Five Favorite Fantasies for Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Katy K.

Merry Christmas, for those who celebrate it! Here, in no particular order, are some old, beloved middle-grade fantasy books for Christmas. All except for Wintersmith are ones that I reread every year as a child.

childrenofgreenknoweChildren of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston. A young boy is sent off to his grandmother’s old manor for Christmas, where he finds the ghosts of children who help him to unravel a gypsy curse.

Father Christmas LettersFather Christmas Letters by J.R.R. Tolkien. These are the letters that Tolkien’s children got from Father Christmas, complete with colored illustrations of Father Christmas, his assistant the North Polar Bear, and the elves and goblins they have adventures with.

darkisrisingThe Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. The creepily atmospheric story of Will Stanton, who comes into his power as an Old One on his eleventh birthday.

lionThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Well, all right, spring comes along – but the Father Christmas that the Pevensie children and the Beavers meet here is iconic.

wintersmithWintersmith by Terry Pratchett. It’s maybe not a classic quite yet, and maybe also not properly Christmas… but it certainly suits the season. Young Tiffany Aching, witch in training, accidentally attracts the attention of the Spirit of Winter and has to put things right again.

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The Planet Thieves

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Katy K.

This is one for my Armchair Cybils reading, nominated in the Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category. I picked it up specifically as a boy-oriented book, to keep my reading balanced.

The Planet Thieves The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos. Tom Doherty Associates, 2013.
Mason is a space cadet, doing some peaceful required space time along with a bunch of other cadets on board the large SS Egypt. His older sister (and only surviving family member) is a junior officer on board, as well. He’s just gotten in trouble for pulling a prank that went a little farther than he’d meant it when the ship is attacked by the Tremist, the aliens whom humans have been fighting for the last 60 years.

In short order, the ship is under Tremist control. They have killed the captain, who is the mother of one of the cadets. Only the cadets and one gravely injured senior officer remain, leaving Mason in command. He is able to wrest control of the ship back from the Tremist – but then things get worse, worse again, and even worse. Then the plot takes a twist that puts a whole new spin on who the Tremist really are.

Planet Earth is in Danger, and it’s Up to the Kids to Save the Day – two rather clichéd starting points. However, it’s not going to be clichéd for kids, and Krokos does a great job even for more experienced readers of taking relatively common plot points and using them in a new way. This is action-packed military sci-fi – I was glad that I was reading it over lunch breaks at work rather than at bedtime at home, as it left me literally heart pounding and shaking with adrenaline. While this is really so not my thing, there are many people (boys included) for whom this would be great. Krokos also has interesting commentary on what it means to be human and environmentalism.

(As Charlotte noted in her review, there are Tremist techno-mages called Rhadgasts, whom my eyes also wanted to read as “Radagast”, the wizard of Middle Earth.)

It’s really clear from the first chapter that this is a book with a high body count, so not great for more sensitive readers. I don’t think they’re likely to get past the cover, though, which is fine. I would have liked more in the way of character development – I felt like I never really got to know anyone but Mason – but that, too, often goes with the military sci-fi territory and shouldn’t deter the target audience. However, if you have lovers of military sci-fi aged about 10 or 11 and up (depending on the reader), looking for a thrilling space adventure – this is a fine choice.

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Redshirts

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Katy K.

While I’m reading as much Cybils stuff as I can, there came a point when I needed a new audiobook and gave up on finding a Cybils-nominated one after 10 or 15 minutes of looking. I asked the youth librarian who buys them for help instead, and have one now, but in between, I listened to this book that my love had bought and wanted me to listen to.

There is still time to enter my giveaway of Cheryl Mahoney’s The Wanderers.

ReshirtsRedshirts by John Scalzi. Read by Wil Wheaton. Tor, 2012.
This is a book written for adults, and as such, there is some language and reference to sexual activity, in addition to numerous, numerous secondary characters being killed off.

Andrew Dahl is looking forward to his new assignment with the xenobiology lab on board the fleet’s flagship, starship Intrepid. Once there, though, he notices disturbing things: every away mission has numerous casualties (always the lower-ranking officers), and every time bridge officers come looking for people for away teams, the higher-ranking people in the back manage to be elsewhere.

Then he finds a crazed-looking man, Jenkins, hiding in the service tunnels, who has a theory about what the Intrepid is and why the casualties are so much worse here than any other ship in the fleet. Jenkins has the theory, and if Dahl can convince his friends to believe it, they might just come up with a plan to change things.

There’s a major twist here that I’m trying not to give away. But I was really impressed by this book. It was funny (with recurring episodes of pants being stolen), and exciting, and I cared about the characters and it was a nice, satisfying story. Then came the codas – one each told in first, second and third person, with a slightly different set of characters. These were moving enough that my love and I were both in tears, and I was gobsmacked at the range of it all.

This book won the 2012 Hugo for best novel. It’s narrated by Wil Wheaton, who is made to read Scalzi’s books. If you enjoy science fiction books or most especially old-school Star Trek, I highly recommend this.

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The Wanderers

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Katy K.

Happy almost-Solstice, friends! As promised, my review of fellow blogger Cheryl Mahoney’s book. Be sure to catch my interview with her if you missed it last week, and enter the giveaway, which will be open until December 26. (But enter now! My blogging time will be increasingly limited with the holidays.)

The WanderersThe Wanderers by Cheryl Mahoney. Independently published, 2013.
Jasper is an independent adventurer who lives by the rules he’s made for himself, things like not traveling with companions and avoiding magicians. But the rules that have served him well so far are put to the test as the story gets underway.

First, there’s Tom, the magician’s talking cat, which helps Jasper defeat the magician but insists on coming with Jasper afterward. (I seem to be one of the few readers who don’t find the idea of talking cats enticing, but I found myself liking him anyway.) But then a witch’s daughter, Julie, desperate to escape her scheming mother, asks for a guide to the next town. Once there, it’s clear that the town isn’t big enough to hide her from both her mother and Marjoram, her well-meaning but misguided fairy godmother.

One town turns into another, and it turns out that Julie is pretty handy at rescuing people and defeating evil villains herself. But she needs a plan besides tagging along. (Tom, it turns out, is happy with fish and the hope of someday rescuing a beautiful Siamese.) And though both characters have been resisting marriages that others want to foist on them for a long time, each finds the other person growing on them…

As they journey, the characters they meet are drawn loosely from traditional tales – ogres, a Sea Queen who demands a tribute of young men. Jasper’s experiences and Julie’s time in her father’s library lead to discussions especially fun for fairy tale fans, though there’s plenty of other humor as well.

Both of our main human characters have enough of a back story to keep them from feeling as interchangeable as the maidens and princes they meet along the way, and both put effort intofiguring out who they are apart from others’ expectations. I found myself eagerly looking forward to reading it every day.

The book is being marketed as YA, but I’d say it’s good for a much broader age range. There’s no objectionable content, though the romance and mentions of dastardly male behavior towards women might not feel relevant for younger middle grade readers. I’d recommend this wholeheartedly for fairy tale lovers aged 10 and up.

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Armchair Cybils December Round-Up

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Katy K.

armchaircybilsSo here’s my official Armchair Cybils post, a day late due to snowstorm and family birthday party yesterday, and feeling a bit short.
Have I been reading? Yes, I have, but The King Must Die, as wonderful as it was, took over two weeks to read, a big chunk in between monthly updates.

I want to say that one of the things I’m loving about the Armchair Cybils is that each of us doing it is focusing on a different category, so I can read all their reviews and get exposed to lots more fantastic books that I might not have paid attention to otherwise.

Here are the Cybils-nominated books I’ve read and/or reviewed in the last month (links if reviewed):
Picture Books
again123 versus ABC
999 Frogs Wake Up
A Is for Musk Ox
Abe Lincoln’s Dream
Again!
Ah Ha!
As Fast As Words Could Fly
Awesome Dawson

Graphics
Mal and Chad: Bellyflop!
Babymouse: Extreme Babymouse

Exreme BabymouseMG Speculative Fiction
Fortunately, the Milk
The Planet Thieves
Summerkin

Teen Speculative Fiction
The Bitter Kingdom

Teen Fiction
Fangirl

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Armchair Cybils Picture Book Round-up 2

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Katy K.

This is a round-up post for the Armchair Cybils, hosted by Hope is the Word. Can you tell I was bringing home books from the Cybils list in alphabetical order?

123123 versus ABC by Mike Boldt. An anthropomorphized, cartoonish letter A is arguing with a similar number 1 about whether the book is about letters or numbers when one alligator wanders in, wondering if he’s in the right book. It takes quite a while of arguing, but eventually the two figure out that it’s a book about letters and numbers, which soon develops into a full-scale parade, ending with 26 zebras. It’s just right for preschoolers, with a bonus that the numbers go higher than most counting books for that age. My four-year-old loved it!

999999 Frogs Wake Up by Ken Kimura. Illustrated by Yasunari Murakami. I thought this would be another counting book, but it’s more of a spring book, as the large family of frogs wake up in the spring and go exploring. The illustrations (clearly Japanese to an adult eye, at least) are adorable. With humor and excitement, a fine choice for spring.

aisformuskoxA Is for Musk Ox by Erin Cabatingan. Illustrated by Matthew Meyers. Musk Ox eats the apple that Zebra meant for the letter A in the book and blithely proceeds to tell why Musk Ox can be for just about every letter in the alphabet. It’s a cute concept, but I got tired of it long before the book was over.

abeAbe Lincoln’s Dream by Lane Smith. Sadly, my kids couldn’t be persuaded to let me read this one to them – maybe it looked too serious? The colors are mostly in neutral browns and beiges, but the typography and the drawings combine woodcuts and modern in a way that I found whimsical and charming. A little African-American girl reassures the ghost of Abraham Lincoln that his goals for the country are mostly working out just fine.

againAgain! by Emily Gravett. Bedtime readers, beware! A small green dragon asks his mama to read him the same book over and over again. She tries, changing the story slightly each time, until she falls asleep. The little dragon gets so frustrated that he turns red and ends up shaking the startled characters out of the book and burning a hole in it. My daughter adores this and yes, wants it again every time. It’s still probably my favorite from this batch, though that might be my weakness for dragons showing.

ahhaAh Ha! by Jeff Mack. Such a clever book! The whole text uses only two letters, varying between “AHHH!”, “AH HA!” and, just once, “HA HA!” as a small green frog tries to find a quiet place to relax, but keeps getting pushed from one predator to the next. Besides being fun and clever, it’s simple enough even for kids who know their letters but aren’t yet reading to figure out the words so they can read it themselves – such pride!

animalabcAnimal ABC by Marcus Pfister Beautiful animal artwork for each letter, paired with a short, simple riddle. Some of the animals were ones I’d never heard of – “numbat”? which made it more interesting than I’d been expecting. Both my kids enjoyed it, though of course it’s most fun for kids who are excited about letters.

asfastAs Fast As Words Could Fly by Pamela M. Tuck. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. A moving tale, based on a true story, of an African-American boy in the early days of school integration, who wins grudging respect by winning a regional touch-typing contest. In addition to the lessons on racial inequality, it was fun to look back to a time when touch typing was considered cutting edge. My nine-year-old asked me to read this to him, and enjoyed it very much. I’d say it’s ideal for the early primary grades, as a nonviolent look into the era from a young teen’s point of view.

awesomeAwesome Dawson by Chris Gall. A picture book in comic book style. Young Dawson is an inventor who’d rather spend his time inventing a robot to do his chores than actually do them himself. But when his robot starts trying to take over the neighborhood, Dawson and his sidekick, a talking toy cow head, must save the day. Both the four and the nine-year-old wanted this multiple times.

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Fangirl

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Katy K.

I was meaning to focus on middle grade and teen speculative fiction in my Armchair Cybils reading, but I couldn’t resist this story of an introverted book girl starting college. This one is nominated in the Teen Fiction category, though, so it still counts.

FangirlFangirl by Rainbow Rowell. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013
Cather (who goes by Cath) and Wren are twins. Ever since their mother left them when they were eight, they’ve done everything together. Most especially, Simon Snow has kept them going: the magical books (similar to but not quite Harry Potter), the movies. They’ve even made names for themselves as authors of Simon Snow fan fiction.

Now, they’re starting college. Wren, the outgoing twin, has decided that they need separate dorm rooms. Cath is heartbroken, not interested in getting to know people without Wren to break the ice, and most interested in figuring out how to finish her top-rated novel, meant to finish the series with her own twist, before the actual author publishes the final book.

But college is harder than high school in every way. The classes are harder, food is harder. Ignoring the people who want to make friends with her and figuring out which of them are genuine is harder yet. And on top of all of that mostly normal college stuff is monitoring their bipolar, workaholic father from a distance to make sure he’s taking care of himself.

It takes Cath a long time to figure out how to write fiction that isn’t fan fiction, even though she’s made it to an upper-level writing class. And it takes even longer for her to notice that her roommate’s on-again off-again boyfriend, Levi, is hanging around the room even when Reagan is gone because he’s interested in her.

Excerpts from Cath’s fan fiction – which focusses on her invented romantic relationship between hero Simon Snow and his arch-rival Basil (think Draco Malfoy, but a vampire) – are frequent. This might bother some people, but I enjoyed the glimpse of insight into a captivating twice-fictional world.

This is a book billed as a teen book that might better be described as “new adult”, as all the characters are in college. It felt very true both to my own experience of college, with the forced eye-opening to different lifestyles. There is drinking (not by Cath), though the drinking has consequences, and mentions of teens having had sex. I would recommend it to older teens, especially those starting to think about college, as well as to geeky adults.

I loved Cath so very, very much, and my description of it so far feels inadequate to describe how very hard I fell for her. My writing about books isn’t fan fiction, but I felt how she could love books so deeply that it would both help and hurt her in connecting with the rest of the world. Even though she’s so vulnerable in traditional ways, when their mother tries to reestablish easy contact with them, without taking any blame for her actions, Cath refuses to let her mother take the easy way out.

I didn’t love Wren as much as Cath – it was hard to see how she could be so very oblivious when Cath needed her – but she got somewhat better towards the end. I loved the slow, slow romance with Levi, loved that Levi himself (like my own sweet son) was a dyslexic book lover, enjoying the stories, but needing to hear them to understand them best, as well as his smile and mad hugging skills.

Pair this with Harry Potter, or of course some good fan fiction. This would also work well with the (much bloodier) graphic novel series The Unwritten, and the college experience reminds me of the equally vivid but much older college experience described in Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin You can read other thoughts on Fangirl at Angieville:

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Giveaway and Author Interview: Cheryl Mahoney

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Katy K.

Cheryl MahoneyToday I’m very pleased to interview my blogging friend Cheryl Mahoney from Tales of the Marvelous about her new book, The Wanderers. She’s billing it as YA, but I thought that older middle grade readers would love it as well. Stayed tuned for my review of it next week, but for now, I’ll just tell you that I loved it. Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for details on the giveaway!

About The Wanderers…
The Wanderers is a Young Adult Fantasy novel, loosely inspired by fairy tales. It’s the story of Jasper, a wandering adventurer; Tom, a talking cat; and Julie, a witch’s daughter. They pursue quests and fight monsters, such as a sea serpent, an ogre, and a very dangerous Good Fairy. There are a lot of elements from familiar fairy tales…but generally with a bit of a twist!

You’ve obviously read a lot of fairy tales to be so familiar with them. What were some of your favorite stories or collections?
I have read quite a lot of fairy tales and retellings… Favorite original fairy tales would be “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.” Favorite retellings, I have to give a nod to Gail Carson Levine, Robin McKinley, Patricia C. Wrede and Juliet Marillier. They all write amazing books, drawing from original fairy tales but telling more rational stories with wonderfully strong heroines!

On the other hand, most of the serious fairy tale enthusiasts I’ve known dislike Disney, but you include Disney in your thank-yous. Tell me about your relationship with Disney.
The answer here may be that I’m not a serious fairy tale enthusiast! I have a lot of familiarity with the originals and with retellings, but I know I’m not a scholarly expert on the subject. As to Disney specifically, like a lot of people, I grew up with the Disney movies. My dad in particular is a big Disney enthusiast, so I have quite a soft spot for Walt Disney (and I do believe Disneyland is the happiest place on earth!)
I have issues with some Disney movies (but I have issues with some of Grimm and Perrault too…) I watch a lot of the old Disney movies and groan at the snap romances and helpless heroines—but, for good or ill, Disney’s interpretations of the fairy tales are what a lot of people are most familiar with, or at least heavily influenced by. I think that makes them a very relatable source to use for inspiration in a retelling—especially one like mine that pokes some fun at the sillier sides of fairy tales.
And I must admit that Marj’s constant shedding of sparkles was partly inspired by the fairies in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. You ever notice those women have sparkles flying out of their wands, not just when they’re casting a spell, but all the time? It would make such a mess…

The WanderersMost of Jasper and Julie’s adventures echo, but don’t copy, specific fairy tales, except for the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I can tell from the end that your next book is going to feature those princesses – but why that story in particular?
That’s a great question because there’s actually quite a story behind it… This was a fairy tale I got attached to later on in life—I don’t really remember noticing it particularly until about five years ago. Then there seemed to be an explosion of retellings, some I found by chance and some I started seeking out. Every retelling I’ve been able to find shares a common feature—the king is well-meaning, and the princes are monsters carrying off the princesses. But then I was reading the original Grimm story (not for the first time, but somehow it suddenly struck me) and I got absolutely stuck on one line: “each prince danced with the princess he loved best.”
I started rereading the story again, and for the first time it dawned on me that Grimm never says the princes are monsters. And, just by the way, there’s a king in here who’s chopping heads off! Now I ask you: who’s really the villain in the story?
At that point I clearly had an inspiration, but I was focusing on The Wanderers, so it became a chapter in this book…only then I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more of the story to be told. So—the companion novel was born!

As you know, I was a bit nervous about Tom the talking cat before I read the book (although I did end up enjoying him.) Why did you decide to put him in?
I’m so glad you enjoyed Tom! I have to say, you’re the first one to see a talking cat as a draw-back (or at least, the first to tell me that!) Unfortunately, unlike the question above, I don’t have a clear answer to why I brought Tom into the story. The idea of a novel about a wandering adventurer percolated in my brain for years before I ever started writing it, and I don’t remember anymore when or why a talking cat joined the story. It was probably his idea!  And I think it is true to say that he just is part of the story, and I can’t really imagine that there was ever a direction to go that wouldn’t have included him.

Tell me about your decision to go with self-publishing rather than traditional publishing.
I’ve looked at traditional publishing, and with the right opportunity, I wouldn’t refuse it now! At the same time, over the past couple years I heard more and more from other writing friends about the opportunities in self-publishing, and I got excited about that as a route to go. Ultimately, I decided that I could spend (most likely) a very long time trying to break into traditional publishing, or I could make a foray into self-publishing and start getting my stories out to readers. I’ve loved sharing my novel—and I’ve found that I enjoy all the control that self-publishing gives too!

Thank you so much for the interview, Cheryl!  Congratulations and best of luck with your book!

Read more on Cheryl’s Blog, Tales of the Marvelous. The Wanderers is available on Amazon (paperback and Kindle), Barnes and Noble (Nook) or Smashwords (alternate ebook formats).

Giveaway Details: Cheryl is offering one e-book copy (any format) of The Wanderers for a lucky reader! Please leave a comment with your favorite fairy tale or fairy tale re-telling by December 26th, 2013. One winner will be drawn randomly from the comments.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Katy K.

Hi, my name is Katy, and I am a Harry Potter fan.*
Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. Narrated by Jim Dale. Listening Library, 2003.
Now that my son is getting old enough to enjoy Harry Potter, if not quite fluent enough to read them to himself, we’ve been having fun listening to the series on audio. All the rest of the series I’d read in print and listened to on audio, most multiple times. This one, though, is my least favorite, made so unpleasant by Professor Umbridge that the last time I’d been re-listening to the series, I cravenly went to Wikipedia and read the chapter-by-chapter summary there instead. I know.

But this was the boy’s first time through, so no skipping. I still feel that this is the book where Rowling’s editor wimped out on her. I think it could have had a hundred pages or so trimmed and it would have improved the book. The detention scenes with Umbridge in particular are so painful and numerous that my boy and I decided that one was enough, and skipped the subsequent ones. The total length of the book – 23 discs on audio – meant that even listening nearly every day in half hour chunks, it took us months to finish. Even though Jim Dale and his numerous, easily recognizable voices are a joy to listen to and a fantastic introduction to audiobooks in general.

However, I’d forgotten how many of the coolest Harry Potter things are introduced in this book: thestrals, Luna Lovegood, Tonks, bowtruckles, the Room of Requirement, and the DA. Also, Neville starts showing the true depths of his character, and Ginny evolves from the victim she is in Chamber of Secrets into a strong, perceptive character. All in all, I was happy to rediscover these aspects of the book that I’d forgotten in the general awfulness of Umbridge. The one torture scene that we listened to, while painful, gave us the opportunity for a talk on abuse, how to recognize it and what to do about it, in the slightly more comfortable context of a fantasy book rather than real life.

Harry Potter starts to get darker at the end of book 4, with Cedric Diggory’s death, but Order of the Phoenix is for me where things really start to get dark. For the first time, Good People are not in power, and a character we care about very much dies. It will get darker before it’s done, and while we both enjoyed listening to this one again, my boy only just turned nine as we were listening to this book. As I mentioned yesterday, we’re taking a break to listen to The Chronicles of Narnia, and we’ll chat about when is the right time for him to experience the rest of Harry Potter after that. He’s generally tougher than I think he ought to be given his age, but I want to make sure. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of good fantasy books written for nine year olds.

*Here are cool Harry Potter fan things I’ve found recently:
HPA Chocolate FrogsUnofficial Harry Potter KnitsRavenclaw Key Bling

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Top 10 Books on My Winter TBR

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Katy K.

toptentuesdayHere, for the Broke and the Bookish’s Top Ten Tuesday, is a list that gives me a chance to put in some of the books I realized I missed when I did my Top 10 Reads of 2014. I’m coming up with way too many titles here, and this list includes books that have already come out but I haven’t gotten around to yet. Apologies – I’m out of time to track down cover pics.

Shadows by Robin McKinley – Robin McKinley is one of my top favorite authors of all time. I’m bringing it home from the library with me tonight, but am still hoping that someone will get it for me for Christmas.
Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel – Sarah Zettel is another favorite, and my love was kind enough to get me her latest for my birthday. It’s on my list for this month!
Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger – This is the author who made me fall in love with steampunk – I’m still on the hold list at the library.
Winterling and Summerkin by Sarah Prineas – I’ve been wanting to read these since they first came out. Good timing on me just checking them out right now, as it looks like a third book is coming out yet this winter!
Renegade Magic and Stolen Magic by Stephanie Burgis – I had to wait for my library to buy the sequels to Kat, Incorrigible – but I’m starting Renegade Magic on my next lunch break!
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis – this will be a re-read, working through this seminal series for me and my family with my son. I’m realizing we can listen to the whole series in the time it took us to listen to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Astronaut Academy: Re-entry by Dave Roman – my son and I are reading the first book in this series together right now and loving it!
Jinx’s Magic by Sage Blackwood – Jinx was one of my favorite books this year!
Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones – everyone loves Diana Wynne Jones, right?
Black Dog by Rachel Neumeier – I loved The Floating Islands! This looks like a different world, but I loved her writing.

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