The Wizard's Dog by Eric Kahn Gale, 2017

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Meet Nosewise. He’s spunky. He’s curious. And he’s a dog who can’t understand why his pack mates Merlin and Morgana spend all day practicing magic tricks. If it’s a trick they want, he’s the dog to ask! He can already Sit!, Stay!, and Roll Over!

But there’s no way Nosewise is Stay!ing when his master and best friend, Merlin, is kidnapped. There’s nothing Nosewise won’t do to get Merlin back, even if it means facing the strange Fae people and their magic-eating worms, or tangling with the mysterious Sword in the Stone. But it may take more than sniffing out a spell to do it!

Nosewise’s hilarious escapades and steadfast loyalty get him and his companions through King Arthur’s Dark Ages.

(288 pages)

What a breath of fresh air! This is such a fun new take on the Arthurian legends–from the point of view of his dog, if you can believe it.

I wasn't sure at first how this would be, whether it would be super fluffy and ridiculous or whether it would carry its own weight as a believable fractured fairytale. The idea of a dog (with a name like Nosewise, no less!) narrating a book seemed really goofy, but it worked out wonderfully in practice. Nosewise, by the way, is very sweet, and for the most part he actually comes across like a realistic dog. A dog way more intelligent than any pooch I've ever met, but then I suppose you couldn't really have an intelligible or interesting story told by someone with the attention span of my seven-year-old Boxer.

Setting aside Nosewise, I loved the other characters who filled the book as well. They're all riffs on the class Arthurian legends, with names that are very familiar and backstories that are at least vaguely similar. There are even some medievel fairytale characters thrown into the mix, which I thought was awesome. My favorite non-canine character was probably Arthur, just because he seemed so nice. I hope there's a sequel coming out sometime in the near future, and I hope Arthur plays a large role in it! I also loved Merlin, who seemed like a nice old man. He was probably the most generically similar to the way his character is in the original Arthurian legends, but I think that helps the book by giving it a stronger connection to its base material. The main villain was also really cool to read, as were some other characters who pop up late in the story.

Besides the characters, I also loved the plot developments–but I can't discuss those, of course, so instead let's talk about the magic! We don't get a huge amount of explanation about how magic works in this world, but the glimpses we do get are pretty cool. People do magic by connecting to special stones (called "Asterias") and focusing their "Inner Eye" on what they want to happen. It's a neat concept, kind of similar to other magic systems I've read about in fantasy novels, and seeing how it allowed an animal like Nosewise perform magic was pretty awesome.

Basically, if you're looking for a fun fantasy adventure full of nods to Arthurian literature, then this is definitely the book for you. Give it a try, and you might just be suprised by how much you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker by E.D. Baker, 2014

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Cory is a young tooth fairy in training who wants to be anything but that, except there's no way the Tooth Fairy Guild or her mother will let that happen. After yet another bad night on the job, Cory quits to explore other things—like babysitting an adventurous Humpty Dumpty, helping Suzy organize seashells by the seashore, and attempting to finally rid the spiders that plague Marjorie Muffet. But it isn't until Marjorie asks Cory to help set her up with a boy that Cory taps into a power she never knew she had. As she tries to understand her new-found romantic visions, will Cory finally discover her own true path?
Just as she did with her Wide-Awake Princess series, E. D. Baker spins a tale that is poised to launch her to the top of the fairy tale canon with a new series that fans of Gail Carson Levine and Diana Wynne Jones.

(352 pages)

When I originally saw this coming out, I thought it looked really dumb. I mean, a book about a girl who goes around setting up couples? How dumb would that be? I barely scanned the synopsis before clicking away, and never even gave it a try.

Until a week ago, when I saw it sitting on a library shelf and grabbed it because, well, I might as well because it was there anyway. When I got it home and started reading, I realized that I'd made a mistake: The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker was nothing like what I'd expected to be - and it was much the better for it.

After all, just for starters Cory's world is really fascinating. I read a lot of fairy-tale mashups, but this has to be one of my favorites. I mean, a world where people communicate by basket mail (which is just like texting, but way cooler) and various fairy-tale characters and stereotypes are all mixed together in a magical land that lives next to but is completely separate from the human world.

Another great thing about The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker is that it's realistic (if the word can ever be applied to fairytale mashups) - Cory is an adult trying to find a job that suits her, and she bounces around doing odds and ends in the meantime. There's a beauty in watching the little random things come together in new ways, as by the end of the book Cory's found ways to make almost everyone's life a little bit better by introducing them to other people she's encountered in her wanderings. I like to think that this same sort of falling into place can happen in real life, though I know that's not always the case.

My biggest trouble with the book, honestly, is the ending. Once things get a little darker for Cory and she starts uncovering the hardcore secrets her mother kept from her the book lost some of its appealing rationalism. There's a certain appeal in what happens, though, and I think that it just depends on what sort of mood you're in when you read it. For me it worked, though just barely, and I was interested enough in the turn things took that I immediately went and requested the sequel. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but I'll be sure to post a review once I do!

The Key to the Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd, 2016

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Everyone in Emma's family is special. Her ancestors include Revolutionary War spies, brilliant scientists, and famous musicians--every single one of which learned of their extraordinary destiny through a dream.
For Emma, her own dream can't come soon enough. Right before her mother died, Emma promised that she'd do whatever it took to fulfill her destiny, and she doesn't want to let her mother down.
But when Emma's dream finally arrives, it points her toward an impossible task--finding a legendary treasure hidden in her town's cemetery. If Emma fails, she'll let down generations of extraordinary ancestors . . . including her own mother. But how can she find something that's been missing for centuries and might be protected by a mysterious singing ghost?
With her signature blend of lyrical writing, quirky humor, and unforgettable characters, Natalie Lloyd's The Key to Extraordinary cements her status as one of the most original voices writing for children today.

(240 pages)

This is a really great book.

And I'm surprised by that, because I was expecting a good book, not a really great one. You see, I'm one of the very few people who didn't fall completely in love with the author's debut, A Snicker of Magic. I'd seen a lot of potential in Snicker, though, so I was excited to see what she came up with once she got going.

I just didn't expect her to get going so fast. Wow oh wow, is this a good book. I can't quite put it into words, but everything just comes together in a way that is really satisfying to read. Even though on paper the basic premise of Emma's story is kind of kitschy, it never feels that way - instead it feels meaningful and emotional and real. I devoured The Key to the Extraordinary in a single sitting, and I didn't just set it aside and forget about it when I was done, either. The story and its characters have stuck in my brain in the weeks since I read it, and I find myself pausing to think about them every once in a while. I'm definitely going to re-read it in the future, too - because I really, truly will enjoy rediscovering it once I've forgotten the details that make it special.

I think what makes The Key to the Extraordinary so appealing is how deep and meaningful it is. This isn't just a fluffy book; Emma's dealing with the hole in her heart (the "Big Empty") that her mother's death left. She's also struggling with the fact that her grandmother, Blue, is considering selling their bakery because she can't afford to run it any longer, and questioning her own special purpose in the world as she awaits her very own magical Destiny Dream. Around Emma, others are struggling to deal with various things as well. My favorite of the secondary characters (though he's major enough I'd really call him a main character) is Earl, who hasn't spoken a word since he was stuck outside during a fierce tornado the year before. I just want to reach into the book and give him a big hug, and tell him everything's going to be okay.

I will footnote my endless praise of The Key to the Extraordinary with this: it's not the best book I've ever read. The ending isn't entirely believable (and no, I'm not just talking about the fantasy elements!), and the conclusion to the mystery isn't as exciting as I'd hoped it would be. It's still plenty thrilling (and very surprising!), so I'm really not complaining too loudly, but I just thought I'd throw these thoughts out there so I'm at least pretending to be presenting a balanced review. I'm not really, though, because I really really loved this book and I totally think you should go read it.

So, yeah. Go read it please. And then come back and tell me your thoughts.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Baker's Magic by Diane Zahler, 2016

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Bee is an orphan, alone in a poor, crumbling kingdom. In desperation, she steals a bun from a bakery, and to her surprise, the baker offers her a place at his shop. As she learns to bake, Bee discovers that she has a magical power. When a new friend desperately needs her help against an evil mage, Bee wonders what an orphan girl with only a small bit of magic can do. Bee's journey to help her friend becomes a journey to save the kingdom, and a discovery of the meaning of family.

(336 pages)

First, a confession: I'm writing this the night before it goes live. I usually have my reviews written at least a few days before they're scheduled, but with this one it took a long time to even access the book (because apparently, Capstone doesn't let you read their Netgalley ebooks on Kindle). I just finished reading Baker's Magic yesterday, and I figured I'd go ahead and review it now anyway because a) it just came out the first of the month (so it's still new enough that it would be better for me to post my review sooner) and b) I'm having wrist surgery this coming Tuesday, and I don't really want to have a late review hanging over my head while I'm doing all of my typing one-handed.

Anyway, that's probably far more than you really wanted to know about the inner workings of my scheduling woes. You're really here to read about the book, aren't you? And I'm happy to say that this is definitely a good one! Rather dark cover - which actually made me hesitate to request it in the first place - aside, this is a fun, though not necessarily fluffy, book that plays with a large number of tropes so subtly that you barely notice what's going on at all.

Take Wil, for example. He's a nice boy, the blacksmith's son who's trapped into following his father's footsteps, and he and Bee have a fun, bantering relationship right from the beginning of the story. But do they fall in love? It's not much of a spoiler to say that they don't - and that the story lacks nothing for having no love interest for the main character. What's more, all of the usual tropes - the pirates, the quests, the mages, the princess, etc. - all play out differently than you would expect. I don't want to say much more about how things turn out, or I'll spoil the entire book, but suffice to say that it is a pretty fresh take on things.

Also, I really love the story line with the trees. That's an entirely new angle, and it is really cool - especially because Bee is a baker, and so she really appreciates the entire worlds of opportunity that open up with fruits like lemons and apples to cook with. I can't imagine living in a world without wood, but that is the environment Bee and her friends grew up in and so it's really cool seeing them encounter trees for the first time as the story goes on.

This wasn't the absolute best book I've ever read (I will say that the pacing was a tad strange), but it was a very enjoyable one that I am glad to have gotten the chance to read. If you give it a go, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ecopy of this book through Netgalley.

Rise of the Wolf by Jennifer A. Nielsen, 2016

Update 2/1/16: Interested in Rise of the Wolf? Click here to enter my giveaway and try to win an ARC!

Warning: This is a review of the second book in the "Mark of the Thief" series, and there may be spoilers for the first book. You can read my review of Mark of the Thief here, or check it out on Goodreads here.

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Nic may have escaped enslavement in the mines outside of Rome, but his troubles are far from over. The Praetor War--the battle to destroy Rome from within--is in full force, and Nic is caught in the crossfire. The secretive Praetors are determined to unlock a powerful amulet--one sure to bring the empire to its knees. Worse, the Praetors believe Nic holds the key to finding this amulet, and they will stop at nothing to steal it, even if that means harming the people Nic holds most dear.
When the Praetors capture Nic's mother, Nic knows he must do anything to save her. He challenges the Praetors to a chariot race. If he wins, they will release his mother. But if he loses, he must hand over a magic that will certainly destroy Rome and end his own life. Can Nic once again harness his magic and gather the strength to defeat his enemies? Or will he lose his mother and bear witness to Rome's destruction?

(352 pages)

First things first: isn't the cover absolutely gorgeous? I swear, Nielsen's books get the best cover artists ever. I used to say the Ascendance trilogy books were the prettiest ones on my shelf, but I don't think that's true anymore - honestly, those turquoise shades are even more breathtaking in person! And the silver armband really pops (Caela looks like she's sticking her snout of the picture at me!), and the spine is the most amazing light blue, and . . . sorry, I think I'm rambling now.

Anyway, I can't say I'm enjoying the Mark of the Thief series as much as I did Nielsen's Ascendance trilogy, but in all fairness that was a pretty insanely high bar to hit again. I think the trouble is that Nic isn't quite as clever as Sage. He's powerful, sure - much more powerful, in a physical sense, than Sage ever was - but Nic doesn't have Sage's powerful intellect or objective way of looking at things. Nic stumbled into this world of treachery and deceit, and he's stumbling around inside it trying to save the people he loves. He doesn't really want any of the power or strength that has been dropped onto his lap, and he is pretty much a sitting duck for any manipulative baddy who comes his way and makes a swipe at him.

On the other hand, what Nic lacks in drive he makes up for in motivation. He genuinely cares about the people who are close to him, and he is doing his very best to protect them. He's not lazy by any stretch of the imagination; he's not purposefully making sloppy choices. It's just that every alley is blocked for him, and he's flailing around as best he can in an attempt to find a safe way out. Do I agree with all of his choices (or the way he makes those decisions)? No, I do not. But I have a hard time being too mad at him when I know how hard he's trying to do the right thing.

My favorite addition to this second novel is one that does at times feel rather forced, but which is just such a fingernail-biting dilemma that I can't hold anything against it. Nielsen seems to be a fan of playing with forced marriages (first in The Shadow Throne with Jaron and Amarinda, and now here in Rise of the Wolf). I think that's pretty dang awesome, because I've always loved those sorts of conundrums. I don't want to say anything else about this part of the story because I'd hate to spoil it for you, but it definitely adds a whole new angle to Nic's internal conflict.

I can't say this is my all-time favorite of Nielsen's books but I did still enjoy it and I'm glad I read it. This is a great series for young fans of Ancient Rome, and I can definitely see it bridging the gap for kids who've finished Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson novels but aren't quite ready for Megan Whalen Turner's "The Queen's Thief" books.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to go sit and stare at that gorgeous cover for like an hour.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Hunt by Bruce Coville, 2010

Wait just a minute! This is the last book in the four-book Unicorn Chronicles. Have you read the first three? What's that, you haven't? Then please kindly hit the back arrow and get off this page until you've read the other books (my reviews of the first, second and third). Unless, of course, you don't mind having entire series spoiled for you. In that case, feel free to read on. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

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Readers will be on the edge of their seats with this concluding episode of the riveting best-selling series by one of America's most gifted fantasy writers.
In the center if Luster stands an enormous tree called the Axis Mundi, the Heart of the World. But now that tree is wounded, pierced through by magic. And through that wound marches an army of Hunters, led by the sinister and vengeful Beloved. And they are all determined to destroy each and every unicorn.
As the unicorns gather to defend their lives, the human girl, Cara, is sent on a mission to meet a ferocious and mysterious dragon. Faced with perilous danger, Cara must make a desperate decision that will change her life forever.

(605 pages)

Okay, wow. Just wow. When I started the Unicorn Chronicles, I had no idea what I was in for. It grows (literally almost doubles!) with every book, so that the first book was a cool 180 pages, and the fourth, final, book is a whopping 600. I'm still trying to figure out what happened. I mean, I can see this series being seriously awesome for kids who read the books as they came out: the books would grow in length at the same pace your reading ability did, so you could read a single series stretched out over your entire childhood, and you'd never feel like you were outgrowing it.

Reading it over the course of a few months, though, I'm hard pressed to find any other advantage. Except maybe tricking kids into reading long books by gradually weaning them with a series they're hooked on? I can see that as a great selling point for the series, actually: "Get your kids to no longer be afraid of big books! Give them short little Into the Land of the Unicorns hook them onto the series, and then slowly reel them in with longer and longer books until they're reading the MG version of Lord of the Rings!" It's like hooking your kids on drugs, except reading is legal - and, you know, actually good for your brain.

But then again, I'm not sure I'd want my kid transitioning from Into the Land of the Unicorns to The Last Hunt. The books don't just get physically heavier as the series goes on - they start featuring heavier material. Sure, there's no romance or walking dead or other topics that scream "YA," but there sure is a lot of violence in The Last Hunt. And I mean blood-gushing, head-crushing, unicorns-dying, really-gross violence. Violence that I had a hard time reading about. So I think the Unicorn Chronicles are dangerous, because they promise one thing in the beginning, but wind up offering something very, very different.

And that's not even going into any of the weird religious undertones that were scattered throughout The Last Hunt. I'd try to analyze them, but I'm still befuddled by the whole bureaucracy-of-creators thing.

But really, it's not like I hated the book. I spent a few happy hours reading it, and I really was invested in all of the different storylines. I cared about Rocky, and Cara, and Cara's mom, and the queen, and the centaurs, and the geomancer, and the dragon - and, um, all the other semi-random characters who got page-time. Whoever's point-of-view I was reading, I genuinely cared about (except maybe Cara's dad - I still don't like him). And in the end, I was satisfied that I had just read an epic-type book, full of adventure and quests and grand battles between good and evil. Did I question the way everyone assumed all Hunters were incurable monsters, after Cara's own father had converted from being one only a few months before? Did I get supremely frustrated at Cara's grandmother, the queen who spends literally two whole books not communicating with her own ex-husband about whether Cara was his grandkid or not? Did I question whether the entire centaur side-story was even necessary for the plot? Why, yes I did. But that doesn't change the fact that I did enjoy it well enough, and that fans of this sort of epic would probably like it much more than I did.

But let's be honest, if you've read the first three books in the series you're not about to stop now no matter what I say. Go on, track down a copy - it's like fifty dollars on Amazon, but if you hunt around long enough you can probably find a library system that has it.

A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans by Laurence Yep & Joanne Ryder, 2015

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Crusty dragon Miss Drake has a new pet human, precocious Winnie. Oddly enough, Winnie seems to think Miss Drake is her pet—a ridiculous notion!
Unknown to most of its inhabitants, the City by the Bay is home to many mysterious and fantastic creatures, hidden beneath the parks, among the clouds, and even in plain sight. And Winnie wants to draw every new creature she encounters: the good, the bad, and the ugly. But Winnie’s sketchbook is not what it seems. Somehow, her sketchlings have been set loose on the city streets! It will take Winnie and Miss Drake’s combined efforts to put an end to the mayhem . . . before it’s too late.

(152 pages)

This was a fun book! It's a bit shorter than I'm used to, which is a pity because I would have enjoyed reading more about Miss Drake and Winnie. Especially Miss Drake, the dragon who sees the humans as pets even as they see her as theirs. She just seems like someone I'd love to spend time with, sipping tea and shopping for interesting objects. She's rather rough on the outside, treating Winnie as though she were nothing more than a bother and a pest, but very sweet inside. She reminds me a little bit of a proper old British granny, all stiff and sharp towards her grandkids because of "the principle of the thing!" but then secretly slipping them sweets under the table when no one will notice.

While Winnie comes across a bit strong at times (what little girl is really that comfortable the first time she meets a fierce dragon?), you can't help but love her fiery spirit - and if you're sick to death of perfect girls with "fiery spirits," Winnie also has a soft spot: her sorrow and yearning for her father who died a year or so earlier. You can really tell that his death cut Winnie very deeply, and that there are times when she's still deeply in mourning. Miss Drake is also in mourning, for her old "pet" (Winnie's grandmother), and there are a few very touching scenes about needing to let go of lost loved ones.

I was surprised by how much I liked this book, and I think a lot of that comes from the fact that I never felt talked down to. Too many books written for younger readers become so simplistic and silly that I put them down in disgust. This time, though, it felt like a real, actual story with compelling characters and an important plot. There's really nothing I can say against this great little book (except maybe that it's too short!), and I highly recommend it for fantasy lovers of all ages. Also, if there's a sequel I am totally picking it up. Because a) it will be good, and b) it will be so short  I'll be able to read it in like half an hour. For a busy high school student, that can be a good change of pace once in a while!

The Wish Stealers by Tracy Trivas, 2010

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When a sinister old woman leaves Griffin Penshine a box of twelve shiny pennies, she sets in motion a desperate quest—because the old woman was a wish stealer, and each penny represents a wish she stole from a wishing fountain decades earlier. Somehow, Griffin has to make things right, or the opposite of her own wishes will come true—and it could literally be a matter of life and death. The Wish Stealers introduces a new voice in middle-grade fantasy, as bright and sparkling as Griffin’s pennies.

So, I thought this was going to be really bad. It wasn't, though - I really liked it! I mean, it looks kind of boring and/or cliche, right? Well, it sort of was but it sort of . . . wasn't. Griffin's efforts to return the pennies to people who need them (while wrestling with her new identity as a "Wish Stealer" - does that mean she's a bad person now?) leads her to a lot of great places, not to mention a lot of great people.

The basic premise is pretty unoriginal at first: a girl gets some magical objects foisted off on her that bring bad magic upon her head, and she must scramble to set things aright while discovering some truths about herself. However, once the story got going it never felt dry. I never paused while I was reading and thought "gee, this is so boring and unoriginal." I simply read it, and enjoyed myself doing so.

Griffin is dealing with a lot of stress, from worrying about her grandmother's health to hoping for a healthy baby sister to starting middle school. Her life becomes pretty hectic as the story goes on and she struggles to accomplish her goals, become/remain friends with a boy named Garret at school, and balance her fears about the baby and her grandmother all at the same time.

There are a few things that stick out a little bit, like the way Garret is supposed to be the hottie all the girls chase. Trivas mentions this a few times at the beginning, making him into the "popular but shallow" boy who will inevitably turn out to be more than he seems, but then drops the whole popularity thread and makes the popular girls actually tease him along with Griffin later in the book. It didn't feel congruous to the plot. Also, Garret and Griffin both start with G. I read extremely quickly, registering words basically by their first and last letters and nothing more. When I'm reading dialogue between two people whose names start with G (especially when the girl's name could also be a boy's name) it is . . . difficult. And slightly annoying.

Other than that, though, I really have no complaints. Wish Stealers was a great read, and one I would definitely recommend in the future.

Genuine Sweet by Faith Harkey, 2015

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Twelve-year-old Genuine Sweet, of tiny Sass, Georgia, can grant any wish . . . except her own. It's a peculiar predicament, considering how much she could use a few wishes. New friends help Genuine give her family a boost--and then she takes her gift global! Life finally seems to be on the mend. But when she's faced with unexpected trouble that no amount of wishing can fix, Genuine must puzzle out the difference between wishing for a better life and building one.
Told in the engaging, irresistible voice of Genuine Sweet herself, Faith Harkey's debut novel spins a remarkable tale of a small-town girl with big-time magic and an even bigger heart.

(288 pages)

I needed this book. Neck-deep in studying for my AP exams, my brain was fried and my patience thin. I had the sinking sensation that only comes when my stock of reviews has bled dry and I've got a week of reviews in my backlog before I'm plumb out of content. I had a couple of books on my review pile, but none that really caught my eye and made me pour out a heartfelt review for. The TBR pile at the foot of my bed was full of appealing titles, but they had been sitting there waiting for so long that they already felt cliche and already done.

And that's where Genuine Sweet came in. I'd seen a review of it somewhere and requested it on a whim, and the day I hit my all-time low this new, shiny book popped into my hands screaming "I'm fun! I'm unique! I'll make you smile!" And it sure was. And did. Out of all the small-town-quirky-magic books I've read in my life, this one has carved its own spot. Where many "uniquely quirky" books fail in their use of the same old outside-the-box tropes, Genuine Sweet manages to take a lonely girl with negligent/dead parents, a loving/wise grandmother, and a new best friend, and actually make something new out of it.

The idea of wish-fetching is a very neat one, and I love that Harkey uses it to dig deep into the selfishness of human nature, through the people who harass Genuine for wishes, and the true potential of wish fetching - saving people in third-world countries. The fact that Geniune and Jura are so concerned about making the world a better place was just awesome.

However, I would be leery of recommending Genuine Sweet as a Middle Grade book. Harkey crafts a great story, but she includes enough mature themes that i know I for one won't be handing this off to my middle-school aged brother. For example, Genuine has an extremely sweet and touching slow-bloom relationship with a boy (whom I won't name for fear of spoilers) that I absolutely adored for as long as I could forget the fact that they were in middle school. Then I remembered, and I liked it a whole lot less. It's just weird when they're that age!

Actually, that's probably the biggest issue with this book: Genuine's age. If only she were seventeen, and then I could adore the book to pieces without feeling uncomfortable! As it is, I can still adore it, but I can't figure out who to recommend it to. I guess I'd offer it to fans of books like Savvy, Scumble, Drizzle, and Remarkable. It ranks right up there by the best of this sub-genre of quirky small-town magic, and would be absolutely perfect if Genuine were just five years older.

Graceful by Wendy Mass, 2015

Stop right there! Don't go any further unless you've read the other four books in the Willow Falls series. I've done my best to avoid spoilers, but when you're reviewing the fifth book in a series you're bound to ruin something from the earlier books. Click the links to go to my reviews of the first, second, third, and fourth books in the series. And if you read on and spoil the entire series for yourself? Well, don't say I didn't warn you.

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An exciting new story in the bestselling Willow Falls series from Wendy Mass!
Angelina D'Angelo has left town to see the world. It's now Grace's turn to use her magic to protect the people of Willow Falls, and she is up to the challenge. This is her destiny, after all. But destiny is a funny thing-it doesn't always behave the way you'd expect it to.
Mysterious postcards from Angelina begin showing up in the mail, Grace's parents are freaking out with worry, and something BIG is coming to town that will affect everybody who lives there. But all Grace is powerful enough to do is turn leftover meatloaf into pizza.
Fortunately, she's not alone. She has Team Grace on her side! Amanda, Leo, Rory, Tara, David, and Connor know a thing or two about magic and how it works. But none of them are prepared for what's coming, and none of them know how to stop it. Life in Willow Falls is about to change forever.

(272 pages)

Every Willow Falls book is told in first person present tense from the main character's POV, and Graceful is no exception. This time around it's Grace, learning to deal with her new magical abilities, who takes center stage. However, in this book Mass also adds snippets of narration from the other characters: there are diary entries by Amanda, letters from Tara to her pen pal/friend Julie, texts to and from Rory (who finally got a real phone!), poems written by Leo, inventor's notes from Connor, and more. I really like how Mass did that because it keeps the narration focused equally on all of the many characters. Otherwise she would've had to include long pages of second-hand descriptions as characters waited in line to tell Grace everything important that happened to them since the last time they talked to her. And that would not be fun.

The things that I expected to feel fake/annoying (like the middle school couples popping up every time I turn around) turned out to be perfectly fine, and actually pretty enjoyable. I think a large part of this success is the more disjointed technique of using all the different mediums to tell the story, because it dilutes the effect of having so many people running around with different things on their mind. Learning about the magic of Willow Falls was also really interesting - Mass does a good job of explaining it without sucking out all of the mystery and wonder.

Despite how much I did enjoy it, Graceful is not a perfect book. For one thing, I disagree with Grace's decision in regards to her parents. Just because they're stressed about your magical powers, does not mean you should use said abilities to make your parents forget about them! I'm not saying whether Grace succeeds in inflicting amnesia on her parents; it's the fact that this is treated like such a great idea by everyone involved that slightly annoys me. Surely someone would have pointed out that it wasn't really the ten-year-old's place to wipe her parents' memories? Another quibble is that the book can feel a bit disjointed. This wasn't a big deal for me, because I don't know of any other way for a story with that many characters to be told, but I know some might find it annoying. Also, did I mention there are three middle school couples? Yes, that's three. As in 3. As in two more than one.

To be fair, though, they're not just a bunch of random couples off the street; they're our couples, the ones we've watched from the very beginning, the ones we've rooted for and laughed at with and cried over. So I can't really fret too much about how many of them there are, because just in this one series, it doesn't really matter. I love them all with a passion that makes chapter fifteen particularly amazing for me - oh, you want to know what happens in chapter fifteen? I'm sorry, but you'll have to read Graceful and find out for yourself because I just can't bring myself to spoil it for you.

Bottom line: I love this book. A lot. It's the perfect ending to the series, and now that I've read it I can't imagine the series being complete without it. Is Graceful a standalone? Never! Is it the perfect close to an amazing series? Absolutely! So please take the time to read just one more Willow Falls book. But definitely make sure to re-read the other books before you delve into this one: trust me, Graceful is that much better if you understand all the references to the earlier books. And by "better," I mean "funnier." This book is hilarious!

Disclaimer: This is an Amazon affiliate link, and I received a free ARC from Scholastic Press in exchange for an honest review.

Bella At Midnight by Diane Stanley

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on Goodreads 

In the little village of Castle Down, in a kingdom plagued by war, lives a peasant girl called Bella. Blessed with a kind family and a loving friend, she manages to create her own small patch of sunlight in a dark and dangerous world. Bella is a blacksmith's daughter; her friend Julian is a prince -- yet neither seems to notice the great gulf that divides his world from hers.
Suddenly Bella's world collapses. First Julian betrays her. Then it is revealed that she is not the peasant she believed herself to be: She is Isabel, the daughter of a knight who abandoned her in infancy. Now he wants her back, so Bella is torn from her beloved foster family and sent to live with her deranged father and his resentful new wife. Soon Bella is caught up in a terrible plot that will change her life -- and the kingdom -- forever. With the help of her godmother and three enchanted gifts, she sets out on a journey in disguise that will lead her to a destiny far greater than any she could have imagined.

(278 pages)

So, I love The Silver Bowl books (link goes to my review of The Silver Bowl). I've had this earlier book by Stanley on my radar for a while, but it got buried under all the other books that were on my radar (i.e. it fell to somewhere in the middle of the infamous Goodreads "to read" pile). A month ago I made a Top Ten post listing ten books I can't believe I haven't read, and this was right near the top. I requested it right after posting the article, and read it in one day - as soon as I could wrestle it away from my mother, another Diane Stanley fan!

As an earlier work than the Silver Bowl series, you can see that Stanley's writing skills were still developing; the writing isn't quite a crisp as in her later series. However, considering how amazing those books are this really doesn't hurt Bella at Midnight very much. I initially thought the technique of telling the story from so many different POVs, switching every chapter between everyone from Bella to seemingly random people off the street, was clumsy and distracting. I soon realized, though, that the technique fit the story perfectly as all the threads began to weave together into one big, tightly knitted story.

Bella is a very interesting character, especially in comparison with the original Cinderella. Where Cinderella began life with a loving father but no real family outside of that, Bella grew up believing herself to be the peasant daughter of a loving couple. She has two siblings, village friends, and of course her best friend Prince Julian right by her side. When she is brought to her birth father's home to be lonely, abused, and neglected (not to a truly abusive state, but still pretty cruelly), she is homesick more than anything else. She doesn't dream of marrying a prince and riding off into the sunset; all she wants is to be back with the family who loves her. I love this, because at the end of the day it isn't wealth that matters to her: it's people. How can you not love a character with priorities like that? I won't pretend she's going on my list of "most memorable heroines" (if I were making that list, which I'm not), but she's definitely a engaging and sympathetic main character.

This is a fun, humorous twist of a classic fairy tale, one that I'm glad I read but I probably won't be in a huge hurry to reread. If you're looking for a well-written fairy-tale spinoff that messes everything up the time period and the happy ending, then this is most definitely the book for you!

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George, 2008

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on Goodreads

When a great white bear promises untold riches to her family, the Lass (as she's known) agrees to go away with him. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle. To unravel the mystery, the Lass sets out on a windswept journey beyond the edge of the world. Based on the Nordic legend East of the Sun, West of the Moon, with romantic echoes of Beauty and the Beast, this re-imagined story will leave fans of fantasy and fairytale enchanted.

(352 pages)

I won a giveaway over at Bookshop Talk for two books of my choice. How awesome is that, right? I know how awesome: very! I had read Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow many years before and loved it, so I knew this was the perfect time to re-read it and add the gorgeous book (seriously, look at that cover!) to my collection.

Jessica Day George is one of my favorite authors. I have read all of her books, and never met one I didn't like! She's a master at fairytale retellings and knows how to create some serious ambiance. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow differs from her amazing Princess books in that it isn't so much a complete retelling of the original tale as it is an imaginative fleshing out. What kind of family would give up their daughter to a talking bear? Why would a troll princess be so determined to marry a human prince? And why would she be so enchanted by the heroine's skills with a carding comb that she would let her into the palace? George fills in the answers to these questions and more in a way that creates a rich story that still reads like a fairytale - but a fairytale with far more detail and logic than any original version of "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon" has to offer.

This isn't really a book that can be analyzed too much. It's a fleshed-out fairytale, not a regular story where realistic characters and plausible motives are required. The beauty of this book, though, is that it stays perfectly true to its magical foundations while at the same time managing to feature a lovable and realistic heroine, and logical reasons for everything that happens (logical in a world containing magic and trolls, anyway). The book's fantastical beginning may leave you with a lot of questions, but I guarantee that by the end everything will be explained.

The only (very slight) quibble I have is with the lass's wolf Rollo. He behaves much too much like a regular human for my taste. However, I know that George can write a realistic canine character (just look Pippin in the Dragon trilogy!), so I realize this must have been a conscious choice. It fits in well with the fairytale tone of the story. If the lass can speak to animals, then why shouldn't her best friend be a wolf?

All in all, this is just such a beautiful book - starting with the gorgeous cover, and lasting all the way through to the end! I love how everything is explained away with at least fairly logical reasoning, but the magical feel of the story is never lost. George expanded the tale, instead of cutting it up and pasting it back together, and I really love the result. The old adage "if it's not broken, don't fix it" comes to mind. The story "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon" was not broken, and it didn't need fixing. What it needed was for someone to color in the lines and fill it out. This is what George did, and she did a fantastic job!

Story Thieves by James Riley, 2015

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on Goodreads 

Life is boring when you live in the real world, instead of starring in your own book series. Owen knows that better than anyone, what with the real world’s homework and chores.
But everything changes the day Owen sees the impossible happen—his classmate Bethany climb out of a book in the library. It turns out Bethany’s half-fictional and has been searching every book she can find for her missing father, a fictional character.
Bethany can’t let anyone else learn her secret, so Owen makes her a deal: All she has to do is take him into a book in Owen’s favorite Kiel Gnomenfoot series, and he’ll never say a word. Besides, visiting the book might help Bethany find her father…
…Or it might just destroy the Kiel Gnomenfoot series, reveal Bethany’s secret to the entire world, and force Owen to live out Kiel Gnomenfoot’s final (very final) adventure.
(400 pages)

Hmm. I'm not really sure what to say about this one. Did I love it? Did I hate it? Well, neither. Not yet, anyway.

The plot seems all over the place at times, but it actually comes together pretty cohesively by the end of the book. My main trouble, when I really come down to it, is the characters. Bethany especially just isn't particularly realistic. She's more of a stock character: she's got magical powers, one of her parents is missing/dead, she has this huge secret she hides from the rest of the world, and on and on. The fact that she's been going into books for years behind her mother's back for years makes her, to me at least, a little too dishonest to really be that sympathetic. I also felt like there was no way she'd really open up to some random classmate the way she did, and I seriously started questioning her judgement when she agreed to take Owen into the Kiel Gnomenfoot series. I mean, hello? What did she think was going to happen if she took this kid into his all-time favorite book series? She did get better as the story went along, though. Bethany didn't exactly become my favorite character in the world, but I have hope for her development in the later books. Riley has prepared some great set-ups for the next books, and if I had to guess he'll make me absolutely adore Bethany, Owen, and Kiel (who, by the way, is probably my favorite character yet) by the end of the series.

And that's really the crux of this review: I think this book is a set-up for the books ahead. If Riley does a wonderful job with the later books (as I'm 95% sure he will, based on his Half Upon a Time trilogy), then someday I'll look back at Story Thieves and have a ball reading through it again, because there will be all sorts of hints and foreshadowing that I totally missed without foreknowledge. I'll go back to retrace the beginnings of whatever relationships Riley chooses to favor in the later books (my money's totally on Bethany and Kiel!), and watch characters in a different light because I know what secrets they're hiding, or what will happen to them down the road. In a few years, I think I'll love Story Thieves because it is a beginning of a new series by a writer who is amazing at making me laugh, cry, and fall in love. Until then, this is a so-so book that makes an okay standalone, one that holds potential but no concrete prize. The best part was probably the ending, because it sets the stage for awesomeness in the second book.

If you want to read a James Riley, I recommend starting with his wonderful Half Upon a Time series. Story Thieves has potential, but doesn't hold a candle to Riley's crazy-fun fairy-tale spin-off. Of course, that could change - like I said, everything hinges on the rest of the series.

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd, 2014

  
Synopsis (from Goodreads):

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Introducing an extraordinary new voice---a magical debut that will make your skin tingle, your eyes glisten . . .and your heart sing.
Midnight Gulch used to be a magical place, a town where people could sing up thunderstorms and dance up sunflowers. But that was long ago, before a curse drove the magic away. Twelve-year-old Felicity knows all about things like that; her nomadic mother is cursed with a wandering heart.
But when she arrives in Midnight Gulch, Felicity thinks her luck's about to change. A "word collector," Felicity sees words everywhere---shining above strangers, tucked into church eves, and tangled up her dog's floppy ears---but Midnight Gulch is the first place she's ever seen the word "home." And then there's Jonah, a mysterious, spiky-haired do-gooder who shimmers with words Felicity's never seen before, words that make Felicity's heart beat a little faster.
Felicity wants to stay in Midnight Gulch more than anything, but first, she'll need to figure out how to bring back the magic, breaking the spell that's been cast over the town . . . and her mother's broken heart. 
(311 pages)

It's funny, I really liked this book while I was reading it, but I'm having a terrible time reviewing it. Well, not really a "terrible" time, because that implies I've actually made a serious attempt at writing a review at all. In reality, I've thumped down a sentence or two and then quit and worked on other projects. On another note, guess who just joined Blogging For Books?

Okay, focus. Time to write a review. I think the thing that's so hard about this book is that it's really cool and creative and fun, but at the same time it's . . . not. It reminded me of so many other "zany," "unique" books I've read, that I couldn't really pin down why exactly I liked this one. I mean, I had a lot of fun bing sucked into the story. But  I spent a lot of time wondering in the back of my head "when will this blow my mind? When will it wow me?" 

And it never really wowed me. It's sad, because this was not a bad book by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it was a really good book! It just felt like a remix of some of my favorite quirky reads: Remarkable, Savvy, and Drizzle. If I'd read Snicker before reading those books, I would have fallen in love. But because I'd already read and adored them, I was a bit tougher to impress with this read. I needed more.

The characters are good, fairy well-rounded, and hold your attention. Felicity's mother has a case of wanderlust stronger than anything I've ever seen, and I felt bad that she couldn't even see what she was putting her kids through by constantly moving. Felicity was sweet, and cute, and I loved the way she collected words throughout the book. It made for a great descriptive device, giving the reader glimpses into other people's minds without straying from a first person narrative. That was probably my favorite aspect of the story, and I kind of wish Lloyd had explored it further.

I really did enjoy reading this, though I doubt I'll go out of my way to reread it any time soon. It's especially impressive as a debut, and I am definitely keeping an eye out for Lloyd's next book. If it sounds interesting to you, then by all means read it! Just because I didn't adore it to pieces doesn't mean you won't. It's well-written and engaging, with a meaningful story. If you do decide to read it, I'd love to hear your opinion of Snicker!

Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen, 2015

When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds much more than gold and gemstones: He discovers an ancient bulla, an amulet that belonged to the great Caesar and is filled with a magic once reserved for the Gods -- magic some Romans would kill for. Now, with the deadly power of the bulla pulsing through his veins, Nic is determined to become free. But instead, he finds himself at the center of a ruthless conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and spark the Praetor War, a battle to destroy Rome from within. Traitors and spies lurk at every turn, each more desperate than the next to use Nic's newfound powers for their own dark purposes.
In a quest to stop the rebellion, save Rome, and secure his own freedom, Nic must harness the magic within himself and defeat the empire's most powerful and savage leaders. 
(352 pages)

I have been reading/loving Nielsen's Ascendance Trilogy books for a couple of years now (click here to read my review of the first book in that series, The False Prince). When the last book, The Shadow Throne, was coming out I participated desperately in every giveaway the author offered but didn't win. Not one to let failure stop me, I ordered it from Amazon instead and read it within twenty-four hours of its release.

This is why I find it particularly cool that I won a giveaway of Mark of the Thief, the first book in a new series by Nielsen. Not only do I now have her autograph (squeal!), I got to read her new book two months before its release date.

And let me just say, how amazing it was to be able to read this wonderful book early! I went into it with a large amount of hope for the new series but not a little fear as well - what if it wasn't any good? What if it was just a cliche rehash of other books I've read? I was worried, because The False Prince borrowed a lot in terms of plot from other books/series. While Nielsen totally pulled it off then, and I adore the book to pieces, I was worried she would wind up pulling from the same bag of tricks for this series. And in the first few chapters, I thought my fears were confirmed: Nic seemed like a rehash of the cocky-but-brilliant Sage  (but where Sage was witty and fantastic, Nic seemed to just have an inflated ego for a slave). I sensed some sort of family secret a long way off, and the insta-hate between Nic and Aurelia just screamed "romance."

However, as I was sucked farther and farther into the complicated world of deceit, treason, and mixed motives that was Ancient Rome, the more I realized what a different story Nielsen had created. While Nic may have shared similarities with Sage on the surface, once the book gets going it's clear to see that he has a different personality than Sage. This is most clear when you compare the ways Sage was always planning three steps ahead and laying out elaborate plots to get people to do what he wanted. Nic is not a plotter and a planner like Sage was; his brainpower is used attempt to figure out who is on his side and how he can manage not to be killed.

As for the family secret and the insta-hate with Aurelia (by the way, love the name!), at the risk of spoilers all I can say is that the "family secret" aspect plays a rather minimal role in the book and isn't really that huge of a shock (especially when compared with The False Prince). It has potential to make the next book pretty interesting, though. And the insta-hate/inevitable-romance thread actually straightens itself out very nicely. Aurelia is probably already more fleshed out than Amarinda ever was, and I'm looking forward to watching what she does next - both with Nic, and on her own. She's a complex, interesting character instead of the cliche "two-dimensional warrior girl with some sort of grudge against the main character" that I thought she was the first time I saw her. I can't wait to see her in the next book!


The setting is phenomenal, the plot complicated (Who are the bad guys here? Who wants Nic dead?) but never convoluted or confusing, and the characterization solid with lots of room for additions later. While I still love The False Prince better (let's be honest, I don't think anything can surpass that book on my favorites list!), I still spent several enjoyable hours reading this book and look forward to reading it again. If you think it looks at all interesting, or are a fan of the author because of the Ascendance trilogy, then by all means read this book! For those of you who are interested in getting it from the library or buying it, it comes out February 24. And if you do read it, please post below to tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I won a copy of this book through a giveaway offered by the author. She did not ask me to review it, and the opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley, 2011

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Unwanted at home, Molly goes to work for the king of Westria as a humble scullery maid. She arrives at the castle with no education, no manners, and a very disturbing secret: She sees visions, and those visions always come true.One day, while she's working in the king's great hall, young Prince Alaric passes by. Molly finds him unbearably handsome—but also unbearably rude. But what does it really matter? She'll probably never see him again.In time Molly is promoted to polishing silver and is given a priceless royal treasure to work on: the king's great ceremonial hand basin. But there's something odd about it. The silver warms to her touch, a voice commands her to watch and listen, and then the visions appear. They tell the story of a dreaded curse that has stalked the royal family for years. There have already been deaths; soon there will be more.As tragedy after tragedy strikes the royal family, Molly can't help but wonder: Will the beautiful Alaric be next? Together with her friends Tobias and Winifred, Molly must protect the prince and destroy the curse. Could a less likely champion be found to save the kingdom of Westria?


After my third or fourth reread, I've decided that this book officially goes on my all-time favorites list. It's got everything I love - magic, royalty, danger, and subtle humor - without falling into any of the tired cliches that characterize most books that involve royalty and magic. In fact, Molly, the kitchen girl, is the MC - not the cute royal prince she rescues. I love seeing her roll her eyes at the prince's clueless-ness in the real world when they're hiding - like, "gee, sure, give them your royal brooch in gratitude for helping you. I'm sure no one will think they stole it if they try to sell it for, you know, actual money to replace all the food and medicine they just used on you." Okay, she didn't phrase it like that - like I said, the humor is subtle - that's just my paraphrase.

Okay, characters. As I already wrote, Meg is awesome. She's smart, and clever, but not in that really cloying cliche way. She's a bit of a wild-child in the first few chapters, but we quickly watch her flash forward about ten years. Even though she's wild, as soon as she goes to work at the castle (at age seven) she catches on to the fact that she has to do anything people ask, and not get into any trouble, if she wants to keep her post. Her stubbornness is not a tool to show that she's a flawed character (but secretly not, because stubbornness just shows strength of character!). It's a part of her personality, but a part that she knows how to deny when she needs to.

Meg also has this mysterious ability to sense the future, which isn't explained much in this book (the author delves a lot more into that in the second and third book, both of which are good but not quite as good as this one). I love how she's not going crazy with excitement about her powers: she actually sees them as a curse, not a blessing, and is deathly afraid of her visions through not only this book but actually most of the entire trilogy. She fears the burden that has been placed onto her.

Tobias is Meg's best friend, and a great character in his own right. A bit more cookie-cutter, he has all the usual side-kick bits: loyal, funny, smart, helps the MC catch her bearings in a new place (in this case the castle), and has a sad back-story to boot. However, you can't help but like Tobias. He's just so nice!

The prince doesn't actually get a huge amount of screen time in this book, because Molly the servent girl doesn't really get to interact much with Alaric the prince in the first half of the book, and then later he's pretty wounded and spends quite a bit of time unconsciouse. However, the bits that you do see give the bare outline of a compelling character. From the moment Meg (shamelessly eavesdropping) overhears him arguing with his parents as a child, you know that he's not going to be a cookie-cutter prince. Later, I love how strong he is. He still even keeps a bit of his humor! I won't go into it more than that, for fear of spoilers.

I can't really think of anything else to say, besides "read this book!" Like I said above, this is one of my all-time favorite books, and I recently bought it so I could have it forever. If you have any questions about the book, post them in the comments below! Also, I want to hear about your favorite books. Let me know what book you never get tired of, and I might just review it!

Note 5/19/15: This review is also available on the blog Bookshop Talk. Click here to check it out, and browse the reviews sent in by other book lovers!

Thursdays With the Crown by Jessica Day George, 2014

Synopsis (from Amazon):

Castle Glower has been acting weird, so it's no surprise when two towers transport Celie and her siblings to an unknown land. When they realize that no one from home is coming to get them, the kids–along with Celie's pet griffin Rufus–set out through the forest to figure out where they are and what's happened to their beloved Castle. Instead, they discover two wizards and an entire lost people, the oldest inhabitants of Castle Glower. And it seems they may know more of the Castle's secrets than Celie. But do they know how to get her back home?

First, don't read this review unless you've read the first two books (Tuesdays at the Castle and Wednesdays in the Tower) by the same author. There are some unavoidable spoilers from the first book and especially the second book, so consider yourself warned!

I read this book in one sitting the day I got it, because i had been waiting for it for a long time. I liked it, but I'm not really the target audience for the book and it's not going on my all-time favorites list along with George's Dragons series, and her Princess series (see my review of the first Princess book, Princess of the Midnight Ball). However, the minute I finished Thursdays my brother, a tween, grabbed it and read it as quickly as he could. And now that he is done, my sister, in late elementary school, has stolen it to read it in every spare moment she can get (and, because we are homeschooled, "spare moment" actually means "when she's supposed to be doing math"). That's one reason this blog post is a little rambling: I haven't been able to set eyes on the book since I finished my first, quick read-through.

Okay, so this was an interesting follow-up to the first two books. Each book in this series has been vastly different. The first book was a fun, quirky story about a trio of royal siblings whose parents disappear, leaving the royal council to attempt to take over the kingdom. It was a fun, clever book with some politics thrown in, not to mention a moving Castle on the kids' side! The second book continued the whinsical theme of a moving, living Castle and the family who lived there (focusing on Rolf, Lilah and Celie from the first series as well as throwing their wizarding brother Bran into the mix), but added in a secret griffin for Celie, the youngest daughter, to take care of, and started explaining/debunking the mysterious magic behind the Castle. I enjoyed Wednesdays, but I didn't think it was as good as the first book because it ripped away a little too much of the whimsy; knowing some of the inner workings of how the Castle functioned made the Castle a little less grand and mysterious.

Now it's time for the third book, and I liked this one a lot! For a relatively short book, there's a lot of storylines packed in there. Webs of lies must be untangled to figure out the true history of the Castle, and the main characters (this time around it's Celie, Rolf, Lilah, Lulath, and Pogue) must discover the truth while also hunting down a way to get home. Oh, and there are lots more griffins in this story. You can tell it's aimed for a younger audience: the amount of baby griffins alone will cause any ten year old girl to go dewy eyed, including my sister, who starts the book today - I can't wait to hear what I already know will be her gushing delight at the book as a whole, and specifically at the amount of griffins in it. Mid-way through Wednesdays she started writing her own book, about a girl who discovers a griffin egg and takes care of the baby inside. If the first Tuesdays book can turn my sister into a reader (it was one of the very first "big books" she read, after years of avoiding books as much as possible) and the second can turn her into a writer when all my attempts at wooing her toward the field have failed, then I am so excited to see what the third book will do to her!

Now for the actual story. The characters are well developed for a MG novel, and have become ever more developed as the series progressed. None of the children are cookie-cutter royals - they're more like ordinary kids who happen to be royal. Not in a cloying way, either. They know they're royal, and Rolf, heir to the throne, is ready and willing to take the throne someday. But he loves his father, and doesn't want him to die. He also doesn't lord it over his siblings that he's king over them (even in - well, I don't want to give spoilers. But I really loved his attitude in the first book). 

I was a bit confused by the bad guy(s), but that was kind of the point: everyone lied to the main characters, and they had to figure out the truth. There was also a character who kind of randomly appeared and disappeared throughout the story. He was originally on the side of one of the bad guys, I think, and then he helped the kids escape, and then they didn't trust him because of - actually, spoilers on that one. I don't want to ruin it for you! But the point is, he didn't add anything to the plot. I think he was the only part of the book that made me go "hmm." Everything else was spot on and perfectly woven together.

All in all, a solid installment in a great MG series. I still love the first book the best, and I don't know when/if I'll ever re-read this one, but I do know that if you asked either my brother or my sister, they would give you a glowing synopsis, complete with arm waving and huge spoilers. And that excitement they have for the series is what really makes it special.

Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson, 2005

In this fantastical novel, Disney's Magic Kingdom suddenly becomes a bit eerie. Finn Whitman and four other teens have been hired as Disney World guides, but with an odd twist: With cutting-edge technology, they have been transformed into hologram projections capable of leading guests around the park. What begins as an exciting theme park job turns into a virtual nightmare as Finn and his pals attempt to thwart an uprising by a menacing group of Disney villains.

First, I want to quickly sum up how I got this book. I was at Barnes and Noble with twenty dollars in gift cards, an hour to kill, and no brand-new hardcover money-grabbers to blow all my money on in one go. So, I bought three paperbacks instead: Because of Mr. Terupt, Out of My Mind, and Disney After Dark. I had read both of the other books previously (and, as an aside, absolutely adored them), but Kingdom Keepers was a new find. I'd seen tue fourth book around before multiple times but never the first, so seeing Disney After Dark at Barnes and Noble prodded me into taking the plunge of buying an unknown book. 

Five years ago I (and, seemingly, the rest of the world) fell in love with the Percy Jackson series. And how did I discover Percy Jackson, you might be wondering? Well, you're probably not wondering, and you're probably wishing I'd just get to my review already. But I'll tell you fast: I got "The Lightning Thief" from Borders on a whim.

So, in the back of my mind I was hoping to find another great series like Percy Jackson in Kingdom Keepers. Keep this in mind as you read my review.

So. Kingdom Keepers. Disney After Dark. I have to admit, I thought the title was kind of cheesy when I started the series. I still do. But in a strange way, it fits the book - not that I'm saying the book is particularly cheesy (because it isn't), but it pretty much sums up the whole idea of the book.

Finn is a normal kid, except for the fact that there are holograms of him all over Disney World. You see, he and five other kids were chosen after auditioning to be scanned and projected throughout Disney World in Orlando, Florida as tour guides known as DHIs (which stands for both Disney Host Interactive and Daylight Hologram Imaging). The perks? Finn instantly became the superstar at school who everyone recognized from Disney World, he got a substantial amount of money for his college fund for the right to use his image and voice forever at Disney, and his family got mega gold packs so they could go to Disney whenever they wanted.

The downsides? Well, Finn can only go to Disney after specially clearing it with the security guards ahead of time, and only if he wears a hat so no one confuses real Finn with DHI Finn. This also means that when he sneaks into Disney World, he has to constantly be dodging guards who are trying to get him out of there before tourists spot his non-virtual-tour-guide self.

The side that's both up and down? Finn starts to dream he IS his DHI every single night. And there is a strange man named Wayne (an "Imagineer") in these dreams who claims that Disneyland is being threatened by the evil "Overtakers" - who include many of the villains from various Disney stories.

Finn tracks down the other four DHI hosts at their various schools, and learns they all are having the same dreams. When they all go to sleep within half an hour of one another, they are all in their DHIs at Magic Kingdom at the exact same place and can talk to each other.  These dreams aren't just dreams; they're real. Add Maleficent (the witch from Sleeping Beauty, utterly unrelated to the upcoming movie), who is an Overtaker, and two strange girls - one strangely helpful, one strangely stalking - and you've got a pretty good picture of Disney After Dark.

Now, in this kind of book deep characterization is a bonus, not a must. We barely meet Finn's parents. Each character has a personality trait that is why they're "part of the team." , but at the end of the day Finn is the leader, Maybeck is the rough kid with a softer inside, Philby is the computer genius, Charlene the girly make-up expert, and Willa is a girl, who is smart. They stay faithful to their personalities, though, and each has an individual flavor as a character - but if you asked me what Willa's main goal in life was, I couldn't answer farther than "help the Imagineers defeat the Overtakers."

Does it live up to Percy Jackson? Um, no. Sorry, but it's not quite humorous enough, and all the detailed references to Disney World, while fun (very fun!) are a bit confusing. It's good, though, and I've already gotten and read the second book (also in one go, these books aren't exactly Moby-Dick). I'll request the rest of the series from the library as soon as I pick up the nine books waiting for me right now.

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George, 2009

Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above. 

Galen is a returning soldier without a true family to come home to. His mother, father, and sister all died during the endless war. He lives with the aunt, uncle and cousin he'd never known, working in the king's garden under his uncle (the head gardener)'s careful, grouchy eye.

Rose is a princess, the oldest of twelve girls (all named after flowers), and destined to rule the kingdom one day. She has sisters, and more sisters, and a few more over there in the corner. Sisters coming out her ears, and no mother to take care of them. That duty has fallen squarely on Rose's shoulders, and is a duty more difficult than anyone knows. Because every third night, when midnight strikes, the princesses must travel down into a land of darkness, and dance until dawn with the shadowy figures of dark princes. It is a curse, one handed down to them by the mother who made a foolish bargain with a man of evil.

Now the curse grows worse, because the princesses were deathly sick and missed a day. Every time they miss a night of dancing, they have to dance more often. Now they dance every night, and their father the king is frantic to find out what is happening to them. If he asks his daughters, all they can speak is gibberish. So he offers his crown and one of his princesses in marriage to any prince who can discover what ails the girls. The only problem? Every prince who tries and fails to learn their secret winds up dead from some accident within a month. Soon all the other kingdoms are mad, and they are on the brink of war once more.

But Galen, the clever soldier turned gardener, is smarter than he looks, and driven by something the princes never had: the unspoken love for a certain eldest princess. He is worried by how tired she looks, and wants nothing more than to bring her peace.

So, this is a retelling of the famous Twelve Dancing Princesses, which I obviously knew going into it. Fairy tale retellings are one of my favorite genres, and I just read Jessica Day George's Dragon series, so I had extremely high hopes going into the book. And it did not disappoint.

The characters weren't caricatures, but they weren't so finely developed it distracted from the story. Rose wasn't the only princess to get at turn in the spotlight, and each of the sisters had their own distinct personality. From Lily, Rose's right hand sister, to Hyacinth the devout, to Poppy the tomboy, and Pansy the darling youngest, each girl had a unique view of the curse that troubled them, and each dealt with the pressure in different ways (which was sometimes quite amusing). Galen's uncle was - argh, I have to either give a big plot summary, or a short (but rather big) spoiler to talk about the people on Galen's side of the book. Well, let's just say that the rarely seen weren't just given a stick-on that read "bland." Even the women who helped Galen find his aunt and uncle's house were unique.

Read it? Yes. Stay up till dawn with it? Um, *sheepish grin* I just reread it last week, for maybe the fourth time. And I still stayed up to finish it.

10/14 note: This is actually the first book in a trilogy, and I just wanted to stick on here that the other books are really good too.