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I’m happy to report that my master plan for world domination is well under way.

Yes, I’ve got Vermont!

Yes, Kentucky too!

And now, at long last, Oklahoma is mine! All mine!

BWA-HA-HA-HAAAA!

Three states down, 47 to go. I feel like Alf Landon in the 1936 elections, staring up at the big board as the electoral vote trickled in. How’d that work out for old Alf, I wonder?

Answer: He lost to FDR, 8 electoral votes to 525.

This Alf might have fared better.

Seriously, what an honor to be nominated. It’s so great when you throw a book out into the world and something positive bounces back. (Imagine, I just griped about this the other day.)

I received an email from Christopher Elliott, which said:

Congratulations!! You have been nominated for the Oklahoma Library Association’s Sequoyah Book Award. The Sequoyah Book Award program is one of the most prestigious of the state student choice awards in the nation.

<snip>

I am pleased to notify you personally that your book “Bystander” has been nominated for the 2011-2012 Intermediate Masterlist. I am attaching a list of this year’s nominees. You have been nominated for the 2011-2012 program that will be promoted from May 2011 until the voting deadline of March 31, 2012. Votes will be counted in early April, 2012 and the winning author(s) will be notified by April 30, 2012.

The OLA Conference will be held either late March or early April 2013. If your book is selected as a winner, I look forward to contacting you to arrange for your trip to Oklahoma to accept the Sequoyah Award from Oklahoma students.

Here is a list of the Nominations for the 2011-2012 Intermediate Award. Remember the students of Oklahoma will choose the winner.

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, James Swanson
Darkwood , M.E. Breen
Watersmeet, Ellen Abbott
The Girl Who Threw Butterflies , Mick Cochrane
Closed for the Season, Mary Downing Hahn
The Brooklyn Nine, Alan Gratz
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice , Phillip Hoose
The Amaranth Enchantment, Julie Berry
Positively

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Ok, so I'm not going to lie and tell you that I absolutely loved this middle grade novel. I didn't love it. However, I liked enough elements of it to allow me to honestly recommend it to certain groups of readers, as I do think some of you (and your kiddos) will enjoy the book.

M.E. Breen has created the character of Annie, a young girl living in the village of Howland, in which darkness falls incredibly quickly and is hugely feared. One moment it may be light and the next, complete darkness. There is no dusk, no twilight, in Annie's world, only darkness, and the evil kinderstalk animals that will kill a human without a second thought and are rumored to be stealing children all over the village.

After escaping from her Aunt and Uncle's house, Annie ends up in a terrible place, where children and adults alike are worked hard, often to death, and have no one to stand up for them. Vowing to help, Annie makes her way to the King, where a person from Annie's past turns up to help her and she begins to learn more about the kinderstalk she has feared her entire life. Nothing is as it seems to Annie, which is, at times, a blessing, though often, a deadly hinderance.

While filled with fairy tale-like descriptions and darkly engrossing scenes, I just didn't completely feel this story. A lot of the plot lines were quite inconsistent for me and though the beginning was thrilling and exciting, the rest of the story just went kinda crazy, not always making the most sense.

Though I may not personally love Darkwood, I do believe that fans of fantasy and thrilling adventure books may indeed enjoy it. I can see several of the regular library patrons taking this one off the shelf and truly liking it, it just was not great for me.

To learn more or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.

Darkwood
M.E. Breen
288 pages
Middle Grade
Bloomsbury
9781599902593
May 2009