Middle School

Review: Renegade Magic by Stephanie Burgis

| Tasha

renegade magic

Renegade Magic by Stephanie Burgis

Somehow I lost track of this wonderful magical series, so I’m a little late in reading the last two books.  This is the second in the series, following Kat, Incorrigible.  Kat’s oldest sister is wed at the beginning of this book, but not before her wedding is disrupted by the angry mother of another sister’s suitor.  Once again Kat’s feud with Lady Fotherington has caused catastrophe.  When Kat confronts Lady Fotherington about what she has done, she goes too far and loses her right to learn how to use her Guardian magic.  Soon after the wedding, the suitor has reluctantly left and the family heads to Bath to escape the scandal for a time.  Little do they know, but they are heading directly into a huge magical situation where Kat will be unable to avoid the Guardians.

Burgis weaves actual history into her story of Bath which adds a fine solid foundation to a story that is frothy with fun and sparkling with magic.  Perhaps the best part of this book is the frumpery and finery of the upper class, making sure they are seen in the proper way and fretting about the smallest things.  Through it all, Kat is a fierce heroine, determined to regain her right to learn Guardian magic and do what is best for her family. 

A strong second book in a delight of a series, this book has a strong ending that sets readers up nicely for the final book in the series.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Review: The Flame in the Mist by Kit Grindstaff

| Tasha

flame in the mist

The Flame in the Mist by Kit Grindstaff

Jemma thinks she is the youngest daughter of the Agromond family, readying herself for the day her Powers will finally reveal themselves fully.  But before that can happen, her true past is revealed and Jemma understands why she has never been able to do the black magic that her family does so easily.  Now she has to escape their castle and enter the dangerous mist that can read a person’s intentions.  She only has the help of her two golden rats, a decrepit old servant, and a trusted friend, Digby.  Lost and wandering in the mist, Jemma has to battle monsters, flee from those sent to find her, and convince the mist itself that she is not a threat.  As she travels, ghostly children try to seek her help, crying for their brothers and sisters in the castle.  Jemma has to learn the truth of not only her own past but of the castle and the horrors that are hidden there.

This is such a compelling read!  Grindstaff’s slow reveal of the truth is very deftly done in this carefully plotted novel.  She does not flinch away from true horrors here, never hiding from what it would truly take to create a force like the mist and have such dark powers.  The plotting during the time that Jemma is lost in the mist does meander a bit, but happily that is not made up by speeding up the ending. 

Jemma is a compelling heroine with her self-doubt and fear.  Yet she is an incredibly brave heroine, risking herself for others.  I particularly enjoyed the part towards the end when she had to continually revise her plans based on what was happening at the time.  It made for a very complex and exceptional read.  It also took away from the reader the ability to predict what would happen, making the ending a much more immediate experience.

This is a strong debut novel that reads like a stand alone.  While I wouldn’t mind more adventures from Jemma, I look forward to seeing what Grindstaff has to offer us next.  Appropriate for ages 12-14.

Reviewed from copy received from Delacorte Press.

Review: Peanut by Ayun Halliday

| Tasha

peanut

Peanut by Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe

When Sadie heads to a new school once again, she comes up with a grand plan.  She orders a medical bracelet online and pretends to have a severe peanut allergy.  Using this strategy, she does make some friends, including finding a boyfriend.  However, the fake peanut allergy continues to be a problem, especially if she slips up and just eats a chip cooked in peanut oil.  As it becomes more and more a focus of her life, she thinks about telling the truth to her friends.  But it’s too late to come clean, because they would hate her for lying to them.  This graphic novel steadily counts down to the disaster that readers will know is coming, creating tension laced with humor.

Halliday has created a character that we can all relate to.  Sadie lies to make friends, her strange solution to being the new girl actually works.  Sadie is insecure and as she grows in self-esteem the trap she finds herself in starts to tighten.  She is a wonderful imperfect character, scolding her new boyfriend, lying to her mother, and of course lying to everyone at school.  But through it all, she is likeable and universal.

Hoppe’s illustrations are done in black and white lines with Sadie’s sweater being a pop of red against the more subtle coloring.  His drawings are fresh feeling and dynamic, often going for the laugh especially when the drama gets thick. 

Perfect for those teens who enjoy Raina Telgemeier’s books, this graphic novel is filled with humor and tension.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Schwartz & Wade.

Review: Destiny, Rewritten by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

| Tasha

destiny rewritten

Destiny, Rewritten by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

From even before she was born, it had been decided that Emily’s destiny was to be a poet.  Named after Emily Dickinson when her mother was inspired at a bookstore, Emily’s entire 11-year life has been documented in the margins of a first edition copy of Dickinson’s poems.  When Emily discovers that her mother wrote her father’s name in the margin of one of the poems, she rushes to read the book but a mishap sends it off to be donated to Goodwill.  This begins a search of several used book stores for the book and it quickly becomes apparent that destinies will not be rushed and that there is no way to force them.  But along the way, new friends are made, great books to read are found, and destiny is eventually changed.

Fitzmaurice writes with a wonderful mix of light tone and richness.  She carefully builds her story, creating additional storylines that serve as different strings in the story that are tied together by the end.  Another source of the richness is the way she describes things in the story.  Chapter 4 begins with “So I headed down the hall that Saturday morning with a hopeful feeling that came only on days I was opening a new box of Cheerios…”  This is such a universal image and universal feeling.  The Cheerios play into more of the story along with the prizes in their box.

Emily is an engaging character who struggles with learning patience and the frustration of being so close to the truth and then unable to grasp it.  She comes off as a multidimensional person, again thanks to the richness of the world that Fitzmaurice paints for the reader.  The secondary characters are also well drawn and solidly written.  It is a pleasure to also see poems by Dickinson and her life tied so closely to the lives of modern-day children and families.

Fresh and joyful, this is a novel where storylines click into place like a puzzle.  It will delight children who enjoy reading.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from HarperCollins.

Review: All My Noble Dreams and Then What Happens by Gloria Whelan

| Tasha

all my noble dreams

All My Noble Dreams and Then What Happens by Gloria Whelan

This sequel to Small Acts of Amazing Courage continues Rosalind’s story.  Rosalind lives in British-controlled India.  She is the only daughter in a well-off family, though she avoids the Club and all of the other British girls there.  Instead she runs a small school for the village boys, one that is not government sanctioned and so can continue to run.  She is a follower of Gandhi, something her father certainly does not approve of.  He wouldn’t approve of the school either, but he doesn’t know about it.  The book also tells of what happened to Hari, the infant that Rosalind rescued in the first book and how her aunts are now doing living in India.  As Rosalind gets drawn further into British life, she finds her two worlds colliding and the question is how she will remain true to herself and the cause she believes in so fiercely.

I simply adored the first book in this series and am so happy to say that the second is just as wonderful.  Whelan captures the period of British rule in India very clearly, never flinching from the harsh realities of the period, including the injustices of the British, the selling of child brides for money, and the severe poverty brought on by the caste system.  It is a book that is filled with the dust and clamor of the streets, the laughter of close trusted friends, and the grandeur of a prince’s visit. 

Rosalind shows a lot of growth from one book to the next.  In the first book, she would rush headlong into trouble.  Here the trouble she gets into is still there, but much of it she walks into with her eyes open and understanding what she is doing.  She is a radiant character, filling the pages with her passion for change and her love of India.  It is Rosalind who carries the story, because one never knows quite what will happen to her next.

A worthy sequel to the first gem of a book, fans of the first will welcome this second story of Rosalind and India.  Appropriate for ages 12-16.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Review: The Garden of My Imaan by Farhana Zia

| Tasha

garden of my imaan

The Garden of My Imaan by Farhana Zia

Aliya is different than the other kids in her class because she’s Muslim.  She does all she can to fit in, but that means she doesn’t stand up to the kids who pick on her or even talk to the cute boy she likes.  Then Marwa moves to their town and she is in the same grade as Aliya.  Marwa is also Muslim and wears the hijab or head scarf.  Marwa also does not just put up with the teasing of others and appears to Aliya to be much more confident than Aliya personally feels.  Aliya starts to write letters to Allah which start out as just complaints at first and then lead to something more: action.  As Aliya begins to deal with her own insecurities, she discovers that the world is much more accepting of differences if they are handled with confidence.

Zia has created a universal story with a Muslim heroine.  Children of all faiths will recognize themselves in these pages.  They will have struggled with teasing and bullying, they will have tried too hard to fit in, they will have not liked someone at first and then learned to like them.  Zia incorporates details about Zia’s Indian culture, her faith, and her family traditions with great skill, handily defining things with skill and ease.

It is wonderful to see a young heroine whose life includes cute boys but is not driven by it.  Faith, family and friendship are really at the heart of this novel, but Aliya is definitely a young girl too.  She struggles with issues in a way that shows definite growth in a natural way.  Zia writes with a wonderful lightness that makes this book an effortless read. 

Filled with giggles between girlfriends, this book reveals the warmth of family and faith in a completely approachable and joyful way.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Peachtree Publishers.

Review: Jinx by Sage Blackwood

| Tasha

jinx

Jinx by Sage Blackwood

Raised in the Urwald, Jinx knows that no matter what you never leave the path through the woods.  So when his stepfather decides to get rid of Jinx, they leave the path.  That’s when Jinx meets Simon, a wizard who agrees to take Jinx from his stepfather rather than letting him die in the woods.  Jinx moves in with Simon, who makes incredibly delicious food and has only one rule, never go into certain rooms.  Jinx has his own sort of magic: he is able to see people’s emotions as colorful clouds above their heads.  He can also talk with the trees of the Urwald.  But Simon does not believe he can actually do either.  Living with a wizard brings Jinx into touch with other sorts of magic and soon he is learning about that magic too, though he doesn’t seem to be any good at it.  Life is cozy and as good as Jinx has ever had, but it can’t stay that way.  Jinx soon wants to explore the Urwald himself, which leads to all sorts of amazing adventures and deadly dangers.

Blackwood has truly invented her own fantasy world here.  While she borrows from classic fantasies for some of her creatures: vampires, werewolves, wizards, and trolls, she has created her own rules for their world.  By creating the Urwald, a living woods that takes knowing the laws to survive for any length of time, she has effectively created a smaller world inside a larger one.  There are glimpses of the other parts of the world that are tantalizing.  It’s a complex world that she has created, which makes it all the more delightful to explore.

In Jinx, Blackwood has created what seems to be a very simple character.  Jinx grows throughout the novel not just in his age but in his perspective.  At first he is just happy to have somewhere warm with good food, but quickly he becomes intrigued with the magic around him.  Readers will immediately understand the Jinx is special thanks to his unique vision of emotions, but as they grow to know him more, they will discover he is just as complicated as the world he lives in.

Blackwood has written an impressive fantasy novel for middle grade readers that is both dazzling and dangerous.   Appropriate for ages 11-13.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle

| Tasha

lightning dreamer

The Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle

Margarita Engle, award-winning author of verse novels, continues her stories of Cuba.  In this book, she explores the life of Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, also known as Tula, who becomes a revolutionary Cuban poet.  Raised to be married off to save the family financially, Tula even as a young girl relates more closely with slaves and the books she is reading than with girls of her own age and her own social standing.  As she reads more and more, sheltered by both her younger brother and the nuns at the convent, Tula starts to explore revolutionary ideas about freedom for slaves and for women.  In a country that is not free, Tula herself is not free either and is forced to confront an arranged marriage, the brutality of slavery, and find her own voice.

Engle writes verse novels with such a beauty that they are impossible to put down.  Seemingly light confections of verse, they are actually strong, often angry and always powerful.  Here, Engle captures the way that girls are asked to sacrifice themselves for their families, the importance of education for young women, and the loss of self.  She doesn’t shy away from issues of slavery either.  At it’s heart though, this novel is about the power of words to free people, whether that is Tula herself, her brother or a family slave and friend.

Highly recommended, this is another dazzling and compelling novel from a master poet.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from digital galley received from NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Review: The Bird King by Shaun Tan

| Tasha

bird king

The Bird King: An Artist’s Notebook by Shaun Tan

This book opens the curtain to Tan’s creative process, allowing readers to view art from stories that have not yet been full formed, art from books that have been completed, and beautiful illustrations that may not be stories at all.  The courage this book took to produce is to be applauded.  Allowing readers and other artists to see a process of creativity is raw and soul baring. 

This book is stellar.  One turns the pages slowly, lingering in worlds undreamed of, wondering at ideas, and pausing to allow a particular image to sink in more deeply.  It is a journey, specially designed for a young creative to see that mistakes can be joyous, that creation is messy, and that works in progress are breathtaking.

This is a book to get in the hands of teens who enjoy art and writing, for it is a look at the unformed and the just formed.  It is a book of pure creativity and the creative process.  Beautiful.  Haunting.  Inspiring.  Appropriate for ages 10-18.

Reviewed from copy received from Scholastic.