Fantasy Literature for Children ages 9-12.
Atlantis Rising by T.A. Barron
I gave Atlantis Rising by T.A. Barron a pretty fair shot I’d say—200 of its 370 pages, but eventually I just had to give it up. And I wasn’t alone in that, as my wife and 13-yr-old son gave up far, far quicker. As usual with books I didn’t care for, and especially for books I didn’t finish (a rarity for me), this will be a relatively short review, as I don’t like to belabor the point.
The problems began immediately,
December 2nd, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 0.1 | T.A. Barron | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Charlemagne & the Paladins by Julia Cresswell
Charlemagne & the Paladins is another in the generally excellent MYTHS AND LEGENDS series from Osprey Publishing, this one written by Julia Cresswell and illustrated by Miguel Coimbra. Charlemagne & the Paladins displays the usual strengths of the series: a nicely condensed version of the story, informative sidebars, an easy to read style, and a good collection of complementary artwork.
The introduction begins by describing the wide geographic and cultural reach of stories about Charlemagne and his paladins,
December 1st, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Myths-&-Legends | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
I listened to The Iron Trial, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare on audiobook, narrated by Paul Boehmer. It tells the story of Callum Hunt, or Cal, a boy who enrolls in a magical boarding school, makes friends, irritates teachers, and finds out he’s been marked from birth by the greatest enemy the magical world knows. Sounds familiar, right?
I read a lot of complaining reviews about this Middle Grade book, all accusing The Iron Trial of being a Harry Potter rip-off.
November 18th, 2014. Kate Lechler´s rating: 2.5 | Cassandra Clare, Holly Black | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L’Engle
The fifth and final book in Madeleine L’Engle’s TIME quintet is An Acceptable Time, a story about Polly, the daughter of Meg and Calvin, the kids we first met in that now-classic children’s science fiction novel A Wrinkle in Time. (Polly is also featured in a different L’Engle series about the O’Keefe family, and An Acceptable Time is the fourth and final book of that series. Slightly confusing, I know.)
One autumn while Polly is visiting her famous grandparents at their house in the country,
November 13th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Madeleine L'Engle | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle
Many Waters is the fourth book in Madeleine L’Engle’s TIME quintet. The previous three books, A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet have all focused on Meg Murray and her strange little brother Charles Wallace as they travel through time and space. Many Waters is completely different. In this story, Meg’s twin brothers Sandy and Dennis mess with a computer in their mother’s lab and get blasted back to the time of Noah before he built the ark.
November 12th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Madeleine L'Engle | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle
A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978) is the third book in Madeleine L’Engle’s TIME quintet, a series of science fiction novels for children. The first book, the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time, blew my mind when I was a kid and I’m just now getting around to reading the sequels.
In A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Meg Murray is now an adult. She’s married to her childhood friend Calvin O’Keefe and is pregnant with their first child.
November 11th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Madeleine L'Engle | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Everyone thinks of Rin as her mother’s shadow. She belongs to a large extended family that all live near each other in the forest and, until recently, Rin has always been her hard-working mother’s helper. She cooks, cleans, fetches the water, helps take care of all the kids, etc. When she needs a little peace, she communes with the trees of the forest. She doesn’t really “speak” with them, but just feels their love and the constant harmony they provide.
But then Rin did something bad and the trees have withdrawn their love.
November 10th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Shannon Hale | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle
When I was a kid, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time blew my mind. I’m sure that’s why I remember it as one of my favorite childhood books. Reading it gave me the first inkling of the immenseness of the universe and that the concepts of space and time were much more complicated than I had realized. I think it was also the book that started my life-long love of science fiction. Before that, I had no idea that I loved having my mind blown!
November 6th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Madeleine L'Engle | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Shannon Hale writes excellent children’s fantasy. River Secrets is the third book in her BAYERN series. It follows The Goose Girl and Enna Burning and focuses on one of readers’ (and the author’s) favorite characters from these books, Razo of the forest.
In the previous books, Razo’s friend Isi, who has wind magic, became queen of Bayern and his friend Enna, who has fire magic, helped Bayern win a battle with Tira.
November 4th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Shannon Hale | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Long ago, the Builders created Ember, an underground city. The Builders only intended for the people of Ember to stay underground for two hundred years, but, due to a slight wrinkle in the Builders’ plans, the people of Ember have stayed underground far longer than two hundred years. Now, supplies are running out. In fact, there soon won’t even be light bulbs left, and the people will be left in darkness.
Jeanne DuPrau’s City of Ember is a children’s post-apocalyptic novel that follows the adventures of Lina and Doon.
October 24th, 2014. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Jeanne DuPrau | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…