Review of Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin

Children's Fiction Review, Fairy Tale Variant, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Starry River of the Sky

by Grace Lin

Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2012. 288 pages.
Starred Review

Grace Lin has surpassed herself! Her companion novel, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, also wove Chinese fairy tales into the larger narrative, and it deservedly won a Newbery Honor. I think Starry River of the Sky is even better. You do not at all need to have read the earlier book to appreciate this one. A few characters appear in both, but each story is completely self-contained.

The first paragraph sets the stage, with the Moon missing, and Rendi stowing away in a cart.

Rendi was not sure how long the moon had been missing. He knew only that for weeks, the wind seemed to be whimpering as if the sky were suffering. At first, he had thought the moans were his own because his whole body ached from hiding in the merchant’s moving cart. However, it was when the cart had stopped for the evening, when the bumping and knocking had ended, that the groans began.

Rendi is caught stowing away, but the innkeeper at the Inn of Clear Sky lets him stay on as an errand boy. He doesn’t feel grateful, but he sees no way to move on. Then a beautiful woman comes to the inn. She talks to old, slow-witted Mr. Shan and she begins to tell stories to Rendi and Peiyi, the innkeeper’s daughter. But she won’t continue to share stories unless Rendi will tell a story himself.

Through the stories, and through events, we see Rendi begin to change. And problems are solved. But what is a boy to such overwhelming problems as a missing moon, parched and drying land, Peiyi’s missing brother, and Rendi’s own identity. Many people in this book are angry, and Grace Lin weaves a tale where we want them to find peace, and we come to believe they can do what it takes to put their anger aside.

Grace Lin is also an artist, so each chapter has a drawing at the start of each chapter, and there are gorgeous full color pictures every few chapters. The stories told within the chapters get their own font as well as small colored pictures on each side of the story’s name. The book is a delight to hold and look at.

Although this isn’t exactly a beginning chapter book, the language is simple and the concepts are all well within the grasp of an elementary age child. This would be a wonderful choice for reading to a classroom or reading to children at bedtime.

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a book I purchased at KidLitCon and had signed by the author.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Ruins of Gorlan, by John Flanagan

Adventure, Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

The Ruins of Gorlan

by John Flanagan
performed by John Keating

Recorded Books, 2006.

One of my co-workers told me she enjoyed listening to this series, and I’d meant to read it ever since it had been a Summer Reading Program selection at our library back in 2008. When it made Betsy Bird’s Top 100 Chapter Books List and I was also looking for my next audiobook to listen to, I finally tackled it.

Now, I found the plot a little predictable and a little stereotypical, but I still enjoyed it. And since the series stretches on and on, I am sure it will go beyond the coming-of-age story in this first volume.

Will has grown up in a castle as a ward of the lord of the castle. All he knows about his father was that he was a hero, and Will imagines him a mighty knight. All his life, he has dreamed of going to battle school.

But Will is too small for battle school. When the mysterious Ranger picks Will out as his apprentice, Will is less than thrilled. But then he learns skills that show him sometimes those with size and brute strength are not the most powerful.

Besides covering the beginning of Will’s training, this book takes us through his first involvement in a conflict with the evil that is building up to attack the kingdom. I can see why so many kids are avidly following this series. This very first one is still popular, but we also get people for looking for the newest volume, and every book along the way. I suspect I will become one of them.

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Lions of Little Rock

by Kristin Levine

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2012. 298 pages.
Starred Review

This book is set in Little Rock in 1958. The schools have been ordered to integrate, and a few bold teens forced the issue. So now the mayor responds by closing the high school.

Marlee’s sister Judy is going into eleventh grade, so she’s going to have to go away to be able to go to school, leaving Marlee on her own. Marlee has a lot of fears. She doesn’t like to talk. Not to other people, anyway. But then a new girl comes to her middle school, and Marlee makes a wonderful new friend, a friend who helps her speak up and face the things she’s afraid of.

Marlee caught my sympathy early, because she uses numbers to steady herself. I also enjoyed her way of looking at the people in her life:

You see, to me, people are like things you drink. Some are like a pot of black coffee, no cream, no sugar. They make me so nervous I start to tremble. Others calm me down enough that I can sort through the words in my head and find something to say.

My brother, David, is a glass of sweet iced tea on a hot summer day, when you’ve put your feet up in a hammock and haven’t got a care in the world. Judy is an ice-cold Coca-Cola from the fridge. Sally is cough syrup; she tastes bad, but my mother insists she’s good for me. Daddy’s a glass of milk, usually cold and delicious, but every once in a while, he goes sour. If I have to ask one of my parents a question, I’ll pick him, because Mother is hot black tea, so strong, she’s almost coffee.

When Marlee’s new friend Liz turns out to be black, trying to pass for white, Marlee’s life turns upside-down. She has to examine things like true friendship, what’s right and what’s wrong, as well as facing her fears.

This novel about civil rights isn’t quite like any other I’ve read. It works just as well as a novel about a girl learning to face her fears and examine her friendships as much as it works to cast light on a particular time in history.

kristinlevine.com
penguin.com/youngreaders

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke

Adventure, Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Ghost Knight

by Cornelia Funke
read by Elliot Hill

Originally published in German in 2011.
English translation by Oliver Latsch, Random House, 2012.
Listening Library, 2012. 5 hours on 4 compact discs.
Starred Review

I’m a sucker for a good British accent, and Elliot Hill is simply marvellous at reading this audiobook. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed the book as much if I had read it myself, since I’m not a big fan of ghost stories. But Elliot Hill started off with the pitch-perfect voice of a British schoolboy angry with his potential stepfather “The Beard,” and sent off to boarding school in Salisbury. (And be sure you hear “Salisbury” in your head with a British accent!)

There’s wonderful atmosphere. The school is located in an old Bishop’s Palace, and the Cathedral is haunted by some of the knights buried there. But right away, Jon Whitcroft finds out he’s in trouble. A horrible ghost with a rope around his neck comes with four servants and they are after Jon, calling him “Hartgill,” his mother’s maiden name. It turns out that dead lord was executed for murdering a Hartgill centuries before.

Only Jon can see the ghosts, and he’s in trouble until one of his schoolmates — the only one who believes him — suggests that he ask a dead knight for help. Though it’s not as simple as Jon hopes.

Like I said, I’m not a huge fan of ghost stories. But many children are, and this one would make a fabulous family listen-along. You’ve got a likable 11-year-old kid caught in the middle of truly scary adventures with historical overtones. And did I mention the wonderful British accents?

listeninglibrary.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Once Upon a Toad, by Heather Vogel Frederick

Children's Fiction Review, Fairy Tale Variant, Fantasy 0

Once Upon a Toad

by Heather Vogel Frederick

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012. 263 pages.

I always like fairy tale take-offs, and this book takes elements from the classic fairy tale “Toads and Diamonds” and puts them in a modern context, with two stepsisters living in Portland.

What would you do if you suddenly started spouting toads any time you made a vocal noise? And what if your mean stepsister, at the same time, started spouting flowers and diamonds?

This isn’t intended to be an exact copy of the fairy tale, set in modern times. No, the idea for the spell in this story was taken from the classic fairy tale. Only it got a bit muddled, and the stepsister we would have called the good one (since she is, after all, the narrator) is the one who got the toads.

Cat Starr has to live with her father’s new family while her mother is in outer space (really!) on the International Space Station. That wouldn’t be so bad — Cat loves her Dad and her little brother and gets along great with her stepmother — if it weren’t that she had to share a room with her stepsister and go to middle school classes with her. They have nothing in common, it seems, and Olivia can be just plain mean.

But when Cat talks it over with Great-Aunt Abyssinia, she’s not at all prepared for what happens next.

This is a fun take-off on the fairy tale. There are plenty of implausibilities. There are bumbling crooks, sinister government figures, and some mysterious magic happening a bit randomly. But, hey, when were fairy tales ever plausible?

heathervogelfrederick.com
KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Ordinary Magic

by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

Bloomsbury, New York, 2012. 276 pages.
Starred Review

Abby Hale lives in a world where it’s normal to have magic. She’s the youngest of five children, and her two older sisters and two older brothers all came out as having very high levels of magic at their Judging.

But Abby? She’s twelve years old and ready for her Judging. And it turns out she has no magic at all. She’s completely ordinary, called an Ord by “normal” people.

Ords are considered barely human. However, they do have one skill in this magical world — magic doesn’t affect them, so they can walk right through charms and protective spells. Because of this, Adventurers like to have an Ord along to make treasure accessible. And they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get one.

Fortunately, Abby’s family would never sell her, ordinary or not. In fact, her sister works at a school established for Ords in the capital city, a school that’s supposed to keep them safe.

But staying safe isn’t easy in a world accustomed to thinking of Ords as having no rights.

This book was a lot of fun, especially all the ways it was exactly the opposite of Harry Potter. Instead of learning she’s a Wizard in a world of Muggles, Abby finds out she’s an Ord in a world of Magic Users — normal people.

I love the way the author conveys what’s normal in that world. For example, Abby’s complaining about the “realistic” fiction she has to read in class:

All the authors we read are boring. All the stories we read are about people hating each other and being miserable. And there aren’t even any carpet chases or magic fights or somebody turning somebody else into a toad. There are no dragons. How realistic can you be without dragons?

In another place, parts of their house have been unmagicked, so that Abby can get around in it.

I knew it was a pain for my family at first — to have to use little knobs to turn on the water in the bathroom instead of just poofing the perfect pressure and temperature, and having doors open to just one room instead of whatever room it was you wanted — but nobody said anything.

At school, they’re trained in self-defense, because there are so many people out there who would like to capture them and use them, or, in the case of red caps, eat them. I laughed at this section, where the teacher is explaining why they have to learn more languages than normal people do in their schools:

Here language was required every single year. We were going to learn a different language each year, and in order to graduate to the next grade we’d have to be what Mr. O’Hara called “functionally fluent.”

“Why? So we’re ready to be bought and sold?” Peter muttered under his breath.

“In case you’re bought and sold,” Mr. O’Hara answered so everyone could hear. “I think you’ll find escape much easier if you know the local language.” And then he spent the rest of the class introducing us to Astrin and teaching us the tourist basics, like hello, good-bye, please, thank you, and help, I’m being kidnapped!

In general, this book is a whole lot of fun. It beautifully shows you Abby’s affection for her loving, quirky family. It’s a little weaker in showing her friendships at school. That’s the point where it begins to pale in comparison to Harry Potter. There are also two places where the author destroys the suspense by telling you right up front that Abby gets out of it:

What happened next was my fault. I just want to say that straight out. I know Olivia blamed Peter, and Alexa blamed, you know, the actual people responsible, but I should have known better.

Once she’s said that, at the beginning of the chapter, you just can’t think that she’s going to be away from Olivia and Alexa (her sisters) for very long at all. If they’re arguing about who’s at fault, we know she gets out of the situation before too long.

In another place, we read, “King Steve told me later that they modeled the alarm system on the cries of real-life banshee.” That takes the teeth out of a sentence on the very next page which includes the phrase, “if I got out of this and saw King Steve again…”.

I also wasn’t completely satisfied with where it ended. In the Harry Potter books, I always scoffed that these adventures took precisely one school year. In this book, though there is a climax, the adventure doesn’t feel complete. We have some very important loose threads left hanging. The book ends at the end of the school year, but it feels like a random place to end.

However, these were minor details in a delightful debut novel. This book is full of good-natured teasing between a family who loves each other. It pokes fun at conventions of fantasy stories by turning them on their heads. And along the way, it creates a credible imaginary world and fleshes it out with details. As well as looking closely at how it feels to be on the wrong side of prejudice. I definitely want to read the next book just as soon as it comes out. I want to find out what happens to the loose ends left hanging, and, especially, I want to spend more time with Abby Hale and her family.

www.bloomsburykids.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Historical 0

Splendors and Glooms

by Laura Amy Schlitz

Candlewick Press, 2012. 384 pages.

Splendors and Glooms has been nominated for consideration in two groups I’m part of: Capitol Choices, and the Cybils Awards. I’d already heard speculation about it for the Newbery Medal on Heavy Medal blog. So I wasn’t surprised to find excellent writing. The story, however, isn’t up my alley.

We’ve got a sinister gothic horror tale, beginning in the fogs of London in 1854. There’s a creepy puppeteer who bullies the boy and girl who live with him. There’s a poor little rich girl who lives among memories of her four dead brothers and sisters. And there’s a dying witch, living removed from London, who desperately wants a child to steal her magic fire opal so that she can give it up, so that she won’t be consumed by its fire.

Fans call the book “atmospheric.” I found myself calling it “creepy.” Now, the creepiness is wonderfully crafted. We feel the sinister squalor in which the children live with Grisini, the puppetmaster. We feel the impending doom of Clara’s obsession with the puppets.

Here’s a conversation between the children who live with Grisini after the rich girl, Clara, has disappeared.

Parsefall grabbed her wrist and squeezed it warningly. “We can’t tell the coppers,” he hissed. “There ain’t nuffink to tell. We don’t know nuffink.”

“We know that Grisini knew two other children who disappeared. It must mean something,” hissed Lizzie Rose. “Perhaps the coppers could find out what it is. It might help them find Clara!”

“Grisini would kill us,” Parsefall said desperately. He dug his fingernails into her hand. “If we peached on him, he’d kill us. You don’t know ‘im the way I do.” He heard his voice rise and lowered it again. “Promise me you won’t go to the coppers.”

Lizzie Rose gave a little shiver. She wasn’t promising anything.

So the story is spooky, with slow-growing realization that these children are in the thick of something bad, something dangerous. But on the other hand, the plot is very slow-moving, and by the end the revelations have been foreshadowed so many times, they’re rather anticlimactic. The characters aren’t very likeable, and I found the book awfully easy to put down along the way.

What do you think? Many are lauding this book as a prime Newbery candidate. Laura Amy Schlitz certainly uses language richly and creates a setting where you can almost feel the fog clinging to your clothes. For the Cybils, I’m not sure I can recommend this book as one having kid appeal. But perhaps I’m simply the wrong audience, since in general I don’t like creepy books. I know lots of kids do. If you’ve read the book, I’m curious if you thought the heavy foreshadowing was a flaw or a strength. Feel free to discuss spoilers in the comments.

candlewick.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of The Mighty Miss Malone, by Christopher Paul Curtis

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 1

The Mighty Miss Malone

by Christopher Paul Curtis

Wendy Lamb Books, 2012. 307 pages.
Starred Review

The Mighty Miss Malone is a companion book to Christopher Paul Curtis’ Newbery Medal-winning book, Bud, Not Buddy. I read Bud, Not Buddy so long ago, I didn’t really remember it, so I can confidently say that did not in any way reduce my enjoyment of The Mighty Miss Malone. Bud makes a very short appearance in this book, but mostly this one is just set in the same time period of the Great Depression. This book is all about Deza Malone.

Deza Malone is the smartest person in her class, and she knows it. She wants to be a writer, so of course she uses her dictionary and thesaurus a lot — too much, according to her teacher.

In the first chapter, Deza shows us an essay she wrote about her family. About herself, she says:

“My most annoying trait is that some of the time I might talk a little too much, I can be very verbose. I exaggerate but that is because I come from a family of great storytellers which is not the same as great liars.”

Deza’s excited about getting extra teaching from her beloved teacher. But then her father loses his job and her family loses their home. Her father goes on the road to find work, and they in turn try to find him.

Along the way, we see Deza, her brother Jimmie with the voice of an angel, and her parents interacting with lots of laughs and lots of love.

Deza’s family has a motto: “We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful.” I’m glad I got to go along for the ride.

ChristopherPaulCurtis.com
randomhouse.com/kids

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Spy Princess, by Sherwood Smith

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

The Spy Princess

by Sherwood Smith

Viking, 2012. 386 pages.
Starred Review

Sherwood Smith does politics really well. I know, that sounds boring, but in Sherwood Smith’s hands, it’s not boring, not at all. She takes a medieval world with a kingdom and adds an unhappy populace, but applies realistic, not simplistic solutions. Then she puts her characters in the thick of unrest and change and has them try to figure out what is right and what is best. Oh, and she mixes in some magic along the way.

Sherwood Smith also does romance wonderfully well. Hold on — there’s no romance at all in this book. This one’s about kids embroiled in a kingdom at war, trying to figure out a way to make a difference. I only miss the romance because I know how well she writes it, but this book is firmly for middle grade readers and has all the adventure they could wish for with no mushy stuff.

When Princess Lilah Selenna hears peasant children yelling insults at her family’s carriage, she wants to find out what’s going on. She decides to sneak out and disguise herself as a village boy. When she does, she makes her first friends — but they are planning Revolution.

By another author, this book might be simply about carrying out the revolution. But Sherwood Smith delves a little deeper. Yes, there’s Revolution, but once the peasants are incited to violence, can the leaders get them to stop? Who will govern now and what new laws will be needed? And can they even hold their gains? For Lilah, what part can kids play in bringing about Slam Justice?

Lilah’s uncle the king has banned mages from his kingdom, but she does find some in a hidden valley. So there’s magic and spying and secret passages and vigilante justice and plenty of adventure, with some deep thinking about justice and leadership.

So this was revolution. I remembered how impatient I’d been for it to happen — just so I wouldn’t have to curl my hair. But in my idea of revolution, people gathered to make stirring speeches about how we could better our lives, followed by cheers and exciting trumpet blasts as . . . things somehow changed. Not this horror.

sherwoodsmith.net
penguin.com/youngreaders

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a I purchased via Amazon.com.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Akata Witch

by Nnedi Okorafor

Viking, 2011. 349 pages.
Starred Review

Here’s a fantasy tale of a young person discovering she has magic that is nothing like any other book I’ve read. Because this young lady, Sunny, lives in Nigeria.

Our main character explains herself:

My name is Sunny Nwazue and I confuse people.

I have two older brothers, like my parents, my brothers were both born here in Nigeria. Then my family moved to America, where I was born in the city of New York. When I was nine, we returned to Nigeria, near the town of Aba. My parents felt it would be a better place to raise my brothers and me, at least that’s what my mom says. We’re Igbo — that’s an ethnic group from Nigeria — so I’m American and Igbo, I guess.

You see why I confuse people? I’m Nigerian by blood, American by birth, and Nigerian again because I live here. I have West African features, like my mother, but while the rest of my family is dark brown, I’ve got light yellow hair, skin the color of “sour milk” (or so stupid people like to tell me), and hazel eyes that look like God ran out of the right color. I’m albino.

Then Sunny learns that she is a Leopard Person, a person with mystical abilities. She is a Free Agent, someone whose parents are not Leopard People, but are Lambs. And she runs across two other children from Leopard families who have also recently discovered their abilities.

If this sounds like Harry Potter’s world, the basic set-up is similar, with Leopard People instead of Wizards, Lambs instead of Muggles, and Free Agents instead of Muggle-born. Sunny and her friends must learn to use the magic and also to combat a powerful and evil Leopard Person who is carrying out ritual killings. But that’s where the similarity ends. The magic used is African magic and very different from the magic in Harry Potter’s world.

Though this book is complete and has a satisfying climax, it’s very much a beginning. Sunny finds things out about this new magical world she’s part of, and she has many questions about what it means for her life. This book provides a detailed and evocative set-up as well as being a gripping story by itself. I will snatch up any further adventures of Sunny and her friends as soon as they come out.

nnedi.com
penguin.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a book I got at ALA Annual Conference and had signed by the author.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I write the posts for my website and blogs entirely on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.