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Welcome to this week's (wet and cold) round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction book reviews, author interviews, and interesting (d.v.) miscellanea from around the blogs!
In case you wonder how I find the links, here's how. I follow about 500 blogs on google reader (which doesn't mean I read them. Just the post titles, mostly. So it doesn't actually take too long). On Sunday morning, I do a blog search on "middle grade fantasy." I have been known to go through the books recently reviewed on Kirkus, so I can do some specific title searches, and I search for books I myself know about. Occasionally people send me links.
Which leads gracefully to my next point--more people are welcome to send links directly! (charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com). This includes authors and publicists. That being said, I do reserve the right to decline to link to posts I don't find valuable. People are also welcome to leave links in the comments.
Onward.
The Reviews:
The Alchemyst, by Michael Scott, at books4yourkids
The Book of Doom, by Barry Hutchison, at The Book Zone
Case File 13: Zombie Kid, by J. Scott Savage, at Book Nut
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, by Claire Legrand, at Lust for Stories
Demonkeeper, by Royce Buckingham, at Known to Read
Down the Mysterly River, by Bill Willingham, at BooksYALove
Drizzle, by Kathleen Van Cleve, at GreenBeanTeenQueen
Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun, by Liz Kessler, at theawseomeadventuresoflulu
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Kristen Evey
The Fellowship for Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at Charlotte's Library
Freaks, by Kieran Larwood, at Finding Wonderland
Herbert's Wormhole, by Peter Nelson, at Maria's Melange
In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at Karissa's Reading Review
The Lost Heir (Wings of Fire) by Tui T. Sutherland, at Ms. Yingling Reads
On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave, by Candace Fleming, at Log Cabin Books
The Runnaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Stacked and Bookshelvers Anonymous
The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere), by Jacqueline West, at Middle Grade Ninja
The Space Between, by Kiki Thorpe, at Sharon the Librarian
Spirit's Princess, by Esther Friesner, at Charlotte's Library
The Strangers (Books of Elsewhere 4), by Jacqueline West, at Log Cabin Library
A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at Bookalicious and Literacious, and as an audiobook, at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
The Time Paradox, by Eoin Colfer, at Fyrefly's Book Blog
The Time-Travelling Fashionista, by Bianca Turetsky, at Time Travel Times Two
Authors and Interviews
Jennifer Nielsen (The Runaway King) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Mike Yung (Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Anna Staniszewski (My Very UnFairy Tale Life) at Readatouille
Jasmine Richards (The Book of Wonders) at The Brown Bookshelf (as part of the wonderful 28 Days Later series)
The middle grade members of the Lucky 13s (debut authors of 2013), many of whom have written sff books, share their thoughts on why they write middle grade fiction.
Other Good Stuff
Shortlists! The Andre Norton Award, the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, and the Diagram Prize (for quirkiest book title). Here are this year's contestants for that one:
Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop by Reginald Bakeley
God's Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis by Tom Hickman
How Tea Cosies Changed the World by Loani Prior
How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees
Lofts of North America: Pigeon Lofts by Jerry Gagne
Was Hitler Ill? by Hans-Joachim Neumann and Henrik Eberle
I think I like the peaceful simplicity of "How to Sharpen Pencils" the best. What I'd really like, though, is a book on how to keep pencil erasers fresh, or at least, how to restore them to eraserability.
Children's Book Week (May 13-19, 2013) is on its way, and this year's bookmark is nicely mg sff! Plus it has a hidden letters challenge.
Yoiks--for the first time ever, I think, I myself didn't review any mg sff this week. Fortunately other people did. And, as always, sorry if I missed your review and please let me know about it!
The Reviews
The Cat Kin, and its sequels, by Nick Green, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, by Claire Legrand, at Books and Other Thoughts
Fairy Lies, by E.D. Baker, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Sonderbooks
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Kid Lit Geek
The Magician's Tower, by Shawn Thomas Odyssey, at The Write Path
Mothstorm: The Horror from Beyond Uranus Georgium Sidus!, by Philip Reeve, at Madigan Reads
No Passengers Beyond This Point, by Gennifer Choldenko, at Jean Little Library
Princess for Hire, by Lindsey Leavitt, at Sonderbooks
The Seven Tales of Trinket, by Shelley Moore Thomas, at Bookends
Tales from Lovecraft Middle School (books 1 and 2), by Charles Gilman, at The Book Zone
A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at In Bed With Books and Waking Brain Cells
The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket, by John Boyne, at Book Nut
Authors and Illustrators
Jennifer Nielsen (The Runaway King) at From the Mixed Up Files
Anna Staniszewski (My Epic Fairy Tale Fail) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Kazu Kibuishi (talking about the new Harry Potter covers) at ABC News
Other Good StuffCongratulations to The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, which is this year's
Cybils winner in MG SFF!
A look at why Sirius Black is awesome (which he really is) in The Prisoner of Azkaban at
Jenny's BooksCressida Cowell's top ten mythical creatures, at
The Guardian and the really exciting thing--this just in from the report of a chat with Megan Whalen Turner (at the fan site,
Sounis)-- "No elephants in the next book. They're in the book AFTER the next one. Also, the one AFTER the next one will be from the POV of someone completely new. SOMEONE COMPLETELY NEW."
Here's what I found this week--please let me know if I missed your post! Reminder: anyone--bloggers, authors, publicists, etc.--is welcome to send me links at any time, although I do reserve the right not to include posts I don't find particularly useful (like announcements, or posts that read like ads).
The Reviews
The Anybodies, by N.E. Bode (aka Julianna Baggott) at Australian Fantasy Adventures
The Colossus Rises, by Peter Lerangis, at The Pretty Good Gatsby
and The Readers Heartstring
Dark Lord: The Early Years, by Jamie Thomson, at Charlotte's Library
Freakling, by Lana Krumwiede, at Charlotte's Library
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, gets its final posts from group readers Maria's Melange, The Brian Lair, and The Library Fanatic
Girl Meets Ghost, by Lauren Barnholdt, at Charming Chelsey's
The Girl Who Slipped Through Time, by Paula Hendrich, at Charlotte's Library
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow, by Nathan Bransford, at Kiss the Book
The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, at books4yourkids
Margaret and the Moth Tree, by Brit Trogen and Kari Trogen, at That's Another Story
Obsidian Mirror, by Catherine Fisher, at Working for the Mandroid
Physik, by Angie Sage, at Leaf's Reviews
Prince Pubbly of Spud and the Kingdom of Spiff, at Bookworm1858 by Robert Paul Weston
Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale, at books4yourkids
The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan, at Nerdy Book Club
Return to Titanic, by Steve Brezenoff, at Time Travel Times Two
Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at Geo Librarian
Ms. Yingling has two--Dead City, by James Ponti, and Son of Slappy (Goosebumps-Most Wanted) by R.L. Stine
Authors and Interviews
Paul R. Hewlett (Lionel's Grand Adventure) at A Thousand Wrongs (with giveaway)
Kell Andrews (Deadwood) at Project Mayhem
Marissa Burt (Storybound) at Middle Grade Ninja (I missed this one last week)
Other Good Stuff:
Even though it's not middle grade, I want to send a quick congratulations to my college house-mate Elisabeth Kushner, whose picture book,
The Purim Superhero, just came out.
A list of fantasy for music lovers, at
alibrarymama A giveaway of interest--The Blackhope Enigma and its sequel, The Crimson Shard, at
There's a Book A YA book that I am very intrigued by is Midwinterblood, by Marcus Sedgwick--not because it actually sounds like a perfect fit for me, but because it was partly inspired by Carl Larsson’s painting
Midvinterblot:I have a tremendous fondness for
the paintings of Carl Larsson, which mostly aren't about midwinter sacrifices, and are instead mostly paintings of children and people making and doing ordinary things. There is one picture of a girl that I find particularly haunting, so if anyone else feels like writing a fantasy inspired by one of his paintings, could you please write me Suzanne's story?
Welcome to this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy; please let me know if I missed your link!
The Reviews
The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, by R.A. Spratt, at Sonderbooks
Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Bone: Quest for the Spark, Book 3, by Tom Sniegoski and Jeff Smith, at Guys Lit Wire
Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at The Book Smugglers
The Crimson Shard, by Teresa Flavin, at Charlotte's Library
Dragon Seer's Gift, by Janet McNaughton, at That's Another Story
Elliot and the Goblin War, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Geo Librarian
The Fellowship for Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at Maria's Melange
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Shannon Messenger, and in a continuing discussion between Maria's Melange, The Brain Lair, and The Library Fanatic
Ghosts of the Titanic, by Julie Lawson, at Time Travel Times Two
Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at Sonderbooks
Michael Vey : Rise of the Elgin, by Richard Paul Evans, at A Thousand Wrongs
Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, at Semicolon
North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, at Fantastic Reads
Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy, at Annie McMahon
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at The Book Brownie
Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at Book-A-Day Almanac
The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket, by John Boyne, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey, at Charlotte's Library
Authors, Illustrators, and Interviews
A chat with the illustrator and designer of The Year of Shadows at The Book Smugglers
Laurisa White Reyes (The Rock of Ivanore) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Katherine Applegate shares her reaction to winning the Newbery at Publishers Weekly
Marissa Burt (Storybound) at Literary Rambles
Other Good Stuff:
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of American ( SFWA) has a new interest group of writers who write mg and YA. Here's the first of a series of posts from this group--a survey of the writers' editors and agents, asking them how they define MG and YA.
I made a resolution this year to read one fantasy book for grown-ups every week. My list of possible choice has just expanded--here's the Locus 2012 recommended reading list. The only one I've heard of is Boneland, by Alan Garner, which has been in the house for months and which my husband says is brilliant....
The Brown Bookshelf is once again celebrating Black History Month with 28 Days Later--every day a different author or illustrator is featured. And today's entry has just added another book to my tbr list--The Summer Prince, by Alaya Dawn Johnson.
A post in which I look for feminism in middle grade sci fi/fantasy
Here's this week's round-up of what I found in my blog reading. Let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews:
11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass, at Mister K Reads
The Big Beast Sale, by David Sinden, at Back to Books
The Claws of Evil (The Battles of Ben Kingdom), by Andrew Beasley, at The Book Zone
Curse of the Thirteenth Fey, by Jane Yolen, at Charlotte's Library and The Book Brownie
Escape To Witch Mountain, by Alexander Key, at This Blog Belongs to Emily Brown
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Ms. Yingling Reads
and a joint review in two parts at The Brain Lair and Maria's Melange
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Sonderbooks
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Book Angel Booktopia and Sonderbooks
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Island of Silence (The Unwanteds, Book 2) by Lisa McMann, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at In Bed With Books and Karissa's Reading Review
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at The Write Stuff
Magicalamity, by Kate Saunders, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Ninnies, by Paul Magrs, at Strange and Random Happenstance
On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave, by Candace Fleming, at books4yourkids
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at alibrarymama
The Prairie Thief, by Melissa Wiley, at Bookie Woogie and Sonderbooks
Signed by Zelda, by Kate Feiffer, at books4yourkids
Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy, at Read in a Single Sitting
Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy, at Annie McMahon
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeline L'Engle, at Secrets & Sharing Soda
The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Barb Middleton, at Nerdy Book Club
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, at Time Travel Times Two
When You Wish Upon a Rat, by Maureen McCarthy, at Charlotte's Library
Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom, and Poseidon and the Sea of Fury (Heroes in Training books 1 and 2), by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams at Small Review
Two by Eva Ibbotson at Read in a Single Sitting-- Not Just a Witch, and Dial a Ghost
The 100 Cupboards series, by N.D. Wilson, at Mister K Reads
Authors and Interviews
Catherynne M. Valente at Wondrous Reads
Other Good Stuff:
Wondering if a mg sff might win the Newbery, I made a list of all the mg sff books that got stars (shamelessly plucking them from Elizabeth Bluemle's comprehensive list at Shelftalker)
My sister and I had fun making up our own tunes for Menolly's songs, but these guys almost certainly a. did a better job b. took it seriously (found at Tales of the Marvellous, where you can read more about them). I just want to add that the cover of Dragon Song used for the second cd is just about my favorite book cover illustration ever, and it works exquisitely as a cd cover!
(found via Light Reading):
And finally, speaking of book covers, though not mg sff covers, here is a new book called Doomed:
Here is what I saw....
....a rather cute cyclopedian (cyclopsian? one-eyed?) animal (my son saw a really weird tube worm...) It has taken me a lot of effort to see it as the hand it is supposed to be.
Here's this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy from around the blogs; please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
13 Hangmen, by Art Corriveau, at Time Travel Times Two
The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at Sonderbooks
The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Good Books and Good Wine
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Sonderbooks
The Girl Who Cirumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Fantasy Literature
Gobin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Night Writer
In a Blink, by Kiki Thorpe, at Sharon the Librarian
The Lost Heir, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library
Lovecraft Middle School--Professor Gargoyle, and The Slither Sisters, by Charles Gilman, at Mr. Ripleys Enchanted Books
Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, by William Joyce, at Wondrous Reads
Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, at The Book Smugglers
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Reads for Keeps
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at Fantasy Literature and Good Books and Good Wine
Spirit Fighter, and Fire Prophet, by Jerel Law, at Bookworm Dreams
The Tell-Tale Start, by Gordon McAlpine, at The Book Cellar
The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket, by John Boyne, at Bunbury in the Stacks
Z-Apocalypse, by Steve Cole, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Other Good Stuff:
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, is being made into a movie.
The People (at least34, 435 of them) have petitioned the Obama administration to build a Death Star. Here's the Official Response, from Paul Shawcross, Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget
The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:
"The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?"
Thanks to the Fourth Annual Blog Comment Challenge I found myself visiting Sarah Albee's blog, where I found a lovely post on WW II carrier pigeons that includes this extraordinarily helpful piece of information. Being unable to wrap anything neatly, I shudder to think how bad I would be at this (although I think I could cope with Item 8, which appears to be "open box").
The last round-up of 2012! And the last before the Cybils are announced on Jan.1, and I can finally talk openly about which mg sff books are my favorites of the year! Which leads me to a call for help--I stopped reading new mg sff books as of October (since I was busy as a first round panelist reading the 151 books nominated), so I'm wondering what I missed in November and December. I've already put in a library request for Here Where the Sunbeams are Green--what else should I read from those two lost months?
And now, the round-up--please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews:
The Cup and the Crown, by Diane Stanley, at Charlotte's Library
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Fuse #8
In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at One Librarian's Book Reviews
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Book Nut and Ex Libris
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at Book Nut
Killer App, by Michael Dahl, at Secrets and Sharing Soda
Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, at Book Nut
The Paladin Prophecy, by Mark Frost, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Seeds of Rebellion, by Brandon Mull, at Karissa's Reading Review
The Storm Makers, by Jennifer E. Smith, at Book Nut
Super, by Matthew Cody, at In Bed With Books
Return to the Willows, by Jacqueline Kelly, at Educting Alice
and Stephanie Burgis recommends Above World, by Jenn Reese, and Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, as her contribution to Smugglivus.
More Good Stuff:
For those of us who love Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, and can't wait for the sequel (Wednesdays in the Tower, coming in May), here is a treat--a free short story, Holidays at the Castle! Just click here-- http://bit.ly/V6NBV8
The fierce struggle that happens when eight computer users must share one computer is one reason why I didn't get this done yesterday....the other, more interesting, reason is that us MG sff Cybils panelists talked on online for several hours as we struggled to formulate our shortlist. Only one book was agreed on yesterday...though several still have seats at the table, and many more were allowed to stay in the room, and given cookies. Some even got cookies with sprinkles.
There not much from me in this week's round-up--I've been mostly re-reading for the Cybils some books I read over a year ago, so as to see if what I think about them is really what I think about them....which has been a treat, because I really do like rereading, and don't do enough of it! But here's what other people posted about! Do let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews:
Above World, by Jenn Reese, at The Book Smugglers
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, by Claire Legrand, at Slatebreakers
Chase Tinker and the House of Magic, by Maila Ann Haberman, at Read 'n'Write
Darkbeast, by Morgan Keyes, at Book Nut
Deadweather and Sunrise, by Geoff Rodkey, at Semicolon
Fire Prophet, by Jarel Law, at The Write Path
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Charlotte's Library
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at alibrarymama
In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at Semicolon
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Semicolon
The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, at Semicolon
The Memory Bank, by Carolyn Coman, at Confessions of a Bibliovore
The Peculiar,by Stefan Bachmann, at Emily's Reading Room (audio book review)
The Prairie Thief, by Melissa Wiley, at Book Nut
The Prince Who Fell From the Sky, by John Claude Bemis, at Book Nut
The Seven Tales of Trinket, by Shelley Moore Thomas, at Book Nut
Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Charlotte's Library
What Came From the Stars, by Gary Schmidt, at One Librarian's Book Reviews
Authors and Interviews
Mrs. Bunny (as in, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire) at Random Acts of Reading
Katherine Catmull (Summer and Bird) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Ilana Waters (The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt), at Geo Librarian
Other Good Stuff....I don't really have anything this week, just a gingerbread library:
And the hope that lots of kids will get books they love tomorrow! I'm going to do on last bit of Christmas shopping, by making a donation to
Reading is Fundamental. Through Dec. 31, donations will be matched dollar for dollar.
This is the last round-up before the world ends, so I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know if I missed your post. I follow about 400 of you in google reader (which is why I don't comment much--I'm too busy skimming), but there are so many blogs out there a girl just can't find everyone.
The Reviews
Beauty and the Beast: The Only One Who Didn't Run Away, by Wendy Mass, at Semicolon
Bliss, by Kathryn Littlewood, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at Book Nut
Chance Fortune and the Outlaws, by Shane Berryhill, at Madigan Reads
The Cup and the Crown, by Diane Stanley, at Semicolon
Deadly Pink, by Vivien Vande Velde, at Semicolon
The Emerald Atlas and The Fire Chronicle, by John Stephens, at Kid Lik Geek
The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man's Canyon, by S.S Taylor, at In Bed With Books and Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Fire Chronicle, by John Stephens, at The Write Path and Charlotte's Library
Freakling, by Lana Krumwiede, at Challenging the Bookworm
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Semicolon
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Book Nut
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Great Kid Books and alibrarymama
The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman, at Sharon the Librarian
In the Nick of Time, by J. Lee Graham, at Time Travel Times Two
The Icarus Project, by Laura Quimby, at Book Nut
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at The Book Smugglers
Island of Silence, by Lisa McMann, at Challenging the Bookworm
The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, at Charlotte's Library and Finding Wonderland
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Barbara Ann Watson
Princess of the Silver Woods, by Jessica Day George, at The Book Smugglers and A Backwards Story
Princess of the Wild Swans, by Diane Zahlerat Kid Lit Geek
Shiverton Hall, by Emerald Fennell, at Bart's Bookshelf
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at The Irish Banana
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schiltz, at Fuse #8
Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Jean Little Library
Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Shelf Elf
Zoe & Zak and the Ghost Leopard, by Lars Guignard, at Sharon the Librarian
At Random Musings of a Bibliophile, quick looks at four mg fantasies: The Graverobber's Apprentice, by Allan Stratton, Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, The Sea of Trolls, by Nancy Farmer, and The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin.
And more quick reviews at Candace's Book Blog: The Flame of Olympus, by Kate O'Hearn, The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo, and Once Upon a Merigold, by Jean Ferris.
Author and Interviews:
Mike Jung (Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities) at Cynsations
Sarwat Chadda (Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress) at The Book Smugglers
Other Good Stuff:
I missed this list in November--School Library Journal's compilation of Middle Grade Fantasy you should have in your library.
(and I made my own little list of fantasy books to give a nine-year old boy)
Jenn Reese reminds us of middle grade books that have been honored by the Norton Award, and urges nominators to keep this age group in mind this year.
What's with all the dead parents in middle grade fantasy? at KimberlyLynKane
We went to see The Hobbit last night, and were pretty happy with it (though some of us, ie me, felt there was too much fighting, felt that Rivendell looks too much like a Thomas Kincade painting, and thought Galadriel's dress was silly). But in any event, it would be very helpful to have studied this dwarf identification flowchart in advance, and perhaps even to have it printed out, with a little pen light on hand, to consult during the movie. My younger son and I like Kili best (which makes me sad in advance about the ultimate ending....).
I found a rather nice bunch of reviews and other good stuff this week--please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews:
Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident, by Eoin Colfer, at So Many Books, So Little Time
The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell, at Good Books and Good Wine
The Burning Bridge, by John Flanagan, at Sonderbooks
The Castle in the Attic, by Elizabeth Winthrop, at Time Travel Times Two
Chase Tinker and the House of Magic, by Malia Ann Haberman, at YA Book Season
The Cloak Society, by Jeramey Kraatz, at Maria's Melange
Deadly Pink, by Vivien Vande Velde, at Semicolon
Deadweather and Sunrise, by Geoff Rodkey, at Sonderbooks
Divide and Conquer (Infinity Ring 2), by Carrie Ryan, at Cracking the Cover
Eye of the Storm, by Kate Messner, at That's Another Story
The Fire Chronicle, by John Stephens, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
Freakling, by Lara Krumwiede, at Semicolon
In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at The Book Smugglers
Ivy and the Meanstalk, by Dawn Lairamore, at 300 Pages
Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Challenging the Bookworm
Mr. and Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire, by Polly Horvath, at Crunchings and Munchings
Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan, by R. A. Spratt, at Book Nut
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Heavy Medal
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan, at Fyrefly's Book Blog
The Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda, at Semicolon
Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy, at Book Nut
The Tale of Timewarp Tuesday, by Leslie A. Susskind, at Nayu's Reading Corner
The Time-Travelling Fashionista at the Palace of Marie Antoinette, by Bianca Turetsky, at Charlotte's Library
Under My Hat, edited by Jonathan Strahan, at Book Nut
Under Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Guys Lit Wire
Unlocking the Spell, by E.D. Baker, at Geo Librarian
The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons, by Barbara Mariconda, at Semicolon
Who Could That Be At This Hour? by Lemony Snicket, at Charlotte's Library, Kid Lit Geek and Crunchings and Munchings
Wings of Fire-The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Book Nut and Challenging the Bookworm
Winter of Enchantment, by Victoria Walker, at Tor
A look at the Tunnels series, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, at Guys Lit Wire
Authors and Inverviews:
Rick Riordan talks about myths at The Guardian
Other Good Stuff:
If you want to try Diana Wynne Jones, here's a great guide from Andrea K. Höst at The Book Smugglers
I did not know that Harrison Ford has a major role in the Ender's Game movie! My already considerable interest now much greater.
For those tired of stew, other foods in children's fantasy, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles
Overlapping onto YA territory, the Andre Norton Award (which includes middle grade books) is being promoted in a blog tour during which great authors talk about their favorite boos of the year (and other good stuff)
At The Mary Sue, the cast of the Hobbit meet their lego selves:
and in the random but almost sci fi category--
catfish = pigeon killers
Here's what I found in my blog reading this week. It was a stickier week than usual, so apologies if I missed your post, and please let me know about it!
The Reviews:
Caught, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at Book Nut and Charlotte's Library
The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody, at Semicolon
Dragon Slippers, by Jessica Day George, at The Book Smugglers
Finally, by Wendy Mass, at The O.W.L.
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Sonderbooks
The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester, at Books Beside My Bed
The Golden Door, by Emily Rodda, at Cracking the Cover
Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at Great Imaginations
Kenny and the Dragon, by Tony DiTerlizzi, at Fantasy Literature
The Search for WondLa, by Tony DiTerlizzi, at Sonderbooks
Signed by Zelda, by Kate Feiffer, at Book Nut and Semicolon
The Sisters Grimm, by Michael Buckley, at KimberlyLynKane.com
The Secret History of Hobgoblins, by Ari Berk, at books4yourkids
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at Bunbury in the Stacks
A Squire's Tale, by Gerald Morris, at Tales of the Marvelous
Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at alibrarymama
Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at Semicolon
The Wednesdays, by Julie Bourbeau, at Book Nut
Wings of Fire: the Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui Sutherland, at Semicolon
A look at the Heroes in Training series, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at Books Beside My Bed and another at A Thousand Wrongs
A look at the Demigod Diaries and The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at Boys Rule Boys Read
2 books with bad black cats (Behind the Bookcase, and Escape from Hat) at Charlotte's Library
Other Good Stuff:
Sherwood Smith, who was there at its beginning, looks back at the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (nb: middle grade books are also eligible)
The NY Times lists its notable children's books of 2012
Gift recommendation lists are popping up these days--here's a nice one at Book Aunt, that features some mg sff.
And for those wanting gifts of a bookish sort, check out YA for NJ--a Hurricane Sandy fundraiser in which YA authors are auctioning signed books, critiques, and visits at ebay (through Dec. 7)
At Scribble City Central, W is for Weres, with Curtis Jobling
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy has joined the Encyclopedia of Sci Fi on-line
And for those contemplating colleges, here are the top picks for Harry Potter fans.
Fortunately Totoro is roomy enough so that one can snuggle inside him (hat tip to Tanita, who hat tipped The Mary Sue)
Welcome to this week's round up of what I found in my blog reading of interest to fans of middle grade sci fi/fantasy. Please let me know if I missed your post!
First--please enter my giveaway of Philip Pullman's retellings of Grimms Fairy Tales--it's a lovely book! (giveaway ends next Wednesday night)
The Reviews:
13 Hangmen, by Art Art Corriveau, at Charlotte's Library
Above World, by Jenn Reese, at Semicolon
The Black Shard, by Victoria Simcox, at Geo Librarian
Caught, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, at Semicolon
Constable and Toop, by Gareth P. Jones, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books and My Favorite Books
Dark Lord: The Early Years, by Jamie Thomson, at Good Books and Good Wine
Deadly Pink, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Book Nut
Demoneater, and Demoncity, by Royce Buckingham, at Awesome Indies
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Books Beside My Bed
Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke, at Sonderbooks
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Fantasy Literature
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Charlotte's Library
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Bookshelves of Doom
Gustav Gloom and the People Taker, by Adam-Troy Castro at Book Nut
Here Where the Sunbeams are Green, by Helen Phillips, at books4yourkids and Jean Little Library
Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms, by Lissa Evans, at Semicolon
In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at Reads For Keeps
Island of Silence, by Lisa McMann, at Semicolon
Joshua Dread, by Lee Bacon, at Random Acts of Reading
Kingdom of the Wicked (Skulduggery Pleasant Book 7), by Derek Landy, at SFCrowsnest
Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Necromancer, by Michael Scott, at Book Sake
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Book Nut
and One Librarian's Book Reviews
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at bewitched bookworms
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at Literary Rambles (scroll down) (giveaway)
Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Nerdy Book Club
Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck, at GreenBeanTeenQueen
The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, by Nikki Loftin, at Semicolon
The Six Crowns, by Allan Jones and Gary Chalk, at Ms. Yingling Reads (scroll down)
Snow in Summer, by Jane Yolen, at Charlotte's Library
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at Book Nut
Summer and Bird, by Catherine Catmull, at Wandering Librarians
Twice Upon a Time, by James Riley, at Semicolon
The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
and vikki vansickle
Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Four animal fantasies at Charlotte's Library
Authors and Interviews
Helen Phillips (Here Where the Sunbeams are Green) at books4yourkids
A conversation with Philip Pulman at Mother Jones (via Educating Alice)
Adam Gidwitz (Through a Glass Grimmly) at The Detroit News
Other Good Stuff
Philip Pullman reads The Three Snake Leaves, one of the Grimm stories he retells in his new book, at the BBC (don't forget to enter my giveaway!)
T is for Troll, with Katherine Langrish, at Scribble City Central
The Graveyard Book is becoming a graphic novel
Who knew that Tenniel made an Alice chessboard? If you act quickly, you can buy a reproduction....
Happy Daylight Savings Time, fellow USians! May today's extra hour bring you joy (or whatever). Here's are the middle grade sci fi/fantasy book related posts I found this week (middle grade being roughly 9-12 years old); please let me know if I missed your post!
The Reviews
13 Hangmen, by Art Corroveau, at Semicolon
The Bad Apple, by T.R. Burns, at Secrets & Sharing Soda
Benjamin Franklinstein Meets Thomas Deadison, by Matthew McElligott and Larry Tuxbury, at Semicolon
Beauty and the Beast: the Only One Who Didn't Run Away, by Wendy Mass, at Charlotte's Library
Dead City, by James Ponti, at Book Sake
The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens, at Madigan Reads
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Book Nut
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Pass the Chiclets
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Book Nut
and Fuse #8
Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms, by Lissa Evans, at Challenging the Bookworm
In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at Book Nut
The Jewel of the Kalderash, by Marie Rutkoski, at alibrarymama
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at Michelle Mason
The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, at Sonderbooks
The Legend of Ghost Dog, by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Mapmaker and the Ghost, by Sarvenas Tash, at Semicolon
The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at Lit Princess, Zezee's Link, Consuming Books Bloggery!, mylittlechateau, Girl With a Straight Face, (and lots more....)
The Mythical 9th Division: Operation Robot Storm, by Alex Milway, at Jean Little Library
Neversink, by Barry Wolverton, at Semicolon
Once Upon a Toad, by Heather Vogel Frederick, at Sonderbooks
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Semicolon
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at vikki vansickle
The River of No Return (Jaguar Stones Book 3), by J & P Voelkel, at Charlotte's Library
The Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda, at The Enchanted Inkpot
The Secret Prophecy, by Herbie Brennan, at Julie DeGuia (giveaway)
Seven-Day Magic, by Edward Eager, at Tor
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at Ex Libris
The Spy Princess, by Sherwood Smith, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Semicolon
Storybound, by Marissa Burt, at Geo Librarian
The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at That's Another Story
A Warlock in Whitby, by Robin Jarvis, at Fantastic Reads
What Came From the Stars, by Gary Schmidt, at Semicolon
The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer, at Lit Princess
The Wide-Awake Princess, by E.D. Baker, at Geo Librarian
Ana at The Book Smugglers looks at three classic mg horror stories
Authors
Catherynne M. Valente talking fairytales at BookYurt
Adam Gidwitz on fairytales (dark and grimm) at BookYurt
And continuing the theme, Marie Brennan talks about what makes a folk tale at Book View Cafe
Lana Krumwiede (Freakling) at Cynsations
Marissa Moss (Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris) at The Elliott Review (giveaway)
More Good Stuff
Ursula Le Guin is always Good Stuff-here's a review of her two just published short story anthologies at Slate -- lots of interesting thoughts on genre
Kid-Lit Cares--an auction to help those affected by Sandy (of particular interest to aspiring writers)
Tony DiTerlizzi's Top 10 Books for creeping out kids at Wire
and at Project Mayhem, scary stories for the non-horror reading kid.
At Scribble City Central, it's "S is for Slaugh" with Lucy Coats.
Something to keep in mind as we eat left-over Halloween candy--chocolate makes snails smarter
But the best thing of all that I saw this week has to be the WW II message capsule found on the leg of a long-deceased homing pigeon (here's my take on it)
Welcome to another week's worth of my middle grade fantasy/sci fi blog gleenings! Please let me know if I missed your post.
First: I have two giveaways going on right now, and it would make me happy if more people entered. First, Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris, and second, an awesome prize pack of middle grade goodness from Penguin. Please enter.
The Reviews:
Be My Enemy (Planesrunner), by Ian McDonald, at The Intergalactic Academy
The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander, at alibrarymama
The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine Richards, at Semicolon
The Cloak Society, by Jeramey Kraatz, at Charlotte's Library and Ms. Yingling Reads and also at Book Aunt (scroll down)
Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg, book 1), by Geoff Rodkey, at Book Nut
The Diary of B.B. Bright, Possible Princess, by Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams, at Parenthetical
Earwig and the Witch, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Semicolon
The Fairies of Nutfolk Wood, by Barb Ullman, at Jean Little Library
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at That Blog Belongs to Emily Brown
Freakling, by Lana Krumwiede, at My Precious
Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry, at Becky's Book Reviews
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Book Aunt (scroll down)
The Giver, by Lois Lowry, at Becky's Book Reviews
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at janicu's book blog, Book Harbinger, and Chachic's Book Nook
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne Valente, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
Gobbolino the Witch's Cat, by Ursula Moray Williams, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy
The Golden Door, by Emily Rodda, at Sharon the Librarian
The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate, by Scott Nash, at books4yourkids
House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at BooksYALove and Charlotte's Library
The Iron Ring, by Lloyd Alexander, at Quirky Bookworm
Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at Fantasy Literature
Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at Book Nut
Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, at Charlotte's Library (giveaway)
The Ninnies, by Paul Magrs, at Strange and Random Happenstance
Once Upon a Toad, by Heather Vogel Frederick, at Charlotte's Library
Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, at Sonderbooks
Peaceweaver, by Rebecca Barnhouse, at Semicolon
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachman, at One Librarian's Book Reviews
Renegade Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Book Nut
The Rock of Ivanore, by Laurisa White Reyes, at Semicolon
The Secret Prophecy, by Herbie Brennan, at Book Aunt (scroll down)
Small Change for Stuart (aka Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms), by Lissa Evans, at The Book Smugglers
Snow in Summer, by Jane Yolen, at Semicolon and Becky's Book Reviews
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at Book Nut
The Storm Makers, by Jennifer E. Smith, at alibrarymama
Stout Hearts and Whizzing Biscuits, by Daniel McInerny, at Middle Grad Mafioso
Summer and Bird, by Katherine Catmull, at Great Imaginations
The Tilting House, by Tom Llewellyn, at By Singing Light
Time Twister: Journal #3 of a Cardboard Box, by Frank Asch, at Time Travel Times Two
The Undertakers-- Rise of the Corpses, and Queen of the Dead, by Ty Drago, at The Book Smugglers
The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons, by Barbara Marionda, at Book Nut
The Whispering House, by Rebecca Wade, at Good Books and Good Wine
Authors and Interviews
Morgan Keyes (Darkbeast) at The Enchanted Inkpot
William Alexander (Goblin Secrets) at Nerdy Book Club
Katherine Catmull (Summer and Bird) at Adventures in YA & Children's Publishing
Jeannie Mobley (Katerina's Wish) at The Children's Book Review (I think this might well be historical fiction with a fantasy-esque side story nestled inside it, but it's still of interest
Ty Drago (The Undertakers) at The Book Smugglers
Shelby Bach (Of Giants and Ice) at Literary Rambles (giveaway)
Jacqueline Kelly (of Calpurnia Tate fame) on her new book, Return to the Willows (as in, Wind in the...), at the NY Times
Anne Ursu (Breadcrumbs) at the New York Public Library Blog
Other Good Stuff
Click-Clack the Rattlebag, a short story written and performed by Neil Gaiman, free at Audible until October 31.
Harry Potter and The Quiet Book--a cute as all get out interactive felt version from Julie's Blog (thanks to Finding Wonderland for the link)
S is for Satyr, with Philip Womack, at Scribble City Central
Cool author chat today:
In Conversation with Rachel Hartman,
Stefan Bachmann, and Christopher Paolini
10/28/12 2PM - 3PM 2012
Tor has a piece on horror stories for children, and also offers
this comparison of Dwarves then and now (I love that original Dutch cover to pieces):
"Like Calvin and Hobbes, but with muffins" is how my youngest described the graphic novel he's currently working on. It tickled me very much; however, this week's round-up of the mg sff posts I found in my blog reading has nothing to do with muffins. In any event, let me know if I missed your post!
First: Nominations for the Cybils close tomorrow. Middle grade sci fi/fantasy nominations are trailing YA 97 books to 128. MG SFF fans, represent! Nominate!
Here's where you go to nominate.
Here are the books that have already been nominated.
(I have a few posts of mg sff books that haven't been nominated yet here, here, and here)
The Reviews:
Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at The Accidental Novelist
Circus Galacticus, by Deva Fagan, at Book Nut
Darkbeast, by Morgan Keyes, at The Book Smugglers
Demons of the Ocean, by Justin Somper, at Madigan Reads
The False Prince, by Jennifer Neilsen, at Book Nut and Semicolon
The Fire Chronicle, by John Stephens, at Karissa's Reading Review and The Artolater
The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, at Slatebreakers
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Fantasy Literature
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Semicolon
How to Seize Dragon's Jewel, by Cressida Cowell, at The Telegraph
In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at A Monster Ate My Book Report and Charlotte's Library
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at The Book Smugglers
The Last Hunt, by Bruce Coville, at Fantasy Literature
The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at Riffs and Reviews
Mira's Diary--Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, at Bumbles and Fairy Tales
The Orphan of Ellis Island, by Elvira Woodruff, at Time Travel Times Two
Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Bibliophilia--Maggie's Bookshelf
Path of Beasts, by Lian Tanner, at Bewitched Bookworms
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Book Nut and Charlotte's Library
The Prince Who Fell From the Sky, by John Claude Bemis, at Semicolon
Princess Academy, and Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at The Book Smugglers
Princess of Glass, by Jessica Day George, at Confessions of a Bibliovore
Runemarks, by Joanne Harris (audiobook review) at library_mama
Seeing Cinderella, by Jenny Lundquist, at Semicolon
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at books4yourkids and Shelf Elf
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schiltz, at books4yourkids and Becky's Book Reviews
Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at BookDragon and Reads for Keeps
The Storm Makers, by Jennifer E. Smith, at library_mama
Storybound, by Marissa Burt, at Semicolon
The Time Garden, by Edward Eager, at Tor
The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, at HumbleIndigo
What Came from the Stars, by Gray Schmidt, at Becky's Book Reviews
When Marnie Was There, by Joan C. Robinson, at Charlotte's Library
The Whisper, by Emma Clayton, at Paranthetical
The Wikkeling, by Steven Arntson, at 300 Pages
Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Book Nut
Wings of Fire, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Fantasy & SciFi Lovin' News & Reviews
Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, at Semicolon and Bookworm Blather
Woodenface, by Gus Grenfell, at Read in a Single Sitting
Young Fredl, by Cynthia Voight, at Great Books for Kids and Teens
and a two for one at Ms. Yingling Reads--Behind the Bookcase, by Mark Streensland, and Terra Tempo: Ice Age Cataclysm, by David Shapiro
Authors and Interviews
Grace Ling (Starry River of the Sky) at Abby the Librarian
Lana Krumwiede (Freakling) at A Thousand Wrongs (giveaway)
RL Stine is asked "How do you think scaring kids is different than scarring adults?" at The Huffington Post
Lisa McMann (Island of Silence) at A Thousand Wrongs (giveaway)
Katherine Catmull (Summer and Bird) at Cynsations
JK Rowling at Scholastic, answering fans questions live
Other Good Stuff:
Q is for Questing Beast, with Mary Hoffman, at Scribble City Central
New Zealand is releasing Hobbit coinage that's going to be legal tender. The New Zealand Post said it expected "strong international interest"-- that would include my boys.
And if you want a quick little Lord of the Rings chuckle, here's a
fun video clip of demonstrating the power of Saruman's voice...
I'm on my way back from Kidlitcon today...with 26 middle grade fantasy and science books to read! Later this week I'll do a recap post of the two publisher previews I went to on Friday, from whence about twenty of these books came (the others came from the ARC swap trolley on Saturday). But in any event, Kidlitcon was as fun as ever, and every year there are more lovely people who I know who I'm so happy to see again, and every year I make new friends. It is good.
So here's this week's roundup of what I found in my blog reading viz middle grade sci fi/fantasy. Please let me know if I missed your post! (it somewhat more likely than usual that I did because of being at Kidlitcon)
First, an news item: Nominations for the Cybils open tomorrow, Oct. 1. At midnight, Pacific Time. Go forth and nominate!
Second: the reviews this week are slightly more diverse (ie they have characters who aren't white and they are written by authors of color) than usual. This is entirely due to this blog event--A More Diverse Universe-- which I hope we see again! (It was a week long carnival gathering reviews of speculative fiction by authors of color, so there are lots of books for older readers too!)
The Reviews:
3 Below, by Patrick Carmen, at Good Books and Good Wine
Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor, at Jenny's Books and Starmetal Oak Reviews
Ante's Inferno, by Griselda Heppel, at Fantastic Reads
Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda, at BookLust and The Novel Life
The Atomic Weight of Secrets, by Eden Unger Bowditch, at Charlotte's Library
Claws, by Mike Grinti and Rachel Grinti, at Small Review
Dust Girl, by Sarah Zettel, at library_mama and Oops...Wrong Cookie
Emily Knight I AM, by at A. Bello, at The Children's Book Review
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Lead the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Karissa's Reading Review
The Golden Door, by Emily Rodda, at Charlotte's Library
Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie, at Reading on a Rainy Day and Iris on Books
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Semicolon and library_mama
The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate, by Scott Nash, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Hunt of the Unicorn, by C.C. Humphreys, at Book Sake
Justice and Her Brothers, by Virginia Hamilton, at Charlotte's Library
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messegner, at The Book Cellar
Knight's Castle, by Edward Eager, at Tor
Look Ahead, Look Back, by Annette Laing, at Charlotte's Library
Mutiny in Time, by James Dashner, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Professor Gargoyle (Tales from Lovecraft Middle School, 1) by Charles Gilman, at The Elliott Review and The Reading Date
The Robe of Skulls, by Vivian French, at Wandering Librarians
Rosemary in Paris (The Hourglass Adventures), by Barbara Robertson, at Time Travel Times Two
The Sea of Monstors, by Rick Riordan, at My Precious
The Second Spy, by Jacqueline Wilson, at Michelle Mason
The Serpent's Shadow, by Rick Riordan, at Biblio File
The Spy Princess, by Sherwood Smith, at Sonderbooks
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at I Make Up Words
Authors and Interviews
A.J. Hartley (Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact) at A Thousand Wrongs (giveaway)
Shannon Messenger (Keeper of the Lost Cities) talks about books she loved as a kid at Project Mayhem
Other Good Stuff:
All Hallow's Read approaches. Neil Gaiman explains it.
There's a fiftieth anniversary celebration of The Wolves of Whilloughby Chase, by Joan Aiken, coming up in NY toward the end of October.
And finally, haven't we all wished, at one time or another, that we had an inflatable unicorn horn to tie onto our cat?
Now we can live that dream.
If I want to make my 12 year old son shriek, all I have to do is say, in a cloyingly sweet voice, "rainbow unicorn kittens." So when I saw this, I thought of him...(thanks to
Tor).
Good morning. Here's what I found this week, scouring the internet in search of middle grade sci fi/fantasy related posts--please let me know if I missed yours!
Next week's round-up might be delayed, as I will be on my way home from Kidlitcon in NY, and my plans for Sunday morning are more along the lines of "have brunch with sister" than "get mg sff round-up done."
Speaking of Kidlitcon, it is free, and it is a wonderful chance to meet other bloggers, and though on line registration has ended, on site registration at the New York Public Library is still possible (at least, there's nothing on the web page saying is isn't).
Nominations for the Cybils start Oct. 1. Here are the mg sff panelists (which includes me). Every year, there are more Young Adult books nominated (not that I'm competitive about pointless things or anything). Every year, worthy MG books don't make it. Although the nominating procedures have changed somewhat, giving publishers the opportunity to fill in gaps, nominations from the floor (ie, anyone reading this!) are the backbone of the Cybils (or something). So please feel free to nominate!
Back to our main program.
The Reviews:
Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer, at Fantasy Literature
A Circle of Cranes, by Annette LeBox, at Charlotte's Library
Circus Maximus (History Keepers), by Damian Dibben, at The Book Zone
Darkbeast, by Morgan Keyes, at Shannon Messenger
The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman, at The Guardian
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Becky's Book Reviews
Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go, by Dale Basye, at Michelle Mason
Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Books and Other Thoughts and sprite writes
Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, at The Fourth Musketeer
A Mutiny in Time (Infinity Ring Book 1), by James Dashner, at Charlotte's Library
Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Bookishness
Rewind, by William Sleator, at Time Travel Times Two
Seeing Cinderella, by Jenny Lundquist, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Seven Tales of Trinket, by Shelley Moore Thomas, at Night Writer
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at Imaginary Reads and My Brain On Books
Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at One Librarian's Book Reviews
The Sweetest Spell, by Suzanne Selfors, at The Write Path and Cracking the Cover
Sword Mountain, by Nancy Yi Fan, at Semicolon
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Semicolon
What Came From the Stars, by Gary Schmidt, at
Maria's Melange (second of a two part joint review with part 1 from last week at
The Brain Lair), and at
Faith Elizabeth HoughTwo mg horror stories from
Ms. Yingling Reads-- Goosebumps Most Wanted: Planet of the Lawn Gnomes, by R.L. Stine, and Professor Gargoyle: Tales From Lovecraft Middle School #1, by Charles Gilman.
And a brief look at two great mg fantasy series--The Theodosia books, by R. L. LaFevers, and The Joy of Spooking series, by P.J. Pracegirldle, at
Charlotte's Library Authors and InterviewsPhilip Pullman talks about rewriting Grimm at
The Guardian Morgan Keyes (Darkbeast) at
The O.W.L. Derek Taylor Kent (aka Derek the Ghost, author of Scary School) at
Cracking the Cover Caitlen Rubino-Bradway (Ordinary Magic) at
ChicklishChina Mieville is interviewed by a very smart 12 year old at
The Guardian And also via
The Guardian is this podcast of Jacqueline Wilson reading from, and talking about, her new Nesbit homage/sequel, Four Children and It.
Other Good Stuff:
Of course, the best of the Good Stuff is
the new Hobbit trailer The short list for the Roal Dahl funny prize has been announced (here's
The Guardian's discussion), with sff nicely represented
Terri Windling talks fairy tales at
Seven Miles of Steel Thistles Pottermore has new back to school content (via
The Guardian)
Vintage ads for libraries and reading...if you want to become a scary robot looking girl, there's nothing like a book (the larger the picture gets, the scarier it looks--the expressionless face, the staring eyes...):
And finally, a random tip: If you buy expensive art wallpaper, don't wipe it with a wet sponge. You will wipe off the expensive art part.
Welcome to another week in which I round up all the blog posts I could find which I would like to have read in someone else's round up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy, if it weren't for the fact that I am the rounder upper....Please let me know if I missed your post!
And isn't that a lovely origami Smaug? (found at Tor).
The Reviews:
Any Which Wall, by Laurel Snyder, at Time Travel Times Two
Bigger Than a Breadbox, by Laurel Snyder, at There's a Book
The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander, review by Bit, bibliophile in training, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at Sonderbooks
Claws, by Mike and Rachel Grinti, at My Precious
The Crowfield Curse, by Pat Walsh, at books4yourkids
Darkbeast, by Morgan Keyes, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Sharon the Librarian (giveaway--extended from original date)
Deadweather and Sunrise, by Geoff Rodkey, at The Book Monsters
Ely Plot (The Wickit Chronicles, book 1) by Joan Lennon, at A Thousand Wrongs
Half Magic, by Edward Eager, at Tor
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Book Nut
In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at Waking Brain Cells
Invisible World, by Suzanne Weyn, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Island of Silence (Unwanteds, book 2), by Lisa McMann, at Heise Reads & Recommends
Lily's Ghosts, by Laura Ruby, at Read in a Single Sitting
Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Book Nut and Becky's Book Reviews
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at Literary Rambles (giveaway)
The Prince Who Fell From the Sky, by John Claude Bemis, at Ex Libris
Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale, at Books Together and Becky's Book Reviews
Princess Academy, and Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Slatebreakers
Seeing Cinderella, by Jenny Lundquist, at The Children's Book Review
The Serpent's Ring, by H.B. Bolton, at Candace's Book Blog
Seven Tales of Tinket, by Shelley Moore Thomas, at Book Aunt
Spellbound (the Books of Elsewhere 2), by Jacqueline West, at Jean Little Library
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schiltz, at Good Books and Good Wine
The Sweetest Spell, by Suzanne Selfors, at Book Aunt (note: this is one of those marketed as YA that seem upper mg appropriate)
The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons, by Barbara Mariconda, at Book Aunt
What Came from the Stars, by Gary Schmidt, at Book Nut, and a joint review/conversation at The Brain Lair and Maria's Melange.
Wooden Bones, by Scott William Carter, at Charlotte's Library
Monica of Educating Alice reviews Splendors and Glooms, and The Peculiar, in today's NY Times.
At Black and White, you'll find a look at three lovely read aloud fantasies for the younger set--The Robe of Skulls, by Vivian French, The Serial Garden, by Joan Aiken, and Mr. and Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire, by Polly Horvath
Authors and Interviews:
Liz Kessler (Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun) at Nayu's Reading Corner
Lisa McMann (The Unwanteds) describes an inspiring school visit at the Nerdy Book Club
Morgan Keyes discusses the rituals of Darkbeast at Stiching Words, One Thread at a Time
Other Good Stuff:
It's Roald Dahl's birthday week, and The Guardian has rounded up a lovely set of "links, articles and teaching resources to help you celebrate in class."
Lots of book to movie news: Dragonlogy, A Tale Dark and Grimm, and The True Meaning of Smekday are all on their way to the big screen.
M is for Merrow at Scribble City Central
At the Nerdy Book Club, you can find a list of the top ten middle grade graphic novels (and in a comment you can find more suggestions from me....).
For those looking for mg sff ebooks, visit Fantasy Books for Kids, where every Friday five such ebooks are showcased.
And finally, a lovely picture from the Etsy story of artist Elly MacKay, and boy was it hard to chose just one picture. I might very well ask for one of her pictures for my birthday...and maybe even try my own hand at doing something similar--if I do it with boys, it becomes Educational and process will matter more than (lack) of beautiful product. (Thanks to Chasing Ray for the introduction).
Here we are again. Please feel free to enjoy these middle grade sci fi/fantasy links that I collected during my week of blog reading, and please let me now if I missed yours!
The Reviews:
The Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated, by Gerald Morris, at Oops....Wrong Cookie
The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt (Hartlandia 1), by Ilana Waters, at Readingjuky's Reading Roost
Beyond, by Graham McNamee, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Blue Fire (The Healing Wars 2) by Janice Hardy, at nom nom tasty books
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, by Claire Legrand, at The Book Smugglers
Darkbeast, by Morgan Keyes, at Charlotte's Library
The Doom Machine, by Mark Teague, at Maria's Melange (scroll down a tad)
Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
Gods and Warriors, by Michelle Paver, at Hooked on Books
Horten's Incredible Illusions, by Lissa Evans, at Cracking the Cover
Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms, by Lissa Evans, at Charlotte's Library
Invisible Fiends: The Darkest Corners, by Barry Hutchison, at Bart's Bookshelf
The Last Dogs--the Vanishing, by Christopher Holt, at The Book on the Hill
The Last Guardian, by Eoin Colfer, at Fantasy Literature
Legends of Zita the Space Girl, by Ben Hatke, at books4yourkids
Lightmasters: Number 13, by M.G. Wells, at Sharon the Librarian
Malcolm at Midnight, by W.H. Beck, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
Messenger, by Lois Lowry, at Fantasy Literature
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at That Blog Belongs to Emily Brown and Faith E. Hough
St. Viper's School for Super Villains, by Kim Donovan, at Sharon the Librarian
The Tale of Emily Windsnap, by Liz Kessler, at Nayu's Reading Corner
The Time Garden, by Edward Eager, at Time Travel Times Two
The Time-Traveling Fashionista at the Palace of Marie Antoinette, by Bianca Turetsky, at The Fourth Musketeer
Victory, by Susan Cooper, at Ms. Yingling Reads
What Came from the Stars, by Gary Schmidt, at Sonderbooks
Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Emily's Reading Room
Authors and Interviews:
Claire Legrand (The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls) talks mg heroines at The Book Smugglers, and also guest posting at Project Mayhem
Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson (The Familiars--Circle of Heros) at The O.W.L.
Morgan Keyes (Darkbeast) at Whatever, Stephanie Burgis, and at Jim C. Hines
Other Good Stuff:
Here's a fascinating dissection of all the clues tucked into the first two chapters of The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, at Deirdre's Book Blog
The Trilogy that begins with The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, has been optioned for the movies
Reading The Giver as an adult, from The Atlantic
Liz Kessler presents M is for Mermaid today at Scribble City Central
Welcome to the first middle grade science fiction and fantasy round-up of September! Here are all the posts I found this week; please let me know if I missed yours.
The Reviews
Bridge of Time, by Lewis Buzbee, at Charlotte's Library
Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
Darkbeast, by Morgan Keyes, at Not Acting My Age
The Demon Notebook, by Erica McGann, at Nayu's Reading Corner
The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire, 1), by Tui T. Sutherland, at Fantasy Literature
Eye of the Storm, by Kate Messner, at Presenting Lenore
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Cracking the Cover
The Ghost of Graylock, by Dan Poblocki, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Ghost of Opalina, by Peggy Bacon, at Charlotte's Library
Gods and Warriors, by Michelle Paver, at Bookyurt
Gustav Gloom and the People Taker, by Adam-Troy Castro, at Carina's Books
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Stacked
The Kindling, by Brayden Bell, at My Precious
The Month of Zephram Mondays, by Leslie A. Susskind, at Nayu's Reading Corner
Mutiny in Time, by James Dashner, at Cracking the Cover
The Prarie Thief, by Melissa Wiley, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Prince Who Fell from the Sky, by John Claude Bemis, at Carina's Books
The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskell, at Tales of the Marvelous
Renegade Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at The Book Smugglers
The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, by Jennifer Tracton, at books4yourkids
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schiltz, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, at Stacked and Abby the Librarian
What Came from the Stars, by Gary Schmidt, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer, at Read in a Single Sitting
Writers and Interviews:
Jennifer Nielsen (The False Prince) at Emily's Reading Room
James Dashner (Mutiny in Time) at Cracking the Cover
Morgan Keyes (Darkbeast) at Jill Archer and An Exchange of Words
Other Good Stuff:
BBC Three will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the publications of Grimm's Fairy Tales with interviews and readings from "poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Michael Morpurgo, the author of War Horse, John Agard, the poet and playwright, Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, and the writer of comic fantasy stories, Sir Terry Pratchett." For more info, here's the Guardian article. [Which is correct--Grimm's Tales, as the Guardian has it, or Grimms' Tales, since there were two brothers????]
Not related to mg sff at all, but these reviews are Utterly Funny (thanks to This is Not the Six World Novel)
Of Bloggish interest:
The schedule for Kitlitcon 2012 is up! And it looks great. This is the most fun conference ever (if, of course, you are a children's book blogger. If you are a dairy farm, perhaps, not so much).
Sign ups are now ongoing for the A More Diverse Universe blog tour, which will happen Sept 23rd to Sept. 29th. "To participate, you need only read and review one book in the speculative fiction genre that was written by a person of color."
Book Blogger Appreciation Week is coming Sept. 10-14 (with no awards this year, which I think is for the best).
This week's round-up brought to you by the Poodle Moth, coming soon to a backyard near you:
Good morning, and welcome to another Sunday morning round-up of all the posts I found in my blog reading of interest to fans of middle grade sci fi and fantasy. Please let me know if I missed yours!
Just a reminder-- the deadline for applying for a slot as a Cybils panelist (August 31) fast approaches! Here's what Sheila Ruth, the sci fi/fantasy organizer has to say: "I'm especially in need of people who are passionate and knowledgeable about middle grade for the Middle Grade SFF panel. We always get many more applications for YA SFF than for MG SFF, and while many of the YA applicants say that they'll be happy with middle grade, and I appreciate that, I'd love to fill the middle grade panel with judges who love middle grade and put it as their first choice." But if you are daunted by the number of books that will be getting nominated in mg sff (probably around 150), maybe graphic novels, or book apps, or the non-fiction categories (all of which are in need of panelists) would be a good fit for you.
The Reviews
3 Below (Floors #2), by Patrick Carman, at Sharon the Librarian
Amulet: Prince of Elves, by Kazu Kibuishi, at Wandering Librarians
Annie's Adventures (Sisters Eight) by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, at Read in a Single Sitting
The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy, at Barbara Ann Watson
The Aviary, by Kathleen O’Dell, at Children's Books and Reviews
The Broken Lands, by Kate Milford, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, The Book Smugglers, and Karissa's Reading Review
Caterpillar Hall, by Anne Barrett, at Charlotte's Library
Cold Cereal, by Adam Rex, at Sonderbooks
Dust Girl, by Sarah Zettel, at Book Nut and The Children's Book Review
The Girl Behind the Glass, by Jane Kelley, at Books and Other Thoughts
Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke, at Book Nut
How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell, at Karissa's Reading Review
Infinity Ring: A Mutiny in Time, by James Dashner, at The New York Times
Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at The Book Smugglers
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at Sash and Em--a Tale of Two Bookies
Kingdom of the Wicked (Skulduggery Pleasant), by Derek Landy, at The Book Zone
The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, at ShelfAwarness
Legends of Zita the Space Girl, by Ben Hatke, at Charlotte's Library
The Lost Colony, by Eoin Colfer, at Fyrefly's Book Blog
The Mapmaker and the Ghost, by Sarvenaz Tash, at Geo Librarian
Muddle and Win, by John Dickinson, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles
Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Sonderbooks, the bookish mama, Squeaky Books, and Cracking the Cover
The Raging Fires, by T.A. Barron, at Fantasy Literature
The Scorpions of Zahir, by Christine Brodien-Jones, at Charlotte's Library
The Seventh Tower: The Fall, by Garth Nix, at Val Muller
Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schiltz, at Charlotte's Library
The Time-Travelling Fashionista, by Bianca Turetsky, at Madigan Reads
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at Books & Other Thoughts
The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, by Lisa McMann, at Shannon Messenger
The WondLa series, by Tony DiTerlizzi, at The Write Path
A two for one, at Ms. Yingling Reads Alex Van Helsing: The Triumph of Death, by Jason Henderson, and Zombie Tag, by Hannah Moskovitz
Writers, Illustrators, Interviews
Shaun Tan on his picture book,The Red Tree, at Books for Keeps--"The absurd surrealism of the giant fish hopefully discourages any rational assessment...." (some of us need little help in this regard...)
Shannon Hale (Palace of Stone) at Cracking the Cover and Squeaky Books
Morgan Keyes (Darkbeast) at Blogging for YA
Nikki Loftin )The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy) at The Book Cellar and at The Enchanted Inkpot.
Royce Buckingham (The Demonkeeper series) at A Thousand Wrongs and Literary Rambles (giveaway)
Stefan Bachmann (The Peculiar) at Smack Dab in the Middle
Other Good Stuff
The Enchanted Inkpot has a two part series (here and here) showcasing fall mg sff book covers--much to drool over (not that one should ever drool over books, at least in real life. They might get damaged).
Leslie Wilson talks about "The Bremen Town Musicians" at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles
For those looking for fairy tale retellings with boy appeal, here's a great list at BellaOnBooks
And in the so awful its great (?) category, check out this faux 1980s cartoon -- "Space Stallions" over at Tor. Will Mother Mustang help our heroes save the multiverse?
Here's what I learned this week: wall paper is not easier than plastering and painting. Unless your house is new. This is why I am late getting this up.
Here's what I found in my blog reading this week--please let me know if I missed your post or the posts of your loved ones!
The Reviews:
Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Fantastic Reads
The Brixen Witch, by Stacy DeKeyser, at Charlotte's Library
The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at A Thousand Wrongs
Claws, by Mike and Rachel Grinti, at Charlotte's Library
Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg, book 1), by Geoff Rodkey, at Mister K Reads
The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire, book 1) by Tui T. Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library
Earwig and the Witch, by Diana Wynne Jones, at library_mama
Gods and Warriors, by Michelle Paiva, at The Book Smugglers
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, at Sonderbooks
Invisible Fiends: The Beast, by Barry Hutchison, at Bart's Bookshelf
The Lost Conspiracy aka Gullstruck Island, by Frances Hardinge, at The Book Smugglers
Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, Reading Everywhere, A Patchwork of Books, Ms. Yingling Reads (and probably lots of other blogs, but time is too short for me to look for them today....)
Project Jackalope, by Emily Ecton, at Charlotte's Library
The Second Spy (Chronicles of Elsewhere, 3), by Jacqueline West, at Beyond Books
A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at Confessions of a Bibliovore and Gina Carey
The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brockett, by John Boyne, at So Many Books, So Little Time
The Wednesdays, by Julie Bourbeau, at My Precious
The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer, at Beyond Books
Authors and Interviews
Alan Garner at The Guardian (including his hilarious first attempt to end The Moon of Gomrath!)
Greg Leitich Smith (Chronal Engine) at From the Mixed-Up Files (giveaway)
Margaret Peterson Haddix at Cynsations (giveaway)
Other Good Things:
A plethora of Peter Pans, at Read in a Single Sitting
Juliet Marillier talks Beauty and the Beast, at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles
Because I love Zita the Space Girl, I'm passing on this Jolly Raffle link.
A fascinating interview with an Andre Norton Award Juror, at the Intergalactic Academy -- do read it!
So just in case you are visiting one of these round-ups for the first time--a few years ago I was wishing that it was easier to find reviews of middle grade sci fi and fantasy books--there are lots of blogs where you can reliably find the YA side of things, but not so much for the younger books. So I started doing it myself.
I exercise some discretion in what I include--a post that's too short, or too purly promotional, probably won't make my personal cut. I'm happy to take links to posts at any time during the week (of posts from that week only, of course--not old reviews). My email is charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com. Thanks!
The Reviews
13 Treasures, by Michelle Harrison, at Read in a Single Sitting
The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl, 7), by Eoin Colfer, at Fantasy's Ink
The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To, by D.C. Pierson, at Original Content
Earthling! by Mark Fearing, at Stacked
The Ghost of Graylock, by Dan Pobloki, at Charlotte's Library
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Black Gate
Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins, at Story Carnivores
The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley, at Stella Matutina
Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at The Accidental Novelist and at Cardigans, Coffee, and Bookmarks
Merits of Mischief: The Bad Apple, by T.R. Burns, at Angelhorn
Monster Matsuri (Takeshita Demons 3), by Cristy Burne, at Charlotte's Library
Oddfellows Orphanage, by Emily Winfield Martin, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at One Librarian's Book Reviews and Emily's Reading Room
The Serpent's Shadow, by Rick Riordan, at Boys Rule Boys Read!
The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, by Nikki Loftin, at YA reads
The Six Crowns series, by Allan Jones and Gary Chalk, at books4yourkids
The Star Shard, by Frederick S. Durbin, at Fantasy Literature
Stig of the Dump, by Clive King, at Charlotte's Library
The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brockett, by John Boyne, at Babbleabout children's books
Tools of Prophecy, by Michael E. Rothman, at Books Are Magic
Troubletwisters, by Garth Nix and Sean Williams, at Bibliophile Support Group
Unearthly Asylum, by PJ Bracegirdle, at Read in a Single Sitting
Authors and Interviews
Suzanne Williams (Heros in Training) at Cynsations
Braden Bell (The Kindling) at A Thousand Wrongs
Derek the Ghost (Scary School) at Nawanda Files
"How we made A Monser Calls" by Patrick Ness and Jim Kay, at The Guardian
Other Good Stuff
K is for Kelpie, by Holly Black, at Scribble City Central
I can't help but feel a tad sorry for McKayla, but still I chuckled--here she is not being impressed with sci fi at Tor.
Monica at Educating Alice caught a Guardian article I'd missed--Jacqueline Wilson is writing a modern-day sequel to Five Children and It, called Four Children and It. Since it will obviously be impossible to preserve the flavour of the Edwardian original (it was published in 1902), I'm thinking I'll try to take it on its own merits as a contemporary fantasy...like I did for The Humming Room.
And finally--The Cybils are coming to life once more. Things aren't going to really get going till next month, but it's still exciting to see the 2012 logo!
For those of you who don't know what the Cybils are--these are awards are given each year by bloggers for the year's best children's and young adult titles in a variety of categories, including middle grade sci fi and fantasy! The shortlists generated each year, by the way, are an awesome resource.
All bloggers can put their name forward to be on one of the panels--and so I am mentioning this now because all of you whose posts show up here on a regular basis would make swell panelists in MG Sci Fi/Fantasy, and I'd urge you to start thinking about it. I've been a first round panelist several times, and loved it. Do feel free to email me if you have any questions about what it's like...
Here's what I found viz mg sff this week in my blog reading--let me know if I missed yours!
The Reviews:
3 Below, by Patrick Carman, at Literate Lives
13 Secrets, by Michelle Harrison, at Charlotte's Library
The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell, at The Book Smugglers
Cyberia, by Chris Lynch, at Maria's Melange
Eye of the Storm, by Kate Messner, at slatebreakers
The Ghost of Graylock, by Dan Pobloki, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Girl Games, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, at Small Review
The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester, at books4yourkids
Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins, at Fyrefly's Book Blog
How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell, at Read in a Single Sitting
Liesl and Po, by Lauren Oliver, at Michelle Mason
The Magic Warble, by Victoria Simcox, at Geo Librarian (giveaway)
The Merman and the Moon Forgotten (Nikolas and Company 1), by Kevin McGill, at Geo Librarian
Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan, by R.A. Spratt, at There's a Book
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, at Great Kid Books and Reads for Keeps
Palace of the Damned, by Darren Shan, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale, at Wandering Librarians
The Roar, by Emma Clayton, at Parenthetical
The Rock of Ivanore, by Laurisa White Reyes, at Shannon Messenger
A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, at The Book Smugglers
A Tale of Time City, by Diana Wynne Jones, at The Book Smugglers
Tom Swift, Jr., and His Jetmarine, by Victor Appleton II, at Guys Lit Wire
Here are the results of my internet grazing (picture of grazing sci fi sheep at right found at Light Reading).
Please let me know if I missed your mg sff post!
The Reviews
Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, by Adrienne Kress, at Once Upon a Bookshelf
The Amulet Series, by Kazu Kibuishi, at Fantasy Literature
Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian, at The Book Zone
The Emporer of Nihon-Ja, by John Flanagan, at Karissa's Reading Review
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente, at Great Imaginations
Heaven Eyes, by David Almond, at Books Beside My Bed
Hilda and the Midnight Giant, by Luke Pearson, at Jean Little Library
Magyk, by Angie Sage, at Adventures of a Book Wyrm
The Moon Coin, by Richard Due, at Sharon the Librarian
The Mysterious Howling, by Maryrose Wood, at Jen Robinson's Book Page
N.E.R.D.S., by Michael Buckley, at books4yourkids
On the Blue Comet, by Rosemary Wells, at Time Travel Times Two
Ordinary Magic, by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, at Slatebreakers
The Second Spy, by Jacqueline West, at Cracking the Cover
Shadow Spell, by Caro King, at Charlotte's Library
Sidekicks, by Jack D. Ferraiolo, at books4yourkids
Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy, at Readatouille
The Son of Neptune, by Rick Riordan, at Fyrefly's Book Blog
The Unseen Guest, by Maryrose Wood, at Welcome to My Tweendom
What Came From the Stars, by Gary Schmidt, at
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Thanks for sharing how you find your links. I've always wondered. Awesome links. I'll start having some middle grade ones starting in March. I somehow went for two months without spotlighting a middle grade author.
Thanks for the look into your link roundup process! It's quite involved, and it makes me even more appreciative that you do it each week. Thanks!
Finding all those links still sounds pretty involved, but thanks for doing it. I love reading other people's thoughts on books I'm reading.
Once again, thanks for a great list, and also for the heads up on Children's Book Week. Of course, the way the calendar falls this year, it will be "Happy Book Week! Now, turn in all your books on Friday!" We get out at the end of May, and it takes at least two weeks to get all of the books returned.
Maybe you will get lots of snow days, and run further into June...we already have two days to make up!
Thanks for those links. And that bookmark is so clever!