fantasy

13 Treasures

| Tasha

13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison

After being tormented by fairies and waking her mother in the middle of the night, Tanya is sent to stay with her grandmother in her dilapidated manor house.  Tanya sees fairies at her grandmother’s house too: they fill the grandfather clock and make mischief in the kitchen.  But fairies are nothing compared to the dangers of the woods that surround her grandmother’s house.  As Tanya struggles to come to terms with her second sight, she is helped by several unlikely allies, including the local witch woman, the annoying son of the manor’s caretaker, and a girl has had far worse luck with the fairies.  Will Tanya be able to solve the mystery that surrounds her with their help? 

Harrison excels at creating an immersive world that truly is brought to life through her writing.  Her attention to small details and willingness to truly describe settings have helped make a world that is tangible.  Exploring the manor house, one can almost smell the dust of neglect, see the encroaching ivy.  The fairies are offered with just enough detail to make sure readers remember that they are not friendly, sweet butterfly-like creatures.

Harrison also has a good ear for dialogue, which helps complete her world building.  Tanya is a tough but also friendly girl who is trapped in a nightmare no one else can see.  The tense relationship between her and her grandmother is written in actions rather than explanations.  There are plenty of tense moments, strange events, and bizarre happenings to keep the pages moving briskly.  For me though it was a book to savor, a world I longed to linger a bit more in.

There is plenty to love here.  It is a book of evil fairies that works for children who are not ready for Holly Black and Melissa Marr yet.   Beautiful writing and  incredible world building.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Little Brown.

Bleeding Violet

| Tasha

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Hanna has never really fit in.  She is distractingly beautiful, uses sex as a weapon, has been diagnosed as manic depressive, and hears her dead father in her head.  After bashing her aunt in the head and leaving her for dead, she heads to the home of her mother whom she has never even met.  But Rosalee is cold and aloof, nothing like the mother that Hanna pictured.  Rosalee gives her two weeks to see if she can fit in with the other people in town, or she will have to leave.  Hanna heads to school and immediately finds herself surrounded by bloodthirsty monsters, glass statues that used to be people, and other teens who dismiss her as a transient.  But Hanna is determined to find a place for herself in this odd town that just might be even more strange than she is.

Hanna is a character who is easy to dislike immediately, but throughout the book readers get to see beyond her outer shell and to the girl who is desperate for a mother who cares for her and for a place where she belongs.  Reeves writes with a flair for horror.  This book glories in gore, is filled with eye-widening moments, and will have readers turning the pages breathlessly.  This horror is right in your face and almost tangible.  The pacing is also done very well, with moments of stillness nicely contrasted by frenetic action scenes.  The world Reeves has created will remind readers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Hanna as heroine takes the novel in a different direction.

I must also mention after so many questions about YA covers and protagonist’s skin tones, that Hanna is bi-racial.  The is half Finnish and half African-American.  On the cover, her skin is a caramel which is just right. 

Get this into the hands of Buffy and Twilight fans and they will be delighted with a new heroine who isn’t afraid to get her hands bloody.  Appropriate for teens aged 14-18.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Also reviewed by TheHappyNappyBookseller, Pure Imagination, Frenetic Reader,

Plus you can see an interview with Dia Reeves at WriterJenn or you can visit Dia Reeves’ blog.

Magic Under Glass

| Tasha

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

Release date February 1, 2010.

Nimira dances for a pittance as a trouser girl until she is hired by Hollin Parry.  Parry, a sorcerer, hires her to sing with his newly acquired automaton which plays the piano when wound by a key in its back.  Nimira is the last in a line of girls that have been hired to be the singer, but the others fled because they thought the automaton was haunted.  Left alone with the automaton, Nimira discovers that it is trying to communicate with her though it cannot speak and cannot move unless wound.  Through the use of an alphabet chart on the keyboard, Nimira realizes that the automaton contains the trapped spirit of an elven prince.  Though Parry is courting her, Nimira and the fairy prince become closer and fall in love.  But more danger is swirling around them, as political intrigue, personal danger, and horrors of the past come together.

This slim volume holds an enticing story of love, betrayal and magic set in an alternate historical world.  Nimira is a wonderful character who hails from another land and offers great perspective on the setting.  She is feisty, intelligent and caring, just what any heroine of a love story should be.  The love triangle of Parry, Nimira and the elven prince is delightfully drawn against the setting of danger and sorcery.  To its credit, this book is wonderfully light despite its dark content.  It reads quickly and will have readers looking for the next book in the series to find out what happens.

A light fantasy of magic and love that explores dark desires and sinister motives at the same time.  Appropriate for ages 13-16. 

Reviewed from ARC received from publisher.

Tell Me a Dragon

| Tasha

Tell Me a Dragon by Jackie Morris

Explore the world of wondrous dragons that come in all sizes and colors.  There are huge white dragons that fly through night skies, dragons that breathe flower petals not flame, and enormous dragons with tails as long as rivers that share cupcakes.  There are also tiny dragons, dragons made of fire, dragons that whisper stories and songs in your ear, and dragons that curl around you in your bed.  So the question is, with so many dragons what does yours look like?

Morris has created a book that is a lyrical song in honor of individuality and imagination.  Her dragons are all very different but all have curling talons and gleaming eyes in their combination of feline and lizard.  Dragons here are not to be feared but adored as the illustrations show.  The range of dragons from ice to water to fire and beyond is a delight to page through. 

This book is a great conversation starter or would serve as a wonderful basis for dragon art where children could draw their own dragon.  My 8-year-old is often unwilling to indulge in the questions of picture books anymore, but this one really spoke to him.  By the end, he had his own large dragon firmly in mind, a combination of all of the elements with all sorts of fire and ice breath and a deep blue-black color.  He was also eager to look at the end pages of the book and select which of the eggs his dragon would emerge from. 

A book that is beautiful in its own right and one that also demands that children participate, dream and wish on their own as well.  Appropriate for ages 4-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Featured on 7-Imp.

Odd and the Frost Giants

| Tasha

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Brett Helquist.

Odd’s father died on a Viking ship, leaving Odd and his mother behind.  A few weeks later, Odd tried to chop down a tree with his father’s axe and ended up shattering his leg.  Now he still walks with a limp and is teased and mocked at home.  Tempers are rising in the village because spring should have come but winter continues its hold on the land.  Odd heads off to his father’s hunting lodge to escape the increasing teasing.  There he meets three animals: an enormous bear, a fox and an eagle.  The three turn out to be Norse gods who are trapped in animal form and banished from Asgard which has been invaded by Frost Giants.  Can one limping boy and three animals get back into the land of Asgard, bring peace and return spring to the land?

Neil Gaiman has written a small jewel of a book about an unexpected hero.  It is a focused story told in a voice that is meant to be shared aloud.  Odd is a pleasing character.  A smart boy with a sad past who is braver and stronger than anyone knew.   Gaiman’s language here is plain and simple, the story short and fast-moving.  Yet at the same time this is not a shallow piece.  It has heart and plenty of depth.  The occasional illustrations by Brett Helquist add to its friendliness for young readers and offer tantalizing glimpses of Odd’s world.

Any teacher doing a unit on mythology should add this book to your list.  It will also be useful with reluctant readers who will enjoy the direct story and the fast pacing.  Appropriate for ages 8-11, younger for reading aloud.  This is a perfect book for cold winter nights.

Reviewed from library copy.

Reviewed by Tor, Charlotte’s Library, Eva’s Book Addiction, and Chasing Ray.

Have You Ever Seen a Sneep?

| Tasha

Have You Ever Seen a Sneep? by Tasha Pym, pictures by Joel Stewart

Does a Sneep steal your picnic the minute you turn your back?  Does a Snook ruin your quiet time by being so loud?  Have you swung out over the water and landed in a Grullock’s throat?  Have you been surprised by a Floon?  Chased by a Knoo?  You haven’t? 

This funny and charming fantasy features a boy who lives in a land filled with creatures we have never seen before.  They are humanoid but strange with purple skin, large beaks, and many legs.  It is a great juxtaposition of a normal boy in what seem to be normal settings doing normal things and then an unusual creature arrives and the entire scene shifts.  Pym’s rhymes are effortless as they swing readers through the book.  Stewart’s art suits the subject perfectly with its gentle feel combined with wacky characters in wild colors. 

Highly recommended for preschool or toddler storytimes.  Children will love the fact they are being asked if they have seen such a creature themselves.  Adults reading aloud will find the pacing impeccable.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Incarceron

| Tasha

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Released February, 2010.

I first heard of Incarceron during the 2007 Cybils where the two panelists who had read it made such a strong case for the book that it became one of the finalists.  (It is a British import and the two panelists had read the British version.)  It had a lot to live up to after that strong an endorsement and then after I waited two years to read it!   I am very happy to say that it lived up to it and then some.

Incarceron is a prison for the worst criminals, but it is more than that.  It is a second chance, a sealed community that was planned as the perfect society.  A prison that is alive, that looks after its charges, that nourishes them.  But after being sealed for 150 years, the prison is far from idyllic.  Finn was born in the prison, from the prison.  He awoke in a cell as a teen ager and he has visions of the outside, of the stars.  That makes him one man’s way out.  Claudia is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron.  She lives on on the outside as a member of the highest society.  Her wedding day is nearing to a prince she does not love, giving her a monarchy she does not desire in a court bound by entrenched protocols that keep them from using any technology.  Everything changes when both Finn and Claudia manage to gain access to a Key that lets them communicate together.  Now Finn must escape Incarceron and all of its traps while Claudia navigates the complicated and treacherous world of the court.

This fantasy is deep, dark and complex, just like Incarceron itself.  The two protagonists are very different from one another and yet drawn to each other.  Due to the prison, Finn has had to become someone he would never be while Claudia has to play her own role and not give away anything to her father or those around her.  As readers learn about the characters and the roles they play and who they really are, they are also learning the complexities of the world, of a prison that thinks and acts and of a society so bound by tradition it is spinning out of control. 

Fisher has built a world and characters of contrasts and similarities.  We have the wealthy juxtaposed with the most penniless, but their societies are so similar.  We have two types of prisons, side by side.  We have heroes in both, villains in both, and in both is Incarceron as a pivotal, physical being. 

This book is a puzzle, an enigma that is a delight to figure out, to wander through and to wonder about.  It is unflinchingly brutal, beautiful, hopeless and hopeful.  The pacing too is varied and adds to the tension and excitement as it rushes then lingers as time likes to do.

Highly recommended, this book is filled with great world building, fascinating characters and the wonder that is Incarceron.  Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from ARC received from publisher.

Dragonfly

| Tasha

Dragonfly by Julia Golding

Princess Taoshira comes from a court of rules, order and gentility, though she used to be a goatherd.  Prince Ramil comes from a life filled with horses and action.  The two of them could not be more different or have more different beliefs about life and religion.  Yet the two of them are betrothed to unite their two countries which are both on the brink of war with Fergox who believes in a god of war and blood.  Their first meeting is fraught with misunderstanding and miscommunication.  When they try to go out for a ride in the forest together, they are both kidnapped and taken to Fergox.  Now the question is whether they trust one another enough to escape together, because their odds of survival are better if they act as one.

Excellent fantasy, this book creates a world that is complex, fascinating and tangible.  Both protagonists are complicated people who learn much about themselves as they interact with one another.  There is growth in both of them throughout the book.  Part of that growth is their slow-building romance that also reads as so real that it almost aches.  Golding’s writing is strong and easily carries a book of this length without bogging.  In fact, the action is swift and often great fun as are many of the supporting characters the two come across in their journey. 

The most vital part of this book is the message of acceptance across cultural boundaries.  Though the two main characters are so different, they still have much in common as rulers of lands.  Yet it is the differences that are immediately apparent, it takes time and effort to find the common ground. 

A beautifully rendered, complex novel, this book will be enjoyed by fans of Kristin Cashore and Suzanne Collins.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Also reviewed by Library Lounge Lizard.

Lips Touch

| Tasha

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor, illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo

In three stories, this book explores the power of a kiss and its ability to change one’s life.  The first story, Goblin Fruit, features a teen who has been raised by a family who still lives off the land and believes in the old stories.  But Kizzy longs to be loved, yearns to be noticed.  She is noticed by a beautiful new boy at the school.  Readers will immediately realize that this is too good to be real, but will Kizzy?  The second story, Spicy Little Curses, is set in India.  An elderly woman visits a demon in hell and negotiates for the lives of children.  In one deal, she trades the lives of over 20 children for a single curse.  That curse gives a young English woman who has been born and raised in India the most beautiful voice in the world.  The twist is that if she speaks, anyone who hears her will die.  In the final story, Hatchling, readers find themselves in a fairy tale that turns dark with the howling of wolves and a race of beings who collect children as pets, breed them for coloring, and have lost their souls. 

Taylor’s writing here is lush with imagery.  Her language is rich and sensual, dark and frightening.  She explores large, deep themes without hesitation, leading readers through explorations of lust, longing, and trust.  Through her skilled characterization, readers are captivated almost immediately by each story.  They are not linked stories, but are laced together loosely by theme and tone.  Taylor creates three distinct stories, each fascinating and complex.  The grouping of the three together is masterful with each of them becoming stronger by being next to another. 

These are short stories that will have teen readers asking for more.  Point them towards Margo Lanagan for more short stories that have dark themes.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from publisher.  ARC did not contain the bulk of the illustrations.

Also reviewed by Becky’s Book Reviews, Charlotte’s Library, and A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy.