by Julia Golding
ages: 12+
First sentence: “The Fourth Crown Princess of the Blue Crescent Islands had sixteen rituals to observe from the moment of waking to when she broke her fast.”
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Review copy provided by the publisher.

This book has a lot going on; I’m going to do my best to summarize it without giving too much away. A lot of the enjoyment I had with this book was because I didn’t know where it was going next.

Taoshiri was just a goat girl in the furthest reaches of the Blue Crescent Islands until, one day four years ago, she was chosen to be the fourth of the Four Crown Princesses. She was surprised, of course, but accepted the Mother Goddess’s will, trying to be the best princess she could. Then, because of impending war with a bloodthirsty emperor, she’s sent to Gerfal to marry the crown prince Ramil. Not exactly something Taoshiri wants to do, especially when, once she gets there, she finds Ramil to be uncouth, rude, and plain unattractive.

Then — because you know these sorts of things have to happen — they were kidnapped, thrown into all sorts of unpleasant situations, forced to fight for their lives and their countries.

I won’t give away much more than that, because the twists and turns are quite delightful. As is the relationship between Taoshiri and Ramil. But, I think what really made this novel (which I’m still trying to decide whether it was too wordy or just right, and probably wasn’t all that well-written, but I really didn’t care), was the layers of political positioning and religious discussion that went on. It was never spelled out, exactly, but Golding spent a lot of time with religious tolerance and prejudices, with an underlying heartfelt plea for understanding. Much of the conflict in the novel comes from the snap judgements people make about different cultures, in this case the Goddess-worshiping Western culture of the Islands (as opposed to the God-worshiping Eastern cultures). Golding also flips the racial divide: the strangers are the fair-haired, fair-skinned ones, standing out in a darker culture. Though there is some brutality in the Eastern religions, one is never led to believe that worshiping one God (or Goddess) is better than the other, something which I found refreshing.

As for the politics, Golding spent time balancing the love story with the duties a ruler has to make for the good of the state. It was an interesting balance, and I think she managed to play it all out quite well.

One final note: this is a fantasy only because it’s set in the past, in a made-up land. There’s no magic, just adventure, wits, and some grand action. Which made it a lot more fun that I was expecting.

by Sarah Beth Durst
ages: 13+
First sentence: “‘Almost there,’ Grandpa said.”
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Lily has lived her whole life with her Grandpa and her mom in Philadelphia. Never gone anywhere, never done much, mostly because her mom isn’t quite, well, completely all there. She’s artistic and fun and interesting, but is also subject to brain hiccups.

Grandpa, on the other hand, is a graduate of Princeton, and goes to the reunions every year. And this year, the spring of Lily’s junior year, he’s decided to take both Lily and her mom along, much to Lily’s excitement: Princeton is exactly where she wants to go to school.

But once she gets there, she discovers that not everything is exactly as it seems. The gargoyles talk. Her father is a Knight. There’s a boy with black and orange hair. And there’s a whole alternative Princeton, full of magical creatures. And Lily’s been given a test to find the Key. Little does she know how deeply her family is involved in all this.

It’s a clever premise, making an old institution like Princeton magical, creating a whole alternate universe that’s connected through the Princeton gate. Durst plays with ideas of unity and cooperation as well as touching on fear of the unknown and how that tends to make groups overly cautious. She also addresses the idea of doing wrong for the right reasons. There’s adventure and romance (a bit of a love triangle) as well.

But, even with all that, it didn’t quite work for me. I usually love Durst’s stuff, but this one felt off. The romance didn’t quite work, even though the boys were more than awesome. The bad guy wasn’t evil enough for me. And then there’s the whole fact that she introduced a whole new character two-thirds of the way through the book. Generally, that doesn’t bother me, but it was enough of a plot twist that it threw me for a loop. It changed the game, and it made things a lot darker than they were initially setting out to be. And while I liked the dark element, the timing felt off to me.

That said, it really made me want to visit Princeton.

by Janette Rallison
ages: 10-14
First sentence: “Dear Professor Goldengill, Thank you for another opportunity to raise my semester grade with an extra credit project.”
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Review copy provided by the publisher

I read the first book in this series, My Fair Godmother, out loud to C about two years ago. In going back and looking at what I wrote, this jumped out at me: “I’m not sure how well this would stand up if I had read it by myself, but I really enjoyed reading it aloud.”

It stood out because I didn’t read this one out loud to C, and found that it worked just as well as a read as it did as a read-aloud.

My Unfair Godmother is the second book, and while it helps if you’ve read the first, it’s not necessary. The only returning people are Chrissy — the very lackadaisical, and somewhat incompetent fairy godmother, who has just picked up moonlighting as the tooth fairy since she can’t seem to get into the Fairy Godmother University — and her erstwhile (and somewhat grumpy) assistant Clover, the leprechaun. Everything else is new, though the premise plays out in much the same way.

Tansy Miller has been angry at her father since he and his mother divorced. He’s been too busy for her, what with a new family and moving to Arizona from New York and all. So, the fall that she’s sent to live with them — because her mom and younger sister are on tour with a Broadway touring company — she is not the happiest person around. Of course, that means she falls in with the wrong crowd, mostly to make her dad angry (it works), which culminates with her getting caught red-handed with a can of spray paint and thrown into jail.

The last thing she needs is a fairy godmother. And she really doesn’t get one; Chrissy’s only a fair godmother, and even though she grants Tansy three wishes, she doesn’t exactly deliver them the way Tansy thinks they should be delivered. After bring Robin Hood and the Merry Men forward to our time, Chrissy sends Tansy — and her father, mother, step-brother, and the police chief’s (cute) son — back to the Middle Ages, where they need to play out the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin.

Rallison puts a twist on the fairy tale by combining it with Robin Hood, and spins them both delightfully. Tansy is a interesting combination of anger and loneliness, a heroine who doesn’t want to save the day (or even herself). Underneath all the humor, adventure and, yes, romance, it’s really a story about family and loss: learning to forgive and accept the family you’ve got,even when they disappoint you. And learning to understand, accept and forgive yourself for the bad things that happen in life.

It’s fluff, sure, but it’s good, enjoyable fluff.

by Anne Osterlund
ages: 13+
First sentence: “Hoofbeats thundered from behind.”
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Release date: April 28, 2011
Review copy sent to me by the author

There will be spoilers for Aurelia. You have been forewarned.

(And if you haven’t read Aurelia yet, you really should.)

When we left our fair heroine and — her, um, companion/protector — Robert, had just survived an assassination attempt. In the wake of that, and of Aurelia being unmade the heir of the kingdom, Robert, Aurelia and several guards are sent off on a tour of the Kingdom of Tyralt. Little did they know that this would be the most dangerous thing they’ve ever done. They have to fight off another assassination attempt, make their way through some of the most difficult terrain, and perhaps most daunting, figure out their feelings for each other.

Anne Osterlund has a knack for writing sweeping stories, ones that are full of suspense, action and romance. Ones that keep you engaged in the book, wondering what’s going to happen next, rooting for the characters all the way. All the best elements of Aurelia are there: she’s still a kick-butt heroine, passionate and determined; he’s still a swoon-worthy partner. Osterlund knows how to write action, and how to take readers on some pretty wild twists and turns, and yet grounds it all in some pretty intense ideas of freedom and loyalty.

The question is, then: what’s going to happen next to our fair duo?

by Robin McKinley
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Because she was a princess she had a pegasus.”

I love Robin McKinley, I really do. And so I hate to say that I didn’t finish this book. I wanted to finish this book. I wanted to love, or at least like, this book. But I just didn’t.

The concept is interesting: McKinley imagines a world where pegasi are a species of intelligent beings, with language and culture and kings, but fragile ones. So, they make a pact with the humans for protection. They will bond the ruling humans and pegasi together in exchange for keeping the land safe. The only problem is that they need magicians to communicate.

That is, until princess Sylvi bonds with her pegasus, Ebon. They can talk, not just bits and snatches that they come to understand, but really communicate. And, of course (though I never really could figure out why), this causes all sorts of problems.

Honestly? I got bogged down in the setting up of the world. I was halfway through the book, and the story hadn’t hardly started. It was history, it was world building, and while it was interesting, it wasn’t engaging. I wanted it to be. But at some point, I realized it just wasn’t working for me. So, I skipped around and read the ending. Which, if that’s the end ending, it’s just wrong. It’s a horrible ending, and if I had invested even more time in the book, I would have been more upset.

As it was, I was just disappointed. I suppose even Robin McKinley can’t win them all.

by Catherine Fisher
ages: 13+
First sentence: “The alleyway was so narrow that Attia could lean against one wall and kick the other.”
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If you haven’t read Incarceron, you’ll probably want to skip this review, because there’s no way to talk about Sapphique without giving away the ending of the first one. That also begs the question: WHY haven’t you read Incarceron?

Finn has made it out of Incarceron, discovering that Outside isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. He’s got endless Protocol, and after the relative freedom of the prison (ironic, yes), it’s driving him batty. He thought he could remember his past once he got outside, but is finding even that isn’t what he’d hoped. Claudia, who was banking on the belief that Finn was the lost prince, is even having second guesses. On top of that, Finn’s oathbrother Kiero and their friend (such as it is) Attia are still stuck in Incarceron, still looking for a way out. That knowledge haunts Finn, because he feels it’s his fault that they couldn’t escape with them. And to add insult to injury, there’s another claimant for the throne, one that Finn and Claudia are sure has been put up by the current, not so nice, queen. Finn has to prove something he doesn’t quite believe in himself, both his and Claudia’s lives are forfeit.

On the inside, Kiero and Attia are looking for the Glove of Sapphique, a magical item that legends say helped Sapphique escape from the prison. Is the glove real? Can they find it? And more than that, will they be able to stop the prison from escaping itself.

This book is much like Incarceron: complex, intricate, yet held together with brilliant writing and plotting. It’s not a romance: everyone in the book is working to save their life and/or the world that they know, to just survive. And yet there are moments of tenderness, of reflection, and insight as well. It’s a good follow-up book, wrapping things up quite nicely, yet leaving room for another book, if Fisher so chooses (I have no idea if she will or not). And while Finn is meandering aimlessly, and Kiero is his still-annoying self, the girls carry the book: Attia is amazing, finding hidden resources and connections that otherwise would have gone missing. And Claudia, even with her doubting, handles the scheming and plotting of the court quite admirably. The unsung hero award, however, goes to Master Jared: Claudia’s tutor and father-figure, he’s the one who finds most of the answers to the questions, as well as ultimately saving the day. He’s remarkable.

At the very least, Fisher is an author to keep an eye out for.

by Jonathan Stroud
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Sunset above the olive groves.”
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Ah, Bartimaeus. I’ve missed you.

I’ve missed your snarky footnotes, your adventures, your soft spot for humans, your insights. I could go back and read the other three books, true, but I’m so happy to have you back in a new story.

Stroud re-imagines Solomon and his reign in Jerusalem, using the same world of magicians and spirits he created for the previous Bartimaeus books. The basic idea is this: what if Solomon had a ring, something which accesses magic more terrible, more powerful than any other magician. This allows him to create peace and prosperity. However, he also employs magicians, some of which are not too nice. It’s one of these that summons Bartimaeus and keeps him in servitude. Of course, Bartimaeus being Bartimaeus, he tends to get into trouble a lot. As a punishment, he’s off in the desert cleaning up bandits. Which is where he meets Asmira.

She’s not any ordinary girl, but one of the personal guards of the Queen of Sheba. Sent to Jerusalem on a quest to assassinate Solomon and steal the ring, she’s fairly single minded in her quest. She falls in with Bartimaeus and between the two of them, they attempt the impossible.

It’s a great book for the same reason the rest of the trilogy is great. It’s as fabulously imagined world, and Baritmaeus is a grand character. There’s action and adventure, loathesome bad guys, and an undercurrent of intriguing and deep ideas to think about. It falls apart a bit at the end, but, mostly it lives up to the reputation of the Bartimaeus books.

And you can’t beat that.