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Huntress (fiction)

Jan9

Years of rain,
Crops rotting overnight,
Monsters infiltrating villages near the Great Wood,
a sudden summons from the Fairy Queen to her hidden city.

The most talented sage-in-training for generations, Taisin has seen a vision with Kaede accompanying her on this quest, and the oracle stones have confirmed it. Kaede is an able enough scholar, but her years at the academy have merely proved that she has no ability as a sage, despite her noble father’s hopes. He’d rather solidify a political alliance using her as a marriage pawn, but the King has faith in the oracles and in Taisin’s vision – the two young women will indeed answer the Fairy Queen’s call, along with Prince Con and his best warriors.

Whether you’re saving Malinda Lo’s Ash until you finish reading this prequel or you’re returning to the sea islands and forests of ancient Cathair, you’ll be transported to a far place and a far time as you anxiously accompany Kaede and Taisin on their journey, hoping for their political success and future happiness together.

Find Huntress today at your local library or independent bookseller, and beware the monsters of the Great Wood.
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Book info: Huntress / Malinda Lo. Little Brown, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

My Recommendation: No sunshine, no crops, no hope for their country unless two teens can learn what the Fairy Queen knows about the new monsters attacking under the never-ending clouds. From the sanctuary of their Academy, 17-year-old Kaede and Taisin must travel far – a daughter of the hunt and a sage just coming into her immense psychic powers against threats from… where?

Kaede thought that this quest would be much better than her noble father’s plan to marry her off as a political move, but as their small group encounters human babies born with writhing monster souls and villages scoured clean by ravening creatures of the fog, she’s not so sure. Is it coincidence that the Fairy Queen’s invitation came to the King’s court at this time of great troubles, when only Prince Con could be spared for the journey?

Traveling further into the Wood, whispering winds taunt with empty promises and Xi ghosts try to lure them off the trail. Taisin worries that her spell-knowledge is not enough to protect them. Warrior Shae opines that worry is useless; only action will see them through. Ceaseless rain leaches color from the world and hope from their spirits. The only warm spark in this dismal place is the growing attraction between Kaede and Taisin.

As they near the Fairy Queen’s city, Taisin’s sleeping- self travels to distant icy halls, the Xi ghosts circle closer, and the Huntsman of legend appears with a message. Can they indeed ford that vast river separating Fairy lands from those of humans? Will the Queen know why Cathair’s weather remains always winter? Can she help them bring springtime back to their world?

This evocative prequel to Ash takes readers into a world of menacing shadows trying to overrun a land like ancient China, where much depends on the hearts of two girls who should still be studying in school and falling in love instead of having to fight monsters in order to save their people. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

My Brother’s Shadow (fiction)

Dec21

To keep your family alive…
would you lie?
would you cheat?
would you steal?

Germany’s people go to sleep hungry in 1918, as young men and old men go to fight in the Great War. Kaiser Wilhelm assures them that the war is almost won – his lies do not fill empty bellies or heal maimed soldiers.

Moritz does all he can to support his mother, sister, and grandmother with his older brother Hans still fighting in the trenches, their father dead in the war. What about his dreams of becoming a writer?

We stand in the ration lines with Hedwig, hear the radical speeches at secret meetings, and see protesters cut down by government police as Moritz struggles to make sense of his world. Schroder, author of Saraswati’s Way (review), accurately portrays defeated Germany as the seeds of its future actions toward Jews and the rest of the world are planted in the bitterness of the War’s closing days.
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Book info: My Brother’s Shadow / Monika Schroeder. Frances Foster Books/FSG, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Moritz knows he’s lucky to work at the printers – Berlin in 1918 is a place of hunger and desperation. Older brother Hans is now fighting on the Western Front, leaving the 16-year-old as head of their household; Father died at Verdun in the early days of this Great War.

His mother and sister trudge home day after day, reeking of chemicals from the munitions factory, chilled to the bone from standing in ration lines that shortchange them on food. The British have successfully blockaded all German ports for 4 years now.

The Kaiser says that Germany is winning the war, but secret meetings of the social democrats call for public demonstrations to end the fighting. Moritz discovers that his mother not only attends these forbidden meetings, but is a leader in the anti-war movement, now hunted by the police.

Desperate to feed his family, Moritz is pulled into his brother’s old gang of thieves, stealing from rich men’s brimming pantries and bakers’ dwindling supplies of chalk-tainted flour. He meets a young lady in an unfamiliar neighborhood and wonders if there will ever be a peaceful time to discuss books with Rebecca Cohen.

A letter in unfamiliar handwriting arrives – Hans has been wounded badly. Will he survive? Will the Kaiser really agree to an Armistice to end the war? Can mother and Hedwig stay safe in the protest marches? Revolution? Is more fighting the answer to everything?

This compelling story takes readers into Germany’s dark times during the closing months of World War I, when anti-Semitism began to take root and the massive reparations demanded by the Allies would cripple the Germany economy for decades. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Hannah’s Winter, by Kierin Meehan (fiction) – Japanese ghosts, ancient puzzle mysteries

Dec7
book cover of Hannah's Winter by Kierin Meehan published by Kane MillerWinter in Japan.
Hot Australia far away.
Ghosts throwing donuts?

A mystery in the snow-shrouded town of Kanazawa is not what Hannah expected when she came to Japan. High school for her, horticultural field study for her mum, and then a ghost who tosses donuts and writes on Hannah’s mirror with sunscreen??

The town’s winter festivals and historic sites draw Hannah and her new Japanese friends Miki and Hiro further and further into a ancient mystery.

Dire visions foretold by three old women and dragons hidden in plain sight – could they be relevant to the task that “the ocean boy” begs them to accomplish? Dive into the puzzles of Hannah’s winter in Japan at your local library or independent bookstore.
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Book info: Hannah’s Winter / Kierin Meehan. Kane Miller, 2009. [author’s website] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Recommendation: Going to school in Japan instead of starting high school in Australia with her friends worries Hannah; her height and auburn hair will really make her stand out. But a mysterious message from the past sends her exploring her new city quickly.

Her host-father translates the ancient kanji on the fragile paper – it’s a puzzle, asking the finder to “help the ocean boy” by following the cryptic instructions. After “the first snowfall,” Hannah, host-sister Miki, and neighbor Hiro travel to “the temple of secrets” and see a vision from the past!

A boisterous ghost in the house, donuts tossed in the air, messages on her mirror, that recurring dream of the tunnel, a house of cards… Hannah finds they’re all pieces of the puzzle (except the donuts). A suit of samurai armor is delivered to Miki’s shop and puffs out incense with no fire. Japanese school is interesting, but waiting until time to “go at sunrise to wake the dragon” is hard.

Why has the “ocean boy” chosen Hannah to help him finish his task from the past? Is the man suddenly appearing all over their neighborhood “the one who does not want the boy to go”? And why has the samurai armor’s incense smoke changed from blue to yellow?

You’ll get peeks into modern Japanese culture as well as older folktales and traditions as you visit Kanazawa’s festivals and parks with Hannah, Miki, and Hiro to solve the mystery before it’s too late for “the ocean boy.”(One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Paper Daughter, by Jeannette Ingold (book review) – family tree with hidden branches?

Nov23

When what you “know” about your family isn’t true,
When the person with the real answers is gone,
How far can you search back into the past without losing yourself?

Maggie knows that she wants to be a reporter like her father, recently killed by a hit-and-run driver. But when investigations get too close to home, when the truth upends everything she thought she knew about her family background…

Her hometown of Seattle has always been shaped by immigration and change – from its wild days as a frontier logging town through the countless immigrants from China who made one corner of the city their own, despite the strangling restrictions of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

So what does Maggie discover about her family’s past and her own future?
Find out at your local library or independent bookstore on our World Wednesday – and remember to share family stories around the table this Thanksgiving.
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Book info: Paper Daughter / Jeannette Ingold. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. [author’s website] [publisher site] [student video book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: As a young journalist, Maggie Chen has her late father’s writing skills and reporting instincts. His recent death has left a gaping hole in her life, but she is determined to complete the summer internship he helped her arrange at the local newspaper.

That Jillian rushed in and grabbed photo desk before Maggie could even open her mouth – good thing Maggie won’t be working directly with the other intern, who is all talk and nosiness. But internship means trying every aspect of the job, so she’ll start at the sports desk and move to other assignments as the summer goes on.

Maggie and her professor mom start to notify Dad’s out-of-town contacts about his death, about that hit-and-run driver. When one call connects Maggie to Dad’s best friend in college, pieces of his life story begin to crumble as the truth about his past erases the family stories that he’d always told them. Now she’s wondering about the unfinished articles in her dad’s files.

If Dad wasn’t from a well-to-do family, then where did he come from?
Why did he contact so many people in California just before his death?
Was he in Seattle’s old Chinatown on the day he died for a newspaper story or on a personal investigation?

During her first “hard news” assignment, Maggie learns that someone else was killed in the same area on the same day, someone who might have been ready to blow the whistle on corrupt land development deals. Was her father’s death connected to that, too?

Murmurs of Chinese immigrants’ stories thread through Maggie’s search for answers, stories of “paper sons” claimed as blood relatives on immigration applications, of changed names and unchanged resentments. Can she ever know who she really is? (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

I Am Tama, Lucky Cat, by Wendy Heinrichs (book review) – legend retold for all

Nov20

Wait a minute… a picture book on a YA blog?

Yes, of course! Picture books are great for all ages and every interest. That’s why Picture Book Month reminds us of the wide range of stories where the pictures make the tale come alive, from Where the Wild Things Are to Grandfather’s Journey.

Today’s picture book theme celebrates folktales, so we look to a Japanese legend. Now you can discover why Lucky Cat became the friendly image that so often greets you in Chinese restaurants and oriental markets.

A charming book to spice up your world geography report or to share with younger friends. What do you wish the Lucky Cat could bring to you?
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Book info: I Am Tama, Lucky Cat / Wendy Heinrichs; illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi. Peachtree Publishers, 2010. [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: Arriving at an old Japanese temple, the bobtailed cat raises his paw in greeting. The monk brings him in from the snowstorm and calls him a lucky cat. So Tama strives to make life better for the monk in this beautiful retelling of the lucky cat legend. But with no money, how can Tama and the monk repair the temple and help its worshippers?

Watercolor images of the flowering trees and carp pond surrounding the rundown temple evoke the serenity of its setting near a holy mountain. This beautiful picture book for all ages includes short historical notes about the legend’s origins.

You’ll look for new details in the illustrations every time you read about Tama, and you’ll smile every time you see a ‘lucky cat’ in a store window or restaurant, his paw raised in traditional greeting. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Drowned Maiden’s Hair (fiction)

Nov14

Seeking answers from The Beyond.
Unwilling to wait until Heaven to see loved ones again.
Willing to pay anything to hear their voices now…

On this mysterious Monday, welcome to the early 1900s during the height of Spiritualism, when bereaved people became convinced that the chasm between this world and the next could be crossed during seances, that someone could connect them with a loved one for just a little time more together. For every truly gifted medium, there were countless charlatans and tricksters who took advantage of immense grief for large profits.

Seances and bringing forth voices from Beyond are just “the family business” for the genteel spinster Hawthorne sisters, now fallen on hard economic times. Who would guess that a child was suddenly living in their attic bedroom, an orphan child with a heavenly singing voice, an unwanted orphan child who can fit in hidden cupboards and manipulate the ghostly vapors and set chandeliers to swinging?

Wondering how long this arrangement can last? How long the illusions will hold? If there are any true connections to the Other Side? Come back to 1909 with Maud and find out for yourself.
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Book info: A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama / Laura Amy Schlitz. Candlewick, 2006 (paperback, 2008). [author interview] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Locked in the orphanage outhouse, Maud never imagined that she would be rescued by spinster sisters to become a séance angel…

Suddenly Maud has lovely new dresses and books with all the pages and a bedroom of her own! The Misses Hawthorne have all the “modern conveniences” in their large, remote house – this is 1909, after all. They teach Maud new hymns, buy her a blond wig to cover her flyaway brown hair, have her practice tricks for making chandeliers sway and hiding in secret compartments.

Yes, the Misses Hawthorne are no longer wealthy, so they hold séances to make a living. They help grieving people “hear” their lost loved ones from The Beyond, now assisted by Maud acting as any child who died young. If truth from the doctors and religion from the preachers won’t satisfy a wealthy patron that someone dear has indeed died and gone to heaven, then the Misses Hawthorne are more than willing to act as go-betweens with the Spirit World on their behalf…for a fee.

Moving to a seaside villa to be closer to a grief-stricken mother whose daughter drowned is another new experience for Maud – ice cream! The sea breeze! Sneaking out in the night to play in the sand! For no one outside the house must ever see her, must ever know that a child lives with the Hawthornes…

So, will Maud always have to live hidden in the attic bedroom? What does Muffet, their deaf and mute servant, think about all this trickery? Why does pretending to be dead Caroline feel different from acting as the other child spirits? Is Caroline really speaking to Maud in her dreams?

Go behind the scenes with Maud as she is swept along with the Misses Hawthorne during the height of the Spiritualist movement – and listen for Caroline’s voice…
(One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

LIttle Women and Me (fiction)

Nov4

Fun Friday with a blast into the past, as a middle-school girl is launched back into the pages of Little Women – no cellphone, no jeans, no kidding!

It seems like the world of Little Women is so much simpler than modern life, but Emily finds that even in 1861, human nature keeps things interesting. And the personalities of those March girls!

So, can Emily change the parts she dislikes about her favorite book? Will her actions as “the middle March” fix it or spoil it?

You’re sure to find the original Little Women at your local library or indie bookseller, but if you’d like to read Emily’s favorite online -free!- in a variety of formats, visit Project Gutenburg here.
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Book info: Little Women and Me / Lauren Baratz-Logsted. Bloomsbury, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site]

Recommendation: Emily jumps into the assignment to change something in a classic novel – she can’t change her real-life family, can she? Being a middle sister is just so annoying…

Back in the pages of her favorite book, Little Women, Emily tries to decide on just one thing to change: Prevent sweet Beth from dying? Keep Papa out of the Civil War fighting? Have boy-next-door Laurence marry Jo instead of silly Amy?

Suddenly she is whirled into the book itself – as middle March sister Emily!! What a different world – life for 13 year-old girls in 1861 means corsets and needlework, not jeans and text messages.

As she lives through the events chronicled in the novel’s pages, Emily tries to fit into the story without giving herself away as a time-traveler. School isn’t mandatory for girls? Hooray! Reading aloud to grumpy, demanding Aunt March? Yikes! Long evenings at home with sewing instead of the internet? Urrr…

Key events in the story are just around the corner – can Emily change things enough to keep Beth alive or make Laurie realize that he loves his best friend Jo instead of her sister Amy? And what will happen to Emily when the last page of the book is turned?

Whether reading this before or after Little Women itself, readers will see 19th century life and Alcott’s classic tale in a deeper way through Emily’s humorous adventures and misadventures. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby (book review) – deadly secrets in the ice, sent by the gods?

Nov2

As the glacier above the wooden fortress creaks and groans…
As the fjord begins to ice over, with no word from home…
As the royal children and their guardians realize that treachery is locked into their hiding place with them…

Our world Wednesday book takes us to the far North and far, far back in time, when the people who would become the Vikings battle winter’s fiercest blasts sent by the gods, as well as attacks from mere mortals.

Singing odes of gods and kings, reshaping history to suit the ears of the victors, skalds tell countless stories from memory. Is it Solveig’s destiny to walk the storytellers’ path, instead of being a dutiful daughter to the king?

Another wonderful, unusual tale from Matthew J. Kirby, who brought us The Clockwork Three (my review here).
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Book info: Icefall / Matthew J. Kirby. Scholastic, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site]

My Book Talk: Solveig wonders if winter will trap them in the mountain fort, waiting for word that her father has defeated an attacking king, listening to the glacier creak, worrying, worrying.

The king had sent her, her young brother the crown prince, and her older sister Asa away from the battle for their safety. When his best warriors arrive to protect them in the hidden fortress, Solveig knows that the berserkers would rather be fighting alongside her father instead of guarding them as the fjord ices over.

As the cold nights grow longer, the king’s storyteller gives them tales of the gods and of great battles. The skald finds that Solveig has an ear for story and a memory for detail – would she like to learn the storytelling arts? Finally, something worthwhile for this middle child – not pretty enough to marry off to forge an alliance, not a boy to be a warrior-prince.

A sudden outbreak of illness in the fort – a curse? Poison? The plague? Secrets told, promises broken, tempers flaring among the restless warriors. Will their father triumph over the invader who tried to steal Asa as his bride instead of negotiating? Will young prince Harald survive the winter? Will any of them?

A story from the days when storytellers kept history and hope alive through their ballads and odes, Icefall brings readers to the glacier’s edge, watching with Solveig over the stormy sea, hoping that the sails in the distance bring news of victory instead of danger. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Time-Traveling Fashionista, by Bianca Turetsky (fiction) – vintage dress in a Titanic time-adventure

Oct28
Vintage clothes and old letters are tangible links to the past. What if the right vintage dress was a direct link to its original owner’s past, like a wearable time-travel ticket?

Louise really appreciates the fine craftsmanship of vintage clothing, frequently wearing her carefully selected ensembles to junior high school (even if her mother disdainfully calls them “used clothes”).

Who could imagine that a hand-delivered invitation to a dusty shop would take Louise so far away from her suburban Connecticut home?
First in a series – can’t wait for the next!
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Book info: The Time-Traveling Fashionista / Bianca Turetsky. Little Brown Teens, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Recommendation: Dreaming about the perfect dress for the seventh-grade dance is much more fun than studying the Titanic in history or doing math problems. Of course, it should be a vintage dress – Louise just adores vintage designer clothes.

When an invitation to the exclusive “Traveling Fashionista Vintage Sale” is hand-delivered, Louise and best friend Brooke go downtown to check it out. The shop may have eccentric owners and terrible crab dip, but its dresses are divine!

When Louise tries on a sparkling, silky pink gown, she swoons and blacks out, waking up… on board an ocean liner?

Everyone calls her “Miss Baxter” – from Mr. Baxter (her uncle and manager, says her maid Anna) to the very elegant passengers aboard. When others look at Louise, they see the beautiful young actress returning from a successful tour in Europe; when she looks at herself in the mirror, Louise sees her 12-year-old self, complete with braces and frizzy hair.

Stumbling through the plush carpeted corridors on Miss Baxter’s high heels to the sumptuous dinners at the captain’s table, Louise makes a few mistakes that her uncle explains away as stress. Once Louise discovers exactly which ship she’s on, her stress level truly skyrockets!

Can she persuade the captain of the Titanic to alter his course? Will any of her new friends survive? Will Louise ever see her parents and modern times again?

First book in a fun series that will have readers prowling vintage clothing shops, looking for the perfect ensemble to send their imaginations back in time. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Karma, by Cathy Ostlere (fiction) – lost in her parents’ India during civil war

Oct26

World Wednesday takes us from the prairies of Canada to the crowded streets of India as Maya travels to her parents’ homeland on a grief-stricken mission.

Instead of learning more about her Sikh and Hindu heritage or meeting family for the first time, she’s flung into the chaos, violence, and massacre that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984.

Look for this stunning verse novel at your local library or independent bookstore – you need to hear Maya’s story for yourself.
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Book info: Karma / Cathy Ostlere. Razorbill, 2011, paperback 2012. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: At 15, Maya is taking her mother’s ashes home to India, back to the grandparents she’s never met, traveling with her father in 1984, far from Canada where she was born.

Unheard-of for a Sikh and a Hindu to marry in India of the 1960s! Disowned by her family, his family warning of spiritual disaster, Maya’s parents emigrate to Manitoba, where Bapu hopes to be successful and Mata prays for children and peace.

The aloneness that the prairie winds swirled around her mother finds Maya in the crowded streets of poverty-stricken New Delhi, as she tries to make sense of everything in her journal, her diary in verse.
Suddenly, India’s Prime Minister is assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, and Hindus begin killing Sikhs in revenge. Bapu disguises himself and leaves Maya at their hotel while he tries to find a safe way for them to get to his hometown.

When rioters set fire to the hotel, Maya flees blindly into a city filled with mayhem, heading to the train station to go – anywhere. An accident, an attack, a fright, amnesia, a lost girl… Others continue telling Maya’s story when her own voice is no longer sufficient, as she journeys and drifts in confusion.

Can she find her voice again? Can she find her father? Did he really plan for her to marry someone here in India? How can she keep going, knowing that she left Mata’s ashes behind? This powerful novel in verse takes mature readers to a far land in a time not so distant, when civil war almost fractured India and its horrors threatened a young girl’s hold on reality. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.