Dear Blog Readers,

Hi!  Surprised to see me?  It’s been a while since the last review, so I thought I should at least post to say that I’m alive and reading, and will be posting more frequently once the craziness of October is over.  Three jobs plus volunteer theater is rough on a girl, you know?

Of course, nothing could keep me away for very long, so look forward to lots more reviews (including a lot of manga–I’ve been in serious manga-devouring mode lately) in November!

Until then, happy reading!

Love,

Dear Patrick Ness,

The Ask and the Answer – Patrick Ness – 528 pages

Todd and Viola are at Mayor Prentiss’ mercy.  Forcibly separated, he dangles each one’s life and safety in front of the other to keep them in line, and their paths begin to diverge, one on each end of New Prentisstown’s political extremes.  Trapped and tricked, they must each reconcile their own heinous actions and overcome the seeds of doubt that plague them.  Can their trust and love for each other endure long enough to save themselves and New World?

You did it again.  You’re like the king of the cliffhangers.  I don’t know if I can take it.  The Ask and the Answer was so desolate and horrifying and so nearly triumphant, but it’s the middle of a trilogy, and everybody knows that the middle of a trilogy is all about getting the protagonists into even worse trouble than they were in before.  But really all that matters are Todd and Viola, and their faith, and their phoenix-like ability to rise again and again.

Once again, your ability to manipulate me was infuriating and masterful and brilliant.  You push the envelope of YA in this book, exploring Todd’s weakness and letting him stray farther and farther away from the courage and human decency that made him so appealing in Book 1.  It’s not often that the hero of a novel for teens swings so freely back and forth between righteous and monstrous–it was fascinating and awful at once.  Set at counterpoint with Viola, who made a vicious effort to hold her moral ground in spite of what was going on around her, Todd’s narrative seemed all the more heartbreakingly brutal and their reunion even more intense.  I wish I could hear your Noise, so I could find out what’s going to happen in Book 3.  The wait will be excrutiating, but I look forward to it.  Five stars once again.

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!

Books this year: 98

Pages this year: 19,930

Dear Patrick Ness,

The Knife of Never Letting Go – Patrick Ness – 496 pages

To Todd, life seems simple.  He knows that the Noise germ caused men’s thoughts to be as loud as voices.  He knows that same germ killed all the women on New World, including his mother.  He knows that the Specks who released the germ all died in the war, and that in a month’s time he will turn thirteen and become a man.  Then, when Todd and his dog Manchee stumble upon a spot of silence in the Noise, everything he thought he knew will change forever.

Sometimes a book just pulls you in and eats you up and breaks you into a million pieces and spits you back out again feeling like you’ve been run over by a truck except you really liked being run over by that truck.  The Knife of Never Letting Go is one of those books.  I knew it was going to be something special from the first few pages, and tonight I just barreled through the last three quarters of it like my life depended on finding out what happened next.  And it sort of did.  Once again, I was Bastian sitting in the attic of the school.  I sobbed like the world was ending and had to take the book with me to the bathroom (poo, Todd?) because I couldn’t put it down, and I feel wrung dry and tied in knots and changed.

I’m starting to ramble.  Let me try to reel it in.  Your premise isn’t quite like anything I’ve read before, which is a miracle unto itself.  You’ve crafted something unique and frightening that’s strengthening at the same time, which is how books about such strife should be.  Also, you get automatic points for writing in the present tense–I LOVE present tense writing with more enthusiasm than seems entirely necessary.  On top of all that, your characters (especially Todd and Manchee) are so intensely real to me.  You’ve captured a huge variety of ways in which men could react to such bizarre circumstances–the coldly evil Mayor, the lunatic preacher, the hotheaded Cillian and kindhearted Ben who were ready to die to protect their adopted son from the town’s darkness…it’s a frighteningly plausible world.  I could almost hate you for the cliff you’ve left me hanging over, except that one of my delightful friends is going to loan me an ARC of the sequel, so that I don’t die of waiting.  You’ve done something spectacular, and I thank you for it.  Five effing stars.

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!

Books this year: 97

Pages this year: 19,402

Dear Trenton Lee Stewart and Diana Sudyka,

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey – Trenton Lee Stewart – 464 pages

“The Mysterious Benedict Society is back with a new mission, significantly closer to home. After reuniting for a celebratory scavenger hunt, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance are forced to go on an unexpected search–a search to find Mr. Benedict. It seems that while he was preparing the kids’ adventure, he stepped right into a trap orchestrated by his evil twin Mr. Curtain. With only one week to find a captured Mr. Benedict, the gifted foursome faces their greatest challenge of all–a challenge that will reinforce the reasons they were brought together in the first place and will require them to fight for the very namesake that united them.”  – Little, Brown Kids website

I was completely delighted by the original Mysterious Benedict Society, and I’m happy to say that I was equally delighted by the second installment!  The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey was just as funny, charming, thrilling, and emotionally honest as its predecessor.  Mr. Stewart, I was moved by your descriptions of the kids’ friendship–they’re precocious in their understanding of their own feelings, but they’re precocious in other ways too, so it made sense.  They reminded me of myself and my closest friends (yay BMVCOE!) and I really enjoyed that.

Not to mention the fun I had trying to figure out all the little pieces of the mystery, and the ups and downs I lived vicariously as the tables turned for the kids time and time again.  This is one of those books that makes me feel like Bastian in the school attic reading The Neverending Story, and living Atreyu’s trials along with him.  Your prose is fantastic, your understanding of storytelling is superb, and I can’t wait to read the next book!  Of course, I’ve also got to give some credit to Diana Sudyka–the illustrations are unique in style and surprisingly evocative to me, and the book wouldn’t be the same without them.  All in all, another five stars for you both!

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!

Books this year: 96

Pages this year: 18,906

Dear Carolyn Turgeon,

Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story – Carolyn Turgeon – 288 pages

“Lil is an old woman who spends her days shelving rare books in a tiny Manhattan bookstore and lonely nights at home in her apartment. But Lil has an intriguing secret. Tucked and bound behind her back are white feathery wings–the only key to who she once was: the fairy godmother responsible for getting Cinderella to the ball to unite with her Prince Charming. … But then one day she meets Veronica–a young, fair-skinned, flame-haired East Village beauty with a love of all things vintage and a penchant for falling in love with the wrong men–and suddenly it becomes clear to Lil that she’s been given a chance at redemption. If she can find a soul mate for Veronica, she may right her wrong and return to the fairy world she so deeply longs for….”  -Random House website

I’ve been lazy with the writing of plot summaries lately, but when the publisher’s website does it well, who am I to resist?  At any rate, Godmother was a mixed bag for me.  When I read the description I quoted above, it sounds like something I’d want to read–and it was along the right lines.  You had some elements, like the fairies’ underwater home, that were unique and surprising.  Your prose was generally lovely, too, and you did a great job with crafting some mystery around Lil and revealing only little bits of back story at a time.  The flow and the organization was good, and I was with you.  Then I hit the “twist” at the end, and the whole thing was soured for me.  You pulled an Alice in Wonderland, and I felt tricked, like I’d been denied what could have been a genuinely interesting fantasy novel or (with some changes) a fascinating novel about the human psyche.  It turned out to be neither, and I was pretty disappointed.

Even so, I don’t like to end a review on a bad note.  I rather enjoyed myself up until the end, and I can see why people who aren’t me might appreciate the twist.  Three stars in my opinion, but as always, that’s just my opinion.

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!

Books this year: 95

Pages this year: 18,442

Dear Lois Lowry,

Gossamer – Lois Lowry – 176 pages

“Littlest One is a tiny creature slowly learning her job of giving dreams to humans. Each night she and her teacher, Thin Elderly, visit an old woman’s home where she softly touches beloved objects, gathering happy memories, and drops of old scents and sounds. Littlest One pieces these bits together and presents them to her sleeping human in the form of pleasant dreams. But the dreaded Sinisteeds, dark fearsome creatures that plague their victims with nightmares, are always at work against the dreamgivers. When the old woman takes in John, an angry foster child with a troubled past, the Sinisteeds go after him with their horrifying nightmares. Can Littlest One, and her touch light as gossamer, protect John’s heart and soul from the nightmare of his dark past?”  -Random House website

Gossamer is just one of those perfect books for curling up and reading in bed or under a blanket or somewhere else cozy.  It has just the right proportions of sweetness, gentle humor, real-life troubles, danger and fantasy–a recipe for loveliness!  Littlest One is just so earnest and cute that I can’t resist her, and Thin Elderly is a delight, and the whole thing has that slightly distant fairy-tale feel to it while still laying the characters hearts bare through their actions.  It has the same sort of feeling to me as Season of Ponies and The Sleep of Stone, even though it resembles neither in plot.  Your prose is simple and clear, the story is quick and satisfying, and it’s delightfully clever.  I absolutely love it, and I expected no less from the woman behind The Giver and Number the Stars and Anastasia Krupnik (but what’s up with Anastasia’s new cover?  YUCK!).  You totally rock.  Five stars!

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!

Books this year: 94

Pages this year: 18,154

Dear Holly Lisle,

Moon and Sun Book 1:  The Ruby Key – Holly Lisle – 384 pages

“Human and Nightlings are never to meet, but when Genna and her brother Dan venture into the old forest at night, they encounter a Nightling slave who reveals a terrifying secret: Genna and Dan’s village chieftain has made a dangerous deal with Letrin, ruler of the Nightlings, offering the lives of his people in exchange for his own immortality. To save the villagers and themselves, Genna and Dan strike their own bargain with the Nightling lord, but the stakes are even higher. Now, the siblings must embark upon a journey along the Moonroads, and bring back the key to Letrin’s downfall.”  –Scholastic online store

I’ll be totally honest here–I picked up The Ruby Key because the cover art was appealing, particularly the waifish fairy girl.  Covers really do matter!  I judge books by them all the time!  At any rate, it looked like something I would enjoy, and I was totally right.  You’ve pulled together this really interesting mood that starts out sort of The Village-or-Forest of Hands and Teeth-esque, and then it sort of morphs into this slightly weirder Campbellian journey.  The Moonroads reminded me a little bit of the Abhorsen walking around in Death, or perhaps of the path through the clock to the Red Bull’s lair in The Last Unicorn.  Still, though it reminds me favorably of other things, the idea of traveling roads that most people can’t see is mysterious and thrilling in its own unique way–a nice twist  on the traveling.

Also, as one might expect from the first book in a series, it had an unfinished feel to me.  I think there wasn’t quite enough time between the solving of Book 1’s main conflict and the beginning of the new conflict that I presume Book 2 will tackle.  I needed a little more time to feel relieved, and like the story had ended, before you sprung the next problem on me.  Of course, that didn’t prevent me from groaning aloud and then scouring the internet for news of when the next book would be coming out!  I think you’ve got a good mix of fantasy elements here without the story feeling like it’s been done before, and also a great mix of characters and a lot of confusion and suspense about who to trust.  I like that quite a lot!  Well done, you get a solid four stars.

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!

Books this year: 93

Pages this year: 17,978

Dear Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Alton Raible,

Season of Ponies – Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Alton Raible- 133 pages

Pamela has been stuck at Oak Farm since she was small, living with her two aunts while her salesman father travels.  She can remember a time before that, when she went along with him everywhere, and a time even longer ago when her mother was alive.  Now, left behind again, summer on the farm seems endless and stifling.  Even the mystical-looking amulet her father gave her, a present from her great-grandmother from before she was born, doesn’t seem to be having any effect–until Pamela hears a flute playing a wild melody, and goes to the window to see a herd of pale, delicately beautiful ponies and a boy who rides with them through the mist.  Perhaps the amulet has brought some adventure to Pamela’s summer after all….

I got so excited thinking about Season of Ponies while I was reviewing The Bronze Pen that I had to read it again!  So I took a few hours when I should have been washing the dishes, or maybe even sleeping, and instead revisited one of my most vivid childhood book memories.  This story has been a part of my personal mythology since I was ten, when I found it at a RIF sale in the school gym (thank goodness for those!), and it was just as good now as it always has been.  I’ll admit, I’m a horse lover, so the ponies have an added appeal for me; I even collect little blown-glass horses like the ones Pamela has in the book, and always think of you when I get a new one.  Still, there’s something about the timeless mystery of adventures in a forest, the petulant and wild Ponyboy and the dreamlike quality of the whole story that sucks the reader in and won’t let go.  The fantastical illustrations, even just in black and white, complete the whole evocative package to make a read that’s on my list of classics, even if nobody else agrees.  You’re both my heroes.  Thanks for making magic possible.  Five stars, and I hope this title comes back into print with a cool new cover, like The Witches of Worm and The Egypt Game have.

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!

Books this year: 92

Pages this year: 17,594

Dear Zilpha Keatley Snyder,

The Bronze Pen – Zilpha Keatley Snyder – 208 pages

Audrey wants to be a writer, but she keeps her dream (and her stories) a secret from her ill father and overworked mother.  When Audrey starts writing stories with the new pen given to her by a mysterious old woman, strange things start to happen–talking dogs, dragons under the bed, even a kidnapping by pirates!  Audrey must learn to use the pen “wisely and to good purpose,” as the old woman instructed in order to put things right again.

I’ve been reading and re-reading your books with fervent adoration since I was a kid combing the library shelves; my copies of Season of Ponies, The Witches of Worm and The Egypt Game are particularly worn and well-loved.  Your work always seemed to wrap me up and suck me in, surrounding me in this blanket of mystery and enchantment…that sounds kind of silly, but that’s how I always felt, like I might turn a corner and something magic would happen.  So when I saw The Bronze Pen on the shelf at the store, I just had to bring it home, and read it with high hopes.  I have to say, though, that this one didn’t do it for me the way some of your others always have.

I think the problem is that too much remains a mystery.  Who is the mysterious old woman/voice in the cave?  Where does the pen come from?  How does it relate to Audrey’s grandmother (I think it was her grandmother), who told stories about a white duck?  I presume it’s the same white duck that leads Audrey to the cave to get the pen, but it was just a little too mysterious–I wanted more back story.  I hate to say it, but I kind of felt like you phoned this one in.  It wasn’t bad, certainly, but it wasn’t glittering and totally absorbing and REAL the way your best fantasies are.  I didn’t believe it, and that made it a little dull.  Still, I think it’s a good read for the middle grade fantasy-loving crowd–it’s got enough adventure, danger, and well-crafted prose to keep the reader reading.  Three stars for this one, mostly because it fades in comparison to your other work.  It’s okay, you’re still one of my personal goddesses. 

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!

Books this year: 91

Pages this year: 17,461

Dear A. David Lewis, mpMann and Jennifer Rodgers,

The Lone and Level Sands – A. David Lewis, mpMann and Jennifer Rodgers – 160 pages

“Pharaoh Ramses II hasn’t seen his long-lost cousin Moses in nearly forty years. Yet while pressed by the Hittites to the North and construction delays in the South, Ramses must make time for this ancient desert rascal, the long-ago mystery he represents, and the impossible demands of an alien deity. Drawing on the Bible, the Qur’an, and historical sources, writer A. David Lewis (Mortal Coils) and artist Marvin Perry Mann (Arcana Jayne) present a retelling of the Book of Exodus through the eyes of the man who is either its greatest leader or its worst villain: a man trying to rule wisely, love his family well, and deal justly in the face of a divine wrath.” – taken from the publisher’s website.

The Lone and Level Sands is an odd but well-woven mix of extrapolation, Biblical storytelling, and murky ancient history.  I’m not entirely sure how much of the story of Moses, or at least of Ramses II, is actually historical, but I’m sure that anything documented somehow wound up in this graphic novel.  You’ve got an intriguing political story set alongside the more familiar spiritual one, and it’s a perspective I don’t think I’ve quite seen before.  Clearly it’s all reminiscent to me of The Prince of Egypt, because I love that movie and have seen it a million times, and the basic story is the same.  You take less license with appearance, which I appreciated–though it’s cool to see Moses as a heroic young man, it’s probably more accurate to portray him in the aged way you do, and it changes the dynamic between Moses and Ramses dramatically.  I also enjoyed the focus on Ramses’ family, his relationship with Nefertari and with his son made the whole thing more emotionally gripping.

I agree with what a reviewer quoted on the publisher’s website said, in that this is an “intelligent book.”  I think, though, that it’s a little dense–both in plot, which might have been easier to follow if taken at a slower pace, and in art, which was interestingly stylized but difficult to “read” in such volume and in a relatively small size.  That said, you’ve done something really interesting here, and I found it enlightening though not completely engrossing.  Four stars!

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!

Books this year: 90

Pages this year: 17,253