Review of Wingbearer, by Marjorie Liu and Teny Issakhanian

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Starred Review 0

Wingbearer

by Marjorie Liu
illustrated by Teny Issakhanian

Quill Tree Books, 2022. 204 pages.
Review written May 23, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This is the first volume in a new graphic novel series. I was captivated, my only disappointment being that the story only begins in this volume, finishing with new questions and no resolution at all.

The book pulls you into a magical world right from the outset. The beautiful paintings are like looking at a skillfully animated movie. (I was not surprised to learn at the back that the illustrator indeed has a background with Disney and Dreamworks.)

Here’s the text on the first page, highlighted to indicate a kind of voiceover effect:

I don’t know how it began. That’s the truth, I promise.

The wings tell me that birds have always been immortal. That their spirits live forever, returning to this tree to be reborn. And I ask them, “Well, what about the rest of us?”

They have no answer.

But I think that if birds have a tree, then so must every other creature. And when we die, our souls travel to that place where we rest, just like birds, until we are reborn.

Unless of course, someone — or something — gets in the way.

Zuli is a little girl who lives in the Great Tree — a tree with roots down to the heart of the earth, where souls of birds come when they die and are soon reborn and sent on. Zuli doesn’t know how she got there.

But then the souls stop coming to the tree, and Zuli decides to go out in the world to find out what’s wrong and save them, accompanied by an owl companion.

The journey out in the big world is perilous. Zuli meets some companions and also seems to be hunted by a witch queen. She does learn that something is happening to the birds in the north, so that’s the direction she wants to travel. She also learns things about herself and that some beings were watching for her. Can she learn who her people are and why she was left as a baby in the Great Tree? And of course, can she save the souls of the birds from whatever is stopping them from being reborn?

None of these questions are answered in this volume, but I love the lavish art and Zuli’s kind spirit. I also love that even though this is some other world not at all like earth with goblins and dragons and griffins, Zuli is portrayed as a beautiful girl with black skin. Why shouldn’t she represent a generic human in this fantasy world?

The book takes less than an hour to read and the story isn’t finished, but the art is so lavish, I can forgive them for not waiting until the entire story is complete to publish part of it. I’m looking forward to reading more.

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Review of The Raven Heir, by Stephanie Burgis

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

The Raven Heir

by Stephanie Burgis
read by Eleanor Jackson

Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2021. 5 hours, 25 minutes.
Review written June 6, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to read this book. Stephanie Burgis consistently writes outstanding middle grade fantasy books with characters who make their way in the world, navigating their own and others’ use of magic.

This book features Cordelia, who’s been living in the forest with her mother, older brother, and her two triplets. Cordelia’s magic allows her to shapeshift into any animal, and she hates staying inside. Her family gets impatient with her always turning into a bird or a mouse or something to get out of being where she’s supposed to be. Her triplets, Rosalind and Giles, certainly have magic of some kind, but haven’t been interested in developing it just yet. Rosalind focuses on learning swordplay, and Giles loves to sing, preferably for an audience.

One fateful day after Cordelia took off in bird form, she sees people in their woods — people who turn out to be soldiers. Someone has gotten through their mother’s protection spells and says that the king has died and her child is now the rightful king. Their mother doesn’t clue the visitor in that there are three of them. She won’t answer any of Cordelia’s questions about who was born first — or anything else, for that matter. And she is not happy to be told her child will be the ruler — she went into the forest to avoid that very thing. Ever since the Raven Crown broke, folks had been squabbling over the crown. Nobody can keep it for long, and to take the crown means death will come soon. In fact, two different branches of the family are each trying to put a different child on the throne, hoping to control them as regent.

Their mother tells the triplets to flee — Cordelia as a bird and the other two through a back tunnel. When they meet up, someone claiming to be their grandmother finds them, but can they even trust her? So begins an adventure that turns into a quest, with three children, all with magical powers but dubious control, trying to escape the soldiers looking for them, rescue their mother and older brother, and learn some family secrets along the way.

This is a fun fantasy-adventure tale and is firmly middle grade, with no romance, but plenty of adventure, magic, and kid power.

I have one little quibble. At one point in the story (and only one point in the story), Cordelia is given to understand that great magic requires a sacrifice of something she loves. I’ve seen this in several other books, and it’s an idea I hate. Why do kids have to read books that say it’s noble to give up something you love? I personally would like to see a book about the magical power inherent in following what you love and becoming great at it. However, in this book, this only came up in one big example, not in every single use of magic, so it didn’t bother me as much as a book I read where every little bit of magic required sacrifice. Why do we easily accept that sacrifice, simply for the sake of sacrifice, is noble? It reminds me of folks who think prayer requires bargaining with God. I honestly think kids are a little more prone to this, so seeing it in a kids’ fantasy book is actually a pet peeve of mine. It’s a very minor point in this book — but hit my pet peeve.

There, so all but the pet peeve, this was a wonderful book by an author I love, and give it to any kids you know who love reading about kids with magical powers.

stephanieburgis.com

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Review of The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

The Dragon Warrior

by Katie Zhao

Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2019. 343 pages.
Review written October 27, 2019, from a library book

The Dragon Warrior is one of those stories of a modern kid discovering she’s inherited the mantle of a hero of mythology and must go on a quest to save the world from demons. She’s looking for her father, who disappeared mysteriously fighting demons years ago, and has complicated relationships with the companions fighting alongside her.

This time the mythology is Chinese mythology – and it’s complicated. I did have trouble remembering the relationships of the various gods and demons – but I thought that was only fair, and I hope there are Chinese kids reading this book who enjoy reading about characters they’ve heard of before. There was a glossary in the back, but since it was in the back I didn’t want to refer to it in the middle of the book.

Faryn Liu lives in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where her grandfather trains her to battle demons. But the other members of the Jade Society look down on her family for not having pure Chinese blood. So nobody expects her to be chosen as the Heaven Breaker and to be given a quest to solve a puzzle and make it to the Jade Emperor’s Lunar Banquet.

It does read a lot like other similar stories, but it still is a fun read. My favorite moments were the horse-loving friend getting to drive a flying chariot and Faryn learning that she can command dragons.

This book looks to be the start of a series, and there were some complications I didn’t expect. This is an action-packed book with kids fighting demons to save the world. What’s not to like?

katiezhao.com
bloomsbury.com

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Review of Willodeen, by Katherine Applegate

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Willodeen

by Katherine Applegate
illustrations by Charles Santoso

Feiwel and Friends, 2021. 263 pages.
Review written January 7, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This is a sweet and poignant fantasy for younger readers with a strong theme about how life is interconnected. In less skilled hands, it would be a Message Book. As it is, this lovely story has a strong theme.

Willodeen lives in a village in a world with creatures unlike those in our world. She’s narrating the story, and tells us this:

I suppose I always loved strange beasts. Even as a wee child, I was drawn to them.

The scarier, the smellier, the uglier, the better.

Of course, I was kindly disposed toward all of earth’s creatures. Birds and bats, toads and cats, slimy and scaly, noble and humble.

But I especially loved the unlovable ones. The ones folks called pests. Vermin. Monsters, even.

My favorites were called screechers. They screamed at night like demented roosters, for no reason anyone could ever make out.

They were grumpy as tired toddlers. They were sloppy as hungry hogs.

And – I guess there’s no nice way to put it – they stank to high heaven.

Willodeen’s family was killed in the Great September Fire, and now she lives with two ladies who are healers. She doesn’t like large groups of people and feels like she never got the lesson on what to say when. But she watches the creatures who live around her village.

The other folks of the village love the hummingbears – adorable little bear-like creatures with silvery wings that make bubble nests in the blue willows by the river. They have a grand Faire every year when the hummingbears nest. Willodeen has her own hummingbear who was injured in the fire and can no longer fly long distances.

But recently, there are fewer creatures in the forest. The Council put a bounty on screechers because of their terrible smell. Willodeen is horrified when the last one she has seen in months gets shot by a bounty hunter.

Then a boy who crafts little model creatures makes her a little screecher on her birthday. And that day, Willodeen discovers a baby screecher. Can they keep it hidden from the hunters?

Then when hummingbears are missing from the town – but nest in the trees where their screecher feeds at the roots – Willodeen wonders if there is a connection.

Willodeen is a wonderful lovable character who pulls you into this story. You’ll find yourself loving the stinky screechers, too.

This is a gentle story with a strong punch.

katherineapplegate.com
mackids.com

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Review of Unseelie, by Ivelisse Housman

Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 0

Unseelie

by Ivelisse Housman

Inkyard Press, 2023. 423 pages.
Review written March 4, 2023, from a book sent to me by the publisher.

This is a debut novel I read in consideration for the 2024 Morris Award, with a review written before any discussion with the committee.

This book begins with this inscription before the story:

Stories tell of children stolen away by faeries, replaced by inhuman look-alikes.

These look-alikes, they say, could be identified by their strange speech or silence. They cried without reason or never showed any emotion at all, and struggled to relate to a world that seemed foreign to them. Folklorists theorize that these stories were early descriptions of autistic children – proof that autistic people have always been here.

But once, they called us changelings.

Unseelie is a story told by a changeling. But she lives with the twin sister the faeries tried to steal – because their mother went to the Seelie Court, and when offered a choice, refused to give up the baby she already had and brought up both girls as her own.

But now at seventeen the girls are on their own, living by their wits, with twin Isolde having developed into a clever thief and pickpocket. On the night of Revelnox, she has a plan to break into the local manor and steal the treasure hidden behind locked doors.

When they go after it – this particular lock needs two people to pick it – it turns out they’re not the only ones who had that idea. The treasure turns out to be a compass. For Isolde and for the other two would-be thieves, the compass only brings a vision of a faerie guardian. But when Seelie touches it, it magically goes into her skin and now shows on her palm. What nobody else realizes is that the faerie guardian also gets inside her head.

The book is about their quest to follow the compass to an unknown treasure. It’s not long before they’re forced to join forces with the others who tried to steal it, who have a personal history with the lady of the manor. But they’re also being chased by the manor’s security forces.

Seelie has trouble with crowds. And textures. And other things. She’s used to Isolde looking out for her. But now her magic has been stirred up, and when she gets angry, it flares out in dangerous ways. Can she learn to control her magic? And what about the faerie guardian of the compass?

They travel in an enchanted coach with a cat that’s really a brownie. (I loved that part.) Their journey seems a little random, but after all, they’re following an enchanted compass while trying to avoid pursuit.

I enjoyed the book and especially the portrayal of an “autistic” (without using that word) heroine, who’s different, and discriminated against for being a changeling. I did think how the magic in that world works was pretty murky – though, to be fair, Seelie is just figuring it out. I absolutely hated their reasons for living on their own in the first place, and didn’t completely understand the coincidence of four people going after the “treasure” at the same time, nor any of their motivations to try so hard to get it. I also didn’t appreciate that, although there was a map at the front, I had no idea where they were on the map except at the very beginning. (Was I just not reading carefully enough?)

Those are all nitpicky things. I was reading in a nitpicky way because I was reading for the Morris Award. As a first novel, this was delightful and the author shows lots of promise. (And needing to understand the magic and the location is an affliction that not all fantasy readers have anyway.) I enjoyed my time spent with Seelie and Isolde.

The most frustrating part, though, is that the story is not finished yet. This is the first book in a duology, and I will be watching for the concluding volume. (Looks like it’s scheduled for September 2025 – a long wait.)

IvelisseHousman.com
InkyardPress.com

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Review of Kaleidoscope, by Brian Selznick

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Kaleidoscope

by Brian Selznick

Scholastic Press, 2021. 192 pages.
Review written January 13, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This is something new for Brian Selznick, but like the rest it contains his detailed and beautiful artwork done in pencil. This is a series of very short stories, and each one has a picture at the front. But before that picture, we see the picture viewed through a kaleidoscope.

And the stories themselves are kaleidoscopic. They all involve the first-person narrator and his friend, a boy named James. But they couldn’t all happen in the same universe. There are many fantasy elements in the stories with trips to the moon and magic apples and meaningful dreams and giants and dragons. I think of them as stories of the same people happening in parallel magical universes.

At the back, he tells that he was working on a book on and off for five years:

… but when I finally was ready to think about the story again, I found myself ripping apart everything I’d already written. It was like the narrative was shattering along with everything else, and out of the shards a new book began to take shape. As I worked, certain themes and images kept reappearing: gardens and butterflies, apples, angels, fires, trees, friendship, islands, keys, shipwrecks, grief, and love. That’s why I decided to call this new version of the book Kaleidoscope, because each of these elements, like bits of colored glass, turn and transform and rearrange themselves into something new. And like looking into a kaleidoscope, the view is always changing and only you can see it.

This book is very reminiscent of works by Chris Van Allsburg and Shaun Tan with a lot of surreal elements and haunting pictures.

I’m not sure the book completely worked for me, but I very much suspect that’s because my logical mind likes to understand a bit better how everything fits together. And I do find many of the stories sticking in my head after I shut the book. I highly recommend giving this book a try and seeing if it works for you.

thebrianselznick.com
scholastic.com

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Review of Little Witch Hazel, by Phoebe Wahl

Fantasy, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Little Witch Hazel

A Year in the Forest

by Phoebe Wahl

Tundra Books, 2021. 92 pages.
Review written December 4, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

Little Witch Hazel is a lavishly illustrated picture book for young elementary school readers, telling four stories about a tiny witch who lives in the forest along with fairies and gnomes and animal friends.

There’s a story for each season. In Spring, Hazel finds an orphaned egg and cares for what hatches. In Summer, Hazel has a lot of things she needs to do and all her friends are enjoying the wonderful weather, being lazy. In Autumn, Hazel helps the small animals of the forest investigate the frightening sound coming from a hollow stump. And in Winter, Hazel is tending to animal friends and doesn’t notice that a blizzard is coming. There ends up being a nice connection at the end that ties back to the beginning.

That simple description doesn’t communicate how charming this book is. Hazel is not a sweet or delicate little fairy. She’s a little chubby and matter-of-fact, wearing practical clothes instead of gauzy dresses. She gets grumpy when all her friends are taking the day off. But she’s also friendly and helpful and kind.

Here’s the start of the Summer story, “The Lazy Day”:

It was the most beautiful day of the summer, and Little Witch Hazel was busy. She had a million things to do, and it didn’t help that everyone else in the forest seemed to be out enjoying the day.

“Some of us have errands to run!” she muttered as she went to return her library books.

And here’s the beginning of “The Haunted Stump”:

Little Witch Hazel was working in her garden when she first heard the noise.

It was the kind of noise that sent prickles through your whiskers and chilled you right down to your boots.

Towering toadstools! thought Little Witch Hazel, a shiver running down her spine. Whatever could that be?

Little Witch Hazel is someone I would love to have for a friend.

phoebewahl.com

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Review of The Boy Who Grew Dragons, by Andy Shepherd, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

The Boy Who Grew Dragons

by Andy Shepherd
illustrated by Sara Ogilvie

Yellow Jacket (Little Bee), 2020. First published in Great Britain in 2018. 212 pages.
Review written March 21, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

Here’s a gentle and amusing fantasy story that reminds me of books I loved when I was a kid. There’s no agonizing over realistic consequences, no deep dark inner turmoil – we’ve got a kid who grew a dragon in his grandpa’s garden and now is trying to hide his little fire-breathing pet from his parents and the class bully.

The note from the main character nicely gives you an idea of what you’re in for if you read it:

When people ask me what we grow in Grandad’s garden, I think they expect the answer to be cucumbers, tomatoes, or green beans. I don’t think they expect the answer to be dragons. But there it is. We grow dragons. And I can tell you this – they’re a lot more trouble than cucumbers.

Things cucumbers do not do: Poop in your dad’s oatmeal.

Singe your eyebrows.

Make a really cozy nest by shredding all your mom’s alphabetically ordered recipes.

Leave your underwear (the embarrassing ones covered in backhoes) hanging from the TV antenna.

Chase your cat.

Drop cabbages on your cat.

Try to ride your cat like a rodeo bull.

Wake you up at 4 a.m. every morning by digging razor-sharp claws into your forehead.

Set fire to your toothbrush WHILE IT’S STILL IN YOUR MOUTH.

Of course, they also don’t have scales that ripple and shimmer like sunlight on the sea. Or have glittering eyes that can see right into your heart. Or settle on your shoulder with their tail curled around, warming your neck, and their hot breath tickling your ear.

Nope, none of these are things you can expect from a cucumber. Well, not any cucumbers I’ve ever come across. Maybe a mutant radioactive space cucumber, but not your average garden variety. But dragons? Well, they’re a whole other story.

So, who wants to grow dragons? Dumb question, right? I mean seriously, who in their right mind would say no? Not me, that’s for sure. And not you by the looks of it.

But if you want to grow dragons, you need to know what you’re getting into. Sure, they’re fiery, fantastical, and dazzling, but dragons are not all fun and games. Not by a long shot. And it’s not just the fire and the flammable poop I’m talking about. Oh, no!

Which is why, my dragon-seeking desperados, I’m writing this all down, so at least you can go into it with your eyes open. Because, believe me, you’ll need them to stay wide, wide open.

This book is full of light-hearted fun. It doesn’t delve into a lot of questions about why this would happen or how the whole world wouldn’t know if it did – it simply has fun looking at one boy it happened to. Sure, there’s a classroom bully he has to deal with, and a mean neighbor next door, but Tomas is just an ordinary kid who’s delighted to now have the coolest pet in the world. Grandad is an especially lovable character who sees the best in everyone, Tomas’ parents are busy and distracted, and Tomas’ little sister Lolly is young enough that no one understands she’s talking about an actual dragon.

Tomas’ friends notice something’s up right away. Can he keep the secret from them? Does he want to? But would they believe him if he tried to tell them? The only way would be he’d have to show them….

I’m delighted to learn this is the start of a series. It’s a light-hearted and short book with lots of illustrations and plenty of magic and fun.

andyshepherdwriter.co.uk
saraogilvie.com
yellowjacketreads.com

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Review of The Hedgewitch of Foxhall, by Anna Bright

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Hedgewitch of Foxhall

by Anna Bright
read by Fiona Hardingham, Alister Austin, and James Meunier

HarperTeen, 2024. 12 hours.
Review written May 29, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

This is another eaudiobook I chose because it is wildly popular with our library customers. And this time, I struck pure gold! I loved this book with all my heart.

Now, as any time where the narrators have gorgeous British accents, listening to these readers made me love it all the more. But the tale itself has everything I love in a fantasy novel — characters who defy expectations and live by their own rules, magic that is easy to understand and makes sense, a plot that gets you wondering how they’ll make it through but ties up brilliantly, and of course some romance. [In this case, plenty of romance but no sex between the characters. Nowadays, I like to let people know.]

This book is set in medieval Wales, and the Author’s note reveals that she took pains to be true to what we know of that history. Our title character is Ffion. She’s a hedgewitch, not affiliated with the giant coven in Foxhall her mother and sisters are part of — a coven that charges for people even to wait in line to request help. Ffion does small magic for people who can’t afford their prices. But much worse is that the coven doesn’t care what price they take from the land to work their magic — and Ffion’s fox familiar is caught up and killed in a fire of their making. Ffion is determined to do a summoning spell to bring him back — but she will have to do it before the new moon, when his spirit will depart for good.

There are two more viewpoint characters in this book. They are the princes Dafydd and Taliesin. They are being set against each other by their father the king. The court magician — before losing his magic altogether — prophesied the death of the king at the New Moon. Everyone’s sure it has to do with fighting the encroaching Mercians and their king, King Offa. So the king sets the princes on a task of destroying the dyke King Offa has built at the border of Wales. They believe this dyke is what has leached the magic from Wales and caused sightings of magical creatures to stop.

Taliesin goes to the coven at Foxhall to get help to destroy the dyke with magic, and gets no help from them — but does recruit Ffion to his cause. Instead of using the land to give her power, Ffion gains power from her work, and she plans to walk the entire length of the dyke to gain the power to bring it down — and gain the power to summon her fox while she is doing that. But also in their travels, they realize they will need to gain the use of three magical objects important to Wales — but it will take some work to convince the current possessors of those objects to relinquish them.

Tal’s competition is his older brother Dafydd, who has long said he doesn’t want to be king. Instead of spending time in court, he works as a blacksmith, where he feels he can do unambiguous good. But their father wants Dafydd to follow after him, and as it happens, he’s been having visions of Ffion for years – to be his court magician when he is king.

Something I love about this book is that I loved all the characters and honestly wasn’t sure who I wanted to win the kingdom or who I wanted to end up with Ffion. Both princes have their own strengths and weaknesses, and since both were viewpoint characters, they each had my sympathy as the reader.

And so most of the book is traveling through Wales, ultimately trying to bring back Welsh magic. With plenty of obstacles and interactions, adding up to a marvelous tale.

And I’m super excited to find another stellar author! I found another of her books already available as an eaudiobook, so expect to hear more.

annabrightbooks.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but 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.

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Review of The Assassin’s Blade, by Sarah J. Maas

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Assassin’s Blade

by Sarah J. Maas
read by Elizabeth Evans

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021. 12 hours, 52 minutes.
Review written April 25, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.

I select youth and children’s materials for a large public library system, and by far the most popular author of all the books I purchase is Sarah J. Maas. All of her books consistently have long waiting lists. Since I love fantasy novels, I decided to see what the fuss was about. Now, it’s not clear that I picked the correct order. It turns out that this book I picked up was written as a prequel – so the events happen before the first book written. Anyway, Overdrive had it listed as number one in the series, so this is the one I’ve started with.

It turns out that The Assassin’s Blade is a collection of five novellas, all of them about Celaena Sardothien, at sixteen years old her kingdom’s most notorious assassin. I enjoyed the fact that each part was a contained story. Each novella had a sort of heist scene. Each novella has a complete storyline and a satisfying resolution (or, well, at least a resolution). Each novella happened directly after the one before, but I liked the way the action moved into each story as its own entity.

And the stories were compelling. Each one had a big challenge for Celaena. I definitely did not like the way it all ended, though I’m sure if I had read the books in publication order, I would have known where Celaena would end up. She’s a character worth following – forced to train as an assassin, she became the best. But when the king of the assassins wants her to facilitate a deal with pirates to get into the slave trade, she decides to free the slaves.

I got the flavor of a brutal world, with a ruthless king who has banished magic from the kingdom, but assassins and pirates and crime lords all doing their own thing. Celaena finds love in these stories and dreams of leaving the assassin’s guild and the continent altogether. The fantasy world where she lives is dark and sinister – but I enjoyed Celaena’s character, learning to shine in a difficult world.

I wasn’t completely hooked on this world, but I was hooked enough to put the next (first?) book on hold.

sarahjmaas.com

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