Castle Hangnail

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Katy K.

I listed this as one of my favorite books of the year so far a couple of months ago now… so perhaps I should review it.

Castle HangnailCastle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon. Dial Books, 2015.
As our story opens, the minions of Castle Hangnail are preparing for the sad day in the near future when their castle will be magically decommissioned, the minions dispersed to other locations. They have been advertising for a new overlord for months, and no one has come. And then comes a kind-looking twelve-year-old girl with only fearsome boots to support her claim of being a wicked witch. The Frankenstein-like Majordomo isn’t necessarily convinced, but she has an invitation, and they are desperate, so she’s allowed to try. Molly isn’t letting on that she isn’t Eudaimonia, the Sorceress to whom the letter was originally addressed, and she’s willing to do what it takes for an evil castle of her own.

Soon, a list of tasks on magical stationary appears, including “1) Take possession of the castle and surrounding grounds 2) secure and defend the castle 3) Commit at least one (1) act of smiting and three (3) acts of blighting. 4) Win the hearts and minds of the townsfolk by any means necessary.” Slowly, Molly wins over the minions – a motley crew including the Majordomo; Sir Edward, an animated suit of armor; Serinissima, the djinni/mermaid steam maiden;Pins, the sewing burlap doll and his goldfish; and Cook and Angus, Minotaurs. She gets to know people both good and bad in the village, including Miss Handlebram, an elderly lady fond of gardening. Molly is just beginning to believe that she might be an OK Wicked Witch after, when someone else decides the castle might be worth having…

This is a winning combination of silly humor and exciting action with a surprising amount of heart. Molly may consider herself a Wicked Witch, but her version of wickedness consists mostly of letting people who’ve done wrong learn their lesson. Her journey to believing in herself, saving the Minions and the village on the way, is deeply satisfying. This is a little longer and more in-depth than Vernon’s Dragonbreath books – good for a slightly older audience, but still with Vernon’s own distinctive illustrations and with definite appeal for reluctant as well as avid readers.

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The Penderwicks in Spring

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Katy K.

I’ve been reading the Penderwicks since the very beginning, so naturally I had to read their latest adventures.

penderwicksinspringThe Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall. Read by Susan Denaker. Random House, 2015
It’s been ten years since The Penderwicks first came out, so it’s not surprising that Batty, only four in the first book, has now gotten older.  In this book, she’s 11, and the focus of the narrative.  Rosalind is at college, Jane and Skye both in high school and filling the house with teenaged boys on the hunt for pretzels.  The family also includes stepbrother Ben, aged 7, and new little sister Lydia, aged two, and in a decided princess phase.  As the story opens, the Penderwicks are preparing to welcome neighbor (and Ben’s especial hero) Nick Geiger home from war.  While Batty is happy about this, she’s having a really rough time of things.  Hound has recently died, and though he was quite old, Batty blames herself for his death.  She misses Rosalind dreadfully, and even when she does come home, she brings a horribly snobbish boyfriend with her.  Old friend Jeffrey’s would-be romantic relationship with Skye is getting in the way of him guiding her passion for music as much as she’d like.  Will her dog-walking business (one overweight Dachshund, one crazy shar-pei) and her new-found singing ability be enough to make life feel right again?

This book felt much sadder to me than the other books.  Batty is really depressed for most of the book, and things were sad enough that I cried buckets of tears over the book.  I really wished that someone had noticed Batty’s guilt over Hound earlier!  And also that it wasn’t always left to Nick to be the perceptive one.  But even with this, it was delightful to spend time with the Penderwicks.  The interactions between people, the distinct personalities and humor are still there.  The walks in the woods, the silliness of dogs, the teens hiding behind the shrubbery and finding younger kids setting up battles with mismatched action figures already there, Batty’s “singing sprite” bursting out of her at inopportune moments – these are all pictures that linger in my mind, making this book fit as part of this quintessential modern take on the classic family series.

What are these classic family series I’m thinking of? Here are a few:
All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Anne of Ingleside and Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery
Half Magic (and sequels) by Edward Eager
The Melendy Quartet by Elizabeth Enright
The Moffat books by Eleanor Estes

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Prairie Fire

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Katy K.

This is the sequel to The Story of Owen, one of my favorites this year.  And I’m going to see if I can write a 10-minute review in the interests of catching up with my back reviews.

Warning: this will contain spoilers.  If you haven’t yet read The Story of Owen and don’t want to be spoiled, go do that before reading this.

Prairie FirePrairie Fire by E. K. Johnston. Carolrhoda Lab, 2015.
Siobhan McQuaid, our heroine from the last book, is back, graduated from high school.  She and Owen Thorskard have officially joined the Oil Watch, where all dragon slayers are required to serve before going off to any other careers.  Siobhan herself is an anomaly, serving as a bard when it’s been so long since there have been bards that no one knows anymore what a bard should do.  They’re not about to let her off on any of the physical military requirements, either, even though her hands are still barely functional after being so badly burned at the end of the first book.  And it’s clear that the military has not forgiven them for their actions – Owen’s girlfriend Courtney is assigned far away in an actually active zone, while Siobhan and Owen are assigned to the relatively boring and inglorious prairies.  There they meet other dragon slayer team leaders, from America and Japan, and learn the story of Lieutenant Porter, who took unforgiveable actions to save the people from the largest and most deadly of all dragons, the Chinook.  They also meet Peter, a First Nations member on base, who teaches them about their dragon-fighting traditions and music.

This is a wonderful continuation of the story.  Also devastating.  I think I’m still angry with Johnston, because of being so tied up with the characters.  You should go read it.

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Cybils Call for Judges

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Katy K.

Cybils-Logo-2015-Web-LgIt’s the tenth year of the Cybils Awards – check out the spiffy new 10th anniversary logo! And right now through September 9, applications are open for this year’s judges. If you are a book blogger as an author, librarian, teacher, or bookworm, you, too can apply to be a judge! I was a round 1 judge for the Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category last year, and it was so much fun!!!  Even better than having a really good excuse to read instead of doing chores was getting to know my fellow judges better and having people to discuss everything I read with. It was so wonderful to know that at least one other person would have read any book I was reading and also have opinions on it. The Cybils team leaders are always looking for fresh voices, and there are so many different panels that if you love children and teen’s books, you are sure to find a panel that fits your personal passions.

Don’t just take my word for it though – read “Five reasons to apply to be a Cybils Judge” from Charlotte at Charlotte’s Library, and “Cybils 2015” from Brandy at Random Musings of a Bibliophile, too!

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Blackbird Fly

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Katy K.

I don’t read very much contemporary realistic fiction, but when Brandy posted about a middle grade book with a Filipina protagonist a while back, I actually exclaimed out loud and went to track it down right away. This turns out to be another older middle grade book that we keep in the teen section at my library.

Blackbird FlyBlackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly. Greenwillow Books, 2015.
Analyn – who goes by Apple – is the only Filipina at her middle school in a very white Southern town. She lives with her widowed mother, who’s so focused on Apple’s future college success that she forbids all extracurricular activities, especially music, and also tries to live as cheaply as possible to have more money to send back to the Phillipines. Naturally, Apple loves music and wants to play Beatles music on the guitar more than anything. Apple had at least had friends, but now that they are starting middle school, her friends Alyssa and Gretchen have decided that popularity is the most important thing. The popular boys maintain lists of the prettiest and ugliest girls in school, and Alyssa especially thinks that Apple, with her disregard for fashion, is likely to end up on the infamous Dog Log, while Alyssa herself is aiming for a spot on the pretty list.

So things start off badly and get worse before they start getting better. Getting better is helped meeting a new cute boy, Evan, who’s moved from California where his best friend was Filipino, so that the home cooking that Apple is embarrassed by tastes like home to him. Evan and the cool music teacher, Mr. Z., encourage Apple to pursue her dreams of guitar playing, and Evan and Apple eventually make friends with Heleena, a social outcast because she is overweight. Apple undergoes a very satisfying transformation from trying too hard to fit in to standing up for the various parts of her identity with her mother and at school, even being able to stand up for others who are being thrown under the popularity bus. Apple learns guitar with unrealistic speed, but her love for music comes through as genuine and I was willing to forgive the prowess in the context of the story.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to, and I am still trying to figure out why. Some time ago I read an article – I wish I could remember where – bemoaning that when book children have their lives changed for the better by a teacher, it’s nearly always a male teacher, even though most teachers are women. That’s something that I’m sure seems an individual choice to each author, but when repeated over dozens of books, adds up to a message that female teachers are just less competent. That complaint has stuck in my mind, and having Apple’s transformation happen through both a male teacher and male friend after her female friends have abandoned her sends a really unpleasant message. I found the beginning parts, where Apple is treated quite cruelly by her friends, to be really painful to read – is it because it seemed even more painful than my own painful middle school experience or because I don’t want to think of my own part-Filipino kids going through similar? And my love and I had a hard time believing that a Filipina parent would be so very restrictive and down on music as Apple’s mother was – didn’t she know that kids need extracurricular activities as well as good grades to get into college?

Still, Apple and Evan were very likeable, and the two faithless friends at least believable. I was drawn into the story even as it upset me in places. And when I had a young bibliovore visiting, she had already read and enjoyed this book enough that she sat down and re-read the last third of the book. So I’d still recommend it to readers of realistic middle grade fiction, particularly those looking for books about socially awkward girls finding their way in middle school.

The other Filipino children’s books I’ve found include Cora Cooks Pancit and Filipino Children’s Favorite Stories. I’d love to hear your favorites!

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The Clockwork Crown

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Katy K.

I found this one just looking through for advance materials to put on my ereader.  Hooray for steampunk and thanks to Harper Voyager for the copy!

Clockwork CrownThe Clockwork Crown by Beth Cato. Harper Voyager, 2015.
This is the sequel to The Clockwork Dagger, which I’d heard good things about but not yet gotten around to.  I was able to enjoy the story without having read the first book, but there was enough puzzling that I’d recommend starting at the beginning if this sounds interesting.

Octavia, a Medician, and Alonzo, formerly a Clockwork Dagger and her enemy, are now travelling together hunted by people from all sides.  Octavia has healing powers that are supposed to come from the Lady and her tree.  That tree is supposed to be magically hidden in a wasteland that’s claimed by countries on both sides and inhabited by rebels working for control of their own country. Naturally, getting to a tree hidden in such a zone will be neither easy nor direct.  It involves traveling to lots of other places, including those where Octavia’s powers are dangerously suspect.  There are unfriendly relatives, animal-machine hybrids (Alonzo is forced to do battle in the arena with one such creature, especially created for combat), and cursed kingdoms.  There’s also a nice partnership between Octavia and Alonzo, some serious soul-searching on Octavia’s part as she questions the divinity of the Lady from whom her power comes, and danger on scales both large and small.

This is a nicely realized and diverse steampunk-fantasy world – not the more traditional alternate Earth history, but its own fully created world.  I really appreciated the thoughtfulness of the world-building, including social customs that felt right for a quasi-19th-century world.  The romance between Octavia and Alonzo thus progresses with the reserve that one would expect of that era, despite their obvious mutual attraction, thus making the relationship feel that much more genuine.  And while it seemed for much of the book that Octavia was just going to have to make peace with a very unpleasant personal fate, I was both pleased and surprised with the eventual ending.  It did take me a while to figure the world out, so that I really want to go back and read the first one, but I’d recommend this to adult steampunk fans, as well as older teens.

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Beastkeeper

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Katy K.

I love fairy tale retellings and I’ve enjoyed Cat Hellisen’s When the Sea is Rising Red and  House of Sand and Secrets – so I was very excited to see this new retelling of Beauty and the Beast!  This is one of those older middle grade books that my library shelves in the teen section.  I’ll also note for any who, like me, are trying to diversify the authors we’re reading, that Hellisen is South African.

BeastkeeperBeastkeeper by Cat Hellisen. Henry Holt, 2015.
Sarah has been used to her parents moving at the first breath of cold, but her parents have always been home.  Then her mother walks out, leaving Sarah and her father alone.  Her father doesn’t seem to realize that Sarah is taking care of him instead of the other way around, until suddenly he decides that Sarah would be better off with her grandparents, whom she’s never met.  Continue reading →

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Bayou Magic

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Katy K.

I’m still working on unpacking from our camping trip and trying to get back into the routine of things. Also, I’m officially registered to go to Kidlitcon in Baltimore this October!!! Do let me know if you’re going, too.

Bayou MagicBayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Hachette Books, 2015.
Maddy, short for Madison Isabelle Lavalier Johnson, is the youngest of four sisters. All the older ones have been sent, one by one, to spend a summer in the bayou with Grandmére. Now that it’s Maddy’s turn, they warn her that there will be nothing to do. But Maddy finds that she fits into the bayou better than she’s fit anywhere before, and the boy named Bear whom Grandmére decides will be Maddy’s friend turns out to be a good one. The bayou is filled with nature, with people who are all different shades but universally friendly and giving despite not having things that Maddy would have considered basic back home. Maddy is surprised to learn that everyone calls her Grandmére Queenie, and comes to her for healing remedies and advice. Most important to Maddy are her grandmother’s stories, stories of her ancestress coming over from Africa as a slave, followed in the water by Mami Wata, a mermaid goddess, who carries the light of hope along with her.

Maddy will need to learn everything she can about her family’s heritage, because she has inherited magic from her long-ago ancestors, and a crisis is about to come where she will need to use it. This is a book filled with heat of multiple kinds – the sticky warmth of a bayou summer, the spicy heat of a community jambalaya, and the supportive warmth of family and community, as well as the cool light of the fireflies that follow Maddy around. There’s a strong environmental theme, love of place, and the deep history of Maddy’s people. And Grandmére asks Maddy a question no one has ever asked her before: “Maddy, who do you want to be when you grow up?”

This one would pair naturally with Kathi Appelt’s True Blue Scouts of Sugarman Swamp.

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Guest Post: Top 10 Heroines with Maureen of By Singing Light

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Katy K.

I am on an internet-free vacation right now, but my blogging friend Maureen of By Singing Light has kindly written a wonderful post on her favorite heroines.  Thank you so much for your post, Maureen!

The inspiration for this post is definite the great series my friend Brandy has been writing on her favorite heroines. So I set out to write down my own favorite heroines! And it turns out that I have very many. In the interests of space (and Katy forgiving me) I pared my initial list down to ten (10!!) names.
queennimonaperilous gardone crazy summer
Irene Attolia from Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief series: Attolia is one of my favorite characters ever, but part of what makes her so interesting is that she starts off as the antagonist. She does horrible things, and yet MWT writes her character with such understanding and delicacy that by the end of the second book, I had fallen in love with her too.

Harriet Vane from Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey series: I have a tag on Tumblr that says, “Harriet is the best” and that pretty much sums it up. It’s astonishing to remember that when I first read the Lord Peter books, I resented her for Peter’s sake. Now I admire so much her stubborn integrity, her sheer Harrietness.

Kate Sutton from Elizabeth Marie Pope’s The Perilous Gard: I have loved Kate ever since I first read The Perilous Gard in middle school. She’s fierce and stubborn, but she’s also brave. She drags Christopher, kicking and screaming, into hope. And she understands, in some way, the Lady Under the Hill.

Goewin from Elizabeth Wein’s Aksum series: I’ve talked a great length about how much I love Wein’s Maddie and Verity and Rose. But I wanted to mention Goewin because I think she’s a fantastic, complex character. She has an amazing combination of love and ruthlessness that comes out in the series.

Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel from G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel comics: I love Kamala for several reasons. She’s hilarious–she has a great sense of humor that I totally believe from a teenage girl. She’s conflicted about her sudden abilities, and yet she takes on the responsibility. And I love the way her relationship with her culture & faith have been written.

Maskelle from Martha Wells’s The Wheel of the Infinite: Maskelle is a fantastic character, and one who’s all too rare. She’s older than many women in fantasy. She has power and knows how to use it. She has regrets, but she is also determined to make things right. And in the end she knows her own mind & her own strengths.

Delphine Gaither from Rita Williams-Garcia’s Gaither sisters trilogy: Oh, how I love Delphine! I love all three Gaither sisters, but Delphine is my very favorite. Probably partly because I’m an oldest child and think Rita Williams-Garcia did a great job of showing that relationship. But mostly just for herself, her wonderful, vivid, thoughtful self.

Tiffany Aching from Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching series: I didn’t find Tiffany until fairly recently, but she quickly became one of my favorites ever. She’s kind, she gives of herself, she takes care of people, and yet she’s the furthest thing from self-sacrificing or doormatish that I can think of. She’s fierce when it’s needed and powerful when that’s needed too.

NIMONA from Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona: Nimona is a fascinating character. She’s a shapeshifter in more ways than one, and yet she’s also undeniably herself. She can be hurt and angry, but she can also be funny and even silly. I found her story beautiful and heartbreaking and hilarious all at once.

Sophie Hatter from Diana Wynne Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle: Sophie is one of those characters that I just instantly loved, from the very first page. She’s prickly, stubborn, kind, and brave. She doesn’t know her own strengths, and yet she does. I love how fiercely competent she is & yet how she can also push people in the wrong directions. She’s so wonderfully human.

I am somewhat startled to find that I have only read four of these – but since I also love Irene, Tiffany, Nimona and Sophie, I think I need to read all the rest of these as well!  Who are your favorite heroines?

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State of the Book Basket – July

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Katy K.

It’s a super-short State of the Book Basket because I need to go get ready for vacation.

The Girl
I’m very excited to be reading The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye to my daughter – a favorite from childhood, with the author’s own beautiful illustrations.  In the car, we’re listening to Soccer on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborne, Magic Tree House #52.  I’ve also taken out three of the Little House books for the car ride, since both kids really like these.  We have a big stack of nonfiction for her, for one of the library’s summer reading challenges.

The Boy
We finally finished Jinx’s Fire!!!!  Thank you, Sage Blackwood – we loved it! I’m finishing up my old favorite Parsley Sage, Rosemary and Time by Jane Louise Curry with him (it’s only about a hundred pages), and then we’ve decided that he’s old enough for one of my even-favoriter old favorites, The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley.  He’s reading The Inventions of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick to himself, and listening to Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and the last of the Spirit Animals books, by Marie Lu.

My Love
…snagged Uprooted by Naomi Novik when my hold finally came in from the library.  I’m anxiously waiting my turn for this, too!

Me
I just finished Nimona by Noelle Stevenson in print and a re-listen of Deathly Hallows in the car.  I have Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mendel on my iPod, and have just checked out Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein – a first from an author I’ve been wanting to read for a long time.  Up next in print is either Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures by Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pearce, or The Long Black Curl by Alex Bledsoe.

Let me know what you’re reading, and stay tuned for a guest post or two while I’m gone!

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