Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Series: Children

Fantasy Literature for Children ages 9-12.

The Rope Trick: All the ingredients for a quintessential Lloyd Alexander story

The Rope Trick by Lloyd Alexander

During his lifetime, Lloyd Alexander was a prolific children’s writer, perhaps best known for the wonderful THE CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN, which is essential reading for any young fantasy fan. The Rope Trick was one of his last books (only two more followed it) and it contains a lot of what his fans have come to expect: a plucky heroine, a twisty plot, nuggets of wisdom, a range of colourful characters (including an enigmatic wise man who always lingers just out of reach) and the familiar theme of it being the journey,

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest: A beautiful book to read with a child

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles de Lint

From its charming dustcover to the muted two-page illustration at the end, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest is a beautiful book that I would love to read with, or to, a child. Charles de Lint and artist Charles Vess form a perfect collaboration here, with a wonderful, magical story for middle readers.

This novel is an expansion of de Lint’s novella, The Circle of Cats. De Lint uses as inspiration many of the Appalachian folk-tales,

The Wind in the Willows: A great read for children and adults

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The Wind in the Willows is a set of anthropomorphic stories that English author Kenneth Grahame wrote for his young son and published in 1908. The story begins when Mole, who lives in a hole in the English countryside, decides one fine day to come out of his underground lair to see a bit of the world. He’s amazed by all that he sees and soon he encounters and befriends a water rat who invites him to a picnic, takes him for a ride on the river,

Museum of Thieves: Asked too much of me

Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner

She didn’t want to be safe. She wanted to be free.

It’s Separation Day and 12-year old Goldie is finally going to be separated from her parents and guardians. Literally separated. For in the town of Jewel, where the most important value is safety, children are always chained to a parent or guardian during the day and tied to the bedpost at night. And when they do something wrong, as Goldie is prone to do regularly, they’re put in heavy “punishment chains.”

This year the Grand Protector has lowered the separation age from 16 to 12 because she believes that Jewel is much safer than it used to be.

Starry River of the Sky: A quiet gem of a novel

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin

Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, is a thoughtful, delightful tale, a quiet little story of awakening and forgiveness that would not only be a great on-its-own book for middle-grade and YA, but would also make a wonderful read-aloud thanks to the folktales at its core. And while it’s definitely aimed at that younger group, don’t assume that means a lack of maturity, for Lin displays a sophisticated sense of both style and structure here.

The Spindlers: A plucky heroine and a plucky rat

The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

I can’t say that Lauren Oliver’s The Spindlers is a particularly memorable middle-grade novel, but its combination of familiar plucky heroine and unusually plucky rat, echoes of The Borrowers, and a few moments of inspired originality made it a consistently enjoyable one.

When Liza’s younger brother Patrick begins acting strangely one morning (one clue is his lack of sticking his tongue out at Liza), she realizes his soul has been taken by the Spindlers, evil spidery creatures that can change size and that have heads at the end of each of their eight legs.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: We love it

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

I’m pretty sure every person in the western world knows who Harry Potter is and knows the basic story line. Harry Potter was The Boy Who Lived. Both his parents were killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the evil Lord Voldemort, but he survived the attack, somehow causing Voldemort to disappear. Now Harry is eleven, and off to his first year at Hogwarts wizarding school. But it seems like Voldemort is making a resurgence. Is Harry safe, even under the watchful eye of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore?

Kenny & the Dragon: A great read-aloud book

Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi

Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi is a charming tribute to Kenneth Grahame’s children’s classic The Reluctant Dragon, which most people are familiar with through the Disney short film adaptation. In this beautifully illustrated volume, DiTerlizzi tells the story of a small, bookish rabbit named Kenny who learns that a dragon has been spotted on his family farm. Armed with a bestiary, he goes to investigate, and instead of a fearsome fire-spouting dragon,

AMULET: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi

Amulet: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi

Prince of the Elves is the fifth book in Kazu Kibuishi’s AMULET series. The war with the Elf King has heated up, and in this book Emily, the newest Stonekeeper, learns more about the true nature of the enemy they all face.

Prince of the Elves provides the back-story for two major characters; Trellis, the prince of the elves and Max, the mysterious boy Emily met in Cieilis. We discover that Max is much older than we originally thought.

The Mirror of Fate: Solid but superfluous

The Mirror of Fate by T.A. Barron

The Mirror of Fate is the fourth book in T.A. Barron’s THE LOST YEARS OF MERLIN saga, chronicling the adventures and experiences of Merlin as a young man, long before Arthur’s birth and Camelot’s creation. Having discovered his true parentage and voyaged to his birthplace, the magical island of Fincayra, Merlin is now practicing and improving his magical abilities, helped along by several friends and family members.

Although Barron has by now established quite a large cast of characters,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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