Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Series: Children

Fantasy Literature for Children ages 9-12.

Princess Academy: Deserves its Newbery Honor

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

The people who live on Mount Eskel mine linder, the marble-like substance that’s highly prized by those who live in the lowlands. Even though they’ve always supplied the linder for the King’s palace and other important buildings, the mountain folk have their own culture and know very little about what happens beneath their mountain. Therefore, they’re just as surprised as the lowlanders are when the priests ordain that the prince’s bride will come from Mount Eskel. Since the mountain girls are uneducated, a temporary school will be established so they can be brought up to snuff before they meet the prince.

Breadcrumbs: For anyone who has ever been a geeky kid

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

Hazel and Jack have always been best friends, bonding over their shared love of science fiction and fantasy. They play make-believe “superhero baseball” and hang out in a derelict house they call the Shrieking Shack. But now that they’re eleven, Hazel’s mom is pushing her to make some female friends, and Jack is more interested in hanging out with his male friends than with Hazel. Then the impossible happens: Jack is taken away by a mysterious witch, and Hazel is the only one who can rescue him. Anne Ursu’s Breadcrumbs is a retelling of the fairy tale “The Snow Queen,” and it’s fantastic.

Warriors, Into the Wild: May win over reluctant readers

Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

There have been some great animal stories written for children. Brian Jacques’s Redwall series invested woodland creatures with a valor and camaraderie straight out of Tolkien, and Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows charmed with its odd blend of comedy and bittersweet nostalgia. E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web and Robert C. O’Brien’s Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh are in many ways beautiful little stories of life and loss.

The Scarecrow and his Servant: Pretty hefty stuff

The Scarecrow and his Servant by Philip Pullman

We Might Sometimes Go Hungry, But We Will Never Want for Adventure…

Philip Pullman is best known for his young-adult fantasy series His Dark Materials as well as the Victorian thrillers starring Sally Lockhart, but he also has quite a few children’s books under his belt, all of which are whimsical and comedic in nature. The Scarecrow and His Servant is one such story, highly reminiscent of Lloyd Alexander‘s work and definitely a change of pace from Pullman’s darker,

Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate: Did Not Finish

Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate by Adrienne Kress

Timothy Freshwater, 11 years old, has been expelled from the last school in the city. He’s played too many pranks and his teachers say he’s “too smart for his own good.” Since he’s now out of school, Mr. Bore, the CEO of the company his dad works for, recruits Timothy as his intern so Timothy can teach Mr. Bore how to make people like him. In Mr. Bore’s office, Timothy also meets Mr. Shen, a small Chinese man who happens to be an enslaved dragon.

100 Cupboards: Great premise, doesn’t pay off

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

Henry’s parents have been kidnapped, so his aunt and uncle and their three daughters have taken him in. Things are different at Uncle Frank and Aunt Dotty’s house. Henry’s overprotective parents made him eat healthy food, ride in a carseat until he was nine, and wear a helmet at recess. But now Henry eats hotdogs, drinks soda, plays baseball, and owns a knife. But things get even more interesting for Henry when he discovers that there are dozens of little doors under the plaster of the walls in his attic bedroom,

Elidor: Thin

Elidor by Alan Garner

There are those who consider Alan Garner, an intriguing figure who was so sickly as a child he was twice legally declared dead, to be Great Britain’s master fantasist. I am not among them. Elidor, his best-known book, does have quite a lot to admire, even if it does fall far short of other acknowledged young-adult “plucky kids transported to a magical land” classics — to wit, C.S. Lewis‘s Narnia series and Susan Cooper‘s magnificent The Dark Is Rising sequence (let alone Oz).

Swordbird: Two stars for Swordbird, Five for Miss Fan

Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan

The Swordbird Song
by Kat Hooper
To be sung to the tune of “The Trees” by Rush.

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble in the trees,
For the bluejays want their eggs back
And their nuts and their berries.

The trouble with the blue jays,
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the cardinals filched their babies
And they grabbed their food at night.

Philippa Fisher and the Fairy Godsister: Sweet story with a good message

Philippa Fisher and the Fairy Godsister by Liz Kessler

Philippa Fisher is your average 11½ year old — her parents are embarrassing and she wishes she was popular. When her best friend moves away, she is so sad that she comes to the attention of the fairy godmothers. They assign Daisy, who’s never worked with humans before, to Philippa’s case. Daisy must grant Philippa three wishes, but Daisy also has her own lessons to learn about compassion if she wants to advance in fairy society.

I listened to the audiobook version of Philippa Fisher and the Fairy Godsister (also titled Philippa Fisher’s Fairy Godsister in some markets) with my 9 year old daughter,

Fire Star & The Fire Eternal: Too much going on

Fire Star & The Fire Eternal by Chris d’ Lacey

Books three and four in Chris d’Lacey’s The Last Dragon Chronicles are The Fire Eternal and Fire Star respectively. I’ve reviewed the first two separately, but as these two share many of the same problems, I’ve decided to review them together.

The first book, The Fire Within, introduced the major characters and the basic premise of the Last Dragon, Gawain,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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