Dragon Castle

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by Joseph Bruchac
ages: 12+
First sentence: “A monumental tapestry decorates the wide back wall of the Great Hall in Hladka Hvorka, my family’s large old castle.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Prince Rashko is convinced he’s the only intelligent one in his family. His parents are odd, always spouting proverbs, talking in obscure riddles, never quite making sense. His older brother, Paulek, has a knack with animals, but can’t seem to remember pertinent information. So, when his parents disappear and the evil Baron Temny his minions take up residence looking for something, though no one quite knows what, Rashko figures it’s up to him to save everyone from their foolishness, hopefully thwarting Temny’s plans.

It took a while to get into the story. Partially, because of the use of Slovak with an immediate English translation (ie, ” Ano. Yes.”) kept pulling me out of the story. What I really, really wanted was a pronunciation guide in the back. I found alternating between Rashko’s story and Pavol’s legend to be disconcerting at first, but after a while I figured out the purpose of it, and thus was better able to understand why the book was written that way.

I also figured out the “lesson” (and the trick) of the book fairly early on. I thought it would bother me more that I did, but after a while I realized that the reader was supposed to figure it out. In many ways, we were more informed and less judgmental of the situation than  Rashko was, something which added to the telling of the story in the end. It was a lot of set up, but it ultimately paid off: the ending was quite the battle scene, with a surprising climax.

Not a bad little fantasy.

Archer’s Quest

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by Linda Sue Park
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Kevin ripped the page out of his notebook and crumpled it into a ball, making it as hard and tight as he could.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Kevin is in seventh grade, struggling to figure out where he fits in. He’s not a math genius like his dad. In fact, he’s not really good at school at all. He’s not good at sports. He’s not into his Korean heritage. He’s just kind of there.

Until one day, at home trying to figure out homework, his world changes. Out of nowhere, a man, called Skillful Archer, is a legendary ruler from ancient Korea. It’s up to Kevin to help him figure out how to get Archer back home. Before the end of the night, which signifies the end of the Tiger year on the Chinese calendar.

On the one hand, this is full of Korean history and tradition. It’s fascinating to learn about Archer — Chu-mong, a historical figure — as he and Kevin work together to return him to his time.

On the other hand, though, it’s quite simplistic, even for a middle grade novel. Archer comes, he teaches Kevin Valuable Lessons, and then he leaves. What really bothered me is that Kevin didn’t seem to do anything. Though perhaps that was the point: he didn’t do much but follow Archer around — though he did have to explain things like cars and computers — until the end, when he figured out how to be more proactive in his life. It didn’t make for a very interesting novel, but I suppose it was true to the character.

Not bad. Not great, but not bad either.

My Reading for the Next Six Weeks (Cybils Shortlist Are Out!)

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I love New Year’s Day: new year, new beginnings, and the best part: Cybils shortlists are out! Being a round 2 judge, I get the privilege of reading these fine books over the next six weeks. I’m quite excited, to say the least! However, I feel I need to give you a heads up as well: I’m not allowed to publish reviews of these before the final decision is announced, so my reviewing over the next month may be spotty. I’m going to try and read other books so I have something to put up, but we’ll see. Also: don’t forget to pop by the Cybils site to see the other nominees!


Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book
by Tom Angleberger
Amulet
Nominated by: Madelyn Rosenberg
Read this you must. The students of Ralph McQuarrie Middle School are back in  the sequel to Tom Angleberger’s best selling middle grade novel The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, last year’s Cybils winner in this category. In Darth Paper, our hero, Dwight is suspended and it is up to Tommy and Kellen to save him from expulsion. Unfortunately for Dwight, Harvey and Darth Paper have other plans.

Written as a series of case files, Darth Paper continues the magic first found in Origami Yoda. Darth Paper has something for every reader: Star Wars references, humor, crushes, and a powerful ending.
–Colby Sharp, Sharp Read


Ghetto Cowboy
by G. Neri
Candlewick Press
Nominated by: Alison
Cole has finally pushed his mother to the breaking point. His poor attitude, failing grades and truancy have left her no choice but to drive him from their home in Detroit to Philadelphia where he will live with the father he has never met. There, Cole’s father leads a band of cowboys who not only rescue horses but also guide local youth away from the mean streets that surround the stables. As Cole learns to care for the horses, he begins to understand the importance of growing into an honorable young man.

Based on a true account of Philadelphia’s Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, told in urban vernacular and complimented by Jesse Joshua Watson’s pencil-stroked illustrations, Ghetto Cowboy is an engaging and accessible coming of age story whose dedication page gets at the heart of its message: rise up and ride on.
 –Cheryl Vanati, Reading Rumpus


Nerd Camp
by Elissa Brent Weissman
Atheneum
Nominated by: Jennifer Donovan
Gabe, 10, has been accepted in a prestigious 6-week summer camp, SCGE or the Summer Camp for Gifted Enrichment, which other kids in the school call the Smart Camp for Geeks and Eggheads. He’s excited about going, but he wants to impress his step-brother-to-be Zack, the ultimate cool guy, who he’s just recently met. He begins wondering how he’s going to look in Zack’s eyes. So, he does what any geek gifted kid would do –he makes a logic proof, which he adds to throughout the summer:

Problem: Am I a nerd who has only nerdy adventures?
Hypothesis: No

Gabe and his new camp friends Wesley and Nikhil are sweet, funny, and self-aware. They’re proud of their brains, and if that makes them a bit nerdy, so be it. Nerd Camp is full of both humor and heart and reinforces the beauty of loving yourself for who you are.

–Jennifer Donovan, 5minutesforbooks.com


The Friendship Doll
by Kirby Larson
Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Mary Ann Scheuer
Take four stories spanning more than a decade of the Great Depression—each of which captures a pivotal moment in the life of a child—link them through the awakening heart of a Japanese doll, and you have one of this year’s most compelling books for middle grade readers. At the heart of the book is Miss Kanagawa, one of 58 Ambassadors of Friendship sent by Japan to the United States in 1927. Each part of the book focuses on the story of a different girl, interwoven with Miss Kanagawa’s own experiences and snippets of news articles. The narrative voices are rich, distinct and authentic, creating an effortless read with great pacing. The Friendship Doll’s four-part structure and seamless blending of the numinous with the everyday has a mesmerizing effect that makes this book hard to put down. An engaging book and timeless tale for 9-to-12 year olds.

–Grier Jewell, Fizzwhizzing Flushbunker


The Great Wall Of Lucy Wu
by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Scholastic
Nominated by: Sondra Eklund
Lucy is going to have the best year ever in the 6th grade, but things get off to a rocky start. A great-aunt is going to come from China and live in her room, she has to go to Chinese school, and she has to deal with the evil Sloane who is challenging her to be captain of the 6th grade basketball team. Luckily, she has a great friend, a crush that just might work out, and a good sense of humor. This funny but surprisingly deep novel explores the painful process that so many adolescents go through–feeling a need to build “great walls” between themselves and their families, while still wanting to love and be loved by them.
–Karen Yingling, Ms.Yingling Reads


Warp Speed
by Lisa Yee
Arthur A Levine
Nominated by: Sarah Wendorf
Meet Marley Sandelski: seventh-grader, A/V club regular, major Star Trek fan (Original Series, of course), and, as he notes in his Captain’s Log, “invisible” to everyone but the school bullies. His single line of defense? Running. Running very, very fast. When his speed puts him on the track coach’s radar and he makes an unexpected connection with a girl (if he can just stop bursting into Klingon around her), he starts feeling all too visible. The time is coming for Marley to stop running and stand up for himself. With quirky yet realistic situations and characters (including cameo appearances by characters from Yee’s other novels), Warp Speed addresses the very serious issue of bullying with compassion and humor without ever getting bogged down as a “message” book. Readers of all ages will feel like they know the kids of Rancho Rosetta, and they will be rooting for Marley to “live long and prosper”.
 –Beth Gallego, Points West


Words In The Dust
by Trent Reedy
Arthur A Levine
Nominated by: Greg Leitich Smith
“Donkey face.” That’s what the local boys call 13-year-old Zulaikha, an Afghan girl with a cleft lip. At home, Zulaikha is constantly harried by her strict stepmother, so very different from Zulaikha’s own mother, who was killed by the Taliban. Enter the Americans. A convoy, traveling through the village, spots Zulaikah. They return with a medical officer–a woman, much to the dismay of the Afghans–who tells Zulaikah’s father that she thinks the girl’s lip can be fixed. The American-Afghan relationship is shown in all its complexity, with the understanding that, for the Afghans, the Americans are strange creatures, powerful yet uncomprehending of even the simplest of Afghan cultural courtesies.

The debut novel by Trent Reedy, who served in the U.S. military in Afghanistan, will stay with you long after the last page has been turned. The setting and the understanding of Afghan customs and life are so well drawn, you will find it hard to believe that this novel wasn’t written by a young Afghan woman herself.

–Michael Gettel-Gilmartin, Middle Grade Mafioso

My Best of 2011

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By the Numbers:

Middle Grade Fiction: 57
YA Fiction: 45
Graphic Novels: 7
Non-Fiction:18
Adult Fiction: 30
(Number of those that were sci-fi/fantasy books: 49)

Grand Total:157

Abandoned: 9

Challenges Completed: I only did three this year: Once Upon a Time, The Great Blogger Book Swap, and the People Of Color Challenge. I hit my goal in the POC challenge, finished the Once Upon a Time, and did less than I hoped on the Great Blogger Book Swap. I’m wondering if I should just be done with challenges for a while.

And now this year’s awards:

Best Adult Fiction: The Night Circus 
Best YA book: I’ll Be There 
Best Middle-grade book: Okay For Now 
Best Fantasy: Daughter of Smoke and Bone 
Best Sci-Fi/Distopian: Divergent 
Best Graphic Novel: Zita the Spacegirl 
Best Non-Fiction: The Disappearing Spoon 
Best Romance: The Grand Sophy 
Best Mystery(I read more than one this year!):  The Devil Went Down to Austin 
Best Audiobook: The True Meaning of Smekday 
Best Jacket Flap: How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack

And in other categories…

Okay, okay, so the hype isn’t always wrong: The Night Circus, The Help

Books I should have read AGES ago: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Cold Sassy Tree, Beowulf, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Hattie Big Sky 

Author I overdosed on this year: Rick Riordan (a grand total of 6, plus I read the Percy Jackson series aloud to A.) 

Favorite Reviews: Scones and Sensibility, Heat Wave 

The Wink-Wink, Nudge-Nudge book: good heavens. I shelved a lot of romance fiction, but didn’t read a single one. Favorite worst title: The Oldest Living Married Virgin. 

Best *Swoon* Factor: Uncommon Criminals, Anna and the French Kiss 

Satire isn’t just for English Majors: Beauty Queen 

Best Interviewee: Clare Vanderpool (whom I have seen in person now, but have yet to talk to…) 

Best book with the longest title:  The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making 

Best book with the worst cover:  The Trouble With May Amelia 

Best book for those sick of vampires: Drink, Slay, Love 

Favorite reread: The Great Gatsby, On Fortune’s Wheel, The Wee Free Men 

Woo-hoo, they’re back!: Son of Neptune, The Demon’s Surrender 

Can we have the sequel NOW?: Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, Divergent, The Hidden Gallery, Liar’s Moon 

They’re commercial brain candy, but I liked them anyway: Heat Wave, Naked Heat, Heat Rises 

Book for in-person book group I liked best: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency 

Book for on-line book group I liked best: Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer 

Books I finished but didn’t feel the love for: The Cross Gardener, Same Kind of Different as Me 

Number of Shakespeare plays I read: 1 – Twelfth Night. And we saw Taming of the Shrew, and about a third of Troilous and Cressida. The latter one was rained out. 

Disappointing book by an author I respect: Pay the Piper 

Books that made me laugh the most:  Seriously… I’m Kidding, Knucklehead 

Can I move in next door?: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette 

Best quirky book: The Chronicles of Harris Burdick 

Author everyone else loves that I discovered I liked:  Mercedes Lackey (The Fairy Godmother) 

Best book from an author I previously didn’t care for: Daughter of the Forest, Keeper 

First-time authors I’d love to see more from: Sarah Stevenson (The Latte Rebellion),  Erin McCahan (I Now Pronounce You Someone Else), Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich (8th Grade Superzero) 

Theme(s) that inadvertently manifested themselves: Greek gods (Son of Neptune, Gods Behaving Badly, Athena and Zeus); The South (Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Help, all the Texas mystery books, Friday Night Lights, Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, Lions of Little Rock); Death/Loss (The Cross Gardner, Same Kind of Different as Me, Chime, Cures for Heartbreak, Angel in My Pocket)

What are some of your bests this past year?

December Jacket Flap-a-thon

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This is just a teaser… my best of post is coming tomorrow!

Divergent (Katherine Tegen Books): “In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her. Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

A bit long, but it houses all the pertinent information in one place. It came in handy, when I wanted to figure out which faction was what. 
 

Dead End in Norvelt (Macmillian Young Readers): “Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is “grounded for life” by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack’s way once his mom loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launched on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air. Dead End in Norvelt is a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Fiction title for 2011. One of Horn Book’s Best Fiction Books of 2011.”

So, this is the reason I read the book: the flap copy, and though it sounded fantastic. Too bad it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.

Liar’s Moon (Arthur A. Levine Books): “Prisons, poisons, and passions combine in a gorgeously written fantasy noir by the author of the Morris Award-winning A CURSE DARK AS GOLD. As a pickpocket, Digger expects to spend a night in jail every now and then. But she doesn’t expect to find Lord Durrel Decath there as well–or to hear he’s soon to be executed for killing his wife. Durrel once saved Digger’s life, and when she goes free, she decides to use her skills as a thief, forger, and spy to investigate his case and return the favor. But each new clue only opens up more mysteries. While Durrel’s marriage was one of convenience, his behavior has been more impulsive than innocent. His late wife had an illegal business on the wrong side of the civil war raging just outside the city gates. Digger keeps finding forbidden magic in places it has no reason to be. And it doesn’t help that she may be falling in love with a murderer . . .”

I love that 1) it doesn’t give anything away from the first book in the series, and 2) it doesn’t give away much of anything this book, and yet it sounds incredibly intriguing.

Other books read this month:
Heat Rises
Guys Read: Thriller (DNF)
The City of Orphans (DNF)
The Power of One (DNF)
The Lions of Little Rock
At Home (audiobook)
Seriously… I’m Kidding
Words in the Dust
Liesl and Po
Crossing to Safety
Pie
Tuesdays at the Castle
Rebel Island

Rebel Island

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by Rick Riordan
ages: adult
First sentence: “We got married in a thunderstorm.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Tres Navarre has finally married his longtime (on and off) girlfriend, Maia, and now they’re off (with Tres’s brother Garrett in tow) to they’re belated honeymoon to Rebel Island: an old haunt of the Navarre family, and not really one that has good memories. And because Tres is who he is, and trouble seems to follow him around, they encounter a weekend like no other: a major hurricane on top of a killer on the loose.

It doesn’t get much better than that.

Except, well, it does. Out of the several things I noticed while reading this, the one that stood out the most was that it really didn’t need to be written. Mission Road was a good stopping point for the series, and while I guess it’s nice to know that Tres and Maia got married, and are having a kid, it’s not really necessary to have a whole book about that point. The other thing was you can tell that Riordan consciously pulled back on these novels; while there’s still language in this book, it’s not nearly as gritty as the earlier Tres Navarre books are. You can almost see him thinking, “Dang! I’ve got kids reading my books. What if they want to read these, too? Better not make them as foul as they used to be.”

On top of that, it just didn’t read as well as the earlier Tres Navarre books. It was a quick read, but unfortunately predicable (at one point, I thought, “Oh, man, I hope he doesn’t make him out to be the bad guy…”), and even the little twist at the end didn’t redeem it for me. It was all ho-hum, formulaic, and not particularly exciting.

It’s not that it was a bad book; I just didn’t feel Tres and company were up to the standard that I’ve come to expect.

2011 Challenge: The POC Challenge

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My goal was 25, and I managed to read 29. Though I’ve noticed that many of these books have non-white characters but are written by white people. I think in 2012 I’m going to try to read more books by non-white authors.

Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
Forge, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Street Magic, by Tamora Pierce
The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex
King of Bollywood, by Anupama Chopra
India Calling, by Anand Giridharadas
Luv Ya Bunches, by Lauren Myracle
Violet in Bloom, by Lauren Myracle
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Sweet 15, by Emily Adler and Alex Echevarria
Trash, by Andy Mulligan
The Throne of Fire, by Rick Riordan
A Gift From Childhood, by Baba Wague Diakite
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
The Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus
8th Grade Superzero, by Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich
How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy, by Crystal Allen
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
What Momma Left Me, by Renee Watson
Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai
Year of the Horse, by Justin Allen
The Demon’s Surrender, by Sarah Rees Brennan
The Eternal Smile: Three Stories, by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
Kendra, by Coe Booth
Zazoo, by Richard Mosher
Latasha and the Little Red Tornado, by Michael Scotto
The Latte Rebellion, by Sarah Jamila Stevenson
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
Words in the Dust, by Trent Reedy

2011 Challenges: The Great Blogger Book Swap

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At the beginning of the year, I had grand plans for this challenge. I was going to read all the books, first off. It was going to be great. As it was, I barely finished (well, mostly, anyway) my 11 just in time for the end of the year. Lesson? Don’t plan big.

Corinne‘s list for me:On Fortune’s Wheel by Cynthia Voigt
Precious Bane by Mary Webb
The Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
Pastwatch or Wyrms by Orson Scott Card
Bonus: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith

Of these, I liked A Tree Grows in Brooklyn best. It was a bout time I read that one. Pastwatch comes in a close second, though.

Tricia’s list for me:
The Lincolns ~ Candace Fleming
Unwind ~ Neal Shusterman
Crossing to Safety ~ Wallace Stegner
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie ~ Jordan Sonnenblick
The Power of One ~ Bryce Courtenay (I didn’t finish this one…)

Of these, Crossing to Safety gets my favorite vote, hands down. It’s a gorgeous novel.

Tuesdays at the Castle

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by Jessica Day George
ages: 9+
First sentence: “Whenever Castle Glower became bored, it would grow a new room or two.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Eleven-year-old Princess Cecilia — Celie to her family and friends — loves living in Castle Glower. She’s made it her job to know all the nooks and crannies and shortcuts, from the long-established ones, to the ones that crop up periodically. See, Castle Glower is definitely magical, and may be alive: it has opinions about the residents there (the state of your rooms is a definite indicator of its opinion of you), and chooses the person who would be best to rule the castle. Everything is grand at Castle Glower.

That is, until the King and Queen leave to pick up their oldest son from the Wizard College, leaving Celie and her two older siblings —  heir apparent Rolf, and sister Leliah — in the care of the castle. Unfortunately, the royals were attacked, and presumed dead. Suddenly, the council and neighboring countries are all over the Castle, supposedly “helping” Rolf take the throne. But the castle hasn’t changed the rooms; perhaps their parents aren’t dead after all? It’s a lot to take in, and that’s not even mentioning the creepy Vhervhish prince that is overstepping his boundaries. It’s up to Celie — and the castle — to stop what may have been a tragedy from becoming a calamity.

It’s a cute and clever little book; I think the premise is the strongest part of the book, though I really liked Celie as a character. Sure, the plot was a bit rushed, and I thought that maybe things wrapped up too tidily, especially since this is being hailed as a “start of a series.” But then, I’m not the target audience, and I’m sure that younger readers and fantasy lovers will really enjoy this one. (I’m planning on reading it to A as soon as we get done with our current reading.)

Pie

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by Sarah Weeks
ages: 9+
First sentence: “Thank you very much.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Weird. Odd. Strange. Kinda charming. But really weird.

The basic story: Alice’s favorite (and only) Aunt Polly has run a famous pie shop — well, it’s not really a shop since she gives the pies away — for a long time. She is incredibly altruistic: happy doing something she’s good at, refusing to take compensation (even though she wins the coveted main pie prize, the Blueberry Award, every year) for it.

Then she suddenly dies, leaving the recipe to her cat and the cat to Alice. This starts a chain of events that includes catnapping, the entire town baking pies, Alice discovering a new friend, and a misunderstanding getting resolved.

First off: the mother? Seriously? Needs to get her head checked. She’s incredibly self-absorbed, wrapped up in jealousy of her (now dead) sister. She does an about face at the end of the book, but it came out of nowhere, which made it really unbelievable. I didn’t like her, though perhaps I could see where she was coming from. And the father, who kept saying “Don’t sass your mother”, was a bit off-kilter as well. The whole book was kind of like that anyway: it was good enough, but really, really weird. It wasn’t quite a mystery, it wasn’t quite a historical novel (though it’s set in 1955, nothing really screamed “1955” to me; it would have been just fine if it were contemporary), it wasn’t quite a coming of age novel, it wasn’t quite a dealing with loss novel, it wasn’t quite a foody novel (even though there’s recipes). It tried to be all of them, and by doing that fell short of doing any of them well. And it just gave off a really weird vibe, which I know is vague, but that’s how it felt to me.

Thankfully, it only took me an hour to read.