Enchanted Ivy

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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.

The Fairy Godmother

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by Mercedes Lackey
ages: adult
First sentence: “This is not the way to spend a beautiful spring morning! Elena Klovis thought, as she peered around the pile of bandboxes in her arms.”
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Elena was supposed to be stuck in a tale. You know, the one where she sleeps by the fireplace, spending her days doing all sorts of grudge work for her step-mother and step-sisters? And then she gets to go to the ball and marry a prince?

Except, she doesn’t.

She turns 21, and her step-mother and -sisters decide that this part of the Kingdom isn’t doing them any favors (not to mention that their debts are mounting), so they take off and leave Elena the house. Which the debtors then claim. Elena figures that she can’t do any worse in life, and so tries to get hired out.

And that’s when her life gets interesting. She is picked up as an Apprentice to the Fairy Godmother. See, in the 500 Kindgoms, there’s this thing called The Tradition: magic that is pushing, pulling, forcing people into tales. And it’s the Godmother’s role to direct, push, pull, prod and help people into, along in, or out of these stories. The best part of the book, I think, was working with Elena as she learned about the magic and how to manipulate the stories. The Tradition is a powerful thing, and if one doesn’t think about what one wishes, or even says, dire consequences abound. There were clever asides to several fairy tales, as well as the categorization of characters. It’s all very organized and delineated, which made me smile.

Of course, there has to be a love interest, and that shows up in the form of Alexander, the stubborn prince who ends up as a donkey for several chapters. He’s arrogant, angry and conceited, but eventually learns his lesson and takes on his own destiny, which includes breaking tradition and falling in love with a Godmother. I expected things to slow way down, but Lackey has got her books down (she should after as many as she’s written), and managed to throw a couple of steamy sex scenes in there as well as giving us a big finale to end on, both which served to, um, keep my interest.

It’s fluff, but it’s fun, enjoyable fantasy fluff. And I can’t say anything bad about that at all.

Sunday Salon: An Ode to Travel Books

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(I know it’s Mother’s Day, here in the US. I’m not particularly fond of it — even though I am being spoiled with breakfast in bed served by my beautiful daughters — so I’m not going to write about it.)

At my in-person book group this month, we got to talking about traveling, both with and without kids. At one point, I said that I long to travel and to see new things, and that it sometimes frustrates me that I won’t get to see all I want to see. Then I said, “That’s why I read travel books.” I immediately thought of this piece that I first wrote this for Estella’s Revenge, back in May 2008. I thought it’d be good to share again.

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I adore travel books.

By “travel books,” I don’t mean the travel guides that line the shelves of the bookstore with lists of what to do and where to go (though I have to admit, I do like reading those, too), nor do I mean novels where a certain place is essential to the plot. No, what I mean are the non-fiction books, an author taking a journey somewhere, experiencing a different life for a while, and then writing about his or her experience.
Those are the travel books I love.

I have also called them “place books” because, for me, the most important element of the book needs to be a sense of wonder and excitement and anticipation about the places the author sees and the people the author meets. Without some element of respect and wonder, the book just becomes a catalog of events, a journey not worth taking. But with it, the book transports, taking me places and doing things I would never dream of doing (like giving up normal life for a house in Tuscany, or sailing the world following Captain Cook, or walking the length of the Appalachian Trail), experiencing new, unusual, and sometimes incredible places and people.

I love these books for many reasons. It’s because I can be inspired and entertained by these escapades in ways I can’t when they are fictional characters. Real people did these real things: it’s enough to motivate me to be just a little bit better, work just a little bit outside the mold, and think a bit more outside the box. It’s also because they’re accessible: most of these writers are journalists, and they write in a way that resonates with me in ways that novelists sometimes don’t. And it’s partly because it allows me to see the world in a way I couldn’t when I travel, even if I could imagine myself going some of these places. I want to visit Antigua, and live there for a month, and get to know the local people, but time and money and lifestyle just don’t mesh with that ideal. I admire these people, admire their willingness to get up and go and do.

Perhaps there’s a bit of a traveler in all of us, wanting to reach out and experience something beyond our mundane lives. Here is a list of 15 of my favorites, as well as others that sound interesting, to get you started (all descriptions of books I haven’t read came — in part — from Powells.com):

1. There will never, ever be a travel list without some book of Bill Bryson’s. He is, in my mind, the king of travel writers, the epitome of interesting journeys, witty observation, and superb writing. My two personal favorites are Walk in the Woods about his experiences walking the Appalachian Trail and In a Sunburned Country, about his escapades across Australia.

2. Around the World in 80 Days — not the Jules Verne novel, but the one by Michael Palin. Yes, it’s the same guy from Monty Python (and A Fish Called Wanda) fame. He’s spent the last 20 years traveling the world for the BBC in a series of specials. Around the World was the first one, the one that started it all. Watch the shows; they are interesting and fun, but also pick up the companion books. Palin’s a good writer with dry wit and self-deprecating humor, yet he never forgets a love and awe for the places he’s been and the people he’s met.

3. Ciao, America! — Capturing the odd sights and scents of Beppe Severgnini’s destination, Washington D.C., this book is a tale of quirky discoveries in a country obsessed with ice cubes, air-conditioning, recliner chairs, and after-dinner cappuccinos. From their first encounters with cryptic rental listings to their back-to-Europe yard sale twelve months later, the Severgninis explore their new territory with the self-described patience of mildly inappropriate beachcombers.

4. Confederates in the Attic — While Tony Horwitz isn’t usually considered a travel writer, I lump him in because his books usually involve some sort of journey and a strong sense of place. I’ve read all his books, but my favorite (hands down) is this one. If you haven’t read his escapades through the deep south, please do. It’s funny, and that’s the God’s-honest truth. (I had a Southern lady tell me once that Horwitz just “got” Southerners.) His newest is A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World — about the Europeans who preceded the Pilgrims to America. Not a travel book, per se, but it sounds fascinating.

5. Down the Nile — I read the blurb on the back of this book, and thought to myself that Rosemary Mahoney is a woman with cahones, because not many women would even consider doing what she did. She was determined to take a solo trip down the Egyptian Nile in a small boat, even though civil unrest and vexing local traditions conspired to create obstacles every step of the way. Whether she’s confronting deeply held beliefs about non-Muslim women, finding connections to past chroniclers of the Nile, or coming to the dramatic realization that fear can engender unwarranted violence, Rosemary Mahoney’s informed curiosity about the world, her glorious prose, and her wit never fail to captivate.

6. Eat, Pray, Love — Facing an early mid-life crisis at age 30, Elizabeth Gilbert decided to take a year of life to find herself. Traveling to Italy (the art of pleasure), India (the art of devotion) and Indonesia (for a balance between the two), this book is the chronicle of her adventures and insights. An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, it’s is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society’s ideals.

7. An Embarrassment of Mangoes — author Ann Vanderhoof and her husband Steve take off for two years on a sailboat and head south from Toronto to the Caribbean. It’s the story of their adventures, of life on a smallish sailboat, and of the people they met on the islands. Wonderful, inspiring and fascinating.

8. The Geography of Bliss — self-proclaimed grump Eric Weiner travels from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby author’s case, moments of “un-unhappiness.” The book uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science and humor to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is.

9. Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa — documentary film maker Karin Muller spends a year in Japan trying to figure out the meaning of wa: a transcendent state of harmony, of flow, of being in the zone. With only her Western perspective to guide her, though, she discovers in sometimes awkward, sometimes awesomely funny interactions just how maddeningly complicated it is being Japanese. She as also written Along the Inca Road, about her journeys in Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and Chile.

10. No Touch Monkey! — Curator of kitsch and unabashed aficionada of pop culture, Ayun Halliday offers bemused, self-deprecating narration of her itinerant foibles as examples of how not to travel abroad. An admitted bumbling vacationer, Halliday shares, with razorsharp wit and to hilarious effect, the travel stories most are too self-conscious to tell. Besides, who can resist a book with a Steven Colbert blurb on the cover?

11. The Royal Road to Romance — This is the oldest travel book I’ve read. It was written in 1925, but it’s an exciting and amazing tale of Richard Halliburton’s journeys around the world. He literally bummed his way, hitching rides on steamers, stealing trips on trains, biking, walking… things that very few people these days would even think of doing. It’s wonderful to read, with a jaunty style that just captivated me. Halliburton was everything a travel writer should be: rash, daring and a lot of fun to accompany on his adventures.

12. Tales of a Female Nomad – In 1986, at the age of 48 and facing an impending divorce, Rita Goldmen Gelman gave up all her possessions and decided to live in third world countries, experiencing what the natives experience. She no longer has a home, and she only owns what she can carry on her back. It’s a fascinating and inspiring tale of her experiences.

13. Under the Tuscan Sun — A love story by Frances Mayes about a her love for a house, a place, a dream. A truly beautiful book to read: her descriptions of the land, the area of Cortone in Tuscany, the house itself and all the renovations, are fabulous and picturesque. She’s written several other books including A Year in the World.

14. A Year in Provence — Like Under the Tuscan Sun, this month-by-month account chronicles the charms and frustrations that Peter Mayle and his wife — and their two large dogs — experience their first year in the remote country of the Luberon restoring a two-centuries-old stone farmhouse that they bought on sight.

15. Yemen: The Unknown Arabia — Writing with an intimacy and a depth of knowledge gained through thirteen years among the Yemenis, Mackintosh-Smith is a traveling companion of the best sort–erudite, witty, and eccentric. Crossing mountain, desert, ocean, and three millennia of history, he reveals a land that, in the words of a contemporary poet, has become the dictionary of its people.

Do you have any others to add to the list?

Mom

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A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps
edited by Dave Isay
ages: adult
First sentence: “StoryCorps launched October 23, 2003, in Grand Central Terminal in New City.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by TLC Tours

I didn’t quite know what to expect, going into this one. It’s a series of conversations from the StoryCorps booths about mothers. Since there’s no coherent narrative, and since every story is just a snippet, really, I figured it’d be an easy, but not very substantial read.

On the one hand, I was right: it was an easy read. I breezed through it in an afternoon, but not only because it’s an easy read. It’s also an engaging one. Maybe it’s because I have an odd fascination with oral histories, but I found the stories, even if they were just snippets, to be fascinating.

There’s stories of mothers dying, of mothers caring, of mothers working, of mothers giving up babies, of mothers adopting children, of hard times and good times. It’s a broad collection of remembrances, from every walk of life. It was touching and interesting and sweet, even if it wasn’t especially memorable or life-changing. A lovely antidote to all the extreme mom stories: both the ones that make you feel guilty because you’re not doing enough, and the ones that make you feel smug because you’re so much better than that.

However, I think it was something Dave Isay wrote in the afterward that moved me the most:

I hope you’ll spread the word about our efforts. We want to encourage the entire nation to take the time to ask life’s important questions of a loved one — or even a stranger — and really listen to the answers. We hope to shower this country with more of the sorts of stories you’ve just read — authentic voices that remind us what’s truly important, that tell real American stories, and that show us all the possibilities life presents when lived to its fullest.

It made me want to seek out a booth for a conversation of my own. Which, I suppose, is the best thing you can get out of the book.

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else

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by Erin McCahan
ages: 15+
First sentence: “I was switched at birth.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Bronwen Oliver, age 18, doesn’t know who she is.

Well, she does, to a point. She doesn’t know how she fits into her family She’s heard from her overbearing and inflexible mom for years that she doesn’t know where Bronwen came from. Bronwen’s mom tries to make her fit; taking her to dye her hair is just the least of things. Her stepfather, Whitt, is a slight buffer, but has become more distant in recent. All this gave rise to a hopeful fantasy of Bronwen’s, that she still sometimes holds on to: that she was switched at birth, and really belongs in someone else’s family.

She’s just been dumped by her boyfriend, because she won’t put out on prom night (gotta give the book props: Bronwen has decided to wait until marriage, and sticks to her guns). Then she meets Jared Sondervan, college senior, swoon-worthy male extraordinaire, home for the summer. It’s not quite love at first sight, but pretty darn close. Soon, they’re spending as much time as they can together, kissing passionately, telling secrets about their deepest selves in spite of Bronwen’s tendency to not rock the boat, and creating memories.

And then Jared proposes.

At first, in spite of all the objections, Brownwen is all gung-ho about the idea. The Sondervans are an incredible family. Bronwen loves their son, so what if she’s 18 and he’s 20?

On the one hand, I loved this little book. It was sweet, romantic, lovely and funny. (Then again, I’m from Michigan, so I get the Ohio jokes.) But it’s not all sweet, romantic, lovely fun: there’s a darker side about acceptance within your family and of yourself. Is she wanting to marry Jared because she loves him, or just because she hates her family? McCahan weaves the two sides of the book together practically seamlessly; like Sarah Dessen’s books, the darkness gives the fluff depth and makes it work better.

On the other hand, I really didn’t like the ending. I won’t spoil it for you, but know that I wished it had ended less fairy-tale-like.

But that wasn’t enough to spoil the rest of the book for me.

Trash

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by Andy Mulligan
ages: 13+
First sentence: “My name is Raphael Fernandez and I am a dumpsite boy.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

There are very few books that can both break your heart, keep you guessing, and make you cheer at the very same time. This is one of those books.

Set in an unnamed third world country (that, because of the author’s background, I visualized as the Philippines), it’s the story of Raphael, Gardo and Rat, boys who spend their life going through the garbage to find the worthwhile scraps to sell, and the day they found something truly amazing.

It’s just a wallet, but a wallet with enough pesos in it that catches their attention. Plus there’s a key. Raphael and Gardo take it, of course, but what happens after is beyond their control. It involves abusive police, a very corrupt elected official, some innocent bystanders, and solving a puzzle before the authorities get to them (or it) first.

The best word to describe the book is intense. So intense in parts that I had to put it down for a while, take several deep breaths, and cross my fingers and toes that it will all come out okay. Mulligan flips between several narrators: the premise is that they are all telling this story in retrospect, taking turns with the narrative as each has his (and her) own part to play. It shouldn’t have worked as well as it did; the idea of telling things in retrospect means that the end is given away, right? But, it’s not, and it works beautifully, keeping the reader (at least me) on the edge of their seat.

It helps, too, that Raphael, Gardo and Rat are not only likable but worth cheering for. They are up against incredible odds, and their soul and bravery are amazing. It’s also a book that makes you think: about third world countries, about aid, about corruption.

Excellent.

April Jacket Flap-a-Thon

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I think I would be more likely to feel like April is gone if the weather would remind me that it’s spring. *sigh* Even so, I’m finding I’m reading more now that I’ve come out of my winter blahs. Except, now I want to be outside digging in the garden. Choices choices.

Violet in Bloom (Amulet Books): “Katie-Rose, Violet, Milla, and Yasaman—four girls with seemingly little in common but their flower names—are nurturing their new friendship and are busy building luvyabunches.com, their very own social-networking site. Their first flower-power task? A doomed campaign to get their school to serve healthier snacks. The Jelly-Yums they champion—soon dubbed “beans of grossness”—taste like candied beets. And that’s just the start of their troubles. A scheming classmate tries to drive a wedge between Katie-Rose and Yasaman, Violet may have been slammed in a secret journal, and poor Milla unintentionally commits hamstercide. It will take all the strength and genuine affection of these pals to weather a particularly stormy week of fifth grade. Bestselling author Lauren Myracle brings her understanding of the weight of fifth-grade dramas to another hilarious and memorable book that preteens will love!”
Everything a jacket flap should be: interesting, giving out plot points without giving away anything, and fun.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (Harper Perennial Modern Classics): “One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston’s beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston’s masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published — perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.”

Classics are so hard to write a jacket flap for, but I think this one succeeds quite admirably.

Zita the Spacegirl (First Second): “Zita’s life took a cosmic left turn in the blink of an eye. When her best friend is abducted by an alien doomsday cult, Zita leaps to the rescue and finds herself a stranger on a strange planet. Humanoid chickens and neurotic robots are shocking enough as new experiences go, but Zita is even more surprised to find herself taking on the role of intergalactic hero. Before long, aliens in all shapes and sizes don’t even phase her. Neither do ancient prophecies, doomed planets, or even a friendly con man who takes a mysterious interest in Zita’s quest. Zita the Spacegirl is a fun, captivating tale of friendship and redemption from Flight veteran Ben Hatke. It also has more whimsical, eye-catching, Miyazaki-esque monsters than you can shake a stick at.”

I think every jacket flap needs to have the words “shake a stick at” in it. End of statement.

Other Books Read This Month
Falling In (audiobook)
Sweet 15
Exile
Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie
Olympians, the Graphic Novels
The Natural History of the Senses
The Last King of Texas
One Hundred Years of Solitude (DNF)
My Unfair Godmother

My Unfair Godmother

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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.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
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.

10 Questions For Anne Osterlund

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I don’t quite remember how I discovered Anne Osterlund, but I do know that I thought Aurelia was a rocking book, and thoroughly loved Academy 7. And interviewing her has been on my wish list for ages now. So, imagine my surprise when she emailed me, and asked if I wanted a copy of Exile (Which is out today! My review here). I jumped at the chance, and thankfully, she was able to take a few moments out from her teaching, writing, imagining, and cat-loving schedule to answer a few questions.

MF: I’ve always been curious how fantasy writers dream up their worlds. And since this book was about Aurelia discovering her country, what was the inspiration/germ for Tyralt?
AO: Tyralt is where Aurelia lives. It has always been very much as it is, in my head, at least since Robert informed me he was from the frontier in chapter 1. A country with a royal court and a frontier. A traditional monarchy and a modern education system. A vast distance between one corner of the kingdom and another. A history of tradition and a push for enlightenment. All of which lead toward . . . conflict. Which is a dynamic element within a story.

MF: Unlike Aurelia, and even though there’s adventure in it, Exile is more about an internal journey on Aurelia’s part. Why did you choose to go that route with this book?
AO: Aurelia’s journey begins in the first book, and all her actions stem from the discoveries she makes about herself and her family at the end of book one. Aurelia is about a defining and traumatic moment within her life, but it’s just that—a moment. The time span of the entire book extends for only the length of about a week and half. Exile covers a much longer period in time, allowing the characters to learn a great deal more about each other, the kingdom, and most importantly, themselves.

MF: Do you have a favorite character or scene in Exile?
AO: I’m not allowed to have favorite characters. It would start a war within my head. As for scenes, …hmm. I’m rather fond of all the frontier scenes. Probably because that is when Aurelia is the most happy. Though I love watching her and Robert fight during the first two chapters, which is rather hypocritical of me.

MF: What is the trickiest part about writing Exile?
AO: The forest. Or rather getting out of the forest. Aurelia, Robert, and I were stuck there forever This is largely Robert’s fault. He was too concerned about looking weak during the early drafts, which led to all kinds of revising, when what he really needed to do was just suck it up and let Aurelia rescue him. Though to be fair, this is also the part of the book where Aurelia has the worst time emotionally, and that is probably what really makes the forest the most difficult.

MF: The easiest?
AO: Again, the frontier scenes always read swiftly for me. I think because Aurelia enjoys herself so much while she’s there.

MF: Since you’ve written in both genres, what are the differences/similarities between writing fantasy and science fiction?
AO: LOL! That is a huge question. There are plenty of differences within writing genres (word choice and research being two of the greatest), but ultimately, in my opinion, any young adult novel comes down to knowing the characters. Aurelia, Academy 7, and Exile are all character driven. The settings and the worlds change, but the depiction of those worlds is always through the characters’ eyes. My books all star two teenagers (one guy/one girl), and those characters undergo the same challenges as any other teens. They have minds of their own. They make their own decisions and their own mistakes. They express an entire range of emotions. They get in trouble and change their minds and have the ability to grow. They don’t know everything. And they don’t know they don’t know everything. And there is always hope.

MF: You teach sixth grade, right? Does your teaching influence your writing? Why or why not?
AO: The greatest influence teaching has had on my writing career is via the school visit and presentation aspect. I have a great deal of experience setting a meaningful objective, getting my audience’s attention, and holding that attention for the duration of a lesson or presentation. Sixth graders do not tolerate boredom.

MF: Since you also have a full-time job, when do you find the time/space to write?
AO: I write all day every day I am not teaching or presenting. With the rare exception of family trips and major holidays.

MF: Do you have any special place you like writing?
AO: On the back of a half-wild stallion sprinting across the Tyralian frontier. Or in an interplanetary plane flipped upside down and scaling the side of a frozen waterfall. No, honestly I write on a couch, surrounded by papers, pencils, a thesaurus, and a dictionary. It doesn’t matter where you are when you write. It’s about where your imagination is.

MF: Who or what inspires you to write?
AO: The characters are the inspiration. Always the characters. I first met Aurelia, the heroine of Aurelia and Exile, several years ago, on a yellow notepad, when she was complaining about being stuck at a boring party with an itching ankle. Aerin from Academy 7 was removing a headband, standing in front of a mirror, and contemplating whether she could scrub away the past five years to become someone completely different. And Salva, the hero of my upcoming fourth book, was checking out the pretty girl at church. All of these characters required change. None of them could remain as they were. And change is the ultimate force within a story.
The first two scenes mentioned above are both posted on my website. Here for Aurelia and here for Aerin.

MF: What’s the last book you read and loved? And why did you love it?
AO: I just finished Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles, the second book in her Perfect Chemistry series. I’ve loved both these books because they pull the reader through the story. And also, I admit, because I’m always afraid they will turn out to be too much like my upcoming fourth book. And they never do.

MF: If you don’t mind telling us, what can we expect next from you?(More Aerin and Dane? Or more Aurelia and Robert? Or something completely different?)
AO: Salvation is a young adult contemporary novel scheduled for release next April. Here’s the pitch.

SALVA (Salvador) RESENDEZ is at god a Liberty High School. Quarterback. National Honor Society Member. ASB Vice President. His Mexican immigrant family has high expectations, and Salva is prepared to fulfill them—mostly—but what he really wants is to blend in with his friends and enjoy his senior year. A goal bound for destruction when an asinine requirement forces him into AP English with the teacher from hell. And with walking disaster area, BETH COURANT. Who may be his salvation. But what neither Salva nor Beth knows is that the cost of salvation is mortality.

I would love to write more about Aurelia, Robert, Aerin, and Dane! But Salvation is definitely the priority at them moment. Currently I’m wrestling my way through the first edited draft. And let me tell you, Salva definitely rivals Aurelia for stubbornness. Check out my second blog post if you don’t believe me.

MF: Thanks, Anne, for sharing your time!
AO: Thank you so much, Melissa! I hope you and your readers will come visit my website and my blog. And of course, I hope you all enjoy Aurelia and Robert’s expedition in Exile!

The Last King of Texas

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by Rick Riordan
ages: adult
First sentence: “Dr. David Mitchell waved me toward the dead professor’s chair.”
Support your local independent bookstore; buy it there!

My in-person book group is reading The Red Pyramid for their selection this month. Since I’ve long since devoured everything Riordan’s written for kids, and since I usually include the sentence “he’s also written a mystery series for adults but I’ve never read them” while talking about Riordan, I figured the least I could do is find out what the whole mystery series for adults is about.

Our erstwhile hero is Dr. Jackson Navarre, Ph.D. in Medieval Studies, also known as “Tres” (Spanish for three, not “Tray”; a mistake I was making). Tres is also a private investigator. In fact, that’s the reason he moved back to San Antonio, after years in the Bay Area. He’s offered a position at UTSA, in part because of his P.I. job: the man who had the position right before Tres ended up being shot to death in his house, after receiving several death threats via letter. Then, in the middle of the interview, a pipe bomb is delivered, exploding shortly thereafter. Of course Tres takes the job. It’s a series of twists and turns from there, as we explore the gritty underbelly of 1990s San Antonio. This is the third in the series (the first published in hardback, and the first my library has. I love Riordan, but not enough to hunt down the first two Tres Navarre books), but works just fine as an introduction to the world of Tres. There are a lot of characters to juggle, but Riordan manages that beautifully; Tres is easy to like, as are many of the other characters. Even the baddies are well-drawn, and have intriguing and complex motivations for their actions.

It’s vintage Riordan, to say the least. Not as funny as his books for children, but still quick-witted and engaging. It’s quite the homage to San Antonio; even though it’s rough and edgy, there’s an undercurrent of love and admiration for Riordan’s hometown. Probably most importantly, it’s brilliantly plotted (which is something that Riordan always does well); there’s enough information in the book to make the mystery solvable if you follow the clues (I didn’t call it!), but there’s also enough twists and turns to make the book exciting. Sure, it’s clunky in spots, but it’s also a page turner from the point a pipe bomb explodes into the first chapter until the final reveal at the end.

Which it to say: it’s Percy Jackson awesomeness for adults.