Middle School

Daughters of Ruin by K.D. Castner

| Tasha

Daughters of Ruin by KD Castner

Daughters of Ruin by K.D. Castner (InfoSoup)

Four princesses have all lived together as sisters since they were small children. But they are far from being sisters, each heir to their own throne. After a war ravaged all of their kingdoms, the victor brought the daughters of his enemies together in peace to forge a new truce. Ten years later, the girls still live together but the peace between them is strained and fraying. There is Rhea, distrusted by the other princesses because her father is the king. Cadis is the beauty and the strongest fighter but there is some question about whether her democratic sea-faring society even lets her be royalty. Iren is the quiet and meek one, concentrating on long letters home to her mother. Finally there is Suki, the youngest of them and most volatile. When the peace of the palace is breached, the princesses have to choose alliances and take up arms.

Castner has created a very strong debut novel. She has not just one strong young woman but four, each of them different from the others. Castner gives them each a unique perspective and voice and yet also keeps them from becoming stereotypical in any way. These are all princesses of war, teens who have been raised to kill and damage, to defend their kingdoms and to win. While some of them are closer than others to being true sisters and friends, others are almost enemies. The dynamics of a four teenagers living closely together and isolated is intriguing and Castner captures the subtleties of it as well as the broader issues.

Castner focuses mostly on the girls themselves and the world comes into focus as the girls leave the palace and venture outside it. Because so much of the book is political intrigue, it makes for a book that truly is from the perspective of the main characters where what they are touched by is the thing that the reader knows most about. In this way, Castner also avoids lengthy exposition about the world made up by the kingdoms. There is just enough detail for it all to make sense and work and nothing more.

Strong female protagonists who wield weapons with panache combine with politics and plenty of twists and turns to create a debut worth exploring. Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Margaret K. McElderry Books.

 

Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki

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Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki

Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki (InfoSoup)

Montgomery has two best friends who are the reason that she can make it through high school at all. They have a Mystery Club at school where they are the only members and they explore the mysteries of the universe. Thomas loves to talk about superheroes and Naoki focuses on crystals. With Monty’s two moms and Thomas being bullied for being gay, Monty knows there is hate in the world, something made even clearer when a preacher arrives in town putting up signs against people who are gay. When Monty buys The Eye of Know online, she doesn’t expect it to work any better than their other experiments, but soon the Eye seems to be channeling Monty’s personal anger and exacting revenge.

Tamaki captures the anger of a teenager with precision here. It all feels deeply organic, often not being logical at all, lashing out at those she loves, and withdrawing into her room. The issues that Monty is furious about are so tangible both in her life and in her friendships, yet she goes much farther than those who love her would want her to. There is a sense of her reaching a cliff of anger and having to make a choice of how she is going to be in the world. It’s a powerful place to set a YA novel and works well.

The magical realism in the book is done well too. It strikes a balance between being entirely believable but also allowing readers to see it as something that could be unrelated too. Readers will get to see what their own opinions of mysteries of the universe are in this well-written novel.

A novel about anger and its positive and negative sides, this book will speak to young teens navigating their own issues. Appropriate for ages 12-14.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

 

 

 

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

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The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (InfoSoup)

Faith appears to be a very somber and dutiful daughter to her father who is a clergyman and a natural history scholar. When their family is forced to leave Kent for a small island, Faith discovers that her father’s entire body of work has been discovered to be based on lies and that their family is disgraced. Faith desperately wants to be seen as more than a burden to her father, so she helps him move a valuable specimen to a secret sea cave reached by boat. Soon afterwards, her father dies and people suspect it was suicide. Only Faith thinks that it could have been murder and may have something to do with the tree they moved to the cave. It’s a tree that only bears fruit when a lie is whispered to it and grows in strength as the lie grows too. Now Faith is the only one who knows where the tree is and that may be enough to have her become a target too.

Hardinge’s writing is breathtaking. She uses unique and unusual metaphors that are compelling and vivid, further building her world of lies, distrust and isolation. At times the writing is so beautiful that it stops the reader so that it can be reread again. At other times, the pace rockets forward, the reader clinging on and whooping along. Hardinge has created in the tree itself a beautiful metaphor for lies, the fruit they create and the power they can bring.

Throughout the strictness of Victorian society is at play, creating a world of rules that must not be altered or broken. In that world is Faith who must figure out how to solve a murder that only she believes has happened in a society where she is to be quiet and docile lest her reputation be forever ruined. As the book continues, readers will be carefully shown their own sexism about female characters to great effect. This is feminist writing at its finest.

Stunning writing, a compelling young heroine and a world filled with rules and lies, this is one amazing read that mixes fantasy, historical fiction and a big dash of horror. Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

 

 

Booked by Kwame Alexander

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Booked by Kwame Alexander

Booked by Kwame Alexander (InfoSoup)

In his follow up to the Newbery-Award-winning The Crossover, Alexander once again blends sports and poetry. Nick loves soccer and is really good at it too. Nick and his best friend are on opposing teams in an upcoming soccer cup and Nick is also getting ready to ask out April, a girl he can’t stop thinking about. Everything is going well except for his father who insists that Nick read the dictionary of large words that he personally created. That’s when Nick finds out that his mother is moving away for a job working with horses, leaving Nick with his father, not a great combination. Nick will have to rely on soccer and his best friend to get him through this rough patch. Because there is more tough road to come.

Alexander is quite simply amazing. He writes verse that is both poetic and beautiful but also accessible and welcoming to young teens who may be far more interested in kicking a ball than reading a book, especially a book of poetry. Alexander also demonstrates throughout the book the power of words both in his poetry itself and through the story line, where Nick is clearly smart and uses words from his father’s collection without even thinking about it. Nicely, definitions are provided in footnotes.

Nick is a protagonist who is easy to relate to. He has several things on his mind: soccer, girls and gaming. It is life though that pulls him outside of those interests and broadens his scope. His father does this in a clumsy way, forcing Nick to learn words. A school librarian also helps, getting books that Nick will clearly love directly into his hands. So as much as this is a book about a smart young teen boy, it is also a book about the power of having adults who care in your life.

A worthy follow-up to his first verse novel, this book is just as beautifully written. Appropriate for ages 11-13.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

 

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

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Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (InfoSoup)

Growing up in rural Pennsylvania in 1943, Annabelle lives a quiet life where she hopes for adventure. She attends a one-room schoolhouse with her two younger brothers, walking there from their family farm each day. That quiet life changes when Betty Glengarry arrives at school. She immediately targets Annabelle, demanding payments in exchange for not hurting Annabelle and her brothers, killing a bird without remorse. Annabelle does not want to worry her family with her troubles, so she keeps them to herself. Soon though things escalate with her youngest brother running into a sharpened wire along the path. After that, Annabelle’s best friend is maimed with a rock that Annabelle knows was thrown by Betty. Betty though blames Toby, a reclusive man who walks the paths all day long with guns slung on his back. Toby has been nothing but kind to Annabelle and her family, but he is considered strange by many. When Betty disappears soon after making the allegation, Annabelle decides that she must rescue Toby from the new accusations being made.

Wolk has created a rich and beautiful world for Annabelle to live in. The hills and valleys of the Pennsylvanian countryside offer not only a rich farming world but also a place where secrets can hide and dangers lurk. The setting of Wolf Hollow itself with its history of trapping wolves in pits is a striking analogy for what happens in the novel. Annabelle herself is brave and clever, a girl who is bullied awfully and then has the power placed in her hands to make a difference for someone she cares about.

This book focuses on the courage it takes to stand up for what is right, for what one knows deep down to be true. It is a book that speaks to all of those who are strange among us and the way that rumors and accusations tend to target them. It is also about the power a child can have in an adult world, the difference one person can make. It is also a book that is dark and complicated: one where girls disappear, where Germans are not welcome, and where hate is fast to develop.

This is a complex and layered novel that is a deep and compelling read focusing on bullying and the impact of war. Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from ARC received from Dutton Books for Young Readers

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

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On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (InfoSoup)

The author of Otherbound returns with a stunning science fiction novel for teens. Denise and her mother are ready to leave their apartment, but her mother won’t move fast enough. She is trying to wait for Denise’s sister, Iris. Now they are not going to reach the shelter in time and that means that they probably won’t survive the comet hitting Earth. As they drive the empty streets to their temporary shelter, desperately late, a chance encounter leads them on another path. Instead of a temporary shelter, they are offered shelter in a generation ship that will wait out the comet hit and then leave earth. Now it is up to Denise to figure out how to fix everything, to find her sister in destroyed and flooded Amsterdam, and even more importantly get them all a spot on the generation ship before it takes off. But who is going to take Denise who is autistic and her mother who struggles with drug addiction?

Duyvis set this book in her native Amsterdam and throughout the novel, one can see her love for her nation and her city. Yes, she destroys much of it, but the spirit of the people is clear on the page as is the beauty of the city even through its destruction. The science here is done just right, with a clear connection to today’s technology but also taking it leaps ahead, allowing readers to truly believe it is 2035. This book is not afraid of asking difficult questions about disabilities and addiction and whether only the perfect deserve to survive in this situation.

The book is beautifully written, with an impressive protagonist who shows that disabilities are no reason that you can’t be a survivor and even more so, a heroine. Denise is a beautiful mixture of autistic behaviors when she is pushed but also bravery and resilience. The book is an intelligent mix of adventure and survival with a compelling question of what could make Denise worthy enough to stay. There are additional ethical questions throughout, including how far one would go to save a loved one.

A brilliant science fiction novel that offers diversity and a powerful story. Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from ARC received from Abrams.

 

The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks

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The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks

The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks (InfoSoup)

Kaidu has moved to the City, a city with no name because every time it is invaded it gets a new name. For those who are native to the city, they survive by not getting involved and living their lives despite those who rule them. Kaidu is one of the Dao, the current occupiers of the City. He is training to be a warrior, hoping to get to know the man who is his father. Kaidu loves the City and finds himself exploring its streets alone despite the rules forbidding it. It is in the City that Kaidu meets Rat, a girl who can dash along the rooftops of the city, make amazing leaps across space, and who lives on the streets. The two become friends slowly, first with Rat training Kaidu to run while Kaidu brings her food. Soon the two unlikely friends must decide whose side they are on as war and murder approach them and the City they love.

Hicks is the author of Friends with Boys and Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, both wonderful graphic novels. In this new book, she moves into historical fantasy where she has created a city at the center of warring nations. The world building here is exceptional, the entire city feels vibrant and alive as the characters move through it. Readers get to feel the same wonder as Kaidu as they explore the city and see the amazing Hole in the Sky that leads in. Hicks has a great sense of timing in the book, allowing moments to stretch and grow while others rush past in bursts of adventure and action.

The art is gorgeous as well. The two main characters play against each other visually, both of their races different but not clearly defined. This is a very important piece of the story, a decision that makes the book work on an entirely different level. It’s smart and sophisticated building of a society on a visual level.

The first book in a new series, I look forward to seeing where these dynamic characters take us next. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from First Second.

 

Summerlost by Ally Condie

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Summerlost by Ally Condie (InfoSoup)

Cedar’s family is much smaller than it once was. Her father and brother were killed in a car accident and now Cedar, her mother and her other brother are returning to the small town of Iron Creek for the summer where they have purchased a new house. Cedar soon notices a boy riding his bike past their house dressed in costume. Cedar follows him to Summerlost, a local and renowned theater festival. There, Cedar meets the boy on the bike, Leo and finds herself a summer job too. Leo and Cedar have soon created a tour together about a famous local actress who performed at Summerlost and died in Iron Creek. Cedar’s summer is filled with small mysteries like who is putting items on her windowsill that her dead brother would have loved that help distract her from the loss she has so recently experienced, until she can’t ignore it any longer.

Condie, author of the Matched series, has created a beautiful middle grade novel here that rings with honesty. She manages to keep both the reader and Cedar aware of the loss that was experienced but also moving forward and towards other things. The book is haunted with those deaths, appearing out of nowhere in the middle of beautiful summer days, but also hiding at times and almost disappearing with the busyness of work. It’s an intelligent balance written very cleverly.

Condie’s writing is superb throughout the novel. In Summerlost, she creates an entire world of theater that is intoxicating and memorable. Early in the novel, Condie through Cedar’s voice explains what it is like to have a family shrunk by tragedy:

Sometimes I thought of the three of us as pencils with the erasers scrubbed down to the end, and the next swipe across the paper would tear through the page and make a scree sound across the desk.

This approachable and yet deep writing runs throughout the novel, exposing grief in unexpected and tangible ways.

A strong and outstanding novel for middle grades, this book takes a courageous look at grief and the resilience it takes to continue to live. Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from ARC received from Dutton Books for Young Readers.

Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling by Tony Cliff

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Delilah Dirk and the Kings Shilling by Tony Cliff

Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling by Tony Cliff (InfoSoup)

Released March 8, 2016.

This second book in the Delilah Dirk graphic novel series will have fans cheering once again for this Victorian sword-wielding heroine. When an English army officer threatens Delilah’s good name, her thirst for revenge takes over. But Selim sees it in a calmer way, trying to divert her attention back to their travels. He wishes to travel to England, though Delilah has no interest in going there. That is until she discovers that it may be the way to take down the office who wronged her. Soon the two travelers are in England where Delilah reveals her own background and Selim attempts to enjoy his first trip there even as he is pressed into service for Delilah’s family.

This second book is just as delightful and refreshing as the first. Delilah stays entirely herself, taking on those doing wrong, defending her personal honor, and managing to have many amazing battles along the way with her sword whirling. Selim too remains the calm epicenter of Delilah’s world as the two of them travel together. He can’t get her to listen any better in this book, though in the end he seems to have known best all along. Their dynamic with one another is a major part of these books, the two of them both appreciating one another at times and then almost breaking into fist fights others. It was a particularly good choice to put their dynamic at risk in this book, making it all the more readable.

Cliff’s art is gorgeous. He has action galore here whether it is horses galloping or near escapes. Of course his battles in particular are incredibly done, frame after frame offering detail but also keeping the pacing brisk and the story line firmly in hand. The swirling skirts of Delilah match her swords and she fights in a most decidedly feminine and brutal way. It’s a delight to see.

Another winning Delilah Dirk book that anyone who loves a great sword fight will enjoy. Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from First Second.