Fantasy Literature for Children ages 9-12.
The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Marvelous Land of Oz is the first of L. Frank Baum’s fourteen sequels to his much more famous novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Each of the sequels, which were published form 1904 to 1920, are illustrated by John R. Neill and are now in the public domain. My 11 year old daughter and I listened to a delightful audio version of The Marvelous Land of Oz which was read by Tara Sands.
May 3rd, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | L. Frank Baum | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Tale of a Tail by Margaret Mahy
Margaret Mahy was one of New Zealand’s most beloved writers, the author of forty novels, over one hundred picture books, and a twice-winner of the Carnegie Medal. She passed away in 2012, and I’ll admit that I got a little tearful when I heard that there was still one last story of hers to be published posthumously.
As a final coda to Mahy’s prolific writing career, Tale of a Tail is a funny, magical little story about a boy called Tom who lives with his mother on Prodigy Street.
May 1st, 2014. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Margaret Mahy | Children | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Sky Raiders is the first book in Brandon Mull’s new FIVE KINGDOMS series for Middle Grade readers. It’s about a boy named Cole who takes his friends, including a girl he has a crush on, to a haunted house on Halloween Night. The occupants of the house lure the kids into the basement where they’re abducted, taken to another world called The Five Kingdoms, and sold into slavery.
As you might guess, Cole feels a little guilty about this.
April 22nd, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Brandon Mull | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale
Okay, call me clueless, but I when I picked up Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends I had no idea it was a tie-in to a line of popular dolls, diaries and YouTube Webisodes produced by Mattel. All I knew was that it was a children’s story written by Shannon Hale and I happen to really like Shannon Hale’s children’s stories. I soon found out the truth and was disgruntled that I was sucked into Mattel’s merchandising scheme,
April 10th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Shannon Hale | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Zeus: King of the Gods by George O’Connor
If you are even slightly interested in mythology, you need to order immediately George O’Connor‘s Olympians Series of graphic novels. The first six books that are out so far are stellar, and though you can read them in any order, it’s best to start with Zeus: King of the Gods. Books two through six are best if read in this order: Athena, Hera,
April 4th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Seer of Shadows by Avi
Set in New York City, 1872, we are introduced to Horace Carpetine, a young man who works as an apprentice to a photographer. His employer Mr Middleditch is a rather unscrupulous man, eager to turn a penny whichever way he can, but Horace is captivated by the magic of early photographic techniques.
Told in first-person account, Horace describes meeting a young black servant girl called Pegg by the gates of Mr Middleditch’s house, who arranges a photography session with her mistress Mrs Von Macht.
April 2nd, 2014. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Avi | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Sons of Destiny by Darren Shan
Sons of Destiny is the twelfth and final (finally!) book in Darren Shan’s CIRQUE DU FREAK horror series for children. If you haven’t read the previous volumes, but you intend to, you have no business being here. Go away. If you have read them, you probably don’t care at all what I think about Sons of Destiny. It’s not like you’re NOT going to read it, right? But, since I’ve reviewed all the novels so far,
April 2nd, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Darren Shan | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
The Mark of the Dragonfly, a Middle Grade novel by Jaleigh Johnson, starts off with a wonderfully evocative premise and setting: a world where at regular intervals over a particular region, “meteor storms” rain down artifacts from other worlds amidst a haze of poisonous green dust. After the impacts are over and the dust has settled, “scrappers” head out in a mad race to claim whatever odd (and usually broken) objects might be sold to traders.
March 25th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Jaleigh Johnson | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Troy: Last War of the Heroic Age by Si Sheppard
Troy: Last War of the Heroic Age by Si Sheppard, is the fifth or sixth book in the MYTHS AND LEGENDS series by Osprey Publishing. It does the usual good job, even if it is not quite as strong as several others.
The reason for its middle place in the rankings of these books though is really not so much Sheppard’s fault as it is a built-in conflict between Osprey’s goal of a concise retelling and exploration of these myths and the huge amount of material that makes up the story of the Trojan War.
March 20th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Myths-&-Legends | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Lord of the Shadows by Darren Shan
Lord of the Shadows is the penultimate book in Darren Shan’s CIRQUE DU FREAK series. If you haven’t read the previous books, but plan to, I recommend that you don’t read this review until you’ve read them, for I will certainly spoil the plot for you.
Darren Shan’s adventures in the vampire world began when he made a series of bad mistakes. First he stole money from his parents and snuck out of the house to visit the Cirque du Freak,
March 19th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Darren Shan | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
I might say "formulaic" actually.
Your review made me curious, so I looked this book up. Sure enough: Tor. Tor seems to specialize in these…
It's a tightrope act for sure.
[…] Stuart (2 December 2015). “Roadside Picnic: Russian SF classic with parallels to Vandermeer’s Area X | Fantasy Lit…. fantasyliterature.com. Retrieved 8 […]
yes, I mean, there are certainly lots of good sci-fi/fantasy novellas out there, so they aren't impossible to do, but…