I am not coming up with anything witty to say as an introduction: I thought I’d read less because the weather was getting nicer, but I didn’t. I did, however, have the single highest number of posts in a month. (This one will be 48, Teaser Tuesday, which will go up soon will be 49. I should do one more to make it an even 50.) I suppose that should be an accomplishment. Either that, or it means I should be spending more time with my kids…

Graceling (Harcourt, Inc.): “In a world where people born with an extreme skill — called a Grace — are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him. When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace — or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away… a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.”

One of the most difficult things to do when writing jacket flaps is to conceal a twist or a big revelation and yet not give a false sense of the book. This one does both admirably.

Bee Season (Doubleday): “Eliza Naumann has no reason to believe she is anything but ordinary, especially after her teachers place her in the class for slow learners. Her father, Saul, dotes on her older brother Aaron’s rabbinical ambitions. Her mother, Miriam, seems fully absorbed by her law career. When a spelling bee threatens to reaffirm her mediocrity, Eliza amazes everyone: she wins. Her new found gift garners an invitation not only to the national competition, but to her father’s sacred study where a new dictionary beckons, Jewish mysticism lurks in leather tomes, and language offers a spiritual awakening. Eliza’s unexpected success sends her off-kilter family into a tailspin, and Eliza comes to depend upon her own divination to hold the family together. With intense imagination and great emotional acuity, Bee Season evokes a child’s desperate longing for praise and acceptances and is a masterful portrayal of modern family life.”

This one did its purpose: it made me want to read the book. Too bad I liked the summary better than the book itself…

Speak (Farrar Straus Giroux): “From her first moment at Merryweather High, Melinda Sordino knows she’s an outcast. She busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops — a major infraction of high-school society — so her old friends won’t talk to her, and people she doesn’t know glare at her. She retreats into her head, where the lies and hypocrisies of high school stand in stark relief to her own silence, making her all the more mute. But it’s not so comfortable in her head, either– there’s something banging around in there that she doesn’t want to think about. Try as she might to avoid it, it won’t go away, until there is a painful confrontation. Once that happens, she can’t be silent — she must speak the truth. In this powerful novel, an utterly believable, bitterly ironic heroine speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while learning that, although it’s hard to speak up for yourself, keeping your mouth shut is worse.”

I liked the straightforwardness of this: it basically tells you what to expect, but there’s still a little sense of mystery that makes you want to find out what happens to Melinda.

Other books read this month:
Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One Before (Hyperion)
The Parliament of Blood (Bloomsbury)
Somewhere in Heaven (Hyperion)
To Catch a Mermaid (Little, Brown)
Permanent Rose (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Life As We Knew It (Harcourt)
Just One Wish (G.P. Putnam Sons)
So Many Books, So Little Time (Berkley Trade)
Banker to the Poor (PublicAffairs)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Rosewater and Soda Bread (Random House)
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Evernight (HarperTeen)
Flygirl (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Stealing Heaven (Harper Teen)
Ranger’s Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan (Puffin)

I have nothing witty to stay to begin. Generally, February is better than January in my book, but for some reason, I never really got a grasp on the month. Nothing drastic or dramatic, just couldn’t shake a general funk. Thank heavens for books….

Indigo’s Star (Margaret K. McElderry Books): “IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL FOR THE START OF A NEW TERM, AND THE ECCENTRIC CASSONS ARE UP TO THEIR OLD TRICKS! Indigo, having just recovered from a bout of mononucleosis, must return to school after missing an entire semester. Only his younger sister and loyal sidekick, Rose, knows why he’s dreading it so much. As it turns out, the school bullies are eagerly awaiting Indigo’s return so that they can pick up where they left off — flushing his head in the toilet. But Indigo hasn’t counted on meeting Tom, an American student who is staying with his grandmother in England for the year. With his couldn’t-care-less attitude and rock-and-roll lifestyle, Tom becomes Indigo’s ally, and together they work to take back the school. Meanwhile, eight-year-old Rose is desperately trying to avoid wearing horrible glasses, nineteen-year-old Caddy is agonizing over her many suitors, Saffy is working overtime with her best friend, Sarah, to protect Indigo from the gang, and with their father, Bill, in London at his art studio, their mother, Eve, is just trying to stay on top of it all!”

Actually, this is a good bad one. M read the blurb and had no interest in reading the book. (Her exact words: “I have no desire to read about heads being flushed in toilets.”) It was only after I read it, gushed, cajoled and reminded that she actually read the book. And loved it.

Princess of the Midnight Ball (Bloomsbury): “A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn… Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above. Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew.”

Perhaps I notice this because I read a lot of Bloomsbury books, but the folks there really know how to pique a reader’s interest without giving too much away.

Matrimony (Vintage Contemporaries): “It’s the fall of 1986, and Julian Wainwright, an aspiring writer, arrives at Graymont College in New England. Here he meets Carter Heinz, with whom he develops a strong but ambivalent friendship, and beautiful Mia Mendelsohn, with whom he falls in love. Spurred on by a family tragedy, Julian and Mia’s love affair will carry them to graduation and beyond, taking them through several college towns, over the next fifteen years. Starting at the height of the Reagan era and ending in the new millennium, Matrimony is a stunning novel of love and friendship, money and ambition, desire and tensions of faith. It is a richly detailed portrait of what it means to share a life with someone — to do it when you’re young, and to try to do it afresh on the brink of middle age.”

I like this because the book is about such normal, everyday things which are hard to summarize. But, the copy does a good job with this.

The Trouble Begins at 8 (Greenwillow Books): “Mark Twain was born fully grown, with a cheap cigar clamped between his teeth.” So begins Sid Fleischman’s ramble-scramble biography of the great American author and wit, who started life in a Missouri village as a barefoot boy named Samuel Clemens. Abandoning a career as a young steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, Sam took a bumpy stagecoach to the Far West. In the gold and silver fields, he expected to get rich quick. Instead, he got poor fast, digging in the wrong places. His stint as a sagebrush newspaperman led to a duel with pistols. Had he not survived, the world would never have heard of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn—or red-headed Mark Twain. Samuel Clemens adopted his pen name in a hotel room in San Francisco and promptly made a jumping frog (and himself) famous. His celebrated novels followed at a leisurely pace; his quips at jet speed. “Don’t let schooling interfere with your education,” he wrote. Here, in high style, is the story of a wisecracking adventurer who came of age in the untamed West; an ink-stained rebel who surprised himself by becoming the most famous American of his time. Bountifully illustrated.”

My only quibble is the “Bountifully illustrated.” Huh? (They weren’t even really illustrations, more a combination of photographs and reprinted cartoons.) But the rest is a good teaser inviting readers to learn more about Mark Twain.

Other books read this month:
Everything Beautiful
Beside a Burning Sea
Maus I and Maus II
Skeleton Creek
The Dragonfly Pool
Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles
Becoming Jane Austen
The Adventures of Boone Barnaby
The Four Agreements
The Graveyard Book
The Bermudez Triangle
A View from Jerusalem
Dear Julia
Chocolat

I decided I did like doing the jacket flap-a-thon after all. 🙂 Though I think it needs a bit of tweaking. I’ll only post my top few (one per reading “category”, perhaps?), and no worst ones, unless there’s one that’s truly horrible.

I think that’s about all the tweaking I’ll do, though… On we go. This month’s three:

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Hyperion):
“Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.

Frankie Landau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.
Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.

Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.

This is the story of how she got that way.”

Totally, totally draws the reader in. How could you NOT want to read the book after reading the jacket flap?

Skulduggery Pleasant (Harper Trophy): “Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: Ace detective, snappy dresser, razor-tongued wit, crackerjack sorcerer and walking, talking, fire-throwing skeleton. As well as ally, protector and mentor of Stephanie Edgely, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old. These two alone must defeat an all-consuming ancient evil. The end of the world? Over his dead body.”

Short, too the point, and very, very clever.

A Year in the World (Broadway Books): “A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes — a celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous pleasures found in unlikely locales, of memory woven into the present, and of a joyous sense of quest. An ideal travel companion, Frances Mayes brings to the page the curiosity of an intrepid explorer, remarkable insights into the wonder of the everyday, and a compelling narrative style that entertains as it informs. With her beloved Tuscany as a home base, Mayes travels to Spain, Portugal, France, the British Isles, and to the Mediterranean world of Turkey, Greece, the South of Italy, and North Africa. In Andalucía, she relishes the intersection of cultures. She cooks in Portugal, gathers ideas in the gardens of England and Scotland, takes a literary pilgrimage to Burgundy, discovers an ideal place to live in Mantova, and explores the essential Moroccan city of Fez. She rents houses among ordinary residents, shops at neighborhood markets, wanders the back streets, and everywhere contemplates the concept of home. While in Greece, she follows the classic Homeric voyage across the Aegean, lives in a bougainvillea-draped stone house in Crete, and then drives deep into the Mani. In Turkey with friends, she sails the ancient coast, hiking to archaeological sites and snorkeling over sunken Byzantine towns. Weaving together personal perceptions and informed commentary on art, architecture, history, landscape, and social and culinary traditions of each area, Mayes brings the immediacy of life in her temporary homes to the reader. An illuminating and passionate book that will be savored by all who loved Under the Tuscan Sun, A Year in the World is travel writing at its peak.”

This one is so detailed that you almost don’t have to read the book. Still, it does give you a taste of what to expect.

Other books read this month:
Aunt Nancy and the Bothersome Visitors (Candlewick Press)
Chalice (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Paper Towns (Dutton)
The Hunger Games (Scholastic Press)
The Musician’s Daughter (Bloomsbury)
Two Girls of Gettysburg (Bloomsbury)
Wild Magic (Walker Books)
Breathing Out the Ghost (River City Publishing)
Babymouse: Rockstar, Babymouse: Monster Mash (Random House Books For Young Readers)
The Leanin’ Dog (Joanna Colter Books)
Saffy’s Angel(Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Captain Alatriste (Plume Books)
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Candlewick Press)
The Rule of Won (Walker Books)
The Underneath (Atheneum Books)
The Geography of Bliss (Twelve)
Chains (Simon and Schuster)

Last one for the year. I’ve enjoyed thinking about jacket-flaps this year, and have learned that mostly it’s personal taste whether they “work” or not. In general, though: shorter is better, without giving away important (or near the end of the book details), while keeping to the style of the book all contribute (generally) to a good jacket flap.

I don’t think I’ll keep this up, though, next year (unless there are some of you that REALLY want me to…). Perhaps I’ll find some other way to keep track of my monthly reading.

5. Shooting the Moon (atheneum books for young readers): “Jamie thinks her father can do anything… until the one time he can do nothing. When twelve-year-old Jamie Dexter’s brother joins the Army and is sent to Vietnam, Jamie is plum thrilled. She can’t wait to get letters from the front lines describing the excitement of real-life combat: the sound of helicopters, the smell of gunpowder, the exhilaration of being right in the thick of it. After all, they’ve both dreamed of following in the footsteps of their father, the Colonel. But TJ’s first letter isn’t a letter at all. It’s a roll of undeveloped film, the first of many. What Jamie sees when she develops TJ’s photographs reveals a whole new side of the war. Slowly the shine begins to fade off of Army life – and the Colonel. How can someone she’s worshiped her entire life be just as helpless to save her brother as she is? From the author of the Edgar Award-winning Dovey Coe comes a novel,both timely and timeless, about the sacrifices we make for what we believe and the people we love.”

Slightly misleading… it makes you think her plays a more active role than he actually does (he kind of is an overarching presence, rather than an active player). But it captures the tone of this coming-of-age book well.

4. Persuasion (Quality Paperback Book Club): “In a letter to her niece, Jane Austen described Anne Elliot — the shy, intelligent heroine of Persuasion — as ‘almost too good for me.’ An increasingly spinsterish heiress, Anne is slighted by her spendthrift father and attendance social circle because of her past engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a young naval officer considerably below her in social class and prestige. Persuasion begins seven years after the end of that engagement, when Wentworth is thrown back into Anne’s sphere and the two are left to resolve the smarting wounds of their past liaison. Powers have shifted: Wentworth’s distinction has risen estimably in rank and measure, while much of Anne’s youthful beauty is gone. Persuasion, which some critics speculate is based loosely on Austen’s memories of a mysterious suitor, is the author’s most serious, compelling novel, a deeply felt tale of retaliation — and forgiveness — in the face of abiding love.”

It’s not often that I’ve liked a QPBC blurb; usually they’re abominable. But I think they do Persuasion justice.

3. A Christmas Carol (Dover): “In October 1843, Charles Dickens — heavily in debt and obligated to his publisher — began work on a book to help supplement his family’s meager income. That volume, A Christmas Carol, has long since become one of the most beloved stories in the English language. As much a part of the holiday season as holly, mistletoe and evergreen wreaths, this perennial favorite continues to delight new readers and rekindle thoughts of charity and good will nearly 150 years after it was first published. With its characters exhibiting many qualities — as well as failures — often ascribed to Dickens himself, the imaginative and entertaining tale relates Ebenezer Scrooge’s eerie encounters with a series of spectral visitors. Journeying with them through Christmases past, present and future, he is ultimately transformed from an arrogant, obstinate and insensitive miser to a generous, warm-hearted and caring human being. Written by one of England’s greatest and most popular novelists, A Christmas Carol has come to epitomize the true meaning of Christmas.”

Writing a blurb for something as well known as A Christmas Carol has got to be difficult. This balances information between the history behind and the story of the book quite nicely.

2. Alvin Ho (Schwartz & Wade books): “Here are some things you should know about Alvin Ho : 1. He is afraid of everything. Trains, bridges, substitute teachers, girls, school. Everything. 2. He is from Concord, Massachusetts, which is hard to spell. 3. He loves Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and all the superheroes of the world. In fact, he is a superhero himself — Firecracker Man! 4. He is trying very hard to be a gentleman, like his dad, but there are a lot of rules and they are hard to remember. 5. He can talk at home and on the school bus, but never, ever at school. It’s just too scary. (See #1.) And there’s a lot more to learn about this amazing kid, so meet Alvin Ho…”

Cute, clever, sweet… keeps the style of the book wonderfully, and entices just enough without giving much away at all.

1. Yellow Star (Marshall Cavendish): “In 1939, the Germans invaded the town of Lodz, Poland, and moved the Jewish population into a small part of the city called a ghetto. As the war progressed, 270,000 people were forced to settle in the ghetto under impossible conditions. At the end of the war, there were about 800 survivors. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. This is the story of one of the twelve.”

Short, to the point, and powerful.

The One Worst:
Thank You, Lucky Stars (Schwartz & Wade Books): “It’s the first day of fifth grade, and Ally is totally psyched. She and Betsy, her best friend — okay, her only friend — are in the same class. They’re even going to sing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” together in the annual talent show. Ally is sure this is going to be the best year ever. But suddenly Betsy is ignoring her, and Ally doesn’t have a clue why. What’s worse, Betsy’s spending every minute with their sworn archenemy, Mona; they’re wearing matching jeans skirts, eating lunch at the same table as with the other cool kids, even planning to sing in a rock band together for the talent show! Now practically the only kid who wants to do stuff with Ally is the weird new girl, Tina, who wears her hair in Princess Leia buns and seems determined to make a fool of herself in the talent show. How could fifth grade, which looked so promising from a distance, turn out to be so lonely? Will disco, Ally’s favorite dance, make a comeback at the talent show? And can Ally be friends with a girl who enjoys being different… even if she knows Tina is a kindred spirit?”

I think it tries to capture the tone of the book, but just ends off coming annoying. I didn’t particularly want to read the book after reading the blurb, even though it turned out to be fairly cute.

The (mostly) Middle Grade edition…
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Algonquin Books): “The Garcias — Dr. Carlos (Papi), his wife Laura (Mami), and their four daughters, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia — belong to the uppermost echelon of Spanish Caribbean society. They descend from the conquistadores. Their family compound adjoins the palacio of the dictator’s daughter. The Garcia girls giggle at the sight of the dictator and his toddler grandson in matching general’s uniforms. The Garcia grownups are careful not to seem to snub the neighbors (much less dispose them). So when Papi’s part in a coup attempt is discovered, the family must flee. This is the chronicle of that family in exile. Papi has to find new patients in the Bronx. Mami, far from the compound and the family trainers, must find herself. The girls try to lose themselves by ironing their hair, buying bell-bottoms and fringe, forgetting their Spanish. Before Papi knows it, his “harem” has broken out in new identities that are at definite odds with the very proper Island life of maids and manicures. For the Garcia girls, it is exhilarating and terrifying, liberating and excruciating being betwixt and between, trying to live up to Papi’s version of honor while accommodating the expectations of their American boyfriends. Little revolutionary plots evolve at home. Little stores of pot, birth control devices, explicit love letters are squirreled away. But Papi is not so easily overthrown. The boarding schools fill up with Garcia girls’ the analyst’s couch and divorce courts will too. Julia Alvarez’s brilliant first book of fiction sets the Garcia girls free to tell their irrepressibly intimate stories about how they came to be at home — and not at home — in America.”

This is actually a really good blurb: the book’s written backwards, so the blurb not only gets people interested in the book, but actually helped those of us who were a bit disoriented by the style. Who knew a blurb could do so much?

4. My Dad’s a Birdman (Candlewick Press): “Roll up! Roll up! A new illustrated novel by David Almond! IN a rainy town in the north of England, there are strange goings-on. Dad is building a pair of wings, eating flies, and feathering his nest. Auntie Doreen is getting cross and making dumplings. Mr. Poop is parading the streets, shouting louder and LOUDER, and even Mr. Mint, the headmaster, is getting in a flap. And watching it all is Lizzie, missing her mam and looking after Dad and thinking how beautiful the birds are. What’s behind it all. It’s the Great Human Bird Competition, of course!”

This was one of those instances when I liked the blurb better than the book.

3. Island of Mad Scientists (Kids Can Press): “‘We are running away!’ Aunt Lucy announces to her eccentric household. Her niece, fourteen-year-old pioneering aviatrix Emmaline Cayley, ‘indestruckable’ pilot Rubberbones and lovably ferocious Princess Purnah of Chiligrit are looking forward to their upcoming holiday. (‘Holiday,’ in this case, being another word for escaping from the authorities.) But things don’t go entirely as planned. Before long, this merry band of travelers is en route to a cold and damp Scottish isle used by experimental scientists. And Purnah is once again being pursued by nefarious forces intent upon returning her to St. Grimelda’s School for Young Ladies. An even greater peril threatens Emmaline and Rubberbones: a sinister old man known as the Collector aims to capture the duo, with the help of two misfit thugs and a sneaky master of disguise, and add them to his alphabetically organized collection of brilliant scientists…”

Terribly funny. Like the book.

2. The London Eye Mystery (David Fickling Books): “What goes up must come down… mustn’t it? When Aunt Gloria’s son, Salim, mysteriously disappears from a sealed pod on the London Eye, everyone is frantic. Has he spontaneously combusted? (Ted’s theory.) Has he been kidnapped? (Aunt Gloria’s theory.) Is he even still alive? (The family’s unspoken fear.) Even the police are baffled. Ted, whose brain runs on it’s own unique operating system, and his older sister, Kat, overcome their prickly relationship to become sleuthing partners. They follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin while time ticks dangerously by…”

Clever and intense. Made me want to read the book.

1. Every Soul a Star (Little, Brown and Company): “At Moon Shadow, an isolated campground, thousands have gathered to catch a glimpse of a rare sight: a total eclipse of the sun. Three lives are about to be changed forever. Ally: Ally likes the simple things in life — labyrinths, stargazing, and comet hunting. Her home, the Moon Shadow campground, is a part of who she is. She refuses to imagine it any other way. Bree: Popular, gorgeous (everybody says so), and a future homecoming queen for sure, Bree wears her beauty like a suit of armor. But what is she trying to hide? Jack: Overweight and awkward, Jack is used to spending a lot of time alone. But when opportunity knocks, he finds himself in situations he never would have imagine. With humor and warmth, Wendy mass weaves an intricate and enchanting tale. Told from three unique perspectives, Every Soul a Star is about strangers coming together, unlikely friendships, and finding one’s place in the universe.”

This was a hard one to choose, because they all were good. But I think this blurb captured the essence of the book (without giving too much away) the best.

There was no one worst. Go figure. It was a good blurb month.

Presenting the Halloween edition of the Jacket Flap-a-thon…

5. The Gollywhopper Games (Greenwillow Books): “Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Welcome to the biggest, bravest, boldest competition the world has ever seen! The Gollywhopper Games! Are you ready? Gil Goodson sure hopes he’s ready. His future happiness depends on winning the Golly Toy & Game Company’s ultimate competition. If Gil wins, his dad promised the family can move out of Orchard Heights — away from all the gossip, the false friends, the bad press that have plagued the Goodsons ever since The Incident. Gil’s been studying for months. He thinks he knows everything about Golly’s history and merchandise. But does he know enough to answer the trivia? Solve the puzzles? Complete the stunts? Will it be more than all the other kids know? Gil’s formidable opponents have their own special talents. He must be quicker and smarter than all of them. The ride of Gil’s life is about to begin. Win! Win! Win!”
Aside from the cloying “Win!Win!Win!” at the end, it’s a pretty good blurb, getting readers geared up for the fun ride that the book is.

4. Frankenstein (Signet Classics): “The story of Victor Frankenstein and of the monstrous creature he created has held readers spellbound ever since it was published almost two centuries ago. On the surface, it is a novel of tense and steadily mounting horror; but on a more profound level, it offers searching illumination of the human condition in its portrayal of a scientist who oversteps the bounds of conscience, and of a monster brought to life in an alien world, ever more desperately attempting to escape the torture of his solitude. A novel of hallucinatory intensity, Frankenstein represents one of the most striking flowerings of the Romantic imagination.”
Short, to the point, and intriguing.

3. Diamond Willow (Frances Foster Books): “Twelve-year-old Willow would rather blend in than stick out. But she still wants to be seen for who she is. She wants her parents to notice that she is growing up. She wants her best friend to like her better than she likes a certain boy. She wants, more than anything, to mush the dogs out to her grandparents’ house, by herself, with Roxy in the lead. But sometimes when it’s just you, one mistake can have frightening consequences . . . And when Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again.”
A hard novel to write a blurb for, but I think they did a pretty good job capturing at least the essence of the story.

2. Coraline (Harper Collins): “In Corlaine’s family’s new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own. Only it’s different…. At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there’s another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Other children are trapped there aw well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself. Critically acclaimed and award-winning author Neil Gaiman will delight readers with his first novel for all ages.”
Good. Creepy. And makes me want to read the book. (How does she get out?)

1. The Call of the Wild (Simon and Schuster): “Buck lived the happy, comfortable life of a pet in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. But when one of the garden workers brings him to the train station and sells him, his whole life changes. Buck is caged and forced to travel by train — without food or water — to the frozen North. When he arrives, he is full of fury. But a man with a club shows Buck who’s boss, and Buck has no choice but to obey. So begins the story of a dog taken from his home and master, and forced to learn the ropes as a sled dog in the tough, frozen world of the Klondike gold rush. Unaccustomed to the savage, unruly ways of the North, Buck learns by trial and error. But his spirit is unbreakable, and he grows strong in the wilderness. From one master to another, Buck thrives on hard work and discipline, becoming a lead dog on the team. He toils long and hard, keeping the other dogs in line. He remembers his easy life in California, bu this new life stirs up ancient instincts, and Buck knows that he belongs in the wild. With vivid, passionate details of the North, Jack London tells the classic story of a sled dog during the 1900 Alaskan gold rush. An introduction by award-winning author Gary Paulsen and realistic, evocative illustrations by Bary Moser make this edition of The Call of the Wild one to be treasured for generations to come.”
A bit long, but evocative. Granted, it tells you pretty much the whole story (at least a good part of it), but in this case it actually helps rather than hurts.

The One Worst:
Sense and Sensibility (QPBC): “Perhaps the most affecting and accomplished of Jane Austen’s novels, Sense and Sensibility (which grew out of an adolescent sketch “Elinor and Marianne”) tells the story of two sisters, polar opposites Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, whose hopes of marrying well are smashed when their family’s estate is left to an arrogant stepson upon the death of their father. Thus pauperized, the practical, almost prissy Elinor (the “sense” of the duo) sets out to hide her deep affection for her brother-in-law, pained at the fact that they cannot marry. But when younger Marianne, indulging her almost hedonistic pursuit of passion, becomes infatuated with a dashing rogue, her clamorous spirit threatens to blind her to a more lasting and genuine love. Delicately piercing and exquisite in its irony, Sense and Sensibility — Austen’s first published novel — is a profound examination of two sisters who discover the limits of both mind and the heart.”
Okay, it’s not that bad (it is accurate after all)… but it is a bit chatty for Jane Austen, and calling Elinor prissy?! C’mon.

Ah.… it’s been a bit of a challenge to get to the computer today. Mostly because I have everyone home — M’s sick, C has a matinee — and everyone’s monopolizing my computer time!! The joys of motherhood. 🙂

The Five Best:
5. Audrey, Wait! (razorbill): “Everybody’s singing ‘Audrey, Wait!’ Audrey Cuttler’s life hasn’t been teh same since that song, ‘Audrey, Wait!’ hit the airwaves. All she wants to do is go to concerts, hang out with her friends, and maybe score a date with the cute boy who works with her at the Scooper Dooper. But now, her ex-boyfriend’s song about their breakup is at the top of the charts and she’s suddenly famous! The paparazzi won’t leave her alone, the tabloids are trying to make her into some kind of rock goddess, and the Internet it documenting her every move! Will Audrey ever be able to have a normal life again? Get ready to find out, because it’s time for Audrey to tell her side of the story.”

This blurb was one of the reasons I started the book. It’s clever and catchy, like the cover. It’s not their fault I didn’t like it. 🙂

4. Grail Prince (Ballantine Books): “The wheel is turning and the world will change. . . . And a son of Lancelot, with a bloody sword and a righteous heart, shall renew the Light in Britain before the descent of savage dark. . . . So spoke the Lady of the Lake. Now her grim prophecy is coming true. King Arthur lies dead, struck down along with Mordred, his son and heir, and the greatest knights of Camelot. Of that peerless company, only Lancelot survives, a broken man who has turned his back on Britain and his forbidden love of Guinevere. Yet one knight, scarcely more than a boy, fights amid the ruins to keep Arthur’s dream alive: Galahad, the son of Lancelot. Before his death, Arthur swore the young knight to undertake a quest: a search for the scattered treasures of an ancient king. On the recovery of these powerful relics–a grail, a spear, and a sword–hinges the future of Britain. But it is the past that torments Galahad. He cannot forget or forgive his father’s betrayal of his king. Nor can he banish thoughts of the intoxicating Dandrane, sister of his friend Percival, from his mind. Yet only a man pure in heart can fulfill the prophecy of the Lady of the Lake. Not since The Mists of Avalon has an author so brilliantly reimagined and brought to life the enduring Arthurian legends. Weaving back and forth through time, from Arthur’s mighty reign and commanding influence to Galahad’s ultimate quest to preserve the destiny of a nation, The Grail Prince is an unforgettable epic of adventure and romance, of clashing swords and hearts set in a magical world as deadly as it is beautiful.”

One of those instances where the blurb is so good that it sets up unreasonable expectations for the book, which isn’t nearly as good. Still. Makes you curious, doesn’t it?

3. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Alfred A. Knopf): “An enchanting literary debut — already an international best-seller. A the height of Mao’s infamous Cultural Revolution, two boys are among hundreds of thousands exiled to the countryside for “re-education.” The narrator and his best friend, Luo, guilty of being the sons of doctors, find themselves in a remote village where, among the peasants of Phoenix mountain, they are made to cart buckets of excrement up and down precipitous winding paths. Their meager distractions include a violin — as well as, before long, the beautiful daughter of the local tailor. But it is when the two discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation that their re-education takes its most surprising turn. While ingeniously concealing their forbidden treasure, the boys find transit to worlds they had thought lost forever. And after listening to their dangerously seductive retellings of Balzac, even the Little Seamstress will be forever transformed. From within the hopelessness and terror of one of the darkest passages in human history, Dai Sijie has fashioned a beguiling and unexpected story about the resilience of the human spirit, the wonder of romantic awakening and the magical power of storytelling.”

Good. Not brilliant, but short, and accurate. Which counts for a lot when it’s an adult book.

2. Crown Duel (The Crown and Court Duet) (Firebird): “Battle on and off the field, with sword and fan, with might and manners… It begins in a cold and shabby tower room, where young Countess Meliara swears to her dying father that she and her brother will defend their people from the growing greed of the king. That promise leads them into a war for which they are ill-prepared, a war that threatens the homes and lives of the very people they are trying to protect. But war is simple compared to what follows, when the bloody fighting is done and a fragile peace is at hand. Although she wants to turn her back on politics and the crown, Meliara is summoned to the royal palace. There, she soon discovers, friends and enemies look alike, and intrigue fills the dance halls and the drawing rooms. If she is to survive, Meliara must learn a whole new way of fighting — with wit and words and secret alliances. In war, at least, she knew whom she could trust. Now she can trust no one….”

Clever way to intrigue, and write about two different books that have been combined into one.

1. Dracula (HarperCollins Publishers): “The punctured throat, the coffin lid slowly opening, the unholy shriek as the stake pierces the heart — these are just a few of the chilling images Bram Stoker unleashed upon the world with his 1897 masterpiece, Dracula. Inspired by the folk legend of Nosferatu, the undead, Stoker created a timeless tale of gothic horror and romance that has enthralled and terrified readers ever since. This illustrated edition does full justice to the dark splendor of Stoker’s novel of the count who feeds off the blood of the living. Stark and powerful relief engraving from renowned illustrator Barry Moser brings to life the story’s most unforgettable moments and characters: the ship of death that brings Dracula to English shores as it pitches upon the sea; the final terrible siege at his Transylvanian lair; and the faces of clever, loving Mina Harker, mad, ravenous Renfield, wise Professor Van Helsing, and of course, Count Dracula himself. Told in letters, diary entries, and news clippings, Dracula maintains an uncanny power over the reader, not only in the chilling charisma of its of-imitated character, but in the pace and fury of its storytelling. Stoker’s novel has inspired countless movies and like its hero, has the power to live forever.”

As good as the book…. makes me want to read it again!

The One Worst:
Just So Stories (Magnum): “‘In the days when everybody started fair, Best Beloved, the Leopard lived in a place called the High Veldt. ‘Member it wasn’t the Low Veldt, or the Bush Veldt, or the Sour Veldt, but the ‘sclusively bare, hot, shiny High Veldt, where there was sand and…’ More? Find in this book ‘How the Leopard Got His Spots,’ and you will be carried along (but always toward the astonishing answer) on a soaring wave of sounds and pictures meant by Rudyard Kipling to be read aloud — and ‘sclusively for children of all ages. And then frolic through other pages to see How the Whale Got His Throat, How The Rhinoceros Got His Skin and even (but don’t really believe it) How the Alphabet Was Made… Kipling wrote the delightfully imaginative Just So Stories in 1902, for his own Best Beloved, his daughter Josephine. But millon have since felt no less loved through his gift to them of his playful wit and the sheer music of his language. The Just So Stories are set, literally, in India, the scene of many Kipling’s books, but they come, in a sense, from a country of magic.”

Ack. Really. It’s bad. But then, the copy was written in 1968. We’ve gotten much, much better since then.

The Other One Worst:
The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights (Farrar, Straus and Giroux):

I’m not even going to bother writing it out. They just took the introduction and used it as flap copy. Lazy, lazy, lazy. Bad copy writers.

I didn’t read as much as much, as I have in past months… but then, it’s hot, I was on vacation, and I tackled Alexandre Dumas. I guess I can’t have it all. So… the best of what I read:

5. Breaking Dawn (Little, Brown): “When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved? To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, she has endured a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife to reach the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fate of two tribes hangs. Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating and unfathomable consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella’s life — first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse — seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed… forever? The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.”

Yeah, I didn’t like the book all that much… but I have to admit: this flap is great at luring a reader in. Especially if you’ve read the other three.

4. Crown Duel: The Crown and Court Duet, Book 1 (Jane Yolen Books): “In a cold and shabby tower room, in a cold and shabby castle, young Countess Meliara and her brother, Branaric, swear to their dying father that they will defend their people from the growing greed of the king. But that promise may cost them everything they cherish. It leads them into a war for which they are ill-prepared, a war that threatens the homes and lives of the very people they are trying to protect. Worse still, it lands one of the pair in a torture chamber and leaves the other with an arrow in the back. Full of action, intrigue, and a touch of magic, Crown Duel is not only a novel of treachery and revolution but also the story of a hardy young heroine’s coming-of-age.”

It does have a little bit of the problem of letting us know stuff that happens late in the novel, and it’s not entirely accurate, but it is compelling…

Hello from Spokane, Washington! I’m up here (25 1/2 hours in the car getting here… not fun, but we survived!) reunioning with Hubby’s family. I thought I’d get this off before the reunion got underway (too much; Hubby’s off playing D&D with his brothers today…) too much.

I should probably call this the fluff edition of the jacket flap-a-thon, since I don’t think I cracked open a serious book all month. (I topped it off with a trip to see Mamma Mia… let’s just say that my cup of fluff runneth over…) I think I got the fluff out of my system, though I have to admit, it was just perfect for the heat of July. (um. No pun intended there.) So… for the best flaps that fluff books have to offer:

5. The Exiles (Margaret K. McElderry Books): “Nothing ever happened in their family. The four sisters — Ruth, Naomi, Rachel, and Phoebe, ranging in age from thirteen to six — knew that they were faced with another boring summer at home when school ended in a week. They were quite unprepared for the horrid truth. They were being sent instead to spend the summer with their formidable grandmother, known as Big Grandma. Big Grandma was larger then life. She was tall and she ate a lot. She gave orders like a drill sergeant. Though she did not have a dog, the girls found cans of dog food in the kitchen. “Probably it’s for when she turns into a werewolf and hasn’t any grandchildren to chew on,” Naomi suggested. Big Grandma believed that her book-loving granddaughters were lazy and in need of fresh air and hard work. The girls had other ideas, and when every available scrap of reading material had been devoured (including the two books apiece they’d been allowed to bring from home and all of Big Grandma’s cookbooks), they set out in search of alternative entertainment. If Big Grandma thought she could reform her wayward granddaughters, she was mistaken. The adventures and misadventures of Ruth, Naomi, Rachel, and Phoebe, in exile with their Big Grandma, will make readers laugh out loud. This first novel, filled with unforgettable characterization and hilarious incident, is a truly funny book that will be read over and over with delight.”

Cute, if a bit long. Actually, there wasn’t much to work with in the book. I’m impressed that they did this well.

4. An Abundance of Katherines (Libri): “When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun — but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself by Printz medalist John Green, acclaimed author of Looking for Alaska.”

This captures the quirky cuteness of the book quite well. And it makes it sounds as interesting and funny as the book really is.

3. Right Ho, Jeeves (Barrie & Jenkins): “Gussie Fink-Nottle’s knowledge of the life and habits of the common newt was unparalleled throughout the county of Lincolnshire. Drop him in a pond of newts and his behavior would be exemplary, but introduce him to a girl and see him turn pink, yammer and suddenly stampede for the great open spaces. Even when Madeline Basset came into his life, he could not summon up sufficient courage to put the all-important question. Then there was Tuppy Glossop, too, whose distressing lack of tact on the subject of sharks threatened to end forever his romance with the fascinating Angela. With so many broken hearts lying about him, Bertie Wooster could not sit idly by; the happiness of a pal — two pals, in fact — was at stake and the situation called for action. But somehow, Bertie’s best laid schemes, like those of mice and men, went “aft a-gley“, and it was as well that Jeeves was ever at hand, not only to pour oil on the troubled watered of the young master’s machinations, but to give further evidence of his never-failing powers and resource. Right Ho, Jeeves is yet another example of Mr. Wodehouse’s inimitable humor.”

Wodehouse’s inimitable humor. This blurb is quite oojah-cum-spiff, if I do say so myself. Right, ho.

2. The Adoration of Jenna Fox (Henry Holt and Co): “Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn’t remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers? This fascinating novel represents a stunning new direction for acclaimed author Mary Pearson. Set in a near future America, it takes readers on an unforgettable journey through questions of bio-medical ethics and the nature of humanity. Mary Pearson’s vividly drawn characters and masterful writing soar to a new level of sophistication.”

I found this one to be intriguing and enticing with just enough of the plot to make me want to read more.

1. The Juliet Club (Greenwillow): “Italy . . . Shakespeare . . . but no romance? Kate Sanderson inherited her good sense from her mother, a disciplined law professor, and her admiration for the Bard from her father, a passionate Shakespeare scholar. When she gets dumped, out of the blue, for the Practically Perfect Ashley Lawson, she vows never to fall in love again. From now on she will control her own destiny, and every decision she makes will be highly reasoned and rational. She thinks Shakespeare would have approved. So when she is accepted to a summer Shakespeare symposium in Verona, Italy, Kate sees it as the ideal way to get over her heartbreak once and for all. She’ll lose herself in her studies, explore ancient architecture, and eat plenty of pasta and gelato. (Plus, she’ll be getting college credit for it—another goal accomplished!) But can even completely logical Kate resist the romance of living in a beautiful villa in the city where those star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet met and died for each other? Especially when the other Shakespeare Scholars—in particular Giacomo, with his tousled brown hair, expressive dark eyes, and charming ways—try hard to break her protective shell? ‘In fair Verona, where we lay our scene . . . ‘”

Oh, this one is just perfect. Completely had me wanting to read the book. Which totally lived up to the flap.

And the one worst:
Actually there are two this month, and both for the same reason. I’ve harped on it before… there are two things I hate about blurbs: using something that doesn’t come until the end of the book, and placing too much emphasis on the beginning. Both of these are the latter. They’re not bad; they just put undue emphasis on the first few chapters of the book, skewing the reader’s perceptions of the plot. Not good.

13 Little Blue Envelopes (HarperTempest): “Inside little blue envelope 1 are $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket. In envelope 2 are directions to a specific London flat. The note in envelope 3 tells Ginny: Find a starving artist. Because of envelope 4, Ginny and a playwright/thief/bloke-about-town called Keith go to Scotland together, with somewhat disastrous — though utterly romantic — results. But will she ever see him again? Everything about Ginny will change this summer, and it’s all because of the 13 little blue envelopes.”

The Exiles in Love (Aladdin Paperback): “Romantic love enters the lives of the four Conroy sisters when Ruth develops a crush on the school bus driver. Next she finds herself pining for Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre, smitten with the Temporary English teacher (to whom sister Naomi is attracted as well), and infatuated with Aland Adair from the butcher’s shop. Meanwhile, the younger girls have other things on their minds as Rachel longs to become May Queen and Phoebe practices to become an international spy. But when Big Grandma arranges for Philippe, a French boy, to stay with the Conroys, will all the girls fall head over heels for his charms?”

I’m suffering from a cold/allergies, and I feel like I’ve got a head stuffed full of cotton. I’m not sure how coherent this is going to be this month, but I’ll try.

5. Ever (HarperCollins): “Falling in love is easy… even for Kezi, though she knows her days are numbered. And head-over-heels, come-what-may love is inevitable if her heart’s desire is Olus, the Akkan god of the winds. But accepting death is hard, especially when romance is new. Falling in love is easy for Olus if his beloved is Kezi, a beautiful mortal, a dancer and rug weaver from the city of Hyte. But facing Kezi’s approaching death is unbearable. Love brings Kezi the will to fight her fate. Love gives Olus the strength to confront his fears. She questions her faith and seeks truth in dark places. He suffers a god’s trial when she needs a champion. Together — and apart — they encounter spiders with webs of iron, the cruel lord of the land of the dead, the mysterious god of destiny, and the tests of the Akkan gods. If they succeed, they will be together; but if they fail, Olus will have to endure the ultimate loss, and Kezi will have to make the supreme sacrifice. Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine has created a stunning new world of flawed gods, unbreakable vows, and ancient omens. Her story about love, destiny, and belief is spellbinding.”

Actually, it was this jacket flap that made me want to read the book. (Well, that and a couple bloggers’ gushing reviews.) Always a good sign.

4. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Pantheon):“Originally published to wide critical acclaim in France, where it elicited comparisons to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s wise, funny, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran: of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life and of the enormous toll repressive regimes exact on the individual spirit. Marjane’s child’s-eye-view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a stunning reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, through laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.”

I thought this does a good job of giving the reader an overview of the book, illuminating the fact that it’s a graphic novel, and yet not giving away too much of the plot.

3. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street (Alfred A. Knoff): “The Penderwick Sisters are home on Gardam Street and ready for an adventure! But the adventure they get isn’t quite what they had in mind. Mr. Penderwick’s sister has decided it’s time for him to start dating—and the girls know that can only mean one thing: disaster. Enter the Save-Daddy Plan—a plot so brilliant, so bold, so funny, that only the Penderwick girls could have come up with it. It’s high jinks, big laughs, and loads of family warmth as the Penderwicks triumphantly return.”

Short, to the point, and immediatly grabs the people that loved the Penderwicks. I’m not sure how well it’ll do getting readers not familiar with the first book interested, though, and for that reason it’s not higher on the list.

2. the mysterious edge of the heroic world (athenum books for young readers): “Amedeo Kaplan seems just like any other new kid who has moved into the town of St. Malo, Florida, a Navy town where new faces are the norm. But Amedeo has a secret, a dream: More than anything in the world, he wants to discover something — a place, a process, even a fossil — some treasure that no one realizes is there until he finds it. And he would also like to discover a true friend to share these things with. William Wilcox seems like an unlikely candidate for friendship: an aloof boy who is all edges and who owns silence the way other people own words. When Amedeo and William find themselves working together on a house sale for Amedeo’s eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Zender, Amedeo has an inkling that both his wishes may come true. For Mrs. Zender’s mansion is crammed with memorabilia of her long life, and there is a story to go with every piece. Soon the boys find themselves caught up in one particular story — a story that links a sketch, a young boy’s life, an old man’s reminiscence, and a painful secret dating back to the outrages of Nazi Germany. It’s a story that will take them to the edge of what they know about heroism and the mystery of the human heart. Two-time Newbery winner E. L. Konigsburg spins a magnificent tale of art, discovery, friendship, history, and truth.”

I always like it when the jacket flap reflects the style of the book, and I think this one captures E.L. Konigsburg perfectly.

1. The Fall of the Kings (Bantam): “In an ancient city full of dreams, no king rules anymore. And some thing that it’s for the best… Generations ago the last king fell, taking with him the final truths about a race of wizards who ruled at his side. But the blood of kings runs deep in the land and its people, waiting for the coming together of two unusual men: THE GENTLEMAN. Heir to an ancient house and a modern scandal, Theron Campion — a young nobleman of royal lineage — chooses his lovers with reckless abandon. Tormented by his twin duties to his family and his own bright spirit, he seeks solace in the precincts of University. But no one can live in two worlds forever. THE SCHOLAR. A brilliant and charismatic teacher ruled by a passion for knowledge, Basil St. Cloud is in love with the ancient kings. Of course, everyone now knows that the wizards were charlatans, the kings their dupes and puppets. Only Basil is not convinced. Against a rich tapestry of artists and aristocrats, students and strumpets, scheming spies and renegade royalists, Basil and Theron will find themselves playing out an ancient drama destined to blow open their society’s smug vision of itself — and reveal that sometimes the price of uncovering history is being forced to repeat it….”

Not my favorite book this month — actually, it was probably my least favorite — but every time I read this jacket flap copy, I think “wow, that’s gotta be a good book”. That’s got to count for something.

The One Worst:
Sword of the Rightful King (Harcourt, Inc.): “The newly crowned King Arthur is unsure of himself; worse, the people are unsure of him. Too many people want the throne, and treachery is everywhere. Merlin must do something before the king is betrayed, or murdered, or–worst of all–gets married. So Merlin magically places a sword into a slab of rock, lets it be known that whosoever removes the blade will rule all of England, and invites any man who would dare, to try to pull out the sword. After a bit of showmanship, Arthur will draw the blade (with a little magical help, of course), and the people will rally around the young king. Except someone else pulls the sword out first. . . .”

Biggest complaint (yet again): when the jacket flap includes one sentence from the plot that doesn’t happen until the last 30 pages. I kept expecting the whole plot to revolve around the “someone else pulls the sword out first” when that was really an afterthought in the book.