins) , which tells of a desperate quest by a sister to save her brother who is dying of leprosy. When he has a vision that the Angel of Death will come for him in one month, on Rosh Hashanah, Ziva persuades him to run away from home with her to find doctors who can cure him. On the journey they accidently set a half-demon boy free from servitude, and he tells them of the city of Luz, where death has no sway. The journey is long and arduous, with the Angel of Death always breathing down their necks....and in the end is up to her brother to make his own choice. Deeply moving, this is a memorable story indeed.

On a lighter note, but still with suspensefully high stakes, is Naomi Teitelbaum Ends the World, by Samara Shanker  (September 2022, Atheneum). When Naomi gets a small golem as a Bat Mitzvah gift, and it comes alive, her life gets more than a little complicated. The golem needs work to do, and with every task she sets it, it grows. It's an impossible situation, so she and her friends decide to give it a job that it can never finish--saving the world. Things go very wrong indeed, and soon the kids are off chasing down the golem before its ideas about what "saving the world" entails do just the opposite. This is one for readers who like entertaining mayhem, but it is given depth when Naomi, guided by conversations with her rabbi and others, starts thinking deeply about the Torah lessons she has been learning (and this part of the book is really well done indeed, thought provoking without being at all preachy!)

In Aviva vs the Dybbuk, by Mari Lowe (February 2022 by Levine Querido), a grieving girl whose father has died and whose best friend has rejected her contends with a troublesome dybbuk who is making her life even more difficult. Her mother, deeply depressed, cannot help her. But the bond of old friendship is strong enough to bring the two girls back together in a tentative alliance to fight the dybbuk, and the antisemitism that is threatening the Orthodox community. Much more than just a story of a magical being disrupting real life, this is a powerful portrayal of a girl, and a community, who need to heal and survive.

The Two Wrong Halves of Ruby Taylor by Amanda Panitch (August 2022 by Roaring Brook Press), also features a troublesome dybbuk. 12 year old Ruby is only half Jewish--her mom is Christian--and so she feels not Jewish enough compared to her cousin Sarah, who their grandmother favors.  Then Ruby finds an old box that her grandmother tells her never to open--inside is a trapped dybbuk, brought over from Europe.  Ruby breaks open the box in a scuffle with Sarah, and when Sarah starts behaving out of character, no longer the perfect Jewish granddaughter, Ruby becomes convinced that the dybbuk has possessed her cousin....Now Ruby has to figure out how to dispel the troublesome spirit, something that only a "pious Jew" can do....It's a story in which the fantasy element supports the more central, realistic story about family and identity, so a good one for kids who only need a light touch of magic to enjoy a good read!

Please let me know if I missed any other Jewish MG fantasy books of 2022!

this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (12/18/22)

Here's this week's round-up; I hope you find something to enjoy and as always please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Dragon Realm books 1-3 by Katie Tsang and Kevin Tsang, at Charlotte's Library

The Fire Star, by A. L. Tait. at  BooksYALove

From Spare Oom to War Drobe: Travels in Narnia with my Nine-year-old Self, by Katherine Langrish, at Books For Keeps

Futureland: Battle for the Park, by H.D. Hunter, illustrated by Khadijah Khatib, at Books Teacup and Reviews 

Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, at Colorful Book Reviews 

Hummingbird, by Natalie Lloyd, at A Kids Book A Day

The Lords of Night (Shadow Bruja 1) by J.C. Cervantes, at 

The Lost Ryu, by Emi Watanabe Cohen, at  BooksYALove

Moon Flower, by Kacen Callender, at  Kiss the Book 

Oculum Echo, by Philippa Dowding, at Always in the Middle…  

Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria. by George Jreije, at Log Cabin Library: 

Sky Born, by Sinead O’Hart, at Valinora Troy

Authors and Interviews

Katharine Orton (Mountainfell), at  Peters

Valinora Troy (The Lucky Diamond) at Hayley Reese Chow

Dan Smith (The Terror of Hilltop House) at Scope for Imagination

Dragon Realm books 1-3 by Katie Tsang and Kevin Tsang, for Timeslip Tuesday

In an unusual Timeslip Tuesday post, I have a series of three books to offer--the Dragon Realm series, by Katie Tsang and Kevin Tsang.  (nb: the dates I give are for the US publication).  

Four kids meet in China and begin the adventure of a lifetime in  Dragon Mountain  (November 2020).  They find the secret way inside a mountain of legend where four dragons have been trapped by powerful magic, and form heart bonds, pairing each kid to a dragon.  The dragons are made stronger by the bonds, and the kids gain powers of their own....and together this team might be strong enough to defeat the Dragon of Death, who will destroy both the dragon and human realms if she isn't stopped.

And to do that, in the second book, Dragon Legend (September 2021), the kids and dragons travel in back in time to the dragon realm, to face the Dragon of Death on her home turf and save one of the boys, who has been kidnapped....as well as various fantastical adventures in the dragon realm, there's a visit to the imperial palaces of ancient China that's a lovely bit of time travel goodness!

But the time slippiness of the series really gets going in book 3, Dragon City (April 2022) when the kids and their dragons are swept into the future that awaits if the Dragon of Death succeeds.  It's a horrible place, where the city is the only place where life persists, and but that life force is sucked up by the evil dragon queen to fuel her strength.  The kids are separated from their dragons, and one of the dragons has turned to the dark side, but nevertheless they persist, and with help from some unexpected allies, and an even more unexpected magical force, they overthrow the Dragon of Death and her horrible future is no more.  

The kids and their dragons (even the one who turned evil, who was redeemed) return to their own time....and both the dragon and human realms are safe once more.

So time travel isn't the point of the series (the point being brave kids bonded with dragons, magical powers, and evil to be conquered) but the time travel does work well to provide an interesting scaffolding for the plot and the world building. It is tremendously easy to picture the target audience loving the books lots (and wanting dragon bonds of their own!).  Happily for these readers, the adventures continue with afresh  with Dragon Rising and Dragon Destiny.

Short answer-- prefect for younger middle grade kids who want lots of maigcal action and adventure, but are not ready or willing to read large tomes, with bonus time travel to raise the stakes!

this week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction (12/11/22)

Welcome to this weeks' round-up!  bloglovin didn't cooperate with me this week, so I probably missed things; let me know!

The Reviews

Along the Saltwise Sea, by "A. Deborah Baker", at  Puss Reboots

Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade, by Kimberly Behre Kenna, at Log Cabin Library

Empty Smiles, by Katherine Arden, at Puss Reboots 

The Enchanted Sonata, by Heather Dixon, at Faith Elizabeth Hough

Game Over, by M.C. Ross, at  Ms. Yingling Reads

Haven: A Small Cat's Big Adventure, by Megan Wagner Lloyd, at Redeemed Reader

Map of Flames (The Forgotten Five #1), by Lisa McMann, at Say What?

The Rat Queen, by Pete Hautman, at Say What?

Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting, by Roseanne A. Brown, narrated by Soneela Nankani, at  Sharon the Librarian (audiobook review)

The Sleeping Stones, by Beatrice Wallbank, at Valinora Troy

The Song Walker by Zillah Bethell, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

Strangeville School Is Totally Normal, by Darcy Miller, at Twirling Book Princess

This Appearing House, by  Ally Malinenko, at Lit Addiction

Unseen Magic, by Emily Lloyd -Jones, at Puss Reboots 

Two at Charlotte's Library--Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion, by K. Tempest Bradford, and Nothing Interesting Ever Happens to Ethan Fairmont, by Nick Brooke

Authors and Interviews

L.D. Lapinski (The Secrets of the Stormforest) at the Kirkus podcast

George Jreije (Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria) at The National News

Getting Storyshaped With M.G. Leonard | Storyshaped on Acast

Other Good Stuff

Kirkus presents its list of Best Middle Grade Fantasy

A list of MG fantasy favorites for an Australian bookseller (Readings) --some familiar ones, but always interesting to see books that aren't out here in the US!

And a best of 2022 from one of my favorite UK bloggers, Magic Fiction Since Potter

two excellent middle grade books in which Black kids meet aliens

One of the reasons I enjoy reading for the first round of the Cybils Awards is that it puts books in my hands that I might otherwise not have read and enjoyed, such as these two excellent books in which Black kids meet aliens...and their real-world lives are turned upside down.

Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion, by K. Tempest Bradford, feels like realistic middle grade fiction for about the first half of the story, but the signs are there that it is anything but. Eleven-year-old Ruby is young scientist in training, fascinated by insects, hanging out with her friends, leading an ordinary life. But when she captures a bug she's never seen before, her life becomes very unusual indeed. The bug escapes, burning a hole through her window. Then government investigators show up looking for it, disturbing and disrupting the neighborhood. Ruby and her friends (all of them very smart in their own different ways) are looking for answers too, and though there is no interstellar invasion, the "bug" is indeed an alien, in trouble and far from home. And Ruby is determined to help....

A lot of the story, even after the alien plot begins to be revealed, is real world happenings (including racism, most notably dealing with an unpleasant white science teacher who won't believe Ruby is capable of the science fair project she's been planning), and this is where the book is strongest. The sci fi part takes the better part of the book to really get going, and then wraps up in a mad rush of excitement at the end (like a fireworks show). Kids who come for an interstellar invasion might well put it down halfway, which is too bad, because it all comes together in the end to make for a fun sci fi read, full of science, mystery and great team work.  

Since this is gift giving season, pair this with a magnifying glass and a guide to insects for the science loving kid in your life.

Nothing Interesting Ever Happens to Ethan Fairmont, by Nick Brooks, was subjected to the daunting task of sustaining my interest while horribly expensive repairs were happing to my car, which I needed for a six hour drive the next day....and it came through with flying colors. Ethan's home town of Ferrous City used to be an industrial powerhouse, but those days are gone, leaving behind a huge abandoned factory and lots of junk. Ethan's an inventor, and this junk is the raw material for his creations (along with the family vacuum cleaner, which did not go over well with his parents), and so he visits the factory often, even though it's forbidden. On one such expedition, he and the new kid in town, Juan Carlos, find a big silver ball that seems to have crashed into the factory.

It is an alien space craft, and its occupant is desperate to get home again. Communication is difficult and choppy, but Ethan is determined to help the alien, nick-named Cheese (its first English word) repair its vessel. There are complications. Ethan's former best friend, and school bully and his sister who he's now pals with, find out about the alien, and get involved in trying help (there's a nice bit of real world friendship tension sub plot I liked lots here). The other complication is worse--the feds have come to town, working with the local police to track the space ship down, and Ethan's Black community is threatened, with his father getting arrested. (This is the first middle grade sci fi/fantasy book that I have read that shows police brutality to people of color right there front and center, and the first in which the parents have to have the Talk with their son....).

Nick Brooks strikes a lovely balance between the entertaining story of "boy meets alien" (it's lots of fun, sometimes goofy--note, for instance, Ethan's hamster on the cover--but never ridiculous) and the more serious aspects of book. I truly enjoyed it.

Could be paired as a Christmas gift with the box of miscellaneous bolts you have in your garage and/or a gently used vacuum cleaner.....or more reasonably a lego spaceship (safer except when you step on them...)

This week's round up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (12/4/22)

 Welcome to this week's round-up!  I myself spent considerable time this week hunting for Target's Christmas birds (shown below, on one of my many tbr piles), which has brought me much joy (the hunt as much as the acquiring), and of course reading, though not so much reviewing...hopefully this coming week I will do more of that!  As always, please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Blameless (The Blameless Series 1) by E.S. Christison, at Say What?

Castle Redstone (Minecraft), by Sarwat Chadda, at  Ms. Yingling Reads

The Clackity, by Lora Senf, at alibrarymama

Cress Watercress, by Gregory Maguire, at Children's Books Heal  

Etta Invincible by Reese Eschmann, at alibrarymama

Grimwood, by Nadia Shireen, at Twirling Book Princess

Say What?: The Islands of Iros by L.M. Bracklow (buxfantasy.blogspot.com)

Book Review: Knights of the Borrowed Dark – Valinora Troy

The Last Kids on Earth and the Forbidden Fortress, by Max Brallier, illustrated by Douglas Holgate, at  Always in the Middle… 

A Long Way from Home, by Laura Schaefer, at Charlotte's Library

The Midnight Guardians, by Ross Montgomery, at Scope for Imagination

The Mummy's Curse, by M. A. Bennett, at  Sifa Elizabeth Reads 

The Rat Queen, by Pete Hautman, at Redeemed Reader

A Rover's Story, by Jasmine Warga, at Redeemed Reader

Swift & Hawk: Cyberspies, by Logan Macx, at  Ms. Yingling Reads

Villains Academy, by  Ryan Hammond, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books 

Wildsmith: Into the Dark Forest, by Liz Flanagan, at Book Craic

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, by Xiran Jay Zhao, at Locus Online 

Three at alibrarymama-- Goblin Market, Bookshop of Dust and Dreams, and Water, Water 

Other Good Stuff

The best children’s books of 2022 | Picture books | The Guardian

The Best Books to Read After Harry Potter (thechildrensbookreview.com)

Midwinter magic: Robert Macfarlane on the enduring power of The Dark Is Rising, at  The Guardian

 

A Long Way from Home, by Laura Schaefer, for Timeslip Tuesday

It is always very welcome when a book gives me the unexpected pleasure of having time travel in it, because I am not a plan-in-advance person, and it is always touch and go ig I'll have a Timeslip Tuesday book.  A Long Way from Home, by Laura Schaefer (October  2022, Carolrhoda Books) gave me that pleasure, and the pleasure of a very good read as well!  

Abby is unhappily uprooted from home in Pennsylvania when her brilliant engineer mother gets a job with Space Now in Florida.  Now she has to add being a new friendless kid to the constant big worries about climate change and the state of the world that weigh her down.  Juliana, her school assigned mentor, is Friendly as all get out, but Abby still wants to just hole up in her new house, wanting to go back home....

But then she meets two strange boys, Adam and Bix.  They are strange not just in the stranger sense, but in off kilterness of clothes, language, way of being in the world....  They ask for her help--they are a long way from home, looking for their sister, V, and need a place to stay.  She's able to offer them her dad's boat, currently going unused.  Once they are settled there, the boys tell Abby more of their story.  They have come from about 250 years in the future, and they need to find V and get back before they through the timeline out of whack.

The boys' future tech give Abby a glimpse of the future, and too her great relief, all the problems of Earth in the present are solved.  She offers to help the boys, if they will take her forward to their time when they leave...and they sort of agree. 

So 2 future kids needing some tech help and food for a few weeks makes Abby's life busy.  Fortunately she has made contact with her Great Aunt Nora, a former space engineer herself who is now a recluse, and fortunately Nora agrees to help keep Adam  and Bix safe.  And in the end, Juliana the mentor now turned friend and even Abby's mom are all part of Operation find the missing sister and send the strangers back to the future....maybe with Abby, maybe not.

So much for plot synopsis.  I am now asking myself which part of the book I liked best--the realistic, character-driven part, or the sci fi time travel part....

The character part is hard to beat.  Abby isn't magically unanxious by the end of the book, and she still needs her coping mechanisms, but she is stronger, with a more mature perspective, and her character growth was truly moving.  She and her mother also open healthier channels of communication, which helps.  The supporting cast were all interesting too, and I loved the inclusion of Abby's mom and aunt reflecting on the challenges of being women in their field.  There are also puppies, courtesy of Juliana. 

And another small thing that sticks in my head--Great Aunt Nora, a recluse in a big old house, haunted by guilt after a mission she worked on failed, has taken up painting.  She is very bad at it, and knows this, but this does not stop her, because she wants to keep painting.  Possibly this is the most useful  'lesson' the book offers to its readers, and it  ties in with Abby doing small things to save the planet--obviously she won't succeed in any splendid way, but she realizes it is the doing that is important, even when the goal will never be reached.

The sci fi part provides impetus for action and tension, what with the ticking clock of the mission, technical difficulties, and secrets that the two boys aren't sharing.    There are very few books in which kids from the future come to visit, so this was a fun change for me. It was good time travel, too, and the out-of-placeness of the boys and their reactions to what to them was the distant past made for entertaining reading without feeling over the top.  There's a bit of mystery at play too.

Final answer--a really good book to have on hand when you are stuck at a car repair place waiting to find out how many hundreds of dollars you are about to lose.  I was engrossed, and moved, and even inspired/not quite dry eyed.....and I bet my reaction would have been much the same if I'd read it at the target audience age of 11 or so.

disclaimer--review copy received for Cybils Awards reading

no round-up today, sorry!

Instead of getting my usual Sunday morning round-up post done, I'm driving kids back to college....see you next week!

Ripped Away, by Shirley Reva Vernick, for Timeslip Tuesday

Ripped Away, by Shirley Reva Vernick (February 2022, Fitzroy Books) is a great upper middle grade time travel book, perhaps even my favorite time travel book of the year so far.

Abe Pearlman is a lonely kid with a head full of stories and no friends.  He has a huge crush on Mitzy, whose also something of a loner, but can't manage to say hi to her.  On his way home from school one day, he sees a sign for a fortune teller, and unexpectedly finds himself curious enough to go inside.  The fortune teller asks him what he most wishes for, and he tells her he wants to be a more interesting person.  She then tells him  that someone is going to die, but that he can save that person.  And then he blacks out.

He comes too in a horse drawn wagon in Victorian London.  He is now Asher, who works for a jewelry peddler, and lives in a tenement with his impoverished mother.  All of Asher's life is there in his head.  Understandably, he is freaked out, and figures that maybe saving the life the fortune teller mentioned is his way home.  And then Jack the Ripper murders a woman just steps away from where he is standing with the horse and cart....

Back in the tenement, Abe finds that Mitzy has also travelled back in time...she too went to have her fortune told, and now she is a blind girl, Maya, his upstairs neighbor living with her mother and her uncle, a butcher.   Both kids are from Jewish immigrant families, and this is a bad time to be Jewish in London.

The city is roiled by the Ripper killings, and  Jews are being targeted as suspects.   Antisemitism is rampant.  The police are looking in Jewish homes for the knife used in the killings, and when Mitzy's uncle won't produce his butcher knives, he is arrested and considered guilty.  Abe sees this as a  chance to save a life, and is able to get the uncle to tell him where his knives are, and why he hidden them.  But Mitzy's way home is still unclear, and the longer the two kids stay in the past, the stronger the lives of Asher and Maya are becoming, starting to subsume their own identities....

The time travel plot (which gets very tense!) and the murders (off stage, but also tense) set up a gripping framework for the excellent character-driven story.  The friendship/nascent romance developing between the two kids is heart-warming, and although Mitzy has little agency (though she does bring her intelligence to bear on the situation), Abe demonstrates pleasing initiative and intelligence.  The sensory details and descriptions really transport the reader back in time as well, without slowing down the story.  It is a short book, only 118 pages, but it gets everything done nicely. There are very few Jewish time-travel books for kids, and so it's great to have this one, with its top notch cultural and historical details. 

disclaimer--review copy received for Cybils Awards judging.

This week's round up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (11/20/22)

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

The Reviews

The Captain’s Daughters, by Doreen D. Berger, at Hayley Reese Chow

Children of the Stone City, by Beverley Naidoo, at  Say What?

 Crater Lake Evolution, Jennifer Killick, at  Sifa Elizabeth Reads  

Daughter of the Deep, by Rick Riordan, at The Children's Book Review  

The Jellyfish Jailbreak (Alessia in Atlantis 2) by Nathalie Laine, at Say What?

The Notorious Scarlett and Browne, by Jonathan Stroud, at Say What? 

Pahua and the Soul Stealer, by Lori M. Lee,  at The Children's Book Review   

Paola Santiago and the Sanctuary of Shadows, by Tehlor Kay Mejia, at Puss Reboots

Phoenix and the Frost Palace  (Fireborn #2), by Aisling Fowler, at Bellis Does Books

The Rabbit's Gift, by Jessica Vitalis, at Always in the Middle…  

Raggedy-Chan & Nine-Tail Fox, by Camille Picott, at Valinora Troy

A Rover’s Story, by Jasmine Warga, at Semicolon  

The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda, at proseandkahn

Spell Sweeper, by Lee Edward Födi, at alibrarymama

Water, Water, by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Jon McNaught, at Charlotte's Library

Authors and Interviews

Katharine Orton (Mountainfell) Library Girl and Book Boy and Scope for Imagination

Roseanne A. Brown  (Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting), at United By Pop

Other Good Stuff

OGRESS vs. MAPMAKER: Battle of the Fantasies, at  Heavy Medal

32 Black Mermaid Books for Children & Teenagers, at Colours of Us

Water, Water, by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Jon McNaught

Water, Water, by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Jon McNaught (March 2022, Tundra Books), arrived this past weekend, my first Cybils Awards review copy.  I was curious about this one, so was very pleased to get a chance to read this dreamlike story of a flooded world, and was not disappointed.   (I am pleased as well that it will be joining the ranks of the Ocean State Libraries' mg spec fic collection, taking its place alongside many other fine books from Cybils of years past....)

Rafe wakes to find his room is floating on a vast ocean, with no land in site.  His room has separated from the rest of the house, and he has no idea what has happened or if his parents (or anyone else in the world, for that matter) are still alive.  He and his dog are all there is.  Things float by, and although the woman playing a chello on her own raft is too far away to be pulled close, Rafe fishes out what he can...Fortunately the flotsam includes cans of food, and Rafe works hard not to think about all his many many questions.   He even finishes his homework.

Gradually the desert island of his room broadens with the arrival of a younger girl, Dao, from Thailand, floating on an air mattress, and life in the room and its roof becomes more companionable. Dao is quick to learn enough English to communicate (Rafe's Thai doesn't get very far, but Dao has the advantage of having watched American tv), and Rafe reads her the one book that was in the room, the story of a girl and a magical rabbit, which gives them a lovely bit of escape from reality.

Though not much Happens (the one Action-y bit it is an attack by teenage pirates, successfully fended off, the dreamlike happenings do move the two kids and the dog towards a more hopeful place (though still a shattered/broken/flooded one). We never find out details of what exactly happened and how widespread the flooding is and all the other climate dystopian details (in fact though it is about global flooding, it didn't strike me as being About climate disaster).  This lack of any context verges on being vexing, but such details would have destroyed the beautifully surreal quality of the story that I appreciated lots.  Read in a single sitting.

Because there are no answers, this isn't one for the kid who wants to know why and how and where.  But for the young daydreamer it would make a lovely gift!

this week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs etc. (11/13/22)

Hi all, here's what I found this week. As ever, please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Best-Kept Secret, by Emily Rodda, at Charlotte's Library

Black Bird, Blue Road by Sofiya Pasternack, at Redeemed Reader

The Clackity by Lora Senf, at Book Den

Embassy of the Dead- Destiny Calling, by Will Mabbitt, at Say What?

The Fireflies’ Champion (Guardian Angels United 1) by Amy Mirashi, at Say What?

The Frost Fair, by Natasha Hastings, at Bookbugworld and The Strawberry Post

Knock Three Times, by Cressida Cowell, at  Fantasy Literature

Mortimer: Rat Race to Space, by Joan Marie Galet, at Always in the Middle…  

The Mummy’s Curse by M.A. Bennett, illustrated by David Dean, at V'sViewfromtheBookshelves  

Odder, by Katherine Applegate,at  Geo Librarian

Omega Morales and the Legend of La Lechuza, by Laekan Zea Kemp, at Charlotte's Library

Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston, by Esme Symes-Smith, at The Nerd Daily and Mombian

A Storm of Sisters, by Michelle Harrison, at  Valinora Troy

The Time Tider, by Sinéad O’Hart, at (bookwormhole.co.uk)

Twiggy Thistle and the Lost Guardians, by Chris Riddell, at Magic Fiction Since Potter and  Library Girl and Book Boy

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads-- The Frost Fair, by Natasha Hastings, and  The Worst Villain Ever, by Amy Bearce 

Authors and Interviews

Esme Symes-Smith (Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston), at The Nerd Daily

Caris Avendaño Cruz (Marikit and the Ocean of Stars), at The Happy Writer podcast

Other Good Stuff

The best middle grade books with witches as heroes, compiled by Karah Sutton, author of A Wolf for a Spell at shepherd.com

New Children's Book Picks November 2022 - UK, at  Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books 

The Best Middle Grade Fantasy Series to Discover Right Now (bookriot.com)

Omega Morales and the Legend of La Lechuza, by Laekan Zea Kemp

So the bulk of my reading these days is middle grade fantasy/sci fi for the Cybils Awards, and it never ceases to amaze me how the familiar middle grade themes of navigating family and friends and one's own changing self can be explored in so many different magical ways.   Yesterday I finished Omega Morales and the Legend of La Lechuza, by Laekan Zea Kemp (September 2022, Little Brown), and this story of a Mexican American girl in a magical family does a lovely job with these threads of story!

Omega's town of Noche Buena is split between those who have magic, like her family, who were there first, and the mundane newer families, existing in slightly uneasy harmony.  But when the towns cats begin to go missing, suspicion and hostility towards  Omega's family begins to grow.  Omega's former best friend is part of this movement.

Omega and her cousin Carlito are lonely outsiders, hanging out just with each other and with the ghost girl who lives with them.  Adding to Omega's unhappy state of mind is her worry that her magical gifts will never amount to much. As it is, her out-of-control empathetic ability overwhelms her, sometimes to the point of physical collapse.

And then La Lachuza, a legendary owl/woman monster, comes to town.  She seems particularly interested in Omega...and Omega, though terrified, senses something in her that speaks to her.  But can Omega fight her way through the secrets and lies her own family has woven around her to save herself, her town, and possibly even the monster?

It's a good mystery, and I was drawn in tighter and tighter as more of La Lachuza's story was unfolded with all its intergenerational trauma; the pages turned quickly, and Omega became a beautifully clear character in my mind.  Her exploration of her own particular twist on empathy was very satisfying, her fascination with La Lachuza gripping, and I was happy to cheer her on.

A few things did bother me though. I got really frustrated with Omega's mother and grandmother. They thought they were doing the right thing by trying to keep her safe, but mostly did it with fierce anger and obfuscation, which I didn't appreciate.  For a family of empaths, they aren't very empathetic in their nurturing--when Omega's ex-friend draws on her face with permanent mark after she passes out from emotional overload, Omega's mom tells her to be forgiving and get over it, becoming a stronger person. Not helpful!  

I was also frustrated that Omega's cousin Carlito didn't get any character arc or any particular role in the plot.  He could have been cut from the book and it would have been barely noticeable.  Balancing that, the ghost girl is a great character who added both entertaining ghostly shenanigans and moving emotional weight.

(There's also a magical library, talking trees, and an attic full of family history--all pluses for me, and a sweet little nascent romance, a plus for the target audience)

And so my final thought is that although I didn't quite end up loving it to pieces, I did like it lots and was glad to see it ended with a tease for more to come!

me and Kirkus are pretty much on the same page--here's their review

The Best-Kept Secret, by Emily Rodda, for Timeslip Tuesday

On this anxious election day, worrying about what the future holds, I read a rather sweetly hopeful timeslip book--The Best-Kept Secret, by Emily Rodda (1988).

Joanna, a young girl in an ordinary small town, is a child beginning to realize she is leaving childhood behind.  Her parents want to move to a bigger house, and she's appalled by the idea of leaving her home, her safe place.  And though she doesn't quite realize it, she and her best friend, Cecelia, are growing apart--Cecelia is a rather stolid child who divides people into "nice" vs "weird."  And Joanna is wondering if she herself is more on the weird side (which the reader, or at least me, realizes clearly is the better, more interesting sort of person).

When a carousel appear out of nowhere in a vacant lot in town one night, the townsfolk are drawn to its music.  The two girls want to ride, but only a few people are able to gain access.  Joanna is one of the few, and Cecilia, holding on to each other, makes it to the carousel with her.  The strange old woman running it identifys Joanna as a proper rider, but lets Cecilia on board too, though noting she'll not get anything out of it.  And off they go on their horses, with a strange assortment of other riders (I like how the horses matched the characters!)

The Carousel takes them seven years into the future.  There the riders as ghosts, observing but unable to interact  as they explore their future town.  (Cecelia isn't able to participate, stuck in a dream on her horse, admiring how pretty the two of them look in the carosel's mirrors...).   Some riders have powerful, meaningful experiences seeing their future selves.  And there's one who concentrates on recording winning lottery numbers and the like.  But nothing much happens to Joanna...until right at the end, when a bullied little boy flees toward the carousel, and without thinking, she reaches towards him and brings him on board.  

This breaks the Carousel, stranding the passengers, and posing a dilemma--do they risk not making it home by pushing back toward the future again to drop off the little boy in his own time?  The majority votes yes,  and Joanna is given ten minutes to take the kid home....leading her toward the own bit of the future that was the reason she became a rider, because his home is hers as well....

And though the riders don't remember their experience clearly when they eventually get back to their own time, the feeling and dreams and deeply buried knowings remain, helping them be their best selves.  (I did wonder what the greedy man took home with him though--it wasn't at all clear to me why he deserved to be a rider....)

It's a simple story, good for younger readers but not for the typical middle grade reader of today.  But for sensitive kids it probably still works (which is almost me but not quite...).  I like Joanna lots, and I think I would have liked the book lots back in the day, but am not sure it would have been one of the books that burned itself into my mind--it's awfully nice, but could have pushed harder and been even more.

Today I got my master list of timeslip books reviewed here updated, though I am a little perturbed that I have 20 more timeslip Tuesday posts than I do books reviewed, so something is wrong somewhere....didn't have enough enthusiasm to check all 501 posts to see which I missed. But in any even, I'll try to be on top of things going forward and add this one right now!

This week's round-up of mg fantasy and sci fi from around the blogs (11/6/22)

A light week of links; Bloglovin wasn't working for me and so I doubless missed many posts (please let me know if I missed yours!).  Nothing from me, because even though I have read lots of books I have been frantically trying to get five windows ready to go back into place before winter comes....

The Reviews

Amari and the Great Game, by B.B. Alston, at  Always in the Middle…  and Valinora Troy

Crater Lake, by Jennifer Killick at Sifa Elizabeth Reads 

The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn, at Book Den

The Extradimensional Reappearance of Mars Patel (Mars Patel 3), by Sheela Chari, at Say What?

Freddie vs. the Family Curse, by Tracy Badua, at alibrarymama

The Frost Fair | By Natasha Hastings, at Bookbugworld

The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat, at proseandkahn (audiobook review)

Leo's Map of Monsters: The Frightmare and The Shrieking Serpent by Kris Humphrey, illustrations by Pete Williamson, at Log Cabin Library

Moongarden, by Michelle A. Barry, at  Cracking the Cover

Ravenfall by Kalyn Josephson | alibrarymama

Rise of the School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Say What?

The Switch, by Roland C. Smith, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Authors and Interviews

R.L. Stine (Pt. II) at The Yarn

Dan Poblocki (Tales to Keep You Up at Night) at  Middle Grade Ninja

Odder, by Katherine Applegate

Odder, by Katherine Applegate (September 2022), is an utterly delightful novel in verse.  Otters are inherently delightful, of course, and all their furry faced charm comes through beautifully in this story of Odder, an otter lost as pup in the ocean alone, rescued by humans, and then released back into the ocean.  Odder is a particularly impulsive, curious otter by nature, and so she isn't as wary as she should be.  When a shark attack sends her back to the sanctuary where she was raised, and her days in the wild are numbered, she finds a new purpose in life tending to another orphaned pup.

I approach animal books with caution; too much anthropomorphism makes me squirmish (I didn't really care for The One and Only Ivan, for instance).  I didn't have that problem with Odder, though--I thought Applegate did a really good job making her titular otter a being to care about without straining credulity.  It doesn't feel at all like fantasy, which so many books from an animal stand-point do.  The choice to tell Odder's story in verse in the 3rd person worked really really well for otter-ish mindset too--it's a coherent story of vignettes, impressions, sensory detail, and emotions, such as how an otter might experience the world.

It is a very sweet story, spinning some gentle instruction about otters and their importance as a keystone species into the moving story of this one particular otter.   None of the individual otters we meet die, for those who worry about these things, although there is one stillborn pup.

Very highly recommend for otter fans in particular of course (so easy to imagine this paired as a gift with a stuffed otter) but also for anyone who wants to swim with a playful, funny, otter who will steal the hearts of all readers.  

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

this week's round up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi (10/30/22)

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

The Reviews

Amari and the Great Game, by B. B. Alston, at Pages Unbound 

Battle of the Beast, by Jack Meggitt-Phillips, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

The Chestnut Roaster, by Eve McDonnell, at Book Craic

Daybreak on Raven Island, by Fleur Bradley, at YABookNerd

Emba Oak and the Terrible Tomorrows, by Jenny Moore, at Book Craic

Fourth of July on Monster Mountain, by Clark Roberts, at Briar's Reviews 

Into the Glades, by Laura Sebastian at Cracking the Cover and Butler's Pantry

Izzy at the End of the World by K.A. Reynolds at  Say What?

 The Thing At Black Hole Lake, by Dashe Roberts, at Check ‘Em Out Books  

Quest Kids and the Dragon Pants of Gold by Mark Leiknes, at Bookworm for Kids and Cracking the Cover

The Rabbit's Gift, by Jessica Vitalis, at Charlotte's Library

Saving Neverland, by Abi Elphinstone, at Scope for Imagination

Tyger by SF Said, illustrated Dave McKean, at Magic Fiction Since Potter

Windswept, by Margi Preus, at Teen Librarian Toolbox

Four at Feed Your Fiction Addiction--Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, Valentina Salazar Is Not a Monster Hunter, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow, and I Cannot Draw a Horse

 

Authors and Interviews

Jessica Vitalis (The Rabbit's Gift), at Smack Dab in the Middle and diyMFA podcast

George Jreije (Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria) at Literary Rambles

Laura Sebastian (Into the Glades) at Nerdy Book Club

Amy Herrick (The Tiltersmith) at Mom Read It

Eve McDonnell  (The Chestnut Roaster) at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Other Good Stuff

8 Eerie Books for Middle Grade Readers, at alibrarymama

Halloween Reads (ages 7+) at Library Girl and Book Boy