Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The Ogre of Oglefort

2012-02-26T18:55:00.001-05:00

I have read a couple (and reviewed one) of Eva Ibbotson's historical romances, but had never read one of her MG fantasies until now. The Ogre of Oglefort was the last fantasy Ibbotson wrote prior to her death in 2010. After reading it I'm very interested in her other such works, particularly as I have a daughter who would gobble them up like chocolate I think. (The copy of Ogre is already in her excited hands.) This book has all kinds of kiddie appeal.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
For excitement-hungry orphan Ivo, a mission to save Princess Mirella from the dreaded Ogre of Oglefort is a dream come true. Together with a hag, a wizard, and a troll, Ivo sets out, ready for adventure. But when they get to the ogre's castle, the rescuers are in for a surprise: the princess doesn't need saving, but the depressed ogre does!

The book starts out with a witch needing a familiar because hers has gone on strike. Orphan Ivo volunteers and finds himself on an adventure of a lifetime. The Princess Mirella wants to live with animals and enjoy the outdoors but her parents want her betrothed to a smarmy prince from a neighboring country so she takes matters into her own hands. Ivo and Mirella are engaging young characters but the book is just as much about the witch, wizard, troll and ogre as it is about them. They are a quirky and delightful cast. None of them are explored in depth and there is not much development of relationships in the story. The narrator mostly tells the reader what everyone is doing and how they are getting on, but I think the intended audience would love them all and the crazy antics they get into.

The plot here is all kinds of fun, with several irreverent twists on old story tropes. The Norn (fates) make an appearance as senile old women who aren't so good at their job anymore. There are several helpful not-quite-as-they-seem animals, a battle involving thrown furniture, and an ingenuous solution to a haunting. Like I said, loads of kid appeal. I quite enjoyed it myself (more than I enjoyed Ibbotson's historical fantasies for sure).

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

2012-02-24T12:00:00.071-05:00

I don't know the last time I was so torn in writing a review as I am for Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I have never before enjoyed a book so much that I didn't really enjoy.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

I LOVE how this book is written. It has the sort of vivid imagery and language I revel in. Here I give you the opening as evidence:
Walking to school over the snow-muffled cobbles, Karou had no sinister premonitions about the day. It seemed like just another Monday, innocent but for its essential Mondyaness, not to mention its Januaryness. It was cold, and it was dark-in the dead of winter the sun didn't rise until eight-but it was also lovely. The falling snow and the early hour conspired to paint Prague ghostly, like a tintype photograph, all silver and haze. On the riverfront thoroughfare, trams and buses roared past, grounding the day in the twenty-first century,but on quieter lanes , the wintery peace might have hailed from another time.
Talk about painting pictures with words. And notice Karou lives in Prague. We don't have nearly enough interesting books set in Prague. Taylor does a marvelous job bringing the city to life. (Of course, I have never been to Prague so whether or not it is accurate someone else will have to say. However, the city had a genuine and individual atmosphere that felt real in the story.) Then there is the main character, Karou, who is all kinds of awesome: artistic, irreverent, spunky, slightly rebellious, funny-and deadly. As I often enjoy a star-crossed romance if it is done right, I even liked that element because Taylor wrote it well. This was my first experience with Taylor's writing and I was impressed.

All of that together usually means I fall in love with a book. That it goes on favorite shelves and I reread it and eagerly anticipate its sequel. But that is not the case with this one. Why? It is a paranormal romance novel. It is a paranormal romance novel incorporating the type of supernatural creatures I have the least patience for in stories. It just wasn't for me. I will say that my hat goes off to Taylor for proving you can use the tropes of a genre, even the ones everyone makes fun of (instalove-it's here; she makes it work), and write them well. Very well. Let me stress again: THE WRITING IS SUPERB. Bravo. You go girl and all that. It is still what it is, and what it is is not my thing. If it is your thing, or you know someone whose thing it is, go forth and read because it is awesomely written.

Alas, I probably won't be reading the sequel. However, Taylor has written a couple of books about Faeries, and as Faeries very much are my thing I'm going to read those instead. I'm pretty excited because-did I mention?-she's a great writer.

The Humming Room

2012-02-22T12:00:00.005-05:00

Last year I read and loved The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter (my review). When I discovered she had a new book out this year and that it was a reworking of The Secret Garden I as eager to see what she would do with it. The Humming Room is faithful to the original plot while bringing the story into a more modern world.

Synopsis(from Goodreads):
Hiding is Roo Fanshaw's special skill. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment's notice. When her parents are murdered, it's her special hiding place under the trailer that saves her life. As it turns out, Roo, much to her surprise, has a wealthy if eccentric uncle, who has agreed to take her into his home on Cough Rock Island. Once a tuberculosis sanitarium for children of the rich, the strange house is teeming with ghost stories and secrets. Roo doesn't believe in ghosts or fairy stories, but what are those eerie noises she keeps hearing? And who is that strange wild boy who lives on the river? People are lying to her, and Roo becomes determined to find the truth. Despite the best efforts of her uncle's assistants, Roo discovers the house's hidden room--a garden with a tragic secret.

Roo is the best thing about this book and she captures the reader's heart from the beginning as she huddles under her trailer hiding after her father's murder. She is a loner who won't admit she is lonely, but revels in the wild freedom she has in the new island home she has been brought to. It was easy to go along with her for her story and experience it with her. I also very much liked the character of Jack, actually I liked him a bit better than his counterpart, Dicken, in the original story. He was a bit more wild and unpredictable and seemed to view more as an equal and less as a protege. I did wonder if I was projecting a bit of what I knew of the original characters onto these characters as I read, particularly Roo. I didn't really like Philip much at all though. He is the counterpart to Colin in this and I found him less sympathetic and hard to reconcile with the 21st century time.

The setting is a strong element in this. The house the characters inhabit is an old children's tuberculosis hospital, complete with an old chute for sending out dead bodies. It is located on an island and Potter brings the scenery to life with her prose.

Here is the question: Does The Secret Garden need a retelling or an updating? I think that will depend on who you ask. There are many purists who will say no. There are many who have fond nostalgic memories of the original who will say no. Hand a 9-12 year old girl a copy of both books and which she chooses will probably depend a great deal on whether she enjoys contemporary or historical novels (and on which edition of The Secret Garden you are offering up). As a teacher I had about two dozen fifth graders check The Secret Garden out either from my classroom library or the school library. Only a handful of them finished it. They just couldn't relate. A story about a girl whose drug dealer father is murdered while she hides under the trailer? Unfortunately, that wouldn't have been so hard for them to understand. So I like that this book is here now and I certainly think it has a place on the shelves of classrooms and libraries. And if it inspires some kids to read the original, so much the better.

The copy of this I reviewed was an e-galley received via NetGalley. The book will be in stores on February 28.

Gil Marsh

2012-02-20T12:00:00.087-05:00

It is hard to write a review for a book when I have the sort of reaction to it that I had for Gil Marsh by A.C.E. Bauer. I was disappointed in it, but not through any fault with the actual writing. This is one of those cases where the author's vision for her story did not match my expectations as a reader. Keeping this in mind I'm going to try and split this into two parts.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Good looking, athletic, and smart, Gill Marsh is the most popular kid at Uruk High School, even though he is only a junior. When Enko, a new kid from Montreal, shows up, Gil is wary. Yet Enko is easy going and matches Gil's athletic prowess without being a threat. Soon, the two become inseparable friends, practicing, studying, and double-dating. Then suddenly, to everyone's shock, Enko succombs to an aggressive cancer. When Enko's parents take his body and return to Canada, Gil is unable to even say good bye. He is inconsolable. Determined to find Enko's grave, Gil sneaks away and heads north.

For Readers Unfamiliar With The Epic of Gilgamesh
This is a story about a boy who is grieving for his friend and who goes on a quest to say good bye properly. It is fast paced and there are some intense scenes. Gil is a sympathetic character who is searching for answers to hard life questions and trying to get over the death of his friend. You may question why Gil does some of the things he does and not fully understand why this friendship is such an important one, but Gil is an easy character to like and you will want to see him succeed. There is one place near the end where there is a flirting with the supernatural that will probably have you scratching your head as there is no real explanation for it.

For Readers Familiar With The Epic of Gilgamesh
The book pretty much follows the Epic in form as well as plot, except I felt the details were even more sparse in this retelling than they are in the original. Bauer made a decision to remove most of the mythos from the story in the novel. I was okay with this, but was hoping that would mean a removal of the entire mythos. Except it didn't. While the gods and goddesses of Babylonian myth are absent from the story, there is a random immortal dude lurking in the mountains of northern Canada. Unlike Utnapishtim in the original, this guy has no idea how or why he is immortal and is not forthcoming with any help for Gil at all. He basically says, "This is the way I am. No explanation for it. Weird huh? Now get off my property." And that's all we get of that. One of the reasons I like the Epic so much is that one of its major themes is inevitably of death, but at the same time stresses life is precious and should be celebrated. The novel kind of sort of flirts with that concept a little at the end, but not noticeably. By removing the mythos Bauer also removed the feminine aspect of the story. The only major female character in the novel is not nice. She thwarts Gil's quest and swindles him. This too works against the themes in the original work, where the female is necessary as it is essential to life itself. Without these themes the story felt empty and lacking in meaning. It was just the story of a sad guy who went on a fruitless and uncomfortable road trip. Hence my disappointment.

This is a review of a copy received via NetGalley. Gil Marsh will be available for purchase February 28.

Mara, Daughter of the Nile

2012-02-18T12:00:00.080-05:00

Featuring Bit, age 7

Looking back at my reading history I am pretty sure I can trace my love of political intrigue to Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, which I read for the first time while in the sixth grade. It was my gateway drug. It might seem strange to some that I decided to do at as a read aloud with my second grader. It is a twisty book with a complex plot, but she can pretty much tackle easier MG offerings completely on her own and I wanted to try something that would challenge her brain a bit. She is loving her history unit on Ancient Egypt and was really excited about this book.

The Story
Slavery is the only life Mara has ever known. One master taught her to read, write, speak Babylonian, and use her head. When Mara finds herself with a harsher master who cares naught for any of those skills she amuses herself by escaping the manor grounds and stealing pastries from unsuspecting bread boys. Mara's skills capture the attentions of a dangerous man who buys her to make her his spy. He wants her to keep an eye on the young Thutmose, who is being denied his throne by his sister Hatshepsut. Mara is to figure out how messages from the rebellion are getting to him and anything she can about the secret plans. If she does this she will earn her freedom. Soon after being sent on her way to achieve this she finds herself in the clutches of the rebel leader himself, the handsome young charismatic Lord Sheftu. He harasses Mara into his service as well and soon she is playing a dangerous double game trying to keep her life and promised freedom while playing both of the opposing sides. However, Mara is in over head in more ways than one as she sees Egypt in danger, the rightful king denied his place, and the Pharaoh Queen's extravagance. Then there is her relationship with Sheftu, which grows more complicated with each passing day. Her considerable wits may not be enough to untangle the coil she has gotten herself snared in.

Bit's Thoughts
I think that Mara, Daughter of the Nile is a great book. It takes place during the time of Hatshepsut in Egypt. My favorite character is Mara. I think that she is brave. The only thing Mara wants is to be free and I wanted her to get her freedom. My second favorite character is Sheftu. I also think that he is brave. The book is action packed. It kept me wanting to know what would happen next. Some things I could not quite understand and there were a lot of characters. I still really enjoyed it.

My Thoughts
I have fond memories of this book from my own childhood. It definitely made an impact on my life as a reader. It is full of adventure, mystery, intrigue, danger, and also a bit of romance. It also probably played a large part in forming the types of heroes I like. Sheftu is quite the sarcastic, deceptively lazy, brilliant mastermind. And we know how much I like those kind of heroes. Mara is more than a match for his wits though and the dialogue between the two of them are some the best parts of the book. I think that now. When I was younger I appreciated different aspects of the story, the action and the kissing mostly. It is nice to come back to a book years after reading it and find new things about it to love.

Note on Content: This book will not make the best read aloud for all second graders. Bit went into this story with a strong knowledge of the historical period and the culture of the time. The romance in it is not at all subtle. There are a couple of kissing scenes, which some younger children might not like and some parents might not want them exposed to. (Bit thought the kissing was awesome.) There is also quite a bit of danger and Mara does have to endure some violence toward the end of the book.

What Bit and I are reading next: 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

Between Shades of Gray

2012-02-16T12:00:00.068-05:00

Quite honestly I probably never would have chosen to read Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys if it had not been chosen as a contender in the SLJ BoBs. Even after my friend Betsy (of Literaritea) read it and said it was a good read I remained stubborn (and I trust her opinion of books implicitly). I am glad that I was finally pushed into reading it. It is a powerful story about events in history that are not discussed often enough.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions. Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously - and at great risk - documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.

Stalin's deportation of nationals from the Baltic countries the USSR invaded to Siberian work communes is a portion of history largely overlooked in most high school history classes. It is often mentioned tangentially to Holocaust studies, if it is mentioned at all. Neither my AP US or my AP European teachers ever even brought it up. Shades of Gray is a novel that can get a discussion on the subject started. It is a story full of powerful scenes and vivid imagery, such as: Used to what, the feeling of uncontrolled anger? Or a sadness so deep, like your very core has been hollowed out and fed back to you from a dirty bucket? Talk about a simile. The text and plot most definitely pack a punch and show the reader into a world they never want to experience. I like the added touch of including Lina's flashbacks to the past in each chapter. The flashbacks correlated with the content of the chapter and contrasted the privilege of her former life to the horror of her current one. Lina herself remained distant to me though. As I read the book I felt more like I was watching a documentary and not experiencing the things Lina experienced. This may be due to the action heavy plot. The story keeps up a relentless place of incident after incident after incident until it finally just ends. I thought this rather too abrupt. I was obviously not expecting, or wanting, any kind of "happily ever after", but I wanted more of a completion than I got, either for the story itself or Lina's character arc. I do feel like the strengths in the novel outweigh the weaknesses and it is an excellent choice for assisting in teaching an often forgotten aspect of 1940's history.

Pie

2012-02-14T12:00:00.030-05:00

Warning: If you read Pie by Sarah Weeks you had better either eat first or have pie on hand. You should probably have a pie on hand either way. This is book will make you want to eat one or three.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
When Alice's Aunt Polly passes away, she takes with her the secret to her world-famous pie-crust recipe. Or does she? In her will, Polly leaves the recipe to her extraordinarily surly cat Lardo . . . and then leaves Lardo in the care of Alice.Suddenly Alice is thrust into the center of a piestorm, with everyone in town trying to be the next pie-contest winner ... including Alice's mother and some of Alice's friends. The whole community is going pie-crazy . . . and it's up to Alice to discover the ingredients that really matter. Like family. And friendship. And enjoying what you do.

Pie is a Middle Grade historical fiction set in a small Pennsylvania town in the 1950's. The plot of the book covers just a couple of days in the life of Alice but through several flashbacks we get a complete picture of her, the small town that is her home, and her beloved Aunt Polly. This is a short book that uses a lot of old tropes: the boy/girl friendship (though it really is JUST a friendship), a quirky town full of quirky people, parents that don't understand the main character, a mysterious stranger in town, a mystery to solve. Weeks doesn't do anything new with these tropes, but she did write them well. Alice is a sympathetic character, Charlie an interesting one, and their friendship reads genuine. If you or someone you know is looking for a sweet short predictable read about small towns and friendship this is a book to keep in mind. While it was a nice afternoon's read the only strong impression it left on me was an overwhelming desire to eat pie. (And I'm not a pie eater.) The pie descriptions are well done for sure. And there are recipes included.

Literary Dads

2012-02-10T12:00:00.060-05:00

When I wrote my Literary Moms post last month I said that I would tackle the fathers next. I thought this might be a little easier (even though, as with my mom, no fictional father can come close to the awesomeness that is my dad). It wasn't though. Again I thought of several that were good "types", but again not very many that actually stirred me enough to place the label favorite on them. (Charles Ingalls and Mr. Quimby fall into this category for me.) Here are the ones that I have grown attached to enough to truly care about:

The Minister of War
Funny that a character who doesn't even have a name, just a title, was the first to pop into my head. He is, of course, written by Megan Whalen Turner who can make you want to know every detail of a character she mentions in one paragraph. As this is the father of her amazingly awesome hero he doesn't actually need a name to make him well loved. The MoW gets awesome points for being Gen's father and surviving to his son's adulthood with his sanity intact. Then there are all the little details given in both The Thief and The Queen of Attolia that show how much he cares for his son and wants what is best for him (even when they disagree over what that is). Like most father/son relationships this one is fraught with tension at times, but there is so much evident love and respect between the two of them despite not completely understanding each other.

Martin Penderwick
Martin Penderwick is absent minded and, at times, in over his head with four daughters. However, that he loves them more than anything on the earth is clearly evident. He allows them a great deal of freedom, but I think this is a good thing. He does not stifle them and does not try to make their lives easier. When they do something they shouldn't, he disciplines them well and shows them he loves them at the same time. He is also admits to his own faults and has conversations with the girls that are priceless.

Matthew Cuthbert
I don't care that he wasn't Anne's "real" father, he totally counts! Matthew was as strong as a rock, and as gentle as a lamb. The way he loves Anne unconditionally and silently encourages her from the first time the meet until is death is wonderful.

Robert Spinelli
He doesn't come off in the best of lights at times because Saving Francesca is from Francesca's point of view and she is angry. He becomes the target of her anger as she would feel guilty throwing it at her mom. If you read between the lines of Francesca's hurt and frustration you get the picture of an amazing man though, one who has weaknesses like any other, but whose strengths more than make up for it. Their conversation toward the end is just the icing on the cake. Every time I read this book I tear up when I get to the, "Just tell me where you are" part. Sniff.

You will notice that while Mrs. Murry made my list of moms, Mr. Murry did not make this one. For some reason I've always been able to dismiss him easily. He falls into the same category as Mr. Ingalls and Mr. Quimby. Charlotte from Charlotte's Library has written a fascinating post on both Murry parents and the other parental figures in A Wrinkle in Time that is worth a read if you haven't seen it yet.

I want to know who would be on your list!

Graffiti Moon

2012-02-08T12:00:00.088-05:00

I have wanted to read Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley since it was released in Australia and started making waves all over the book blogoshpere. Everyone who read it only had praises for it and I became more and more eager for the US release (which is February 14). I was graciously given access to an e-galley by the publisher via NetGalley. It has been downloaded and ready to read for a few weeks but after I had it in my hands I became nervous, worrying I would be disappointed and that it would never live up to those high expectations others praise and months of waiting had built. It did. Oh how it did. And I really wished I hadn't waited until after 10 at night to decide to start reading it.

Lucy is out with her two friends celebrating the end of Year Twelve. Her friends are out for the boys, Lucy is out for just one, the mysterious Shadow who has decorated the city with his beautiful graffiti art. She knows a boy who sees the world like that, who can paint like that, will be a boy she can talk to and share herself with. Unfortunately, because her best friend wants to hook up with his best friend, she is stuck hanging out with Ed. Ed who she never wanted to see again after the worst first date ever in the history of the world. Ed isn't anymore excited than she is, their one date was actually a worst first date for him than it was for her, but there is something about her that pulls him like a magnet and she still has an affect over him. Then Ed tells her he knows some of the places Shadow goes and is willing to take her to them. Lucy and Ed are soon on a tour of Shadow's work through the nightscape of Melbourne having all the conversations about art and life Lucy has always dreamed of, but the clock is ticking for Ed. In hours he will have to make a decision that will decide the course of his future and his future with Lucy , if he has one.

Ed and Lucy have become instant favorites. The book is told in alternating first person narratives between the two and their chapters often overlap, so you get a scene from her perspective and then his. This repetitiveness is not at all boring, it is enlightening and shows the reader so much about each of them individually and them together. Interspersed through this are poems written by Ed's best friend Leo that give insight into many of the other characters and events. Ed and Lucy are complicated and layered characters, complete in their strengths and weaknesses. Lucy is willfully blind to what is staring her in the face because she has a fantasy built in her head she doesn't want to let go of. Ed is stubbornly clinging to a bleak and ugly future because he is afraid to hope for anything else. They jump off the page as do Leo and Jazz (and even Dylan and Daisy). The dialogue is sometimes witty, sometimes poignant, always pitch perfect. Crowley is one of those authors who doesn't waste words, each one counts, and she manages to create these defined and real characters without over writing them. I love this.

Then there is the way this book is a love song to art in all forms. Crowley's descriptions are vivid and paint pictures in the mind. I could see clearly every single one of Shadow's paintings and even Lucy's blown glass creations. The setting is also vividly describes giving the reader the sensation of actually being there. I could see and hear the city clearly in my head.

Here are some examples of the writing I particularly liked, though I stopped bookmarking pages after the first 50 so I could just enjoy the ride:
I'm so close to meeting him, and I want it so bad. Mum says when wanting collides with getting, that's the moment of truth. I want to collide. I want to run right into Shadow and let the force spill our thoughts so we can pick each other up and pass each other back like piles of shiny stones.

Paint sails and the things that kick in my head scream from can to brick. See this, see this, see this. See me emptied onto a wall.

I like that about art, that what you see is sometimes more about who you are than what's on the wall.

I kept dreaming her and me were tangled like that. Kept dreaming of this spot on her neck, this tiny country. I wanted to visit, to paint a picture of what I found there, a wall with a road map of her skin...Then one day she looked up from her book and caught me making travel plans.

I spent the weekend after our date wishing I could stab him with my fluffy duck pen and staring at the phone hoping he'd call. Dating is very tricky business.

You get the idea. I loved this book, unequivocally loved it, the writing, the characters, the emotion, the speed of it. It is well worthy of all the praise (and awards) it has earned.

Note on Content: This is a book for older teens. There is some strong language and references to sex and alcohol.

Dead End in Norvelt

2012-02-06T12:00:00.072-05:00

The book with the new shiny medal affixed on its cover, the 2012 Newbery winner. I had not read it before now because, while I admire author Jack Gantos's talent and versatility, I don't particularly enjoy his work. Just a matter of personal taste. I did enjoy Dead End in Norvelt, not enough to love it, but enough to appreciate it.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launched on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder.

Gantos has the quality I most admire in writers, that of conveying much with few words. He can convey reams of information about a character with a few well phrased sentences. The characters were the best part of the novel for me, particularly Jack and his parents. Other characters seemed more caricatures than the realized characters of the main family and were quirky to the point of being over the top. Still, the effect of the whole is charming and amusing for the most part.

As a work of historical fiction this book excels, and I found it to be most deserving of the Scott O'Dell Award it was given for this aspect. Gantos paints a picture of the times with his words and imagery without explicitly going into facts about the 1962 setting. Through all the obituaries Jack is scribing for Miss Volker and his own summaries of the Landmark history books he is reading the reader is treated to several anecdotes of times past. The book is a treasure trove of interesting historical detail, and while the historian in me appreciated this and how events in Jack's present were connected to the past and references to the impact on future events were made, I couldn't help feel most children would not appreciate it as much.

The book is largely anecdotal, one story after another depicting life in the town, life in the past, life in the Gantos home. Until suddenly around page 290 it turns into a murder mystery for about 40 pages. That is where things went from quirky to downright strange for me as the reader. As much as I appreciate Gantos's ability to write interesting characters, I just find his humor to be odd and not really humorous.

While this is not my particular cup of tea, it is well written and interesting and I'm sure will find a happy home in the hearts of many readers.

Flip

2012-02-04T12:00:00.043-05:00

Ever Wake Up in Someone Else's Body? That is the tag line for Martyn Bedford's Flip. The body switching concept is nothing new. Sometimes it is done in a comedic fashion, sometimes in a creepy thriller fashion. Bedford's novel is closer to the creepy thriller side, but it is mostly a story about a boy named Alex who wants nothing more than to have his own life back.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
One December night, 14-year-old Alex goes to bed. He wakes up to find himself in the wrong bedroom, in an unfamiliar house, in a different part of the country, and it's the middle of June. Six months have disappeared overnight. The family at the breakfast table are total strangers. And when he looks in the mirror, another boy's face stares back at him. A boy named Flip. Unless Alex finds out what's happened and how to get back to his own life, he may be trapped forever inside a body that belongs to someone else.

Alex, an asthmatic awkward teen, wakes up one morning in the body of a much better looking athletic boy. Here is what I liked most about Alex: he was terrified and confused and never once went through a, "I'm going to live it up and do whatever I want because wow look at me now" phase. He begins merely trying to survive as Flip while figuring out what happened to him, Alex. He does take advantage of the fact he has a girlfriend to gain some kissing experience, but even this is done thoughtfully. He knows he doesn't like the girl at all. Despite Flip's family being wealthier, Alex misses his own family because his memories are with them and he knows they love him. He misses making music with his clarinet and playing chess with his best friend. This makes Alex sympathetic and likable, if a little flat as a character.

Through this plot a lot of questions on the nature of the soul and the afterlife are explored. The questions are interesting ones and Alex's frustration with his inability to find clear answers is evident. When Alex is questioning the religious studies teacher at his school we get this: The soul and the mind were not the same thing at all, in his opinion. Although, he had to point out that different faiths had different ideas about the nature of the soul-and the mind for that matter-and given that they were both abstract concepts, none of us could say with any certainty...and so on. As for where souls went at death and how they got there, Mr. McQueen set off on another global tour of belief systems tying himself in knots in his attempt not to set one particular theory above any other. Little wonder Alex was frustrated. As much as I appreciated the humor and accuracy in this paragraph I couldn't help but hear the author's voice intruding into the narrative. There are a couple of other places where I got the same impression. The quest for answers is an interesting thread in the plot but is buried under the dramatic conclusion (which was certainly riveting and well written) so nothing is ever completely explained. I rather liked this element, but people who like their stories all tied up in the end will not.

The story is fast paced and interesting and Alex's voice is very genuine teen boy. I would certainly recommend this one to those I know looking for such a book.

The Shadows

2012-02-02T12:00:00.069-05:00

I have been meaning to read The Shadows by Jacqueline West since it won the Cybil in MG Fantasy and Science Fiction last year. I finally got around to it now that the new winners are about to be announced. I can see why this one was chosen as a winner. This is a story sure to appeal to children who like their fantasy on the slightly creepy side. For adult fans of the genre there is also quite a bit of nostalgia on offer in the book.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Old Ms. McMartin is definitely dead. Now her crumbling Victorian mansion lies vacant. When eleven-year-old Olive and her dippy mathematician parents move in, she knows there's something odd about the place—not least the walls covered in strange antique paintings. But when Olive finds a pair of old spectacles in a dusty drawer, she discovers the most peculiar thing yet: She can travel inside these paintings to a world that's strangely quiet . . . and eerily like her own Yet Elsewhere harbors dark secrets—and Morton, an undersized boy with an outsize temper. As she and Morton form an uneasy alliance, Olive finds herself ensnared in a plan darker and more dangerous than she could have imagined, confronting a power that wants to be rid of her by any means necessary. It's up to Olive to save the house from the dark shadows, before the lights go out for good.

The story in this book is full of a child's dreams come true. An old Victorian house that is bought with all the possessions still inside and free to explore. All those old things to play dress up and all the interesting places to discover. Plus a library full of ancient books with piled high on shelves with ladders. The home also comes with cats. Cats that talk. Life doesn't get much more exciting than that and Olive is enjoying herself. Except for certain paintings that are creeping her out she loves the old house. After finding a pair of glasses that actually allows her to enter the paintings things become a little more dire. There are people inside the paintings who have an extraordinary and frightening tale to tell. Olive finds herself caught in a sinister plot that puts her and her entire family in danger and she doesn't know who she should trust: the lovely painting of a girl named Annabelle or the cats everyone in Elsewhere is telling her are evil witch's familiars.

In addition to the setting of the old house and the mystery of the paintings this book has a supernatural element in it that is downright creepy. If you have a young child who likes haunting stories with a mild fear factor this one is a good choice. It is not too scary, just scary enough and the intense parts of the plot move quickly.

For kids who like series The Shadows is only the first adventure in The Books of Elsewhere. The sequel, Spellbound, is currently available and the third volume, The Second Spy, will be released in July of this year.

School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books 2012

2012-02-01T11:20:00.000-05:00

From now on referred to as SLJ's BoB, or just BoB. For any unfamiliar with this particular celebration of children's literature you are in for a treat. They start with 16 books and in the end they have one winner, and authors do the choosing. Watching this unfold is one of the highlights of my year. It is that much fun.

They released the 16 titles today and you can view the brackets to see who will be competing against who in round one. Here is the list of titles:

Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming (my Goodreads review)
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Septys
Bootleg by Karen Blumenthal
The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright (my review)
Chime by Franny Billingsley (my review)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Drawing from Memory by Alan Say
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami (my review)
Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson (my Goodreads review)
Inside Out and Back Again by Thannha Lai (my review)
Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (my review)
Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt (my review)
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (my review)

My early thoughts:
Four of the books that made my Best Reads of 2011 list are on here. I have absolutely no idea how to choose which one to champion. I would champion all four but two of them are up against each other in Round One. Comparing and then deciding between Chime and The Cheshire Cheese Cat is not a task I envy. They are both excellent and very different types of books.

I have no idea what I'm voting for in the Undead poll.

As you can see I still have seven of these books to read. One is in my bedroom and will be read this week. One I will pick up tomorrow at the library. I need to pick up all my holds before I can put holds on the rest (I have reached my hold limit). My library doesn't have Life: An Exploded Diagram so I don't know if I'll get to that or not.

As it gets closer to the start of the first round I will do a more detailed analysis like I did last year.

Death Cloud

2012-01-31T12:00:00.061-05:00

I have been torn about reading Death Cloud by Andrew Lane for some time. On the one hand, it is about a teenage Sherlock Holmes. On the other hand, the cover is highly mockable. I wouldn't be caught in public with this book sort of mockable. It makes it difficult to take the contents seriously. Then I saw a favorable review from a friend on Goodreads and decided to overcome my being content with chortling over the cover (the UK cover is so much better). I'm glad I did because this is an excellent example of YA historical fiction, a true honoring of the original character, and a fun mystery adventure story.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
It is the summer of 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. On break from boarding school, he is staying with eccentric strangers—his uncle and aunt—in their vast house in Hampshire. When two local people die from symptoms that resemble the plague, Holmes begins to investigate what really killed them, helped by his new tutor, an American named Amyus Crowe. So begins Sherlock’s true education in detection, as he discovers the dastardly crimes of a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely malign intent.

Sherlock Holmes is such an iconic character that I have to admire those who take him on and do it well. Andrew Lane has done it well. In this story you see the beginnings of the man who will be the great detective and the influences that formed him. I really really liked young Sherlock. He has a keen and intelligent mind but it is not fully trained. For that he has an excellent tutor who forces him to question, observe, think before judging. In his tutor's lessons fans of the original stories can see much of the tactics employed by Holmes, the detective. At the same time this young version of Sherlock is realistically young. He is insecure and unsure of himself. As someone who has read most of the original stories I enjoyed most of the hints of things to come. At the same time I can see a person who had never read those stories finding enjoyment in this developing character as well, even if they don't know to what it is all leading. This made me a little sad: Laudanum. Remembering the strange dreams that he'd had after he had been drugged, while he was being taken to France, Sherlock felt a twinge of-what? Melancholy, perhaps. Wistfulness. Surely not...longing? Whatever the feeling was, he pushed it away. He'd heard stories about people becoming dependent on the effects produced by laudanum, and he had no desire to go down that route. None at all. Poor Sherlock. I have to confess I did miss the presence of Watson. I don't know that I had realized how full of an impression he makes on the stories before, but not having him there made me notice. Sherlock does have two other friendly sidekicks, one of which is a lovely girl who Sherlock most definitely has more than friendly feelings towards.

All in all this book is good fun whether your a fan of the iconic detective or just interested in mystery set in Victorian England. This is the beginning of the series. There are currently four books out in the UK (with lovely intriguing covers). The second book will be released in the US in April under the altered title, Rebel Fire (can we please get better covers here?).

The Dragon of Cripple Creek

2012-01-29T12:00:00.002-05:00

The Dragon of Cripple Creek by Troy Howell is a book about a dragon guarding gold in an Old West mine and the girl who discovers him and his dragon gold. There is also an interesting sibling story thrown in.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
When Kat and her father and brother visit the Mollie Kathleen, an old gold mine now open for tours by the busload, Kat gets lost from the group and falls down a shaft, where she discovers an awe-inspiring world of fantasy come to life. She meets an ancient dragon—the last of his kind—and discovers a secret about the gold that litters the creature's den and why dragons throughout time have hoarded the sparkling treasure. The dragon helps Kat escape the endless caverns, but not before Kat greedily takes a piece of gold for herself. Feeling guilty, Kat decides to return it, but before she can do this she drops it in front of a group of visitors, and a media frenzy ensues. Soon the mining town is filled with gold seekers. In order to save the dragon and his gold, Kat and her brother must venture back into the mine to warn him. But will they get there in time?

The novel has a lot going for it: adventure, siblings working together, a dragon. Most of it works very well too. Kat is a fun heroine, one who makes ridiculously bad decisions, but you can't help loving at the same time. Her brother is one of those characters I love, apparently lazy and a joker he is actually covering up a brilliant mind for trickery and subterfuge. I love the setting of the Old West tourist town too. Plus there's a dragon. All stories are improved when you add in a dragon. Especially one who knows so many big words. The book does suffer from being too long and getting lost in its own wordiness in the middle. Still it is a fun read for any one who likes a good dragon story or tall tale.

Warped

2012-01-27T12:00:00.004-05:00

Warped by Maurissa Guibord takes a magically woven tapestry, the mythology of the Norn (Fates), and some time travel to tell a romantic story of destined love.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Tessa doesn't believe in magic. Or Fate. But there's something weird about the dusty unicorn tapestry she discovers in a box of old books. She finds the creature woven within it compelling and frightening. After the tapestry comes into her possession, Tessa experiences dreams of the past and scenes from a brutal hunt that she herself participated in. When she accidentally pulls a thread from the tapestry, Tessa releases a terrible centuries old secret. She also meets William de Chaucy, an irresistible 16th-century nobleman. His fate is as inextricably tied to the tapestry as Tessa's own. Together, they must correct the wrongs of the past. But then the Fates step in, making a tangled mess of Tessa's life. Now everyone she loves will be destroyed unless Tessa does their bidding and defeats a cruel and crafty ancient enemy.

This is a romantic fantasy more than anything else. There is confusion, angst, furtive glances, and several kissing scenes. (Including one where a bodice is undone-though not ripped.) If you are a fan of romance, particularly the fated-and-impossible-to-fight type of love story this is one to add to your list. I am not so much a fan of that kind of romance, so this one didn't work for me on that level. I did enjoy Will's reactions to the modern world and Tessa's spirit and ability to problem solve.

The story just required me to stretch my credulity a bit farther than it could go though. The entire modus operandi of the plot didn't make sense to me. You have this magical tapestry that is the key to your eternal life and existence and you box it and your journal chronicling all your dastardly deeds up in a crate and leave it in a house that's contents are to be auctioned while you fly off on your private jet? No way a mistake could be made there. Wouldn't it have been safer to just put the tapestry and book in a suitcase and take it with you? You have a private jet. It's not like you have to check baggage. Obviously without this inexplicable element Tessa would never have come across the tapestry and therefore there would be no story, but it bothered me the whole time I was reading. Other people might not be as bothered by this and therefore able to settle in and enjoy the story that is told.

The Queen's Thief Week

2012-01-25T12:00:00.155-05:00

My friend Chachic over at Chachic's Book Nook is hosting a week on her blog dedicated to the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. If you go and peruse the My Favorite Things posts I have you will see these books come up quite a bit. It is my favorite series which contains my favorite book which contains my favorite character of all time. I have never written "reviews" for these books because I just don't know how. It is almost impossible to discuss all the whys and wherefores of loving something so much. Which is why Chachic is a genius for coming up with this awesome event where all of us who love these books can share little pieces of their brilliance and what they mean to us individually and this is my small contribution to that. Plot elements in the second book are hinted at here, there was no other way I could write it, but I managed to avoid outright spoilers.

The picture used in the poster there for this event comes from the Japanese edition of The Queen of Attolia. I love this cover for oh so many reasons, but mostly because I think it captures the spirit of the book and its titular character the best of all the covers for this, my favorite book.

Much of the love for this series you will see poured out on its main character Gen, the sarcastic lazy vain arrogant brilliant hero we all fell for in the first book, The Thief. I fell for him just as hard as anyone and my love for him knows no bounds to be sure, but he is not my favorite character. Irene Attolia is. And let me say, for those familiar with the series and story, it was not something I had to grown into. It started from when she made her first appearance almost at the end of The Thief. The one and only scene she has in that book is fascinating. The way her presence hovers over the action in the rest of the book despite her physical absence only served to make me more curious about her. Then I read The Queen of Attolia and whoa. When I hit chapter three I literally cringed and not just because I was horrified on Gen's behalf. Even on a first read through I was concerned for her too. About what that action had cost her as a person. This is a credit to the immense talent of the author. Ms. Turner managed to create two characters who are in opposition to each other, yet both are sympathetic.

Why do I like this character so much? I wrote about it more than a year ago in my favorite female character's post. Here is what I said: I LOVE her. She is something rare, a female anti-hero. She is not evil. She is not the antagonist. She is a woman who has done some truly terrible things for some very good reasons. And she has done some terrible things for less acceptable reasons. Nothing about her character is comfortable. Irene made some hard choices at a young age. These choices were the best she could make for her people and the security of her throne but they were not good for her personally. They isolated her and pushed her further and further behind a mask of power, ruthlessness and inaccessibility until that persona gradually started to become all she was. Irene is brilliant. She is a master strategist, a fantastic manager and has amazing patience and a fierce control on her temper (mostly-one person tends to set it off). She has a wry sense of humor. She doesn’t enjoy her loneliness. However, her inability to trust and rely on anyone slowly begins to erode her humanity away. And she knows this and sees it happening. This is the one area she is powerless to control though. She can’t let down her guard while directing a war, managing her fractious barons, manipulating her enemies and maintaining her country’s independence. Someone else knows all that and recognizes that she, Irene the person, is worth saving from herself and offers her a lifeline. The choice to take it is entirely in her hands but it costs her pride. She makes the sacrifice of that pride with much reservation. But this doesn’t change the essence of who Irene is. She is still powerful, brilliant and ironic. She can still freeze the blood in a man’s veins with a single glance. She just has someone to help take the edges off her ruthlessness and allow her to be a woman as well as a queen.

The part in bold is why I love the story in The Queen of Attolia so much. For me it is a book largely about the inexplicable nature of forgiveness and the power it has to release and transform. Some might (and do) question how forgiveness can be given to someone who has committed the wrong she has. I love that through her character we see how difficult it is to accept that forgiveness. It isn't simply about admitting you have done wrong. That's the first (and easiest) step. What comes next is so much harder, and Irene struggles through the last third of Queen demonstrate this beautifully.

While these are my favorite elements of the series there are so many other reasons why I keep coming for rereads. There is adventure, mystery, myth, complicated relationships of every type, intrigue, politics, war, some amazing fights scenes, and heart stopping moments (of more than one variety).

This is only one snap shot of what is a far more complex and engrossing tale which begins in the first book and continues to the fourth. (And will be continued further in the final two volumes of the series that are in the works.) For more of these snap shots check out the posts on Chachic's site:
Post One: How I Discovered the Series by Chachic of Chachic's Book Nook
Post Two: The Thief and Secrets by Sherwood Smith (author of the wonderful Crown Duel and other books)
Post Three: On Sounis (meeting place for the seriously devoted fan) by Checkers (our fearless moderator)
Post Four: Gen as Hero by Melina Marchetta (another favorite author of several books including The Piper's Son)
Post Five: A Gen Acrostic by Holly of Book Harbinger
Post Six: Not Telling by Megan Whalen Turner (the amazing author herself)
Post Seven: Bibliovangelizing the Books by Angie of Angieville
Post Eight: The Queen's Thief, Sarah, and Book Pushing by Sarah Rees Brennan (author of The Demon's Lexicon trilogy and the wonderful lj sarahtales)
Post Nine: Why I Adore The Queen's Thief Series by Ana of The Book Smugglers
Post Ten: How I Fell in Love with The Queen's Thief Series (and Why) by R.J. Anderson (another of my favorite authors-seriously this week is killing me-of The Faerie Rebels series and Ultraviolet)
Post Eleven: Looking Together in the Same Direction by Elizabeth Wein (an author whose books I need to read yesterday including The Sunbird)
Post Twelve: The Romance by Chachic of Chachic's Book Nook, the brilliant and awesome hostess of the festivities

And the Winners Are...

2012-01-23T10:13:00.001-05:00

The winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards were announced this morning at the Midwinter Conference. Here they are in all their newly medaled glory. I'm a little sad because none of the books I wanted to win did. I am looking forward to reading the winners I haven't gotten to yet though.

The Geisel
Awarded to the author and illustrator of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers.

The Winner: Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider
The Honors: I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems, I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, See Me Run by Paul Meisel

The Printz Award
Awarded to the author of a work that exemplifies excellence in young adult literature.

The Winner: Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
The Honors: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, The Returning by Christine Hinwood (my review), Jasper Jones by Craig Silveym, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (my review)

The Caldecott
Awarded to the artist of the most distinguished picture book for children

The Winner: A Ball For Daisy by Chris Raschka
The Honors: Blackout by John Rocco, Grandpa Green by Lane Smith, Me Jane! by Patrick McDonald

The Newbery
Awarded to the author of the most distinguished work of American literature for children.

The Winner: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
The Honors: Inside Out and Back Again by Thannha Lai (my review), Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

Congratulations to all!

Anticipation

2012-01-21T12:00:00.077-05:00

And what am I anticipating? Monday morning 7:45 AM Central time. This is when the ALA Youth Media Awards will be announced. I will be one of the people vying for those limited (10,000) virtual seats. Since I'm nice I will tell you that here is where you go to try for that. (Although anyone who really wants to watch it probably already knows that.) There is also a Twitter you can follow.

The awards are largely unpredictable because the committees change every year. Even if you have been following Calling Caldecott, Heavy Medal, and Someday My Printz Will Come you can still be taken by surprise on award day. So these are not predictions, just my thoughts, beginning with the award I'm most familiar with the criteria for (having actually participated at HM this year rather than just lurking) and the books that are contenders for it.

The Newbery
I will be a happy happy girl if any of the following books win or are given honors:

My top spot vote in the HM mock went to Amelia Lost and I'm hoping it does win the day on Monday. If The Cheshire Cheese Cat had been on the shortlist one of my votes would have gone to it.

Some other books I can see being candidates that I enjoyed (but not as much): the other books on the Heavy Medal shortlist, Inside Out and Back Again, Breadcrumbs, The Great Wall of Lucy Wu, and One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street.

The Printz
I haven't read nearly as many of the contenders for this one so this is all about me and the books I like basically. I really want to see one of these two win:

The Caldecott
I am completely unqualified to comment on this one at all really. It is given for the illustrations and art is not something I feel comfortable commenting on. Looking at the books discussed on Calling Caldecott this year though my personal favorite is:

I really like Grandpa Green and Heart and Soul as well though.

We shall know all on Monday. I will, as I did last year, post the results along with any short thoughts I may have. The problem is I teach on Mondays, and while the early central start time will allow me to know all the winners before I leave I probably won't have time to do the post until later. So go to Heavy Medal. I'm sure they will have the results up faster.

The Fault in Our Stars

2012-01-19T12:00:00.101-05:00

And here is Most Anticipated Books of 2012 number two. I admit much of my anticipation for this one had to do with the experience of reading it alongside so many others. It was like a community event. Not that I don't enjoy John Green's work in and of itself, I just tend to want to like it more than I actually do. The Fault in Our Stars is no different. There is so much to love about the artistry in the writing itself and it is beautiful, witty, and heartbreaking, but there were elements of it that I just couldn't fully embrace, all of which had to do with me as the reader and not the book itself.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

The book has everything one could wish for in a good book. Excellent characterization, tragedy mixed with acerbic humor, a well placed plot, and a story that is moving. Hazel and Augustus are, of course, mature beyond their years. They have had to face questions about life, death, and reality that most kids their age never think to contemplate. The book is really an examination of these questions: What is the meaning of life if there is one? What happens to us when we die? How does knowing we are going to die in the imminent future affect the decisions we make in the present? What is the purpose of living, even if it is for a shortened time? These are all excellent questions. Questions that should be asked and contemplated. I like these questions. I disagree with many of the answers Hazel and Augustus came up with but I loved that they sparked so much thought and could be the beginning of many interesting conversations. I really enjoyed the interactions between these two and their developing romance, which is the real thing: intellectual, emotional, and physical. Hazel is Green's first attempt to tell a story from the female perspective and he did an excellent job. Augustus Waters does take over the story though (or did for me). His sexy charismatic personality was hard not to fall for.

So yes, I enjoyed and appreciated the book. My problem? I actually guessed where the plot was going from my first reading of the synopsis back when it was revealed and had been hoping since then I was wrong. I wasn't, and that is not a fault in the book or the way it was written. That was just me wanting a different story than the one being told. To Green's credit he made me believe this is the only way the story could have gone despite my reservations, and yes I cried in all the requisite places, but I could never shake the sense that I was being manipulated into it, although not in the cheap sentimental way that so many cancer books are guilty of. I do wonder if my reaction to it would have been different if this book had come out before A Monster Calls. It may only be the comparison in my own head between the two that made this one feel a little heavy handed toward the end.

Winterling

2012-01-17T12:00:00.074-05:00

Here it is, the first of my Most Anticipated Reads of 2012. Winterling by Sarah Prineas was well worth the anticipation. This is one of the books that just fit me and my mood perfectly.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
With her boundless curiosity and wild spirit, Fer has always felt that she doesn’t belong. Not when the forest is calling to her, when the rush of wind through branches feels more real than school or the quiet farms near her house. Then she saves an injured creature—he looks like a boy, but he’s really something else. He knows who Fer truly is, and invites her through the Way, a passage to a strange, dangerous land. Fer feels an instant attachment to this realm, where magic is real and oaths forge bonds stronger than iron. But a powerful huntress named the Mor rules here, and Fer can sense that the land is perilously out of balance. Fer must unlock the secrets about the parents she never knew and claim her true place before the worlds on both sides of the Way descend into endless winter.

Yay for heroines who ask questions! Again. And again. And again. Until they finally get the answers they need. Also, yay for heroines who persist in what they know is right even when others say it is a lost cause. Fer had me smiling through the entire book, mostly because she is a bit different as a heroine. She is a thinker, compassionate, and true to her word. She meets what must be done head on and pours love and mercy on the people she meets. (I was also happy that not all of those she bestowed these traits on were very thankful for them. It gave the book a realistic quality that I appreciated.) At the same time she is scared of the unknown and not absolutely sure of herself. Rook was another favorite (the book focuses on him almost as much as it does on Fer) as I have a much acknowledged weakness for trickster characters with attitude. Especially when they are truly heroic and angry about it. That's always good reading.

There are many elements of the plot and world that will be familiar to most readers. The idea of a changeling, the Other world running not quite in tandem with but crossing over ours, the concept of a Green Man (or Woman), an evil one who must be defeated to restore balance and what is proper. Prineas took all of these and really made them her own though. She has created a world that is beautiful and mysterious and conveys those things without being overly descriptive. She says much with few words, a trait I always appreciate in a writer. I actually had dreams about the story each night I was reading it and that doesn't happen to me often. Only when a writer has really been able to etch their world into my mind.

Happily there will be a sequel coming out in 2013 titled Summerkin so there is more from this world to look forward too. (Most Anticipated of 2013 list already in the making.)

Kate at Book Aunt posted a review for this where she talks about the Irish myths used in the story. Very interesting.

And tomorrow The Enchanted Inkpot will post an interview with Sarah Prineas about the book.

Literary Moms

2012-01-13T12:00:00.064-05:00

When I did the post on my Favorite Sibling Stories months ago, it occurred to me that I should at some point tackle literary parents. The thought was rather daunting though as in Middle Grade and Young Adult novels, particularly the fantasy ones I mostly read, they are largely absent. My own wonderful Mom has a birthday coming up next week and as I was thinking about all that there is to celebrate about her and how great a mother she is, I was reminded of this again. For me personally moms in books don't impress me as much because they come nowhere close to being as great as the one I have. (It is the same for dads, I was well and truly blessed with both my parents, but I will tackle the dads in the next favorite things post.) There are some that do stand out and pop into my mind right away as I sat down to think about it.

Molly Weasley
She is in no way a perfect mother, but no mother is. (Being a mother drives this point home remarkably well.) This is part of why I like Molly so much. She is very real. Stressed, scattered, often short tempered, but she wants what is best for her children and shows clearly that she loves them. And she did a tremendously good job raising them. She had seven kids and in the end every single one of them chooses to stand up and do what is right even when in it means risking everything.

Mrs. Murry
Another mother who had to deal with massive amounts of stress while raising not exactly the easiest kids in the world. And she had to do it for some time without the help of her husband and the added burden of wondering what had happened to him. Even though she is not present for much of her children's stories, her impact is very much there. This year marks the 50th Anniversary of A Wrinkle in Time so it is a great time to reread it and rediscover how great a job she did raising such intrepid heroes.

The Dowager Duchess of Denver
Peter is all well and good as a literary crush. He is certainly one of mine.But can you imagine being the woman who had to raise him? Not to mention his obnoxious older brother and flighty sister. If she were real, the woman would deserve a medal. And she managed to keep her sense of humor about her at the same time. Her husband wasn't exactly helpful either. Yes, she was a Duchess so had nannies and the like to help her but it is clear from the books that she very much loves her children and was interested in their lives. Particularly Peter's as his is the focus of the books, but they show she loves and is interested in her other children as well. Some of my favorite parts of the Lord Peter series are the parts she is in and I absolutely adore all her journal entries included at the beginning of Gaudy Night.

And really that's all I've got. This is a sad short little list. Some others come to mind as good examples, but they never had much of an impact on me personally so I can't include them in a list of favorites. What about you, are there any you would add?

My Unfair Godmother

2012-01-11T12:00:00.050-05:00

I have been looking forward to reading Janette Rallison's My Unfair Godmother since I read her first novel about the neglectful fairy godmother Chrissy Everstar, My Fair Godmother (my review). The two novels only share her as a character and therefore can be read individually. In My Unfair Godmother Chrissy is back to wreak havoc in another teen's life by grossly misinterpreting her wishes.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Tansy Miller has always felt that her divorced father has never had enough time for her. But mistakenly getting caught on the wrong side of the law wasn't exactly how she wanted to get his attention. Enter Chrysanthemum "Chrissy" Everstar, Tansy's fairy in shining, er, high heels. Chrissy is only a fair godmother, of course, so Tansy's three wishes don't exactly go according to plan. And if bringing Robin Hood to the twenty-first century isn't bad enough for Tansy, being transported back to the Middle Ages to deal with Rumpelstiltskin certainly is. She'll need the help of her blended family, her wits, and especially the cute police chief 's son to stop the gold-spinning story from spinning wildly out of control.

In many ways this book is similar to its predecessor. Again you have a teen girl sent against her will into a fairy tale, a hot acquaintance of teenage girl ends up in the past for a longer period and is able to help her when she gets there, members of her family are also transported so defeating the magic becomes a team effort. I enjoyed the first novel and like Rallison's writing so the similarities didn't bother me. It was nice to be able to read something and know exactly what I was getting: a humorous yet thoughtful romantic story with fairy tale tropes and a happy ending.

I admit that I was a little nervous about the fairy tale Rallison was tackling with this one. Rumpelstiltskin is such a disturbing tale that it is a difficult one to do a reimagining of and not veer into the creepy. It is just a creepy story. Rallison managed it though, baby and all, and how she did it was inventive. Tansy is sympathetic yet flawed as well and Hudson is a perfect fairy tale hero. I also enjoyed the story of Tansy's relationship with her father, stepmother, and stepbrother.

Overall I liked the first one a little better, mainly because I liked Tristan as a hero more than Hudson and I thought the first one was more amusing. This is a very nice one too for those looking for more of the same and I will certainly read it if Rallison ever writes a third installment.

Come Fall

2012-01-09T12:00:00.046-05:00

Oberon, Titania, Puck. These were the reasons I was interested in reading Come Fall by A.C.E. Bauer. Take characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream and have them messing in the lives of middle schoolers? I'm so there. And I enjoyed the book as I expected, but not for the reasons I thought I would.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Lu Zimmer's best friend moved away last summer. Salman Page is the new kid in school. Blos Pease takes everything literally. Three kids who are on the fringe of the middle school social order find each other and warily begin to bond, but suddenly things start going wrong. Salman becomes the object of the school bully's torment, and Lu's pregnant mother has some unexpected complications. Is something conspiring against them? In fact, through no fault of their own, Salman and Lu have become pawns in a game of jealous one-upmanship between Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of Faery, with the mischievous Puck trying to keep the peace.

The story in Come Fall is told in third person limited, but the limited perspective switches from chapter to chapter between the three kids. Puck's chapters are in first person from his point of view. This is one of those books that does not necessarily deliver on the Faery meddling promise so much. If you took out the six chapters Puck narrates this book becomes nothing more than a contemporary fiction novel about three middle school students who are outsiders. Even in the brief encounters with Faery we only get background information that explains why things are happening to the protagonists. The Faery world and the real world never actually meet. With the exception of some remarkable encounters with a crow the children never encounter anything that hints at the other worldly. If I had been in a different mood when I read it this might have annoyed me. However, I liked Bauer's writing and the characters of Salman and Lu enough that it didn't. I do wonder how a child reader who was looking for a fantasy read would feel about the more subtle use of the magical elements here, especially as they would most likely be unfamiliar with the source material for the Faery characters.

Past Perfect

2012-01-07T12:00:00.055-05:00

My parents moved to Virginia two weeks after I started college. They live a 20-30 minute, depending on traffic, drive from Colonial Williamsburg. I have been many times. While there I have never wanted to ask the actors if they are hot. I know they are hot. I'm hot and I don't have 20 pounds of clothes on. I have always wondered about the other lives of these people who spend their whole day pretending to be someone else in a different world. I was excited to see Leila Sales had written a story about this in her contemporary YA novel Past Perfect, which I devoured in one afternoon and thoroughly loved. (Also, I love the cover even if it has nothing to do with the actual story.)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new. Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….

My college made us Elementary Ed majors have what they called a "Concentration" in another subject area. It was more hours than a minor but not enough to qualify as a second major (but almost-kind of annoying). Mine was in History. So I think I came at this novel from a perspective that most readers who just enjoy romantic contemporary YA probably do not. Reading this was a complete nerdfest for me. The characters in this book are my people. (Yes, I do know real life people who participate in Civil War reenactments.) Chelsea states at the beginning that teens who want to work at Essex are 1)history nerds or 2) drama geeks. Having proudly been a member of both of those groups I really enjoyed all the characters. Especially Chelsea, who doesn't realize it in the beginning, but is a member of both groups herself. I very much like how in portraying some of the characters as those stereotypes, Sales also showed that individually they were all so much more than that. I thought the way the friendship between Chelsea and Fiona was portrayed was wonderful. They are two complicated girls who really care for each other and want to support each other. I also enjoyed the way Chelsea's break up recovery was dealt with. When you are 16, losing your first love is devastating, even if he is kind of a jerk. Usually you can't see that. I was impressed with how realistic, without being overly dramatic that situation was.

The overly dramatic element was there in the war the Colonial reenactors have with the Civil War reenactors and Chelsea's forbidden flirtation with one of the enemy camp. I liked the relationship, but felt that the most dramatic element of it was a little unnecessary. There was enough going on to create tension without adding that and I had a difficult time reconciling it with Chelsea's character. However, I was able to overlook this because of all the things I did like about the story.

Particularly the history stuff. My favorite scene in the book is from p246-251 where Chelsea and her father are having a bonding moment over a discussion of the perceptions we have of history. Loved. Every. Word.
Also this quote (which occurs later): "My parents took me to Ren Faire one weekend when I was little, because they thought it would be a fun family outing. When we saw the stage of half-naked dancers, we immediately turned around and left. Not because my parents thought it was inappropriate for their child to see barely dressed women. Just because thy thought it was inappropriate for their child to see such offensive historical inaccuracies." This pretty much sums up why my kids are not allowed to watch Pocahontas.

Note on Content: There is mention of alcohol being available at a party Chelsea attends (though she does not partake). There are also some mild make out scenes.

One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street

2012-01-05T12:00:00.047-05:00

One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin has one of the most complicated and difficult to remember titles of any book I've come across in a long time. It is title worth trying to remember though as it is a wonderful heartwarming story of friendship and community and the magic in everyday life.

The story follows the lives of the citizens on Orange Street over the course of a day and a half and centers on the vacant lot with the lone standing orange tree where the children play. The third person narrative switches perspective between three 9 year old girls, one 11 year old boy, an elderly woman who has lived on Orange Street her entire life, the mysterious man, and even the orange tree. Ali is dealing with how his sickness has changed her brother. Leandra is trying to reconcile herself to the arrival of a new sister. Bunny is overcome with fears and worry over her mother's business traveling. Robert is trying to deal with his parents divorce and impress Ali so that she will be more like she used to be. Ms. Snoops is forgetting more and more as each day goes by but is comforted watching the children play in the vacant lot near her home. All of these stories are linked through the relationships of the people involved and the events in one day and one morning on their street involving the mysterious man and an equally mysterious orange cone that appears in front of the vacant lot.

There are a lot of characters and events here and yet I never got them confused or mixed up. Each of the girls, who would have been the easiest confuse, has a distinct personality and different family dynamic. All of the events form each character's personality and are woven together into one beautiful narrative thread. Rocklin managed do to all of this in 200 pages. The story is full and rich and not at all bloated. In a time where so many MG novels are hitting the 350-400 page mark, I lift my hat to Rocklin for this. What I enjoyed most about the book was the emphasis on community in all its variations, family, friends, neighbors and how what we do affects the people we are in community with. There were times when this theme was a little loud and felt like it was being hammered at which is my one and only quibble with the book in general.

The Scorpio Races

2012-01-03T12:00:00.067-05:00

Confession time. I read several reviews that called The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater a supernatural YA version of Misty of Chincoteague. Confession One: I have never read Misty of Chincoteague. Bit has to read it for school next year and I have been putting off reading it because, Confession Two: I don't want to. Why? Confession Three: I don't like horse stories. Never have. This is because, Confession Four: I don't really care for horses. (And don't get why so many people do.) I was very eager to read The Scorpio Races though. Apparently all it takes for me to be interested in a horse story is for the horses in question to be rapacious fey creatures who devour their riders when they fall off. What that says about me as a human being I'm not sure.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

I can see why so many people have fallen in love with this book. Stiefvater's prose is beautiful and atmospheric. I really enjoyed her descriptions of the capaill uisce. She made them true creatures. They were very much beasts and their instinctive nature is to kill. It is only through firm careful control that they can be tamed by man. The novel is also paced well, covering the month before the race and the events leading up to it. There are a couple scenes that were a bit repetitive, but for the most part the plot kept me wanting to read all the way to the end, if only to discover how Stiefvater was going to resolve all the conflicts.

I also enjoyed, for the most part, the unfolding relationship between Puck and Sean. It was exactly the sort of relationship I like to read about. It was a slow moving one between people who shared a connection, but are also pitted against each other in a contest with high stakes. They approach what is between them with a realistic amount of caution mixed with intrigue.

Yet, I found myself not really caring much. Sean is so strong and silent that even when the story is from his point of view I felt like I didn't know him at all. What made him tick and why he loved these creatures so much despite all he had lost to them. Puck I just didn't understand. She made some inexplicably reckless decisions. I had a hard time swallowing her original motivation for taking such risks, and then wondered what she was thinking after all she witnessed. I found the "villains" in the story to be simple type characters. One in particular. I didn't love the book as much as I could have because the characterization didn't work for me. Maybe it all goes back to me not understanding the horse/human connection thing.

Most Anticipated 2012 Reads AND a Challenge

2012-01-01T12:00:00.045-05:00

It looks like another great year of reading is starting. There are several books coming out this year by authors I fell in love with in 2011 and I am excited for new installments in several series I enjoy. Here are some of the books I'm most looking forward to.

Winterling by Sarah Prinneas (January)
I love the cover. I love the premise. I read Prinneas's Magic Thief books this year and adored them so I am very much excited to get my hands on this one. Here is a very enticing book trailer you can watch to raise the excitement level even more.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (January)
If you read the synopsis of this book you kind of have to wonder how anyone could say they were excited about reading it. (Although masses of people are.) It is most likely going to be gut wrenching and heart breaking. But it is John Green so it will also be humorous and probably awesome. (I confess the only other John Green I've read is Looking for Alaska so I can not be counted as one of his super loyal fans, but I so admire the way the man writes. I should really get on reading his other books this year too.)

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley (February)
I have been wanting to read this book since it was released in Australia and the blogoshpere lit up with reviews on its awesomeness. It is finally releasing in the US this year and I am looking forward to experiencing it for myself. And while I loved the simplicity of the Australian cover, I very much like the new US cover as well.

Swift by R.J. Anderson (March-UK)
I adore Anderson's Faerie books and Swift is the most recent installment. This takes the story to a new location and follows a new character, Ivy, a faery born without wings who longs to fly like her fellows.

Peaceweaver by Rebecca Barnhouse (March)
This book is the one I am anticipating the most. I can not tell you how eager I am to get my hands on it. The Coming of the Dragon was one of my favorite reads of 2011. (I actually read it twice.) I have been waiting for this book since I reached the end of that one and realized that there was so much more to the silent Hild than there appeared to be. I dare you to read that book and not desperately long for her story just as much. Also, I love the beauty in the ideal of a Peaceweaver, and all the harsh complexities that are the reality of it. Plus that cover-oh oh oh.

Renegade Magic by Stephanie Burgis (April)
Already released in the UK under the title A Tangle of Magicks, this is the second installment of the Kat Stephenson books. I read the first one Kat Incorrigible when it came out. Twice actually, because I read it aloud to my daughter. I have a feeling I will be doing that with this one as well. Bit really likes Kat.

The Drowned Vault by N.D. Wilson (September)
This is the next installment of N.D. Wilson's Ashtown Burials. The first book, The Dragon's Tooth, was a 2011 favorite too. I am also excited to see what the cover for this is going to look like.

Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (October)
I really enjoyed Girl of Fire and Thorns and am interested to see where Carson is taking the story in this second volume. Again, another cover reveal I'm looking forward to.

We are also supposed to get the sequel to Shannon Hale's Princess Academy this year. There isn't an official date on that one yet though. (Or title.) I am thrilled she wrote a sequel as it wasn't something I was expecting, and it will be great to revisit those characters and see how they are getting on.

2012 will be the year I'm going to participate in my first challenge. Granted, I am starting out way easy. This is one that won't be so difficult for me. The Book Cellar is hosting a 2012 YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge. You can find out the information about it here. Even if you don't want to participate in the challenge Erica has compiled a great spreadsheet of all the YA/MG Fantasy book coming out in 2012. It is a wonderful resource if you like the genre.

Favorites of 2011

2011-12-30T12:00:00.026-05:00

Another year of reading is gone. This was a good year as several of my favorite authors released new books and I discovered a couple new favorite authors as well. I decided this year that I would keep my favorite list at 10. I cheated a little last year by sneaking in two extras. It was a difficult task, but I managed to whittle it down to 10.

Here they are in no particular order:

Links are to my reviews:
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta
The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty
The Coming of the Dragon by Rebecca Barnhouse
The Dragon's Tooth by N.D. Wilson
The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Deedy and Randall Wright
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Arrow by R.J. Anderson
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall

A few weeks ago I wrote about my Favorite Characters of 2011 and there are some more really great books on that list that I loved this year too.

The Inquisitor's Apprentice

2011-12-28T12:00:00.005-05:00

The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty took be by complete surprise. I was expecting to enjoy it and was patiently waiting for my library to order copies. Then on a visit to our local bookstore, I saw it and bought it on impulse. This is a good thing because I didn't enjoy this book, I LOVED it. I recognize it is not a book everyone will like, but it worked for me on every level. As a reader I was engrossed and it kept me thinking. As a mom it is definitely a book I want to have on the shelf for my kids. As a teacher I could see so much potential in it for a great unit study. But it was the reader me who enjoyed it the most. And now I have a new literary crush as well.

Sacha Kessler is a Russian Jewish immigrant living on Hester Street in a magical New York in the late 19th century. Magic practiced by the masses is illegal and the Wall Street Wizards (Morgaunt, Vanderbilk, Astral) use it to stay rich at the expense of the people. Sacha's life is changed forever on the day he witnesses an act of magic and it is discovered he can see magic being performed. Suddenly he finds himself the apprentice of Inquisitor Maximillian Wolf, the most famous of the group of NYPD officers assigned to investigate magical crime. Along with his fellow apprentice, Lily Astral, Sacha is immediately thrown into an investigation centered around an assassination attempt on the famous Thomas Edison, and all the clues are leading very close to Hester Street and Sacha's own home.

I love the magical New York Moriarty created here. The concept of the magic of the city and the people were brilliant. Her world building is excellent. As an alternate history it relies a lot on the actual history of industrial New York but she has painted the world with enough detail that (I think) you can read it without needing to know that actual history. In many ways the world building reminded me a lot of Diana Wynne Jones and Megan Whalen Turner in that Moriarty in no way condescends to her readers. She throws them into the world as it is and expects them to have the intelligence to catch up. I can actually see the real history being more of a stumbling block for an adult reader than a child reader. Children who enjoy fantasy are used to being dropped into worlds where they are unfamiliar with many aspects and there are different words and languages being used. The NY Moriarty has created would be viewed by them as a just another of these worlds.

The plot is fast paced and intricate. It is a mystery above all else, but also the story of a boy trying to reconcile his place in the world. Through it themes of gender, race, culture, religion, and economics are explored. There is so much fodder for discussion here. I could see this book working well paired with Flesh and Blood so Cheap and a study of this actual time period. I really feel like Moriarty balanced the themes well here. There is a definite sense that the the Wall Street Wizards, Mordaunt in particular, are the bad guys. She also plays with stereotypes quite a bit as well, but the underlying message is the reality of the situation is far more complex. There are several threads in the story left dangling and the end is definitely a set up as this is the first in a five book series.

Sacha is an interesting hero and one that is easy to identify with. He is a very genuine 13, not really a child but not yet an adult. He feels a great responsibility to his family and loves them greatly but is ashamed of the conditions they live in. He is a Russian Jew and an American. I enjoyed the interactions he and Lily had in this book and how a tentative friendship begins to develop between them. I am looking forward to seeing how his character grows and unfolds in the future volumes. I am also very much looking forward to seeing more of all the supporting characters, particularly Inquisitor Wolf (my brand new literary crush). When Charlotte reviewed this she had this to say about him, "He reminded me a bit of Lord Peter Whimsey, crossed with Howl, with a dash of Eugenides, mainly because he is very, very good at not revealing all that is going on inside his brilliant mind." That description is so perfectly apt that I can do no better.

So The Inquisitor's Apprentice has made a last minute entry into consideration for my top reads of 2011. I am eagerly anticipating any news of the next volume in this story.

Happy Boxing Day!

2011-12-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

And Merry Christmas a day late!

I have been busy enjoying our family traditions and the wonder of my kids for the past few days. Also, feeding the 8 people staying in my house right now. I hope everyone is enjoying themselves as much as I am! Regularly scheduled book type posts will be returning on Wednesday with a review of The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty, a book which made a last minute entry in my Favorites of 2011. I will be bringing you that list on Friday.

Enjoy any time off you may have and Happy Reading.

Prom and Prejudice

2011-12-22T12:00:00.080-05:00

There are many many novels out there that are retellings of or borrow elements from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I have a love/hate relationship with these novels. For some reason I can't help reading them despite the fact that they usually annoy me. A lot. Elizabeth Eulberg's Prom and Prejudice managed to not do that. I found it to be, like its bubble gum pink cover, light and fun.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn’t interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be — especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London. Lizzie is happy about her friend’s burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles’s friend, Will Darcy, who’s snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it’s because her family doesn’t have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk — so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway? Will Lizzie’s pride and Will’s prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making?

Reading the synopsis you can see this is very clearly Pride and Prejudice reset at a 21st century American boarding school. Instead of every girl aiming for a marriage proposal she is aiming for a prom invite. Every element of the original story is here. (Eulberg did toss out Mary and Kitty, but that can be forgiven as they were fairly superfluous characters anyway.) The way Eulberg tweaked the circumstances to give it a modern flair worked. What is more important, she clearly gets what Austen's point was too. (A thing many people who claim to be Austen fans miss altogether.) As Austen was mocking the courtship rituals of her time, Eulberg is mocking the ritual that is prom. This aspect could possibly have been explored a little more, but I was quite satisfied with how she resolved the prom aspect at the end of the novel.

I did question as I was reading if it would work for a teen reader not familiar with Austen's novel. I think I relied a great deal on my knowledge of the story and characters to fill in places, which someone who hasn't read Pride and Prejudice would not be able to do. Then there is the way the students talk. The language the kids use is....odd. That's the best word I can think to describe it. It isn't really old fashioned, more like they are trying to sound posh and cultured. No one talks like that even super educated trust fund kids. It was a little awkward in the modern setting and threw me off several times.

Overall this is an enjoyable read. However, if someone told me to choose one YA contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice to recommend I have to say Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman is a better choice. (Love that book. I can't believe I never reviewed it here. Hmmm...) It is nice to have more than one option though and Prom and Prejudice will, I think, appeal to a great many girls.

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

2011-12-20T12:00:00.106-05:00

That title. The cover. If you are in any way a fan of children's fantasy I think it rather impossible to face those two things combined and not want to read this book. Then you read the synopsis and find out the main character is a thief and, if you are me, all thoughts of even attempting to resist this book's allure go out the window. But why would you want to resist? Jonathan Auxier has penned a delightful adventure full of magic, thievery, intrigue and militant ravens. Yes, there is oh so much to like in Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes.

"Now, for those of you who know anything about blind children, you are aware that they make the very best thieves. As you can well imagine, blind children have incredible senses of smell, and they can tell what lies behind a locked door- be it fine cloth, gold, or peanut brittle- at fifty paces. Moreover, their fingers are so small and nimble that they can slip right through keyholes, and their ears so keen that they can hear the faint clicks and clacks of every moving part inside even the most complicated lock. Of course, the age of great thievery has long since passed;today there are few child-thieves left, blind or otherwise. At one time, however, the world was simply thick with them. This is the story of the greatest thief who ever lived. His name, as you've probably guessed, is Peter Nimble."

I shall start with the prose. Because this was one of those books. One of those books that had me questioning why I don't always have something handy with me for marking pages with quotes I like. This book is highly quotable. It speaks for itself right there in that first paragraph quoted above. I marked a lot of pages and that is not a usual occurrence in my reading. What I liked about the way this book was written is that it reads like a classic. Let me be clear and say this does not mean the writing is old fashioned or in any way stale. The feel of the story is just such that you think of it as one that has to have been around for decades, and yet it contains within it a very real sense of our modern time. How Auxier managed this I do not know, but manage it he did.

The story requires the reader to suspend belief a great deal. I always feel rather ridiculous stating that because it seems obvious. Of course it does. It is fiction. Yet this is fiction of a Tall Tale type. The stuff that is told of myths and legends long after they are gone. Think King Arthur. Or Davey Crockett killing a bear at the age of three. This has some of those type of elements in it and they enhance the story in many ways. The story itself is an incredible journey. There is a quest, high seas adventuring, a desert prison, scheming with a den of thieves, a kingdom under a curse, and an evil despot who must be stopped. It reads like something Dickens would have written if he decided Oliver Twist needed some magic in his life. Which could have been disastrous, but it's not. It is brilliant. And at the heart of it all is an orphaned blind thief named Peter Nimble.

Peter is awesome. He is an honorable thief. The best sort. He has lived a rough life and I felt for this poor little boy from the beginning. As his story continued I fell under his spell more and more. He is not always likable. He can be arrogant, high handed, demanding. At times he is scared and helpless. At all times you can't help but want him to win the day. Peter is backed up by an odd yet wonderful assortment of supporting characters from his quest companion Sir Tode to a Guard Raven to the prickly pugnacious Princess Peg. They add to Peter's story in delightful ways and give much insight into who this hero is.

I recommend this for anyone who loves mystery and adventure and enjoys a good yarn.

Books for Christmas Presents

2011-12-16T12:00:00.033-05:00

Or What My Kids are Getting for Christmas, 2011 Edition.

So I did this last year and decided to do it again this year since my kids, not surprisingly, get quite a few books for Christmas each year.

For the Little One (age 3):

You can find my thoughts on Apple Pie ABC and Press Here and also Follow Me and A Pocketful of Posies (from below) at this post.
We are in a Book and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! are fairly self explanatory. If you are the parent of a young child and don't know Mo Willems (I recently discovered there are such parents) you need to get to know his books and know them well.
Super Dragon is a cute story about a young dragon who wants to compete in a flying contest but needs to learn to fly first.
For Bit (age 7):

Cake Mix Cooking for Kids is a book full of easy recipes that use cake mixes as a base. Great for budding bakers who want to strike out on their own.
You can read my thoughts on Tuesdays at the Castle here and The Cheshire Cheese Cat here.
Bit and I both read Amelia Lost when we checked it out from the library earlier this year. Bit really loved it and so is getting her own copy.

And this year I have a soon to be niece to by a book for too. She is not due to make her arrival into the world until March 1 but it is never to soon to start buying a kid books. Right? And every kid needs a good nursery rhyme collection so she will be getting this:

What are you all getting for the young people in your lives this year?

The Horse and His Boy

2011-12-14T12:00:00.053-05:00

Featuring Bit, Age 7

Our last read aloud of 2011 is complete. We just finished The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis. I had read all of the Chronicles of Narnia to Bit when she was four and she enjoyed them then. This time however she not only enjoyed this but was pulled into the story. She was vocal and opinionated about everything and really engaged with the text. It was heartwarming for me as this is my absolute favorite of the seven books.

The Story
In Narnia it is the Golden Age as the High King Peter reigns with his siblings, but to the south of Narnia in the land of Calormen, a boy named Shasta has lived a simple and harsh life with his father in a fishing hut. Everything changes on the night a powerful Tarkhan wants to buy him as a slave and it is revealed that Shasta is not from Calormen at all. With the help of the Tarkhan's war horse, a talking horse captured from Narnia named Bree, Shasta escapes and head for the north and freedom. Along the way he and Bree form an alliance with a proud young Tarkheena named Aravis and her horse Hwin, also a talking horse from Narnia. They too are escaping life in Calormen. The four end up playing an intricate role in the fate of the northern countries of Archenland and Narnia, both of which find themselves under threat from Calormen.

Bit's Thoughts
I really like this book. It was my second time reading it. I enjoyed it much more this time and thought it was very funny. Especially the end. My favorite character is Aravis. I think she is very brave. She wants to go out all by herself. There is a character in this book named Lasaraleen who really annoyed me. She was silly and mostly cared about frilly dresses and all that. Aravis was so much better. I'm very happy that Aravis had a happy ending.

My Thoughts
Yes, this one, overlooked by many and hated by many who do actually read it, is my favorite of the series. I love how it is classic fantasy. There is a group of companions, a quest, a kingdom to save, an enemy to conquer, secrets to be uncovered, and an unknown heritage to be discovered. All the tropes of classic fantasy written before they were really tropes. This is the tightest of the plots Lewis wrote in any of the Narnia books. The story is wholly contained within this one volume. You can go into it knowing nothing of the other books and have all you need. The character arcs in this are also well done. Particularly that of Aravis, who is my favorite Narnia heroine. (I wrote about that more here.) From a Christian perspective I also appreciate the theology in this book and the way Lewis wove it into the story more than in any of the others. It is far more subtle, although still obvious, and is so layered. No matter how many times I read it I pick up on elements I missed before every time.

Bit and I won't be starting a new novel read aloud until January. There will be too many interruptions in the next couple weeks. When we do start back up we will be reading Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw.

Let it Snow

2011-12-12T12:00:00.041-05:00

Yes, this is another YA Christmas book post. What can I say? I'm in a holly jolly mood this year. Let it Snow is a collection of three short stories by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle. They are interconnected and involve snow, Christmas, and romance. Light, fluffy, fun. It is perfect for reading snuggled under a blanket near your Christmas tree.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks.

The three stories are interconnected, all taking place in Gracetown which is getting a Christmas snow that is stopping trains and trapping people where they are. The perfect set up for romances to bloom. And all this snow is falling on Christmas Eve trapping a couple of the teens in places their parents are not. Even more perfect for romantic developments. Gracetown is a fictional Western North Carolina mountain town and since I've lived in small town in Western North Carolina I especially appreciated this element. Particularly as the Waffle House was practically a character in the story. That is so spot on. All three stories are fun, if predictable. But let's face it, if you are in the mood to read a book like this, predictable is what you are after. My favorite was the John Green story, not only because I like his writing style, but also because I have a thing for best friends falling for each other stories. Maureen Johnson's story made me laugh the most of the three and I really fell for her characters too. I thought the final story (written by Lauren Myracle) was probably the weakest, mainly because the main character annoyed me greatly and it was heavy on the Starbucks and light on the male lead.

This is a great choice if you are in the mood for a romantic Christmas read.

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu

2011-12-10T12:00:00.008-05:00

It is rare for me to pick up a book anymore that I have no preconceived notions about. It is hard not to develop some about almost any book when I read so many blogs. I was very excited when I saw The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang on the new arrivals shelf at my library. I had seen it mentioned in a couple of comments at Heavy Medal but knew nothing else about it. Just the title. It was a lovely experience going into the story not knowing what to expect. I can say that it is one that is well worth reading and adding to any library collection (home, classroom, school).

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Lucy Wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is on the verge of having the best year of her life. She's ready to rule the school as a sixth grader and take over the bedroom she has always shared with her sister. In an instant, though, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, her beloved grandmother's sister, is coming to visit for several months -- and is staying in Lucy's room. Lucy's vision of a perfect year begins to crumble, and in its place come an unwelcome roommate, foiled birthday plans, and Chinese school with the awful Talent Chang.
Her plans are ruined -- or are they? Like the Chinese saying goes: Events that appear to be good or bad luck often turn out to be quite the opposite, and Lucy finds that while she may not get the "perfect" year she had in mind, she can create something even better.

Kids are going to sympathize with Lucy in all sorts of ways. I sympathized with her and really wanted to have a heart to heart with her parents on how unreasonable they are at times. Even when I knew they were right. That is how well Shang conveyed Lucy's emotions. Lucy has all the genuine feelings, frustrations, joys, and concerns of any typical sixth grade girl. There is a boy she likes but is content to sneak looks at. She is afraid of falling on the wrong side of her school's golden girl, who is a mean bully. She feels like her parents don't understand her or care about her feelings at all. There is an element in her story of warring culture. She is a Chinese-American and the American part wins over the Chinese part in many of her choices. Unlike her "perfect" older sister who speaks fluent Chinese and has learned all she can about the culture. This is conveyed with a light touch and, while probably the most element of Wendy's story, never becomes tired or trite.

Then there is Yi Po's story which the teacher/mom in me likes best about the book. There is a scene toward the end where Yi Po is recounting a moment from her childhood. A moment that took place during China's Cultural Revolution. It is a heart wrenching story and is told in such a way that it draws the reader in and manages to educate them on a very important time in Chinese (and therefore World) History at the same time. As most people probably manage to graduate high school without ever hearing about the Cultural Revolution this is a very good thing indeed. It is not the main reason to read the book though, only an added benefit.

The ending was a little too neat and tidy, all loose ends tied up in a pretty bow with curly ribbons, for my taste. But I am a cynical grown up. I can see a kid eating it up because that is the way they want similar situation in their own lives to end. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good contemporary MG novel.

Princess of Glass

2011-12-08T12:00:00.017-05:00

Tackling a retelling/reworking of Cinderella in a post Ella Enchanted (my review) world is a brave thing to do. And if you are going to do it you should really give your story some kind of unique spin. Jessica Day George did just that with Princess of Glass and the end result is an enjoyable and fun read.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Hoping to escape the troubles in her kingdom, Princess Poppy reluctantly agrees to take part in a royal exchange program, whereby young princes and princesses travel to each other's countries in the name of better political alliances--and potential marriages. It's got the makings of a fairy tale--until a hapless servant named Eleanor is tricked by a vengeful fairy godmother into competing with Poppy for the eligible prince. Ballgowns, cinders, and enchanted glass slippers fly in this romantic and action-packed happily-ever-after quest from an author with a flair for embroidering tales in her own delightful way.

There is a lot to like about how George manipulated the tale of Cinderella. The main character is Poppy, one of the may sisters from George's earlier retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", Princess of the Midnight Ball (my review), and she is not the Cinderella type character. That role is given to a maid by the name of Eleanora who is not all that likable. Turning the Fairy Godmother into the evil villain was a stroke of genius. These elements made the story different enough that it was page turner and took unexpected turns.

I also enjoyed how Poppy is very much the heroine of her story. She is the rescuer of the Prince and that is always an awesome addition to any tale. (He gets to do a bit of rescuing of his own too, but Poppy is even an active participant in that.)

This is a fun and light reworking of the old tale. I think that it might work better if it had not made so many references to the villains from the previous book and if the romance between Poppy and Christian had been developed a little better. Still, it is a good afternoon's entertainment.

This is YA, but is one of those that would work well for MG readers ready for something a little more mature and romantic.

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything

2011-12-06T12:00:00.027-05:00

Sometimes a book comes along that is a balance of quirky, enjoyable, and well written. When it happens to be a contemporary fiction novel about a culture many young readers are not familiar with, so much the better. If you are looking for such a book then Uma Krishnaswami's The Grand Plan to Fix Everything is one to check out.

Summary (from Goodreads):
Eleven-year old Dini loves movies—watching them, reading about them, trying to write her own—especially Bollywood movies. But when her mother tells her some big news, it does not at all jive with the script of her life she has in mind. Her family is moving to India…and, not even to Bombay, which is the center of the Bollywood universe and home to Dini’s all-time most favorite star, Dolly. No, Dini is moving to a teeny, tiny village she can’t even find on a map. Swapnagiri. It means Dream Mountain and it only looks like a word that’s hard to pronounce. But to that open-minded person who sounds the name out, one letter at a time, it falls quite handily into place: S-w-a-p-n-a-g-i-r-i. An honest sort of name, with no surprise letters waiting to leap out and ambush the unwary. That doesn’t mean there aren’t surprises in Swapnagiri like mischievous monkeys and a girl who chirps like a bird—and the biggest surprise of all: Dolly. So now, Dini is hard at work on a new script, the script in which she gets to meet the amazing Dolly. But, life is often more unpredictable than the movies and when Dini starts plotting her story things get a little out of control.

This is a book many kids will be able to identify with even if they don't know anything about Bollywood or Indian culture. They will be able to sympathize with Dini feeling alone, like her parents don't always understand her, and the sadness she has at leaving her home and best friend Maddie behind. They will most likely be able to identify with her obsession with a pop icon and her feelings that if any fan is important to said icon, she is. The story comes complete with a host of quirky secondary characters to back Dini up.

The story itself is not unlike a Bollywood movie. It plays out in a similar way to a film. There are abrupt scene cuts, fade out, multiple angles viewed. There are places where the plot is a little zany and the characters overblown. That is part of the charm of the book and another thing I think will appeal to young readers.

Characters Who Captured My Heart in 2011

2011-12-02T15:01:00.003-05:00

“I was attempting to write the story of my life. It wasn't so much about plot. It was much more about character.”

-from Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

I love this quote because, as I have stated many times, I read for character. If you make me love your characters I will forgive you all kinds of faults in your world building and plot development. As I was thinking about the books that will go on my Best of 2011 list (which I'll post at the end of December) I started thinking about all the amazing characters I fell in love with this year. Not all the books they come from will make that final list (though some will) and I decided to a separate post to cover all the characters who captured my heart this year and made me fall in love with their stories.

Instead of linking the titles to their Goodreads page like I usually do, I have linked them to my reviews.

Melina Marchetta's Boys:

Yes, all of them. I read Saving Francesca, my first experience with Marchetta's work, last December. I was an instant fan and picked up her other books once 2011 began. I even pre-ordered her 2011 US release. And while yes, I also very much love the female characters in her novels, wow can she write guys well. I love them all from Jonah and Chaz (and even Ben and Jude) in Jellico Road to Finnikin in Finnikin of the Rock. But the one that wormed his way into my heart the most this year was Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son. I dare anyone to read Tom's story and not come away seriously caring what happens to him and all the people in his messed up world.

R.J. Anderson's Faeries (and their Humans):
I love stories with Faeries and Faerie lore so it was no surprise that I liked R.J. Andersons Faerie books, Knife, Rebel, and Arrow, when I read them this year. More than liked. I did order Arrow from the UK since it hasn't been published yet in the US (and I intend to do the very same thing with Swift when it comes out next year). The characters in these novels captured my imagination and my heart. The Faerie girls, Knife, Linden, and Rhosmari are all strong capable heroines who are unique and different from each other. Paul and Timothy, the human boys, are well balanced between being heroic and needing assistance of their own. Oh, Paul's actions at the end of both Knife and Arrow ♥♥♥. And then there is also Rob, male Faerie, with a very intriguing backstory I want to know more about.

The Casson Children
"Oh, you Cassons are so artistic and dysfunctional and cool, it's not fair."-Sarah (Permanent Rose)
Reading Hilary McKay's Casson Family books will make most adults, particularly those who are parents, cringe (most kids will probably think they can relate). Notice that I put the children and not the whole family. Their parents....shudder. They are not evil people, just the self absorbed type that probably maybe should have thought harder about the responsibility of children before having so many. Yet when you read the books you can't help but love these kids with all their quirks and annoying habits. Their bond is strong and their love for each other fierce and it is heartwarming to read. My review for Saffy's Angel; My review for the rest of the books

Katherine Ann Stephenson
The intrepid heroine of Stephanie Burgis' Kat Incorrigible definitely deserves a mention. (Bit emphatically agrees with this choice as well.) This was another book it was going to be hard for me not to like. Regency England with magic. Fortunately Burgis is a talented writer with a firm knowledge of her historical period to pull this off well. And at the center of it she placed the best sort of young heroine. Kat Stehpenson is not a proper young lady. She climbs trees. She speaks her mind. She fights. She doesn't see why a girl can't set out to seek her fortune like a boy, and so cuts off her hair and goes out to do just that. The only thing standing in her way are her sisters. But she figures out a way to deal with them, find them proper suitors, and deal with the strange and mysterious magic she has inherited from her mother. She s like Elizabeth Bennett and Emma Woodhouse and Hermione Granger all in one. Truly spectacular.

Conn and Company
From my review of Sarah Prinneas' Magic Thief books: "A thief is a lot like a wizard. A wizard is a lot like a thief. Yes, thievery and magic combined. Who wouldn't love these books? Hmmm....well, I can think of a few people who don't like either of those things separately, never mind combining them. Who cares about those people though? These books were definitely my kind of fun." And the characters in them are my kind of people.I loved Conn's sneaky snarky heroism and Rowan's intelligent fierce loyalty especially. I certainly will be first in line if another book were to come out, which Sarah says is a possibility (just not anytime soon).

Cyrus and Antigone Smith
And all the other Polygoners who have joined them by the end of the book. I think my fondness for the characters in N.D. Wilson's The Dragon's Tooth might just outweigh my fondness for the characters in his other books, and that is saying something. I think what I love most about Cyrus and Antigone is how genuine their sibling relationship reads, younger brother and older sister very close in age. They bicker, tease, and poke at each other, but they also love and protect each other (often times simultaneously). I'm very much looking forward to following both of them and all the people they have befriended as the Ashtown series continues.

Briony
Don't let my face fool you; it tells the worst lies. A girl can have the face of an angel but have a horrid sort of heart.
Ah Briony, so confused and so good at the self loathing. And yet so very very sympathetic. Franny Billingsley's Chime is a wonderful story. It's many potential award mentions and National Book Award nomination tell us that it is also well written and worth a look. No one would care about this book at all if it weren't so easy to love and feel for Briony. She is the story. And Eldric is a pretty awesome character too.

Doug Sweiteck
When I first wrote my review of Gary D. Schmidt's Okay for Now I had this to say: "I grow weary of reading book after book written in first person. Many of them sound the same. Not this one. Doug becomes a real person through his voice and, I have to say, I haven't enjoyed having a character's voice in my head this much since I read The Thief. (Not that Doug and Gen are in anyway comparable, because they aren't. That is just how real Doug came to be in my mind.)" I can give no book higher praise than that. This is another character whose story is a little heartbreaking but, at the same time, so full of potential. When I read this book I just want to give Doug hugs.

So there they are, the ones who got to me the most this year. I'm very excited that I will get to experience further adventures of some of them. And I will get experience all of them over and over through the joy of rereading.

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

2011-11-30T15:16:00.001-05:00

Wow, was this the perfect example of right book at the right time. I wanted a fun and light Christmas read and decided it was about time I gave Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan a go. I'm so very glad I did. It was exactly what I wanted, fun, light and Chritmasy, but with also smart and witty.

Dash is a cynical jaded teen who has orchestrated a Christmas alone by telling each of his parents he is spending it with the other. During his boring lonely winter break he is perusing the Strand (that mecca of used book stores) when he spots a red journal amongst the books by his favorite author. Intrigued he pulls it off the shelf and finds a series of clues leading him through several sections of the bookstore and to an invitation to begin a correspondence with a girl named Lily. To keep it interesting he continues what she has begun with the notebook scavenger hunt rather than just giving her his email address.

Lily is an optimistic girl full of hope and the Christmas spirit (despite being mostly an atheist) which is why she is so affronted when her parents go to Fiji for a second honeymoon and her grandfather stays at his winter home in Florida to spend Christmas with his lady friend. Her older brother is supposed to be looking after her but only wants to spend time with his new boyfriend. In order to get Lily out of their hair the boys take her new red journal, concoct a plan to leave clues in it, and tell her where to place it, next to her favorite book in the Strand. (Because if there was a guy anywhere for Lily that would be the section he would be in.) Lily is not optimistic that anyone "much less a prospect from that highly coveted but extremely elusive Teenage Boy Who Actually Reads and Hangs Out at the Strand species" would respond, so she is surprised and pleased, but cautious, when Dash does.

Thus begins Dash and Lily's correspondence via red notebook that also has them sending each other all over the city of New York in search of hints and tasks before the notebook can be passed off to the other again. Over the holidays Dash and Lily find themselves being surprisingly honest which each other and increasingly intrigued. But do they take a chance and meet in person or confine their relationship to a series of exchanged notebook entries?

Take one snarkily intelligent yet vulnerable boy, add one socially awkward yet gregarious girl, and throw in a healthy dose of one of my favorite cities in the world and I'm most likely going to enjoy myself. Enjoying to the point of sacrificing sleep to finish I was not expecting, yet I was hooked from the first few pages. The book switches point of view between Dash and Lily and it starts with Dash. And Dash is exactly the sort of character I can't help but fall for. Lily's voice contrasts perfectly with his and it was not long before I was behind each 110%, not only in their quest to figure out their relationship but in all the other parts of their lives. Dash and Lily don't sound like your average teens, because they are not average teens. Both are well read and highly intellectual. Yet I found their voices to be genuine. They are intelligent and mature, but they are still young and trying to figure out the world, how it works, and their places in it.

I further enjoyed the way that the story was a genuine look at romance. There were no sparks or love at first sight ridiculousness. There was no oh-I-have-found-the-only-possible-person-for-me to-be-with-for-all-eternity-at-the-age-of-16 nonsense. There was a lot about reconciling the person in your head with the reality of an actual person. And the risk involved in trusting an actual person with your heart, or even the idea of trusting them with it. The entire plot, with its themes of love not being a fate driven fairy tale, was well executed and thoroughly enjoyable.

Also the book had me laughing so hard my sides hurt at times. All courtesy of Dash, who is well and truly awesome in all his sarcastic, word loving, compulsive, uptight, cynical, vulnerable and afraid glory.

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan are more famous for penning the book turned movie Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, which I have neither read nor seen. I may need to rectify that now.

Note on Content: Sex is a topic under discussion and mentioned several times. It is clear that Lily's brother is having a sexual relationship with his boyfriend and Dash thinks about the topic a bit, but there are no details or descriptions. There is also some strong language in the book.

Jefferson's Sons

2011-11-28T12:00:00.030-05:00

I first became aware of Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley when Betsy Bird posted this review of it on her blog back in August. The novel chronicles the life at Monticello for the children Thomas Jefferson had with his slave, Sally Hemings. I was intrigued enough to buy a copy, but also hesitant to read it. There is a reason you don't see many reviews of historical fiction on this blog. I don't read a lot of it because when it is done poorly, as it often is, nothing annoys me more. (I was a History minor.) I have completely avoided the discussion on this book at Heavy Medal because I hadn't yet read the it, though I've heard most people there weren't as enamored with it as some earlier reviewers. (I will try to get to looking at it when the Christmas candy making is complete.) I couldn't resist reading Monica Edinger's thoughts when she posted them as they were about using real people as characters in a book, something that has always made me uncomfortable. And yes, I it made me uncomfortable here, particularly as I felt many of the thoughts and actions the characters were exhibiting were projecting philosophies and thought patterns people would not have had in the early 19th century. The book is certainly an interesting perspective we don't usually find on one of our Founding Fathers and also a perspective on slavery we don't ordinarily see, and I can see its value in sparking discussion to a certain extent, but my frustration far outweighed my enjoyment while I was reading it.

The novel spans 22 years and follows three characters. The first two perspectives are of two of Jefferson's sons, Beverly and Maddy. The third follows Peter, one of the other slaves on the plantation. It is a different look at slavery because Beverly and Maddy are slaves owned by their father. It is a complicated and messy situation and their feelings toward their father reflect this to some degree. Neither of them seemed like fully realized characters to me which may have been because neither story was followed through to the end from their own perspective. Peter was even less realized and never really established his own voice. I felt like his story was included solely for the emotional impact of the end. The characterization in the novel that disturbed me the most was that of Sally Hemings. She has conversations with her children in this book I can not fathom an actual person in the time period, in her position, having. I feel like the author took a woman who was a real person and a real mother and who, I'm sure, had some rather complex emotions regarding her situation and turned her into nothing more than a didactic voice. A didactic voice that preaches modern thoughts on the topics wrestled with in the book. Nothing will turn me off a book faster then didacticism and that is my largest complaint about the book. I couldn't shake the sense that the point of the narrative was to teach me a lesson rather than tell me a story.

If you are looking for accessible historical fiction on slavery in early America, Jefferson's Sons works. It fell far short of the expectations I have when I'm looking for a good story though.

Note on Content: The book, while not going in to details, does make it clear that Sally sleeps at the house with Jefferson when he is there and there is, obviously, discussion about his paternity of her children. So you probably don't wan to hand this to a precocious young reader not entirely aware of the ins and outs of what makes babies.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-26T19:30:00.000-05:00

To all who celebrate it this weekend.

This is an incredibly busy weekend for me, hence the lack of reviews. We host Thanksgiving at our house for both our sets of parents. This is also the weekend when I make the candy for all the Christmas festivities we attend and gifts we give (chocolate covered cherries, chocolate covered peanut butter balls, fudge). Needless to say I'm a little busy.

I did squeeze in some time to take Bit to see Hugo today and enjoyed it immensely.

I will be back on Monday with a review of Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

2011-11-22T20:21:00.000-05:00

Catherynne M. Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is the book that gets my vote for Best Title of the Year. But a clever title does not always make a clever book. In this case though the contents live up to the package. It is a beautifully written and clever story. It is pretty near impossible to discuss this book without bringing Alice into the mix, and I have made it no secret here that I'm not the biggest fan of Wonderland (or the Victorian fantasy in general). This isn't Victorian fantasy however, it is modern fantasy with Victorian elements. Neil Gaiman stated it perfectly in his blurb for the book (an endorsement enough in itself, no need to read my review): "A glorious balancing act between modernism and the Victorian fairy tale, done with heart and wisdom." That exactly.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

September is a reader and as such knows all about Fairyland and what is expected in such stories, so when asked to go on an adventure she jumps at the chance. Except it turns out she doesn't know so much, and neither does the reader, because Valente took most of the rules and tossed them out the window. Which is wonderful. This is a story most people will think has been done time and again, but at the same time it is original. September is a different sort of visitor to Fairyland. People keep telling her she is Ravished. What that means is part of the mystery, one of the things September must discover. The villain is not at all typical either and is, in so many ways, utterly fascinating. What Valente did there made it worth reading the book for that alone.

Like Wonderland, there are moments in Fairyland that are surreal. However, the level of absurdity is not quite as high. Yes, there are talking inanimate objects, curious meetings, magic that makes no sense, the language is similar. Yet there is a cohesive story here and it is told with a fair amount of cynicism.

I was a bit frustrated at how hurried the end was, after all we had circumnavigated all of Fairyland to get there, but Valente managed to make me accept it with the way she concluded the story: "All stories must end so, with the next tale winking out of the corners of the last pages, promising more, promising moonlight and dancing and revels, if only you will come back when spring comes again."

Is this a Middle Grade novel or a Young Adult novel? I have seen this debated several places. Are younger readers going to appreciate the cynical tone? Are teen readers going to pick up a book where the main character is 12 and still very much a child? My library has it shelved in the Teen section. I don't know that this is a book that is suited for any specific age group. It is a book that is suited for a specific group of people be they MG, YA, or not so YA. That group consists of those who love language and the written word. If you are such a person I recommend you pick this one up.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

2011-11-20T12:00:00.003-05:00

Featuring Bit, age 7

I am the mean sort of Mom who is not letting my child inhale all the Harry Potter books in one gulp. I'm making her take her time and space them out. It is working well so far. Since we read the first two it has been about nine months. Yes, I've had to listen to lots of begging but she has also reread the first two books on her own several times in the interim so she came into this one really knowing the characters well and there was a definite difference in how invested she was in the story.

The Story

Really I shouldn't have to do this, but as a matter of form: Harry returns to Hogwarts for his third year after having a rather momentous summer. This year everyone is determined to keep Harry safe within the walls of Hogwarts since escaped Azkaban prisoner Sirius Black has escaped and is, most probably, looking for Harry. Harry doesn't only have escaped convicts to worry about though. He also must contend with his old nemesis, Draco Malfoy, constant predictions of his death by his new Divination teacher, and a fight between his two best friends. And there are also the Dementors guarding the school, who cause Harry to pass out whenever they are near.

Bit's Thoughts
Whenever I read a Harry Potter book they get more exciting. I liked Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban because it has so many surprises. I was so shocked by all of the things you find out in the end. I also like Professor Lupin. I think he's very nice and a good new character. I really like all the other new characters and I think Professor Trelawney is silly. I thought there were a lot of funny parts in this one. It made me laugh a lot. I really can't wait to read The Goblet of Fire.

My Thoughts
This one is not my favorite. Not even close. The plot device used at the end has always bothered me a bit. I tend to rush through this one when I reread it but I wasn't able to do that reading it to Bit. What struck me about it on this read through was how much of Ron's and Hermione's character development occurs during this book. I was also reminded of how very much the movie messed up Ron. (Grrrrrr.) The best part of reading the book to Bit was watching as her eyes got wider and wider and she bounced on the couch in excitement at the end.

What Bit and I are reading next: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (See, I'm such a meanie.)

Back When You Were Easier to Love

2011-11-18T12:00:00.114-05:00

Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith is a fluffy light read with an interesting concept. Who doesn't like books with potentially awkward road trips in cool cars? The book certainly delivers in terms of that promise. It also delivers in terms of writing. The style works well for the plot and the imagery is very good. I think there are many teen girls out there who will be able to identify with the main character and enjoy going along for the ride. I don't necessarily think that's a good thing.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
What's worse than getting dumped? Not even knowing if you've been dumped. Joy got no goodbye, and certainly no explanation when Zan - the love of her life and the only good thing about stifling, backward Haven, Utah - unceremoniously and unexpectedly left for college a year early. Joy needs closure almost as much as she needs Zan, so she heads for California, and Zan, riding shotgun beside Zan's former-best-friend Noah.

When the story began I really felt a connection to Joy. She loves reading and books. She is the new girl at her high school and I know how that feels. I also moved my junior year of high school and that is not an easy time in one's life to make such a transition. When I came across this part I thought Joy was going to be my literary BFF: "I'd purposely waited until last to unpack my books. I loved my books too much to shove on a shelf willy-nilly. Books equaled permanence." And here I thought I was the only one weird enough to think that. I also liked how Joy was questioning her world. She is a Mormon and has recently moved from a town with a small community of Mormons to Haven, Utah where that is all the community to be had. She doesn't wish to rebel against the religion she was brought up in. She just doesn't like what she sees about it in Haven: "Even now that I live in a town where it's hard to tell where belief ends and culture begins-I don't like the culture, but I do like the belief." I really liked this insight. This is something everyone should sort out no matter what belief system they are being raised with. So I was immensely disappointed as the book continued and Joy kind of pulled a Bella Swan.

From the synopsis I really thought this book was about something other than a girl who goes psycho when her boyfriend leaves her and decides to follow him in stalker fashion all the way to California. Because he is her love for all eternity and they belong together and he just needs to see her to know that. Because with him she is a better version of herself (Joy 2.0) and without him everything loses its glow and she can't breathe. Wanting closure and a defined relationship status is one thing, this is something else entirely and far more dire. Even when she sees Zan again and realizes he is the world's biggest jerk I was still concerned for Joy's stability, because not half an hour later she is actively thinking of Noah as a romantic interest. That is not an exaggeration, it happens that fast. I think the author was trying to pave the way for this switch. Anyone who reads the synopsis has to suspect that is the way it is going to go and the author does try and make it seem as though Joy has feelings for Noah all along she doesn't want to own up to. It didn't work for me though. Joy was just far too unhealthily obsessed with one boy who she defined herself by. When she lost him it seemed like she latched on to the next available boy for her to do the same thing with. We are supposed to believe that things with Noah are different because Joy has thoughts and feelings about him she never had with Zan. Then one has to question what the psycho stalker show over Zan was all about. Joy doesn't need another boyfriend, she needs to figure out who she is and what she wants. That idea isn't even flirted with though.

So in the end I was less than impressed.

And the Winner is...

2011-11-16T22:31:00.001-05:00

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai was just announced as the winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. This is a novel written in blank verse that follows its young heroine as she flees Vietnam when Saigon falls, spends time in refugee camps, and learns to adapt to a new life in Alabama. It is a wonderful story and Ha is a sympathetic heroine. It is definitely a book well worth reading. You can read my original thoughts here.

I read four of the five books that were nominated and don't envy the committee the decision they had to make. The four I read were all excellent and worthy books. Congratulations to Thanhha Lai!

The Trouble with May Amelia

2011-11-14T12:00:00.039-05:00

I am clearly missing something here. Jennifer Holm has been honored by three different Newbery committees for her novels Our Only May Amelia, Penny from Heaven, and Turtle in Paradise. Despite never getting past the first third of Our Only May Amelia and pretty much detesting every moment I spent reading Turtle in Paradise, I dutifully checked out a copy of her latest novel, The Trouble with May Amelia, as soon as my library received its copies. It is, of course, generating some award buzz this year. Honestly I just don't get it. If you enjoy historical fiction from the point of view of plucky young girls then there is much to enjoy here. I certainly liked it far more than I have the other works I have tried by this author, but there were still a multitude of things that annoyed me about it.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
May Amelia lives in pioneer Washingon State in 1900, and she just can't act the part of a proper young lady. Working a farm on the rainy Nasel River isn't easy - especially when you have seven brothers and a Pappa who proclaims that Girls Are Useless. May Amelia thinks she may have finally earned her father's respect when he asks her to translate for a gentleman who's interested in buying their land and making them rich. But when the deal turns out to be a scam, Pappa places all the blame on May. It's going to take a lot of sisu - that's Finnish for guts - to make things right.

This novel does a pretty good job accurately depicting life in a logging/farming community in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the 20th century. Life for the Jackson family is difficult and there are many terrible things that befall them and their neighbors. It was a precarious way to live and that was conveyed well, as was the close knit community of immigrants from the same country and the attitude toward schooling. I did find it a stretch to think that May Amelia had at some point befriended a Chinese boy and a lady who ran a tavern in Astoria. (Maybe this is because I haven't read the first book?) The book,while having a main plot thread of the land deal running through it, is mostly snap shots of what life was like for the people in such a community.

As for the character of May Amelia herself, she is certainly sympathetic. I did feel for her and her situation(s) as the story unfolded. This is a first person narrative and I felt that her character was remote and rather bland for that format. She only identifies herself as the people around her identify her, which is true to life for children in many ways, however by the age of 12 most children start to question who they are in relation to those around them and May Amelia never does that. Her family say she is "irritating" and she repeats it like a mantra, but nothing in the book gives evidence that this is the case. She works her little tail off for her brothers, mostly without complaining.

What I found the most vexing about the book is one of the things that irritated me about Turtle in Paradise as well. May Amelia's parents and brothers act like petulant children. They storm around and make the strangest decisions while the heroine stands there in bewilderment and lands wherever the turbulent adult whims blow her. Until the end when suddenly she's a hero. For the life of me I can't figure out why the adults in the books act the way they do (almost as if their parents were first cousins-I don't know. Maybe they were?).

The books style further irritated me in that there was an Excessive and Unnecessary use of Capital Letters, and a complete lack of quotation marks. Some people find this quirky and artistic. I just find it annoying.

I admit I began the book with a prejudice against it. Being aware of that I really wanted to give it as fair a chance I could. There were scenes I enjoyed, lines that made me laugh. I could certainly see myself recommending this book to certain children I know. It was just not my cup of tea.

Tales of Ancient Egypt

2011-11-12T12:00:00.067-05:00

A Review Featuring Bit, Age 7

I can hardly believe we are almost halfway through second grade. Four more weeks and we are done with the term. We are well into our study of ancient cultures that is focusing on Ancient Egypt, and these next four weeks find us immersed in the Middle Kingdom. We have been reading Roger Lancelyn Green's Tales of Ancient Egypt to give Bit some background and understanding of the religious system.

The Story
Tales of Ancient Egypt is a collection of tales and myths from Ancient Egypt. Go figure. The book is divided into three sections: Tales of the Gods, Tales of Magic, and Tales of Adventure.There are 20 tales in all.

Bit's Thoughts
I like Tales of Ancient Egypt because it will help me understand history more. I also like it because I like Egypt. My favorite story was "The Story of the Greek Princess". I like this tale because the people are so clever in it. It is also the story of Troy which I know about from reading The Trojan Horse. This probably isn't going to be my favorite book this year but I think you should read it.

My Thoughts
This is certainly a great resource to have about if you want a book on Egyptian mythology. We are going to be reading several novels in the second term that take place in Ancient Egypt (plus Bit is dying to read the Theodosia books) and I wanted her to have some background knowledge as the religion was extremely important in the life of the people. This book gives you a great basic knowledge of the gods and the system of worship. It is older so the language is rather dry. I wouldn't recommend trying to read it aloud unless you are used to reading lengthy novels aloud or you practice first. It should also be noted that several of the tales, unlike most religious stories, actually reward criminal behavior such as treason, theft, fratricide. It sparked some interesting conversations around here for sure. (And isn't that the whole point of good literature?)

What Bit and I are reading next: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Oh the excitement that is ensuing.)

Nightspell

2011-11-10T12:00:00.073-05:00

Nightspell by Leah Cypess is a companion novel to her debut, Mistwood (my review). It can be read as a stand alone novel, the two only share one character and you don't need to know her story from the first novel to enjoy or understand this one.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
When Darri rides into Ghostland, a country where the living walk with the dead, she has only one goal: to rescue her younger sister Callie, who was sent to Ghostland as a hostage four years ago. But Callie has changed in those four years, and now has secrets of her own. In her quest to save her sister from herself, Darri will be forced to outmaneuver a handsome ghost prince, an ancient sorcerer, and a manipulative tribal warrior (who happens to be her brother). When Darri discovers the source of the spell that has kept the dead in Ghostland chained to this earth, she faces a decision that will force her to reexamine beliefs she has never before questioned - and lead her into the heart of a conspiracy that threatens the very balance of power between the living and the dead.

Despite what the synopsis may lead you to believe, Darri is really not the main character. Or at least not all by herself. She shares that position with both her siblings, Callie and Varis, and also with Clarisse. Of the lot of them Darri was actually the one I found the least interesting. She is one of those hard headed stubborn types who has firm opinions, but doesn't seemed to have done much analyzing to arrive at those opinions. Varis and Clarisse were by far my favorite characters. They were certainly not always likable, not even a little bit, but man oh man are they are interesting. They too have firm ideas about what needs to be done, but at least there is evidence that they think things through carefully, and even when you think the choices they make are reprehensible you can see why they are making them. The interactions between the two of them were my favorite parts of the book.

Cypess has a real talent for drawing a reader into a story. There is plenty of intrigue, mystery, and complicated maneuvering going on amongst the members of the court to keep a reader engrossed until the end. However, once I reached the end I was so frustrated. (This happened when I read Mistwood too.) The troubling thing about it is I can't explain why I'm frustrated because that would involve giving away spoilers. I'll just say that I felt there were several holes left in the plot at that the end.

I do like the way the ghosts were portrayed as clinging to an artificiality and that they were not enjoying eternal life, but rather eternal death. I also enjoyed that this was a sibling story as much as it was a ghost or fantasy intrigue story. The relationship between Varis, Darri, and Callie is portrayed very realistically and I loved that element.

This is a good book to recommend to anyone who enjoys slightly creepy stories and complex relationships.

Breadcrumbs

2011-11-08T12:00:00.105-05:00

"Once upon a time, a demonlike creature with a forty-seven-syllable name made an enchanted mirror. The mirror shattered in the sky. The splinters took to the wind and scattered for hundreds of miles. When they fell to the earth, things began to change....A boy got a splinter in his eye, and his heart turned cold. Only two people noticed. One was a witch, and she took him for her own. The other was his best friend. And she went after him in ill-considered shoes, brave and completely unprepared." (p153,155)

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu is a retelling of "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson, yes, but it might be more fitting to say this is an homage to all of Anderson's tales because there are a great many of them incorporated into this one. The heart of the story is "The Snow Queen" though, or rather, what it symbolizes. Growing up, changing, leaving old friends behind, and discovering who one is as a person. Hazel and Jack have been best friends forever. Hazel does not know who she is without Jack, and she reminds him someone knows he's still there when he feels invisible. These kids have suffered through some rough times together. Hazel's dad left and Jack was there for her. Jack's mom is seriously depressed and Hazel is there for him. But one day Jack stops talking to Hazel. Her mother tells her this is normal and that it is natural for friends to grow apart as they get older. Hazel knows something is wrong with Jack because he would not just stop being her friend. Then he disappears. His parents claim he is gone to assist an elderly relative Hazel knows he doesn't have. When another friend of Jack's confesses he saw Jack being taken into the woods by a mysterious other worldly woman in the snow, Hazel sets off on a quest to rescue him and bring him home.

The story is split into two parts. The first lays the background of Hazel and Jack, their characters and friendship, and how it all begins to fall apart. The second part is Hazel's journey through the magical land to rescue Jack. Hazel is a wonderful and sympathetic heroine. She reads a lot and lives in imaginary worlds most of the time. Jack is her companion on her adventures and her only friend. She has trouble at school, being new to the way public school works, and hates every moment she is there. When Jack plays with his other friends at recess, she reads. Any child who has ever spent their days gazing out a window and relegating their teacher's voice to background noise will find a kindred spirit in Hazel. What is unique about Ursu's treatment of this is the story demonstrates that Hazel is in need of help. Imagination is all well and good, but sometimes you do have to live in the real world. Friendship is a marvelous thing, but you must be able to function as an individual as well. Hazel has to learn these lessons the hard way and so into the woods she goes. Hazel has a realization as she is walking toward Jack: "This is what it is to live in the world.You have to give yourself over to the cold, at least a little bit." I like this because it is true. Especially the "little bit" part. Hazel's journey has her learning, not only about herself, but also about how to reconcile fantasy and reality. And why its necessary to survive.

The magical woods Hazel journeys through is not a happy place. It is not the type of fantasy land that kids will be wanting to find a way into. Hazel has imagined herself in all of those fantasy worlds many of times, and so is not prepared for awaits her. This fantasy world doesn't play by the rules. The witch is not an evil ruler. She does not need defeating. This is a place where no one can be trusted and danger lurks in light as well as in shadow. Hazel is witness to some terrible and devastating magic. It is an interesting concept, but there were times when I wondered what the point of it all was. Not that there needs to be a point, but there were several quotes that left me pondering what the author was trying to say with all of this. My initial impression is that the themes are a bit muddled, as if Uru herself were unsure she wanted to say something specific. To me it had a very postmodern feel which is a contrast to Anderson's original tale, which definitely had a very specific theme about the power of love. It felt to me that was lost in this retelling, but it isn't a book that can be fully analyzed on one read through. This is partly why I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half.

It is all a little dark but there are moments of humor too. Like when Hazel encounters a wolf upon entering the forest, "She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but all she knew about wolves was that you should never tell them how to find your grandmother's house." And when the witch comes to fetch Jack she asks, "Would you like some Turkish delight?...Just a little joke."

The book is a story lovers playground. Not only are the Anderson tales but Ursu makes reference Narnia, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, Wonderland, Oz, L'Engle, Stead's When You Reach Me, and Gaiman's Coraline. Those were the ones I caught, there were probably more. The language is beautiful and yet not complicated. I recommend this for anyone who loves a good story.

Picture Books of 2011

2011-11-04T20:43:00.001-04:00

It's Picture Book Month! Did you know? If not, you can read all about it. I don't write about picture books often on this blog, but they are very much a part of my everyday life. In celebration of Picture Book Month, I bring you my favorites of the year. Yesterday the NY Times revealed its 2011 Best Illustrated Children's Books. This post is unrelated to the NY Times list. This post has been scheduled for today for weeks. Great minds think alike and all that. My list is very different from the NY Times one. I don't know what criteria they used. My criteria: I had fun reading/looking at the book and, most importantly, my test subjects approved.
My Test Subjects (ages 7 and 3):

Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray
Alphabet books are a dime a dozen. This one stands far and above the rest in my opinion. There are words and phrases for every letter, as one expects in an alphabet book. A for apple pie, B for bake it, C for cool it, D for dish it out, and on. All of it is held together by one narrative thread, a hungry little dog that desperately wants that pie and will go to any length to get it. The illustrations are crisp, clean and basic giving the book a very classic feel. This is an excellent choice for an alphabet book because it is one that can grow with a child. (Even the seven year old enjoyed it.)

Blackout by John Rocco
It's a busy night in the city and all one little boy wants to do is play a board game. But sister is on the phone, Mom is on the computer, and Dad is cooking dinner. Everyone is too busy so the little boy settles for playing a video game. But then...The Lights Went Out. All of Them. (The page spread that shows this is brilliant.) The family, together now, goes to the roof and then to the street, where neighbors are gathering and enjoying the night, the starts, and each other. The illustrations in the book are gorgeous and Rocco's use of light and shadow amazing. Both my kids love this book. The little one flips through it looking at the pictures again and again. I shared this book with my K-2 Literature class and they all really enjoyed it as well. As for me, this is my top favorite of the year.

Follow Me by Tricia Tusa
A girl and a swing, the perfect combination. I could spend hours on a swing when I was a child and Bit is the same way. Tricia Tusa captured perfectly the feeling of flying through the air while going all the places only your imagination can take you. Add to that the colorful and vibrant pictures, and you have a beautiful book that is going to make you want to locate the nearest swing set so you can experience it for yourself.

I Broke My Trunk and Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems
Yes, I know these are easy readers, but they are also picture books. We are big fans of Elephant and Piggie around here so we were suitably excited when three new ones were released this year. We like these two the best. I Broke My Trunk has Gerald telling Piggie the story of how his trunk was broken. The suspense builds, and just when you think you know exactly how Gerald broke his trunk, the unexpected happens. In Should I Share My Ice Cream? Gerald has an ice cream cone and a big decision to make: to share or not to share? Bit is way past the easy reader phase but she still loves these books. She reads them to her brother with quite a bit of dramatic gusto, much to his delight. The books are great read alouds for preschoolers as they can find a kindred spirit in Piggie.

Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Salley Mavor
When I was creating this list I decided to cover books published from October 2010 through September 2011. This book was released September 27, 2010 but I love it so much that I decided that was close enough. Nursery Rhymes are becoming a thing of the past. Many kids nowadays just don't know them like they used to. Reason enough to own a copy of this book. What makes it so incredibly special are the illustrations. If you are unfamiliar with Salley Mavor's illustrations visit her website. She sews and embroiders them all and I'm not at all exaggerating when I say this book is a work of art. Actually it is a collection of several works of art. Each illustration is handcrafted in minute detail. This book was the 2011 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner in the Picture Book Category.

Press Here by Herve Tullet
This is an interactive picture book. When you hear that you might think that means it is touch and feel, makes noise, or is maybe even scratch and sniff. You might think something on the page moves. Nope. To all of that. This book is illustration after illustration of primary colored dots on a white (and couple of times black) background. I was skeptical when I first picked it up from the library. Then I read it to my son and watched the magic happen. It didn't matter to him that the dots weren't actually moving and there were no bangs or whistles. He loves counting the dots, tipping the book, "blowing" the dots, shaking the dots up, and clapping to make them "grow". It was the most amazing thing and testament to how kids don't need fancy packages, they can make anything happen with their imagination and a simple concept.

Where's Walrus by Stephen Savage

This is a wordless picture book, not a usual favorite around here. However, Stephen Savage's book is just delightful and deserves to be an exception. Walrus is bored with life in the zoo and decides to do something about it. Escape and go on the run. Through retro style illustrations Savage shows all the unique disguises Walrus employs while trying to evade the zoo keeper in hot pursuit.

Hmmmm....I didn't realize until I typed this all out, but every one of my favorites this year was illustrated by the author. Something to ponder.

These books were taken from a greater list I made of books I've enjoyed reading in the past year. I made the list because I often start to receive emails from friends and family around this time of year asking for new book recommendations. I compiled a master list this year to make things easier. It is here if you are interested in seeing it in its entirety.

Here Lies Arthur

2011-11-02T15:09:00.001-04:00

I have been in an Arthurian sort of mood this week. If you should ever find yourself in an Arthurian sort of mood then Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve is one I would definitely recommend. Be warned that this is one of those stories that tries to place Arthur in his actual historical context. This not Le Morte d'Arthur. Not anywhere close, and that is actually my favorite thing about it. I like it when an author tries to separate the man from the myth, and Reeve does this while adding a clever twist that speaks of the power of story.

Gwyna is a child when Arthur's war band comes and destroys her master's home. Fleeing the burning wreckage, she manages to escape by swimming away in the river. Little does she know she has been seen by Myrddin, a bard and storyteller, who travels with Arthur. Seeing that Gwyna will be useful to him in his quest to help Arthur rule all of Britain, Myrddin makes Gwyna his servant. Over the course of her years in Arthur's band, disguised as a boy, and then her years as a lady in waiting to Arthur's wife Gwenhwyfar, Gwyna receives a first class education in how to manipulate the populace and turn a man into a legend.

Arthur, in this version, is not a nice man. At all. He is a thief, a bully, a brigand. He is unpredictable, has a fierce temper, and is not a thinker. He leaves the thinking to Myrddin, who is compelled to see a united Britain and has chosen Arthur as the most likely to lead it. So Myrrdin advises him and in the meantime weaves stories about Arthur's splendid deeds and honorable demeanor. I love the way Reeve juxtaposes his actual Arthur and the Arthur of lore. Gwyna will relate some terrible scene Arthur has enacted and follow it with one of Myrrdin's tales.The tales refer to some of the more familiar legends while the actual Arthur scenes depict 5th/6th century Britain in all its bloody and savage glory.

In addition to the political manipulation aspect of the story Reeve introduces other interesting themes and concepts to ponder over and discuss. Religion is explored quite a bit. There is a split between those who practice Christianity and those who practice the old ways, with a great majority of people combining the two in some fashion. Myrddin, who doesn't believe in any of it, uses it to manipulate people to think what he wants them to. Gender roles are also explored, there are several instances where characters use the dress of the opposite sex to hide themselves in plain sight. In these instances it is stressed that it is about more than putting on the clothes and changing your hair. Reeve plays with this throughout the tale in different and interesting ways.

My only issue with it is the characters were not as well developed as I like. Myrddin was the most complex of the lot. Gwenhwyfar was also made interesting. Most of the others were types. Gwyna, as the main character, felt far too flat to me. She goes through so much and yet none of it seems to make an impression on her. She relates it all as though seeing it from a distance. She takes up the art of storytelling she learns from Myrddin so that may account for some of that, but in telling this, her true story, you would think she would be more invested. I also thought that the romance squashed into the end was rather unnecessary, not developed , and rather inexplicable. It may have made sense if it had been explored at all but it was just sort of tacked on to the mad rush to the end so left me with a "why is this even here" feeling.

Still, if you are someone who enjoys different takes on Arthurian lore or well done historical fiction you should find this enjoyable. It should be noted that this is very well done historical fiction. True, Reeve invented his own take on Arthur, but he nailed the setting perfectly.

Note on Content: This is definitely a book for teens or older. There is quite a bit of violence and blood (it was a violent and bloody time). Also, Gwenhwyfar's extramarital adventures play a big part in the plot (it is the story of Arthur). Nothing is described, but it is much alluded to.

Sir Gawain the True

2011-10-31T12:00:00.002-04:00

I read Gerald Morris's The Squire's Tale a couple of years ago. While I didn't dislike the experience, I wasn't wowed by it either. I have recommended the series to others I thought might enjoy it but I haven't been inclined to continue it myself. When I heard Morris was writing another Arthurian series for younger readers I was interested to see how he would do writing for a younger audience. Sir Gawain the True is the most recent book in The Knights' Tales. I enjoyed quite a lot, far more than I did the book in the older series.

"Now everyone who knows anything at all about knights knows that they used to dress in metal suits and bash each other off their horses with pint sticks called lances. This only makes sense, of course. Anyone who happened to have a metal suit, a horse, and a pointy stick would do the same."

A brilliant way to begin and what I appreciate the most about the storytelling here. The words flow naturally from one to the next and Morris has a way of cleverly explaining elements that might be more unfamiliar to young readers in a way that fits into the narrative without interrupting it and manages to be witty at the same time. There is a clever commentary going on through the whole story that gives the book the feel of listening to a campfire story.
"King Arthur's cooks were like kitchen magicians. It is said that Brussels sprouts prepared by King Arthur's chefs tasted better than custard pies prepared by anyone else. Their recipe for Brussels sprouts has, alas, been lost."

The story itself begins with Sir Gawain defeating a damsel, but behaving rudely to the damsel he rescued. The narrative then moves into the tale of the Green Knight and The Knightly tale of Gologras and Gawain. Morris weaves them together well and then cleverly links them to the opening scene with the dragon. Through all the quests, battles, and journeys Gawain's character undergoes a transformation. He begins as attention loving and self consumed, but the weight of his impending death at the hands of the Green Knight and the friendship of the people he meets along the way change him for the better.

Sir Gawain the True is a delightful and fun read, one I will be definitely be recommending to friends looking for easy short chapter books for their boys.

Favorite Newbery Winners

2011-10-28T12:00:00.053-04:00

I wasn't planning on doing a My Favorite Things post this week, but when given inspiration for a perfect topic I will take it. Plus I'm sick this week. Really sick. Going to bed at 8 every night sick. Not much reading has been happening and I'm running out of stockpiled reviews to post. So this was excellent timing. (I now have antibiotics and will hopefully be pulling out of this funk soon.)

In that article I linked to up there Jonathan at Heavy Medal makes some very interesting points. I like the points he is making and agree with them. I like the little exercise he provided for everyone more and that is what I'm running with, and for the purposes of this post will play by his rules (mostly). Meaning I will stick to the last 50 years of Newbery Winners. For the purposes of full disclosure I have only read 30 of the 50 titles.

Here are my Top 4 Picks (because I couldn't decide on which book to give the #5 slot) :

Rounding out the Top 10 I would choose: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The High King, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, The View From Saturday, The Tale of Despereaux, The Graveyard Book

Here is where I blaze my own trail. Let's see how adding in the Honor books, still only looking at the last 50 years, shakes things up. Here are the top contenders (this time there are 5):

Adding the Honors changes the remaining Top 10 to: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The High King, Walk Two Moons, The View From Saturday, The Wednesday Wars, The Graveyard Book

That was a lot harder than I originally thought it would be. What are your top choices? Complete list of winners can be found here.

My Very Unfairytale Life

2011-10-27T12:00:00.001-04:00

In the acknowledgements for her book My Very UnFairytale Life Anna Staniszewski describes it as her "wacky little book". It is indeed a whacky little book but in a way that is fun and not too ridiculous especially if you are of the age of the intended audience. Elementary school me would have loved this book with a fervent and fierce devotion.

You know all those stories that have fairy godmothers coming into change the lives of ordinary girls? Well this is that in reverse. Jenny is an ordinary girl sent to help change the lives of magical creatures. Instead of being armed with a magic wand, Jenny relies on a repertoire of cheesy cliches to make a difference. Sure sometimes baby dragons try to burn her head off and unicorns charge after her, but that's all part of the fun. Except Jenny is not having much fun. She is in middle school and she wants a life and normal friends. Instead she gets a candy addict gnome guide and an old adventurer who keeps an eye on her. When faced with a saving a kingdom being terrorized by an evil magical clown who tortures prisoners by making them appear in his circus, Jenny decides she can't take it anymore. But normal is not what Jenny expected and she has to consider that maybe adventuring is what she was born to do.

Jenny is an engaging and witty narrator. She is imaginative and adventurous, the sort of girl who dresses up as Indiana Jones for Halloween and releases a jar of spiders into her Kindergarten class so she can "rescue" her classmates. While she does complain quite a bit about her lot in life you can't help but agree that she is being sorely used and mistreated by the mysterious committee who gives her assignments. And Anthony her guide does seem pretty heartless at times. Jenny's voice is pitched perfectly for the book's intended audience and her magical problems reflect the real world problems that 9-12 year olds face every day. There are couple of plot points that aren't really explained or wrapped up well (the disappearance of Jenny's parents, the mysterious committee) and this left me feeling like something was missing.

If you have a young girl in your life who has a spirit of adventure, enjoys fantasy, plucky heroines, and a bit of silly this is the perfect book to put in their hands.

Note: I read a proof of this novel obtained from Netgalley. The book will be released on November 1.

Tuesdays at the Castle

2011-10-25T12:00:00.048-04:00

Anyone who is a fan of magical kingdoms and heroic princesses pay attention. Jessica Day George's new novel Tuesdays at the Castle is a must read. It is a story of peril, adventure, magic, and heroism that will greatly appeal to any young (or possibly not so young, as in me) lover of fantasy.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celie's favorite days. That's because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one-other than Celie, that is-takes the time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and their fate is unknown, it's up to Celie, with her secret knowledge of the castle's never-ending twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom.

Celie is a great little heroine. The youngest of four children she is beloved by everyone in the kingdom, particularly the Castle. This has not made her spoiled though, she loves everyone in return, particularly the Castle. In the beginning Celie relies on her older brother, Rolf, and older sister, Lilah to come up with a solution to finding their parents and ousting the traitors trying to take over their kingdom. She relies on the Castle too. However, it soon becomes clear that the Castle for whatever reason can only do so much and Celie, who has taken the time to study the Castle, is the one with the required knowledge to help her siblings and saver her kingdom. The way she goes about this is inventive humorous. What the royal siblings do to try and scare off the interlopers are childish, one involves manure, but as their leader is a child it strikes exactly the right tone.

The Castle is almost as delightful a character as Celie. And it is a character, not just a building. You have to give a Castle that chooses the next King, allows in flocks of sheep to chew the tapestries, lets undeserving captives out of prison cells, and gives nasty dank rooms to unwanted "guests" the status of character. The magic of Castle Glower isn't explained and doesn't need to be, it simply is.

On top of being a book about magical kingdoms and princesses, this is also a sibling story. I always enjoy a good sibling story and this is certainly a good one. Celie, Rolph, and Lilah are all very different but they work together and care for each other. The other residents of the Castle all add to the delightful cast of characters that make the story as magical as it is. Some are quirky, but none so much that the story becomes eccentric. Everyone works together to bring about the resolution but it is Celie and Castle Glower who shine as the heroes.

According to Jessica Day George's website this is going to be the first in a new series (Bit is going to be so excited, she is already eagerly anticipating reading this one) and is available for purchase as of today!

The version I read for review was an ARC received via Netgalley.

The Mostly True Story of Jack

2011-10-23T13:34:00.001-04:00

If you are looking for a creepy sort of story that is not too dark or scary then The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill may be just what you want.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his crazy aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for a long time. . . .
When he arrives, three astonishing things happen: First, he makes friends-not imaginary friends but actual friends. Second, he is beaten up by the town bully; the bullies at home always ignored him. Third, the richest man in town begins to plot Jack's imminent, and hopefully painful, demise. It's up to Jack to figure out why suddenly everyone cares so much about him. Back home he was practically, well, invisible.

The book is, for the most part, a mystery. Puzzle pieces are handed out one at a time and the reader has to put them together to see the big picture. How quickly this happens and how much enjoyment is to be gotten form it will depend on how much experience the reader has with these types of stories. In the end the puzzle is complete but not perfect. Some of the pieces are a little warped and, while they fit, leave you wondering what they are doing in the final picture at all. (Such as the Portsmouth, it fit with the story and helped move the plot but what it was, how and why it was there, etc. were never really clear. Same with the character of Anders.)

The cast of characters is varied. Some of them are quirky, but most of them are not. I like how the author tried to show different sides to Clayton Avery, the bully. I found Frankie to be the most interesting character by far. I would love to have had the whole story from his point of view. I may have gone from simply liking the story to loving it were that the case because I did feel like the other characterizations were a bit weak. Wendy was rather two dimensional and Anders seemed like he was there to move the plot more than anything. Jack was not as developed as I thought a main character should be. This may have been done on purpose as a way of emphasizing his otherness. For me the result was that I didn't care much what happened to him. Plus I knew where this was going long before it got there.

The mythos of the book is an interesting one. It includes Green Man legend and the idea of nature guardians and magical eruption points. None of that is original, but plopping it in the middle of an Iowa farm town is. The main magical being is a nature guardian who controls the movement of magic in the area of the town of Hazelwood. Due to evil greedy intentions the guardian has split into her dark side and her good side and is at war with herself. Balance can only be restored when she is whole again. Oh and her darker side likes to suck up the souls of children (herein lies the creepy factor). Overall interesting like I said but, to me, it wasn't captivating.

This was an enjoyable read but certainly not one of my favorites this year. This may just be me though as it has received several rave critical reviews.

The Big Crunch

2011-10-19T12:00:00.072-04:00

I have been wanting to read The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman ever since I read Kate's review of it at Book Aunt earlier this year. It is not often you find a book about ordinary every day teens in a typical relationship in YA books. No one here discovers their romantic interest is a vampire/werewolf/fallen angel/creature of Faerie. No one here turns out to have magical or supernatural powers or a hidden mythical heritage. There are no tragedies/disasters/psychological traumas in the characters past. It really is a book about two average kids who have a very typical relationship. If that wasn't attractive enough there is also the amazing cover which I just like to stare at.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

June and Wes do not "meet cute." They do not fall in love at first sight. They do not swoon with scorching desire. They do not believe that they are instant soul mates destined to be together forever.
This is not that kind of love story.
Instead, they just hang around in each other's orbits...until eventually they collide. And even after that happens, they're still not sure where it will go. Especially when June starts to pity-date one of Wes's friends, and Wes makes some choices that he immediately regrets.
From National Book Award winner Pete Hautman, this is a love story for people not particularly biased toward romance. But it is romantic, in the same way that truth can be romantic and uncertainty can be the biggest certainty of all.

That is not exactly true. There is a fair amount of swooning scorching desire, teenage hormones and all that, but not at the first meeting. They do have chemistry and a strong attraction but it is far more realistically portrayed. It is easy to put oneself in the place of Wes and June because most people reading this have experienced, are experiencing, or want to experience the same sort of relationship.

Wes and June are both great characters on their own as well. June has moved around a lot and developed a snarky yet accurate assessment of all high schools and teenagers everywhere. She is a little prickly because she is never in anyone place for very long and views all relationships as temporary. She dates a boy because she feels sorry for him. She creates drama between herself and Wes by yelling at him for things that are not is fault and beyond his control. Wes is just a regular guy who plays video games and poker with his friends. He does crazy things without thinking them through all the way and then wonders how it happened when he finds himself in more trouble than he imagined possible. Both characters find themselves receiving some swift and stern parental intervention at one point. Everything about this book is highly relateable to anyone who is or ever has been a teenager.

Note on Content: This is a book where the main characters are juniors in high school. There is a scene where they attend a party with underage drinking (though they do not partake). There are also some discussions o of sex and sexual desire.

The Flint Heart

2011-10-17T12:00:00.001-04:00

The Flint Heart is a "freely abridged" version of a story written by Eden Phillpotts. Katherine Paterson and her husband, John Paterson, did the abridging. Katherine Paterson is a beloved by me (and many others) author so I was naturally intrigued. Add to that I had heard buzz long before the book came out that John Rocco's illustrations for it were beautiful. Rocco's illustrations are indeed beautiful and the best thing about the book. The best thing by far because they were they only thing about the book I actually enjoyed. (They are very beautiful color illustrations and I'm sad they were wasted on this story.)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
An ambitious Stone Age man demands a talisman that will harden his heart, allowing him to take control of his tribe. Against his better judgment, the tribe’s magic man creates the Flint Heart, but the cruelty of it causes the destruction of the tribe. Thousands of years later, the talisman reemerges to corrupt a kindly farmer, an innocent fairy creature, and a familial badger. Can Charles and his sister Unity, who have consulted with fairies such as the mysterious Zagabog, wisest creature in the universe, find a way to rescue humans, fairies, and animals alike from the dark influence of the Flint Heart? This humorous, hearty, utterly delightful fairy tale is the sort for an entire family to savor together or an adventurous youngster to devour.

Looking at that last sentence I have to say that the youngster in question would have to be very young indeed. Except the language of the story is rather prohibitive for the very young. I can see this best being enjoyed by adults who like Victorian fantasy. (But even then....) I love Katherine Paterson to pieces but I really have to question why she wanted to abridge this story in the first place. I am not at all familiar with the source material so I went into this with nothing more than the information in the synopsis. This is one of those absurdly quirky fairy stories which is not my cup of tea. I don't like my fairies to frolic and flitter about. I may have been able to get past that as I really enjoyed the first two chapters and the idea of the flint heart. I may have even been able to get past how the story ~~journeyed far far away~~ meandered away from the point at times. Might have. If it had not been for the introduction on page 124 of the walking talking hot water bottle as a character. Yes, you read that correctly. A walking talking hot water bottle. Seriously. This hot water bottle is actually a rather important character too. That was it for me. I skimmed the rest of the book but there was no recovering any enjoyment at all from it for me after that.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns

2011-10-15T12:00:00.123-04:00

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson is a fantasy full of magic, myth, and intrigue. This is one of my favorite types of book but also the type of book that I have the highest standards for. I am happy to say that this one met them. I liked this book lots. Despite the fact that there are some flaws that I can see bugging some people. For me it worked and worked well. So well that I have lots to say about it. If you are interested in my thought read on or you could just stop now and go read the book.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.
But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.
Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.
And he’s not the only one who needs her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.
Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.
Most of the chosen do.

Elisa is not a typical heroine. She is fat. She is clumsy. She is shy. She is reclusive. She is also highly intelligent and analytical even if she hasn't quite realized yet at the book's opening. She is practical and quick thinking in a crisis too. When the party carrying her and her new husband to his home are attacked in the jungle she figures out how to rescue her ladies in waiting and herself from a burning carriage and then rescues her husband by jumping into a knife fight. Yet she underestimates and criticizes herself constantly until she is forced to tap into her core of inner strength and use it to survive. Elisa is a born leader and has qualities that many can see and appreciate but until she is forced to see them they do her no good. Elisa does lose a lot of weight over the course of the novel as well but that is not the reason for her new found confidence. The catalyst for the weight loss and the strengthening of her character are the same. It causes both of them, one is not caused by the other. I really like how the author handled that and how the sudden decrease in size didn't make her any less clumsy. Or quick footed. Elisa's attitude toward the whole situation made me smile too. When someone (a completely awesome someone) tells her she is a beautiful queen she responds with, "A month or two of pastries will fix that." I also thought that Elisa's faith in her god and doubts about him and her chosen status was played well. It did not weigh down the story but filled out her character making her more realistic. The way the author played with the whole concept of the prophetic chosen one was interesting too. It is not a one time occurrence. There have been generations of chosen ones, some of them dying ignominious deaths without ever doing anything of seeming importance. Elisa is convinced she will fall into this category, but she rises to the occasion when presented with the opportunity to do more. I love Elisa's feminine strength. (I came across this at the Greenwillow blog written by the author that shows where Elisa's brand of girl power might have come from.)

The cast of supporting characters are not developed quite as well as Elisa is. This is a first person narrative from her point of view which could account for some of that. I also wondered if it wasn't an act of mercy on the part of the author. She is not at all afraid to injure and kill off (abruptly) important characters. The book is full of wonderfully strong female characters whose strengths and talents all manifest differently. I must say I grew quite attached to one of the supporting characters who captured my attention in a big way at the beginning of the book and then, much to my frustration, disappeared for most of it. However, his presence in the end more than makes up for it and I'm eager to see what his character contributes to the second book in the trilogy.

The world building is well done. The setting is interesting going from jungles, to city, to desert, to hill country. Everything is described richly and vividly. There is a lot of food, clothing and furniture descriptions too, which adds to the reality of the setting. The most important aspect of the world building in this case is the religion though. Elisa is very devout, she is the bearer of the godstone so this is not surprising. Religious ceremonies are described, their Scriptura Sancta referred to often, and Elisa spends much time in prayer. I have seen many reviews that mention this and make comparisons to Christianity. I found it interesting myself as many of the passages quoted do sound like passages in Psalms and Isaiah. It is a monotheistic religion and Elisa has a very personal relationship with her god. However, those are really the only similarities. Everything else about it is unique to the world of the book.

There is a bit of romance in the book but it is very low level and not at all a crucial element to the plot. Elisa, off in the world on her own for the first time, experiences lustful infatuation and a sweet tentative romance. Both are part of her character's growth and journey but not the most important part of her story. I appreciated the way this element played out too.

Now that all that is off my chest I will eagerly anticipate the release of book 2 in the trilogy, The Crown of Embers, which is expected in fall of next year.

The National Book Award Nominees

2011-10-12T20:30:00.004-04:00

For Young People's Literature. Because who cares about the grown up books? Well, some people. I just don't happen to be one of them. Here is a where you can find the complete list (grown up books and all). For purposes of the National Book Award "Young People's Literature" has a broad range, as you can see from the list of nominees.

And the nominees are:
Chime by Franny Billingsley (my review)
Flesh and Blood So Cheap by Albert Marrin
Inside Out and Back Again by Thannha Lai (my review)
My Name Is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (my review)
Shine by Lauren Myracle

Let's break this down:
AGE: 3 2 YA, 3 MG
GENRE: 1 Fantasy; 1 Non Fiction, ~~1 Contemporary~~, 3 Historical Fiction

ETA: At the request of the NBF Lauren Myracle has withdrawn Shine. You can read more about that here.

The mock Newbery blog Heavy Medal has discussed 4 of these books as possible Newbery contenders.

I'm interested to see how this will play out. I have read 3 of the books and have Flesh and Blood So Cheap in my TBR pile right now. I'm working up the enthusiasm to read it. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire is not something I really want to read more about but I shall. My Name is Not Easy isn't released until October 18 which might explain why I hadn't even heard of it prior to the nominees being released today. Now that it is on my radar I'm intrigued. I haven't read Shine because my library doesn't have copies of it yet. (I'm not holding my breath that will happen anytime soon. They are not so up to date on ordering things for the YA collection.)

Basically my main thought is: Wow, I am so glad not to be part of the panel that has to decide this. Two of my favorite reads of the year are on this list. I have great hopes that one (Chime) will win the Printz and that the other (Okay for Now) will win the Newbery. To have to choose between them?

I don't think I can.

A Monster Calls

2011-10-11T14:00:00.092-04:00

I can not remember the last time a book made me cry. Books often sadden me and leave me feeling verklempt, but I can't remember the last time a book caused streaming down my cheeks, concerning and then amusing my husband, tears. Patrick Ness did that with this book.

A Monster Calls is about a boy named Conor. Conor's mother is undergoing treatment for cancer. Instead of getting better though, she is getting worse. At school Conor has become nearly invisible. At home he is helpful but dreads the interference of his grandmother and the allusions to a time when Conor might be seeing her on a more regular basis. And Conor is having a recurring nightmare that is causing him to lose sleep. Then one night at 12:07 Conor gets a visit from a Monster. He is not the monster Conor fears, though he is certainly monstrous. The Monster has come to tell him stories. Three stories in fact. And then Conor must tell him a story containing the terrible truth that he fears more than anything.

This book is beautiful. Gut wrenchingly, soul shatteringly beautiful. The truth is nothing that can be said about this book will come close to the experience of it. Conor is the sort of character who does some unlikeable things while remaining incredibly likeable. The starkness of his pain and the expression of his emotions make him highly sympathetic. His story is stark in its dark reality but never melodramatically overdone. As for the Monster and his stories I think Charlotte worded my feelings perfectly in her review, "I don't know exactly what the monster's stories mean -- every time I've read them they speak differently to me. And I don't really know what the monster means either..." Here is what the Monster has to say about himself (this also demonstrates the beauty of the language of the novel), Who am I? the monster repeated still roaring. I am the spine that the mountains hang upon! I am the tears that the rivers cry! I am the lungs that breathe the wind! I am the wolf that kills the stag, the hawk that kills the mouse, the spider that kills the fly! I am the stag, the mouse, and the fly that are eaten! I am the snak e of the world devouring its tail! I am everything untamed and untameable! It brought Conor up close to its eye. I am this wild earth, come for you, Conor O'Malley. The book is like that, intense and gripping, all the way through.

I'm not really sure how to categorize this book. It is not a "children's book", despite its child protagonist. It is a book about humanity that could be read and appreciated by any human, child or adult. If they are willing and can handle it. I would be careful who I recommended it to, no matter their age. All of us have witnessed the ravages of cancer in some way. It is too prevalent for anyone to miss. Everyone has not had the up close and personal horror of this story. For those who have reading it may be cathartic. I can see it having the opposite effect too though. Words are powerful and I am always very aware of that when recommending books like this, where they are wielded so well and are so piercing.

Fall Reading

2011-10-07T14:14:00.002-04:00

Fall is my favorite time of year. The crisp air, the smell of the leaves, breaking out the comforter, bringing the sweaters out of hibernation, apples, pumpkins, the spices they both cook in, all of it make me gleeful and happy to be alive. It is also the only time of year that inspires me to read specific books. Why I don't know, especially as only one of the books can be considered a "Fall" book.

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope is the one that makes sense as it takes place during the Fall, with its climatic scene occurring on All Hallow's Eve. The scent of fallen leaves and woodsmoke in the air sets a perfect atmosphere for reading this one. I read this book around Halloween every year and this year I'm making my 4th-6th grade literature students read it too, so I'm going to be reading it more than once. I'm so excited.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a favorite of mine that I read for the first time during the fall, and I think that is why the onset of the season always makes me yearn to return to the land of Ingary and the house of Howl Pendragon. Plus it has a bouncing scarecrow frightening the wits out of the heroine so it sort of fits the season. Right?

Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers is another one that I read for the first time in the fall which is really the only explanation for why I would want to read it every year at this time. The best parts of this book take place during the summer and yet I never feel an urge to read it then. Funny how that works.

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner is one I have no explanation for, but every year when the weather turns cold I want to read it. Of course as it is one of my all time favorite books ever I don't really need much provocation to pick it up. I just think it is funny that the first cold snap of the year always has me yearning for this book, not the whole series, just this one. I usually end up reading The King of Attolia too though. Just because you kind of have to read them together.

This year I'm also being visited by a powerful urge to reread The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman, which I will most likely give in to. I haven't read this one since the first time I read it back in February of this year. If I recall correctly it takes place in the winter,not the fall. I think it is the cover that is calling to me. It just looks like a Fall type book.

And do you know what goes really well with Fall type books? Hot tea and the perfect cookie for the season. So today I'm including a recipe for just such a cookie. Baking these will make your house really smell like fall is in the air.

I originally stumbled on this recipe here, but I have made a couple minor changes.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter, softened
1 1/3 cup brown sugar (I use light.)
1 egg
1/4 cup whole milk
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1t baking soda
1t ground cinnamon
1/2t cloves
1/2t nutmeg
1/2t salt
2 cups of chopped unpeeled apple
1 to 1 1/2 cups caramel bits*

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix dry ingredients in small bowl.
3. Blend butter and brown sugar together thoroughly.
4. Add egg and milk to butter mix and combine completely.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the creamy mix.
6. Add at apples and caramels.
7. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges.

*I found these at our Super Target. If you are not a fan of caramel I have also made these with Hershey cinnamon chips and they are amazing that way too. Or, if you feel you must, I'm sure some kind of nut would work. I haven't tried that as I don't like nuts in my cookies.

Bloodline

2011-10-05T15:36:00.001-04:00

Somewhere this year I came across a mention of Bloodline Rising by Katy Moran and was intrigued. Then I discovered it was a sequel to her first work Bloodline and so decided to start there. I was looking forward to this as it takes place in Anglo-Saxon Britain and is all about the complexities of warring chieftains and complex bonds between people.

Summary (from Goodreads):
Warring kingdoms, bloody feuds and a battle for survival...Step back into the Dark Ages with this riveting, epic adventure from a debut writer."Set in Dark Ages Britain", this is the powerful story of Essa, whose father Cai, a travelling bard and occasional spy, leaves him behind one night at a settlement of the Wolf Clan. Essa is a survivor and forges new allegiances and even love, but never stops wondering why his father never came back. The settlement is under threat from cruel Mercian bands across the forests, and Essa is caught up in a heart-stopping journey to avert disaster. A battle is inevitable, but Essa finds he can influence its outcome in a way nobody but his father would understand...

This story begins when Essa is nine years old and has just been abandoned by his father. I felt an immediate liking and sympathy for Essa that never abated as the story moved forward. He has a short temper, and sometimes makes ridiculously stupid decisions, but I liked him all the more for those weaknesses. He finds himself caught up in a war he wants no part of and at the center of a political struggle he was not prepared to face. No matter what choices he makes he is going to have to betray someone he likes. The complexities involved in all of his decisions made for a riveting story. The setting is wonderful and the time period depicted exactly right. The author did a good job conveying the harsh realities and the simple joys the people would have experienced. The tension in the story between the old ways and the new Christianity was also pitch perfect.

I only had one issue with the book, which other people might not find as annoying. There was a supernatural element in the story that detracted from my enjoyment. Essa is able to commune with animal spirits. He can calm them, send them where he wants them to go, and see what they see. I am all for fantastical elements in stories, but here I felt that it detracted from, rather than added to the plot. It seemed like a convenient way of turning events in Essa's favor and nothing more. It is a major part of the story and plays a rather large role in the outcome so I was annoyed a great deal. Otherwise, this would have been a good solid work of historical fiction.

I can see fans of Rosemary Sutcliff enjoying this, particularly if they can overlook the issue I had. It's not as good as her stuff but will do if you are looking for something similar.

The Chesire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of A Tale

2011-10-03T14:00:00.018-04:00

I don't really do animal stories. There are only two that I have ever read and desired to reread or read aloud to my children. (Charlotte's Web and The Tale of Despereaux) Now a third book can be added to this collection. I saw enough reviews praising The Chesire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale, some written by others also wary of animal stories, that I decided to give it a try. Really, the premise is hard to pass up even for someone like me who is jaded toward the genre. A cat who likes to eat cheese forms a partnership with an Inn full of mice, and then throw Charles Dickens in for good measure. I ask, who can resist that?

He was the Best of Toms. He was the worst of Toms. Fleet of foot, sleek and solitary, Skilley was a cat among cats. Or he would have been, but for a secret he had carried since his youth. A secret that caused him to live in hidden shame, avoiding even casual friendship lest anyone discover-

Skilley, a cat who hates the taste of mice and the feel of them going down, finds the perfect job as a mouser at the Ye Olde Chesire Cheese. He can appear to ferociously chase the mice and in reality eat the cheese. The problem is the cheese isn't so easy to get to for cat. When Skilley makes the acquaintance of an extraordinary mouse named Pip who figures out his secret they strike a deal. Skilley will protect the mice and the mice will provide him with the cheese they have ready access to. Simple enough until a mouse hating serving girl brings in another cat to help with the mouse problem, a vicious killer of a cat who is Skilley's arch nemesis. Then there is the Queen's injured raven being cared for by the mice that needs returning as well. Skilley and Pip have their work cut out for them, and not just when it comes to protecting the mice and helping the raven. They also must learn to confront the difficulties and obstacles they encounter in their most unlikely friendship.

There is lots to like here. The cast of characters is large and quirky, very fitting in a Victorian era novel that is a tribute to Dickens. The mice, the cats, the humans, and the raven are all brought to life vividly through the language of the story. I read an ARC of the book from NetGalley that did not contain the illustrations, and even without the pictures to help the words painted a clear picture of, not just the people, but also the time and place.

And this brings me to what I loved best about the book. The language. It is one of those books that would make a terrific read aloud, so you can savor every word. In fact it might actually work best as a read aloud. It is not just the words chosen but the rhythm of the sentences:
Then Maldwyn gathered himself and stood erect. Once more Skilley witnessed the rising majesty of a Tower raven. Even with his head averted, there was royalty in his form.
"You want the truth, Master Skilley? Find out what manner of cat you really are...and then brazenly, unabashedly, boldly, be that cat."
and
"You eat cheese." The words emerged from Pinch's clenched jaws with slow hiss.
So, he knows.
Skilley allowed himself an instant of surprise to savor how little he now cared. "Yes. I eat cheese. What's more, my truest friend in this friendless world is a mouse. And I would risk my life for him...

The way the theme of friendship is explored through all of the different relationships is another aspect of the book I quite enjoyed. Particularly when Skilley has hurt Pip and their friendship looks as though it might fall apart. Through the way these creatures interact with each other there are sage glimpses into human nature and relationships. The book is eminently quotable while not being preachy or becoming about any given message.

The average child who is reading this book is not going to get the Dickens references. But they don't have to. His character is portrayed in such a way that you don't have to know and understand his work to appreciate his role. For the adults who might read this book to and with children the allusions are an added amusement.

I very much enjoyed this and highly recommend it to anyone, not just lovers of animal tales. Clearly you don't have to be one of those to appreciate this book.

The Demon King

2011-10-01T14:00:00.002-04:00

Cinda Williams Chima's Seven Realms Series has been getting a lot of buzz recently due to the release of the third volume The Gray Wolf Throne, so I decided (with some encouragement from a reliable source) that maybe it was about time I read the first volume, The Demon King. This has everything a high fantasy novel should have Wizards, mountain clans that breed Warriors, a looming Peril, characters with hidden destinies, a ragamuffin type hero. It is predictable but well written. If you are a fan of High Fantasy with a good dose of court intrigue (I am) and enjoy books with well written characters and intricate plots (I do) then you may want to give this series a try.

Summary (from Goodreads):
This novel marks the first giant step in a momentous fantasy journey orchestrated by Cinda Williams Chima, the author of the popular Warrior Heir series. Its two chief protagonists are ex-thief Han Alister, an impoverished commoner, and Raisa ana'Marianna, the headstrong Princess Heir of the Fells. The Demon King brings them together, creating part of a volatile mix of action, magic, and danger. Empathetic characters; wizardly attacks.

I found Hans to be a sympathetic and likable character from the beginning. Even when he is getting himself into trouble (this happens a lot) I couldn't help but understand why he makes the choices he does. I was behind him 100% from the beginning. Raisa on the other hand...There was a lot I liked about her character too, like her determination and strong sense of duty. She makes a lot of decisions that land her in trouble as well and I was less sympathetic as I felt that many of them were due to her own pig headedness and refusal to see what was in front of her. By the end I was more content with the direction she was taking.

There are a lot of secondary characters in this novel. A lot. A lot. A lot. It is an epic fantasy. Sometimes they blended together for me but a few of them are memorable. The villains behave in stereotypical ways yet show signs of having some depth other than pure evil. In addition to Hans and Raisa there are characters that stand out and are developed fully. I refuse to grow attached to any of them though because many of them have TRAGIC stamped on their foreheads already. Things will not go well for them. I am not entirely convinced things will go well for anyone. It made me feel rather removed from the story. If you like neat and tidy this might be a series you want to avoid.

I do have some quibbles. I feel like I am saying this a lot lately, but the book is too long. (I am saying it a lot lately because I think it has become a trend for authors to inflate their stories.) Epic fantasy is notoriously long and detailed (see The Lord of the Rings) but really it is not always necessary. In fact, I think it is usually not necessary. I prefer it when authors can convey worlds with few words and not all authors can do that. I did feel that there were some scenes that could have been shorter or removed completely. I found myself occasionally bored and skimming some parts.

This is a good book to get if you love the genre and are looking for something new that comfortably fits your taste. I will be reading the next volume The Exiled Queen as soon as my library can get it to me.

13 Curses

2011-09-29T14:00:00.059-04:00

I read Michelle Harrison's 13 Treasures (my review) this summer and enjoyed the way it gave a different spin on old Faerie lore and for the main characters of Tanya and Fabian. I was interested to see where the story would go next and when our library received its copies of 13 Curses I was eager to get a hold of one. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
The 13 Treasures have become the 13 Curses. When fairies stole her brother, Red vowed to get him back. Now trapped in the fairy realm, she begs to be seen before the fairy court where she strikes a bargain: Her brother in exchange for all thirteen charms from Tanya's bracelet. Back at Elvesden Manor, Red, Tanya, and Fabian begin a desperate hunt, but as they soon find out, the fairies have done more than hide the charms; they've enchanted them with twisted qualities of the thirteen treasures they represent. And the longer the charms are missing, the more dangerous they become. Can Red, Tanya, and Fabian find all thirteen charms? And if they do, will the fairies keep their promise?

What worked for me: The Faerie lore continues to follow traditional tales while expanding them. Red and Warwick actually get to attend the feast where the switch between the rule of the Seelie and the Unseelie Courts occur and I thought both courts were portrayed well. There is just enough darkness in the Unseelie to remain true to the myth without making it too dark for children. The Seelie, while not as dark, are shown to be just as heartless and unthinking of using humans in their games as their Unseelie counterparts.

What didn't work for me: This book focuses more on Red who was not a character explored a lot in the first book. I wouldn't have minded this so much except I felt like this focus did a disservice to both Tanya and Fabian. Part of my enjoyment of the first book was Tanya and Fabian and their interaction with each other. From the beginning I felt like they just were not the same characters, like something was off. Some of that might be attributed to the books format which jumps between Red in the Faerie realm to what is happening at the Manor in the human realm. There are also flashbacks to Red's past that are spotted throughout her account. There is a lot of jumping around and as a result the story has no fluidity. Warwick also gets a chance to add his own tale of tragedy and woe regarding the faeries that we did not get in the first book. All this back story contributed to a book that was way too long. It is 496 pages and they don't even get to the part where the quest begins until 300 pages into the book.

I can see how children who are fantasy fans and enjoy trilogies and series wanting to pick this up. It left me wanting and feeling a little deflated though. I'm not sure I will bother with the third book when it is released in the US. It is called 13 Secrets and is currently out in the UK and is expected in the US in 2012.

Ultraviolet

2011-09-27T14:00:00.053-04:00

I became a fan of R.J. Anderson's books when I read her Faerie series earlier this year. (my reviews here and here) I was very excited about the release of Ultraviolet , particularly as it was going to be a different sort of book. I was eager to see what Anderson would do with a different concept. This book did not disappoint. It was an engrossing, thought provoking, and entertaining read. When I write reviews I like them to be somewhat substantive and not just, "Wow this book was great, I loved it, go read it." It is going to be more of a challenge to do that for this book because saying much about the book is difficult without mentioning spoilers. I shall try my best though.

Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. Her hair flowed like honey and her eyes were blue as music. She grew up bright and beautiful with deft fingers, a quick mind, and a charm that impressed everyone she met. Her parents adored her, her teachers praised her, and her schoolmates admired her many talents. Even the oddly shaped birthmark on her upper arm seemed like a sign of some great destiny. This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her.

Alison is in trouble. After years of trying to suppress and hide the strange way she perceives the world through colors and sound she finds herself in a psychiatric hospital suspected of killing one of her classmates. The problem is there is no body and little evidence. Alison was the last person to see Tory. They fought and then Alison came home upset, with blood on her hands, out of control, and claiming she saw Tory disintegrate. When Dr. Sebastian Faraday turns up at the hospital and not only discovers the reason for Alison's strange perceptions, but also completely believes her story about Tory she has new hope. And it doesn't hurt that Faraday is good looking with an entrancing accent either. Just when Alison thinks things might improve they go from strange to stranger and she discovers a whole new world of knowledge.

This story has a lot going for it: mystery, suspense, psychological oddities, a little romance, and then the other stuff that you have to read the book to discover. There are several elements of it that could have gone horribly wrong or been terribly awkward if Anderson were not so good at what she does. She took some real risks with this concept and they were definitely worth it.

Alison is the one telling us her story and it is told in first person. If you don't like unreliable narrators this book will drive you crazy. Alison, as a patient in a mental hospital on anti-psychotic drugs, is the very definition of unreliable. I like unreliable narrators and Alison is one whose voice will capture you even if you don't completely trust her. She is extremely sympathetic and you can't help but want her to be telling the truth.

The relationship between Alison and Faraday is quite possibly the best executed part of this story. It could have been super creepy (and not just because of the age difference and the whole doctor/patient thing), but Anderson managed to avoid the disturbing relationship issue while also turning out a stomach fluttering romance.

I was also impressed with the portrayal of Alison's hospital and experiences in it. The hospital workers and doctors are portrayed as real people, some of whom are dedicated to their jobs and some of whom are simply earning paychecks. None of them are evil or abusive. Some of them are kind of clueless but you find those people anywhere. Overall they are portrayed as helpful professionals. The other patients are portrayed sympathetically, even the ones that hurt Alison and make her miserable. The books referenes to psychiatry and psychiatric drugs are delivered in ways that allows readers to draw their own conclusions (and in my case do some internet research).

The only small complaint I had was that the last couple of pages were a little less subtle than I would have liked. According to R.J. Anderson's website there will be a sequel coming out in 2013, which seems an awful long time from now. Though in the meantime her fourth Faerie book Swift will be released in the UK so we have that to look forward to.

A True Princess

2011-09-25T14:00:00.001-04:00

A True Princess by Diane Zahler combines several tales and Faerie lore to tell the story of a princess and a quest. It is not one I found particularly enjoyable but is a book that would probably find a home in the hands of young princess and fairy tale enthusiasts.

Synopsis: (From Goodreads):
Twelve-year-old Lilia is not a very good servant. In fact, she's terrible! She daydreams, she breaks dishes, and her cooking is awful. Still, she hardly deserves to be sold off to the mean-spirited miller and his family. Refusing to accept that dreadful fate, she decides to flee. With her best friend, Kai, and his sister, Karina, beside her, Lilia heads north to find the family she's never known. But danger awaits. . . .As their quest leads the threesome through the mysterious and sinister Bitra Forest, they suddenly realize they are lost in the elves' domain. To Lilia's horror, Kai falls under an enchantment cast by the Elf King's beautiful daughter. The only way for Lilia to break the spell and save Kai is to find a jewel of ancient power that lies somewhere in the North Kingdoms. Yet the jewel will not be easy to find. The castle where it is hidden has been overrun with princess hopefuls trying to pass a magical test that will determine the prince's new bride. Lilia has only a few days to search every inch of the castle and find the jewel—or Kai will be lost to her forever.

The is a book that sounded tailor made for me so I was rather disappointed at not enjoying it. There were elements of the book I enjoyed. The writing is descriptive and the northern European setting with the Northern Lights was interesting. Lilia is a brave heroine and a loyal friend. There are heroic knights, a handsome prince, and the whole "boy next door" storyline. I liked that while Lilia was the princess who passed the test the outcome revealed was far different than in "The Princess and the Pea".

So what was my problem?

This is a reworking of "The Princess and the Pea" but it also contains Goethe's "The Elf King" (in the form of actual stanzas from the poem) and has elements of Anderson's "The Snow Queen". Plus the lore of Odin's Hunt is thrown in for good measure. Both "The Elf King" and "The Snow Queen" are dark and perilous stories. This book is not dark or perilous in anyway. Goethe's Elf King is scary. That poem packs a punch and the villain in this book comes nowhere close to doing it justice. His daughter is vain, spoiled, petulant and childish nowhere near as forbidding (or seductive) as Anderson's Snow Queen. I just don't think the novel did the source material justice and adds nothing to it.

Lilia and Kai have a very sweet friendship/flirtation going on (paralleling the relationship of Gerda and Kai in Anderson's tale), except Kai is far more an innocent victim in this version and I didn't find him to be that interesting.. The romance between Prince Tycho and Karina was rather shallow. It was, look how noble he appears+look how beautiful she is=LOVE. Blech.

My final complaint was in the idea that Lilia couldn't function properly as a serving maid because she was born a princess. I'm sorry, the girl couldn't make decent porridge because princesses are inherently bad at cooking? Kai says this to her toward the end: "You were a bad servant to Ylva because you were a princess." No. No. No. She should have worked her lazy self harder and learned how to make decent porridge or sew better, or dust better. I really didn't have much respect for Lilia's character despite her bravery because she really didn't try to overcome her weaknesses. I prefer stories that show that it is how we act and not how we are born that define us as people.

The book is short, only 184 pages, and very tame. I think it would appeal most to girls in the 8-10 age range.

Banned Book Week

2011-09-23T14:00:00.079-04:00

It is that time of year again. The one where we celebrate our freedom to read what we choose and for other people to do the same even if we don't like or agree with their choices. It begins tomorrow on September 24 and runs until October 1. Over the year the American Library Association compiles data on books that have been challenged and the reasons given for wanting their removal from libraries. You can find information and some rather troubling lists here.Check your local library to see if they are doing anything special.

Here is the Top 10 list of banned/challenged book of 2010 with their reasons :

And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: offensive language, racism, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and violence
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, and sexually explicit
Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: drugs, offensive language, and sexually explicit
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and violence
Lush, by Natasha Friend
Reasons: drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
Reasons: sexism, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, and religious viewpoint
Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie
Reasons: homosexuality and sexually explicit
Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: religious viewpoint and violence

There are always a couple of things that make me want to tear at my hair about the list every year. This year's culprits:
1. How did Brave New World suddenly get back on the list and make it all the way to #3? Did a bunch of people suddenly realize that their former attempts to oust it from the world had been unsuccessful and so they decided to launch a new campaign? It hasn't made the Top Ten in the last 10 years and wasn't in the top 50 for the 90's.
2. Where on earth are these people getting the sexually explicit scenes in The Hunger Games from? Do they have a different copy of the book than I read? There is some kissing but nothing remotely deserving of the label "sexually explicit". Are these people actually reading the books they are challenging?

Wonderstruck

2011-09-21T14:00:00.092-04:00

The Invention of Hugo Cabret (my review) was a paradigm shattering book. Especially once it won the Caldecott. I admit that I had my doubts about Wonderstruck. I thought it highly possible it was going to just be another Hugo without the innovative edge. Which would still have made it a good book because Selznick is a talented man. Then the hype around it grew and grew and so did my wariness. I was excited, but it was a qualified excitement. Betsy at Fuse 8 said in her review before the book's release that it was a book that lived up to its hype which abated my wariness some. Now that I've read it, I completely agree with her. Wonderstruck is not just another Hugo. It has a similar style but is a different concept. And in my opinion it is a better book.

Synopsis(from Goodreads):
Set fifty years apart, two independent stories—Ben's told in words and Rose's in pictures—weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder. Ever since his mom died, Ben feels lost. At home with her father, Rose feels alone. He is searching for someone, but he is not sure who. She is searching for something, but she is not sure what. When Ben finds a mysterious clue hidden in his mom's room, When a tempting opportunity presents itself to Rose. Both children risk everything to find what's missing.

The stories of Rose and Ben parallel each other and coincide even with a difference of 50 years. The book begins with Ben and the prose and then switches to Rose and the art. They then switch back and forth for the rest of the story. Where Selznick put the transitions between the two was masterfully strategic. Assuming his strategy was to keep the reader turning the pages, not wanting to put the book down because it was essential to know what was going to happen next. If that was the strategy it worked brilliantly on me.

Both stories are highly emotive. Selznick's pictures have always been good for this, but in this book his prose is creating and setting the mood as well. The words are as beautifully descriptive as the pictures and convey Ben's loneliness, searching, panic, loss and wonder just as well as the pictures of Rose do. I actually thought that, at times, the prose did it better. Ben was the character I connected with and felt for more. Here is just one of the passages that made an impression (This is just after Ben has arrived in NY):
"Ben looked around in astonishment. Taking in all the colors and smells and movements, he felt like he'd fallen over the edge of a waterfall. He was sure he had never seen this many people in his enter life on Gunflint Lake. Everyone everywhere seemed to be a different color, as if the cover of his social studies textbook had come to life around him."
Notice that it says "colors and smells and movements", not sound. That is because Ben is deaf, as is Rose. So their pictures and words are conveying more than just story, they are conveying an experience.

There is so much to explore in the book. It is about the wonder to be found in the world and how this wonder is often captured in museums. There is the wonder that is found in relationships of all kinds. There is the wonder that comes from striking out and finding your own way in the world. There is the wonder that comes from finding your way home, even if it is not to the same one. Unlike my use of the word wonder here, none of it is overdone or forced.

There has been much talk (see this post at Heavy Medal and this one at Calling Caldecott as examples) of how Selznick may have confounded the award committees for this year. I do think it will be sad if some he does not get some accolade for what he has done here. Although, this seems kind of trite, but I suppose the greatest accolades an author can receive is for people to read and appreciate his work. So go. Read and appreciate.

The Running Dream

2011-09-19T14:00:00.088-04:00

I would probably not have know of the existence of The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen if it were not for Emily at Lirbrarified. She presented the book at a workshop I attended over the summer and sung its praises so highly I had to read it. With the books less than flashy cover and fairly innocuous title I can see how many might overlook it. Which is sad because it really is a lovely story and an engrossing. read.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run? As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don't know what to say, act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she weren't now keenly aware that she'd done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she's missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her. With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that's not enough for her now. She doesn't just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her.

I don't run. In fact, I'm one of those people who believes runners are crazy people. I had no trouble relating to Jessica and her struggle though. This may have been because I am active in other types of fitness and I had an injured foot while I was reading this. One day with no exercise and my cells felt like they were trying to crawl out of my body. While my very minor in comparison to Jessica's problem may have helped with my empathy it was mostly the craft of the author that had me feeling for her. The book covers eight months of her journey and covers the first few days in the hospital to her return home and flirtation with overdoing the narcotics to her return to school to her getting her first prosthesis and beyond. It is a gripping story and that is because from the beginning you feel for Jessica. What is brilliant about the way it is written is that you don't really feel sorry for her. I felt a great deal of empathy and sympathy but not pity. I just wanted to cheer her on. I really felt that every stage of her recovery was handled well. The emotions and conflicts a person in this situation would feel were displayed without getting too gritty and detailed. It was paced well and, I thought, realistically. I don't know anyone who has gone through a similar situation but I can see how a person in good physical condition with loving and supportive family and friends could make the strides Jessica makes in the time she makes them. It is plain that Van Draanen did her research and knew the subject she was writing about well.

My own small complaint would be that everything was almost a little too perfect and tied up in the end. That's probably because I am far too cynical.

This is a Young Adult book but one that is perfect for middle grades as well. It is a good story about friendship and perseverance in hard times.

Sean Griswold's Head

2011-09-15T14:00:00.046-04:00

Remember that person who was always seated in front of you in class because your names were next to each other in the alphabet? You knew each other vaguely, borrowed pencils, handed papers between you, maybe signed each others yearbooks, but that was the extent of the relationship. Did you ever sit in class staring at the back of that person's head wondering about them or were they just there, part of the scenery of your day? Well, Lindsy Leavitt took this question and turned it into part of a lovely story in Sean Griswold's Head.

Synopsis (from the author's website):
Payton Gritas needs a focus object—something to focus her emotions on after discovering that her father’s been hiding his multiple sclerosis. Her guidance counselor suggested something inanimate but Payton chooses the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold’s head. They’ve been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas, it’s an alphabetical order thing), but she’s never really noticed him before. Payton starts stalking—er, focusing on—Sean’s big blond head, and her research quickly grows into something a little less scientific and a lot more crush-like. As Payton gets inside Sean’s head, Sean finds a way into her guarded heart. But obsessing over Sean won’t fix Payton’s fear of her dad’s illness. For that, she’ll have to focus on herself.

"Nothing creates a buzz like an Executive Deluxe day planner...I hug the planner to my chest and slowly brush the leather. It'll cost me a third of my Christmas money, but this baby has monthly and weekly calendars, financial graphs, to-do checklists...and did I mention the sweet, sweet leather?"
After a beginning like that there was no way that I could not like Payton. I felt an immediate connection to this obsessive nerdy girl and that connection held throughout the entire story. Payton's voice is spot on perfect. She is funny, self-deprecating, and very sympathetic. She is behaving like a bit of a brat at times in the story but you can't help but understand and empathize with her. Partly because she freely admits she is being a brat and her confusion over her feelings and the tumultuous mess her life is becoming makes it impossible to not like her. Also her parents and her best friend kind of deserve what she is dishing out.

Then there is Sean.

I really enjoyed the relationship between Payton and Sean and how it developed. It is sweet and simple and lovely. They genuinely have things in common and enjoy each other's company. Sean is not a typical 14 year old boy. He is more mature, focused, and understanding than most boys his age but his character was still very real. There are 14 year old boys like him out there, they are just not prevalent. He is just as prone to confusion, anger, and pouting as any typical boy his age. I didn't even mind too much when Payton came up with a ridiculous reason for avoiding him because I could see a scared and confused high school freshman doing something exactly that stupid.

As great as the romantic element of this story is I enjoyed it most as a story about a girl who is figuring out how to realign her life after it has been completely shaken up. The relationship between Payton and her family is also well developed and all the characters are distinctive and stand out. This is a wonderful light story about family, friendship, life, and first loves. I am very interested in reading Ms.Leavitt's other books now as well.

Note on Content: This is YA but could definitely be read by a younger audience who enjoys romance in their books. Sean and Payton's relationship is very much PG and I think that younger girls would also be able to relate to Payton's feelings and experiences.

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

2011-09-13T14:00:00.003-04:00

A review featuring Bit, age 7

Yeah, it's been a while since Bit and I posted our review on the first Penderwick book. The beginning of second grade slowed us way down. School is taking up more portions of our day than ever, mostly because Bit slows way down when it is a subject she is not crazy about (Math, Grammar). I don't think we are going to get through as many read alouds this year as we did last year, but I think we have gotten into a rhythm that will allow us move faster than we have been.

The Story
The Penderwicks are back in their home on Gardam Street in Cameron, Massachusetts after their eventful summer with Jeffrey at Arundel. Rosalind is happy to have her routine back and is excited by the new responsibilities her father is allowing her to have at home. Everything is perfect until their Aunt Claire comes to visit with a letter in an envelope that Rosalind remembers seeing her mom give her aunt shortly before she died. The letter is for their father and changes everything. Because before she died their mother wrote their father a letter ordering him to start dating again and Aunt Claire is going to enforce it. The girls have to come up with a plan to save their father from dating and themselves from a dreaded stepmother. Add to that one unwise decision regarding homework, a changing relationship with a neighbor, an intense soccer rivalry, and a mysterious man haunting Gardam Street, and it looks like the fall might be even more adventurous than the summer.

Bit's Thoughts
I liked The Penderwicks on Gardam Street almost as much as the first Penderwick book. I thought there were less surprises. I thought the Save Daddy Plan was funny and liked all the stuff that happened because of it. My favorite character in this one is Batty. I think Batty is funny. I can't wait to read The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.

My Thoughts
This is actually my favorite of the three Penderwick books. That is because it focuses on Rosalind so much and she is my favorite sister, the one I can identify with and sympathize with the most. Plus I'm a sucker for the whole "boy/girl next door" storyline so this book captured my heart in so many ways. I also think that this one has the most interesting conflict and more complex problems than the other two making it a little more intense. There is still plenty of humor in it too though and I love all the new characters introduced in this one particularly Tommy, Iantha, and Ben.

What Bit and I are reading next: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall. We will not do a joint review on this one since I already wrote one here. After that we will be reading Roger Lacelyn Green's Tales of Ancient Egypt.

Facebook

2011-09-10T17:02:00.001-04:00

I have created a facebook page for this blog. It has links, not only to my reviews here, but also to other thing I have found interesting in the kidlit world during the week. I will also be posting a picture book of the week and a Bit book rec every week on there. If you are a facebook user stop on by and "like" it if you want updates.

Favorite Book to Movie Adaptations

2011-09-09T14:00:00.002-04:00

I was inspired to write this by the series of posts Redeemed Reader did a couple of weeks ago on making movies from books. It got me thinking and my thoughts led me to decide that it would make a wonderful installment of My Favorite Things. Turning books into movies is a tricky business because there is already a loyal fan base that will have firm opinions on what is being done. Most of the time my reaction is somewhere along the lines of "that was good but the book is better". Sometimes I become enraged by what they have done to a beloved book. (See the most recent The Count of Monte Cristo and Les Miserables. Actually don't see them, but those are examples.) There are times when I actually like the movie better than the book, where the movie becomes what I want to experience again. These are my absolute favorite adaptations.

How to Train Your Dragon, also one of my favorite animated movies in recent memory, is just wonderful. The writing is top notch and rhythmic, there is a sympathetic, inventive, likable hero, a capable and daring heroine, dragons who are fierce and dangerous, witty dialogue, and an engrossing story. The book has none of these things.

Stardust: I have a complicated relationship with Niel Gaiman's writing. This is one of his books that I enjoyed, but I ended up loving the movie. It is one of my favorites. I watch it regularly. The movie has more humor, the pacing is better, the chemistry between Tristan and Yvaine sparks more. And because I am a sap I am better satisfied with the movie's ending.

The Princess Bride This one might be because I had seen the movie a million times before I ever tried to read the book. I was in grade school when I saw it in the theater. Although I have heard so many others who agree with this one that I know it isn't just me.

Peter Pan This live action one, not the insipid Disney version. I am not a big fan of Barrie's prose, but I like the concept and story he came up with. I think this version has done the best job capturing the spirit of his vision and themes. Also, Jason Isaacs is BRILLIANT. It was a stroke of genius to have him play both Captain Hook and Mr. Darling.

The Lord of the Rings I know. I know. You can't say anything to me about this choice that my husband, who rereads the books every year, hasn't already said. Me? I read the books. Yes, before I saw the movies. Am I ever going to reread them? Not if I can help it. I enjoyed them alright, and I feel proper indebtedness to Tolkien for what he did for fantasy as a genre, but I never want to read them again. I like the movies lots though.

And here are the movies that I am willing to substitute for their books when I want to relax my brain:
Pride and Prejudice (the 1995 BBC version)
Sense and Sensibility (the Emma Thompson one)
Emma
Strong Poison (but not Gaudy Night)
The Secret Garden
Charlotte's Web (the new one)
I have conflicted feelings about the Harry Potter movies, but they belong on this list too.

Juniper Berry

2011-09-07T14:00:00.002-04:00

Juniper Berry by M.P. Kozlowsky is a modern day fairy tale. Now that is a phrase that gets bandied about a lot, so let me explain. It is a fairy tale because it has much in common with old school fairy tales. It is dark, creepy, and has a moral. Modern day is pretty self explanatory. This fairy tale deals with modern day temptations and preoccupations, namely the preoccupation with celebrity, never ending quest for success, and a desire to maintain one's youthful appearance.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Juniper's parents have not been themselves lately. In fact, they have been cold, disinterested and cruel. And lonely Juniper Berry, and her equally beset friend, Giles, are determined to figure out why. On a cold and rainy night Juniper follows her parents as they sneak out of the house and enter the woods. What she discovers is an underworld filled with contradictions: one that is terrifying and enticing, lorded over by a creature both sinister and seductive, who can sell you all the world's secrets in a simple red balloon. For the first time, Juniper and Giles have a choice to make. And it will be up to them to confront their own fears in order to save the ones who couldn't.

I can see this book appealing to kids. It is sufficiently creepy and fast paced to keep them reading. The villain is truly scary and the way his operation works inventive. Don't be surprised if interest in balloons takes a sudden drop after reading this. Juniper and Giles are not exactly average kids and they are misfits but I can see kid readers relating to them. The book is illustrated (by Erwin Madrid) and these illustrations were one of my favorite parts of the novel.

A real weakness of the book was the development of Juniper's character though. She is lonely, she yearns save her parents, she wants her old life back. She is brave and heroic when needed. She is special. The kind of special that causes the villain to desperately want her soul above all others. The kind of special that causes Giles to want to save them both. The kind of special that requires her survival because the world needs her. The kind of special that makes her the only one capable of breaking the terrible curse the adults are under. The book tells us all this. What it never shows us is how she is special. What is it about Juniper that gives her the strength to do what she does? Also, the end was a little too tidy. There was no real sacrifice required to achieve the victory.

Another thing that bothered me was that this was a Message book. It is an unsubtle Message book and those annoy me no matter what age group they are aimed for. The message was repeated numerous times and the book has a rather preachy tone as a result. Don't get me wrong the message is a good one, I just prefer more nuance from my stories.

If you know a kid who enjoys creepy fantasy that is a little dark, but not too dark, this is a quick interesting read.