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Derek Landy is Irish, funny, loves writing and is a SUPER STAR!

‘Skulduggery Pleasant, Dark Days’, is the 4th book in the hugely successful series about a wise cracking detective skeleton, who happens to be dead.  It’s the crazy funny funny adventures of Skulduggery Pleasant and a 12 year old girl Valkryrie with speacl powers as they zoom into fantasy and other dimensions. What are they doing? Fighting EVIL.

It’s fun, page turning, zombie-like, written by a funny, talented, Irish larriken – Derek Landy. Do I like Derek? Sure do.

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Hmmm... it turns out it's been, like, over a week since I actually reviewed a book. We'll say I've been too busy. Last Tue-Thur night last week, I slept. So sick. Luckily, it was the sleepy kind, so I didn't have to be consciously miserable all that much. Then we had company for the holiday weekend and then... well, hi! I'm blogging!

Plus, I have been reading A TON. And, I've been really crabby this week. And who wants to review books when they're crabby? Plus, I don't have any books for upcoming review that deserve a crabby review. Wait, I take that back, I do, but they were so bad that just thinking about them makes me even crabbier and then my head threatens to explode, so I just have Dan make me a mojito instead.

Anyway, this is a very special blog post WITH A CONTEST! It's my first contest, so I hope lots of people enter. Anyway...

Playing with Fire Derek Landy

In this action-packed sequel to Skulduggery Pleasant, we say that there are still attempts to raise the Faceless Ones and rain death and destruction upon the world.

But, Valkyrie has some training under her belt, so they're ready for the challenge.

We have new villians! The main one is Baron Vengeous wants to bring the Grotesquery back to life. The Grotesquery is a Franken-monster that contains a bit of Faceless One. The Baron has waited for year for the last two ingredients before he can shout "IT'S ALIVE" and now he has them. Plus, he and Skulduggery have a few unsettled scores.

But the Baron has lots of help--including a vampire that keeps infecting innocent bystanders and a Southern Gentleman who can move through the Earth itself.

And, in the end, Landy sets us up perfectly for the next book in the series.

Overall, if you liked the first one, you'll like this. You have cool monsters, a wise-mouth skeleton, and more than one girl who kicks ass, or is starting to. Plus, there are a few characters whose loyalities are unclear--both to the reader and the characters. China Sorrows, for instance, is on no one's side but her own, so it's always a gamble asking her for help. I like moral ambiguity in a few characters-- so often in literature, characters are good or bad, and sometimes they change, and they often have good or bad qualities to round them out, but... so rarely is a character so clearly both good and bad. AND when they aren't clear, they're often clear to book characters, but not the reader, or to the reader, but not the other characters...

Anyway, it's a solid sequel that doesn't disappoint.

AND! Now, for the contest, I have a copy to give away. It's open world wide and to enter, you must email me at kidsilkhaze at yahoo dot com with the subject line "Playing with Fire." If you blog about this contest, email me the link with the same subject line and I'll enter you another time for every time you spread the word. All emails must be received by Wednesday, July 16th at 9pm, US East Coast Time. At that point, I'll throw everyone's name into some sort of container (like my pasta pot) and have Dan draw a name. Unless he's out of town, then I'll just close my eyes and do it myself.

Good luck!

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(Don't everyone die of shock at the fact I'm posting a second time today, OK?)

I've just seen that the new Skulduggery Pleasant book (about the eponymous walking and talking skeleton) by Derek Landy: Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire is now out - and I'm a happy camper ! I loved the first book (Skulduggery Pleasant), which I first read last summer and then re-read for this year's Cybils (review here) - as it was full of humour, wit and a good plot.

Here's the synopsis for the second book:

Just when you think you've saved the world! "You will kill her?" the Torment asked. Skulduggery sagged. "Yes." He hesitated, then took his gun from his jacket. "I'm sorry, Valkyrie," he said softly. "Don't talk to me," Valkyrie said. "Just do what you have to do." Valkyrie parted her tunic, and Skulduggery pointed the gun at the vest beneath. "Please forgive me," Skulduggery said, then aimed the gun at the girl and pulled the trigger. With Serpine dead, the world is safe once more. At least, that's what Valkyrie and Skulduggery think, until the notorious Baron Vengeous makes a bloody escape from prison, and dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. With Baron Vengeous after the deadly armour of Lord Vile, and pretty much everyone out to kill Valkyrie, the daring detective duo face their biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home!?

That's another new book on my Amazon wishlist then !

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by Derek Landy

Oh, my. What a fantastic book. Playing With Fire is the sequel to last year's Skulduggery Pleasant, which was short-listed in the Cybils Sci-Fi/Fantasy category. While I liked the first book quite a bit, I liked the second loads more. You'll definitely want to read these in order, though, to get the full benefits of the story.

This book really has it all: magic, action-adventure, humor. (How I'd love to play Valkyrie in a movie of the book!) The dry humor is probably what I love best; I laughed (or, more often than not, smirked) a good deal while reading it. Valkyrie and Skulduggery are fabulous characters. All the harrowing adventures and fights the two of them go through are both intense and super-fun.

These books aren't for the faint of heart: there's plenty of violence and gore, especially in this latter book. (There's also a smattering of swearing.) And there's lots of spiders and needles, which happen to be two of my least favorite things. But I would still highly recommend it. It's un-put-downable, really, and I can't wait for book three to be released.

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First things first, there's a new banned books list over in the sidebar.

Second things second, I read a whole bunch of library books this weekend, so here we go:

After Hamelin Bill Richardson

It is a special day when you turn eleven. On their eleventh birthday, girls go too see Cuthbert, the hermit in the cave to learn of their gift.

But, on Penelope's eleventh birthday, she wakes up suddenly unable to hear. It is the only thing that saves her, for on Penelope's eleventh birthday, the Pied Piper returns and charms all of the children out of Hamelin.

Penelope must use her gift, the gift of deep dreaming to find and rescue her sister, her neighbors, and her friends.

A wonderful story with a gentle prose that captures you-- I found it very hard to put down. I especially liked the Tolavians that Penelope meets on her journey.

The story is told in the frame as Penelope turns 101 and is facing death, she looks back on her life, writing it down for the next generation. It's really well done.

Skulduggery Pleasant Derek Landy

One of the Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults, Skulduggery is a detective. Of course, he's also a skeleton with a sharp sense of style who can hurl fireballs.

Stephanie is stunned to discover that she's inherited her uncle's house after his sudden death. She's even more stunned with people start attacking her in order to get a key. When Skulduggery rescues her, she demands to be his partner and learn the magic he knows.

It quickly becomes apparent that magic is real and under our feet, and that myth and legend might actually be fact. Of course, if Stephanie and Skulduggery can't figure this out fast enough, it'll be a moot point when the world is destroyed.

Hilarious and suspenseful, I loved Stephanie and Tanith (ok, I'm a fan of girls who know how to wield a sword.)

This is really well done urban fantasy. I also liked the illustrations on the first letter of each chapter. I can't wait for Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire, which comes out at the end of April.

Ok, I was going to do more, but Blogger's going down soon, so it'll keep.

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I saw Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant in the bookshops and was intrigued by the jaunty skeleton on the cover. Then Kelly H of Big A, little a reviewed it very favourably and I knew I had to get a copy from the library.

For 12 year old Stephanie Edgley everything starts when her uncle Gordon Edgley dies. Gordon wasn't much of a family man and Stephanie was the only one who was close to him. Although saying that is a bit of a stretch; it would probably be more accurate to say that he tolerated her presence better, and more frequently, than he did the presence of the rest of his family. But that doesn't completely explain why he leaves his house, his fortune and his book royalties to Stephanie. Actually, there's a lot of unexplained things about Gordon, even more so now that he's gone. Like the strange man who turns up at the funeral wrapped tightly in a scarf, sunglasses, and an overcoat, so that you can't glimpse even an inch of his skin. That was the first time that Stephanie encountered Skulduggery Pleasant.

The next time they meet is at the reading of Gordon's will. The one where he left most of his things to his twelve-year-old niece, much to the dismay of Stephanie's aunt and other uncle, who get a boat (Uncle Fergus gets seasick), a car (they already have a car), and a brooch (which doesn't even have any jewels on it). Stephanie's parents, incidentally, get a villa in France. Skulduggery Pleasant however, receives the strangest bequest of all, some very cryptic advice. Ye he seems completely content.

This was not to be the last encounter between Stephanie and Skulduggery, however. After spending most of a day exploring part of Stephanie's new house, she and her mother get in the car to go home only to find that the car won't start. A mechanic comes to fix it and has to tow it back to the garage. Stephanie convinces her mother that she can stay at the house for an hour or so whilst the car is being fixed. However, the storm which started whilst they were waiting for the mechanic to arrive grows worse and the road to the house is flooded. Stephanie is stuck at her new house for the night. Stephanie couldn't be happier, though - she likes the idea of freedom and solitude - unfortunately it only lasts a few minutes before someone is trying to break into the house, and somehow Stephanie doesn't believe him when he says he won't hurt her if she just lets him in to get what he wants. Fortunately, Skulduggery Pleasant arrives to rescue Stephanie - and what a strange rescuer he turns out to be. In his struggle with the intruder, his hat and scarf fall off to reveal he's actually a skeleton! This promps dozens of questions, such as who and what is Skulduggery ? How did he get to know her uncle ? Why was he at the house ? How is it that he can throw fire and can he teach her to do it ? And how does he stay upright when there's no skin and muscle to hold him together ?

Skulduggery Pleasant is an exciting adventure with a fun plot, well drawn characters and a great sense of humour. I foresee this book being immensely popular with children and adults alike (like Harry Potter, but with more humour and far less angst...) I hope it's the start of a series. If you can get hold of it, do read it - it's such fun !

There's also a Skulduggery Pleasant Audiobook available - and of course, it's available from Amazon.com. There's a Skulduggery Pleasant website which is quite good fun, and you might want to check out the Book Trailer - that's the first Book Trailer I've actually made a point of watching, and it was quite amusing.

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Starting a book challenge while packing to leave Washington DC, checking carry-on bags for fluids and gels (forgot to notice the sunscreen) and death marching to the National Gallery while threading our way through 200,000 Girls Scouts enroute to a sing along - "Still Singing after all these Years!" - on the National Mall is dicey at best.

Fun to know Mother Reader herself was somewhere in the vicinity. I wonder if I was packed in next to her in the Smithsonian Metro station? We emerged from our train along with thousands and thousands of Girl Scouts in bright t-shirts. Shouts of "Buddy up, girls!" swelled from the throats of dozens and dozens of leaders and grown-ups trying to count heads and turn their troops in the right direction.

If I was a claustrophobic person, I would have seriously freaked out at the humanity-per-square-inch in that confined space. My main worry was being inadvertently pushed off the edge but we shuffled away from the drop and toward the escalators and slowly ascended towards the surface.

Total number of books read for the challenge: TWO
Total number of pages read for the challenge: 664 pages
Total altitude while reading: 36,000 feet
Number of sore limbs from 6 days of extensive sight-seeing while reading: 4
Number of heavy eyelids from 6 days of extensive sight-seeing while reading: 2
Amount of fun had from 6 days of extensive sight seeing and joy of reading two perfectly wonderful books: Too much to count!


My reading time did not commence until we arrived at Reagan Airport for the flight home.
My first book was the outstanding Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, 392 pages. I had not finished when the plane landed 2 hours and 40 minutes later but maybe I was the only participant reading at 36,000 feet??

Since it was so late when we got home, I did not finish until the next day. My reaction to this book is to exhort you to run, skip, hop, hasten, or zoom to your nearest book provider and grab it.

Skulduggery Pleasant is part Dashiell Hammett with a stir of Raymond Chandler and shaken well with magic and fantasy. Storyteller Landy has laced the mix with humor and action. This is one of my favorite books this year!

I can hardly wait to read more. I hope Derek Landy is writing away. I love Irish storytellers.


Book 2 on my reading list was Robin Brande's Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature, 272 pages.

In this family we know we have a great book in hand when one of us stops reading and says to everyone present, "Listen to this!" I did that so many times last night, I might as well have read the whole book aloud.

Mena's first day of high school is turning out to be a nightmare. She is shunned by all her former "friends" for something we do not find out about until later in the story. She is enduing verbal and physical assaults and thinks she has lost her parents' love. The chance pairing (or did God have a hand in it?) with her science lab partner, Casey Conner, science genius, is about to change her life though.

Casey is funny and smart and determined to help Mena succeed. I loved his character whole heartedly from the moment he realizes Mena has never read Lord of the Rings.

"So you've read it?"

"Um, no."

"But you have seen the movies."

I sort of winced and shook my head. I need to learn to lie.

Casey closed his eyes and pinched his fingers against them like he had a terrible migraine. "Okay, you realize I'm going to have to do an intervention."

I love this guy.

The background of the story involves the teaching of evolution and the efforts of a fundamentalist church to inject creationism into the classroom. The reader is routing for Mena all the way as she attempts to understand her faith and resolve her relationships with her parents and her community.

The ongoing allusions to Lord of the Rings also delighted this reader.

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Okay, adventure junkies, have I the book for you. Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant brings the adventure, the magic, and the page-turning thrills every child over the age of ten desires.

Twelve-year-old Stephanie Edgley had a normal life in Haggard, Ireland, until her uncle passed away:

"Gordon Edgley's sudden death came as a shock to everyone--not least himself. One moment he was in his study, seven words into the twenty-fifth sentence of the final chapter of his new book, And the Darkness Rained upon Them, and the next he was dead. A tragic loss, his mind echoed numbly as he slipped away."

Frankly, I was hooked from this paragraph alone.

At the reading of Gordon's will, Stephanie learns she is her Uncle's heir and she meets a curious thin man named Skulduggery Pleasant. Turns out there's a good reason Skulduggery is thin--he's a skeleton. A skeleton who can also do magic. When Stephanie is attacked on her first night in her Uncle's home, Skulduggery comes to her rescue and they're thrown together in a fight for The Scepter of the Ancients--a magical object Gordon Edgley owned and one that can destroy anything in its path.

Reading this basic plot description might lead you to think that Skulduggery Pleasant is like many a fantasy tale you've read before. But Landy has brought some new touches to the genre. First of all, the warring magicians are not evenly divided into camps of good and evil. There are a fair number of diplomats in the mix as well--magicians who don't see their role as taking either side. This, Stephanie must learn, doesn't mean they are evil, just that you can't call on them for support in a crisis. Secondly, Stephanie and Skulduggery make a great team. Stephanie is an intelligent, snarky girl, and Skulduggery is more amused, than annoyed by her. Take this piece of banter as an example:

"'Is this the same as the way into the Sanctuary?' she asked 'Are you looking for a secret passageway?'

'You watch too many haunted-house movies,' he said.

'But are you looking for a secret passageway?'

'Yes,' he admitted. 'But that's just a coincidence.'"

Landy's talent as a screen writer shows--Skulduggery Pleasant features one great action scene after another. Despite the danger and darkness of Stephanie's new magical world, Skulduggery Pleasant remains a bright Gothic read due to Skulduggery's winsome personality and Stephanie's sense of humor and bravery. Highly, highly recommended for readers ages ten and up.
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I'd like to tell you more about Skulduggery Pleasant, but my 11-year-old child is threatening to leave home unless I hand it over now. You can check out Skulduggery's website and weirdly awesome video here.

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I would just like to extend a thank you to two talented artists in their field who chose to visit the Donnell Central Children's Room yesterday. Accompanied by a posse of publishers and an agent, up-and-coming Derek Landy is the author of that nice skeleton book all the kids are talking about, Skulduggery Pleasant. I desperately want to start calling it that-jive-talking-skeleton book, but though this sounds good it's not strictly true. Pity. Mr. Landy is a quiet sort, and I never quite had the chance to inform him that the title of his book is doomed to be misspelled Skullduggery Pleasant due to the nature of its subject matter. I gave the group a little tour as well. In the course of the tour I couldn't help but notice that almost all our significant point of interest (Winnie-the-Pooh, Mary Poppins' umbrella, a signed Harry Potter book) are British. Go figure. Now with its up-and-coming release date there was nothing on hand to give Mr. Landy to sign aside from my own much battered, much dog-eared ARC of his book. He did so quite nicely. A lovely time was had by all.

Then a little later in the day we were treated to the appearance of illustrator Robert McGuire. A relatively new up-and-coming artist, Mr. McGuire was bringing some friends of his to the library to view the illustrations he did for Sid Fleischman's The White Elephant (published last year and on NYPL's 100 Books For Reading and Sharing list). My co-worker and I managed to convince him of the necessity of signing our Reference copy for posterity, and even got the name of his 2007 picture book due out in March (The Furry-Legged Teapot by Tim "I Get All the Best Illustrators To Do My Books" Myers).

Thanks to both men. We'll be looking forward to seeing how your books fare this year.

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