by Derek Landy
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Gordon Edgley’s sudden death came as a shock to everyone — not least himself.”

I haven’t had this much fun reading a book since… well, since I read Anna Smudge.

Stephanie is your normal 12-year-old girl. That is, she thinks she is, until her uncle dies a mysterious death (well, the doctor’s say it’s natural, but we know better, don’t we?), and she inherits his house. She stays there one night, and is summarily attacked by a strange man demanding a key and saved by a strange man that turns out to be a walking, talking, fire-wielding… skeleton. She decides to fall in with the skeleton, Skulduggery Pleasant of the title, and discovers a whole world of magic, and, yes, danger and excitement.

There’s a lot of similarities to Anna Smudge — not just a precocious 12-year-old who can figure things out and save the world — but in style. I loved the combination of sass (not really snark or sarcasm) in the banters between Skulduggery and Stephanie. I loved the world that Landy created, with magic and mages and sorcerers; a world, not unlike Harry Potter’s, that exists parallel to our own. It was an exciting plot, too — possibly a tad on the violent side for younger readers — one that was full of twists, turns, and daring escapes. I enjoyed the power that Stephanie had (aside from it being plausible); it’s always nice to see our main character doing the rescuing and thinking rather than just running around having things happen to her. Very, very cool.

It’s the first in a series, for those who love series, but it’s also a good stand-alone book. And have I mentioned that it’s a whole lotta fun?

by Cat Weatherill
ages: 8 – 12
First sentence: “Mariana felt fantastic.”

This book takes of where the fairy/folk tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin leaves off. What happens to the children when the Piper leads them away? What drove the Piper to do it in the first place? What kind of world is it where this could happen?

Jakob and Mariana — brother and sister — are among children in Hamelin town when the Piper comes to get rid of the rats, and fall under his spell when he begins to lead the children away. Mariana makes it through to the other side, a world of magic and pain and adventure; Jakob, who is crippled, doesn’t. Not at first. But, eventually, he does find a way through, where he is confronted with all the children having been turned into animals, as well as a Beast that stalks the night.

This is another book that just doesn’t do plot summaries well. I read it out loud to C, and at first we thought that Mariana was the heroine of the story (you would think so, from the cover and the first chapters). But, it’s a fragmented story, one that intertwines the stories of Piper, Mariana, Jakob and their father, Moller. It’s not always an easy story to understand; we were constantly flipping around trying to figure out did what when and why. It’s an intriguing story, however. I liked what Weatherill did with the Piper; he’s not just a creep who wanted payment, but a tortured soul looking for release from a curse. Mariana and Jakob were also interesting characters: both strong-willed, determined and resourceful, yet believeable in that their love for each other is the thing that drives them both.

The thing we both really liked about the story, though, is that it begs to be read aloud. In fact, the way it was written — with onomonpeic word like “vumm” and “doomf” and “crrp” speckling the prose — it would have bothered me had I read it to myself. But, read aloud, the words add something to the story, make it come alive. I could tell that Weatherill is a story teller from the way she writes: description, sounds, thoughts all played a big part in the development of the plot. It’s not a bad thing; I love listening to storytellers, but in a novel… well, let’s just say that this one is better read aloud.

It’s not a bad thing, though. If you’ve got a six to eight year old, and want something to curl up with in the evenings, this one is just perfect.