The Year of the Hangman, by Gary Blackwood, has a great premise. The year is 1777 (three gallows, hence the title), George Washington has been captured, the Patriots exiled to New Orleans, the Revolutionary War all but lost. A great “What if??” right? Well, sort of. The plot revolves around Creighton, a 15-year-old (who sometimes acts much older than 15, in my opinion) English boy who’s a bit of a rogue. His mother tires of him and arranges to have him shipped off to his uncle in Charles Town so she doesn’t have to deal with him any more. Once there Creighton’s uncle is transferred to Pensecola, and in route their ship is attacked by a group of Americans and Creighton’s uncle is captured. Creighton isn’t because he was supposed to be posing as an indentured servant, so the Americans take them under their wing. Well, actually, he’s supposed to be a spy. Still, it’s pretty interesting.

The problem comes at the end. Creighton makes a very believable switch to the American side (he’s living with Ben Franklin, who meets a very unfortunate end, and becomes friends with Benedict Arnold), but the ending just kind of falls apart in my opinion. It’s not something I can put my finger on, though. Maybe I wanted more… it kind of ends on a downer note (though with some hope, I guess). Maybe I wanted something else to happen. I don’t quite know. It was a great idea, and it held it for a while, but in the end fell flat. I suppose you can’t win them all.

This series, by Lloyd Alexander, was recommended to me by William Morris (indirectly on a post a while back). It’s an interesting series. I’m not sure, in the end, that I really liked it though. The three books — Westmark, The Kestrel, and The Beggar Queen deal with some intriguing and engaging ideas: politics in general, a monarchy versus a republic specifically; war (The Kestrel is very much an anti-war war book); how a person who believes himself to be good can turn into a monster because of war; hate and forgiveness; ideals versus practicality; the evils of a dictatorship; and so on. But, in the end, I think the series was only about ideas. I really found myself not caring about the characters. The “bad guy” Cabbarus is evil, but you don’t really hate him (that he’s absent for all of the second book and most of the third doesn’t help that fact). The “good guy” Theo is terribly conflicted, which makes him human but not very sympathetic. The love story’s weak; I found myself impatient with the stupid things Theo did because of his love for Mickle. And there were characters that I was interested in that Alexander just dropped after a while. Connie, the King of Regia, for example. I really liked him, but he didn’t survive past the beginning of the third (though he wasn’t killed off, not for lack of trying). Admittedly, I did like Keller, Sparrow and Weasel. But three characters out of the host that were in the books isn’t that much.

As a result, I found the ending weak. The ending was character, rather than idea, driven and if one doesn’t care about the characters very much, the ending will probably be unsatisfying. On the other hand, the ideas were presented well, and they are very interesting to talk and think about. It’s probably worth reading, though I think if anyone asks me for a good Lloyd Alexander book, I’ll recommend the Prydian series over this one.

I heard about this book, by Edward Eager, on an NPR Morning Edition report about what to read while waiting for the next Harry Potter. I originally got it for my oldest, but when she didn’t look interested, I picked it up just to see for myself.

It’s a very cute little book. Written in 1954, Eager uses E. Nesbit’s style and stories (the children’s lives change after reading The Enchanted Castle) to create his own tale. The plot is simple: Four siblings find an ancient talisman and find that it grants wishes, but only by halves. They have some fun adventures, learn a few things, and generally have a grand time. Not real deep stuff, but fun nonetheless.

And after hearing me talk about it, my oldest decided she wants to read it. And after they’re done with Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, my husband and second decided they want a turn, too. So, maybe it is something worthwile to read until Harry Potter 6 comes out. (Maybe it’ll spark an interest in Nesbit’s books, too.)

I have to start this with a couple of disclaimers. This was recommended to me by Heather on my Once upon a Marigold review, so I came to the book with the impression that it’d be a silly little book. It’s not. Secondly, the book jacket author blurb is one of the most annoying ones I’ve read. I was prepared to hate a book by an author who “started writing when she was 10 an has never stopped”. (Blech.) I didn’t hate it though. Quite the opposite. I found this to be a wonderful fairy tale. The characters are really well developed, I adored Ani the whole way through; the plot believable, with an absense of the “magic” that usually surrounds fairy tales of this sort (there’s something like magic, but more realistic); and, even if I saw the ending coming a mile away, on the whole a thoroughly enjoyable book. I also liked it because it was a good strong girl book… a princess made soft by luxury who finds strength, hope and friendship through adversity.

A great book, one worth reading over and over again. (Perhaps they could change the author blurb, though.)

I really looked forward to the continuation of the Boston Jane series by Jennifer Holm, having really liked the first book. And Wilderness Days held up to my expectations. The story was pretty simple — there’s a man, Jehu, who’s in love with Jane, if she wasn’t too dense and stubborn to realize it, which she does over the course of the book. It’s a good little romance, withe some adventure thrown in (there’s a bit of a far-fetched plot with a murderer on the loose that she, Jehu and an Chinook friend have to track down; it’s really just an excuse to get Jane in close quarters with Jehu).

However, I think Holm must have run out of plot for the third book. She brought back a “nemisis” from the first book, Sally, who’s a real witch of a woman. Sally comes to Shoalwater Bay and literally makes Jane’s life miserable, turning everyone in the town against Jane. In true form, Jane overcomes all (in a really stupid way, though) and ends up happily ever after. The book left me peevish, though. I ranted about it for a while, until I realized it’s a high school book. (It is youth fiction after all.) Everything (pretty much) could be lifted up and set in a modern high school and no one would be the wiser. So, I guess, if I was a 12-14 year old girl, it might just be a better book.

Too bad I’m not.

This book by Deborah Ellis is a continuation of The Breadwinner, and it’s much much better. The plot’s pretty simple, again: Parvana and her father set off to find her mother and siblings. He dies, and this book is primarily about her experiences crossing Afghanistan. It’s a powerful read about friendship, the resilience of humankind (or children, if that’s how you prefer to look at it) and the senselessness and brutality of war. The ending this time is even more satisfying. You probably should read The Breadwinner first, but this is the superior book.