Courtney's Book Nook

Here's what I found on-line this week; please let me know about anything I missed! The Reviews The Afterwards, by A.F. Harrold, at Randomly Reading Carnival Catastophe (Problim Children #2), by Natalie Lloyd, at Children's Books Heal Earth Swarm, by Tim Hall, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books The Invasion (Animprophs) by K.A. Applegate, at Lost in Storyland The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, by Lamar Giles, at Randomly Reading The Magical Apothecary, by Anna Ruhe (and why it should be translated into English), at A Dance with Books Malamander, by Thomas Taylor, at Diva Booknerd The Mortification of Fovea Munson, by Mary Winn Heider, at Sharon the Librarian The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norman Juster (new audiobook review), at Locus Podkin One-Ear, by Kieran Larwood, at Say What? The Root of Magic, by Kathleen Benner, at Mom Read It Rumblestar, by Abi Elphinstone, at Amy the Zany Bibliophile The Sacred Artifact, by Caldric Blackwell, at Red Headed Book Lover Silent Lee and the Adventure of ...

A recent article, YA Twitter Can Be Toxic, But It Also Points Out Real Problems" by Molly Templeton on Buzzfeed , took me back in time: "In the late 2000s, the science fiction and fantasy (SFF) community — which overlaps greatly with YA — had something of a reckoning. Eventually known as RaceFail ’09 , it was, as author N.K. Jemisin wrote in a blog post a year later, “a several-months-long conversation about race in the context of science fiction and fantasy that sprawled across the blogosphere. It involved several thousand participants and spawned several hundred essays — and it hasn’t really ended yet, just slowed down." RaceFail started as MammothFail, when Patricia Wrede's Thirteenth Child was widely called out for its erasure of Native Americans (there were lots of mammoths, but no indigenous people).  I was part of that conversation, and it was a watershed moment for me as a reader, a reviewer, and a purveyor of books for my own kids. Here's my review of ...

The Last Beginning , by Lauren James (YA, Sky Pony Press, 2018) is a joyful, chaotic romp of a time travel adventure that I devoured in a single sitting. Clove, a Scottish teenager in 2051, gets hit with two emotional wrenches in one week.  Her best friend Meg, who she has a crush on, has just fallen in love with a boy, Clove's cousin.  On a more earthshaking note, Clove's parents tell her that she is adopted, and that her birth parents, Matt and Kate, are famous for saving the world from a bioterrorist threat developed by England, and then disappearing.  Clove sets the family's AI device, nicknamed Spart, to work trying to track them down (she is a whiz at computer programing). And in the meantime, her mother has almost finished getting her time machine up and running. Spart the AI delivers the strange information that  Matt and Kate keep showing up in history, starting in 1745.  So Clove decides that she will use the time machine to go back to find them, to tr...

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post! The Reviews Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows, by Ryan Calejo, at Latinx in Kid Lit Chronicles of ancient Darkness, by Michelle Paver (series review) at Fantasy Faction The Curse of Greg (An Epic Series of Failures #2) by Chris Rylander, at Ms. Yingling Reads Dragon Captives (Unwanteds Quests #3), by Lisa McMann, at Say What? The First, by Katherine Applegate, at proseandkahn (audiobook review) The Girl Who Sailed the Stars, by Matilda Woods, at Always in the Middle and Two Points of Interest Have Sword, Will Travel, by Garth Nix and Sean Williams, at Milliebot Reads and Tales from the Raven The House with Chicken Legs, by Sophie Anderson, at Say What? The Ice Garden, by Guy Jones, at Hidden in Pages The Lost Tide Warriors, by Catherine Doyle, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books Midsummer's Mayhem, by Rajani LaRocca, at alibrarymama The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly, by Rebecca K.S. Ansari...

Mr. Penguin and the Lost Treasure , by Alex T. Smith (Peachtree, April 2019), will delight young readers (1st-4th grades) who enjoy easy to read, quirky, and funny mysteries. Mr. Penguin has always dreamed of being an adventurer.  So when he sets up shop along with Colin, a spider friend, offering his services to the townsfolk, he expects to be inundated with requests for help.  Finally the phone rings.  Boudicca Bones, owner of the Museum of Extraordinary Objects (who's human) needs his help finding the treasure supposedly hidden in the museum. So Mr. Penguin and Colin set out, and find that being adventurers isn't a walk in the park!  Beneath the Museum is a marvelous and dangerous landscape, full of things that could seriously damage anyone exploring there.  And then the danger gets even more dangerous, when the adventurers face a dastardly double-cross!  Fortunately, Edith (another human) who lives in the park with her pigeon friend, Gordon), thought Mr...

Here's a fun timeslip story for kids that mixes computer gaming with the story of King Arthur and medieval magic-- The Camelot Code: The One and Future Geek , by Mari Mancusi (Disney-Hyperion, November 2018). The time has come for Arthur to pull the sword from the sword and become king!  But when Guinevere, his best friend, accidently drops a magical treasure down Merlin's enchanted well, and Arthur tries to get it back, he falls in himself....and travels through time to our present.  Merlin has set up the well to serve as a connection to the modern era, where he enjoys the benefits of Wifi, and plays an online fantasy game, Camelot's Honor, with two ordinary kids, Sophie and Stu. When Merlin realizes he's lost Arthur to the future, he calls Sophie and Stu back into the past.  With the help of Merlin's magic, Stu becomes a stand-in for Arthur, and Sophie goes back to the present to try to bring him back before the future is irrevocably changed.  And Guinevere travel...

It's always so exciting when an author you enjoy has a new book coming.  I'm thrilled to be hosting the cover reveal for Rival Magic, by Deva Fagan; it sounds great, and looks great too! First the synopsis: A young wizard’s apprentice discovers that the best magic is not the biggest or the brightest, but the magic unique to you, in this cinematic middle grade fantasy. Antonia may not be the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen, but she’s worked hard to win her place as apprentice to renowned sorcerer Master Betrys. Unfortunately, even her best dancing turnip charm might not be enough when Moppe the scullery maid turns out to be a magical prodigy. Now that Betrys has taken Moppe on as a second apprentice, Antonia’s path to wizarding just got a bit more complicated. But when Betrys is accused of treason, Antonia and Moppe are forced to go on the run. To prove their master’s innocence—and their own—the rivals must become allies. As their island province teeters on the brin...

Here's what I found this week; please let me know of any posts I missed!  thanks. The Reviews Alistair Grim's Odditorium, by Gregory Funaro, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction Begone the Raggedy Witches, by Celine Kiernan, at proseandkahn ( audiobook review ) The Book of Secrets, and The Books of Answers ( Ateban Cipher #s 1 and 2), by A.L. Tait, at Charlotte's Library Briar and Rose and Jack, by Katherine Coville, at BooksForKidsBlog The Clockwork Ghost, by Laura Ruby, at Puss Reboots Dino Knights, by Jeff Norton, at Charlotte's Library Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at TBR and Beyond Fire and Thorn, by Mary Yee, at Nike N. Chillemi Furthermore, by Tahereh Mafi, at Read Yourself Happy The Little Grey Girl, by Celine Kiernan, at It's All About the Book The Monster Catchers, by George Brewington, at My Comfy Chair The Root of Magic, by Kathleen Benner Duble, at Always in the Middle and Charlotte's Library Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidiker, at...

The Book of Secrets , and The Book of Answers , by A.L. Tait (together comprising the Ateban Cipher duology, Kane Miller, 2019 in the US), tell of a mysterious book and the boy who becomes its protector.  If you like reading about the high.jinks of the plucky medieval kids thwarting bad guys, you'll enjoy these two books lots. Gabe, the main character, is not the sort of reader who enjoys books about plucky kids thwarting bad guys (although he's never read any).  Growing up in the monastery where he was left as a foundling, he loves the books in the monastic library, and has never thought about living elsewhere. But then an old monk is attacked, and badly injured, and is barely able to hand Gabe a precious book, with an enigmatic command--"take it to Aiden."  When Gabe rushes to find help for Brother Benedict, he finds instead that there's a conspiracy at foot in his monastery, and it's no longer a safe place for him or the book. Woefully unprepared for life o...

The Root of Magic , by Kathleen Benner Duble (middle grade, Delacorte, June 11 2019), is a poignant story of a girl faced with an almost impossible choice. Willow's Dad was supposed to take her to her hockey game in New Brunswick.  But when he cancelled at the last minute, Willow's mom took her, and with no other choice, took her little brother, nicknamed Wisp, as well.  Her mother is in a constant state of desperate worry over Wisp, who has been very ill for ages, with no reason found, and no way yet found to help him recover, and her father has pulled away from the family, unable to cope otherwise. Driving home through Maine they are caught by a fierce snowstorm, and their car ends up hanging perilously half over a bridge.  Fortunately, help arrives in the form of the snowplow team of Kismet, a little town in the middle of nowhere, and the three of them are taken in by Cora, who runs the town's only lodging house. The snow continues, and Maine declares a state of emerge...

Today I'm part of the blog tour for Dino Knights , by Jeff Norton , illustrated by George Ermos (elementary/younger middle grade, Awesome Reads, June 6th 2019).  It's a good pick for elementary school kids--a step up from early chapter books, but not quite at true middle grade level, and it has tons of kid appeal for readers who love kids finding out they are special and saving the day, and of course, kids who love dinosaurs! Henry is a humble dinosaur stable boy, who can only admire from afar the Dino Knights who protect his kingdom of Brecklan, though sometimes his admiration is shaken by the snooty arrogance of some of the knights in training, who are quick to lord it over him.  Henry has a way with dinosaurs, and when the lord he serves is menaced by a T-Rex, Henry rushes to see if he can help.  The savage T-Rex turns docile when Henry speaks to it, and to Henry's own surprise, lets him ride it.  Now Henry has been promoted to Dino Knight in training himself! W...

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed your post! The Reviews Aru Sha and the Song of Death, by Roshani Chokshi, at Nica Fictional Fandoms Below the Root, by Zilpha Keatly Snyder, at Say What? Call me Alistair, by Cory Leonardo, at Magic Fiction Since Potter The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande, by Adam Gidwitz and David Bowles, at Geo Librarian and Liv the Book Nerd Game of Stars, by Sayantani Dasgupta, at Say What? House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Puss Reboots The Last Last-Day-of-Summer,by Lamar Giles, at Redeemed Reader The Light Jar, by Lisa Thompson, at Always in the Middle Midsummer's Mayhem, by Rajani LaRocca, at Ms. Yingling Reads and Charlotte's Library Nevermore: the Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at Book Nest The Order of the Majestic, by Matt Myklusch, at Mom Read It The Revenge of Magic, by James Riley, at Geo Librarian Spark, by Sarah Beth Durst, at BookCraic The Story Web, by Megan Frazer Blakemore, at Char...

Midsummer's Mayhem , by Rajani LaRocca (middle grade, Yellow Jacket, June2019), is a delightful charmer of a book, mixing magic and the real world beautiful in a Midsummer Dream inspired story of family, friends, and baked goods! Mimi suffers from youngest child syndrome--one big sister is a wonderful dancer (modern dance fused with classical Indian dance), one a wildly talented soccer player, and her big brother is great at acting.  Mimi's a talented baker, inspired by her Indian-American mother's own cooking, but that seems like small beans compared to the rest of the family talents.  The rather depressing summer ahead, with her best friend gone off to Australia, brightens when a new café opens in town, and announces a baking contest for kids, Mimi sets out to win it and show everyone she matters too.  But it is a most unusual café, in which there is magic afoot... The café is not the only odd thing about this summer.  Mimi follows snatches of music into the woods ...

The past few days have been rather harrowing, and I needed something soothing and mindless to read, that came with no obligation or expectation.  I picked The Secret Spring: a Mystery Romance for Young People , by Emma Atkins Jacobs (1944) off my to-be-read pile; I picked it up from my local used bookstore a few months ago, and thought it looked undemanding. And indeed, it made no demands (except on my credulity) and actually proved more enjoyable than I thought it would. The spring in the title isn't the season, but a hardware type spring in an old trunk, that our heroine, 16-year old Laurel, impulsively buys at an auction, and what's in the trunk when the secret spring is secret no more is what sparks the mystery, such as it is (not much--two strangers are much too interested in the trunk).  Indeed, though the book advertises itself as a mystery romance, it's really about a shy girl in a musical family who are on tour for the summer in the Chautauqua circuit, who pushes h...

If you are in the mood for a very moving book about the power of stories, and how they connect us to each other, do pick up The Story Web , by Megan Frazer Blakemore! (middle grade, Bloomsbury, June 4, 2019) Alice's dad was the shining light of her small town in Maine, and the light of Alice's life (her mother is loving too, but very busy), with his stories and fun and ice-hockey playing (Alice is a wicked good goalie).  But then he went to war, and when he came back, he wasn't shining any more, and now he's gone.  He writes her letters, full of love and fully of whimsical mythological reimagined bits of his life, but he doesn't say when he'll come back to her.   Blaming herself, she turns away from her best friend Lewis and her beloved hockey. When she was five, her father took her into the woods and showed her a giant spider web.  It was a story web, whose spiders were given strength by true stories they were told.  Now the story web is failing, and it seems t...

The Edge of Forever , by Melissa E. Hurst (Sky Pony, 2015), is a YA time-travel mystery, with a nascent romance, lots of secrets, nefarious goings on, and murder.   In the future it's been discovered that some people possess a gene that allows them to time travel, and these people have been taken under the control of the government and trained as historical observers.  In 2146, 17-year-old Bridger is one of these being trained.  On a routine  school-time travel training trip, things go wrong-- he gets distracted by seeing his dead father in the crowd, and partly because of that, his partner is killed.  Now Bridger's determined to find out what his dad was doing at that time and place, and he finds that his father was trying to break the most fundamental rule of time travel.  He was trying to prevent the murder of a 16 year old American girl, Alora. Back in 2013, Alora has started having blackouts, each time waking up in a different place.  That's not t...

Here's what I found this week; as ever, please let me know what I missed! The Reviews A Box of Bones, by Marina Cohen, at Charlotte's Library The Curse of Ragman's Hollow, by Rhys A. Jones, at splashesintobooks The Fairy Tale Detectives, by Michael Buckley, at proseandkahn The Last Spell Breather, by Julie Pike, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books The Library of Ever, by Zeno Alexander, at For Those About To Mock Nevermore: the Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend, at TBR and Beyond Order of the Majestic, by Matt Mvklush , at Always in the Middle Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles, by Thomas Lennon, at Redeemed Reader The Root of Magic by Kathleen Benner Duble, at Log Cabin Library Rumblestar, by Abi Elphinstone, at Snow White Hates Apples Time Sight, by Lynne Jonell, at Charlotte's Library The Tragical Tale of Birdie Bloom, by Temre Beltz, at Pages Unbound Twice Magic (The Wizards of Once, #2), by Cressida Cowell, at Of Books, Photography, and Tea Two at Lost in...