Young Adult (YA) - Fiction

REVIEWERS: Joyce Ho, Ellen Nef, Marie Soriano

* denotes San Diego writer and/or illustrator
** Age levels, when provided by the publishers, are included in the bibliographical information. Otherwise, category placements are our best approximations.

• Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Illus. Ellen Forney. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007. ISBN 978-0-316-01368-0. $16.99 U.S./ $21.50 CAN. Ages 14 and up. www.lb-teens.com
  Winner of the National Book Award
• Canales, Viola. The Tequila Worm. New York: WendyLamb, 2005. ISBN 0-385-74674-1. U.S. $15.95/ $22.95 CAN. Ages 12 and up.
  Winner of the Pura Belpre Award
• Bell, Hilari. The Last Knight. (A Knight and Rogue Novel.) Eos, 2007. ISBN 0060825030. $16.99
• Eddings, David. The Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy. New York: Corgi, 1982, republished 2006. ISBN 978-0-552-55476-3. $6.99. Ages 11+. 346 pp.
• Easton, Kelly. White Magic. New York: Wendy Lamb, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-83769-2. U.S. $15.99/ $21.00 CAN. Ages 13 and up.
• Friesner, Esther. Nobody’s Princess. New York: Random House, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-87528-1. U.S. $16.99/ $22.99 CAN. Ages 12 and up.
• Holder, Nancy. The Rose Bride: A Retelling of “The White Bride and the Black Bride.” Once upon a Time series. New York: Simon Pulse, 2007. ISBN-10: 1-4169-3535-5 $5.99 249 pp.
• Keany, Brian. The Hollow People (The Promises of Dr. Sigmundus Book I). Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2007. ISBN 0375843329. $16.99
• Le Guin, Ursula K. Voices. Orlando: Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 9-78-0-152-05678-0. $17.00. Ages 12 and up. 341pp. www.ursulakleguin.com
• LeGuin, Ursula K. Voices. New York: Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 0152056785. $17.00 352 pp. www.ursulakleguin.com
• Napoli, Donna Jo. Hush: An Irish Princess’ Tale. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Adults, 2007. ISBN 0-689-86176-1. $16.99. 309pp.
• Pierce, Tamora. Beka Cooper: Terrier. New York: Random House, 2006. ISBN 978-0-375-81468-6. $18.95. Ages 14 and up. 563 pp. www.tamorapierce.com.
• Scott, Michael. The Alchemyst (Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.) New York: Delacorte , 2007. ISBN-13 978-0385733571. $16.99
• Ursu, Anne. The Cronus Chronicles, Book One: The Shadow Thieves. New York: Atheneum, 2006. ISBN 1-4169-0587-1. $16.95 U.S./ $23.50 CAN. Ages 8-12. www.cronuschronicles.com www.SimonSaysKids.com

 

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Illus. Ellen Forney. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007. ISBN 978-0-316-01368-0. $16.99 U.S./ $21.50 CAN. Ages 14 and up. www.lb-teens.com Winner of the National Book Award

Junior is a bright, eager to learn (you could say nerdy) fourteen-year-old Spokane Indian living on the Spokane Indian reservation with his mom, dad and older sister. The problem is the reservation, or rez, doesn’t offer much in the way of education or opportunities to rise economically. Junior’s family is poor as hell and the high school on the rez isn’t much better. When Junior realizes that his geometry textbook is the exact same one his mother used when she was in school, he also realizes that going to school on the rez won’t get him anywhere, so he decides to go to the all-White school in the next town. Eventually the White kids come to respect and like him, but sadly, the most hatred comes from the other Indians on the rez who think he’s a traitor for going to school somewhere else—somewhere predominantly White. Will Junior’s first year out of the rez be his last?

Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is a groundbreaking novel. Books like Louise Erdich’s The Birchbark House and Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins are important in bringing to light the rich Native American history and the way Europeans oppressed if not slaughtered Native Americans. At the same time, we are in dire need of novels about Native American kids in the present. Sherman Alexie and Louise Erdich are already prolific writers, but most of their books about Indians today are in the adult section of bookstores and libraries. Alexie’s novel is a start to filling this gap in children’s and young adult literature. The truth is that when we read, we learn, too, about history and about cultures, and so far, most kids’ books would lead people to believe Native Americans are only of the far-flung past. There are people in this world, children and adults, who think Indians still live in teepees. The Absolutely True Diary gives Indian kids a chance to see a reflection of themselves and informs non-Indian readers about the modern Native American experience, at least on reservations.

Like Alexie’s adult novel The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (it’s labeled as adult, anyway), The Absolutely True Diary is hilarious and sad at the same time. Sometimes you don’t know if you’re laughing or crying. Sometimes you’re laughing and crying at the same time. Sometimes you don’t know if you should laugh or cry. Ellen Forney’s illustrations, which are supposed to be Junior’s (he’s an amateur cartoonist), are like this as well, combining the funny and sad and brilliantly helping give life to Junior.

Marie Soriano

Bell, Hilari. The Last Knight. (A Knight and Rogue Novel.) Eos, 2007. ISBN 0060825030. $16.99

To say it was a dark and stormy night would be a gross understatement. It was colder than a witch's kiss, wetter than a spring swamp, and blacker than a tax collector's heart. A sane man would have been curled up in front of the fire with a cup of mulled wine and a good boo—, ah, a willing wench. But not me. I was out in it. I'm squire to a hero.

In a world where Knight errants are a thing of the past, Sir Michael Sevenson decides that being a protector and saviour of the weak would be the perfect job for him! When attempting to prove himself against the scoffs of his peers, he and his reluctant squire Fisk rescue a damsel in distress from the confines of her towering prison, but unbeknownst to them, she is being held captive for one very good reason: Lady Ceciel murdered her husband, and the dead man’s family is not happy!

Hilari Bell’s witty opening is just the beginning of the comic capers, as squire and hero undertake the ultimate quest for justice that takes them hundreds of miles further than they ever anticipated. The narrative structure follows the intertwined first person voices of both Michael and Fisk, which gives the tale an incredible depth, and an insight into the peculiar minds and friendship of a very unlikely duo.

Bell is the recipient of two ALA awards for The Goblin Wood, and A Matter of Profit, and her tongue in cheek saga is sure to be appreciated by all ages.

Ellen Nef

Canales, Viola. The Tequila Worm. New York: WendyLamb, 2005. ISBN 0-385-74674-1. U.S. $15.95/ $22.95 CAN. Ages 12 and up.
Winner of the Pura Belpre Award

This is a welcome change from many of the sad and tragic stories about Mexican-American kids and families. Canales has woven a sweet story about the strength of love and the power of community.

Sofia lives in the barrio with her family, Mama, Papa, and her little sister Lucy. Life is hard at times; they’re a poor family in a poor neighborhood. In addition, Sofia has her share of taunting at school because she’s Mexican-American. Luckily, Sofia has a loving, supportive family and a best friend, Berta, who is always there for her. But despite a happy home life and a loving community, Sofia doesn’t want to stay in the barrio forever. When Sofia gets a scholarship to a boarding school where there’s a white majority, will her family and Berta support Sofia’s dreams?

This is an important novel about being able to hold on to who you are while stepping into another culture. It’s about being able to navigate through these two worlds, the culture of your family and that of the mainstream. This is an issue, not just for Mexican-Americans but for anyone whose familial and cultural traditions are different from the mainstream or have been considered on the periphery. How is one able to go to college and have a career as part of mainstream culture yet not lose the culture they came from?

The Tequila Worm is an optimistic novel with a Hallmark movie feel, and I don’t mean that as an insult or a jab. More cynical readers may have a problem with the novel’s sweetness. They may also have a problem with the fact that although Sofia and Berta want very different lives, they support one another. Sofia wants to go to college while Berta wants to marry her high school sweetheart right after high school and have children. Well, I think that’s one of the novel’s themes: unconditional love. Sometimes people want very different things in life, and that’s okay, and there’s no reason why very different people can’t love and support one another. There are times when the book is trite or when something is glossed over and not as developed as it could be; however, that doesn’t necessarily make the novel less enjoyable.

If you would like to read other books about navigating between cultures, try The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin (for a Taiwanese-American perspective) and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (for a Native American perspective).

Marie Soriano

Eddings, David. The Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy. New York: Corgi, 1982, republished 2006. ISBN 978-0-552-55476-3. $6.99. Ages 11+. 346 pp.

This new republished edition of the first book in David Edding’s popular series The Belgariad brings a fantasy world of gods at war, sorcerers, and the coming of age of the protagonist Garion, together into an accessible new paperback package.

Garion is a young farm boy who is being raised by his Aunt Pol. The story begins when he is only a little child running around in the kitchen of the farm that Aunt Pol works in. He has a fairly normal childhood playing on the farm and getting into trouble with Aunt Pol for many escapades with the other children.

But Garion’s favorite thing to do is listen to stories about the gods—particularly Torak, the evil god who declared war on the other gods in order to steal the Orb of Alder, which is extremely powerful, only to be defeated by Balgarath the sorcerer. Garion’s favorite storyteller is a troubadour he calls Mister Wolf. Mister Wolf comes in and out of Garion’s life on the farm and one day when he comes back after an absence of several years, the adventure begins.

Throughout his childhood, Garion thinks the tales about the gods are only stories, but little does he know, the stories are far from being myths. Indeed, he himself is deeply wrapped up in the middle of it. Together with Aunt Pol, Mister Wolf, a smith named Durnik, and two men from other lands named Silk and Barak, Garion sets off on a whirlwind adventure across the many kingdoms of his world chasing a mysterious object and encountering many dangers.

This first book in Edding’s epic series is fun and exciting. He has created a fascinating new world full of interesting characters, some with supernatural abilities, and invented many new races and cultures.

Edding’s ability to write a great epic in which mystery, fantasy, and adventure are woven together made it hard for me to put this book down. His writing is fluid and easy to follow. And he is a master storyteller who has influenced contemporary fantasy writers such as Christopher Paolini, the author of the Inheritance Trilogy. I cannot wait to get the rest of the books in Eding’s series, and I expect that other readers will feel the same.

Joyce Ho

Easton, Kelly. White Magic. New York: Wendy Lamb, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-83769-2. U.S. $15.99/ $21.00 CAN. Ages 13 and up.

White Magic is an adaptation of Easton’s play Three Witches and a Wart, and I must say it makes a fine, poignant novel. It’s about four teens: Chrissie, Yvonne, Karen, and Jimmy. Each chapter is a first person narrative of one of the characters.

Chrissie, age fifteen, is the new girl. Three years after her father’s death, her mother decides to move them from Vermont to Los Angeles, where her new well-to-do boyfriend has bought them a condo. This is a problem for Chrissie considering she loves Vermont and misses her father terribly. One afternoon, as she takes a walk alone, she meets Yvonne.

Yvonne, also fifteen, is the goth girl with a heart of gold. Yvonne spots Chrissie reading the ad for psychic readings she posted and introduces herself. They become friends, and Yvonne invites Chrissie to be part of the coven with her and her best friend Karen. Yvonne lives with her single dad, an immigrant from Romania. When Yvonne was a little girl, her father brought her to the United States, stealing her away from her careless Gypsy mother. Although she adores her father, she often longs for her mother.

Karen, fifteen, is obsessed with boys and has been taken advantage of so many times the kids at school call her “slut.” Thankfully, she has Yvonne and Chrissie in her life for support. She’s soft-spoken and rarely speaks up for herself. Her latest crush is Jimmy. But Jimmy wants nothing to do with her. She doesn’t know what to do.

Jimmy, seventeen, is an alcoholic whose mother was an alcoholic. He lives with his ex-military dad who is usually out working. His mother left both of them when she decided to get sober and make a clean start. Jimmy uses alcohol to forget how much emotional pain he’s in. Unlike the girls, his friends are a group of boys who like to get drunk, get high and hurt others. He has no support system.

Unlike most novels about witches, White Magic is not a fantasy nor does it involve the supernatural. This is really a book about teens trying to have some control over their lives. When we’re teens, we may very well feel out of control and our sense of stability may be wrenched from us. What can teens do? They can create a support system like Chrissie, Yvonne and Karen do, and they can make wise decisions about things they do have control over. Easton conveys this hopeful, optimistic message without being preachy or moralistic. Her book is a genuinely moving character study.

Marie Soriano

Friesner, Esther. Nobody’s Princess. New York: Random House, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-87528-1. U.S. $16.99/ $22.99 CAN. Ages 12 and up.

In Nobody’s Princess, Freisner has created a fictional account of Helen of Troy’s childhood and adolescence, giving readers a feisty new heroine. For those of you who have read Homer’s the Iliad, you won’t be disappointed. For those of you who have never read Homer, I think this young adult novel may pique your curiosity.

From the get-go Princess Helen of Sparta, daughter of King Tyndareus and Queen Leda, is not like other Spartan girls. She has no interest in women’s work, like weaving, or getting married, unlike her sister Clytemnestra. She wants to be like her older brothers Castor and Polydeuces, learning how to fight. And with their help she decides to secretly pursue that dream with their trainer Glaucus, a seasoned soldier. From him, she learns perseverance, dedication and discipline. But her adventures really begin when Clytemnestra must leave Sparta for Mykenae in preparation for her arranged marriage to Lord Thyestes. Naturally, Clytemnestra is scared and nervous about leaving her home. To comfort her, Helen, along with their brothers, accompanies Clytemnestra on the journey. From here, Helen embarks on other adventures, meeting the female warrior Atalanta, the one from Greek mythology, and the Oracle at Delphi, who turns out to be full of surprises.

In the Helen of Troy story, it seems she is an object two men are fighting over, nothing more; however, in Nobody’s Princess, Esther Friesner has made Helen a sympathetic character and given her intelligence, strength and agency. She’s a thoughtful character who questions traditional gender roles and double standards in her society. Helen realizes early on as a child that she’s allowed to get away with misbehaving on certain occasions because others find her so beautiful, unlike her sister Clytemnestra who is always punished for her wrongdoings. While this gives Helen an unfair advantage at times, she feels that it is wrong on two levels: her sister is unfairly treated and people tend to underestimate her intelligence and capability. There is nothing superficial about Friesner’s Helen.

Friesner comes from a scholarly background, having gone to Vassar and Yale, and she provides historical notes about Helen at the end of the novel. I think it would be accurate to say that as well as being a well-written young adult novel, it is also a well-researched historical novel. The dialogue and descriptions, the way the characters are written, all these things make the reader feel as if they are in Helen’s time and place. You get wrapped up in her world.

Marie Soriano

Holder, Nancy. The Rose Bride: A Retelling of “The White Bride and the Black Bride.” Once upon a Time series. New York: Simon Pulse, 2007. ISBN-10: 1-4169-3535-5 $5.99 249 pp.

On the eve of her daughter Rose’s thirteenth birthday, Celestine calls upon her patron goddess, Artemis, to give a gift to Rose upon her entrance into womanhood. Celestine wants her daughter to know that she is always loved, and that love counts for more than riches and is the greatest security in life. But her request has terrible implications for Rose, for the journey to that knowledge is fraught with incredible sorrow. Rose loses all that is dear to her, and is made to endure countless grievances from a stepmother and stepsister. They themselves have lost much, but their losses have only driven them further and further down the dark path they travel. Despite all, Rose will come to embrace love and all it offers her, and will eventually have a chance to help another learn about love as well.

The Rose Bride is a loose retelling of the fairy tale “The White Bride and the Black Bride” in the Once upon a Time series of fairy tale adaptations. The story lends an interesting interpretation of the fairy tale, but the exploration of loss and emotion is disappointingly overwrought—the heart-rending episodes reach the point of saturation way before the climax of the book, and the main theme becomes belabored and forced. It doesn’t help that the characters aren’t as well rounded as they should be, which would make it easier for readers to connect with them and their trials.

SarahEllen Hickle

Keany, Brian. The Hollow People (The Promises of Dr. Sigmundus Book I) Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2007. ISBN 0375843329. $16.99

According to the specific laws of a world directed by Dr. Sigmundus, Dante and Bea should have never met. Furthermore, should a chance happening occur, there was no reason why these two should ever discuss their dreams, for dreams are taboo on the island, and the “shot” is meant to suppress them. But the two do meet, and all laws unwind between them as they discover the awful truth about Dr. Sigmundus, and the mysterious city that haunts both their dreams.

Keany’s magical tale draws from an inspiring well of literary greats (including an epigraph from Eliot’s “The Hollow Men”) and is a powerful exploration of the thin line between man made Utopia and its Dystopian effects. First in “The Promises of Dr. Sigmundus” series, The Hollow People offers enchanting and witty characters with surprising capabilities, and an unforgettable cliff hanger that will leave a reader panting for the next installment.

A great choice for both teen and adult lovers of sci-fi and fantasy. Highly recommended.

Ellen Nef

Le Guin, Ursula K. Voices. Orlando: Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 9-78-0-152-05678-0. $17. Ages 12 and up. 341pp. www.ursulakleguin.com

Ursula Le Guin, renowned fantasy and science fiction writer, is best known for her Earthsea Cycle books. Now she has begun a new series presenting a beautiful world in a story that is moving and thought provoking.

Set in the Western Shore, this is Le Guin’s second book to take place in this land. It focuses on Ansul, a city consisting mainly of scholars and traders. However, the Ald people, who believe that books and reading are wicked and so have destroyed all the books, have overrun the city. Or so they think. In the Oracle House, a place where great learning once took place, there is a secret hiding place where the few undestroyed books lie. Only the Waylord of the house and our protagonist, a seventeen-year-old girl named Memer, know where and how to access this room. Memer is a Galva, high status for the people of Ansul, but she looks like the Alds, because her father was an Ald who forced himself on her mother. Memer hates seeing her people being oppressed by the Alds, but it is only when the poet Orrec and his wife Gry arrive that she begins to be valorous and the people of Ansul rise up to take back their city.

This story is an intriguing Bildungsroman in which Memer goes from being a helpless angry girl to a wise young woman who learns not to judge all the Ald people in the same way because of their ignorance and race. She learns to distinguish good characteristics and open-mindedness even in people she thinks she should hate. This allows her to grow up, give up her childhood grudges, and become a role model and leader for her people.

This story, while moving and inspirational, is also highly controversial. It could easily start many debates about religion as it plays a large role in the story with the people of Ansul being a people who serve multiple gods and are very scholarly, while the Alds serve one God and believe books are evil and that the Oracle House, as a place of knowledge, is full of demons. Readers could easily interpret these representations according to some of our modern day beliefs and controversies. Yet, literature should be thought provoking and Voices is indeed a well-written and evocative story, even if you do not agree with issues raised in it..

Joyce Ho

LeGuin, Ursula K. Voices. New York: Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 0152056785. $17.00 352 pp.www.ursulakleguin.com

Seventeen years earlier, the peaceful city of Ansul was savagely conquered by the Alds—a coarse desert people—and its beautiful library destroyed. The Alds believe there is a terrifying evil in the books terrifies them, so anyone found with them is publicly executed. But what the Alds do not know about the secret room in the old house that housed the library, and that there are two left who know the magical symbols needed to enter: young Memer, a siege brat, and the Waylord, former political leader in the old regime. This room houses the books that many risk their lives for, yet it also harbors a secret that lurks in the dark beyond the ancient whispering books.

Memer’s life is turned upside down when strangers Orrec and Gry appear in Ansul. Orrec is a poet committed to performing for both sides of the divide. Suddenly Memer is forced to swallow her dogmatic hatred of the Alds in order to learn how change can be effected peacefully. But there are others whose hatred runs deeper, and they are determined their rule over the heathens will remain unchanged.

Ursula K. LeGuin is loved world wide. As an addition to the Annals of the Western Shore series, Gifts received a Locus Award nomination as well as elected one of the New York Public Library’s “Books for the teen age 2007.” Though the power of literature and stories is a key theme in the novel, LeGuin also attests that it is a novel about violence, and how to deal with passionate and vengeful emotions. As she comments in her interview with Harcourt publishers:

When is acting violently under the impulse of powerful, righteous emotion the correct course of action? When is it a better option to restrain righteous emotion in the hope of restraining violence? How do you know when it’s right to explode into rebellion? How do you convince yourself that violence or rebellion may be stupid, cruel, and useless—even when right is very clearly on your side? These are questions most adolescents have to face in one way or another, both in their private and in their public lives.

It is interesting that in this novel the climax of Ansul’s liberation occurs half way through. Indeed, the pace is altered in the second half as readers are taken through the attempts of a city to regain its identity once the conquerors have left. How does a forgotten spiritual past and seventeen years of rule blend with a hopeful future? And how do a people begin to formulate a way of government that improves on the past while attempting to remain true to itself? These engaging questions, as well as the magical earthy fantasy, combine in a powerful tale of hope and personal integrity certain to lead readers to further exploration of LeGuin’s work.

Ellen Nef

Napoli, Donna Jo. Hush: An Irish Princess’ Tale. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Adults, 2007. ISBN 0-689-86176-1. $16.99. 309pp.

Though it is a tale of princesses, Donna Jo Napoli’s latest work Hush is a raw and brutal journey that takes the reader far beyond the comfort and safety of a fairy tale happily ever after. Based on an ancient Icelandic saga of the Laxardal people, the first-person narrative opens in 900A.D. to reveal a spoiled and haughty Melkorka exploring Dublin for the first time. While she covets the beautiful brooches on display, her brother loses his hand in a freak accident, and a series of events are put in motion for revenge. Unfortunately, not all plans go as expected, and the impetuous Melkorka and her younger sister Brigid are captured by slave traders as they flee the palace. Remembering her sister’s lesson on silence when communicating with animals, Melkorka discovers that it is precisely that silence which lends her power on the Viking barge. Indeed, when their attempts to break her hush are foiled, her captors fear she is an enchantress, enabling her to act beyond the normal capacity of slaves. Melkorka grows and matures whilst on the ship, learning compassion, the Viking language, and healing skills. Despite all this, however, she remains always a slave; traded, robbed of everything, and surrounded by horrors that shatter the formerly sheltered existence she had taken for granted.

This is a breathtakingly beautiful novel, yet it is a haunting beauty. Napoli’s skill lies in her evocative language that allows the cold to creep into your bones as you read, and hunger to gnaw at your belly. She does not shy away from the horrific reality of life on a slave ship; indeed, there are moments of gang rape, murder, and cruelty that though not explicitly graphic in nature, are definitely harrowing. Melkorka’s experience leaves the reader captivated, amazed at her strength and resilience, and hungry for more information as the narrative closes. Hush leaves the reader with a profound sense of emotional exhaustion, but does not allow for the luxury of a neatly packaged ending. Of this, Donna Jo Napoli says:

One of the jobs of life is learning how to give up on some things and move on . . .
as readers we should not have to be satisfied, to have every question answered. If
a book does that, it's leaving you unprepared, leaving you undefended.

A powerful and poignant novel. Highly Recommended.

Ellen Nef

Pierce, Tamora. Beka Cooper: Terrier. New York: Random House, 2006. ISBN 978-0-375-81468-6. $18.95. Ages 14 and up. 563 pp. www.tamorapierce.com.

Terrier is the first book in a new series by Tamora Pierce. Yet, while it is new series, it is the fifteenth book of Pierce’s to be set in her fantasy world of the Tortall Universe. It precedes the other Tortall books by about 200 years. It is about a teenage girl of about 16 or 17, named Rebekah Cooper, who is training to be a Dog, which is slang for one of the Provost’s guards. The Provost’s guards are like policemen. She asks to work in the Lower City of Corus, the capital city of Tortall. It is where she grew up. The Lower City is like the inner city, the place where the poor live and the place where the most crime takes place. But Beka’s world is different than ours; it is a world full of magic. Beka is assigned to train and work with two Senior Dogs named Clary and Mattes, who are loathe to take her on at first, but Beka proves her worth. Beka has a gift in which she can hear the voices of unhappy ghosts who are carried to the afterlife by pigeons. Using this gift, Beka learns about two horrible crime waves that are leading to the deaths and fear of a lot of the Lower City’s citizens. It is up to Beka and her Dog partners now to uncovers the leaders of these two operations and prevent more people from dying unnecessary deaths.

This is the first book of Tamora Pierce’s that I have read. As a reader that was not familiar with the Tortall world at first, some of the language, terminology and slang of this world was confusing, but Pierce does a good job of introducing her readers to her world. The book is written in the fashion of a journal with Beka narrating the events of her days in first person.

This is a fascinating world and story full of adventure. It moves very quickly. It is an action packed book full of fantasy, magic, mystery, and suspense. It is definitely a book for older readers as it contains more adult themes regarding relationships between men and women, as well as the fine line between being a good guy and a crook. Beka makes friends with some people from the other side of the law and she and her partners end up working closely with them.

I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to readers who are lovers of fantasy.

Joyce Ho

Scott, Michael. The Alchemyst (Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.) Delacorte Books for Young Readers , 2007. ISBN-13 978-0385733571. $16.99

Any hardcore Harry Potter fan will recognize the name Nicholas Flamel, but Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone did not prepare us for this break-neck fantasy adventure played out on the stage of modern day California that Michael Scott has created. Josh and Sophie are twins, working in San Francisco while their eccentric parents are on their latest archaeological dig in the back ends of nowhere. Their average lives however are about to change when a mysterious man and his Golems walk into Nick Fleming’s book store and begin hurling magic around.

Nick Fleming aka. Nicholas Flamel, and his wife Perenelle , have an incredible secret: they are centuries old, and possessors of one of the greatest secrets on the globe—the Abraham codex—the text that teaches how to turn metal into Gold, as well as the intricate recipe for eternal youth. When necromancer and Elizabethan court favourite John Dee steals the codex however, Josh and Sophie find themselves in the center of an exciting and terrifying glimpse into the histories, prophecies, and truths of legend, myth and stark reality; discovering also to their horror that they need to awaken the magical potential locked deep inside them in order to protect a world only they can save.

Scott weaves an intricate and exhilarating blend of fantasy, myth, and legend in order to write a new historical reality that his modern day world has largely learnt to ignore. This is the first in a series that is destined to be popular; the first book since the end of Harry Potter that has had me turning pages in breathless anticipation.
Highly Recommended.

Ellen Nef

Ursu, Anne. The Cronus Chronicles, Book One: The Shadow Thieves. New York: Atheneum, 2006. ISBN 1-4169-0587-1. $16.95 U.S./ $23.50 CAN. Ages 8-12.
www.cronuschronicles.com www.SimonSaysKids.com

What if the Greek myths weren’t just myths? Twelve-year-old Charlotte Mielswetski, pronounced Meals-wet-ski, finds out the answer to that question in this fantasy novel that gives you the chills and makes you laugh out loud.

It all begins when her cousin Zee arrives from England. His father, Charlotte’s uncle, says his family plans to transfer back to the States, and Zee is going on ahead of his parents. Seems like a likely story. The Mielswetskis give him a room in their house and Charlotte tries to be as friendly as an angst-ridden tween can be, showing him around the prep school and introducing him to everyone in their grade.

Soon after his arrival the kids at the school begin to fall mysteriously ill. Zee confesses that the mysterious illness befell his friends in England, too, and the real reason why his parents sent him to the Mielswetskis was to protect him.

Together the kids decide to investigate the matter themselves, and so they pay Charlotte’s sick friend a visit. They find her lying in bed, with barely enough energy to speak, as if the life has been drained from her. When they turn on the lamp, they discover she has no shadow. They leave puzzled and afraid. As they walk home, Charlotte and Zee are attacked by creepy men-like creatures in tuxedoes. (Yes, tuxedoes.) At that moment, life throws them yet another surprise: their enigmatic and stern English teacher pulls up in his car to save them.

Enter Mr. Metos, English teacher at the prep school and ancestor of Prometheus, a Titan in charge of protecting humanity from the gods’ carelessness. Mr. Metos explains that not all is well in the Greek Underworld. Philonecron, born in the Underworld to one of Poseidon’s daughters and “one of the demons who staffed the employee mud spa,” has decided that he wants to rule (Ursu 123). But, he needs an army to overthrow Hades, God of the Underworld who has become a complacent bureaucrat. (Yes, a bureaucrat.) Philonecron’s solution: steal the shadows from children and replicate them to create an army of his own. This is the illness striking the kids; their shadows which contain their souls have been stolen. The creepy men who attacked Charlotte and Zee were Philonecron’s Footment, created from the Underworld’s clay.

Where exactly do Zee and Charlotte fall into this? Well, Philonecron got his army idea from seeing how loose Zee’s shadow is. Children’s shadows are loose because their selves aren’t fully formed yet. Now he wants Zee’s blood for a spell to bring the shadows to life.

Mr. Metos tells the two to do nothing; he will take care of everything. But then the young heroes are lured by Philonecron to the Underworld where they find the captured Mr. Metos chained to a rock wall to have his regenerating liver eaten by Harpies. How will the kids ever rescue the shadows and foil Philonecron’s plans?

Anne Ursu brings new life and a sense of humor to ancient Greek myths. You don’t need to know any Greek mythology prior to reading this novel. Ursu smartly works in mythological backstory, so you are never confused. If you are familiar with Greek myths, I think you’ll get a kick out of Ursu’s re-visioning. Think Dorothy Parker meets Ray Bradbury. You have chapters with alternating points of view all told by one dry-witted narrator. The descriptions of the Greek mythical creatures are creepy and yet you can’t help but laugh even as you’re getting goose bumps.

Cheers to Anne Ursu’s first book for kids and hopefully the beginning of many more in the Cronus Chronicles.

Illustrator Eric Fortune does another beautiful job combining the funny and terrifying, as he did for Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow. He uses shadow and light as well as the exaggeration of features to great effect. Sadly, the illustrations only appear on the first page of each chapter, and they are only about four inches by four inches, but it’s amazing how much detail Fortune fits into each picture. His rendering of the Footmen will give you chills. The pictures of the young protagonists don’t have that creepy-funny quality, but they do look the way Ursu has written them, which is satisfying.

Marie Soriano