Sphinx's Queen

Sphinx's Queen Esther Friesner

This is the sequel to Sphinx's Princess and I didn't like it as much.

After being accused and found guilty of killing the crown prince's cat, Nefertiti is on the run with her freed slave Nava and Prince Amenophis. They have several harrowing escapes as they make their way down the Nile to the Pharaoh, hoping he'll listen to Nefertiti's case. But even if they reach Pharaoh, it may not be enough.

After everything that happened in the last book and everything that happens in this one, Nefertiti's naivete about court life and her aunt's political machinations starts to be... annoying. Yes, she shows great strength of character, but if she can't see what's going on in front of her, how will she ever be a great queen and keep her household under control, let alone the kingdom? Also, if she can't quickly learn such lessons after everything that's happened to her... dude.I also found the ending a little too tidy and neat.

Overall, I didn't think these two books were as strong as Nobody's Princess and Nobody's Prize, probably because with the Helen books, Friesner had more source material to work with.

It looks like these four books are now labeled as "Princesses of Myth" which makes me think we'll see some more in the coming years. I really enjoyed the Helen books and the Nefertiti ones were pleasant reads even if they didn't live up to the earlier ones. So, I'll be keeping an eye on what's coming next.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Congratulations

Congratulations to Heather of Merlin Writes for winning Week 1 of the My Baby Needs a Place to Sleep giveaway.

There's lots of time to enter week 2, and many more weeks to come, so keep entering! I need to get these books out of my house so I can put in the crib!

Nonfiction Monday: The War to End All Wars

The War to End All Wars: World War I Russell Freedman

Ok, so, no surprise that Freedman has once again written an outstanding book for tweens. Not only is it wonderfully written, but it's beautifully designed and makes a great use of visual materials, such as photographs.

But all of that was a pretty safe assumption to make before even looking at the book. That's what Freedman's known for.

What we have here is a solid introduction to WWI-- it's causes, how it went, American involvement, and how it ended. I most appreciated the last chapter-- "Losing the Peace" which explores how the harsh terms imposed on Germany and the failure of the League of Nations directly led to WWII.

Freedman makes excellent use of first-hand accounts, letters, diaries, and field orders to really paint what conditions were like in the trenches.

The book mostly focuses on the Western front, but does discuss the Eastern front briefly in the beginning of the war and what led to the Central Powers/Russian peace, both in terms of the war and the revolution. It also covers the Italian front, which doesn't get a lot of coverage! It mentions that Japan declared war on Germany, but doesn't go into what that meant in practical terms. In the last chapter, it would have been an interesting note to include the ramifications of giving Germany's concessions in China to Japan instead of returning them to the Chinese and how that effected the Pacific theater in WWII. I would also have liked a little more information on how soldiers from European colonies were used and a more than a mention of the fact that German colonies were also attacked.

But... that's me nitpicking. I already know a decent amount about WWI and have a special interest in early 20th century Chinese politics and modern colonial issues.  I did really appreciate the coverage that was given to the African-American regiments when the US joined the war. I didn't know that they fought with and were equipped by the French.

Even though I knew most of what this book covers (although I didn't realize that the anti-German sentiment of WWI is what made the royal family change their name to Windsor) it was still an engrossing read.

A word of caution-- there are a lot of battlefield photos in this book. They are stunning and used for maximum effect in an excellently designed package. BUT, battlefield photos means dead bodies. It's not gruesome, but I'm sure some people would like the heads up.

Round up is over at Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian (what a great blog name!)

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

My Baby Needs a Place to Sleep! Week 2

Last week's giveaway ends at midnight tonight, so there are still a few more hours to enter.

But! It's time for another one! You have until midnight (Eastern) on February 27 to enter. The books are more early middle grade books for girls.

You get

My Best Frenemy by Julie Bowe (ARC)
Keena Ford and the Secret Journal Mix-Up by Melissa Thomson (Autographed ARC)
Ruby and the Booker Boys: Slumber Party Payback by Derrick Barnes (paperback)
Ruby and the Booker Boys: Ruby Flips For Attention by Derrick Barnes (paperback)

In order to enter, fill out the form below. I'll destroy all information once a winner is picked and I'll never share it. International entries are ok.




Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Matched

Matched Ally Condie

In the Society everything is regulated and controlled. In their 17th year, teenagers are matched-- assigned their spouse. Cassia is lucky in that she's matched with her best friend, Xander. Not only is it extremely rare to be matched with someone from your town-- someone you actually know, but Xander's a great guy and Cassia couldn't be happier, even if she is a bit nervous about how this changes their friendship and relationship.

But, after the matching banquet, Cassia sticks in the microcard to learn more about Xander (not that there's anything else to know, but... well... you would too), but it's not Xander's face, it's Ky's. An Official comes to her that night, already knowing what's happened, saying someone played a cruel joke and to forget it. Ky can never be Matched-- his father was an Anomaly (and Anomalies are dangerous), making Ky an Aberration. Cassia's known Ky for most of her life, but now she starts to really see him and starts to fall in love.

Cassia's never questioned Society, but she can't choose Ky, and as she learns more of his backstory, and sees the actions of her parents and Grandfather, she starts to see cracks in the perfection.

In their review of Delirium, Forever Young Adult said "Y’all, I’ve been growing a bit weary of dystopia, esp. since it’s the new vampire." And you know what, IT'S TRUE.

So much dystopia lately. And I'm not anti-dystopia, I actually love it, but there's just been a lot lately. I can't read it all.

Then YALSA-BK had a conversation last month about books we didn't like and a lot of commentators said that Matched had been over-hyped and didn't live up to the hype. I already had it checked out and it was overdue, which I see more as a challenge to READ IT NOW rather than a "just return it and get it later" because apparently I have a messed-up brain (but you regular readers knew that already, didn't you?)

ANYWAY! Between the claims of it being over-hyped and dystopia burnout, I was a little trepidatious but so many people I tend to have similar tastes with loved it and...

I did, too. It doesn't break a lot of new ground-- there's a reason I keep seeing it compared to The Giver-- their societies are very, very similar. But I liked Cassia's awakening, and I liked the tension. I liked that neither Ky nor Xander were perfect, but they also weren't bad boys. Both were excellent choices, which made the tension that much more awesome. I liked the underground economy in deleted material and I liked the ending.

I also liked that, yes, there will be a sequel (it's a trilogy) but this book stands by itself perfectly well. I'll read the next one because I liked this one, but I don't need another one.

Also, I like this trend towards planned trilogies instead of loooooooooooong series. We get a few books to revisit favorite characters and worlds, but aren't strung along For.Ever.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington: His Life in Jazz with 21 Activities Stephanie Stein Crease

I'm still working through my backlog of Cybils 2009 reviews-- trying to turn my notes into why or why not a book was on my short list into an actual useful review is hard y'all!

Anyway, this is a biography of the great American composer and band leader, Duke Ellington.

It's comprehensive and does a good job of tying the changes in Ellington's life and career in with the broader social changes happening at the same time. There are several pull-out boxes with extra information on everything from new advances in related technology and biographies of the musicians and composers Ellington worked with to information on broader trends of the time.

The other thing this book has is 21 activities that readers can do to explore different parts of Ellington's story. These activities include everything from baking corn bread (a popular rent party food during the Harlem Renaissance) and designing album covers to building instruments and writing your own jazz improvisations.

Overall though, I found the book uneven. It was interesting, but the tone often seemed to be talking down to kids. Kinda like 'and then Ellington did this! Wasn't that neat?' One random example can be found on page 19 "Many of you might be scratching your heads by now. What kind of role model was Ellington anyway? A high school dropout? A ladies' man? Today, leaving high school would be considered a mistake with a capital "M"! But times were very different then."

Also, I couldn't tell which age group the activities were for. Anything involving a stove or exacto knife was labeled "adult supervision required" and some included blowing across bottle tops and changing the water level to change the sound, or making a toilet-paper tube rhythm shaker. But a lot of the music-based activities assumed a pretty solid background in performance and theory-- like being able to sight-sing or knowing what a B flat 7 chord is. And, when Stein did try to explain more complicated theory concepts (like syncopation) I thought they were confusing, and I'm an adult with many years of music theory study under my belt.

Overall though, I think kids will find it an interesting read, and it's a different type of biography that might appeal to kids who don't like to/want to read a biography, and this time of year, EVERYONE has a biography project to do.

Today's nonfiction round up is over at Wrapped in Foil. Be sure to check it out!

Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybils 2009 consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

My Baby Needs a Place to Sleep!

I've had to do some serious weeding to make room for our new family member. My loss is your gain! Every week (hopefully) I'll be giving away some of these books to a lucky reader. All you have to do is fill out the form below by midnight (Eastern time), February 20 (so you have until Sunday late night.) I'll use the random number generator to pick and entry and voila!

This week's prize pack has a China theme.

That's an ARC of  Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (middle grade fiction)
An ARC of  Year of the Tiger by Alison Lloyd (middle grade fiction)
A hardcover copy of Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution by Moying Li (teen nonfiction)
A hardcover copy of Chenxi and the Foreigner by Sally Rippin (teen fiction)
A paperback copy of Mao's Last Dancer: Young Readers' Edition by Li Cunxin (teen nonfiction)
A hardcover copy of Along the River: A Chinese Cinderella Novel by Adeline Yen Mah (teen fiction)





Book Provided by...

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Melissa de la Cruz Interview!

I'm very excited to welcome the wonderful Melissa de la Cruz back to Biblio File. She's stopping by as part of her blog tour for the latest Blue Bloods book, Bloody Valentine.

I'm loving this in-between books that give us further insight to the Blue Bloods story. Will we see more of them?

Probably not in the near future, right now I am concentrating on the novels, since the story is really heating up in Book Six. But who knows. I always envisioned Blue Bloods as a huge world, a big universe, so never say never.


Will we get more of Allegra's back story? The one included in Bloody Valentine just whet my appetite for more.

Oh yes, there is a lot about Allegra in Lost in Time. I'm starting to peel back all those layers and reveal the core of her story.


You included a recipe in Oliver's story and the book says we'll see more of Freya in your adult summer release, Witches of East End. Do you like to cook? Will you please share your favorite recipe with us?

I love to cook but never have time, and there are a few more spellcipes in Witches of East End. My one go-to dish that I can still make, other than Mario Batali's insane sausage and chestnut stuffing at Thanksgiving and Christmas, is a penne pasta with broccoli and sausage. It's a variation on the one in the Joy of Cooking. Penne, garlic, broccoli, Italian sausage, red pepper. Cook the garlic and the sausage and the broccoli in that order. Cook the penne according to the directions on the box. You can add the red pepper in the beginning or the end. Combine everything and grate Parmigiano Reggiano over the top (the king of cheeses according to Mario Batali - I still miss his show “Molto Mario”) So easy even a writer can make it. :)


So far the mythology of vampires-as-fallen-angels has been very Christian and heavily influenced by Milton. In Misguided Angel, we get to really meet Deming Chen and hear about her twin Dehua. Deming is the Angel of Mercy, whom you name after the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Dehua is the Angel of Immortality, whom you name after the Queen of the West, who's the Chinese goddess of immortality. Why did you decide to bring in other religions? Will we see more of this blending? What steps (if any) do you think authors need to take when tweaking the characters and story of a faith that isn't theirs?

I always envisioned Blue Bloods as the alternate "true" history of the world, so of course other religions, and other faiths would be part of it from the beginning. I don't really see it as blending, since for me Blue Bloods follows a literary tradition - Milton's Paradise Lost is a literary work, not a religious one. So I don't feel tied to a certain religion, Blue Bloods was influenced by myths and legends, most of which are in the Christian tradition since that's what I grew up in. But most of the angel mythology I based it on is from Muslim and Hebrew myths.

I think authors should feel free to do what they want, faith-based stories have resonance, but we should feel free to create our art without worrying about offending, I don't believe in self-censorship at all. It's art, it's not religion.


In addition to Blue Bloods and the spin-off series which will start in next spring, you have a new adult series coming out this summer. What's the difference between writing for teens and adults?

Not much when it comes to my writing. Readers can still expect a fun, romantic, epic story, with great strong heroines and heroes to fall in love with. The only difference for me is that I get to explore more adult issues: pregnancy, adultery, politics, the questions are less "who am I" or "what will I grow up to be" and "I have so much promise" and more "this is who I am, now I have to deal with it."


What's your favorite way to spend Valentine's day?

We always go out to dinner a few days before, just the two of us, I hate going to restaurants and seeing all the couples celebrating V-D day all in row. Something about it feels...robotic and depressing. On Valentine's Day now that we have a kid we usually go to a family dinner which is how I grew up, my parents always took everyone out on Valentine's Day and we all got presents, not just Mom and Pop. It was a fancy dinner and the kids had to dress up too and that was always fun. And presents are always fun of course. Presents in tiny jewelry boxes and a huge bouquet of flowers from a swanky Beverly Hills florist is a must. I'm so practical though, whenever I see flowers I think "that was a lot to spend on something that will last one week." So I'd rather just have a pretty arrangement and not a bombastic one. Especially when it all comes from the same bank account anyway. :)


What's your most horrifying Valentine's moment?

Oh god, probably the time a guy I was good friends with that I had a crush on, invited me to dinner at his apartment and I thought we were celebrating Valentine's Day and I was so excited to take our friendship to the next level but then nothing happened and then later I found out he was dating some other friend of ours and he was calling her on the phone the whole time I was there. What an ego slam! I've forgiven him though, we're still friends, and god we were young then. Now I know better, and since I met my husband fifteen years ago, every Valentine's Day has been great.


What's the funniest Candy Heart saying?

I had to do a little internet digging and found out that one of the sayings they had to discontinue was "You are Gay" (from the 1950s or something). So sad! I would have loved to buy a bunch and given them all out to my main gays. They would say "Yes. Yes I am. Thanks Mel. Happy V-D day."


What's the best Valentine's candy?

I always like champagne truffles from Teuscher.


What's the best song to slow dance to?

We danced to "Seventeen Again" by Annie Lennox at our wedding. That was our song. "And it feeeels like I'm seventeen again...." No wonder I write for teens!


Thanks for stopping by Melissa! Happy Valentine's Day!


Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Bloody Valentine

Bloody Valentine Melissa de la Cruz

Taking place after Misguided Angel and before October's Lost in Time, this is another one of the short in-between books, like Keys to the Repository, but better.

Unlike Keys to the Repository, this book doesn't have a lot of background information that fans already know. This is rather a collection of short stories that give deep backstory or move the action forward.

We have one set in New York that shows Oliver's life without Schuyler and gives us a glimpse of de la Cruz's adult summer release Witches of East End. We get the story of Allegra and Charles in high school and the beginning of Allegra's relationship with Schuyler's father. AND! AND! AND! Schuyler and Jack are planning their bonding ceremony, if they can escape all the Venators chasing them!

I loved Schuyler and Jack's story, because I just love Schuyler in general, but I found Allegra's story much more fascinating. We got part of her back story in Misguided Angel and now we're getting even more (with hints back to "what happened in Florence") and I like these clues coming together that I feel are going to add up to something big, but we're still missing some big pieces of the puzzle.

It's a great book for fans to hold us over until October. I like how much this one adds, not only to the Blue Bloods universe, but also to the immediate story arc. In many series, in-between books like this can be filler material that fans will enjoy anyway, because they're fans, but they really aren't important to the overall series. This one is. There are clues and plot points that are going to have huge repercussions in the series, so pick it up!

Also, stop by tomorrow when I'll be interviewing Melissa de la Cruz herself!

Book Provided by... the publicist, for blog tour.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hi There

No review today, but rather a post of news and the like.

Things in my real life have been cray-cray lately. We had the holidays! Then ALA Midwinter! Then my parents came to visit and rearrange my entire house as we bought new furniture and got rid of furniture and started converting the guest room/office into a nursery (wait, I'm sorry-- it's now called Multipurpose Room 1). Then I went to China for a few weeks.

Hopefully things should settle out here soon. I am really behind in writing reviews and the ones I have written lately are for books that aren't coming out for a few months, so I'm not going to post them yet. (Although I'll tell you know that I loved Withering Tights and Where She Went blew me away even more than If I Stay. And you will all need to read Back When You Were Easier to Love when it comes out.)

I will update my YALSA election page soon. I'm really excited about the opportunity to run for the Excellence in Nonfiction Award Committee and I hope my regular readers know my passion for nonfiction and I hope that new readers will be able to see it.

I'm also working on a big presentation on multi-cultural and international literature for teens for this spring's Maryland Library Association Conference. When I have notes and slides and a book list, I'll post them here. Also, that should give you a hint for what types of reviews you'll be seeing from me this spring.

At Midwinter, I was talking to some fellow librarian bloggers about the possibility of a story time blog. Would you read it? Basically, once or twice a week (depending on my story time schedule that week) I would post what I did for story time-- which rhymes I read, which books I read and any notes on how it went. I do a weekly story time for infants (newborn-12months) and every few weeks do one for 3-5 year olds (it happens 3 times a week at our library, I'm just person doing it every few weeks.) I also envision occasionally posting videos demonstrating how I act out various rhymes. (My Hickory Dickory Dock is not to be missed.) I have to prep all the material anyway, so if people are interested, I might as well share it, right?

AND! As we rearrange the house (and our lives) to make room for the upcoming birth of our daughter (yes! it's a girl!) this June, I've had to do some serious weeding of my books. Starting this weekend I'm starting a HUGE! GIVEAWAY! SERIES! titled "My baby needs a place to sleep" it will hopefully happen every week and let me find a new home for my books.

So that is the news from here. I should be back on schedule soon. Thanks for bearing with me!



Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour

Good Morning All!

What's the first thing you do when you wake up? Is it groan and moan while you reach for the snooze button? Blindly make coffee? Grumble about everything you have to do that day and how you don't want to do it? (Ok, maybe that's just me)

Do you ever take the time to wake up and appreciate the gift of each new day? To thank God for giving you such a blessing?

I know I don't. But such thanks are part of the Jewish morning prayers, a daily ritual for many Orthodox Jews, but many of us more liberal Jews don't necessarily say it, especially not every morning.

In her Sydney Taylor Honor Award winning book for Young Readers, Sarah Gershman gives families a gorgeous picture book to read in the morning, making the morning prayers, Modeh Ani, accessible for young children. Her Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book pairs nicely with her previous book, The Bedtime Sh'ma.

I'm delighted to have Sarah Gershman here this morning to talk about her new book!

You have a bedtime book of the Sh'ma for young readers. While many Jews are familiar with the Sh'ma, they might not be as familiar with the Modeh Ani. What tips can you give to parents who want to start working this morning ritual into their lives?

There are some wonderful artistic interpretations of Modeh Ani. Find one you like and hang it over your child/ren's bed. This can serve as a beautiful reminder to being the day with this prayer of gratitude. In our family, it also helps to say it right when we first wake up, before beginning our other morning rituals (getting dressed, etc.)


How did you choose which selections from the morning prayer to include in this book? How did you decide which ones to do only in interpretation and which ones to include in Hebrew? What special considerations do you think should be taken into account when teaching religion to young children?

I tried to choose excerpts that young children would most connect to. The theme of the book is really gratitude. So I tried to find prayers that lent themselves to being interpreted as expressions of gratitude for the most fundamental blessings in our lives.

We chose only to have the Sh'ma itself in Hebrew - so to parallel with the Bedtime Sh'ma.

I have found that talking about God comes very naturally to young children. When talking to my own young children about God and religion, I try to keep it simple. There is plenty of time for later for more complex understandings.


Many Jews do not write out God and instead use a substitute, such as G-d. However, throughout your book, you use God. Why did you make this decision and do you have a response to those who are critical of it (I noticed it came up in the Amazon reviews of the Bedtime Sh'ma.)

My main motivation was to make the book accessible to people of all backgrounds. That being said, there are also Rabbinic opinions that say that writing God in English is not the same thing as writing God's full name in Hebrew. We were careful not to do that in the Hebrew portions of the book, as well as on the Bedtime Sh'ma CD.

Blogger's Note: This is what my Rabbi says, too. He has a very long and fascintating explanation that I would butcher if I were to share it here, so I won't, but in case you wonder why I don't write G-d, that would be why.


The illustrations of a young child waking up, getting ready, and going about her day bring this prayer to life. Were you able to work at all with the illustrator or have any say over the illustrations? What's it like to see your words come back with someone else's pictures attached to them?

Just as in the Bedtime Sh'ma, Kristina Swarner understand the vision for the book with relatively little guidance from me. I wrote a sentence or two with each page - suggesting my vision for an illustration and she took it from there. My biggest worry was that the book would look too similar to the Bedtime Sh'ma. I love the way it turned out. I think Kristina manages to have a consistent style, while still making it clear that this is a morning book.


What's your favorite breakfast food?

Poached eggs and toast! Oh, and a delicious fruit smoothie.




Thank you so much for stopping by and congratulations again on the well-deserved award!

Everyone be sure and check out the rest of the blog tour for interviews with all the winners and honorees in all the categories. It's a great list of books this year-- don't miss out!

Book Provided by... my wallet

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Girl Parts

Girl Parts John M. Cusick

David and Charlie are two students at an elite boys school. They have a new guidance counselor who thinks all the boys have an associate disorder and wants them to try an experimental treatment-- they get a robot from Japan. A girl robot.

Charlie doesn't go for it, but David does. Rose is beautiful and programmed to live David. She has an arrow that points straight to her man. Her entire artificial existence is for him. It's a little creepy. It's like a perfect 1950s ideal stereotype housewife is what's going to teach boys how to interact with real people?

But, when things go wrong, Rose discovers pain and heartbreak and Charlie.

I really started liking this book when things went wrong and Rose started becoming almost human. I liked her discovery of feelings that weren't nice, of vodka, and of life without a database to fill her in on the background. I'm still not sure how the robot is supposed to teach about real-life relationships, especially when the girlbots are so perfectly aligned to do everything to please the man they were built for. So, I got really confused at the end when the treatment seemed to actually work.

I read this one a few weeks ago and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. There were parts that made me really angry and seemed rather anti-feminist, and then there are parts I really, really liked. It gave me a lot to think about, but the way it ended leaves me on the fence. I'm still not sure how I feel about the final point that the therapy worked. I don't think it would have. So it loses points for a possibly anti-feminist message, but it gains a lot of points in that I'm still thinking about it and what it may or may not be saying.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Reckless

Reckless Cornelia Funke

Jacob and Will grew up with an absent father and a mother who slipped into deep depression after her husband disappeared. Shortly after his father's disappearance, Jacob found the mirror that led him into another world. However, this world is changing from one populated by fox spirits, gingerbread houses, and other fairy tale tropes. Our world is coming in with trains and machinery. To top it off, the Goyl have come from the underground and are fighting a war with the Empresses--a war she can never win.

As the years have passed, Jacob has spent more and more time in the mirror world, leaving the pain and misery of his life in our world behind. Until, one day, Will follows him. Before Jacob can get him back, they're attacked by Goyl and now Will is turning into one of them. Jacob, Will, Will's girlfriend Clara, and a fox spirit called Fox are now on a mission that will take them to witche's houses, faerie islands, dwarf cities and the heart of the Goyl kingdom itself, all in an attempt to save Will before it is too late.

It's an exciting adventure with many recognizable characters and settings, but Funke manages to make them different than what we'd expect. There is a princess asleep in a tower, but she's covered in dust, her dress is faded and old-fashioned, and her skin has gone dry and papery over the centuries.

But, what I really appreciated about this book was the structure. We get to Will in the mirror-world very quickly (page 8). The back story of how the boys grew up, of how mirror world is changing, of the Goyl and their war, of Jacob's exploits, they're all told in bits and pieces strung through the adventure. It's a life we get to piece together with deeper meanings as we follow Jacob's quest to save his brother-- the only thing tying him to our world.

It was dark and wonderful.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Misguided Angel

Misguided AngelMelissa de la Cruz

The plot has now split, so this gets a little Lord of the Rings-y with the first part of the book focusing on one plot line with some of our characters and the next part focusing on a different plot line with some other characters. And yes, I just compared Lord of the Rings with Blue Bloods. I meant only in structure. There are no orcs here.

The first part of the book gives us the next installment in the lives of Jack and Schuyler. After being offered the Countess's protection, they discover she's still in league with the Morningstar. Her protection, while luxe, is a prison. They escape to continue the Van Alen work of securing the gates, only to be chased across Italy by Venators. Lots of daring escapes and shaky alliances as the pair try to save the world and themselves.

The second third focuses on Mimi, who is now acting Regent and finding herself in way over her head. She finds a video of a vampire teen being held hostage and being threatened with black fire, which will destroy blue blood forever. Mimi must try to find the culprit, save the girl, and disguise the videos as teaser trailers for a new movie. Not to mention school.

The last part of the book focuses on Deming Chen, a Chinese blue blood and Venator who comes in to help Mimi catch the culprit as more vampires go missing and are threatened.

Through it all, we get snippets of vampire life in Florence in 1482 and something about to go horribly wrong. This part isn't totally fleshed out, but you can tell it will be big later.

Overall, I really liked this one. I liked the sweetness of the first part (let's face it, I just really like Schuyler) but I really got into the second and third part. I loved seeing a different side of Mimi and getting more of her inner voice. I think she grew a lot as a character and was given much more depth as she struggled with real responsibility and leadership instead of her vacuous life as an over privileged vampire brat/jilted lover. I also liked the introduction of Deming.* I think it's interesting how Deming is the spirit of Kuan Yin, the Angel of Mercy and her twin, Dehue, is Xi Wangmu, the Angel of Immortality. Until now, the mythology of the series has been very Miltonian and Christian. Kuan Yin (also spelled Guanyin) is from the Buddhist tradition-- she's the Bodhisattva of compassion. Xi Wangmu is the Chinese Queen Mother of the West (usually used in Daoist tradition, but she actually predates Daoism). She's the Goddess of Immortality and is in charge of the Peach Garden (where the peaches make you immortal. I now have a desire to track down a college reading I hadd on the Peach Garden. So this is a shift in the world we've seen so far. I get to interview de la Cruz in a few weeks and will be asking her about this!)

Overall, I really liked this book-- it's one of the best so far. I like that even though it's still exciting and moves very quickly, plot-wise, we get more character development and growth, which I appreciated. BUT! I really missed Bliss. I know she's getting her own spin-off series now, but... :(


*Ok, she showed up for a few paragraphs in Masquerade, but she's actually a character now! I wonder if we'll see more of her and get to meet her twin?

Book Provided by... my local library

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Keys to the Repository

Keys to the Repository Melissa de la Cruz

This is a Blue Bloods novel, but not part of the current story arc. However, it fits between The Van Alen Legacy and Misguided Angel if you want to beware of spoilers (and there are some.)

In it, we get repository files on our main characters. A lot of this information is review for fans of the series, but I could see it being useful for readers who don't have a memory for character detail like I do. One thing that was fun in these files was the redacted information (and guessing why it had been redacted) and some of the notes in the files from the scribes to each other.

Interspersed in these files are stories that fit into the regular Blue Bloods story arc. Many are "missing scenes"-- how Schuyler and Jack first started their clandestine meetings and how the ended, where Dylan went after fleeing New York, and more of the conversation between Mimi and Kingsley at the bar in The Van Alen Legacy. There is also a story about Bliss and how she first meets up with the Hounds of Hell (we'll FINALLY get this series in April!)

There is a lot of character and plot recap that was a bit boring as I tend to remember small details from stories (but where I put me keys? Who knows?!) BUT, I did really like the short stories that helped flesh out the story and characters and their relationships. Fans will skip portions of this, but looooooooooove the other parts.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Behemoth

Behemoth Scott Westerfeld

I loved Leviathan. I even took a risk and recommended it to a patron that I talk to a lot* but usually don't recommend books to, as he and I read very different things. (Ok, not too big a risk. He's a steampunk kick and last year was on a huge WWI kick.) We were both very excited for Behemoth. I was even nice and let him put a hold on it before me (but I was #2 on the list, so it's ok!) And we waited. And it came in. Two days later he came in shouting and raving "JENNIE! DID YOU READ IT YET? IT WAS AWESOME! IT WAS SO AWESOME IT MAKES LEVIATHAN LOOK LIKE A PILE OF CRAP!" He was so excited that I didn't have the heart to tell him that he shouldn't (a) shout in the library (b) shout the word crap in the children's room.

But guess what dear reader, HE WAS TOTALLY RIGHT. Compared to Behemoth? Leviathan, which used to get a "love love love OMG love" out of me now gets a mere "meh"

AND! No sucker punch cliff hanger ending. THANK YOU Mr. Westerfeld. You clearly know how to write a second book in a trilogy. It didn't just serve to further the plot and set up the next book. NO. It is it's own perfect book that will lead nicely into the next adventure.

Deryn and Alek are headed towards Constantinople, with the lady boffin's beastie peace offering. But, of course, nothing goes according to plan. When they land, the two are soon separated as we're thrust into an Istanbul where the 1908 revolution was unsuccessful. I also loved how much of the conflict between England and Turkey wasn't of Westerfeld's making. Turkey is upset because it ordered a warship from England, but when WWI broke out, instead of shipping it to Turkey, Churchill (as head of the Admiralty) kept it "temporarily" so the Brits could add it to their navy. Turkey is caught in a between great forces on a strategic point of land** and where England failed, Germany is more than happy to give Turkey what it wants. All that is true. The twist Westerfeld adds is that in addition to a warship, the Brits also kept a beastie...

Lots of adventure and building relationships and tension***. I loved seeing a Clanker Istanbul, but one where the machines were built to look like animals. I loved how the characters worked things that are special to Istanbul into their plans (oh! the spice! so wonderful!) It was very exciting without being totally plot-driven, which is hard to do. I love how Westerfeld is writing an alternate steampunk history, but is still very true to historical detail and sense of place-- a very hard balance to strike, I imagine.

So... why is this better than Leviathan? Part of it is that the world and characters are established so they are free to grow and fill out even more. Part of it is that they are now in the middle of things, action and intrigue-wise. And part of it is just that certain je ne sais quoi.

Also, a shout out for Keith Thompson's illustrations. We need more illustrations in novels for older readers. His black-and-white pictures add a lot to the story and Deryn's facial expressions are priceless. AND! I love the endpapers (I did with Leviathan, too.)

So, if you haven't read Leviathan yet, GO! And if you've read Leviathan and not Behemoth, WTF? GO!




*Things that make me happy-- when the children grow up and leave me for the teen section, but still stop by the children's desk just to say hi and have a chat. I FEEL SO LOVED WHEN THAT HAPPENS.

**Seriously, if you ever play Diplomacy, start a large portion of your force in Turkey. It's the BEST starting position.

*** While I'm mainly referring to the political tension, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the sexual tension that is there, but isn't because Alek doesn't know that Dylan is really Deryn and Deryn's worried about Alek's desire to not marry common and OH! It's not the main focus at all, but I love that it's there and I love the plot line.

Book Provided by...

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Nonfiction Monday: After Ghandi

After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien

After Ghandi offers brief introductions to famous incidents of nonviolent protest around the world, and brief biographies of some of the people involved in those protests. It starts with Ghandi leading a protest in South Africa in 1908 in which many Asian residents burned the registration papers that made them register as foreigners. It ends with the February 2003 global protests against the war in Iraq. In between it covers the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Tiananmen Square Protests, the Velvet Revolution, and work done by such groups as the Peace People and the Mothers of the Disappeared.

It's a striking design-- mainly black and white with large pull quotes highlighted in dark red. Most sections end with a black-and-white pastel portrait of one of the highlighted leaders done by Anne Sibley O'Brien. While the portraits are beautiful, I would have preferred photographs.

I liked that it didn't tell the story of Rosa Parks as a woman who got caught up in history, but rather as one who knew exactly what she was doing. (Lets give Parks a little agency, ok? It makes her more awesome.) It mentions that she was not the first person arrested but that her arrest was the one that got the bus boycott going.

I was a little taken aback by the section on the Tiananmen Square protests. Even though it ends with the tanks moving in, it contains several phrases such as "At the time, China was run by an oppressive, corrupt regime that was intolerant of criticism" or "At the time, Chinese citizens had no choice in the election of their leaders." Yes, that's all true. But it's still true. Starting the sentence with "at the time" makes it sound like there's been a radical shift since then, and there hasn't been.

Overall though, it's a great introduction to the ways people have, and can, stand up to injustice peacefully. They're great stories of courage and standing up in the face of fear. I also loved that they included stories of nonviolent protest that didn't always work-- it highlights that just because they didn't get results, people tried and we remember them for trying and we can continue their work for a better world.

It's a great book to highlight on a day dedicated to a man who used nonviolence as a way to dramatically change the world we live in.

Round up is over at NC Teacher Stuff.

Book Provided by... the publisher for Cybils 2009 consideration.

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YALSA Candidate Info

I get excited about things like source notes and good design. I love a book that engages and teaches at the same time; I love one that shines a light on who we are, who we’ve been, and who we may one day be. I love a good read.  It is because of these things that I’m running for the selection committee of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. I am extremely honored to be nominated for a selection committee position this early in my career, and I feel that my passion for quality nonfiction, commitment to teen literature and librarianship, and experience as a reviewer and awards committee member will make me a valuable asset to this committee. 


In my five-and-a-half years as a public services librarian, I have taken as many opportunities as possible to learn more about the field and to contribute to it. I served three years as a member of the CYBILS awards in the Middle Grade/Young Adult nonfiction category. I have also served on the Maryland Blue Crab committee and have judged other writing competitions for teens and adults, including the Aspen Gold Romance Competition in the YA category of the PASIC Book of Your Heart competition. I review books here on my blog and for School Library Journal. I’m a member of the DCKidlit book club. I studied YA literature in grad school and taken online classes through ALA. I have attended several trainings and conferences on YA lit. I’ve even organized and presented at a few. (Including MLA this May-- if you’re going to be there, please stop by!)


I am lucky enough to have been able to travel to several countries and around the US. I spent a semester studying in Nanjing, China and spent a year living and working in Manchester, England. I grew up in the Midwest and now live on the East Coast. If I had so much money that I’d never have to work again, I’d spend my days sitting in the various cafes of the world, reading and talking about books. My experience with other cultures and places gives me a broader perspective on the world that makes me a more thoughtful reader and a better evaluator, and is extremely beneficial when working with a wide variety of people. 


This is an exciting time to be a fan of nonfiction for young adults. In the last few years we’ve seen an explosion of titles coming out-- both original work and young reader editions of adult titles. As with any publishing boom, there exists considerable variation in the quality of titles coming out. I am excited about the opportunity to serve YALSA and help honor the best titles for teens in this field. Long time readers of this blog know that I am a voracious reader, not only in terms of quantity but also genre and age-range. I love reading broadly in a field to help pick out the best titles. I love discussing and debating titles with other people just as passionate about this as I am. I feel my professional, educational, and life experience will make me a valuable asset to this committee.


I hope you’ll consider voting for me. If you have ANY questions for me, please leave them in the comments or email me (kidsilkhaze at yahoo dot com) and I’ll answer them here. 


Nitty Gritty details:


Education:

Grinnell College, BA, 2002 Major in History and Chinese Studies
CIEE Nanjing University, 2000 (study abroad program) Chinese language and Culture
University of Maryland, iSchool, MLIS, 2008


Relevant Work:


Library Associate II, Youth Services, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System 2005-present


Other interesting jobs I’ve had:


Sales person and teacher at Knit A Round Yarn Shop (Ann Arbor, MI)
Cataloger for the MathSciNet database (Ann Arbor, MI)
Cashier Manager at the People’s Food Co-op (Ann Arbor, MI)
Marketing Department Assistant, The Bridgewater Hall (Manchester, England)
Costumer Shop Stitcher for the Grinnell College Theater Department (Grinnell, IA)


Awards I’ve Been Involved With:


The Maryland Library Association Blue Crab Young Reader Award, which honors the best in beginning and transition fiction and non-fiction for children, 2008-2010.
The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (CYBILS), judging committee for Middle Grade and Young Adult nonfiction, 2007, 2008; nominating committee for Middle Grade and Young Adult nonfiction, 2009.
Selection Committee for the National Endowment of the Humanities/ALA We the People Bookshelf, 2008.
PASIC Book of Your Heart Competition, Young Adult Field Judge, 2008.
Aspen Gold Romance Competition, Final Round Judge, 2007.


Presentations and Trainings:


The Prince George's County Memorial Library System Notable Teen Books Committee, 2007, 2008. This is an in-system training and discussion on notable teen books that librarians should be aware of. In 2009, this stopped being organized by committee. This spring, I am co-organizing the discussion.


Panel discussion "It's All About the Blog: Approaches for Book Reviewers" at the 2009 Kidlitosphere Conference in Arlington, VA.


Invited to present at the Maryland Library Association Annual Conference in 2009 on the topic, "What's New in Young Adult Literature." (see page 7 for an article about the presentation.) The first half was part of the YALSA roadtrip; the second half looked at popular trends in teen literature. The hour-long presentation introduced the audience to 175 current teen titles. This presentation was very well received by the standing-room only crowd. Based on the positive feedback, I was asked to give the presentation again for in-system training.


Developed and moderated a panel discussion at the Maryland Library Association Annual Conference in 2010, "The Millennials Turn 30." (see page 13 for an article about the discussion)


This year, I was invited again to give a presentation on a Teen Literature topic at the Maryland Library Association Annual Conference. This May, I will be presenting “Windows and Mirrors: Multicultural and International Literature for Teens.”

Grimm Legacy

The Grimm Legacy Polly Shulman

After writing a paper on the Grimms for history class, Elizabeth gets a job as a page at the New York Circulating Repository Library. This library circulates objects instead of books-- Elizabethan clothing or Marie Antoinette's wig. It's an odd assortment of collections, but what's really interesting are the special collections on the lowest level. There lies the Grimm collection-- with the magic mirror from Snow White, mermaid combs, seven league boots, or twelve sets of worn out dancing slippers.*

The problem is that many magical items have recently been flat-out stolen or replaced with fakes. A large bird is stalking users and employees of the Repository. When suspicion starts to fall on the pages (although the pages themselves are starting to go missing) Elizabeth and her new friends are out to uncover the mystery because it becomes deadly.

I loved the library and the mystery. I liked Elizabeth's friendship with Anjali and while I found Aaron's jealousy of Marc a bit annoying (especially how it spilled over into everything Aaron did) I liked that it was there. If that makes sense. I liked the real-world applications of many of the fairy tale items (using seven league boots to get from school to work to day care to pick up your brother? Excellent!)

I also really liked how Elizabeth had an distant father and a horrible step-family, but it didn't play up the Cinderella parallels. It was more there to provide context as to why she was so gung-ho about her job (before discovering the Grimm collection, I mean, once you discover that, that's enough reason to spend all your time at work, right?)

It's a great adventure with a bit of romance, an awesome little sister, and a lot of magic. Very much love.



*It's also where you have such things as the Wells collection (shrink rays and time machines) The Gibson Chrestomathy (computer viruses, artificial intelligence) and the Lovecraft Corpus (it's just bad news. Don't go there.)

Oh, a note on tags. Usually if something is "YA" or "Juvenile" I just tag it with where it's shelved at the library I work at. Many libraries have this in the kid's section. SLJ and Booklist both list this as Grades 6-9, which I very much agree with, so I'm tagging it YA, even though that's not where any of my local libraries shelve it. Not that it's inappropriate for kids (there's some kissing) but the main characters are all in high school and I think it'll just appeal more to the younger end of YA, rather than the older end of J.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

You know what my biggest pet peeve about this book is? Everyone says (including the flap copy!) that Lily left a red Moleskein notebook tucked in the shelves at The Strand. Dash found it and followed the instructions.

But Lily's brother left the notebook. "I thought the notebook was seriously Langston's stupidest idea ever until Langston mentioned where he was going to leave it..." (p21)

Yes, my biggest pet peeve is that everyone gets a minor plot point wrong when *talking* about the book.

Because the book itself is pretty much perfect.

Lily's alone for Christmas as her parents are on a second honeymoon and her brother is holed up in his bedroom with his new boyfriend. The notebook is his way of trying to find something for Lily to do so she'll leave him alone.

Dash hates the holidays, so he told his dad he was spending Christmas with his mom, and told his mom he was spending Christmas with his dad. Free of Dash, both parents conveniently left town.

The notebook has a dare. Dash followed it and leaves Lily a new dare. And the friendship, and romance begins.

It's New York in the snow*, in the Christmas crowds. It's just as wonderful and zany as Cohn and Levithan's previous joint ventures (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List) but better. It's sweeter without getting saccharine. I loved loved loved Lily. I loved how vulnerable and slightly immature she was. As much as she hated that side of herself, I really liked "Shrilly" I loved her family scattered across the boroughs and how they had no problems helping her in her crazy schemes.

And most of all, I loved the Washington Square list-serv Moms because... that's just true.

This is a book with deep thoughts and substance that still leaves you feeling happy and refreshed-- the perfect mix of LITERATURE and fluffy fun.

Love love love love love love love love love.

*I've really only been to the city once, on a last-minute solo week-long vacation last February where I got caught in a blizzard. I feel in love with the city as seen through a veil of flakes. (Even if I did have to take all my souvenir money and use it to buy a pair of boots!)

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.