The Replacement

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Mackie should not have lived long enough to become a teen. Most replacements–put into cribs when babies are taken for sacrifice– die fairly soon and are buried in the unconsecrated part of the cemetery. But Mackie’s sister and parents loved him anyway and unconditionally (not hard to imagine why most families wouldn’t) and he has loved them back. Now, however, his allergies to blood, iron, and church are wearing him down and he has to make contact with his own kind in the dark, damp tunnels to gain time.

With this contact, he soon comes up with an idea to stop the sacrifice of babies—to change the deeply troubled way things have always been for something better. This is today’s version of the common story of humankind’s vulnerability to evil: through unconditional love, the dark and scary can produce a hero who is willing to do anything to save us all.

This pleasing note of optimism comes from a novel that can only be classified a gothic horror thriller laced as it is with blood, cruelty, and decrepitude. From a novel about the saddest aspects of human life—loss and frailty—comes a novel about the best aspects of human life—genuine, deep caring for more than ourselves.

Both teen genders will like this book. It is well-told, the characters gain our sympathies, and there is more to it than scariness.

Gaby

Star Crossed

Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

This is Elizabeth Bunce’s second novel and the first in a new series. I loved her first book, A Curse Dark As Gold, an intriguing interpretation of the Rumplestiltskin folktale, and I eagerly looked forward to her next book. A genre, fantasy series, usually less favored by me, Star Crossed nevertheless delivers on many of the same levels: a strong, resourceful, true-hearted heroine; a diverse cast of interesting characters; vivid description; and the entertainment of life’s deeper questions.

Set in a fantasy world that atmospherically parallels eastern Europe in the late middle ages, this tale is narrated by a girl who has had to make her way into a hostile world at a very young age. She is on a singular mission—to stay alive. She becomes a very good thief, forger, and spy. But a near brush with death from a failed caper at the beginning of the story propels her into a mountain castle. Here she will sit out a snowbound winter with a cast of characters at the center of a budding rebellion.

Celyn, as she calls herself, is afraid of nothing. She uses her talents to find out everything there is to know about the castle and its inhabitants, slowly flushing all mysteries into the light. The reader comes along on her journey, flinching at her every daring move, as each of the characters slowly but inevitably reveals the clarity of their position in the central conflict.

Celyn is tough, resilient, and clever; she knows and protects good whenever she sees it. Readers of all ages who have enjoyed the Bloody Jack books will also like this book. The plot is tightly wovern and requires the reader to pay attention and work things out, but there is nothing inappropriate for the youngest of accomplished readers.

Gaby Chapman

The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan is the author of the immensely popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The Red Pyramid is the first book in his new series, The Kane Chronicles. Whereas Percy Jackson had the Greek gods to contend with, the siblings Carter and Sadie Kane have dealings with the ancient Egyptian gods. Both series are action and imagery packed. Both have protagonists who are super-cool mid-aged kids with parents who are absent and need their help. Riordan’s second series should be every bit as popular as his first, although kids who began with the first book in the Percy Jackson series may have gotten too old by now for the new series.

While there are plenty of scary monsters, tragic deaths (with options for reconstitution), and ongoing life-threatening near-misses, the self-confidence and cheery wit of the two siblings who tear through this novel make it more fun than frightening. Since Riordan strikes such a chord with middle-school readers, and since there is so much Egyptian history and lore in this book, it would make a great whole-class read for sixth graders, who, in California at least, study Egyptian history. It would also be a good book to give to a reluctant reader of either gender from ages of about nine up through thirteen.

Gaby

The Animal Family

This is one of the most transcendentally beautiful children’s books I’ve ever read. As a poet, Randall Jarrell gives every word a particular grace and spaciousness, and the illustrations by Maurice Sendak are peaceful and evocative.

The story begins with a hunter who lives alone on an island. Although his world is lovely, he has no one to share it with. Jarrell gives a sense of the hunter’s loneliness in a particularly memorable paragraph: “One winter night, as he looked at the star that, blazing coldly, made the belt and the sword of the hunter Orion, a great green meteor went slowly across the sky. The hunter’s heart leaped, he cried ‘Look, look!’ But there was no one to look.”

One night, as the hunter stands looking out over the sea, he hears a kind of burbling laughter arising from the waves. He returns night after night, and eventually becomes friends with an adventurous mermaid who wants to see what living on land is like. Together they begin a kind of family, to which is eventually added a baby lynx and a bear cub. Without being anthropomorphized, the two animals are fully realized characters, capable of both great kindness and foolishness. The adventures of this foursome are often funny and always moving because of the great love that binds them together. One of my favorite details in this wonderful book is that the mermaid is not afraid of making mistakes; they simply make her laugh!

My uncle gave me this book on my seventh birthday, and I have read it at least once a year (43!) since. Although it is a wonderful book for ages six to eight, it will enchant readers of any age. In fact, I read it often during my teens when I needed to be reassured by its serene sweetness.

Alix Pitcher

Silverwing Saga

Silverwing, by Kenneth Oppel

When enough of my students tell me a book is good, I like to get around to reading it at some point–first because it probably is good, and second because I want to know what they like. I have a very low willingness to suspend disbelief when it comes to anthrophmorphic tales (aw come-on, would a wolf really say something like that) but I had no trouble with Silverwing. Shade, the endearing juvenile bat, and his enemy, the giant and cold-hearted carnivorous jungle bat named Goth, were both completely believable for me.

Shade is a runt and as such he has a relentless need to prove he is as brave and as tough as the other juvenile bats. This need leads him to make a terrible mistake that puts his entire clan in grave danger. In the first book of this trilogy, Shade shows great courage and intelligence as he strives to redeem himself and protect his clan. Goth is only one of the overwhelming dangers Shade must outwit; the adventure is non-stop, very visual, and well-paced.

Silverwing is perfect for kids in grades four through eight who like adventurous stories about other species, for reluctant as well as experienced readers, for boys and girls. It will make them want to read the rest of the trilogy and want to know more about bats–try Shadows in the Night by Diane Ackerman or some of the ones listed on Anastasia Suen’s 5 Books blog.

Gaby Chapman

The Naming: The First Book of Pellinor

The Naming,  by Alison Croggon

Presented as a translation of an ancient legend, The Naming is epic fantasy at its most classic.  The Dark (working for what someone else forces you to do) threatens to extinguish the Light (working for what you hope for and believe in the depths of your heart) in the ancient civilization of Edil-Amarandh. Cadvan, a magically gifted Bard, believes that sixteen-year-old Maedra is the One who is Foretold to defeat the Dark. He finds her living wretchedly as a slave nine years after she survived the destruction of her home of Pellinor.

Eager to leave her  life of slavery, Maedra and Cadvan embark on a long and dangerous journey during which she confronts enemies and realizes her special gifts. On this journey, Maedra finds her little brother, Hem, who she thought had been killed. They must separate at the end of The Naming, as Maedra continues her quest in The Riddle. Hem’s story is taken up again  in the third book, The Crow. In the last book, The Singing, brother and sister are reunited for a final effort against the growing power of the Dark.

The edge of danger never lags in this series and the evil ones are plenty scary. The characters are complex and the line between the Light and the Dark is often blurred. Maedra is strong-willed, intelligent, kind, brave, and temperamental. Because of the strength of her character, this series has been well-liked by the middle and high school girls in my classes, but boys who are avid fans of fantasy have also liked it.  The protagonist is a teenager and as such there are some themes of romance and maturing development, but these are more implicit than explicit.  Though this series has been compared to The Lord of the Rings, I think it is a slightly easier read and could be appreciated by younger, experienced readers also.

Gaby Chapman

Graceling and Fire

Last year many of my students loved Graceling by Kristin Cashore. The sequel, which actually is a prequel, Fire comes out on October 5. Jen Robinson’s Book Page has an excellent in-depth book review for Fire which appears to be every bit as good as Graceling.

Gaby

Sacred Scars: A Resurrection of Magic Series

Sacred Scars, by Kathleen Duey

The second book in this trilogy continues the story of wizardry and time warp begun in the first book Skin Hunger (see March 17 review). This is a woven story with the warp being told from the perspective of a girl and the weft being told from the perspective of a boy. In Skin Hunger,their stories are separated by a great span of time, but they both are under the power of the same sadistic, twisted wizard, Soumiss.  Soumiss exists in both stories since he has the secret of long life. In Sacred Scars,  the time span between the two stories narrows. The book ends with an implicit promise that the two strands will merge in the third book.

Mystery and the constant threat of danger propel this story along at a pleasing pace. In this second volume, the conflict  between the abuse of power and the capacity for kindness solidifies. While suffering permeates almost every chapter, it is  continually tempered by slivers of tenderness and loyalty. Romance exists but remains  primarily on a spiritual plane.

Fans of the first book will be pleased with this one. However, being the second in a trilogy, there is a sense of inertia: the first volume developed the characters but  resolution can not come to them until the final book. The anticipation set up in Skin Hunger will have to wait one more volume for satisfaction.

Gaby Chapman

Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Theives, and The Secrets of Rundoon review

Peter and the Starcatchers

There is a special kind of love I feel when I hear my husband telling an animated and silly story to our children.  He becomes as much a child as they are as he describes the shenanigans of our favorite made up character ‘Foul Kitty.’   In reading Peter and the Starcatchers as well as its sequel Peter and the Shadow Thieves, I found that the writing voice is exactly that of a silly dad telling his version of how Peter Pan came to be.  The voice of a dad, who perhaps still has not grown up all the way.

Unlike the original Peter Pan, there are no complex messages in these books.  Peter and the Starcatchers just explains things like; how Peter came to the Island of Never Land, how he learned to fly, how the mermaids were formed, why he doesn’t grow up, and how Tinkerbell came into being.  In the process of explaining these things, they tell a great and entertaining pirate romp of a story.  This book ranks up there with some of Violet’s favorite books.  Good battles evil, and except for a little good old fashioned stereotypical female jealousy everything falls exactly where it should.  In addition to the naughty but loveable (seriously – all the female characters love him) character of Peter, there is Molly who is a strong girl character.  I recommend this book for third graders on up.  The story line jumps around, and can be a little challenging for younger kids to follow.  There also is quite a bit of suspense, and, in between the silliness, threats of violence and death (think Disney death not Saving Private Ryan death).  All in, this is a well-done prequel to the Disney version of Peter Pan.  And while it doesn’t ask us to examine the universal resistance of men to mature, it might inspire many to read the real Peter Pan and ask just that.  In the meantime, here’s to creative men getting in touch with their inner-story-telling-child.
–    Jessica Wheeler

P.S.  I also just finished the third in the series, The Secrets of Rundoon.  It seems to have a totally different voice than the first two.  Most of the silliness is gone, and the suspense is cranked up a notch or two.  They focus on the idea that Peter has to save the world from total annihilation – so I suppose it is difficult to insert too much humor when the age old battle between light and dark hangs in the balance.  I asked Violet, and she said she still thought there were funny parts, though.

Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic Series

Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey

When my students bring back books I have lent them, I can tell how good a book is by the expressions on their faces. Every one  who has borrowed this book has come back looking very happy and has had the same question, “When is the sequel coming out?”

Skin Hunger is two stories told in alternate chapters separated in time but united in plot. It is as complicated as it sounds, but it is magically executed. What the characters strive for in the earlier time has been fully realized in the later time; what feels ominous but hopeful in the earlier time darkens greatly in the later time. The fear-inspiring unknown unites the two. The effect is deliciously thought- provoking. The resolutions of both stories lean ever more closely towards each other as the novel progresses.  That connection appears imminent as the last chapter ends. It is no wonder my students breathlessly ask for the next book. I can hardly wait myself.

High school students and avid middle school readers love this book. There is romance, cruelty, villainry, magic, and sorrow. While I found nothing inappropriate in this book, the themes are mature – the abuse of power, the elusiveness of compassion –  and the plot is complex. However, the depth of the two main characters – Sadima in the earlier time period and Hahp in the later – make the complex plot easier to follow. This is a book for teenagers that their parents and teachers can enjoy reading.

Gaby Chapman