Fantasy Literature for Children ages 9-12.
The Witch of Lagg by Ann Pilling
Ann Pilling, who also goes by the alias Ann Cheatham or Lillian Cheatham, is an author with a great interest in taking historical events and folk-legends and bringing them into the present day. She has done this for the two other books concerning Oliver, Colin and Prill, Black Harvest and The Beggar’s Curse — with her three contemporary kids finding themselves caught up in the unquiet remnants of the past.
June 21st, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Ann Pilling | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The children’s fantasy/sci fi novel Malice is set in two worlds: modern day London and Malice, an eponymous comic book whose chief villain, Tall Jake, takes kids into the dangerous world of the comic if the right ritual is performed. In an attempt to better convey this two-setting concept, Malice melds a graphic novel/comic with a young adult/middle grade novel, with mixed results for the author (Chris Wooding) and illustrator (Dan Chernett).
The graphic aspect of the novel is by far the poorer stepchild here.
June 18th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Chris Wooding | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
THE MAGICIAN TRILOGY by Jenny Nimmo
The Magician Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo are some of the best children’s fantasy novels out there — and so inevitably they are virtually unknown. Set in the mountains of Wales, the books chronicle the experiences of Gwyn Griffith, a young boy magician dealing with the gift and burden of inheriting magical powers from his legendary ancestors. Before immediate comparisons are made with that other boy-wizard, rest assured that The Snow Spider was published several years before Harry Potter hit the scene.
June 18th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Jenny Nimmo | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Suburb Beyond the Stars by M.T. Anderson
As a reader, I find M.T. Anderson a bit all over the map. I tend to see his strongest work as aimed at the older crowd, while his children’s novels tend to leave me a bit cold. That was the case with The Game of Sunken Places, a children’s fantasy involving two boys playing a Game of high stakes involving trolls, ogres, etc. M.T. Anderson hadn’t done enough with the relatively “humdrum” concepts and his plotting and characters were a bit muddled.
June 7th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | M.T. Anderson | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Kid vs. Squid by Greg van Eekhout
Kid vs. Squid, by Greg van Eekhout, is definitely a children’s fantasy. It comes in at a slim sub-200 pages (with pretty good-sized print) and doesn’t take much time with detailed description, rich character development, or intricate plotting. That isn’t a complaint; it’s just to say that Kid vs. Squid knows who its audience is, and while it won’t dumb things down or talk down to its readers, it also won’t stretch them.
June 7th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Greg Van_Eekhout | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS by Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan’s five-book series takes the world of Greek mythology, complete with gods, monsters, titans, Mt. Olympus, heroes, etc. and weaves it into the modern world under the premise that as the gods are manifestations of Western culture and move as the culture moves. And so when Athens was the pinnacle, Mt. Olympus was in Greece, but now that the seat of Western power has moved to America, Mr. Olympus is on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. We all move through a sea of mythical creatures but we don’t see any of them thanks to the cloak of the Mist,
June 6th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Rick Riordan | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Slaves of the Mastery by William Nicholson
Slaves of the Mastery picks up several years after the events of The Wind Singer and in plot and structure is similar to its predecessor, though not as original in thought or imagery. Once again, the book examines a dystopic setting. In this case it is The Mastery, a city-state of slaves and masters, one of whose leaders has raided the Manth city and taken its inhabitants, including the main characters from book one, into slavery. The book once again focuses on the Hath family (including this time Pinto,
June 5th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | William Nicholson | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit
Like most children’s fantasy adventures, The Enchanted Castle begins with several displaced children, removed from their usual situation due to unfortunate events, and finding their independence in new surroundings. In this case, Gerald, Jimmy and Kathleen find themselves staying at Kathleen’s school over the summer holidays in the care of her French teacher. But adventure is on the way, as soon they find a secret path into a beautiful garden where a young princess lies asleep in the centre of a hedge maze.
June 4th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Edith Nesbit | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill
The Cry of the Icemark has some excellent imaginative material to work with, but it’s almost as if once the author struck gold with the idea, he decided to leave it lying in the ground. The Cry of the Icemark therefore ends up disappointing more than rewarding.
It follows 14-yr-old Thirrin, princess and heir to the throne of Icemark, a small northern kingdom threatened by an aggressive massive southern empire and its never-lost-a-battle general.
May 28th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Stuart Hill | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dream-Of-Jade: The Emperor’s Cat by Lloyd Alexander
Lloyd Alexander’s love and respect for felines is obvious — one need only look at the number of books he has written about them, such as Time Cat, The Town Cats and Other Tales and The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man. And who could forget the giant cat Llyan from The Chronicles of Prydain?
Dream-of-Jade: the Emperor’s Cat continues in the tradition of having a cat protagonist who is clever and cunning,
May 25th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Lloyd Alexander | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.