Back to the fantasy!

Since October, I've pretty much read nothing but middle grade realistic fiction.  I liked it a LOT but a steady diet of anything, even the good stuff, can leave you craving something different, something spicy, something sweet, something surprising.  So these books totally fill that bill!

The first one is called "Inkling" by Kenneth Oppel.  It's a really interesting combination of realistic and fantasy fiction.  The main character is Ethan.  He lives with his dad and his younger sister Sarah. Sarah has Down's Syndrome and their mother died about two years ago.  Ethan's dad is struggling with depression and unresolved issues around his wife's death.  He is a successful graphic novelist, but he hasn't sold anything since his wife died.  The savior comes from an unlikely source-ink.  One day, the ink magically gathers itself into a ball and starts to gather more ink, and more and more until it's animated.  It soaks up some words and then it learns to write/talk.  It starts by helping Ethan with a school project and moves forward from there.  But of course there are nefarious sources at work and although Ethan is protective of Inkling, others find out and want to use it to their own ends.  There is a very interesting theme about how much help is ok before you can't call it your own work anymore.  There are also big themes of loyalty, family support, friendship, creativity and dealing with the death of a loved one and some very interesting commentary on the quality of literature vs. graphic novels.  I think the kids will love the fantasy parts of this book-the ink blob that can talk back, draw for you and turn itself into whatever you want and then clean up after itself is really appealing, but the darker parts will invite difficult conversations and speculations.  It's fairly short for a chapter book so it might be more accessible than I imagine, but I wonder if the kids will like it.

Here's a book trailer about it.  See what you think.

This second one is the sequel to a book I read last year about a dragon who is so enamored with chocolate, that she ends up getting tricked by a wizard and gets turned into a human.  She's so embarrassed that she tries to find her own way to get back to being a dragon and finds she sort of likes being a human (and working in a chocolate shop).  That one was called "The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart" and the sequel is called "The Girl with a Dragon Heart".  They're both by Stephanie Burgis.  This new one could stand alone (although having the background information about all the characters DID help) because it's told from the standpoint of Silke, who is Aventurine's (the dragon) best friend.  Silke is a bit of a rascal-she can tell stories and wiggle out of difficult situations better than anyone but she's in a spot of trouble, right from the beginning of the story.  The crown princess has demanded that she come to the castle and it turns out the princess wants Silke to spy for her.  The target are the fairies who are coming to the castle, hopefully make a peaceful agreement (not unlike they did in the first book with the dragons).  Unfortunately, fairies are a lot trickier than dragons and Silke has a bit of background with the fairies.  It turns out that Silke and her brother lost their parents as they were coming to the big city because the fairies kidnapped them and took them underground.  So Silke has a lot riding on her spying skills, which aren't quite as good as anyone thought they would be.  The story is a breathtaking adventure, with lots of exciting adventure, plot twists and delicious chocolate.  I really like this series and these characters a lot.  My students really love the Dragon with the Chocolate Heart so I think they're going to like this one too.