Graceling by Kristin Cashore (VLOG included)

Graceling by Kristin Cashore is a young adult fantasy set in a land of seven kingdoms. Some are born with special abilities called Graces. Graces can be anything from cooking, to mind reading. The main character, Katsa, has the Grace of killing with her bare hands. Gracelings are considered to belong to the King of the land and it is his choice whether or not to keep a Graceling in his household or to return him or her home to family. Those sent home are shunned. Katsa is not only a Graceling, but an orphan who is also the niece of the King of the Middluns. Unfortunately, this king uses Katsa as his thug in order to get what he wants. As Katsa gets closer to adulthood, she begins questioning the King's use of her Grace.

Since this story is a coming of age tale, the book revolves around Katsa, Po, and Bitterblue trying to find their places in the world. They are learning that the world is not morally black and white, but instead is made up of shades of gray. People are not pure evil or completely good, but are imperfect and a messy blend of both. Someone might have good intentions, yet cause hurt. Similarly, they may appear benevolent yet have evil motivations. How do you learn how and who to trust in a world with so much gray area?

Identity is a major theme, of course, and Katsa is on a major quest to discover what kind of person she is and who she wants to become. Gracelings are labeled by their Grace at an early age and this becomes a part of their identity. Unfortunately, Katsa is identified as a killer and this leaves her with very few friends. Part of the discovery process for Katsa and Po is to learn how to use their Graces wisely and to stand up to those who would manipulate them to their own advantage.

The coming of age framework of the story brings a depth to Graceling, but there is still plenty of entertainment. Cashore blends mystery, adventure, and romance and even tosses in a bit of swashbuckling. These elements weave through the novel and help pace the story. I never found myself tiring of any of these elements because they were handled so well. They were simply a part of the storytelling.

The mystery element was handled particularly well and was nicely woven into the discovery process. As the characters try to discover and shape their identities, they also discover something about their Graces. ***MILD SPOILER ALERT*** Graces aren't always what they appear to be. For instance, Katsa's Grace appears to be the Grace of killing and this label is based on the evidence of what she can do. But as she grows and reflects on her Grace she discovers that not only do Graces develop and evolve, but they are often something other than what they appear. ***END SPOILER ALERT***

Again, this is a lovely story with a blend of elements that should appeal to a wide crowd of readers. I look forward to more from this author and will be reading Fire, the companion novel to this one.

Those who have enjoyed the Bayern novels by Shannon Hale (Goose Girl, Enna Burning, etc.) will also appreciate Graceling. Hale's books are written to a slightly younger crowd, but there are many similarities and the tone of the books are analogous

I'm including the video version of this review for those who prefer to see and hear. I also tend to provide more personal comments in my video version.

Vlog: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

For those of you who prefer to watch book reviews, I've created this video so you can see me ramble on about this book!



Jackson Pearce on "Symbolism" http://youtu.be/IVOuvdxEZfc

Book trailer http://youtu.be/XWrNyVhSJUU

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Quirk Books
Year: 2011

The main character in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is 16 year old Jacob Portman. Growing up, Jacob loved listening to his grandfather tell fantastical stories about his life in an orphanage on an island in Wales. Tales of an enchanted place with monsters and peculiar children with unusual abilities. Jacob began doubting these stories as he grew older and came to think of them as phantasms representing his grandfather's life as a WW2 orphan in war torn Europe. But a family tragedy sends Jacob on a quest to find out if his grandfather was merely an extraordinary storyteller, or if there is truth and danger in those old stories. This quest leads him to a crumbling old ruin, in the midst of a foggy bog, on a remote island off the coast of Wales. Strange happenings here lead Jacob to ask: Are there really monsters? Are the peculiar children still alive after all these years?

Ransom Riggs weaves his tale around real vintage photographs, some of which are rather haunting (see the photo that gave me the creeps at right!). This device is quite clever and definitely adds to the tension and sense of "otherness" in the story. The book trailer makes the story seem like it might veer toward horror, but I found the book to be more disturbing, eerie and mysterious than horrific; the focus is more about what we, and Jacob, don't know and don't understand than it is about monsters jumping out at us from the dark.

A coming of age theme brings a bit of depth to the story. Leaving childhood and learning to face the monsters in our lives is every bit as disturbing as the story the author tells, but I'm not sure the author meant the story to be a metaphor so much as an excellent example of storytelling.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children appears to be a standalone novel, but the author could certainly continue the story at a later date. I would be satisfied either way. I'm not sure if the book is being marketed as a Young Adult (YA) novel or not. It could certainly be considered YA, but I think it also has a wider appeal and adult readers will find it intriguing and entertaining.

Book trailer:




Book received from the publisher through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville is an urban fantasy written for young adults. This is not to say that there isn't any fun to be had for the older set though! In fact, there are some clever bits that might go right over the heads of the younger crowd; rather like some of the old Looney Toon cartoons ... enjoyed by the kiddies, but the jokes were more fully appreciated by those a bit older.

I've already tried, and failed, to write a synopsis for this wonderfully bizarre book so I thought I'd include the quite well done blurb from the back cover of the book:

"What is Un Lun Dun? It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where words are alive, a jungle lurks behind the door of an ordinary house, carnivorous giraffes stalk the streets, and a dark cloud dreams of burning the world. It is a city awaiting its hero, whose coming was prophesied long ago, set down for all time in the pages of a talking book.

"When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong."
- blurb from book cover

Mieville turns upside down the rather cliche storyline of prophecies and heroic quests. Just about the time I was saying to myself, "Not another book with a several hundred page quest," the author caught me out and turned all of my expectations on their metaphoric heads. And that bit in the above blurb making a wee comparison to Alice in Wonderland? It is true. The story is that strange. In fact, don't the following illustrations by Mieville himself make you think of Wonderland?

One version of a bus in Un Lun Dun.
Meet Mr. Speaker.

Mieville has a grand time playing with words throughout the book and even includes a fantastic little "treatise" on the meaning of words. You will find that in the chapter with Mr. Speaker, of course.

If you like urban fantasy with a fun twist, you should thoroughly enjoy Un Lun Dun!

Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones

Shanra, at Libri Touches, is having a Tam Lin reading event during the month of October (1st through 31st). She would be thrilled if others would like to join her in reading novels based on the Tam Lin ballad. I had to go ahead and read Fire and Hemlock because of a library due date, so I'm a little outside of her date range. But I did wait to post my review until October 1st! I will also be reading Tam Lin by Pamela Dean this month.

Fire and Hemlock is based on two Scottish ballads, Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer. It is a coming of age story and a tale of reclaimed childhood memories that had been, mysteriously, lost.

Polly is cleaning her childhood bedroom and packing for college when she suddenly begins to remember things that she had forgotten ... mainly memories of Tom Lynn, a mysterious man she had befriended in her childhood. She thinks it quite odd that she would have forgotten someone who had made such a strong impression upon her at one time. It is even more odd that she has, apparently, two sets of memories -- one rather ordinary and the other quite strange.

Flashback: Ten year old Polly lives with her Gran because of a complicated relationship with her parents. One day she wanders into a rather strange funeral at the large mysterious house down the lane. Here she meets Tom, an adult willing to indulge Polly's make believe escapades. Together they create story lines. The strange bit is that the stories come, more or less, true!

The majority of the book is Polly's story as she grows through adolescence into her late teens. Included are all of the attendant relational struggles and trials of growing up including that of finding out who her true friends are. Tom comes and goes from her life as he travels with his musical quartet, but he keeps in touch by sending Polly books. She reads them all. At one point, she expends a fair amount of time and energy writing a story that tells of the escapades of the fictional versions of herself and Tom. She sends this "tome" to Tom and receives a message back from him: "Sentimental drivel." Oh, how painful. You can imagine the cliches written by a fourteen year old girl with a romantic imagination, but to bravely put that writing out there only to be harshly criticized by someone you admire is ... well ... devastating.

Back to the present: The last part of the book is the merging of the two timelines as memories sort themselves out. This is where the book becomes much more fantastical. Previously, there were indications of the fantastic -- sorcery, intrigue, magic and mystery. Now there is no doubt that all is not what it seems to be. Enter the Queen of Faerie and an explanation of the mystery of lost memories. To tell you more would be a spoiler.

The author held me enthralled. I loved the coming of age struggle and I loved the mysterious and fantastical elements. At it's core Fire and Hemlock is also a sweet love story that doesn't truly present itself as viable until the very end. I did read the ending several times because I felt a bit muddled, but I have a feeling that if I were fourteen I would have understood as only the young can understand sometimes.

Comparisons

As I mentioned above, I had to return the book to the library so I no longer have it in my possession in order to make accurate comparisons to the Tam Lin ballad (which I read online after returning the book). So I will just note the few comparisons I can remember:

• Hallowe'en is the night of sacrifice in both the book and ballad versions.
• Both Janet (ballad) and Polly (book) set the story in motion by entering faerie territory.
• Seven years is the length of time that Tam Lin is held captive by the Faerie Queen in the ballad. Seven years might be the length of time between Polly's first meeting with Tom and the end event that releases Tom from captivity to the Queen of Faerie in the book. I'm not sure on this point, but it would be intriguing if true.
• Both Janet (ballad) and Polly (book) must win Tam Lin/Tom Lynn from the Faerie Queen.

BOOK REVIEW: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Title: How I Live Now
Author: Meg Rosoff
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books a division of Random House
Year: 2004

First line: "My name is Elizabeth but no one's ever called me that."

How I Live Now is Meg Rosoff's first novel and won the Printz Award for young adult literature. That said, I would recommend it for the more mature YA due to certain ideas presented.

Daisy is a New York teen exiled to live with her aunt and cousins in the English countryside. Daisy's "evil" step-mother is about to have a baby of her own and is not interested in handling a smart-aleck teenager with an eating disorder. Daisy settles in easily with her British relatives and lives a rather idyllic country life ... until the unthinkable happens. While Daisy's aunt is out of the country at a conference on terrorism, England is invaded by an unknown enemy. Living in the countryside the children are far from the bombs and trouble and they continue to laze away their summer days, as children will. These happy and peaceful days are highlighted by Daisy's passionate and secret relationship with her cousin Edmond. Daisy knows that this relationship is wrong, but with no adult supervision Daisy and Edmond give in to their attraction to each other.

"The real truth is that the war didn’t have much to do with it except that it provided a perfect limbo in which two people who were too young and too related could start kissing without anything or anyone making us stop."

I am not sure why the author included a forbidden relationship in this story. The love story is integral to the novel, but I remain baffled by the author's choice of family relation.

The atmosphere of the novel takes a dark turn when their country home is sequestered by the British military, and the children are separated and sent to live with other families. The enemy is placated by the docility of the populace for a time, but tensions soon rise and nearly every encounter is highly charged and fatal to someone. Electricity becomes non-existent and food is scarce. As everyone around her begins looking gaunt, Daisy realizes the irony of her situation now that starvation is not self imposed. The children witness terrible atrocities and are left to struggle against the elements and hunger in their search to find a safe place and, hopefully, each other.

How I Live Now is a terrifying story made more so by an unknown enemy with an unknown purpose. It is a love story and a war story that tells how war changes people, sometimes devastatingly so, and how love can heal even the most destroyed souls.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Also reviewed by:
nymeth at things mean a lot
tanabata at in spring it is the dawn
3m at 1morechapter.com
raidergirl3 at an adventure in reading

BOOK REVIEW: Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

Edited to include this note to point the reader to an update on my thoughts of the Twilight series.

I was curious about Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series after reading all of the positive reviews both in blogland and in various review sources. I don't think I read a single negative review. So, since I think I have something a little different to say about these books, I thought I'd actually write up a review.

Let me begin by saying that I enjoyed reading all three books. They were fast reads considering the length of the books (Eclipse was over 600 pages). I do think all three books could have been much shorter. That said, I do have a few not so flattering things to say.

Teen Angst and Harlequin Romance Cliches
Let me start with the teenage angst. Way. Too. Much. I do realize that Ms. Meyer is writing to the young adult crowd and that they will relate to the terrible angst. I still think there was too much of it though. Mix the massive overdose of teen angst with Harlequin Romance cliches (like constant misunderstandings) and ... well ... I did find myself rolling my eyes a bit too often as I read.

Vampires and Werewolves
I do not have a problem with authors including mythical creatures in stories. In fact, I love vampire, ghost and monster stories; but I generally look for something underlying the use of such mythical and dangerous creatures. For instance, the use of vampires to point out the human condition. Ms. Meyer doesn't really use her creatures in this way. In fact, I felt that she brought them in simply to sell books. Vampires and werewolves make the story sexy (as in "appealing") to young people. To be fair, the author did TRY to make some bigger statements about the not-quite-human, but I think she failed terribly.

The BIG Issues and Narcissism
What about Edward's soul? What about Bella's soul? That whole topic could have been big, big, big but Ms. Meyer brought it up as a rather trivial side issue that often got brushed off in order to refocus on the narcissistic teen heroine's angst. In fact, Bella is more concerned with how she feels about things and with what she wants than about what is right or wrong. Bella appears to be concerned about the feelings of others, but in every case it boils down to what Bella feels and what Bella wants ... even at the expense of others. This narcissism remains (pretty much unchallenged) right up to the very end of Eclipse. (I am especially surprised at this unchecked character attribute considering the authors background.) Yes, this narcissism is very, very adolescent and, yes, Ms. Meyer is writing to the YA audience, but is this where we want to leave our teen readers?? I'm all in favor of showing a little character maturation in order to encourage young readers to look beyond their little teen worlds and to get past the narcissism that is natural at that age.

The Parents
Hmmm. All I have to say about that is ... Bella is pretty much left to raise herself and make her own decisions. Renee (Bella's mother) is still an emotional child and Charlie (Bella's father) seems to parent by throwing a few parental fits and grounding Bella, but in reality neither parent has the guts to truly parent a child and Bella does what she wants when she wants. Unfortunately, this is reflective of the parenting that many kids receive, but to present it as a benign influence in Bella's life was not what I wanted to see. I will concede that Bella does seem to gain some maturity at the end of Eclipse when she realizes that it is not all about what she wants and that she should consider the feelings of those she plans to leave behind in her quest for eternity with Edward; but it is really a very short side note to the story. Again, the BIG issues get trivialized in order to focus on the hand wringing.

Recommendation?
I did enjoy reading these books myself and found them reflective of a variety of teen feelings (at least as I remember them from long ago). As a librarian, I would definitely add these to the young adult collection. They are popular and I really don't have issues with these books appearing in library collections and being read by teens. As a grandmother, I will not be purchasing and sending these books to my granddaughter. I really don't want to encourage any "drama queen" behavior and would prefer to send her books that capture the teen experience without glorifying the angst angle. We've already got enough of that!

Also reviewed at:
Passion for the Page
Rhinoa's Ramblings
Everyday Reading Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse

BOOK REVIEW: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

I thought I might delve into the world of young adult (YA) fiction after seeing some of the things my 12 year old granddaughter has been reading. Oh my ... but that is a separate post entirely. I was searching out some books I could send that would hold her interest and be age appropriate without insulting her more adult reading level. I found what I was looking for in a series of books by Shannon Hale that deserve to be taken seriously by adults as well as the younger set.

My reading began with The Goose Girl which is a retelling of a Grimms' fairy tale by the same title. Hale's version is still very much a fairy tale, but is wonderfully fleshed out in characters, place and politics. The original Grimms' fairy tales were short on character development and detail, instead placing the focus on conveying a lesson to be learned.

This modern telling of The Goose Girl takes place in an unknown land and time that closely resembles medieval Germany ... or at least what one would imagine as medieval Germany ... and is wonderfully resplendent in castles, medieval towns and forests. Hale's use of this place and time nicely parallels that of the original German fairy tale while adding detail to capture the imagination. I'm particularly fond of a description of the town of Bayern, looking from afar, just like a birthday cake ... the tiers of the town rise up and up until reaching the castle at the top with orange banners flying round the sides just like flaming candles.

The story begins with the birth of the Crown Princess of Kildenree who is born with the gift of "animal speak." Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isillee, or Ani for short, is more comfortable in the natural elements and with animals than she is with court society and people. This is a distinct disappointment to her mother, the Queen, who must raise Ani to be the next ruler of Kildenree. Unbeknownst to Ani, the Queen arranges a marriage that will wed the crown princess into another kingdom thereby allowing the Queen to appoint Ani's brother as the next ruler of Kildenree.

A brokenhearted, yet obedient, Anidori sets off shortly after her sixteenth birthday to marry the Crown Prince of Bayern. She is sent on this months long journey with a retinue of palace guards and Selia, her lady-in-waiting. Like any good fairy tale, Ms. Hale's story involves both good and evil characters. It becomes clear shortly after the journey begins that Selia is a jealous and evil lady-in-waiting who has put in place a plan to betray her mistress and present herself to the Crown Prince of Bayern as Princess Anidori, his intended bride and future queen of that kingdom.

Ani, who has never seemed a particularly strong person, shows an amazing strength and resilience after this betrayal by her most trusted friend. She takes refuge as a goose girl, tending the King's geese, as she awaits an opportunity to rightfully reclaim her place and denounce the murderous Selia as a faux princess.

Ms. Hale skillfully incorporates other fairy tale characteristics into her own story including magical elements (the ability to converse with animals and control natural forces), misleading appearances (I don't want to give this one away!), conquest of good over evil (did I just give away the ending?) and transformations. The transformation of Ani from a shy young girl into a confident young woman ready to become ruler of a kingdom is one of the primary triumphs of this telling of the story and distinguishes this modern version from the Grimms' tale. The tale itself is delightfully transformed into a satisfying coming of age story.

I encourage those who hesitate to read this book because of its YA status to pick this one up and enjoy the telling of a good and gratifying tale. It really is a book for young and "old" alike.

Also reviewed at:
The Written Word
Rhinoa's Ramblings
Everyday Reading