Two Minute Review: Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge

Title: Fly By Night
Author: Frances Hardinge
Genre: fantasy
Series: Fly By Night #1
Pages: 448
Published: 2006; March 14 2017
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3.5/5

Twelve-year-old Mosca Mye hasn't got much. Her cruel uncle keeps her locked up in his mill, and her only friend is her pet goose, Saracen, who'll bite anything that crosses his path. But she does have one small, rare thing: the ability to read. She doesn't know it yet, but in a world where books are dangerous things, this gift will change her life.

Enter Eponymous Clent, a smooth-talking con man who seems to love words nearly as much as Mosca herself. Soon Mosca and Clent are living a life of deceit and danger -- discovering secret societies, following shady characters onto floating coffeehouses, and entangling themselves with crazed dukes and double-crossing racketeers. It would be exactly the kind of tale Mosca has always longed to take part in, until she learns that her one true love -- words -- may be the death of her.

Mosca Mye burned down her uncle's mill when leaving town in the dead of night. While carrying a large, angry goose. With a man she doesn't know, who is on the run from the law, who she also set free to aid in her own escape from the drudgery of her homelife. It doesn't get much better from there for Mosca, Saracen (the goose), or Eponymous Clent (the escaped spy), but it does get highly entertaining. Fly By Night is a middle grade/early young adult novel but there is so much going on -- subtle hints, allusions, references, jokes, wordplay - that will make it readily appeal to readers of all ages and kinds.

Fly By Night is a dense and clever read; this is an author with a unique grasp on language and verbiage. In this world where books are illegal and dangerous to have, Hardinge takes pains to illustrate how that would affect a society and uses her urchin main character to subvert expectations. Granted, this version of Fahrenheit 451 runs a bit silly but it's consistently smart. The twists in the plot, the depth of the world, the dimensions of all the characters (even the villains!) all add up to create a viable, visual story. This is a good read but it does overextend itself somewhat. At almost four hundred fifty pages total, the inevitable lag in pacing is noticeable but also not wholly detrimental.

Clever, fun, detailed, Fly By Night has creativity and fun to spare.

Two Minute Review: The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis

Title: The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart
Author: Stephanie Burgis
Genre: fantasy
Series: Untitled #1
Pages: 256
Published: May 30 2017
Source: ARC from publisher
Rating: 4/5

Aventurine is a brave young dragon ready to explore the world outside of her family's mountain cave . . . if only they'd let her leave it. Her family thinks she's too young to fly on her own, but she's determined to prove them wrong by capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human.

But when that human tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, she's transformed into a puny human without any sharp teeth, fire breath, or claws. Still, she's the fiercest creature in these mountains--and now she's found her true passion: chocolate. All she has to do is get to the human city to find herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she'll be conquering new territory in no time . . . won't she?

If there is one thing that can bridge the divide between humans and dragons in Stephanie Burgis' new MG fantasy world, it's the magical entity.... chocolate. A cute middle grade story, Burgis introduces a world of feuding chocolate houses, quarrelsome dragon families, and one little girl-dragon who ends up mixed up in both worlds. Though The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart is rather short it manages to be a tale made of parts both salty and sweet.

First in a series, the book follows the young but adventurious Aventurine through a youthful mishap that turns her into a human! Though things spiral out of control rather quickly, The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart keeps things lively and interesting. Some small pacing issues crop up mid-way through, but the strength and charm of the characters balance it out. Aventurine herself is willful and fun, both as human and in her more draconic periods. She's brave but prone to foolhardiness, which is what facilitates the plot. Her personality, the vivid settings, and interesting characters make this middle grade engaging even for older readers.

Recommended for: fans of Jessica Day George

Fair warning: This book will make you want hot chocolate. Even if it's summertime. In Phoenix.

Two Minute Review: Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren

Title: Prisoner of Ice and Snow
Author: Ruth Lauren
Genre: fantasy
Series: N/A
Pages: 288
Published: expected April 4 2017
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3.75/5

When Valor is arrested, she couldn’t be happier. Demidova’s prison for criminal children is exactly where she wants to be. Valor’s sister Sasha is already serving a life sentence for stealing from the royal family and Valor is going to help her escape . . . from the inside.

Never mind that no one has escaped in three hundred years. Valor has a plan and resources most could only dream about. But she didn't count on having to outsmart both the guards and her fellow prisoners. If Valor’s plan is to succeed, she’ll need to make unlikely allies. And if the plan fails, she and Sasha could end up with fates worse than prison.

This fresh and exciting middle-grade debut effortlessly melds an unforgettable protagonist, a breathless plot, and stunning world-building—and is impossible to put down.

Did you like Pixar's Brave and Merida, especially? Or the Anna and Elsa show aka Disney's Frozen? Well the stubbornness and archery angle of the first meets the impenetrable, enduring-even-the-depths-of-winter sister-bond of the second in Ruth Lauren's Prisoner of Ice and Snow. It's a fun, inviting story; Lauren mixes some great tropes into her writing and uses those tropes in fresh new ways. Prison Break-esque plotting and complex women are the norm for this fast-moving middle grade fantasy and are used to create an entertaining story and memorable characters.

The world is interesting and has potential; there's a vaguely Russian/Baltic feel to Valor's home country and surrounding states, but there's not much real worldbuilding done. The focus here is on Valor, her sister Sasha, and then their various allies and opponents. Though there is some atmosphere and tension to be found in the 280-odd pages, Prisoner of Ice and Snow is undeniably a more character-driven MG novel. The story is directly propelled by Valor and her refusal to give up on escape. She is the anchor of the story and it's easy to invest and care about her. A strong plot and better characters make up Ruth Lauren's debut more than worth a read.

Backlist Two Minute Review: Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

Title: Liesl & Po
Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: supernatural
Series: N/A
Pages: 307
Published: 2011
Source: purchased
Rating: 3.5/5

Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice,until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.

That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable. Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver comes a luminous and magnificent novel that glows with rare magic, ghostly wonders, and a true friendship that lights even the darkest of places.

Adventure, magic, ghosts and love are what lies at the heart of Lauren Oliver's middle grade novel Liesl & Po. The story of the orphaned and isolated Liesl and her new, Other Side supernatural friends Po and Bundle is one that manages to be both illustrated and illuminating. It is the kind of middle grade story that holds appeal for readers of all kinds of age. Lauren Oliver's clever plotting and word choice make salient points about the world Liesl lives in and about our own.

Liesl shares story lines with the spectral Po and with the still-alive Will, the abused and unappreciated apprentice to the Alchemist. Will's storyline intersects with Liesl's in minimal ways (smitten at her window!) at first but the importance of a key mistake leads to an ever-growing interaction and camaraderie between the trio. A smart fairy-tale seeming story, Liesl & Po is anchored by its charming cast of characters and none more so than the main three.

Strong writing, clever plotting, and great characters make Liesl & Po an easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys creative and fresh MG novels.

Review: Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Title: Ghosts
Author: Raina Telgemeier
Genres: MG, Fantasy
Series: N/A
Pages: 256
Published: Expected September 13th 2016
Source: ARC via Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn't happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister's sake - and her own.

Catrina is a SoCal girl. She loves the beach and the sun and especially all of her friends. So when her family moves up north to Bahía de la Luna, she's understandably upset. The weather is dreary, her friends are far away, and the place is a ghost town - literally. Bahía de la Luna has a strong connection to Día de Muertos and everyone she meets wants to talk about the ghosts. Cat does not want to talk about ghosts. She doesn't want to think about ghosts. Because ghosts represent death and Cat's sister is sick. So as Maya, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, eagerly throws herself into the culture and preparations for Día de Muertos, Cat's left to worry by the sidelines.

The art of this graphic novel is very pretty. Its simplicity and muted color palette illustrate Cat's feelings about Bahía de la Luna and her fears, but allow for the growth to an absolutely gorgeous riot of colors for the Día de Muertos festival. The characters strike a good balance between Maya's unending optimism and Cat's cautious fear.

For being a middle-grade title, this slim little graphic novel covers a lot of heavy topics. Have a box of tissues handy when Maya's condition gets worse. CF is degenerative and her impending death hangs over the story. Meanwhile, Cat and her mom struggle with a feeling of disconnection from their Mexican culture since Abuela passed. There have been no homemade Mexican dishes, no alters, no Day of the Dead before this move. Now they're in the middle of a proud Hispanic neighborhood, with friends who bring them enchiladas on bad days and flowers to honor Abuela on good ones. There's also a lot of guilt and fear and anger surrounding being the healthy child with a dying sibling and I really want to give Cat a hug and the card of a good child therapist, because she is not coping well and it's heartbreaking. Ghosts ends on a very positive, hopeful note that helps balance some of the previous melodrama, though if you're me, that just makes you cry harder.

I picked this graphic novel up at BEA because while my girlfriend's niece is a reluctant reader, she was very into Telgemeier's Drama. She's also a child of color, which means she doesn't get to see herself in books nearly often enough. I am so excited to pass this onto her, though I feel like I should also give her a pint of ice cream with it.

Discussion Review: Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Furthermore
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: fantasy
Series: N/A
Pages: 416
Published: expected August 30 2016
Source: Book Expo America

There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it's been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she's about to embark on one to find the other.

But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she'll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is a boy named Oliver whose own magical ability is based in lies and deceit--and with a liar by her side in a land where nothing is as it seems, it will take all of Alice's wits (and every limb she's got) to find Father and return home to Ferenwood in one piece. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself--and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.

Lyn: Okay, so I was a bit worried about this one, because I did read Shatter Me. Horrible Confession: I read it because I loved the cover.

Jessie: I was of the same mind. I read Shatter Me, found it overblown and loaded with language that just didn’t flow the way the author obviously intended. But, I really liked her imagination enough to try this MG. I am glad I did because her style is much more suited to fantasy.

Kara: Yeah, while I appreciated what she tried to do with Shatter Me, that book was just kind of a mess in its execution. I never read the rest of the books in the series, but I had a feeling that she was going to go in a different direction as far as style goes with her middle grade. And she did, and Furthermore was great. Such fun!

Lyn: Her writing worked out for this story. It fit with the narrative and the setting. A dystopian novel is not a place to describe rain with purple prose. But a fantasy novel was perfect for her style. Also, I felt that the author has grown overall. While it still felt like Mafi’s writing, it wasn’t so forced this time around.

Jessie: Yep, I read the first SM book and never went back. Furthermore was the opposite; it left me wanting more. It was such a fun and visual reading experience. And the prose that felt purple before FLOWS really well here. So many little sentences worded just the right way to describe Alice. “Mother liked dipping them in honey but Alice preferred the unmasked taste. Alice liked truth: on her lips and in her mouth.”

Kara: I agree, Jessie. The turns of phrase were really just eye catching and I would find myself stopping to read things over when I liked the way they sounded. I had a lot of fun with this book. It made me stretch my brain to try to visualize her world and how she wanted it to be seen. The writing was whimsical and it reminded me a lot of the Fairyland books by Cat Valente in a way.

Lyn: I’m honestly surprised that this wasn’t a series. There is so much more to explore in this book. Not only with the villages, but I wanted to see what happened next with Alice. She had a lot of room to grow. She was a highly immature character, but the author demonstrated how that was a downfall, and how it almost ruined her. It was a great build up for her character to give her a weakness and to not apologize for making Alice arrogant. It really worked, and I could see Alice becoming something great. Seriously, I wish I had this book when I was a girl. It was something wonderful to see a girl who wasn’t imperfect, but just enough to give her an edge. This was a girl with some issues, but it made the story stronger.

Jessie: I’m totally with Kara -- this is the closest readalike I’ve found to Valente’s MG books. One that doesn’t talk down its audience but engages them in multiple ways; there’s a lot of relevant discussion and ideas in this fantasy. I actually have hope that Mafi will explore more in this world. This is such a vibrant place and one painted in a short amount of time. The book is pretty long for an MG novel but the careful evolution of Alice and the slow unraveling of what happened to Father worked to keep interest high. It’s whimsical and creative and made for exploration. Tahereh Mafi is an imaginative writer and I’d be sad never to see Alice and Oliver again.

Kara: I think if the first book sells well, there may be an opportunity for more to be written in this world. I agree with what you both said, and I think I would like more books but I am also perfectly happy with it being a standalone because there are so few of those. One thing I can definitely say is that Mafi is an experimental writer, and I like that she takes chances. I will more than happily experiment with her and hopefully the next book will be a hit too.

The one thing that irritated me about this book though? How pat and perfect the book ended. It felt a bit rushed to me and ended abruptly before I was ready to finish the last page. And that is pretty much my only complaint.

Lyn: I was really shocked how clean it was at the end. When I was reading, I was freaking out how few pages I had left, and I kept thinking “Don’t deux ex machina this!” And it was. It was so cobbled together, like she was just tired of writing it. Yeah, the ending was weak.

Jessie: YEP. The whole way it was revealed felt like a limp resolution; a minimal effort to conclude things as easily as possible once the novel hit a certain point. When the pursuit of an answer propels the plot for 400+ pages, there needs to be a real sense of denouement. That didn’t happen here.

Kara: Yeah, I completely agree. The book was completely memorable until I got to that point. And there is nothing that sucks for me as a reader more than a weak ending. It almost ruins the whole reading experience for me. I hate to admit this, but I’m willing to be a bit more lenient with middle grade since I know the books aren’t written for me, but it still did affect my reading experience quite a bit, which is disappointing. This has left me confused as a result.

Lyn: It was anti-climatic. It was like a really awesome meal, and then you get a Twinkie for dessert. That is half eaten. I had some closure issues. I almost took off half a star for it, but then I got lazy and I really loved the foxes and I adored that there was no romance, but, yeah, I would have rated this as high as a 4.5 without that ending that was just lazy, and I’m not buying any other excuse for it.

Jessie: We are all on the same page. That ending was a definite low-point for what had been, up til then, a pretty perfect book. I am disappointed it was such a lamb of an ending and won’t deny it rounded my rating down. This is still one of the best MG novels I have read but it lost a little at the end.

Kara: Yup. I completely agree. So with all that in mind, I ended up rating this 4 stars. How about you guys?

Jessie: I had been feeling a 5-star rating but at the very end, I can’t give it more than a 4.5/5.

Lyn: Solid 4 for me.

Don't miss any of our other bookish discussions!

Nightstruck by Jenna Black
Underwater by Marisa Reichardt
Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley
The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett
A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George
Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen
Black Iris by Leah Raeder (with Kara, also of Great Imaginations)
Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (also with Kara of Great Imaginations and Bekka of Pretty Deadly Reviews)
Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfeld (also with Pixie of Great Imaginations)

Review: The Wrong Side of Magic by Janette Rallison

Title: The Wrong Side of Magic
Author: Janette Rallison
Genres: MG, Fantasy
Series: N/A
Pages: 336
Published: Expected August 23rd 2016
Source: ARC via Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The Phantom Tollbooth gets a modern-day spin in this magical middle grade fantasy filled with adventure and humor that will whisk readers away!

Hudson Brown stopped believing in magic long ago. That is, until the day he is whisked away to the magical land of Logos by a curious compass given to him by his off-beat neighbor, Charlotte.

Hudson discovers that Logos is a land ruled by words, thoughts, and memories. A fairy might ferry you across the river for the price of one memory. But be sure to look out for snarky unicorns, as they will see through those who are not pure of heart.

Not understanding the many rules of Logos, Hudson is quickly saddled with a troll curse. Charlotte, who, along with her father, was banished from Logos, can help get rid of the curse--but only if he agrees to find the lost Princess of Logos in return.

Janette Rallison and I have something in common; I too love The Phantom Tollbooth. It's one of my first "reader" experiences and the joy of reading and rereading the puns and wordplay has very much to do with the person I grew into. I do feel as if marketing may do this book a disservice. It's inspired by Norton Juster's classic. I might even go so far as to call it a spiritual successor. But it is not TPT. We are not returning to the Kingdom of Wisdom. You will find no Azaz or Mathemagician and though we're searching for a missing princess, Rhyme and Reason are only parts of the lost Land of Scholars. I don't wish to take anything away from TWSoM- you can see my five stars up there - merely clearing up a misconception based on the blurb.

On the plus side, Hudson is no where near the apathetic little shit Milo was. He's a pre-teen boy who feels a little stuck between friend groups and being the man of the house while his dad's deployed, so, not the easiest main character in history, but the weight that got Milo stuck in the Doldrums is gratefully missing. His foil, Charlotte, reminds me a lot of Luna Lovegood. She's dreamy and absolutely without guile, which makes her a poor fit for Hudson's Earth, but a perfect fit for literal Logos.

Speaking of, the magical kingdom of Logos feels a lot smaller than The Kingdom of Wisdom. I think a lot of that is because while Juster focused on math and words and their intersection, Rallison has chosen to focus entirely on words. There's also a fair amount of retracing of steps, which again, makes the world smaller. The world is very magical, though, with trolls and mermaids, unicorns and fairies. There's an evil wizard who tracks the heroes with blood hounds (they're made of blood). A dastardly king and a stolen princess. It's structure isn't what's innovative, but the way everything is implemented is.

But the words. Oh the words. The riddle to find the princess is solvable, but not so easy as to bore young readers. There is a scene where Charlotte is looking for a fresh-baked word for them to split. Hudson wants to choose the longest, so there's more to eat, but Charlotte points out that if you split something like "succulent", "succu" isn't going to taste very nice, and "lent" won't be much better. You can't get "to enjoy", because everyone knows not to split an infinitive. (They end up with readjust, by the way. "Read" is "butter, sweet, and a bit mysterious". He longs for that good read many times later on.) My favorite part is the Land of Backwords, where everything is wordplay, including the animals. Beware the thesaurus or a stampede of encyclopedias.

My only problem with The Wrong Side of Magic is the end keeps going. The kingdom is saved! It's time for Hudson to return to his every day life. Friends say goodbye and ... oops, we forgot we need to go back to the Cliff of Faces and pay for knowledge earned. Ok. More goodbyes. Time to go for real. Back to the real world and ... a subplot about two foot long cockroaches. And then a confrontation with bullies we haven't seen in 300 pages. And a letter to the princess with some more goodbyes. It took away the impact of the natural stopping point.

Other than one small quibble, the book and story are lovely and special. The morals aren't heavy handed, but natural and have to be earned by reader and character. It's funny and begs to be savored. There's no way to know if TWSoM will be a classic like its inspiration, but I've already mailed my copy off to a fifth grade classroom to spread the magic just in case. We can all use a good read sometimes.

Review: The Rat Prince by Bridget Hodder

Title: The Rat Prince
Author: Bridget Hodder
Genre: Fantasy
Series: N/A
Pages: 272
Expected Publication: August 23, 2016
Source: ARC via Publisher
Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Cinderella thinks she must work alone to save her noble family from the ruin and disgrace her stepmother has brought to Lancastyr Manor. She has an ailing father, a sweet, innocent little stepsister and dependent servants to protect from the wicked Wilhemina--and no way to call attention to their plight unless she figures out how to attend the royal ball.But Cinderella knows nothing of the ancient pact between the House of Lancastyr and the rats who live within the walls of her ancestral home.Nor is she aware that the sleek black rat she thinks is her pet is actually the Rat Prince...and she is not alone.

The Rat Prince is a cute, well written, but by-the-numbers Cinderella retelling. There are a lot of positives to it: I like that the aristocracy seemed real and made sense (obviously Regency/Georgian inspired) and I liked that the ton remembered the family had a daughter and asked after her. In a lot of retellings, the step-mother is able to abuse Cinderella without anyone saying boo *coughEllaEnchantedcough*, which is kind of crazy in a well enough off family to know the royals. Char's a really sweet prince and, except for the flaw of him literally being a rat, I could totally see him being a MG book boyfriend. The step-sisters are given some nuance, though I do see one being re-imagined as nice but helpless a lot lately.

Truly, my issue is with the rats. Their court is really interesting and fun and reminds me of the Borrowers, but this is the story of a human woman falling in love with a rat. He's not a man turned into a rat by magic. He's not a talking rat. He's just a pet. rat. I couldn't fully get past it, and though Char is turned into a human, I was left feeling super weird about the romance, especially since it was obvious Char was in love with Cinderella when they were different species. The addition of magic is also hasty and didn't really integrate with the generally realistic setting and the ending is rushed.

When I was MG myself, I went though a serious Cinderella phase, and I think this is a perfect followup when Ella Enchanted and Just Ella are over, but it's never going to be my go-to retelling.

Review: Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den by Aimee Carter

Title: Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den
Author: Aimee Carter
Genre: supernatural fiction, fantasy
Series: Simon Thorn #1
Pages: 320
Published: 2/2/16
Source: received for review from publisher
Rating: 2.75/5

Twelve-year-old Simon Thorn’s life has never been easy or normal, but things like being bullied at school and living in a cramped Manhattan apartment with his Uncle Darrell are nothing compared to his biggest secret: He can talk to animals.

But when his mom is suddenly kidnapped by a herd of rats, Simon finds out that he, his mom, and his uncle are all Animalgams—people born with the ability to change into an animal at will.

In search of his mom, Simon discovers the Animalgam Academy based at the Central Park Zoo. There he learns about the fractured five kingdoms that make up this secret world . . . and realizes he may be the only one who can save it.

This action-packed page-turner is perfect for fans of the Spirit Animals and The School of Good and Evil series. 

Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den is pretty engaging and a good introduction into magical and fantasy-type stories for young readers. Is it the kind of middle grade that transcends age and appeals to readers of all ages? I think that depends on how much UF and fantasy older readers have experienced before starting this series. Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den is a fun and fast read but it doesn't do anything that new. But for the middle grade age readers this story about shape-shifting Animalgams is aimed at? I think Simon will make for a fun and engaging read.

Though there are new aspects to the story of misfit and loner Simon, my main issue is that it all feels so familiar. The hero and his friends fighting to find freedom/parents/mythological weapon. It's Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and a lot of other recognizable tropes... Carter has promise with her world of magical animal kingdoms but she needs more depth to that world. More detail that feels original instead of recycled. Not all the animal-shifting kingdoms are fully explored here, but that was obviously going to be covered in future sequels. I found the adaptions of the human/animals aspects to be pretty clever.

I wanted to like the story (and at times I did) and I was also impressed at one or two twists, but there's not too much about it that will stick out in my memory when I attempt to remember this book when the next comes out. Simon Thorn and its eponymous hero may grow up into a strong series but this was an adequate beginning.

DNF Review: Lydia's Enchanted Toffee by Neale Osborne

Title: Lydia's Enchanted Toffee
Author: Neale Osborne
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
Series: Lydia #1
Pages: 325
Published: October 23, 2015
Source: publisher via NetGalley
Rating: 1/5

Planet Plenti is a most extraordinary place, a world of incredible edible delights; of confectionery minerals, fizzy pop springs, forests and jungles full of delectable plantlife …

And yet, for children in the land of Likrishka, life is less than ordinary, and mostly very grim - as the Likrish population lives under the watchful rule of Stannic, a tin-skinned tyrant, a Master Chef who commands an army of robot waiters.
Thus nine-year-old Lydia faces a future slaving away in a factory camp - but the girl was born with a mysterious power over metal (when she eats a special type of toffee) …

One eventful day, she meets a gang of other girls with strange sweetie powers: the deadly Bull’s-Eye, razor-toothed Jawbreaker, fire-breathing Peppermint, super-fast Hazel Whirl; there’s Marshmallow, Ice Lolly, Sugar Cube, Dolly Mixture, Cocoa and Marzipan … and together, they must travel across the robot-controlled Candi-Lands, on a treasure hunt for magic sweets that will help to defeat the villainous Chef … and return their world to its sweetest, once more.

This is a new slimmer version of Neale Osborne's acclaimed debut ‘Lydia’s Tin Lid Drum’ - in 44 short chapters, from ‘Appetizer’ to ‘Afters’, decorated with over 100 illustrations - some of them new to this beautifully-presented paperback edition.

DNF at 36%.

Should have been 8% when the world building was delivered in "a funny chiming rhyme":

'In Franjipan, there's marzipan, jelly beans, and lemon trees. ( Chip chop ~ Timberrr!!)
The land of Froza is frozen over with drifts of sorbet and whips of ice-crem. ( Brrr ~ Brrr ~ Brr!!)
In Delisha's forests, there's cherries and berries, snaffle-wolves and truffle-boars. ( Grrr ~ Grrr ~ Grrr!!)
The Winelands are lushy with gum-bushy vines, barley-sugar fields, and rivers of wine. ( Pip pop ~ Glug glug glug!) Nooga is glutty with nutty orchards, smarty arty boutiques and canals. (Ship shop ~ ship shop)
Likrishka's a mixture of raw fudge sands, allsort allotments, and factory lands. (Dig-dug ~ Chug-chug-Chug!!) Then there are the isles of Baykari:
Krackatucka, Kukio. Krustiko and Layakayk. One! Filled with savory snacks. Two! All layered with biscuit packs. Three! With beaches of crusty bread. Four! Full of cake on an edible bed.'

The writing is abhorrent. There's nothing witty or interesting in changing "bakery" to "Baykari". Calling France, (and if you look at the map, the illustrator didn't even bother to change the coast shape,) "The Winelands" is lazy. Nooga actually still has the boot shape. Because we wouldn't have got it was Italy by the canals. How can an ocean change from peach syrup on one coast to tea to orange juice? Are there no currents in this world? There's still a tide. How can you ban children from eating sweets in a land literally made from candy?!

The language, supposed to be whimsical, is annoying and difficult to read. In addition to the weird rhyme scheme that continues even beyond the history lesson, no sound is allowed to go by without an onomatopoeia. "Craa-craa cries" of gulls, "slish-slish" and "Shug-a-shug-a-shug" go the snakes. The fact that the author admits he cut 20% of the book and there's still room for a thesaurus' worth of adjectives, is honestly upsetting. The "sisters", as the gang of misfits is known is each illustrated by her own phonetic accent. Dolly, the cutsey one's wisp is spwelled wike dis. Coco, the French one, says "shocolart", (chocolate. Yes really,) and "ze moanies". I can't begin to tell you what Jawbreaker's is supposed to be, except absolutely unparsable.

The plot involves the girls traveling the world, looking for magical sweets for a mysterious benefactor known as "Mam-ba-Hiska". (She commands robot snakes.) (In case you didn't get it.) A metallic dictator, Stannic, has taken over Lydia's homeland of Likrishka and has now set his sights on her neighbors. They start in Franjipan, steal a tractor and ride to Froza. Steal a snowmobile and ride to the active volcano(?) Steal a boat and sail to Delisha. I gave up when it came time to steal a subway car, but I imagine we're just going to run down the list from the poem. In each location, the girl from the area demonstrates the special powers given to her by a never ending supply of candy. Marzipan blends into the trees. Ice Lolly makes ice. Dolly disarticulates at the waist and uses her upper body as a grappling hook. All the while Lydia uses her drum to bring down the metal dictator's birds and crabs. They find the magical sweet with almost no effort. They all complain they're hungry despite living in a world literally made of food. They move on to the next.

Ideas aren't well explained. There are illustrations, (which have the detail of clip art,) but even so I can't visualize Peppermint, who has blue skin, striped eyes, and four arms? Why? How? Likewise, pseudo technobabble about how sugar cubes run cyborgs and jello turns into electricity just left me confused and apathetic. 

Without reading the original version, I can't say for certain who influenced whom, but there's a lot of similarity between this story and Modelland. While LET skews younger, the writing cadence and the made up language are eerily familiar. ML also featured a round the world tour, introducing a girl in each country, (also obviously inspired by real life). Each of them also featured a physical abnormality and a special talent. Maybe it's a case of both authors trying, (unsuccessfully,) to ape Roald Dahl, but the book certainly doesn't work any more for me now than it did in 2012 when I read ML.

Review: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Title: Ella Enchanted
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Genre: fairy tale retelling, middle grade, fantasy
Series: N/A
Pages: 232
Published: 1997
Source: purchased
Rating: 5/5 all the stars always

At birth, Ella is inadvertently cursed by an imprudent young fairy named Lucinda, who bestows on her the "gift" of obedience. Anything anyone tells her to do, Ella must obey. Another girl might have been cowed by this affliction, but not feisty Ella: "Instead of making me docile, Lucinda's curse made a rebel of me. Or perhaps I was that way naturally." When her beloved mother dies, leaving her in the care of a mostly absent and avaricious father, and later, a loathsome stepmother and two treacherous stepsisters, Ella's life and well-being seem to be in grave peril. But her intelligence and saucy nature keep her in good stead as she sets out on a quest for freedom and self-discovery as she tries to track down Lucinda to undo the curse, fending off ogres, befriending elves, and falling in love with a prince along the way. Yes, there is a pumpkin coach, a glass slipper, and a happily ever after, but this is the most remarkable, delightful, and profound version of Cinderella you'll ever read.

Gail Carson Levine's examination of traditional female roles in fairy tales takes some satisfying twists and deviations from the original. Ella is bound by obedience against her will, and takes matters in her own hands with ambition and verve. Her relationship with the prince is balanced and based on humor and mutual respect; in fact, it is she who ultimately rescues him. Ella Enchanted has won many well-deserved awards, including a Newbery Honor.

A childhood favorite that I still enjoy reading to this day. This is a lovely, delightful and most of all fun read. I have probably read this book more than any other in my life and it never fails to make me smile and fall in love with its characters. Carson Levine has many talents but her storytelling is flawless and her plotting and characterization are equally impressive.

Ella is spirited, charming and genuinely funny. Her family and the outline of Ella's life is what one would expect from a Cinderella retelling, but Carson Levine recreates and reinvents the beloved fairytale without being boring or repetitive. Her world is creative, unique, and utterly charming. Char is the perfect prince but still doesn't overshadow or swoop in to save the day. Gail Carson Levine wrote a feminist, original take on the Cinderella story and makes it all her own in doing so.

I recommend it to anyone who enjoys clever writing from a deft author who never misplaces a word in her story. This is the book that taught me how to ship, that taught me about OTPs and book crushes. It also features great female friendships, clever storytelling, and a favorite story. Not to miss for old fans or new.

 

Backlist Review: Two Crafty Criminals! by Philip Pullman

Title: Two Crafty Criminals! and How They Were Captured by the Daring Detectives of the New Cut Gang

Author: Philip Pullman

Genre: middle grade, mystery

Series: N/A

Pages: 288 (Nook ARC edition)

Published: May 8, 2012

Source: publishers via NetGalley

Rating: 4/5

Benny Kaminsky and Thunderbolt Dobney lead a rag-tag gang of neighborhood rowdies. Their territory is the New Cut on London's South Bank—a place bristling with swindlers, bookies, pickpockets, and the occasional policeman. And their aim is to solve crimes.

When counterfeit coins start showing up in their neighborhood, Thunderbolt fears his own father may be behind the crime. But his friends devise a way to trap the real culprit. Then the gang takes on the case of some stolen silver. They have just two clues—a blob of wax, and an unusually long match. But even this slippery thief is unmasked by the determined kids of the New Cut. 

The kids of the New Cut Gang live in that charmed and whimsical world children inhabit until the crush of adulthood and responsibility; adults fall in line with their demands and nothing is impossible for the likes of Benny, Thunderbolt, Bridie and Sharky Boy - not even uncovering dastardly criminals or even meeting the Prince of Wales. Philip Pullman's latest publication might not stand level with the likes of the His Dark Materials trilogy but Two Crafty Criminals will certainly make for a diverting and thoroughly charming entertainment for middle-grade children it is aimed at. 

Two Crafty Criminals is not one novel but rather is a book containing of two entirely different stories set within the New Cut Gang - a constantly shifting alliance of meddlesome and cheeky pre-teens in Victorian London. While both stories are big on fun and short on filler, the first, Thunderbolt's Waxwork, definitely had the advantage of being first and thus, the more original of the two. With characters like the charismatic Benny running the show and the Gang, earnest and kind Thunderbolt, and strict Bridie managing the scene-stealer Sharky Boy, Pullman eases the reader into a light-hearted but clever mystery set in 1894. Benny, especially, he of the big dreams and even bigger schemes, seems drawn entirely from the period pictured ("Foller him everywhere, like a shadder..") but all the kids shown in both are different, with easy to identify personalities (especially the twins! And Sharky Boy). The Gas Fitter's Ball, the second of the two, retains the humor and cheek of the first without sacrificing ingenuity or an entirely new mystery for the Gang to "detect". 

I read this entire book with an amused smile on my day. Even more than ten years removed from the target audience, Pullman's foray into Victorian London sleuthing is nearly pitch-perfect and enjoyable from start to end; only its extreme length makes for any quibbles. I think even the younger, intended readers would appreciate a little more length extended to both stories, populated as they are with such colorful kids and adults. There's an awful lot of imagination  at play within Two Crafty Criminals, and if jailbreaks, robberies, reported hauntings, balls and get-rich-quick schemes in addition to pre-teen Victorian detectives, don't float your boat...well, there's something wrong with you. 

Review: Gabby Duran and the Unsittables by Elise Allen

Title: Gabby Duran and the Unsittables
Author: Elise Allen
Genre: middle grade, sci-fi
Series: none
Pages: 208
Published: May 12th, 2015
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating: 3 out of 5

Case File: The First Unsittable

Summary: The Association Linking Intergalatics and Earthlings (hereby known as A.L.I.E.N.) has a new member. After months of investigation, Gabby Duran, Associate 4118-25125A, has proven herself to be a babysitter extraordinaire. Her celebrity clients fly her around the country to care for their rambunctious little humans. Our spy, Associate 4118-23432B, otherwise known as Edwina, believes Gabby can be trusted with the truth: aliens are living among humans on Earth. And here at A.L.I.E.N we believe that even extraterrestrials need a babysitter now and then. No one was up to the task until now.

After accepting the top-secret position, Edwina has paired our new associate up with her first charge, a little girl from the planet Flarknartia. The timing for associate 4118-25125A is less than ideal. It's a school day on Planet Earth, Gabby's audition for the solo part in the band is tonight, and this tiny alien is a bit more than meets the eye.

Can Gabby Duran, Associate 4118-25125A, First Sitter to the Unsittables, keep her otherworldly charge safe in the unpredictable halls of middle-school and keep A.L.I.E.N hidden?

A pretty cute and satisfying MG, though not one you can put a lot of thought into.

Gabby Duran is a twelve year old supersitter. She's in demand around the world, flying to movie sets to watch action stars' triplets and such. Since her dad's death in the Army, her mom's catering company isn't quite enough to pay the bills, (which her genius younger sister handles, along with all the books and scheduling for two businesses,) so Gabby's shouldering a lot of responsibility. When a mysterious woman in a black limousine offers her a ten minute sitting job at four times her usual rates, Gabby sees an opportunity to not only help the family, but save for her dream, a prestigious music college.

Edwina introduces Gabby to Philip, his parents, and their talking cat. Despite a rough start, the job is a total success and Gabby is inducted into A.L.I.E.N. as the official Sitter to the Unsittables. Aliens are among us and they really need a date night without their slugspawn.

First, Gabby says her charges have known her since they were infants. They're four. Who is letting eight year olds babysit? Who is letting twelve year olds fly across the country to babysit? The Babysitters Club wouldn't let anyone under eleven in, and then only as junior members who needed supervision. This is ridiculous. Someone call a child labor lawyer STAT.

Gabby's a great sitter though. She really loves the kids and engages them with a way that's charming to see. The main plot unfurls when she's forced to watch a shapechanging alien named Wutt while at school. (Are pre-teens in 2015 really going to get the Abbot and Costello joke when we meet Wutt's parents Hoo and Ayedunno? I did chuckle.) Gabby consistently puts Wutt's needs first, tries to be entertaining but educational, and really cares about her charge. When an anti-alien group, G.E.T.O.U.T. shows up and everything goes pear shaped, Gabby never complains. In fact, that's kind of my problem. Gabby's too perfect and adapts too quickly. I wanted to see her get a little more ruffled. She also keeps the existence of aliens a secret for less than 24 hours, which is why we don't entrust that knowledge to pre-teens.

On the moral side, there's a good lesson about appearances being deceiving. Content wise, it's absolutely ok for younger MGers, probably even reaching down to the 7-8 range. (Two brief references to dad dying in the army and one mildly scary chase scene where the heroines roll into a ditch.) In all, a cute couple of hours, but not a book I'll keep on my shelves, as my 11 year old nieces are probably already too old for it.

Review: The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

Title: The Spindlers
Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: middle-grade, supernatural
Series: N/A
Pages: 256 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: expected October 2 2012
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating: 5/5

One night when Liza went to bed, Patrick was her chubby, stubby, candy-grubbing and pancake-loving younger brother, who irritated and amused her both, and the next morning, when she woke up, he was not. In fact, he was quite, quite different.

When Liza’s brother, Patrick, changes overnight, Liza knows exactly what has happened: The spindlers have gotten to him and stolen his soul.

She knows, too, that she is the only one who can save him.

To rescue Patrick, Liza must go Below, armed with little more than her wits and a broom. There, she uncovers a vast world populated with talking rats, music-loving moles, greedy troglods, and overexcitable nids . . . as well as terrible dangers. But she will face her greatest challenge at the spindlers’ nests, where she encounters the evil queen and must pass a series of deadly tests—or else her soul, too, will remain Below forever.

From New York Times best-selling author Lauren Oliver comes a bewitching story about the reaches of loyalty, the meaning of love, and the enduring power of hope.

Lauren Oliver is a truly talented writer, be it in the young-adult field, or when writing for a younger audience, like here in The Spindlers. I was impressed with Before I Fall, and I am even more so after reading this richly imaginative, darkly creepy, and thoroughly lovely middle-grade novel.  I'm in my twenties and I loved every page - I can't imagine what this book would have meant to me had I read it when I was at the age of the intended audience. It's wonderful, magical, creepy adventure all about the power of love, family, hope, and believing in yourself. It's a quick read, but the beauty of Oliver's prose and her feisty main character Liza will leave a lasting impression long after the book is finished.

The Spindlers is a highly imaginative novel with echoes of some beloved favorites - Labyrinth (the abduction of a loved/hated younger brother), Alice in Wonderland (a hidden magical world Below filled with anthropomorphic animals), and Coraline (the dark, sinister aspect of a lot of what Liza uncovers.) Despite being vaguely reminiscent of those loved novels, Oliver's The Spindlers is a unique adventure filled with both wonder and magic. This charming tale of a young girl who uses stories and her vivid imagination to escape her tension-filled house (the casual hints of money problems at home - the overdue bills and shout-off notices, the broken plates and furniture, her mother's constant worry and pacing) is filled with creative new spins on monsters, what it means to be a friend, and the fun of seeing what weirdly beautiful creations Oliver can come up with next.

The illustrations are few - at least in the ARC edition that I was granted - but they are both lovely and easily capture the feel of what Oliver creates with her words. I fell in love with how this author writes because of this book. I loved Before I Fall, but The Spindlers is truly engrossing and immersive, and a lot of that is down to how well Oliver can spin a tale. This fable-like story is imaginative, interesting, and above all, entirely fun and over too soon. I highly recommend this to anyone searching out a quick but moving read. My favorite quotes from the novel:

"The spindlers had gotten him: they had dropped down from the ceiling on their glistening webs of shadowed darkness and dropped their silken threads in his ear, and extracted is soul slowly, like a fisherman coaxing a trout from the water on a taut nylon fishing line. In its place they deposited their eggs; then they withdrew to their shadowed, dark corners and their underground lairs with his soul bound closely in silver thread."

"The world is a freak, she should have said. Everything that happens in it is strange and beautiful."

"This was what her parents did not understand - and had never understood - about stories. Liza told herself as though she was weaving and knotting an endless rope. Then, no matter how dark or terrible the pit she found herself in, she could pull herself out, inch by inch and hand over hand, on the long rope of stories."

"Liza stared at her. 'Impossible.'
Mirabella swept her tail around her wrist and gave an imperious sniff. 'That is a human word,' she sad. 'And a very ugly one at that. We have no use for it Below.'"

"Liza felt she now knew many things she had not known yesterday. She knew, for example, that even rats could be beautiful, and hope grew from the smallest seeds, and sometimes there was great truth in made-up stories."

This is an absolutely wonderful middle grade novel, one that holds vast appeal for older readers no matter what their age. Lauren Oliver is a wonderful storyteller and she proves it once again here, with a unique way with words that can evoke pathos as easily as breathing. I was caught up in this story, anxious and excited to see what new ideas and creatures this able author would throw my way. From nids to troglods to the nocturni, this is a world alive with promise and horror, and all the more unique for it. 

Book Tour Review: The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale

Title: The Forgotten Sisters
Author: Shannon Hale
Series: Princess Academy #3
Pages: 323 pages
Published: March 3 2015
Source: publishers for review
Rating: 3.75/5

After a year at the king’s palace, Miri has learned all about being a proper princess. But the tables turn when the student must become the teacher!

Instead of returning to her beloved Mount Eskel, Miri is ordered to journey to a distant swamp and start a princess academy for three sisters, cousins of the royal family. Unfortunately, Astrid, Felissa, and Sus are more interested in hunting and fishing than becoming princesses.

As Miri spends more time with the sisters, she realizes the king and queen’s interest in them hides a long-buried secret. She must rely on her own strength and intelligence to unravel the mystery, protect the girls, complete her assignment, and finally make her way home.

This is a series that, had I started when I was young, I would have full-on loved it. That said, I also came to easily love it while reading it for the first time from an older perspective. Shannon Hale's light fantasy series starts small but with heart and charm and has only grown in scope and scale in the two books that followed the eponymous Princess Academy series - Palace of Stone and the third and last, The Forgotten Sisters. It may be a bit childlike at times, but it's never childish. It's fun and fluff and full of heart. All three novels can also be read independently; each create little worlds and plotlines unto themselves but also lend well to a create an overall story. 

Miri is the main character for all three novels and she carries them each pretty darn well on her strong strongers. She definitely grows up a lot over the course of the three books, but it's a natural and easy transition. Miri ages with her audience, I suspect, and her expanding interests show her rounded character. She's many things and wants to do a lot with her life, but at the same time, still struggles with issues a lot of middle-grade readers will understand. She's well drawn and her life is well-rounded, with a moderately healthy homelife and two loving family members. Her intelligence is her best characteristic -- understanding quarry-speech and trade has made her ever more valuable -- which comes into play in the last novel.

The world that Shannon Hale creates is pretty varied and different from place to place. There's not much spent on worldbuilding or expanding more on old locales; like the other books, it's set in in a wholly new place. Miri, with the new characters of Sus and Felissa and Astrid, have new territory to explore and new surprises to bring to the world of Princess Academy. Hale is a clever writer and shows so often through the course of the series. Even when a few reveals are guessed, she can still manage to pull the rug out from under your feet about once a book. It makes reading her novels even more enjoyable; the unpredictability and creativity are often the best parts.


Now, if I had a chance to be a princess for a day...

Well, I would make everyone sing. Not all day, every day but often in just MY day. Like in... Galavant.




I mean... it would probably goes as well as.... well, this:




But if I were Princess like Britta, I honestly would try to make everyone have fun after a day of negotiating. Cracking terrible puns and jokes...




 while my trusty aide was like:







I would also begin a voluntary free read period for any point of the day (which all my citizens partake because if I am a princess it's in a world where reading is always preferred).





















There's a lot of this.
Our Queen JK, of Rowling, would be taught as early as possible in the day until the last stroke of midnight so kids might grow up with the Potterness.



For Potterheads, forever!


And while our national motto will be:

 

 
There will also be spontaneous dance parties and Air Guitar Championships for when life or feels get to be too much.



Turk is here to help.

I mean, yeah, we'll be a little weird at first..



We'll eventually figure it out. That's what my day as a Princess would be life.

Thank you to Bloomsbury for the chance to read and review this!