Review written by Jennifer Lewis Graceling tells the story of Katsa. Her Grace, which is an innate and highly advanced skill, provides her with an uncanny fighting ability, an ability the king has claimed as his weapon to wield. However, she’s disgusted with the king’s using her to solve his problems by inflicting pain on […]
The Looking Glass Wars
September 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Looking Glass Wars is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s stories, but the premise is that Carroll wrote his books based on the stories of Alyss who is truly from Wonderland but trapped in Victorian London. Familiarity with Carroll’s novels will add to a reader’s enjoyment of The Looking Glass Wars—it’s fun to see how Frank […]
The Moon Coin
September 18, 2012 by 1 Comment
2012 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards: Gold Medal Winner (Pre-Teen Fiction – Fantasy) The Moon Coin is a delightful fantasy story about Lily and her brother Jasper. Their Uncle Ebb has always told them tales (not stories—there’s a difference) of the Moon Realm. After Ebb disappears, Lily finds the Moon Coin necklace her uncle always wore […]
LightMasters: Number 13
September 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
LightMasters: Number 13 tells the story of 13 year old Jessica who learns she’s a Lightmaster when she follows mysterious lights into the forest. Talking to the strangers she encounters there, she discovers that she has a role to play in saving the world. It’s told from her point of view in a first person, […]
Howl’s Moving Castle
September 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee Howl’s Moving Castle takes place in a Kingdom, somewhere. The eldest of three has read all the tales and she knows that she’s destined for failure—the eldest ones always are, especially when there are two younger siblings and your father has remarried. Even if your stepmom does her best to […]
Beauty Sleep
August 28, 2012 by 1 Comment
Beauty Sleep manages to retell the story of “Sleeping Beauty” while incorporating a proactive princess and true love despite the curse of a hundred year sleep. This is no mean feat! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel which occasionally brought me to happy tears as things fell into place (I’m also sleep deprived, which may factor […]
Auralia’s Colors
August 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Auralia’s Colors isn’t explicitly a middle grade book, but it’s clean enough to be appropriate for precocious older tweens (i.e., the violence isn’t described in particularly graphic detail, the sex is only hinted at). It’s a great introduction to epic fantasy, with its somewhat complex story and not quite epic length. It contains metaphors that […]
Cinder
August 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
For an analysis that isn’t full of spoilers, read my review on the Broadsheet. Cinder is a futuristic fairytale, and although there are obvious connections to “Cinderella,” it’s really its own tale with nods to many other familiar stories, particularly “Snow White.” Cinder is a cyborg—after a horrific accident, parts of her body have been […]
Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen
July 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment
My nieces have really enjoyed the Sammy Keyes mystery series, so they let me borrow one of their books when they came to visit. I read Sammy Keyes And the Psycho Kitty Queen, which I think is the 9th book in the series. Although you certainly don’t need to read the books in order, there […]
The Case of the Missing Marquess
June 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Case of the Missing Marquess is the first in the Enola Holmes series. Enola is the much younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft, who are also minor characters in the book. Enola—born late in her mother’s life—is scandalous due to her very existence. Her mother has allowed her free rein, neglecting her education as […]
