bookheaven | Entries tagged with middle-grade

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A solid 3.5 read but rounded up thanks to the absolutely gorgeous illustrations throughout. I thought this story had potential and it has a definite fairytale feel to it, however the end especially had some odd choices I didn't care for.

C.W. straight up couple of on-page murders and one of the pets doesn't make it (not a dog but still)

Christopher has been sent to his grandfather's in Scotland for the summer by his overprotective father (his mother has passed) and when he saves a baby griffin, he learned that his family are the gatekeepers for The Archipelago, the islands where all the magic in the world has retreated to.

Mal is a young orphan girl who has a flying coat and she lives with an elderly relative until The Murderer shows up.

When Christopher crosses over into Mal's world as she's on the run from the Murderer, she becomes his guide to this magical place. It's choked full of creatures from various mythologies and it's dying as a world. The Immortal - the caretaker of magic - hasn't been reborn in a century and the magic is fading or being taken. THe more vicious of folklore being are getting a foot hold.

As Christopher tries to help Mal keep one step ahead of being killed they are aided by a scientist who no one listens to (sort of a stab at the climate change deniers) and she's starting to fall for the sea captain berserker who becomes the kids' main way of transport.

Once the Murderer's motives are revealed which up ends Mal's world, she has her own spiral of denial that Christopher helps her through. They have become good friends and honestly it's an interesting take on the chosen one trope up to the last quarter.

Mal loses her agency to Christopher until the very last minute and I was rather annoyed by that. Over all however, Christopher and Mal are interesting characters and the art really is lovely.

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Bedknob and Broomstick by Mary Norton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'll be honest one of those stars is because it's become an endearing classic. I don't remember much about the movie other than it had Angela Lansbury and music. I read over the wiki before writing this and let me say kudos to Disney for rewriting most of this. In fact the book and movie aren't much alike, nothing new there, however the movie is better. Even in the 60s they knew better than to include some of what's in this book (and also learned in 96 they rereleased this with all the cut scenes reinserted so I might like to find that).

Anyhow, when you're reading old classics, you unfortunately expect the casual racism but it's pretty bad in this kids' book. I'll talk more about this as I go. This was actually two novellas The Magic Bedknob and Bonfires and Broomsticks mushed together (which makes sense)

The first is set in the blitz (which actually isn't all that clear in the book but to be fair when this was written, it would have been clear). The kids, Carey (who is around your age, literally what it says so probably 11-13), and she's the only girl, the middle brother, Charles and the six year old Paul have been sent out of London to an aunt's place in the country for safety. They help Miss Price when she falls off her bike only to learn that Paul has seen her flying on a broom stick.

Price is much more menacing in the book, wanting to be the wicked witch but unable to pull it off. For some reason gives the youngest kid the powerful bed knob (in exchange for their silence on her craft) that can go anywhere in the world or back in time. In book one they take the book first to London to see mom (doesn't work out well) and the second time Price thinks I should probably go with them.

And they go to an island (which is populated by anthropomorphic animals in the movie) filled with cannibals. Yes, you guessed it, every negative black stereotype you can think of was in here. They're mostly naked, savage, dim witted black people who dance around and threaten to eat Price and the kids. The edition I selected here was the one my library had (literally from 1957) has art in it and praise for it capturing the book's essence. It certainly captures the racism. Little Black Sambo has nothing on this art where they're mostly black ink, hair and white eyes. It's amazingly cringeworthy (so yeah even with the casual racism in Disney movies in the 60s, they dumped this nightmare out of the movie).

In the end they barely make it out alive, trash the bed and the aunt sends them away for being awful and that's how it ends, with a kids' suck message and punishment. The second half (the other novella) is two years later. Auntie is dead and the kids have figured out that Miss Price has placed an ad to have kids come room with her in the summer. They go there only to learn she's burned all her books on magic and they are so disappointed she gave it up.

However, she bought the bed at Auntie's estate sale and let's the kids use it, again unsupervised (child safety not a thing in the 1940s apparently). They go back in time a few hundred years to find a failed wizard/alchemist type and they bring him to the future (their present). Shockingly it goes bad (literally every time they use this bed it does, probably should have set it on fire or something). And when they take him back they made it worse (hi, witchcraft at the end of the middle ages/renn period is likely to get you killed) and Miss Price has to step in again.

It has another bittersweet ending and the final actions making you wonder if Price forgot she turned Paul into a frog on their first visit (doing so with Emelius would have been so much easier but then we would have lost out on the Substitutiary Locomotion spell which is way less important in the book than the movie).

It's another classic where I can say, I'm glad I finally read it but at the same time, didn't particularly enjoy it.

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The Castle of Llyr (The Chronicles of Prydain, #3)

The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I thought I had read all of the Prydain books but listening to this audio book I'm not so sure any more. Nothing was familiar and everything was disappointing. This should have been Eilonwy's story but it wasn't. If you look at the blurb, you're certainly expecting it, even knowing that yes, Taran is the main character of the series. I kept reminding myself that this was written in the mid 1960s so I shouldn't have been shocked that the only girl in the series is basically benched and waiting for rescue. (it's not wonder there was such a wave of self-rescuing princesses and why as a child I identified so hard with Princess Leia who played a large role in her own rescue).

Eilonwy is sent away from Caer Daerban and Taran to a small kingdom to learn how to be a young princess vs being brought up on a farm with an assistant pig keeper as a best friend. Eilonwy is upset by this, Taran is even more so to the point he and Gurgi go with her to the kingdom just so he can check it out and hope it's good enough for her. Once there things go from bad to worse when Taran catches wind of the fact the king and queen plan to marry her off to their hapless son, Prince Rhun who has never been challenged a day in his life and is utterly useless at most things (to his credit he's somewhat aware of this and wants to change it which is his arc in this thing)

Just as Taran runs into both Flam and Gwydion (who just so happen to be there, knowing something bad is about to go down), Eilonwy is kidnapped by the king's top man who is a servant of Archen who still wants her own power back and to rule all of Prydain. Naturally the men go off to rescue her and I'm actually okay with that part. I should want her friends to help.

What bugged me was we almost never see her again until the last quarter of the book (so for about half this short novel she's M.I.A.) and when we do, Archen has her bespelled and mindless. SIGH. Worse, Eilonwy is taken because she's of a powerful magical lineage and is on the cusp of womanhood and being able to access those powers. That's why Archen wants her. She has the potential to be more powerful than any of the men in this story (as does Archen).

So how are the only two women in the book treated? SPOILERS!!!

They are broken. Yes, you read that right, they are broken. To save everyone and herself, Eilonwy burns up all her magic (or some equivalent nonsense). Her magic is gone. She is crushed. She is not okay. The one thing she wanted to be an enchantress has been stripped from her forever (and I know how this feels when an injury robbed me of the ability to do the only job I ever truly wanted within a few years after achieving that goal). She is broken.

She heartbrokenly says "I'll only be just a girl,"

Prince Gwydion responds, "That is more than enough cause for pride." And yeah okay that's problem feminist and forward thinking for the freaking 60's but damn, yeah it is but she just had all her potential ripped from her for very little reason. There should have been another way to do this and it smacks of worry the girl might overshadow our male hero. Eye roll.

Worse, she's left with Prince Rhun's family (adamant she will chose who she marries and not some older man, we'll see how that turns out) because now she needs to be trained to be a lady even more than before because of the changes. Sure Taran (and Rhun) get their big growth moments, what was Eilonwy's? Not losing it after all that was done to her? Sigh.

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The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Olive Cobin Zang is a young girl who (like so many) doesn't fit into her school. To top it off, her parents are barely there, almost always gone for work. That was okay because she had her grandmother to watch her but now her grandmother is gone and Olive has to deal with that grief on top of being an outsider.

Unsurprisingly her parents have to leave so Olive is pulled out of school and sent to a boarding school off the California coast (drawing from Alcatraz's vibe). To her shock, Olive loves her new school. It allows the kids to play to their strengths and gives her some self esteem.

As per the blurb the school RASCH is a cover for an elite group of misfits who fight crime and Olive and her little group are being trained ala spy training to stop crime. They love it. There are computer geniuses, inventors, natural athletes and more (Olive is trained in gymnastics) But when the 'Bling King' steals amazing diamonds and a cat pin from the school's main donor, Olive and her friends face the school closing unless they can stop the king.

I think the target age group will have a lot of fun with this. Olive and her friends are fun and relatable. I would have liked a bit more development of the others though (as this is definitely Olive's story and it's her close pov). I would have liked more description too because without the cover it was hard to tell there was as much diversity as there was.

Still, those are minor quibbles. This is cute and I'd like to see more. The arc I have has only initial sketches and line art. I bet it will be very cute when it's finalized.

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Vampires on the Run (Quinnie Boyd Mysteries, #2)

Vampires on the Run by C.M. Surrisi

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a 3 star until the ending which wow, just bad. Quinnie's age comes across inconsistently in this thing as well. Granted if I were a middle grade reader (the target audience) I might have enjoyed it more but this read less Nancy Drew and more....you know I'm not sure what? It skewed young, real young.

Quinnie lives in a picturesque coastal Maine town and is the local Nancy Drew. Her mom is insanely busy being the post master, sheriff, real estate agent and one more thing that I've actually forgotten because I don't usually see someone holding down four jobs (that'll keep her out of Quinnie's business). Dad runs a restaurant. Quinnie and her two besties Ella and Ben are looking forward to summer vacation when they meet Dominic, a newcomer roughly their age whatever that is (because Ben and Dominic are nearly old enough to drive and Ben drives a boat) but I think it's stated Quinnie is 13. Dominic is here with his marine biologist parents. Also in town are two tourists who are LL Bean victims trying to fit in and two weird NYC people Ella's 'Aunt' Ceil and 'Uncle' Edgar who are her dad's friends and like him bestselling author's.

In fact Ceil and Edgar have a shared pen name they write the stories of a vampire Count Le Plasma (no seriously) and in theory he tells them the stories as he's 'real' (obvious marketing scheme) but when some animals show up dead, including the cat rescue running Nuns favorite cat, Quinnie starts thinking Ceil and Edgar might have brought in real vampires or are vampires themselves especially after she and Ben see what she thinks is a wolf near the beach at 3:00 Am.

And naturally she seriously thinks Ella's dad's friends are behind it all and is trying (and succeeding) in getting the others to think vampires are real. Sorry, but they seem awfully old to make this leap based on next to nothing (other than Ceil and Edgar don't want to leave the house). The mystery here is what are those two hiding.

And it wouldn't be half bad for what it is, a middle school mystery but the ending absolutely sinks this thing. Here's a mild spoiler, no big reveals or anything, about what bothered me.

Ceil and Edgar are in some mild trouble but refuse to go to the cops. So I'm like what illegal thing did they do (spoiler, none which makes it worse) They are so adamant anti-cop that they are willing to risk FOUR young teens knowing there are two dangerous men after them so they could get out of town without the cops (i.e. Quinnie's mom) helping.

Let that sink in. Two grown adults are willing to risk the lives of four 13 year olds rather than call a cop when they, themselves, have do nothing to fear a cop. Surely there was a better way to have ended this. She thanks her beta team. Honestly if this had come through my beta group I would have straight up asked that. If you wanted the Hollywood ending on the water there had to be another way to do this. It was unbelievable and even more unbelievable was Quinnie's mom really didn't do much about it. ugh.

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Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective (Encyclopedia Brown, #1)

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Somehow growing up I missed these and I would have been the right age for them in the 70s. I had to read something from the decade I was born so here I am many years after the fact reading about Leroy Brown. I was expecting something like the Hardy Boys (which I did read so it wasn't as if my parents decided this was for boys and left me in the corner with Nancy Drew).

I probably would have liked it better when I was 10. This doesn't have the power to ascend into the ageless realm (but that's me) I do however like the set up for young minds. Leroy 'Encyclopedia' Brown is so smart he not only helps his police officer father solve crimes, he has set up his own detective agency, mostly catering to kids (like who stole my tent and things like that) though he did help his father solve a bank robbery.

Most of these loosely connected stories are only a few pages long and then are actually reader inserts. You the reader have to figure out how Encyclopedia figured it out. So yes, really it's great for young minds. It teaches them critical thinking. The solutions are at the end. On the other hand, they're so short it really is hard to connect with any of the characters on a personal level.

That said, it is a classic for a reason and I liked that I could get this 60 year old book off a library shelf which pretty much only happens at small town libraries like mine when there's actual interest in it so kudos to Encyclopedia for that.

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Everybunny Loves Magic (The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter Book 3)

Everybunny Loves Magic by Aaron Reynolds

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'll be honest, I didn't read the first two which put me at a disadvantage. Basically picked this up because I needed a bunny on the cover for a reading challenge and I can say this did not encourage me to get the other two (i gave it three stars thinking maybe it would be better had I read the others).

Now to be fair, it wasn't bad but I found Rex to be utterly obnoxious. Imagine if you will, an eleven year old Sherlock Holmes or Sheldon Cooper...only he's nowhere near as smart as he thinks. And Rex does have his Watson/Leonard. Poor Darvish withstands a lot of belittling and verbal nonsense from Rex, more than any friend should. I'm assuming Rex talking out his butt thinking he's a master sleuth (and usually being wrong) is the 'funny' part of this.

What sets Rex apart from Sherlock and Sheldon is he has a paranormal power. He sees and talks to dead animals (who talk like humans to him). He has Drumstick a dead chicken who is his constant companion. Rex doesn't like this ability but he's stuck for now.

In this he's swamped with dead bunnies who died suffocated in a magician's hat. He and Darvish try to get to the bottom of the bunny deaths all the while having to play a murder mystery at school too. Mostly Rex theatrically accuses people while ignore Darvish's more sensible approach (and waxing poetically at how far Darvish has come and how much further he has to go as an investigator).

Also a beaten into the ground trope in this is Rex's 'manhood' and insistence on coffee (that he actually doesn't like but assumes makes him a man). Meanwhile Darvish is far more mature than he.

Was it funny? Not really but I AM not the age group this is aimed at (I divide middle grade books into ones kids in the age group will enjoy and ones that adults and kids alike would like. I put this in the first category). Was the mystery satisfying? No, I'm not sure you could actually solve this? Was it a good ending for the series? You know, I want to say yes even without seeing the rest of the series because it does feel like it wrapped everything up.

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Wildwood by Colin Meloy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had very mixed feelings about this. At nearly 550 pages it felt way too long (not that kids can't or won't read long books) especially as it dragged like a snail in molasses on a cold day. For something that really was action-oriented it still felt like nothing was happening. I was not a huge fan of Carson's art but I think she was trying to evoke the early American folk art feel which is cool in a way.

Prue has heard all her life not to go into the Impassable Woods but when her baby brother is taken by a murder of crows into the woods she has no choice (well she does but like the 12 year old that she is her reasoning skills aren't all there yet) and her sort of friend from high school, Curtis, follows her in even though she doesn't really want her help.

Immediately they're set upon by coyotes in uniform and honestly they're a lot less freaked out by anthropomorphic animals that can talk than you'd expect. The kids have stumbled into a war in the woods. The Dowager-Governess who has been exiled wants to reclaim her rule. The rule has been shattered by her incompetent nephew and there's an every providence, every animal for themselves attitude.

How Prue and Curtis got through the magic that keeps people away is a bigger point of concern that her baby brother being stolen. Prue and Curtis are separated and the story is told mostly from either of their points of view. There is a definitely fairy tale quality to the story especially as we learn how they did get through that magic.

I wasn't a real fan of either Prue or Curtis though. Even with the high stakes problem Prue faces I didn't feel the sense of urgency I should have due to this thing feeling like it was five hundred pages long. The ending was at least believable and I did like the North Woods mystics. I'm not sure I'd read the next book in the series though.

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The Scare School by R.L. Stine

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This felt absolutely rushed to the finish. Okay yeah sure it's written for middle graders which I'm not but even a kid is going to see the holes in this story. There are two converging story lines. Three students have escaped their school, their very reality, to ours (I'm assuming) Leeda (who is abrasive), her friend Drake and a tagalong neither of them like, Buddy. They are on the run from their principle and his Droggs some kind of cyborg insect thing.

They get pulled back for extermination leaving a rift that three students from our side end up going through Jess and Joss the twins and their friend, Marco notice these strange students and end up following through the rift and now they're in danger.

Why is there the same principle in both realities? Why is the mirror verse keeping the students infantilized? Why is the school the only thing in the other universe? Keep wondering because you're never going to know because the story line is rushed and unworthy of a graphic novel adaptation by itself (truthfully the story is only about half the pages the rest are ads and sneak peeks of other volumes so glad the library bought this and not me).

The story had potential it failed to live up to. The art was good though. The most interesting thing about this graphic novel was the sneak peek for Hotel Dare at the end.

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Frogkisser! by Garth Nix

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nix has created not so much a retelling of old fairy tales as to take them and hammer together a few of them turning it into something new. Princess Anya is the second daughter, second in line for the kingdom of Trulonia. Her oldest sister is vapid, boy crazy and self centered and honestly almost in a fog about what their step-step father the evil sorcerer Rickard is doing (i.e. trying to take over the kingdom). He's even been turning her princely would-be suitors into frogs to get rid of them and any possible alliances that would bar him taking the throne.

Anya's one human ally in the castle gave her what was left of his anti-transformation spell lip balm only to have her kiss the wrong frog. When it's clear Rickard is about to kill Anya by proxy of sending her to a far distant school where the trip is likely to kill her she embarks on a quest, promising her sister she'd make more of the lip balm, save the prince and help get rid of Rickard.

Her only companion is one of the Royal dogs who talk (but not to Rickard as sorcery makes you cold and unable to hear them), Ardent. Her straightforward quest takes a hard right almost immediately as more transformed people join her quest trading their aid for hers once she makes the lip balm. Along the way she meets the good thieves (Robin Hoodesque) Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and an otter turned half human not to mention all the dangerous things Rickard sends her way.

It's a very good coming of age story for middle grade readers. Anya is smart and self-rescuing. Yes at times a little whiney but she's a young pampered girl sent out into the wilderness alone. I found it entertaining.

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Wretched Waterpark (Sinister Summer, #1)

Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review. I got some serious Lemony Snicket meets Nancy Drew vibes from this middle-grade mystery/horror (light horror, more like a forboding sense of dread, nothing gruesome or questionable for the age of intended readers).

Theo and her twin, Alexander, along with the cell phone addicted older sister, Wil Sinister-Winterbottom have been sent to their Aunt Saffronia for the summer. They don’t know why. That’s a mystery in and of itself (and threads through the story) Theo is the risk taker of the crew, Wil thinks she should be in charge…when she looks away from her phone long enough to remember she has siblings and Alexander is the cautious worrier (especially about following rules and food safety). Saffronia abandons them at the Fathoms of Fun waterpark with the instructions of ‘find what’s been lost’ and only picks them up in the evening (getting to her house and once there seems incapable of imprinting on the twins brains).

The waterpark is run by a strange unfriendly woman and is what would happen if you let Tim Burton make a waterpark. It’s exceedingly gothic (right down to red velvet couches) and almost empty. There are a series of look alike young lady lifeguards and one young man who’s a nephew to the lady who runs the park (and instantly Wil’s newest interest). His uncle is missing and naturally the twins assume this is what Saffronia meant and they decide to help find the man.

They don’t immediately jump to this though, trying to act like things are normal. Wil goes off with the young man, Theo falls in love with the wild water slides, Alexander worries. As they are there day by day more things change, more people disappear and more weirdness occurs. Theo and Alexander (it flows between their points of view) are well drawn, engaging characters. Wil is much more a secondary character.

I really enjoyed the plot (very Scooby Dooish) and there is definitely a strange almost supernatural thread running through this. You get the idea they are being trained in some family tradition they know nothing about. It’s obviously going to be a series and I’m there for more of this.

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Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a copy from Netgalley (thank you) which in no way influenced my review. When I had requested this I hadn't realized it was the second book but the first one seemed interesting so I read that and was underwhelmed. That continues with this. I will say I liked the protagonist here much better than I did Min.

Sebin is a thirteen year old non-binary tiger shifter and like the previous book draws from Korean folklore. I liked Sebin. They are very serious about their desire to be in the Space Force and honor their clan which is cold and aggressive to not put too fine a point on it. Their dreams get in a twist when their Uncle Hwan (from book one) has been disgraced and is on the run.

There is nothing Sebin can do about that and tries to take joy in their acceptance into the force. Things go immediately awry once onboard when the ship is under attack by their uncle. Sebin's loyalties are immediately tested and it doesn't help that they grew up with a mistrust of gumihos like Min.

This takes place in basically one day so there is a good time clock set on the action. The ending, however felt a wee bit too easy.

I did have issues with this book though and it's entirely that it IS middle-grade. I would have had less troubles if Sebin had been 18 not 13. I know it won't entire the minds of the middle grade reader but the thirteen year old mind isn't anywhere near close to an adult one or even an eighteen year old one. Judgement centers aren't fully developed yet and even if they were there is still a lack of experience to inform decision making.

And that's where I run into issues. Some of i t could have been handled with a simple sentence of two and having Sebin joining the ship the Haetae after they had some training. Instead, Sebin and Jee the computer-hacking new cadet they are brought on board with are given NO training. Let that sink in for a minute. I think even kids would be sitting there wondering what kind of military starship group of soldiers is going to take in untrained thirteen year olds and then throw them immediately into a mission that could be dangerous. It makes no sense. It's cruel even.

If you can get passed the idea that the officers in this organization are happy to take on kids with zero training and use them as cannon fodder then you'll probably enjoy the rest of it.

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Woof by Spencer Quinn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've read Quinn's adult mystery series from a dog's pov. This is the middle-grade version of that. If you like a narrator whose thoughts are like a dog on meth bouncing everywhere you'll enjoy it. It's not a bad book. That said I'm in no way motivated to read more of the series but that's because it's not my thing vs it being bad.

Birdie's grandmother takes her to the shelter to get a dog for her eleventh birthday and she selects Bowser a large bernese mountain dog mix who used to be with a gang somewhere in a less rural area of Louisiana one assumes from his various revelations about life with the gang. Bowser immediately thinks Birdie is the best human alive and you are going to hear ALL about it ad nauseum for over 200 pages. It's exhausting.

Birdie lives with grandma while her mother is working an oil rig off the coast of Dubai and her police officer father has died. Grandma owns a bait and swamp tours company that is being crushed by Straker's empire dealing in the same tourist activities.

The day they bring Bowser home Black Jack, her grandmother's prized marlin taxidermy has been stolen from the store and Birdie is determined to get it back. While Birdie does have a friend in Nola and the sheriff's son Rory seems interested in friendship, it's mostly a Birdie and Bowser solo adventure.

As a mystery it's not bad until you get to the end and then it feels obvious that Quinn realized oh I'm too close to the word count limit let me slap something on here to end it. The ending pretty well sucked. And it's much more bittersweet than happy, a little surprising for any mystery especially one aimed at kids. Birdie's father had a mantra 'no loose ends,' but there was an awful lot in this one.

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