Fantasy, Fiction, gaming, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Minecrafters! GameKnight999 is writing another adventure!

Posted on November 30, 2014November 30, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hey, remember back when we were getting all excited for New York Comic Con, I had the opportunity to get a set of Minecraft novels written by Mark Cheverton, and so did you? I promise, PROMISE, promise, those reviews are coming – the Cybils awards are currently taking over my entire nightstand and starting to head toward my living room – but in the meantime, Mark Cheverton is writing another Minecraft adventure, and Sky Pony Press is publishing it!

The new book sounds like it’s going to be part of another GameKnight999 series, and it’s called The Mystery of Herobrine. We’re going to get more Minecraft secrets, and meet some new villains in this series. Mr. Cheverton even treated us to a glimpse of one of his new villains, Xa-Tul, the zombie king:

I’m really excited to get to these books. My son loved them, and was VERY excited to see this sneak peek. I also bought a set for my library, and I haven’t seen them since the day I put them on the “New Books” shelf. The kids are EATING this book, I swear it. In fact, once I get a book budget again, I may have to invest in another set. And I think I need to look at this Winter Morgan Minecraft series, also available through Sky Pony.

Uncategorized

NaNoWriMo Writers, Aspiring YA writers – A Literary Contest for You!

Posted on November 30, 2014November 30, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I received this e-mail from the Serendipity Literary Agency about a contest – with most publishers accepting only agented submissions, this is a great way to get your book in front of YA editors at some impressive publishing houses. Here are the details, and good luck!

THE 5th ANNUAL

YA DISCOVERY CONTEST

LAST DAY to ENTER!

No query? No pitch? No problem!

Have a young adult novel—or a YA novel idea—tucked away for a rainy day? Are you putting off pitching your idea simply because you’re not sure how to pitch an agent? No problem! All you have to do is submit the first 250 words of your novel, and you can win exposure to editors and a reading of your manuscript by one of New York’s TOP literary agents, Regina Brooks. Regina Brooks is the CEO of Serendipity Literary Agency and the author of the award-winning book, Writing Great Books for Young Adults, now available in its second edition. The top 20 submissions will be read by a panel of judges comprised of YA editors from Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Sourcebooks, Scholastic, Feiwel and Friends, Kensington, Candlewick, Bloomsbury, and Penguin. From the top 20 submissions, judges will select their top five submissions and provide each author with commentary. These five winners will also receive a free ONE YEAR subscription to The Writer magazine. ONE Grand Prize Winner will win a full manuscript reading and feedback from Regina Brooks.

Please submit all entries via the contest website at www.serendipitylit.com. One entry per person; anyone age 13+ can apply. Open to the U.S. & Canada (void where prohibited). Entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from November 1 12:01am (ET) until November 3011:59pm (ET).

Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Niles Wormwort, Accidental Supervillain – Supervillains go to summer camp?!

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Niles Wormwort, Accidental Supervillain, by D.M. Cunningham (Nov. 2014, Spencer Hill Middle Grade), $7.95, ISBN:9781939392374

Recommended for ages 9-12

Niles Wormwort is determined to win the science fair this year – but he blew up the school instead. His father has packed him off to Camp Mayhem – a role-playing superhero camp – much against Niles’ wishes. Things only get worse when Niles discovers he’s actually at a training camp for supervillains. What could get worse than that? Oh, just the sinister plot he uncovers while at the camp – a faction working within the camp has plans to take over the world! Will Niles go full supervillain, or will he be wiped out?

I enjoyed this book so much more than I expected to. I’m usually a sucker for a good superhero story, it’s true, and Niles Wormwart, Accidental Supervillain gave me a good laugh while drawing me in. Told in the first person, Niles’ voice is spot-on for the put-upon teen. He can’t believe what’s going on around him, and that his father just dumped him at this camp, refusing to take his calls. He’s got hero-worship issues for the local bad boy, who ends up at the same camp. He learns how to stand on his own feet and take care of himself, and I just wanted to cheer because the kid finally got it.

Middle graders will get a kick out of this book, and parents, librarians, and teachers may want to handsell this to their reluctant readers – it’s worth it.

Read an interview with author DM Cunningham here. For a bio and links to his social media, click on over here.

Fantasy, Teen

Alexandra Moni’s Suspicion – A touch of the paranormal in this mystery

Posted on November 25, 2014November 25, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Suspicion, by Alexandra Moni (Dec. 2014, Delacorte Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9780385743891

Recommended for ages 13+

When Imogen Rockford was 10, she lost her parents, aunt, and uncle in a fire that raged out of control. Extended members of the British upper class, they were enjoying their annual gathering at the family estate when the fire in the garden maze consumed them. Seven years later, she’s living with her guardian in New York City when the call comes in – her grandfather has been dead for three years, and her cousin-next in line for the title of Duchess-has just died . Imogen is the new Duchess of Rockford, and is immediately swept into a new life in Britain, on the same estate where her family died. There are family secrets that haunt her, especially the secret of the infamous fifth Duchess, and what she left in the maze…

I’ve got to be honest, this book was good without the addition of the paranormal details. If anything, the paranormal plot brought down the book for me, bringing me out of the story’s flow with what felt like tacked-on additions. The paranormal could have been alluded to, or done away with entirely, and it would have strengthened the rest of the book.

Fiction, Middle Grade

Cybils Middle Grade At-a-Glance: The Meaning of Maggie & All Four Stars

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I’ve been quiet lately, because I’ve been plowing through my Cybils middle grade fiction nominees. Here are some thoughts.

The Meaning of Maggie, by Megan Jean Sovern (2014, Chronicle Books) $16.99, ISBN: 978-1452110219

Recommended for ages 9-12

Set in the 1980s, Maggie’s an 11 year-old girl who wants to be president one day. She’s funny, quirky, and seemingly always at odds with her two older sisters. Her family is coping with her father’s increasingly worsening multiple sclerosis, the severity of which they try to shield from Maggie.

I enjoyed this book, in part because one of my childhood friends lost her mom to MS. Reading this book helped me, in a way, understand what my friend went through all those years ago, when we were all far too young to understand it. The author drew upon her own life to write this book, and for that, I’m thankful. Maggie is engaging and quirky, and as frustrating as I found her dad, in his ultimate quest to “be cool”, I saw his struggle to hang on when everything was falling apart around him.

All Four Stars, by Tara Dairman (2014, Putnam Juvenile), $16.99, ISBN: 978-0399162527

Recommended for ages 9-12

An 11 year-old foodie raised by junk food junkies has to be one of the best story plots I’ve come across in a while!

Gladys LOVES cooking. It’s her passion. She has a cookbook collection, watches cooking shows with a passion her classmates reserve for video games… and her parents just don’t get it. They microwave everything that they don’t bring home in a greasy bag. How can a foodie live like this?

When Gladys enters an essay contest for the New York Standard newspaper, her essay ends up in the hands of the food editor – who thinks it’s a cover letter. Gladys finds herself with a freelance assignment – to test out a new dessert restaurant in Manhattan! How can she visit the restaurant and write her review without her parents catching on?

This book just made me happy. It’s a fun story, with an instantly likable main character. Even her antagonists are likable, if a bit clueless. The plot moves along at a great pace, and I found myself chuckling out loud at some of the situations Gladys found herself in while trying to keep her secret. This is a great book to put into kids’ hands, a welcome lift from the heaviness that seems to permeate middle grade realistic fiction these days. I can’t wait to read the sequel, The Stars of Summer, when it hits shelves this summer.

Fiction

Helsinki Noir – Dark, Hard Hitting Crime Fiction from Finland

Posted on November 18, 2014November 18, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Helsinki Noir, edited by James Thompson (2014, Akashic Books) $15.95, ISBN: 9781617752414

Recommended for ages 18+

When I came across the Belfast Noir e-galley on Edelweiss, I also saw Helsinki Noir, from Akashic’s Noir series. Knowing that there’s a huge interest in Scandinavian noir, particularly thanks to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I gave it a shot. Never let it be said I don’t investigate literary trends!

Whoa. Where Belfast Noir was gritty with a touch of morbid Irish humor, Helsinki Noir is brutal, and often bleak. The stories are hard-hitting, often vicious, and leave you feeling wounded when you’re done. Crime fans, gird yourselves – these 14 stories take no prisoners. Split into three parts: Deep Cuts, Broken Blades, and Winds of Violence, each author seeks to peel back the bright surface of Helsinki’s streets to show readers a darker reflection of a city we often hear only the best of: their strong economy, their health care, their low crime rate.

As with Belfast Noir, shelve this with the grown-up books – this one’s not for younger readers. But by all means, shelve it, and look at more of Akashic’s Noir series. Mystery and true crime readers will appreciate the styles from all over the world, and embrace the darkness that every culture shares – no matter how hard they try to hide it.

Uncategorized

Belfast Noir – Gritty, dark stories from the Emerald Isle

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Belfast Noir, edited by Adrian McKinty & Stuart Neville (2014, Akashic Books) $15.95, ISBN: 9781617752919

Recommended for ages 18+

Belfast Noir is one of the latest in Akashic Books’ Noir series, spotlighting different cities across the globe. I hadn’t read a good noir story in a while, and I’m always interested in reading a good Irish author, so why not pick up an anthology of Irish noir?

This was my first entrée into Askashic’s noir series, and I was blown away with what I read. The stories, all by Irish writers, all take place in the city of Belfast – a city with a lot of history. That history, particularly the time known as “The Troubles” (the ethnic and nationalist conflict), finds its place here in Belfast Noir, as do other gritty crime stories. Many stories, while dark, are infused with the dark Irish humor I adore. There are 14 short stories in this anthology, including a story from Lee Child, who you may know from the Jack Reacher stories, or his work with Douglas Preston.

This is a great anthology of modern-day noir. The stories are gritty, exploring topics including drug use, brutality, death, and weapons-running. I wouldn’t suggest these for anyone younger than 18, but I do highly suggest them for any adult collection.

Science Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Star Wars fans! Tarkin gives us the origin story of The Grand Moff!

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Tarkin, by James Luceno (Nov. 2014, LucasBooks) $28, ISBN: 9780345511522

Recommended for ages 14+

Who was the one guy who could keep Vader in check? Come on, not the Emperor – the one person on the entire Death Star for whom Vader had a grudging respect? That’s right. Grand Moff Tarkin. Remember that one scene in the original Star Wars (some folks call it Episode 4 these days), when Vader is force-choking Admiral Motti, and Tarkin says, “Enough! Vader, release him.” Does Vader hold up a second hand and force choke Tarkin, too? No. He says – almost bored – “As you wish.” Even Princess Leia calls it when she comments on Tarkin being the one to hold Vader’s leash.

Bottom line – Tarkin got kind of a raw deal, being (spoiler alert) blown up at the end of the first movie, along with the Death Star. Played by the immortal Peter Cushing, Grand Moff Tarkin had the potential to be a tremendous figure in the Empire. We got some glimpses here and there with the post-series novels, most notably the emergence of Mara Jade, who was, we discover, Tarkin’s – GASP! – lover before she was Luke’s wife. But what formed the man we loved to hate?

Thankfully, James Luceno gives us Tarkin’s story in the latest Star Wars novel, Tarkin. We don’t get too much of a childhood background here, and we don’t need it. We get the events of his formative years that gave him his cold, steel foundation, and then we get a brief history of his rise through the Empire’s ranks, thanks to a friend in the Senate. Named Palpatine. The meat of the novel takes readers on Tarkin’s first mission with Vader, as they look to bring down a group of insurgents and find themselves peeling back layer upon layer of conspiracy.

Star Wars fans will love this story. Old school fans will love revisiting a familiar character and filling in some background notes. Newer fans will appreciate, and be familiar with, the post-Clone Wars Separatist movement and the Empire’s struggle to cement themselves as the reigning power in the universe.

James Luceno tells a great Star Wars story – it’s no wonder, really; he’s written Star Wars novels and a dictionary. He also gives us the Emperor’s real first name, which almost broke the Internet upon its release about a month ago. Emperor’s monikers aside, Tarkin is front and center in this book. We see his true genius, his talent for making connections and inferences, and most importantly, his dedication to the structure, the law, the absolute-ness that the Empire stands for.

I loved this book, if you can’t tell. I haven’t read a Star Wars novel in a long time, but this book welcomed me right back into that magical galaxy far, far, away.

Non-Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Alice + Freda Forever looks at a shocking murder – in 1892

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Alice + Freda Forever, by Alexis Coe (Oct 2014, Zest Books) $16.99, ISBN: 9781936976607

Recommended for ages 15+

The late 1800s was a buttoned-down time in America. Girls were expected to marry, but were encouraged to cultivate intimate female friendships-a practice called “chumming”-with one another. Same sex love, though? Same sex marriage? Not even entertained as a concept.

Alice Mitchell and Freda Ward were two teenage girls whose feelings for one another went beyond “chumming”. They planned to run away and marry. Alice intended to live her public life as a man, working to support her Freda, and live happily ever after. When their plot was discovered and communication forbidden between the two, Freda obeyed her mother, moving on with her life. Alice snapped.

On a cold January day in 1892, Alice slashed Freda’s throat, in public, in front of horrified onlookers. What followed was a trial that became the event of the century, that forced both legal teams to examine the supposed insanity of same-sex love.

While same-sex love became a hotly debated topic, the country was still years away from another issue that emerged during this trial – racial equality. It was never in doubt that Alice murdered Freda, but being a young, white girl from a good family. the punishment was an issue. How could you send a young woman like that to hang? Meanwhile, three black grocers, in the same jail as Alice, were dragged out and hanged by a lynch mob for defending their store from a robbery by whites.

I’d seen something about Alice and Freda a couple of years ago on a History Channel show – the name long escapes me – so when I saw this book mentioned in School Library Journal, I HAD to read it. This book is fantastic – Alexis Coe is an archivist who spent the time to collect this story in primary sources – letters, newspaper clippings, court proceedings – and her work shows. It’s nonfiction that reads like fiction, with companion drawings of evidence.

This is an amazing book for teen readers and beyond. Its historical relevance is not to be ignored, and while readers can appreciate where we’ve come as a society, they can also see where, sadly, we’ve become stuck.

All in all, Alice + Freda Forever is an unputdownable read.

Fiction, Young Adult/New Adult

Kami Garcia does it again with Unbreakable

Posted on November 16, 2014November 16, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Unbreakable, by Kami Garcia (Nov. 2014, Little Brown Books for Young Readers) $18, ISBN: 9780316210171

I initially had some trepidation about whether or not I’d enjoy reading Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s Beautiful Creatures, having lumped it in with the sort of paranormal romance I really didn’t enjoy. I gladly ate those words, so I was thrilled when I had a copy of Kami Garcia’s Unbreakable show up on my Nook (thanks, NetGalley!).

Kennedy is a pretty ordinary teen until she comes home one night to discover her mom, dead. The doctors say heart attack, but it turns out to be something far creepier than that – a demon has it in for Kennedy, something she finds out from the two brothers that save her on the night before she’s supposed to head to boarding school under the care of her aunt.

No, the brothers aren’t Sam and Dean, fellow Supernatural fans, but MAN, do I love this book like I love a good Supernatural episode. There are secret societies, demons, and families of demon hunters passed down through the generations to be found here. I love paranormal when it’s done well, and Kami Garcia seems to know all the right buttons to push. I’m a Supernatural fan, so I got into this book right away.

Don’t think for a minute that this is a rip-off of the CW show, though – there is a strong story here, with characters that you’ll love. Everyone is descended from a demon hunter, with their own strong story to tell. Kennedy is the main focus, because she’s the only one who hasn’t been privy to this information – something I hope we find more about as this series progresses.

There’s something for everyone here – a search that takes us through the story, good paranormal spookiness, a solid plot that promises to unfold and keep us informed and teased at the same time, strong, badass female characters, and a love triangle that doesn’t get too sappy (thank goodness).

I can’t wait to get Unbreakable on my library’s bookshelves, and I’ve already told the friends that I raved Beautiful Creatures to that they need this book. Go get it now!