Once upon a Time in the North

Philip Pullman fills in back story of His Dark Materials trilogy for his appreciative fans with Once Upon a Time in the North. Lee Scoresby and Iroek Byrnison meeting in this classic western adventure with plenty of action, gunfights and bad guys. Best of all, Pullman includes news, maps and odd bits of interesting papers for perusing. Find some friends to play Peril of the Pole. Last balloonist flying wins!

Epic by Conor Kostick

One of the 2009-2009 Black-Eyed Susan Nominees for 6th-9th grades, Epic is the story of the planet New Earth, whose inhabitants' lives are determined by how well they play a role-playing computer game called Epic. The better your character does in the game, the better you do in your daily life. If your character is killed, you lose all of your social standing and must do back-breaking menial labor. New Earth is run by the all-powerful Central Allocations Committee, made up of a group of people who use their successful characters to further enhance their domination over society. This system has endured for generations, until young Erik's father is sent to exile, and he and his friends attempt to right this wrong by slaying a dragon and thus, accumulating power for themselves. The journey the group of friends undertakes has serious ramifications not only for them, but for the entire world.

This would be a great book to recommend for reluctant readers, especially boys, who love video games but aren't so interested in books. It is fast-paced, plot-driven, and full of interesting creatures and battles. Kostick was a designer for the world's first role-playing fantasy game, and his insider knowledge shows. In the flap blurb, Kostick is quoted: "The idea for Epic came about from wondering: What would it be like to live in a world entirely dominated by one game; where everyone had to log in and a person's wealth, political voice, future were shaped by how well he was doing in the game?" It is an interesting question, and one that he addresses ably in this novel.

Relentless Pursuit by Donna Foote

Non-fiction can occasionally be as interesting as fiction which is the case with this book. Although the title makes you think of something criminal, chasing a suspect down perhaps, it's actually about the Teach for America program and its relentless pursuit to teach children in the worst American schools. Recent graduates from any field but with leadership attributes are recruited heavily, then given an intensive five week course on teaching and thrown into schools where being able to control a class is just as important as coming up with exciting ways to hold the interest of complicated and desperate teens.

This book follows four very different teachers in a Watts, Los Angeles high school through all the highs and lows from the beginning when they have to learn QUICKLY how to handle chaotic classrooms to the end when they've learned to enjoy and value their students. Observing the teachers, how they handled situations, how they took on challenges I would run from made for exciting, interesting reading! There are a few duller parts on the history, funding, etc. of Teach for America...they are easy to skip if you are so inclined.

Birgit

The Last Apprentice: Wrath of the Bloodeye - Joseph Delaney

I know I'd said I was going to take a break from YA/J-Fic for awhile, but when I received an advance reader's copy of this one, I couldn't resist.

Readers of the previous Last Apprentice books will know the basics: Tom Ward continues his apprenticeship to the Spook, a master foe of witches and other evil beings who practice the dark arts. As Wrath of the Bloodeye opens, the wicked Fiend is at large terrorizing the county by any and all means, including war. After Tom has a close call with a press-gang looking to kidnap potential soldiers, the Spook sends him to train with another spook, former apprentice Bill Arkwright. Although Arkwright's methods are extremely intense and demanding, the Spook feels Tom will be relatively safe from the Fiend. Of course, that's when the trouble really starts.

Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy this volume. Like the previous books, Wrath of the Bloodeye is scary, exciting and non-stop. Delaney generally does a good job of creating creepy atmospheres and settings while moving the reader along at a brisk pace. Those familiar with the series expecting scenes of grisly and sometimes gross-out horror will not be disappointed. What was disappointing to me, at least in this volume, is a lack of focus. The plot and changes in setting seem to meander and wander, especially in the last half of the book. As a narrator, Tom often seems to be capable of a whole litany of extended thoughts and ruminations during the middle of nail-biting action scenes. I won't give away any important details, but some of the confrontations were a bit disappointing.

I'm not telling you anything you don't already know: kids ask for these books all the time at all the branches I've worked. The books are marketed to ages 10 and up (or grade 5 and up), although they may be too intense for some young readers. Anyone who enjoys the first book will probably enjoy them all, although Wrath of the Bloodeye is not the strongest entry in the series.

(Anyone who wants to read it before the kids put 726 holds on it, just let me know.)

Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty

Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty is one of those books that has recently shown up on the murmurings of Newbery possibilities for this year, so of course I was curious. The title evoked a summer twilight atmosphere and I thought it the perfect book for the 4th of July weekend. In the end, this book was nothing like my expectations which were raised by the praise for this title.

This is the story of 12-ish year old girl named Lily who has been mute (yes another book about a mute child... how do I find these things??) for two years since the death of her older brother. The entire town, her father included (there is no mother in the picture) assumes that she has brain damage from the same event that killed her brother, but Lily is hiding another secret about that day. When a strange girl (Tinny- a name I couldn't really get past), also mother-less and also garnering the sympathy of the small town that was once only for Lily, Lily's world changes dramatically. Like the Nancy Drew books she so loves, Lily is swept up in the mystery of this strange girl, a mystery that ends in the climax of the story.

I was more affected by the story of the brother's death than the mystery that shrouded the Tinny. I was also a little disappointed by the way the story ended so easily. This was a short novel- 167 pages that I read in less than an hour. In my mind, this is not a Newbery winner, but it was a fine book for summer reading.

I would recommend this book for reluctant readers in 4th or 5th grade because of the small size of the book and because most kids like a mystery.

Darkside (YA 2007) - Tom Becker: Where Does It Belong?

In the first book of a proposed series, Becker creates a dark, underground counterpart to the normal, everyday "Lightside" of London, a place full of werewolves, vampires, and garden-variety nasty folk called (you guessed it) Darkside. As the book opens, a young boy named Ricky has been kidnapped and taken to Darkside by bounty hunter Marianne and her henchmen. Marianne delivers him to Grimshaw, the leader of an entertainment exhibition called Beastilia Exotica. But Grimshaw plans a show consisting of jackals eating two boys in front of a live audience. The other boy, Jonathan, discovers that his father has some sort of strange connection to Darkside. Maybe that's why his dad has been living in a mental hospital.... Jonathan makes several discoveries about Darkside and thinks one of his dad's friends, Carnegie, may be able to help. But Jonathan's going to have to travel to Darkside to find him, all the while avoiding capture by Marianne.

Darkside promises an exciting, action-filled read and on those terms, it delivers. But the book (which is in the YA section of our system) seems better suited to J-Fiction, what I would consider grades 5-7 or maybe even younger. Both the length and vocabulary are on the level of other J-Fiction books I've read, so the only reason I can think of for placing the book in YA is the dark subject matter. Even so, Darkside is actually not very graphic or bloody, not nearly as much as a book like Joseph Delaney's The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch, which is in our J-Fiction section. Amazon labels Delaney's book as appropriate for ages 9-12 and Darkside as YA, yet VOYA labels Darkside "J" (a designation they reserve for grades 7-9). Apprentice is also about 100 pages longer than Darkside, but page count is probably no longer a deciding factor in where a book should be placed.

I think Apprentice is in the right place; it belongs in J-Fic. But so does Darkside. Of course YA is a large category and encompasses a broad range of writing and reading levels. It's conceivable that Darkside could be at the lower edge (not in quality, but in reading level) of YA.

And of course, it could be all about selling books. Would the book sell better as YA or as J-Fic?

Which opens up a whole haunted houseful of doors I'm not ready to go into right now. Just something to think about. Too bad we don't have comments available. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on where/how books are appropriately placed.

Skin Hunger (YA 2007) - Kathleen Duey

Understand that I read a lot of weird books and stories, so when I say that Skin Hunger is one of the strangest books I’ve read in some time, I really mean it. What I’m less certain of is how to describe the book, but here goes:

Skin Hunger (the first volume in a planned trilogy called A Resurrection of Magic) is narrated by two characters in alternating chapters. Sadina, who communicates with animals, keeps house for an intense, abusive scholar named Somiss, headmaster of a secret school (which is about as different from Hogwarts as you can imagine) where boys learn the forbidden art of magic or die trying. Sadina falls in love with Franklin, an instructor who teaches magic largely through food deprivation. One of Franklin’s students, Hahp (born generations after Sadima) narrates his experiences at the school as he struggles to learn the magic arts before he starves to death.

The connections between the two protagonists remain unclear for a long time, which might frustrate readers. Also many scenes seem to repeat themselves without revealing any new insights into this strange world where magic has been outlawed. Be warned that the book ends abruptly with no apparent resolution. Although two sequels are forthcoming, they will probably need to contain more action than this first volume. Yet even with these potential drawbacks, the story itself and the strangeness of it kept me reading. Duey has done a fine job of creating an unusual world with unusual rules and plenty of mystery and weirdness.

This is a complex book, but for readers who’ve read the Harry Potter books and are ready for something more challenging, Skin Hunger may be just what they’re looking for.

Skin Hunger is a recent National Book Award finalist
368 pages