MORE 'MIDDLE-GRADE-FANTASY' POSTS
Dreamdark: Silksinger By Laini Taylor Illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo G.P. Putnam’s Sons (a division of Penguin) $18.99 ISBN: 978-0-399-24631-9 Ages 10 and up On shelves now. There was a boy. He came into my library branch. Couldn’t have been more than ten years of age. A good kid. He knew to come up to […]
Fortune’s Magic Farm By Suzanne Selfors Illustrated by Catia Chien Little, Brown and Company $14.99 ISBN: 978-0-316-01818-0 Ages 8-12 Roald Dahl was a troublemaker of the first degree. Did he really have to be so original? So interesting? Did his books have to fall into such a distinctive age range? And did he have to […]
The Mystery of the Fool and the Vanisher By David and Ruth Ellwand Candlewick Press $18.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-2096-7 Ages 8 and up On shelves now Sometimes I’ll give a speech at events or conferences about children’s books that break barriers. I’ll talk about titles that don’t neatly slot into award categories and, as a result, […]
The Cabinet of Wonders (The Kronos Chronicles: Book 1) By Marie Rutkoski Farrar, Straus and Giroux $16.95 ISBN: 978-0-374-31026-4 Ages 10 and up On shelves now It seems to me that today’s average everyday fantasy author for kids has to walk a delicate line. You want to create an alternative history novel laden with magical […]
The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman Illustrations by Dave McKean Harper Collins $17.99 ISBN: 978-0060530921 Ages 11 and up On shelves September 30th I’ve noticed that there’s been an increased interest in the macabre in children’s literature lately. Sometimes when I’ve had a glass or two of wine and I’m in a contemplative mood I […]
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit By Nahoko Uehashi Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-00542-5 Ages 9-14 On shelves now No one can look you in the eye and tell you that kids today don’t read Japanese literature. A simple stroll by the manga section of any […]
Diamond Willow By Helen Frost Farrar Straus Giroux $16.00 ISBN: 978-0-374-31776-8 Ages 8-14 On shelves now Poetry Friday, lovelies. Check out Writer 2b for the round-up. The sentence “I told you so!” is deeply satisfying. Granted, the satisfaction you feel when you say it only lasts a minute or two, but for a little while, […]
Monster Blood Tattoo – Book One: Foundling By D.M. Cornish G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin imprint) $18.99 ISBN: 0-399-24638-X Ages 11 and up On shelves now By this point I think the nation’s readers of children’s fantasy novels have hit a kind of boredom plateau. You get a new fantasy on your desk and you have […]