Blog Tour Author Interview with Diane Zahler

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

Today I’m excited to host my second-ever Blog Tour Author Interview with Diane Zahler, author of A True Princess. You’ll find my review of the book just below in the previous post on this blog.

I found Diane’s answers to my questions intriguing. I hope you enjoy them!

Diane Zahler
Diane Zahler

I’ve always loved fairy-tale retellings, and can think of several that I love, such as The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale, Beauty, by Robin McKinley, and Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine. What are some of your favorite retellings? Would you say those influenced your own writing?

I love Beauty and The Goose Girl too – in fact, those are my absolute favorite retellings. The way Robin McKinley and Shannon Hale filled out their stories and grace with which they write were a real inspiration to me. I also love East by Edith Pattou, a retelling of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” and Ash by Malinda Lo, a retelling of “Cinderella.” As these writers did, I wanted to create a complete world in my retellings, with intriguing characters and settings and a sense of magic.

Which were some of your favorite fairy tales as a child?

I read all the Andrew Lang fairy tale books – The Red Fairy Tale Book, The Blue Fairy Tale Book, yellow, green – if there’d been a puce one or a vermillion, I’d have read those too! I was especially taken with “The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” which I used as the basis of my first book, The Thirteenth Princess. And I loved “Rapunzel.” But I didn’t notice, at that age, that the princesses in these stories were not in control of their own fates – they were manipulated by magic, and later, generally, saved by a prince. I like a princess who can call the shots! And if there had been princesses like that when I was a kid, I think I would have loved them.

Can you put your finger on some reasons why you love fairy tales? (I’m not sure I could!)

Fairy tales treat both our earliest fears and our deepest hopes. The fact that similar tales are found in cultures around the world and have been popular for centuries indicates that the themes they treat resonate with us on a deep level. Many of them deal with abandonment, the death of a parent, and other situations that seem hopeless and out of the characters’ control. And yet often good vanquishes evil, and there’s a happily-ever-after. The idea that we – identifying with the characters in the stories – can face our fears and overcome them is empowering.

I actually very recently finished revising a middle-grade fairy-tale-type novel of my own, and have begun sending queries to agents. Do you have an agent? Any tips about getting published? Did you find any resistance to such traditional fantasy, with so many vampire and werewolves out there?

I don’t have an agent. I’ve had agents in the past, and they were not particularly helpful. Of course, the books I was sending out at the time weren’t particularly publishable, so that might have been the problem! But I had worked in children’s book publishing years ago and still knew some people, so I was able to get my work read. And I found that the fact that my books were fantasy in a more traditional vein was an relief to my editors. I get the impression from agents and editors I know that fairy tales are more likely to endure than the trendy vampire/werewolf/angel-fallen-to-earth fiction that’s so popular at the moment. As for tips – endurance. Resilience. A thick skin. Never give up! It took me decades to get here, but it took me much of that time to learn how to write.

I think of A True Princess as a wholesome story, suitable for young girls beginning on chapter books who love fairy tales, but also offering plenty to enjoy for older people like me. The main character encounters many good people who care about her, and it’s a feel-good story, even with the moments of danger. I wish that saying that didn’t make the book sound boring, because it’s not! Would you care to comment about that and about the age level of your imagined reader?

A True Princess, like The Thirteenth Princess, is marketed for the middle-grade, or tween, reader. That’s between 8 and 12 years old, though I’ve heard from many girls of 13-16 who really enjoyed The Thirteenth Princess. I did keep my readers in mind to some extent as I wrote, but the fact that my protagonist in both my novels is 12 keeps certain topics naturally off-limits. Lots of fairy tales in their original form are the opposite of wholesome – they feature murder, betrayal, abuse, every horror you can imagine, and some that are beyond imagining. Needless to say, I haven’t included most of those details in my retellings. My aim is not wholesomeness, or creating a feel-good story. Instead, my intention is to take the elements of the original story that I think would resonate with readers – the struggle between good and evil, the search for identity, the tension between fear and courage –and use those to craft a story that contains both aspects of the original and themes that work for today’s readers.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with my readers and me!

A True Princess

Some more about Diane Zahler and A True Princess:

About Diane Zahler
Diane Zahler, author of A True Princess, has loved tales of fairies and magic since before she was old enough to read. She has worked in the children’s room at a public library, in children’s book publishing, and as an elementary and high school textbook writer. The Thirteenth Princess, her first novel for young readers, was published in 2010. She lives with her husband and dog in an old farmhouse in the Harlem Valley that is held together with duct tape and magic spells. Diane’s website is: www.dianezahler.com.

About A True Princess
Twelve-year-old Lilia is not a very good servant. 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. Lilia refuses to accept that dreadful fate, and with her best friend Kai and his sister Karina beside her, she 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.

Here’s a link to order this book from Amazon.com

Here’s the complete list of blog sites on the tour:

February 1: The Compulsive Reader — Review, book giveaway
February 2: The Brain Lair — Author interview, review
February 3: Jean Little Library — Review
February 3: Galleysmith — Author post, review
February 4: Write for a Reader — Review
February 5: The Cozy Reader — Author post, review
February 6: Libri Dilectio — Review
February 7: Tales from the Rushmore Kid — Interview with my editor
February 8: Green Bean Teen Queen — Review
February 8: Mother Daughter Book Club — Review
February 9: There’s a Book — Author interview, review
February 10: Mrs. V’s Reviews — Author interview, review
February 11: The Cazzy Files — Author interview, review
February 11: Sonderbooks — Author interview, review
February 12: BookScoops — Author interview, book giveaway, review

Review of A True Princess, by Diane Zahler

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

A True Princess

by Diane Zahler

HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2011. 182 pages.
Starred Review

Today I’ll be posting my second-ever Blog Tour Author Interview on my blog, where I interview Diane Zahler about this book, which has just come out. I did not agree to do the interview until I’d read the book, so I was happy that I enjoyed it very much! I wasn’t surprised, because some of my very favorite books are retellings of fairy tales, but I was happy about it, and happy as well to spread the word about such a good book.

A True Princess is a loose retelling of “The Princess and the Pea.” One thing I like in a fairy tale retelling is when they plausibly explain odd details in the original fairy tale. Like Ella Enchanted explains why Cinderella was such a doormat to her stepsisters, while still being spunky. A True Princess by the end of the book reveals why in the world a queen would use a pea below a pile of mattresses in order to test whether a candidate was a true princess.

But I do like it that the author didn’t adhere slavishly to the fairy tale and gave a more modernized ending, with some true love involved in the prince’s choice.

This book is a feel-good story, which I also enjoy. All the fully human characters are kind, except Lilia’s stepmother, and she’s only at the beginning. She’s not actually even Lilia’s stepmother, since Lilia was a foundling, taken in by kind man when she was a toddler. Lilia explains how she got there:

“I was about two years old when Jorgen, out fishing in the river, grabbed a strange, rough basket as it floated past. He found me inside, sound asleep. The river came down from the mountain glaciers and was ice cold. If the basket had tipped in the swift current or leaked, I would have perished from the freezing water. But I was perfectly dry, and when I opened my eyes — the color of spring violets in this land of the blue-eyed — Jorgen was overcome with astonishment and could not leave me to the river. He carried me home to his new wife and two motherless children — his son Kai, who was close to my age, or so they guessed, and his daughter Karina, who was five years older. I had stayed with them ever since, but I certainly was not part of the family, and Ylva never let me forget that. I helped Kai with the shepherding and Karina and Ylva with the household chores, and I slept on a pallet in the barn with the sheep. Ylva did not even let me eat at the table with the others.”

The book begins as Lilia overhears Ylva telling her husband that they must hire Lilia out to the miller, whose wife needs a serving girl. The miller is a cruel man, even to his own children, and Lilia decides to run away, to head north and see if she can find answers about her origins.

Lilia is rarely truly alone in this book — which makes it all the more of a feel-good book to read. For the next day, Kai and Karina, and the dog Ove, catch up with her. They tell Lilia that they are coming with her. Ylva was so angry when Lilia left, she threatened to betrothe Karina to the miller’s son. So the story is more of friends going on an adventure than of a lonely quest.

But the friends do face an adventure. At an inn, they meet some kind (and handsome) lords who are also traveling. They warn the three travelers about the Bitra Forest, where the Elf-King lives, who steals children and poses great danger to travelers.

Despite the warnings, they are attacked by bandits in the forest and go off the path. They encounter the Elf-King and his people, and his daughter decides she likes Kai. She enchants him and decides to keep him.

So the quest to find Lilia’s origins ends up being a quest to rescue Kai. Lilia bravely stands up to the Elf-King and negotiates with him. If Lilia will bring back Odin’s own cloak clasp, dropped on his Hunt, and now in a palace not far away, Kai will be released. But she is only given a fortnight in which to do it.

So there is real danger and tension, but because of Lilia’s support from Karina, and others she meets along the way, things never get truly dark.

This is a good yarn and with its feel-good nature is suitable for a middle grade student’s first fairy tale retelling. But it also has plenty to offer for people like me, who have loved fairy tale retellings for years.

And you’ll finally understand why the princess was bothered by that pesky pea!

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/true_princess.html

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 an advance review copy sent to me by the author.

Review of Penny Dreadful, by Laurel Snyder

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Penny Dreadful

by Laurel Snyder

drawings by Abigail Halpin

Random House, New York, 2010. 304 pages.
Starred Review
2010 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #7 Children’s Fiction

I admit I was predisposed to like Penny Dreadful. I’d met the author at KidLitCon09, right after I’d already posted a review telling how much I enjoyed her earlier book, Any Which Wall. I found her a kindred spirit and was absolutely delighted when, after an exchange on Twitter, she offered to send me a copy of Penny Dreadful.

But predisposed or not, there’s no way I wouldn’t fall for a book where the main character mentions reading all the Anne of Green Gables books on the third page.

Penelope was bored, but she has an unusual perspective on her own boredom:

“This sorry state of affairs was only made more awful by the fact that Penelope had read enough books (they were just about the only thing that Penelope did not find boring) to know that bored little girls who live in mansions are usually spoiled. Penelope did not want to be spoiled. Spoiled girls in books were silly and selfish. Still, Penelope could not help it. Whatever she did, wherever she went, she was horribly, hungrily bored.

“Penelope thought that perhaps things might improve in a few years, if only she could go away to boarding school. In books, boarding school was always very exciting, full of deep secrets and midnight escapades, and sometimes magic. But even if her parents agreed, that was still far off in the future, and in the meantime she could think of no other real solution to her problem.”

I found Penelope’s solution to her boredom particularly delightful. After her father tells her that people who are bored have no Inner Resources, Penelope makes a resolution:

“From that day on, she tried to do things every single day. Since she had little experience with doing, and didn’t know where to begin, she turned to her books for help. Each morning she stood in front of her bookshelf with her eyes squeezed tightly shut and ran a finger down the spines of the bindings, stopping when the mood struck her. Then she’d pull out that particular book, flip to a random page, and do whatever the people in that book happened to be doing.”

The section that follows completely charmed this particular librarian, since it tells about Penelope’s actions inspired by several classic and much-beloved children’s books.

Especially beautiful is Penelope’s action inspired by one of my favorites, Edward Eager’s Magic Or Not? In that book, the children make wishes in a wishing well, and interesting things happen. Edward Eager leaves it up to the reader to decide if it’s magic or coincidence. As a child, I was sure it was magic. As an adult, reading it to my children, I realized that it probably wasn’t, but loved it all the more that it had convinced me as a child that it was.

“Penelope wandered out into the perfectly manicured lawn of her backyard, holding a folded scrap of paper. There was a decorative wishing well of sorts in the middle of the Greys’ lawn, beneath a little red maple tree. The well had been designed by a famous architect, and a picture of it was in a book her mother kept on the coffee table.”

Penelope makes a wish: “I wish something interesting would happen when I least expect it, just like in a book.”

About a week later, her father quits his job in the family firm in order to become a writer, and everything changes for their family. They run out of money. Her tutor and the housekeeper quit. Her parents aren’t used to keeping up with a mansion, and they are not happy to be broke.

“Then Penelope realized something. Wait! she thought. If the well is magic, and this is my fault, then I can fix it. And if I can’t fix it — it isn’t my fault at all!

“Straightaway she ran downstairs, grabbed a pencil and a sheet of paper from the kitchen table, and dashed out into the garden, where she stood by the well. This might not work, she told herself, but it can’t make things any worse. With a brief thought for how best to word her wish, Penelope bent over and scribbled a note.

“I just wish something would happen to make everything better right away!”

And, what do you know, shortly afterward, the doorbell rings. A telegram arrives. Penelope’s mother has inherited her great-great aunt Betty’s house.

The majority of the book happens after the family moves to the house, called the Whippoorwills. It is not at all what they expect. It turns out that Aunt Betty had let several other people add on to the house and live there, rent-free. At first, they are startled and upset that people are living in “their” house. As the summer goes on, Penny gets to know her quirky and interesting neighbors. She finds a friend not where she expects, and then learns how to be a friend.

Of course there are further problems. The back taxes on the property need to be paid, and if not, it will revert to the bank. They may not be able to stay at the Whippoorwills after all.

Of course Penelope, who now goes by Penny, tries to fix the situation, and I love the way things come together in a way that Penny, at least, doesn’t expect.

Altogether this is an absolutely delightful story. You’ve gt summer adventures with friends. You’ve got interesting characters who have conflict but are quite charming. You’ve got a revelation of Aunt Betty’s life story and how she came up with such interesting neighbors and possessions. And you’ve got a main character who reads great books!

This book would be a wonderful choice for a mother-daughter book club. Or a class read-aloud. In fact, on her website, Laurel Snyder has a fabulous offer:

***BRAND NEW PROGRAM! Join the PENNY DREADFUL BOOK CLUB! For 2010, I’m trying out a crazy new idea, a book club. Essentially, it works like this– you and your group of kids (class, library book club, bookstore regulars, homeschool co-op, etc) pick any five of Penny Dreadful’s 20 favorite books to read (Penny is a BIG reader). Contact me and tell me which books you’ve chosen, and I’ll supply my own special study guides for each of them (along with bookmarks and a poster for your library/store/classroom). You simply read and discuss the books you’ve chosen, and then I’ll come and join you for your discussion of the sixth book– Penny Dreadful! I will do this FREE OF CHARGE for groups of ten or more kids within driving distance, or for the cost of transportation/hotel if I must travel. I’m doing this–waiving my fee–because the books on the list are books I love personally, and the idea of kids reading them makes me so happy!

Isn’t that just wonderful? And the books are like the ones I mentioned, great classic children’s books.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/penny_dreadful.html

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 sent to me by the author.

Review of Forge, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Forge

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010. 292 pages.
Starred Review
2010 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #6 Children’s Fiction

Curzon is a slave who has just escaped as this book opens. But unfortunately he soon finds himself hiding in a ravine right in the middle of a Revolutionary War battle. Instead of staying nicely hidden, he intervenes when a redcoat is about to kill a young Patriot soldier. One thing leads to another, and he finds himself enlisting as a Patriot soldier, claiming to be free.

The army ends up wintering in Valley Forge. Curzon is in a company with the boy whose life he saved, and he gains friends and enemies among them. Readers get a fresh view of the deprivations the army suffered at Valley Forge, and will feel like now they really know what it was like.

However, things change for Curzon when his former master shows up.

I already knew that Laurie Halse Anderson is an outstanding author from having read Speak. So I wasn’t surprised at how well she crafted this book. It’s a gripping story and gives you fresh insight into the Revolutionary War.

The only drawback for me was that having recently read The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, I felt like I’d already read the definitive story of a black soldier during the Revolutionary War, and I wasn’t really ready to read about more suffering. Now, mind you, Forge is for a younger audience. The story is simpler (though still complex — it’s easy to be simpler than Octavian Nothing) and the book is wonderfully well-crafted. In a lot of ways I enjoyed Forge more. It’s definitely a different story, since Octavian fought on the British side. It was things like when people got sick, I found myself cringing and bracing myself for the kind of epidemics I read about in the other book. (They didn’t happen.)

Forge is a sequel to Chains, but I hadn’t read the first book and followed this one just fine. It did make me want to read Chains, though, and read more about Curzon and his friend Isabel.

I was thinking about my knowledge of History today and realized that I have a much more clear understanding of parts of history that I have read in novel form. And now my ideas about Valley Forge, combined with having visited the site, are much more memorable and vivid than they ever were before.

Compelling historical fiction from a masterful writer.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/forge.html

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.

Review of The New Policeman, by Kate Thompson

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

The New Policeman

by Kate Thompson
Performed by Marcella Riordan

Recorded Books, 2007. 6 compact discs, 6.5 hours.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #1, Children’s Fiction

I’d heard about this book for a long time, probably since it was first published. So, like so many other books I’ve been meaning to read but have never quite gotten around to, I decided to listen to it on my way to work.

I was completely enchanted. This book is all the more delightful on audio, because it is set in Ireland and has much about Irish music. So the narrator’s Irish accent adds to the enjoyment, and I especially liked the Irish tunes played between each chapter. I only wish the library had the next two books in audio form. I found the book haunting me, and the Irish tunes made me feel transported to that world even as I drove through this mundane world to work.

The book is not what I expected. There’s a new policeman in the Irish small town, but the story isn’t so much about him. The story is more about J.J. Liddy, a 15-year-old in a family with a long heritage of being musicians.

Time is getting shorter and shorter. No one ever has enough. Because of that, people are expected not to waste time by playing music at all hours. J.J.’s mother says what she really wants for her birthday is more time, and J.J. decides to get it for her. He finds his way to the land of Tir na n’Og, the land of the ever-young, where time never passes and nothing ever changes, and the inhabitants are always ready to make music that lifts the heart like nothing from our world.

There are problems in Tir na n’Og, too. Time is actually passing. Extremely slowly, but it is passing. The sun is beginning to set. J.J. discovers there’s a time leak. Time from our world is leaking into Tir na n’Og. It’s bringing changes and eventual death to those people, and a horrid lack of time to our world. Can J.J. figure out how to stop the leak?

This book reminded me of the fabulous Momo, by Michael Ende. Both books have a magical explanation for the reason why the more you try to save time, the less you have. Both books have a child who can find out what’s going on and save the world. Both books are definitely worth taking the time to read!

I do highly recommend listening to the audio version of this book. The Irish accents and the Irish music interludes make the experience completely captivating.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/new_policeman.html

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.

Review of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

by Tom Angleberger

Amulet Books, New York, 2010. 154 pages.
Starred Review
2010 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #8, Children’s Fiction

Last night, a friend mentioned that her third grade son is a reluctant reader and is daunted by the thick books some of his classmates are reading. Another friend suggested Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which the mom said her son has, ready to read. That’s when I recommended The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is similar to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books in that it’s set in a middle school, has lots of cartoon drawings to accompany it, is hilarious, and deals with the difficulties of being a middle school student. I liked the Yoda book better, though, and the humor seemed less crass and genuinely funny.

For example, how’s this for a nightmare assembly that the kids have to go to: “Mr. Good Clean Fun and Soapy the Monkey present: ‘Feeling Good About Our Smells.'” Seeing the poster of that event simply makes me laugh.

Tommy starts the narration in The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and other classmates contribute their version of the events that happened, the advice yoda gave them, and how it turned out. Here’s how Tommy begins:

“The big question: Is Origami Yoda real?

“Well, of course he’s real. I mean, he’s a real finger puppet made out of a real piece of paper.

“But I mean: Is he REAL? Does he really know things? Can he see the future? Does he use the Force?

“Or is he just a hoax that fooled a whole bunch of us at McQuarrie Middle School?

“It’s REALLY important for me to figure out if he’s real. Because I’ve got to decide whether to take his advice or not , and if I make the wrong choice, I’m doomed! I don’t want to get into all that yet, so for now let’s just say it’s about this really cool girl, Sara, and whether or not I should risk making a fool of myself for her.

“Origami Yoda says to do it, but if he’s wrong . . . total humiliation.

“So I’ve got to know if he’s real. I need solid answers. I need scientific evidence. That’s why I went around and asked everybody who got help from Origami Yoda to tell their stories. Then I put all the stories together in this case file.”

Origami Yoda’s been giving advice to the students at McQuarrie Middle School. When they follow the advice, things work out beautifully. When they don’t, things go wrong. But there’s something very strange about that, in the person of Dwight:

“Dwight is the guy who carries Origami Yoda around on his finger.

“The strangest thing about Origami Yoda is that he is so wise even though Dwight is a total loser.

“I’m not saying that as an insult. It’s just a fact. Dwight never seems to do anything right. Always in trouble. Always getting harrassed by other kids. Always picking his nose. Always finding a way to ‘ruin it for everyone,’ as the teachers say.

“If he would just listen to Origami Yoda’s wisdom, like the rest of us, he would have it made.”

I love the way the author presents what happened and lets us judge for ourselves whether Origami Yoda really has wisdom or not. Besides Tommy, who seems a bit gullible (but look at the facts!), he has Harvey write some commentary from a skeptic at the end of each chapter.

Reading the book as an adult, I’m afraid I was with the skeptics. But I love the way what happens is so ambiguous, you can easily understand the kids believing in Yoda. The situations where Tommy and his friends get Yoda’s help are funny, but definitely realistic. And Tommy ends up finding out what it’s like to really be a friend before it’s all done, so the themes do give any reader food for thought.

I enjoyed this book so much, I made sure to buy my own copy at ALA Annual Conference and get it signed by the author. When I did, a young boy was ahead of me, showing Tom Angleberger the origami yoda he had folded. The author signed it, and I thought that was a great recommendation for the book. (There is a pattern in the back of the book to make your own Origami Yoda.)

A fun read for any age.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/origami_yoda.html

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.

Review of Plain Kate, by Erin Bow

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Plain Kate

by Erin Bow

Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic, 2010. 311 pages.
Starred Review

I read this book on a flight from Virginia to California, and I was enchanted. Right from the start, the language drew me in. Here is a passage from the beginning:

“Plain Kate’s father, Piotr, was a wood-carver. He gave Kate a carving knife before most children might be given a spoon. She could whittle before she could walk. When she was still a child, she could carve a rose that strangers would stop to smell, a dragonfly that trout would rise to strike.

“In Kate’s little town of Samilae, people thought that there was magic in a knife. A person who could wield a knife well was, in their eyes, halfway to a witch. So Plain Kate was very small the first time someone spat at her and crooked their fingers.

“Her father sat her down and spoke to her with great seriousness. ‘You are not a witch, Katerina. There is magic in the world, and some of it is wholesome, and some of it is not, but it is a thing that is in the blood, and it is not in yours.

“‘The foolish will always treat you badly, because they think you are not beautiful,’ he said, and she knew this was true. Plain Kate: She was plain as a stick, and thin as a stick, and flat as a stick. She had one eye the color of river mud and one eye the color of the river. Her nose was too long and her bones were too strong. Her father kissed her twice, once above each eyebrow. ‘We cannot help what fools think. But understand, it is your skill with a blade that draws this talk. If you want to give up your carving, you have my blessing.’

“‘I will never give it up,’ she answered.

“And he laughed and called her his Brave Star, and taught her to carve even better.”

Unfortunately, Kate’s father dies when she is still too young to become an apprentice. The guild sends a new carver to run his shop, and Kate ends up sleeping in the bottom drawer of her father’s stall, doing carving for people who are willing to defy the guild for someone who is an expert. Also in her father’s stall, she finds three kittens, and one stays with her, so she has a companion.

But then Kate meets a witch who wants her shadow. He cannot steal it — witchcraft works on the principle of willing exchanges. But he has ways to make sure Kate will want to bargain with him. The people are already suspicious of her, so when he calls fish to her, they are suspicious. He does more magic, until the townsfolk are so convinced she is cursing the town, she knows she has to leave.

The witch takes Kate’s shadow and gives her the true wish of her heart. Losing a shadow, though, is a slow process. Kate joins the Roamers, for awhile, and makes a friend. But will the Roamers keep her after they see she has no shadow? And what about the sleeping sickness that is turning up wherever she goes?

And what did the witch want with her shadow?

I loved this story. It’s a fantasy not quite like any other. There’s a talking cat, and I love the things he says — always perfectly cat-like. Here’s a scene with the cat, Taggle:

“‘Are we finished fleeing?’ the cat asked, the last word swallowed by a huge yawn. He stretched forward, lengthening his back and spreading his toes, then sprang onto the wall beside her. His nose worked. ‘Horses,’ he said. ‘Dogs. Hrrmmmmm. Humans. Chickens. And — ah, another cat! I must go and establish my dominance.’ He leapt off the wall.

“Plain Kate lunged after him. ‘Taggle! Wait!’ She snatched him out of the air by the scruff of his neck.

“‘Yerrrrowww!’ he shouted, hanging from her hand. ‘The insult! The indignity!’

“Kate fell to her knees and bundled the spitting cat against her chest. ‘Taggle!’ she hissed. ‘Stop!’

“‘I shall claw you in a moment, no matter how much I like you. Let me go!’ He writhed against her chest.

“‘Tag, you can’t talk.’

“‘I can talk,’ came the muffled, outraged voice. ‘I can also claw and bite and scra –‘

“‘No,’ she interrupted. ‘You can’t, you mustn’t talk. Listen to me. They’ll kill you if they hear you talk.'”

Kate is up against something very sinister, and she feels responsible, since her shadow is involved. But how can one girl, who doesn’t have magic, stop magic powerful enough to destroy a city? And will she find a place where she belongs?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author said she wrote the first chapter on a plane. Watching the plane’s shadow separate and disappear gave her the idea of losing a shadow.

I’m going to call this Children’s Fiction, rather than Teen Fiction, but I think either group would like this book. The themes are serious, with people dying and Plain Kate living on her own. But she is still a child, too young to be an apprentice, on her own in the big world, with only a cat for a friend.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/plain_kate.html

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 an uncorrected proof I got at the ALA Annual Conference.

Review of The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary 0

The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis

by Barbara O’Connor

Frances Foster Books (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), New York, 2009. 150 pages.

Popeye is bored. It’s summer, and it’s been raining for over a week. Popeye lives with his grandmother Velma and his Uncle Dooley. Uncle Dooley’s the one whose bad aim with a BB gun resulted in Popeye’s one eye always squinted shut and his nickname of Popeye.

But then, just when Popeye is convinced his life is horribly boring and will never change, the rain stops, and Popeye finds a big surprise when he goes around the curve in the road. There’s a motor home stuck in the mud.

“The lopsided motor home sparkled like tinfoil in the sun. Glittery gold lightning bolts zigzagged along its sides. On the front, under the enormous windshield, was a painting of a coyote, howling up at a round yellow moon.

“Bumper stickers and decals were stuck every which way all over it. Above the door. Along the roof.

“American flags and smiley faces and peace symbols bordered the curtain-covered windows.

“Just looking at that big silver motor home was pure entertainment.”

But things get even better when Popeye discovered that a whole passel of scruffy-looking kids live in the motor home. And the biggest one, Elvis, is about his age.

Thus begins a memorable summer for Popeye. They go wandering along the creek and find a small adventure: perfect little boats made from Yoo-Hoo cartons with cryptic messages inside.

Can Popeye and Elvis find out who is making the boats before the motor home gets out of the mud and Elvis’ family has to move on? Can Popeye overcome his qualms and go exploring further down the creek despite his grandmother’s directives? Should Popeye overcome his qualms? And if Velma finds out, how can he divert her wrath?

I’ve recently discovered that short chapter books with large print are perfect for reading at Northern Virginia traffic lights, and that’s how I read this one, until I got close to the end and couldn’t stop.

A lot of the charm of this book is the well-done characterization. We feel truly transported to the world of a lonely kid with nothing to do in the summertime. Each character is distinctive, from Velma, who recites the kings and queens of England in order each morning to keep from cracking up, to Elvis with his constant attempts to be tougher than his little brothers and sisters.

Velma also learns a vocabulary word each day and shares them with Popeye. He finds many reasons to use the new words in the course of their small adventure.

The small adventure in this book is one that Popeye will remember all his life, and one the reader will feel privileged to share.

I recently had an interview for a Librarian position as Youth Services Manager at a Regional Library. I blew the question on reader’s advisory, which is what I’m best at! They asked what book I would recommend to a 4th grade boy who loves sports and has read all the Matt Christopher books, and my mind went completely blank. This book is not about sports, but I think it would be a fantastic choice for a boy who likes action, and he doesn’t have to be an advanced reader, though more advanced readers will enjoy the book, too.

For anybody who’s been bored and would like to have a Small Adventure.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/popeye_and_elvis.html

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.

Review of The Boy Who Climbed Into the Moon, by David Almond

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Delightfully Silly, Fantasy 0

The Boy Who Climbed Into the Moon

by David Almond
illustrated by Polly Dunbar

Candlewick Press, 2010. 117 pages.

Here’s a whimsical look at a boy with big ideas and the amazing things he finds when he’s willing to act on them.

Paul lives underground in a basement flat at the bottom of a great apartment block. One day, he decides to go and touch the sky.

On his way up the apartment building’s steps, he meets a variety of quirky characters, one of whom shows him the elevator. On the very top floor lives Mabel, the most interesting character of them all. Or is she Molly, Mabel’s identical twin sister, looking after Mabel’s apartment while Mabel is on holiday in Barbados?

Paul’s parents find Paul on the top floor, and Molly shows all of them a new way to look at the world. Paul admits that he is a person who has strange ideas, and all of them celebrate his ideas. They go on a strange adventure to visit Molly’s very shy brother, and eventually all the people in the apartment building help Paul to fulfill his wish of climbing to the moon.

This is a book of delightful nonsense, where logical things are stood on their heads. It celebrates strange ideas and self-belief and adventure and family and dreams coming true and poodles who fly. The illustrations are plentiful and full of fun. I have a feeling that children will “get” this book even better than imaginative adults.

This book is a quick read, perfect for a child who’s beginning to read chapter books, hopefully read when they are still young enough to freely and happily suspend disbelief. Anything is possible!

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/boy_who_climbed_into_the_moon.html

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.

Review of Clementine, by Sara Pennypacker

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

Clementine

by Sara Pennypacker
pictures by Marla Frazee

Hyperion Books for Children, New York, 2006. 136 pages.
Starred Review

How did I miss this book so long? I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I don’t have daughters. However, as a children’s librarian, I feel remiss at not having read this book sooner.

This book came to my attention by way of Betsy Bird’s Fuse #8 blog. After her poll of the Top 100 Children’s Novels, she did a post about the other titles that got votes, but were not in the top 100. Clementine was mentioned as a 21st Century Ramona the Pest.

When I read Clementine I was completely enchanted. When I checked it out, I was looking for something to read at the “Mother’s Day Mugs” library program. The program was for ages 6 and up to paint their own mugs, so none of the Mother’s Day picture books at the library seemed entirely appropriate — They are mostly geared for younger kids. I found a happy solution in Chapter Three of Clementine. It’s funny, kept their interest, and has a nice section with her mother when she realizes that it’s okay that her mother isn’t the sort who would ever appear in a magazine picture of a mother.

The book is narrated by Clementine. She’s in third grade and definitely means well. So why does she keep on getting in trouble?

The first page gives you a nice taste of what’s to come:

“I have had not so good of a week.

“Well, Monday was a pretty good day, if you don’t count Hamburger Surprise at lunch and Margaret’s mother coming to get her. Or the stuff that happened in the principal’s office when I got sent there to explain that Margaret’s hair was not my fault and besides she looks okay without it, but I couldn’t because Principal Rice was gone, trying to calm down Margaret’s mother.

“Someone should tell you not to answer the phone in the principal’s office, if that’s a rule.

Okay, fine, Monday was not so good of a day.”

The illustrations by Marla Frazee are absolutely brilliant, showing another perspective on things. One of my favorites is where Clementine says this:

“I knew Friday was going to be a bad day right from the beginning, because there were clear parts in my eggs.

“‘I can’t eat eggs if they have clear parts,’ I reminded my mother.

“‘Eat around them,’ she said. ‘Just eat the yellow parts and the white parts.’

“But I couldn’t because the clear parts had touched the yellow parts and the white parts. So all I had was toast.”

The picture on the page facing this picture has Clementine at the table, dramatically holding her throat and making a choking face. Her mother is holding a frying pan and does not look amused. On the floor is an untidy backpack with books and papers coming out.

I love this passage that shows how Clementine’s perspective is quite different from the adults around her. It’s from when the principal gets back to her office:

“Principal Rice rolled her eyes to the ceiling then, like she was looking for something up there. Ceiling snakes maybe, just waiting to drip on you. That’s what I used to be afraid of when I was little, anyway. Now I am not afraid of anything.

“Okay, fine, I am afraid of pointy things. But that is all. And boomerangs.

“‘Clementine, you need to pay attention,’ said Principal Rice. ‘We need to discuss Margaret’s hair. What are you doing on the floor?’

“‘Helping you look for ceiling snakes,’ I reminded her.

“‘Ceiling snakes? What ceiling snakes?’ she asked.

“See what I mean? Me — paying attention; everyone else — not. I am amazed they let someone with this problem be the boss of a school.”

I enjoyed Clementine so much, I ended up accosting a patron at the library on my last day working there. You see, for the two years I worked at Herndon Fortnightly Library, I had this thoughtful grandmother of two girls asking me for book recommendations. She likes to give her granddaughters well-chosen books. I think two years ago, the girls were two and four, so now they must be four and six. A recent big hit with the youngest was Olivia, by Ian Falconer, and the whole time I was reading Clementine, I thought that this book is the perfect follow-up, for just a little bit older girl. I definitely wanted to mention it to this grandma, so when I saw her on my very last day at the library, I had to bring her over to the Clementine books, whether she was looking for books for her granddaughters that day or not.

I got this book read after reading Half-Minute Horrors showed me that reading a children’s chapter book with short chapters was the perfect activity for waiting at northern Virginia traffic lights. I’ve already seen, from the Mother’s Day Mugs program, that it’s great fun for reading aloud to a wide age range.

Any child who’s been in school will appreciate Clementine’s perspective. With plenty of pictures, and not too many words on a page, it’s also a perfect selection for a child ready for chapter books. Definitely a winner in every way! And I agree that she carries on the legacy of Ramona the Pest. I’m going to snap up the other books about Clementine.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/clementine.html

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.