“The Cats of Tanglewood Forest” by Charles De Lint with illustrations by Charles Vess

Age: Middle Grade

Genre: Fantasy

Lillian lives on a farm with her aunt, and she enjoys wandering the nearby forest, looking for fairies. One day she decides to follow a deer and ends up lost in the woods. While she lies under a tree to rest, a snake bites her. As the venom sinks in, Lillian knows she is dying. The world fades away, and cats of the forest surround her and decide to use their magic to save her by turning her into a kitten. What follows is a tale of Lillian trying to set her world right again through the help of magical creatures including a possum woman, a friendly fox, and some mean bear people. Along the way she learns the importance of considering consequences and remembering the past.

This book is filled with folktale-like characters and events, such as magic spells, potions, talking animals, and people who are part animal. The author uses language that suits the folktale medium as well. I don’t know that this will necessarily appeal to young readers, but I suppose it could. I found the story dragged a bit, especially in the middle, and I didn’t like how it occurred in a non-linear fashion. I also wanted the cats to be a more central part of the story since they are in the title. The story is really about Lillian, not the cats, so I found the title misleading. The book is interesting as a look at folktales and magic, but not enough to be really good.

Bibliographic Information:

De Lint, Charles. The Cats of Tanglewood Forest.  New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013.

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest onBarnesandNoble.com

“The Sea of Tranquility” by Katja Millay

Age: Young Adult

Genre: Fiction

My lungs feel okay, but my stomach is teetering. I’ve been out of commission for a little while lately, so hopefully I can tap myself out easily tonight. With every step, I stomp out the shit in my head until it’s all but gone. It will come back in the daylight, when I’m replenished enough to think, but for now it’s away and for now that’s enough.

Teenager Nastya Kashnikov has left her old life behind and started over, living in a new town with her aunt, who she rarely sees. Every night Nastya runs. She runs hard and fast, pounding out the memories of what happened. The day that changed everything. The day that changed her from a pearls and skirt-wearing piano prodigy to a speechless, angry, mystery of a person dressed in black. She runs until she throws up, then runs some more. But one night she finds herself outside a house she’s never seen before. The garage door is open and inside is a boy from her new school: Josh Bennett. At school he keeps to himself like she does and no one ever bothers him. It’s like he has a force field around him, but she doesn’t know why. And he doesn’t know anything about her. But how can anyone get to know a girl who doesn’t speak?

Author Katja Millay presents Nastya and Josh’s story in dual perspective, which works well because we can see how each truly reacts to the other. Even though we are in Nastya’s head a lot of the time, we don’t know the details of what happened to her until just before Josh does. The author teases the incident so slowly that we spend much of the book playing detective, trying to guess at what life-shattering incident befell her. This drawing out created a lot of tension when reading the book, but it was a good tension because it kept me reading. Millay has created characters that seem very real in the way they react to being damaged in life, and I wanted them to be happy and healed. Of course that isn’t easy, but it’s good to watch them grow throughout the text.  I felt the other characters supported the story well and were very nuanced. The author provided each of them with his or her own problems and not just as flat stand-ins for family and friends. Teen and adult readers should enjoy this book as they watch young lives grow through darkness and light.

Bibliographic Information:

Millay, Katja. The Sea of Tranquility. New York: Atria Books, 2013.

Book on bn.com

“Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball” by John Coy with illustrations by Joe Morse

Age: Picture Book (5 years and up)

Genre: Nonfiction

When teacher James Naismith took over a gym class of rowdy boys in 1891, it seemed like nothing could get them under control. He tried indoor football, soccer, and even lacrosse – but all were too rough. He needed to get the boys to stop fighting. That’s when he came up with a game that involved no tackling, no running with the ball, and very little touching. Using a soccer ball and a peach basket, Mr. Naismith invented basketball, finally getting his gym class to stop hurting each other and changing the world of sports forever. Author John Coy has presented a very easy-to-read summary of the birth of this great game. Young readers could likely relate to the rough-and-tumble gym class that had grown bored with every usual activity, and this book could even inspire readers to create their own games. Joe Morse’s illustrations lend an old-fashioned charm to the story suitable for the time period in which it takes place. Hoop Genius would be a great addition to any library or classroom collection.

Bibliographic Information:

Coy, John. Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball.  Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 2013.

Hoop Genius on BarnesandNoble.com

“Faithful Shadow” by Kevin J. Howard

Age: Adult

Genre: Fiction(horror)

It’s summertime in Yellowstone National Park, but it’s far from a pleasant escape for the park’s visitors and staff. First a wildfire threatens nearby, inching closer and closer to the visitor’s area and leaving a thick smoke hanging in the air. Then people start disappearing, but there is no sign of a struggle; it’s as if they simply vanished. After days of searching, Rangers Joe and Andy finally stumble upon a watch in the underbrush from a missing staffer.

The watch was almost stuck to the plant with some sappy, black liquid. Joe held it up to his nose and took a whiff, pulling it away instantly. The smell was foul. Like mold and bog water rolled into one.

But what could leave such a substance? Not any animal the rangers are familiar with. Unfortunately this is only the beginning of their interaction with a mysterious shadow creature that feasts on human flesh. As more people go missing, those left must decide how they can possibly find – and destroy – this beast. But how can you find something that lurks in the shadows?

Though I rarely read the horror genre, I do enjoy “creature features” like the SyFy original movies, and Faithful Shadow unfolded in a similar fashion. It was a little gory for me, especially towards the end, but regular readers of horror may have less of a problem with that. In a former job I read a great deal of self-published novels that were so bad I could barely understand what the author was trying to communicate, much less enjoy them – but Howard’s writing is truly professional. Not only was the story enjoyable, but it was free of the usual errors one would expect to find without a professional editor on hand. The author obviously put a lot of time into crafting not only the plot but the language to create a picture in the mind of the reader. He used great skill in writing horrifying descriptions of the monster and his wrath throughout the novel. He also kept me turning pages by giving so little information about the monster early in the story. I kept wondering what we were dealing with, and that kept me reading. Faithful Shadow should appeal to anyone who enjoys dark tales of evil creatures unknown to man.

Bibliographical Information:

Howard, Kevin. Faithful Shadow. Outskirts Press, 2012.

Book on bn.com

“At Somerton: Cinders and Sapphires” by Leila Rasheed

Age: Young Adult, Ages 14 and up

Genre: Fiction(historical)

This review is based on a digital sneak peak copy provided by Disney Book Group which did not include the full novel. The review is of the first thirteen chapters.

At Somerton: Cinders and Sapphires is the story of the many characters who inhabit the Somerton estate in England at the beginning of the 20^th century. The story mainly follows Lady Ada Averley, daughter of the Earl of Westlake, and her ladies’ maid, Rose. Rose has grown up at Somerton with her mother, Mrs. Cliffe, who works as head housekeeper. At the age of sixteen, Rose has just been promoted to lady’s maid after serving as a lowly housemaid for many years. Rose is very nervous about moving into a new position with so much more responsibility, not to mention visibility in the house. Some of the other staff think Rose is not ready for such a position, and Rose is inclined to agree. What Rose doesn’t know is that her promotion is in thanks to her mother suggesting it to Lord Westlake, who mysteriously feels he owes something to the young housemaid.

Lady Ada is sixteen and about to “come out” for her first season, a term that here means she will be introduced to society and attend balls and parties in order to meet suitable bachelors. But she is not interested in anyone but a young Indian man whom she knows she is forbidden to love. Lady Ada also wants to attend Oxford, a notion which her father finds foolish since he believes women don’t need to be formally educated since they only need to serve their husbands and run their homes.

In this upstairs/downstairs story, author Leila Rasheed juggles so many characters that they get a little hard to follow. I found myself having to flip back and forth through pages to remind myself how everyone is related. A family tree or character map at the beginning would have helped so the reader has a reference point. Despite this confusion, however, the problems presented in the story kept me reading to see what would develop. I don’t know that the setting will appeal to the average young adult reader, but the themes of longing for love and acceptance are universal. As a fan of the TV series Downton Abbey, I felt I had a good grounding in the class system and positions of the members of the household in this novel since the setting is very similar, which helped me understand what was going on. In fact, I often pictured and heard the characters from Downton in the roles of Cinders. I enjoyed what I have read so far and look forward to reading the completed novel.

Bibliographical Information:

Rasheed, Leila. At Somerton: Cinders and Sapphires. Disney Book Group, 2013.

At Somerton: Cinders and Sapphires on BarnesandNoble.com

"Sway" by Amber McRee Turner

Age: Middle Grade, Ages 8-12

Genre: Fiction

When I stop in at Starbucks, I sometimes grab one of the cards they give away with a code for a free song on iTunes. On my last trip to Starbucks, I saw the cards and was surprised to find that they were not giving out a song this time around, but an e-book. The cover showed a young girl looking up at a very tall tree and the title “Sway.” Since it was free, I thought I’d give “Sway” a try, and I read my first book entirely on an iPhone.  I thought it would get super annoying to have only small amounts of text at a time on the screen, but after a few pages, I didn’t even notice and got wrapped up in the story instead. All 894 tiny pages skipped by as I followed ten-year-old Cass and her emotional and physical journey discovering magic and the truth about her family.

Cass thinks her mom, Toodi Bleu Nordenhauer, is the biggest hero there is, and she wants to be just like her. Toodi helps rescue people who are in danger following natural disasters, which unfortunately means she is away from home a lot. Cass just knows her mom is going to take her along on her next rescue mission and train Cass to save people, too, but when her mom comes home she has a different surprise instead: she is moving to Florida to be part of a different family. Cass doesn’t understand, and she and her father are left shattered. But soon her dad comes up with a new plan for them involving a beat-up old motor home nicknamed “The Roast,” a suitcase, and a bunch of old slivers of soap that just might contain the magic they need to get their lives back together.

Author Amber McRee Turner has created a very likable character in Cass, a girl with a lot of spunk, heart, and creativity. Turner isn’t afraid to share the deep, hurting emotions of a ten-year-old whose world is falling apart, and many readers who have been through their parents’ separation or divorce will relate to Cass’ struggles. But the author doesn’t make the story all sour grapes and tears; instead she infuses so much humor, love, and magic into the situation that I couldn’t help but smile as I read about the mystical “Sway.” I also loved the language the author uses for Cass and her cousin, Syd (it’ll make you laugh, believe me). Sway is a heartfelt story that rings true to the voice of a young girl discovering some of the secrets of life, both good and bad.  

Bibliographical Information:

Turner, Amber. Sway. New York: Disney Hyperion Books, 2012.

Sway on bn.com

“Cracked” by K.M. Walton

Age: Young Adult

Genre: Fiction

I find myself drawn to novels about young adults in mental institutions. In fact, I did a whole project on the subject while working on my master’s degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Chatham College. Though I never spent time in a mental hospital while a teenager, I have struggled with depression and anxiety since high school and relate to the stories of people who have reached the point of suicidal behavior. Reading stories of others, even fictional others, who have suffered make me feel more normal. There are many good books on the subject, and I have just discovered another one. I recently attended a young adult author panel at my local independent bookstore (Doylestown Bookshop) where I chatted for a while with author K.M. Walton. She told me about her book Cracked, in which a bully nicknamed “Bull” and his victim, Victor, both end up in a mental institution at the same time. The book is told in dual perspective, jumping from Bull to Victor every other chapter. This is an excellent way to tell this story, and perhaps the only way that would be effective. By being in both boys’ heads, we can understand each of them and see the similarities in their lives before they do. We see Bull’s miserable home life that has lead him to bullying Victor. We see Victor’s uncaring parents that lead him to attempt suicide. When the boys end up roommates at the hospital, we know why each of them is there, but we get to watch as they slowly figure each other’s stories out.

What I find most amazing in this book is Walton’s ability to make Bull’s character so sympathetic right away. His story is arguably the more tragic of the two, and I found myself torn between wanting him to find happiness and protection and wanting to slap him for taking his sucky life out on someone else. The author writes each character in such a way that we can feel like we know and understand them. Though the story progresses in a somewhat predictable way (the boys find a peace between each other in the end and have a better life waiting for them), I enjoyed the whole read. I don’t know how Walton managed to write the voices of troubled teenage boys so well, but they seemed liked real teens you could find at a local high school. Whether you have had personal experience or not with mental illness, bullying, or abuse, you should read this book to remind yourself that people who seem fine are often crying out for someone to listen. Maybe you can help.

Bibliographic Information:

Walton, K.M. Cracked. New York: Simon Pulse, 2012.

Cracked onBarnesandNoble.com