Review of A Curse as Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Fairy Tale Variant, Fantasy, Stand-outs, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

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A Curse as Dark as Gold

by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic), 2008.  395 pages.

Winner of the William C. Morris YA Debut Award 2008.

Starred review.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #4 Fantasy Teen Fiction

http://www.elizabethcbunce.com/

http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/

http://www.scholastic.com/

I do love fairy tale retellings.  A Curse as Dark as Gold takes the basic story of Rumpelstiltskin and sets it in a woolen mill shortly before the Industrial Revolution.  The author retains the feeling of magic and romance, and gives us a determined and strong heroine.

When Charlotte Miller’s father dies, leaving an enormous mortgage on the mill, Charlotte knows she must do something to keep Stirwaters running.  The entire village depends on the mill for their livelihoods.

But everyone says there’s a curse on the mill, and as soon as Charlotte and her sister Rosie overcome one seemingly insurmountable obstacle, another one rises up to take its place.  So when a strange man who calls himself Jack Spinner offers to help, Charlotte seems to have no choice.

This story is dark, as it does involve curses and difficulties.  But Charlotte is such a determined, capable character, you quickly find yourself rooting for her to succeed, even though you can’t imagine how she’ll pull it off.

The author fills the story with details about the woolen industry before the industrial revolution, so it almost feels more like a historical novel than a fantasy.  However, there is a strong undercurrent of magic, which practical Charlotte does not want to acknowledge.

This is a magnificently written book, and I’m excited to learn it’s Elizabeth Bunce’s first.  If this is how she begins her writing career, I will eagerly wait to see what she writes next!

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/curse_dark_as_gold.html

Review of The Facttracker, by Jason Carter Eaton

Children's Fiction Review, Delightfully Silly, Fantasy, Light Reading 0

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The Facttracker

by Jason Carter Eaton

illustrations by Pascale Constantin

HarperCollins, 2008.  260 pages.

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/

Reminiscent of The Phantom Tollbooth, The Facttracker tells of the town Traakerfaxx, where the townspeople get Facts from the Facttracker in his Factory and sell them to the world.

One person in Traakerfaxx does not have any facts about himself.  A sad and lonely boy lives there.  He is small, but not too small.  The facts about the just small enough boy were lost shortly after he was born.  He has gotten messages that the Facttracker is looking for them, but hasn’t heard anything for quite some time.

All is going well until the day of the explosion.  That’s the day the just small enough boy gets to enter the Factory and meet the Facttracker.

After the Factory explodes (and you wouldn’t want me to spoil the surprise and tell you why, would you?), the Facttracker’s twin brother Ersatz shows up.  Ersatz takes the Seed of Truth and builds, in place of the Factory, a Liebrary.  He shows the townspeople and their clever, handsome mayor that lies are a lot more fun to sell than facts.

The Facttracker is imprisioned in the belly of the Liebrary, and it’s up to the just small enough boy to save the world.

This book is a lot of silly fun, if you can keep yourself from objecting to the places where the analogy breaks down.  If you’re willing to take it all with tongue in cheek, you will have plenty to enjoy.

The author is full of authorial asides to the reader and lots of playing with authorial conventions.  For example, Chapter 13 has the heading crossed out, with the title, “There Will Not Be a Chapter 13 Because It Might Be Unlucky and the Facttracker Needs All the Luck He Can Get Now.”

If you’re willing to not take it too seriously, you can have a good deal of fun reading this book.

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Review of The Shoe Bird, a Musical Fable by Samuel Jones

Animal Characters, Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

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The Shoe Bird

A Musical Fable by Samuel Jones

Based on the story by Eudora Welty

Performed by Jim Dale

Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz, conductor

Northwest Boychoir and Girls of Vocalpoint! Seattle, Joseph Crnko, conductor

Brilliance Audio, 2008.  1 compact disc.  1 hour.

Starred review.

A children’s story set to narration and orchestration?  What a charming idea!  This CD makes for lovely listening.  Jim Dale’s incredible performance, with such astonishingly different voices for different birds, makes for a delightful listening experience.

I’m afraid this is no Peter and the Wolf.  The story, about a parrot who repeats the line, “Shoes are for the birds!” and gets all the birds of the world to believe it, seems much more lightweight than Peter’s story.  The music, while nice, didn’t seem as memorable to me.  But then, I only listened to it once, rather than the thousand times I must have heard Peter and the Wolf.

However, it does provide plenty of opportunity for the orchestra to give different themes to different birds (as well as Jim Dale’s different voices).  There’s even a cat who threatens the birds, all weighted down with their new shoes.

And isn’t it nice to think that here’s a symphony orchestra experience to which you could send children, and they would hear something new!  As for me, it made a delightful and diverting change from listening to more serious books on CD as I drove to work.  Instead, I got lovely music, a silly story, and Jim Dale’s vocal gymnastics.  I hope that composers and orchestras and vocal actors and writers will do more of this sort of thing!  (Hmmm.  It takes a large cast to pull it off.  No wonder Peter and the Wolf doesn’t have more wannabes.)

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Review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Audiobook, by J. K. Rowling

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Stand-outs, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,

by J. K. Rowling
Performed by Jim Dale

Listening Library, 2007.  21 hours, 40 minutes.  12 cassettes.

Review written February 22, 2008.

Starred Review.

Sonderbooks Stand-out 2009:  #3, Audiobooks

I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last summer, and finally got to the top of the request list to listen to the cassettes.  After finishing the book a second time, I’m again hit by sadness that the story is over, that there isn’t any more.

I’m reviewing the audiobook separately because I simply have to gush about Jim Dale.  He is incredible!  His vocal range is amazing.  He uses different voices for the enormous cast of characters and makes the books come alive.

We’ve read all seven books aloud as a family, but I still get something new out of hearing Jim Dale read them.  Of course, his British accent adds to the enjoyment!  But more than that, his amazing expressiveness adds a whole new dimension to the books.  If you love Harry Potter, here’s a way to enjoy the series afresh.  If you haven’t read the books and have been meaning to, treat yourself to listening to them.

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Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/hp_deathly_hallows.html

Review of Fairest Audiobook, by Gail Carson Levine

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

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Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine

Read and Sung by Sarah Naughton and the Full Cast Family

Music by Todd Hobin

Full Cast Audio, 2007. Unabridged.

Review written January 28, 2008.

Starred Review.

Sonderbooks Stand-out 2009:  #2, Audiobooks.

Here’s a delightful audiobook well worth listening to.

Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted, has written a wonderful retelling of Snow White.  Aza lives in Ayortha, where everyone loves to sing.  She’s quite an eyesore, with her pale skin and blood-red lips, but she is blessed with a magnificent voice.

The Full Cast Audio production of this book advertised that it has more songs than a Broadway musical. This is the perfect tale to listen to, since music is such an important part of the story.

My expectations were extremely high.  Full Cast Audio always does an excellent job, using so many actors for their productions.  The book itself was wonderful, and I was looking forward to hearing it done with music.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, as I was a little bit disappointed.  Unfortunately, the Playaway version that I listened to did not have good sound quality (maybe the fault of my headphones?) and tended to static any time anyone hit a high note—definitely detracted from the enjoyment, though that wasn’t the fault of the production.  I think I will want to try it again as a Book on CD, because it was good enough to want to listen to again.

After reading about how wonderful Aza’s voice was, perhaps it was inevitable that I’d be a bit disappointed in any real person trying to play Aza. (Maybe I would have been happy with Charlotte Church?) Sarah Naughton’s voice is definitely nice—it just didn’t quite fit the build-up from the story as being the best voice in the kingdom. In fact, I thought the singing voice of the actress playing Aza’s sister Areta was sweeter.

There were indeed many, many songs, and they were nice—but I wish there had been a few catchier tunes. Maybe it had more songs than a Broadway musical, but the songs weren’t as memorable as you’d find in a Broadway musical.

Still—those are just quibbles. The fact is, for a recorded book, this production is tremendous. They didn’t just read the book; they used many different actors to read the book, and they performed all the songs in a book about music. This recorded book is something special.

I should add that although I was slightly disappointed at first in Aza’s singing voice (though I liked her speaking voice), the Prince’s voice melted my heart. And Queen Ivy’s voice was perfect—her character showed through with every word and every note.

This production would be a wonderful choice for a family trip in the car. You’ve got a compelling story with music to keep everyone entertained. If the kids have heard the story of Snow White, you’ll have fun discussing how the story is the same, yet different. You can discuss other issues that come up. (How important is beauty? Why did the King love Ivy?) In this case, the recorded book offers even more than the original, because it has music.

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Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/fairest_audio.html

Review of Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara

Fantasy, Picture Book Review 0

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Ghosts in the House!

by Kazuno Kohara

Roaring Brook Press, New York, 2008.  28 pages.

This simple little picture book reminds me of years ago when my landlady effectively dealt with my son’s fear of ghosts by telling him that if one bothers you, to bite it on its bottom.  We decided it would taste like marshmallow.

This book presents a similarly nontraditional way of dealing with ghosts.

A little girl moves into a house that is full of ghosts, but fortunately she’s a witch and knows how to deal with them.  She catches them all, puts them in the washing machine, hangs them up to dry, and then puts them to good use all over the house.

This whole story is played out with simple language and happy, smiling faces.

There is some initial surprise when the first ghost shows up, but soon the girl says, “How lovely!  I hope there are some more!”

This is a cheerful and cozy story, showing that things people are afraid of aren’t always so scary at all.

The illustrations are creative.  It’s all in simple black and orange, with the ghosts showing up in a somewhat transparent white.

There are very few words on a page, and this would make an excellent story for very young listeners, for a friendly, reassuring, and cozy story about ghosts.

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Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/ghosts_in_the_house.html

Review of Rapunzel’s Revenge, by Shannon and Dean Hale

Adventure, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Stand-outs, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

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Rapunzel’s Revenge

by Shannon and Dean Hale

Illustrated by Nathan Hale

Bloomsbury, 2008.  144 pages.

Starred Review.

Sonderbooks Stand-out 2009: #2, Teen Graphic Novels

http://www.shannonhale.com/

http://www.spacestationnathan.com/

http://www.bloomsburyusa.com/

I am a huge Shannon Hale fan.  So though I normally would not have rushed to buy a graphic novel, when I heard that she had written one with her husband (The artist, though having the same last name, is not related.), I simply had to buy it.

This wasn’t up there in the best-thing-I’ve-ever-read territory like her novels, but all the same, this book is completely delightful.  Though, come to think of it, it’s the best graphic novel I’ve ever read.  (Don’t tell my son!)

Rapunzel’s Revenge tells the tale of Rapunzel, set in the old West.  Rapunzel is no wimpy princess, waiting for a prince to set her free.  When she learns at twelve years old what “Mother Gothel” has done to her real mother, and how she terrorizes the countryside, Rapunzel confronts her.  She’s promptly placed in a tower made from a giant tree that Mother Gothel made with her growth magic.  The same magic begins to affect Rapunzel’s hair.

There are some fun things in the illustrations.  I love the three books Rapunzel has in the tower:  Girls Who Get Saved and the Princes Who Save Them, How to Make a Twig Bonnet, and There’s Always Bird Watching.

With nothing to do in the tower, she practices her lasso skills by using her ridiculously long hair, braided into rope.

Finally, after she turns sixteen, her hair is long enough for her to use it to escape her prison.  It’s after her escape that she sees a traveling adventurer who heard about the beautiful maiden in a tower.  She points him to the tower and tells him the maiden is slightly deaf, so he should be sure to yell as loud as he can.

On the way back to Gothel’s villa to rescue her mother, Rapunzel becomes a vigilante, helping people with her amazing lasso of hair.  She falls in with a rogue named Jack who’s been having some trouble with giants.  Rapunzel convinces Jack to help her rescue her mother and bring justice to the countryside, which has been sucked dry by Gothel’s magic.

Here’s a girl who doesn’t need saving!  This imaginative adventure has a heroine you can cheer for.

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Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/rapunzels_revenge.html

Review of What-the-dickens, by Gregory Maguire

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

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What-the-dickens

The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy

by Gregory Maguire

Candlewick Press, 2007.  295 pages.

Dinah and Zeke and Rebecca Ruth are stuck in a disaster.  They are home alone in the middle of a storm of epic proportions with only their cousin Gage, who’s barely an adult himself, to look after them.

Gage decides to tell them a story, to take their mind off their hopeless plight.  He tells them about a skibberee, more commonly called a Tooth Fairy.

What-the-dickens was in a fix himself, from the moment he was born, not in a colony like most skibbereen.  He didn’t even know that the first words he heard weren’t intended to be his name.

After several adventures and narrow escapes that he doesn’t realize are narrow escapes, What-the-dickens meets a tooth fairy on a job.  Her name is Pepper, and she’s having trouble getting her license to become an Agent of Change.  She brings What-the-dickens back to the colony, but he doesn’t fit in very well.

With the dire situation of Dinah and her brother and sister, this book is a bit dark.  But the intriguing story gives you the feeling of a light in a dark place.

Definitely not your run-of-the-mill fantasy tale.  Ideal for upper elementary school readers who want to try something different.

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Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/what_the_dickens.html

Review of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J. K. Rowling

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

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The Tales of Beedle the Bard

by J. K. Rowling

Translated from the Ancient Runes by Hermione Granger

Commentary by Albus Dumbledore

Introduction, Notes, and Illustrations by J. K. Rowling

Children’s High Level Group in association with Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic), 2008.  111 pages.

Starred Review.

Sonderbooks Stand-out 2009:  #3, Children’s Fiction

J. K. Rowling is truly a master of mixing the light-hearted with the profound.  This book collects five original fairy tales.  They truly feel like folktales, with the twist that they are set in the Wizarding World created by J. K. Rowling.  She’s captured the simplicity and magic of folktales, with her signature touch of the bizarre.

I wasn’t crazy about the commentary by Dumbledore.  It felt a little like trying to drive home the moral too hard, and I get tired of hearing that Malfoys have been Muggle-haters for centuries.  However, there are some delightful and hilarious touches that made me laugh out loud.  For example, Dumbledore says that The Tale of the Three Brothers was the story he requested most often at bedtime as a child.  “This frequently led to arguments with my younger brother, Aberforth, whose favorite story was ‘Grumble the Grubby Goat.'”

Another example is where she tells about Beatrix Bloxam, who tried to turn the tales into something pure and precious.  “Mrs. Bloxam’s tale has met the same response from generations of Wizarding children:  uncontrollable retching, followed by an immediate demand to have the book taken from them and mashed into pulp.”

The proceeds from the sale of this book go to The Children’s High Level Group, which is one more reason to buy a copy of this delightful collection of tales.  I am going to try to talk my son into letting me read him the tales at bedtime.  You can’t outgrow these stories.

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www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/tales_of_beedle_the_bard.html

Review of The Light-Bearer’s Daughter, by O. R. Melling

Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 0

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The Light-Bearer’s Daughter

The Chronicles of Faerie

by O. R. Melling

Amulet Books, New York, 2007.  348 pages.

http://www.ormelling.com/

http://www.amuletbooks.com/

Twelve-year-old Dana barely remembers her mother, who disappeared when Dana was three years old.  Now her father wants to leave Ireland for a job in his native Canada.  If they leave Ireland, how will her mother ever find them?

When her father takes Dana to visit some friends, protesting the felling of a stretch of forest, Dana gets a message from faerie.  Before long, she’s recruited for a quest, a quest to save faerie from the Destroyer who’s entered the land.  If Dana accomplishes the quest, she can make a wish, and she knows what she wishes for more than anything else — to find her mother again.

The quest is dark and difficult and full of surprises.  Dana encounters several surprising helpers along the way, and the end is not what she expected.

This is a lyrical tale, set in modern-day Ireland (even including places I have visited!), peeling back layers of magic and mystery.  The author weaves in Gaelic songs and old Irish history, including St. Kevin in Glendalough, giving the reader a sense of place.  Reading this book is like taking a magical trip to Ireland.

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Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/lightbearers_daughter.html