fantasy

Review: Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell

| Tasha

monster on the hill

Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell

In 1860s England, each little town has its own monster that terrorizes its population.  And they love it!  In fact, there is money to be made if your town has a popular monster.  It brings in tourism and you can sell merchandise too.  However, the monster at Stoker-on-Avon was not a popular monster.  He barely left his cave anymore, sulking on the hill above the town.  Rayburn was one depressed monster.  It is up to Dr. Charles Wilkie, an inventor whose workshop was shut down by the town and who is willing to do almost anything to get it back, and Timothy, a street urchin who snuck along, to get Rayburn back in fighting spirit again.  This graphic novel is packed with new friends, old pals, big battles, and amazing monsters. 

Harrell took this graphic novel quickly out of any stereotypical themes very quickly by having the populations appreciate their monsters so thoroughly.  The mix of delight and monsters is great fun, adding a real unexpected twist to the story.  Rayburn is a wonderful character with a gloomy perspective that plays nicely off of the enthusiasm of the human characters.

Harrell’s art is filled with color and dynamic movement.  He brilliantly captures monster battles and is equally successful at creating friendship bonds between characters.  The art welcomes children to enter the world of the book, where they will find a great mashup of modern art and humor with a historical fantasy setting.

Fun, vivid and filled with action, this graphic novel will prove popular in every library.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Journey by Aaron Becker

| Tasha

journey

Journey by Aaron Becker

This stunning wordless picture book tells the story of a young girl who is very lonely.  Her parents are busy doing things and she has no one to play with.  Then she discovers a red crayon on her bedroom floor and draws a door on her wall that she can open.  She finds herself in a forest light with strings of lights, a river running by.  Her red crayon is in her hand, so she draws a boat that she can use to travel down the river.  Her incredible journey is just beginning and you will want to be along.

Done first in sepia tones with bursts of red, the book quickly changes to full color once the girl opens the magic door into another world.  Happily, this is not a world that readers will have visited before.  It is a dynamic mix of steampunk, fancy castles, and wondrous creatures.

Becker’s art is incredible intricate, inviting closer inspection.  Just the castle alone had me gazing for some time to see it all.  HIs art is also very beautiful.  The depth of color is lovely, particularly the colors of the sky and the landscape.

Beautifully done, this book is a gorgeous testament to the power of creativity and the amazing places that great art can take us.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

You can see some of this incredible journey on the book trailer:

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block

| Tasha

love in the time of global warming

Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block

Released August 27, 2013.

Seventeen-year-old Pen has survived the earthquake and tsunami wave in her native Los Angeles, but all of her family and friends have disappeared.  For weeks, Pen stays in her destroyed home, living off of the canned goods that her paranoid father kept in the basement.  But when the group of men come, she flees, aided by one of them and given a van, food, water, a map, and the promise of her family being alive.  Leaving her home, Pen finds only desolation and monsters.  There are giants on the loose, stomping around and leaving piles of gleaming clean human bones behind.  When Pen meets her first giant, she blinds his last good eye and flees.  She lands in a house where everyone is high on lotus juice and meets Hex who encourages her to dally there with him.  But Pen is on a quest to find her family, hoping that they are alive in Las Vegas.  Hex joins her and soon others aid her in her journey that is filled with love, butterflies, and danger.

A retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, Pen is a modern Odysseus on her own journey home.  Block’s writing is amazing.  There are passages that are piercingly true like her description of a mall: “The mall, with its greasy smells and labyrinth of silver escalators leading nowhere, always made me hungry and tired like I needed something I could never have.”  Her phrases sing and move, illuminating the truth beyond our surface world.  Block writes of crushes and lust and love in a way that speaks to what happens in the heart and under the skin, a blistering wonder.

Pen is a curious heroine.  She is a reluctant hero, at first unable to leave her home, then blinding the giant in defense.  The book is about her transformation from normal teen girl to rocking hero willing to put it all on the line for those she loves.  She grows in confidence and skill in natural way.  But much of this book is wonderfully unnatural.  The ties to The Odyssey make for a book that is monstrous as well as beautiful.  It is a tale that is unable to be categorized thanks to its genre-bending mix of dystopian fantasy, myths, and modern reality.

Block has created another amazing read in this book.  Her fans will rejoice at a new book from her, but this is also one that will create new fans.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Henry Holt and Company at ALA.

Review: The Apprentices by Maile Meloy

| Tasha

apprentices

The Apprentices by Maile Meloy

This sequel to The Apothecary continues the story of Janie, Benjamin and Pip.  It takes place three years after the first book and the three friends are all separated.  Janie is attending a private boarding school in the U.S. and working on a science project to desalinate water quickly and inexpensively.  But the closer she gets to a solution, the more danger she seems to be in.  Benjamin is traveling with his father, the apothecary, in the jungles of Vietnam, helping to heal the wounded in the war.  Benjamin has developed a powder that will allow him to communicate with Janie across the world, but it may reveal more than he is prepared to see.  Pip is now a television star in Britain, living a cushy life of fame.  But he is getting bored, and so is willing to head out to help his friends.  The three young people are up against a force that is ruthless, cruel and determined in this dynamic sequel in a great series.

Meloy writes with a great sense of pacing and plot.  She manages to keep so many different strands of the story active and interesting, allowing the story space to work itself out with a natural feel.  At the same time though, the pacing is tight and controlled, making the book readable and fun.  Her writing is both action packed and also intelligent, there are villains and heroes but they are nuanced and their motivations complex.  All of this creates a great read for fantasy fans.

A fabulous sequel in a very strong series, this series belongs in all public libraries.  Get it into the hands of children who enjoy fantasy mixed with adventure.  Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from copy received from Putnam.

Review: Fog Island by Tomi Ungerer

| Tasha

fog island

Fog Island by Tomi Ungerer

Always expect to be surprised by a picture book by Ungerer.  The Three Robbers is one of our favorites in our house and we’ve also loved the short film of the book and quote lines and sing the song from it years later.  This new book from Ungerer has some of the feel of that earlier title, with fog and darkness and danger.  It is the story of Finn and Cara who lived by the sea.  Their father built them a small boat, a curragh, and warned them to only use it in the bay and never go near Fog Island because people who go there have never returned.  But one day, the two of them were trapped in the fog and a current pulled them out of the bay and towards the doomed island.  Once there, they explored and met the Fog Man, who created the fog from sea water and heat from the center of the earth.  He entertained them and fed them well, but when they awoke the next morning, they were in a ruin rather than his castle.  But where had the warm quilt and hot stew come from?

Ungerer weaves a tale of rural life by the sea and folklore together.  The book could be set during any time at all, with the timeless nature of the story and the way of life.  It has the cadence of a story from oral traditions.  He takes the time to fully introduce the characters, the setting and create a world that contrasts beautifully with the wonder of Fog Island itself.  At the same time, Ungerer is happy to leave the magic of the island unexplained and amazing. 

The art is especially atmospheric, particularly the scenes in the fog with the children adrift.  There is one double page spread with no words that leaves a sense of wistfulness, dread and longing.  One can almost here the bell on the buoy and the silence and muffled world beyond.  Throughout the book, the double spreads are worth lingering over, showing rather than explaining the world that Ungerer has created here.

Magical, dark, and filled with fog, this book would make a great story time paired with The Three Robbers.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

| Tasha

bitter kingdom

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

Released August 27, 2013.

This is the third and final book in the Fire and Thorns trilogy and it is just as amazing as the first two.  In this third book, Elisa has been forced out of her kingdom.  Her enemies have taken her captain of the guard hostage but even more than that, they have stolen Elisa’s hopes for a budding romance with him.  Now she must go after him, trying to respond as a queen rather than someone who is heartsick with worry.  As she follows their trail, she learns more about her enemy and more of the secrets that her family kept from her about her Godstone and its powers.  She must call upon all of her courage, all of her humanity and all of her magic to survive this quest.

It is seriously hard to keep that vague about a book I loved, but a large part of my pleasure in reading this book was not knowing where it was headed.  I have only given plot points that are revealed in the first few chapters, nothing about the latter part of the book that is filled with action and reveals information about Elisa’s destiny and the world she lives in that readers will find immensely rewarding.

Carson neatly crosses boundaries of fantasy and science fiction in this final book.  Her heroine is no longer recognizable as the chubby girl being sent to an arranged marriage who started this series.  This instead is a queen, a queen with a heart that loves endlessly and who also has immense trust in others.  She is a queen with a destiny that is unknown, a duty that has been stolen from her, and a love who is missing.  In short, she is one incredible heroine for a trilogy.

Beautifully written, this series speaks to acceptance, transformation and being true to oneself.  Get this series into the hands of fans of Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore.  They will adore Elisa utterly.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Edelweiss.

Review: Stolen Magic by Stephanie Burgis

| Tasha

stolen magic

Stolen Magic by Stephanie Burgis

This third in the Kat, Incorrigible series continues the magical story of Kat who continues to romp through the social rules of the Regency-era with reckless abandon.  In this book, she is attending the wedding of her sister Angeline or at least she hopes that it will turn out that way.  But someone seems to be trying to kill her, cutting the axle of their carriage.  She has spotted someone lingering in the shadows, watching her, but has yet to figure out what she has done to anger them.  Kat is due to be initiated into the Order of the Guardians finally but that is delayed when it is discovered that their collection of spare portals has been stolen.  Then there is the woman who looks disturbingly like Kat’s dead mother who is also attending the wedding and the fact that Kat’s brother Charles has chosen a very bad time to finally wake up and become responsible.  It all makes for another delight of a novel in this charming series.

Burgis has created a heroine in Kat who is dynamic, ignores the social niceties of the day, and manages to get into all sorts of trouble, both magical and normal.  Through it all, she finds herself in incredible scrapes and adventures, that are great fun to go along on.  The writing is light handed, clear and makes for a rollicking read that is easy to read greedily and almost impossible to read slowly.

I see that this is said to be the conclusion of the series, though I admit that I hope for more about Kat.  I want to see what happens when she actually enters the Guardians, what happens to the hint of romance in the air, and what scrapes she gets into next. 

A grand ending to a great trilogy, this series is perfect to hand to both fans of fantasy and fans of historical fiction since it is a wonderful sweet concoction of both genres.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum.

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.