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.

The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: Walker
Year: 2008
Pages: 479
Genre: Science Fiction
Themes: Adventure, Good vs. Evil
Age Range: 8th through 12th Grade

Summary: from Goodreads

Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

Review: 

This book is the first in a trilogy, and in the interest of full disclosure I will say that once you've read the first one, you are going to need to devour the entire series. It is such an interesting premise-reading about Todd and the men of Prentisstown made me realize just how awful it would be to hear everyone's thoughts, about everything, all the time, without any real ability to control the flow of information. The fact that he stayed sane long enough to run away is sort of amazing. Ness uses this phenomenon, and the gender differences in how it affects men and women on the planet these humans have colonized, as a way to explore some pretty dark ideas about sexism and patriarchy.

The men are definitely the villains in the first book, but as the series progresses it becomes much more sophisticated than that. By the end of the series there's the added perspective of one of the "aliens" (though really, if the humans are the colonizers, aren't they the aliens?), and Ness brings in issues of colonization and oppression of indigenous peoples as well. The story can certainly be read and enjoyed just as an adventure story, one where the forces of good an evil are caught in a life or death struggle for control, but there are deeper connections that can be made. This trilogy would make a good addition to a classroom library at the high school level, or for use in a book club setting. It is engaging enough that even reluctant readers will be drawn in. I am not the kind of person who reads an entire series in order, but this one I did. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Todd and the people of this strange world.

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.

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.

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.