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Happy Mother's Day, and welcome to this week's round-up of middle grade sci fi/fantasy postings from around the blogs. If I missed your post, let me know!
The Reviews
The Ability, by M.M. Vaughan, at Charlotte's Library
An Army of Frogs, by Trevor Price and Joel Naftali, at Now Read This!
Astronaut Academy Re-Entry, by Dave Roman, at Charlotte's Library (I don't generally include graphic novels, but I love this one lots and its my own review. Also it is science fiction, which is thin on the mg ground)
Canary in a Coal Mine, by Madelyn Rosenberg, at Geo Librarian
Charlotte Sometimes, by Penelope Farmer, at The Book Smugglers
The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy, at Bunbury in the Stacks (audiobook review)
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, LibLaura5, Salima Korri Reviewing the Writing, The Book Cellar and YA Bibliophile (audiobook review)
The Game of Sunken Places, by M.T. Anderson, at Great Books for Kids and Teens
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, at Nerdy Book Club
Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault, by Adam-Troy Castro, at Log Cabin Library
Here Where the Sunbeams are Green, by Helen Phillips, at Book Nut
In a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at There's a Book
Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at io9 and Reading Rumpus
Loki's Wolves, by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr, at Ms. Yingling Reads, Great Imaginations, Charlotte's Library, and Alice, Marvels
The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland, at Readers by Night
Museum of Thieves, and City of Lies, by Lian Tanner, at Kid Lit Geek
New Lands (The Chronicles of Egg, 2), by Geoff Rodkey, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
and thehopefulheroine
The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Bibliophilic Monologues
The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Kid Lit Geek and Scott Reads It
The Silver Bowl, by Diane Stanley, at Madigan Reads
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at That's Another Story
Stolen Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Waking Brain Cells
The Storm Bottle, by Nick Green, at Geo Librarian
Summer and Bird, by Catherine Catmull, at alibrarymama
Teacher's Pest, by Charles Gilman, at BookYAReview, and Tim's Book Reviews
The Time Cavern, by Todd Fonseca, at Time Travel Times Two
The Water Castle, by Megan Frazer Blakemore, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Wednesdays in the Tower, by Jessica Day George, at Kid Lit Geek
Authors and Interviews:
(note to publicists--please feel free to send me blog tour lineups with links to the specific posts--I'd be happy to include them, but don't always have time to track them all down myself!)
Jessica Day George (Wednesdays in the Tower) at Cracking the Cover
Soman Chainani (The School for Good and Evil) at Cracking the Cover
Liesl Shurtliff (Rump) at Literary Rambles
A Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle character intros. at Ms. Yingling Reads, Kid Lit Frenzy, The Write Path, and The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
Megan Whalen Turner (The Thief) at KidsEBookBestsellers
Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr (Loki's Wolves) at Entertainment Weekly And here are the stops from the Loki's Wolves blog tour:
Geoff Rodkey (New Lands--The Chronicles of Egg, book 2), joined by his agent and editor, at
From the Mixed Up Files and all by himself at
Book DreamingAri Goelman (The Path of Names) at
The Lucky 13sStuart Webb (Jenny at Chatsworth) at
Mr Ripleys Enchanted BooksOther Good Stuff:I could have put this in the reviews section, but thought it would be happier down here--Kate Forsyth takes a loving look at an old favorite--The Stone Cage, by Nicholas Stuart Gray, at
Seven Miles of Steel Thistles.
I made
a short quiz of mother's shown on covers of recent mg sff books for Mother's Day. It's short cause there aren't many.
And finally, librarians on parade to celebrate spring and promote summer reading (found at
100 Scope Notes). I find it strangely moving (no pun intended).
This week's roundup of middle grade fantasy and science fiction is brought to you from the Springfield Marriott, where I am at the New England Society for Childrens' Book Writers and Illustrators, trying hard to remember to introduce myself as "a writer of archaeological non-fiction" and not "a book blogger." As always, please let me know if I missed your link; I'll add it when I get home this afternoon!
The Reviews:
Alanna: the First Adventure, by Tamora Pierce, at Leaf's Reviews
An Army of Frogs, by Trevor Pryce and Joel Naftali, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu, at YA Book Shelf
The Colossus Rises, by Peter Lerangis, part 3 of a joint review at Maria's Melange and The Brian Lair
Deadweather and Sunrise (Chronicles of Egg Book 1), by Geoff Rodkey, at Project Mayhem
The Flame and the Mist, by Kit Grindstaff, at Waking Brain Cells
Frogged, by Vivian Vande Venlde, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Garden Princess, by Kristin Kladstrup, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The House of Secrets, by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini, at Good Books and Good Wine
and Book Dreaming
How I Met My Monster, byR.L. Stine, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at Bookends
Johnny and the Bomb, by Terry Pratchett, at Time Travel Times Two
The Key and the Flame, by Claire M. Caterer, at Candace's Book Blog
Loki's Wolves, by K.L. Armstrong & M.A. Marr, at Fantasy Literature
Lost Worlds, by Andrew Lane, at The Book Zone
The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland, at Challenging the Bookworm
A Mutiny in Time, by James Dashner, at One Librarian's Book Reviews
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at We Fancy Books
The Planet Thieves, by Dan Krokos, at Finding Wonderland
The Reluctant Assassin, by Eoin Colfer, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Renegade Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Waking Brian Cells
The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at alibrarymama, Reads for Keeps, Karissa's Reading Review, and Geo Librarian
The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, by Nikki Loftin, at The Hiding Spot
Sorrowline (Timesmith, book 1), by Niel Bushnell, at The Children's War
Teacher's Pest, by Charles Gilman, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Tilly's Moonlight Garden, by Julia Green, at The Children's Book Review
Troubletwisters, and The Monster (Troubletwisters 2), by Garth Nix, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Wednesdays in the Tower, by Jessica Day George, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Charlotte's Library
Wonder Light: Unicorns of the Mist, by R.R. Russell, at Candace's Book Blog
Authors and Interviews
Geoff Rodkey (The Chronicles of Egg) at Project Mayhem and at Akossiwa Ketoglo
Liesl Shurtliff (Rump) at Cynsations
Adam Glendon Sidwell (The Buttersmith's Gold) at The Write Path (giveaway)
Other Good Stuff
At the Horn Book--"Middle Grade Saved My Life"--thoughts on keeping mg distinct from YA, and why it matters
An excerpt from Faeryland: The Secret World of the Hidden Ones, by John Matthews, at Tor
Neil Gaiman's keynote address from the Digital Minds Conference
This giant rubber ducky (which I found at Tor) is touring the world:
Welcome to this week's round-up of middle grade (ages 9-12 ish) fantasy and science from around the blogs! Please let me know if I missed your link.
The ReviewsThe Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at
alibrarymama The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at
Reading to Know The Colossus Rises, by Peter Lerangis, at
Bobs Books BlogThe Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody, at
Books for Boys Dragonsinger, by Anne McCaffrey, at
alibrarymama (audiobook review)
Dust Girl, by Sarah Zettel, at
Charlotte's Library (arguablyl more YA, but if I don't put it in I would have anything this week....)
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at
Writer of Wrongs The Frog Who Croaked (Platypus Police Squad) at
Fuse #8 (more a sneak preview than a review, but still.)
Gabriel Stone and the Divinity of Valta, by Shannon Duffy, at
So I'm Fifty The House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones, at
Fighting Dreamer House of Secrets, by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini, at
Scott Reads ItIn a Glass Grimmly, by Adam Gidwitz, at
The Book Monsters Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at
The Book MonstersJinx, by Sage Blackwood, at
Book Nut,
Random Musings of a Bibliophile, and
Waking Brain CellsKeeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at
Writer's Alley The Legend Thief, by E.J. Patten, at
My Precious Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb, by
Ally Malinenko, at
Middle Grade NinjaThe Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, at
Good Books and Good Wine (audiobook review)
The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskell, at
alibrarymamaRat Runners, by Oisin McGann, at
Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at
Jen Robinson's Book Page and
The Book Monsters Return to the Willows, by Jacqueline Kelly, at
Reads for KeepsThe Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda, at
Guys Lit Wire The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at
Bound by Words The Secret War, by Matt Myklusch, at
BooksYALoveand
Bookworm Blather The Shadows (Books of Elsewhere 1), by Jacqueline West, at
Akossiwa KetogloThe Silver Door, by Emily Rodda, at
The Write Path A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at
Nerdy Book ClubThe Treekeepers, by Susan McGee Britton, at
The Write Stuff The Water Castle, by Megan Frazer, at
Kid Lit GeekThe Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, by Kate Saunders, at
Bookin' with Bingo Authors and InterviewsStephanie Burgis (Stolen Magic) writes about being caught in the middle of the conflict between Simon and Schuster and Barnes and Noble. (Dueling Magics, a short story set in the world of Kat, Incorrigible, is available for free at
Smashworlds)
Luciano Storti (the music maestro from the trailer for The School of Good and Evil) at
the website for the book More Good StuffIf you enjoy drooling over middle grade speculative fiction, here are two posts rounding up all the new and recent covers at the Enchanted Inkpot:
one and
two Lovely illustrations of the creatures and plants from the world of Tankborn, and its new sequel, Awakening, by Karen Sandler
A round-up of mg and ya books drawing on Greek mythology at
books4yourkids At
Kirkus--"More Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Kids Should Be Reading In School." I can't remember ever reading any sci fi or fantasy in school....
Not directly mg sff relevant, but I'm giving away a copy of Writing Children's Books For Dummies (very helpful) and
it ends tomorrow.
Here's what I found this week in my search for middle grade fantasy and sci fi related blog posts--though I tried really hard to find as much as I could, I'm sure I missed lots, so do let me know!
The Reviews:
Bliss, by Kathryn Littlewood, at Becky's Book Reviews
The Book of Doom, by Barry Hutchison, at Bart's Bookshelf
City of Ember, by Jeanne dePrau, at Madigan Reads
The Colossus Rises, by Peter Lerangis, at Maria's Melange and The Brain Lair (a joint, on-going project)
Dark Lord: The Early Years, by Jamie Thomson, at Emily's Reading Room
A Dash of Magic, by Kathryn Littlewood, at Becky's Book Reviews
Dragon Magic, by Andre Norton, at Charlotte's Library
The Fellowship for Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at For Those About to Mock
Fraser's Voices, by Jack Hastie, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books
The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman, at Bunbury in the Stacks (audiobook)
Frogged, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Random Musings of a Bibliovore
Garden Princess, by Kristin Kladstrup, at Charlotte's Library
The Goblin Gift, by Conrad Mason, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books
Hashbrown Winters and the Whiz-tastrophie, by Frank L. Cole, at The Write Path
Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go, by Dale Basye, at Middle Grade Mafioso
Hokey Pokey, by Jerry Spinelli, at Kid Lit Geek
The Hollow Earth, by John Barrowman, at The Hiding Spot
The Incorrigible Childreon of Aston Place, by Maryrose Wood, at Hope is the Word (series review)
Keepers of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at The Hiding Spot and Deb A. Marshall
The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, at alibrarymama
Magic Zero, by Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski, at Little Willow
The Name of This Book is Secret, by Pseudonymous Bosch, at The Book Monsters
The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald, at Hope is the Word
Quest for the Spark, Book 3 (Bone), by Tom Sniegoski, at Back to Books
The Rope Trick, by Lloyd Alexander, at Fantasy Literature
The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Bookshelves of Doom
The Silver Door, by Emily Rodda, at Charlotte's Library
Skellig, by David Almond, at Bibliophilic Monologues
Stolen Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at The Book Smugglers and Charlotte's Library
A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at A Foodie Bibliophile
The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, by Kate Saunders, at Becky's Book Reviews
Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, at Mister K Reads
Two by Diana Wynne Jones--Charmed Life, and Archer's Goon, at You Can Never Have Too Many Books
And finally, the Horn Book has a nice look at The Hero's Journey, incuding The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle, Jinx, The Cabinet of Earths, and Poison
Authors and Interviews
David Almond, at The Telegraph--"Children's books shouldn't sit still and behave"
Stephanie Burgis (Stolen Magic) at The Book Smugglers and Cari's Book Blog
Marissa Moss (Mira's Diary: Home Sweet Rome) at The Hiding Spot
Jennifer Nielsen (The Runaway King) at Book Nut
Barry Hutchison (The Book of Doom) at Bart's Bookshelf
William Alexander (Goblin Secrets) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Kit Grindstaff (The Flame in the Mist) at Random Acts of Reading
Claire Caterer (The Key and the Flame) at All Four One and OneFour Kidlit
Other Good Stuff
The New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards have been announced, and include some interesting looking sff; the judges, however, decried the "'girl power' void in new books for Kiwi kids." Huh.
On the subject of girls, it is Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy Month at Fantasy Cafe, and this week The Book Smugglers swung by with a list of great YA and MG SFF books by women.
And for those, like me, who find the world of competitive rabbit jumping incredibly appealing, here are bunnies in action! (thanks to Jenny at Light Reading)
Here's what I found this week; enjoy and let me know if I missed your post!
(Publishers, publicists, and writers--you are welcome to send me full schedules of blog tours, reviews I missed, etc. etc.)
The Reviews:
The Abandoned, (aka Jennie), by Paul Gallico, at In Bed With Books
Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith, at Maria's Melange
The Beyonders: Chasing the Prophecy, by Brandon Mull, at SciFiChick
The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles De Lint, at Mundie Kids
Cloneward Bound, by M.E. Castle, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
The Colossus Rises, by Peter Lerangis. Ongoing joint review at Maria's Melange and The Brian Lair, and another review at the American Book Center blog
Fake Mustache, by Tom Angleberger, at Books & Other Thoughts
The Flame in the Mist, by Kit Grindstaff, at YA Bibliophile (audiobook)
A Greyhound of a Girl, by Roddy Doyle, at Reads for Keeps
Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault, by Adam-Troy Castro, at Pass the Chiclets
Hammer of Witches, by Shana Mlawski, at Finding Wonderland
The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healy, at The Book Smugglers and Sonderbooks
Johnny and the Bomb, by Terry Pratchett, at Charlotte's Library
The Key and the Flame, by Claire Caterer, at From the Mixed Up Files
The Last Free Cat, by Jon Blake, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library
Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, at That's Another Story
Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, at Fantasy Literature
Rump, by Liesl Shurtliff, at Book Nut and books4yourkids
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at Kid Lit Geek
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at Abby the Librarian
Stolen Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Sonderbooks
Undertown, by Melvin Jules Bukiet, at Sharon the Librarian
Whatever After: Fairest of All, by Sara Mlynowski, at Becky's Book Reviews
Authors, Interviews, and Artwork
Shana Mlawski's Hammer of Witches is this week's Big Idea at Whatever
Liesl Shurtliff (Rump) at All For One and OneFour Kid Lit and I Like These Books
Kit Grindstaff (The Flame in the Mist) at Steph Su Reads
Claire M. Caterer (The Key and the Flame) at GreenBeanTeenQueen,
Literary Rambles , Nerdy Book Club. IceyBooks, The Hiding Spot, Fantasy Book Addict, and The Book Muncher (with giveaways)
Art work reveals (and giveaways) of The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healey, at Ms. Yingling Reads and The Book Smugglers
Marissa Moss (Mira's Diary series) at That's Another Story
Kate DiCamillo (talking about the metaphor matrix of Tiger Rising) at Cynsations
Other Good Stuff
The Victorians were strange, or perhaps just very much like us. They would have made great Peep Dioramas, in between creating headless portraits (from PetaPixel, where there are lots more, via io9).
Actually I think they were weirder than us. (These are really taxidermied kittens, from the museum of
Walter Potter, who didn't have Peeps to work with....).
Moving back to books, if you want to feast your eyes on award winning picture books of many lands (many of which are fantastical, and so relevant!), Tasha at Waking Brain Cells has a gallery of the nominees for the 2014 Hans Christian Anderson Award. I can't decide if this one, published in English as Great Book of Animal Portraits, by Croatian illustrator
Svjetlan Junaković, which is now stuck in my mind forever, is one I Must Have, or the stuff of nightmares (or possibly both, but at least these animals aren't taxidermied):
I see on further perusal that many of the other illustrations (re-imaginings of Old Masters with animals) are less disturbing....so I am very tempted. Here's "Vermeer's Study of a Young Frog:
Here's what I found in this week's internet hunt for reviews and such of middle grade sci fi and fantasy books. Please let me know if I missed yours!
The Reviews:
The Accidental Time Traveller, by Janis Mackay, at Guys Lit Wire
The Big Bank Burglery (St. Viper's School for Super Villains), by Kim Donovan, at Log Cabin Library
Deadweather and Sunrise (Chronicles of Egg), by Geoff Rodkey, at Becky's Book Reviews
Deadly Pink, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Books & Other Thoughts
Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun, by Liz Kessler, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Fyre, by Angie Sage, at Deseret News
The Gliter Trap (OMG--Oh My Godmother) by Barbara Brauner & James Iver Mattson, at Books Beside My Bed
Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander, at Geo Librarian
Ghoulfriends Forever, by Gitty Daneshvari, at Paranormal Sisters
Hammer of Witches, by Shana Mlawski, at Charlotte's Library
House of Secrets, by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini, at Reading Rumpus, Leisure Reads, and There's a Book
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at Xander's Middle Grade Book Reviews
Lizzie Speare and the Cursed Tomb, byAlly Malienko, at The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-something Year Old Girl
The Magician's Tower, by Shawn Thomas Odyssey, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
Mira's Diary: Home, Sweet Rome, by Marissa Moss, at Kid Lit Frenzy and Rebecca Behrens
The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, at Bookworm1858
The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, by Nikki Loftin, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Space Bingo, by Tony Abbott, at Time Travel Times Two
Syren, by Angie Sage, at Leaf's Reviews
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, by R.L. LaFevers, at Deb A. Marshall
Toothiana, Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies, by William Joyce, at Wondrous Reads
The Two Princesses of Bamarre, by Gail Carson Levine, at Tales of the Marvellous
Unnatural Creatures, by Neil Gaiman, at A.V. Club (Kirkus says this is for ages 10-14...have any of you all read it? Is it really?)
Wednesdays in the Tower, by Jessica Day George, at Karissa's Reading Review
When the Butterflies Came, by Kimberly Griffiths Little, at Ms. Yingling Reads
Authors and Interviews and Art
Soman Chinani (The School for Good and Evil) at Harvard Magazine
Two artwork reveals for The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, at Candace's Book Blog and The Hiding Spot
Kit Grindstaff (The Flame and the Mist) at From the Mixed Up Files
Anna Staniszewski (My Epic Fairytale Fail) at Sharon the Librarian
Suzanne Selfors (The Sasquatch Escape) at The Write Path
Claire M. Caterer (The Key and the Flame) at Cynsations
Rick Riordan on Reading Myths and the Myths of Reading
Ned Vizzini (House of Secrets) at The Book Zone
Liesl Shurtliff (Rump: the True Story of Rumplestiltskin) at Project Mayhem
More Good Stuff
Adorable robots learn to walk, at io9
Adorable knitted hedgehog (I needed a picture, so I googled "knitted hedgehog" cause I like hedgehogs, and "knitted baby otter" didn't yield anything good):
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 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?
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."
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.
Welcome to the 168th round-up of what I found in my blog reading/hunting this week of interest to readers of middle grade fantasy and science fiction. I hunted harder than usual, because early on I had book title for some of the harder letters (Q, I'm looking at you) and I thought that maybe this would be the week where I had a full alphabet of mg sff goodness! (I even got a trial subscription to Booklist to find more titles to search for). Alas, it was not to be.
And it was a little depressing to find so few reviews of mg sff books after so much looking. Conclusion: mg sff doesn't get reviewed all that much. Or else bloggers are really good at disguising their mg sff book reviews as something else.
In any event, let me know if I missed your post!
(And perhaps think about reviewing books that begin with difficult letters of the alphabet next week--it would make me so happy to have a complete set all in one week.)
The Reviews
Bliss, by Kathryn Littlewood, at Barbara Ann Watson
The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at Bibliophilic Monologues
The Colossus Rises (Seven Wonders, Book 1) by Peter Lerangis, at Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books and I Have Lived a Thousand Lives
Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, at Mister K Reads
Dark Days, by Derek Landy, at Original Content
Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at Fuse #8
Dragon Run, by Patrick Matthews, at Whatchamacallit Reviews and Charlotte's Library
The Fellowship For Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at Ms. Yingling Reads
and A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at alibrarymama
Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, at Middle Grade Mafioso
Jump Boys: SOS, by Alex Banks, at Heather McCorkle
My Very UnFairy Tale Life, by Anna Staniszewski, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
The Princess Curse, by Merrie Haskell, at The Book Smugglers
The Queen at War, by K.A.S. Quinn, at Nayu's Reading Corner
The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Nerdy Book Club, Justin's Book Blog, Random Musings of a Bibliophile, Book Sake, Bookishness, and The Book Smugglers
The School For Good and Evil, by Soman Chianani, at Books and Writers JNR
A Tale of Two Castles, by Gail Carson Levine, at 300 Pages
A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at Candace's Book Blog, Bookends, Becky's Book Reviews, and For Those About to Mock, and as an audio book at Good Books and Good Wine
Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George, at alibrarymama
Whatever After: Fairest of All, by Sarah Mlynowski, at Kid Lit Geek
You Only Die Twice (The Genius Files), by Dan Gutman, at The Write Path
Zombie Kid (Case File 13), by J. Scott Savage, at Geo Librarian
Authors and Interviews
Kevin Emerson (The Fellowship For Alien Detection) at From the Mixed Up Files
K.A.S. Quinn (The Queen at War) at Nayu's Reading Corner
Ally Malineko (Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb) at A Thousand Wrongs (giveaway)
Greg Fishbone (Galaxy Games) at Authors for Earth Day
Anna Staniszewski (My Epic Fairy Tale Fail) at Ghenet Myrthil
Patrick Matthews (Dragon Run) at Left-handed Spoons
Other Good Stuff
Tunnels, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, is to become a movie
The second annual DWJ March has begun at We Be Reading
And, finally, these cool socks! Which I like mostly because of the name. Like sporks, but better.
Happy Spring Forward Day, if you can muster any enthusiasm for it, and welcome to this week's round-up of middle grade (ages 9-12 ish) fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs. I have a nagging feeling that somewhere bloggers are blogging prolifically about mg sff and I'm not finding them, so do please let me know if a. you have a post I missed or b. you saw someone else's post that you think is worth sharing.
(I have been thinking for a while about creating a mgsff round-up icon; this is my first attempt. I think the nose cone/tower roof needs to be more defined).
The Reviews:
The Battles of Ben Kingdom: The Claws of Evil, by Andrew Beasley, at Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books
Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at alibrarymama
The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet, at Kristen Evey
The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at Tor, Fantasy Literature, and BooksYALove
The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper, at Sonderbooks
Dark Lord: The Early Years, by Jamie Thomson, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Dead Kid Detective Agency, by Evan Munday, at That's Another Story
Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg), by Geoff Rodkey, at GreenBeanTeenQueen and Akossiwa Ketoglo
Dragonsong, by Anne McCaffrey, at alibrarymama
Emily Knight I am..., by A. Bello, at Fantastic Reads
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Becky's Book Reviews
The Fellowship For Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at Candace's Book Blog
Freaks, by Keiran Larwood, at Charlotte's Library
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Finding Wonderland
George's Secret Key to the Universe, by Stephen and Lucy Hawking, at Maria's Melange
Icefall, by Matthew J. Kirby, at Mister K Reads
The Little Secret, by Kate Saunders, at Beyond Books
The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Ms.. Yingling Reads, Finding Wonderland, Book Nut, Small Review, Charlotte's Library, and In Bed With Books
A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia (giveaway)
Unlocking the Spell, by E.D. Baker, at Charlotte's Library
W.A.R.P.: The Reluctant Assassin, by Eoin Colfer, at Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, at Postcards From La-La Land
and at Tales of the Marvelous, at look at the first three Oz books
Authors and Illustrators
Illustrator Erin McGuire on creating the cover art for Anne Ursu's new book (The Real Boy) at
Nerdy Book ClubFrances Hardinge (A Face Like Glass) at T
orAnna Staniewski (My Epic Fairy Tale Fail) at
Literary Rambles Robin LaFevers (Nathaniel Flood--Beastologist series, Theodosia series)--
"The Play's The Thing," at
Writer UnboxedThe Chronicles of Egg is on tour--
here are the stopsKit Grindstaff (The Flame in the Mist) at
Corsets, Cutlesses, and CandlesticksOther Things of InterestNot middle grade, but of interest (especially for those of us looking to expand our age ranges, reading-wise)--the
James Tiptree Jr. Award winners have been announced!
The SLJ's Battle of the Kids Book's is about to begin, with three mg sff contenders--Starry River of the Sky, Splendors and Glooms, and The One and Only Ivan. Of these three, my favorite is Starry River....The Undead Poll (where readers can vote for a book that was eliminated early to rise from the dead and fight in the final round) closes tomorrow.
Welcome the round-up of what I found this week! Please let me know if I missed your post.
The Reviews:
The Arctic Incident, by Eoin Colfer, at Fantasy Literature
Ash Mistry and the City of Death, by Sarwat Chadda, at The Book Zone
Bot Wars, by J.V. Kade, at Heise Reads & Recommends
The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles de Lint, at A Reader of Fictions and Charlotte's Library
Deadweather and Sunrise, by Geoff Rodkey, at Justin's Book Blog
E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!, at Wondrous Reads
The Fellowship for Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson, at BooksYALove, The Write Path, Bumbles and Fairy-Tales, and Sonderbooks
Finn Finnegan, by Darby Karchut, at Middle Grade Ninja
Freakling, by Lana Krumwied, at Maria's Melange
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities, by Mike Jung, at Stephanie Ruble (giveaway)
The Genius Files, by Dan Gutman, at Log Cabin Library
House of Secrets, by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books
The Invisible Tower, by Nils Johnson-Shelton, at Geo Librarian
Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
Island of Silence, by Lisa McMann, at Karissa's Reading Review
Jinx, by Sage Blackwood, at Ageless Pages Reviews
Mirage, by Jenn Reese, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Mister Monday, by Garth Nix, at Mister K Reads
My Epic Fairy Tale Fail, by Anna Staiszewski, at The Write Path and The Book Cellar
The Ogre Downstairs, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Dead Houseplants
The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, at We Fancy Books
The Princess for Hire trilogy, by Lindsey Leavitt, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
Return to Exile, by E.L. Patien, at My Precious
The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Cracking the Cover, Candace's Book Blog, Sonderbooks, Becky's Book Reviews, and Literary Rambles (giveaway)
The Snow Merchant, by Sam Gayton, at Playing By the Book
A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at Alice Marvels
Timecatcher, by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, at Charlotte's Library
The Ultra Violets, by Sophie Bell, at Justin's Book Blog
Zom-b Underground, by Darren Shan, at Ms. Yingling Reads
A two for one post at Book Aunt-- Garden Princess, by Kristin Kladstrup, and A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff
Authors and Interveiws
Barbara Brooks Wallace (Miss Switch and the Vile Villains) at Cynsations
Jenn Reese (Mirage) at The Enchanted Inkpot
Sara Crowe (literary agent) talks about Sky Jumpers, by Peggy Eddleman, at Literary Rambles (giveaway)
Darby Karchut (Finn Finnegan) at Middle Grade Ninja
Two MG SFF blogtours are wrapping up--here are the stops for The Fellowship of Alien Dection and here are the stops for The Chroncles of Egg
Other Good Stuff:
Lee and Low has been showcasing the winners of this years New Vision Finalists; in this final post of the series, the authors talk about diversity in genre fiction for middle grade and YA audiences.
A list of Irish fantasy for (mostly middle grade) kids at Charlotte's Library, which was just considerably expanded thanks to a very knowledgeable blog reader.
First Book has announced that the two publishers chosen to provide books for their Stories for All Project (making multicultural books available to providers of books to kids in lower income communities) are Lee and Low, and Harper Collins. (read more here at the NY Times)
Here's this week's worth of middle grade sci fi/fantasy fun! Please let me know if I missed your post.
The Reviews
The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell, at The Hiding Spot
Beswitched, by Kate Saunders, at Time Travel Times Two
Bot Wars, by J.V. Kade, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Charlotte's Library
The Cypher (Guardians Inc.), by Julian Rosado, at Lady With Books
Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede, at The Hub
Dragon Born, by Toby Forward, at Charlotte's Library
Dragon Run, by Patrick Matthews, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, at Writer of Wrongs
Frogged, by Vivian Vande Velde, at Candace's Book Blog (scroll down)
Garden Princess, by Kristin Kladrup, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile
A Greyhound of a Girl, by Roddy Doyle, at Sonderbooks
Kat Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis, at Welcome to my Tweendom
Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger, at Annie McMahon
Larklight, by Philip Reeve, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
The Little Yokozuna, by Wayne Shorey, at Charlotte's Library
The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland, at Book Haven
My Very UnFairy Tale Life, by Anna Staniszewski, at Sharon the Librarian
Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
The Prairie Thief, by Melissa Wiley, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
The Serpent's Shadow, by Rick Riordan, at One Librarian's Book Reviews
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo, at Bibliophilic Monologues
A Tangle of Knots, by Lisa Graff, at Book Nut
The Water Castle, by Megan Frazer Blakemore, at A Fuse #8 Production
Authors and Interviews
Jennifer Rush, aka J.V. Kade, (Bot Wars) at Sturdy for Common Things
The Chronicles of Egg blog tour reaches its final stops
Other Good Stuff
The Children's Book Week Finalists have been announced, and Tasha at Waking Brain Cells has a nice spread showing them all. MG sff is represented by Stickman Odyssey, Book 2: The Wrath of Zozimos by Christopher Ford. (And that's it? YA is all speculative fiction). Rick Riordan, however, is in the running for author of the year...
Thoughts on "Desiring Dragons," by the writers at Unsettling Wonder
Two Blog Events of interest--Fairy Tale Fortnight, hosted by The Book Rat and A Backwards Story, and Once Upon a Time VII, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.
I would love to know what became of the little girl who started embroidering this sampler showing the solar system way back in1811 (recently featured on the blog of the Museum of Childhood). Clearly her mother was not unsympathetic to the girl's interest in science, and never forced her to finish it....
"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...
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):
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 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....
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)
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
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....).
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.
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
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").
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.
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Thanks for all the links and for including mine. Happy Mother's Day!
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I haven't been this way in a while... need to get back to reading MG! Thanks for the roundup!