penguin – Mom Read It

Reign of the Dead – YA fantasy with an LGBT twist

Posted on March 10, 2018March 9, 2018 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Reign of the Fallen, by Sarah Glenn Marsh, (Feb. 2018, Penguin), $17.99, ISBN: 9780448494395

Recommended for readers 13+

In the land of Karthia, death isn’t always final. Necromancers cater to the Dead, bringing their souls back from the Deadlands and allowing them to move among society, even rule their lands. They must, however, remain shrouded; if their shrouds should fall off, they will become Shades – essentially, ravening zombies – and have to be put down before they can cause harm. Odessa is a master necromancer, as is her lover, Evander; they work together to discover the death of their mentor at the hands of a Shade until another Shade attacks leaves Evander dead and Odessa grieving. In the midst of her grief, Odessa and one of Evander’s sisters stumble onto a plot to overthrow the kingdom of the Dead; it’s a conspiracy that will leave her home in chaos. As Odessa works with Evander’s sister to untangle the mystery, she finds herself drawn to this young woman – as she was to Evander.

There’s a lot going on in Reign of the Fallen, and Sarah Glenn Marsh puts some nice worldbuilding into her story. She’s created a society where the dead can still be as productive as they were in life, but this causes strife among those who feel that it’s time for the dead to step aside and let the living rule. She’s created a world where sexuality and gender are fluid; it’s a part of the fabric of their society. To refer to this an LGBT novel is, however, a bit premature, at least to me; the main character spends a good part of the storyline in love with or mourning her lost, cis-male, love, and only just starts to notice and act on her attraction for another female fairly late in the book. Other same-sex relationships are referred to, but this is a society where love is love, and neither gender nor sexuality changes the rules. There are sex-positive LGBT themes; I’m just not sure that having a bisexual character who only seems to discover her bisexuality 2/3 through the novel qualifies it as an LGBT book, rather than a well-written, immersive fantasy.

Overall, Reign of the Fallen is a nice add to fantasy collections and will satisfy fantasy readers that enjoy intrigue and worldbuilding. The book has a starred review from School Library Journal.

Fiction, Science Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Step into YA Cyberpunk with Marie Lu’s Warcross

Posted on October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Warcross, by Marie Lu, (Sept. 2017, Penguin), $18.99, ISBN: 9780399547966

Catwoman’s Nine Lives is great fun for intermediate readers!

Posted on June 4, 2014June 4, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Catwoman’s Nine Lives, by Matthew K. Manning (Capstone, August 2014). $5.95, ISBN: 9781434291363

Recommended for ages 7-12

Catwoman’s at it again. After giving Batman the slip during a chase, she comes home to find Penguin waiting for her, with a proposal – steal the Ventriloquist’s Dummy, Scarface. It will render him helpless and eliminate the competition he poses to Penguin. Never able to turn down the chance for a good score, Catwoman accepts, and touches off a war! The Ventriloquist wants revenge against Penguin, and Penguin has no intention of backing down. Will Catwoman turn to Batman for help, or will she allow a bloody crime war to rage unchecked?

This book is a fun read; a great combination of chapter book and graphic novel, it will hold readers’ interests with the fast-paced action and Luciano Vecchio’s intense art. Vecchio is well-versed in DC artwork, handling art duties on Beware the Batman, Young Justice, and the Green Lantern Animated Series. Matthew K. Manning, the Bat-scribe here, is a well-known comic writer whose work I really like; here, he doesn’t talk down or over his audience. He’s right where the kids need him to be, and, with Vecchio, creates a fun adventure.

Enhanced content, including comics terms and a glossary of words used in the story, and discussion questions, means this book will be one of the hottest book on the shelves at school libraries. The book can easily be applied to Common Core lessons, including discussions of sequences of events for younger readers and ambiguous morality for more intermediate audiences.

Capstone’s Capstone Kids website is a great resource, with activities and character bios for all their properties, including sections on the DC Superheroes and Super Pets.

The book will be published on August 1, but in the meantime, there are more Capstone DC titles – hit your libraries and bookstores to find some! They’re a great way to ease kids into summer reading!

Toddler Reads

Retro Review: Nick Jr’s Oswald’s A Nice Quiet Picnic/The Big Parade

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Oswald (A Nice Quiet Picnic/The Big Parade). Directed by Ken Kessel. NickJr, 24 minutes. HIT Entertainment PLC, Nicktoons Productions. 2001

Toddlers and Preschoolers will love the early 2000’s cartoon, Oswald, based on the series of books by Dan Yaccarino. The show ran on Nicktoons from 2001-2003; parents can still find the show on the NickJr channel. Yaccarino served as producer on the show, assuring that the look and feel of the books carried over. Each episode runs approximately 24 minutes and contains two episodes that run about 12 minutes each.

The show follows the adventures of Oswald, an octopus, and his friends in the city of Big. Each episode contains the same characters: Oswald (voiced by Fred Savage), his dachshund, Weenie, who looks like an actual hot dog (voiced by Debi Derryberry), and his friend, Henry, a penguin (voiced by David L. Lander) appear in every episode. Other friends show up from time to time. In the episode A Nice Quiet Picnic, Oswald, Henry and Weenie go on a picnic; as more friends show up, the group tries to figure out how to feed everyone when there are only three sandwiches. The episode highlights the value of sharing, as Oswald continues to invite friends to the picnic as he encounters them in the park, despite Henry’s protests that there is not enough food to feed everyone; it also focuses on teamwork, as the group of friends comes together to feed everyone at the picnic. There are repetitive phrases and counting exercises throughout for toddler and preschool audiences, and simple songs round out the episode.

In The Big Parade, Oswald hears parade music from his window and is excited, believing that a parade is coming to town. He and Weenie fetch Henry and their friend, Daisy (voiced by Crystal Scales) – an actual Daisy flower – and find a spot to wait for the parade to pass, talking excitedly about their favorite parade performers; in particular, the acrobats, the jugglers, and the Grand Marshall. When they learn that there is no parade, and that the music was coming from a friend’s radio, they decide to make their own parade, each character assuming their favorite role. As with A Nice Quiet Picnic, there is a great deal of repetition, this time, reinforcing the roles of the parade performers. The episode teaches children to deal with disappointment, as the group does when they realize that there is no parade – they turn a letdown into a positive situation.

The artwork is the same as the artwork from the Oswald book series, with bright, vibrant color against a calm backdrop of City. The skies are blue, the grass is a calming green, and even Oswald’s apartment building is an inviting backdrop of light color, all assuring that the main characters will stand out. The characters speak calmly, in quiet, soothing voices.

The series is not very interactive, but it does provide good storytelling with characters that may be known to young audiences; it also serves, for those audiences that are unfamiliar with Oswald, as a bridge to reading the books. It may be a fun idea to have an Oswald day where audiences can view a two-story episode and talk about the themes of teamwork and what to do when you feel sad. Have Oswald books available and on display for parents and children to read and take out after the read-aloud. There are Oswald board books available for younger audiences. The Oswald mini-site on the NickJr. webpage offers printables that attendees could color.

NickToons and the now-defunct Noggin network also ran episodes of Maurice Sendak’s series, Little Bear and Bil Cosby’s Little Bill; these shows were based on series of books and could also be of interest to younger viewers and readers.

The Oswald series of books by Dan Yaccarino includes early readers, board books, and 8×8 books. Titles include Oswald’s Camping Trip; Counting with Oswald; Colors with Oswald and Henry’s First Haircut.