Matched

Author: Ally Condie
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 30th, 2010

Review:
Everything is perfect in 17 year old Cassia Reyes’ world. And everything is perfect because everything is decided for her: what she will wear, what she will eat, what she may read, what her career will be, who she will marry: just as it is for every other citizen in the Society. She doesn’t question it. Not until the morning after her Match Banquet, at which she was assigned her life partner, chosen because his genes perfectly complimented hers and ensure healthy children. Cassia was lucky enough to be Matched with her best friend, Xander. The odds against it are staggering; it has been years since someone was Matched to a person they already knew. But when she puts Xander’s card into her portscreen at home, it isn’t his picture that appears; instead Cassia sees another boy. Another boy she knows.

Worry consumes Cassia. There must have been a malfunction, a glitch in Xander’s card. Why else would she have seen her neighbor, Ky Markham, instead? The Society does not make mistakes. It cannot make mistakes. Her fears are allayed when a high level Official tells her not to worry, that it was simply a malfunction. Ky could never be her Match. He will never be anyone’s Match. He is an Aberration, a lower caste and not permitted to mate.

But Cassia’s seed of doubt grows. A mistake has been made by the government she grew up believing infallible. What if Ky is supposed to be her Match?

A frightening cross between Huxley’s “A Brave New World” and our own, Matched dunks the reader into another reality, one that is conceivably not too far from our own. It is alive, it breaths, and before long Matched has the reader so pulled in that it isn’t hard to believe the Society actually does exist. It’s the strongest, most vivid character in the book. “They are giving us pieces of real life instead of the whole thing…” Cassia complains, wanting more than she has been allotted. For Cassia, scraps aren’t enough. Not after their mistake.

She is a compelling character, Cassia Reyes: curious and cautious, book-smart and street-ignorant, submissive and rebellious. Just the right blend for a teenager pushing her boundaries and deciding if it is worth the price she must pay to break them. But all the time it feels like Cassia is holding back, like we only get to view her through the portscreens in our homes, impersonal and impossible to touch. But the promise is there, the promise of so much more from Cassia and all of the others she interacts with.

Matched doesn’t bring quite the same intensity to the arm chair as The Hunger Games, another dystopian young adult novel, but the sentiments and themes it portrays are just as moving. No one should ever say that there is nothing to be learned from fiction. Novels like Matched show in graphic detail why we must fight for our freedoms, for the rights we take for granted and stay true to ourselves while doing so. To paraphrase Dylan Thomas’s poem, we cannot go gently into the good night.

Perspective:
Matched is told in first person with Cassia as the narrator.

My Thoughts:
This book felt like it went very slowly, yet I didn’t want to put it down. I would have loved to have felt more connected to Cassia and Ky, their relationship to each other and those around them. Perhaps this was partly due to the nature of their Society, the withholding of yourself because someone is always watching. Oddly enough, Xander was the character I understood the best. His motives were clear, as was his joy or pain. Over all I would say that it holds a great deal of promise, of things to come in the sequel. I just wish I didn’t have to wait to see how everything pans out.

Favorite Scene:
Cassia breaking the frame. Her thoughts on what it would sound like, the musings of someone who has never heard glass shatter, struck me as completely honest and perhaps one of the best written scenes I’ve come across. This line, in particular, has stuck with me because of the hope, loss and beauty contained within it: “I think the glass would make a glittery sound when it broke; I would like to see it burst into a million pieces and shine all the way down.”

Who this book is best for: 13 years old and up.

Stars: 3.5 of 5, edging its way up to 4 stars (despite its flaws) the more I think about it.

Violence: 0 of 5

Going Bovine

Title: Going Bovine
Author: Libba Bray
Genre: Young Adult
Published: 2009

Review:
Cameron is a 16 year old high schooler who gets straight Cs when he doesn’t fail and smokes a lot of pot. It helps him keep his mind off of the fact that his family is falling apart, and that he doesn’t care. Or maybe he does care, but he can’t do anything about it. But recently his waking hours have become stranger than even the pot can account for, involving giant flame monsters controlled by an armed and armored wizard and a lady punk rocker angel. Of course only Cam sees any of these things. It comes to a head when he punches out an ex football star… during class. Even Cam has to admit something strange is happening. Turns out he has Mad Cow Disease. Oh, and it’s fatal. Bummer.

Cam is taken out of school and put into the hospital for testing, hoping that they’ll come up with a miracle fix before his brain turns into a sponge. That’s when his angel comes back and tells him he has two options: Stay in the hospital bed and die, or go on a quest reminiscent of Don Quixote to find Dr. X, the only man who can cure him.

Cameron chooses the quest and drags along his hospital roommate, an asthmatic Mexican-American dwarf video game aficionado (not named Sancho) he met once in the druggie bathroom at school, because the angel claims the dwarf has to come along if they’re going to succeed. Along the way they’ll play jazz with the greatest horn player in the Big Easy, assist a Norse God trapped in Lawn Gnome form who is tired of being urinated on, and countless other things as they learn what it really means to be alive.

The characters Libba Bray uses are some of the most interesting ones I’ve run across. Even if you’ve never been the high school druggie, even if your family is the most tight-knit happy-go-lucky group out there, you can relate to Cam’s existence and feel what it must be like to have everyone give up on you. To give up on yourself, as Cam has. But through it all, despite the despair of Cam’s situation, despite his family problems, his intense internal and personal issues and drug abuse, there’s always hope. And that’s one of Ms. Bray’s best talents, is the constant infusion of hope into her novels. The sense that “yeah, it sucks now, but things will get better if you just keep trying and wait” is enough to keep everyone going. And it’s an important life lesson to remember.

Libba Bray’s Going Bovine plays with a reader’s mind, constantly making one question whether any of it is really happening. Is it, perhaps, all in Cam’s mind? Is he on a fantastic journey or is he hallucinating in his hospital bed, doped up beyond belief? Playing with the idea of parallel universes and death, Ms. Bray sets her reader on a path of enlightenment and discovery, dragging them to the lowest points possible and then offering up the best that life can offer. In that, it is an honest reflection of high school and adolescence, where one second is the worst a person can imagine and then, with a pop of a mystical bubble, life is better than it’s ever going to get. She reminds everyone, as Cervantes says, “Take my advice and live for a long long time, because the maddest thing a man can do in this life is to let himself die.”


Perspective:
Going Bovine is told in startling first person, dictated by Cameron as though you were sitting in a room with him as he told you his story. It’s masterfully done.

My Thoughts:
This book had me laughing from the acknowledgments that Ms. Bray writes at the beginning (because everyone should thank Pete Townshend and the makers of Rock Band®!) and crying (because no one should have a relationship with their father’s back, you know?) and everything in between. I was really hesitant going into the book because, well, it’s about a kid dying at 16. How fun can that be to read? But I was more than pleased with the way it all turned out. It was a book that made me think, made me reread things to see if I’d got them right, and made me look at the MTV world that is spoon-fed to our high schoolers (I should know, I was one) as what they should be doing/liking/etc in a new light. This book deals with a kid dying. Yes. But it’s about so much more. It’s about learning to live and making the best of the time you’re given.

Favorite Scene:
I love the conflict and eventual friendship that formed between Gonzo (the dwarf) and Balder (the Lawn Gnome) at the pancake restaurant. However, the first chapter, where Cam’s describing his best day ever (“happened when I was 5 ... I’m 16 now, so you can imagine that’s left me with quite a few days of major suckage.”) stands out even when you’ve finished the whole book.

Who this book is best for:
High School age kids will adore this story, if they can cope with some of the strange stuff that happens and I’d hazard that 7th and 8th graders would like it, too. Really though, adults can enjoy the book just as much if they don’t mind their main character being 16. There’re some references to sex later (but nothing gratuitous) so if you’re uncomfortable with your children reading about that, be aware.

Violence: 3 out of 5. The bad guy likes to blow things up and set things on fire. What do you expect when his henchmen are pillars of flame?

Stars: 4 of 5

The Hound of Rowan

Title: The Hound of Rowan
Author: Henry H. Neff
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2008
Series: Book One of the Tapestry
Next in Series: The Second Siege

Review:
Max McDaniels and his dad are visiting the Chicago Art Museum like they do every year on his mother’s birthday. It’s their way of remembering her. While sketching a suit of armor, 12 year old Max is chased by a stranger and finds himself in an off limits section of the museum. It contains an old, dull tapestry, and Max can’t quite tell what it represents until with a twang it springs into a full color depiction of the cattle raid of Cooley. Little does Max realize that this has sparked his entry into a secret world of mysticism and mayhem as he is granted admission to the Rowan Academy.

But Rowan isn’t the only group that is interested in Max and his unique abilities. A dark group, called only the Enemy, are out to steal him as they have kidnapped so many other adept children before Max. And even his arrival at Rowan doesn’t stop them, for there is a traitor in the school, bent on its destruction.

Harry Potter set the standard that all other boarding school novels will be set against for quite some time, but Hound of Rowan stands up to it nicely. Thankfully, other than the fact that they both involve magical boarding schools and a powerful enemy, the books have little in common. Max is an exemplary student, most of the time, and sufficiently creative to weasel out of trouble just often enough to make the reader respect his ingenuity. He and his classmates cooperate well, and provide a great example of how much can be achieved if you work together.

Rowan, on the Connecticut Seaboard, delightfully blends magic and technology into a cohesive and believable environment. The students’ rooms are a fantastically creative and school grounds are well planned. Max’s classes catch the reader’s attention but the magic is so different from that used in the Harry Potter world that it is difficult to even compare the two.

A few of the schools’ inhabitants (mostly Mum and Bob) are silly enough to entertain the kids the book is written for, but a bit aggravating to adults reading along with them. Thankfully, they are relatively minor characters. My main gripe was the magical companions the students receive. Max’s companion, the last of the Black Forrest Lymrills, Nick, didn’t add anything to the story or seem to serve any purpose other than being “cool” or to provide an excuse to go to the sanctuary.

Overall, the story moved along at a quick clip, delightfully blending the modern world with Celtic mythology and magic.

Perspective:
Hound of Rowan is told in third person limited.


My Thoughts:
Hound of Rowan is Mr. Neff’s first book, and was a lot of fun to read. Kids and parents will both enjoy the quirky sense of humor and the shivers of excitement (and occasionally fear) that he draws into his prose. The grammar was well done, and all the characters spoke in ways you would expect. Very enjoyable.

Favorite Scene:
I loved the unsanctioned class expedition to the Kestrel. It made my spine tingle with the fear of being caught.

Who this book is best for:
I would put the target audience at 10-13, but it’s so well written that anyone can enjoy the story.

Violence: 2 of 5

Stars: 4 of 5

The Graveyard Book

Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2008

Review:
The boy’s family was murdered when he was about eighteen months old. Just big enough to totter around, he wandered out of the house and up the hill into the nearby graveyard while the killer searched around for him. There he is taken in by unlikely pair named Mr. and Mrs. Owens, who were never able to have children. The only problem is that they’ve been dead for about two hundred years. The graveyard residents aren’t sure what to do with the boy, who has no name but what the Owens gave him, so they give him the Freedom of the Graveyard and name him Nobody.

Nobody Owens grows up very differently than most children. All of his best friends are dead. In fact, everyone he associates with has been dead since Victoria was Queen. His guardian is a vampire named Silas. He learns his letters and numbers from the fellow residents of his graveyard, and he thinks nothing of sleeping in a tomb every night. It’s all he’s ever known. The outside world isn’t safe for Nobody Owens, yet as he grows he dreams of meeting the living. But it isn’t safe, he’s told. The Man Jack is still looking for him.

And so Nobody Owens’ story is that of most people: that of self discovery. Nobody just does it better than everyone else, perhaps because Death isn’t something that frightens him. He lives in the world, and is more aware of his world, than anyone else because he learned from the dead that life is your chance to make your mark on the world, to go out and do what you can, to be who you can and to make the most of every moment.

We only follow Nobody for about thirteen years of his life, but he does more in those thirteen than most people accomplish in fifty, and for that he is a truly remarkable individual. But what is most charming about Nobody is his sweet naïveté. He can discuss for hours the uses of Ghoul Gates or who the Lady on the Grey is, but something as simple as “P is for Pig” delights him. He’ll anger fellow graveyard residents to borrow the books they have or find the deepest of the Tombs and confront those who live there. It’s Nobody’s character, delightful in al its angles, that kept me reading. And when it was over I wanted more but loved that that was all there was written down about Nobody. Gaiman’s ability to leave some adventures open to the reader’s imagination only adds to the joy his books bring.

Perspective:
The Graveyard book is told from third person limited, following Nobody Owens on his adventures.

My Thoughts:
This book was another one nominated by Jean-Luc, and it didn’t disappoint. At first I was reminded quite a lot of Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett, but as the story progressed I found this was due only to the location at which the story takes place and the fact that many of the main characters are deceased. I almost cried at the end, because I was so happy for Bod, but so sad that it was over. I think it’s perhaps the best book I’ve read by Neil Gaiman, a prolific author with many wonderful works to his credit. I would recommend it to anyone and was a delight to read.

Favorite Scene:
My favorite scene was when Bod confronted the Sleer with Scarlett in tow. Fascinating, creepy, exciting and thought provoking. But then, I've always been fascinated with the Celts. The chapter titled “The Witch” was also great.

Who this book is best for:
Listed as suitable for 9-12 year olds on Amazon, I would disagree. I would keep this for kids 11 years or up, despite the easy writing style and age of the main character, because of what goes on during the story’s climax. 9 may be a little too young to deal with some of the themes explored in The Graveyard Book. However, it has won the Newbery Medal and completely deserved it.

Violence: 3 of 5 for the creepy Sleer and the Jacks of All Trades.

Stars: 5 of 5

Thirteenth Child

Title: Thirteenth Child
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2009
Series: Frontier Magic (Book 1)

Review:
Francine, also called Eff, is the twin of a seventh son of a seventh son. The double seven, as they call him, is considered by one and all to be wildly lucky and effortlessly magical. Eff's the thirteenth child in her family. She's considered by most of her extended relations to be just plain bad luck, because everyone knows that the thirteenth child will invariably turn out evil. They're all just glad she came first so that the seventh son of the seventh son wouldn't have all the evil traits a thirteen always does.

After five years of continual praise for the double seven and continual torment for the thirteen, Eff's parents have had enough of their medlingly large extended family. They pack up the younger children (all of those who aren't married or at University) and move West to Mill City where Eff's father has been given a position as professor of magic at the new land-grant college. Mill City is just East of the Great Barrier Spell that keeps out all the terrifying animals that live across it - magical and otherwise - and sits on the Mammoth River (what we know as the Mississippi River). Eff and her family are on the very edge of the Columbian (American) Frontier, leading a life of exploration and misadventure.

An entirely new Frontier adventure, where humans never crossed the land bridge and dragons and mammoths and saber-tooth tigers still roam, emerges as a captivating and exciting world. Not only does the reader get to attend school with Eff and see our famous historical figures in her world (Lewis and Clark never returned from their trip West, and President Thomas Jefferson helped set up the Great Barrier Spell) but you can learn different magical theories and see how casting spells can go just as terribly wrong as science experiments do in our classrooms.

While subtle, since this is a book for children, the topic of racism is also dealt with. Eff is obviously from a very tolerant family, but others aren't always of the same mind frame. Miss Ochiba, the daughter of a former slave, is Eff's first magic teacher. The tones used when referring to her or when other characters are around her are always a little stand-offish or condescending. It’s subtle and I doubt most children would pick up on it, but unavoidable since this story is set shortly after the War of Succession (Civil War), which happened earlier in this alternate universe America.

Growing older with Eff it is easy to see the harm caused in her childhood by her meddling aunts and uncles in her personality. So fearful has Eff grown of becoming the evil thirteenth that she is almost afraid of her own small temper and her large abilities. How she grows enough to overcome them both make for a delightful read that is only enhanced by the surreal setting that is so deceptively so close to our own history.

Perspective:
Thirteenth Child is told in first person past tense. It’s so well written that I could almost hear Eff’s voice telling me the story as I read.

My Thoughts:
I haven’t read a new book by Patricia C. Wrede in quite a few years and was so thrilled to see this one promoted on Tamora Pierce’s livejournal that I went and bought it that day. Honestly, I found it difficult to put Eff’s story down. All the references to famous historical people drew me in and made me smile, especially the diatribe Lan (Eff’s twin) goes into about how well read Jefferson was and how he assumed everyone else would be also, which is true, and how Franklin made up a lot of what he did on the spot and wasn’t very clear about his procedures, which is also accurate. Plus it was a lot of fun to look at the names given places and figure out where they really were. The Mammoth River empties into the Gulf of Amerigo, one of the biggest cities on the East Coast is New Amsterdam, etc. But it would be just as easy to read the book, enjoy the story and completely ignore the new…old… names given to places familiar to us.

Eff and Lan were both very well developed characters, and I loved poor little Eff right off the bat. As she grew, I really felt the frontiersy vibe, with longer skirts for grownup ladies and pinned up hair. It was almost like reading a magical Little House on the Prairie. On the down side, I never really got to know most of Eff’s older siblings at all, even by the end of the book. I suppose that’s understandable considering that there are 12 of them.

Some people may be put off by the lack of any native presence in the Columbia described in the book, but I don’t think this was done as a slap in the face to any of the First Nation people. Rather, it’s an imaginary world where one can speculate what it would have been like to colonize the continent if humans hadn’t crossed the land bridge, if the megaflora and megafauna still rooted in or roamed the land and had a few magical beings interspersed with them.

Favorite Scene:
The scene with the Steam Dragon during the Aphrikan magic lessons really drew me in, but as I mentioned earlier the diatribe by Lan about Jefferson and Franklin was my favorite.

Who this book is best for:
Kids age 9 or 10 could read this and enjoy it just as well as an adult. The only thing to consider is the length.

Violence: 0 of 5. Unless killing bugs bothers your child, you should be fine.

Stars: 4 of 5

Fablehaven

Title: Fablehaven
Author: Brandon Mull
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2006
Series: Fablehaven (Book 1)

Review:
Kendra and Seth’s parents are going on a cruise, and they’re left with their odd grandpa on his large estate in Connecticut. He makes them promise to stay out of the woods and the barn because there are ticks with lime disease and leaves them to their own devices in a room of toys and books, with a pool tempting outside. As with all children, it isn’t long before curiosity gets the better of them and they break the rules.

First, Seth meets an odd old lady chewing on a rope in the forest. Then he and Kendra discover a beautiful pond complete with gazebos. Grandpa, being the adult that he is, finds out and punishes them, although not as strictly as he was going to after being argued down by his grandchildren for lying to them about his reasons. Now, apparently, the woods are dangerous because he runs a wild animal preserve. But then the kids drink some of the milk a helper leaves out for the bugs, and suddenly they can see fairies!

And that’s about where I got bored and stopped reading. I found the dialog (of which there is a lot) trite and uninspired. The interactions between the characters were physically painful to read. They rarely speak in complete sentences but use words that are completely out of what little character has been built for them or words that are overly complicated. It’s almost as though the author was using small words and then looking up ones that sounded smarter in a thesaurus to substitute. It completely distracted me, to the point that I was having to go back through and reread things just to be sure I had understood it properly.

Grandpa Sorenson isn’t a grownup to be respected and consistently lies to his grandchildren or ignores them. He sets the stage for all the other adults in the book, who by turns give lame excuses for their actions and take no notice of the children they’re supposed to be watching. A few times, they even advocate lying to the other adults, which is a terrible thing to teach kids.

The children are insipid and colorless. Kendra is annoying and self absorbed, but no where near as badly as Seth. Seth delights in breaking the rules just to break them, does belly flops and eats a lot of chocolate.

Perspective:
This book is told from third person omniscient, switching between Kendra’s point of view and Seth’s.

My Thoughts:
Well, we have our first “DID NOT FINISH” for the Book Dame Reviews. Even as just a bathroom book, I couldn’t get over the many issues I had with this story. While the blurbs on the front from authors I respect claim that it is like Harry Potter and good for the whole family and the fact that it’s a New York Times Bestseller made me think this would be a worthwhile little trip to fantasy land, it was terrible. I can’t recommend this to anyone I respect because I feel it is a waste of time. The storyline is bland and boring and the characters are worse.

Favorite Scene:
Honestly, I didn’t have one.

Who this book is best for:
Nobody. Go learn to knit or do some leatherworking rather than read this book.

Violence: 0 of 5, but I didn’t finish it, so there may be violence later that I didn’t see.

Stars: 0 of 5.

Calling on Dragons

Hello again, loyal Book Dame readers! I apologize for the prolonged gap in reviews. I promised Jefferson that I would read a book of his that was dull and long. But, since that’s finished, here we go!

Title: Calling on Dragons
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 1994
Series: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Book 3)
Next in Series: Talking to Dragons

Review:
Morwen and her cats live a fairly quiet life in the Enchanted Forest. Sometimes odd things do occur, but who would have thought the cats would run into a seven foot eleven inch tall (including the ears) rabbit who is obviously enchanted? Morwen investigates. She discovers that the wizards have found a way to soak up the Enchanted Forest again. Heading off for the castle at once, Morwen informs King Mendanbar and Queen Cimorene. There they find that the wizards have stolen the sword that is linked to the magic of the Enchanted Forest. Since only a member of the King’s family can handle the sword (and Mendanbar can’t leave or the Forest will all be soaked up) pregnant Cimorene must go adventuring with her entourage: Kazul, Telemain, Killer the rabbit, Morwen and two of her cats.

While this book of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles is a little less exciting at first than the previous two, it has some really interesting points. Fire-witches, mentioned a few times in Searching for Dragons become far more involved in the series and I found them fascinating. The whole idea of a person who’s hair spontaneously combusts when they’re angry, is immune to fire and can learn any kind of magic is pretty cool. Also, there are talking cats. They're just as sarcastic and snide as cats would be if they could talk.

However, the rest of the book was dull and jumpy. Hopping from one place to another doesn’t move the story along, it just describes more scenery. That's not why I bought the book. From Morwen’s house to the Castle, and then with Telemain’s random transportation spells, shifting the setting needlessly ties up pages without moving the plot along. Also, the giant rabbit gets annoying very quickly. They bring him everywhere and he’s constantly eating things he shouldn’t so first he’s giant, then he turns in to a donkey, and well… it just keeps going to the point of nausea. There’s also a random encounter with Jack, a magic bean farmer, which is only in the story to give Killer another magic thing to eat.

And then there’s the hanging ending…

Perspective:
Calling on Dragons is told from third person limited.

My Thoughts:
This was always my least favorite book of the series when I was growing up, simply because of the hanging ending. I loved having a book from Morwen’s perspective and finally being able to know what her cats were saying. The basis of this story, though, is really just to set the stage for the next book (my favorite of the quartet). Really, Morwen is one of my favorite characters in the series. I just wish the book from her point of view was more interesting. It’s a decent read, but no where near up to par with the other three.

Favorite Scene:
I loved the floating laundry basket they use to get into the fire-witch’s tower.

Who this book is best for:
Middle school kids will like it, or anyone else who wants to finish the series. It’s worthwhile because it sets up the stage for the next book.

Violence: 1 of 5, because the dragons start eating people.

Stars: 2.5 of 5

Searching for Dragons

Title: Searching for Dragons
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 1992
Series: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Book 2)
Next in Series: Calling on Dragons

Review:
Mendanbar, King of the Enchanted Forest, has a bit of a problem on his hands. It seems as though someone decided to burn up a large chunk of his kingdom. All signs point to the Dragons when he finds a number of scales lying around. Convinced not to jump to conclusions by Morwen, he goes to talk to Kazul, King of the Dragons. There he meets Cimorene and learns they both have a problem: Kazul is missing and those pesky Society of Wizards are causing trouble again!

So what is a King to do? He and Cimorene set off to find Kazul and figure out what’s been burning up his kingdom. With rapid action and a ton of lovable characters, Searching for Dragons travels through the Mountains of Morning, the surrounding countryside and into the Enchanted Forest, expanding and enriching the world built in Dealing with Dragons.

Mendanbar is a charming person, witty and clever, easy-going and amenable to most things (unless his steward is trying to convince him to marry). One of my favorite things about Mendanbar is the way he works magic. Described as threads that run all throughout the Enchanted Forest, Mendanbar manipulates the magic of his kingdom by judicious tweeking, pulling and yanking. His magic is so much a part of him that it is like missing an arm when he leaves the Forest and doesn’t have the floating strands at his beck and call.

The second book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles is just as enjoyable as the first, moves from one catastrophe to the next calamity with humor and promptness.

Perspective:
Searching for Dragons is told from third person limited.

My Thoughts:
It’s nice to see that there are at least some men in Cimorene’s world who aren’t completely stupid and can stand up to her!

Favorite Scene:
While this is a tough call, I’ll have to go with Mendanbar fixing the sink with a magic sword, and Cimorene’s shocked reaction.

Who this book is best for:
Kids in late elementary school who are good readers or those in middle school will surely enjoy the witty banter and references to other well known fairy tales.

Violence: 0 of 5. Like Dealing with Dragons, there really isn’t any violence in this book. The only time Mendanbar even draws his sword to do something other than magic is to kill some snakes.

Stars: 4 of 5

Endymion Spring

Title: Endymion Spring
Author: Matthew Skelton
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2006

Endymion Spring and Blake Winters are two boys separated by over 500 years of history and tied together by a book. Endymion finds the book in an odd chest he isn't supposed to be rummaging around in. The book finds Blake in the St. Jerome library at Oxford 500 years later. And so the two set out, each in their own time, to keep Endymion's book from those who would use it for evil.

Endymion Spring, a mute thief turned apprentice, works for and lives with Johannes Gutenberg. He helps create the beautiful type that will turn Gutenberg's bibles into a masterpiece of both printing and art, revered around the world. The Bible is nearing completion when Gutenberg's investor, Fust, arrives with his own apprentice, Peter, and a demonically carved chest. Terrified but curious, Endymion is drawn to the box and learns it holds a magic type of paper, paper which contains the answers to every mystery on earth. Fust, a thief himself and supremely evil, will stop at nothing to gain that wisdom.

Shift to modern day Oxford. Blake and his sister Duck have been uprooted by their studious mother who is doing research at the college. Quite a lot of time is spent following Blake as he wanders around various libraries, prosaically describing the smell of the books and the dust in the air. And this is where the story started to lose me. Not that it wasn't easy to follow, but because Blake moped around a little more than I wanted to put up with.

Blake is a troubled boy who can't see why Endymion's book chose him, and frankly I wondered the same thing. Empathizing with Blake is easy; he's going through some troubled times while his parents split up, but that happens to many kids these days. Believing he was somehow deemed worthy by a mysterious book due to these troubles was a bit hard to swallow. I also had issues with his sister's name being Duck. Just because your daughter refuses to take off a raincoat that looks like a duck doesn't mean you change her name to fit the jacket. That's as good as saying she is the jacket, or that the jacket is her. I carried a stuffed cat around as a child, but they don't call me Kitty.

What kept me reading was how engaging Endymion was. While Gutenberg never quite seemed real, his apprentice Endymion did. I felt for Endymion. His terror for Fust, his grudging respect for Peter and his adoration for Gutenberg were almost palpable. It's too bad that didn't transfer to Blake's sections of the story.

Perspective:
This book is interesting, and switches from first person past tense for Endymion to third person limited for Blake. It's as though Endymion knows what is happening 500 years later, and is telling you Blake's story.

My Thoughts:
I'm not sure why this was a New York Times bestseller, but I've wondered that about many other books as well. I wasn't really drawn into the story. I thought it a lot of it was sort of fusty, and there were many things that seemed like they were going somewhere, and it turned out they were only there to cause confusion and didn't add anything to the story in the end. I find that supremely aggravating. A number of the lose ends were wrapped up far too neatly, and others that seemed so important were never explained at all. It wasn't a bad read, and I'll probably go back through it, but I might skip over certain sections so as to spend my time with the characters I liked.

Favorite Scene:
The Dance of Death where Endymion flees from Fust was strangely (and almost disturbingly) intriguing. I'd say more, but I don't want to give this part away.

Who this book is best for:
Kids in early middle school will love the style and completely relate Endymion... perhaps even with Blake.

Violence: 2.5 of 5 for a descriptive beating during the climax.

Stars: 3 of 5

Dealing with Dragons

Title: Dealing with Dragons
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 1990
Series: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Book 1)
Next in Series: Searching for Dragons

Summary:
Cimorene is not your average princess. She doesn’t like dancing, embroidery or etiquette, so she takes fencing, magic, Latin and cooking to make up for it (even though princesses don’t cook, conjugate Latin verbs or play with swords). Fed up with their daughter doing improper things, Cimorene’s parents arrange a marriage for her. Aghast at the prince they’ve chosen Cimorene runs away to be a dragon’s princess (which is sort of like being the maid). Now she must cope with a poorly provisioned kitchen, wizards, witches, stone princes, a jinn, knights and (of course) dragons. Life certainly picked up pace.

Review:
Ms. Wrede does an immaculate job of setting the stage for Dealing with Dragons. Even kingdoms where you don’t spend much time feel familiar: “Linderwall was a large kingdom just east of the Mountains of Morning where philosophers were highly respected and the number five was fashionable. The climate was unremarkable. The knights kept their armor brightly polished, mainly for show – it had been centuries since a dragon had come east…all in all, Linderwall was a prosperous and pleasant place.” It could be almost anywhere, and seems about as normal as can be. But when you move east from Linderwall, things change. Mostly because when there are dragons involved, nothing is ever easy.

Cimorene is the antithesis of most princesses in fairy tales. She’s not weak, she’s not helpless, she’s not a blond and she does NOT need to be rescued. She is incredibly witty and strong willed. Nothing seems to faze her, and ain’t nothing gonna slow her down. In one word, she is indefatigable. In a country as normal and commonplace as Linderwall, that makes her the black sheep and she never quite fits in. Besides, in a world where everything is right and proper, a person whose very personality sets others on their ears will always feel out of place.

The story, like its heroine, moves along at a smart clip where one chance encounter with a talking frog changes the fate of a numerous kingdoms. Cimorene takes the frog’s advice and flees from her arranged marriage and winds up (rather unexpectedly) in the Mountains of Morning where she is taken in by Kazul, a rather prominent dragon who likes cherries jubilee. The odd thing is, even though they are so far outside the reader’s realm of expertise, the Mountains of Morning and their inhabitants seem like they could be your neighbors. For example, Roxim may be a dragon but he sneezes a lot and is rather forgetful, sort of like the old man around the corner who’s lived there forever. It may take a lot to make a twenty foot long reptile seem loveable, yet somehow Roxim is exactly that. And maybe the Mountains of Morning grew up on their ears, because Cimorene fits right in. It’s a good thing that she does, too, once the Society of Wizards start their meddling.

But beware! Nothing small or unimportant happens in the world of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Make sure you’re paying attention, because every little detail counts (with the possible exception of the cauldron of plenty’s inability to make any dessert that isn’t burnt mint custard or sour-cream-and-onion ice cream).

The one problem with this book is that it relies so heavily on chance. Cimorene happens to run into that certain wizard in that particular herb patch. Kazul happens to know someone who has a copy of an extremely rare book. Cimorene happens to pick up a pebble in that particular cave. But really, life is based off of chance, right? So it shouldn’t be too surprising that it is used in books. And it doesn't stop the book from being amazingly funny.

Perspective:
This book is told in third person limited.

My Thoughts:
I’ve always enjoyed books that play off of other fairy tales, and this one was my first introduction to that genre. Ms. Wrede skillfully weaves in every tale from Rumpelstiltskin to the Wizard of Oz and gives us just a little twist that makes it so much more delightful. Plus, the idea of a heroine rebelling and doing something interesting for a change (ahem, not embroidery, ahem) really appealed to me when I was ten. Years later, it still does.

Favorite Scene:
I quite enjoyed Cimorene yelling at Morwen, whom she thought was another knight trying to rescue her (and thus interrupting her work).

Who this book is best for:
I recommend this book for young women in or near middle school.

Violence: 0 out of 5. The most violent thing in the whole book is when the Stone Prince gets bit by Woraug. It chips his shirt sleeve.

Stars: 4 out of 5

In the Hand of the Goddess

Title: In the Hand of the Goddess
Author: Tamora Pierce
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 1984
Series: Song of the Lioness Quartet (Book 2)
Next in Series: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man

Summary:
Alanna has completed her years as a page, defeated the Black City and proved herself worthy of being a squire. As her years as a page ended, the crown prince choose her as his personal squire. But the future isn't going to be easy, as the Goddess warns Alanna. Wars, assassination attempts and usurpers litter the path ahead of her, and Alanna must learn to overcome her fears if she is to protect her friends and become a knight.

Review:
The world of Tortall really expands in the second book in the series. Finally we get to see more of the country than the palace and Trebond. The war with the neighbor country Tusaine to the east lets us finally meet some of the common folk other than George and his family. Plus, it teaches us so much more about the Gift and Alanna’s healing powers, which is fascinating. As if this weren’t enough, Alanna takes a trip to the City of the Gods to visit her brother Thom. It’s the city where Alanna was almost stuck – I mean sent – to learn to be a lady. If the first book is to lay the foundations of a world and the second is to flesh it out, Tamora Pierce does an outstanding job.

Perspective:
The book is told in a third person omniscient perspective, although it is a very limited omniscient, rarely leaving Alanna’s point of view. Occasionally there is a shift and the reader will follow things from another’s perspective, the most notable being Duke Roger.


My Thoughts:
To be honest, I have nothing bad to say about the Song of the Lioness Quartet. The first two books in the quartet were always my favorites because of Alanna’s age and that hasn’t really changed. The last two books have a more nostalgic, wistful feeling to them and are certainly more urgent, but this one somehow has more life to it. In the Hand of the Goddess leaps to life, the world is exciting, new and expanding

Favorite Scene:
Without a doubt, my favorite scene was Alanna being caught in girls’ clothes at Mistress Cooper’s house by George and Jon.

Who this book is best for:
I recommend this book for young women in middle school or above.

Violence: three of five for battle scenes, attempted assassinations and dueling

Stars: 4.5 of 5

Ruby in the Smoke

Title: Ruby in the Smoke
Author: Phillip Pullman
Genre: Mystery
Published: 1985
Series: Sally Lockhart Trilogy (Book 1)
Next in Series: Shadow in the North

Summary:
Puzzled by a mysterious letter after her father’s death, Sally sets out to find out what the Seven Blessings are and how they’re connected to her father’s last days. Little does she realize that she’s tossing herself into two different mysteries. As if that weren’t enough, Sally is troubled by a lifelong nightmare, an old biddy out to kill her, and a lack of money for rent Sally’s days are never free of stress, but she handles it well and finds friends along the way.

Review:
Sally Lockhart certainly has her strengths and weaknesses, but does her best to turn everything to her advantage. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. Still, I felt like I never really got to know Sally herself: that she didn’t really let her guard down. And that’s how it was for most of the characters. Perhaps that will get better later in the series.

Victorian London in Ruby in the Smoke is not quite what actual Victorian London was. Everyone was far too ok with Sally, a single and unescorted female, roaming around places she shouldn’t have been.

Perspective:
This story is told from third person omniscient point of view.

My Thoughts:
While it is entertaining, I found Ruby in the Smoke a bit historically inaccurate as to how women were expected to act in Victorian England. The characters were a little flat, but that doesn’t detract from the story. It was a worthwhile read overall, and I’m planning on getting the next book soon.

Favorite Scene:
Sally telling off Mrs. Rees was great. Reading about people not taking guff when they don’t deserve it really makes my day.

Who this book is best for:
Middle school kids, boys and girls, who want a fun romp in the past full of intrigue and suspense.

Violence: 3 of 5 for murder and opiate use

Stars: 3 of 5

A Great and Terrible Beauty

Title: A Great and Terrible Beauty
Author: Libba Bray
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2003
Series: Gemma Doyle Trilogy (Book 1)
Next in Series: Rebel Angels

Summary:
Right before Gemma’s mother is murdered by a strange shadow in Victorian India, she tosses her daughter a crescent eye necklace. That was her first vision. Now, Gemma is then on her way to a homeland she has never seen to be turned into a lady at a finishing school. To save face, she must say that her mother died of cholera and pretend her father isn’t addicted to opiates. And then there’s the odd young Indian man, Kartik who followed her to England, with dire warnings to end the visions she cannot control. Soon, Gemma is wading her way through the delights of finishing school politics and attempting to take charge of her strange powers. Led by the diary of a girl she believes long dead and with the fickle help of her finishing school chums, Gemma enters a world fraught with trouble.

Review:
Gemma is a typical sixteen-year-old in that she has done things she regrets, wants to fit in (even against her better judgment), falls for someone she can never have, can’t always control her temper, and looks up to a teacher who encourages her to think outside the Victorian box. She’s an abnormal teen in that she has odd powers. She’s very well developed as a character and despite her many flaws, you come out loving her.

And it’s not just Gemma who is fully fleshed out. Somehow all the characters seem like real people. Everyone has their secrets, the things they strive to fix or make up for in their lives. Gemma’s friends, her teachers and family are a product of their environment, and either struggle against it or are overwhelmed by it.

The portrayal of Victorian England is very true to what I’ve studied of it, and the finishing school Spence leaps off the page. Its goal is to turn young girls into proper Victorian Ladies, but is defined by its’ past. The fire that killed the school’s founder (and possibly others) is something that Spence is still trying to recover from, to hide the smudge the fire left on Spence’s reputation.

Perspective:
A Great and Terrible Beauty is told from first person present perspective, which is very rare for any book, fiction or non.

My Thoughts:
This is a phenomenal book. I am always overjoyed to find strong female heroines (which is probably obvious in my reviews), but most of them have so few flaws. I adore that Gemma comes across as an actual woman, flaws and all. She makes some colossal mistakes, worries consistently about how to mend them. Her realization that she must learn to accept what she can’t change is a lesson I wish I had learned earlier. Finally, a fantasy novel where the lessons can be applied to real life!

Favorite Scene:
My favorite scene would have to be where Gemma is locked into the chapel. It’s spooky with a touch of romance, Gothic in the extreme. I get happy chills just thinking about it.

Who this book is best for:
Any girl from 14 on up will benefit by reading this. My sister (code name Poppy) said this: "I finished A Great and Terrible Beauty. Woah, that was real good. I'll have to borrow the other ones from you sometime."

Violence: 2 of 5 for murder and death scenes

Adult Content: 2 of 5 for some suggestive scenes

Stars: 5 of 5 (if I could give it more, I would.)

The Blue Sword

Title: The Blue Sword
Author: Robin McKinley
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 1982

Summary:
Harry’s life changes dramatically when her father dies. Her brother is stationed far from Home, in the Darian border town of Istan. He arranges for Harry to be taken in by the local Ambassador and his wife. There, in a place where her countrymen complain of the heat and are deemed “Outlanders”, Harry feels strangely at home. It’s also where she’s kidnapped. Enter Corlath, King of the Damarian hill-folk and Harry’s kidnapper. His magic told him Harry would be essential to his kingdom’s survival. But Corlath doesn’t know why. They must learn to work together to save the country they love.

Review:
Damar is a complex country with its own language. The world building is great, although it’s easy to tell that the Homelanders are based off of the English. This is the first book written about Damar, although Hero and the Crown takes place a few hundred years or so before the Blue Sword. Those familiar with the Hero and the Crown will be pleased to run into a familiar character along the way.

Harry is a very loveable character. She’s modest and quiet, but doesn’t back away from doing what she knows to be right. In fact, she doesn’t really have any faults. From learning a new language in a few days to swinging a sword with accuracy, Harry does it all.

Corlath is dark, mysterious and pensive and gifted with magic. Other than being obstinate, he has no flaws, either. His whole country loves him; people who didn’t answer for the king for centuries flock to his banner.

The only other characters the reader gets to learn about in any depth are Mathis and Jack Dedham, although a case could be made for Senay and Terim.

Perspective:
The Blue Sword is told from a third person limited perspective. The only characters whose thoughts the reader sees with any frequency are Harry and Corlath.

My Thoughts:
Again, this has been one of my favorite books for a long time. My first copy came from a library book sale, and I read it until the binding fell apart. (It’s in about seven pieces on my book shelf right now.) No matter how often I go back through it, I seem to find something that I didn’t catch before. Unfortunately, this book may be too idealistic. The characters can be a bit archetypical. It is still worth every second it takes to read, though.

Favorite Scene:
This is one of the best scenes I’ve ever read, and since I can’t do it justice, here it is: “Harry awoke in the dark…as she lay on her back in the blackness, the tears began to leak out of her eyes and roll down her cheeks and wet her hair, and she was too tired to resist them. They came ever faster, till she turned over and buried her face in the scratchy cushions to hide the sobs she could not stop. Corlath was a light sleeper. On the other side of the tent he opened his eyes and rolled up on one elbow and looked blindly towards the dark corner where his Outlander lay. Long after Harry had cried herself to sleep again, the Hill-king lay awake, facing the grief he had caused and could not comfort.”

Who this book is best for:
Women and other people obsessed with horses. My boyfriend (code name Jefferson) read it and said it was alright. I think it’s really a girl’s adventure.

Other books about Damar: The Hero and the Crown

Violence: 2 of 5 for battle scenes

Stars: 5 out of 5

Alanna: The First Adventure

So for my first Book Dame Review, I feel it is fitting that I review one of my all-time favorite books.

Title: Alanna: the First Adventure
Author: Tamora Pierce
Series: Song of the Lioness Quartet (Book 1)
Genera: Young Adult/Fantasy
Published: 1983

Summary:
Alanna of Trebond dreams of being a knight, serving her King and country, and doing great deeds. However, she has a slight problem: girls aren’t allowed to train for their shield. So she does what any determined girl would and cons her twin brother into forging letters saying they’re twin boys. She goes to the royal palace disguised as a boy and begins her training to be a knight; he goes to a far away city and studies sorcery. Once at the palace, Alanna makes friends and faces a number of challenges, from bullies and fencing to puberty.

Review:
In her debut novel, Tamora Pierce built a strong and enticing world of magic, mystery and exhilaration. Supplied with its’ own sources of history, mythology and theology the realm of Tortall leaps off the page. Tortall is full of diverse people, and even in this first book that is apparent as the reader meets people whose cultures are as dissimilar as medieval Europeans and the Bedouins.

Alanna is a smart, fiery and feisty heroine. She proves over and over that girls can do anything boys can – and be better at it if they work hard enough. There have been statements saying that she is too perfect a heroine, but I find this to be untrue. Alanna is stubborn to a fault and has a terrible temper which she cannot always control. She isn’t good at math, and has issues with self doubt. Despite all the time given to Alanna’s character, the supporting cast is surprisingly well developed, usually with artfully insightful one-liners to describe their personalities.

Perspective:
The book is told in a third person omniscient perspective, although it is a very limited omniscient, rarely leaving Alanna’s point of view. Occasionally there is a shift and the reader will follow things from another’s perspective. However, this is rare in the first book of the quartet and occurs only a handful of times.

My Thoughts:
I am one of those people who rereads books over and over, but there are very few that I’ve read as many times as Alanna: the First Adventure. I go back through it at least once a year, usually more often. When I first read this book I was 11 and wanted to be just like Alanna. (And I have to admit, I was very disappointed to realize that knighthood wasn’t an option for me outside of Vegas.) The plot was so gripping I couldn’t stop reading. I was enthralled as she hopped from one adventure, task or crisis to the next. It was comforting to know we were going through some of the same trials. Here I am, over 14 years later and I still can’t put the book down.

Favorite Scene:
Alanna’s time at Barony Olau is always a delight for me to read. I love history, and this glimpse into Tortall’s past was exciting and left me craving more.

Who this book is best for:
I recommend this book for young women in or close to middle school. I should add a caveat here, though. I have given this book to women of all ages and everyone has enjoyed it. It’s most influential for young women who are still developing and learning about themselves and provides a very positive role model.

Next book in Series: In the Hand of the Goddess

Violence: 1.5 out of 5 for death due to illness and some magical encounters with evil beings.

Stars: 5 of 5