Tag: London

Posted in Science Fiction, Steampunk, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Time fractures can cripple cities in Timekeeper

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

timekeeperTimekeeper, by Tara Sim, (Nov. 2016, Sky Pony Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781510706187

Recommended for ages 13+

My first entry in this year’s Diversity Reading Challenge is Tara Sim’s Timekeeper, a steampunk story taking place in an alternate Victorian London, where clock towers control time. A damaged clock affects the populace, and if a clock is badly damaged or loses a vital part of its machinery, the town “stops”: no one dies, but no one can leave; the citizens are stuck in a time loop. That’s what happened to 17 year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart’s father three years before, and Danny’s become a mechanic in the hopes that he can free his father one day. On an assignment to a clock in the London borough of Enfield, Danny meets Colton, who throws a figurative wrench in all of Danny’s plans. Colton is a clock spirit – the essence of time for the Colton Tower clock – and the two boys fall in love. Danny knows this can’t end well, but he risks everything to be with Colton, who will find a way to keep Danny coming back to Enfield.

Some of the people of London are against the clock towers. They want time freed, uncontrolled, and stage protests that get heated. Clock towers are attacked, and Danny is blamed. He has to find a way to clear his name, keep Colton safe, and keep his father’s town safe so he can bring him home alive.

Timekeeper is the first in a planned trilogy by debut author Tara Sim. The story is very detailed – budding clock aficionados, and readers interested in the science of time (horologists – thanks, Google!) will fall in love with the lyrical way Sim discusses the delicate parts of the clocks and the idea of a spirit manifestation of each clock tower. The romance between Danny and Colton is sweet and gentle, and Danny’s feelings for men is more or less accepted, with some minor snark from the novel’s bully.

Shadowhunters fans will love this one. Get your steampunk on and put this with your Gail Carriger books, your Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld, and your old school Jules Verne and HG Wells collections.

Posted in Adventure, Espionage, Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

There’s a Section 13 loose in the Lost Property Office!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

lost-propertyThe Lost Property Office, by James R. Hannibal, (Nov. 2016, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), $16.99, ISBN: 9781481467094

Recommended for ages 10-14

Thirteen year-old Jack Buckles is usually pretty great at finding things, but that doesn’t extend to his father, who’s disappeared in London. His mother goes out to search for him, leaving Jack in charge of his younger sister, Sadie. All they need to do is stay in the hotel room until their mom gets back, but Sadie manages to nudge Jack into going for breakfast – and then she swears she sees their dad, and takes off. Before Jack knows what’s going on, he’s learned that his father was a member of a secret society of detectives, and Jack is next in line for membership – maybe. He also learns that a villain calling himself the Clockmaker is holding his dad hostage in exchange for the Ember, an artifact linked to the Great Fire of London. Jack and Gwen, a young clerk at the Lost Property Office, dive into adventure that takes them through the history of London in order to save Jack’s father and her uncle, who worked with Jack’s dad.

The Lost Property Office stumbled a bit for me because I had trouble unraveling exactly what the Lost Property Office was. Was it the secret headquarters of the secret society? Was it a more amorphous concept that I wasn’t getting? The action kicks in quickly and the pace doesn’t let up, but a bit more exposition would have given me a more helpful grasp on the story; I found myself getting lost trying to relate all the subplots and elements. I wasn’t a big fan of Gwen, who I found more obnoxious than a foil/humorous frenemy.

This one’s an additional purchase for your puzzle and mystery/espionage fans. Pair this with Gitty Daneshvari’s League of Unexceptional Children, and James Ponti’s Florian Bates series. The Alex Rider series is always a good pick for adventure fans, too.

Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult/New Adult

What makes a monster? Matthew J. Kirby explores in A Taste for Monsters

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

taste-for-monstersA Taste for Monsters, by Matthew J. Kirby, (Sept. 2016, Scholastic), $18.99, ISBN: 9780545817844

Recommended for ages 12+

Evelyn is a young woman left to fend for herself on the streets of Victorian London’s infamous East End. Orphaned and disfigured by her work in a matchstick factory, she seemingly has few prospects; she applies to London Hospital as a nurse, and is instead assigned to be the maid to the hospital’s most famous patient: Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. As she attends to Merrick, she finds a gentle, beautiful soul with whom she shares a love of Jane Austen, easy conversation, and sadly, pain.

And then the ghosts come. They visit nightly, terrifying Merrick and Evelyn, who stays with him to support him through the nightly terrors. Evelyn discovers that the ghosts are the restless spirits of women murdered by Jack the Ripper, whose work makes gruesome headlines. Evelyn takes it upon herself to help these spirits find peace so that they’ll leave Joseph alone, but are they really haunting him? And is Evelyn putting herself in the Ripper’s sights by getting involved?

This is my third Kirby book, and it’s safe to say I am hooked on his writing. His historical fiction places you right in the middle of the action, and his fantastic elements are so believable – especially in an age where spiritualists ran wild – that I had no problem believing that ghosts existed and sought out the kindness of a gentle man like Joseph Merrick. The character development is brilliant and complex; the characters had a depth to them that made we want to sit with them and share tea and conversation. There’s a thread of tension running through the book that will keep readers turning pages, whether it’s the tension between Evelyn and several key supporting characters in the novel, the tension of waiting for the spirits to arrive, and the gripping conclusion. Historical fiction fans that appreciate a touch of the supernatural will love this book; readers interested in the Jack the Ripper story or the Elephant Man will love this book. Conservative readers may shy away from some of the gory descriptions of the Ripper’s victims as read from the newspapers and sideshow attractions. There’s some excellent YA Ripper-related fiction available, including Maureen Johnson’s The Name of the Star; the graphic novel From Hell is another great booktalking and display choice. There is a children’s picture book about The Elephant Man by Mariangela Di Fiore that would be a good display choice. Get this book on your shelves and into hands.

Matthew J. Kirby is an Edgar Award-winning novelist.

 

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Ivy Pocket’s back in Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

ivy pocketSomebody Stop Ivy Pocket, by Caleb Krisp, (May 2016, Greenwillow Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9780062364371

Recommended for ages 9-12

Ivy Pocket, the resourceful, sarcastic 12 year-old from Anyone But Ivy Pocket, is back for her second adventure. This time, she’s the adopted daughter of two economical coffin makers, and she’s still searching for the evil Miss Always, who’s still on the loose. She’s got the Clock Diamond, a gem with mysterious powers, and she’s trying to figure out how to use it to bring her dear friend Rebecca back from… wherever it is Rebecca’s gone. Plus, she’s found herself in the middle of a mystery, as an heiress wants Ivy to investigate her brother’s disappearance, which seems to be tied into her new family. Somehow. Ivy’s going to happily blunder into and out of the craziest circumstances… after all, she has all the instincts of a secret agent, a sedated cow, a writer of penny dreadfuls…

This was my first Ivy Pocket adventure, and while readers familiar with the first book will be more savvy when it comes to characters and previous events, new readers can enter the story here, with exposition providing important details throughout the book. Ivy is insanely funny, self-assured to the point of hilarity, and delightfully sarcastic to everyone around her. The Victorian London setting adds to the playfully macabre atmosphere, and Barbara Cantini’s black and white art throughout the book adds even more fun to the story.

This is the second in an Ivy Pocket trilogy. The publisher’s Ivy Pocket website sports a book trailer, interview with none other than Ivy Pocket herself, and web samplers of both Anyone But Ivy Pocket and Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket. Give these to your Lemony Snicket fans!

Posted in Fantasy, Young Adult/New Adult

These Vicious Masks – a Regency X-Men!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

viciousThese Vicious Masks, by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas (Feb. 2016, Macmillan), $9.99, ISBN: 9781250073891

Recommended for ages 13+

Evelyn is so tired of dealing with society’s expectations. She isn’t interested in the balls her mother insists they attend, she isn’t interested in marriage – she’d rather help her sister, Rose, who has the scandalous dream of becoming a doctor! The two have earned the pearl-clutching reputation for healing people at their country estate, and that just won’t do in London society. The sisters meet an odd gentleman named Sebastian Braddock at one gala, and don’t know what to make of him. Is he eccentric, or just crazy? All bets are off the next morning, when Evelyn wakes up to discover Rose is gone. No matter what her so-called note said, she knows that Mr. Braddock is somehow mixed up in this. She heads off to London to find her sister and bring her home.

Once she arrives in London, though, Evelyn finds out that she, Rose, Mr. Braddock, and even Mr. Kent, the dashing gentleman that’s had eyes for her – are a very special group of people, with special abilities that attract the attention of a scientist who experiments on these gifted individuals. Rose’s time is running out, and Evelyn finds herself forced to trust Mr. Braddock to help her get her sister back home safely.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s Heroes, circa 1820; X-Men meets Jane Austen, as I’ve read elsewhere. We’ve got a nefarious underground organization pulling strings, young men and women with incredible abilities that they may not even be aware they have, dashing men and daring young women rushing headlong into danger to save one of their own. I love the witty dialogue here – I chuckled out loud often while reading. Evelyn is a brilliant protagonist, sarcastic and vulnerable, smart and strong. Her banter with Mr. Kent is delicious, and her frustration at her own attraction to Sebastian Braddock is hilarious.

It’s not all laughs, with a very real danger in the form of a doctor hell bent on discovering the source of these abilities. Evelyn is terrified at the prospect of losing her sister, and furious at the time it’s taking to locate her. She finds herself in some of the seediest spots in London and up against people, the likes of whom she’s never encountered before. You’ll laugh, but you’ll white knuckle the covers as you read this book, trust me. The ending of the book leads me to think/hope/wish that there’s another book coming, and while I normally sigh and say, “Everything is a trilogy/quadrilogy/series these days,” here, I’ll say, “Yes, please, more.”

Add this one to your YA collections where you have fantasy fans. No steampunk here, just good storytelling and superpowers, no tights, no capes (unless we’re talking opera cloaks, that’s a different story).

Posted in Animal Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Humor, Tween Reads

The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale, by Carmen Agra Deedy & Randall Wright (Barry Moser, ill.) (Peachtree Publishers, 2011)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 9-12

Skilley is a street cat who finds himself hired by Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a pub in Victorian London where writers like Charles Dickens find themselves inspired to write. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese makes some of the best cheese in the kingdom, and they’ve got a bit of a mouse problem. It should be a dream job for Skilley, but he has a secret – he doesn’t like to eat mice. He prefers cheese, truth be told. Skilley and the mice of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, led by young Pip, work out an arrangement that should keep the staff at the Cheese fooled and Skilley’s belly fed until Pinch – a nasty street cat who’s had run-ins with Skilley before – shows up. Afraid that Pinch will discover his secret, Skilley finds his friendship with Pip at risk and Maldwyn, another guest of the Cheshire, in danger.

The Cheshire Cheese Cat is one of those stories that is just a fun, great read. The authors managed to create a morality tale and a story of friendship that has appeal to a huge age range. It would be a great read-aloud to younger grades, with anthropomorphic characters to keep them interested, and older readers will appreciate the dilemmas Skilley finds himself confronted with: unlikely friendships and looking “cool” in front of one’s peers among them. The characters, human and animal alike, are fleshed out and their interactions have depth. Inserting historical characters like Charles Dickens, who finds himself interested in the goings-on at the Cheese – goings-on that human patrons seem to miss – make the tale more fun, as does the visit from the “surprise guest” teased at the beginning of the book. Black and white illustations by Barry Moser add to the enjoyment and give the readers a little more grease for the imagination’s wheels.

The Cheshire Cheese Cat website offers information about Victorian London, Charles Dickens, The Cheshire Cheese, and more historical references found in the book. A fun page on Cheshire Cheese, thought to be the oldest cheese in England,  provides the history of the cheese and recipes and would be a fun addition to any classes reading the book. Author Carmen Agra Deedy maintains a blog where she also maintains a list of events and appearances, awards and nominations, and her other books.