The Casting takes place in Ireland in 350 AD and follows the story of Robyn, the younger daughter of a bronze caster. While her older sister, Lianna, is content to follow in their mother’s footsteps—becoming a healer and marrying Gilhey, the apprentice likely to take over the foundry—Robyn feels called to follow in her father’s […]
The Goose Girl
October 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Goose Girl is extrapolated from the fairytale of the same name. Overall, it does a good job of staying true to the fundamentals of the tale while creating a complex story that stands well on its own. The basic plot is the same—a princess (Ani) travels with her handmaid (Selia) to marry a prince. […]
Green Angel
October 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jocelyn Koehler How will we react when the worst happens? Will we curl up and despair? Or will we rise up and endure? The answer to that question lies at the heart of Hoffman’s deceptively slender novel Green Angel. Taking equal inspiration from traditional fairy tales and the September 11 attacks, Hoffman […]
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
October 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane explores surprising emotional depths for a novel about a china rabbit. Edward is definitely not animate—I would call him a doll except he would take it as an insult. Although he thinks and he feels a full range of emotions, he doesn’t do anything that an inanimate object can’t […]
Johnny Graphic and the Etheric Bomb
October 5, 2012 by 1 Comment
Johnny Graphic and the Etheric Bomb takes place in an alternate 1935 America. The geography is just different enough to keep you on your toes and remind you that Johnny’s world isn’t quite our world (there’s a map—it looks like the South won the Civil War, for instance, and our United States became four separate […]
The True Meaning of Smekday
October 4, 2012 by 1 Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee What does Smekday mean for you? That’s the essay question that Gratuity Tucci answers in the first part of The True Meaning of Smekday. There’s a contest to choose one essay to go into a time capsule to be opened one hundred years in the future. That first essay got […]
Graceling
September 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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, […]
