Courtney's Book Nook

A Box of Bones , by Marina Cohen (middle grade, Roaring Book Press, May 28 2019), is a lovely and moving book that's part mystery, part fantasy, and part child acquiring greater wisdom story. 12-year-old Kallie is following the path of her no-nonsense father, leading an organized life (a hanger with an outfit for each day of the week, for instance) devoid of whimsy and fanciful imagination.  (Which seemed almost pathological, and definitely unbelievable, to me whose life is the opposite!).  Her grandfather, who's her primary caregiver (her father having a job, and her mother having died years ago), is less rigid in his approach to the world, and so drags Kallie to a local fair.  There a mysterious stranger gives her a puzzle box, and Kallie's life changes. The puzzle aspect to the wooden box overcomes Kallie's general aversion to inexplicable gifts from strangers, and so she sets out very scientifically to solve it.  When she does, a set of bone cubes with pictures o...

Time Sight , by Lynne Jonell, is a book that was published last week (Henry Holt, May 14, 2019), but it has very much the feel of classic British time travel from last century (which I love).  It's the story of two American boys, 12-year-old Will Menzies and his little brother Jamie, quickly packed off to relations in Scotland (mother taken hostage while on a medical relief mission, father flying out to try to do something to free her).  Their relations are the caretakers of the old castle of the Menzies family, and in the land of his ancestors, time starts to pull on Will, and his gift of time sight emerges. Will can focus his minds vision in such a way that it makes windows to different times, through which people and things can pass.  And so Will, Jamie, and their cousin Nan become embroiled in wild and often violent adventures from the ancient past to the middle ages.  "Time hearing" is another gift that their family has, that softens the language barrier.  ...

I have an online friend who is a connoisseur of vintage English children's books, of which I too am fond.  She has the advantage over me in that she is actually English, and so has much greater access to out-of-print books.  For instance, she's enthused repeatedly over the years about the books John Verney wrote about the Callendar family--how much fun they are, how intelligent they are, how much she loves the main characters, etc. My local public library, which for many years had a fossilized children's collection, still had the third and fourth books when I moved to town, which I snatched up when they were weeded (it was really beautifully serendipitous how I arrived on the scene just as weeding was beginning again), and I have for years kept a look out for the first two-- Friday's Tunnel and February's Road , to no avail.  But the first two eluded me, so when I was offered review copies of Friday's Tunnel and February's Road , which Paul Dry Books has ...

Welcome to this week's round-up!  Please let me know if I missed your post. BREAKING NEWS:  Kidlitcon 2020 will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan March 27th and 28, 2020!  The organizers this year are Katy Kramp @alibrarymama, Maggi Rhode, @mama_librarian, and Nekenya Yarbrough.  If you have any ideas for panels, or want to know more about being on panel, email kidlitcon@gmail.com.  A website is coming, but until then visit @kidlitcon on twitter. The Reviews Anya and the Dragon, by Sofiya Pasternack, at Hit or Miss Books  Aru Shah and the End of Time, by Roshani Chokshi, at metalphantasmreads (audiobook review) Boot: Small Robot, Big Adventure, by Shane Hegarty, at thereaderteacher The First (Endling #2) by Katherine Applegate, at Say What? The Girl with the Dragon Heart, by Stephanie Burgis, at Say What? Lalalni of the Distant Sea, by Erin Entrada Kelly, at Abby the Librarian The Library of Ever, by Zeno Alexander, at J.R.'s Book Reviews and Charlotte's ...

The Library of Ever , by Zeno Alexander (Macmillan, April 30 2019), is a fun fantasy for younger middle grade readers that happens to include a nice bit of time travel in its adventures. Lenora has been in left in the care of an inattentive and uninterested nanny while her parents are off travelling, and mostly she's bored.  But one day the chance comes to give the nanny a slip at the library, and Lenora escapes to try to find the children's section.  Instead, she finds the opportunity of a life time--a doorway into a marvelous magical library of every book in existence.  Lenora becomes a Fourth Assistant Apprentice Librarian, and is determined to rise through the ranks as quickly as possible. Her first assignment is to help patrons at the calendar desk, and her first customer is a time travelling robot from the year 8000.  Lenora agrees to travel to the future with the robot to settle a calendrical catastrophe, and she does so in fine intelligent style (and I learne...

The Queen's Secret , by Jessica Day George (Bloomsbury, May 14, 2019), continues the story begun in The Rose Legacy .    I just read through my review of that one, and was struck by this bit:   " Me being me, I actually liked all the part before the action and adventure gets going best--orphans exploring new homes and learning to ride is right up my alley!  But I can generously appreciate that many readers do, in fact, enjoy Plot, and so I don't begrudge the wild ride and the political intrigue.  The magic of horse/human communication is something that works better for a child reader; the larger political framework, with hints of imperialism, is more interesting to the adult reader than the love story between girl and horse, but less emphasized in the story." And so on to The Queen's Secret, which is much more about what is happening in the kingdom, and less about horse love (though that's still here!), and of course Thea, the main character, now has a home a...

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed anything! The Reviews Begone the Raggedy Witches, by Celine Kiernan, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile Cape, by Kate Hannigan, at Youth Services Book Review The Clockwork Ghost (York #2) by Laura Ruby, at The Book Monsters and Charlotte's Library Dragon Pearl, by Yooon Ha Lee, at Sharon the Librarian and Locus Dragonfell, by Sarah Prineas, at Ms. Yingling Reads The Eternity Elixer (Potion Master #1), by Frank L. Cole, at The Write Path. Game of Stars, by Sayantani Dasgupta, at Reading Books With Coffee The Girl with the Dragon Heart, by Stephanie Burgis, at Log Cabin Library In the Lake of the Moon (Arlo Finch #2), by John August, at Say What? Knock Three Times (Wizards of Once #3), by Cressida Cowell, at Magic Fiction Since Potter  The Missing Alchemist, by Cladric Blackwell, at Red Headed Book Lover The Queen's Secret, by Jessica Day George, at Cracking the Cover Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, by Carlos ...

The Clockwork Ghost , by Laura Ruby (middle grade/YA, Walden Pond Press, May 15 2019), continues the adventure begun in The Shadow Ciphe r without missing a beat.  Twins Tess and Theo, and their friend Jaime, are still following a twisting trail of impossible clues through an alternate New York of mechanical marvels.  They still have more questions than they have answers.  And they still have enemies, most notably a nasty piece of work  and his henchwomen who want to eliminate the threat they might pose to greedy plans to revamp the city. There's no point in recapping the story.  It is a dream of puzzles and ciphers and mechanical machinations as clues are found and followed.  And it is a very bright and vivid sort of dream, that doesn't make sense exactly but never leaves the reader twitchy and wondering if there will be an ending or not. And the clues and such are cool, and are anchored into the history of the city. But what I loved most were the three ki...

There are times (many of them), when I'm really really really glad I started blogging lo these many years ago!  Mostly these times involve book mail from favorite authors, such as Sarah Beth Durst, whose adult, YA and middle grade books all delight me very much!   Spark , by Sarah Beth Durst (middle grade, Clarion Books, May 14 2019), is the story of Mina, a quiet girl in a boisterous family, who learns that she can effect much needed change to right a wrong without changing the truth of who she is.  It's also the story of Mina's storm beast, Pixit, and how the magic of the storm beasts shapes Mina's world. Mina's country is blessed with perfect weather that's gaurenteed by the storm beasts (basically elemental dragons with feathers) who manage every detail of it.  Some bring rain, some soak up the warm and light of the sun, some control the winds...and some can gather electricity, to power the cities.  Selected children are given storm beast eggs to hatch, and ...

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post! The Reviews Aru Shah and the Song of Death, by Roshani Chokshi, at Marzie's Reads The Books of Earthsea: the Complete Illustrated Edition, by Ursula Le Guin, illustrated by Charles Vess, at Locus The Falcon's Feather (Explorer Academy 2), at Always in the Middle The Halfmen of O, by Maurice Gee, at Tor Little Apocalypse, by Katherine Sparrow, at Say What? The Lost Boy's Gift, by Kimberly Willis Holt, at For Those About to Mock The Lost Girl, by Anne Ursu, at A Kids Book a Day Magic, Madness, and Mischief, by Kelly McCullough, at fangirlknitsscarf Order of the Majestic, by Matt Myklusch, at Charlotte's Library Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword, by Henry Lien, at Fantasy Literature Playing with Fire (Skulduggery Pleasant #2), by Derek Landy, at Hidden In Pages The Prairie Thief, by Melissa Wiley, at Intentional Homeschooling Puddlejumpers, by Mark Jean and Christopher C. Carlso...

I just gave Alice Payne Arrives , by Kate Heartfield (Tor, November 2018), a four star rating over at Goodreads, despite the fact that this is the sort of time travel that makes my head hurt. I can say with conviction that if you are looking for a book about a lesbian couple in the 18th century, one of whom is biracial (the Alice of the title) and the other is a mechanical genius inventor (Jane) who get caught up in a time travel war being waged centuries in the future, this is the book you want!  Alice is peacefully maintaining her father's home by moonlighting as a highwayman, carefully preying only on men who have assaulted/molested women and girls.  Jane, who came to live in Alice's home as a companion a while back, is a whiz at mechanics, and has made a handy automaton that serves as Alice's highway robbery assistant.  They make a good team, and love each other lots. But then things get screwy when the coach Alice holds ups disappears into a strange glimmer-ness,....

Order of the Majestic , by Matt Myklusch (middle grade, Aladdin, May 7 2019), is one to offer kids dreaming of magic, and hoping it will find them one day. 12-year-old Joey Kopecky wasn't one of those kids.  He was content flying under the radar, living an unambitious life of computer gaming in New Jersey, when his life was upended by perfect standardized test scores.  Now he's been offered a place at one of the most exclusive schools in the country, where every kid is a genius.  He feels like a fraud--knowing how to take tests is a skill, certainty , but is it really a hallmark of genius? But one final test, a strange one involving 150 magic tricks to solve, leads to a 151st trick that transports him to the ghostly shell of a once grand magical theater, the Majestic.  It's fallen into ruins, and to get inside Jack must pass through spooky wraiths, but once he makes it, he finds the magician who once made it famous, the Great Rodondo.  Rodondo was once the leade...

Welcome to this week's round-up; please let me know if I missed your post! Here's why I do these round-ups-- --for selfish reasons I started because I wanted someone else to present me with all the mg sff reviews, but had to do it myself --for another reason I want to connect with all the other folks reviewing mg sff so that I can plug the Cybils Awards .  I'm the Cybil's organizer for the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category, and in just a few months, the call for Cybils Awards panelists will be going out.  I love all the panelists that have joined me in years past, but it would be great to have some fresh faces, and  I would really love more diversity in my group of panelists. You don't have to have a blog, just an online platform you use to talk about books (goodreads, youtube, podcasting, Instagram, etc.)  In the first round, which is most of the reading, we keep it to folks in North America, but international folks can be second round panelists ...

If "ballet horror (not the gory kind, but the situational kind) for young readers" is your thing, Music Boxes , by Tonja Drecker (Dancing Lemur, February, 2019) might be one you'll enjoy lots. Lindsay's parents have put her little sister first, moving to New York city so that she can go to the Julliard school.  Lindsay is proud of her sister's talent, but she's devastated that her own ballet training has been disrupted.  There's no money for her to go to a good school in New York, so instead her parents sign her up for classes at the community center.  Which isn't the same. But then she meets Madame Destinee, who has her own ballet school just around the corner.  Madame thinks Lindsay has talent just by looking at her, and offers her a place in her school.  There Lindsay dances like she never has before, in the company of other wildly talented young dancers. But it is a very strange school.  The midnight performances, Madame's constant offerings of...

Riverland , by Fran Wilder (Abrams, April 2019), starts with magic that isn't actually magic at all.  Eleanor and her little sister, Mike, know that when things are destroyed or lost in their house, it's because rules have been broken.  And they know that if they try harder to follow the rules, the house magic will repair everything.  The most important rule is not to talk about the house magic to anyone.   But Mike has just broken that rule, and now Eleanor's one good friend, Pendra, wants to know more about the magic.  And so she pressures Eleanor to let her visit after school, breaking even more rules.... There is no house magic.  There are only rules made to try to placate an angry, physically and verbally abusive father, a mother trying to pretend that everything can be just fine, and the two sisters, increasingly unable to cope as the "house magic" fails. There is real magic, though, and it's found it's way into Eleanor and Mike's home.  Their hi...