Tag Archives: highly recommended

Author: Nahoko Uehashi
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th to 8th grade

Pages: 272
Publisher: Arthur Levine/Scholastic
Edition: Hardcover, 2008 (ARC)

I posted this on Goodreads but want to highlight this one specifically here… for anyone searching for a good fantasy that is not the typical English original — this is a GREAT new offering:

It’s a book that I can feel entirely enthusiastic about recommending to children who look for fast-paced and action packed stories with magic.

It’s a book that features unusual characters: the protagonist is a 30-year-old warrior woman who wields a spear with great skills and who has a rich back story and an intriguing future story to look forward to.

It does not alter its sensibilities for an American audience.

It has incredibly visual action scenes (yes, they do read like Animes, but this was turned into an anime series and I believe the lines between novels/mangas/animes are fairly blurred and cross-able and re-cross-able in the contemporary Japanese culture.)

The exploration of the “storytelling” theme strikes a chord with me, especially the idea that children’s rhymes and folklores are “real” messages, to deal with real life crisis and issues.

The idea of overlaying worlds of the Real and the Fantastic are not uncommon in fantasy traditions and especially in the Manga tradition — but here the author so tangibly captured the moments and the imagery of the two worlds when someone straddles the two realms. It made me feel as if I were the character who peeks into the fantastic realm and that that world could very well be next to me, waiting at my next breath.

Of course, there is quite a bit of nostalgia here, too — this story echoes those martial art novels (wu xia) that I grew up with in Taiwan. The characters, their relationships, the fighting skills and scenes, the themes, etc. are all exactly what I liked as a young reader and still like as an adult.

I am just so pleased that this series is brought to the States and may allow more titles like this or even open the door to translations of wu xia xiao shuo… That will be truly a dream comes true!

Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Rating:
Reading Level: 5th to 7th

Pages: 192
Publisher: Firebird (Penguin Putnam)
Edition: Hardcover, 2007

I find this short fantasy highly entertaining and extremely delightful. Diana Wynne Jones has such a strong sense of language to convey humor, mystery, the fantastic world and its richly drawn characters. For example, when Haley first met Tollie, and was taunted by him, her thoughts were, to “pull pieces off him — ears, nose, fingers… so long as they came away with lots of blood–” (p. 4, p.5) This extreme thought both illustrates Haley’s feisty personality and also establishes the tone of the story early on. That it is going to be full of strong emotions and funny bits. And throughout the book, this tone is consistent.

There are vivid scenes that have stayed with me for months: the raw pork chop stuck in the drain, Flute and Fiddle standing by the street corners walking through walls, performing magic, Aunt Aster being carried in Orion’s arms racing down the street, the various beautiful and dangerous strands and encounters in the Mythosphere. I am impressed by the author’s ability to weave a very rich story within a slim volume.

Many other light observations that are both humorous and acute such as this, “Nodding and smiling turned out to be a habit with Marthya. She used it instead of understanding English. She used it particularly when Grandma told her to clean the silver or sweep the stairs.” (p. 31)

I also really enjoyed how the readers are as puzzled, confused, and baffled as Haley at the beginning of the story, and, how, there are clues that the readers start to piece together to get the whole picture, while Haley still is unaware of the situation… but eventually, there is enough of a surprise toward the end that it won’t bore the readers who have somewhat figured out these characters. Jones’ ability to weave tales together ambiguously and then slowly revealing the inter-dependent details is once again so masterfully done. Each character is drawn so vividly and every danger is breath taking. What a treat!

Author: Kate Thompson
Rating:
Reading Level: 5th-8th

Pages: 442
Publisher: Greenwillow
Edition: Hardcover, 2007

Hallucinating. Mesmerizing. Tantallizing. Extraordinary.
(Charming, seductive and completely enthralling – as described by Eoin Colfer, which is apt, as well.)

I especially adore the fact that, instead of leaving the identity of The New Policeman subtly hinted and hidden for readers to puzzle over (although it got more and more obvious as the book goes — perfectly executed, those little hints throughout), there is a resounding confirmation. It makes this a most satisfyig children’s book: the readers are not left with a malencholy that hangs over our head — which it can EASILY go.

The short chapters match so well with the missing Time. As an Irish music fan, I can’t help but humming all the tunes after each chapter. How cleverly done those are — and Thompson even composed a couple herself.

This is a deserving award winner (of both the 2005 Guardian and Whitbread Awards) and should be relentlessly promoted to all worthy young readers!