Huntress, Melinda Lo

Title: Huntress

Author: Melinda Lo
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Year: 2011
Pages: 371
Genre: Fantasy
Themes: Destiny, Good vs. Evil, LGBTQ+
Age Range: 7th Grade and Above

Summary: (from Goodreads)

Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn't shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people's survival hangs in the balance.

To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls' destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever.

Review:
Fans of Melinda Lo's first fantasy novel, Ash, will not be disappointed in this companion novel, which takes place in the same world, but hundreds of years earlier.  I love the fact that Lo has created a world in her fictional (but Chinese-inspired) world of warriors and magic that turns traditional gender roles on their head. In fact, there appear to be almost no actual gender roles at all in the culture of the novel. How refreshing it would be to live in a place where that was actually true. Where people were free to follow their hearts and minds wherever they desired without fear of social repercussions. Lo is also completely at ease writing both same- and mixed-gender romances. In the Kingdom of Lo's creation, all romantic relationships are equally accepted and valued. As a gay woman I can only dream of a world where my relationship is so unremarkable in its nature that it doesn't require "coming out", or protection from people who may not accept it.

Of course, are we really free to follow our hearts and minds? Destiny and fate are both themes explored in this novel. When Taisin has a vision of Kaede, one that makes her feel great love for her, is their eventual romance really authentic, or did it come about because of the way the vision made Taisin feel? When Kaede defies her father to follow Taisin, is she doing it because she is choosing to, or because she is meant to? Every step of the journey Taisin and Kaede  fight to make their own decisions, yet every decision brings them closer to fulfilling the destiny that was foretold. HOw much control do we really have over our own lives? How much are we influenced by the things we are told we should be? How much are we influenced by forces larger than ourselves?

The book is well-written, and Lo appears to have avoided the sophomore slump that often happens with second novels. If I had a criticism, it is that while the main quest the characters take unfolds over most of the book, the culminating quest that is Kaede's alone gets squeezed into the last chapter or so of the book. Seems like a sign that the novel could be longer, or that it needed a sequel. But that is minor-for the most part I enjoyed immersing myself into the world that Lo had created, and I would recommend this book be included in any classroom library that was looking to be inclusive in both genre and representation.

Dorothy Must Die, by Danielle Paige

Title: Dorothy Must Die
Author: Danielle Paige
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2014
Pages: 452
Genre: Fantasy
Themes: Power, Good vs. Evil
Age Range: 7th-12th Grade

Summary:
Amy Gumm, a trailer-park dwelling teenager from rural Kansas, is swept up in a tornado and finds herself in Oz. Sound familiar? Amy had read the books, seen the movie, but nothing prepared her for the Oz that she found. Good witches couldn't be trusted, and wicked witches were trying to save the world. From what, you ask? From Dorothy! That sweet little girl who landed on the Wicked Witch of the East and defeated the Wicked Witch of the West returned to Oz as a young woman bent on total domination of the land of munchkins and talking trees and flying monkeys. Addicted to the magic that powers the Land of Oz, she seized power from the rightful ruler of the land, Ozma, and enslaved the people in service to her never-ending desire for more and more magical energy. Oz, in short, was being sucked dry. Amy finds herself partnering with the formerly wicked witches to try and free Oz from the oppressive rule of the girl in the gingham dress-but to do that, she has to kill her.

Review:
If you prefer your fairy tales dark, this book might just be for you. There are plenty of things wrong in Oz, and the book examines oppression, slavery, redemption, and the evils of absolute power. I'm convinced that Paige modeled Dorothy's Oz on North Korea, it was that oppressive.

Amy herself is not just dealing with her Dorothy and her minions. She is also processing her feelings of self-doubt and helplessness in the face of her mother's addiction to pain killers, and the feelings of abandonment that came about as a result of her father deserting the family when she was in elementary school. There are also the regular cast of high-school bullies, girls who have convinced Amy that she needs to keep her head down and her mouth shut. But through the course of the book, Amy learns to own her power, both literally as she learns to fight and wield magic, and figuratively as she overcomes her lack of confidence and becomes a stronger person. In the topsy-turvey world that is the present-day Oz, she discovers a capacity for darkness within herself that has her constantly asking the question, "Am I am good witch, or a bad witch".

The rest of the series (The Wicked Will Rise, Yellow Brick War, and The End of Oz) follow similar themes, and are just as enjoyable as the first book. This is a great series to have as a part of a classroom library, and I could see it being used to compare with the original version, or as part of a study of classic tales updated for modern realities.

Hollow Earth, John and Carol E. Barrowman

Title: Hollow Earth
Author:  John and Carol E. Barrowman
Publisher: Aladin
Year: 2012
Pages: 416
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Family, Good vs. Evil, Imagination
Age Range: 4th-8th Grade

Summary: 
Matt and Emily Calder are twins with a special connection.  When they draw together, the things they imagine can come to life.  When a secret society called Hollow Earth wants to use them to access the nightmare world of demons they believe exists in a realm under the earth, they are forced to flee their home in London and go to their grandfather's estate on a remote island off the coast of Scotland.  There they learn more about their powers, and their father, who disappeared when the twins were small.  But the Hollow Earth Society doesn't give up that easily, and it will take all of their new found skills to stay one step ahead of the people who are trying to take advantage of them.

Review:
Full discolsure: I am seriously predisposed to love this book because Captain Jack Harkness is one of the authors.  As a serious Doctor Who/Torchwood geek, the man can almost do no wrong.  So I am happy to report that my love of this story is not JUST because John Barrowman wrote it.  I liked it because it is an interesting concept, something that I have never read before in all of the fantasy books I have read over the years.

(In fairness to myself, I really wanted to love Chris Colfer's books as well, given my love of all things Glee, but I didn't, and I gave it an honest review.)

This book has some great elements of traditional fantasy in a contemporary setting, which I love.  I also appreciate the historical context that the Barrowmans (brother and sister) create for the Animare, with a middle ages tie in that helps ground the story in that period of time when people were most likely to believe in magic.  Not only are the children really well written characters, but the adults in the story are also pretty well developed and made the story feel a little more mature, though still appropriate for the age range.  The setting is cool-there's something about islands that I love.  This book is the first in a series, and I am so looking forward to reading the next book.

While the story is really exciting and engaging, there isn't really a ton of discussion-worthy themes in the story, so I don't think I would use it as a literature circle choice or for guided reading, but I think it is a very good choice to have in an independent reading program or as part of a classroom library.

Fortunately the Milk, by Neil Gaiman

Title:  Fortunately the Milk
Author:  Neil Gaiman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year:  2013
Pages: 114
Genre:  Fantasy/Science Fiction
Themes:  Time Travel, Imagination
Age Range:  3rd-6th Grade

Summary:  
One day, when Mother has left Father in charge of the children, there is no milk for the cereal.  Father goes off to the market to purchase some, and comes back some hours later with the most fantastical tale of time travel.  Fortunately, the milk helped him get out of some pretty serious scrapes.  He was kidnapped by aliens, forced to walk the plank by pirates, and rescued by a stegosaurus in a hot air balloon.  The children aren't sure what to make of this story-was their dad really abducted by aliens, or is this convoluted story made up just to excuse their father's tardiness?

Review:
Followers of this blog, and my adult book blog Book Addict Reviews, will know that I have a bit of hero worship going on when it comes to Neil Gaiman.  He is one of those people that makes me wish that science had the ability to transport us into another person's mind to live for a day, just to see what makes them tick. Of course, that's what writers use words for, to present their unique perspective and voice, and Gaiman gives us a pretty clear view into his imagination with Fortunately, the Milk.

According to Publisher's Weekly, Gaiman wrote this book as a counterpoint to the father in the book The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish (my review here), in which the father is basically a passive lump to whom things happen, rather than an active participant in the story.  Gaiman wanted to write a story in which the father did the sort of heroic things that fathers wish they could do, with a healthy does of humor thrown in.  The book is quite short, especially when you factor in the illustrations on each page, but Gaiman fits in lots and lots of action.  It is essentially non-stop, with aliens and dinosaurs and pirates and all manner of silliness.  In fact, that silliness highlights one of the things that I love about Gaiman's writing.  How is it possible that the same man who wrote the very dark story Ocean and the End of the Lane could be the man who wrote Fortunately, the Milk?  Because he is mad versatile, that's how!

I would definitely say this book would make an excellent addition to any classroom library, and it could also be used as a read aloud or for guided reading.  There is not a ton of character development, but it is science fiction that does NOT include a superhero, which can be hard to find for this age range.  The time travel creates a narrative structure that is linear, sort of, but could lead to interesting discussions with students about time and the way we perceive it.  And as a mentor text for writing it could work great-students could choose an errand or chore they were supposed to do, and come up with a fantastical story for how or why it did or did not get accomplished.

Teacher Resources
Harper Collins Discussion Guide
Brightbulb STEM Activities for Fortunately, the Milk

The Dark, by Lemony Snicket

Title:  The Dark
Author:  Lemony Snicket
Illustrator:  John Klassen
Publisher:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Year: 2013
Pages: 40
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Overcoming Fears
Age Range: 1st through 5th Grade

Summary: 
Laszlo is afraid of the dark, but the dark is not afraid of Laslo. Most of the time the dark lives in the basement, except at night when the dark spread and covers the land.  The night that Laszlo's nightlight burns out, the dark invites Laszlo down into its lair to find what he needs, and in the process shows Laszlo that the dark doesn't have to be scary.

Review:
Being afraid of the dark is a pretty common childhood fear.  Most of us get over it with some degree of success, but who among us hasn't caught a faint reflection of ourselves in a mirror in a dark room and squealed in fright?  Well, Snicket and Klassen take this fear and use it for this charming story about Laslo and the dark.  Laszlo is not a wimpy crybaby of a kid, but he does have a healthy fear of and respect for the dark.  Every morning when it is safely back in the basement he stands at the top of the stairs and says hello to the dark, and he figures that maybe if he visits the dark every day, the dark will stay out of his room at night.  That works wonderfully-until that pesky nightlight burns out.  The story is engaging for young audiences, who may be struggling with their own fear of the dark, and the illustrations make great use of light and complete blackness to demonstrate the dark's power, both over the physical setting and poor Laszlo's mind.

The Dark won the Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding picture books for 2013, and it is a well-deserved honor.  Klassen won the Caldecott for his book This is Not My Hat, and the art is just as imaginative in this book.  Snicket is best known for The Series of Unfortunate Events books, which my daughter inhaled like oxygen when she was in elementary school.  Teachers can use the story to discuss the role of a narrator, and inanimate objects as characters.  And there are great opportunities for cross-curricular activities in writing, science, and art.  Definitely recommend this book as a mentor text, read aloud, or as part of a classroom library.

Teacher Resources:
TeachingBook.net Guide
Interview with Lemony Snicket about The Dark

Children Make Terrible Pets, Peter Brown

Title:  Children Make Terrible Pets
Author:  Peter Brown
Publisher:  Hatchett, Little and Brown Company
Year:  2010
Pages:  34
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Pets, Letting Go
Age Range:  1st through 5th Grade

Summary:
Lucy Bear find a little boy in the woods.  She takes him home and asks her mother if she can keep him.  Her mother warns her that "Children make terrible pets!", but Lucy is determined.  When the boy runs away, Lucy is heartbroken-until she finds him in his "natural habitat", back with his own family.  She decides that the boy is better off in his own environment.

Review:
This charming picture book has the look of an old fashioned children's book-but with a very post-modern feel.  Lucy Bear has the same traits as any human child-curiosity, stubbornness, the desire to have a small living thing of her very own.  When I have used this book with students, they find the story very funny, and the older ones get the "joke"-that humans often take animals out of their own natural environments for our own purposes.  Younger students don't usually make that connection, but they do recognize that the things that the boy does that make him a terrible pet are all of the things that human children are supposed to do.

I've mostly used this book in conjunction with opinion writing in an elementary setting.  After we read the book, and chart the evidence from the author that shows that the boy was a terrible pet for Lucy, I have them think of an animal that would make a terrible pet.  They then write an opinion piece describing the animals and listing the reasons that it would make a terrible pet.  The one time that I didn't specify that they should choose and animal, many of the students said that their little brother or sister would make a terrible pet.  Totally adorable, but not was I was looking for!

Teacher Resources:
A Tale of Two Teachers Lesson Plan
TeachingBooks.net Lesson Plan
Kids Wings Lesson Activities

The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer

Title:  The Wishing Spell
Author:  Chris Colfer
Publisher:  Little, Brown Young Readers
Year:  2012
Pages:  438
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Sibling Rivalry, Family, Dealing with Loss, Fairy Tales, Adventure
Age Range:  3rd through 6th Grade

Summary:  
Alex and Connor are twins.  They live with their mother in a small house in a small town.  Their father died the year before, and they and their mother are trying to figure out how to move on with their lives.  Their grandmother comes to visit, and among the gifts she brings them is a beloved book of stories.  But this book is no ordinary book-it is a portal to the fairy tale world, where their favorite story characters are real, and where beanstalks really grow and wolves really gobble up little girls.  Alex and Connor get trapped in this world, and in order to get home they must collect the items needed to do the Wishing Spell.  But this task is not an easy one-some of the items include Cinderella's glass slipper and Little Red Riding Hood's basket.  And they are not the only ones looking-Snow White's stepmother, the Evil Queen, needs to spell to take revenge on her stepdaughter and regain her throne.  Alex and Connor go on the adventure of a lifetime, and learn about the power of love an perseverance in the process.

Review:
I wanted to love this book.  I really really did.  I am a big fan of fantasy stories in general and fairy tales specifically, and the author is the actor who plays Kurt Hummel on Glee, one of my favorite television shows. So I tried really hard to like it.  Sadly, I just couldn't.  I didn't hate it, but there are some major issues with it that I just couldn't get past.

The story itself is promising-two young people from the 21st century who fall into fairy tale land and have an adventure.  But Colfer tried too hard to fit in something from EVERY fairy tale ever...you couldn't turn the page without another random character from some story or other turning up.  Sometimes this moved the story along, sometimes it seemed gratuitous, and that was when I took issue.  The book is quite long for a story aimed at intermediate school-age kids, but at the same time some of the events happened in a flash, so fast that there was no time to really get emotionally engaged with whatever drama or danger was happening to the characters.

Colfer actually did a pretty good job with the main characters.  Alex was a lonely girl who loved to read and was very good in school.  I identifed with her the most, since I was a lot like her myself in elementary school. Connor was a good kid, but school was hard for him, and he preferred playing with his friends to reading.  Even though he wasn't a mean kid, he was often in trouble at school for falling asleep in class or not completing his work.  As a teacher, I know plenty of real-life kids who are just like them, and I honestly did care about what happened to them.  Unfortunately, I don't feel like the rushed pace of the story did much to develop them much beyond where they start.

Like many first authors, and especially young authors, Colfer's writing feels immature.  There were parts of the story that read awkwardly, and parts that felt incomplete.  This book is designed to be the first in a series, and I will probably give the second book a try, even though I was not too happy with this one.  I feel like I owe it to one of my favorite young actors to see if he can develop as grow as a writer.  Younger readers will not take issue with some of the things that bothered me, so I'd say this book is worth having in a classroom library.  And MAYBE for use as a read aloud if you are teaching a fairy tales unit.  But I don't see enough quality writing to make it worth using for guided reading or literature circles.

Nathanial Fludd, Beastologist: Flight of the Phoenix

Title:  The Flight of the Phoenix (Nathiel Fludd, Beastologist #1)
Author:  R.L. LeFever
Publisher:  HMH Books for Young Readers
Year:  2009
Pages:  138
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Family Tradition, Adventure
Age Range:  3rd-5th Grade

Summary:  from Goodreads

Nathaniel Fludd’s life has taken a turn for the worst. With his parents lost at sea, he lands on the doorstep of a distant cousin—the world’s last remaining beastologist. Soon Nate is whisked off on his first expedition, to Arabia, where the world’s only phoenix prepares to lay its new egg. When disaster strikes, Nate quickly finds himself all alone.

       Will he be able to see the phoenix safely hatched, keep his accidental pet gremlin out of trouble, and rescue his guardian from the Bedouin? If he fails, nothing will stand between the world’s mythical creatures and extinction.

Review:
I have always been a fan of fantasy novels. Ever since my parents gave me the Narnia books for Christmas when I was 10, I have loved being swept away to imaginary lands full of rare and mysterious people and creatures.  As such, I had high hopes for this series.

Nathaniel is definitely a sad sort of boy.  Left behind while his parents went on an expedition in the arctic, stuck in the care of a woman who cares less for him than for the money she gets for taking care of him, Nathaniel longs to be old enough to accompany his parents on their journeys.  When news comes that they have been lost at sea, his caregiver wastes no time in dumping him on his only remaining relative-a cousin he has never met-in fact, never even knew existed.

But in cousin Phil (short for Philomena),  he discovers a rich source of family lore, and discovers that he is the last in a long line of Fludds who did the most dangerous and most important of jobs-caring for the mythological beasts that most of the world believes to be imaginary.  And it isn't long before he gets his first taste of adventure, as Aunt Phil whisks him off to Arabia to guard over the birth of a new phoenix.  Of course, flying there in her two seater plane, accidentally adopting a gremlin, and having to rescue his aunt from an angry Bedouin chieftain was more than he bargained for.  Even so, Nathaniel rises to the challenge in true Fludd style.

As narratives go this one moves pretty quickly.  There is very little in the way of character development or backstory when it comes to anyone other than Nathaniel.  That said, I enjoyed it almost as much as I'd hoped.  It reads a bit like the Series of Unfortunate Events books, though without the caustic narrator that made those books so unique.  While the book does deal with the loss of Nathaniel's parents and his general fears and anxiety, it doesn't really lend itself to serious discussion.  Mostly it is an enjoyable romp through an alternate past, and as the first of a series promises many more romps to come.  I think it would make a great addition to a classroom library, especially for those kids that are fascinated by mythical creatures.

Bliss, by Lauren Myracle

Title:  Bliss
Author:  Lauren Myracle
Publisher:  Harry N. Abrams
Year: 2008
Pages:  444
Genre:  Horror
Themes:  Friendship, Good vs. Evil
Age Range:  9th Grade and Above

Summary:  (from Goodreads)

When Bliss’s hippie parents leave the commune and dump her at the home of her aloof grandmother in a tony Atlanta neighborhood, it’s like being set down on an alien planet. The only guide naïve Bliss has to her new environment is what she’s seen on The Andy Griffith Show. But Mayberry is poor preparation for Crestview Academy, an elite school where the tensions of the present and the dark secrets of the past threaten to simmer into violence. Openhearted, naïve Bliss is happy to be friends with anyone. That’s not the way it has ever worked at Crestview, and soon Bliss is at the center of a struggle for power between three girls—two living and one long dead.

Review:
I read my first Stephen King book, Carrie, when I was in eighth grade.  It was scariest thing my 13 year-old self had ever read, but it was more than that.  King has a way of making his characters completely believable, even when they have completely unbelievable experiences or powers.  Obviously King was never a teenage girl, but you'd never know it from the way he wrote that character.  Her loneliness and confusion and rage and painful naivete were things I recognized in myself in some form or another.

Lauren Myracle achieves a similar feat in this novel, and in fact the plot is almost an homage to Carrie.  Bliss is a typical teenager in most ways, though her life on the commune certainly didn't prepare her to deal with the girl-culture of a 1970s prep school.  But she's smart and kind and determined to do he right thing, even when she's not entirely sure what that is.  She befriends the awkward, unliked Sandy, who starts out as a good friend to Bliss, but becomes more and more needy and creepy over time.  Sandy is communicating with the ghost of a long dead witch, who convinces her that a blood sacrifice is necessary for Sandy to get revenge on all of the people who've tormented her.  When Bliss decides to help the most popular girl in school, Sarah Lynn and her African American boyfriend be together, she unwittingly provides the spark that pushes Sandy into action.

Malevolent is not too strong a word to describe the tone of this book.  Bliss's character is torn between wanting to be a friend to Sandy, and being scared of her.  And Sandy herself is afraid of the ghost character as much as she is drawn to her.  But it's not just the supernatural characters that are scary.  Between the mean girl culture and racism the book has plenty of emotional tension.  This is a perfect book for teens who love to be scared, and would make a great addition to a classroom library.

Everlost, Neal Shusterman

Title:  Everlost

Author:  Neal Shusterman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Year:  2006
Pages:  313
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Hero's Quest
Age Range:  6th-9th Grade

Summary:  from Goodreads

Nick and Allie don't survive the car accident...
...but their souls don't exactly get where they're supposed to get either. Instead, they're caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth.


When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he's found a home, but allie isn't satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting, and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost.

Review:
Love love love Neal Shusterman!  I think that his stories are always so creative and interesting, and after hearing his speak about his process at a conference in the spring, I have a pretty healthy respect for his imagination.  Unwind was one of the best young adult books I read in the last few years.  Everlost has the same inventiveness, and a great sense of heart.  The idea of souls existing in an alternate state, separate from the world of the living while still being able to observe, is not a new one.  But Shusterman adds some new twists, like the fact that only children stay behind, or that some places are so important that they continue to exist in Everlost even after they are destroyed.  The most emotional moment for me as an adult reader was when Allie and Nick discovered the World Trade Center towers in the New York skyline.  Over time, I think that younger readers will lose the sense of what that really means, but for me it was such a beautiful thought-that the emotional impact of the Trade Center towers was so strong that they will exist forever in more than just our memories.

What I really liked about the story was that unlike lots of ghost stories, what made this story scary was not monsters (thought there were some) or violence (though there was a little bit).  What was scary was the idea that living in Everlost caused you to lose your identity.  The longer you're there, the more you forget about yourself, and you fall into routines that create weeks and years and decades and centuries that are exactly the same, day after day after day!  Also, the whole "sink to the center of the earth" thing was pretty scary for this claustrophobic person to think about!

The end of this book sets up a conflict between two of the main character, Mary and Nick, that resembles a typical good vs. evil dynamic, but it more true to life, in that each person is acting out of what they think is best for the other "Afterlights", as the children living in Everlost are called.  The twist-they love each other as much as they disagree about the true nature of Everlost.  I am curious to see how Shusterman resolves the storyline, and whether Allie and Nick and the rest of the Afterlights ever get to that white light at the end of the tunnel.

The Name of This Book is Secret, Pseudonymous Bosch

Title:  The Name of This Book is Secret
Author:  Pseudonymous Bosch
Publisher:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Year:  2007
Pages:  364
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Good vs. Evil, Friendship
Age Range:  3rd-6th Grade

Summary:  from Goodreads

Warning: this description has not been authorized by Pseudonymous Bosch. As much as he'd love to sing the praises of his book (he is very vain), he wouldn't want you to hear about his brave 11-year old heroes, Cass and Max-Ernest. Or about how a mysterious box of vials, the Symphony of Smells, sends them on the trail of a magician who has vanished under strange (and stinky) circumstances. And he certainly wouldn't want you to know about the hair-raising adventures that follow and the nefarious villains they face. You see, not only is the name of this book secret, the story inside is, too. For it concerns a secret. A Big Secret.

Review:
This book felt very much in tone like the A Series of Unfortunate Events books.  There is a presumably adult narrator who continually breaks the "fourth wall" (though maybe that's only a television and movie reference) to speak directly to the reader.  Throughout the book the narrator makes sure the reader understands that reading the book puts them at risk of danger, and purports to have changed the names and places as much as possible to "protect" us from the deadly secrets contained in the book.  It's a cute literary device, if not terribly original.

The story itself is well done.  Cass and Max Earnest are characters I think kids could relate to.  Cass is so traumatized by her father's sudden death that she begins to seriously prepare for any emergency that may befall her and her loved one, going so far as to carry a backpack full of survival supplies everywhere she goes.  Most kids may not have done that, but I think that child readers would be able to empathize with the fear of losing a parent.  Max Earnest has a pretty obvious case of ADHD, though it is never called that in the book.  Either way, kids will recognize a part of him in themselves, or in some other kid they know (possibly the one that sits next to them at school and won't stop talking!). I thought that the specific magical elements were interesting...the idea that using smell to do magic is one I don't remember reading before.  There are some interesting Egyptology references, and the villains are deliciously villainy, as only the best caricature of an evil person could be.  This is the first in a series, which is always helpful if you are trying to hook a young reader, though the story does have a definite ending, and could be read as a stand alone.  I think this is a good book to have available in your classroom library for independent reading, which is how we use it at the school where I teach.

Museum of Thieves, by Lian Tanner

Title:  Museum of Thieves
Author:  Lian Tanner
Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Year:  2010
Pages:  320
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Freedom, Good vs. Evil
Age Range:  3rd-6th Grade

Summary:  From Goodreads

Welcome to the tyrannical city of Jewel, where impatience is a sin and boldness is a crime.Goldie Roth has lived in Jewel all her life. Like every child in the city, she wears a silver guardchain and is forced to obey the dreaded Blessed Guardians. She has never done anything by herself and won’t be allowed out on the streets unchained until Separation Day.When Separation Day is canceled, Goldie, who has always been both impatient and bold, runs away, risking not only her own life but also the lives of those she has left behind. In the chaos that follows, she is lured to the mysterious Museum of Dunt, where she meets the boy Toadspit and discovers terrible secrets. Only the cunning mind of a thief can understand the museum’s strange, shifting rooms. Fortunately, Goldie has a talent for thieving.

Which is just as well, because the leader of the Blessed Guardians has his own plans for the museum—plans that threaten the lives of everyone Goldie loves. And it will take a daring thief to stop him. . . .

Review:
I really enjoyed this story.  It is certainly not traditional fantasy, with its elements of dystopianism.  Goldie's character is easy to relate to.  She feels oppressed by the constant supervision and is (literally) chained to her parents, teachers, and even her bed, to keep her "safe".  As an adult reader, the use of the "safety of the children" as the excuse for controlling the population definitely resonated with me.  There are so many actions in our society that are not necessarily just or moral that have been justified through concerns for "the children"-everything from segregated schools to forcing gay teachers to live in the closet to abstinence-only sex education and the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign.

The premise of the museum as a repository for all of the evil, wild things in society is an interesting one, and the museum itself as a character would be good for teaching personification.  All of the characters are pretty well-developed for a genre novel, and you could have a good discussion about how Goldie changes from the beginning to the end of the story.  Since this book is part of a series, there are lots of opportunities for children who like the story to keep reading, always a good thing with young readers.  Overall, I can see this book being used for either guided or independent reading activities.

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore

Title:  Graceling

Author:  Kristin Cashore
Publisher:  Harcourt
Year:  2008
Pages:  471
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Self-determination, Oppression, Hero's Quest
Age Range:  9th Grade and Up

Summary:  (from Goodreads)

In a world where people born with an extreme skill—called a Grace—are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing seland torturing anyone who displeases him.
When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.
She never expects to become Po's friend.
She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone

Review:  
I'm a fantasy reader from way back, so I fully expected to enjoy this book, which every other reviewer I've read has loved, and which has on Illinois' Abraham Lincoln list of best books for young adults.  What I didn't expect was it to feel so fresh.  Like I said, I've read a lot of fantasy-it can be hard to bring something truly new to the plot or story structure that I haven't read somewhere before.  But despite some very familiar fantasy elements (people gifted with special powers, kings and queens and princes), Cashore did manage to create a world that is distinct.

The story moves at a good pace, and though explaining the Grace and Gracelings require some exposition, there is enough action interspersed to keep the reader engaged.  But what really made this book for me Katsa-her strength and determination definitely come through, and despite her feelings of self-hatred as a result of her special skill, she is trying so hard to be a moral person, and it is that struggle that made her so interesting to me.  Much of the book deals with the responsibility to wield power to help and not hurt, to be honest and not manipulate others, to do what is best not just for yourself but for others as well.  And despite the love story subplot, this is not a romance at all.  Not even romantic, really, since so much of our ideas of romance come from an uneven power dynamic between the lovers.  Katsa and Po are evenly matched, if not skill for skill, in their overall personalities.  They complement each other in a way that doesn't diminish either, and I found that refreshing.  The book highlights the intersection of power and morality in a way that I think is very accessible to the younger reader.  Katsa is a hero that all young girls should read.  Deeply flawed, but striving every day to be better; strong without being cruel; full of self-doubt, but not paralyzed by it.

Juniper Berry, by M.P Kozlowsky

Title:  Juniper Berry
Author:  M.P. Kozlowsky
Publisher:  Walden Pond Press
Year:  2011
Pages:  227
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Greed, Family, Friendship, Courage
Age Range:  3rd-5th Grade

Summary:  (from Goodreads)

Juniper's parents have not been themselves lately. In fact, they have been cold, disinterested and cruel. And lonely Juniper Berry, and her equally beset friend, Giles, are determined to figure out why. 

On a cold and rainy night Juniper follows her parents as they sneak out of the house and enter the woods. What she discovers is an underworld filled with contradictions: one that is terrifying and enticing, lorded over by a creature both sinister and seductive, who can sell you all the world's secrets in a simple red balloon. For the first time, Juniper and Giles have a choice to make. And it will be up to them to confront their own fears in order to save the ones who couldn't. 

Review:
I picked this book up at the Scholastic Book Fair at my school in the fall, but by the time I got around to reading it I'd forgotten almost everything about it!  I did remember being drawn to the cover, which I thought seemed rather sinister for a children's book cover.

Well, sinister was definitely the right word for both the cover and the story.  Despite the fact that Juniper keeps remembering the good times with her parents, their behavior at the beginning of the book reminded me of a Roald Dahl grown-up, namely mean and cruel.  Koslowsky did an excellent job evoking loneliness, explaining why Juniper was so quick to make friends with Giles, and why she was susceptible to the monster living in her yard.  It is also what leads Juniper to a terrible choice-accept the creature's help in getting her parents attention, or destroy him in the hopes that her parents will go back to who they once were. This is a novel all about living with the consequences of our choices. I think that there are some decent discussion points in this book-what it means to be lonely, is being a celebrity worth it if you have to cut yourself off from the world, what would you do in Juniper's place-so I think this book could be used for guided reading, or to have in a leveled library for reader's workshop.

Dodger and Me, by Jordan Sonnenblick

Title:  Dodger and Me
Author:  Jordan Sonnenblick
Publisher:  Feiwel & Friends
Year:  2008
Pages: 176
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Friendship, Family, Overcoming Fear
Age Range:  3rd-6th Grade

Summary:
Willie Ryan was not exactly the happiest fifth grader in the world.  He had an overprotective mother, an annoying little sister, his best (and only) friend moved away, the weird English girl from his class wouldn't leave him alone, and he hadn't made a hit for his baseball team all season.  It seemed like nothing he did worked out the way he hoped.  After yet another humiliating performance on the baseball field, Willie decides to take a shortcut through the woods to avoid seeing the other kids.  In a clearing he spies a McDonalds bag someone left on the ground.  When he goes and picks it up, he discovers that it is really a magic lamp in disguise, and when he runs his hand over it out pops...a large blue chimpanzee named Dodger.  Not exactly what you were expecting, huh?  Thus begins an unexpected romp through the familiar three-wishes territory, as Dodger tries to help Willie solve his problems-mostly by seemingly making things worse!

Review:
This is a cute book, though there is nothing hugely original about it.  Despite the "genie" being a large blue ape, the plot is very familiar-lonely, awkward boy gets magical intervention to solve his problems, which goes awry and forces him to realize that he can solve his own problems and/or learn to appreciate the things he thought he wanted to change about people.  Of course, if you are a third grader who has never read or seen any of the other variations on this theme (or the movie Aladdin), then it would feel original to you.

What makes this book really enjoyable, even if the plot is predictable for the more mature reader, is the way that the character of Dodger is written.  He is funny and sweet and crazy and slightly sarcastic, and there are a few things he says that probably only a mature reader would get.  I always appreciate it when authors throw the parents and teachers who also read their books a little bone-sort of like the "wink, wink" moments on Sesame Street that are meant for the parents who are watching with their kids.  Really, all of the characters are pretty well-written, and I think that a lot of students would feel a connection with Willie and his overprotective mother and insecurity.

The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas

Title:  The Magic Thief
Author:  Sarah Prineas
Publisher:  Harper Collins
Year:  2008
Pages:  422
Genre:  Fantasy
Themes:  Adventure, Belonging, Magic
Age Range:  3rd-6th Grade

Summary:  (from Goodreads)

In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure. Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery's pocket and touched the wizard's locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells. But for some reason he did not. Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own. But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who or what is stealing the city of Wellmet's magic

Review: 
Being the fantasy lover that I am, I fully expected to enjoy this book, and I was not disappointed.  In the magical city of Wellmet, where you live determines almost everything about you.  People who live in the Twilight are destined to be poor and live their lives scrambling to survive.  Citizens of Sunrise are the wealthy and privileged of the city.  Conn, the main character, is from the Twilight area of the city, making his living by picking locks and pockets.  An orphan, Conn is very skilled at taking care of himself-until he meets the wizard Nevery.  Suddenly he is thrown into situations that his life has not prepared him for-a wizard's apprentice, in school, meeting the most powerful people in the city.  In Conn, Prineas has created a character  of incredibly honesty and heart.  Once he realizes that the magic is in danger, he thinks nothing of his own safety.  And while he does not always tell the whole truth, he never tells a lie, even when it would be expedient to do so.

There is only a small amount of backstory given for the way that magic and the city are connected, but it is enough that the reader can fully appreciate the plot without feeling like there are holes in reason or logic.  Even fantasy novels have their own internal rules, and the world that Prineas has created is at once familiar and new, and she takes old ideas about magic from other fantasy writers and makes them her own.  As seems to be the norm these days, especially with fantasy and science fiction novels, this is the beginning of a series, of which there are currently three.  I'd recommend them for a classroom library for fluent readers ages 8 to 12.

Araminta Spookie: My Haunted House

Title:  Araminta Spookie:  My Haunted House
Author:  Angie Sage
Publisher:  Katherine Teegan Books
Year: 2006
Pages:  132
Genre:  Fantasy, Ghost Story
Theme:  Home, Family
Age Range:  2nd-5th Grade

Summary: 
Araminta is a little girl who loves her home.  She lives with her Aunt Tabby and her Uncle Drac in a huge, spooky house.  Araminta spends most of her time ghost hunting.  A house as large and creepy as hers must surely come with a few spirits.  But her Aunt Tabby has had enough of the old place, and she lists the house for sale.  Araminta manages to scare away every prospective buyer, until a the Wizzard family turns up.  With the help of two actual ghosts, Araminta pull out all the stops-but will she be able to save her beloved home?

Review:
If you're looking for a creepy, spooky ghost story, this is not the book for you.  However, if you are looking for a ghost story with a quirky main character and the friendliest ghosts since Casper, then My Haunted House just might fit the bill.  Araminta narrates the story, and she is definitely no shy, retiring girl.  She has a spirit as big as her house, and she's certainly not afraid to say what she thinks, or fight for what she thinks is right.  The other characters are all take-offs of movie monsters.  Aunt Tabby is constantly fighting with the boiler, leaving her covered in soot and flying around with a broom-sweeping up the mess, of course.  Her Uncle Drac keeps bats in a tower as pets, works nights, and sleeps in a sleeping bag suspended from the ceiling.  And the Wizzards end up, being, well, wizards.  Araminta's love of her home could lead to some interesting discussions with students, but mostly I think this book makes a decent addition to a classroom library.

All the Lovely Bad Ones, by Mary Downing Hahn

Title:  All the Lovely Bad Ones
Author:  Mary Downing Hahn
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Year:  2008
Pages:  192
Genre:  Ghost Story, Fantasy
Themes:  Redemption
Age Range:  4th-7th Grade


Summary:  from Goodreads

Travis and his sister, Corey, can’t resist a good trick—so when they learn that their grandmother’s sleepy Vermont inn has a history of ghost sightings, they decide to do a little "haunting" of their own. Scaring the guests proves to be great fun, and before long, the inn is filled with tourists and ghost hunters eager for a glimpse of the supernatural.But Travis and Corey soon find out that they aren’t the only ghosts at Fox Hill Inn. Their thoughtless games have awakened something dangerous, something that should have stayed asleep. Restless, spiteful spirits swarm the inn, while a dark and terrifying presence stalks the halls and the old oak grove on the inn’s grounds. To lay the ghosts to rest, Travis and Corey must first discover the dark history of Fox Hill and the horrors visited on its inhabitants years earlier.

Review:
Mary Downing Hahn knows how to write a ghost story.  This book is a good, old-fashioned scare-fest, at least for the middle grade set.   It's got everything-cold spots, lights that turn on and off by themselves, mysterious flying objects, all taking place in an old house in Vermont.  The fact that Travis and Corey also learn a valuable lesson about the way they treat people is icing.  And make no mistake-this story is scary.  Too scary for immature readers who are still figuring out the difference between reality and fantasy.  If a child still believes in Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, then this book is not for them.  But for slightly older readers who like to be scared, this book is a good choice.

Dying to Meet You: 43 Old Cemetery Road #1

Title:  Dying to Meet You:  43 Old Cemetery Road #1

Author:  Kate Klise
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Year:  2009
Pages:  155
Genre:  Fantasy, Ghost Story
Themes:  Family, Friendship
Age Range:  2nd-4th Grade


Summary:  from Goodreads

The best-selling author Ignatius B. Grumply moves into the Victorian mansion at 43 Old Cemetery Road, hoping to find some peace and quiet so that he can crack a wicked case of writer's block. 
But 43 Old Cemetery Road is already occupied--by an eleven-year-old boy named Seymour, his cat, Shadow, and an irritable ghost named Olive. 
And they have no intention of sharing!

Review:
As ghost stories go, this one is not exactly going to make anyone check under their bed or in their closet before turning off the lights at night.  Olive is really a very nice ghost, in a sort of Mary Poppins/Nanny McPhee sort of way.  She is proper and smart and caring of Seymour in a serious, no-nonsense sort of way.  There is nothing here that could actually scare a younger reader-but unfortunately I'm not sure there's much here to attract them, either.

The problem as I see it is two-fold.  First, the story unfolds very quickly, with very little exposition about the characters or the motivations for their actions.  Each character felt flat to me-the grumpy writer, the abandoned boy, and the irritated ghost-and when they changed it happened in a snap, with very little actual development.  The other problem, which I see as more troublesome, is that while the book is obviously supposed to appeal to younger readers, the plays-on words and wink-wink-nudge-nudge moments that make it funny are not things that younger readers will necessarily get.  Anyone who has spent time with 5-10 year olds knows that their idea of humor is fairly unsophisticated.  Think of the incessant knock-knock jokes and silly riddles they love.  All of the characters names are puns, which younger readers might appreciate-if they were puns that they understood.  I'm not sure that E. Gadds or Anita Sale will be immediately recognizable to the age range I think this book is designed for.

However, there is one thing that makes this book worth having around a classroom, and that is the narrative structure.  This is an epistolary novel, meaning that it is told through a series of letters between the various characters, as well as drawings doe by "Seymour" and newspaper articles from a fictitious newspaper.  Epistolary novels seem to have been more popular lately in the adult publishing world, and any exposure to different narrative structures can only help students be better readers and writers.  Were I to use this in the classroom, I might actually use it as a mentor text for writing rather than for reading.  I think that it would make a good fall activity-read the story as a read aloud (it's not terribly well suited for that, but a person could make it work), share it on the document camera, whatever; then have the students write their own ghost stories as letters between themselves and a ghost.  This also would allow you as the adult to explain some of the puns and references that the kids may not understand.  I suppose that a proficient reader who has a mature sense of humor could fully enjoy this book independently, but I really do see it having more value used as a mentor text.

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass

Title:  11 Birthdays
Author:  Wendy Mass
Publisher:  Scholastic
Year:  2009
Pages:  267
Genre:  Fantasy, Magical Realism
Themes:  Friendship, Family, Forgiveness
Age Range:  3th-6th Grade


Summary:  (from Goodreads)
It's Amanda's 11th birthday and she is super excited -- after all, 11 is so different from 10. But from the start, everything goes wrong. The worst part of it all is that she and her best friend, Leo, with whom she's shared every birthday, are on the outs and this will be the first birthday they haven't shared together. When Amanda turns in for the night, glad to have her birthday behind her, she wakes up happy for a new day. Or is it? Her birthday seems to be repeating iself. What is going on?! And how can she fix it? Only time, friendship, and a little luck will tell. 


Review:
11 Birthdays is Groundhog Day for the upper elementary set.  Amanda is doomed to repeat her birthday until she figures out what good deed she must make or important action she must take to move on in her life.  This is my first time reading a book by Wendy Mass, and I was impressed with how real Amanda and Leo seemed.  Mass seems to really understand (remember?) what it is like to be 10 going on 11, when you're getting closer to being a teenager and you start worrying about what's cool, who's popular, and who likes who-you know, likes likes...


One of the things that I really like about this book is that it portrays a friendship between a boy and a girl that is deep and abiding, without any hint of romantic attachment.  Amanda doesn't suddenly realize how cute Leo is.  Leo doesn't start blushing fiercely whenever Amanda is around and mumbling.  The friendship feels balanced, with each half having equal power in the relationship.  As a fifth grade teacher, I've noticed how much earlier children are falling into the whole boy/girl (or boy/boy or girl/girl) thing, and I appreciate that Mass shows her readers that it is possible and rewarding to have friends of the opposite gender without romantic overtones.


Mass gives readers plenty to think about with this story.  What is the true nature of forgiveness?  How do you make amends for things that you have done?  How do you balance things you do for other people with things that you do for yourself?  Amanda and Leo struggle with all of these questions through the course of the novel, and I think that this title would be a good one to add to any reading program.


Teacher Resources:
Scholastic Book Talk
Kid's Wings Unit
Kids Book Club Activities