Summers SHOULD be full of magic! Here are two of my new favorite magical middle grade books.
The first one is called "Song of the Yellow Dragon" by Ying Ping Low. It's about two kids, Kai and Mengyao. Kai is the 12 year old emperor but he's controlled by his uncle and one of uncle's friends. It turns out the two have orchestrated the deaths of Kai's dad and his siblings and Kai is next on the list. Kai decides his best bet is run away and he ends up in a small village that has no name because it's so isolated. A girl named Mengyao finds him and he swears her to secrecy, which totally doesn't work because it's such a small village and everyone knows everything. Once he's healed up, the two decide to go on a quest for the Dragon Pulse, which should give him the power to be the Emperor he wants to be. Mengyao is also hoping to get some magic, she wants to be a healer. Their quest is filled with danger and surprises and eventually a satisfying resolution. There are themes of trust, and family, fulfilling your destiny, making choices, and finding magic in the world, even if you're a grown up. This is a wonderful fairy tale kind of a fantasy and I think kids are going to love it.
The second one is called "the Unchosen One". It's written by Amy Sparkes and it's also a fairy tale story and it's one of the funniest books I've read in quite some time. It's about Tassie, an orphan who has been raised in a small village with a gift for making things go terribly wrong. She often skirts complete disaster but also ends up creating terrible messes and destruction without killing or maiming anyone but coming quite close. The Wisest of the Wise Witches comes to town to tell her and her guardian, The Chief Steward, that Tassie is the chosen one, the one to fulfill a prophecy and save her people. Tassie is deliriously excited to go and convinces her best friend, Spin, a griffin, to come along. On their way, they meet Darley, an elf of questionable intentions and integrity, who seems to be either trying to sabotage their way or help them. As they travel, it becomes more apparent that Tassie isn't actually the Chosen One and that there is another but Tassie needs to find him too. The evil characters are hilarious and the persistence and resilience of Tassie is impressive. It's a fun read with lots of adventure and (sort of) danger. There are themes of persistence and friendship and doing the right thing, even if it's hard, and finding your purpose. I thought this one was terrific and I hope lots of kids will love it too.
I'm super excited to be reading for the CYBILS again this year! I love reading all the latest speculative fiction and boy are there some great ones! Here are my two latest favorites. The first one is "Island of Wonders" written by Frances Hardinge and illustrated by Emily Gravett. It feels like an old fashioned story. The format of the book is big-like picture book sized, which is good because there are lot of illustrations. And the illustrations are just amazing-in three colors-black and blue and white, they almost feel like NC Wyeth or that Art Deco kind of traditional children's literature. But the STORY. Whoo-boy, is it great. A super creepy fairy tale kind of story and so beautifully written. It's about Milo, whose father is a ferryman, but a special kind of ferryman, HE ferries the dead to the afterlife. The islanders place a lot of trust in the ferryman, because if he doesn't do his job properly, the de...
I've fallen deep in the dark heart of middle grade fantasy fiction this week and there have been many, many magical creatures! These were my two favorite ones! The first one is "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell. It's not her first book but it's the first one I've read and I thought it was great. The writing is compelling and beautiful. I fell into the book but I kept stopping so I could keep going back to it! As an example, here's the opening line: "It was a very fine day, until something tried to eat him." The story is about two kids-Mal and Christopher. Mal lives with her great aunt Leonor in a place where magical animals are commonplace. Neither of them knows what happened to her parents, but the man who brought her to Leonor left a big coat that allows Mal to fly. And then a murder shows up. Mal narrowly escapes but Lenor does not. Meanwhile, Christopher is going to spend the summer with his gra...
I have SOOO many books to read. My TBR pile is tragically large. Thank goodness I'm retired so I can devote my time to reading! Here are two of my newest favorites. The first one is a science fiction tale by Rebecca Stead called "The Experiment". Nathan is a pretty regular sixth grader with a best friend named Victor, except for one teensy little thing-Nathan and his parents come from another planet. For the most part, Nathan's life is like everyone else's-but there are a few eccentricities like how his mom weighs all of his food (and subtracts the things he doesn't eat), she keeps a log book with data about their life, they have Zoom meetings with other alien families and their kids, and then there's the pink toothpaste that Nathan has to brush with 5 times a day. But some weird things have been happening. Some of the kids have disappeared from the Zoom meeting without an explanation and now Nathan is growing a tail. A furry, orange...
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