Crafty Cat and the Crafty Camp Crisis, by Chairse Mericle Harper

Crafty Cat and the Crafty Camp Crisis, by Charise Mericle Harper (First Second, August 2017) was the first Crafty Cat book I've read (it's a sequel to The Amazing Crafty Cat), and I found this graphic novel for the young (6-9 year olds) utterly charming.

Birdie is a little girl who loves crafting, and when she assumes her alter ego as Crafty Cat, there's no stopping her clever paws!  She's thrilled to be going to a day long Crafty Camp at her school along with her somewhat reluctant best friend Evan....but her hopes for a perfect day are dashed when mean girl Anya shows up at camp too.  Anya appropriates Birdie's pencils, and thrusts herself into Evan and Birdie's partnership, spoiling everything.  The last straw is a game of dodgeball (why would there even be recess during Crafty Camp, thinks Birdie?) when her new monster crown gets wrecked.  Dark depression and anger settle over Birdie, but she is still Crafty Cat, and crafting is still her passion, she has her cloud friend to talk to about it all, and Evan is a good friend. So all is not lost.

The illustrations are tremendously appealing, and Crafty Cat/Birdie is a character to love. This particular story of a perfect day almost wrecked by tension was emotionally intense, hitting almost too close to home,  but the illustrations, and the assumption that it would all work out in the end (which it does) kept me going.

If you have a young child at hand who loves making things, offer the Crafty Cat books!  Even my 14-year-old son was almost, but not quite, drawn to pick up the book because of its appealing cover and title.  If this second book is anything to go on (and why would it not be), they are delightful and inspiring, and kids still getting comfortable with the whole reading thing will find them friendly and accessible.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

The program for Kidlitcon 2017 is up!

For the past two months, I've been busily working on the program for this years KidLitCon in Hershey, PA Nov. 3 and 4, and at last it is done (barring unforeseen complications) and is ready to be seen!

Here it is.

It is a pretty swell program, a really gorgeous program in fact, with 29 fantastic authors and illustrators joining librarians, bloggers, and teachers in conversation about all manner of children's books!  There just might be a slight bias toward middle grade (coughs) but I tried hard to make the program varied.

KidLitCon is more than just a learning and thinking opportunity; it is also my favorite social event of the year.  I go to every KidLitCon looking forward to good times with my children's book friends, and every year I come home again having made new ones.  It is the only conference I go to where even though I'm an introvert I feel energized and happy on the way home.

Lots of conferences have authors, but at KidLitCon you will actually have the chance to make friends with them. Lots of conferences have people talking, but at KidLitCon we hope the audience will jump into the discussions too.  Lots of conferences have books to buy; we will too, and we will also have piles of ARCs because it is a good chance to move the piles of ARCs one has read out of the house and into someone else's! It is quite possible that publisher will send things too, as is generally the case.  This year, being at Hershey, we will also have chocolate.

Here's a testimonial from Jen Swann Downey, who came to KidLitCon for the first time last year in Wichita, and who'll be in Hershey with us again (yay!):

"I crawled out of my solitary writing shell to attend KidLitCon16, and was richly rewarded for the choice. The organizers and attendees of the event are passionate committed appreciators, evaluators, and disseminators of fiction for young people. Panels and talks addressed kid lit matters seminal, philosophical and practical. In the spaces between these official events, attendees forged friendships, had enthusiastic discussions about the role of stories in kid’s lives, and explored possibilities for collaborations on various projects. The net effect of the event was to renew my belief in the power of children’s literature to help kids navigate, and when necessary or desirable, reimagine life; and feel encouraged in my efforts as a writer."

And here's another from Kristi Bernard:"

"I was thrilled to attend the 2016 KidLitCon event. And to be a presenter only added to my excitement. I didn't know what to expect but I was welcomed by everyone. The event was informative and engaging. All attendees were enthusiastic and ready to chat about all things books. I had so much fun and made so many wonderful friends."

So do come to Hershey this fall!  Here's the registration link.  If you want a hotel room-mate, let me know and I will do my best to find you one.

And if you have any questions, please let me know!

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (8/27/17)

Welcome to this week's round-up!  Let me know if I missed your post.

First--the 2017 Cybils Awards are seeking judges!  I hope lots of you apply; it is really fun.  I'm the category organizer for Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, so feel free to ask me if you have any questions.  I love the veterans who have worked with me in MG Spec Fic in the past (and the fact that they are still eager to be part of it shows they had a good time!), but it would be great to have new folks join in!  Here's a post I wrote a while back with more info. about what you can expect.

The Reviews

The Arctic Code (Dark Gravity #1), by Matthew J. Kirby, at Say What?

Attack of the Not-So-Virtual Monsters, and Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind (both Gamer Squad series) by Kim Harrington, at Bookworm for Kids

Beast and Crown, by Joel Ross, at Charlotte's Library

The Bone Snatcher by Charlotte Salter, at Jean Little Library

Castle Hangnail, by Ursula Vernon, at Sloth Reads

A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge, at Bibliobrit

The Gauntlet, by Karuna Riazi, at alibrarymama

Ghost Ship (The Sunken Kingdom Book 1), by Kim Wilkins, at Say What?

Greenglass House, by Kate Milford, at Log Cabin Library

Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel by Megan Morrison, at Pages Unbound Reviews

The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz, at Leaf's Reviews

Island of the Sun (Dark Gravity #2), by Matthew Kirby, at Say What?

Joplin, Wishing by Diane Stanley, at Redeemed Reader

Long Live the Queen, by Gerry Swallow, at Pages Unbound Reviews

The Lost Kingdom, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Say What?

The Magician’s Key by Matthew Cody, at Fantasy Literature

Miss Ellicotts School for the Magically Minded, by Sage Blackwood, at Finding Wonderland

Orphan Island, by Laurel Snyder, at This Kid Reviews Books

Pi in the Sky, by Wendy Mass, at Puss Reboots

The Rouge World (Dark Gravity #3), by Matthew J. Kirby, at Say What?

The Song of Glory and Ghost, by N.D. Wilson, at Semicolon

Thornhill, by Pam Smy, at The Book Nut

Worlds Collide (Land of Stories) by Chris Colfer, at Kitty Cat at the Library

Other Good Stuff

A very useful post at Pages Unbound that gathers book blogging resources you may not know about
 
Information about Lee and Low's New Visions Award

A very fun guide to cat sitting as a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, via Tor.

Beast & Crown, by Joel Ross

Beast & Crown, by Joel Ross (HarperCollins, August 2017)  is one I was looking forward too (I liked his first book, Fog Diver, lots), and so I was happy when a copy came my way from a friend.  And I was happier to actually read it, finding it fun and fast and thought-provoking.

Ji is a boot boy, toiling away for the privileged nobility.  His mother hopes that one day he'll rise to the ranks of butler.  Ji hopes that he can keep squirrelling away enough valuable shoe decorations to buy his stable hand Sally's little brother from slavery in the city.  But then the son of the noble family he serves is chosen to be a contender for the Summer Crown.  The Diadem Rite will chose the next heir, giving the chosen one the magical power that was gathered from all the people in the land years ago by the first Summer Queen so that she could keep the country safe against monsters.

Ji gets the chance to travel in the entourage of the young lordling, along with Sally and another friend, the bookish sister of the ex-governess, kept on as charity.  He plans to somehow save Sally's brother...but then he and his friends realize, while it is happening, that the Diadem Rite has a horrible dark side to it.  And this society being what it is, it isn't the young nobles who pay the prices for the transfer of power.  It's their servants.

In a world where goblins and children are enslaved, and "monsters" threaten to invade, the nobles will do anything to keep their power.  But Ji and his friends find themselves on the side of the monsters, poised to bring the status quo tumbling down.  If they live long enough....

It's a satisfactory story in a fairly standard friendship-focused fantasy adventure way, but the really interesting twist is Ji's gradual realization that monsters, like the goblins, are not easily dismissed as worthless folk.  Because to the consequences of the rite, Ji and company are themselves forced to directly confront what it means to be different, and Ji, who was already something a revolutionary, now finds himself questioning, with even greater urgency, just where his loyalties lie.

Ross seems to have made an effort to set his fantasy world apart from standard medieval tropes by calling the noble's houses "haciendas" instead of manors, and including non Northern European foods, but this ended up feeling more arbitrary than organic.  Ji and his friends appear racially diverse, based on mentions of skin color, but this isn't explored in any further way.  On the other hand, in what was a rather refreshing twist, one "monstrous" friend that joins the group adds both a humorous non-human point of view and a non-standard construction of gender.   And when one character is physically transformed into a human/troll hybrid, Ross takes the opportunity to make it clear that external appearance has no bearing on inner character, which is a welcome point.

Those who like things settled when a book ends will not be happy, but middle grade fantasy fans who don't mind waiting for the sequel will enjoy this one lots.

Landscape with Invisible Hand, by M.T. Anderson

Landscape with Invisible Hand, by M.T. Anderson (Candlewick, Sept. 12, 2017), is a sci fi satirical parable that's both thought provoking and entertaining.  The vuvv, an alien race, have come in "peace" bringing gifts of wondrous technology and parking themselves in low orbit around earth.  In this case, though, peace has not meant plenty for the majority of people on earth, who now have no jobs, no money, and property that's no longer worth much.  The vuvv, however, are happy to consume the best that Earth has to offer them--human culture from the 1950s, the period when we first sent the wavelengths of our ingenuity out into space.

A teenager named Adam and his girlfriend Chloe decide to make money (badly needed) by feeding the vuvvs desire for 1950s human romance, by recording each Tender Moment in a pay-per-view format.  It goes sour pretty quickly, though, when the two of them realize that they aren't in love after all, and though they tough it out as long as possible, it's hellish for them.

Adam's other chance for a better life is winning an art competition the vuvv are running.  But with vuvv taste running to the banal (still lives of fruit), his own more edgy paintings might not succeed....

And then a third chance comes, and Adam must convince his family to take it, and wipe the slate clean.

So it's sort of a parable about colonialism and its concomitant exploitation of indigenous cultures, about human creativity shackled to meaningless consumerism, or maybe about the individual discovering the value of being true to himself when there's no good external yardstick for human worth.  But though it is parablish, Adam's story is an interesting personal journey (I liked reading about his art very much, I appreciated his caustic thoughts on the vuvv, and I sympathized with his embarrassing illness that he could not afford to have treated with the vuvv's technology).  It's not just a moralistic, satirical allegory (although if you are allergic to allegory and/or satire you will not enjoy this).

Here's what I'm wondering, though--what is the Invisible Hand of the title?   I'm thinking something along the lines of the choices people make that they don't consciously realize they are making, although I am finding myself thinking as I write that the wavelengths of cultural transmission are literally invisible puppet masters of humanity.   I'm also thinking that you could use this book, very nicely, in a high school English class....

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

On vacation today, so no round-up

My family is down in South Carolina this weekend for the eclipse, so no round-up today! (We plan to go to Magnolia Gardens in about an hour, if we can get the boys up......)


Tune in next week for the next gathering of middle grade goodness.....

Cleopatra in Space: The Golden Lion, by Mike Maihack, for Timeslip Tuesday

Young Cleopatra, whisked into an intergalactic future from her home in ancient Egypt, is back for the fourth installment of her adventures in The Golden Lion, by Mike Maihack (Graphix, June 2017).  The Golden Lion, a legendary star of immense power (and small size) has been tracked to a snowy planet far away.  It is part of the prophecy of Thoth that sent Cleopatra off into her destined role as Galaxy Savious, and she's determined to go find the Golden Lion herself.  Also determined to find it is her nemesis Octavian, who has sent a powerful minion to the planet.  Cleo crash-lands in the snow, and her technology fails her; were it not for the fortuitous arrival of young Antony, a young treasure hunting adventure also on the trail of the Golden Lion, she would probably have perished.

But Antony and Cleo fall into an underground chamber that leads to a tropical world beneath the snow, inhabited by a race who speak in algebraic equations, and who prove to be fierce fighters when Octavian's forces attack.  But Antony is not necessarily to be trusted....and the fate of the Golden Lion is uncertain.

There's lots of action in this installment--pages of fight scenes excitingly portrayed.  There also, more pleasing to my mind, some character development.  Cleo, whose main characteristic is to plunge into danger without thinking it through, has some introspective moments, and her awareness of herself as being out of her own time is shown, as is her growing fondness toward Antony.  The addition of an utterly adorable snow otter adds considerable charm!

I feel good progress was made in this fourth book to advancing the plot to the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy, and that's a relief, because it's not the most rapid fire journey to resolution ever.  That being said, I don't object at all to adventuring through the galaxy with Cleo!  The diverse cast of characters and the fascinating premise, not to mention the council of sentient cats, make this a charming series, with excitement, adventure, and cool tech to spare! It's an excellent graphic novel series to offer the "reluctant" reader of 8-12 or so.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (8/13/17)

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

The Reviews

A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting, by Joe Ballarini, at Geo Librarian

Bad Magic, by Pseudonymous Bosch, at Kitty Cat at the Library

Chaos Descends (Darkmouth #3), by Shane Hegarty, at Say What?

The Countdown Conspiracy, by Katie Slivensky, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Daybreak Bond (Firefly Code #2), by Megan Frazer Blakemore, at Jen Robinson's Book Page

Dragon's Green, by Scarlett Thomas, at Charlotte's Library

The Emperor of Mars, by Patrick Samphire, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Fridays With the Wizards, and Saturdays at Sea, by Jessica Day George, at Tales from the Raven

Gamer Squad: Attack of the Not-So Virtual Monsters, by Kim Harrington, at Mom Read It

A Girl Called Boy, by Belinda Hurmence, at Time Travel Times Two

Hunt for the Hydra (Jupiter Pirates #1), by Jason Fry, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Journey Across the Hidden Islands, by Sarah Beth Durst, at Sonderbooks

Journey From Skioria, by Kandi J. Wyatt, at Cierra's Heart of Books

The List, by Patricia Forde, at The Story Sanctuary

Orphan Island, by Laurel Snyder, at books4yourkids.com

Quest Maker (Villain Keeper #2), by Laurie McKay, at Boys Rule Boys Read

Room of Shadows, by Ronald Kidd, at Mom Read It

Ruby Lane, by R.J. Simon, at When I Grow Up I Wanna Write a Kids Book

Spirit Hunters, by Ellen Oh, at Charlotte's Library

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker, at Fantasy Literature

Wandmaker, by Ed Masessa, at Say What?

York: The Shadow Cipher, by Laura Ruby, at Redeemed Reader

Authors and Interviews

A.P. Winter (The Boy Who Went Magic) at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

David Neilsen (Beyond the Doors) a chat with Aunt Gladys, at The Children's Book Review
Other Good Stuff

Other Good Stuff

Back to the Future: Seven Middle Grade Novels that Look Ahead, at B. and N. Kids Blog 

Not Middle Grade, but still of interest--the 2017 Hugo Awards were announced this weekend

(and on a personal note, about the horror that unfolded in Charlottesville--there's not much I can do except donate to worthy causes, like African American Teaching Fellows, who work to increase the terribly low numbers of African American teachers in the Charlottesville  and Albemarle County school system).
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Spirit Hunters, by Ellen Oh

Spirit Hunters, by Ellen Oh (HarperCollins, July 2017), will be one of my top go-to books from now on if I am ever asked for recommendations of middle grade horror that is scary but not scarring for life scary.

Harper's family has just moved from NY city to a big old house in Washington D.C., bought cheaply because it needs work.  And also, though they don't know it, because it is a house where horrible tragedies have happened over the years.  Even before she knows about its past, Harper doesn't like it. Though she's not aware of the extent of her gifts, Harper can communicate with ghosts, and she is about to have ample opportunity to exercise that ability when her little brother becomes possessed by an evil spirit of another little boy who lived, and died, in the house, and who turns out to be only a cat's paw for a much more powerful and malevolent being.

The evil possession of her little brother is creepy, and builds nicely to full on horror as the story progresses, and the final confrontation with the more powerful spirit was full of bloody ectoplasmy ickiness such as horror fans enjoy (at least I think they do, and I think it was; I tend to skim descriptions of ick because otherwise they will revisit me forever.  But what I grasped didn't seem too unbearable.*)  And there's more horror here than just what's happening in the new house.  Harper has had troubles with ghosts before, that have left her badly injured and unable to remember what happen, and as current events unfold, so do her memories of these past traumas. So for kids who want horror, there's plenty of it.

What made this one I personally enjoyed so much, though, is the fact that it is also a family and friendship story.  Harper makes a new friend, Dayo, a lovely and helpful companion in adversity, and that was nice.   Less nice are family tensions, with her mother's mother shut out of the family (Harper inherited her gifts from her grandmother, who is a shamanic Spirit Hunter, and her mother can't stand this "superstitions nonsense"), and her mother isn't able to accept that Harper might really be seeing ghosts.  Her big sister blames Harper for the move to D.C. and is not the friend she once was, which happens to many seventh-graders with big sisters...So there are personal, character development things happening alongside the story that makes Harper real and someone to care about.

In some middle grade books, the kids are so wonderful and Chosen that they are able to defeat the Evil by themselves, but I like books like this one better.  It is up to Harper to find the strength in herself to win the final confrontation, but she's not entirely alone.  Her grandmother has helped get her to that point, and the ghost of an African American medium and Dayo  are their to provide support.  Even her little brother has to be an agent in his own escape from possession.  This to me is much more satisfying than extreme kid heroics.

It's also satisfying to see the diversity here, diversity that's central to who the characters are without defining them as just that--Harper's mother is Korean American, and Dayo's family is Jamaican.

One final thing that struck me--it was driven home to me that I really truly am no longer the target audience, because the thing I found most relatable is that Dayo's mom makes the same type of cookie as me--cranberry white chocolate oatmeal.

In short, I highly recommend both the book and cranberry white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

*for instance, I have Jonathan Stroud to thank for the fact that every time I go up the stairs, I think of the dark greasy smear left by the cannibal killer of the last Lockwood and Co. book.

Dragon's Green, by Scarlett Thomas--fantasy for bibliophiles

Life has been too busy of late, and I find myself wishing that some day I will say to myself "wow that took less time to complete than I thought it would" instead of saying other things not fit for young ears.

But though I have not been blogging much, I have been reading, and today I finished Dragon's Green, by Scarlett Thomas (Simon & Schuster, May 2017) , a charming middle grade fantasy.  It is not, as the title suggests, all about a dragon, although there is a dragon in one episode within the main story.  It is not entirely, as other reviews might suggest, about a group of children who find they have magical powers and learn to use them and work together to defeat a bad magical guy. Although this does happen, and they are a pleasantly interesting group of kids, each of whom has their own magical object that plays to the strengths of their personality and inclinations (so the athletic one gets a sword, the one who is interested in learning things gets magical glass, Effie, the central character, gets the hero's ring, etc.).  And although no dramatic new ground is broken in their adventures, it was fine reading.

Here's where this book is different--though the kids are in danger from the villain, who never quite manages to kill them, it is really a collection of rare books that it is in the greatest danger!  The books belonged to Effie's grandfather, who dies near the beginning of the story leaving them to her in his will,  Her father will only let her keep one. And now the books have been bought by a villainous "antiquarian book seller" who in fact is hellbent on using the magic of the books to achieve (basically) world domination, which involves destroying the books!  The danger to the books was clear by page 30, and I had to turn to the end to see if the books would be safe.  Scarlett Thomas is a nice author, and she carefully wrote her ending so that a quick glance lets you know the books are ok without giving away anything else of much importance (the kids are ok too, but whatever. It was safe to assume they were.  But in a world where some authors (naming no names) kill puppies, one can't assume the books will make it....)

So in short, I enjoyed it, and appreciated the book tension very much!  The magical gifts of the kids and the magical otherworld were a bit to magically special, but that's probably just me being a grown up and not a problem the target audience will  have.  I think the target audience should love it all just fine.

Kirkus is more enthusiastic than me, perhaps because Kirkus hasn't just spent weeks doing hard labor, assorted thankless tasks, and a wide variety of cat-herding activities while holding down a day job-- "In vivid, inviting prose, Thomas deftly evokes an original, intriguing post-technological Earth looming with evil where 'books are magic' and memorable misfits become heroes. A compelling new fantasy series with an unlikely heroine, quirky helpers, dragons, portals, witches, and wizards."

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (8/6/17)

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

The Reviews

Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafore, at books4yourkids.com

The Apprentice Witch, by James Nicol, at Charlotte's Library

The Balance of Power (Zodiac Legacy #3), by Stan Lee, Stuart Moore, and Andie Tong, at Say What?

Beyond the Doors, by David Neilsen, at Pages Unbound Reviews  and Ms. Yingling Reads

The Boy Who Went Magic, by A.P. Winter, at Book Murmuration

The Bronze Key, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, at Say What?

The Dragon's Return (Zodiac Legacy #2), by Stan Lee, Stuart Moore, and Andie Tong, at Say What?

The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart, by Stephanie Burgis, at Sonderbooks and Book Wars

A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge, at The Zen Leaf

The List, by Patricia Forde, at Cracking the Cover

Lodestar, by Shannon Messenger, at Pages Unbound Reviews

Loki's Wolves, by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr, at On Starships and Dragonwings

Shipwreck Island by S. A. Bodeen, at Redeemed Reader

Spell Robbers (The Quantum League 1), by Matthew J. Kirby, at Say What?

Shipwreck Island by S. A. Bodeen, at Redeemed Reader

Spirit Hunters, by Ellen Oh, at books4yourkids.com

Thornhill, by Pam Smy, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick, at Middle Grade Mafia

Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins, at Completely Full Bookshelf

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads--The Girl with the Ghost Machine, by Lauren DeStefano, and The Many Worlds of Albie Bright, by Christopher Edge

Five spooky campfire books at Barnes and Noble Kids Blog

Authors and Interviews

Jessica Haight & Stephanie Robinson (The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow) talk about writing sequels at Project Mayhem

Ammi Joan Paquette, agent for Kate Silvensky (The Countdown  Conspiracy) at Emu's Debuts

Gail Carson Levine is featured in a post on Ella Enchanted--feminist nostalgia, at The Huffington Post

Other Good Stuff

The 2017 Golden Kite Award for Middle Grade Goes To Eugene Yelchin for "The Haunting of Falcon House" More at SCBWI Blog

The Apprentice Witch, by James Nicol

I enjoyed The Apprentice Witch, by James Nicol (Chicken House/Scholastic, July 25 2017, 2016 in the UK), very much--it's a solid, traditional feeling fantasy that, though it didn't break any wildly imaginative new ground, nevertheless offered a solid few hours of pleasing diversion (and it wasn't even a matter of me feeling cynical because of having read so very much mg fantasy; it was just me enjoying a nice read).

The story begins with teenaged Arianwyn flunking her witch's assessment.  That means she won't get a posting as a professional witch, though her country badly needs witches for defense against threats both external (foreign enemies) and internal (dangerous native magic turning ugly).   It turns out though, that the need is so very great that even though she is still ranked as a lowly apprentice, she gets an assignment to serve as the witch to the remote little town of Lull.  Though off the beaten track, Lull proves to have its own challenges and excitements.

Banishing minor magical beings is perfectly within Arianwyn's competence, but when she inherits, along with the previous witch's accommodation, a dangerous and forbidden glyph, that offers power with a dark price, things begin to get a little bit to exciting...

The fact that Arianwyn's former classmate, a mean, snooty girl who's always been a despising pain, shows up for an extended visit to her family in Lull complicates things.  Gimma, though she set herself up as Arianwyn's rival, turns out to be a magical liability, and a nasty piece of work. Fortunately, Arianwyn turns out to be much more gifted at magic than her test results might have shown, and with the support of the witch running the regional magical bureaucracy (nice to see good civil servants in fantasy), and with her own witch grandmother swinging in to lend a hand, Arianwyn finds her way to becoming confident in her own abilities and is able to bring a resolution (for now) to the dangers threatening Lull.

Young readers will be delighted (an even though Arianwyn is a teenager, keeping house for herself, this definitely is a middle grade book that kids as young as 8 or 9 may well enjoy).  Many of the magical creature encounters are amusing, and additional kid appeal comes in when Arianwyn is adopted by a magical moon hare (cuteness points!), and thought the mean girl vs. the heroine story is not new, it is pleasantly reworked here and will be nicely familiar and comforting to readers who want encouragement in their own middle school social lives.  My favorite bit, me being me, is Arianwyn moving into the old witch's house (I like house details!).

So yes, a very good read, even if it doesn't break any particularly new ground.  This is the author's debut, and I will be paying very keen attention to his future books.  Especially if they are set in this world, which has lots of room in it for more adventures!

Just checked the Kirkus review; they agree with me, except I don't see why they put the age of reader as 11-16.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

The Autumn People, by Ruth M. Arthur, for Timeslip Tuesday

Ruth M. Arthur (1905-1979) was a Scottish author who I have always thought I should like better than I do.  Many of her books are real-world fantasy, of a time-slipping, ghostly, sort, and I have enjoyed reading those that I have, but none has really convinced me that I should spend real money to collect her complete oeuvre (though I do look for her at library book sales.  I think she's mostly been deaccessioned though; even the Rhode Island library system, which is very good at keeping old books, has only two of her books left....).

The Autumn People (1973) is my most recent Ruth M. Arthur, and it comes the closest to being a book I really enjoyed.  I'm counting it as this week's Timeslip Tuesday, even though it's a bit arguable as to whether there's time slipping back to the past (my opinion) or visits with ghosts in the present (the opinion of the 1997 Encyclopedia of Fantasy)  But the main character says 'I had stepped back into her time..." and that's good enough for me!  Plus I think when there are hot drinks and warm fires involved, you've gone back to the past because ghosts don't usually come with all their furniture etc.

In any event, here's the story--teenaged Romilly and her grandmother are going to travel together to the Scottish Island where the family used to vacation; a cousin now lives in the family house.  Romilly's great-grandmother visited there when she was a girl, and never went back.  There was a tragedy, and Rodger, one of her cousins, died.  Having set this scene up, the book gives an account of the great-grandmother Millie's summer on the island, and how she fell in love with Jocelyn.  But Rodger wanted Millie for his own, and he was evil, and could work dark magic....it ended sadly for Millie.  And now Romilly, following in the footsteps of her namesake, is caught in the unfinished web of Rodger's malevolence.  She finds comfort with "the Autumn people" of the title, Jocelyn's family, come to stay in their old home....and at last, with the help of a local wise woman, is able to lay the curse to rest, and escape Rodger.

So it's a bit ghosty how other islanders can see the lights of the Autumn people, but Romilly goes right inside and it is all how it was years ago, so I call it time travel.

Rodger is a tad overblown in his evil malevolence and torture of small animals; his family just accepts that he's evil and tries to pretend it's not happening.  There is no nuance to his psychopathic behavior, nor is there nuance to the goodness of Jocelyn who is rather colorless as a result.  But the thread of the story tying together past and present is very gripping, and Romilly's horror as she comes under Rodger's sway in the present is nicely done.  I almost liked as much as I hoped I would, but not quite--the fact that all the story is spelled out in the detailed account of the great-grandmother's time on the island removes a lot of the suspense when reading about  Romilly in the present, and there just isn't as much subtlty and atmosphere as the story really calls for.

this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (730/17)

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

The Reviews

Aleks Mickelson and the Twice-Lost Fairy Well (Zaria Fierce), by Kiera Gillett, at Mom Read It

Beautiful Blue World, by Suzanne LaFleur, at Jenni Enzor

Beyond the Doors, by David Neilsen, at Cracking the Cover  and Always in the Middle

The Creeping Shadow, by Jonathan Stroud, at Kitty Cat at the Library

The Crowns of Croswald, by D.E. Night, at The Bander Blog

Darkness of Dragons, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library

A Dash of Dragon, by Heidi Lang and Kati Bartkowski, at Mom Read It

Everblaze, by Shannon Messenger, at Pages Unbound

A Face Like Glass, by France Hardinge, at The Booklist Reader

Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins, at proseandkahn

How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell, at Becky's Book Reviews

Neverseen, by Shannon Messenger, at Pages Unbound

Orphan Island, by Laurel Snyder, at Ex Libris

Serafina and the Splintered Heart, by Robert Beatty, at Jen Robinson's Book Page

The Shrunken Head (Curiosity House 1), by Lauren Oliver and H.C. Chester, at Say What?

The Song from Somewhere Else, by A. F. Harrold, at The Story Sanctuary and the B. and N. Kids Blog

Spirit Hunters, by Ellen Oh, at Mom Read It  and Ms.Yingling Reads

Tumble and Blue, by Cassie Beasley, at Waking Brain Cells

Witch Wars by Sibéal Pounder, at Pages Unbound

A Wizard of Mars, by Diane Duane, at Fantasy Faction

The Wrong Train, by Jeremy de Quidt, at Ms. Yingling Reads

The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence, by Stan Lee, Stuart Moore, and Andie Tong, at Say What?

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads:  Monsters Unleased, by John Kloepfer, and The Apprentice Witch, by James Nicol

Three at Small Review: The Grave Robber's Apprentice by Allan Stratton, Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger, and The Perilous Princess Plot by Sarah Courtauld


Authors and Interviews

Kiersten White (Beanstalker and other Hilarious Scary Tales) at B. and N. Kids

Scholastic Reads podcast  with Tui T. Sutherland (Wings of Fire series)

James Nicol (The Apprentice Witch) at Nerdy Book Club

T.J. Wooldridge (Silent Starsong) at Writers Rumpus

Other Good Stuff

For grownups, not kids, but Matt Groening's new animated comedy for Netflix,  Disenchanted, sounds like it could be fun (more at Tor)

It is almost August, which means--the call for Cybils Judges will be here in 3-4 weeks!  Now is the time to think about whether this Fall is the time to through yourself into the beautiful immersion of reading and evaluating a ton of middle grade spec. fic. books!  I'm the organizer for Middle Grade Speculative Fiction; here's a post I wrote in 2015 with more info (note--since it was 2015, ignore the links....)

Darkness of Dragons, by Tui T. Sutherland

I have, ever since the first book of Tui T. Sutherland's Wings of Fire series came out back in 2012, been a big fan of these books, pushing them at people right and left, saying that the force of kid appeal is strong in them.  It is true that when I got an ARC of the very first book I looked at it with doubt--"baby dragons of prophecy?" I thought skeptically, and than sat down to read.  When I got up again, having finished the book in a single sitting, I was a fan. Here's a snippet of my review of that first book, which still is a pretty good expression of my feelings for the series:

"I must confess I was doubtful at first, a bit condescending even, but once the dragonets had escaped from their cave, it was a page-turner! It helped that the various dragons were sufficiently characterized to be interesting, and that the world building of all the different kinds of dragons was fascinating. It helped even more so that the fights to the death in the Skywing arena weren't sugar-coated, but deadly serious, and that the Skywings champion was a surprisingly sympathetic character. It also helped that I, in general, am a fan of plucky orphans with interesting skills raised in miserable circumstances but making good, and as these dragonets are de facto orphans, they fit the bill nicely.

But even beyond those details of story, what pleased even cynical me most was that there were themes here that I was happy to have my son think about--loyalty to friends transcending blind loyalty to tribe, the need to empathize with other points of view, the need to try your best to shape your own destiny, and not be someone's tool, and the senselessness of war.

The sensitive young reader might be troubled by some of the violence--dragons really do kill other dragons. But no beloved characters die, so it's not too upsetting."

Now, a mere five years later (thank you Tui for your hard work!) Darkness of Dragons (Scholastic July, 2017) brings to a close the second five book Wings of Fire series.  Darkstalker, legendary magic-wielding evil dragon, has returned to threaten the tenuous new peace of the various dragon kingdom, and it's up to a ferociously smart young dragon, Qibli, to try to foil him.

Qibli feels pretty powerless against the tremendous powers wielded by Darkstalker.  The only magic Qibli has on hand are objects enchanted by his friend Turtle.  But (as readers of the series will expect), Qibli's wits and the help of loyal friends are enough to ensure a happy ending.  I could put in more plot details, but I won't.  Fans of the series will be wanting to read the book for themselves (if they haven't already in the two days since they were released), and those who aren't fans should start with the first book of the first series.

Instead I'll just mention a few things I particularly liked about this book and the series in general.

--There is So Much Story here!  The Wings of Fire world adds interesting new characters and bits of backstory and dragon history with every new book.  Depsite the richness of the details, there are so many small bits in this big world that there's tons of room for the imagination of the reader to play in.

--There are so many characters to care about!  Because each book has a different main point of view character, we see old friends through a fresh lens each time, understanding the dynamics of their relationships afresh with every book.  The dragons get to change, and grow, and their opinions and perspectives shift in a very lovely way.   And we meet new dragons too in every book.

--There's adventure, but not so much of it that the character arcs get overwhelmed.  That being said, Darkstalker is too horrible for my reading comfort, and it's most horrible of all that one can almost sympathize with him.  The end of the book set my mind at ease, though (though I won't say more about that!).

--this world now has LGBTQ dragons in it!  Just a minor touch of romance at the end, but it broadens the possibilities beautifully.

And yay!  Another five book series is on its way...

disclaimer: thank you, Scholastic, for the past five years of review copies!  Best book mail ever.

Halfway through my reading year

On Sunday I made it halfway through my reading year when I hit 250 books read (not counting picture books).  My goal is to read 500 books this year to try to make a dent in the backlog; clearly I'm going to have to pick up the pace.  It is also clear that re-reading the Betsy-Tacy books and all the books of L.M. Montgomery short stories don't help my immediate problem of tbr piles, though I enjoyed  them (especially Emily of Deep Valley, which I Love), and they were fast so added nicely to my tally.

Here's a bit of a look at some of my favorite reading thus far:

There were quite a few books in series that I was so happy to get and read--the newest Wings of Fire book, Darkness of Dragons, Emperor of Mars, by Patrick Samphire (my review),  Hamster Princess: Giant Trouble, by Ursula Vernon, Realm Breaker, by Laurie McKay, and The Reluctant Queen, by Sarah Beth Durst.  No disappointments here!

I don't often give five star reviews on Goodreads, and I mostly don't give any starts at all because of suffering existential meltdowns when thinking too hard about it.  When I give a book five stars, it's because I had no doubt--

Bone Jack, by Sarah Crowe
Train I Ride, by Paul Mosier
The Someday Birds, by Sally Pla (partly because the birdwatching made me think of my mother, so I was thinking loving thoughts all through the book...)
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, by Stephanie Burgis
All Birds Have Anxiety(it spoke to me)

The downside of the busy reading is that I have reviewed less this year than in years past.  And since only 28 of the 250 were off the tbr pile, there is no appreciable difference in the backlog.  But at least I am trying. 

Action plan:

Sensible and doable:

-stop requesting books from the library during breaks at work.
-pick up and start at least one tbr pile book every two days, to see if it is worth keeping.
-take the bus to work more often so I can read instead of drive (I listen to audiobooks, but that doesn't help much with my tally or my tbr problem).  Bus to work and back time--1 hour, so one book, especially if it is a good book and I go past my stop.

do-able but not sensible:

-when I leave my desk at work, take book and read it while walking to my in-work destination (my co-workers already sense I am Different, so they wouldn't bat an eyelash, but it would make me walk slower which is not fair to the People of Rhode Island who pay my salary and expect a modicum of efficiency in return).
-read while grocery shopping (this is a bad idea because while grocery shopping I look for loose change, so it would involve Financial Hardship (over $10 found this year!)
-read faster (I read fast enough; I could read faster if I tried but it would be less fun)

Not doable, but boy it would free up time:
-quit job
-give up on weeding/home renovation/cooking/communicating with my family

I am now at 257.  I can make it to 500.  There will still be piles of books, but at least the dust will have been stirred.

Time Shifters, by Chris Grine, for Timeslip Tuesday

I picked up the graphic novel Time Shifters, by Chirs Grine (Graphix, May 2017) up at the library a few weeks ago, feeling pleased and proud that I was Planning in Advance for a future timeslip Tuesday.  I finished it about ten minutes ago, which goes to show that planning in advance is not always pointful.  I almost didn't finish Time Shifters, though, because I wasn't sure that there was ever going to be enough time travel in it to justify it getting a Timeslip Tuesday slot.  There is, although not till the very end....

Luke's brother drowned trying to save him, after a group of bullies attacked them, and Luke is caught in a pit of grief for months (passing quickly by in graphic form).  Then one evening there's a "shoomph" and a strange glow outside, and Luke goes to see what it is.  Turns out a Vampire Napoleon, a mummy, and an animate skeleton are crashing around in the woods, and they've just dropped the precious device they're supposed to be looking after into the snow.  Instead of the device, they pick up Luke's flashlight, and Luke ends up with the device...

Which leads to him being kidnapped by another a group of odd characters, who are rescuing him and saving the device.   Now he's on a planet inhabited by sentient giant insects with a robot who was an alternate world's Abe Lincoln, a ghost girl, a dinosaur and the old scientist who made the gadget in the first place.  The trio of bad guys have followed them; their evil master needs the gadget to get domination over the universe.  But the three henchmen are fairly bumbling (and very amusing to the reader!); other threats prove more pressing.

The device was once a time machine, but that function had been deactivated.  In the stress of it's final recharging, though, the time travel component was reactivated, and instead of being taken home to the same night he left, as everyone had been expecting, he arrives back on earth just as the bullies plan their attack.....so yes, time travel.

And this is the sort of time travel where there are consequences, and time lines altered.  Poignant, and bittersweet that the brother is still alive, but that this Luke is now on his own path....

It's a more thought provoking, satisfying book than the cover had lead me to believe.  There is some emotional depth here, that makes for good reading.  And the henchmen really are very amusing!  Give this one to fans of Zita the Space Girl, by Ben Hatke.

There's a two star review on Amazon from someone who  found "the storyline difficult to follow as the dialogue jumped from the good guys to the bad guys."  I am easily confused by graphic novels, but I had no problem at all with the point of view changing here.  The bad guys, after all, were Vampire Napoleon, a skeleton, and a mummy, and the visual clues Helped me.  A little focus, a little concentration....  Since the same Amazon reviewer didn't grasp that the characters had done an  interdimensional jump type thing and not time travel (at no point in our planet's history was there a wild west with sentient bug cowboys), I think her two star review is a pretty unreliable indictor of anything about the book.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (7/23/17)

Here's this week's round-up; let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Aleks Mickelsen and the Twice-Lost Fairy Well (Zaria Fierce #4) by Keira Gillett, at Log Cabin Library

The Blackhope Enigma, by Teresa Flavin, at Leaf's Reviews

Boy X, by Dan Smith, at Original Content

Code Name Flood (Edge of Extinction #2), by Laura Martin, at Say What?

The Creeping Shadow (Lockwood and Co. #4), by Jonathan Stroud, at Bookends

The Descendants series, at A Backwards Story

Dragon Captives, by Lisa McMann, at Say What?

The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, by Stephanie Burgis, at Sonderbooks

Dragon's Green, by Scarlett Thomas, at A Reader of Fictions

Emperor of Mars, by Patrick Samphire, at Charlotte's Library

Exile, by Shannon Messenger, at Pages Unbound

The Girl with the Ghost Machine, by Lauren DeStefano, at Cracking the Cover

Hitty, her First Hundred Years, by Rachel Field, at Leaf's Reviews

The Lion Hunter Series, by Elizabeth Wein, at alibrarymama (note--this is actually two groups of books, the second, later in time books (The Mark of Soloman sub-series) are middle grade.  They are more fantasy-flavored historical fiction than fantasy).

The List, by Patricia Forde, at Mom Read It

The Luck Uglies, by Paul Durham, at The Bookshelf Gargoyle

Maggie and the Flying Horse, by E.D. Baker, at Jean Little Library

Magic in the City, by Heather Dyer, at Charlotte's Library

Max Brooks’ Minecraft:The Islandat B. and N. Kids Blog

Miss Ellicott’s School for the Magically Minded, by Sage Blackwood, at Pages Unbound

Moon Princess, by Barbara Laban, at Ms. Yingling Reads

One for Sorow: a Ghost Story, by Mary Downing Hahn, at Cracking the Cover
and Books4KidsBlog

The Rogue World (Dark Gravity Sequence, Book 3) by Matthew J. Kirby, at Hidden in Pages

Spaced Out, by Stuart Gibbs, at That's Another Story

Spirit Hunters, by Ellen Oh, at Randomly Reading

When Worlds Collide (Land of Stories #6), by Chris Colfer, at Say What?

The Wingsnatchers (Carmer and Grit, #1) by Sarah Jean Horwitz, at Sharon the Librarian


Authors and Interviews

Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising) at Pagan Dawn

Annette Laing (The Snipesville Chronicles) at Time Travel Times Two


Other Good Stuff

Ten middle-grade fantasies with incredible world-building, at Pages Unbound

For fans of Studio Ghibli, and those who have never had the pleasure of seeing these lovely animated movies--there a Studio Ghibli Fest, showing classic Studio Ghibli films in theaters around the US during 2017! (more at  Once Upon a Blog)

Emperor of Mars, by Patrick Samphire

The Emperor of Mars, by Patrick Samphire (Henry Holt and Co, July 2017), is the sequel to one of my favorite books of last year, Secrets of the Dragon Tomb (my review), and so, not unexpectedly, I enjoyed reading it lots!  It picks up where the first book ended, but it actually would work fairly well as a stand-alone, because it has it's whole own plot and all the details and world-building and past adventures are folded in nicely (without info. dumping).  I think this one is an easier sell to kids--it is a heist type story, with a rush to figure out mysteries and recover a stolen item from a truly formidable enemy with lots of mechanical monstrosities at his command. So steam-punk adventure sci fi/fantasy reading kids should like it lots!

I can't do any better summarizing the set-up than I did in my first review:

The basic premise of the worldbuilding is that there are slip-ways created by Martian dragons long ago that connect Mars to Earth, and the discovery of these paths in the 17th century allowed the British (and other terrestrial civilizations;  for instance, there are also Chinese, Turkish, and Patagonian colonies) to establish colonies on Mars. It is now 1816, the Napoleonic era, and a boy named Edward and his family live a very comfortable British Imperial existence on Mars.  The ancient Martian civilizations are no more, although there are still plenty of native Martians around (they are human as well, though physically different due to centuries of life on a planet with lower gravity).  And the tombs of the Marian emperors of centuries past are rich repositories of wondrous technology...the sort of technology that could tip the balance of the ongoing war on Earth in Napoleon's favor if he could get a hold of it....

After the adventures of the first book, Edward has decided to give up trying to look after his family and instead is hoping to find his own passion.  It doesn't work.  Instead, he gets caught up in new adventures totally beyond his control, and once again, instead of being the hero, he ends up battered and bruised and lucky to be alive (mechanical monsters and attacking Martian sea serpents will do that to a person) with the somewhat justified feeling that he made a mess of things.  But the fault of course lies not with Edward, but with the self-styled Emperor of Mars, who has reclaimed ancient Martian technology to fuel his own ambitions.

Edward continues, as well, to be over-shadowed by his sisters.  Although Olivia is only a minor presence in this installment, Putty is still as brilliantly wild and determined as ever (she is a STEM role model par excellence if you don't mind adventurous, somewhat amoral, expression of mechanical genius), and Jane, who was written off in the first book as being marriage obsessed, comes into her own with her intellectual abilities saving the day (poor Edward, outshone again...).   A new character, a girl thief, adds interest, because the reader knows from experience that characters in this world might not be exactly who they seem.  Sadly (for us readers who loved him), Freddy is back on Earth, working to foil Napoleon.

Speaking of which, there's also a spy in the mix, busily feeding secrets of Martian technology to Napoleon that could make him unstoppable....a problem that will presumably be dealt with in a future book because goodness knows there were enough problems to be dealt with here!

My review of the first book closed with me saying  "I hope it goes into the culture conflict on Mars more than the adventure/danger plot of this first book allowed."  And it does--there are very interesting (particularly to me, because critical examination of colonization is part of what I do for work as an archaeologist) moments of questioning the imperialist attitudes of the British, poking at the assumptions of the colonizers.  I was happy to see a native Martian get a chance to speak directly of the history of the Martian Emperors (much more technologically advanced than Earth) of long ago, and speak also of the attitudes of contemporary Martians to their past.(complicated).  Archaeologist me, though, was horrified by the destruction of the museum, and I hope the artifacts can be restored.....

And than as a special magical bonus, the dragon's egg that Putty claimed for herself in the last book hatches, and now there is once again a real live dragon on Mars!

Lots of action, interesting characters, and fascinating world-building make for another good book!  I can't help but prefer the first one, because of Freddy, but I enjoyed this one lots too and can't wait for the next installment and more of Putty's dragon, more of Jane's intellectual pursuits,

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

What Goes Up, by Katie Kennedy

I very much enjoyed last year's Learning to Swear in America, by Katie Kennedy, so I was very happy last week to plunge into her new book, What Goes Up (Bloomsbury, 2017).  I find it very easy to grow fond of her characters, and to find their predicaments very engrossing, and the fact that What Goes Up has a more blatantly sci fi element to it made it all the more interesting.  I don't want to spoil what exact form that sci fi element takes, so I will try to be coy in my reviewing.

The story begins with  a group of ultra-select teens being tested by NASA's Interworlds Agency for some unclear purpose involving preparing for encounters with aliens; the two teens that pass the testing with the higher markers will be retained for said purpose.  There was the standard math and physics part to the testing, which I would fail, (though in the story there were about an equal number of girls, so positive re-enforcement for girls in STEM) but  NASA also wanted to see how well they could think outside the box, and how they'd react in conditions of life threatening danger, which required an element of excitement, as it were....(I would probably fail this part too.  Sigh.  The ability to improvise bad puns is not valued by NASA).

We are given two teens to root for right off the bat--Rosa Hayashi and Eddie Toivonen.  Rosa has basically been raised to take this test, Eddie has had a struggle.  His dad isn't a pre-eminent scientist like Rosa's; instead, he's in jail.   His engineer grandmother who brought him up was able to teach him lots, and they happily launched rockets together in her backyard, but coming to NASA for the testing wasn't an easy thing for him; the shadow of his abusive father weighs heavily on him. (I am glad we unexpectedly get to meet Eddie's grandma--she is great!)

So there are the kids, and the tests, and it is fun reading about the training and the group dynamics and the efforts of their instructor Reg to prepare the teens for the question mark of possible alien encounter.  There are poignant bits, and amusing bits, and tense bits, and then the sci fi part starts! All that testing--very useful.  All the lessons they'd just had about trusting themselves--also unexpectedly, more literally than you might imagine, useful! The bonds of friendship formed between Rosa, Eddie, and the third boy who's their alternate--essential.  The chances of saving Earth--slim.

So in any event, the sci fi part required a big suspension of disbelief, and really can't be poked at too hard or the belief crumbles, and if I read the book correctly there is a big plot thread left hanging (perhaps someone who has read the book can enlighten me--what happens to the guys who arrived first? did they ever leave again?), but I enjoyed it all lots and lots.  It is funny and friendly and a wild ride.  I'll be re-reading it, which in this day and age of book buildup in the home is the best compliment I can give a book.

There's diversity here--Rosa is of  French and Japanese descent, and Reg is black.  Which makes Rosa the first Japanese/French American fictional teen in space, to the best of my knowledge....

Kirkus agrees with me, except in the matter of how much of the plot to give away.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher