Reading on a Theme: Allergic to the World

We are really excited about this Reading on a Theme because it's such a unusual one. The characters in all of these books have severe allergies or unexplained sicknesses that could easily become life-threatening.

Epilepsy and Cardiomyopathy:
Ollie and Moritz are best friends who can never meet. Ollie is allergic to electricity and Moritz has a pacemaker. They become friends as they write letters back and forth sharing the triumphs and miseries of living with bizarre and life-threatening conditions. The letter format of Leah Thomas's novel conveys Ollie's enthusiasm for life despite living in the middle of the woods and Moritz's philosophical nature. I enjoyed the way Because You'll Never Meet Me deals with both average teenage issues and issues unique to the boys' conditions. This book is more than just a contemporary novel. The surprises were interesting and worth the read. Out in July 2015.

Aza Ray Syndrome:
Aza has her very own syndrome. It is named for her because the doctors and specialists have never seen anything else like it. She is allergic to air, continually struggles to breathe, and is constantly in and out of hospitals. She feels like she has a handle on things until she starts hallucinating days before her sixteenth birthday. That's when things really get weird. Magonia is another book that started as a contemporary and then took an interesting turn. The world of Magonia is amazing, and I feel everyone needs a Jason in their lives; the relationship between Aza and Jason is lovely. M.D. Headly created something truly magical. Out in April 2015. Review copy from Edelweiss.

Severe Combined Immunodeficiency:
Madeline Whittier has a rare disease. Unable to leave her home and its highly controlled environment, her social circle is limited to her mother and her nurse, Carla. That is until Olly moves in next door. What I love best about Nicola Yoon's debut are all the nods to Romeo and Juliet. Olly and Madeline are definitely star-crossed. Then there's the nurse who facilitates their meetings, balcony scenes, a fight that forces a separation, and a death, yet it all feels so fresh and new. Yoon's characters, especially Madeline, really sparkle with personality, and I loved the illustrations. Everything Everything is out September 1st, 2015. Review copy from BEA.

Unexplained Fevers:
Lily Proctor has a whole slew of debilitating allergies. After a particularly embarrassing and life-threatening reaction in front of her classmates, Lily wishes that she could disappear. And then she does. She ends up in a parallel reality, one ruled by witches and the most powerful witch is named Lillian. Lily's weaknesses are now strengths. She has the capacity to become a powerful witch herself. I love books about parallel worlds, and this one is particularly great. The world-building is top-notch as are the characters. Lily has a very strong voice, and I loved how the relationship between Lily, Rowan, Tristan, and Caleb developed. I'm also fascinated by Juliet and Lillian. I can't wait to read the sequel to Josephine Angelini's Trial by Fire, Firewalker, out September 2015.

Damaged Trachea:
Timothy is on house arrest for stealing a wallet and this book is his court-ordered journal. Timothy's life revolves around his little brother, Levi, who needs a trach to breathe, and Timothy spends his time on house arrest seeking ways to help his baby brother. House Arrest by K.A. Holt is a poignant middle-grade novel about overcoming one's circumstances and doing your best to help those you love. I have a weakness for novels written in verse, and this one is very well done. I felt very tied to Timothy and his hopes, dreams, and challenges. A great middle-grade novel among these YA novels. Out October 6th, 2015. Review copy from BEA.

Because You'll Never Meet Me, Magonia, and House Arrest reviewed by Paige.

Everything Everything and Trial by Fire reviewed by JoLee.

Reading on a Theme: Middle-Grade Magic

We have five lovely new middle-grade novels to share today. Each of these stories has a little bit of magic. Every one of these books is absolutely enchanting and not just because of the enchantments.

Dreaming Dreams into Reality:
In the basement of The Dreamcatcher Bookshop Sophie's parents distill and sell dreams. When Sophie was six, she drank a dream and discovered she can bring things out of dreams. On that day, she promised she would never drink another dream and she would never tell anyone what she could do. She kept those promises until her parents were kidnapped on her twelfth birthday. Sarah Beth Durst created an imaginative worlds where dreams can be shared and brought to life. I loved Sophie's spunky nature and Monster's sarcasm. The dreams and nightmares we get glimpses of are interesting and unique. The Girl Who Could Not Dream is out November 3rd, 2015. Review copy from BEA.

Seeing Ghosts:
Pram has one friend and he is dead. Due to the unusual circumstances surrounding her birth, she has lived her whole life with the ability to see ghosts. Things begin to change when she starts public school and makes friends with a boy named Clarence. He is mourning the death of his mother, and his search for answers leads Pram down a dangerous road. A Curious Tale of the In-Between fits beautifully in the middle-grade genre. The themes and problems are real and intense but still age-appropriate. I love how much Pram cares about her friends, alive and dead, and seeing not only her growth, but her aunts' growth. Lauren DeStefano has created a creepy, charming, lovely middle-grade novel. Out September 1st, 2015. Review copy from BEA.

A Magic Book:
In small town Texas Kai finds an empty book titled The Exquisite Corpse. Across the world in Pakistan Leila finds a second copy of the same blank book. When the girls write in it a story magically appears. A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic is the type of middle grade book that I love best. It is sweet and charming with plenty of quirk. The book got better with every page and, as I began to see how the three stories would come together, I became more and more delighted with Lisa Papademetriou's story. I also love the details in this book from a town obsessed with moths to American Casket to the ties with Rudyard Kipling. Out October 6th, 2015. Review copy from Edelweiss. 

Special Powers:
In Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders lives a collection of freaks who perform for crowds nightly. The youngest four performers are more than just oddities; they have real powers. When Dumfrey's prized shrunken head disappears, leaving disaster in its wake, the four orphans set out to solve the mystery and save the museum. Lauren Oliver truly captures the relationships between the four main characters. They are each interesting, different, and crucial to the story. The mystery had enough red herrings to throw me off the scent for much of the book (which I appreciate). The Shrunken Head has plenty of mystery, fantasy, oddities, and magic to keep even the most reluctant reader hanging on every word. Out September 29th, 2015. Review copy from Edelweiss.

Enchanted Closets:
Silly's mom is really sick right now, so Silly and her older sisters Marla, Astrid, and Eleanor take refuge in their magical closets. However, while the closets provide a haven from their home life, they are also unpredictable and maybe a little dangerous. Rules for Stealing Stars is a story of sisters, growing up, and a tragic home life. Corey Ann Haydu perfectly conveys the painful reality for these sisters, the joys and sorrows of siblings, and the hope of the young. At times Rules for Stealing Stars was so hard to read. These girls are hurting, and they don't know how to deal with their pain. It is such a powerful story. Rules for Stealing Stars is out September 29, 2015. Review copy from Edelweiss.


The Girl Who Could Not Dream, A Curious Tale of the In-Between, and The Shrunken Head reviewed by Paige.
A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic and Rules for Stealing Stars reviewed by JoLee.
 

Series Salute: The Elemental Trilogy by Sherry Thomas

In our Series Salutes we bid farewell to a great series with a write-up of the series as a whole.

Here's a series that I never would have read if I hadn't become a book blogger and not reading this series would have been a sad, sad mistake. When I received a galley of The Perilous Sea I wisely found myself a copy of The Burning Sky and caught up. Then I couldn't stop talking about this series. The final book in The Elemental Trilogy, The Immortal Heights, comes out on October 13th, 2015, and we thought this would be the perfect time to sing praises to this fantastic fantasy series.

In The Burning Sky we are introduced to Iolanthe Seaborne, an elemental mage. She can control water, earth, and fire. Prince Titus VII has been looking for the elemental mage who prophesy says will help rid the world of the Bane and release the people from the shackles of New Atlantis. The Elemental Trilogy is their story. It tells of Titus's discovery of Iolanthe and the subsequent training, trials, and close calls.

The second book in the series, The Perilous Sea, is action packed. It begins with Iolanthe and Prince Titus lost in the Sahara desert and missing many of their memories. Then it swings back to seven weeks prior when Titus and Iolanthe (as Fairfax) return to school at Eton. The chapters then alternate between Eton and the Sahara. In one location, the main characters face dangerous obstacle after dangerous obstacle. In the other, they make mind-boggling discovery after mind-boggling discovery.

In the final book, The Immortal Heights, Titus and Iolanthe set off on a mad dash to get to the Bane before he gets to them. Wow. This book is action-packed, and it hold plenty of surprises. It is a very satisfying conclusion to this wonderful series.

I love a lot of fantasy series, but I think there is something extra special about Sherry Thomas's The Elemental Trilogy.

So what's to love? Well, I laid it all out in this short list. 

1.  The real world and the magical world collide.

Sherry Thomas's world building is quite intriguing. The world is physically divided between mage and non-mage lands. Titus travels back and forth between the two because he attends school at Eton. Non-magically peoples have no idea that magic exists.

2. It's an alternate history.

Once we travel to Eton we learn that it's 1883. Costume drama time. Plus, who doesn't love a good boarding school setting? I love all those boys at Eton.

3. Girls masquerading as boys.

Iolanthe attends school with Titus as Archer Fairfax, and she makes a very convincing boy.

4. Complex political intrigue.

Titus is a prince in name only. He has gotten very good at acting like a stuck-up fop so that Atlantis won't suspect he is planning rebellion. And, as the series develops, the political intrigue gets thicker and thicker. 

5. Prophecy.

I love what Sherry Thomas does with this most head-spinning aspect of her world. Princess Ariadne's diary is one of two remarkable books in the series. As one would expect, prophecies aren't always straightforward.

6. Cool training facilities.

The Crucible, the other amazing book in the series, is one of the coolest training facilities I've ever seen in fantasy fiction. And then it turns out to be so much more.

7. Terrifying villains.

The Inquisitor. Shudder. The Bane. Shudder.

8. Titus and Iolanthe.

I love the romance between Titus and Iolanthe! So, so much. I love that he calls her Fairfax. I love the way they talk together. Titus and Iolanthe should never, ever be parted.

9. Magic.

Elemental magic is so freaking cool. Iolanthe is  incredibly powerful, and Titus has spent his life training. He's got quite a few tricks up his sleeves.

10. These books plug the hole in my heart left by Harry Potter. 

I'm not saying that Sherry Thomas's books are exactly like Harry Potter but just that I think they will appeal to fans of that most-beloved wizard.

 The Burning Sky also featured here.
The Perilous Sea also featured here. 

13 Spooky Reads for the Halloween Season

We love a seasonally appropriate read. And, really, there is no reading season we love more than the Halloween season. That's why the first thing we do every Halloween season is pick out which books we are going to read during October. After that we can focus on the less important aspects of the season, like our kids' costumes.

And, as thirteen is the creepiest number, here are the thirteen books we've piled up on our bedside tables for long nights of spooks and creaks.

The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle: Cara's family calls October accident season because at that time every year horrible things happen their family.

Spooks and Saints by Cherie Davis: Paige lives in Utah, so she's excited to read these ghost legends from Salt Lake City.

A Madness so Discreet by Mindy McGinnis: A mad girl becomes an assistant to a criminal investigator. I just recently noticed the hand clutching the girl's foot on the cover. Yipes!

Beastly Bones by William Ritter: I am so excited to read this sequel to the exceptional Jackaby. Halloween is the perfect time for more mysteries of the weird kind.

The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson: I've been waiting for October to read the next installment in The Shades of London Series.

The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud: Reading the next book in The Lockwood & Co. series has become something of a Halloween tradition. This one is at the top of my list.

The Devil and Winnie Flynn by Micol Ostow: October seems like the perfect month to read a book about a girl working for a reality show about ghost hunters.

Shutter by Courtney Alameda: Micheline Helsing can see the auras of the undead. Yes, she is a descendant of those Van Helsings, and she's trained to destroy ghosts and monsters. This is definitely the creepiest cover of the group. I'm scared just looking at it.

A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano: Pram Bellamy can see ghosts. I've heard nothing but good things about this middle-grade tale that would be perfect for this especially spooky time of year.

This Monstrous Thing by MacKenzi Lee: Last year I read Frankenstein during the Halloween season. It seems only fitting that I should read a reimagining of that classic this Halloween season.

Compulsion by Martina Boone: Compulsion is a true Southern Gothic tale with a plantation setting, ghosts, and ancient curses.

The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett: A haunting story about a girl from a parallel world who's been trained to kill and replace her duplicate in the other dimension. Seeing as I love parallel reality stories, assassin stories, and spooky stories, this sounds like a winner.

The Nest by Kenneth Oppel: A mysterious middle-grade tale about a boy, his sick brother, and the queen wasp who invades his dreams.

Well, that should keep us busy all month.


P.S. Last year's picks.

Long-Distance Book Club: The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

This whole blog is kind of like a long-distance book club, but sometimes we like to take it a step further by reading the same book at the same time. This time we tackled Erin Bow's newest novel, The Scorpion Rules.

Our review was developed from our discussion of The Scorpion Rules. Below the review we've provided a list of questions that you can use to discuss The Scorpion Rules in your book club, long-distance or otherwise.

The Scorpion Rules is the first book by Erin Bow that Paige has read, and she liked it quite a lot. I, on the other hand, had a more mixed reaction. I think my hesitations come mostly from the great expectations I held for a new book by Erin Bow. Plain Kate is universally praised, and Sorrow's Knot, you guys. It is magnificent. If you are looking for a ghostly story to read this Halloween and haven't yet read it, well, you know what I'd recommend. Anyway, so I was eager to see what Erin Bow would do with a dystopia/ post-apocalyptic setting.

Paige and I both quite enjoyed the overall premise of The Scorpion Rules. It takes place in the distant future after humanity has nearly decimated itself thanks to global warming and warfare over scare resources. The savior of mankind, said with a grain of salt, is an amoral Artificial Intelligence named Talis. To maintain peace Talis requires the heir to each nation be raised in his Preceptures where they will be educated and used as hostages. Any country at war, whether the initiator or not, forfeits the life of their children. Greta Gustafsen Stuart, Duchess of Halifax and Crown Princess of the Pan-Polar Confederation is a Child of Peace and our narrator. With her country on the brink of war, she's knows survival is unlikely.

Paige and I were both fascinated by Talis, and the AIs in general, in The Scorpion Rules. Talis is enigmatic, scary, and weirdly fascinating. In many ways he is a complete contradiction. He's a robot but he has a bit of humanity. He's a machine but also nearly a god. He's all powerful but not invincible. He has his own set of morals. I loved all the Utterances sprinkled throughout. These are Talis's sayings and they have the air of holy writ, but they are also so snarky and full of pop culture references.

Equally fascinating is the fact that not all AI are cut from the same cloth. The Abbot and his relationship with the children is also fraught with contradictions.

Family is a central theme in the book, and Paige and I spent a lot of time talking about the different types of "families" in this post-apocalyptic world. Blood binds, of course, but also we see adopted families between both the children and the AI. What one would do for family or what one cannot do for family is central.

I was at a diversity panel last week and one of the panelists said something along the lines of, "if your apocalypse kills off all the people of color then you have a problem." Based on some of the other things she said I don't know if she'd give this book her full stamp of approval, but, on the plus side this is a diverse group with children from all over the world. I really liked seeing how the different cultures came together in the Precepture.

So how did Erin Bow do with a post-apocalyptic setting? She created a really fascinating world. 

Discussion Questions for The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow:

1. Discuss Greta's role as a narrator and growth as a character. How does she change throughout the novel? How does her voice change as she becomes more assertive? 


2. Discuss the love triangle in The Scorpion Rules. What were the roles of both Elian and Xie when it came to Greta's "awakening?" Who were you pulling for and why?


3.  How do the various Children in Greta's group cope with their roles as hostages? 


4. Why do you think the novel is set on a goat farm in Saskatchewan? Discuss the juxtaposition of the simplicity of the Children of Peace's daily existence despite the fact that they are or one day will become global players.


5. How is the theme of family woven through the action in The Scorpion Rules? What are the different types of "families" in the novel? How do the characters confront the threats to their family members?


6. Talis rules the world with an iron fist and his will has put the children into this position. But Wilma Armenteros is the person who attacked the Precepture bringing the conflict to its head. So who is the villain in this novel? Or is there one?  


7. Talis can be absolutely terrifying. What makes him so scary? How do the different characters regard or relate to Talis? Do you see contradictions in his nature? 


8. Talis often claims the Children of Peace as his children. Xie, however, asserts that they are tools. Who is right?


9. Discuss the role of the AIs in this post-apocalyptic world. Is there some humanity deep down in these beings? And what will happen to Greta now that she's cast her lot with them?

The Scorpion Rules was out September 22nd, 2015

Review copy from Edelweiss.