Fantasy Literature for Children ages 9-12.
The Unfairest of Them All by Shannon Hale
The Unfairest of Them All is the second book in Shannon Hale’s EVER AFTER HIGH series for children. These are tie-in novels for Matel’s line of EVER AFTER HIGH dolls, clothing, diaries, and sundry accessories. I feel like a real chump for obliviously falling into Matel’s greedy little trap, but I love Shannon Hale’s children’s books, so…. so THERE.
The first book in the series (The Storybook of Legends) was sweet and charming,
July 14th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Shannon Hale | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel
A circus. A climactic battle atop a seven-mile long train. Automatons. Folklore-ic menace such as a hag who will drown you in her bog if you look into her eyes. Sasquatches. A train heist. An escape artist. A mesmerist. A plan to gain immortality. Rags to riches. Boy meets girl. Dreams to fight for. A villain willing to kill to get what he wants.
You have to hand it to Kenneth Oppel. In his newest Middle Grade (MG) novel, The Boundless,
July 1st, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Kenneth Oppel | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Wizard’s Wings by T.A. Barron
This is the fifth and final book of T.A. Barron’s THE LOST YEARS OF MERLIN cycle, one of the earliest literary explorations of the famous wizard’s childhood. Since then there have been a number of books (and one television show) about what this enigmatic sorcerer was like as a young boy, well before his mentoring of the famed King Arthur, but Barron’s take on the subject matter remains one of the most popular.
So popular that it’s warranted a recent re-publication,
July 1st, 2014. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | T.A. Barron | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
ZITA THE SPACEGIRL by Ben Hatke
If I were forced to choose one word to sum up Ben Hatke’s ZITA THE SPACEGIRL trilogy, it would be “delightful.” I could toss a lot more words into the mix — imaginative, whimsical, heartwarming, and so on, but really, all one need know is the entire series is a delight. And now I just wondered if our comic/graphic expert Brad had reviewed it and of course he has, and it turns out at the end he says Zita is “a delight.” So there you go.
June 20th, 2014. Bill Capossere and Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Samurai Jack: The Threads of Time by Jim Zub
Samurai Jack: The Threads of Time is a fun comic book for kids. It is an episodic battle adventure with better-than-average art and excellent coloring. Samurai Jack was created by Grenndy Tartakovsky, so apparently The Threads of Time isn’t the first Samurai Jack story. However, he’s a new character to me. Author Jim Zub writes a good story for his primary audience of kids, but Andy Suriano’s artwork is appealing to any reader. It’s the part of the book I enjoyed the most.
June 19th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 3 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ben 10 by Jason Henderson (author) and Gordon Purcell (artist)
Ben 10 by Jason Henderson is a fun comic book for younger kids who like the TV show, but it’s not for older kids or adults, and I don’t think it would be that interesting to any children who aren’t already familiar with the show. This particular story takes place in the summer, while Ben and his fellow Plumbers are on a cruise ship for a vacation. The Plumbers, in case you don’t know, are a group that defends the earth.
June 9th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 2 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
Eva Nine has been living in an underground bunker for all of her twelve years of life. She’s being raised by a slightly humanoid robot named MUTHR (it’s an anagram), her omnipod (a personal hand-held device) and her computerized home called Sanctuary. Eva Nine is the only human she’s ever seen. What’s above ground? Why is she not allowed out? Are there any other humans on Earth? If not, where are they? Soon some of Eva’s questions will be answered because somebody is hunting her and to escape,
June 3rd, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Tony DiTerlizzi | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein
Castor and Pollux Stone are 15-year-old red-headed twin boys who live in Luna City (a moon colony). They are young entrepreneurs and are making plans to buy a spaceship so they can start a trading business. When their father Roger Stone, a retired engineer and former mayor of Luna City whose current job is to write cheesy sci-fi stories for a television show, finds out about their plans, he decides to buy a space yacht and take the whole family on a trip. That includes their baby brother,
May 29th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Robert A. Heinlein | Audio, Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Wizards: From Merlin to Faust by David and Lesley McIntee
I’ve been a huge fan of just about all the MYTHS AND LEGENDS series from Osprey Publishing, having given four stars to Troy, Robin Hood, and Thor; and 4.5 to King Arthur, with only Jason and the Argonauts standing out as a weak entry in the roll.
May 20th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Myths-&-Legends | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Skraelings: Clashes in the Old Arctic by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley
Skraelings: Clashes in the Old Arctic, by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, is a Middle Grade book that despite some problems has a winning charm to it.
Set in, well, the old Arctic, at a time when the Inuit were just entering a land, the story is both a coming-of-age tale and a clash of cultures narrative. The coming-of-age belongs to a young Inuit hunter named Kannujaq. The culture clash involves the new-to-this-land Inuit,
May 16th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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…